The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Larkin finds professional life stressful, sees his poetic future as bleak and - despite continuing relationships with both Monica and Maeve - brings another woman into his life.
Concluded by Michael Pennington.
Philip Larkin was that rare thing among poets - a household name in his own lifetime. Lines such as 'Never such innocence again' and 'Sexual intercourse began / In nineteen sixty-three' made him one of the most popular poets of the last century.
Larkin's reputation as a man, however, has been more controversial. A solitary librarian known for his pessimism, he disliked exposure and had no patience with the literary circus. And when, in 1992, the publication of his Selected Letters laid bare his compartmentalised personal life, accusations of duplicity, faithlessness, racism and misogyny were levelled against him.
There is, of course, no requirement that poets should be likeable or virtuous, but James Booth asks whether art and life were really so deeply at odds with each other. Can the poet who composed the moving 'Love Songs in Age' have been such a cold-hearted man? Can he who uttered the playful, self-deprecating words 'Deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth' really have been so boorish?
A very different public image is offered by those who shared the poet's life - the women with whom he was romantically involved, his friends and his university colleagues. It is with their personal testimony, including access to previously unseen letters, that Booth reinstates a man misunderstood - not a gaunt, emotional failure, but a witty, provocative and entertaining presence, delightful company; an attentive son and a man devoted to the women he loved.
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at
'We started thinking, are we going to be allowed to die in our house?' After a sharp rise in right-to-buy sales, iPM hears from two listeners who finally decided to buy their council house after 23 years. And we assess recent government measures to speed up sales. Presented by Eddie Mair and Jennifer Tracey. Email iPM@bbc.co.uk.
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
Helen Mark visits one of the Isle of Wight's great attractions, those famous chalk cliffs, The Needles, at the western end of the island. These iconic white stacks march out to sea, back towards the Dorset coast, that they used to be joined to a mere 10,000 years ago. Tony Tutton of the National Trust shares the great views across the Solent with Helen, describing how treacherous the waters beneath them can sometimes be to competing sailors, and how vicious the winds can be.
Helen also unpicks a Cold War secret that lurks amongst the Needles: in the 1950s, the Victorian gun battery here became the test site for the British space missile programme. We hear from former rocketeer Mike Elliott, who used to work on the Black Knight system.
By contrast, Jamie Marsh, Reserves Officer with the Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, shows Helen the impact of the sea at Bouldnor, where old oaks, part of a landslip wood, are being rapidly undercut by the sea - the nearest to a mangrove swamp that you could hope to find in the UK.
How accessible is the British countryside? In this week's programme, Sybil Ruscoe takes a stroll through the Monmounthshire countryside, meeting farmers and ramblers en route, to discuss the problems they both encounter. How can the two sides work together, to make sure the countryside is shared and respected by both? We also hear about the new new coastal path which will surround the whole of England and Wales, and talk to the farmer who took drastic steps to stop walkers and dogs straying from the designated footpath across his land.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Thought for the Day and Weather.
Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir are joined by the columnist Katharine Whitehorn, the writer Nina Stibbe, and Nikki King, Honorary Chairman of Isuzu Truck UK, who shares her stories of doing business in Japan. Louise Johncox describes how her baker father inspired her love of the sound of a whisk. Nigel Brazier on four generations of his family business and traditional Black Country recipes. Stephen Evans explains why he learned to ride a bike at the age of 49 and a quarter and the singer Natalie Cole shares her Inheritance Tracks.
Stephen Evans is cycling 100 miles for Joining Jack a Charity that helps fight Duchene's Muscular Dystrophy.
Natalie Cole inherits Smile, from her father Nat King Cole and passes on You Gotta Be by Des'ree.
Nat King Cole: Afraid Of The Dark is released through Universal Music, and features a brand new, previously unheard Nat King Cole track.
Answering questions on eating and drinking are school food adviser and restaurateur Henry Dimbleby, Michelin star chef Angela Hartnett, food scientist Charles Spence, and Israeli chef Itamar Srulovich.
The panel talk meat markets and butchery, sample wine from one of Britain's oldest merchants and learn how sound can affect their eating experiences.
Where is the dividing line between 'being a bit different' and having a mental illness that needs treatment and professional help? Bridget Kendall is joined by novelist Jerry Pinto, who has turned personal experiences of growing up with a relative with bipolar disorder into an award-winning book, Professor of Disability and Human Development Lennard Davis, and autism research pioneer Professor Uta Frith.
Global despatches. In this edition, Australia's tough immigration policy comes under the spotlight as a group of asylum seekers goes to court; why the mark which writer Ernest Hemingway left on Paris is now beginning to disappear; how the militants of Islamic State have affected Kurdish dreams of a state of their own; the tourists have returned to the beaches of Greece but, we learn, there's one correspondent who might not be so welcome in the country. And we hear from the reporter who's having second thoughts about wearing the headscarf, or hijab.
A record £5 billion was put into cash ISAs when the new limit of £15,000 began on 1 July. The banks responded by slashing the rates paid. More than 20 ISA providers have cut the rates by an average of
percentage points. Only half a dozen have raised rates. Why are they cutting rates just when people can put more in? Anna Bowes from Savings Champion joins the programme.
From Monday all banks will give us a second chance to avoid a penalty charge if a payment from our current account is bounced. As long as funds are put in the account by a least
a second try will enable the payment to be made without a penalty. But many banks will not tell us that we have a pending bounced payment. So we will not know that we have to do anything. So we may still have to pay an average of £12 for the privilege of missing a payment. Mark Bowerman from The Payments Council explains how the initiative should work.
As teenagers saunter through the school gates next week, they'll have to get to grips with a new topic. From this term, all 11-16 year olds will have lessons in managing money as part of the National Curriculum. Money Box reporter Hannah Moore visits Ivanhoe College in Leicestershire to talk to pupils and teachers about what they are taught and how useful it is.
The Chancellor has promised that from April 2015 anyone aged at least 55 will be able to take all their pension fund out and - after paying tax - spend it as they like. But there are worrying rumours that the pensions industry is busy planning to restrict this freedom - or at least make hefty charges if we want to enjoy it. Will the price of pension freedom be high? Alan Higham, head of pensions at Fidelity and Hugh Nolan, head actuary at JLT Employee Benefits, explain all.
Each week, Marcus finds he's volunteered to be in charge of a big old thing and each week he starts out by thinking "Well, it can't be that difficult, surely?" and ends up with "Oh - turns out it's utterly difficult and complicated. Who knew...?"
This week, glory be, Marcus Brigstocke has decided to form his own religion - based on peace, loving, kindness and probably war.
Among his acolytes and apostates are Rufus Jones (W1A, Holy Flying Circus), William Andrews (Sorry I've Got No Head) and Margaret Cabourn-Smith (Miranda)
The show is a Pozzitive production, and is produced by Marcus's long-standing accomplice, David Tyler who also produces Marcus appearances as the inimitable as Giles Wemmbley Hogg. David's other radio credits include Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation, Cabin Pressure, Thanks A Lot, Milton Jones!, Kevin Eldon Will See You Now, Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive, The Castle, The 3rd Degree, The 99p Challenge, My First Planet, Radio Active and Bigipedia.
Written by Marcus Brigstocke, Jeremy Salsby, Toby Davies, Nick Doody, Steve Punt and Dan Tetsell.
Ritula Shah presents political debate from the Broadcasting House Radio Theatre in London with the chef Thomasina Miers who founded the Mexican restaurant chain Wahaca, political columnist and historian Simon Heffer, the new President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Professor Sir Simon Wessely and Osama Saeed who manages Global Communications for Al Jazeera TV.
We hear your reaction to the Rotherham child abuse scandal.
The new terror threat level indicates that the risk of another incident is "highly likely", an ex-soldier shares his view.
Having just arrived on a beautiful, remote island for his much-needed Summer break with his wife and young children, Detective Inspector Beck is summoned back to Stockholm, where he is sent on a seemingly pointless and unofficial mission to Budapest, in search of a missing journalist. It is only when Beck has pretty much given up on the case that the truth finally emerges.
In "Key Matters", Ivan Hewett explores the way in which different musical keys appear to have unique characteristics of their own. In this last programme Ivan is joined by pianist Peter Donohoe, to explore the key of C minor. They start with one of the most famous C minor pieces of all, Beethoven's 5th Symphony. They explore pieces which start in one key and work their way towards C minor,such as the opening of Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto. Ivan and Peter conclude by looking at pieces which start in C minor but travel triumphantly towards C major at their end ; Beethoven's 5th Symphony, being the ultimate example. This brings this last Key Matters series full circle as Ivan began this series back in 2008 by looking at the key of C major.
We hear from the new Shadow Minister for Preventing Violence against Women and Girls on what she hopes to achieve.
One of the biggest stars of the Christian rock scene, Vicky Beeching, opens up about coming out as gay after a lifetime of silence.
We discuss the impact of books like Fifty Shades of Grey on erotic fiction today.
And The One - is there such a thing as a soul mate or do we all simply make do?
Presented by Emma Barnett.
Nicholas Parsons, Kevin Bishop, Rikki Stein, George Dawes Green, Catherine Burns, Arthur Smith, The Barr Brothers, Femme
Since its first broadcast in December 1967, 'Just a Minute' has consistently entertained BBC Radio 4 listeners. And chairman Nicholas Parsons has appeared in every episode of the almost 900 broadcasts to date. He talks to Nikki about his new book 'Welcome to Just a Minute', recalling the very best, occasionally awkward and often hilarious moments from the last six decades.
Nikki talks Afrobeat with Rikki Stein, who was Nigerian musician and social activist Fela Kuti's long-term friend and manager. Rikki features in new documentary 'Finding Fela', a compelling portrait of the man who created a musical movement, using it as a form of political protest, becoming a revolutionary, hero and legend.
Are you sitting comfortably? Arthur Smith pulls up an easy chair and settles in for story time with the founder and the Artistic Director of 'The Moth' storytelling events, George Dawes Green and Catherine Burns. Since 1997, household names and unknowns alike have performed their real life stories to packed crowds across the US, which audiences can now experience in book form.
How far would you go to get a table at the smartest restaurant in town? Actor and comedian Kevin Bishop talks to Nikki about starring in 'Fully Committed', a whirlwind culinary comedy set in one of Manhattan's hottest restaurants, where the city never sleeps and the phone never stops ringing.
With music from The Barr Brothers, who perform 'Even The Darkness Has Arms' from their album 'Sleeping Operator' and Femme performs 'High' from her forthcoming debut album.
There is every sign this weekend that Russia's proxy war with Ukraine could become a full-blown conflict between states.
The crisis now coming to a head has been in the making ever since Ukraine declared its independence from Moscow in the summer of 1990.
Edward Stourton profiles the Ukrainian leader, Petro Poroshenko, who must now face the challenge of war - and who came of age and flourished during his country's first turbulent two and a half decades as a modern independent nation.
Martin Amis' latest novel The Zone of Interest deals with the Holocaust, but has riled some critics because of its light tone.
Pitcairn is Richard "One Man, Two Guv'nors" Bean's new play dealing with the aftermath of The Bounty.
The Moth is a public storytelling event that started in America and is now coming to the UK to coincide with a book collection of stories.
Obvious Child is a romcom film about abortion which has incurred the wrath of pro-lifers in the US; can it be a suitable topic for a humorous film?
BBC TV's new series the Secret Life of Books examines original texts, manuscripts, letters and diaries to uncover the story behind the creation of six classic books.
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Tiffany Murray, Inua Ellams and Michael Arditti. The producer is Oliver Jones.
"Radio Normandy Calling!" The Belles of Normandy sing the station ident; Roy Plomley (of Desert Island Discs fame) introduces the artistes from the Bradford Alhambra, and another melody-packed hour - sponsored by a patent medicine - begins on the commercial radio station that, back in the 1930s, was often more popular than the majestic BBC.
The man behind it all was called, improbably, Captain Leonard Plugge. And in this programme, Dominic Sandbrook tells the story of this clever, enterprising and subversive man. Tory MP, passionate European and backroom boffin, Plugge created a string of brilliantly successful commercial stations in France and beyond that challenged Sir John Reith's radio monopoly with popular music and variety shows, sponsored by Bile Beans, Persil and Diploma cheddar cheese. So wealthy did his radio network make him that he owned two yachts, six cars (including two Rolls Royces), a Mayfair mansion, employed twelve staff, and lived a life that lay somewhere between The Great Gatsby and Citizen Kane.
With Plugge's son Frank, Dominic leafs through his father's mountain of diaries and scrapbooks - news cuttings, photographs... memorabilia of a life that brought him the Legion d'Honneur, a medal from US broadcaster NBC and made him a worldwide celebrity. With a rich archive of contributions from Roy Plomley, Bob Danvers-Walker and many others who first made their names on Plugge's stations, plus recordings from the shows they broadcast, Dominic Sandbrook brings a forgotten mogul of a bygone era to life.
And next time you approach a road junction with an elongated 'SLOW' painted on the tarmac, you can thank Captain Plugge for it, because that was his idea too...
During his short reign James II faced rebellion led by his nephew and widespread condemnation for his policy of religious tolerance. When he produced a Catholic heir, the political tensions exploded and resulted in his son-in-law William of Orange landing an invading army in England. Why did it go so wrong for dismal Jimmy?
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.
Agree to Differ is Radio 4's new discussion programme where the aim is to give listeners a completely new way to understand a controversial issue and to decide where they stand. Presented by Matthew Taylor.
Quote ... Unquote, the popular quotations quiz, returns for its 50th series.
In almost forty years, Nigel Rees has been joined by writers, actors, musicians, scientists and various comedy types. Kenneth Williams, Judi Dench, PD James, Larry Adler, Ian KcKellen, Peter Cook, Kingsley Amis, Peter Ustinov... have all graced the Quote Unquote stage.
Join Nigel as he quizzes a host of celebrity guests on the origins of sayings and well-known quotes, and gets the famous panel to share their favourite anecdotes.
Presenter ... Nigel Rees
Producer ... Carl Cooper.
Anna Scott-Brown hears stories of love, loss and hope from the strangers and friends she sits beside on 'Rosie's Bench' in a park in Oxford. The inscription, Rest Awhile and Remember Happy Times Together, draws out reflections and revelations which Michael Symmons Roberts weaves into a poem, specially commissioned for the programme.
Gradually, the story behind the inscription is revealed by Rosie herself as she remembers her husband Chris, whose life the bench commemorates. The experience of others, mixed with her own, turns Rosie's tale into a heartfelt and emotional acknowledgement of the need to stop and communicate with people around us, as life rushes by.
Hidden lives are revealed and common threads recur as Anna Scott-Brown's gentle - but insistent and sometimes extremely direct - questions elicit poignant and profound responses from those sitting on the bench to 'Rest Awhile'.
SUNDAY 31 AUGUST 2014
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b04frd57)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
SUN 00:30 Nadine Gordimer - A Flash of Fireflies (b03g8nwd)
Six Feet of the Country
Marking Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer's death in July, the first of three stories from her remarkable career as a writer and political activist.
In this story, first published in 1953, a landowning couple face a stark dilemma when an illegal immigrant dies on their property.
Read by William Gaminara
Abridged and produced by Gemma Jenkins
The South African author and political activist saw the short story as the literary form for our age. She described the experience of human life as "the flash of fireflies. Short story writers see by the light of the flash; theirs is the art of the only thing one can be sure of - the present moment."
Three stories which shine a light on her country's turbulent past.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04frd59)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04frd5c)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at
5.20am.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04frd5h)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b04frd5k)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b04fxz8m)
Washington National Cathedral
The bells of Washington National Cathedral.
SUN 05:45 Profile (b04frcvn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b04frd5m)
The latest national and international news.
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b04fy1c7)
The Prince Who Walked Out of His Fairy Tale
Siddhartha is the name of a prince who became the Buddha.
He was born in present day Nepal, sometime around 563 BC, and he grew up as a prince enjoying a comfortable existence for the first 29 years of his life. It was then, as a married man with an infant son, Siddhartha abandoned his palace and set off for a wandering life with a band of ascetics seeking spiritual fulfilment.
In 'The Prince who walked out of his fairytale' Samira Ahmed pieces together the story of Siddhartha - the Sanskrit name meaning 'He who achieves his goal'. She tells the story of how Siddhartha abandoned future kingship after the shocking discovery of old age, sickness and death. She tells of how he took up and then discarded extreme asceticism and how, after six years of penance, he sat unmoving under a tree until he gained Nirvana or perfect enlightenment and became known as the Buddha.
Samira Ahmed looks at the appeal of the image of the seated Buddha and the spread of Buddhist ideas into the West. She considers how writers and thinkers have imagined the experience of enlightenment, and explores how others have interpreted the relevance of the Buddha's key ideas for today's fast moving materialistic life. With readings, poetry and music - including Tibetan chant, Herbie Hancock, Bengali film soundtrack, and Wagner.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b04fy1c9)
Caribbean Conch
The Queen Conch is the seafood staple of the Caribbean, cropping up fried, boiled or baked on most restaurant menus. But its popularity has been its undoing with populations in steep decline in many areas. American businessman, Richard Berke is trying to fill the gap by farming the alien-looking gastropods in the waters of the Turks and Caicos Islands. As Tom Heap discovers they're not the easiest livestock to rear but Richard is full of bright ideas for keeping the tourists and locals fed with prime protein from the waters of the Caribbean.
Producer: Alasdair Cross.
SUN 06:57 Weather (b04frd5p)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b04frd5r)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (b04fy1cc)
Rotherham, Confucius, Bishop Nick Baines
How should the community in Rotherham respond to this week's revelations of child sexual exploitation on a massive scale by men of predominantly Pakistani origin? We debate the lessons that need to be learned from a cultural and religious perspective.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has backed a new campaign that aims to draw attention to domestic violence within the church. Kevin Bocquet reports on claims that churches are failing to deal with the issue effectively. www.restoredrelationships.org
This week Recep Tayyip Erdogan became Turkey's 21st president. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul about the country's Alevi minority who claim they are being targeted by Erdogan and his supporters.
The Ordinariate - an Anglican breakaway group that joined the Catholic Church in 2011 - is trying to attract more members in order to survive. We discuss what its role should be alongside the two Churches.
Is Confucianism experiencing a revival in China? Martin Palmer explores the philosophy's increasing influence in 21st century China.
In an exclusive for Sunday, Bishop Nick Baines, the man tasked to look after the Church of England's new 'super diocese' of West Yorkshire and the Dales has been keeping an audio diary account of his first few weeks in the job.
Producers:
Dan Tierney
Carmel Lonergan
Series Producer:
Amanda Hancox
Contributors:
Bishop Nick Baines
Mgr Keith Newton
Ruth Gledhill
Martin Palmer
Alyas Karmani
Julie Siddiqi.
SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b04fy1cf)
Meningitis Research Foundation
Kirsty Young presents The Radio 4 Appeal for Meningitis Research Foundation which supports research into the prevention, detection and treatment of meningitis and septicaemia.
Registered Charity 1091105
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal, mark the back of the envelope 'Meningitis Research Foundation'.
SUN 07:57 Weather (b04frd5t)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b04frd5w)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b04fy1ch)
Communicating the Case for God
"Communicating the Case for God"
From Fisherwick Presbyterian Church, Belfast.
Led by the Revd. Michael Anderson
Preacher: The Revd. Dr Gordon Gray
With Grosvenor, directed by Edward Craig
Organist: Stephen Hamill
Exodus 3:1-6, 10 -15
Acts 17: 16 - 34
Cantate Domino (Pitoni)
The God of Abraham Praise (Leoni)
Nearer my God to Thee
Lord of Life to you we come (Eriskay Love Lilt)
How shall I sing that majesty (Coe Fen)
Gaelic Blessing (Rutter).
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (b04fchmd)
Why Orwell Is the Supreme Mediocrity
Will Self takes on one of the nation's best loved figures, George Orwell.....and braces himself for the backlash! "Not Orwell, surely!" he hears the listeners cry.
He uses Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language" to make his point. This - he says - is often seen as "a principled assault upon all the jargon, obfuscation, and pretentiously Frenchified folderol that deforms our noble tongue". That - in Self's view - couldn't be farther from the truth.
Describing Orwell as a "Supreme Mediocrity", Self gets to work.....
Producer: Adele Armstrong.
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b038qk0y)
Wood Sandpiper
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Brett Westwood presents the Wood Sandpiper. Wood Sandpipers are elegant waders and just a handful of pairs breed in the UK, in wooded marshes and remote bogs of Northern Scotland. There's a chance to see them when they break their migration journey south at inland pools and marshes here. Listen out for their cheerful call that has been described as sounding like an old penny-whistle.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b04fy1r0)
Sunday morning magazine programme with news and conversation about the big stories of the week. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b04fxy79)
At Loxfest, there is good news and bad. Meanwhile, Jennifer gets a surprise.
SUN 11:15 The Reunion (b04fy2bj)
Zimbabwe
Sue MacGregor brings together those who played a key role during the bitter wrangling which led to Zimbabwe's independence in April 1980.
Rhodesia was Britain's last colony in Africa. By the early 1960s, 200,000 white settlers still dominated the country's three million black population. In 1965, civil war broke out between the white Rhodesian forces and the guerrilla armies of the two rival black nationalist parties, the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU).
Over the next fifteen years, the war escalated as the nationalist movement gained massive momentum.
When Margaret Thatcher came into power in 1979, she inherited the crisis. To the surprise of many she called for all-party negotiations which would lead to the first independent elections. It was her Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, who devised a plan and persuaded the various parties to negotiate.
What followed was three months of nerve wracking talks. "Every moment of those talks I thought the whole thing might fall apart," recalls Lord Carrington. By the skin of their teeth, an agreement was signed and, in February 1980, polling opened which would lead to a landslide victory for Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party and independence for a newly named Zimbabwe.
Sue is joined by Lord Carrington, former Conservative Foreign Secretary; Dumiso Dabengwa who was head of intelligence for the military wing of ZAPU; Dzingai Mutumbuka, the youngest member of the ZANU-PF delegation; Dennis Norman who was President of the Rhodesia National Farmers' Union; and historian and Africa correspondent Martin Meredith.
Producer: Sarah Cuddon
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:00 News Summary (b04frd5y)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (b04f9hy0)
Series 70
Episode 3
Hosted by the legendary Nicholas Parsons and recorded at the Edinburgh Festival - how hard can it be to talk for 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition or deviation? Sue Perkins, Gyles Brandreth and Paul Merton find out.
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b04fy2bl)
A Taste of Britain Revisited - Wales
In 1974, Derek Cooper set off on a hunt - for BBC Television - around Britain to discover what was left of its regional foods and traditional ingredients. Forty years on, Dan Saladino revisits Wales, and that series, called "A Taste of Britain" - to meet some of those involved, their descendants, and to find out what happened after these foods and skills, some of which at the time were on the wane when they were recorded for the cameras.
Dan goes to Wales to find out how the tradition of fishing for sewin in tiny boats called coracles is faring. When Derek visited the Gower Peninsula, cockles were in short supply and had to be sourced from outside of Wales. Dan visits Swansea market to ask how the cockle trade is doing now and to see if the famous Welsh laverbread is as popular today as it was when the original series was filmed in the mid 70's. At that time, Derek Cooper feared that some of the traditional Welsh foods and skills were about to be lost forever. Dan finds out whether those fears became the reality, as he asks how Welsh identity is expressed through its food.
Producer: Sarah Langan.
SUN 12:57 Weather (b04frd60)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b04fy2bn)
Shaun Ley presents national and international news, including an in-depth look at events around the world. Email: wato@bbc.co.uk; twitter: #theworldthisweekend.
SUN 13:30 The Map That Made Manhattan (b04fy2bq)
Over two hundred years since the beginning of its construction, this feature explores the New York grid system as real and imagined - architectural matrix, psychic space and site of continuing cultural-political argument.
The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 divided the island of Manhattan into an orthogonal grid of intersecting avenues running North-South and cross-streets running East-West, from river to river. Attacked for being nothing more than "a grid of money making", it was in fact a great democratic leveller. And if it fostered what de Tocqueville viewed as relentless monotony, its coordinates also enabled drivers and pedestrians to figure out where they stood, physically and metaphorically.
The debate continues. Urban critic Tony Hiss ('In Motion: The Experience of Travel') has written about the grid's primal orderliness: "I still think it distances us from our natural surroundings and it has given us a spurious and diminished mental geometry".
Condemned for dehumanizing and mechanising the city's inhabitants (Henry James, writing in the grid-free enclave of Greenwich Village, called it "a primal topographic curse") others saw it as a modern, rational system in step with the ethos of a young republic.
And New Yorkers themselves are of course a great source of wit and comment on the grid system.
Filled with the sounds and atmosphere of New York, and hearing entirely from its residents - from city architects and historians to taxi drivers and subway engineers - this programme considers the geometry of the grid as the brilliant intersection of architectural vision with psychic and cultural space, and as footprint for the awesome city skyline.
Producer: Simon Hollis
A Brook Lapping Production
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b04fchly)
RHS Wisley
Peter Gibbs is at RHS Wisley for the horticultural panel programme. Pippa Greenwood, Bunny Guinness and Matthew Wilson join him to answer audience questions.
Produced by Howard Shannon
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
This week's questions and answers:
Q. Each year, some things in my allotment do well while others don't. This makes spring planning tricky. Any suggestions?
A. Keep a log of the vegetables that do well and those that don't and also keeping note of the weather conditions.
Q. What is the panel's opinion on using mycorrhizal fungus granules in annual hanging baskets and pots? Would the fungus help to release nutrients from the compost and would the plants still need feeding?
A. Mycorrhizal fungus can be useful in some situations but don't bother using it in pots and containers planted with annuals. It would make more sense to save the fungi for longer-term planting and use standard feed for the annuals.
Q. How can I propagate a deep purple Perennial Geranium (Psilostemon) from an existing root? There are pale pink Geraniums (Enderssii) taking over and I want more of this deep-purple variety.
A. Dig it up. Now is the time to propagate. Divide it into two or three plants, pot it up and plant it somewhere else.
Q. Should we give up on our potted black bamboo or try moving it to lower ground? It's currently on a sixth floor roof terrace, which is very exposed. It is very well fed.
A. You will need to divide the plant because it looks like the roots are getting too large for the pot. Divide the plant in two. Prune out the dead branches.
Q. What relevance do RHS Awards of Garden Merit (AGM) have to plant performance in situations with different cultural conditions to those at Wisely?
A. The RHS awards of garden merit are very useful as they are based on a number of trials in different conditions. However, due to the huge variety of gardening conditions in the UK it difficult to make them fully comprehensive. Trials are held all over the four corners of the country.
Q. How can I transform an old concrete-lined pond (underneath trees) into a bog garden?
A. You must allow the water to get out somehow so it doesn't go stagnant. Try drilling a few holes. If you don't think the location is ideal, your best bet might be to smash it up with a pickaxe and have a pond elsewhere. If you did want to try the bog garden, put some grit in the bottom and then fill it up with a loam baste compost or soil from the garden. Put a pond next to it to make it look seamless.
Q. What are these bugs on my Bay leaves? How can I treat them?
A. These bugs are called 'bay sucker'. They're very difficult to treat but they don't seriously harm the plant so just try to remove the leaves that are covered in the critters.
Q. Which plants do the panel like to show off best?
A. Pippa loves to show off her Sun Flowers, Liquid Amber trees and her Amelanchiers. Bunny loves her Merveille Sanguine Hydrangea and her Filariasis. Matthew loves his frilly Peony Inspecteur Lavergne.
Wisley garden boasts a Peony Rockii (Tree Peony).
SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (b04fy2bs)
Sunday Omnibus
Fi Glover with conversations about the impact of the National Front in the 1980s, coming to terms with infertility, and history beneath your feet, from London, Scotland and Devon, proving again that it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
SUN 15:00 The Barchester Chronicles (b04fy3z7)
Anthony Trollope's Framley Parsonage
Two Different Sets of People
by Anthony Trollope, dramatised by Nick Warburton
For young Mark Robarts, life as the Vicar of Framley can sometimes feel a little too quiet. So, risking the wrath of Lady Lufton and leaving his wife and children, he heads off for the allure of country house parties, little knowing the repercussions which are in store.
Music composed by David Robin, Jeff Meegan and Julian Gallant
Produced & directed by Marion Nancarrow
Framley Parsonage is the fourth book in the Barchester Chronicles and the focus moves to Framley and its young vicar, Mark Robarts. Friend of the local landowner's son, the dashing Lord Lufton, Mark cannot resist the lure of celebrity beyond his own village. But he's to risk everything in his ambitious pursuits, including his devoted wife and children and his sister's happiness.
The Barchester Chronicles is Anthony Trollope's much-loved series of witty, gently satirical stories of provincial life set within the fictional cathedral town of Barchester and the surrounding county of Barsetshire. With a focus on the lives, loves and tribulations of the local clergy and rural gentry, the canvas is broad and colourful, with a wonderful set of iconic characters whose lives we become intimately involved in as they grow up, grow old and fall in or out of love and friendship across the years.
SUN 16:00 Open Book (b04fy5q7)
Ian McEwan and Amy Bloom
As we head for a literary publishing bonanza this September, Mariella Frostrup talks to acclaimed author Ian McEwan on his new novel 'The Children Act', featuring a leading High Court Judge struggling to preside over a moral crisis in her own life.
Mariella will also be joined by American author Amy Bloom who will be discussing her new novel 'Lucky Us', the story of two dispossessed sisters on a journey through 1940s America in search of fame and fortune.
Plus Claire Armitstead, Books Editor of the Guardian and Observer, who will be looking at why so many literary greats have novels out this September.
SUN 16:30 Poetry Please (b04fyf2q)
Yeats
Roger McGough presents a special programme marking 75 years since the death of WB Yeats. With Yeats' biographer Professor Roy Foster, voices from the archive including Seamus Heaney, Sinead Cusack and Steven Rea, and of course some of Yeats' best loved poetry. Poems requested by listeners and featured on the programme include He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven, The Lake Isle of Innisfree and The Second Coming.
SUN 17:00 Whatever Happened to Global Governance? (b04f9rdr)
The way that countries cooperate with each other is changing, and in surprising ways. The old powers - the United States, Britain, Europe - used to hold the reins of how global issues were dealt with. Professor Ngaire Woods examines how a new playing field is emerging where newcomers - such as Brazil, Russia, India and China - are creating their own solutions.
Is old-style global governance fragmenting? In 1944, Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, was the birthplace of the familiar international organisations that keep countries talking to each other. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank were created, followed by the United Nations and what went on to be the World Trade Organisation (WTO). They were a huge achievement - but 70 years on, are they fit for purpose?
The world's smaller economies, such as in Africa, used to have to go cap in hand to Washington DC for answers. Now they have many other options. Professor Woods speaks to former chief economists of the World Bank, Joseph Stiglitz and Justin Yifu Lin, and former WTO director, Pascal Lamy, to find out why.
So as the old system fragments, how will the world solve its big issues, such as poverty, climate change, immigration and pandemics? And how will Britain negotiate this new terrain?
Producer: Dominic Byrne
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 17:40 Profile (b04frcvn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b04frd62)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 17:57 Weather (b04frd64)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04frd66)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b04fyf2s)
There's a poetic feel to this week's Pick of the Week, as John Waite re-plays clips from programmes that feature the voice of Seamus Heaney, the characters of Dylan Thomas, the verse of Simon Armitage and the life- story of Philip Larkin. From the sublime there's also the ridiculous as 'Sue MacGregor' meets three of the four Apostles. And some real "heavy metal" with a duo for cello... and saw.
Word of Mouth (Radio 4, 26th August)
Dead Ringers (Radio 4, 27th August)
Everything We Know is Wrong (Radio 4, 26th August)
World at One (Radio 4)
BOTW - Phillip Larkin (Radio 4, All Week)
Fantasy Festival (Radio 4, 28th August)
Dylan Thomas: The Outing (BBC Radio Wales, 25th August)
John Peel Remembered (Radio 6 Music, 31st August)
100 Greatest Guitar Riffs (Radio 2, 25th August)
Private Passions: Mark Miodownik (Radio 3, 31st August)
A Meeting with Dora (Radio 4, 28th August)
Local Stories: Ryans Recovery (Radio 5, 24th August)
BBC Proms (Radio 3).
SUN 19:00 The Archers (b04fyf2v)
Rob and Shula enthuse about the upcoming hunt season. Shula plants in Rob's mind the thought that Helen was a hunt stalwart in her pony club days. Over another delicious family Sunday lunch Rob suggests they all attend the next meet. Helen's not keen. She finds hunting a bit elitist. But Henry's swept along on Rob's enthusiasm, and reluctant Helen agrees to think about it.
Elizabeth reminds Freddie he's grounded. Freddie feels stifled and there's an impasse. Shula reassures Elizabeth that Freddie's a normal teenager, and the routine of the new term should settle things down. Elizabeth points out how well Dan's turned out. But Shula admits these days there's a part of him she doesn't recognise.
Hayley prepares a special lunch for Mike, Vicky and Bethany. She's keen to remind them what they would be missing if they left. Home should be where your family is. Roy announces he's off to work straight after lunch. Hayley is surprised, but resigned.
When Roy eventually returns, Hayley erupts. All he talks about is Lower Loxley. The festival's finished, so why aren't things back to the way they were? Roy admits she's right, it's not fair. It's time for everything to get back to normal.
SUN 19:15 A Charles Paris Mystery (b00wlbvx)
Murder in the Title
Episode 4
By Jeremy Front
Based on the novel by Simon Brett
Someone wants to close The Regent Theatre, and is willing to murder to do so.
Directed by Sally Avens
As ever, Charles is his own worst enemy, a louche lush who can resist anything except temptation especially in the form of women and alcohol. His intentions may be good but somehow the results always go wrong
He's been out of work so long now he feels he may never get a job and he's driving Frances his semi-ex-wife mad. So when he's offered a small role in an awful play up in Rugland she nearly pushes him out the door.
The production is as creaky as anything Charles has ever appeared in but the next play the theatre is scheduled to do is much more controversial. Soon a protest group has formed calling for a 'Porn Free Rugland'. Nasty accidents begin to befall members of the cast and crew. It seems someone wants to close down the theatre and they will even murder to get their way.
SUN 19:45 Comic Fringes (b04fyf2x)
Series 10
The Gospel According to Judas
Short story series featuring new writing by leading comedians, recorded in August at the BBC's pop up venue at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Tonight, an irreverent tale by satirist John O'Farrell: imagine if Judas Iscariot spent his 30 pieces of silver on a creative writing class and re-drafted the books of the Gospels...
A former comedy scriptwriter for Spitting Image, O'Farrell can occasionally be spotted on such TV programmes as Grumpy Old Men, Question Time and Have I Got News for You. He has written four books: "The Man Who Forgot His Wife", "May Contain Nuts", "This Is Your Life" and "The Best a Man Can Get".
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
SUN 20:00 More or Less (b04fcsyt)
How Deadly Is Ebola?
Media reports are suggesting that as many as 12,000 people may have Ebola in West Africa, but experts tell More or Less that's not the case. It's also said that Ebola kills up to 90% of victims, but while that's true of one outbreak, the death rate in other Ebola outbreaks has varied widely. Tim Harford and Ruth Alexander look at what we know about how dangerous Ebola is, how bad the latest outbreak is, what factors might influence whether people survive once they're infected, and how likely it is that there might be an outbreak of the virus in the UK.
Have 25% of guide dogs in London been hit by a cyclist? Tim Harford fact-checks the numbers behind a questionable headline.
The Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has said an 'unexpected' rise in the prison population is in part driven by 700 more sex offenders being sentenced this year than last. But is this really what's driving the numbers? Tim Harford speaks to Carol Hedderman, visiting scholar in criminology at University Of Cambridge.
Internet rumours abound that 10,600 people have died within six weeks of being pronounced fit to work. But the numbers are not quite all they seem. Tim Harford takes a close look at them with Tom Chivers of The Daily Telegraph.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Ruth Alexander.
SUN 20:30 Last Word (b04fcstv)
Richard Attenborough, Helen Bamber, BKS Iyengar, Sam Galbraith, Bill Kerr
Matthew Bannister on
The film director and actor Lord Attenborough. After a week of tributes, we bring you a highly personal interview in which he talks movingly about his family - and we cast light on his role in the development of London's Capital Radio.
Also: human rights campaigner Helen Bamber who was inspired to devote her life to helping victims of torture by her experiences of working at the Belsen concentration camp after the war.
The yoga guru BKS Iyengar who inspired millions of devotees around the world.
And the neurosurgeon Sam Galbraith, who survived a lung transplant and became a Labour MP and MSP.
SUN 21:00 Money Box (b04frbnx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b04fy1cf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 today]
SUN 21:30 In Business (b04fcc87)
Take a Bow
Thanks to great craftsmen such as the Amati family and Antonio Stradivari, the city of Cremona in northern Italy has been a global centre of violins for five centuries. Peter Day finds out how tradition, marketing and years of training enable Cremonese instrument makers to survive in a fast changing musical world.
Producer: Caroline Bayley.
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b04fyf2z)
Weekly political discussion and analysis with MPs, experts and commentators.
SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b04fyf31)
Zoe Williams of The Guardian analyses how the newspapers are covering the biggest stories.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b04fcb4q)
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari; Gruff Rhys; Richard Attenborough
With Francine Stock.
Francine unlocks The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari as the horror classic is re-released in cinema. Holding the keys are novelist Kim Newman, psychiatrist Peter Byrne and production designer Maria Djurkovic.
Another chance to hear Richard Attenborough's interview with Francine, in which he discusses his philosophy of film and explains why cinema needs to be compassionate and political as well as entertaining.
Singer Gruff Rhys discusses his documentary American Interior about his quest for a tribe of Welsh speaking Native Americans and his distant relative, the 18th century explorer John Evans, who tried to find them and ended up mapping the heartlands of the United States in the process.
Director Ivan Sen on his thriller Mystery Road about an Aborginal detective who stands alone against corruption in the Australian Outback.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b04fy1c7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 01 SEPTEMBER 2014
MON 00:00 Midnight News (b04frd77)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
MON 00:15 The Educators (b04fc707)
Tony Little
Eton College in Berkshire is one of the world's most famous schools. With so many of its old boys having distinguished careers, an Eton education carries the expectation of success.
The school's name has also become a cultural shorthand for influence, privilege and wealth.
Tony Little became headmaster in 2002. A former pupil of the school, he talks to Sarah Montague about how Eton gets results, and whether there's anything in the ethos and practice that could apply to all schools.
He believes a British education is uniquely rich and varied, with much of the value being outside the classroom, but fears it is being eroded by an age of measurement.
Nineteen British prime ministers have been educated at Eton, alongside notable writers, actors and scientists. Tony Little says it asks something of all the boys there. "If they've done it, why not you?"
Presenter: Sarah Montague
Producer: Joel Moors.
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b04fxz8m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04frd79)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04frd7c)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04frd7f)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (b04frd7h)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04fyhct)
A short reflection and prayer with Pastor Lindsay Allen.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (b04fyhcw)
Hedges, Fishing Nets, Farm Education
The National Farmers' Union says the government's decision to ban hedge cutting in August is 'draconian' and is urging Defra to rethink the changes. From next year farmers in England will have to wait until September 1st to trim hedges around their fields. Farming Today speaks to the RSPB who say the changes are vital for the conservation of nesting birds and also to the NFU who says it will hit the farming calendar.
Hundreds of thousands of seabirds across the world get trapped in vertical fishing nets, known as gillnets, every year. The problem in Filey Bay on the east coast of Yorkshire was so bad the fishermen decided to do something about it. And the changes they've made are proving a success. Sybil Ruscoe speaks to Rex Harrison who is flying to Seattle today on America's west coast to show fishermen there what they've been doing.
And Farming Today goes back to the classroom this week to look at farm education in the UK. Anna Jones visits Redborne Upper School in Bedfordshire who offer land-based qualifications.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Lucy Bickerton.
MON 05:56 Weather (b04frd7k)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dv7fc)
Blue Bird of Paradise
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the blue bird of paradise. The crow sized blue birds of paradise provide a spectacular flash of blue in the Papua New Guinea rainforests yet it is the males dazzling courtship performance which grabs a female's attention. Tipping forward from his perch he hangs upside down fluffing out and shimmering his gauzy breast feathers. As if this weren't enough, as the female approaches, he increases the frequency of his calls to produce a hypnotic mechanical buzzing, more like the song of a giant cicada than any bird.
Producer : Andrew Dawes
MON 06:00 Today (b04fyhcy)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 The Educators (b04d4nvv)
Sir Ken Robinson
A talk for the online lecture series TED in 2006 launched Sir Ken Robinson's ideas to a global audience. He spoke about creativity in schools for 20 minutes, and the video has been watched more than any other TED Talk, with 27 million views so far.
In conversation with Sarah Montague, he argues that modern teaching is a product of industrialisation, putting children through a factory model that prepares them for working life. But if we truly value innovation and creativity, why isn't it taught?
For the programme, Sir Ken returns to the former Margaret Beavan Special School in Liverpool, where he spent his primary school years in the 1950s, after contracting polio at four years old.
He's since advised governments and businesses around the world on how to harness creativity, and believes if schools were radically different, giving creative subjects equal status, children would find their true talents.
Presenter: Sarah Montague
Producer: Joel Moors.
MON 09:30 The Ideas That Make Us (b03s76cm)
Series 2
Hospitality
Bettany Hughes samples changing ideas of hospitality by gazing into outer space and by inviting poet and author Ben Okri 'round to her house for supper.
The Ideas That Make Us is a Radio 4 series which reveals the history of the most influential ideas in the story of civilisation, ideas which continue to affect us all today.
In this 'archaeology of philosophy', the award-winning historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes begins each programme with the first, extant evidence of a single word-idea in Ancient Greek culture and travels both forwards and backwards in time, investigating how these ideas have been moulded by history and shaped the human experience. In the third programme of this series, Bettany samples changing ideas of hospitality with astronomer Professor Didier Queloz, classicist Professor Paul Cartledge, poet and author Ben Okri and former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.
Other ideas examined in The Ideas that Make Us are idea, desire, agony, fame, justice, wisdom, comedy, liberty and peace.
Producer: Dixi Stewart.
MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b04fyjq2)
Omid Djalili - Hopeful: The Autobiography
Episode 1
Comedian and actor Omid Djalili is one of Britain's funniest men. His memoirs take us through his unconventional childhood growing up in an Iranian household in London and chart his progression from serious acting into comedy.
It's a laugh-out-loud, intelligent and deeply touching journey through a fascinating life.
In the opening episode, Omid recalls occasions when he's provoked laughter for all the wrong reasons.
Abridger ..... Lu Kemp
Producer ..... Kirsty Williams
A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2014.
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04fyjq4)
Culottes. Women on Oil Rigs. Friends with an Ex's New Partner?
Can you be friends with an ex's new partner? Culottes - how to wear them and their place in fashion history. Working on an oil rig - why do so few women, and so few women engineers, take up a well-paid and exciting career? Ageing without children, why is no-one talking about it? And why are so many young women embarrassed to talk about gynaecological health?
MON 10:45 Shardlake (b04fyjq6)
Dark Fire
Episode 6
Dramatisation of the second novel in C J Sansom's Tudor crime series, featuring lawyer-detective hero Matthew Shardlake.
London, 1540, Shardlake has been ordered by Thomas Cromwell to investigate the theft of a barrel of Greek Fire - an ancient weapon of mass destruction, the formula for which was thought to have been lost centuries before. Assisted by Cromwell's man, Barak, it's increasingly clear that whoever is behind the theft will do anything - including murder - to keep the dangerous substance from the Earl of Essex.
Written by C. J. Sansom
Dramatised by Colin MacDonald
Produced and directed by Kirsteen Cameron.
MON 11:00 The Lessons of Ray Honeyford (b04fyjq8)
Aasmah Mir revisits the 'Honeyford Affair', the heated dispute surrounding Ray Honeyford, a Bradford headteacher whose outspoken criticisms of multiculturalism caused a national controversy.
Ray Honeyford was headmaster of Drummond Middle School in Bradford, a school with a largely British-Asian intake. He had been writing publicly about his disagreement with multicultural education policies for a couple of years when, in spring 1984, one of his articles was reprinted in a local paper. It sparked a widespread outcry.
Outraged parents formed an action group, with large-scale protests taking place outside the school. Scores of pupils ceased to attend lessons. Honeyford was suspended, then reinstated on appeal. Again, parents withdrew their children. The protests were heated and persistent.
The Honeyford Affair went on for nearly two years. Eventually Ray Honeyford took early retirement. He never worked as a teacher again.
Honeyford was admired on the one hand and reviled on the other. For some he was a racist, malignly out of step with his community; for others he was a prophet and a martyr. For some it was an issue of free speech; for others the simple responsibility of an employee to implement the policies of their employer.
But what does the Honeyford Affair have to tell us today? Have we moved on in our discussions of multiculturalism and education? And how has time changed the views of those involved?
Aasmah Mir talks to those closest to the issue: Honeyford's deputy head; parents and governors; his replacement as Head of Drummond Middle School; Bradford's Race Relations Officer of the day and Eric Pickles MP, who as Chair of Bradford's Education Committee at the time, was intimately involved with the long-running controversy.
Producer: Martin Williams.
MON 11:30 The Cold Swedish Winter (b04fyjqb)
Series 1
Autumn
Episode Four and it's a new season of the year in this Englishman abroad sitcom from Danny Robins (the writer of the Lenny Henry comedy 'Rudy's Rare Records') This series is set and recorded in Sweden and stars Adam Riches, Danny Robins and some of Sweden's most popular TV comedy actors. Geoff, a marginally successful stand-up comic from London, is moving to the tiny, cold and unpronounceable village of Yxsjö in northern Sweden; a culture shock forced on him by his Swedish girlfriend Linda's decision to move home to raise their child. This series follows his first year attempting to settle in his new home, each episode set in a different season.
Geoff has to contend with snow, moose, pickled herring, unemployment, snow, Maypole dancing, snowmobiles, snow, meatball rolling, saunas, social democracy, snow, the weirdest pizzas in Europe, bears, deep forests, death metal, illegal alcohol, snow... Above all he has a new family to contend with. The Andersson's bewilder him - from father Sten (Thomas Oredsson - Crimes of Passion to be broadcast on BBC Four this year), who has a worrying tendency to growl like a bear and threaten him with any blunt instrument to hand to Gunilla (playwright and comedian Anna-Lena Bergelin), who threatens him with naked folk-dancing. It's worth it all for Linda, of course, apart from her new found urge to conform with everything and except for her brother, a Goth with a propensity to set fire to things. And his fellow immigrants are no less unsettling: Ian (Danny Robins), a divorcee, who has been depressed for the last eight years and Soran (Farshad Kohlgi - The Killing), a Danish Kurd with Swedophobia.
Episode 4 -"Autumn": In which Geoff tries to be different, a heavily pregnant Linda throws a "fika" party and Sten campaigns for re-election
Writer: Danny Robins
Director: Frank Stirling
A Unique Production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:00 News Summary (b04frd7m)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 Home Front (b04fyz52)
1 September 1914 - Florrie Wilson
A retired Admiral, Charles Fitzgerald, conceived the notion of the White Feather movement in Folkestone. Local women are encouraged to join in the shaming of non-combatants, with more or less success.
Written by Shaun McKenna
Consultant Historian: Professor Maggie Andrews
Music: Matthew Strachan
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
MON 12:15 You and Yours (b04fyz54)
Ice Buckets; Vacuum Cleaners;Thirteen-Year-Old with Autism Comes Home
Josh Wills, a 13 year old boy with autism put in a care home 260 miles from his family, finally gets to go home. We talk to his father.
How a new premium rate phone scam is hitting insurance brokers.
Why the EU is limiting your hairdryer as well as your vacuum cleaner - all in the name of being green.
How a fish farm in Cornwall could be the beginning of the answer to our depleted fishing stocks.
Are ice bucket challenges REALLY helping charities?
How landlords and their tenants are BOTH paying for the same service from some letting agencies.
And how moving to South Africa is about to get a lot tougher.
MON 12:57 Weather (b04frd7p)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 13:00 World at One (b04fyz56)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.
MON 13:45 Penguin Post Office (b04fyz58)
Episode 1
In October 2013, wildlife cameraman and director Andrew Graham-Brown and assistant producer Ruth Peacey set sail for Antarctica to film the lives of a colony of Gentoo penguins for a BBC Natural World film. Every year the Gentoos return to Port Lockroy which is on a tiny island called Goudier to find a mate and raise their young in the shadow of world's most southerly public Post Office. It was to be one of the most challenging filming trips the team had ever undertaken. Joining them in Antarctica was wildlife cameraman Doug Allan who narrates this series of five programmes which follows the team's adventures. In the first programme, we join them as they board their yacht Pelagic, which with its 12mm steel hull is designed for the glacial ice fields they encounter on their journey south. But fields of ice and giant icebergs are not their only challenge they also have to cross the notorious Drake Passage. Here the unimpeded waves of the vast Southern Ocean squeeze through the relatively narrow, shallow bottleneck of the Drake Passage, resulting in often unpredictable and brutal seas. It's a terrifying ordeal for them all. Producer Sarah Blunt.
MON 14:00 The Archers (b04fyf2v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Drama (b04fyz5b)
Slipping
Andrew Scott (Moriarty in the BBC's Sherlock) and Charlotte Riley (Cathy in ITV's Wuthering Heights and Nance in the film Edge of Tomorrow) play two expert liars who meet in an ocular prosthetics clinic. Elena, a teacher, is about to undergo surgery to receive a cosmetic eye to replace one of hers which has been disfigured by glaucoma. Sean, her prosthetics specialist, is crafting and hand-painting a shell to exactly match Elena's good eye. Flattered by her interest in him, Sean embarks on a relationship with her, in part as a distraction from his own chaotic life, but the closer they get, the more he realises that her charismatic stories may all be lies. Is Elena ready for surgery and is Sean ready for a relationship?
Directed by Liz Webb.
MON 15:00 Quote... Unquote (b04fyz5d)
Quote ... Unquote, the popular quotations quiz, continues its 50th series.
In almost forty years, Nigel Rees has been joined by writers, actors, musicians, scientists and various comedy types. Kenneth Williams, Judi Dench, PD James, Larry Adler, Ian KcKellen, Peter Cook, Kingsley Amis, Peter Ustinov... have all graced the Quote Unquote stage.
Join Nigel as he quizzes a host of celebrity guests on the origins of sayings and well-known quotes, and gets the famous panel to share their favourite anecdotes.
Episode 4
Writer, actor, director and comedian - Chris Addison
Scientist, author and broadcaster - Professor Jim Al-Khalili
Actress, writer and comedian - Katy Brand
Political Biographer - John Campbell
Presenter ... Nigel Rees
Producer ... Carl Cooper.
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (b04fy2bl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 A Theatre for Everyman (b04fz0ws)
The legendary Everyman Theatre in Liverpool has nurtured the careers of many actors - such as Julie Walters, Anthony Sher , Jonathan Pryce and Matthew Kelly. Founded in 1964 by three young idealistic students, the theatre has fostered generations of heavyweight acting talent in the decades ever since. Closed two years ago for a £28 million pound refurbishment, the theatre opened its doors again in March this year - having been completely re-built from the bottom up.
Capturing the spirit of a theatre through the voices of some of the writers, actors and directors who worked there - "A Theatre for Everyman" tells the story of one of the most exciting theatre spaces in England. We take a tour round the new building as they prepare for their first production; we hear how in the early days, actors had to manage coping with rats in their dressing rooms and getting changed in boiler rooms; how they had no money and had to make do and mend in order to get a play on - and how the spirit of the Everyman engendered a sense of family and belonging, in everyone who worked there.
Throughout the programme we also capture the spirit that is Liverpool - recalling the days of hardship and austerity in the 1970s; the Toxteth Riots of the 1980s and the Capital of Culture in 2008 - which went some way in helping to get the city back on its feet.
It's a story of originality and imagination, of ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies, crises and comebacks - but most of all, it's a story of extraordinary talent, of inspiration, of originality that all makes up of one of the most exciting theatre spaces in England.
Producer: Angela Hind
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b04fz0wv)
Holy Spirit
The blessing "In the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit" is much used in Christianity. But what do we mean by the term Holy Spirit? Belief in the Holy Spirit is a cardinal tenet of the Christian faith, while Muslims and Jews talk of the "Spirit of God." Whilst there is some common ground between the faiths, the differences in the interpretation of the Holy Spirit go to the heart of what marks the Abrahamic faiths apart.
Ernie Rae explores the Holy Spirit with Loveday Alexander, Professor Emeritus in New Testament Studies at Sheffield University, Sajjad Rizvi, Associate Professor of Islamic Intellectual History at the University of Exeter and Laura Janner Klausner, from the Movement for Reform Judaism.
Producer: Catherine Earlam.
MON 17:00 PM (b04fz0wx)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04frd7r)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (b04fz0wz)
Series 70
Episode 4
Just how hard can it be to talk for 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition or deviation? Hosted by the legendary Nicholas Parsons with panellists Gyles Brandreth, Stephen Mangan, Tony Hawks and newbie Kerry Godliman.
Producer: Katie Tyrrell.
MON 19:00 The Archers (b04fz0x1)
Adam can't offer Ed any more work, as he's back on Estate land this week. Charlie won't budge on his Ed ban, and remains stubbornly noncommittal about the renewal of Home Farm's contract.
Eddie won't accept Ed's money for milking at Grange Farm. He enjoys the work. But Mike adds to Ed's woes. There's a problem with the pasteuriser, and they can't get an engineer out until tomorrow. Borchester Dairies are giving Mike a temporary milk supply. Ed's milk will have to go to the dairy company at a give-away price. Mike reassures Ed he'll pay the difference. Ed is worried that Mike's heart doesn't seem to be in the business any more.
David's exhausted from calving, and it's Josh's first morning at college. Ruth discovers that her mum has had a fall and is in hospital. Guiltily she drops everything. David and Jill send her off to Heather with instructions not to worry about the farm.
As Jill helps with a tricky calf, David confides that he's worried the farm's being left behind in the rush for new methods. Jill reassures him that it felt the same in Phil's day. But really farming is simple. Whatever Charlie Thomas thinks, this country's always going to need farms like Brookfield.
MON 19:15 Front Row (b04fz0x3)
Smokey Robinson; Lenny Henry; Before I Go to Sleep; Secrets
With John Wilson.
Smokey Robinson (Tracks of My Tears, Being With You, Tears of a Clown) was once pronounced by Bob Dylan as America's greatest living poet. Smokey talks to John about his new CD of duets with Elton John, Mary J Blige and Jessie J.
Before I Go to Sleep was a huge bestseller as a novel in 2011. The film adaptation opens this week with Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman and Mark Strong. Sarah Dunant reviews.
Lenny Henry talks about bringing Radio 4 sitcom Rudy's Rare Records to the stage in Birmingham, as well as discussing his career, music and father-son relationships.
Plus, Boyd Hilton reviews The Secrets, BBC1's new series of stand-alone dramas by new writers starring Olivia Colman and Alison Steadman amongst others.
Presenter : John Wilson
Producer : Dymphna Flynn.
MON 19:45 Shardlake (b04fyjq6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 Digitising Stalin (b04fz400)
For Stalin, privacy was key. So how would he feel about his secrets being revealed?
The Stalin Digital Archive is the result of a collaboration between the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI) and Yale University Press. As it approaches completion, the implications of this decade-long endeavour are explored by journalist and author Daniel Kalder.
Encompassing the years 1890 through to 1952, over 400,000 pages of archive prise open a safe full of Soviet secrets. There's Stalin's foreign policy with Germany before World War II; communications during the Great Purges and relations with Western intellectuals and leaders. There are classified documents regarding deposed police chiefs, the 'Interior Ministry of the Russian Empire' and, latterly, the FBI. Pieced together, this puzzle of papers underlines the suspicion and paranoia that dominated this era.
Daniel Kalder believes that the collection has provided us with important new ways to 'read' Stalin. We discover:
Stalin as artist: he loved to draw wolves' heads all over his notes while he was sitting in tedious meetings. That was the only thing he drew - wolves, wolves, wolves. A holdover from his years spent in exile in Siberia, surrounded by wolves?
Stalin as modest: he hacked out references to himself in the works he edited. A revelatory and previously unknown quality, this completely inverts our understanding of Stalin
Stalin as smart: he added lots to Marxist theory, and yet, according to Trotsky, his limited mental capacity wasn't up to such a task
With the click of a mouse, we gain access to one of the most guarded and secretive periods in Russia's modern history.
MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (b04fc8yq)
Guatemala's Addicts Behind Bars
The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in cocaine trafficking through Guatemala en route north, to the United States. Part of the fallout locally, has been a rise in addiction. As a result, more than 200 drug rehabilitation centres have been set up in the capital alone. Many of these are run by Pentecostal churches, with little oversight or regulation. Often addicts are swept up from the streets by 'hunting parties', and forced to attend such a centre. Linda Pressly travels to Guatemala City to investigate compulsory drug rehabilitation.
MON 21:00 Mum and Dad and Mum (b04fz6lg)
Alana Saarinen is a thirteen year old girl who lives with her mum and dad in Michigan, USA. She loves playing golf and the piano, listening to music and hanging out with friends. In those respects, she's like many teenagers around the world. Except she's not, because every cell in Alana's body isn't like mine and yours; Alana is one of a handful of people in the world who have DNA from three people.
The BBC's Science Correspondent Rebecca Morelle explores how more children like Alana could be born.
This programme examines the safety and health implications of this new science. For some it is controversial. For those who have these specific genetic diseases, it is the way they could have their own healthy child. The UK is playing a pioneering role in developing the technique, called mitochondrial replacement, and Parliament has just voted to make the process legal.
But despite that, there are a small number of children in the world, like Alana Saarinen, who have DNA from three people already. Although a small sample, they could answer some of the questions people have, such as will they be healthy, do they feel like they have three parents and would they like to trace the donor one day in the future?
Producer: Charlotte Pritchard.
MON 21:30 The Educators (b04d4nvv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:58 Weather (b04frd7t)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b04fz402)
Ukraine claims Russia has started a "great war".
David Cameron sets out response to ISIS jihadi threat.
Pakistan protests continue.
With Ritula Shah.
MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04fz404)
The Thrill of It All
Episode 6
Spanning 25 years, Joseph O' Connor's new novel The Thrill of It All rewinds and fast-forwards through an evocative soundtrack of struggle and laughter. It deals with the formation of a band in the early 80's in Luton, their struggle for recognition, playing low dives, living in transit vans culminating in overnight worldwide success. Then the inevitable, "artistic differences!"
This is an incredibly warm-hearted and uplifting story for anyone who has ever loved a song.
Author ..... Joseph O'Connor
Abridger ..... Neville Teller
Producer ..... Gemma McMullan
Reader ..... Philip Glenister
The Author
Joseph O'Connor is the author of eight novels: Cowboys and Indians (short-listed for the Whitbread Prize), Desperadoes, The Salesman, Inishowen, Star of the Sea, Redemption Falls, Ghost Light and The Thrill of it All. He has also written radio diaries, film scripts and stage-plays including the multiple award-winning Red Roses and Petrol and an acclaimed adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel My Cousin Rachel.
His novel Star of the Sea was an international bestseller, selling more than a million copies and being published in 38 languages. It won France's Prix Millepages, Italy's Premio Acerbi, the Irish Post Award for Fiction, the Neilsen Bookscan Golden Book Award, an American Library Association Award, the Hennessy/Sunday Tribune Hall of Fame Award, and the Prix Litteraire Zepter for European Novel of the Year. His novel Ghost Light was chosen as Dublin's One City Book novel for 2011. He received the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature in 2012.
MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (b04f9r9k)
Is the Double Entendre in Rude Health?
Arthur Bostrom examines the origins and colourful history of the double entendre and asks if this comic device is upholding its reputation as a firm favourite or whether its popularity is starting to droop.
Novelist Angela Carter described a double entendre as 'everyday discourse which has been dipped in the infinite riches of a dirty mind'. Whether innocently filthy or gleefully subversive, this British institution is part of a comedy tradition which has made us giggle for centuries.
Bostrom himself is a purveyor of this custom, most memorably as Officer Crabtree in the popular television situation comedy 'Allo 'Allo, and in this programme he slips into a world of suggestive speech; including radio series, saucy postcards and advertising. However as he probes the use of double entendre he discovers it isn't always to everyone's taste - including his own.
He's joined by writer Perry Croft, Lecturer in film studies at the University of Salford CP Lee, Deputy Editor of Marketing Week Branwell Johnson, artist Jez Dolan, comedian Steve Bugeja and Dr Paul MacDonald, a comic novelist and lecturer in creative writing.
Produced by Stephen Garner.
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b04fz406)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster as the Commons returns after its summer break.
TUESDAY 02 SEPTEMBER 2014
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b04frd8n)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b04fyjq2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04frd8q)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04frd8s)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04frd8v)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b04frd8x)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04fz42q)
A short reflection and prayer with Pastor Lindsay Allen.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b04fz42s)
Milk Prices, Texas Drought, Farm Education
Dairy farmers face a big blow as further cuts to milk prices are announced for October. The latest dairy company to announce their price cut is First Milk, with a fall of 3 pence per litre. They say it's because of worldwide markets, including the impact of the Russian import ban. Anna Hill speaks to dairy analyst Ian Potter about the affect this will have on the industry. And how will dairy farmers respond to the situation? Farming Today hears from Farmers For Action.
As reservoirs run dry, Tom Heap visits farmers in Texas who are dealing with years of drought. Farmers in the Lone Star State, famed for cattle ranching, have sold off 20% of their cattle herds because of the poor pasture and high cost of feed.
And as the school term starts across much of the UK, Farming Today continues to look at farm education. Anna Jones is in Bedfordshire to hear how pupils work throughout their summer holidays on their school farm.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Lucy Bickerton.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dvk7n)
Hoatzin
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the South American hoatzin. Moving clumsily through riverside trees the funky Mohican head crested hoatzin looks like it has been assembled by a committee. Hoatzin's eat large quantities of leaves and fruit, and to cope with this diet have a highly specialised digestive system more like that of cattle, which gives them an alternative name, 'stink-bird'.
TUE 06:00 Today (b04fz4v8)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 What's the Point of...? (b04fz4vb)
Series 6
The Methodists
They've lost a third of their members in the last decade - Quentin Letts asks whether the Methodists in Britain have a future.
In the nineteenth century the Methodists were a religious and social force in the land; shaking up a complacent Church of England, preaching in the open air and singing from the rafters, organising the masses into trade unions and laying the foundations of the modern labour party. Today, if current trends are anything to go by, they are heading for extinction.
Why has this happened? Have the Methodists lost their radical edge, sold out by watering down their attitudes to alcohol? Are they victims of their own success - do we now all take for granted the values equality and social justice which they communicated? Is their singing not what it used to be? What's the point of the Methodists?
Producer: Rosie Dawson.
TUE 09:30 Witness (b04fz4vd)
The Port Arthur Massacre
35 people were killed by a single gunman during a mass shooting in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur in 1996. The killings led to sweeping changes in Australia's gun laws. John and Gaye Fidler survived the massacre and immediately began to campaign for changes to firearms law.
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b04fz4vg)
Omid Djalili - Hopeful: The Autobiography
Episode 2
Omid remembers childhood visits to Iran and explores how it feels to belong to two very different cultures.
Comedian and actor Omid Djalili is one of Britain's funniest men. His memoirs take us through his unconventional childhood growing up in an Iranian household in London and chart his progression from serious acting into comedy.
It's a laugh-out-loud, intelligent and deeply touching journey through a fascinating life.
Abridger ..... Lu Kemp
Producer ..... Kirsty Williams
A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2014.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04fz4vj)
Who is Marina Silva? Behaviour in class; Life on Rainbow Warrior
The sexual abuse and exploitation of 1400 mainly white girls in Rotherham by men predominantly of Pakistani origin has caused shock and outrage. What can be done to give British-Pakistani women in these communities a louder voice? Sara Khan of Inspire and Zlakha Ahmed join Jane.
Marina Silva was born into a poor, mixed-race family in the Brazilian Amazon. She didn't learn to read and write until the age of 16. Yet this 56 year old environmentalist is posing a very real threat to the President of Brazil. So who is Marina Silva, and how did she come to pose such a huge challenge?
Stop talking and face the front. What do children think of the behaviour management techniques used in the classroom and what really motivates them to work hard and behave well? Dr Ruth Payne of Leeds University has been surveying pupils in West Yorkshire and Birna Helgadottir is Head of English at Lampton School in Hounslow in London.
Three ships have now sailed the world as the Rainbow Warrior - the physical emblem of the campaigning environmental group, Greenpeace. Maite Mompo has been a Greenpeace activist for over 10 years and spent six years on the second Rainbow Warrior. She's written a book - Rainbow Warriors - which follows the lives of the three ships, and her experiences, on board.
This year is the 20th anniversary of the end of the Rwandan genocide. In 2004 Kiki Katese, an actress, director and writer, believing that music sooths the soul and brings people together, formed a drumming group called Ingoma Nshya - 'New Era', with women from her local community in Butare who came from different backgrounds. The country has a rich cultural tradition of drumming but this had previously been a completely male domain. The group now perform across Rwanda, Felicity Finch met them.
Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Erin Riley.
TUE 10:45 Shardlake (b04fz4vl)
Dark Fire
Episode 7
Dramatisation of C. J. Sansom's Tudor bestselling crime novel set during the last days of Thomas Cromwell.
Shardlake puts pressure on Lady Honor to tell him all she knows about Greek Fire, but suspects that she's still holding something back. With little to report, Cromwell, frustrated by Shardlake's lack of progress, reveals just how worried he is about losing the King's favour.
Written by C. J. Sansom
Dramatised by Colin MacDonald
Produced and directed by Kirsteen Cameron.
TUE 11:00 Shared Planet (b04fz4vn)
Belugas
The St Lawrence River in south east Canada is a popular spot for many species of whale including a resident small population of the world's only entirely white whale, the beluga. Plans to build a new terminal in the St Lawrence to ship oil from northern Canada to the rest of the world have made some of the residents of one particular tourist town particularly concerned. The protesters claim the development will be right at the heart of the belugas critical habitat, which at worst could threaten the future survival of this small population. As the demand for oil increases are some wildlife casualties inevitable? And as attention turns further north into the icy waters of the Arctic are we adequately prepared to clean up in the event of a spill?
TUE 11:30 The Poet Librettists (b04fz4vq)
Michael Symmons Roberts is one of our most accomplished poets, and has for some years also built a reputation as a first rate librettist, in collaboration with James Macmillan. In the course of his alternative operatic career he's had much time to consider why so many poets have decided to have a go at writing for the opera stage - even though the collaborative experience is often so alien to poets most comfortable writing alone. He meets some of the modern era opera's most illustrious practitioners, including Harrison Birtwistle, David Harsent, Alice Goodman as well as James Macmillan - and more skeptical voices such as Don Paterson, a prize-winning poet who has been highly reluctant in the past to have his own words set to music as he regards them to have their own internal music already. Michael also presents archive audio from perhaps the greatest poet-librettist of all, W.H. Auden, to try to establish precisely what it is that poets bring to the operatic table that other writers - such as novelists and playwrights - do not; he also investigates how writing for the voice rather than the page affects the writing style of poets.
TUE 12:00 News Summary (b04frd8z)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 Home Front (b04fz4vs)
2 September 1914 - Ralph Winwood
The complications in the vicar's life threaten to catch up with him.
Written by Shaun McKenna
Music: Matthew Strachan
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
TUE 12:15 You and Yours (b04fz507)
Call You and Yours
Over a period of sixteen years some 1,400 girls were sexually abused by men in Rotherham - yet social workers, councillors and the police failed to act quickly to stop it. Call You and Yours asks what went wrong and what needs to be done to fix the child protection system.
Call us on 03700 100444 or text 84844 or email youandyours@bbc.co.uk.
TUE 12:57 Weather (b04frd91)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b04fz509)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.
TUE 13:45 Penguin Post Office (b04fz6kr)
Episode 2
In October 2013, wildlife cameraman and director Andrew Graham-Brown and assistant producer Ruth Peacey set sail for Antarctica to film a colony of Gentoo penguins for a BBC Natural World film which every year return to Port Lockroy on a tiny island called Goudier to find a mate and raise their young in the shadow of world's most southerly public Post Office. It was to be one of the most challenging filming trips they had ever undertaken. Joining them in Antarctica was wildlife cameraman Doug Allan who narrates this series of five programmes which follows the team's adventures. Having survived the notorious Drake Passage, the team have reached the southern oceans but their troubles aren't over. They are surrounded by sea ice and send the first mate up the mast to help navigate a safe journey through the maze. All goes well until a fierce storm takes them by surprise and once again they endure a terrifying journey until they reach Anvers island and sanctuary for the night. Next morning they set off on the last leg of their journey but instead of reaching Port Lockroy are forced to stop within a few hundred metres of Goudier island by yet more dense sea ice. Producer Sarah Blunt.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b04fz0x1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b01pgh25)
The Sensitive
Queen of the Dead
By Alastair Jessiman.
Glasgow's psychic detective returns for a new case. A grieving daughter finds hundreds of cassette recordings made by a woman obsessed with her late father, a Professor of English. Thomas Soutar is hired to trace the identity of the woman behind the tapes - who styles herself the "Queen Of the Dead".
Producer/director: Bruce Young.
TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (b04frbnq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (b04fz6kt)
Texan Drought
Whilst many parts of the United States have suffered drought this summer, for Texas it's been going on for years. Wells and reservoir levels are at a fraction of what they should be and farmers and residents have been forced to face some big changes. Climatologists say this is the second worst drought in recorded history but if it continues it could soon surpass that experienced in the 1950s.
Tom Heap visits cattle and crop farmer Kenneth McAlister who lives near one of the areas in 'exceptional drought' - Wichita Falls. The lack of rain has made it hard to grow feed and he's had to reduce his herd size. Many others have done the same or left farming altogether - which is beginning to change the face and identity of this state famed for ranching. Some recent light rain has only brought with it grasshoppers and dangerous weeds on the land.
Meanwhile, to preserve water supplies in Wichita Falls evaporation suppressants are being sprayed onto reservoirs and water companies say they've started 'direct potable reuse' - reducing the stages between flush and faucet - which has garnered an interesting response.
With over 1000 people moving to Texas each day and business being encouraged to boom Tom asks what's being done to save precious water supplies and ensure there's enough to go around.
Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock.
TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (b04fz6kw)
Speaking, Listening and the English GCSE
Chris Ledgard presents a discussion on the teaching of speaking and listening in schools and the way it's now assessed in the English GCSE. Can students really be taught to be eloquent speakers, and if so, how?
Taking part are Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers; writer and thinker Tom Chatfield, and Neil Mercer, Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge.
Producer Beth O'Dea.
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b04fz6ky)
Series 34
Tom Shakespeare on Gramsci
Dr Tom Shakespeare is a lecturer at the Medical School in the University of East Anglia and prominent campaigner for the rights of the disabled.
He explains to Matthew Parris why the life and work of the Italian left-wing revolutionary Antonio Gramsci means a great deal to him personally.
They're joined in the studio by Professor Anne Sassoon.
Producer: Christine Hal
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.l
TUE 17:00 PM (b04fz6l0)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04frd93)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Meet David Sedaris (b03mclqh)
Series 4
Episode 5
One of the world's funniest storytellers is back on BBC Radio 4 doing what he does best.
This week, he considers his native tongue as if it were a foreign language in "English Lesson" and the trouble that taxidermy can bring in "Understanding Understanding Owls".
Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b04fz6l4)
David reports that Heather's recovery from her fall will be slow. Ruth's due home at the weekend.
Jill and David make an unexpected discovery when a piece of track gives way as they're transporting a sheep trailer. There's running water in an unusual location.
Vicky visits Leonie and the baby. An overly fussy Leonie is being waited on by Lilian and James, who seem respectively cheesed off and exhausted. James remarks he could do with a few hours off. Vicky's gift of pyjamas for the baby is rejected. Leonie doesn't want him wearing mixed fibres until he's weaned.
Leonie and Lynda agree they're taking their lead from the baby. Lilian remarks drily that they'll have to show him who's boss sooner or later. Discussion turns to the naming ceremony. Lynda's less than impressed with the choice of Mowgli as a name. Even Leonie's having second thoughts due to its 'numerology'. She's considering Montezuma, Churchill and Endeavour as alternatives.
Privately, Lynda admits to having concerns. Vicky reassures her that Leonie has the baby's best interests at heart. He has plenty of people around who love him. Lynda should just relax and enjoy being a grandparent. Whatever Vicky and Mike go through, they both know nothing's more important than Beth and her future.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b04fz6l6)
Helen Mirren; Lang Lang; David Mitchell
In tonight's programme, John Wilson talks to Dame Helen Mirren about her new film The Hundred-Foot Journey, and to David Mitchell about his novel The Bone Clocks - and concert pianist Lang Lang gives John a demonstration of his new technique for learning the piano.
Presenter: John Wilson
Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.
TUE 19:45 Shardlake (b04fz4vl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 Painful Medicine (b04fz6lb)
Addictions researcher, Dr Sally Marlow, investigates fears that easy access to powerful painkillers could be creating a large, but hidden problem of addiction.
Painkillers are widely available over-the-counter, and combinations containing codeine, which is addictive, can be purchased from pharmacists and on the internet.
Teenager, Alice, tells Sally about secretly buying huge numbers of painkillers on her way to school while she was wearing her school uniform. She used her lunch money to buy multiple packs from several stores, switching shops when she was questioned by pharmacists.
And Steve describes how his serious codeine addiction began after treating tooth pain with the drug. The side effects helped his anxiety and for years he was doctoring tablets in order to increase his codeine intake.
Some health professionals believe easy access is fuelling a potential health crisis and say those with serious dependency problems, are hidden below the healthcare radar.
Only a tiny percentage of people with an addiction to painkillers find their way to traditional substance misuse services, fuelling concerns that there is a large, but hidden group, who aren't getting help with their dependency.
David Grieve, who set up the charity, Over-count, 21 years ago after his own serious addiction to over-the-counter cough mixture, believes the number of people dependent on painkillers is growing, fuelled by easy availability on the internet.
Between 30-35% of visitors to his website say when they are refused purchases by pharmacists, they buy online instead.
Fabrizio Shiffano, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Hertfordshire and a member of the government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, demonstrates how easy it is to buy potent painkillers online and Dr Paolo DeLuca, a senior research fellow in addictive behaviour at King's College, London, tells Sally about a three year international study, the Codemisused Project, which aims to discover the scale of codeine use and misuse. Dr DeLuca is leading the British arm of the study and he hopes that research will fill the current gap in knowledge so that if action is needed to reduce the risk to individuals, it can be based on evidence.
Producer: Fiona Hill.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b04fz6ld)
Audio description; Arts access in Australia; Reunited after 50 years
Peter White talks to RNIB's Sonali Rai who answers a listener's question about the patchy provision of Audio Description. Peter also talks to Emma Bennison about access to the Australian Arts.
And listener Hazel Dudley is reunited with her former Sunday School teacher Elaine Bastable, when she heard her talking on In Touch last week.
TUE 21:00 Everything We Know Is Wrong (b04f9r4k)
Every day the newspapers carry stories of new scientific findings. There are 15 million scientists worldwide all trying to get their research published. But a disturbing fact appears if you look closely: as time goes by, many scientific findings seem to become less true than we thought. It's called the "decline effect" - and some findings even dwindle away to zero.
A highly influential paper by Dr John Ioannidis at Stanford University called "Why most published research findings are false" argues that fewer than half of scientific papers can be believed, and that the hotter a scientific field (with more scientific teams involved), the less likely the research findings are to be true. He even showed that of the 49 most highly cited medical papers, only 34 had been retested and of them 41 per cent had been convincingly shown to be wrong. And yet they were still being cited.
Again and again, researchers are finding the same things, whether it's with observational studies, or even the "gold standard" Randomised Controlled Studies, whether it's medicine or economics. Nobody bothers to try to replicate most studies, and when they do try, the majority of findings don't stack up. The awkward truth is that, taken as a whole, the scientific literature is full of falsehoods.
Jolyon Jenkins reports on the factors that lie behind this. How researchers who are obliged for career reasons to produce studies that have "impact"; of small teams who produce headline-grabbing studies that are too statistically underpowered to produce meaningful results; of the way that scientists are under pressure to spin their findings and pretend that things they discovered by chance are what they were looking for in the first place. It's not exactly fraud, but it's not completely honest either. And he reports on new initiatives to go through the literature systematically trying to reproduce published findings, and of the bitter and personalised battles that can occur as a result.
Producer/Presenter: Jolyon Jenkins.
TUE 21:30 What's the Point of...? (b04fz4vb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 21:58 Weather (b04gbxbk)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b04fz6lj)
Legal case against Ashya King's parents collapses.
Ukraine fighting continues - how should NATO respond?
With Ritula Shah.
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04fz6ll)
The Thrill of It All
Episode 7
Spanning 25 years, Joseph O' Connor's new novel The Thrill of It All rewinds and fast-forwards through an evocative soundtrack of struggle and laughter. It deals with the formation of a band in the early 80's in Luton, their struggle for recognition, playing low dives, living in transit vans culminating in overnight worldwide success. Then the inevitable, "artistic differences!"
This is an incredibly warm-hearted and uplifting story for anyone who has ever loved a song.
Author ..... Joseph O'Connor
Abridger ..... Neville Teller
Producer ..... Gemma McMullan
The Author
Joseph O'Connor is the author of eight novels: Cowboys and Indians (short-listed for the Whitbread Prize), Desperadoes, The Salesman, Inishowen, Star of the Sea, Redemption Falls, Ghost Light and The Thrill of it All. He has also written radio diaries, film scripts and stage-plays including the multiple award-winning Red Roses and Petrol and an acclaimed adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel My Cousin Rachel.
His novel Star of the Sea was an international bestseller, selling more than a million copies and being published in 38 languages. It won France's Prix Millepages, Italy's Premio Acerbi, the Irish Post Award for Fiction, the Neilsen Bookscan Golden Book Award, an American Library Association Award, the Hennessy/Sunday Tribune Hall of Fame Award, and the Prix Litteraire Zepter for European Novel of the Year. His novel Ghost Light was chosen as Dublin's One City Book novel for 2011. He received the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature in 2012.
TUE 23:00 The Guns of Adam Riches (b04fz6ln)
Series 2
Victor Legit
Award-winning comic, Adam Riches' series of one-off comic adventures continues with the tale of Victor Legit, a supermarket store detective whose shop is being targeted by a mysterious shoplifter called the "Rat King." Aided by his wingman - and live saxophonist - Tony, can Victor solve the mystery and save the day?
Cast: Adam Riches, Cariad Lloyd, Jim Johnson, Katharine Bennett-Fox and special guest, Pete Grogan as Tony Saxatanski.
Written by Adam Riches
Produced by Simon Mayhew-Archer.
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b04fz6lq)
The Home Secretary tells the House of Commons that what happened in the Rotherham sex abuse scandal was "shocking" and a "complete dereliction of duty" by the authorities.
An independent investigation is to be carried out into the handling of the scandal by South Yorkshire Police. A report last week said more than 1,400 children were abused from 1997 to 2013.
The Chief Constable of South Yorkshire and the BBC's Director General face questions from MPs over the search of Sir Cliff Richard's home.
MPs take evidence on the allegations of an attempted hard-line Muslim takeover of schools in Birmingham.
And the by-election in the Essex seat of Clacton, triggered by the defection to UKIP of former Conservative MP Douglas Carswell, is to be held on October 9th.
Susan Hulme and team report on today's events in Parliament.
WEDNESDAY 03 SEPTEMBER 2014
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b04frdb1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b04fz4vg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04frdb3)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04frdb5)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04frdb7)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b04frdb9)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04fzb7h)
A short reflection and prayer with Pastor Lindsay Allen.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b04fzb7k)
Milk, Fly-grazing, Apprenticeships
The National Farmers' Union is in Brussels appealing for help over falling milk prices. With a volatile world market and the impact of the Russian import ban, farmers face further cuts in milk prices in October. The NFU would like to see an increase of Private Storage Aid from 6 months to 12 months as well as the EU buying intervention stocks.
Animal welfare charities are calling on the government to do more to tackle fly-grazing in England. That's when horses are kept on land without permission. World Horse Welfare is one of several organisations to launch a report highlighting the problems it causes for both the horses and the public. Later today, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee will hear the concerns about fly-grazing, what's driving it and what can be done about it.
And Farming Today continues to look a farm education. Anna Hill visits apprentices on farms who are taking part in a scheme launched in East Anglia 18 months ago. The EDGE apprenticeship scheme has already placed 277 youngsters in farming and food industry jobs and is still looking to expand.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Lucy Bickerton.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dvrcj)
Australian Magpie
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the Australian magpie. These large pibald birds with pickaxe bills reminded early settlers of the more familiar European magpie, but in fact they are not crows at all. Australian magpies have melodious voices which can range over four octaves in a chorus of squeaks, yodels and whistles. Pairs or larger groups of magpies take part in a behaviour known as carolling, a harmony of rich fluting calls which marks their territories and helps to cement relationships between the birds.
WED 06:00 Today (b04fzb7m)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Reflections with Peter Hennessy (b04fzbhq)
Series 2
Margaret Beckett
In this series, Peter Hennessy, the historian of modern Britain, asks a senior politician to reflect on his or her life and times. Each week, he invites his guest to explore their early influences, their experiences of events and their impressions of people they've known.
In the final episode of the current series, Dame Margaret Beckett MP, the former Foreign Secretary and Labour Deputy Leader, reflects on her transition from trainee engineer to Labour MP, and subsequently to a minister who served four Labour Prime Ministers between 1976 and 2009. She talks about becoming a minister at a time when there were few women in national politics. Discussing her loyalty to Labour since the 1960s, she explains her opposition to British membership of the European Community in the 1970s and her reasons for having voted for Michael Foot as Labour Leader in 1980 and Tony Benn as Deputy Leader in preference to Denis Healey. Looking back on her senior role in the Labour Party from the 1990s, she tells how she became Deputy Labour Leader to John Smith and discusses her time in Tony Blair's Cabinet, including during the Iraq War, and recalls that when she was appointed Foreign Secretary in 2006 she was 'stunned'.
Peter's guests earlier in this series were Sir John Major, the former Prime Minister; Roy Hattersley, the former Labour Deputy Leader, and David Steel, the former Liberal Party Leader.
The producer is Rob Shepherd.
WED 09:30 Publishing Lives (b03xgslw)
Series 2
Carmen Callil
Robert McCrum explores the stories of five great British publishers.
Carmen Callil set out to change the world with her pioneering feminist publishing house, Virago Press. Arriving in London from Australia in 1960, she started as a "publicity girl", then one of the few publishing jobs available to women who did not want to be secretaries.
In 1973 she founded Virago Press to "publish books by women which celebrated women's lives, and which would, by so doing, spread the message of women's liberation to the whole population". Virago's first publication was Fenwomen: A Portrait of Women in an English Village by Mary Chamberlain. This oral history set out as Virago meant to go on, giving voice to previously silent women.
Despite some criticism from the established literary world, Virago quickly became a success. In 1978, Carmen launched the hugely influential Modern Classics series, with their distinctive green spines, celebrating and reviving the work of hundreds of often neglected female writers. Since then, the Modern Classics series has become Virago's hallmark.
Carmen left Virago to run Chatto in the 80s, and retired from publishing in 1994. The company she founded over 40 years ago has evolved and changed, yet the founding principles remain the same, to publish the best of women's writing and to celebrate women's lives thorough literature. Since 1973, women have made a significant contribution to literature, as bestsellers, as Booker Prize winners and as readers shaping the modern book trade.
Featuring Carmen Callil, Ursula Owen and Lennie Goodings.
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald
A Blakeway Production production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b04fzbl7)
Omid Djalili - Hopeful: The Autobiography
Episode 3
Omid recalls his experiences as a ten-year old medical translator and revisits a poignant period when religious tensions in Iran reached his family home in Kensington.
Comedian and actor Omid Djalili is one of Britain's funniest men. His memoirs take us through his unconventional childhood growing up in an Iranian household in London and chart his progression from serious acting into comedy.
It's a laugh-out-loud, intelligent and deeply touching journey through a fascinating life.
Abridger ..... Lu Kemp
Producer ..... Kirsty Williams
A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2014.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04fzbl9)
Groping, Egypt's Lost Queens, Anna Karenina
Groping in public places. After a woman was punched in the face by a man she challenged for sexually assaulting her, Everyday Sexism's Laura Bates and columnist Rosamund Urwin discuss the problem of groping. And as celebrities are held at fault for intimate photos published online, is there a problem of victim-blaming when it comes to women's bodies?
Many female school leavers are left unemployed after following careers advice and struggling to get into low paid, oversubscribed jobs like hairdressing. Carole Easton, the Chief Executive of The Young Women's Trust, explains the problem and the damaging effect of gendered job advice.
Egypt's Lost Queens - how women could have ruled ancient Egypt. Professor Joann Fletcher explains how women and female gods lay at the very heart of its culture. Anna Karenina - Rosamund Bartlett has completed a new translation and discusses her take on this classic Russian novel. And office picnics - a look at the perhaps lost art of picnicking with colleagues.
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Emma Wallace.
WED 10:41 Shardlake (b04fzblc)
Dark Fire
Episode 8
Dramatisation of C. J. Sansom's Tudor crime novel set during the last days of Thomas Cromwell.
Trapped inside the rapidly burning house, Shardlake and Barak search desperately for an escape route as they witness first-hand the terrible power of Greek Fire.
Written by C. J. Sansom
Dramatised by Colin MacDonald
Produced and directed by Kirsteen Cameron.
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b04fzblf)
Victor and Finola - The Key of Heaven
Fi Glover introduces a conversation in which 63 year old Victor shares the joy of his new life, now he's learned to read and write, with the mentor who handed him the key, proving once again that it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
WED 11:00 The Life Sub-Aquatic (b04fzc7m)
Marine biologist and avid scuba diver, Helen Scales, explores the human obsession with inhabiting the depths and meets aquanauts who want to go down and stay down. From Jules Verne to Jacques Cousteau, the dream of a life sub-aquatic has endured. But could it ever become a reality?
At the moment, there is one place on Earth where you can live deep underwater for weeks at a time: The Aquarius Reef Base, a research station run by Florida International University which sits on the seabed some 20 metres down. As Helen discovers herself on a short visit to Aquarius, this is paradise for marine scientists who can wave goodbye to the surface and conduct experiments in situ, 24/7. It also hosts astronauts who use the unique conditions to train for life on the International Space Station as well as voyages deeper into space. Helen talks to Commander Chris Hadfield (recently made famous through his rendition of Space Oddity) about his time testing space suits for NASA and meeting sharks face to face on night time sorties.
Aquarius stands alone today but the dream of working – and living – under the sea has a rich history that began years before we ever stepped foot on the surface of the moon. It was undersea pioneer Jacques Cousteau, co-inventor of the Aqua-Lung, who captured the world's imagination when he created the Conshelf underwater village in the Red Sea. This was followed by the US Navy's Sea Lab and NASA's own 'Tektite' house (built in 1969 by General Electric and described by inhabitant Sylvia Earle as looking like a giant kitchen appliance).
Interest from philanthropists, corporations and even individuals is keeping alive the dream of life as an aquanaut. Helen meets Lloyd Godson, a young Australian adventurer who is working on his third project - BioSub 3 - a submerged habitat powered by sustainable energy. As Helen discovers, there's a long way to go to meet the many challenges this hostile environment throws up - not least how our bodies and our brains cope with the pressure and confined conditions that come with living underwater.
Producer: Helen Scales
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.
WED 11:30 Wordaholics (b04fzc7p)
Series 3
Episode 1
Comedians Lloyd Langford, Holly Walsh, Paul Sinha and Natalie Haynes join Gyles Brandreth for the panel game about words that will make you laugh your socks off.
Lloyd Langford delicately tells us whey avocados are called avocados; Natalie Haynes explains what the modern term astroturfing is; Paul Sinha unlocks the meaning pf the German word handschuhsanbalwerfer and Holly Walsh shares her favourite example of prison slang.
The panel also suggest words that don't yet exist, but should. What could they mean by 'a Clarkson', 'messcalation', 'trage' and 'appointmentia'?
Writers: Jon Hunter and James Kettle.
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014
WED 12:00 News Summary (b04frdbc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 Home Front (b04fzck9)
3 September 1914 - Marieke Dupont
A Belgian couple arrive at the vicarage claiming that Matthieu is their baby, but Marieke has more than an instinct that they are lying.
Written by Shaun McKenna
Music: Matthew Strachan
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
WED 12:15 You and Yours (b04fzckc)
Gold Scam; Customer Care; Kate Bush
Police make multiple arrests following a You & Yours exposure of a gold investment scam
Winifred Robinson goes inside the embattled customer care centre at Britain's most complained about energy company
Tax Discs reach the end of the road - what motorists need to know.
Former Care minister releases manifesto for the future of care homes.
What happened to the dream of 24 hour cities in the UK
How Kate Bush concert promoters shut out the ticket touts.
WED 12:57 Weather (b04frdbf)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b04fzd86)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.
WED 13:45 Penguin Post Office (b04fzd88)
Episode 3
In October 2013, wildlife cameraman and director Andrew Graham-Brown and assistant producer Ruth Peacey set sail for Antarctica to film a colony of Gentoo penguins for a BBC Natural World film which every year return to Port Lockroy on a tiny island called Goudier to find a mate and raise their young in the shadow of world's most southerly public Post Office. It was to be one of the most challenging filming trips they had ever undertaken. Joining them in Antarctica was wildlife cameraman Doug Allan who narrates this series of five programmes which follows the team's adventures. Having survived the notorious Drake Passage , the team have reached the southern oceans but their troubles aren't over. They are surrounded by sea ice and so have to send the first mate up the mast to help navigate a safe journey through the maze. All goes well until a fierce storm takes them by surprise and once again they endure a terrifying journey until they reach Anvers island and sanctuary for the night. Next morning they set off on the last leg of their journey but instead of reaching Goudier are forced to stop within a few hundred metres by yet more sea ice. Producer Sarah Blunt.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b04fz6l4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b01d2q3z)
Interiors
Johnny Vegas welcomes you to the tasteful home of Jeffrey Parkin.
"Now you may notice as we begin our tour in earnest that there are some design initiatives around the house that aren't, strictly speaking, finished... I terms of the decor I've been playing around with some ideas. Not all the colour schemes have been finalised yet but I think you'd all agree, that's a veritable bonus. Most of the hard work's done so I'm basically handing you a colour-by-numbers dream home come true. You just paint in between the guiding lines that my vision has provided you with, and you're laughing."
Interiors shines a mis-wired spotlight on the structural flaws exposed in the recent demise of the British property market and sparks on the revelation that a house really stands up or falls down on the basis of its human contents.
Based on an original play by Johnny Vegas, Stewart Lee and Rob Thirtle.
Directed by Dirk Maggs
Produced by Sally Harrison
A Woolyback Production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b04fzd8b)
Saving and Investing
Paul Lewis answers your questions about saving and investing. Call 03700 100 444 from
1pm to
3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk
Savers deposited almost £5bn in NISAS in July but since then many providers have cut the interest rates they pay. If your rate is about to drop where should you move your money to?
Who is offering the best regular saving or fixed rates, or perhaps you're tempted by a high interest current account?
If your saving goals are long term and you are prepared to take some risk what are the investment options, risks and costs?
Whatever your question, ready to share their views and experience will be:
Jason Hollands, Tilney Bestinvest.
Flora Maudsley-Barton, Parsonage Financial.
Kevin Mountford, Moneysupermarket.
To talk to the team call 03700 100 444 from
1pm to
3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail your question to moneybox@bbc.co.uk now. Standard geographic call charges apply.
WED 15:30 Mum and Dad and Mum (b04fz6lg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
WED 16:00 The Educators (b04fzd9h)
Daisy Christodoulou
It's a relatively new dilemma for teachers. If the answer to almost anything is available with a search, should children be taught to remember facts, or how to find and use them?
Teacher and writer Daisy Christodoulou tells Sarah Montague why she thinks a generation of school children are being let down by discovery learning, which places emphasis on students finding out for themselves.
It's the opposite of traditional 'chalk and talk'. But have classrooms already moved too far towards skills and group work, in the interest of pleasing inspectors?
Based on her own time in classrooms, Daisy Christodoulou believes young people have vast gaps in their knowledge and understanding, and that traditional fact-based lessons would serve them better.
Presenter: Sarah Montague
Producer: Joel Moors.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b04fzdqp)
BBC on Sir Cliff coverage; Press Gazette joins IPSO; Who is Rona Fairhead?
Rona Fairhead, the former FT Group chief executive, has been announced as the Government's preferred choice as BBC Trust chair. Her nomination comes at a challenging time for the BBC, in the run up to Charter renewal and concerns over governance. Steve hears from John Gapper, former colleague, and Associate Editor of the Financial Times, about what she could bring to the role; former Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell MP, who introduced the BBC Trust as a system of governance, and Phil Harding, former BBC news editor and Controller of Editorial Policy, about what her appointment may mean for the Trust, and the BBC.
The BBC and South Yorkshire Police appeared before MPs yesterday, regarding the search of Sir Cliff Richard's home in Berkshire. The police and the BBC cooperated with each other, which ended in the BBC having cameras and a helicopter at the singer's home when the police turned up to raid it. Hundreds of people complained about the footage. However, Chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, Keith Vaz said the BBC had behaved, 'perfectly properly'. Steve Hewlett is joined by the BBC's head of newsgathering, Jonathan Munro, to discuss the operational decisions the organisation made.
The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) will replace the Press Complaints Commission next week. The majority of the UK's national press has elected to be subject to its regulation. The Press Gazette is the latest to sign up, and it's understood that a decision will be made by the Guardian shortly. However, there's still concern that ISPO is not independent enough. Executive Director of Hacked Off Joan Smith, Press Gazette editor Dominic Ponsford, and former Guardian editor and Observer columnist Peter Preston, join Steve.
Producer: Katy Takatsuki.
WED 17:00 PM (b04fzdqr)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04frdbh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Dead Ringers (b04fzdqt)
Series 12
Episode 6
After a rest of 7 years, the classic, award winning impressions show is back with a new cast of characters.
No one will be safe from the merciless parodies, as the show takes down every programme, institution and politician you hold dear.
Starring Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Duncan Wisbey, Lewis MacLeod, Debra Stevenson.
Producer: Bill Dare.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b04fzfxv)
Fallon enthuses about Loxfest. She can't believe her tea tent was such a success. It was Roy who made it happen. Hayley must be very proud of him. Hayley assures her she is.
Fallon is pleased that her mum's set went well, and Harrison was amazing. It's just her cannabis-dealing dad who's the problem now. Jolene observes that Wayne's not a bad bloke, in small doses. She asks Fallon if Harrison's arresting Wayne has made it awkward between them. Fallon thinks maybe she and Harrison are just not meant to be.
The pasteuriser's repaired, but Mike thinks he'll soon need a new one. He's reluctant to spend the money. Ed worries to Jazzer that Mike's going to pack it all in, and Ed will lose his outlet for the milk.
Jazzer suggests Ed has it out with Charlie. Ed approaches Charlie, and to his amazement is given an apology and some work.
Vicky's keen to move away as soon as possible. Mike is reluctant to leave his staff in the lurch. Vicky counters that they're not a charity. They need to focus on themselves now. She's seen a good school for Beth near Birmingham. But Mike doesn't want to rush. Distracted Hayley pledges her full support, before starting to cry. Vicky promises her it will be all right. Hayley really hopes so.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b04fzfxx)
Dan Stevens; Pat Barker; Matthew Thomas
Samira Ahmed talks to actor Dan Stevens, who has gone from Downton Abbey to Hollywood and is starring in a horror film, The Guest.
Regeneration author Pat Barker discusses a new stage version of her First World War trilogy with adaptor Nicholas Wright.
Val McDermid reviews ITV's new crime series Chasing Shadows, which stars Reece Shearsmith and Alex Kingston.
And author Matthew Thomas discusses his novel We are not Ourselves, about an American family coping with Alzheimer's.
WED 19:45 Shardlake (b04fzblc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 Agree to Differ (b04fzfxz)
Series 1
Jerusalem
Agree to Differ is Radio 4's new discussion programme where the aim is to give listeners a completely new way to understand a controversial issue and to decide where they stand. Presented by Matthew Taylor.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (b04fzfy1)
Series 4
The Trouble with Paradise
Carrie Gibson argues that we need to re-think what we mean by paradise.
Carrie has recently completed a major history of the Caribbean, and in this talk she explores the complicated interwoven history of the Caribbean and of how it has been understood in the wealthy west. And she argues that we may need to re-evaluate our understanding of the meaning of paradise.
Producer: Giles Edwards.
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b04fz6kt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Reflections with Peter Hennessy (b04fzbhq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b04frdbk)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b04fzfy3)
Obama talks tough on Ukraine, warning on Islamic State, Ebola nurse recovers - with Ritula Shah.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04fzfy5)
The Thrill of It All
Episode 8
Spanning 25 years, Joseph O' Connor's new novel The Thrill of It All rewinds and fast-forwards through an evocative soundtrack of struggle and laughter. It deals with the formation of a band in the early 80's in Luton, their struggle for recognition, playing low dives, living in transit vans culminating in overnight worldwide success. Then the inevitable, "artistic differences!"
This is an incredibly warm-hearted and uplifting story for anyone who has ever loved a song.
Author ..... Joseph O'Connor
Abridger ..... Neville Teller
Producer ..... Gemma McMullan
Reader ..... Philip Glenister
The Author
Joseph O'Connor is the author of eight novels: Cowboys and Indians (short-listed for the Whitbread Prize), Desperadoes, The Salesman, Inishowen, Star of the Sea, Redemption Falls, Ghost Light and The Thrill of it All. He has also written radio diaries, film scripts and stage-plays including the multiple award-winning Red Roses and Petrol and an acclaimed adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel My Cousin Rachel.
His novel Star of the Sea was an international bestseller, selling more than a million copies and being published in 38 languages. It won France's Prix Millepages, Italy's Premio Acerbi, the Irish Post Award for Fiction, the Neilsen Bookscan Golden Book Award, an American Library Association Award, the Hennessy/Sunday Tribune Hall of Fame Award, and the Prix Litteraire Zepter for European Novel of the Year. His novel Ghost Light was chosen as Dublin's One City Book novel for 2011. He received the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature in 2012.
WED 23:00 Jigsaw (b04fzfy7)
Series 2
Episode 2
The rapid-fire and surreal sketch show series.
Starring award-winning stand-up comedians Dan Antopolski, Tom Craine and Nat Luurtsema
Producer: Colin Anderson.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.
WED 23:15 Little Lifetimes by Jenny Eclair (b04fzfy9)
Series 1
Doing the Best for Daniel
by Jenny Éclair
Jenny Éclair plays a single mother who will stop at nothing to give her son the best education and future. But might she have gone too far?
Producer ..... Sally Avens.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b04fzfyc)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster on the first Prime Minister's Questions since the summer break.
THURSDAY 04 SEPTEMBER 2014
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b04frdch)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b04fzbl7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04frdck)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04frdcm)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04frdcp)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b04frdcr)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04g10z5)
A short reflection and prayer with Pastor Lindsay Allen.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b04g10z7)
Scottish chicken industry, Self-diagnosis, Career changes
Scottish chicken producers warn of a crisis in the industry as more farmers lose contracts with the country's main processor. NFU Scotland says there's nowhere else to sell their chickens unless there's more investment from the Government in new processing plants.
The British Veterinary Association is urging farmers not to diagnose problems with their livestock using the internet, saying it can cost more in the long-run than calling the vet.
And we meet a former RAF dog handler who's changed career and now works for a Dutch seed handling company - just how to you get into farming if you're not born to it?
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dvrt1)
Bar-headed Goose
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the Central Asian bar-headed goose. The bar-headed goose is a high-flier of the bird world. Bar-headed geese are migrants which undertake one of the most arduous journeys of any bird. They breed mainly in the remote lakes of the Tibetan Plateau, but overwinter on the plains of northern India. But to get there, they have to cross the World's highest mountain range, the Himalayas, a height of over 20,000 feet.
THU 06:00 Today (b04g10z9)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 Voices from the Old Bailey (b04g10zc)
Series 3
Transportation
Half a million people were transported during the 18th century - to America, the West Indies, and Australia. Historians are just beginning to track their progress from the Old Bailey to their lives beyond. What they're discovering is as dramatic and colourful as any novel.
Amanda Vickery tells the stories of three criminals who were transported during the 18th and early 19th centuries, and of one group of desperate women who refused to go, throwing the entire penal system into chaos.
Recorded on location in the Prospect of Whitby pub in Wapping, on the River Thames, near where the prisoners were kept in hulks on the river and where many were hanged.
Contributors include Professor Peter King of Leicester University, leading historian of crime; Robert Shoemaker, Professor of History at Sheffield University and the co-founder of the Old Bailey Online; and historian of Empire, Zoe Laidlaw, from Royal Holloway, University of London, herself the descendent of a transported convict who was convicted in the Old Bailey.
With readings by Charlotte Stockley, Ewan Bailey, David Holt, and Steven Webb, and specially arranged music from singer Guy Hughes and pianist David Owen Norris.
Produced by Elizabeth Burke.
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b04g10zf)
Omid Djalili - Hopeful: The Autobiography
Episode 4
Omid looks back at two key encounters which inspired him to risk all and become an actor.
Comedian and actor Omid Djalili is one of Britain's funniest men. His memoirs take us through his unconventional childhood growing up in an Iranian household in London and chart his progression from serious acting into comedy.
It's a laugh-out-loud, intelligent and deeply touching journey through a fascinating life.
Abridger ..... Lu Kemp
Producer ..... Kirsty Williams
A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2014.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04g10zh)
Nigeria; Introducing new siblings; Tom Kerridge
It's five months since almost 300 girls were taken from their school in Chibok in north eastern Nigeria, by the violent Islamist group Boko Haram. We examine a new report by the organisation WatchList on Children and Armed Conflict, which suggests abduction is widespread in the northeast of the country and find out the latest from the Bring Back Our Girls campaign.
The creator of 'Charlie and Lola', has written and illustrated a new picture book called 'The New Small Person' about introducing a new sibling to the family. What's the best way to introduce a new baby and manage sibling rivalry.
The cellist and conductor Han-Na Chang will take up the baton on Sunday at the BBC Proms to conduct the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. She joins Jenni to talk about why she's putting her accomplished career as a world class cellist aside and rebranding herself as a conductor.
And Tom Kerridge Cooks the Perfect Barnsley Chop.
Presented by Jenni Murray
Producer Beverley Purcell.
THU 10:45 Shardlake (b04g10zk)
Dark Fire
Episode 9
Penultimate episode of this dramatisation of C J Sansom's bestselling Tudor crime novel, set during the last days of Thomas Cromwell.
Shardlake and Barak's dogged investigation bears fruit as they discover the identity of who lies behind the elaborate plot to bring down Cromwell.
Written by C. J. Sansom
Dramatised by Colin MacDonald
Produced and directed by Kirsteen Cameron.
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b04g10zm)
A Song for Spanish Miners
In the Spanish mining town of Turon a male choir meets once a week for rehearsals. They often sing to the patron saint of miners Santa Bárbara Bendita. Since 1934 miners have been singing this beautiful song in memory of four miners killed in a mining accident in the Maria Luisa mine. Coal mining, once a major industry in Spain, has been in decline for years and in the next few years the EU's subsidies for non-profitable pits will stop altogether. For most miners the closure of pits signals the death of their communities. Natalio Cosoy travels to northern Spain to talk to the miners and their families. Will Santa Bárbara Bendita watch over them as they face an uncertain future? James Fletcher producing.
THU 11:30 Tupac Shakur, Hip-Hop Immortal (b04g10zp)
Poet Al Letson recalls the life of Tupac Shakur, a conflicted African American folk hero. The son of a black panther, Tupac Shakur, trained as an actor, posed as a street thug and became a best selling rapper. He continues to be mythologised, revered and highlighted like no other. He was shot and killed 18 years ago, yet he is still the third biggest selling hip hop artist.
A restless revolutionary he led a conflicted life, causing moral outrage in one verse and capturing the voice of the disenfranchised in another. He continues to inspire the disenfranchised around the world and has even been chosen by the Vatican, as someone who 'aimed to reach the heart of good minded people.'
He carried the conflict between community struggle and personal gain. He wrote the feminist elegy "Brenda's Got a Baby" and the abusive "Wonda Why They Call U Bitch."
His music is still the most requested on UK prison radio. Exploring the the complexity of Tupac's life and the contending identities that defined him, Al will ask what is it about Tupac's life that still resonates?
Producer: Barney Rowntree
A Tonic Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:00 News Summary (b04frdct)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 Home Front (b04g11ls)
4 September 1914 - Norman Harris
The policeman's lot is a varied one in wartime Folkestone - from protecting a german breed of dog to arresting Lord Alfred Douglas by appointment.
Written by Shaun McKenna
Music: Matthew Strachan
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
THU 12:15 You and Yours (b04g13r9)
The Kings Fund commission into social care and health funding is being published today but will it deliver the promised radical solutions?
Pacer trains have been operating mainly in the North of England for the past 30 years, they've not improved with age and are none too popular with rail travellers, but it looks as if passengers may have to put up with them for a while longer. In a commons debate earlier this year the then railways minister Stephen Hammond told MPs that the government expects bidders for northern franchises to propose getting rid of Pacers. But leasing new trains would cost 20 millon pounds in subsidies from the Government, so that might be easier said than done.
It's almost a year since Karren Brady was appointed as the Governments Small Business Ambassador. We ask her what she's achieved and what still needs to be done to help SME's.
There's been a big rise in the number of passengers flying with low-fare airlines easyJet and Ryanair. More than 64 million passengers travelled with easyJet in the 12 months to the end of August, a 6.4 per cent rise on the previous year. Ryanair had more than 83 million passengers - a 4 per cent increase. So what's brought about the rise at Europe's biggest budget airline. Chief executive Michael O'Leary told shareholders a year ago that Ryanair needed to stop doing things that unnecessarily annoy customers.
Citizens Advice is celebrating its 75th birthday today. What has changed in the eight decades since they have been providing advice.
A government review of the UK's food supply network has uncovered "strong indications" of crime with regulators inspecting food businesses allegedly being threatened by criminals. The report - which was published this morning - says our supply systems are among the safest in the world but warns that much less attention has been focussed on food authenticity, fraud and organised crime. It's calling for the establishment of a dedicated Food Crime Unit to improve things. The report was commissioned after the horsemeat scandal and was written by Professor Chris Elliott.
THU 12:57 Weather (b04frdcw)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b04g13rc)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.
THU 13:45 Penguin Post Office (b04g13rf)
Episode 4
In October 2013, wildlife cameraman and director Andrew Graham-Brown and assistant producer Ruth Peacey set sail for Antarctica to film a colony of Gentoo penguins for a BBC Natural World film which every year return to Port Lockroy on a tiny island called Goudier to find a mate and raise their young in the shadow of world's most southerly public Post Office. It was to be one of the most challenging filming trips they had ever undertaken. Joining them in Antarctica was wildlife cameraman Doug Allan who narrates this series of five programmes which follows the team's adventures. Having finally arrived at Goudier island, the film crew waste no time filming the lives of the Gentoo penguins which return here every year to mate and raise a family. Once they have found their mate, the penguins build nests from small stones which resemble mini volcanoes - to keep the eggs off the ground and keep them dry. Squabbles break out when penguins steal stone from each other's nests. The nesting parents also have to watch out for predators like the skuas which nest on nearby islands and won't hesitate to steal an egg or a chick to feed their own young. As the weeks pass, the reality of life an island with no running water and no electricity begins to take its toll on the team. Producer Sarah Blunt.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b04fzfxv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b04g13rh)
Dad
When 18 year old Joel is given full-time care of his baby daughter Mia for two weeks, it doesn't turn out to be quite the easy ride he expected. In fact, being solely responsible for this perfect, tiny, beautiful baby - his baby - is probably the hardest thing he has ever done. He knows that for once in his life, he really can't mess up. Written by Sarah McDonald Hughes.
Directed by Charlotte Riches.
THU 15:00 Open Country (b04g13rk)
The John Muir Way
A young boy - John Muir - spent his early years in Scotland, playing along Dunbar's coast and scrambling across rocks. This early fascination with nature and 'wild places' later saw him campaign to protect them. When his family emigrated to the USA it led him on a path that would see him appeal directly to the president and help create the National Parks. Today he's known by most American schoolchildren but he is not so widely known in the UK.
Helen Mark sets off on the new coast to coast John Muir Way from Dunbar to Helensburgh, named after the man but leading through his native country. She visits the town where he revelled in nature, hikes along some of the route with poets who've planted trees and created new writing inspired by his work and takes in Helix Park and the Kelpies - a dramatic modern designed landscape - far from the wilderness which Muir revelled in but which is bringing together thousands from the local community into the outdoors.
Presented by Helen Mark and produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b04fy1cf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (b04fy5q7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b04g13zx)
Nicole Kidman; Iain Sinclair on M; Moon buggies in Bletchley Park
With Francine Stock.
Nicole Kidman discusses the research she carried out for her latest thriller, Before I Go To Sleep, in which she plays a woman who wakes up every morning with no memories.
Novelist Iain Sinclair waxes darkly about Fritz Lang's masterpiece M, which introduced Peter Lorre to an unsuspecting public.
Going to a conventional cinema seems so last century, as films are now being shown in boats, forts, boxing rings and, for one weekend only, Bletchley Park. The Film Programme takes a whistle-stop tour of the more unusual venues where we can watch a movie this month.
Film critic Tim Robey and cinema programmer Clare Binns tell Francine which of the three hundred films playing at the Toronto Film Festival they are looking forward to.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b04g13zz)
Bardarbunga volcano; Geology in Minecraft; Synthesising opioids; Ammonia
Bardarbunga
A group of earth scientists was in Iceland performing annual maintenance of its equipment, when the volcano Bardarbunga erupted. Professor Simon Redfern has now joined them and speaks to Adam Rutherford from the slopes of neighbouring volcano Askja. He explains how all this recent volcanic activity is the expression of Europe's tectonic drift away from America. And rather than this being a smooth, continuous process, the plates move at the surface in a jerky way - causing these earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Geology in Minecraft
The British Geological Survey has built a full version of the geology of Britain into the online game Minecraft. Minecraft is a so-called 'sandbox' game, meaning there are no specific objectives, but players are free to explore existing worlds or collaborate to build their own with a range of virtual building blocks. The game is a huge phenomenon, with over a 100 million registered users, mostly under the age of 30. By adding an extra layer of geological features, the BGS hopes to encourage interest and add a further dimension to the game.
Synthesising opioids
Opiates such as morphine are commonly used in pain-relief medicines, but their chemical complexity means that commercial production is limited and the pharmaceutical industry has to rely on extracting them from poppies. However, researchers at Stanford University are working on a synthetic-biology system using yeast to produce opiates like morphine, and the pharmacologically more attractive opioids like hydrocodone and oxycodone. They haven't got all the steps in the pathway in place yet. But they're not far off.
Ammonia
In recent years there's been renewed interest in ammonia, as a fuel. It could work as a replacement for petrol and diesel in cars with very little engine change. In fact it was used as such during the Second World War in Belgium.
Producer: Fiona Roberts.
THU 17:00 PM (b04g1401)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04frdcy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Susan Calman Is Convicted (b01qwc92)
Series 1
Depression
In a brand new series for Radio 4, Susan Calman explores issues on which she has strong opinions.
When Susan was younger (and more than a little self-obsessed), she thought that the brooding, silent type was the best way to be. Then, whilst trying to deal with depression, she went on a journey of counselling, self-help. even writing poetry - you name it, she did it all. Now she is convinced that bottling things up makes things worse and that we should all talk about everything all the time. Well, not quite. But nearly.
But does counselling help or does it encourage self-pity? Should we all just pull ourselves together?
Produced by Lyndsay Fenner.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b04g144m)
Roy announces he's taking Hayley out this evening. He's booked a table, and he gives her some cash for a new outfit. Out shopping, Hayley unknowingly bumps into Jess. Jess observes wistfully it's wonderful that Hayley and her husband are making time for each other.
Freddie hasn't turned up to school. Roy calms an anxious Elizabeth. All kids bunk off occasionally. Elizabeth is scared. Since Loxfest, everything's been a nightmare. She feels she hasn't been there for Freddie and thinks she might have lost him. Roy patiently soothes and reassures her as they wait for Freddie's return.
When he finally arrives home, Freddie explodes with rage. He tells his mum she's spoiled everything. He hates her, and wishes his dad was here instead of her.
Because of Freddie, Roy is delayed. When worried Hayley rings, his phone goes to voicemail. When Roy eventually arrives home, it's way too late to make their dinner date. Hearing the reason for his delay, devastated Hayley quietly goes to bed.
Helen's not keen on Rob fuelling Henry's enthusiasm about hunting. She doesn't want him to join that club. Rob doesn't see what's wrong, Henry's enjoying the idea, so why does it matter?
Later that evening, horrified Helen answers the door to discover Jess coolly waiting to be invited in.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b04g144p)
Will Self; Little Revolution; Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett joins Kirsty Lang to talk about his seven-decade career and working with Lady Gaga to create an album of jazz duets.
Author Will Self talks about his new novel Shark, inspired by the film Jaws and the true story of a terrible shark attack during the Second World War.
Little Revolution takes the London riots of 2011 as its starting point. The play is created by Alecky Blythe (London Road), with a cast including Imogen Stubbs and Ronni Ancona. Susannah Clapp reviews.
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) stars with Paul Rudd in a new parody of the Nora Ephron-style romcom: They Came Together. Does the comedy come off? Katie Puckrik reviews.
Presenter Kirsty Lang
Producer Claire Bartleet.
THU 19:45 Shardlake (b04g10zk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Report (b04g14ty)
Afghan Sikhs
In August, a man died after 35 Afghan Sikhs were found in a container at Tilbury docks, trying to enter the UK. The case shone a light on the lengths some Afghan Sikhs will go to as they seek to escape persecution in their homeland.
Melanie Abbott asks why they were so desperate to get to the UK and gets to know the community of which they were to become a part. In Southall, she finds a thriving community of Afghan Sikhs and learns about how it absorbs new arrivals. She also hears from lawyers and academics about the plight of Sikhs in Afghanistan and the challenges in claiming asylum in Britain. And she meets a lorry driver in Dover to hear how and his colleagues are facing an ever harder task to prevent immigrants from entering the UK as stowaways on their vehicles.
THU 20:30 In Business (b04g14v0)
Thanks for the Memory
The internet and and the rapid rise of social networking creates the possibility of remembering forever most of life's most significant (and insignificant) moments - maybe all of them.
Peter Day hears from people building businesses based on this new extension of the human mind, and asks whether total recall really is a good idea.
Producer: Mike Wendling.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b04g13zz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 Voices from the Old Bailey (b04g10zc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b04frdd0)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b04g14v2)
Crucial Nato summit faces Russia and ISIS threats, Slovakia's lessons for Scotland, migrants storm Calais ferry - with Carolyn Quinn.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04g14v4)
The Thrill of It All
Episode 9
Spanning 25 years, Joseph O' Connor's new novel The Thrill of It All rewinds and fast-forwards through an evocative soundtrack of struggle and laughter. It deals with the formation of a band in the early 80's in Luton, their struggle for recognition, playing low dives, living in transit vans culminating in overnight worldwide success. Then the inevitable, "artistic differences!"
This is an incredibly warm-hearted and uplifting story for anyone who has ever loved a song.
Author ..... Joseph O'Connor
Abridger ..... Neville Teller
Producer ..... Gemma McMullan
The Author
Joseph O'Connor is the author of eight novels: Cowboys and Indians (short-listed for the Whitbread Prize), Desperadoes, The Salesman, Inishowen, Star of the Sea, Redemption Falls, Ghost Light and The Thrill of it All. He has also written radio diaries, film scripts and stage-plays including the multiple award-winning Red Roses and Petrol and an acclaimed adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel My Cousin Rachel.
His novel Star of the Sea was an international bestseller, selling more than a million copies and being published in 38 languages. It won France's Prix Millepages, Italy's Premio Acerbi, the Irish Post Award for Fiction, the Neilsen Bookscan Golden Book Award, an American Library Association Award, the Hennessy/Sunday Tribune Hall of Fame Award, and the Prix Litteraire Zepter for European Novel of the Year. His novel Ghost Light was chosen as Dublin's One City Book novel for 2011. He received the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature in 2012.
THU 23:00 The Show What You Wrote (b04g14v6)
Series 2
Science and Nature
Radio 4's themed sketch show made entirely from contributions sent in by the public is back for a second series.
The best ideas have been chosen from thousands of submissions from new writers resulting in a show like no other.
Recorded in Manchester.
Episode 4 - Science & Nature
Written by
The Public
Cast
Fiona Clarke
Gavin Webster
Janice Connolly
Rob Rouse
Producers
Alexandra Smith
Carl Cooper.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b04g14v8)
MPs question the Government over whether the UK will join the United States in carrying out air strikes on Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria.
The Commons Leader and former Foreign Secretary, William Hague, says no military action is proposed "at the moment". But he tells MPs air strikes remain an option.
There are calls for a ban on the sale of puppies and kittens in pet shops to prevent Britain becoming a nation with "disposable pets".
Conservative MPs press the Chancellor to scrap stamp duty on the sale of homes valued at under £500,000.
And a committee inquiry hears that around 7.5 million people may end up missing out on their right to vote - because they're not "correctly registered".
Susan Hulme and team report on today's events in Parliament.
FRIDAY 05 SEPTEMBER 2014
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b04frddy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b04g10zf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04frdf0)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04frdf2)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04frdf4)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b04frdf6)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04g1ddp)
A short reflection and prayer with Pastor Lindsay Allen.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b04g19vw)
Elliot report; Antibiotics in livestock
We hear from Professor Chris Elliott whose report calls for a Food Crime Unit to be set up, following the horse meat scandal of last year. Defra promises action, but are there enough inspection staff to protect food integrity? And we hear from a scientist who says we should cut down on the amount of antibiotics we give to livestock, to help prevent the growth of antibiotic resistant 'super bugs'. Charlotte Smith finds out about the latest research.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dvsly)
Brown Noddy
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents a seabird with a worldwide distribution, the brown noddy. Expert fliers, the brown noddy is seldom seen near land and is highly pelagic, wandering extensively in warm tropical waters where it searches for small fish and squid which are captured by hover-dipping and contact-dipping. However in the Galapagos Islands, brown noddies have learnt to sit on the heads of brown pelicans hoping to steal fish from their open gular pouches; a behaviour known as kleptoparasitism (literally, parasitism by theft).
FRI 06:00 Today (b04g1ddr)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 The Reunion (b04fy2bj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b04g19vy)
Omid Djalili - Hopeful: The Autobiography
Episode 5
Omid explores the vital role his vivacious mother plays in his life and art.
Conclusion of comedian and actor Omid Djalili's memoir
One of Britain's funniest men takes us through his unconventional childhood growing up in an Iranian household in London and chart his progression from serious acting into comedy.
It's a laugh-out-loud, intelligent and deeply touching journey through a fascinating life.
Abridger ..... Lu Kemp
Producer ..... Kirsty Williams
A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2014
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04g1dkm)
Jeanette Winterson; UK women joining IS; Family annihilation; Crosswords
Jeanette Winterson's 1985 novel, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, is a semi-autobiographical account of a young girl discovering her sexuality, and the beginning of her search to be herself. Jeanette Winterson talks to Jenni Murray about her ground breaking novel and its place in women's writing almost thirty years after its publication.
A growing number of British Muslim women are travelling to Syria to join Islamic State (IS). Some are known to have married Jihadist fighters, who are targeting and radicalising young women, some only teenagers, via the internet. But what is motivating these young women to travel to Syria and how can the UK stop them being recruited by the extremists?
Police drama 'Craven' returns to Woman's Hour next week. DCI Sue Craven, played by Maxine Peake, is called to a house in Manchester where three children have been found dead in their beds. Amelia Bullmore, who wrote the series, joins Jenni Murray along with Dr Elizabeth Yardley, Reader in Criminology at Birmingham City University, to discuss family annihilation.
Crossword culture has been male-dominated for years. Now David Steinberg, a seventeen-year-old puzzle wunderkind has spoken out against the gender bias - which he says has steadily worsened in the past two decades. So why are fewer women than ever making it as crossword compilers?
FRI 10:45 Shardlake (b04g19w0)
Dark Fire
Episode 10
Gripping conclusion of C J Sansom's bestselling Tudor crime novel, set during the last days of Thomas Cromwell.
Taken prisoner and threatened with death by the mastermind of the plot to bring down Cromwell, Shardlake and Barak must find a way to escape and warn the Earl. Can they make it in time? And how will the Wentworth family react when confronted with the truth of what lies down the well?
Written by C. J. Sansom
Dramatised by Colin MacDonald
Produced and directed by Kirsteen Cameron.
FRI 11:00 Lives in a Landscape (b04g19w2)
Series 17
Branscombe Chalet Owners
In February 2014, the worst storms in a generation hit the south Devon coast. Among those affected were the owners of five beach chalets at Branscombe. The sea took away much of the beach and eroded the earth banks on which the chalets stood, exposing the foundations and making some of them uninhabitable.
Before the storm, the chalets were worth up to £250,000 each but now they are virtually unsaleable. The owners would like to rebuild them, and move shingle back up the beach to protect them from future storms. But there's a problem: Branscombe beach is part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and falls under the control of Natural England. Natural England won't let the owners move shingle, partly because the upper shoreline is home to the very rare scaly cricket. They also adhere to a "Shoreline Management Plan", which says that there should be "no active intervention" to protect the beach from erosion.
There is a stand-off between the owners and Natural England, but the clock's ticking: without urgent action, the chalets could fall into the sea in the next big storm. Some of the chalet owners are not wealthy - they have mortgages on their chalets and depend on the income from letting them out in the summer. Now, with an entire season's income gone, some of them are staring at financial ruin. One man in particular, Philip Trenchard, was brought to the chalets by his father when he was a child, and now brings his own family every year. This continuity is a key part of his identity, and he'd expected to be able to continue using the chalets for many more years. But the coastal erosion, which is more severe than anyone predicted, has thrown all his assumptions about time scales into doubt.
Presenter: Alan Dein
Producer: Jolyon Jenkins.
FRI 11:30 My First Planet (b04b261q)
Series 2
Sample of Terror
A sitcom set in a hapless Space Colony.
It's Day 30 on the colony and Brian has to win the Tour De France to save the contents of Lillian's freezer. Meanwhile, Mason discovers that a nuclear core is not the best venue for some role-play.
The return of the hit sitcom starring Nicholas Lyndhurst and Vicki Pepperdine ("Getting On") set on a shiny new planet.
Welcome to the colony. We're aware that, having been in deep cryosleep for 73 years, you may be in need of some supplementary information.
Personnel:
Unfortunately, Burrows the leader of the colony has died on the voyage so his Number 2, Brian (Nicholas Lyndhurst), is now in charge. He's a nice enough chap, but no alpha male, and his desire to sort things out with a nice friendly meeting infuriates the colony's Chief Physician Lillian (Vicki Pepperdine), who'd really rather everyone was walking round in tight colour-coded tunics and saluting each other. She's also in charge of Project Adam, the plan to conceive and give birth to the first colony-born baby. Unfortunately, the two people hand-picked for this purpose - Carol and Richard - were rather fibbing about being a couple, just to get on the trip.
Add in an entirely unscrupulous Chief Scientist, Mason and also Archer, an idiot maintenance man who believes he's an "empath" rather than a plumber, and you're all set to answer the question - if humankind were to colonise space, is it destined to succumb to self-interest, prejudice and infighting? (By the way, the answer's "yes". Sorry.)
Written by Phil Whelans
Produced & directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (b04frdf8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Home Front (b04g1b94)
5 September 1914 - Sylvia Graham
The fear of Victor's ruin in an ill-advised marriage becomes very real for his aunt, who is prepared to do everything in her power to stop it.
Written by Shaun McKenna
Music: Matthew Strachan
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
FRI 12:15 You and Yours (b04g1dyn)
LPG gas use; Car hire problems; Bungalow building
Peter White hears the pros and cons of LPG as an alternative fuel for your car. Why aren't more bungalows being built in Britain despite Government encouragement? And the best ways to make sure hiring a car goes without a hitch.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b04frdfb)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b04gblzv)
National and international news with Shaun Ley.
FRI 13:45 Penguin Post Office (b04g1b96)
Episode 5
In October 2013, wildlife cameraman and director Andrew Graham-Brown and assistant producer Ruth Peacey set sail for Antarctica to film a colony of Gentoo penguins for a BBC Natural World film which every year return to Port Lockroy on a tiny island called Goudier to find a mate and raise their young in the shadow of world's most southerly public Post Office. It was to be one of the most challenging filming trips they had ever undertaken. Joining them in Antarctica was wildlife cameraman Doug Allan who narrates this series of five programmes which follows the team's adventures. As the young Gentoo penguins prepare to enter the water for the first time - they face another of life's challenges - leopard seals. These fearsome predators patrol the shores waiting for the young penguins to take their first dive. Doug Allan joins the team to film the hunt that is likely to follow - but Antarctica is an unpredictable place; the bay is filling with ice which deters the seals, the weather becomes worse and time is fast running out before the team must leave Antarctica and head for home. Producer Sarah Blunt.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b04g144m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Brief Lives (b04g1bsh)
Series 7
Episode 4
Brief Lives by Lizi Patch. Ep 4 of 6
Another case for the team of Manchester paralegals. A teenager is pulled in for texting an indecent photo of his girlfriend which has gone viral. Is it just a case of an official warning by the police? But then matters take an even more serious turn.
Director/Producer Gary Brown.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b04g1bsk)
Whitstable
Peter Gibbs chairs the horticultural panel programme from Whitstable. Bob Flowerdew, Anne Swithinbank and Matthew Wilson answer the audience's questions.
Produced by Darby Dorras
Assistant Producer: Hannah Newton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
This week's questions and answers:
Q. When is the best time to plant Daffodils?
A. Around now (from September onwards) to encourage a better root system.
Q. Can the panel recommend a variety of Pear tree that is resistant to pear rust?
A. Don't plant Conference Pears, plant Beth or Doyenne du Comice and a Beurre Hardy. Pear trees should not be grown through grass.
Q. How can I create a microclimate to protect my plants from the sea, the salt and the north-easterly winds?
A. You could plant a shelterbelt but it would be a shame to block the sea view. You could plant things that would do well by the sea instead such as the Sea Kale, Crambe Maritima, species of Orchid, Yellow Horn Poppy certain species of grass such as Pampas grass. You could try a sunken garden to protect your plants or a polytunnel.
Q. Why isn't my potted Hibiscus flowering?
A. Perhaps you didn't tease the roots out enough? Try adding some high potash and be patient.
Q. What plants would the panel recommend for making the most of the garden in the evening?
A. Hesperis Matronalis (Sweet Rocket), Night Scented Stocks and Zaluzianskya.
Q. Do the panel have any tips for growing Gladiolus Muriellae (Abyssinian Gladiolis) in the ground?
A. Don't bother trying them in the soil, they grow better and look better in pots.
Q. What is wrong with my Quince Tree? It has curly leaves, lots of flowers but no fruits.
A. There is a touch of mildew and damage from sea breeze. Quinces really like a lot of water. Ideally plant them by a pond in a warm spot. Give them a good thick mulch and keep them watered regularly. Fruit trees tend not to grow so well by the sea so if want to grow edibles try Sea Kale and Asparagus. Alternatively you could try hardy fruit trees such as Sea Buckthorn or a Eriobotrya Japonica (Loquat).
Q. My potted Olive tree is not doing so well, should I plant it in the ground?
A. Keep it in the pot. That way you could bring the plant undercover if it gets very cold. Prune it back a bit. Keep it in a greenhouse over winter (or wrap it in fleece) and repot it in the spring with fresh compost. Give it a bit of a root prune too. Put it in full sun and make sure it is well watered but well drained.
Q. What can the panel recommend planting on the back of clay dragon in a community garden that would be environmentally friendly and resilient?
A. You could turf it over or put Bergenias in or Kniphofia (Red Hot Poker). You could always put logs in the back for the children to run up and down.
FRI 15:45 Opening Lines (b04g1bsm)
Series 16
Audiophile by Ian Green
Another chance to hear Ian Green's story in the series which gives emerging short story writers their radio debut.
Bryan Dick reads this off-kilter love story about a young man who falls for the girl next-door when he hears her singing through the adjoining wall of their two flats.
Produced by Gemma Jenkins.
Previously Ian Green's fiction has been performed and recorded at Liar's League London and published in Open Pen magazine. A piece originally performed at Liar's League was also performed at the inaugural Lit Crawl London in 2013.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b04g1drc)
Joan Rivers, Sir David Mitchell, Werner Franz, Candida Lycett Green, Sandy Wilson
Matthew Bannister on
The acerbic and controversial American comedian Joan Rivers. Ruby Wax pays tribute.
The Tory MP Sir David Mitchell, who also ran the El Vino's wine business. We hear from his son and fellow MP Andrew Mitchell.
Werner Franz, the last surviving crew member of the Hindenburg - the German Zeppelin which burst into flames, killing 35 of those on board.
The writer Candida Lycett Green, daughter of Sir John Betjeman, and, like him, a campaigner to conserve England's architectural heritage.
And Sandy Wilson, who wrote the hit musical The Boyfriend and jealously guarded its every performance.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (b04g1drf)
To ice or not to ice?
The ALS ice bucket challenge has become a viral phenomenon. People around the world have been dousing themselves in ice-cold water and in the process have raised over $100 million for charity. But a true nerd doesn't run with the herd, and Tim Harford is only going to do the challenge if the facts stack up. He investigates whether a viral challenge like this is good for charitable giving overall, and whether there are reasons to be more choosy about the charities we give to.
In the wake of the latest conflict in Gaza, many commentators have argued that there's a 'rising tide' of anti-Semitism in Europe. More or Less looks at the evidence to find out what we know about anti-Semitism, and whether they're right.
It's a 'fact' beloved of English teachers around the world: that Shakespeare, the greatest playwright in English, also had the greatest vocabulary. But research published earlier this year suggests English teachers might have to look elsewhere to establish the superiority of the Bard - apparently his vocabulary lags behind the best and most famous rappers of the last decades. Is this comparison fair, and if so, does it diminish the Bard's lustre?
And Jamie Oliver and Michelle Obama have both claimed that increasing levels of obesity mean that the current generation of young people are likely to live shorter lives than their parents. Tim delves into the statistics with Oxford University's Sir Richard Peto to find out if they're right.
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b04g1drh)
Lindsey and Isabel - Weavers and Dyers
Fi Glover introduces a conversation about discovering the joys of spinning, weaving and dying and the surprises that natural dyes can spring on you, proving once again that it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
FRI 17:00 PM (b04g1drk)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04frdfd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The Brig Society (b04g1bsp)
Series 2
Banker
Uh-oh - Marcus Brigstocke has been put in charge of a thing!
Each week, Marcus finds he's volunteered to be in charge of a big old thing and each week he starts out by thinking "Well, it can't be that difficult, surely?" and ends up with "Oh - turns out it's utterly difficult and complicated. Who knew...?"
We would like to inform you that this week, Marcus Brigstocke has decided to open a bank. That'll be £25 please. If you would like to call our customer helpline... that will be another £25
Waiting to serve you are Rufus Jones ("W1A", "Holy Flying Circus"), William Andrews ("Sorry I've Got No Head") and Margaret Cabourn-Smith ("Miranda")
The show is a Pozzitive production, and is produced by Marcus's long-standing accomplice, David Tyler who also produces Marcus appearances as the inimitable as Giles Wemmbley Hogg. David's other radio credits include Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation, Cabin Pressure, Thanks A Lot, Milton Jones!, Kevin Eldon Will See You Now, Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive, The Castle, The 3rd Degree, The 99p Challenge, My First Planet, Radio Active & Bigipedia. His TV credits include Paul Merton - The Series, Spitting Image, Absolutely, The Paul Calf Video Diary, Three Fights Two Weddings & A Funeral, Coogan's Run, The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon and exec producing Victoria Wood's dinnerladies.
Written by Marcus Brigstocke, Jeremy Salsby, Toby Davies, Nick Doody, Steve Punt & Dan Tetsell
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for the BBC.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b04g1bsr)
It's still Thursday. This episode picks up directly from the previous one.
Jess has come to see "my husband". She barges past Helen into the cottage. A host of pointed remarks about the recent past follow. She's interested in thought processes, and tries to draw conclusions as to how and when Helen and Rob got together.
A twinge interrupts the uncomfortable conversation. Helen takes the opportunity to express her gladness that Jess has moved on, referencing Jess's obvious pregnancy. Quietly Jess breaks the news that the baby is Rob's. Helen won't have it and insists that Jess leaves. But Jess wants to make Rob face his responsibilities.
Helen dismisses Jess's version of what has happened as spiteful lies. But Jess warns her not to be fooled. Rob has an extraordinary ability to inspire loyalty. Jess doesn't want him back. She just wants him to face up to what he's done.
Shocked Rob arrives and is quick to dismiss Jess as delusional. He orders her out, and she leaves with the promise that she'll be in touch.
Rob tries to smooth things with Helen. He implores her not to let Jess drive a wedge between them. He offers to take a prenatal paternity test if it will help, although it would suggest Helen didn't trust him. Helen can't think. She needs some time alone. Rob goes to bed, assuring Helen he'll be waiting.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b04g1drm)
Pride; Horst; Tyrant; Rachel Cusk
Pride is a new British film, starring Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Dominic West, that tells the extraordinary story of the Lesbian and Gay group that travelled to South Wales in 1984 to support the striking miners. Kirsty talks to writer Stephen Beresford and director Matthew Warchus.
Kirsty Lang explores a major retrospective of master photographer Horst P Horst, with fashion and lifestyle writer Martin Raymond . Featuring famous photographs including Mainbocher Corset, recreated by Madonna in her Vogue video, alongside Hollywood portraits, Vogue covers and nude studies.
Tyrant is a new American thriller series whose creative team also worked on Homeland and 24 and - like them - it interweaves political drama and family issues. Tyrant focuses on Barry, youngest son of a war-torn fictional country's dictator, who's escaped his past and now lives in California with his American wife and children. But despite themselves, this all-American family becomes embroiled in the political intrigues of the nation they've left behind. American writer and critic Michael Carlson reviews.
And novelist Rachel Cusk talks about her new book Outline. It tells the story of an English writer, teaching in Athens, who finds that everyone she meets wants to share their stories with her.
FRI 19:45 Shardlake (b04g19w0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b04g1bsw)
Anna Soubry MP, Roger Helmer MEP, Caroline Lucas MP, Michael Dugher MP
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate from Westonbirt School in Gloucestershire with the UKIP MEP Roger Helmer, Green MP Caroline Lucas, Defence Minister Anna Soubry and Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Dugher MP.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b04g1dw8)
When fiction comes to the historian's rescue
Lisa Jardine explores how fiction can be more useful than fact in helping us understand the past.
She examines two works of fiction (a recent radio play "The Chemistry Between Them" and Michael Frayn's celebrated stage work, Copenhagen) to show how they often cast far more light on their respective subjects - and particularly the emotions and personal convictions involved - than that found in the history books.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.
FRI 21:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b04g1c1n)
1-5 September 1914
A hundred years ago this week, the country entered its second month at war, and the White Feather Movement began in earnest.
Written by Shaun McKenna
Music: Matthew Strachan
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b04frdfg)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b04g1dwb)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04g1c1q)
The Thrill of It All
Episode 10
Spanning 25 years, Joseph O' Connor's new novel The Thrill of It All rewinds and fast-forwards through an evocative soundtrack of struggle and laughter. It deals with the formation of a band in the early 80's in Luton, their struggle for recognition, playing low dives, living in transit vans culminating in overnight worldwide success. Then the inevitable, "artistic differences!"
This is an incredibly warm-hearted and uplifting story for anyone who has ever loved a song.
Author ..... Joseph O'Connor
Abridger ..... Neville Teller
Producer ..... Gemma McMullan
The Author
Joseph O'Connor is the author of eight novels: Cowboys and Indians (short-listed for the Whitbread Prize), Desperadoes, The Salesman, Inishowen, Star of the Sea, Redemption Falls, Ghost Light and The Thrill of it All. He has also written radio diaries, film scripts and stage-plays including the multiple award-winning Red Roses and Petrol and an acclaimed adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel My Cousin Rachel.
His novel Star of the Sea was an international bestseller, selling more than a million copies and being published in 38 languages. It won France's Prix Millepages, Italy's Premio Acerbi, the Irish Post Award for Fiction, the Neilsen Bookscan Golden Book Award, an American Library Association Award, the Hennessy/Sunday Tribune Hall of Fame Award, and the Prix Litteraire Zepter for European Novel of the Year. His novel Ghost Light was chosen as Dublin's One City Book novel for 2011. He received the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature in 2012.
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b04fz6ky)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b04g1c1s)
Mark D'Arcy reports from Westminster on a day when the coalition partners were split. Plans to make changes to the so called "bedroom tax" cleared their first parliamentary hurdle in the Commons but only after collective responsibility was put on hold for the day. The proposals were in a Liberal Democrat sponsored private members bill. Lib Dem and Conservative MPs and ministers voted along party rather than government lines. The plans to exempt social housing tenants who are unable to downsize, from benefit cuts cleared the Commons after Labour voted with the Lib Dems. Following the vote, a Conservative, Phillip Davies has suggested the coalition had come to an end "and we now have a free for all for the rest of the parliament".
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b04g1dwd)
Liz and Darren - Call Me Councillor
Fi Glover with a conversation between a couple who were both recently elected as UKIP councillors for different Walsall wards about the impact of their politics on family life.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.