The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Tracey Thorn's memoir takes us from her very early teenage diaries, through to juggling school homework with interviews with music journalists, the highs of pop stardom and the lows of being dropped by her record company. This is an insider's insight into the music industry, and also a very personal story which has Tracey's relationship with Ben Watt at the heart of it.
Tracey gave up music for motherhood without a second thought, but now finds her experience as a parent has freed her from her teenage anxieties so she can return to singing on her own terms.
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Sharon Grenham-Toze.
On superheroes, altruism and disguise. Ancient music and folk tradition specialist Kate Fletcher took inspiration from meeting the couple who started a movement to encourage people to do good for their community in America by wearing superhero capes. Presented by Eddie Mair and Jennifer Tracey. Your News is read by Shaun Ley. ipm@bbc.co.uk.
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
David Sedaris, the American author and comedian, takes Clare Balding on a litter-picking walk in West Sussex.
When David Sedaris was a child he would clear up around the house, and keep his own bedroom perfectly tidy. This obsession has, in recent years, been transferred to the outdoors and Sedaris is now a devoted daily litter-picker, cleaning the roadside verges of Pulborough and the surrounding area.
Clare imagined that this edition of Ramblings might take her across the South Downs, occasionally reaching for a stray bottle or piece of paper. In reality it involved walking less than two miles, and filling six bin bags full to bursting with all manner of filthy rubbish. All while wearing a fetching hi-viz jacket. A very unusual edition of Ramblings!
Rise of the chickens. Its predicted that chicken will become the worlds most popular meat within 10 years. But as the UK industry expands it faces renewed focus on its animal welfare, the challenges of cost of production, and competitive international markets. Farming Today This Week visits the Food Animal Initiative farm near Oxford to look at the future for the poultry industry.
Presenter Charlotte Smith. Producer Ruth Sanderson.
Starting tomorrow, the people of the Falkland Islands will vote in a referendum on whether they want to remain a British Overseas Territory. Doctor Celia Szusterman is Argentinean, and director of Latin America Programme at the think tank, the Institute for Statecraft. She gives her view.
Michael Fallon, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, and Chris Leslie, shadow treasury minister, discuss how damaging David Cameron's misrepresentation of the Office for Budget Responsibility's views may be for the government.
Sebastian Faulks has been asked by P.G Wodehouse's family to write a novel featuring Jeeves and Wooster. Faulks says he's honoured, but he also says that Wodehouse is inimitable. Writer and Wodehouse fanatic Harry Mount, and novelist and critic Philip Hensher, debate whether it can be done well.
Nicola Edgington was sent to prison last month for stabbing a complete stranger to death in the street. Her barrister, John Cooper QC is appealing against the judge's decision and says Edgington should be in a secure psychiatric unit, he talks to the programme alongside Professor Craig Jackson, a psychologist at Birmingham City University.
Sian Williams and JP Devlin with businesswoman and Director of the Football Association, Heather Rabbatts; a young woman from the Easterhouse estate in Glasgow who went from being a notorious bad girl to helping other young people turn their lives around, David St John who is the UK's most prolific TV Quiz contestant, and Anthony Cooper who maps sink holes in the UK. There's a Soundsculpture of dressmakers scissors, and a Thing About Me feature from baritone Christopher Purves. Inheritance Tracks are from footballer and pundit Robbie Savage.
Zoologist Dr. George McGavin delves into the strange and often bizarre names given to the planet's insects.
There are an estimated 10 million living insect species, with new specimens being discovered almost daily. Entomologists are turning to ever more imaginative names, referencing everything from literary figures, celebrities and politicians to playground puns.
George takes us into the complex and intriguing world of the taxonomist. From the 18th century father of modern taxonomy Carl Linnaeus to the present day, he explains why naming the things that surround us is the foundation of all science.
There are flies named Pieza kake and S. beyonceae (after the singer); beetles with political connections - A. hitleri, A. bushi, A. cheneyi and A. rumsfeldi; and some entomologists have even named discoveries after romantic conquests. Unsurprisingly, names can prove controversial but, once set, are difficult to change.
George pieces together his story at Linnaeus' original collection at The Linnean Society, and at the capital's Natural History Museum and London Zoo. He also reveals some insects named after him at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft.
Sue Cameron of The Daily Telegraph reflects on calls for the resignation of the head of the NHS in England. There's a row over immigration. Is the internet changing politics for good ? And how should we commemorate World War One ?
Correspondents' stories from around the world. Battle stations at the Vatican! Allan Little says there are deep disagreements among the cardinals as they prepare to elect a new pope. They are voting too in the Falklands. Caroline Wyatt says the result is in little doubt. But what will they make of it in Argentina? Stephen Sackur has been in Tunisia, a land which has been in deep political crisis since the shooting last month of a prominent critic of the government. How should a town handle the legacy of being the birthplace of a notorious dictator? Bethany Bell's been asking that question in Georgia and in Austria - and getting a variety of answers. And Steve Rosenberg went to interview a former leader of the Soviet Union. Little did he know he'd end up accompanying him on the piano!
Saga: the price of loyalty, historic payroll reporting shake-up, buy-to-let dream or nightmare?
Complaints about insurers have been coming in thick and fast since we covered the high premiums charged to loyal customers last week. People can save hundreds of pounds by posing as a new as new customer rather than just renewing year after year. We talk to Saga about its approach.
In four weeks' time every employer however large or small will have to provide real time information to HM Revenue & Customs about their employees' pay. It is intended to make tax more accurate and help with the introduction of Universal Credit. How will smaller employees cope? The HMRC boss will answer questions.
In the Blue corner - great way to make money. In the Red corner - but many have made almost nothing over five years. Is 'Buy to Let' the answer to make money in a low interest rate environment? Or is it too risky for the well-meaning amateur? Ian Potter, Managing Director of the Association of Residential Letting Agents and Brian Hall founder of the Model Works debate.
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by Jon Holmes, Laura Shavin, Nick Doody and Jonny & The Baptists to present a comic look at the week's news. Produced by Katie Tyrrell.
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from Brighton with activist Peter Tatchell, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey MP, Andrea Leadsom MP and the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Maria Eagle MP.
A chance for Radio 4 listeners to have their say on the issues discussed on Any Questions. Call Anita Anand on 03700 100 444, tweet using #bbcaq or email any.answers@bbc.co.uk. Topics raised by the audience in Brighton include: The Liberal Democrats - will the "cockroaches" survive the current political storms? The new "bedroom tax" affecting thousands of families on benefits, What are the healthier alternatives to an English Breakfast? - and more broadly what do you think about the food industry? David Cameron's differences with the OBR - How is the coalition's austerity programme affecting the country's economic recovery? and is there a degree of "complacency" in the NHS as Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt states?
Ibsen's classic drama of passion and desperation. Directed by Psyche Stott from the Old Vic production, starring Sheridan Smith and Adrian Scarborough.
Brian Friel's version of Hedda Gabler throws new light on its two female archetypes - Hedda, the beautiful trapped and doomed heroine; and Thea, the less socially admired, yet much freer, new woman. Both women ultimately take their fate into their own hands, in very different ways.
The play is set in the drawing room of the richly appointed new home to which George Tesman has brought his bride Hedda, after a lengthy honeymoon, spent mainly visiting research libraries for his current study on 'domestic craft and husbandry as practised in Holland and parts of Belgium in the tenth century'. The very different aspirations of husband and wife are soon apparent as a stream of visitors - family, friends, past lovers, and current admirers - visit them.
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th century Norwegian playwright, often referred to as "the father of realism". His works include Brand, Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, Emperor and Galilean, A Doll's House, Ghosts, The Wild Duck, Rosmersholm and The Master Builder.
Brian Friel is a multi award winning Irish dramatist, author and director of the Field Day Theatre Company. Friel is best known for plays such as Philadelphia, Here I Come! And Dancing at Lughnasa.
Shelby tells us about making her CBBC documentary What's a Girl? Rebecca Meredith on being booed and heckled at the final of the annual Glasgow Ancients debating competition - for being a woman. Some views from our phone-in on what feminism means today. Comedian Bridget Christie on her feminist light bulb moment in a book shop. A Band of Brothers - the impact on young lives of a mentoring scheme for boys in Brighton. Meklit Hadero sings Leaving Soon from her new album, On A Day Like This.
The view from the top of business. Presented by Evan Davis, The Bottom Line cuts through confusion, and spin to present a clearer view of the business world, through discussion with people running leading and emerging companies.
From huge infrastructure projects to supplying civil servants with paperclips, there's big money to be made from public sector contracts. Evan Davis meets three business leaders with experience of bidding for - and securing - government contracts and finds out what it's like doing business with the state. How easy is it for smaller companies to get a slice of the public sector pie? And are we - the ultimate customers - really getting a good deal?
Douglas Henshall, Debbie Wiseman, Paul Morley, Danny Wallace, Bridie Jackson & The Arbour, Hot 8 Brass Band
Clive's chats to 'Primeval' star Douglas Henshall, who's taken a break from battling the apocalypse to become a detective in BBC One's new murder-mystery 'Shetland'. Douglas plays native Shetlander Jimmy Perez, who finds himself leading a murder investigation, uncovering secrets and lies from the past. 'Shetland' starts on Sunday 10th March at
Clive tickles the ivories with award winning film and TV composer Debbie Wiseman whose theme tune credits include 'Tom & Viv' and 'Jackanory'. She's one of the UK's most successful female music ambassadors, after composing from the age of eight. Debbie is doing a rare solo piano appearance at St Georges, Bristol on Thursday 14th March.
Danny Wallace goes underground with critic and music journalist Paul Morley, who's rock n roll career has seen him also work as a band manager and promoter. Paul's now penned 'Earthbound', one in a series of Penguin Lines; a collection of works to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the London Underground. Each tell their tale of the city, inspired by a different tube line. Mind the gap!
With Latin and hip-hop infused music from New Orleans brass funksters Hot 8 Brass Band who perform 'Ghost Town' from their album 'The Life & Times Of....'.
And from four lovely ladies from Newcastle, Bridie Jackson & The Arbour who play 'Scarecrow'.
Justin Bieber, the 19-year-old Canadian pop star, is an internet phenomenon with 35 million Twitter followers. His first hit is the most-watched video in YouTube history.
He has upset fans on his UK tour by keeping them waiting before taking the stage, prompting some to suggest that the pressure of such extraordinary fame, experienced at such a young age, is beginning to show.
Although Justin Bieber came to fame as a musical prodigy, who found his audience through the internet, these days his power as a global brand overshadows his reputation as an artist.
Business is playing a growing part in his activities as he branches into venture capitalism by buying stakes in tech start-ups like Spotify.
Helen Mirren in new stage play The Audience; Steven Soderbergh's new film Side Effects
The dramatically unexpected arrival of David Bowie's album The Next Day has made grown men and women weep with excitement, following 10 years of recording silence. Is it the classic his fans would all like it to be?
Helen Mirren plays the Queen again - this time on stage, following her Oscar-rewarded performance in Stephen Frears' film - in The Audience, directed by Stephen Daldry, which dramatises her weekly sessions with the Prime Minister of the day.
Steven Soderbergh's film Side Effects is said to be his last: a psychological thriller about the unexpected results of an antidepressant. Is all it seems in this twisting tale?
Kate Atkinson's latest novel, Life After Life, imagines the life of her heroine Ursula lived - and then re-lived in many different ways. Does Atkinson still make us care about her heroine's fate?
And there's a BBC1 remake of The Lady Vanishes starring Tuppence Middleton and Tom Hughes; can it stand comparison with Hitchcock's classic original? The reviewers this week are the novelist Alex Preston and the writers Jim White and Maev Kennedy.
Chris Parry delves into the US army's unique oral history archive of the Iraq war. Recorded during the war, these oral histories chronicle what the men and women who fought the war thought about it. What was going right? What was going wrong? And what lessons are they learning for the future?
The US army has sent military history detachments into every battle since the Second World War. Now, on the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, Archive on 4 has been given unprecedented access to the recordings for the early months of the Iraq war. The interviews reveal fascinating new insights into the conflict, based on contemporaneous views from the front-line, unaffected by hindsight.
A former leading strategist for the British military and Rear Admiral, Parry himself analysed and produced the official lessons for the British armed forces immediately after the war. In this programme he explains how the US Army uses these combat histories to derive lessons from conflicts.
He also tracks how its Center for Military History ensures that the lessons are applied and, with these oral histories, evolve into military doctrine. With access to everyone from the commanding general of coalition land forces to the logisticians and transport corps supporting the campaign, this programme presents a gripping picture of a modern army at war.
Pather Panchali: Song of the Road by Bibhuti Bhushan Banerji dramatised by Tanika Gupta from a translation by T.W. Clark & Tarapada Mukerji
A classic story of poverty and sibling love set in a remote Bengali village at the beginning of the twentieth century. The life of a poor Brahmin family is seen through the eyes of young Opu and his older sister Durga. Opu has his first experiences of life outside the village and Durga now a young woman of fourteen begins to look forward to marriage and adult life but with the monsoon rains comes tragedy.
It is the vivid and moving story of life in a rural village on the brink of change, seen through the eyes of two children. The novel deals with the relationship between destruction and creation, and is an uplifting tale of growth and love. It is a beautiful and atmospheric novel that inspired an iconic film by Satyajit Ray in 1955.
The heart of the novel and this dramatisation is the love between brother and sister. It charts family life through a collection of daily events that cumulatively create a vivid and unforgettable world. In Tanika Gupta's dramatisation Opu, now a grown man narrates the story, looking back on his childhood and to the people he has loved, in particular his older sister Durga.Tanika Gupta is an award-winning writer who has written extensively for radio, theatre, film and television. She was recently awarded an MBE; named Asian Woman of Achievement (Arts and Culture) and nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement. Her production of A Doll's House for Radio 3 recently won the best adaptation BBC Audio Drama Award.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.
Scientists at a technology conference in Los Angeles this week unveiled an invention that makes things invisible. The press described it as a real-life version of Harry Potter's 'cloak of invisibility'. They could equally well have called it a real-life 'ring of Gyges'. This magic ring which made its wearer invisible was given in ancient Greek mythology to the shepherd Gyges - who promptly used it to seduce the king's wife and take over the kingdom. Plato used the story in his great work 'The Republic' to ask the question: would an intelligent person be just and moral if he were not compelled to be so? It's a question that we're still struggling to answer and that is at the heart of many stories dominating our news at the moment.
The NHS is torn between trusting its staff to look after patients properly and policing their work through targets, supervision and sanctions. The controversial banker Bob Diamond defined ethics as 'what you do when nobody's looking'; a sequence of scandals from PPI to LIBOR would suggest to some that banking and ethics are words that don't belong in the same sentence. The resignation of the disgraced Keith O'Brien prompts us to ask whether, if even a Cardinal cannot be trusted to practice what he preaches, there is any point in trusting anyone to do the right thing without being watched and warned. Is it true that there can be no virtue without the freedom to sin? And if that is the case how much of that freedom can society afford to grant? Are humans naturally good or do we need to be pressured into behaving decently? Should we trust to conscience and guilt, or rely on regulation and the threat that those who step out of line will be named and shamed?
Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk with Michael Portillo, Kenan Malik, Melanie Phillips and Claire Fox. Witnesses: John Appleby - Chief economist, Health policy, The King's Fund, Dr Martin O'Neill - Lecturer in Political Philosophy at York University, John Seddon - Managing Director, Vanguard, Rev. Prof. Alister McGrath - Professor of Theology, Ministry and Education at King's College London.
The book 'Ten Days That Shook The World', by John Reed, is an eyewitness account of which event? And what was the subject of the public inquiry over which the High Court judge Lord Mersey presided in 1912?
These are among the questions faced by the semi-finalists, in the third semi-final of Brain of Britain 2013, with Russell Davies in the chair.
The winner will take a place in the series Final in just a couple of weeks' time, so the stakes are high. As always, there's also a chance for a listener to outwit the combined brainpower of the contestants, by suggesting devious questions of his or her own.
Adventures in strong language - performed and from the page - introduced by a master of poetic ceremonies, Paul Farley. Borders - met and crossed - are the theme of the day. The River Styx where the dead arrive and the shape-shifting places where people become other animals are among the subjects. Jo Shapcott, James Lasdun and Simon Armitage come to the edge and shout their poems across. Producer: Tim Dee.
SUNDAY 10 MARCH 2013
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b01r31qh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
SUN 00:30 Afternoon Reading (b012l4nx)
The Foxes Come at Night
Thunderstorm
Now in his eightieth year, Cees Nooteboom is one of Holland's leading and most respected authors, a writer of both novels and travel books and a consummate short story writer. The Foxes Come at Night, his recent collection, has won the 2010 Gouden Uil - the most prestigious literary award in Flanders and is now published in English.
The collection is set in the cities and islands of the Mediterranean, territory Nooteboom knows well. The stories are linked by their meditations on memory and age, on love won and lost and on the fragments of life treasured in a photograph or a detail.
In 'Gondolas' a fine art dealer finds the past stirred by a photograph taken on the same Venetian canal bank forty years ago. In 'Thunderstorm' a couple's own fissures are reflected in a horrific moment on a beach. And in 'Late September' a woman waits on a windblown Spanish cafe terrace before the inevitable conclusion to her lonely day.
Written with haunting attention to detail and pitch perfect prose, sensitively translated by Ina Rilke, these stories show one of the European masters of the genre at his best.
Reader Tracy-Ann Oberman
Abridger Sally Marmion
Producer Di Speirs.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01r31qk)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01r31qn)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01r31qs)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b01r31qv)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b01r50yf)
The bells of St Petrock's Church, South Brent, Devon.
SUN 05:45 Lent Talks (b01r0ytb)
Benjamin Cohen
In the third of this year's Lent Talks, journalist and broadcaster Benjamin Cohen reflects on the fear of being abandoned by his own Jewish community, for being gay.
The Lent Talks feature six well-known figures from public life, the arts, human rights and religion, who reflect on how the Lenten story of Jesus' ministry and Passion continues to interact with contemporary society and culture. The 2013 Lent Talks consider the theme of "abandonment". In the Lenten story, Jesus is the supreme example of this - he died an outcast, abandoned and rejected by his people, his disciples and (apparently) his Father - God. But how does that theme tie in with today's complex world? There are many ways one can feel abandoned - by family, by society, by war/conflict, but one can also feel abandoned through the loss of something, perhaps power, job or identity. The Christian season of Lent is traditionally a time for self-examination and reflection on universal human conditions such as temptation, betrayal, greed, forgiveness and love, as well as abandonment.
Speakers in this year's talks include Baroness Helena Kennedy, QC, who considers what it means to abandon being human; Alexander McCall Smith considers how you can feel abandoned by society as you grow older; Loretta Minghella, Director of Christian Aid, considers the abandonment of self and the need to face who we truly are; Imam Asim Hafiz, Muslim Chaplain and Religious Adviser to HM Forces, who has just returned from Afghanistan, explores the total abandonment experienced by both sides as a result of war and, finally, Canon Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James's Piccadilly, explores the relationship between abandonment and betrayal.
SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b01r31qy)
The latest national and international news.
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b01r50yh)
Just Listen
Mark Tully encourages us to do something that is not always easy, but often greatly appreciated: hold our tongues to better hear what others have to say.
In the process he admits that, in his own profession of journalism, listening skills are not always the ones most called upon; that you don't have to be able to hear in order to listen and that, for some, the pictures really are better on radio than television.
With music from the Taize Community, Rossini, Stravinsky and Britten, and featuring writing by Wallace Stevens, Rumi, and Sorley MacLean, this programme is an ample meal for the ears.
So - Just Listen!
The readers are Grainne Keenan and John McAndrew.
Producer: Adam Fowler
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b01r50yk)
What do you do if your village's open space is being taken over by waist high brambles and scrub? In Brill, Buckinghamshire, a group of local people decided their common could only be restored through grazing by cattle. They set up a co-operative to own a small herd of cows which are looked after by an army of volunteers. Sarah Swadling meets the Brill Village Herd team and the Dexter cows, who are all named after wild flowers.
Presented and Produced: Sarah Swadling.
SUN 06:57 Weather (b01r31r2)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b01r31r4)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (b01r50ym)
Sunday this week takes a detailed look at the issues facing the Cardinals as they start their conclave to elect the new pope.
A high ranking church official in Scotland says the moral authority of the church there has been dealt a serious blow following the admission of wrongdoing by Cardinal Keith O Brien. In a special report from Kevin Bocquet, we examine whether the Catholic church has any moral credibility, both in Scotland and wider afield.
David Willey takes a tour of Rome as news crews from around the world arrive in anticipation of the white smoke rising from the specially built chimney above the Sistine Chapel.
Sarah Dunant author of the novel "Blood and Beauty" lifts the veil of secrecy on election of the notorious Rodrigo Borgia as Pope Alexander VI.
And there's the second in our series of 'Letters to Justin' - Bishop Michael Nazir Ali sets out his hopes for the new Archbishop of Canterbury.
SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b01r50yp)
Winston's Wish
Ben Brooks-Dutton, who has been helped by the charity, presents the Radio 4 Appeal for Winston's Wish.
Reg Charity:1061359
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal, mark the back of the envelope Winston's Wish.
SUN 07:57 Weather (b01r31r7)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b01r31rc)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b01r50yr)
This Is Our Story: Mothering Sunday
This is our story - Dean Vivienne Faull celebrates Mothering Sunday live from York Minster as the fourth of our Lent series linking stories of faith from the the bible with life today. With members of the Mothers Union in York. Leader: The Revd Canon Peter Moger; Graham Bier directs the chamber choir The 24. Organist: Robert Sharpe. Download Lent resources from Churches Together in Britain and Ireland by logging on to bbc.co.uk/sundayworship; Producer: Simon Vivian.
SUN 08:50 A Point of View (b01r14vc)
Dame Mary Cartwright
Lisa Jardine celebrates the achievements of the mathematician Dame Mary Cartwright, the first woman mathematician to be elected to the Royal Society.
During World War Two, she responded to a request from the British government to address an issue with early and still-secret radar systems. Together with her colleague Professor J. E. Littlewood, they were able to help war-time radar engineers circumvent a problem that was making radar unreliable.
Her findings were not fully understood by her peers at first. It would take a generation before mathematicians realised that her discoveries were the foundation of what became a new field of science: chaos theory.
Dame Mary Cartwright was very modest and did not want eulogies at her funeral, but Lisa Jardine takes the opportunity of International Woman's Day to blow Dame Mary's trumpet on her behalf.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b01r50yt)
Sunday morning magazine programme, presented by Paul Mason.
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b01r50yw)
For detailed synopsis, see daily episodes
Writer ..... Carole Simpson Solazzo
Director ..... Julie Beckett
Editor ..... Vanessa Whitburn
Alistair Lloyd ..... Michael Lumsden
Shula Hebden Lloyd ..... Judy Bennett
David Archer ..... Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ..... Felicity Finch
Elizabeth Pargetter ..... Alison Dowling
Freddie Pargetter ..... Jack Firth
Pat Archer ..... Patricia Gallimore
Tom Archer ..... Tom Graham
Brian Aldridge ..... Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge ..... Angela Piper
Edward Grundy ..... Barry Farrimond
Neil Carter ..... Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter ..... Charlotte Martin
Christopher Carter ..... William Sanderson-Thwaite
Alice Carter ..... Hollie Chapman
Mike Tucker ..... Terry Molloy
Brenda Tucker ..... Amy Shindler
Jazzer McCreary ..... Rayan Kelly
Iftikar Shah ..... Pal Aron
Stephen Maidment ..... Brian Bowles
Nancy Applegate ..... Joanna Brookes.
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b01r50yy)
David Almond
Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the writer David Almond.
Most of his work is for children but the adults who populate the juries of heavyweight literary prizes really like it too. The accolades began with his first novel Skellig published in 1998 when he was 47; it won the mighty "Whitbread Children's" award and then many others besides.
Ever since, he's been acclaimed for his ability to craft complex, philosophical narratives with strikingly down to earth characterisations.
He grew up just outside Newcastle in a big, Catholic family and his childhood features heavily in his stories.
He says "Each of my books has had to be written - there was something that had to come out."
Producer: Alison Hughes.
SUN 12:00 Just a Minute (b01r0dzt)
Compilation
Episode 2
Paul Merton, Sheila Hancock, Josie Lawrence, Marcus Brigstocke attempt to talk for 60 seconds with no hesitation, repetition or deviation under the watchful eye of Nicholas Parsons.
Produced by Tilusha Ghelani.
From 2013.
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b01r50z0)
Forest foods, Africa's secret ingredients
Sheila Dillon explores Africa's forest foods, both an emergency larder and source of wonderful flavours.
With the support of Comic Relief and funds raised through Red Nose Day work is underway to tap into the potential of this neglected food source.
From Shea butter to Maringa, Sheila tastes her way through this story with Tony Hill of the charity Tree Aid, and Malcolm Riley, "the African Chef", whose cooking career started in Zambia. On the menu, prawns stir-fried in an ingredient from the baobab tree, and as Malcolm explains, it's "modern African cuisine".
Producer: Dan Saladino.
SUN 12:57 Weather (b01r31rk)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b01r50z2)
Shaun Ley presents the latest national and international news, including an in-depth look at events around the world. Email: wato@bbc.co.uk; twitter: #theworldthisweekend.
SUN 13:30 After Saddam (b01r50z4)
Episode 2
After Saddam: Hugh Sykes returns to Iraq
It's ten years since the invasion which toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Since then Iraqis have endured an American-led military occupation, a brutal insurgency, intense sectarian violence, hundreds of thousands of violent deaths - and three democratic elections.
BBC correspondent Hugh Sykes has been a regular visitor to Iraq since 2003 - exploring the lives of people in a country where security, education, electricity and even the water supply can never be taken for granted.
Now Hugh returns to Iraq to find out how their lives have changed over the past decade.
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b01r1335)
Batley
Peter Gibbs and the GQT team visit local gardeners in Batley, West Yorkshire. Anne Swithinbank, Chris Beardshaw and Matthew Biggs are on the panel.
Produced by Howard Shannon.
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
Q: The weight of recent snow has caused our old lavender bush to split. Is it advisable to plant a new one in the same place or do I need to replenish the strength of the soil first?
A: Lavender likes fairly impoverished soil so there's no need to fill it with compost or organic matter as a nice mix of sand, grit and existing topsoil should work nicely. If you haven't already dug out the old plant you could try piling a large mound of soil over the top which will encourage new growth even from an old or split plant. After a while you'll see new shoots coming through which you can re-plant.
Q: I love the colour purple, could the panel suggest their favourite purple flowers and shrubs?
A: Try Heuchera "Palace Purple" which is a lovely herbaceous perennial with striking purple leaves, or the Pewter variety which has silvery leaves and purple veins. Cotinus Grace (also known as the Smoke Bush) is another easy-to-grow shrub with rounded leaves and flowers which look like little plumes of smoke. Of course Clematis Jackmanii Superba is amongst the best 'velvety' flowers and climbs up very well between roses. For something more exotic you could try the Brazilian Spider Flower Tibouchina Urvilleana which produces large purple flowers with interesting stamen that look spiders legs.
Q: I have a 32 by 8 foot area at front house that I want to bring back into cultivation. It's spent around 40 years under concrete slabs, and the rest of the garden has a heavy clay soil, any tips?
A: The soil is certainly going to need some attention as the worms will have long gone. You should dig the soil in trenches, allowing it to properly aerate and add some rotted compost or manure. Be careful to pick out any brick ends or mortar that the slabs may have been laid on as these can turn the soil very alkaline. You could always get a pH testing kit from the garden centre if you're worried. A mini digger may also be handy!
Q: We're encouraging local gardeners and growers to supply the local greengrocer. What vegetables would the panel suggest we grow to tempt customers into the shop?
A: Try and grow things that customers wouldn't be able to find in the supermarkets. Perhaps grow a range of unusual potatoes like Edzell Blue for it's colour and salad potatoes such as the Charlotte, and in the shop label them with their best uses (baking/boiling/roasting, etc). Gooseberries and Squashes such as Crown Prince and Uchiki Kuri would look tempting with their bright colours as would Rouge Vif D'etampes Pumpkins with their 'Cinderella carriage' shape. Go for local and heritage varieties of fruit and vegetables too, such as rare Yorkshire apple varieties Dog Snout and Acklam Russet. Oriental vegetables are also hard to find in supermarkets so you could try growing things such as Minuba Pak Choi.
Q: Could you suggest a non-clinging climber to run up a south east corner of our house that wont damage our newly pointed brickwork? We'd prefer something that's of use to bees and/or birds and that we can grow in a large container.
A: Try Lonicera which has a unusual floral display and spear shaped leaves, or Pileostegia viburnoides which has small tubular flowers and lush green leaves. You'll need to create a wire framework for them to climb. You can also get Pyracantha trained nicely in a diamond trellis form which would still allow you to see the brickwork through the gaps.
Q: Do you have any suggestions for flowers for growing and arranging in a stately home which wont drop pollen or sap onto the priceless furniture?
A: Herbaceous perennials such as Phlox Paniculata, Delphiniums and Dahlias will work well and double forms such as Double Dahlias, Double Chrysanthemum and Astas would be very impressive with their big blooms. Also try Viburnum Opulus Snowball Tree, which has impressive round white heads good sturdy stems. Avoid Lillies, Bullrushes and Cortaderias.
Q: Have the panel any top tips for getting young people and children into gardening?
A: Continuing a tradition of sharing knowledge and passing down information is important. There's also a certain lack of awareness about what sort of career steps you can take in horticulture - there are many fantastic horticultural colleges - and young people need to know that they can make a career out of their gardening passions.
SUN 14:45 Witness (b01r51dy)
Cesar Chavez - Yes We Can!
In March 1966 Mexican-American farm workers staged a protest that inspired the Latino civil rights movement in the USA. It was led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. Chavez died in 1993 but Dolores Huerta has been speaking about their long struggle against California's grape growers, and about the phrase that came to signify their movement "si se puede - yes we can".
Photo: Cesar Chavez in 1979. AP
SUN 15:00 Esther Waters (b01r51f0)
Episode 1
Set against a background of gambling and horseracing; Esther Waters is a stirring tale of how a servant girl makes her way in Victorian England.
Forced to leave the home of her brutal stepfather, Esther takes a job as a maid at 'Woodview', a country estate owned by a nouveau riche racing family.
First published in 1894, George Moore's novel is dramatised in two parts by Sharon Oakes.
Esther ..... Lyndsey Marshal
William ..... Matthew McNulty
Sarah ..... Joanne Froggatt
Mrs Rivers ..... Joanne Froggatt
Leopold ..... Hugh Simon
George ..... Hugh Simon
Demon ..... Stephen Hoyle
Peggy ..... Lisa Brookes
Mrs Latch ..... Melissa Jane Sinden
Mrs Barfield ..... Melissa Jane Sinden
Anne ..... Fiona Clarke
Mrs Spires ..... Fiona Clarke
Esther's tale is a slice of Victorian life that is rarely shown; single parenting, wet nursing, divorce, gambling, and religious zealotry. Through her we discover exactly what it feels like to be poor and powerless. The book was banned until Gladstone revoked it, saying it was compassionate, moral and humane; and after that it became a best seller.
Celebrated author Colm Toibin championed Esther Waters as a neglected Classic for Radio 4's Open Book programme.
Director: Gary Brown
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
SUN 16:00 Open Book (b01r51f2)
AL Kennedy discusses her book On Writing
Novelist A L Kennedy talks to Mariella Frostrup about her book On Writing. Based on her Guardian blog, the book follows the writer over a three-year period during which she finished one collection of stories, started another and published a novel. It's a frank and witty portrayal of the highs and lows of being a novelist from the back pain and the brown hotel rooms encountered on tour to the joys of finding that perfect sentence at three in the morning.
Pankaj Mishra and Sri Lankan novelist Roma Tearne discuss how much literature can play a role in exposing human rights violations and what kind of pressure do such expectations place on all writers, particularly those who live under authoritarian regimes.
As J M Coetzee publishes a new novel, The Childhood of Jesus, author Justin Cartwright provides a Readers' Guide to the Nobel Prize and twice Man Booker winning author of such classics as Life and Times of Michael K, Disgrace and Summertime.
Producer: Andrea Kidd.
SUN 16:30 The Echo Chamber (b01r51f4)
Series 1
Translations
Adventures in strong language - the best of new poetry introduced by Paul Farley. The Echo Chamber has started to resound. Today it is listening to translations of all sorts and hoping to topple the Tower of Babel. Can you transplant a poem from one language to another? Can a man be a woman? A fox a thought? Featuring new poems by Robin Robertson, Leontia Flynn, and Jamie McKendrick and poems journeying into English from Ancient Greece, Rome, Italy, Spanish and German. Producer: Tim Dee.
SUN 17:00 How Iraq Changed the World (b01r2qgj)
Writer and broadcaster John Kampfner talks to Tony Blair, the former French foreign Minister Dominque de Villepin and others about the global consequences of war in Iraq.
How has the world changed since the fall of Saddam Hussein ten years ago? What effect did the war have on the balance of power, the respect for international institutions and the global standing of the United States and Britain?
George W. Bush described the war as 'a central commitment in the war on terror' but some say that, if anything, it has promoted terrorists and their cause. And then there's liberal interventionism. Have we created a tyrant's charter?
Leading thinkers from Britain, the United States, China and Russia discuss the impact of the war that has dominated our headlines and reshaped our history.
SUN 17:40 Profile (b01r5014)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b01r31rq)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 17:57 Weather (b01r31rs)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01r31rv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b01r51f6)
In Stewart Henderson's Pick of the Week there is the music of war and the search for the ultimate sound of silence. Elsewhere important questions are asked such as - why has Bob The Builder now got a Green Card, and did British journalists blur their vocation by spying for Queen and country during the Cold War? And spiders with stethoscopes - well, not really but the medicinal qualities of their silk are causing zoological scientists to coo with wonder. And let's hear it for the baffling Gertrude Stein - it's the way she tells them.
Stewart Henderson's choices:
Bridget Christie Minds the Gap - Radio 4
Was Gertrude Stein Any Good? - Radio 4
Who's the Pest? - Radio 4
Mad Houses - Radio 4
Twenty Minutes: Sounds of the City - Radio 3
Afternoon Drama - The Silence at the Song's End - Radio 4
Nitin Sawhney Spins the Globe - Radio 2
Lent Talks - Radio 4
Brian Friel: The Green Years - Radio 4Extra
Maiden City Stories: The Sacrifice - Radio 4
Soul Music: Shipbuilding - Radio 4
Barbed Wire Ballads - BBC Radio 4Extra
Document - Radio 4
Why Bob the Builder has Moved Overseas - Radio 4
The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe - Radio 2
If there's something you'd like to suggest for next week's programme, please email potw@bbc.co.uk.
SUN 19:00 The Archers (b01r51f8)
Josh and Ben are busy preparing a Mother's Day lunch. David's annoyed to learn that Pip's not home yet to help them, as promised. When she finally swans in, everything's done but the kitchen's in a state. David tells Pip it's her job to clear up. Over dinner, David keep s a lid on the children bickering, for Ruth's sake.
When David later moans about the lack of help on the farm, she still doesn't realise he's referring to Pip.
Alice has too much on her mind to remember it's Mother's Day. After a worrying wait at the hospital, Brian, Alice and Susan learn that Christopher has been put back on the previous method of ventilation. It's an improvement but he's still very ill.
Jennifer anxiously waits for news of Christopher. She's aware Alice has said nothing about her interview but feels that if Alice were offered the job now, she would have to turn it down. Brian's not so sure. If Chris recovers, who knows what they might do. And they have to face the fact that he might not recover, in which case Alice might want to make a completely new start. Jennifer can't bear to hear him talk like that.
SUN 19:15 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b01r51fb)
Series 2
Charlie Baker
Comedy show hosted by Alex Horne and his five piece band and specially written, original music.
This episode explores the theme of love including songs on chat up lines and romance in Bognor as well as a foray into drum and bass and a look at the history of the flute.
Guest starring: Charlie Baker who deconstructs a classic love song.
Alex's Horne Section are:
Trumpet/banjo .... Joe Auckland
Saxophone/clarinet ....Mark Brown
Double Bass/Bass .... Will Collier
Drums and Percussion .... Ben Reynolds
Piano/keyboard .... Ed Sheldrake
Producer: Julia McKenzie.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013.
SUN 19:45 Go West (b01r525t)
41 Rue Monge
Five short stories from Bristol.
2. 41 Rue Monge
by Jenny Solomons
Victor is a Parisian piano-tuner who has fallen on hard times - people just aren't having their pianos tuned as often as they used to. Now he's behind on his rent and can't think where to turn except to his estranged businessman brother Claude. It's a visit which changes Victor's life.
Produced by Christine Hall.
SUN 20:00 Feedback (b01r14tn)
In Feedback this week, you ask: where are all the right-wing comedians? Left-wing comic Jeremy Hardy returned to airwaves last week with his series of lectures 'Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation'. Never one to be shy about his political views, Jeremy had many of you laughing but others felt the joke just wasn't funny anymore and called for balance on the network. Roger puts your points to Caroline Raphael, commissioning editor for Radio 4 Comedy, and asks her whether she is actively looking for right-wing comics.
And what's it like to report for the Today programme for the first time? Last week, Sally Marlow, an academic researcher from King's College London, had her first report on Today. Sally was one of 30 'expert women' who took part in a BBC Academy Training Day in January, which sought to encourage more women experts for TV and radio in areas such as science, engineering, business and politics. We asked Sally and her Today producer to fill us in on the process and find out whether the training day helped.
Also, how much attention do you pay to sound effects in dramas? We hear from listeners who think they've spotted mistakes and programme makers discuss the role of realism in drama.
And listeners applaud Libby Purves, who narrated the Afternoon Drama The Silence at the Song's End, based on the writing of her son Nicholas Heiney,
Producer: Kate Taylor
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 20:30 Last Word (b01r14tb)
A president, a jazz trumpeter, an economist, a socialite and codebreaker and a conductor
On Last Word this week:
Jazzman Kenny Ball, remembered by bandmate John Bennet.
Government minister Oliver Letwin tells us about the work of his American-born father, the economist William Letwin.
Sarah Baring, who combined a debutante high-life with code-breaking at Bletchley Park during the war.
German conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch.
And as President Hugo Chavez lies is state, we hear from Venezuela about the life of the charismatic and controversial politician.
SUN 21:00 Money Box (b01r4yth)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:00 on Saturday]
SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b01r50yp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 today]
SUN 21:30 Analysis (b01r0f4g)
Islamists International
The Muslim Brotherhood is a global ideological network enjoying popular support across the Sunni Muslim world. It, and closely related Islamic groups, are well established across the Muslim world: from North Africa to the Middle East, Turkey, the Indian subcontinent and Malaysia. Christopher de Bellaigue discovers how this community of faith and politics has been influenced by the rise to power of its founding branch: the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Producer: Sue Davies.
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b01r525w)
Preview of the week's political agenda at Westminster with MPs, experts and commentators. Discussion of the issues politicians are grappling with in the corridors of power.
SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b01r525y)
David Aaronovitch of The Times analyses how the newspapers are covering the biggest stories.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b01r11wf)
Francine Stock talks to Tim Roth and Steven Soderbergh
The director Steven Soderbergh, who made Oceans Eleven to Thirteen, Traffic and Che talks to Francine Stock about his new film Side Effects, a thriller exploring the apparent effects of taking anti depressants. The actor Tim Roth on Broken, a British film dealing with adolescence and everyday violence, which marks a memorable debut for theatre director Rufus Norris. And with the re-release of The Princess Bride, Frank Cottrell Boyce explains why he thinks it's one of the best screen plays ever written and the columnist Hadley Freeman on why it's not a film just for the girls. Also the Oscar-winning producer Andrew Ruhemann on his big break - the day Steven Spielberg came to call.
Producer: Elaine Lester.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b01r50yh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 11 MARCH 2013
MON 00:00 Midnight News (b01r31vw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b01r0h4r)
Drugs for Life; Subcultural Identity
Drugs for life - Laurie Taylor talks to the US anthropologist, Joseph Dumit, about his research into the burgeoning consumption of medicine in the US. Dumit did ethnographic research with drug company executives, marketers, researchers, doctors and patients, and assessed the industry's strategies for expanding their markets. He asks if the huge growth in medication ties us to a radically new conception of ourselves as intrinsically ill and need of treatment. Is this a uniquely American development or does it equally apply to the UK and beyond? He's joined by the British sociologist, John Abraham.
Also, hanging on to a subcultural identity in later life - we hear from listeners who still carry a torch for their youthful selves, be it as teds, mods, punks or goths....Professor Angela McRobbie analyses the phenomenon.
Producer: Chris Wilson.
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b01r50yf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01r31vz)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01r31w1)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01r31w5)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (b01r31w7)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01r54b0)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Sharon Grenham-Toze.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (b01r54b2)
The rush to sow crops after the wet winter has sent seed prices soaring. The NFU says 20% less land than is usual has been planted at this point and sudden high demand for seed means that it's being imported from Germany, Denmark, and Poland. Also in the programme: the charm of the old and gnarled (trees, that is.)
Presenter: Charlotte Smith
Producer: Sarah Swadling.
MON 05:57 Weather (b01r31w9)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 06:00 Today (b01r54q1)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (b01r54q3)
Ken Loach on post-war Britain
On Start the Week Jonathan Freedland talks to Ken Loach about post-war Britain, and the spirit of unity which aimed to create a vision of a fairer society. Thirty years on and this culture of cooperation descended into fist fights in the House of Commons, and James Graham's stage imagining of the 1974 hung parliament. David Boyle takes the story on to examine the demise of the middle classes, and Harriet Sergeant looks at Britain's underclass, and the reasons why it's growing.
Producer: Katy Hickman.
MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b01r54q5)
The Last Days of Detroit
Episode 1
The city of Detroit has suffered like no other US city; it's post-industrial decline, rapid and relentless, chronicled by photographers and journalists alike.
Detroit had been the beacon city of the 20th century, home to the massive Ford plant which, in the 20 years from 1908, produced 15 million Model T Ford cars, and put a nation on the road. In 1928, with skyscrapers dominating the city skyline, you could justifiably have called Detroit the most modern city in the world.
But by the time Berry Gordy founded Motown Records in 1959 - the other great Detroit bequest along with the auto industry - the city was already in inexorable decline. The 1967 riots - at the time the worst in US history - did not cause the problems, but did highlight them. The big three car companies had largely gone elsewhere; bereft of finance, urban planning was in meltdown; corruption was rife; and racial tensions were running high.
After a break of 16 years, Mark Binelli returned to live in the city whose suburbs he grew up in. He found an urban prairie, with 90,000 ravaged and empty buildings, a school system that was impoverished and a crime rate second to none in the US. But Binelli also discovered a new Detroit emerging; with urban farms and a vibrant arts scene. Is a new future, he wondered, being wrought on the post-industrial frontier?
Mark Binelli is the author of the novel Sacco and Vanzetti Must Die! and a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and Men's Journal. Born and raised in the Detroit area, he has now, after three years back in Detroit, moved to New York City.
Read by: John Schwab
Abridger: Pete Nichols
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01r550q)
Daphne du Maurier; Comic Relief; Can't Say No?
Sisters growing up in the shadow of writer Daphne Du Maurier, pressures facing under-age girls to become sexually active, one woman's wait for her state pension, Comic Relief in Ghana helping tackle the phenomenon of 'spirit children', taking on too much, can't say no? A psychologist discusses why being too nice can have a downside.
Presented by Jane Garvey.
Producer: Dianne McGregor.
MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b01r550s)
Writing the Century 21 - Journal of a Joskin
1924: Poet of the Coke Ovens
The series which explores the 20th Century through the diaries and correspondence of real people. The Journals of Yorkshire Farm Labourer and aspiring writer Fred Kitchen adapted by Stephen Wakelam. Fred struggles to put bread on the table but he also has literary ambitions.
1924: Poet of the Coke Ovens.
Director: David Hunter.
MON 11:00 The Maha Kumbh Mela (b01r550v)
Mark Tully joins the pilgrims at the world's largest religious festival. Hindu traditions meet modern India at the confluence of the sacred rivers Ganges and Yamuna where millions of believers come to bathe.
At the Kumbh Mela he finds that, as the country develops into a consumer society and world power, rituals and religious practices are flourishing. He asks whether these will survive the march of modernity and the consumerism, which comes with today's economic growth. Could spiritual India provide lessons for an increasingly secular world?
This is the third time Mark Tully has attended the Maha Kumbh Mela, which happens every twelve years. In this programme, he continues to document how the old and the new intertwine in India, past, present and future.
Producer: Adam Fowler
An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4
MON 11:30 Thinking of Leaving Your Husband? (b00rxf3w)
Lobster Thermidor
Sarah's first experience of internet dating has gone horribly wrong, but undeterred she continues to use the site, and receives a proposal from a high court judge to go out and eat lobster thermidor with him. Meanwhile her ex-schoolfriend, Tania, is treating her less like a friend and more like some sort of hired servant; she is instructed to look after a consignment of pedigree cats that Tania proposes to sell at a huge profit. Some relief comes in the form of an unexpected visit from her two self-centred but irrepressible nieces Lucy and Ellie. The second episode of a comedy drama by Charlotte Cory starring Henry Goodman and Lia Williams.
Cast:
Sarah ... Lia Williams
Malcolm - and all Sarah's internet dates ... Henry Goodman
Mother ... Miriam Margolyes
Tania ... Frances Barber
Lucy ... Eleanor Butters
Ellie ... Hayley Roberts
Susie ... Elyse Blemmings
Sound Design: Lucinda Mason Brown
Original Music: David Chilton
Director: Gordon House
A Goldhawk Essential production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:00 You and Yours (b01r550x)
A study suggests that the cost of housing has led to couples being forced to continue living together after their relationship has failed. Rising rents have made it difficult for many to move out and find a place of their own. The blood test 'expert' who says he can treat cancer yet can't back up his claims. A row is developing over how the government ranks universities, with claims that students are being encouraged to apply to more prestigious institutions, rather than those which offer the most suitable course. What does it mean for a university to be within the "Russell Group"?
Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Presenter: Julian Worricker.
MON 12:57 Weather (b01r31wg)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 13:00 World at One (b01r550z)
The senior Conservative Liam Fox talks to us about economic policy and party leadership.
In a letter seen by this programme, Sainsbury's Chief Executive criticises government plans to deal with gangmasters.
And we discuss if technological innovation could mean death would be optional in a century.
MON 13:45 Baroque in Britain (b01r55wq)
Episode 1
It's been called the 'art of extravagance', the ultimate expression of status, nationhood, and religious fervour. But for many, the word 'Baroque' will always evoke a southern European sky, the masterpieces of Caravaggio, Vivaldi, Borromini, and Bernini. So what of the British role in this? Do the words 'Britain' and 'Baroque' really belong together at all?
As part of 'Baroque Spring' on the BBC art historian Tim Marlow sets out to discover the essence of British Baroque, and the result of the collision of British reserve and our Protestant ethic on this most lavish of artforms. His journey takes him to many of the nation's greatest art treasures, including the summit of London's Monument built to commemorate the Great Fire, to the gargantuan 'Great Model' commissioned by Sir Christopher Wren as his vision of a St Paul's Cathedral which would never be, and also to snowy downs on the outskirts of Barnsley where a 'battle of the buildings' saw two houses try to outdo each other with the grandeur of their architectural projects. And to finish the week there's a glimpse of a Baroque shadow in today's Britain, courtesy of an extraordinary fantasy house built by sculptor Oriel Harwood to fulfil her own 21st-century dreams of spectacular art in the home.
To begin the series, Marlow takes the first of five snapshots in time. It's 30 January 1649 and at Whitehall Palace the nation's balance of power is about to shift momentously. As Charles I walks to his execution he catches one final view of a masterpiece above his head, Rubens's famed Banqueting House ceiling. A royal life may have been in its last seconds, but his influence as a connoisseur and curator of the very best art of his day was only just beginning to be realised.
MON 14:00 The Archers (b01r51f8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Drama (b01r55ws)
Sarah McDonald Hughes - Take Me to Redcar
By Sarah McDonald Hughes
The first in a short series of stories that each take us to a different part of the UK.
Student Fiona can't wait to show her Mancunian boyfriend around her hometown of Redcar, although as soon as she arrives home she realises something isn't right. Her parents have vanished and the whole town seems to have closed up for the day. A surprising and unexpected answer to the mystery awaits her on the beach.
Written by Sarah McDonald Hughes
Produced by Charlotte Riches.
MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (b01r55wv)
The tension mounts as Russell Davies welcomes the last of this year's semi-finalists in the nationwide general knowledge quiz. One of them will take the last remaining place in next week's Final, and stand a real chance of becoming the sixtieth holder of the title Brain of Britain.
Russell's questions will test their knowledge in every field. Will they know with which disease the immunologist Edward Jenner infected his subjects in the attempt to make them immune to smallpox? Or what the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale is used to measure?
As always, a listener will get the chance to win a prize by 'Beating the Brains', if his or her questions can stump the combined brainpower of the contestants.
Producer: Paul Bajoria.
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (b01r50z0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 The Curse of the Confederacy of Dunces (b01r55wx)
A Confederacy of Dunces is one of the great comic novels of the 20th century; unfortunately its author did not live to see his work acclaimed. Frustrated by the publishing world's rebuffs, John Kennedy Toole committed suicide in 1969 unpublished, impoverished and unhinged. Twelve years later it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.The book, beloved by the people of New Orleans, whose people and their mores Toole depicted with forensic accuracy, has since become the book Hollywood has tried most to film and so far failed. The deaths of four leading actors, the murder one financier and even Hurricane Katrina have all intervened to prevent the cameras rolling.With yet another Hollywood 'A- lister' signed up to play the book's monstrous slob of an anti-hero, Ignatius J Reilly, Matthew Wells tells the story of the incredible life of a work that has been surrounded by so much tragedy, tribulation and ultimately acclaim. He examines the appeal of a masterpiece that's up to its 30th edition and can be read in 22 languages from Croatian to Catalan.
MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b01r55wz)
Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice schemes are increasingly playing a role within the Criminal Justice System. They are designed to confront the criminal with the consequences of his or her actions. Sometimes they involve a meeting between the victim and the offenders, where victims can give their perspective on what has happened and offenders can seek forgiveness.
Many religious groups believe that Restorative Justice principles resonate with their traditions.
Joining Ernie to discuss Restorative Justice are Pavan Dhilowal, Head of Public Affairs at the British Humanist Society and former policy head at a think tank specialising in criminal justice; Khola Hassan, Media Representative at the Islamic Sharia Council; and Tim Newell former Governor of Grendon, a therapeutic prison.
MON 17:00 PM (b01r55x1)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01r31wm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (b01r55x3)
Series 65
Episode 5
Gyles Brandreth, Alun Cochrane, Stephen Mangan and Paul Merton attempt to talk for 60 seconds with no hesitation, repetition or deviation under the watchful eye of Nicholas Parsons.
MON 19:00 The Archers (b01r55x5)
Tom tries to talk to Pat and Tony about using non-organic meat for his ready meals but they won't hear of it. Pat expresses their concern that the ready meals may distract him from the main business of the farm. They are not impressed when he suggests they could become the main business of the farm. Tom grudgingly agrees to do more research into staying organic. Tony's sure he'll find a way forward.
Ed and Jazzer sell the Ferguson tractor for a tidy profit. Jazzer sensibly asks Ed to keep his half of the profit safe but is determined to celebrate with the money that he put up front.
Tom joins Ed and Jazzer for their celebratory drink. Ed reckons they should give Mrs James some extra money for the tractor now they've made so much profit. Jazzer won't hear of it.
Darrell's out too, with some mates he worked with at Fawcett Magna. Darrell's surprised when Des turns up. Des takes an interest in the work Darrell's doing at Home Farm. He laments how the other half live, with all their land. When Darrell says the job is nearly finished, Des mentions he might have some work for him. He's got Darrell's number so he'll be in touch.
MON 19:15 Front Row (b01r55x7)
Twilight creator Stephenie Meyer; Steve Carrell in Burt Wonderstone; Simon Starling's Phantom Ride
With Mark Lawson
Stephenie Meyer is the author of the phenomenally successful Twilight series. The latest of her young adult books to be adapted for the screen is The Host. She reflects on how the success of the films affected her writing and why despite inspiring the 50 Shades series, she has never read it.
Steve Carrell and Jim Carrey star as rival Vegas magicians in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. Critic Mark Eccleston assesses the film's power to amaze.
Simon Starling became one of the Turner Prize's most controversial winners when he took the 2005 title for his travelling hut, ShedboatShed. He discusses his creation for this year's Tate Britain Commission. Phantom Ride is inspired by early cinema, Blitz damage in London and ghost stories.
Almost half of the musicians playing in the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra during World War II were also members of the Nazi party, according to new research. And 13 members of the orchestra at that time were driven out for being Jewish, or married to Jews. How far should this new information shape our understanding of the orchestra and its history? The cultural commentator Norman Lebrecht considers the issue with Mark.
Producer Stephen Hughes.
MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b01r550s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 Document (b01r55x9)
The 'Easter Rising' - the Dublin Rebellion of 1916 - appeared to catch the British Cabinet by surprise. Writer and broadcaster Nick Rankin investigates what the British Cabinet really knew, and how.
The Easter Rising is the seminal event in modern Irish nationalism. The execution of its leadership made it an enduring symbol of Irish freedom from British rule. For Great Britain it was a rebellion in its own backyard whilst fighting World War I; the fact that the Germans were involved in supporting the Irish rebels only added to its seriousness.
However, it's unclear at what point the British authorities knew about the imminent rebellion. The Intelligence Services knew a lot but how much were they passing onto the Cabinet?
The Royal Commission into the 1916 Easter Rebellion laid the blame firmly at the door of the Chief Secretary for Ireland, who duly resigned. Officially, the Cabinet had been caught unawares. But in the unpublished private papers of the Prime Minister Herbert Asquith's wife, Margot, we hear a different story.
Nick Rankin pieces together the events running up to the Easter weekend of 1916. Joining the dots between diary entries, decoded messages, warning telegrams, a shipment of German arms, agents landed by U-Boat off the west coast of Ireland, he sees that the PM may well have known about the Rebellion in Ireland but chose not to act. He investigates why.
Producer: Neil McCarthy.
MON 20:30 Analysis (b01r5g2p)
Three Score Years and Twenty
As more and more people look forward to ever longer life, Analysis examines what it's like to grow old in Britain and what we can learn from other countries facing the same challenge. We've heard much about the financial issues around pensions or health care. But it also poses more fundamental questions - is Britain a good society in which to grow old?
Will those precious extra years be a time of wellbeing or alienation and loneliness? And, do other parts of the world have strengths from which we could learn?
Chris Bowlby talks to those who have a unique perspective on this - migrants who came to the UK in the hope of better prospects. They can compare British society with other places they know as well. Many are now weighing up what to do when their working lives are over. And a number do not expect to stay here. Their children work long hours and live a distance away. The three-generation homes that supported their own grandparents as they grew old will not be an option for them. Many worry that they face a lonely future.
So is Britain a model for the future of a longer life? Or do those with a global perspective believe there are better places to spend your later years?
Contributors : Professor Sarah Harper (Oxford Institute of Population Ageing), Baroness Sally Greengross (International Longevity Centre) & Dr Chris Murray (Global Burden of Disease Study).
Producer : Rosamund Jones.
MON 21:00 Material World (b01r11wh)
Deer, Herschel, facial contrast, potatoes
The first ever census on deer numbers in the country shows that current management of these wild animals isn't controlling numbers. Estimates suggest there are 1.5 million deer now roaming the countryside, the biggest number since the ice age. But to just keep this number stable more than 50% would have to be culled every year. Is this the only option to controlling these animals which are having a significant and detrimental effect on our woodlands and are the cause of thousands of road traffic accidents? Dr. Paul Dolman, from the University of East Anglia and the lead author of the new research, puts forward his case.
Dr. David Clements, from Imperial College London, returns to the programme to highlight the success of Herschel - the European Space Agency's flagship Space Observatory. He was there at the telescope's launch - back in 2009 - and now will see its end as the onboard supply of helium, which cools the instruments, slowly runs out and the telescope loses its sight.
Also this week, why is the potato such a successful vegetable that can grow in many different climates? Dr. Christian Bachem from the Laboratory of Plant Breeding at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and his team have found a single gene that could be responsible. Knowing that could make it possible to breed even more extreme varieties to meet our ever increasing reliance on the humble spud.
Finally Dr Richard Russell, from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, may have discovered an underlying method by which we all guess a person's age. Writing in the Journal PLOS One, it seems a higher contrast between lips, eyes and the skin makes people look younger - something with which lipstick and eye shadow wearers can agree.
MON 21:30 Start the Week (b01r54q3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:58 Weather (b01r31wy)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b01r5g2r)
Liam Fox says government should end ring-fencing and freeze spending;
Papal conclave prepares to meet at the Vatican;
Is Hungary's government pushing through anti-democratic reforms?
With Ritula Shah.
MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01r5g2t)
Lucy Caldwell - All the Beggars Riding
Episode 1
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. (Trad.)
After the death of her mother, Lara Moorhouse finds herself besieged with questions about her childhood that she never had the courage to ask her mother when she was alive. In particular, questions about her father.
When Lara and her younger brother Alfie were children, their father, an eminent surgeon, died in a helicopter crash. He had been largely absent from their lives, spending much of his time working in Belfast during the Troubles and only coming back to London two weekends a month to work at the Harley Street Clinic where he had first met their mother years before.
For unbeknownst to her, Lara's father had another life in Belfast; a wife, other children: another family.
As she delves into her parents' lives and the story of their relationship, Lara confronts her own past, and theirs, and discovers an unexpected legacy from her father's hidden double life.
All the Beggars Riding is Lucy Caldwell's third novel. In 2011 Lucy won the The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was awarded the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize for her second novel 'The Meeting Point'. A playwright and novelist Lucy's theatre credits include the award-winning 'Leaves', 'Guardians' and 'Notes to Future Self'. For radio she has written the Imison Award-winning 'Girl from Mars', 'Avenues of Eternal Peace', 'Witch Week' a dramatization of Diana Wynne Jones' novel for BBC Radio 4 Extra, and most recently she adapted her stage play 'Notes to Future Self' for Radio 4.
Read by Anne-Marie Duff
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Producer Heather Larmour.
MON 23:00 Rhymes of Passion (b01r5g2w)
Laura Barton tells the story of the passionate, obsessive love affair that inspired the extraordinary poetic novel By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept.
Elizabeth Smart chanced across a book of poems by George Barker in a Charing Cross Road bookshop in 1939. It intoxicated her so much that she decided to marry him there and then, whoever he was. She tracked him down in Japan and embarked on an affair that would last for two decades and which led to Smart bearing four of Barker's 15 children.
She would also produce the passionate prose poem By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept detailing the affair. It was an underground success when it was published in the 1940s but became both celebrated and reviled by the generation of feminists in the late 1960s.
Some might say Smart is an appalling role model for women, as she seemed utterly submissive to Barker. She was a single working mother of four in the 1940s, '50s and '60s. She moved to Europe in wartime and went on to become the highest paid copywriter in London. In many ways she was ahead of her time.
In this programme, Laura Barton discovers the real story behind By Grand Central Station... -- a story of deceit and disappointment, but also, overridingly, of intense and passionate love.
Featuring Christopher Barker, Elspeth Barker, Sebastian Barker, Robert Fraser, Rosemary Sullivan and Fay Weldon.
Producer: Martin Williams.
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01r5g2y)
Opposition MPs keep up their attack on the Government's reductions to housing benefit for tenants who have spare bedrooms --- what Labour has termed the 'bedroom tax'. Sean Curran is watching in the Commons, as the Work & Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith accuses Labour MPs of being like 'monkeys jumping around'.
Also on the programme:
* Peter Mulligan reports on a new deal for delivering humanitarian aid to developing countries.
* Simon Jones covers a Commons debate on the Bill that splits retail banking from so-called 'casino' banking.
* Alicia McCarthy follows peers exchanges on changes to legal aid.
TUESDAY 12 MARCH 2013
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b01r320d)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b01r54q5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01r320h)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01r320l)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01r320n)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b01r320q)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01r5lmd)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Sharon Grenham-Toze.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b01r5lmg)
With warnings from medical experts about the danger that antibiotic resistant microbes present to human health, Farming Today investigates whether their use on farms may have a part to play. Are farmers and vets prescribing them responsibly? We hear from both sides of the debate.
MEPs meet today in Strasbourg to debate changes to the Common Agricultural Policy. What they decide will have a direct impact on the subsidies farmers get.
And it may be snowing in some parts of the country, but the first crop of British strawberries is already in the shops.
Presented by Anna Hill. Produced by Emma Campbell.
TUE 06:00 Today (b01r5lmj)
Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 In Defence of Bureaucracy (b01r5lml)
Episode 2
The former Prime Minister Tony Blair is one of many high-profile contributors to the second part of Gus O'Donnell's series In Defence of Bureaucracy.
The relationship between government ministers and bureaucrats in the Civil Service is at an all time low. It's being described as "Whitehall at War" in one broadsheet newspaper as a succession of senior politicians call for wholesale reform of a system they see as dominated by old-style "Sir Humphreys" acting as the permanent opposition. In the second of a two part series, In Defence of Bureaucracy, the former Cabinet Secretary, Gus O'Donnell, argues that we should be proud of our Civil Service which has made British bureaucracy the best in the world; and that hasty reform risks undermining a 150 year-old tradition of fairness, impartiality and accountability.
Gus talks to, amongst others, former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and John Major, and goes head to head with the man leading the moves to reform the civil service, the Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude.
Producer: Will Yates
A Juniper Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 09:30 Roger Law and the Chinese Curiosities (b01kbm0n)
Series 1
Episode 5
In the final programme in the series, Roger Law concludes his journey through China looking for the very best of the country's museums, old and new. He ends up in Beijing, making a visit to the city's 'Tap Water' museum to find out what's on display. From there he heads off to find wonderful Chinese textiles and the extraordinary sound of bells in two more of the city's unusual museums, before ending up in one of the finest collections of art that can be found anywhere in the country.
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b01r715z)
The Last Days of Detroit
Episode 2
The city of Detroit has suffered like no other US city; it's post-industrial decline, rapid and relentless, chronicled by photographers and journalists alike.
Detroit had been the beacon city of the 20th century, home to the massive Ford plant which, in the 20 years from 1908, produced 15 million Model T Ford cars, and put a nation on the road. In 1928, with skyscrapers dominating the city skyline, you could justifiably have called Detroit the most modern city in the world.
But by the time Berry Gordy founded Motown Records in 1959 - the other great Detroit bequest along with the auto industry - the city was already in inexorable decline. The 1967 riots - at the time the worst in US history - did not cause the problems, but did highlight them. The big three car companies had largely gone elsewhere; bereft of finance, urban planning was in meltdown; corruption was rife; and racial tensions were running high.
After a break of 16 years, Mark Binelli returned to live in the city whose suburbs he grew up in. He found an urban prairie, with 90,000 ravaged and empty buildings, a school system that was impoverished and a crime rate second to none in the US. But Binelli also discovered a new Detroit emerging; with urban farms and a vibrant arts scene. Is a new future, he wondered, being wrought on the post-industrial frontier?
Mark Binelli is the author of the novel Sacco and Vanzetti Must Die! and a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and Men's Journal. Born and raised in the Detroit area, he has now, after three years back in Detroit, moved to New York City.
Read by: John Schwab
Abridger: Pete Nichols
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01r5lmn)
Call the Midwife; Peter Lawrence on his missing daughter; pianist Valentina Lisitsa
The chef Claudia Lawrence went missing in 2009. Her father Peter and her best friend, Suzy Cooper talk to Jane Garvey. Call The Midwife writer Heidi Thomas discusses healthcare issues raised by the hit TV series. Pianist Valentina Lisitsa has had 46 million hits on You Tube. She plays live. Author Elizabeth Fremantle and historian Gemma Allen explore the life of Katherine Parr. We continue our series hearing from listeners in their 50's facing pension changes.
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b01r5lnm)
Writing the Century 21 - Journal of a Joskin
1924: The Farm Near Sheffield
The series which explores the 20th Century through the diaries and correspondence of real people. The Journals of Yorkshire Farm Labourer Fred Kitchen adapted by Stephen Wakelam. Frequent moves are often the lot of the rural worker. 1924: The Farm near Sheffield.
Director: David Hunter.
TUE 11:00 Who's the Pest? (b01r5lmq)
Eat
They make up a mighty 80% of the species on earth, and at any time there are ten QUINTILLION of them living.
Meet the six-legged rulers of the world: INSECTS
Entomologist Erica McAlister is known as Fly Girl to her friends. As Curator of Flies at the Natural History Museum, she knows what remarkable, strange, and diverse animals insects are. But for most of us, insects are pests - something we swot, or repel, or catch in a jar and hastily eject from the house. In this three part series, Erica will take listeners on an adventure in insect-world. It's our world, but not as we know it.
Insect world is populated by beings with superpowers - an amazing sense of smell, lightning reflexes, the ability to fly at dizzying speed or walk on the ceiling. And these superpowers have implications for us humans - in medicine, defence, food, art and architecture. They can help us to live more healthily, more safely, more sustainably.
In Episode Two, Erica asks whether we should be eating more insects.
Series Consultant: Bridget Nicholls, Director, Pestival.
TUE 11:30 Feel the Chant: The Brit Funk Story (b01r5lms)
In the seventies and early eighties, Jazz Funk music swept the UK's dance floors and clubs. This new musical sound emerged from the shadows of disco and had a fascinating impact in Britain.
We hear from Mark King of Level 42, Gee Bello of Light of the World, Bill Sharpe and Jill Sayward of Shakatak, DJ's Chris Hill and Snowboy, Paul P of Hi-Tension and Southern Freeez singer Ingrid Mansfield Allman.
In this documentary, vocalist and presenter David Grant, who was part of the UK soul outfit Linx, revisits this unique era in British music which saw artists experimenting with a fusion of jazz, funk, urban dance rhythm and pop hooks.
He reveals the origins of the phrase 'Brit-Funk' and how the pioneers of this sound, groups Hi Tension and Light of the World, presented their music with a British twist to their instrumentation and vocals.
The Jazz funk scene was British, a club culture unique to these shores with no equivalent in the States. As the music became popular, the release of 12" singles fuelled a craze for white-labels.
Grant acknowledges that Brit Funk, although considered in some quarters as a pale imitation of US Jazz Funk, was nonetheless ours - and heralded a new dawn in dance music. The term evolved from the club DJs - legendary names such as Chris Hill, and James Hamilton of Record Mirror whose column had a major influence in launching new records.
With support from the club disc jockeys and labels such as Ensign and Elite, artists including Light of the World, Level 42, Shakatak and Freeez enjoyed chart success and made regular appearances on Top of the Pops alongside the new romantics and punk groups of this period. With club DJs gaining cult status, the scene also created many 'club hits' which, although they never achieved commercial success, are still remembered with great affection today and discussed on music forum websites and uploaded to Youtube.
Many British based soul and dance bands found themselves merging under the Brit Funk banner. These included Lynx, Central Line, Imagination and Second Image - and initially pop groups such as Haircut 100 and Wham tapped into the style and sound to help launch their careers.
Grant demonstrates how this scene was hugely significant in cutting through racial boundaries in the clubs and was instrumental in raising the profile of black and white musicians working together, notably Spandau Ballet who collaborated with Beggar And Co to produce the classic pop song 'Chant Number One'.
He explains how, during the success of the Jazz and Brit Funk period, "chanting" materialised in the discotheque and nightclub. This football crowd style of interacting with the music and DJ underlined the voice of a new generation which can still be felt today.
TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b01r5lmv)
Women at work
One of the world's top female executives - Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg - says that the revolution towards equal rights, power and pay in the workplace has stalled. Is she right, and if so should we be worried?
As well as blaming companies for failing to act she says women need to do more to further their own careers.
03700 100 444 is the number to call, email youandyours@bbc.co.uk or text us on 84844.
A leading Cabinet minister says that she's treated differently than her male colleagues. When she speaks in Parliament, what she says can often get overshadowed by the colour of the outfit she's wearing.
And to mark Commonwealth Day, the UK's most powerful woman - the Queen - is signing a new charter backing equal rights for women across the Commonwealth. Is it a sign of how far things have come or how far we've got to go?
TUE 12:57 Weather (b01r320x)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b01r5lmx)
Martha Kearney presents national and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
TUE 13:45 Baroque in Britain (b01r5lmz)
Episode 2
It's been called the 'art of extravagance', the ultimate expression of status, nationhood, and religious fervour. But for many, the word 'Baroque' will always evoke a southern European sky, the masterpieces of Caravaggio, Vivaldi, Borromini, and Bernini. So what of the British role in this? Do the words 'Britain' and 'Baroque' really belong together at all?
As part of 'Baroque Spring' on the BBC art historian Tim Marlow sets out to discover the essence of British Baroque, and the result of the collision of British reserve and our Protestant ethic on this most lavish of artforms. His journey takes him to many of the nation's greatest art treasures, including the summit of London's Monument built to commemorate the Great Fire, to the gargantuan 'Great Model' commissioned by Sir Christopher Wren as his vision of a St Paul's Cathedral which would never be, and also to snowy downs on the outskirts of Barnsley where a 'battle of the buildings' saw two houses try to outdo each other with the grandeur of their architectural projects. And to finish the week there's a glimpse of a Baroque shadow in today's Britain, courtesy of an extraordinary fantasy house built by sculptor Oriel Harwood to fulfil her own 21st-century dreams of spectacular art in the home.
To begin the series, Marlow takes the first of five snapshots in time. It's 30 January 1649 and at Whitehall Palace the nation's balance of power is about to shift momentously. As Charles I walks to his execution he catches one final view of a masterpiece above his head, Rubens's famed Banqueting House ceiling. A royal life may have been in its last seconds, but his influence as a connoisseur and curator of the very best art of his day was only just beginning to be realised.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b01r55x5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b01r5ln1)
Meic Povey - Take Me to Hafod Owen
By Meic Povey
The second in a short series of dramas that each take us to a different part of the UK.
It's many years since Ellis Roberts has been back to Hafod Owen, his childhood home, in the shadow of the mountains of Snowdonia. Now he's returned to confront the reasons his family were driven out of the area nearly 50 years ago, and to reclaim what's rightly his. But as Ellis begins to unpick the past, he discovers that not everything is as he remembers it.
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production.
TUE 15:00 The Human Zoo (b01r80zr)
Series 1
Episode 2
Can we explain a wide variety of human behaviour - from unwillingness to go for health screening, to opposition to a new railway - as different versions of what is called 'status quo bias'?
What does it mean to say that we are biased towards the status quo? We all think we have our reasons for our preferences. And we do. But is one of them a feeling of which we can be entirely unaware - a tendency to resist change and prefer things just the way they are, simply because that's the way they are now?
In the Human Zoo this week, we'll hear the experiments that seem to show people clinging on to what they've got - even when they are certain to gain from changing. In other words, a suggestion that we don't judge the merits of a choice in an even-handed way, but are biased in favour of where we start from, even when that bias clearly costs us.
So, does status quo bias also suggest that we are irrational? Possibly. Although some argue that it often makes sense. Even so, it has implications for everything from the businesses who go on taking ever bigger risks to attempt to avoid the horror of a loss, to people's scepticism of new building, technology, or change of any kind. It might even help to explain why you can't seem to stop yourself arriving habitually late.
The Human Zoo, where we see public decisions viewed through private thoughts, is presented by Michael Blastland, with the trusted guidance of Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School.
Presenter: Michael Blastland
Producer: Toby Murcott
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (b01r5ln3)
The House That Heats Itself
Miranda Krestovnikoff looks at new building materials for environmentally-friendly houses and asks where you should start if you want to build your own eco-home.
Costing The Earth visits Ashley Vale in Bristol: a self-built community of eco-homes to find out, ten years on, if the project has been a success.
Miranda also discovers the latest building materials and techniques available to those embarking on 'grand design' style projects and discovers how difficult and expensive it is to build your own environment-sensitive home.
Presenter: Miranda Krestovnikoff
Producer: Martin Poyntz-Roberts.
TUE 16:00 Law in Action (b01r5ln5)
Deprivation of Citizenship
This week, Joshua Rozenberg investigates government powers to strip Britons of their citizenship.
He tells the story of Mahdi Hashi, a Somali-born man whose British passport was removed just before he was handed over to US authorities, who transported him from Africa to New York to face terrorism charges.
Also: should a woman escape criminal liability if she was pressured to commit the crime by a man? Joshua looks beyond the Pryce-Huhne case and explores an forthcoming case in the Court of Appeal concerning a new defence of "battered women's syndrome."
The programme also looks at illustrators in criminal courts, and celebrates the 80th birthday of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg - who will soon mark twenty years on the US Supreme Court.
TUE 16:30 A Good Read (b01r5ln7)
Robert Peston and Bernadine Evaristo
Writer Bernadine Evaristo and BBC Business Editor Robert Peston join Harriett Gilbert to discuss the merits of books about infanticide, an inter-racial love affair and growing up as one of the Mitford girls.
Bernadine Evaristo has been described as as 'one of Britain's most talented, innovative and successful contemporary writers', drawing on her dual heritage and London roots to energise and inform her work. Her seven books include 'The Emperor's Babe' and 'Blonde Roots'. Her choice for 'A Good Read' is 'The Boy Next Door' by Irene Sabatini, the story of a turbulent love affair between a mixed race girl and her white, casually racist, neighbour, set in newly independent Zimbabwe.
Robert Peston is the BBC's Business Editor, a multi-award winning journalist and writer. He chooses a book by his late wife, Sian Busby which explores the true story of a distressing family secret. Her great-grandmother was sent to Broadmoor for the murder of twin babies in 1919, whom she drowned in a bathtub when suffering from post-natal depression. Busby's book 'The Cruel Mother' explores the personal and historical context of the story.
Harriett's choice this week is 'Hons and Rebels' by Jessica Mitford, a memoir of her eccentric upbringing and approach to life as a controversial writer, civil rights activist and political campaigner.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.
TUE 17:00 PM (b01r5ln9)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01r3212)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Elvenquest (b01r5lnp)
Series 4
The Bard
The Questers find themselves in possession of the magical Dagger of Razzak-Dar, which kills anyone it touches, and realise this might be a golden opportunity to use it on Lord Darkness. The problem is, Lord Darkness' castle is impenetrable.
Luckily, Lord Darkness is looking for a new bard to soothe his nerves, so decides to hold a talent contest so throws open the doors of his castle to welcome applicants.
If only one of the Questers had any musical or acting experience.
Enter Penthiselea, stage left...
Starring:
Darren Boyd as Vidar
Kevin Eldon as Dean/Kreech
Dave Lamb as Amis/The Vet/Grunter
Stephen Mangan as Sam
Alistair McGowan as Lord Darkness
and
Ingrid Oliver as Penthiselea
Written by James Cary
Producer: Sam Michell.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b01r5lpv)
Hungover Darrell skips breakfast to get to Home Farm on time. When Elona stops at the shop on her way to work, Jill asks if she's thought of joining the WI. With her family and shift work, Elona doesn't think she'd have time.
Brenda's got loads to do but Lilian needs to go to Felpersham so she piles her work onto Brenda. On her way to book out a departing tenant, Brenda bumps into Vicky who's out with Bethany. Seeing Bethany cheers Brenda up.
Darrell gets a call from Des, who's got a proposition for him - a nice little earner. Des is looking for a new venue for some 'sporting evenings' which he and some mates organize. He's sure there's a suitable isolated building at Home Farm. All Darrell needs to do is unlock gates and guide people in. Darrell fobs Des off by saying he'll think about it.
Vicky comes into the village shop, upset by a remark from Pat Fletcher, who clearly doesn't understand that Bethany is a precious gift.
On her return, Lilian has no sympathy for Brenda, who's had a really stressful day. She reminds Brenda who's the boss.
Elona's upset. Her hours have been reduced and she doesn't know how they'll manage. She wants Darrell to speak to the mates he was out with last night, to see if they know of any work.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b01r5lpx)
Edmund de Waal; The Paperboy; the art of George Bellows
With Mark Lawson.
Edmund de Waal, author of the bestselling memoir The Hare with the Amber Eyes, reflects on finding novels written by his grandmother, Elisabeth. She grew up in Vienna, and escaped when Hitler's troops marched into Austria on 12 March 1938, 75 years ago today. Her novel The Exiles Return examines the stories of five exiles returning to Vienna after World War II, and is now being published for the very first time.
The Paperboy is the latest film from Lee Daniels, the director of the award-winning Precious. It caused a sensation amongst critics at last year's Cannes festival, thanks to a notorious scene involving Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron and a well-known antidote for a jellyfish sting. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh considers whether this swampy Southern melodrama has any real bite.
The first major UK retrospective of the American realist painter George Bellows opens this week. At the time of his death in 1925, at the age of just 42, Bellows was considered one of the greatest artists America had ever produced. He left 600 paintings of urban New York, boxing matches, social scenes and portraits, making him a chronicler of early 20th Century New York life. Sarah Churchwell reviews.
A leading bookshop chain is offering an exclusive edition of the new paperback by Joanne Harris, featuring an epilogue unavailable elsewhere. Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller, considers this latest move in the fierce battle between traditional shops and online retailers.
Producer Dymphna Flynn.
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b01r5lnm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b01r5lpz)
Mali: Europe's Terror Threat
The French authorities acknowledge their intervention in Mali has made them terrorist target number one. In recent weeks, the country has raised its threat level - with high visibility police patrols at tourist destinations and government buildings - and a number of people suspected of planning to join Islamic extremists in Mali have been arrested.
Jenny Cuffe examines concerns in France both about the rise of Islamist extremism and the tough action the authorities are taking in response. Last October, police uncovered bomb making equipment following a grenade attack on a Jewish butchers in Paris. Eight months earlier, extremist Mohamed Merah killed three soldiers and a rabbi and three children outside a Jewish school in Toulouse. Meanwhile more than 100 imams deemed to be dangerous have been deported in the last ten years and several more are currently under threat of being expelled.
The programme also examines the threat to the UK. Jihadist groups in North Africa have warned that they will target supporters of the French action in Mali. The British Government is currently seeking to deport a number of Algerian terror suspects and authorities are also investigating reports that a British man has been arrested trying to make his way to join jihadists fighting in Mali.
Presenter: Jenny Cuffe
Producer: Paul Grant.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b01r5lq1)
Railway Feedback, New Beacon
Olufunmi Majekodunmi is the new editor of NB (formerly New Beacon) magazine. The RNIB's publication for healthcare professionals working in the vi sector.
Olufunmi talks about her vision for the new look publication.
Lee Kumutat travelled home to Australia recently and did so, for the first time without her guide-dog.
She reveals her concerns about how her family and friends might perceive her, without her usual canine companion.
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (b01r5lq3)
Antibiotics, cervical smears, premature labour, hip replacements
Following the chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies apocalyptic report comparing the threat of antibiotic resistance to terrorism, Dr Mark Porter looks at the overuse of antibiotics. He asks is it even useful to ask if an infection is viral or bacterial - are antibiotics the right thing even in a bad, bacterial infection? 60,000 pregnant women will go into premature labour every year in the UK. Mark visits a pioneering clinic at St Thomas's hospital in London to prevent premature labour. He also asks do all women need smear tests even if they're in long term monogamous relationships, have always had clear tests or are in a lesbian relationship? And aspirin to prevent the risk of stroke after hip replacements.
TUE 21:30 In Defence of Bureaucracy (b01r5lml)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 21:58 Weather (b01r3217)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b01r5lqp)
David Cameron hints at arming Syrian rebels. Catholic cardinals have begun voting for a new Pope. And a Nasa space rover has established that conditions on Mars in the distant past could have supported primitive life. Presented by Ritula Shah.
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01r76bc)
Lucy Caldwell - All the Beggars Riding
Episode 2
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. (Trad.)
After the death of her mother, Lara Moorhouse finds herself besieged with questions about her childhood that she never had the courage to ask her mother when she was alive. In particular, questions about her father.
When Lara and her younger brother Alfie were children, their father, an eminent surgeon, died in a helicopter crash. He had been largely absent from their lives, spending much of his time working in Belfast during the Troubles and only coming back to London two weekends a month to work at the Harley Street Clinic where he had first met their mother years before.
For unbeknownst to her, Lara's father had another life in Belfast; a wife, other children: another family.
As she delves into her parents' lives and the story of their relationship, Lara confronts her own past, and theirs, and discovers an unexpected legacy from her father's hidden double life.
All the Beggars Riding is Lucy Caldwell's third novel. In 2011 Lucy won the The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was awarded the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize for her second novel 'The Meeting Point'. A playwright and novelist Lucy's theatre credits include the award-winning 'Leaves', 'Guardians' and 'Notes to Future Self'. For radio she has written the Imison Award-winning 'Girl from Mars', 'Avenues of Eternal Peace', 'Witch Week' a dramatization of Diana Wynne Jones' novel for BBC Radio 4 Extra, and most recently she adapted her stage play 'Notes to Future Self' for Radio 4.
Read by Anne-Marie Duff
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Producer Heather Larmour.
TUE 23:00 Our Woman in Norton Tripton (b01r5lqr)
A New Comedy starring Jenny Eclair as jaded community website journalist Ros Moss.
Washed up Fleet Street Journalist Ros has ended up back in her childhood village of Norton Tripton. The only job she can get is working for her loathed ex-sister-in-law who runs the local tourist website. Ros and her nerdy cameraman Keith visit Tammington Towers, the location of the cult horror film "Woman in a Petticoat. They discover that things are still going bump in the night ...
Ros ..... Jenny Eclair
Keith ..... Mark Heap
Debra ..... Felicity Montagu
Dolly ..... Marlene Sidaway
Mrs Tammington ..... Liza Sadovy
Mr. Tammington ..... Ben Crowe
Written by Jenny Éclair and Julie Balloo
Producer: Liz Webb.
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01r5lqt)
The Lib Dems resist an invitation to support Labour on a mansion tax. David Cameron says he could send arms to Syria. And the people forced to wear hats and coats at home because they can't afford rising heating costs.
Editor: Peter Mulligan.
WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2013
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b01r3234)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b01r715z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01r3236)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01r3239)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01r323c)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b01r323f)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01rmldb)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Sharon Grenham-Toze.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b01r5nfy)
MEPs in Strasbourg are due to vote today on proposed reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy. The proposals under consideration could change the way farming is funded in the EU over the next seven years. The new scheme was meant to encourage farmers to do more to protect the environment. But environmental groups fear the "greening" measures have been watered down.
And with Jersey Royal potatoes under ten inches of snow on the Channel Islands, will they be on our plates in time for Easter lunch?
Presented by Anna Hill. Produced by Emma Campbell.
WED 06:00 Today (b01r5ng0)
Morning news and current affairs with Sarah Montague and Justin Webb, including:
0749
Russian foreign and defence ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoig, meet their British counterparts William Hague and Phillip Hammond in London for a new round of strategic talks today. Sir Roderic Braithwaite, a former British ambassador to Moscow, and Edward Lucas, international editor at the Economist and author of Deception - a book about Russian spying in the modern era - discuss whether the UK should be holding talks of this nature with the nation.
0810
Labour has accused the government of "weak leadership" after it emerged plans for minimum pricing of alcohol in England and Wales may be dropped. The former GP Dr Sarah Wollaston, who is on the Health Select Committee, and David Davis, the former shadow home secretary, explain why it appears the government may be abandoning the idea.
0820
Vicky Pryce and Chris Huhne were sentenced to eight months in prison. Ms Pryce's lawyer, Robert Brown, examines whether marital coercion is it a valid defence in the 21st century.
0825
Cardinals are due to begin their second day of deliberations in the Vatican conclave that will elect a new pope, after reaching no decision on Tuesday. From Rome, the BBC's Edward Stourton reports.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b01r5ng2)
Kevin Fong, Lin Jammet, Leslie Jordan, Wolfgang Puck
Libby Purves meets Dr Kevin Fong; Lin Jammet, son of artist Dame Elisabeth Frink; actor Leslie Jordan; and chef Wolfgang Puck.
Dr Kevin Fong is a consultant anaesthetist at University College Hospital, London. His career has included working with NASA on the effect of zero gravity on the human body and being part of an emergency response team in a hospital trauma unit. In his book Extremes - Life, Death and the Limits of the Human Body, he draws on these experiences to explore how the body responds to extremes of heat, cold, disease and trauma. Extremes - Life, Death and the Limits of the Human Body is published by Hodder & Stoughton.
Lin Jammet is the only child of British artist Dame Elisabeth Frink. The Lightbox in Woking is marking the 20th anniversary of her death with the first major retrospective for more than 25 years. The exhibition features a number of personal items such as the tools she used to create her sculptures. A new edition of Elisabeth Frink Catalogue Raisonne of Sculpture 1947-93 is published by Lund Humphries.
Wolfgang Puck is the chef and founder of Cut at 45 Park Lane. Born in Austria, Wolfgang was taught to cook by his mother and began his formal training at14. He opened his flagship restaurant Spago in Los Angeles in 1982, becoming one of the country's first celebrity chefs. For several years he has been the culinary mastermind behind the annual Academy Awards dinner.
Actor and raconteur Leslie Jordan brings his new one-man show Fruit Fly to London. In the show he asks: "Do gay men really become their Mothers?" and tells of how his own mother, Miss Peggy Sue, continues to inspire him today. The show also relates his colourful life and experiences growing up gay in America's Deep South. Fruit Fly is at the Leicester Square Theatre.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b01r71hv)
The Last Days of Detroit
Episode 3
The city of Detroit has suffered like no other US city; it's post-industrial decline, rapid and relentless, chronicled by photographers and journalists alike.
Detroit had been the beacon city of the 20th century, home to the massive Ford plant which, in the 20 years from 1908, produced 15 million Model T Ford cars, and put a nation on the road. In 1928, with skyscrapers dominating the city skyline, you could justifiably have called Detroit the most modern city in the world.
But by the time Berry Gordy founded Motown Records in 1959 - the other great Detroit bequest along with the auto industry - the city was already in inexorable decline. The 1967 riots - at the time the worst in US history - did not cause the problems, but did highlight them. The big three car companies had largely gone elsewhere; bereft of finance, urban planning was in meltdown; corruption was rife; and racial tensions were running high.
After a break of 16 years, Mark Binelli returned to live in the city whose suburbs he grew up in. He found an urban prairie, with 90,000 ravaged and empty buildings, a school system that was impoverished and a crime rate second to none in the US. But Binelli also discovered a new Detroit emerging; with urban farms and a vibrant arts scene. Is a new future, he wondered, being wrought on the post-industrial frontier?
Mark Binelli is the author of the novel Sacco and Vanzetti Must Die! and a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and Men's Journal. Born and raised in the Detroit area, he has now, after three years back in Detroit, moved to New York City.
Read by: John Schwab
Abridger: Pete Nichols
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01r5ng4)
Being followed; Roller Derby; Human Rights Watch Film Festival
Roller Derby, training with the Romsey Town Rollerbillies. Laura Bates of #everydaysexism and Rachel Griffen of the Suzy Lampugh Trust discuss women's experience of being followed in the street. Kim Longinotto introduces her new film Salma, showing at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. Karen Campbell's new book explores the experiences of refugees in Glasgow.
Presented by Jenni Murray
Produced by Sharmini Selvarajah.
WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b01r5ng6)
Writing the Century 21 - Journal of a Joskin
1925: Fresh Pastures
The series which explores the 20th Century through the diaries and correspondence of real people. The Journals of Yorkshire Farm Labourer Fred Kitchen adapted by Stephen Wakelam. Fred is now the Poet of the Cowshed. 1925: Fresh Pastures.
Director: David Hunter.
WED 11:00 Lives in a Landscape (b01r5ng8)
Series 12
Wheelchair Pusher Needed
"Pusher needed for Silly Old Fart in Wheelchair".
When Terry Chambers had to use a wheelchair after a stroke, he needed someone to push him through the streets of Crouch End in North London. He already had one carer but it wasn't enough. So he placed this jokey advert in the local newsagent's window and found Robert.
Terry may describe himself as a silly old fart but he used to be a highly successful photographer. He took pictures of the Royal Family and many other famous faces. He would travel the world, going wherever the work was, too busy for a wife or family. And he was a regular in the wine bars and restaurants of the West End of London.
But three years ago his career was ended by the stroke. He can't walk and has limited movement in his hands. He needs help with everything. However, Terry still wants a semblance of the life he had before- the wine bars, the alcohol and the good lunches in particular.He can't get as far as he used to, so he stays around the area of Crouch End where he's lived for over 40 years. That's where Robert comes in- helping him get out and about.
Robert didn't start out as a carer. For decades, his work was in construction, building roads and pavements and refurbishing offices. Then a friend suggested he would be good at looking after people and he never looked back. At the start of the day he helps Terry wash, gets him dressed and prepares medicine for him. Then it's time to push the wheelchair out of the flat for the day for Terry to visit a wine bar- perhaps two- have a good lunch and some fun in the afternoon.
Alan Dein follows the pair of them as they navigate the streets and finds out how Terry's stroke has altered his landscape. How has his view of the world changed now that he is sitting in a wheelchair? And what are the qualities that make a really good pusher....?
Producer: Emma Kingsley.
WED 11:30 Twitterpated! (b01g4df7)
It's been over seventy years since Friend Owl (in the film Bambi) identified a phenomenon that has been evident in nature since the earliest times. With the spring thaw, Bambi and Thumper are bewildered by the giddy skittishness of the creatures of the forest. Owl enlightens them...
"They're twitterpated! Nearly everybody gets twitterpated in the springtime ... you're walking along, minding your own business. You're looking neither to the left, nor to the right, when all of a sudden you run smack into a pretty face. Woo-woo! You begin to get weak in the knees. Your head's in a whirl ... You're knocked for a loop!" "Gosh, that's awful", says Thumper.
Young couples share their stories of falling in love in the springtime - Sandy and Alex are still students, head-over-heels and planning a life together; Jo and Amit were 'knocked for a loop' under a tree surrounded by squirrels and birds.
Biological anthropologist Helen Fisher traces the behaviour described by Friend Owl back to humanity's origins and finds evidence of its effect in our brain chemistry. Woodland ranger Simon Bateman, on a sunny spring morning, finds the promise of new life in the flora and fauna under his protection.
Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:00 You and Yours (b01r5ngb)
Package holidays; alcohol pricing
The supermarkets all move to drop petrol prices. Insurers lay out their plans to curb the 'whiplash epidemic' that they say adds £90 to the average premium. Why olive oil could be about to get a lot more expensive. Plus, we're live at the annual Retail Conference in London.
WED 12:57 Weather (b01r323l)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b01r5ngd)
Martha Kearney presents national and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
WED 13:45 Baroque in Britain (b01r5ngg)
Episode 3
He was our greatest Baroque musical hero, and yet Handel wasn't even British by birth. Tim Marlow and historian Ruth Smith travel back to 1711 and the premiere of the opera which was to launch the composer's stage career in England. But why did Italian music theatre in the hands of a German prove to be exactly what British audiences wanted to hear?
WED 14:00 The Archers (b01r5lpv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b01r5ngj)
Ed Harris - Take Me to the North Laine
by Ed Harris.
The last in a short series of stories that each take us to a different part of the UK.
He hasn't told anyone, but today is Charles' last early shift, sweeping the streets of the North Laine in Brighton. This afternoon he's leaving. Forever. All he wants to do is get to the Pavilion Gardens for dawn, to say goodbye properly. But it's not going to be that simple.
Directed by Abigail le Fleming
The Writer
Ed Harris is a young Brighton-based playwright and poet. His plays include MONGREL ISLAND (Soho Theatre), THE COW PLAY and NEVER EVER AFTER (shortlisted for the 2008 Meyer-Whitworth Award). He has also written numerous radio plays including TROLL which won The Writers' Guild Award for best radio drama, and THE MOMENT YOU FEEL IT (BBC Radio 4) which was nominated for the Tinniswood award.
WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b01r5ngl)
Retirement income choices
How can you use your pension savings to maximise your retirement income? What are the best options for you? Call 03700 100 444 between
1pm and
3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk.
The National Association of Pension Funds claim that savers are being short-changed by an unfair and opaque annuity system and that simply shopping around for an annuity could boost your annual pension income by 30%.
To help consumers the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has this month introduced a compulsory Code of Conduct on Retirement Choices, so what should happen as you approach retirement and what are the considerations?
When is the best time to take your pension and what are the benefits and risks of deferring?
How much can you take as a lump sum and will this reduce your future income?
What are the different types of annuity, are you entitled to a higher rate due to ill health or lifestyle and are you able to provide for a spouse, civil partner or a dependant?
Can you keep your pension fund invested and drawdown money? What are the rules and how much will it cost?
To better understand your retirement choices, call 03 700 100 444 on Wednesday, phone lines are open between
1pm and
3.30pm. Standard geographic charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher.
Presenter Vincent Duggleby will put your questions to the experts:
Billy Burrows, Director, Better Retirement Group
Michelle Cracknell, Group Commercial Director, Lift-Financial
Malcolm McLean, Consultant, Barnett Waddingham
Producer: Diane Richardson.
WED 15:30 Inside Health (b01r5lq3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b01r5px8)
Guatemalan cemetery; Art auctions
Art Auctions - How do auctioneers and buyers transact sales in seconds? Laurie Taylor hears from Professor Christian Heath who discusses his detailed study into the tools and techniques which lead to the strike of a hammer. They're joined by the arts writer and critic, Georgina Adam. Also, the Guatemalan cemetery with no more room. The growth of the city combined with high death and murder rates means the cemetery is overflowing. The anthropologist, Kevin O'Neill, talks about the harsh effects of an aggressive policy of disinterment when poor relatives can't pay the dues.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b01r5pxb)
Ed Richards, chief exec of Ofcom
In today's programme with Steve Hewlett:
Steve interviews Ed Richards, Chief Executive of Ofcom, on some of the key areas in his brief. What, if anything, needs to be done to support public service broadcasting? Is Ofcom willing and able to be part of system regulating the press? How far can Ofcom protect internet users from inappropriate content? What happens to the "watershed" when so many programmes are watched on demand? And does he regret having to disclose that he wanted the BBC director general's job?
Meanwhile, there may be a breakthrough today on the press regulation plans, as the party leaders meet to resolve their differences. Chris Blackhurst, editor of the Independent, talks about what he knows of the latest plans - and why he's frustrated that so many discussions appear to be going in private.
The producer is Simon Tillotson.
WED 17:00 PM (b01r5pxd)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01r323r)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Dilemma (b01r5pxg)
Series 2
Episode 4
Sue Perkins puts Roisin Conaty, Samira Ahmed, David Reed and Robin Ince through the moral and ethical wringer.
The panellists finely-balanced dilemmas involve changing history; dipping into the archives; injust justice and a maths teacher's non-standard deviation.
There are no "right" answers - but there are some deeply damning ones.
Devised by Danielle Ward.
Producer: Ed Morrish
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b01r5pxj)
There's still no change with Christopher. Helen wants to visit, and picks up Emma who's glad of the lift to the hospital. Emma spends some time alone with Chris and is elated when she feels him squeeze her hand and open his eyes.
Mike and Ed come up with some good thoughts for the marketing campaign. With the leaflet ready for the printers, they enjoy a drink in The Bull, where Ed tells Jazzer that he's given Mrs James some more money for the Fergie. Jazzer's not pleased.
Nic asks Ed if he's looking forward to Eddie's birthday dinner on Friday. She's surprised when she sees Helen and Emma come in together. She didn't realize they were such friends. They tell everyone about Chris.
Helen's pleased that Alice has had some good news, especially as Alice has heard rumours that the accident was her fault because of the state Chris was in when she left for Canada. Jazzer thinks the rumours are terrible. Fellow rumour-monger Ed uncomfortably agrees.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b01r5pxl)
Pompeii at the British Museum; maths in music; new literature prize
With John Wilson.
Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum is the British Museum's giant examination of daily life in the cities destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. John takes an advance peek at the exhibition ahead of its opening with curator Paul Roberts.
A new prize for literature in English by writers from around the world is being launched at the British Library today. John meets one of the founders of the new prize, Andrew Kidd and one of the authors supporting the award, Kamila Shamsie, and wonders whether the prize was founded in response to the 2011 Man Booker shortlist.
In the Flesh is a new BBC3 drama which imagines life after a zombie apocalypse, and how former zombies try to fit back in to the community. Writer Natalie Haynes reviews.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time transfers to the West End this week and composer Adrian Sutton's score plays a prominent role in the production. What may not be so obvious are the mathematical rules he has hidden in the score, an attempt to stay true to the protagonist's love of prime numbers. Adrian and mathematician Marcus du Sautoy, who is holding a forthcoming event about the maths in Mozart's The Magic Flute, discuss the musical appeal of prime numbers.
Producer Ellie Bury.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b01r5ng6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b01r5pxn)
The Morality of Poverty
The incoming Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, has criticised the Government's plans to hold welfare payment increases below inflation.
Along with more than 40 bishops, he argues that we have "a duty to support those among us who are vulnerable and in need." Is that true? If it is, what does that duty demand?
Must we guarantee a minimum standard of living for all? Should it be an absolute priority to protect children from poverty? Should the government redistribute wealth from the richest to the poorest, even if that damages the collective prosperity of the nation?
Bishops in the House of Lords will attack the welfare plans when they are debated on Tuesday next week. The following day the Budget offers another chance to think about conflicting demands. We might consider whether, in times of austerity, we have a moral duty to spread the misery as fairly as possible. We might also look at what we mean by 'poverty'. Is the official EU definition - 'a household income below 60 per cent of median income' - a trustworthy guide to the point at which the state should offer its help? Or should we give hand-outs only to those who would starve without them?
Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk with Michael Portillo, Melanie Phillips, Matthew Taylor and Kenan Malik. Witnesses: Dr Stuart White - Director of the Public Policy Unit at Oxford University, The Right Rev'd Tim Stevens - Bishop of Leicester, Daniel Johnson - Editor, Standpoint magazine, Dr Sheila Lawlor - Director of the think-tank Politeia.
WED 20:45 Lent Talks (b01r5pxq)
Loretta Minghella
In the fourth of this year's Lent Talks, the Director of Christian Aid, Loretta Minghella, considers the abandonment of self and the need to face who we truly are.
The Lent Talks feature six well-known figures from public life, the arts, human rights and religion, who reflect on how the Lenten story of Jesus' ministry and Passion continues to interact with contemporary society and culture. The 2013 Lent Talks consider the theme of "abandonment". In the Lenten story, Jesus is the supreme example of this - he died an outcast, abandoned and rejected by his people, his disciples and (apparently) his Father - God. But how does that theme tie in with today's complex world? There are many ways one can feel abandoned - by family, by society, by war/conflict, but one can also feel abandoned through the loss of something, perhaps power, job or identity. The Christian season of Lent is traditionally a time for self-examination and reflection on universal human conditions such as temptation, betrayal, greed, forgiveness and love, as well as abandonment.
Speakers in this year's talks include Baroness Helena Kennedy, QC, who considers what it means to abandon being human; Alexander McCall Smith considers how you can feel abandoned by society as you grow older; the journalist and broadcaster, Benjamin Cohen, reflects on the fear of being abandoned by his own Jewish community, for being gay; Imam Asim Hafiz, Muslim Chaplain and Religious Adviser to HM Forces, who has just returned from Afghanistan, explores the total abandonment experienced by both sides as a result of war and, finally, Canon Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James's Piccadilly, explores the relationship between abandonment and betrayal.
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b01r5ln3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Midweek (b01r5ng2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b01r323x)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b01r5pxs)
A new Pope has been elected by cardinals at the Vatican. He's the Argentine cardinal, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who's taken the name, Pope Francis; and he's the first pontiff from outside Europe in more than a-thousand years. Presented by Ed Stourton in Rome and Ritula Shah in London.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01r76ll)
Lucy Caldwell - All the Beggars Riding
Episode 3
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. (Trad.)
After the death of her mother, Lara Moorhouse finds herself besieged with questions about her childhood that she never had the courage to ask her mother when she was alive. In particular, questions about her father.
When Lara and her younger brother Alfie were children, their father, an eminent surgeon, died in a helicopter crash. He had been largely absent from their lives, spending much of his time working in Belfast during the Troubles and only coming back to London two weekends a month to work at the Harley Street Clinic where he had first met their mother years before.
For unbeknownst to her, Lara's father had another life in Belfast; a wife, other children: another family.
As she delves into her parents' lives and the story of their relationship, Lara confronts her own past, and theirs, and discovers an unexpected legacy from her father's hidden double life.
All the Beggars Riding is Lucy Caldwell's third novel. In 2011 Lucy won the The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was awarded the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize for her second novel 'The Meeting Point'. A playwright and novelist Lucy's theatre credits include the award-winning 'Leaves', 'Guardians' and 'Notes to Future Self'. For radio she has written the Imison Award-winning 'Girl from Mars', 'Avenues of Eternal Peace', 'Witch Week' a dramatization of Diana Wynne Jones' novel for BBC Radio 4 Extra, and most recently she adapted her stage play 'Notes to Future Self' for Radio 4.
Read by Anne-Marie Duff
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Producer Heather Larmour.
WED 23:00 Terry Pratchett (b01r5pxv)
Eric
Episode 2
Young Eric Thursley wants to rule the world, and junior wizard Rincewind actually manages to magic him up a tribal kingdom among the Tezumen, in the rainforests of Klatch.
But all that changes when they meet the Tezumen's bloodthirsty deity: Quetzovercoatl.
Terry Pratchett's many Discworld novels combine a Technicolor imagination with a razor sharp wit, especially when he rewrites Faust as spotty teenage demonologist Eric.
Rincewind ..... Mark Heap
Eric ..... Will Howard
Parrot ..... Ben Crowe
Ponce Da Quirm ..... Jack Klaff
Demon King Astfgl ..... Nicholas Murchie
Screwpate ..... Michael Shelford
Quetzovercoatl ..... Robert Blythe
Narrator ..... Rick Warden
Adapted in four parts by Robin Brooks.
Director: Jonquil Panting
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
WED 23:15 Jigsaw (b01r5pxx)
Series 1
Episode 4
Dan Antopolski, Nat Luurtsema and Tom Craine piece together a selection of silly, clever, dark sketches. Produced by Colin Anderson.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01r5pxz)
The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, challenges the Prime Minister over reports of unrest in the Cabinet ahead of the Budget.
The Government agrees to allow time during the passage of the Crime and Courts Bill to debate and vote on press regulation.
MPs hear conflicting views about the possible dangers of asbestos in schools in England and Wales.
In the Lords, peers raise concerns over the impact of pesticides on the bee population.
And a Labour MP calls for action over the appointment of women bishops by the Church of England.
Sean Curran and team report on today's events in Parliament.
THURSDAY 14 MARCH 2013
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b01r325v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b01r71hv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01r3261)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01r3265)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01r3269)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b01r326f)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01r5qbv)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Sharon Grenham-Toze.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b01r5qbx)
Farmers will have to do more for the environment in order to receive farm subsidies. Charlotte Smith hears reaction from the National Farmers Union, The RSPB and from Julie Girling MEP.
Flytippers could face harder penalties in the future in an attempt to deter environmental pollution. And Anna Jones hears from farmers in Montgomeryshire who have been planting trees to prevent flooding.
Presented by Charlotte Smith. Produced by Emma Weatherill.
THU 06:00 Today (b01r5qbz)
Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b01r5qc1)
Chekhov
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of Anton Chekhov. Born in 1860, Chekhov trained as a doctor and for most of his adult life divided his time between medicine and writing. Best known for plays including The Cherry Orchard and Three Sisters, he is also celebrated today as one of the greatest of short story writers. His works are often powerful character studies and chronicle the changing nature of Russian society in the late nineteenth century.
With:
Catriona Kelly
Professor of Russian at the University of Oxford
Cynthia Marsh
Emeritus Professor of Russian Drama and Literature at the University of Nottingham
Rosamund Bartlett
Founding Director of the Anton Chekhov Foundation and former Reader in Russian at the University of Durham.
Producer: Thomas Morris.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b01r71z1)
The Last Days of Detroit
Episode 4
The city of Detroit has suffered like no other US city; it's post-industrial decline, rapid and relentless, chronicled by photographers and journalists alike.
Detroit had been the beacon city of the 20th century, home to the massive Ford plant which, in the 20 years from 1908, produced 15 million Model T Ford cars, and put a nation on the road. In 1928, with skyscrapers dominating the city skyline, you could justifiably have called Detroit the most modern city in the world.
But by the time Berry Gordy founded Motown Records in 1959 - the other great Detroit bequest along with the auto industry - the city was already in inexorable decline. The 1967 riots - at the time the worst in US history - did not cause the problems, but did highlight them. The big three car companies had largely gone elsewhere; bereft of finance, urban planning was in meltdown; corruption was rife; and racial tensions were running high.
After a break of 16 years, Mark Binelli returned to live in the city whose suburbs he grew up in. He found an urban prairie, with 90,000 ravaged and empty buildings, a school system that was impoverished and a crime rate second to none in the US. But Binelli also discovered a new Detroit emerging; with urban farms and a vibrant arts scene. Is a new future, he wondered, being wrought on the post-industrial frontier?
Mark Binelli is the author of the novel Sacco and Vanzetti Must Die! and a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and Men's Journal. Born and raised in the Detroit area, he has now, after three years back in Detroit, moved to New York City.
Read by: John Schwab
Abridger: Pete Nichols
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01r5qc3)
Women in Iraq 10 years on; Tracy Chevalier
The female lobby in Rome for the papal election: Guardian journalist Joanna Moorhead on the "pink smoke" events aimed at raising the profile of women in the Catholic Church. Tracy Chevalier on her latest novel, The Last Runaway. Pat Wilkinson, another of our listeners hit by recent changes to state pensions. Women in Iraq 10 years on: Houzan Mahmood talks to Sheila McLennon about an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum North. And introducing partners to parents - what can possibly go wrong? We're joined by Hepzibah Anderson and Angie le Mar.
Presented by Jenni Murray
Produced by Louise Corley.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b01r5qc5)
Writing the Century 21 - Journal of a Joskin
1933: Hot Spell
The series which explores the 20th Century through the diaries and correspondence of real people. The Journals of Yorkshire Farm Labourer Fred Kitchen adapted by Stephen Wakelam. Fred has been encouraged in his writing by a WEA tutor. 1933: Hot Spell.
Director: David Hunter.
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b01r5qc7)
Decision Time for the Aborigines
What price can you put on memory? Neil Trevithick is with the Aborigines whose territory in Western Australia's being coveted for its mineral wealth. Once hundreds of hermits lived in the mountains of northern Lebanon. Today John Laurenson's meeting one of just three who remain. Joanna Jolly's in Nepal where, six years after the end of civil war, no-one's been brought to court to face charges of war crimes. Will Grant joins the weeping crowds paying their final respects to Venezuela's "commandante." And oil should soon run again through the pipelines from South Sudan. Richard Nield says if the revenue it brings provides a more reliable supply of electricity, its people will be delighted.
Producer: Tony Grant.
THU 11:30 I Wandered Lonely as a Cat: Poetry and Jazz (b01r5s1p)
Ian McMillan has always been intrigued and excited by the idea of Poetry and Jazz since he heard an LP of Pete Morgan and the Dick Rawdon Quintet in the 1970's. In this programme, he explores the history of the form from the Harlem Renaissance and the San Francisco beats, via the English version of the form with Pete Brown and Michael Horovitz; he discusses the relationship between rhythmic words and rhythmic music with the jazz singer Barb Jungr and by the end of the show he feels confident enough to make his own contribution to a minority, but swinging, art, with the aid of a walking bass.
THU 12:00 You and Yours (b01r5s1r)
Green Deal take-up and car company MPG claims
The government reveals how much interest there's been in the Green Deal - it's big energy-saving scheme. Minister Greg Barker discusses the levels of take-up.
It's easy to live beyond your means, whatever your income. Lee Hendrie is a former England footballer who lost £10 million before going bankrupt. He tells Winifred how he lost it and what he learned.
And does your car give the fuel economy it was advertised with? No? Well it may not be your driving. New research is blaming the manufacturers.
Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Joel Moors.
THU 12:57 Weather (b01r326y)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b01r5s1t)
Martha Kearney presents national and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
THU 13:45 Baroque in Britain (b01r5s1w)
Episode 4
It's 1734, and a British diplomat has seen an expected inheritance slip through his fingers. But Thomas Wentworth is ready to put up a fight, in the shape of a 'battle of the buildings' with his Yorkshire rival. Tim Marlow visits the outskirts of Barnsley to explore the results, guided by historian Patrick Eyres.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b01r5pxj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Pilgrim by Sebastian Baczkiewicz (b01r5s1y)
Series 4
Bleaker Lake
by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Episode 4: Bleaker Lake
The showdown. At Bleaker Lake, where Merlin is held sealed up under the water, Pilgrim hopes to find an end, at least to the war of attrition with Birdie, at best to his own immortality.
William Palmer ..... Paul Hilton
Birdie ..... Kate Fleetwood
Cliff ..... Philip Jackson
Harmony ..... Lizzy Watts
Randell ..... Carl Prekopp
Hunnicutt ..... Patrick Brennan
Girl ..... Agnes Bateman
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
THU 15:00 Ramblings (b01r5s20)
Series 23
Michael Weltike - Barefoot Walker
Michael Weltike tries to persuade Clare Balding of the benefits of barefoot walking on a wintry wander in the West Country.
They meet at the church of St Andrew in Compton Bishop, near Weston-super-Mare, and walk from there to Crook Peak. Accompanied by Michael's permanently barefoot companion, Woody, Clare and Michael strip off from the ankles down and revel in the unusual pleasure of walking barefoot.
Michael is certain that by 'earthing' himself regularly he maintains a high level of health and well-being.
Producer: Karen Gregor.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b01r50yp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (b01r51f2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b01r5s22)
The Spirit of '45; difficult second films; Shell
Francine Stock discusses the challenges of making a second film after a successful debut with award winning director of Shifty, Eran Creevy, and Telegraph film critic Tim Robey. Eran Creevy's second film after Shifty - a low budget film set on a council estate similar to where he himself grew up - is Welcome To The Punch, a glossy thriller set in a 21st century financial centre of glass and steel, starring James McAvoy and David Morrisey. Also out this week is Lee Daniel's The Paperboy starring Nicole Kidman and John Cusack. Paperboy is Lee Daniels' follow up film after the hugely successful Precious about an obese teenager in Harlem. As a director's reputation may depend on the follow-up film, what are the pressures and what are the pitfalls? Scottish director Scott Graham talks about Shell, his debut film set on a lonely fuel station road in the Scottish Highlands. Shell is the nickname of a 17 year old living with her father after her mother abandoned them both years earlier, and provides a moving account of a complex close relationship set against the backdrop of a landscape which is paradoxically panoramic yet also claustrophobic. Producer Rebecca O'Brien and editor Jonathan Morris discuss the challenges of putting together archive in Ken Loach's new archive documentary The Spirit of '45, an evocative portrait of a moment of British political history, the end of war and the creation of the Welfare State. The film combines archive from the time with fresh interviews from people who remember it. What are the particular constraints in accessing archive which has to be assembled digitally, compared to Ken Loach's preferred way of working on celluloid? And continuing our occasional series in which people in the industry talk about how they got started, Col Needham reveals how the internet movie website IMDb, which he founded and is now the CEO of, came into being. Producer: Hilary Dunn.
THU 16:30 Material World (b01r5s24)
Clay on Mars, Neanderthals, Cholera, Tapeworms
Dr. Matthew Balme from the Open University talks to Quentin Cooper about the latest results from the Mars Curiosity Mission. The finding of neutral water, he says, indicates that many more types of microorganism may have once inhabited the Red Planet.
Ellie Pearce, from the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology in Oxford, explains why big eyes in Neanderthals may have led to a stunted social life, and eventually their extinction.
Is John Snow, born 200 years ago this week, really the man who should be remembered as the father of modern epidemiology? He is credited with tracing the source of a cholera outbreak in Soho in 1854 to a single water supply in Broad Street (now Broadwick Street). Canadian bioethicist and author of "Disease Maps" Professor Tom Koch argues that there were others involved, and that such findings are seldom so straightforward.
Finally a novel approach to finding drugs for tapeworms. Scientists have sequenced the genomes of four tapeworms and have published their work in the journal Nature. They are now trying to identify drugs that interact with human proteins and seeing if they would also work in the same way in tapeworms. Dr. Magdalena Zarowiecki, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, explains how this method could be a cheap and quick way of finding a treatment for some of the world's most neglected diseases.
THU 17:00 PM (b01r5s26)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01r327b)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation (b01r5s28)
Series 9
How to Be a Man in the 21st Century
Stand by your radios! Jeremy Hardy returns to the airwaves with a broadcast of national comic import as he asks the question "Does power come from the barrel of a gun or from a jar of onion marmalade?"
Helping him fail to find the answers will be actor and Jeremy regular Gordon Kennedy ("Absolutely", "Sherlock") and special guest Katy Brand.
Welcome to "Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation", a series of debates in which Jeremy Hardy engages in a free and frank exchange of his entrenched views. Passionate, polemical, erudite and unable to sing, Jeremy returns with a new series of his show, famous for lines like -
"Kids should never be fashion slaves, especially in the Far East. My 12-year old daughter asked me for a new pair of trainers. I told her she was old enough to go out and make her own" and, "Islam is no weirder than Christianity. Both are just Judaism with the jokes taken out."
Few can forget where they were twenty years ago when they first heard "Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation". The show was an immediate smash-hit success, causing pubs to empty on a Saturday night, which was particularly astonishing since the show went out on Thursdays. The Light Entertainment department was besieged, questions were asked in the House and Jeremy Hardy himself became known as the man responsible for the funniest show on radio since Money Box Live with Paul Lewis.
Since that fateful first series, Jeremy went on to win Sony Awards, Writers Guild nominations and a Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
The show is a Pozzitive production, and is produced by Jeremy's long-standing accomplice, David Tyler.
Written by Jeremy Hardy
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b01r5s2b)
Brenda's had another horrendous day with Lilian and doesn't want to listen to Tom talk about his ready meals - she needs a drink.
David asks for Pip's help, but she has an assignment she has to finish by tomorrow. He's not happy and Ruth agrees Pip shouldn't leave everything to the wire. Pip doesn't see the problem. Josh helps feed the young stock, despite having other responsibilities including the hens and homework. David appreciates his help.
As David and Ruth flop onto the sofa, they hear Pip leaving. Ruth assumes she's finished her assignment. David reckons she would have had time to help him then. Ruth points out that Pip's on holiday from next week, so she'll be able to help more.
But when Pip bumps into Tom and Brenda in Borchester, she tells them she's looking forward to some time to herself, and with Spencer. And it's clear she hasn't finished the assignment yet.
Tom and Brenda end up in Jaxx. Brenda orders a jug of the strongest cocktail, then goes to chat to a friend. Kirsty senses an atmosphere and asks Tom what's wrong. Kirsty doesn't agree that Lilian's the problem. She tells Tom he's too fixated with his business to see he's got one very unhappy girlfriend.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b01r5s2d)
Conductor Gustavo Dudamel
With John Wilson.
Gustavo Dudamel, the young Venezuelan conductor of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, has become one of the most high-profile classical musicians in the world. He returns to the UK this week as Musical Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, to perform a series of concerts. Dudamel discusses the residency and his work advocating music as a way to enrich children's lives.
Producer Jerome Weatherald.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b01r5qc5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 Law in Action (b01r5ln5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Tuesday]
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (b01r5s2g)
Turnarounds
Evan Davis asks his guests what it takes to rescue a sinking company.
THU 21:00 Who's the Pest? (b01r5lmq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Tuesday]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b01r5qc1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b01r327q)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b01r5s2j)
The day's news, with David Eades.
Tonight - David Cameron pulls the plug on Leveson talks, and heads for a Commons showdown vote on Monday.
Plus - France says it wants to end the EU's Syrian arms embargo before the May deadline
10 years after Iraq, Nick Childs asks if we've learnt the lessons of WMD
and why British soldiers in Afghanistan have failed to stop farmers in Helmand Province growing poppies again.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01r77x0)
Lucy Caldwell - All the Beggars Riding
Episode 4
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. (Trad.)
After the death of her mother, Lara Moorhouse finds herself besieged with questions about her childhood that she never had the courage to ask her mother when she was alive. In particular, questions about her father.
When Lara and her younger brother Alfie were children, their father, an eminent surgeon, died in a helicopter crash. He had been largely absent from their lives, spending much of his time working in Belfast during the Troubles and only coming back to London two weekends a month to work at the Harley Street Clinic where he had first met their mother years before.
For unbeknownst to her, Lara's father had another life in Belfast; a wife, other children: another family.
As she delves into her parents' lives and the story of their relationship, Lara confronts her own past, and theirs, and discovers an unexpected legacy from her father's hidden double life.
All the Beggars Riding is Lucy Caldwell's third novel. In 2011 Lucy won the The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was awarded the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize for her second novel 'The Meeting Point'. A playwright and novelist Lucy's theatre credits include the award-winning 'Leaves', 'Guardians' and 'Notes to Future Self'. For radio she has written the Imison Award-winning 'Girl from Mars', 'Avenues of Eternal Peace', 'Witch Week' a dramatization of Diana Wynne Jones' novel for BBC Radio 4 Extra, and most recently she adapted her stage play 'Notes to Future Self' for Radio 4.
Read by Anne-Marie Duff
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Producer Heather Larmour.
THU 23:00 Bridget Christie Minds the Gap (b01r5s2l)
Series 1
Episode 2
Bridget considers women and their day-to-day relationships with each other, via an organic herb puff snack, a church pew and a bag of dirty laundry.
Fred MacAulay helps her remember some of the key incidents which brought her to an epiphany and a call to arms.
Four-part stand-up comedy series on the state of British feminism today, Bridget asks why feminism became a dirty word and whether the modern British woman needs it.
Producer; Alison Vernon-Smith and Alexandra Smith.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01r5s2n)
Rachel Byrne hears an angry reaction as David Cameron ends cross-party talks on regulation of the press. More questions on a minimum price for alcohol. And who was to blame for the scandal at Stafford Hospital?
FRIDAY 15 MARCH 2013
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b01r32b2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b01r71z1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01r32b4)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01r32b6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01r32bb)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b01r32bd)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01r5q27)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Sharon Grenham-Toze.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b01r5q29)
Farming Today investigates the long-running arguments over neonicotinoids, and the effect they may have on bees. Is the EU moving towards a partial ban on their use? Waterlogging and heavy machinery have had a devastating effect on the soil which farmers are now trying to plant crops into. We meet an Oxfordshire farmer who's trying out a new approach to preserving a healthy soil structure. And what happened when a dairy farmer from Devon tried his hand at farming in a place where it hadn't rained for a year? Presented by Charlotte Smith. Produced by Emma Campbell.
FRI 06:00 Today (b01r5q3h)
Morning news and current affairs with Sarah Montague and Justin Webb, including:
0751
Prime Minister David Cameron has called a halt to cross-party talks on press regulation, sparking anger from party leaders and victims of media intrusion. Maria Miller, the Conservative Culture Secretary, explains that Mr Cameron said he would publish plans for a royal charter to establish a tougher press regulator and will ask Parliament to vote on it on Monday.
0810
Soldiers who served on the front line in Afghanistan or Iraq are 53% more likely than other soldiers to go on to commit a violent offence later in life, according to figure coming from research by King's College published in the Lancet today. Lewis Mackay, who served in the Royal Engineers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Surgeon Captain John Sharpley, a psychiatrist at the Ministry of Defence.
0822
The world's best chess players are London today for the start of a tournament. There's a new star on the scene - Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, the 22-year-old whose ratings make him the best player in the world. John Humphrys hears how chess is about to burst back into the public eye.
0831
Britain and France together are set to press the EU today to abandon its arms embargo on all sides in Syria. Douglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary, explains whether this is a wise decision.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b01r50yy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b01r7284)
The Last Days of Detroit
Episode 5
The city of Detroit has suffered like no other US city; it's post-industrial decline, rapid and relentless, chronicled by photographers and journalists alike.
Detroit had been the beacon city of the 20th century, home to the massive Ford plant which, in the 20 years from 1908, produced 15 million Model T Ford cars, and put a nation on the road. In 1928, with skyscrapers dominating the city skyline, you could justifiably have called Detroit the most modern city in the world.
But by the time Berry Gordy founded Motown Records in 1959 - the other great Detroit bequest along with the auto industry - the city was already in inexorable decline. The 1967 riots - at the time the worst in US history - did not cause the problems, but did highlight them. The big three car companies had largely gone elsewhere; bereft of finance, urban planning was in meltdown; corruption was rife; and racial tensions were running high.
After a break of 16 years, Mark Binelli returned to live in the city whose suburbs he grew up in. He found an urban prairie, with 90,000 ravaged and empty buildings, a school system that was impoverished and a crime rate second to none in the US. But Binelli also discovered a new Detroit emerging; with urban farms and a vibrant arts scene. Is a new future, he wondered, being wrought on the post-industrial frontier?
Mark Binelli is the author of the novel Sacco and Vanzetti Must Die! and a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and Men's Journal. Born and raised in the Detroit area, he has now, after three years back in Detroit, moved to New York City.
Read by: John Schwab
Abridger: Pete Nichols
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01r5q42)
Prisoners wives; hooray for Bollywood
As the second series of Prisoners Wives begins, we examine what it is really like to have a family member in prison. Teeth and braces in middle age-is it worth it? Double-whammy pensioners and hooray for Bollywood. Join Jenni Murray.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b01r5q86)
Writing the Century 21 - Journal of a Joskin
1938: Remarkable Events
The series which explores the 20th Century through the diaries and correspondence of real people. The Journals of Yorkshire Farm Labourer Fred Kitchen adapted by Stephen Wakelam. Writing is beginning to take a bigger role in Fred's life. 1938: Remarkable Events.
Director: David Hunter.
FRI 11:00 Stories in Sound (b01r5q88)
Speculating the Emerald Isle
Oil speculators are on the scene in the four corners of Ireland. Could an oil bonanza be the answer to the nation's economic problems? BBC Ireland reporter Andy Martin investigates.
FRI 11:30 HR (b01r5q9k)
Series 4
Musical
by Nigel Williams. Sam has won the lottery and is infatuated with his personal banker who suggests he invest some of his lottery win in a musical. Sam is keen. But Peter refuses to sing from the same sheet.
Peter ..... Jonathan Pryce
Sam ..... Nicholas Le Prevost
Michael ..... Rick Warden
Telephone banker ..... Ben Crowe
Telephone voice .... Lizzy Watts
Director: Peter Kavanagh.
FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b01r5q9m)
Consumer Complaints, Asda Mumdex and Floods
The CAB has compiled a list of the top consumer gripes of 2012. It's the first time that CAB , the new consumer champions, have drawn up the list but some things never change- cars and garages top the list miscreants. The Cheltenham horse racing festival is one of the few times in the year that on course bookies get the chance to prosper but in general they are a dying breed as punters turn to the internet and telephone to lay their bets. The Asda Mumdex, a survey of over 5000 mothers, shows that family budgets are being stretched to the limit with worries over energy and food outstripping all other concerns. Npower are the first of the big six energy companies to launch their new 'easy to understand' bills. The tribunal that deals with complaints from private parking enforcement say they uphold the majority of cases referred to them in favour of motorists. With no new agreement between the government and insurers on subsidies for home insurance premiums for people who live in areas liable to flooding we look at how the French combat the threat of inundation. The Royal Mail is to charge a fuel surcharge for delivering mail on behalf of their contract business customers.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b01r32bk)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b01r5q9p)
Shaun Ley presents national and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
FRI 13:45 Baroque in Britain (b01r5s6p)
Episode 5
Did the Baroque really die out for good or might it still be with us today? Tim Marlow meets a sculptor, a set designer and a modern-day highwayman, all of them imbued with the spirit of Europe's opulence and theatricality of the 17th and 18th centuries.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b01r5s2b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b01r5qgm)
Marcy Kahan - Mr Bridger's Orphan
Commissioned to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the death of Noel Coward, Mr Bridger's Orphan tells a surprising and little-known story from his life. It's 1968 and Coward is in Dublin to play the chief gangster in the film The Italian Job. But why has the urbane actor and playwright, in failing health, accepted the role?
The play tells the story of how his involvement in the movie emerged from a significant encounter during Coward's dynamic and humane twenty-year Presidency of the Actors' Orphanage, revealing the down-to-earth man behind the sometimes waspish and rarefied public persona.
Between 2000 and 2008 playwright Marcy Kahan wrote a quintet of comic plays about Noel Coward for BBC R4, each set in a different city at a different stage of his life. Design for Murder was a 1930s backstage murder mystery; Blithe Spy took him to New York on an wartime espionage adventure, consistent with his real-life work for British Security Co-ordination; A Bullet At Balmain's interrupted his 1947 Paris stage debut with the death of a fashion-house mannequin; Death At the Desert Inn distracted him from his 1955 Las Vegas cabaret debut with the death of a chorus girl; Our Man in Jamaica re-enlisted him as a spy in 1961, as part of his neighbour Ian Fleming's outlandish plot to destabilise Fidel Castro.
Mr Bridger's Orphan reunites the cast of the Coward quintet: Noel Coward is played by Malcolm Sinclair; his devoted secretary Lorn Loraine by Eleanor Bron; and his devoted Man Friday, Cole Lesley, by Tam Williams. And it also features young Finlay Christie, who's making a name for himself as one of our youngest stand up comedians, and who stars in the Radio 4 comedy series the Gobetweenies.
Writer ..... Marcy Kahan
Director ..... Marilyn Imrie.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b01r5ql4)
Alexandra Palace
This week the team visits Alexandra Palace in North London, with Eric Robson in the chair. On the panel are Matthew Wilson, Christine Walkden and Bunny Guinness.
At 'Ally Pally', Matthew Wilson also takes time to visit the rose gardens, originally planted by German prisoners of war during WWI. We also prepare for the season ahead, with advice on soil TLC from Chris Beardshaw, weather protection from Peter Gibbs, and planting fruit bushes with Matthew Biggs.
Produced by Victoria Shepherd.
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
Questions answered in the programme:
Q: We're converting our front garden into a drive, could the panel suggest any good materials to ensure soak-away and tips for planting in pockets around the parking space?
A: Try bonded gravel such as the type that they used at the Olympic park which uses a 'green' plant-based permeable resin, or alternatively there are hexagonal lattices that you can lay under gravel that hold the stones in place. Remember it's only the ground directly under the car wheels that needs to be solid, so fill all the gaps with low growing herbs and woodland plants such as Thyme and Vinca. Excite your nostrils with plants such as Mentha Requienii which has a fresh peppermint smell, Erinus Alpinus Little Fairy which has fine foliage and purple, white or pink flowers, and Ribes Lauifolium with its lovely yellow scented flowers.
Q: We have three large community planters that we'd like to use for growing herbs and medicinal plants. What suggestions do you have for hardy, low maintenance options?
A: Divide the planters up using Teucrium (variety) Lucidrys as a hedge which has purple flowers and glossy evergreen leaves. Then in the pockets try planting things like Rosemary, Chervil, Artemesia, Borage and Prunella Self-Heal. Soapwort would be good for fun demonstrations as you can pluck the leaves and rub it in your hands to create an instant lather. Why not challenge the local children to plant pot marigolds, letting them pick colours?
Q: My friend has six valuable twenty-foot tall Phoenix Date Palm trees that that are currently located in a big glasshouse. How often should they be watered? Would growing them from seedlings have been more cost effective than importing them from Alexandria in Egypt?
A: Even though Palm trees are most often found in very hot climates, they do require very regular watering and even in their native countries you'll often see them with water channels built around the roots, or growing near flood plains. To grow them from seedlings would take a very long time as they only grow between six and twelve inches a year if you're lucky - and in this country, even slower. So whilst expensive to import you'd be very old before you managed to grow them that tall from seed.
Q: My garden is plagued by Honey Fungus. Are there any new treatments and is there a safe way to pass plants on?
A: There aren't any new treatments available, although there is a growing list of resistant plants which you can find information about on the Forestry Commission website (http://www.forestry.gov.uk) and the RHS website (http://www.rhs.org.uk/Media/PDFs/Advice/HoneyFungusList). Any plant in your garden is likely to have Honey Fungus spores on it, so there's always risk of potential contamination and we'd advise against giving plants away.
Q: We're having trouble growing fruit and vegetables in our small sheltered garden. Do you have any tips?
A: Try Blue Danube potatoes or the new Sarpo Kifli variety which are blight resistant and have a nice flavour. Quick growing crops such as radishes, oriental vegetables and small pumpkins such as the Wee Bee variety would be great too. For pumpkins, try building a small wigwam around them and string up the foliage to increase the surface area exposed to the light. Be inventive with space - grow strawberries in hanging baskets and make your own containers for salad leaves using guttering hung against a wall.
Q: What is the best way of tackling Couch Grass, considering our allotment is strictly chemical free?
A: Unfortunately Couch Grass is one of those weeds that we just have to learn to live as it's hard to defeat. You could divide up your allotment up and rotate an empty patch laying thick black polythene sheeting on the ground to keep the weeds at bay. That said, there's debate around whether using polythene bags is actually any 'greener' than a quick blast of weed killer.
Q: Have the team anything positive to say about Sycamore trees?
A: It's a case of right plant, right situation. As a freestanding tree Sycamores are magnificent and one of the best we have in this country alongside the Oak. Indeed they are very effective colonisers, which is sometimes problematic, but often they are first to grow in places where we have destroyed the land - for instance in disused quarries.
FRI 15:45 Maiden City Stories (b01r5qzc)
Are You Going to Knock?
Three new short stories, specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to celebrate Derry~Londonderry's status as UK City of Culture, from some of the city's leading literary figures. Seamus Deane, Jennifer Johnston and Brian McGilloway each bring us a new short story, recorded in front of an audience in the city's Verbal Arts Centre.
Writer.
Although born in Dublin, Jennifer Johnston has been living in Derry for several years. Jennifer Johnston's first published novel was The Captains and the Kings (1972). Since then, she has published many more novels, including Shadows on our Skin (1977), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction, and The Old Jest (1979), set in the War of Independence and winner of the 1979 Whitbread Novel Award.
Are you Going to Knock?
By Jennifer Johnston
Read by Patricia Levenson
Produced by Heather Larmour.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b01r5qzm)
A Swedish princess, a Khmer Rouge leader, a sports commentator, an HIV/Aids counsellor, and a blues-rock guitarist
Matthew Bannister on:
Ieng Sary - number three in Cambodia's notorious Khmer Rouge regime, he died while on trial for crimes against humanity
Princess Lilian of Sweden - she was the daughter of a Swansea miner who fell in love with Prince Bertil of Sweden, but wasn't allowed to marry him for more than thirty years because she was a commoner.
The versatile sports commentator Tony Gubba - who found new fans later in life with his work on Dancing on Ice.
John Shine who co-founded the London Lighthouse as a safe haven for people dying of AIDS in the 1980s.
And Alvin Lee - lead guitarist and singer of Ten Years After who gave a legendary performance at Woodstock.
FRI 16:30 Feedback (b01r5r11)
This week in Feedback, we ask when music should be censored by the BBC. After a listener spotted that Oliver's Army by Elvis Costello had the 'n' word cut out abruptly during a 6Music show, we decided to look into how and why music is edited for offensive language. Roger Bolton visits Radio 1 and 1Xtra to meet DJ Trevor Nelson and Head of Music George Ergatoudis. George explains how they fulfil listener demand for the more controversial hip hop, rap, and pop songs, without offending the audience. And DJ legend Mike Read weighs in on the debate.
And are analogue listeners missing out on the best of new drama on BBC radio? This weekend the star-studded adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere finally arrives on Radio 4 and 4 Extra amid much excitement. But its scheduling has raised some eyebrows from Feedback listeners. Neverwhere begins on Saturday on Radio 4 but episodes two to six will only be available on the digital station Radio 4 Extra. We asked Tony Pilgrim, Head of Planning and Scheduling for Radio 4 and 4 Extra, to explain why.
Also, how should the Today programme cover mental health issues? After a recent item about new findings from the human genome project, which suggested a genetic component to some mental illnesses, we heard from listeners who felt the report needed more balance.
And you come to comedian Jeremy Hardy's defence.
Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producers: Karen Pirie and Katherine Godfrey
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 17:00 PM (b01r5r13)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news. Including Weather at
5.57pm.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01r32bn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The Now Show (b01r5r15)
Series 39
Episode 5
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by Mitch Benn, Laura Shavin, Maeve Higgins and Nathan Caton to present the a comic run through the week's news.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b01r5r2k)
Chris is still very weak but at least he's able to talk now. He's being moved out of intensive care today. Alice tells him she's worried the accident was her fault. He assures her he only blames himself. Alice tells him how much she loves him, and wants him home. But Chris can't reciprocate the emotion.
Over a coffee, Alice tells Amy that she feels guilty. Even though Chris doesn't blame her, she can feel his distance. Amy thinks Chris needs time to recover from the trauma.
Alice tells Jennifer about Chris's progress. She also says she's received a call from Canada and they've offered her the job. Jennifer assumes she's turned it down but Alice tells her that under the circumstances they've given her a month to decide.
Jennifer shows Darrell the last room in need of decorating - Brian's study. He'll need to take the key cabinet down so Jennifer shows him where Brian keeps the key to open it.
Des gets in touch, and Darrell asks how much the job would be worth. Des reckons it could run into the hundreds if they run the sporting evenings regularly. The trickiest part for Darrell would be getting the keys, but as he's still working there Des reckons it's now or never. Make your mind up time.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b01r5r5g)
Our Queen documentary; John Ashbery; Beyond the Hills review
With Mark Lawson.
Michael Waldman is a TV documentary maker who has gained unprecedented access to the royal family to make Our Queen. The programme follows the Queen during 2012 as she celebrates her Diamond Jubilee and observes the usually secretive meetings she hold with the Prime Minister. He explains how he gained access and what he learned about the royal family.
Beyond The Hills, an award-winning film from Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, is based on a true story about a suspected case of demonic possession in a monastery. Briony Hanson delivers her verdict.
Last year the octogenarian American poet John Ashbery was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama at the White House. In a rare interview from his New York home, John Ashbery discusses his latest collection Quick Question, and reflects on the challenge some readers and critics have found in the complexity of the language he uses.
Producer Ellie Bury.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b01r5q86)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b01r5r5j)
Margaret Curran, James Forsyth, Joan McAlpine, Jo Swinson
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from Ayr in Scotland with Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland Margaret Curran MP, BIS Minister Jo Swinson MP, Political Editor at The Spectator magazine James Forsyth and Joan McAlpine MSP from the Scottish National Party.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b01r5r5l)
Celestial Bodies
When two spectacular comets appeared in the night sky in 1664 and 1665, many feared they were harbingers of doom. Not long afterwards, the Great Plague and the Great Fire were visited on London.
Lisa Jardine has been looking upwards this week in an attempt to catch sight of the Pan-Starrs comet, which is thought to have been hurtling towards the sun for millions of years. Later this year, another comet is expected to grace our skies.
Her concern is not that they might bring with them a modern day plague, but whether we have learned the lessons early astronomers taught us about sharing scientific information.
FRI 21:00 Saturday Drama (b00fr7kx)
Lynne Truss - Giving Up the Ghost
By Lynne Truss.
In a house full of carbon monoxide, firefighter Scott gets separated from his colleagues and begins to experience the last terrible moments of his friend Jacko's life, who had died in similar circumstances eight months earlier.
Scott ...... Adrian Bower
Alan ...... Struan Rodger
Philip ...... Jeff Rawle
Giggsy ...... Joe Absolom
Mike ...... Brendan Charleson
H/Jacko ...... Richard Nichols
Lucy ...... Sara McGaughey
Directed by Kate McAll.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b01r32bw)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b01r5r8t)
The day's news, with David Eades. Tonight - the US boosts it's military defences to counteract the threat from North Korea and Iran
We have an exclusive World Tonight report from inside Kashmir, where there's rising tension after the death of five security personnel earlier this week
and we'll explain the differences between the political parties on media reform before Monday's big vote.
Also tonight - we'll examine controversial obesity legislation in Mississippi, look at the crucial issue of housing ahead of next week's Budget, and ask, 10 years on from Iraq, whatever happened to "shock and awe" ?
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01r78by)
Lucy Caldwell - All the Beggars Riding
Episode 5
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. (Trad.)
After the death of her mother, Lara Moorhouse finds herself besieged with questions about her childhood that she never had the courage to ask her mother when she was alive. In particular, questions about her father.
When Lara and her younger brother Alfie were children, their father, an eminent surgeon, died in a helicopter crash. He had been largely absent from their lives, spending much of his time working in Belfast during the Troubles and only coming back to London two weekends a month to work at the Harley Street Clinic where he had first met their mother years before.
For unbeknownst to her, Lara's father had another life in Belfast; a wife, other children: another family.
As she delves into her parents' lives and the story of their relationship, Lara confronts her own past, and theirs, and discovers an unexpected legacy from her father's hidden double life.
All the Beggars Riding is Lucy Caldwell's third novel. In 2011 Lucy won the The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was awarded the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize for her second novel 'The Meeting Point'. A playwright and novelist Lucy's theatre credits include the award-winning 'Leaves', 'Guardians' and 'Notes to Future Self'. For radio she has written the Imison Award-winning 'Girl from Mars', 'Avenues of Eternal Peace', 'Witch Week' a dramatization of Diana Wynne Jones' novel for BBC Radio 4 Extra, and most recently she adapted her stage play 'Notes to Future Self' for Radio 4.
Read by Anne-Marie Duff
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Producer Heather Larmour.
FRI 23:00 A Good Read (b01r5ln7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01r5r8w)
Mark D'Arcy with the day's top news stories from Westminster.