SATURDAY 24 JULY 2010
SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b00t2ygy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b00t3cyw)
Jackie Kay - Red Dust Road
Episode 5
Acclaimed poet Jackie Kay traces her biological parents in a journey from Scotland to Lagos.
Jackie reads the final extract from her memoir, including an emotional conclusion to her Nigerian odyssey.
Producer/Abridger: Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00t2yh0)
The latest shipping forecast.
SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00t2yh2)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at
5.20am.
SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00t2yh4)
The latest shipping forecast.
SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b00t2yh6)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00t2yh8)
with the Revd Dr Michael Piret, Dean of Divinity and Chaplain of Magdalen College, Oxford.
SAT 05:45 Brother Mine (b00cm7gy)
Birth Order
The relationship with a brother or sister is probably the longest relationship in our lives.
Famous sibling Julian Lloyd Webber takes a closer look at what it is to be a sibling, and why that relationship can be a lifelong source of love, hate, conflict and peace.
Julian begins with a look at birth order, and finds out if the sequence in which we're born really can influence who and what we are.
Featuring contributions from Arthur Smith, Tanni Grey Thompson, Tim Henman, Dan Snow, Noel Janice Norton (founder of The New Learning Centre), Tessa Jackson (Director of Artes Mundi), anthropologist Professor Tom Weisner, psychologist Dorothy Rowe, Sociologist Dr Miri Song, psychoanalyst Victoria Childs and anthropologist David Lawson.
Producer: Terry Lewis
A Tinderbox production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b00t2yhb)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SAT 06:04 Weather (b00t31zt)
The latest weather forecast.
SAT 06:07 Open Country (b00t31zw)
Fair Isle Birds
Moira Hickey visits Fair Isle, Britain's most remote inhabited island, to find out how it became a world leader in the study of birdlife. Since 1948, when a bird observatory was first built there, it has led the way in research into seabirds and in recording rare migrants, blown on to this tiny island midway between Orkney and Shetland.
For its seventy inhabitants, the bird observatory has become crucial to the viability of Fair Isle as a place to live: visiting birders feed the economy and help keep fragile air and sea links in business. With the opening of a brand new observatory, Moira Hickey visits Fair Isle to get a taste of what attracts ornithologists from around the world.
SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b00t31zy)
Farming Today This Week
Charlotte Smith visits the bustling Game Fair at Ragley Hall in Warwickshire, to see how the game and shooting industries are coping with the economic downturn. It can cost thousands of pounds a day to attend a shoot, yet new research suggests 40% of commercial shoots are making a loss.
The Country Land and Business Association has attracted more stallholders than ever before to the event, and many of the debates revolve around welfare, as the government introduces new guidelines on rearing game birds. The League against Cruel Sports and The Countryside Alliance give their view on the new government code.
And chef Jose Souto tells Farming Today about his love of game meat, and explains how simple preparation can turn a humble partridge into a world-beating dish.
Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Melvin Rickarby.
SAT 06:57 Weather (b00t3200)
The latest weather forecast.
SAT 07:00 Today (b00t3202)
Morning news and current affairs with Sarah Montague and Evan Davis including:
0830: Was the legal system too liberal over Jon Venables?
0847: Roy Greenslade on Richard Desmond's purchase of Channel 5
0852: Who are better, British or American thriller writers?
SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b00t3204)
Fi Glover is joined by the BBC's Security Correspondent Frank Gardner. The poet is Aoife Mannix. There's an interview with a man who amassed 58 criminal convictions before turning his back on a life of crime, and a 90 year old woman who spent her teenage years at 10, Downing Street. Harry's Game author Gerald Seymour shares his Inheritance Tracks and the people of Holmfirth in Yorkshire sip the Last of the Summer Wine.
The producer is Simon Clancy.
SAT 10:00 Excess Baggage (b00t3263)
When people think of Switzerland they tend to think of watches, chocolate, clocks, cheese and banks. But what about the Swiss themselves? Sandi Toksvig talks to travel writer Diccon Bewes who sets out to describe the culture and customs of this notoriously private "landlocked island".
Sandi also talks to presenter and travel journalist Kate Humble who has devised a way for travellers to put spare rucksack space to good use. She has founded a charity called Stuff Your Rucksack which shows how packing supplies of much needed items like pencils, school books and maps can change the lives of people in the country you are visiting. Sandi is joined by veteran traveller Kate Booth who describes how directly delivering the contents of her rucksack to a children's charity added new meaning to her trip to Namibia.
Producer: Laura Northedge.
SAT 10:30 Reasons to be Cheerful (b00t3265)
Series 2
Gordon Kennedy
Gordon Kennedy takes on a grumpy John O'Farrell.
As the country faces a tightening of its financial belt, the Scottish actor and comedian takes a timely look at some of things he thinks we should cheer about. Gordon is fascinated by nanotechnology and he discovers how science fiction is becoming science fact at the London Centre for Nanotechnology with Professor Richard Jackman.
Gordon is also a sport fanatic. He chats with bestselling sport author Frances Edmonds about how Britain is rediscovering its love of team sports. As a keen cyclist, Gordon recently realised that cycling through London is not the death wish it used to be. He talks to Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor of London's transport adviser, on what has changed.
In an antidote to the Grumpy Old Men culture, Gordon chats with leading psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman to discover the root causes of grumpiness and asks how it can defeated. He uses his new found knowledge to try and convince best selling author John O'Farrell - a self-confessed grump - to change his pessimistic ways.
Producers: Joanne Coombs and Martin McNamara
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in July 2010.
SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (b00t3267)
This week Steve Richards from the Independent looks behind the big stories of the week at Westminster.
Nick Clegg deputised for David Cameron at Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday, but with many Lib Dem backbenchers unhappy with coalition life, did his performance do anything to lift their spirits? Sitting Lib Dem MPs are unwilling to criticise the coalition overtly. But we hear the concerns of Sandra Gidley, who was unseated at the general election. She tells us the party needs to do a lot more to get its policies into the statute books. Newly elected Lib Dem MP Steve Gilbert is already a government whip, and makes the case for the coalition's record so far.
Mr Clegg's turn in the Parliamentary limelight was caused by David Cameron's trip to Washington. Former prime ministers, particularly Tony Blair, often found their relationship with the White House problematic. Did Mr Cameron pass his first big test on the world stage? We hear from Francis Elliott from the Times, who co-authored a biography of David Cameron, as well as John Rentoul from the Independent on Sunday, who is Tony Blair's biographer.
The government has spent much of the week pushing its Academies Bill through the Commons, which has given Ed Balls ample opportunity to attack the coalition, both in Parliament and in the media. It's all valuable exposure for the Shadow Secretary of State, who wants to be the next Labour leader. Some commentators believe the close ally of Gordon Brown has gained momentum in his leadership bid in recent weeks. We discuss Mr Balls' prospects with one of his supporters, the Labour MP Tom Watson, along with Denis MacShane, who has nominated David Miliband.
SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b00t32lz)
In this morning's From Our Own correspondent you can almost hear the clatter of the projector and almost smell the cigarette smoke as our man in the Afghan capital Kabul visits the cinema which survived the Taliban.
China has just been accused....again....of grave human rights abuses in Tibet. The allegations relate to the crushing of protests two years ago. A report by the Human Rights Watch organisation says the security forces opened fire indiscriminately on demonstrators. It alleges there were arbitrary arrests and torture, and that abuses are still going on. China denies that its forces have done anything wrong... Very few foreign journalists are given permission to visit Tibet and investigate for themselves. But our correspondent, Damian Grammaticus was allowed a glimpse of life there on an officially sanctioned, escorted visit...
The latest international gathering in Kabul had an impressive cast. The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon were among dozens of leading figures from around the world. The meeting was meant to be a expression of confidence in the often-criticised Afghan government. And there was much determined talk of the way ahead. But on the dusty streets outside the conference chamber, Hugh Sykes found nagging fears and old problems eating away at morale....
The Indian Ocean island nation of Madagascar is in crisis. A violent change of government last year installed as President a thirty-five year old, former disc-jockey. The international community disapproved of what it saw as a coup. It cut off aid on which the country was heavily dependent, and now Madagascar is under immense economic strain. And as Linda Pressly has been finding out, all this is having a serious impact on the island's extraordinary natural environment...
Not so long ago, Ireland was thriving. It was enjoying it's first ever taste of real prosperity. But it turned out that the great boom had not much more substance than Irish mist....and it was burnt off in the heat of the global financial crisis. Now all the talk is of a grim new age of austerity. But on the wild and beautiful coast of County Clare, Trish Flanagan found a corner of old Ireland unchanged by the currents that have swept the rest of the country....
SAT 12:00 Money Box (b00t32m2)
On Money Box today/on Wedneday, Naga Munchetty and guests bring you the latest news on saving and investing.
Why savers trying to inflation-proof their cash have been dealt a blow.
Are 'star' fund managers worth sticking with during volatile times on the stock market?
And meet the investors of the future - they may be in their teens but their 'virtual' profits are eye catching
Producer: Lesley McAlpine.
SAT 12:30 The Now Show (b00t2y8m)
Series 31
Episode 6
Mr Cameron Goes to Washington.
International diplomacy and domestic politicking test the ConDem coalition, while the debates on police funding and staffing levels gather momentum in the press.
Guest stand-up, Nathan Caton, considers the meaning of the latest crime statistics and volunteers for repatriation (back to Hammersmith), so long as Nick Griffin’s price is right.
Jon considers the humanitarian implications of Tesco’s new “lasagne sandwich” and Mitch is delighted by charismatically advertised cleaning product, Cillit Bang’s new brand-mate.
Plus the Now Show audience tell us about the times they tried to help others, only for things to go horribly wrong.
To join in with the Now Show audience question check out the #nowshow thread on Twitter.
Starring Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, with Jon Holmes, Laura Shavin, Nathan Caton and Mitch Benn.
Written by the cast with additional material from Nick Doody, Jane Lamacraft, James Kettle and Hannah George.
Produced by Colin Anderson.
SAT 12:57 Weather (b00t32m4)
The latest weather forecast.
SAT 13:00 News (b00t32m6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b00t2y8r)
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the live debate from Lochinver village hall, Sutherland, with questions for the panel including Lord McNally, Minister of State for Justice and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords; Fergus Ewing, Community Safety Minister in the Scottish Government and SNP MSP; Diane Abbot MP, Labour leadership candidate; and Magnus Linklater, Scottish Editor of The Times.
Producer: Victoria Wakely.
SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b00t32m8)
Jonathan Dimbleby takes listeners' calls and emails in response to this week's edition of Any Questions?
SAT 14:30 Saturday Drama (b00t32mb)
The White Chameleon
A witty and sad memory play by Christopher Hampton, set in Alexandria in the years up to and during the Suez invasion.
It is about his father, in Egypt working for Cable and Wireless, his mother, also from a Cable and Wireless family, and Ibrahim, the Egyptian servant who has been running the house for 20 years and who helps 10-year-old Chris, the future playwright, make up dramas for homework.
As it turned out, his first play was on in the West End when he was 20. His best-known plays include Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Total Eclipse, The Philanthropist and Tales From Hollywood. His films include Carrington, which he wrote and directed and which won the Jury Prize at Cannes, and Dangerous Liaisons for which he won an Oscar.
This autobiographical play is about the sense he has of his roots in this particular place, his early realisation that he was born to be a writer and also of the experience in his own life, as a child in Egypt, of the sudden dislocations that marked the end of Empire.
Alex Jennings plays Chris's father, Amanda Root his mother and Mido Hamada the redoubtable Ibrahim. The play is narrated by Christopher Hampton himself.
Narrator ... Christopher Hampton
Father ... Alex Jennings
Ibrahim ... Mido Hamada
Mother ... Amanda Root
Chris ... Harvey O'Neil
Guard/Fouad/Basso/Stockman/Shoes-shine man/Egyptian boy ... Ayman Hamdouchi
Albert ... David Annen
Edward ... Harrison Charles
Paul ... Harry Manton
Schoolboy ... Josef Lindsay
Egyptian singers:
Tony Kandel
Yazid Eid
Robert Hannouch
Pianist: Michael Webborn
Director: Polly Thomas
Producer: Ann Scott
A Greenpoint production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 15:45 Good Timing (b0076z7f)
Do you have a good sense of timing? If timing is an integral part of what you do, how do you think about time?
In this 'composed feature' the theme of good timing is explored through conversations with four people with exceptional timing: professional drummer Dawne Adams, who has played with Lionel Richie and the Pet Shop Boys; Head Chef Brian Fantoni, who currently works in a regional Italian restaurant in London and has previously worked at The Savoy and Claridges; a top ranking squash player and a stand-up comedian.
Each of the contributors reflects upon the importance of timing in what they do, how good timing is experienced, how timing can be improved and whether their timing abilities affect other areas of their life, such as time-keeping and time management.
Playing upon the rhythmic and tonal qualities of the contributors' observations, composer Nina Perry marries form and content in a radio feature that's akin to a piece of music.
Producer: Nina Perry
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b00t32md)
Weekend Woman's Hour
Presented by Jane Garvey. Singer Macy Gray talks about her new music, we hear about the threat of trafficking and prostitution connected to the Olympic Games. What is the enduring appeal of the department store? gay dads Gary and Barrie Drewitt Barlow talk about their family life, the controversy surrounding a new anaesthesia sometimes used for caesarian section, we ask if the future's turned out female as once predicted by feminists and music from The Unthanks.
SAT 17:00 PM (b00t32mg)
Saturday PM
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Ritula Shah, plus the sports headlines.
SAT 17:30 iPM (b00t32mj)
Peak Oil is the winning subject in iPM's 'Win Hugh Sykes' competition. Hugh meets some of the growing number of people who are preparing now for the day the oil runs out. Plus, how to comprehend the misery endured by migraine-sufferers - listener Anton Hecht sets the words of ordinary people to music.
SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00t5y4x)
The latest shipping forecast.
SAT 17:57 Weather (b00t5y4z)
The latest weather forecast.
SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00t5y51)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b00t32rl)
Clive Anderson and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.
Clive is joined by the self help guru Paul McKenna, former life-long trade unionist Lord Bill Morris and the star of the BBC's contemporary adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, Benedict Cumberbatch.
Robin Ince finds out about the sports and Games That Time Forgot with the comedian Alex Horne.
With music from Mercury Prize nominees Wild Beasts and from Neville Skelly.
Producer: Cathie Mahoney.
SAT 19:00 Profile (b00t32rn)
Conrad Black
Lord Black of Crossharbour, the press baron who owned the Daily Telegraph was sentenced to six and half years in jail two years ago. This week, he astonished his detractors when he was released on appeal. Convicted of defrauding shareholders, the unrepentant Lord is now threatening to wreak vengeance on the foes he believes are responsible for his spectacular fall from grace. Michael Cockerell revisits a Profile he first made in 2007 and follows the latest twist in the astonishing story of Conrad Black. He asks if the man who admires Napoleon can make good on his threats to return to rout his enemies.
SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b00t32rq)
Tom Sutcliffe and his guests novelist Aminatta Forna, broadcaster and cleric Richard Coles and writer Kevin Jackson review the week's cultural highlights including Toy Story 3.
In Toy Story 3 - Pixar's latest instalment in the hugely successful franchise which made their name - Woody and his fellow toys face an existential crisis precipitated by their owner, Andy, growing up and going off to college.
Howard Jacobson's novel The Finkler Question features Julian Treslove, an unspectacular former BBC radio producer who suffers a crisis of identity after he's mugged - he thinks he ought to be Jewish.
Georg Buchner wrote the play Danton's Death when he was a 21 year old revolutionary hiding from the police. This dramatic account of the conflict between Danton and Robespierre in post-revolutionary France is now on at the National Theatre in London in a new version by Howard Brenton.
Sherlock Holmes is relocated to the 21st century in the BBC1 series Sherlock, written by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. The legendary sleuth is played by Benedict Cumberbatch, with Martin Freeman as his trusty sidekick Dr Watson.
Joana Vasconcelos is a Portuguese artist who came public attention at the 2005 Venice Biennale with a chandelier made out of 14,000 tampons. I Will Survive is her new exhibition at the Haunch of Venison gallery in London. Also at the gallery is a show by Polly Morgan - artist and taxidermist - called Psychopomps.
Producer Torquil MacLeod.
SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b00t32rs)
Sellers in the Attic
Comedy writer and historian Glenn Mitchell examines exclusive and lesser known recordings of Peter Sellers and reveals a fascinating wealth of recently discovered recordings presenting a new insight into the life of this comic legend.
After Peter Sellers died in July 1980, the initial rush of glowing eulogies swiftly made way for often highly condemnatory accounts of his personality and behaviour. Some of these are, admittedly, accurate, others take incidents in isolation without regard for the context of the events described, while in some instances the claims rely on inaccuracies and misassumptions.
Fortunately there has been more perspective among recent chronicles but the trend has continued to portray Sellers's personal life as one with few, if any, redeeming features.
As regards his work, many accounts have concentrated on the obvious aspects - the Panther films, Dr. Strangelove, perhaps also The Goon Show, but Peter Sellers left far more than that.
Mitchell, the writer and presenter of this programme, was only 21 when the actor died but has been collecting Sellers material from an early age. In this personal take on the subject, Mitchell chronicles Sellers' career in parallel with his own lifelong interest in the actor's work. He will examine various recordings, explaining in each instance its place within the canon, and how it may have shaped - or been shaped by - Sellers' life and career.
The programme also explores the softer, compassionate side to the legendary actor's nature, the aspect of the man which once led to him talking a complete stranger - who was perched on a high bridge - out of committing suicide.
Among the recent finds is a personal recording Sellers made for a television producer whose daughter lost her sight. The never before broadcast recording includes readings of the poet William McGonagall with various comments throughout. Not only is it vintage Sellers but it reveals a remarkable and malleable side to his personality, catching him at a very relaxed moment in his life contrasting with his often cited volatile nature.
Mitchell's own focus will be on the lesser-known Sellers material he has amassed, including home-movie prints, soundtracks, rare interviews and out-takes. The programme also profiles written archives from his first BBC TV and Radio auditions.
Ultimately Sellers in the Attic will tell his remarkable story - by revisiting the less obvious items from his vast legacy, including such gems from the BBC archives as his 1970 performance of the macabre music-hall monologue The Ballad of Sam Hall, recorded at Wilton's in East London.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
SAT 21:00 Classic Serial (b00t1016)
Hermann Hesse - The Glass Bead Game
Episode 1
Hermann Hesse's classic novel is set in a futuristic, utopian society. This two-part dramatisation is by Lavinia Greenlaw and stars Derek Jacobi.
Joseph Knecht is a rising star in the Castalian Order, a band of elite intellectuals who live a closeted life of study and Glass Bead Game playing. But Joseph's elevation to one of the highest and most respected ranks of the Order coincides with a crisis of conscience, as his ever deepening doubts about this idealistic and sanitised society threaten to topple its very foundations.
The Glass Bead Game was Hesse's final major work. While recognised in his own lifetime (winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946), he found a new generation of young readers after his death. His work was championed by the heroes of the counter-culture of the 1960s including Timothy Leary, and during the 1970s Hesse became extremely widely read and translated.
First broadcast on Radio 4 in 2010.
SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b00t32rv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.
SAT 22:15 Moral Maze (b00t2cks)
The Prime Minister this week launched his big idea - the Big Society. David Cameron says he wants to make society stronger by getting more people working together to run their own affairs locally. It aims to put more power and responsibility into the hands of families, neighbourhoods and locally-based communities. The idea is that all of these will take more action at a local level, with more freedom to do things the way they want. Is this a way of re-engaging people with civic society, to remind them that they are more than just individual consumers of services provided by others and that they can't just close their front door on their responsibilities to their community? But can volunteers really replace many of the services provided by local authorities and other state agencies? Or is this just a way of providing them on the cheap - a bit of window dressing to make us feel a bit better about the enormous cuts in public services? More fundamentally are we undermining local democracy and transferring power to unelected/self appointed "volunteers?" Should we all do more? Must we all do more? That's the Moral Maze.
Michael Buerk chairs with Michael Portillo, Melanie Philips, Matthew Taylor and Claire Fox.
Witnesses:
Mark Littlewood, Director General at the IEA (a free market think tank)
Philip Blond, Director of the think tank ResPublica
Silla Carron, Chair of the tenants Association at Clarence Way Estate.
Nick Pearce, Former Head of the No10 Policy Unit.
SAT 23:00 Quote... Unquote (b00t1wcl)
Nigel Rees chairs the quotations quiz with Julia Hartley-Brewer, AL Kennedy, Patrick Barlow and Max Hastings. From July 2010.
SAT 23:30 Poetry Please (b00t14pj)
Roger McGough presents listeners' poetry requests, with work by Michael Longley, Edward Thomas and Lavinia Greenlaw. The readers are Kenneth Cranham, Annette Badland and Jonjo O'Neill. Imtiaz Dharker reads her own poem 'Speech Balloon' about that ubiquitous phrase 'Over the Moon.' There are other space-bound poems, including a moving elegy 'For the First Dog in Space.' Michael Longley introduces his grandson to the natural world in his poem 'The Leveret'. Rites of passage in a young person's life are also marked by Billy Collins' poem 'On Turning Ten', read by nine year old Tyler Johnson, and in Roger's own verse written for his daughter Isobel when she passed her first decade. There's also a lament by Edward Thomas about a soldier caught between enemy lines whose relief at his respite is punctuated by sorrow for his fallen comrades.
Producer: Sarah Langan.
SUNDAY 25 JULY 2010
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b00t3330)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
SUN 00:30 Afternoon Reading (b00f9gfh)
Parlez-vous British?
Shooting an Elephant
A moving story by George Orwell, set in Colonial Burma. A young English policeman is faced with the task of shooting a rogue elephant. How important is loss of face?
Reader: Matthew Wolf.
Producer: Martin Jarvis
A Jarvis & Ayres Production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00t3332)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00t3334)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00t3336)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b00t3338)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b00t333b)
The bells of St. Mary Magdalene, Chewton Mendip, Somerset.
SUN 05:45 Profile (b00t32rn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b00t333d)
The latest national and international news.
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b00t333g)
Solitude
Melissa Viney draws upon her own experience of aloneness to reflect upon different states of solitude.
Including extracts from the writings of Henry David Thoreau, Sara Maitland and Virginia Woolf, music by Emiliana Torrini, Ry Cooder and JS Bach and interviews with the artist Helaine Blumenfeld and former journalist and hostage Anthony Grey.
Producer: Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b00t0zsq)
Caz Graham discovers how farmers can make their farms wildlife friendly by making a few simple changes to the way they work. Michael Sly farms in Cambridgeshire and his farm attracts a whole host of birdlife from Skylarks to Yellowhammers. He shows Caz the skylark plots and seed beds he has planted. A few miles down the road the RSPB owns Hope Farm where they trial new techniques to attract wildlife, so far with great success.
Presented by Caz Graham. Produced by Martin Poyntz-Roberts.
SUN 06:57 Weather (b00t333l)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b00t333n)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (b00t333q)
The Prime Minister launched his Big Society this week, describing it as his 'great passion'. But what does this mean for the faith groups he wants to empower to redistribute power from Whitehall to communities. Trevor Barnes meets one group in Ilford who have been helping drug abusers, prostitutes and criminals, but only if they convert to Christianity. Edward will ask the Minister for Decentralisation Greg Clarke whether faith groups evangelising is a price the government is willing to pay for the Big Society to work.
Two stories this week highlighted the tension between Jews and Arabs who live in Israel. Matthew Kalman will join us from Jerusalem to explain why an Arab man has been charged with rape after having consensual sex with a Jew. And also how the Israeli cabinet has split over demands that Arabs pledge allegiance to a 'Jewish and Democratic' state of Israel.
The King James Bible will be 400 years old next year, and the anniversary has been marked by artist David Mach, who launched the first of four pieces of work in Edinburgh this week. Edward got a sneaky look at the other pieces this week at his studio.
After the second world war many French Jews felt pressurised into changing their names to become more French sounding. Now the younger generation are trying to reclaim their history. We will hear from pressure group 'La Force du Nom', who are taking 30 cases to the French Justice ministry to be allowed to reclaim their family names.
And Edward will meet the self styled 'Nun Hunter' about why there is such a big market for religious music as another group of nuns aspires to top of the charts
E-mail: sunday@bbc.co.uk
Series producer: Amanda Hancox.
SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b00t333s)
Epilepsy Bereaved
John Inverdale presents the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity Epilepsy Bereaved.
Donations to Epilepsy Bereaved should be sent to FREEPOST BBC Radio 4 Appeal, please mark the back of your envelope Epilepsy Bereaved. Credit cards: Freephone 0800 404 8144. If you are a UK tax payer, please provide Epilepsy Bereaved with your full name and address so they can claim the Gift Aid on your donation. The online and phone donation facilities are not currently available to listeners without a UK postcode.
Registered Charity Number: 1050459.
SUN 07:58 Weather (b00t333v)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b00t333x)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b00t333z)
from the Keswick Convention celebrates God's work worldwide, as Christ's promise to build his church is fulfilled around the globe.
Leader: Jonathan Lamb;
Preacher: Steve Brady;
Music Director: Peter Gunstone;
Producer: Philip Billson.
Once a year thousands of people descend on the little town of Keswick in the Lake District for a boost of spiritual energy. They ignore the grey skies and lashing rain to sing, pray and study together. BBC Radio 4 pitches its tent at the Keswick Convention to face head on what it means to have a faith that works, as they trust in Christ's promise to build his church. That's Sunday Worship, at ten past eight here on BBC Radio 4.
SUN 08:50 A Point of View (b00t2y8w)
Endings of Empire
In the fiftieth anniversary year of independence for Somalia, David Cannadine looks back at the ceremonies which marked the end of Britain's empire and sees the midnight lowering and raising of flags and the accompanying celebrations as often merely masking deep rooted tensions and resentments.
Producer: Sheila Cook.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b00t3341)
News and conversation about the big stories of the week with Paddy O'Connell.
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b00t3343)
Lilian finds herself covering at the Bull, as Nic goes to the Game Fair with Will. Jolene's taking it easy in Borchester, getting some beauty treatment. Will's troubled when Lilian points out what a popular barmaid Nic is, especially with some of the local lads.
Kenton calls Kathy to try to explain his actions last night. Kathy's too busy and tired to listen, so Kenton shows up at work to apologise. For a moment he thinks Kathy's suspicious of him and Kirsty. He assures Kathy he had a terrible time on her sofa and it won't happen again.
At the game fair, Will gets jealous when a Bull punter stops to chat with Nic. Nic brushes it off though. She's more interested in the shooting area, asking Will to stop distracting her as she goes for the bull's-eye.
Bert's also jealous when Lynda compliments Lillian on her characterisation for the murder mystery. Lynda has organised some last minute rehearsals, although Lilian persuades her that too much rehearsal will spoil the spontaneity. Lynda then stuns Lillian when she reveals that the fete's special guest is Colin Dexter. It's going to be the most thrilling Ambridge fete ever!
Written by ..... Simon Frith
Directed by ..... Rosemary Watts
Editor ..... Vanessa Whitburn
Jill Archer ..... Patricia Greene
Kenton Archer ..... Richard Attlee
David Archer ..... Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ..... Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ..... Helen Monks
Nigel Pargetter ..... Graham Seed
Elizabeth Pargetter ..... Alison Dowling
Pat Archer ..... Patricia Gallimore
Brian Aldridge ..... Charles Collingwood
Lilian Bellamy ..... Sunny Ormonde
Jolene Perks ..... Buffy Davis
Fallon Rogers ..... Joanna Van Kampen
Kathy Perks ..... Hedli Niklaus
Joe Grundy ..... Edward Kelsey
William Grundy ..... Philip Molloy
Nick Hanson ..... Becky Wright
Emma Grundy ..... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Susan Carter ..... Charlotte Martin
Brenda Tucker ..... Amy Shindler
Lynda Snell ..... Carole Boyd
Bert Fry ..... Eric Allan
Kirsty Miller ..... Annabelle Dowler
Benedict Wheeler ..... Sam Dale.
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b00t3345)
Lynn Barber
Kirsty Young's castaway is the interviewer Lynn Barber.
A master of the profile interview, her razor-sharp observations have earned her the nickname the Demon Barber and won her a stack of awards. Although critics say her articles are hatchet jobs, she disagrees: "I think that people are well served by quite blunt or quite rude questions because it forces them to fight back and come back strongly," she says.
Producer: Leanne Buckle
Record: Macushla sung by John McCormack
Book: The Complete F Scott Fitzgerald
Luxury: A cyanide pill.
SUN 12:00 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (b00t1wcs)
Series 53
Episode 5
The godfather of all panel shows pays a visit to the Cambridge Corn Exchange. Regulars Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined on the panel by David Mitchell, with Jack Dee in the chair. Colin Sell accompanies on the piano. Producer - Jon Naismith.
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b00t3368)
Berries
The season for berries is short and sweet and, it seems, ever changing. For the first time, blueberries will overtake raspberries in popularity. Is it just clever marketing or commercial sense? Sheila Dillon visits the biggest grower of blueberries in the UK. But what of other berries? Gooseberries, for instance, have been grown here since the Middle Ages, and still grow happily from Cornwall to the north of Scotland, but are not successful commercially. Sheila explores the changing fortunes of different berries, finds out how producers compete with cheap foreign imports and hears about some new varieties that will soon be available.
Produced by Margaret Collins.
SUN 12:57 Weather (b00t336b)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b00t336d)
A look at events around the world with Shaun Ley.
SUN 13:30 McCarthy: There Were Reds Under the Bed (b00t7hhf)
David Aaronovitch thinks the unthinkable about the McCarthy period.
The hunt for the so called 'Reds under the beds' during the Cold War is generally regarded as a deeply regrettable blot on U.S history. But the release of classified documents reveals that Joseph McCarthy was right after all about the extent of Soviet infiltration into the highest reaches of the U.S government.
Thanks to the public release of top secret FBI decryptions of Soviet communications, as well as the release under the fifty year rule of FBI records and Soviet archives, we now know that the Communist spying McCarthy fought against was extensive, reaching to the highest level of the State department and the White House.
We reveal that many of McCarthy's anticommunist investigations were in fact on target. His fears about the effect Soviet infiltration might be having on US foreign policy, particularly in the Far East were also well founded.
The decrypts also reveal that people such as Rosenberg, Alger Hiss and even Robert Oppenheimer were indeed working with the Soviets. We explore why much of this information, available for years to the FBI, was not made public. We also examine how its suppression prevented the prosecution of suspects.
Finally, we explore the extent to which Joseph McCarthy, with his unsavoury methods and smear tactics, could have done himself a disservice, resulting in his name being forever synonymous with paranoia and the ruthless suppression of free speech.
Hearing from former FBI, CIA and KGB operatives as well as formerly blacklisted writers, David Aaronovitch, himself from a family of communists tells the untold story of Soviet influence and espionage in the United States.
Producer: Kati Whitaker
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00t2xww)
We join Blackshaw Head Optimistic Gardeners - aka Gardeners With Altitude - near Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.
Pippa Greenwood, Bob Flowerdew and Christine Walkden form the panel. Eric Robson is the chairman.
We also introduce the fourth GQT listener whose gardening projects we will mentor and revisit over the coming months. Part of our Listeners' Gardens series.
Produced by Howard Shannon
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 14:45 Picturing Britain (b00k2dww)
Series 1
Animal Magic
Adil joins photographer Tim Flach as he attempts to shoot two contrasting worlds of domestic animals. At one end of the scale, there's the pedigree society of prize-winning Chinese Crested show dogs; at the other, the lost world of Staffordshire Bull Terriers, the most popular urban dog of our times and the most prominent breed to be found at Battersea Dogs Home in London. As they struggle to pose the dogs, Adil Ray talks to the owners and carers about their contrasting lives.
Producer: Sarah Bowen.
SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b00t384l)
Hermann Hesse - The Glass Bead Game
Episode 2
Dramatisation of Hermann Hesse's classic novel set in a futuristic, utopian society.
Starring Derek Jacobi.
Joseph Knecht is a rising star in the Castalian Order, a band of elite intellectuals who live a closeted life of study and Glass Bead Game playing. But Joseph's elevation to one of the highest and most respected ranks of the Order coincides with a crisis of conscience, as his ever deepening doubts about this idealistic and sanitised society threaten to topple its very foundations.
As Magister Ludi, Joseph Knecht begins to plan for the forthcoming Glass Bead Game. As excitement mounts, Joseph's doubts about the Castalian way of life are compounded by his newly acquired position.
Biographer...Derek Jacobi
Joseph Knecht...Tom Ferguson
Fritz...Toby Hadoke
Music Master...Malcolm Raeburn
Plinio...David Seddon
Helena...Olwen May
Tito...Oliver Gomm
Dramatised by Lavinia Greenlaw
Producer: Charlotte Riches
Director: Susan Roberts.
SUN 16:00 Open Book (b00t384n)
Mariella Frostrup talks to the acclaimed novelist Howard Jacobson about his new book, The Finkler Question, a story about friendship, love and Jewish identity. She's joined by novelists Philip Hensher and Tim Parks to discuss the impact of illness on writing - Parks's latest book is a meditation on physical ill health and the literary imagination. She also investigates the growth of e-reading, with the help of Open Book listener responses and techno fan Kathryn Hughes and technophobe Toby Litt.
SUN 16:30 Poetry Please (b00t384q)
Roger McGough presents a mixture of poetry requests, including verse by Simon Armitage, Denise Levertov and John Keats. The readers are Kenneth Cranham, Annette Badland and Jonjo O'Neill. Elegies for lost lovers and dead trees ring out, with a quirky poem by the American Louis Untermeyer 'To a Telegraph Pole' and a poem about Orpheus, whose music made the trees dance. Sue Hubbard reads her poem about his long suffering subterranean wife, Eurydice. The seams of poetry and music are interlaced in Patrick Kavanagh's famous 'On Raglan Road', and we find out what ails the 'knight at arms, alone and palely loitering' in John Keats's 'La Belle Dames Sans Merci.' A half hour bound to hath thee in thrall.
Producer: Sarah Langan.
SUN 17:00 BP: Beyond the Horizon (b00t94m3)
As BP prepares to unveil its latest financial results, how the company is grappling with the engineering feat of capping the Deepwater well while securing its corporate future.
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00t384s)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 17:57 Weather (b00t384v)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00t384x)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b00t384z)
Hardeep Singh Kohli makes his selection from the past seven days of BBC Radio
Rich pickings indeed during the last week. Drama from a train platform in Highlands of Scotland to Jackie Kay's odyssey to find her birth father down the Red Dust Road in Nigeria; a collection of programmes that explore and expound the notion of family and fatherhood, but from very different perspectives. We also hear a little about former Post man, Trades Union leader and Home Secretary Alan Johnson's failure to be a Rockstar. And what happened when Lord Mandelson and Ricky Gervais found themselves in the same live radio studio. With a danish pastry. You couldn't write it..
Reasons To Be Cheerful - Radio 4
In Search of Gustav Mahler - Radio 3
BBC Proms - Radio 3
Red Dust Road - Radio 4
Gift - Radio 4
The House I Grew Up In - Radio 4
Platform 3 - Radio 4
Beyond Belief - Radio 4
Alan Johnson - Failed Rock Star - Radio 4
The Curse of the Number Two - Radio 4
The Essay - Home Rule for The Soul - Radio 3
PM - Radio 4
Today - Radio 4
Colin Patterson - Radio 5live
Newsjack - Radio 7
PHONE: 0370 010 0400
FAX: 0161 244 4243
Email: potw@bbc.co.uk or www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/potw
Producer: Cecile Wright.
SUN 19:00 The Archers (b00t385w)
Jamie comes up with a plan to make some money at the fete. He'll send Josh round to crack the murder mystery in double quick time, submit the answer, win the signed books and sell them online. But Josh gets sidetracked by attractive Emma and comes up with the wrong solution.
Jamie's fed up and tells Josh he would have stood more chance if he hadn't spent so much time chatting up Emma. Embarrassed Josh gives him a clout. Jill remarks that the boys seem to be enjoying themselves, but Elizabeth notices Jamie's downcast expression. They put it down to the difficult time he's having at the moment, and the absence of Kenton at the fete.
Vicky vies with Lynda for the attention of celebrity guest Colin Dexter, claiming she's his number one fan. She's keen to get started on solving the murder mystery. She quizzes the village bobby and the old retainer in expert fashion. She proceeds to work her way round the rest of the characters and finally comes up with the correct answer, as a rather bemused Mike looks on. Vicky's moment of glory arrives as Colin announces that she and Mike have won.
SUN 19:15 Americana (b00t385y)
Americana: Presented by James Reynolds from Washington, DC.
Hog, Root or Die. Campaignin', readin' & huntin' in the South.
email: americana@bbc.co.uk
tweet @bbcamericana.
SUN 19:45 Afternoon Reading (b00fyqdj)
Tapertime
Adam Thorpe
'Tapertime'
The above is an old Edwardian word meaning dusk, and this series of commissioned stories take place as the light fades. What happens to the visual world as dusk emerges? What happens to make people behave differently, often strangely, as the world starts to blur?
The Very Last Leave by Adam Thorpe
In remote Lincolnshire she always paints the gloaming, but something aside from darkened tones is revealed in her pictures...
Reader David Horovitch
Producer Duncan Minshull.
SUN 20:00 Feedback (b00t2xwr)
Why did the Today Programme give Peter Mandelson so much airtime to plug his new memoir? What was BBC News thinking when they redesigned their website? And was Men's Hour worth waiting for?
Just some of the questions raised by Feedback's listeners. Roger Bolton gets some answers.
Also on the programme, we hear listeners' suggestions for changes to the station which the new controller of Radio 4 could implement.
Producer: Brian McCluskey
A City Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 20:30 Last Word (b00t2y8h)
On Last Word this week:
Eduardo Sanchez Junco - who developed the Spanish gossip magazine Hola into a worldwide brand. We have tributes from his former international editor the Marquesa de Valera and his competitor Richard Desmond.
Also top Russian spy Sergei Tretyakov who defected to the Americans in 2000.
The influential climate change scientist Professor Stephen Schneider who advised eight American presidents, but received death threats from sceptics
And "probably the daftest broadcaster in the world" - as his jingle had it. BBC Radio Norfolk's veteran entertainer, country music fan and the voice of Carrow Road - Roy Waller.
SUN 21:00 Face the Facts (b00t386s)
Fire Safety Disorder
As more firms are being fined using laws designed to keep people safe from fire, John Waite discovers the government has been breaking its own laws on fire safety. The difference is that while private companies and individuals face huge fines or prison sentences, ministers and civil servants need not worry about such things. That's because they work in buildings classed as crown premises and crown immunity from prosecution covers fire safety laws. Only if someone was to die in a disaster might they find themselves in court under different legislation. And the government is not always as good at following the fire safety regulations as perhaps you might think. Serious failings have emerged at one central government headquarters and other breaches have been uncovered at other parts of the country. All this follows the programme's earlier revelations on towerblocks deemed a danger to residents and the firefighters' training college which hadn't followed fire safety legislation when one of its own buildings burnt down.
SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b00t333s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 today]
SUN 21:30 In Business (b00t388j)
Coming Soon
What happens next as the Credit Crunch crisis continues? Peter Day gets the long view from a clutch of the distinguished economists including Kenneth Rogoff, Raghuram Rajan and Sushil Wadhwani.
Producer: Sandra Kanthal.
SUN 21:58 Weather (b00t3899)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b00t389c)
Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster.
SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b00t389f)
Episode 11
BBC Radio 4 brings back a much loved TV favourite - What the Papers Say. It does what it says on the tin. Each programme will see a leading political journalist take a wry look at how the broadsheets and red tops treat the biggest stories in Westminster and beyond. This week, The Spectator's Dennis Sewell takes the chair.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b00t2y8k)
The League Of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss presents the first of his favourite character actors, Ernest Thesiger, the mad scientist in The Bride Of Frankenstein
Matthew Sweet talks to one of the unsung heroines of British cinema - Angela Allen, the script supervisor who spent 30 years by the side of John Huston. She recounts tales of dysentery and whisky drinking on the jungle set of The African Queen, of problems with Marilyn Monroe on her last movie, The Misfits, and Montgomery Clift's troubles with the bottle on Freud.
The star of The Thorn Birds television series, Rachel Ward, tells Matthew why she quit acting and Britain to become a film director in Australia
The child star of Sammy Going South, Fergus McClelland, reveals the reasons why many believed the film was jinxed.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b00t333g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 26 JULY 2010
MON 00:00 Midnight News (b00t38ys)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b00t28dg)
Lap dancing - Climate change
Leering punters, seedy dives, cruel and crude objectification of women's bodies... the classic image of a strip joint does not leave much space for the notion that occasionally the women might enjoy the performances they give. However, a new ethnography of a lap dancing club in the North of England presents a slightly more complicated picture of life as a sexual entertainer. The sociologist Rachela Colosi worked as a dancer in the clubs she studied and her study offers a rare insiders account of the relationships between the dancers, with the management and the highs and lows, rewards and occasional despair of life as a stripper.
Also, Laurie Taylor will be talking to Marek Kohn about his predictions for the shape of British society in 2100 after global warming has brought its influence to bear.
Producer: Charlie Taylor.
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b00t333b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00t390z)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00t392v)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00t394n)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (b00t3959)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00t39g7)
with the Revd Dr Michael Piret, Dean of Divinity and Chaplain of Magdalen College, Oxford.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (b00t39s5)
The new government wants your help in shaping its new environment policy to preserve nature and manage biodiversity. Farming Today reports on a deadly virus that is wiping out Pacific Oysters in Whitstable, off the north Kent Coast, and we take a snapshot of what's currently being harvested across the country as the busiest time of the farming calendar begins.
Presenter: Charlotte Smith; Producer: Martin Poyntz-Roberts.
MON 05:57 Weather (b00t3vky)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 06:00 Today (b00t3cql)
Morning news and current affairs with Sarah Montague and Evan Davis, including:
07:50 Will new banking rules help small business?
08:10 Analysis of the fallout from publication of 90,000 secret UK military logs.
08:30 The man who tracked down Khmer Rouge prison chief Comrade Duch.
MON 09:00 The House I Grew Up In (b00t3vl0)
Series 4
Colin Blakemore
Neurobiologist Professor Colin Blakemore was a war baby brought up in devastated Coventry. His two-up two-down home had the first TV in the street on which he lived next door to relatives and a family of ten. As an only child, his parents were able to cash in an insurance policy of £16 which enabled him to go to the local grammar school where he proved himself to be more of an artist and actor than a scientist.
Producer: Smita Patel.
MON 09:30 Alan Johnson: Failed Rock Star (b00t3vl2)
Episode 2
Ex Home Secretary Alan Johnson goes in search of the life he thought he nearly had: as a rock star. In the 1960s Alan Johnson was in a band ("The Area") that cut a single but couldn't get it released. He gave music up for a career that took him from Postman to Union Leader to The Cabinet. So what has he missed out on? Does the fame of being a senior government minister compare in any way with that of being in a successful band.
In this series he meets five people who tasted the fame he craved. Each of the warm and engaging interviews reveal something different about life in music and the truth behind the myths.
In Episode two Alan meets Chris Spedding - a guitarist who has played with many of the biggest names in rock but who, except for one top ten hit, has nearly always managed to avoid the limelight himself. He was on Top of The Pops - but sometimes hidden inside a Womble outfit. Alan and Chris discuss what the rock and roll life is like when you're not that famous.
MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b00t3t90)
Jake Adelstein - Tokyo Vice
Episode 1
It's never a smart idea to get on the bad side of the Yamagushi-gumi, Japan's largest organized crime group. But when Jake Adelstein, a student from New Jersey, decides to join Japan's largest daily newspaper as a crime reporter, it isn't long before his investigations earn him some powerful enemies.
Jack Klaff reads this gritty memoir by Jake Adelstein.
Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall Productions for BBC Radio 4.
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00t3t92)
Presented by Bidisha. Are women getting the most from new phone technology? How do men and women use phone apps differently? We look at Argentina which has become the first country in Latin America to legalise same-sex marriage. How significant is this decision? The novelist Barbara Kingsolver talks about her range Prize-winning book 'The Lacuna' and the "green granny" Barbara Walmsley gives tips on thrift.
MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00t3t94)
Writing the Century 14: A Burden to Strangers
Episode 1
The series which explores the 20th century through the diaries and correspondence of real people, returns with "A Burden to Strangers" by Steve Gough. Inspired by the diaries of Rachel Minshall, a spirited and politically active octogenarian who lived alone in the Welsh Valleys during the 1980s.
Rachel . . . . . Margaret John
Jean . . . . . Menna Trussler
Tom . . . . . Bernard Lloyd
Curate . . . . .Mark Carey
Glyn . . . . . John Cording
Original music composed by Nicolai Abrahamsen.
Produced and Directed by Peter Leslie Wild.
MON 11:00 The Graduate (b00t3vl4)
Episode 1
Jonathan, Mohsin, Caroline, and Fiona are four graduates from Leeds University and Leeds Metropolitan University who completed their degrees in June last year. They had studied hard and paid there fees, and were ready to begin the search for that elusive first job. But, along with over 300,000 other graduate hopefuls, they were joining the job market in the midst of a recession and when the number of students going to university was at the highest it had ever been.
From handing out CVs, applying for work experience and signing on, to returning home, dealing with rejection and, in some cases, finding work, Sarfraz Manzoor pieces their year together.
This programme follows the group in their first six months as graduates. Like their peers, our graduates believed that a degree would be an investment for their futures, with higher salaries and rapid career progression being the expected returns. But will their much coveted degree certificate be a stepping stone to a job, or is it time for them to revaluate this traditional narrative, and reconsider why they went to university in the first place?
In addition to their encounters and thoughts, Sarfraz Manzoor offers insights into the graduate labour market. For example, he hears how important graduates are for the growth of specialist markets in the UK, yet questions whether they are, in fact, up to the task: one company reveals that out of 2000 applications, they were unable to find 20 suitable candidates.
Combining first-hand testimony with wider analysis, Sarfraz Manzoor explores the genuine experience of today's graduate, the impact they have on the economy and society, and what their futures may hold.
Produced by Katie Burningham
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 11:30 Bleak Expectations (b00d0yhx)
Series 2
A Recovery All Made Miserable
The thrilling Victorian comic epic sees young Pip nursed to health by the Reverend Fecund and his daughter Ripely, but why must her face remain hidden? Witness the horrors the rural poor in the stricken parish of Poverty Saint Mary.
But will Pip choose to fight against the injustice of it all in Parliament, where the walls are soaked in brandy, and so are the MPs, or will he follow his heart, just as soon as he can work out what it is saying to him. Meanwhile Harry has developed the steam powered Pippa detector. But will it work?
Mark Evans's epic comedy in the style of Charles Dickens.
Volume Two, Chapter the Third: A Recovery All Made Miserable
Sir Philip...........................Richard Johnson
Mr Benevolent/Sourquil............Anthony Head
Young Pip..................................Tom Allen
Reverend Godly Fecund..........David Mitchell
Sternbeater...................Geoffrey Whitehead
Harry Biscuit......................James Bachman
Ripely Fecund......................Sarah Hadland
Pippa........................................Susy Kane
Sundry MPs..............................Mark Evans
Producer: Gareth Edwards
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2008.
MON 12:00 You and Yours (b00t3t96)
Over the past few weeks Julian has been speaking to the bosses of some of Britain's biggest supermarkets. Today we speak to Mark Price, Managing Director of Waitrose, the chain which is rumoured to be planning to buy the Eat chain of cafes and sells its products in twenty-five countries.
MON 12:57 Weather (b00t3t98)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 13:00 World at One (b00t3t9b)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.
MON 13:30 Quote... Unquote (b00t3vl6)
Nigel Rees chairs the quotations quiz with Dr Phil Hammond, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Miles Jupp and Robert Lacey. From July 2010.
MON 14:00 The Archers (b00t385w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Drama (b00t3vl8)
A Bridge to the Stars
By Henning Mankell
Dramatised by John Retallack
Young Joel, living alone with his lonely father, heads out at night in an icy cold Northern Swedish town to search for a dog he has glimpsed "heading for a star". He finds new friends, cruelty and a perilous ascent in his winter of discontent and growing up.
Joel Gustafson ..... Ryan Watson
Older Joel Gustafson ..... Jack Klaff
Samuel Gustafson ..... Paul Hilton
Rolf von Swallow ... Toby Graham
Gertrud 'No-Nose' ... Margaret Robertson
Simon Windstorm ..... Sean Baker
Sara ..... Alison Pettitt
Otto ..... Jacob Theato
Director ..... David Hunter
This icy tale of a young boy's quest for a different sort of life is based on the novel of the same name by Henning Mankell, the celebrated author of the Kurt Wallander detective stories. Originally dramatised by John Retallack for the National Theatre's CONNECTIONS programme it was subsequently rewritten for radio.
MON 15:00 Archive on 4 (b00t32rs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Saturday]
MON 15:45 Britain on the Bottle: Alcohol and the State (b00t3t9d)
Habitual Drunkards and the Asylum
Mark Whitaker focuses on a new sort of panic that swept the nation at the very end of the 19th century - a panic about the number of 'habitual drunkards' in the country and the impact they were having.
This was the time of pioneering social research by the likes of Booth and Rowntree, and also of a new belief in the ability of government to intervene to change social conditions. Allied to this was a growing medical confidence that addiction to alcohol was a disease that could be isolated and treated - and a new term was invented, 'inebriety'.
Public and political opinion on the matter was hugely influenced by the publication by the Daily Telegraph in 1891 of a long series of letters giving first-hand accounts of alcohol addiction. They were revelatory, and the paper called them a "sad mirror of the National Sin". There was particular concern over the extent of female drunkenness, and this fed into fears about a deterioration of the 'national stock'.
A leading medical figure argued that "the wide-spread prevalence of alcoholism among women, especially during the reproductive period of life, is one of the important factors making for racial decay".
Such fears came to a head when many young men proved insufficiently healthy to fight in the Boer War. In 1898 Parliament passed an Inebriates Act that required local authorities to set up special 'reformatories' as an alternative to prison for those arrested time after time for being drunk and disorderly. Courts could sentence people to them for up to three years. The shift was from condemnation to cure: but the reformatories couldn't survive after the outbreak if war in 1914.
Producer: Mark Whitaker
A Square Dog production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 16:00 The Food Programme (b00t3368)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b00t3xw7)
Islam & Music
In Beyond Belief, Ernie Rea and his guests explore the place of faith in our complex world.
Ernie is joined by three guests who discuss how their own religious tradition affects their values and outlook on the world, often revealing hidden and contradictory truths.
In this programme, Ernie and his guests discuss whether there is a ban on listening and playing music in Islam.
Producer: Karen Maurice.
MON 17:00 PM (b00t3t9g)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00t3t9j)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (b00t3ybg)
Series 53
Episode 6
Back for a second week at the Cambridge Corn Exchange, regulars Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined on the panel by David Mitchell, with Jack Dee in the chair. Piano accompaniment is provided by Colin Sell. Producer - Jon Naismith.
MON 19:00 The Archers (b00t3t9l)
Brenda's still troubled by Lilian's attitude, but Tom thinks she might be paranoid. He's looking at his pie questionnaires, and they wish each other luck for the rest of the day.
Lilian resents Brenda's efficiency in the office, telling her she's not answering the phone correctly. To Brenda's annoyance, Lilian telephones the office later to check up on her.
Susan's surprised to see Shula filling in for Jill at the shop. She's worried Shula hasn't had any training. They comment on Joe's vegetable stall outside. Susan thinks he's got a nerve. He's only doing it to spite her and Lynda. She notices carrots in Shula's bag and is cross when Shula admits they're from Joe. The more people encourage Joe, the longer he's going to stay. Shula incurs Susan's wrath again by trying to sell Pat a book of stamps - no-one is allowed into her space!
Kathy's confides to Pat. She's relieved that Shula's organising an outing for Kenton's birthday. It means she's not left trying to play happy families. She's not sure she can trust herself to keep up appearances any more. Just when Jamie needs a father figure, Kenton's not around. She wants to help Jamie but wishes she knew how.
MON 19:15 Front Row (b00t3t9n)
Oliver Stone reviewed; crime writer RJ Ellory
Director Oliver Stone's long-standing interest in political leaders resulted in the Hollywood films JFK, Nixon and W, about George W. Bush, and also a documentary centred on Fidel Castro. His new film South of the Border is another political documentary, in which he interviews South American leaders including Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Stryker McGuire reviews.
R J Ellory has just won won the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award for his book A Simple Act of Violence. Ellory was born in Birmingham but sets his fiction in the United States. He discusses his childhood as an orphan, and the sources for his writing.
In a new three-part TV documentary series, Our Drugs War, award-winning filmmaker Angus MacQueen investigates the global story of drugs from the streets of Edinburgh to the poppy fields of Afghanistan. Angus MacQueen discusses the series, which examines the consequences of the war on drugs, as well as the drugs themselves.
The UK Film Council and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council both face the axe, as the Department of Culture, Media and Sport reduces the number of bodies it funds. Mark reports on the possible effects of this decision, announced earlier today.
Producer Timothy Prosser.
MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00t3t94)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 Hitler's Muslim Legions (b00t3ybj)
It was after Germany's invasion of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union in 1941 that Hitler's attention was first drawn to the potential for Muslim recruits to swell his ranks. For the many thousands of captured Soviet Muslims, the opportunity to serve in the Wehrmacht offered an escape from the brutality and starvation of the prison camps. Elsewhere, a major recruitment drive amongst Bosnian Muslims led to tens of thousands signing up for the Waffen-SS. Formed into exclusive Muslim units, these men fought in some of the most brutal campaigns of the entire war.
This programme investigates why Hitler and Himmler apparently cast aside their Nazi ideal of an Aryan master race, justifying the admission of Islam into their ranks. It asks what attracted these men to fight for the Third Reich, how they were treated by their German officers and how they conducted themselves in the bedlam of war. Were they hopeless soldiers who committed unspeakable atrocities; or did they fight bravely for the Fuhrer?
We examine the fate of these Muslims at the end of the war. With Hitler dead and the Third Reich defeated there was nothing to protect them, and most were killed as traitors.
Presented by Julian O'Halloran.
Producer: Jennifer Chryss
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (b00t2mhq)
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is a strange place. An island and a commonwealth, it exists in an uneasy relationship with its massive neighbour, the US. All of its political powers, and much of its government cash, come from Washington, but Puerto Ricans can't vote in US federal elections. And now an economic crisis generated in the US has come home to roost on the island. Puerto Rico's Republican governor has announced a wave of layoffs of public sector workers, along with deep cuts in services. Students responded by staging the longest ever university strike in North American history. And this dispute plays into the bitter arguments over the island's status. Should it seek independence, and the right to make its own decisions? Or should it push for more integration into the US, so at least it has some say in its future?
Maria Hinojosa, the distinguished journalist and presenter of Latino USA, travels to the island to examine its future through the voices of young people. She meets the students who so furiously defied the governor. She hears from young activists who are pushing for independence. And she seeks out one of the many young Puerto Ricans who are signing up to serve in the US military - and who see their primary loyalty on the mainland.
MON 21:00 Material World (b00t2xct)
Quentin Cooper presents his weekly digest of science in and behind the headlines. This week: seeing through clothes without getting personal, earworms you can't get out of your head, identifying an Anzac hero, how we want to be seen in a social network, and closing in on the mysterious Higgs boson.
MON 21:30 The House I Grew Up In (b00t3vl0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:58 Weather (b00t3t9q)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b00t3tfn)
A mass of leaked American military documents paint a grim picture of the conflict. What effect will it have on the mission?
The Government proposes big police reforms but will they work?
The project recording the sounds of everyday life.
With Ritula Shah.
MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00t3tfq)
Tishani Doshi - The Pleasure Seekers
Episode 1
Poet, journalist and dancer, Tishani Doshi, has a Welsh mother and a Gujurati father. This twin inheritance is at the heart of her comic, lyrical and tenderly written first novel about four generations of the Patel-Joneses, who live in a little house with orange and black gates next door to the Punjab Women's Association in Madras. It's an epic story full of vividly drawn characters, whose private lives are played out against the backdrop of the public events of the twentieth century, as the family wrestles with what it means to call somewhere home.
This first episode begins in August 1968 when Babo, eldest son of Prem Kumar, becomes the first member of the Patel family to leave Madras and fly to London to further his education. On the night before the flight his father has a terrible premonition of trouble, in the form of a dream in which all his family is lost. Babo's mother, meanwhile, has more practical worries on her mind and gives strict instructions to her son about his obligations as a vegan and a follower of the Jain religion. Babo must resist the temptations of meat, alcohol and, most importantly, women.
How shocked his parents would be, then, to see their son, four months later, drinking Peppermint Schnapps, eating poached eggs and making love to Sian Jones, a cream-skinned girl from Wales, with whom Babo falls head over heels in love with, from the moment he sees the twirl of red ribbon in her hair.
The reader is Indira Varma, who appeared recently in the 6 part BBC drama Luther. Indira's previous television and film roles include Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love in 1997, and Bride and Prejudice in 2004. In 2006 she played Suzie Costello in Torchwood.
Abridged and Directed by Nigel Lewis
Produced by Kate McAll.
MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (b00t20rm)
Chris Ledgard presents the first in a new series of Word of Mouth exploring the different ways in which deaf people communicate: sign language, lip reading and also speaking. One in seven of us in the UK is deaf or hard of hearing (according to figures produced by the Medical Research Council).
For many deaf people, English isn't their first language - they grow up speaking sign language. Chris talks to the artist and writer Louise Stern, who speaks in sign language and is the fourth generation to be born deaf in her family, via her long-time collaborator and interpreter, Oliver Pouliot.
Reporter Sally Heaven visits the University of Bristol Centre for Deaf Studies - the only one in the UK - to find out more about the intricacies of British Sign Language from Linda Day and Rachel Sutton-Spence.
And Chris meets Charlie Swinbourne, a deaf journalist and scriptwriter who grew up in a deaf family and describes himself as "hard of hearing". He speaks and uses sign language, and so he moves between both the deaf and hearing worlds.
Producer Beth O'Dea.
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00t3th0)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Susan Hulme.
TUESDAY 27 JULY 2010
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b00t38wv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b00t3t90)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00t38yv)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00t3911)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00t392x)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b00t394q)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00t39c4)
with the Revd Dr Michael Piret, Dean of Divinity and Chaplain of Magdalen College, Oxford.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b00t39g9)
Farmers are warned to be on their guard after being told that thieves are stealing tractors to order. Valuable machinery is being targeted and is often turning up overseas. Sarah Falkingham catches up with Gareth Barlow as he continues his journey to becoming a farmer, and Anna Hill joins the pea harvest in Norfolk.
Presented by Anna Hill. Produced by Martin Poyntz-Roberts.
TUE 06:00 Today (b00t3cqn)
Morning news and current affairs with Sarah Montague and Evan Davis including:
07:40 Are we being misled on broadband speeds?
08:10 More on Wikileaks' revelations about the war in Afghanistan
08:23 After BP's £11bn loss, is Tony Hayward's pension justified?
TUE 09:00 Inside the Ethics Committee (b00t3z65)
Series 6
Childhood Illness
Joan Bakewell is joined by a panel of experts to discuss the case of Tanya who is nine years old and seriously ill. Her family don't want her to know what's wrong with her.
As the months go by the medical team become increasingly worried. Tanya's health is deteriorating and she desperately needs medical treatment. But the family disagree - they don't believe medicines will help.
What should the medical team do - can Tanya be given potentially life-saving treatment when her family don't agree? Does Tanya have the right to know what is wrong with her? And as she grows into her teens, to what degree should Tanya decide her treatment?
Producer: Beth Eastwood.
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b00t3t9s)
Jake Adelstein - Tokyo Vice
Episode 2
Jake Adelstein seeks advice from a legendary crime writer on how to approach his new job on Japan's largest daily newspaper. He quickly realises that life covering the organised crime beat is likely to be anything but straightforward.
Jack Klaff reads this gritty memoir by Jake Adelstein.
Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall Productions for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00t3t9v)
With Jenni Murray. Victoria Wood talks about her recent trip to Laos to learn about mine clearance and her new film celebrating the untold story of Morcambe and Wise. The rise of the hip and trendy jumble sale. The Asian theatre company Tamasha is celebrating its twenty first year. And death by stoning - what is the current world situation?
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00t4nsn)
Writing the Century 14: A Burden to Strangers
Episode 2
Steve Gough's drama based on the diaries of Rachel Minshall, a spirited elderly lady living in the Welsh valleys in the 1980s.
Today: Rachel is shocked by a decision made by her London-based brother.
Rachel . . . . . Margaret John
Jean . . . . . Menna Trussler
Jenny . . . . . Bethan Walker
Tom . . . . . Bernard Lloyd
Dr Edwards . . . . . Richard Elfyn
Margaret . . . . . Jennifer Hill
Original music composed by Nicolai Abrahamsen.
Produced and Directed by Peter Leslie Wild.
TUE 11:00 Saving Species (b00t3z67)
Series 1
Episode 17
17/40. So, how did our British Seabirds do this year? Since the launch of Saving Species in April, we have been following two breeding colonies in Scotland. We're keeping in touch with the seabird biologists and we'll bring you a snap shot of how this year's season has been from Sutor and the Isle of May. It looks good this year for Puffins, Kittiwakes and Shags - but remains dire for Fulmars. Although we won't be able to give you the whole picture until the Biologists have crunched their data later in the autumn, we do have an interview with Francis Daunt and the wonderful pictures brought back by shags wearing cameras. How can pictures taken by seabirds help bioloists understand the ocean. We'll find out.
We'll be on the Somerset Levels trying to spot the Little Bittern, a rare heron, its very presence a monument we're told to the success of landscape conservation.
And to Dubai where Miles Barton from the Natural History Unit reports from the desert and the efforts to save species such as the Spiny Lizard, or Dub!
There will be other stories too from around the world with Kelvin Boot giving us an update on wildlife making the news - he'll be live in the studio.
Presented by Brett Westwood
Produced by Kirsty Henderson
Series Editor Julian Hector.
TUE 11:30 With Great Pleasure (b00t3z69)
Julie Welch
In 1969, on The Observer, Julie Welch became the first woman to report on a football match in a national paper. This created some controversy but she has made an art of turning challenge into success and has gone on to build an enviable reputation as a sports writer, novelist and scriptwriter for film and television. In this programme she chooses a selection of writing which illustrates one of the main themes of her life so far - feet. The readers are Dominic Jephcott and Stella Gonet.
Producer: Christine Hall.
TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b00t3t9x)
Call You and Yours with Julian Worricker. An opportunity to contribute your views to the programme. Email youandyours@bbc.co.uk or call 03700 100 444 (lines open at
10am)
Could the police get by with less money? It seems inevitable that they will have to because the government has promised to cut government departmental spending by upto 40%.
In the last 15 years while crime has halved the police budget has doubled to nearly £14 billion; has the drop in crime reported by the British Crime Survey come about because the police are now better resourced than ever or is society changing and with it the nature of crime?
The crimes we fear the most are crimes of violence and crimes against property but our chances of suffering from either has dropped away year on year for the last fifteen years to the point that the probability of your home being burgled in the coming year is 2%.
Although 'more bobbies on the beat' is a consistent refrain from the public, research suggests that the impact of police walking neighbourhood streets has a marginal impact on crimes and criminal behaviour.
With the government's pressing need to cut public expenditure, would now be a good time to look more critically at the funding and function of the police?
TUE 12:57 Weather (b00t3t9z)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b00t3tb1)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.
TUE 13:30 Robert Winston's Musical Analysis (b00t3z6c)
Series 2
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Professor Robert Winston brings together his expertise and experience in science and medicine with his overriding passion for music, to explore the relationship between the music and the medical conditions of composers who suffered mental and physical illness.
Rachmaninoff's second Piano Concerto has become one of classical music's most enduring hits, but it was almost never composed at all. The composer suffered an extreme creative block following the catastrophic premiere of his first symphony. After three years of silence, a hypnotherapist, Dr. Dahl, effected a cure and rescued his career. Prof. Winston also investigates evidence that a medical condition was responsible for Rachmaninoff's famously large hand-span, with pianist Peter Donohoe demonstrating the difficulty this presents for would-be performers of his music.
Producer: Chris Taylor.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b00t3t9l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b00t3z6f)
Humanly Possible
by Sarah Daniels.
Alongside the current series of Inside The Ethics Committee, the Afternoon Play presents the third of three dramas which get inside the emotional realities of dealing with ethical dilemmas.
Two babies spend the same day on the same Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Their cases are very different and entirely unrelated. Until the feelings and decisions of one set of parents begin to irrevocably affect the other.
Jasmine ..... Farzana dua Elahe
Sebastian ..... Michael Shelford
Dominic ..... Ewan Bailey
Sophie ..... Zita Sattar
Brigid ..... Joanna Monro
Lucy ..... Federay Holmes
Ben ..... Tony Bell
Researcher: Alison Griffiths
Directed by Jonquil Panting
Inside The Ethics Committee, presented by Joan Bakewell, continues on Tuesday 3rd August at
09.00 and
21.00.
The other plays in the series are 'The Understanding' by P G Morgan, and 'Gift' by Philip Palmer.
TUE 15:00 Home Planet (b00t3z6r)
How does light affect the human brain: does it reach it or is it blocked out by the skull? Can people survive a lifetime without light?
A listener wants to know what the Pioneer and Voyager space programmes can tell us about the movement of man-made objects in space, and we find out whether anything can escape the clutches of a black hole.
There's more on the fate of our insect population and the story of a moth that bites. And fans of magpies will be pleased to hear how one listener thinks that they play a key part in the story of evolution!
Answering the questions this week are the ecologist Dr Lynn Dicks, the astronomer Dr Carolin Crawford and the biotechnician Professor Denis Murphy. All under the watchful eye of presenter Richard Daniel.
Contact:
Home Planet
BBC Radio 4
PO Box 3096
Brighton
BN1 1PL
Or email home.planet@bbc.co.uk
Or telephone: 08700 100 400
Producers: Nick Patrick and Toby Murcott
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00t3z7n)
Just William - Pursuin' Happiness
The Knight at Arms
He's back! Who? Just William.
Richmal Crompton's grubby, tousled, William Brown occupies his usual would-be-heroic starring role in three stories new to BBC Radio 4, brought to definitive life, as ever, by Martin Jarvis.
In this opening tale, William, inspired by his history teacher's accounts of medieval derring-do, sets out with his faithful squire Ginger to succour the oppressed. They come upon a beautiful damsel who is unquestionably oppressed, and therefore clearly in need of helpful succouring!
But as so often with William, things aren't quite what they seem.
Director: Pete Atkin
Producer: Rosalind Ayres
A Jarvis & Ayres Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:45 Britain on the Bottle: Alcohol and the State (b00t3tb3)
The Central Control Board of 1915
"Drink is doing us more damage in the War than all the German submarines put together", insisted Lloyd George in February 1915.
Continuing his history series on how British governments have approached the 'Drink Question', Mark Whitaker looks at the years of the First World War, when everything was determined by the needs of 'national efficiency'.
After a few months of war it became clear that Britain needed to make more munitions - and fast. But output was slowed down by the workers' drinking habits. "We are fighting German, Austrians and Drink", said Lloyd George as he embarked on a plan for the government to buy up the country's whole liquor trade.
But the Cabinet balked at the price. Instead a Central Control Board (CCB) was set up in 1915 with the power to take over the trade in areas of particular sensitivity to the war effort. The largest of these was Gretna-Carlisle, where a new national munitions factory was built.
The number of licences was drastically reduced: the beer was weakened: the sale of spirits limited: and pubs encouraged to provide food as well as drink. Newspapers called it "the largest social experiment of our time". A Carlisle vicar called state control "the dawning of a new era". It worked too. Convictions for drunkenness in CCB-controlled areas declined dramatically, and many began to think that nationalisation might finally be the solution to the 'Drink Question'.
Producer: Mark Whitaker
A Square Dog production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (b00t3zb4)
Chris Ledgard investigates the world of the inner monologue to find out how we talk to ourselves. Are the words we use internally the same as when we speak. Contributors include the author Tim Parks, whose books - such as Europa - often read like an internal discussion. His latest book recounts his efforts to overcome a debilitating illness, which he discovered was caused by too many words.
TUE 16:30 A Good Read (b00t3zb6)
Claire Fox and Lisa Appignanesi
Books about the American dream and civilisation.
Novelist and Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, Lisa Appignanesi and Claire Fox, director and founder of the Institute of Ideas join Sue MacGregor to discuss books by Willa Cather, John Armstrong and Joseph O'Neill
A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
Publisher: Virago Modern Classics
Netherland by Joseph O'Neill
Publisher: Fourth Estate
In Search of Civilisation - Remaking a tarnished idea by John Armstrong
Publisher: Penguin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2010.
TUE 17:00 PM (b00t3tb5)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00t3tb7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Cabin Pressure (b00lmcyc)
Series 2
Helsinki
Carolyn and her sister haven't spoken for fifteen years. Which is why Arthur has invited her to a party on board, together with 500 Euros-worth of smuggled orchids...
Meanwhile, Martin gets tangled up in some karate and a fishcake.
With special guest Alison Steadman.
Starring
Carolyn Knapp-Shappey ..... Stephanie Cole
1st Officer Douglas Richardson ..... Roger Allam
Capt. Martin Crieff ..... Benedict Cumberbatch
Arthur Shappey ..... John Finnemore
Ruth Gregson ..... Alison Steadman
Kieran Gregson ..... Matt Green
Milo ..... Simon Greenall
Written by John Finnemore
Produced & Directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for the BBC
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b00t3tb9)
Worried about finishing her grassland survey, Pip asks Ruth to lend a hand. But Ruth's busy milking. Pip needs the help now as she's volunteering at Arkwright Lake at the weekend. Ruth has a brainwave and asks bored Josh to help his sister. When Pip says she'll pay him he reluctantly agrees.
When they've finished the work, Josh confides that he thinks Jamie's got issues about his dad. There's stuff he still won't talk about. Pip thinks Josh is being a good mate to Jamie.
Eddie's talking to Joe at the vegetable stall, when two young New Zealand female sheep shearers arrive looking for somewhere to stay. Bert's told them there's a cheap campsite nearby, so Eddie shows them his. Unimpressed by his sales pitch, the girls say they'll stay one night and see how they feel in the morning. Joe's fed up they're not staying for the week, especially as his veg isn't selling too well.
Alysha calls at Keeper's Cottage for some milk. She says Bert had warned them off the campsite, but now they're set up they think it's a nice little site. They might stay a bit longer after all. Delighted Eddie welcomes them to Ambridge.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b00t3tbc)
M Night Shyamalan; Booker longlist; Gainsbourg biopic
Mark Lawson talks to director and screenwriter M. Night Shyamalan about creating his first 3D film, The Last Airbender, based on a well-known cartoon series, and coping with bad reviews.
Andrew Motion, chair of the judges of this year's Man Booker Prize, announces the longlist of novels in contention for the prize and recalls months of intense reading.
A new biopic of Serge Gainsbourg, the celebrated French singer-songwriter, actor and director follows his life from his childhood in Nazi-occupied Paris to his success in the 1960s and his death in 1991. Writer and critic Sarah Dunant delivers her verdict.
Writer Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat) joins Mark to review Twenty One, an exhibition at Harewood House in Yorkshire. The exhibition celebrates the twenty-first birthday of the Terrace Gallery, a contemporary art space opened at Harewood in 1989. Twenty-one artists, writers, curators and performers have been asked to respond to the collections in the house and gardens, throwing new light on the objects and locations selected. Participating artists include Mark Wallinger, Neeta Madahar and Eleanor Moreton.
Producer Ella-mai Robey.
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00t4nsn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b00t3zb8)
Protecting the vulnerable
A special court system is supposed to protect the interests of the vulnerable and the elderly. It's appointed thousands of 'deputies' - or guardians - to ensure their money is properly managed. The system was reformed three years ago - but have the changes worked?
There have been allegations the system is slow, bureaucratic and open to abuse. In some cases lawyers are appointed to oversee people's financial arrangements - and families claim they charge excessive fees. In other cases, it's a relative who's appointed as a deputy - but are there adequate safeguards to ensure they're not misappropriating the money? Fran Abrams investigates cases where the system has left some vulnerable people worse off.
Producer: Samantha Fenwick.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b00t3zbb)
In the latest in the 'Can't See, Will Cook' series, Richard Lane gets Ben Merrick to cook up a Thai chicken curry and is introduced to the perfect garlic peeler.
Mani Djazmi presents and asks Caroline Dewing from Vodafone about the latest news on Wayfinder Access and plans for what is going to happen to blind subscribers when the service is discontinued.
TUE 21:00 Inside the Ethics Committee (b00t3z65)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 21:45 The Test of Time (b00mfhww)
Egyptian Cooling Methods
Professor Graeme Maidment explores the earliest methods of surviving a hot climate. Does ancient Egypt hold the key to an urgent modern need for sustainable cooling?
He goes to an unlikely place to find out - the Bluewater shopping centre just off the M25 in Kent.
Five scientists look back to their ancient forebears and examine how much of that early knowledge still stands the test of time.
Producer: Erika Wright
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2009
TUE 21:58 Weather (b00t3tbf)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b00t3tbh)
Hans Blix tells the Chilcott enquiry why he didn't accept the case for war in Iraq.
India awaits David Cameron's mission for a new relationship.
The Surveillance Commissioner's report : are public authorities abusing their powers?
with Ritula Shah.
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00t5kkw)
Tishani Doshi - The Pleasure Seekers
Episode 2
Tishani Doshi's comic yet tender story of four generations of the Patel-Joneses, inspired by her own Welsh-Gujurati background.
Babo has left his family behind in Madras to go to London to further his studies. Despite being a vegan and a teetotaller, he has eaten meat and drunk Peppermint Schnapps - worse than both of these things though, in his mother's eyes, he's fallen in love - with a Welsh girl. At home in Madras, in the house with orange and black gates, and still unaware of this news, Trishala worries about her son all those thousands of miles away in England. Meanwhile, in London, Babo and Sian's secret relationship grows stronger and more passionate every day. Then, on a trip out, they bump into some old friends of Babo's parents who decide that it's time for the Patels learn about their son's deception. A telegram is sent.
The reader is Indira Varma who appeared recently in the 6 part BBC drama Luther. In 2006 she played Suzie Costello Torchwood.
Abridged and directed by Nigel Lewis.
Produced by Kate McAll.
TUE 23:00 Happy Tuesdays (b00t3zbd)
Everyone Quite Likes Justin
By Justin Moorhouse and Jim Poyser
Justin starts dating again but everything seems to have changed since he last tried. Instead he manages to get embroiled with toy trains, Phantom of the Opera and a greyhound that will never win a race.
Justin ..... Justin Moorhouse
Ray ..... Paul Copley
Gran ..... Anne Reid
Lisa ..... Katherine Kelly
Bryn ..... Lloyd Langford
Tanya ..... Sally Lindsay
Directed by Steven Canny
In one version of his life, Justin is a well-known local Manchester radio DJ who is successful, funny, and stopped in the street by adoring fans. He's the man who has everything. In another version he's a DJ in a slightly shabby local radio station who gets hassled by the occasional oddball on the street. And he's the man who hopes for everything. The truth lies somewhere inbetween.
And at home? Well, naturally, his private life is chaotic. His wife has left him, taking custody of his 8-year-old son Justin jnr, and is in the process of taking him to the cleaners. So he's back on the market. As is his house - so he's currently living in his father-in-law's spare room in Bury. The only person who understands him is his Gran, living in luxury in an old folk's home in Warrington. Oh, and his producer Bryn but this might not be a good thing.
Despite all this mess, Justin always remains positive. Every new day is a new opportunity, "When life throws you lemons, make lemonade".
Recorded in front of an audience in Manchester.
Everyone Quite Likes Justin is written by Justin Moorhouse and Jim Poyser. Justin is a comedian who sells out gigs across the country. He has also written plays and a previous show for Radio 4. Jim Poyser is a writer and producer of enormous experience in both radio and television.
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00t3tgr)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Sean Curran.
WEDNESDAY 28 JULY 2010
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b00t38wx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b00t3t9s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00t38yx)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00t3913)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00t392z)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b00t394s)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00t39c6)
with the Revd Dr Michael Piret, Dean of Divinity and Chaplain of Magdalen College, Oxford.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b00t39gc)
The advertising watchdog has ruled an ad about cruelty in abbatoirs made misleading claims. Anna Hill hears from the Advertising Standards Authority and the group behind the campaign, Animal Aid. They say they stand by their assertions, based on undercover filming. Anna meets a Suffolk farmer harvesting wheat and barley for well known brands of bread and beer. And, why this year hay is valuable enough to attract the eye of thieves.
WED 06:00 Today (b00t3cqq)
Morning news and current affairs with John Humphrys and Evan Davis, including:
07:30 What is "normal" in mental health?
08:10 Prime Minister David Cameron.
08:30 Are more Afghan civilians being killed than we hear about?
WED 09:00 Midweek (b00t4pgp)
This week Libby Purves is joined by Dan Edelstyn, Linda Marlowe, Kurt Jackson and Gregg Wallace.
Dan Edelstyn is a filmmaker whose discovery of his grandmother's diaries leads him to uncover his family's long-lost vodka factory in the Ukraine. He attempts to revive the brand, 'Zorokovich 1917' and bring prosperity back to his great-grandparents' village by entering the cut-throat world of international business. The 24-part series of short films How to Re-Estabish a Vodka Empire can be seen on website Babelgum and next year on More4.
Linda Marlowe is an actress and performer best known for her collaboration with Steven Berkoff and for shows including 'Oh! Calcutta!', 'Berkoff's Women' and 'The World's Wife'. Her latest show is 'My Hamlet' which she is performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It consists of Linda, Shakespeare's greatest text and six brilliant puppeteers from Fingers Theatre, Georgia. She plays Sarah, a cleaner who finds herself playing the actor's definitive role, as a company of puppets come to life around her.
Kurt Jackson is a landscape painter and environmentalist. He has been the resident artist for the Glastonbury Festival for the past twenty years and was the Greenpeace artist on the Rainbow Warrior. He has a new exhibition, 'The Dart' in the autumn at the Lemon Street Gallery, Truro which will show paintings and sculptures created on a journey along the river Dart in Devon, inspired by the stories his father told him about his childhood there during the war. A book Kurt Jackson - A New Genre of Landscape Painting is published by Lund Humphries.
Gregg Wallace has been in the food business all of his working life, starting off in Convent Garden selling fruit and veg. He is probably best known as co-presenter of BBC One's highly successful 'Master Chef' and 'Celebrity Masterchef'. As a self confessed pudding addict he has compiled a book of desserts called 'Gregg's favourite puddings' which is published by Octopus Books.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b00t3tbk)
Jake Adelstein - Tokyo Vice
Episode 3
Crime reporter Jake Adelstein begins to uncover the history of the Japanese mafia. He is amazed at how they seem to operate in broad daylight, and that their activities affect a broad range of businesses in the modern Japanese economy.
Jack Klaff reads this revealing memoir by Jake Adelstein.
Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall Productions for BBC Radio 4.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00t3tbm)
Today Woman's Hour is devoted to the women who don't want to be mothers. Jenni Murray will explore the reasons behind this rising trend and talk to childfree guests about the pressures they face, the rewards they enjoy and how they deal with the question of regret.
WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00t4nx2)
Writing the Century 14: A Burden to Strangers
Episode 3
Steve Gough's drama based on the diaries of Rachel Minshall, a spirited elderly lady living in the Welsh valleys in the 1980s.
Today: Rachel takes a nostalgic trip to her childhood home.
Rachel . . . . . Margaret John
Jean . . . . . Menna Trussler
Jenny . . . . . Bethan Walker
Tom . . . . . Bernard Lloyd
Mrs Lyons . . . . . Jennifer Hill
Curate . . . . . Mark Carey
Original music composed by Nicolai Abrahamsen.
Produced and Directed by Peter Leslie Wild.
WED 11:00 Britain's Black Revolutionary (b00t4q0j)
There are still few black leaders in British political life - but life-long trade unionist Bill Morris finds that as far back as the London of 1848 the son of slave was leading one of this country’s most powerful political movements.
Few of us have heard of William Cuffay, a physically deformed tailor who lived in Soho. And yet, he was notorious in his day, to the extent that the political class of the 1840s dubbed him "the pore old blackymore rogue" as he went on to lead a political movement so powerful that Britain cowered behind its shuttered windows and the massed ranks of its armies.
Just as the thrones of Europe were yet again tumbling to revolution, the 1848 Chartist uprising in favour of democracy and equality in London threatened the status quo in Britain. History records that an articulate democrat, William Cuffay, emerged as a key organiser of the mass demonstration that faced the Duke of Wellington's army in the demand for the vote. Revolution threatened the capital - but who was the diminutive tailor holding such sway?
Lord Morris follows a predecessor in the labour movement through his fascinating story - from son of a St Kitts slave to political leader, and ultimately into exile at Her Majesty's pleasure in Tasmania.
Producer: Philip Sellars
First broadcast on Radio 4 in 2010.
WED 11:30 The Castle (b00t4q0l)
Series 3
The Snowballs of Hell
Hie ye The Castle, a rollicking sitcom set way back then, starring James Fleet ("The Vicar Of Dibley", "Four Weddings & A Funeral") and Neil Dudgeon ("Life Of Riley")
In this episode there's romance in the air for Charlotte as a vicious gang war breaks out in the Castle. Meanwhile, De Warenne discovers the fondue and declares martial law.
Cast:
Sir John Woodstock ....... James Fleet
Sir William De Warenne ....... Neil Dudgeon
Lady Anne Woodstock ........ Martha Howe-Douglas
Cardinal Duncan ........ Jonathan Kydd
Lady Charlotte ........ Ingrid Oliver
Master Henry Woodstock ........ Steven Kynman
Merlin ........ Lewis Macleod
Written by Kim Fuller & Paul Alexander
Music by Guy Jackson
Producer/Director: David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:00 You and Yours (b00t3tbp)
Winifred Robinson speaks to care Minister Paul Burstow.
Remember the Brixton Pound, the Lewes Pound and the Stroud Pound? We get the latest on local currencies.
We speak to one university Vice Chancellor who earns up to £205,000 a year. How can large salaries be justified at a time when higher education faces significant funding cuts and a handful of universities are already classified as "at risk" and in danger of financial collapse?
Jane Platt, Chief Executive of National Savings & Investments explains why they have withdrawn their last inflation beating savings products.
And, do you know your lipopeptides from your pro-retinol complex? We begin our series on the world of jargon with a look at the words used by the cosmetics industry to encourage us to part with our pounds.
WED 12:57 Weather (b00t3tbr)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b00t3tbt)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.
WED 13:30 The Media Show (b00t7f9g)
What difference can Richard Desmond make to Channel Five and how long could it take for him to turn the broadcaster around? That is the discussion between its first chief executive David Elstein and media analyst Matthew Horsman, with contributions from Chris Hayward of advertising group ZenithOptimedia.
The future of OFCOM is under review this summer, a year after David Cameron singled it out as a quango which "as we know it will cease to exist" under a Conservative government. Its chief executive Ed Richards discusses its - and his - future with Steve.
And culture minister Ed Vaizey explains the rationale behind this week's announcement that the UK Film Council is to close. Will the broadcasters, through BBC Films and Film Four, be the winners?
WED 14:00 The Archers (b00t3tb9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b00d75v3)
A Helping Hand
A dark comedy by Mike Stott, starring Shobna Gulati and Anne Reid.
A drunken football supporter has been murdered on the Leeds to Manchester train, and Dave "Fat Boy" Davis is charged with solving the crime. When a strange pink letter arrives at the station, WPC Djamila Khan is asked to bring in its author, Molly Pickles.
Molly Pickles ..... Anne Reid
Djamila Kahn ..... Shobna Gulati
DS Dave Davis ..... John Lightbody
Darren Butterworth ..... Mark Rice Oxley
Quentin-Mann Rogers ..... Rupert Degas
Director: Lissa Evans
Producer: Jo Wheeler
An Above The Title production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b00t4q0q)
A panel of guests answer calls on financial issues.
WED 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00t4ndn)
Just William - Pursuin' Happiness
The Revenge
Written by Richmal Crompton, and read by Martin Jarvis.
William Brown, surprisingly perhaps, becomes a Boy Scout - something his family agrees to in the hope that it will keep him out of trouble. William's sense of honour means that he takes most seriously his obligation to perform a daily 'deed of kindness'.
But an encounter with a very small, extremely objectionable little boy tests his resolve to breaking point.
Director: Pete Atkin
Producer: Rosalind Ayres
A Jarvis & Ayres Production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 15:45 Britain on the Bottle: Alcohol and the State (b00t3tbw)
Improving the Pub
It seemed possible during the 1920s that the 'Drink Question' that had bedevilled British governments for so long might finally be about to be consigned to the past.
The fall in consumption - which had started during the First World War - continued throughout the decade, and political attention focused on why. This was when the Labour Party formed its first governments, and there were powerful socialist voices arguing for a full nationalisation of the drinks industry. This could be a route to weaning the working classes away from a product that was "a powerful weapon in the hands of the exploiters". George Bernard Shaw called liquor "a chloroform that allows the poor to endure the painful operation of living".
But while governments chose to sit on the fence during the 1920s, the brewing industry got busy. Led by people like Ernest Nevile, the head of Whitbread's, they set about designing and building a new type of pub - one that would attract a new middle class clientele. "The presence in public houses of people who will not tolerate insobriety makes excess unfashionable".
What were called 'improved pubs' - huge buildings with bars, restaurants, ball rooms, bowling greens and even tennis courts - sprung up in the new suburbs. When Nevile said "if I can cure drunkenness in the country in my time, that will satisfy me" he was talking business, not morality.
The programme also looks at the first attempts at a sociology of the pub, and what people wanted from it.
Producer: Mark Whitaker
A Square Dog production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b00t4q0s)
Oslo drug dealers - Choice
We are told that life presents us with myriad choices. Like products on a supermarket shelf, our jobs, our relationships, our bodies and our identities are all there for the choosing. We are encouraged to 'be ourselves', but the pressure to make those choices can lead to enormous anxiety. In a new study Renata Selacl researches dating sites, self help books and people's relationship to celebrity, and uncovers the complexities involved in the choices we make and how they often lead to disquiet. In Thinking Allowed on 28 July, Laurie Taylor explores whether we have too much choice in our lives.
Also, a new study from Norwegian Sociologist Sveinung Sandberg looks at the life skills that Oslo drug dealers acquire and explores whether operating from within a welfare state is very different from the street life of dealers in the USA.
Producer: Charlie Taylor.
WED 16:30 Case Notes (b00t4q0v)
Telemedicine
Telemedicine is bringing benefits to both patients and doctors in Wales. Now that the neurologist no longer has a two and a half hour drive each way from Swansea to Aberystwyth he can run clinics for his patients in mid Wales every six weeks rather than every three months. Instead the neurologist, Dr Hinds, links up to the consulting room in Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth from his home base in Morriston Hospital in Swansea. With the latest technology he can see the patients and any scans and blood test results.
In Gloucestershire patients with conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder who need daily monitoring are using technology to take readings of blood pressure and lung function in their homes. These measurements are sent to their GPs' computers.
In Scotland, too, telemedicine is bringing patients in remote areas specialist advice and treament. Mark Porter reports on these projects and asks how far can telemedicine go? Do the patients like it?
Producer: Deborah Cohen.
WED 17:00 PM (b00t3tby)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00t3tc0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Ed Reardon's Week (b00pqh8s)
Series 6
The Charterhouse Redemption
Ed is happily ensconced in Berkhamsted's premier accommodation for the financially distressed. With Christopher Douglas, Stephanie Cole. From January 2010.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b00t3tc2)
Annabelle gives Brian the dimensions for their planned new Borchester market site. They've secured their options with all the landowners involved, but there's still a way to go yet: traffic and environment assessments, planning and so on. Annabelle agrees to be on the development sub-committee. Brian says he'll put it to the next meeting. Annabelle remarks it's going to be a busy time for him. Brian replies wryly that Jennifer's already saying she hardly gets to see him.
Tom's not sure which way to go with the veal and ham pies. Brian's told him it's a gamble as it would mean a big capital investment. Pat thinks it might be complicated, but says it's up to Tom in the end. He makes his decision. They need a new product, just not this one.
Kathy and Pat are looking on the net for activities to get Jamie out of the house. Kathy discovers an embarrassing picture of one of Jamie's teachers on his Facebook page. Furious Kathy confronts Jamie, who tells her to relax. He got it from the Jaxx website, and there were loads of shots up there. It's no big deal. But Kathy insists he takes it off his page immediately.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b00t3tc4)
Stephen Sondheim at 80
Mark Lawson discusses the songs and shows of Stephen Sondheim, who celebrated his 80th birthday earlier this year, and whose work is performed in a BBC Prom this Saturday. With guests including Maria Friedman, Simon Russell Beale, Gareth Valentine and Stephen Sondheim himself.
Saturday's Prom is broadcast on Radio 3 and BBC2. Into the Woods is at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre from 6 August - 11 September
Producer Timothy Prosser.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00t4nx2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
WED 20:00 Reality Check (b00t4q0x)
Series 3
School testing
Justin Rowlatt returns with a series of debates on topical issues, bringing together experts in a particular field with people living at the sharp end. He visits a primary school in South London to ask whether testing young children really helps them, or whether it subjects them to unnecessary stress. And is the point of SATS tests to benefit the children themselves or to give an indicator of school performance?
Producer: Adele Armstrong.
WED 20:45 The Curse of the Number Two (b00t4q0z)
Episode 2
Nick Clegg's meteoric rise to become Deputy Prime Minister has brought into sharp focus the role of the number two. It's not always an enviable position. So why, in British politics, does the deputy so rarely reach the summit? And why, when he does, does it usually end in disaster? Think of Michael Foot or Anthony Eden. These programmes talk to a number of the politicians who became deputy leader of their party or even Deputy Prime Minister but who just didn't reach the summit -- people like Roy Hattersley, Michael Heseltine, Shirley Williams, Margaret Beckett and Geoffrey Howe. Some never really wanted the job in the first place, others found it an exciting experience from which they learned a lot. One likens it to a bucket of warm spit, only worse. So is there a jinx on the role of the deputy? The political commentator, Julia Langdon, finds out in The Curse of the Number Two.
WED 21:00 Frontiers (b00t4q11)
Carbon Detectives
Richard Hollingham meets the scientists trying to track our carbon emissions.
International climate treaties are entirely based on national declarations of greenhouse-gas emissions. But there is at present no independent way of testing those declarations. National carbon accounts are carefully audited --- but so were the financial accounts of Greece, one expert notes, wryly.
On the other hand, once exhaust fumes have gone into the atmosphere, who knows where they go. Richard Hollingham meets the researchers who are trying to develop a network of tracking stations that can monitor greenhouse emissions, using a suite of chemical fingerprints. They have already shown that one key gas is on the increase, when national reports said it was being controlled. And although much of the expertise is in Britain, the UK government is dragging its heels some say, in supporting the network.
Producer: Roland Pease.
WED 21:30 Midweek (b00t4pgp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b00t3tc6)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b00t3tc8)
David Cameron accuses Pakistan of 'looking both ways' on terror. Is the PM deliberately causing offence?
Does greener energy mean higher costs for the least well off ?
We report from Madagascar on the effects of sanctions following last year's coup.
with Robin Lustig.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00t5kls)
Tishani Doshi - The Pleasure Seekers
Episode 3
Tishani Doshi's comic yet tender story of four generations of the Patel-Joneses, inspired by her own Welsh-Gujarati background.
For a long time Sian dreamed of leaving the village in North Wales where she was born, and where she, her parents and all her aunties all live in the same street. So she went to London and promptly fell in love with a man from India. Now she has to tell her parents that she's off to Madras, to marry a man she has known for only six months.
The reader is Indira Varma. Indira appeared recently in the 6 part BBC drama Luther. In 2006 she played Suzie Costello in Torchwood.
Abridged and directed by Nigel Lewis
Produced by Kate McAll.
WED 23:00 The Ladies (b00t4q13)
Series 2
Episode 2
The Ladies attempt to apprehend a thief, and we hear from a struggling graffiti artist and two women who seem to be married to the same man.
Written by and starring Emily Watson Howes.
Cast:
Emily Watson Howes
Kate Donmall
Susanna Hislop
Fran Moulds
Producer: Mark Talbot
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:15 Rik Mayall's Bedside Tales (b00n5ngk)
Train to Paris
Settle down, brush your teeth, do whatever it is you do at this time of night. But, most of all, listen because Rik would like to talk to you. One on one. Tonight he'd mostly like to tell you about Train to Paris
Performer ..... Rik Mayall
Writers ..... Rik Mayall & John Nicholson
Producer ..... Steven Canny
We open a small and peculiarly shaped window in to the mind of Rik Mayall. Written by Rik and John Nicholson, it's a woozy, strange and resonant series from one of the country's most loved comic performers. Rik wants to sit with you in your room - one on one. He wants to let you know things - important, secret things, things about your neighbours. About him. About you.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00t3tgt)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Susan Hulme.
THURSDAY 29 JULY 2010
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b00t38wz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b00t3tbk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00t38yz)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00t3915)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00t3931)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b00t394v)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00t39c8)
with the Revd Dr Michael Piret, Dean of Divinity and Chaplain of Magdalen College, Oxford.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b00t39gf)
Some farmers pamper their pigs - feeding them beer, giving them massages or taking them swimming while others have a very basic lifestyle. Scientists at the Newcastle University have found a way to measure the happiness of pigs and will use this to assess an animal's opinion on how it's handled and housed.
The first ship is setting sail from the UK's newest deep-water port grain terminal in Suffolk. Farmers in East Anglia will now have access to worldwide markets and better prices.
And tiny vegetables are the latest trend in demand by celebrity chefs and fashionable diners. Farming Today meets the farmer growing 'microveg' for their plates.
Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.
THU 06:00 Today (b00t3cqs)
Morning news and current affairs with John Humphrys and Evan Davis, including:
07:30 The five days after the election
08:10 Will the ban on forced retirement at 65 work?
08:20 Is celebrity culture a new phenomenon?
THU 09:00 Voices from the Old Bailey (b00t4q82)
Series 1
Children
Historians struggle to decipher letters and diaries - but what about those who left no record? The poor, those who couldn't write? There is one fantastic source, and it is now online: the Old Bailey Archives.
Through court cases, we can hear the voices of the 18th century - thanks to the speedy court shorthand writers, everyone's speech is recorded, from the posh to the poor. It's the nearest thing we have to a tape recording of the past.
Professor Amanda Vickery presents dramatised extracts from gripping court cases and discusses with fellow historians what they reveal about 18th century society and culture.
In this programme, the voices of children. Even children as young as seven appeared in court in the 18th century, as witnesses, victims - and as criminals. Amanda Vickery presents three cases which capture the voices of children, and open up the reality of their lives.
One reveals the network of relationships in the workhouse, and the cruelty and kindness which coexisted there. The second exposes the vulnerability of teenagers working as apprentices. And the third features a little girl who is sentenced to death - but who then escapes the gallows and makes a long and prosperous life for herself.
With historians Tim Hitchcock, Ruth Richardson and Zoe Laidlaw. Recorded on location in The Foundling Museum.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b00t3tcb)
Jake Adelstein - Tokyo Vice
Episode 4
When Jake Adelstein is summoned to a meeting with one of the bosses of the local yakuza, he is both surprised and more than a little wary. And when he arrives at the rendezvous he is astonished to be asked to help settle a delicate problem.
Although he has no intention of getting involved in the boss's affairs or ever owing him a favour, he discovers there are advantages to having a yakuza in your debt.
Jack Klaff reads this revealing memoir by Jake Adelstein.
Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall Productions for BBC Radio 4.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00t3tcd)
Childfree by Choice
Jenni Murray hosts a phone-in on women who choose not to have children. Yesterday we devoted the whole programme to women who've chosen not to be mothers. Today we'll open up our lines to hear about your experiences. Are you childfree by choice? Are you trying to decide whether motherhood is for you? Did you decide against it many years ago and if so, are you happy with your choice? We want to hear from you. Either call us on 03700 100 444 or email us via the website as usual. The lines will be open from 8 til 1045 today.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00t4nwm)
Writing the Century 14: A Burden to Strangers
Episode 4
Steve Gough's drama based on the diaries of Rachel Minshall, a spirited elderly lady living in the Welsh valleys in the 1980s.
Today: Rachel receives important news about the future of her beloved Tip Wood.
Rachel . . . . . Margaret John
Jean . . . . . Menna Trussler
Jenny . . . . . Bethan Walker
Tom . . . . . Bernard Lloyd
Margaret . . . . . Jennifer Hill
Dr Edwards . . . . . Richard Elfyn
Glyn . . . . . John Cording
Original music composed by Nicolai Abrahamsen.
Produced and Directed by Peter Leslie Wild.
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b00t4qbd)
Madagascar
Madagascar is in crisis. Since a coup last year that brought a DJ in his mid-thirties to power as president, this huge island nation has become a pariah state. For the most part, the international community has refused to recognise the new government. Most seriously for Madagascar, in an effort to persuade the new regime to restore democracy, most aid has been withdrawn. This has created a huge dent in the state's coffers because donor assistance accounted for a staggering half of Madagascar's income.
The fallout for an already poor nation has been profound. Thousands have lost their jobs in garment factories as a result of the United States' decision to suspend favourable trade tariffs for Madagascar. Others eke out a living on the streets, or have headed for the countryside to subsist on what rice they can grow. Hospitals and schools are under serious pressure. Over half of all children are malnourished, and family breakdown is an everyday event.
Now there is evidence that Madagascar's unique and spectacular wildlife - ancient hardwoods, baobabs, and lemurs - is especially endangered by corruption, poverty and a breakdown in the rule of law. The forests are being plundered. Loggers have illegally sought out and exported rare rosewood, and there is anecdotal evidence that hunting for bush meat, and the smuggling of rare wildlife are both on the increase.
As Madagascar celebrates fifty years of independence from French rule, Linda Pressly visits the capital of Antananorivo and travels out to one of the National Parks to find out how people are surviving in this island nation seemingly in freefall.
THU 11:30 Magic People and Places (b00t4qk4)
Magic is constantly changing, with performers creating bigger and better tricks to impress us. Times have changed since a magician produced a startled rabbit out of top hat with a puff of smoke. Today we expect more, and the modern magician apparently does the impossible before our eyes. But spare a thought for where the trick came from. How did the magic get there?
Presenter John Sugar does not reveal any trade secrets - like how to saw a woman in half, or the best way to float in the air - but we do hear how the sale of magic has changed, with the impact of the internet and the way conventions are developing new environments for its promotion and sale. The programme also hears about the leading magic shops and studios of 60 years ago, revealing the characters who created the magic.
Today, magic revolves around the internet and magic conventions. The key gathering is in Blackpool in late February. The programme visits the 58th Magic Convention, attended by 3500 magicians. We speak to the organizers and the performers, and soak up the atmosphere.
Discover more about the way magic is brought and sold in this engaging programme which celebrates the innovators, demonstrators, characters and studios who make sure magic continues to touch all our lives.
Made for BBC Radio 4 by Sugar Productions and first broadcast in 2010.
THU 12:00 You and Yours (b00t3tcg)
A number of companies are gearing up to take advantage of the subsidy the government is paying to people who fit solar panels to generate electricity - the Feed in Tariff or FIT. The idea being they fit the panels for free but take the generous tax free revenues that flow from their use for the next twenty five years. It's been calculated that the revenue from FIT could pay for the installation three times over. Think tank, the Policy Exchange, says FIT should be abolished because it is costs nearly £500 to save a tonne of carbon under the scheme and there are more cost effective methods of reducing carbon output.
Tourist authorities in Jersey have complained to the BBC because they say that the Channel Islands weather is frequently ignored or inaccurate in national broadcasts. They say this has an impact on tourist revenues because it is well known that people take impulse breaks based on weather reports.
Local authorities have been urged to dip into their pension pots by a local government think tank as a means of combating central government cuts. The New Local Government Initiative say there are millions of pounds in the Local Authority Pensions pot that could be profitably and safely used by town halls battling central government cuts to protect jobs and assets in their areas.
THU 12:30 Face the Facts (b00t67qs)
University Waste
With universities facing swingeing funding cuts, a handful are already officially classified as "at risk" and in danger of complete financial collapse. Vince Cable, the Secretary of State with responsibility for Universities has warned that if that does happen - there'll be no Government bail-out. Meanwhile as the cuts bite, courses are being scrapped and jobs are being axed. The University of Cumbria has seen one third of the Board of Governors step down after a report into their effectiveness described them as naive after presiding over an unsustainable annual deficit. At Leeds Metropolitan University a former Vice Chancellor pursued a 'low-charging, high impact' policy offering cut price courses and pouring over £20m into partnership deals with local sports teams. Critics say the policy left it with a deficit approaching £7-million.
Professor Simon Lee the former Vice Chancellor emphatically rejects these criticisms and told us that:
- The decisions made whilst he was Vice Chancellor were done with the full support of the Board of Governors and senior managment team
- The 51% share in Leeds Rugby Club bought by the university offered students the opportunity to study there during the day then watch games at night as well as take part in community projects
- The contribution of £14m to the building of the new Headlingley Carnegie Cricket Pavilion offered first class opportunities to students to study and work there
- By offering lower fees than other universities in England applications to Leeds increased dramatically.
THU 12:57 Weather (b00t3tcj)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b00t3tcl)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.
THU 13:30 Questions, Questions (b00t4qk6)
Stewart Henderson presents the interactive problem-solving programme for those niggling questions.
Email Questions.questions@bbc.co.uk
Tel: 03700 100400
Or you can reach us online via our Radio 4 message board.
Producer: Dilly Barlow
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b00t3tc2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b00t4qk8)
Terremoto
Daniel is running the Chilean desert. Ayelen is speeding across it in the opposite direction. When the earthquake hits, they become reluctant travelling companions, in a desperate bid to find out if Ayelen's family have survived. An adventurer and a rebel meet head on.
Daniel is a young free runner, who has been all over the world, jumping across cities everywhere but never really seeing them. His latest goal is to run solo across the Atacama desert in Northern Chile, a new extreme challenge. He's earning a huge amount of money by being filmed at the end of his run drinking a particular extreme sports drink. But he has to get there on a certain day, and his time is tight.
Ayelen 30 something year old Chilean woman, who has lived in the Uk for most of her life. She has come home on a family reunion with her mother but has run out after yet another family row. She has 'borrowed' a run down 4 by 4 from the garage where her brother works - and she is travelling across the desert alone.
Then all of the sudden the earthquake hits. Ayelen's car is thrown off course, she is trapped and Daniel, who has seen it all from a nearby ridge, is forced to rescue her. He is reluctant to break his meticulously planned run - but you can't abandon a human being in a place like this.
Their subsequent journey across the desert is a life changing experience for both of them.
Terremoto is written by Catrin Clarke, an experienced television and radio writer, and based on her own knowledge of Chile and running the desert.
Cast:
Daniel ....Sule Rimi
Ayelen.....Clare Isaac
Guy Marchant.Richard Harrington
Chilean driver...Ernesto Cantu
Acoustic guitar and folksong performed by Héctor Daniel Saez Cárdenas
Director Polly Thomas for BBC Cymru/Wales.
THU 15:00 Open Country (b00t31zw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:07 on Saturday]
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b00t333s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00t4nm3)
Just William - Pursuin' Happiness
The Ghost
This hilarious 'Just William' story, new to radio and told of course by Martin Jarvis, is a chilling tale of nocturnal visitation and psychic revelations.
As always, William's primary motivation is to do good and pursue happiness, so when elderly Cousin Mildred confides to him that her dearest wish is to encounter a ghost, he decides to help her fulfil her ambition - regardless of the consequences.
Written by Richmal Crompton.
Director: Pete Atkin
Producer: Rosalind Ayres
A Jarvis & Ayres Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 15:45 Britain on the Bottle: Alcohol and the State (b00t4qkn)
The Doctors Take Over
A Ministry of Health Report in 1956 referred to heavy drinking as something that had been an issue in Britain "at times in the 18th and 19th century". In 1961 the Home Secretary RA Butler confidently told the Commons that "public drunkenness is not a problem". But such denial couldn't last long.
As part of his series on the politics of alcohol in Britain, Mark Whitaker focuses on the decision by government in 1962 to build specialist alcoholic treatment units around the country. It was called "the first official recognition of alcoholism as an illness which should be the responsibility of doctors", and was an acknowledgement that drinking was on the increase. This period saw the first specific warnings about teenage drinking.
But controversies followed. Several Regional Hospital Boards were reluctant to invest in the new units; research suggested that in-patient treatment was not necessarily the most effective; and the strategy was attacked for being of limited value to those most in need of help - the unemployed meths drinkers of 'Skid Rows' in the major cities.
This was when the pioneering psychiatrist Griffith Edwards first proposed his methods for tackling drunkenness as a public health issue, based on its being recognised as a community-wide problem. Edwards contributes to the programme, while actors read documents from the 1960s.
Producer: Mark Whitaker
A Square Dog production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 16:00 Open Book (b00t384n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:30 Material World (b00t4qm6)
Quentin Cooper presents his weekly digest of science in and behind the headlines. This week: the science behind crowd management, could cross-bred bees remove deadly parasites in hives and could singing also help stop the bee decline. And are we born with built in grammar knowledge and if we're not, can we learn it?
The producer is Ania Lichtarowicz.
THU 17:00 PM (b00t3tcn)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00t3tcq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 The Secret World (b012rf47)
Series 2
Episode 5
Prince Charles ends up helping his driver move a sideboard. Jon Culshaw explores famous folk's private lives. From July 2010.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b00t3tcs)
Kenton asks Eddie to put some Jaxx flyers round the market car park. Eddie introduces him to the New Zealanders Alysha and Kerry.
Nic's got another shift at the Bull. She hopes Will doesn't mind, and the money's useful. She assures him it won't be for long. Jolene might be back to doing a few bar shifts soon. Resigned Will tells her not to worry, but turns up at the Bull later, having left Clarrie babysitting. This way he and Nic can spend a bit more time together.
Will buys Alysha a drink and they get chatting about sheep shearing. Eddie reckons he wasn't half bad at it in his time. Before they know it, Eddie's challenged Alysha to a shearing contest.
Kathy finally catches up with Kenton, who's at Jaxx chatting with Alysha. She tackles him about the photo of Jamie's teacher Jackie. He doesn't think it's that bad. Sure, she's had a few too many, but it's not like she's not decent. At Kathy's insistence, he duly takes the photo off the website. But he refuses to ring Jackie to tell her about the photo. He'd rather let sleeping dogs lie. Infuriated Kathy says she'll ring Jackie herself.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b00t3tcv)
Stewart Lee; Impressionist Gardens; The A-Team; Beat Generation
With John Wilson, who reviews new cinematic remakes of the 1980s screen hits The Karate Kid and The
A-Team.
Comedian Stewart Lee analyses his work in How I Escaped My Certain Fate: The Life And Deaths Of A Stand-Up Comedian; the book details Lee's return to stand-up comedy after quitting the business in 2001 and going on to direct Jerry Springer the Opera.
John Wilson talks to photographer Harold Chapman, whose work depicts life at 9 Rue Git-le-Coeur, nicknamed the Beat Hotel, a run-down residence in Paris' Latin Quarter famed as the flophouse of some of the most important writers, poets and artists of the Beat Generation.
Rachel Campbell-Johnston reviews the exhibition Impressionist Gardens, which examines the significance, origins, and influence of the Impressionist garden.
Producer Rebecca Nicholson.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00t4nwm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Report (b00t4qmb)
NHS Reforms
The Government says it will turn the NHS "upside down" with its overhaul of health funding in England. By putting GPs in charge of a sizeable chunk of the health service budget, ministers say it will do away with the need for so many managers. Simon Cox travels to two areas where GPs are already involved in commissioning services and asks if the scheme will deliver the expected benefits.
Producer: Paul Grant.
THU 20:30 In Business (b00t4qqn)
Now Wash Your Hands Please
In this edition of In Business Peter Day hears some simple ideas about cleanliness which could change the fortunes of poor people around the world, hearing from three projects about the techniques of big business, marketing in particular, they are using to carry their messages.
Val Curtis of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London says the single most cost effective intervention to save lives in developing countries is washing hands with soap - one million lives could be saved every year. She's working with producers to make soap available at prices, and sizes, suitable to the pockets of the poor.
Linda Scott is a Professor of Marketing at Oxford who discovered millions of girls were missing school in Africa every month once they started having periods. She discovered that they were shunned by family and no longer supported once they were deemed to be women. Now she plans to change that, and economically empower more women, by introducing them to sanitary protection.
And there's news of an on the ground initiative using a solid business principles to make sanitary pads made of bamboo available at half the price of imported versions in Rwanda and a solution to eye care in countries where opticians are rare.
Producer: Richard Berenger.
THU 21:00 Saving Species (b00t3z67)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Tuesday]
THU 21:30 Voices from the Old Bailey (b00t4q82)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b00t3tcx)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b00t3tcz)
US Senators call for the WikiLeaks founder to be prosecuted over Afghan war files.
Can Barack Obama bounce back with Latino voters over immigration?
Record temperatures in Russia as wildfires destroy crops.
With Robin Lustig.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00t5kll)
Tishani Doshi - The Pleasure Seekers
Episode 4
Tishani Doshi's comic yet tender story of four generations of the Patel-Joneses, inspired by her own Welsh-Gujurati background.
Sian and Babo fly to North Wales to meet Sian's family. The young man from Madras will never forget his first impressions of the village of Nercwys and its matchbox houses. But now that they are married, where will they live - Wales, London or Madras? Sian tells Babo that she's come to a decision.
The reader is Indira Varma. Indira appeared recently in the 6 part BBC drama Luther. In 2006 she played Suzie Costello in Torchwood.
Abridged and directed by Nigel Lewis
Producer: Kate McAll.
THU 23:00 Recorded for Training Purposes (b00t4qqq)
Series 4
Episode 2
The sketch show about modern communication continues its fourth series, delving into areas such as cinema etiquette, school reunions, and doctors' advice.
Recorded in front of a studio audience, the cast is Rachel Atkins, Dominic Coleman, Lewis Macleod, Julie Mayhew, Ingrid Oliver and Ben Willbond, whose collective Radio 4 credits include Ed Reardon's Week, The Maltby Collection, and Electric Ink.
The show had an open-door policy, meaning that anyone could send the show sketches. Some 1500 were sent in this way, with every single one being read by a script-editor or producer - with the funniest stuff getting recorded and broadcast. In addition, a small number of the new writers who got material broadcast this way in series three were given one-to-one script-editing notes and feedback from the production team as part of BBC Radio Comedy's commitment to discovering and developing new writing talent.
The scripts were edited by award-winning writers James Cary, Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris. James' writing will be familiar to Radio 4 audiences from the his sketch show Concrete Cow to his sitcoms Think The Unthinkable and Hut 33. He also co-writes, with Milton Jones, Another Case of Milton Jones. Jason and Joel have written sketches for Mitchell & Webb on both TV and Radio, The Armstrong & Miller Show, The Peter Serafinowicz Show, and are the best-selling authors of Bollocks to Alton Towers: Uncommonly British Days Out.
THU 23:30 Reece Shearsmith's Haunted House (b00nfsjy)
An Appointment with Fear
Comic actor Reece Shearsmith hosts energetic and witty illustrated discussions on horror, before an audience inside the reputedly haunted Sutton House in Hackney.
Reece examines some classic scary moments from British radio and television and explores the ingredients for a classic horror story.
He is joined by horror enthusiasts Mark Gatiss, Vic Reeves, Yvette Fielding and Mike Roberts.
FRIDAY 30 JULY 2010
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b00t38x1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b00t3tcb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00t38z1)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00t3917)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00t3933)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b00t394x)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00t39cb)
with the Revd Dr Michael Piret, Dean of Divinity and Chaplain of Magdalen College, Oxford.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b00t39gk)
Anna Hill finds out about a new research strategy to tackle the UK's commonest cause of food poisoning - Campylobacter. There are around three hundred thousand cases very year, and the most frequent source is raw or undercooked chicken. Farming Today also discovers what life is like for a combine harvester contractor, and revisits a Scottish farmer whose sheep were stranded in the winter snow, as he performs that most summery task - shearing.
FRI 06:00 Today (b00t3cqv)
Morning news and current affairs with Evan Davis and John Humphrys, including:
07:52 Imran Khan on Pakistan and the Afghan war.
08:10 Iain Duncan Smith debates welfare reform.
08:22 The Bookseller of Kabul and the author he took to court.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b00t3345)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b00t3td1)
Jake Adelstein - Tokyo Vice
Episode 5
Reporter Jake Adelstein is invited to spend the night as a host in a Japanese night club in the red light district of Tokyo. And he discovers some surprises, not only amongst the type of customers who are willing to pay for the service in modern Japan, but the reasons these women feel the need to pay for company.
Jack Klaff reads this revealing memoir by Jake Adelstein.
Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall Productions for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00t3td3)
Presented by Jenni Murray.
The marching season has arrived in Northern Ireland and a recent Orange Order parade through Ardoyne in north Belfast provoked three nights of rioting. The police came under attack from children as young as eight which prompted Father Gary Donegan, the local parish priest to describe the violence as "a Disney theme park for rioting children." Local politicians say that a new wave of republican terrorism is threatening Northern Ireland with dissident groups recruiting youths who have seen no benefit from the peace process. Father Gary Donegan and Baroness Nuala O'Loan, Northern Ireland's first Police Ombudsman, discuss why children in Belfast are engaging in violence.
Are we in danger of becoming a nation entirely without backbone? Deportment teacher Jo Kuszmar certainly believes so because she says she has witnessed far too much shambling and slouching on the British high street. She explains why good posture is important and claims that if we stood and moved properly, we'd be less tired, more popular and look slimmer.
As a parent, do you look forward to the return of those quiet holidays for two? A summer break that actually involves a 'break' from your grown-up offspring? Well, if you do, then you might have to put those plans on hold for a few years because, according to a recent survey, almost a quarter of all 16 to 25 year olds say that they are likely to go on holiday with their parents in the future. So, how do you plan - and survive - a family holiday with your adult children? How do you please everyone and who pays? Jenni is joined by Carmel Stewart [who believes that holidays are much more enjoyable without your offspring] and Sherry Ashworth [and her grown-up daughter Rachel] who love going on holiday together.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00t4nwp)
Writing the Century 14: A Burden to Strangers
Episode 5
Steve Gough's drama based on the diaries of Rachel Minshall, a spirited elderly lady living in the Welsh valleys in the 1980s draws to its conclusion.
Today: Margaret has news for Rachel which sets her thinking about both the past and the future.
Rachel . . . . . Margaret John
Jean . . . . . Menna Trussler
Jenny . . . . . Bethan Walker
Tom . . . . . Bernard Lloyd
Margaret . . . . . Jennifer Hill
Dr Edwards . . . . . Richard Elfyn
Glyn . . . . . John Cording
Original music composed by Nicolai Abrahamsen.
Produced and Directed by Peter Leslie Wild.
FRI 11:00 A Quiet Invasion (b00t4t7q)
Episode 1
In August 1990 Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait. Kirsty Norman was working for the Museum of Islamic Art, and due to fly out on the day of the invasion. Then tanks started rolling past her apartment, but it was a quiet invasion: The gardener out watering the palm trees as they passed. Two weeks later she was taken hostage, bringing her family history full circle as her father and grandparents had been interned by the Japanese.
20 years after those momentous events, Kirsty recounts the story of what happened to her, in two moving programmes based on her diaries and recollections.
She tried to escape across the desert but was caught and put in an Iraqi internment camp. For the first time, Kirsty understood the position of being a refugee - displaced, and completely without security.
Released a month later, she came back very shaken, and very angry: The guilt of leaving the men behind, and anger at the way the British Embassy in Kuwait and the Foreign Office in London were handling the situation, which might now endanger their lives.
The events of August 1990 still vividly etched on her memory, she returns to Kuwait to find out how friends and colleagues there dealt with the events that tore their lives apart so suddenly. And we find out what happened to the Islamic Art collection she was working with.
Producer: Ruth Evans
A Ruth Evans production for Radio 4.
FRI 11:30 Paul Temple (b00t4tps)
Paul Temple and Steve
The Final Curtain
A new production of the 1947 detective serial 'Paul Temple and Steve.' One of the great radio detectives returns refreshed and reinvigorated to the airwaves to investigate the activities of a shadowy and ruthless criminal mastermind in post-war London.
The identity of the mysterious Dr. Belasco is finally revealed. But it's one thing to unmask someone, quite another to capture them; and Belasco still has a trick or two up his - or is it her? - sleeve.
Paul Temple ..... Crawford Logan
Steve ..... Gerda Stevenson
Sir Graham Forbes ..... Gareth Thomas
Kaufman ..... Nick Underwood
Worth/Charlie ..... Greg Powrie
Nelson ..... Jimmy Chisholm
Joseph ..... Richard Greenwood
Ed Bellamy ..... Robin Laing
Insp. Perry ..... Michael Mackenzie
Produced by Patrick Rayner.
FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b00t3td5)
Peter White examines how accessible the London 2012 Olympics will really be? Research shows there's no step free transport from Stansted or Gatwick and journey times for disabled people are far longer.
Plus, as Weetabix gets the green light to advertise its new chocolate cereal to children, we'll ask if it's a healthy move.
And, Sky has bought up HBO's back catalogue. If you're a fan of Sex and the City, the Sopranos or Six Feet Under would this make you get satellite TV?
FRI 12:57 Weather (b00t3td7)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b00t3td9)
National and international news with Shaun Ley.
FRI 13:30 Feedback (b00t4vjx)
Has the Today Programme been squeezing its weather forecasts over the past few weeks? Certainly some listeners think so. Roger Bolton finds out why.
Also on the programme, Kirsty Young discusses how she prepares for Desert Island Discs and who have been, for her, the most memorable guests. Plus as ever, the best of listeners' comments concerning BBC radio.
Producer: Brian McCluskey
A City Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b00t3tcs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b00t4vjz)
Depth Charge
by Fiona Mackie
Den ..... David Calder
Irene ..... Susan Brown
Joe ..... Ben Crowe
Shiner ..... Sam Dale
Funeral Plan Agent ..... Christine Kavanagh
Director ..... Sally Avens
Den, a retired submariner, is short on cash and short on dreams until Joe enters his life and promises him the chance to breathe again. David Calder stars in Fiona Mackie's drama.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00t4vk1)
Matthew Biggs, Eric Robson and Matthew Wilson join Bob Flowerdew at home to answer some of the questions sent in by GQT listeners.
We also ask what exactly is growing in Bob's garden?
Producer: Howard Shannon
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 Britain on the Bottle: Alcohol and the State (b00t3tdc)
The 'Drink Question', Past and Present
In the last decade or so Britain has experienced renewed social and political panic over the consequences of excessive drinking, and the concept of 'alcohol related harms' has entered the language. A coherent policy community has developed, and research has multiplied, around questions of alcohol control. But governments have seemingly been reluctant to listen.
Mark Whitaker concludes his look at the politics of alcohol since the 17th century by examining New Labour's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy of 2004, and related relaxation of the licensing system.
Whitaker interviews the historians whose work has informed his own research, and asks them how they think the past can or should inform present policy. He talks to James Nicholls, Virginia Berridge, John Greenaway and Betsy Thom. They address questions about why the 'Drink Question' has been defined differently at different times; why the liquor industry has been so politically powerful; why the temperance movement lasted so long but seemingly achieved so little; and why alcoholism and drunkenness have posed distinct policy challenges.
Above all, they reflect on the complexity of alcohol as a commodity, and on why legislating about it has been, and remains, remarkably difficult.
Producer: Mark Whitaker
A Square Dog production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b00t5ld6)
On Last Word this week:
The internationally renowned tenor Anthony Rolfe Johnson, who gave up farming to take up music lessons at the age of 29.
George Steinbrenner, the colourful owner of the New York Yankees baseball team, who fired one manager five times.
Luis Corvalan, the leader of the Chilean Communist Party for thirty years who was imprisoned under Pinochet and then lived in exile in Moscow.
Lady Healey, wife of the former Chancellor Denis Healey and a respected biographer.
And tales of late night drinking and poker with the snooker legend Alex "Hurricane" Higgins from his former driver and friend.
FRI 16:30 The Film Programme (b00t5ld8)
Oliver Stone talks to Matthew Sweet about his controversial new documentary South Of The Border. The film, which contains a lengthy interview with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, has been accused of ducking the issue of human rights in the South American country. Stone mounts a stout defence of his work.
League Of Gentlemen star and the co-creator of BBC's Sherlock Holmes series, Mark Gatiss, salutes another great British character actor, Martita Hunt, aka the chilling Miss Havisham in David Lean's Great Expectations.
Neil Brand traces the origins of kitchen sink realism to 1920s Germany and the silent classic People On Sunday, co-written by Billy Wilder
Matthew meets two unsung heroines of the British cinema, Margaret Matheson and Ann Scott, who have blazed a trail as film producers since the early 80s.
FRI 17:00 PM (b00t3tdf)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00t3tdh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The Now Show (b00t5ldb)
Series 31
Episode 7
The Now Show
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis take a satirical look through this week's news. Helping them along the way are Laura Shavin, Mitch Benn, and special guests.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b00t3tdk)
At the shop, Vicky's still buzzing after meeting Colin Dexter and winning her prize. Josh has been making another short film for the village website .Vicky reminds him about the Millennium Wood anniversary party next month.
Susan's on the warpath. People aren't abiding by the rules of the shop. But at least Joe's stall has gone.
Brenda complains to Tom about her treatment by Lilian. Having been trusted by Matt to go and check a property, Brenda has ended up having to pick up Lilian's shopping.
Vicky confronts Tom, having heard he's not going ahead with the veal and ham pies. It was actually a business decision, but Tom works his charm on Vicky, saying that he felt bad annexing her idea.
Jamie teases Josh over his obsession with working out - who's he trying to impress? Troubled by the photo of Jamie's teacher, Kathy decides to give her a call, but Jamie worries about being incriminated. Later, Kathy explains to Jamie that Miss Osborne took it all in good spirits. Kathy didn't mention Jamie's involvement, but she tells him to be more responsible in future. Defensive Jamie finally explodes. Why won't his Mum just give him a break?!
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b00t3tdm)
Film director James Mangold; Dawn French & Alfred Molina's new TV comedy
With John Wilson.
Director James Mangold talks about Knight And Day, and getting the best from Hollywood A-list stars such as Tom Cruise.
Dawn French and Alfred Molina star as a married couple in a new BBC Two bitter-sweet comedy, Roger And Val Have Just Got In. Kate Saunders reviews
Radiohead's drummer Philip Selway has released a solo album as a singer-songwriter. Music critic David Hepworth considers other drummers with multiple musical talents.
As the government's Big Society plans encourage more people to volunteer, Colin Marsh of Punchdrunk theatre, Ipswich councillor Andrew Cann and Maurice Davies of the Museums Association consider the pros and cons of unpaid assistance for arts organisations.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00t4nwp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b00t5ldd)
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the topical discussion from St Mary's Church, Sandwich in Kent, with questions for the panel including Chris Grayling MP, Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions; Rosie Winterton MP, Shadow Leader of the Commons; former industry minister and business leader Lord Digby Jones and A.N. Wilson, writer and columnist.
Producer: Victoria Wakely.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b00t5ldg)
New Old Fashioned
Lisa Jardine reflects on changing styles of architecture and commends buildings that prove to be "the boldest and the best" in every age rather than simply "new old fashioned" as the most forward looking legacy to the built environment.
Producer: Sheila Cook.
FRI 21:00 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00t5ldj)
The Rise of World Faiths (AD 100 - 600)
Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum in London, continues his global history as told through objects from the Museum's collection. In this episode he is looking at the way the world's great religions began to perfect a way to visually express the divine, less than 2000 years ago.
He begins with a stone sculpture from modern day Pakistan that would create the classic image of the real life Buddha who lived and roamed around North India in the 5th Century BC. His journey takes him onwards to Damascus, modern day Iran and Dorset in Great Britain.
Producers: Paul Kobrak and Anthony Denselow
FRI 21:58 Weather (b00t3tdp)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b00t3tdr)
Can the defence budget bear the cost of replacing Trident?
Turkey opposes tougher sanctions on neighbouring Iran
Rural bus services under threat from the cuts
The world's oldest surviving species is found in Scotland
With Robin Lustig.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00t5kln)
Tishani Doshi - The Pleasure Seekers
Episode 5
Tishani Doshi's comic yet tender story of four generations of the Patel-Joneses, inspired by her own Welsh-Gujarati background.
Babo and Sian are living happily in their own house, with orange and black gates, next door to the Punjab Women's Association. Now they have two small daughters, Mayuri and Bean. When Bean is taken to Grandmother Ba's house for her naming ceremony, Ba warns the young parents that they'd better stop there because Bean will keep their hands full, at which the tiny baby laughs, her first proper laugh. By the time she's six, she's regularly seeing ghosts. Then Sian gets a phone call - it's bad news from Wales.
The reader is Indira Varma. Indira appeared recently in the 6 part BBC drama Luther. In 2006 she played Suzie Costello in Torchwood.
Abridged and directed by Nigel Lewis
Producer: Kate McAll.
FRI 23:00 A Good Read (b00t3zb6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Reece Shearsmith's Haunted House (b00nkqrz)
Films, Fangs and Frightening Fellas
Comic actor Reece Shearsmith hosts energetic and witty illustrated discussions on horror, before an audience inside the reputedly haunted Sutton House in Hackney.
Reece examines classic scary moments from the movies and looks back at some of the great horror actors.
He is joined by horror enthusiasts Mark Gatiss, Vic Reeves, Yvette Fielding and Mike Roberts.