The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Tea workers in Darjeeling. Laurie Taylor talks to Sarah Besky, Assistant Professor in Anthropology at the University of Michigan, about her study of the tough lives of tea plantation workers, and the struggle to re-make one of the world's most expensive teas for the 21st century consumer. Also, the sociologist, Adam Fletcher, discusses an emerging underground trade in junk food at English secondary schools. Is this an unforeseen result of 'healthy food' policies?
Beef farmers in Ireland are to stage a blockade of abattoirs in protest at what they say are the unfair prices they are being paid for their meat. They claim UK markets are paying higher prices for imported Irish beef, but farmers aren't seeing the benefit. Meat Industry Ireland, which represents meat processors, described the actions as 'unnecessary, misguided and counterproductive'.
And we look at forestry and woodland management in the UK, on the day the Woodland Trust announces a shortlist of ten in the Tree of the Year competition. It aims to highlight the plight of ancient woodlands, which the trust says are inadequately protected.
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the Galapagos Islands blue-footed booby. Far off the Ecuador coastline the Galapagos Archipelago is home to a strange courtship dance and display of the male blue-footed booby and his large bright blue webbed feet. The intensity of the male's blue feet is viewed by the female as a sign of fitness and so he holds them up for inspection as he struts in front of her. She joins in, shadowing his actions. As the pair raise and lower their feet with exaggerated slow movements, they point their bills sky-wards while spreading their wings, raising their tails and calling.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Russell Brand's calling for revolution now, to overthrow the system that he says supports extreme inequality. David Babbs, executive director of 38 Degrees, wants popular campaigns to bring about change and strengthen democracy. Juliet Barker re-examines the Great Revolt of 1381 and finds not a peasants' revolt but one by a new middle class in the shires, dissatisfied with a London elite. Philosopher Susan Neiman looks at how we are expected to abandon the adventures of youth if we are to grow up and asks, is there a new way to imagine what it means to be mature?
Neil MacGregor charts the career of Otto von Bismarck (1815-98), known as the Iron Chancellor: he argued that the great questions of the day should be decided by 'iron and blood'.
Bismarck was disliked and feared by foreigners, and reviled by liberals at home for his authoritarianism, but among many sections of the German population, he was a hero.
At his death, monuments were erected across the whole country by public subscription, but Bismarck could also be brought into your own home. Small statues of Bismarck came in many guises, but few are more striking than the little bronze and plaster figure belonging to the German Historical Museum in Berlin, showing Bismarck the Blacksmith. Bald-headed, sleeves rolled up, wearing a leather apron and wielding his hammer, the middle-aged Bismarck is at his forge, the trusty village blacksmith.
Five Woman's Hour listeners interview the queen of slapstick comedy, Miranda Hart. Fleet street legend Felicity Green joins Jane to describe her unique editorial position in the sixties. The radically changed appearance of Hollywood actress Renee Zellweger continues to provoke a heated debate about whether she may or may not have had plastic surgery. Why do we care? Susie Orbach and Sali Hughes discuss. Kim Chakanetsa joins Jane to talk abut a new series on the BBC's World Service, The Conversation, in which she talks to two eminent women of similar professions from two different cultures. Do you find that as you get older your sleep is more disturbed? How much does that have to do with hormones or just about getting older? Professor Jim Horne from the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University talks to Jane.
It's January 1969, the winter after the summer of love, and Jill and David's fledgling relationship is about to be put to test by the outbreak of Hong Kong Flu.
My Life with Flu has been produced in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. In five episodes it follows the story of Jill across five decades as she struggles with the highs and lows of life, love and viral infection. At the same time the story tracks the life of Hong Kong Flu – how, over 45 years, it has traversed the globe, evolved and is ultimately being superseded by new, more virulent strains, such as Swine Flu.
Using cutting edge science – of transmission, viral evolution and genetic predisposition – it tells the story of flu, and investigates the unique qualities of Jill's genome which make her a 'severe responder'. Paul Kellam, Virus Genomics team leader at the Sanger Institute worked closely with writer Sarah Woods to weave the science seamlessly into the story. The drama underlines the deep connection human beings have to the viruses that survive through us, and how illness can shape the course of our lives.
Jill.... Hannah Daniel
David.... Ronan Summers
John.... Liam Williams
Doctor.... John Norton
Protestor.... Eirlys Bellin
Narrator.... Eiry Thomas
Formerly known as Burma, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar is in a state of upheaval. Business is booming in Yangon, thanks to new access to international markets. And while the country is offering greater stability for investors, ethnic and political tensions still run high. Burma/Myanmar is a rapidly changing and challenging place.
Anthropologist and linguist Mark Turin travels to Myanmar to explore what these transformations mean for the indigenous ethnic groups that make up much of the population, and specifically for their languages and cultures. Myanmar is a hugely diverse nation: according to a contested recent census, it is home to 135 distinct ethnic groups who are in turn grouped into eight "major national ethnic races." Among them are the Mon, whose Austroasiatic language is still widely spoken and who lay claim to an ancient script that's used to write Pali and Sanskrit. In highland areas, the states of Chin, Kachin and Shan derive their names from the dominant ethnic groups of the region, but these states are also home to many smaller, distinct communities. To date, the state has focussed on national building around a united Burmese identity rather than supporting minority communities. Official government education policy, for example, still prohibits the teaching of ethnic languages in schools.
Mark Turin speaks to government representatives, teachers, religious leaders and language experts in the field to find out whether these minority languages can survive in 21st Myanmar. Is the growth of English threatening Myanmar's indigenous languages? What is the role of religion in maintaining linguistic diversity? What does the future hold for Myanmar's unique tapestry of cultural and linguistic diversity?
We continue to find Kerry Goldiman making her vitally important weekly lists - without which she simply wouldn't survive as a mother, working comedian and actress.
Husband Ben (Ben Abell) is waging a very personal war on the local council with a street protest against the speed bumps that have been put into their road. Around this protest, Kerry's List includes being thrifty, shaping her eyebrows, teaching her daughter to ride a bike, fixing the smoke alarm and reading an OFSTED report.
We encounter some truly odd You Tube gurus, Kerry meets the supermarket checkout girl from hell and Ben finds himself at odds with the local police force.
Also, we find out how Kerry's best friend Hazel (Bridget Christie) is doing - and sadly, she's not doing very well!
The cast includes co-writer David Lane Pusey, Rosie Cavaliero, Lucy Briers, Nicholas Le Prevost, and Melissa Bury - with a guest appearance form Jenni Murray.
Across The Board: a series of interviews conducted by Dominic Lawson over a game of chess. Today, Dominic takes on the world's greatest chess player, Magnus Carlsen - and asks whether it wouldn't be better for Magnus to put his extraordinary intelligence to another use.
There are now no living veterans of WW1, but it is still possible to go back to the First World War through the memories of those who actually took part. In a unique partnership between the Imperial War Museums and the BBC, two sound archive collections featuring survivors of the war are brought together for the first time. The Imperial War Museums' holdings include a major oral history resource of remarkable recordings made in the 1980s and early 1990s with the remaining survivors of the conflict. The interviews were done not for immediate use or broadcast, but because it was felt that this diminishing resource that could never be replenished, would be of unique value in the future. Speakers recall in great detail as though it were yesterday the conditions of the trenches, the brutality of the battlefield, the experience of seeing their first casualty and hearing their first shell, their daily and nightly routines as soldiers, pilots or navy members of all ranks, and their psychological state in the face of so much trauma. This series will broadcast many of these recordings for the first time. Among the BBC's extensive collection of archive featuring first hand recollections of the conflict a century ago, are the interviews recorded for the 1964 TV series 'The Great War', which vividly bring to life the human experience of those fighting and living through the war.
Dan Snow narrates this new oral history, which will be broadcast in short seasons throughout the commemorative period.
The war gets underway, with speakers' recollections of the day war broke out, their journey to France, and their first experiences of the Front. Dan Snow also explores some of the issues around oral history as evidence.
New drama by poet and writer Glyn Maxwell about the 100 year history of a garden city. Made in collaboration with the British Academy and performed in front of an audience there. It will be broadcast on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dylan Thomas and is created and performed in the knowledge of Under Milk Wood, another play about the makings and breakings of a tight-knit community. Glyn Maxwell was born and raised in Welwyn Garden City and his play is both a love letter to his home town and a searching and telling account of how city making is no picnic. The cast of six have many roles from almost every decade of the garden city's life from the first adventures in planning a city of tomorrow out of green fields to present day un-neighbourly hostilities. The cast includes Pippa Haywood, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Samuel Barnett, Alex Tregear, Rebecca Smith Williams and Robin Soans. Producer: Tim Dee.
Russell Davies chairs the sixth heat in the 2014 season of the most wide-ranging music quiz anywhere on radio, this week from the BBC's Maida Vale studios in London. Competitors from Twickenham, the Vale of Glamorgan and Brighton answer questions on everything from orchestral music and opera to film and stage musicals, folk and jazz, classic rock and sixty years of the pop charts.
As always, as well as demonstrating their musical general knowledge, they'll be asked to pick a specialist musical topic, from a list of which they've had no prior warning and no chance to prepare.
The winner will take another of the places in the series semi-finals towards the end of the year.
A radio poem inspired by the story of Alice Glaston, who at eleven years old, is the youngest person ever hung in England. Alice Glaston was hung from the gallows tree in Much Wenlock in Shropshire in 1545. When writer Paul Evans who was born here, later returned to live here and discovered the story of Alice Glaston from a passing reference in a local history book, he was both shocked and intrigued. The more he thought about the story, and walked the same places Alice walked; the more he stood in the spot where the gallows tree once grew, the more he felt a responsibility to tell the story. This poem links Alice with the landscape, which in some sense still contains her, and back to the memory of the people.
This ghostly tale spans almost five centuries (from the dissolution of the monasteries to the present day). Alice is a benign presence; through her we see the landscape in a different way. Her story elicits compassion and stimulates the imagination. Beautiful landscapes have dark histories. Some events are so powerful they leave a trace of themselves as a memory in the place where they occurred. Like mud in a pond stirred up by someone poking around, these memories are recovered from the place and take on a life of their own. Alice became part of the landscape but a forgotten ghost. For Paul, this telling is a way to free Alice's ghost; she should not be brushed out of history because she represents an uncomfortable truth; she should not be forgotten. With the passage of time and the seasons, her story does not die, but is relived and retold.
It is the landscape and its stories which have inspired this poem, and this landscape is powerfully evoked through sound recordings by Chris Watson. Alice is played by Bettrys Jones.
What happens when we abandon a place? And why is it so difficult for us to leave these places behind?
In this episode, Aleks explores abandon both on and offline. We tell the story of the only permanent resident of Fukushima's radiation exclusion zone. Naoto Matsura stayed in Tomioka while everyone around him fled. He's now the unofficial caretaker of this abandoned town.
Aleks contrasts this with a remarkable example of digital abandon. Meridian 59 was the first massively multiplayer online game. When newer competitors arrived on the scene, many players left. The game has been abandoned and restarted several times over since. Aleks hears from the hardcore community of players who refuse to let the game disappear entirely.
With American comedy writer, stand-up and musician, Rich Hall, historian, author and TV presenter, Dr Anna Keay and leading neurosurgeon, Henry Marsh CBE.
* Why the key to understanding the difference between Americans and the British is on the front porch
Jennifer invites Carol to Peggy's birthday party. Pat and Tony are holding it and Jennifer's doing a memory book. Jennifer gives Carol a book from John that clearly was meant for her (there's a dedication). They both read some beautiful passages.
Jill's relieved to be home from Northumberland. Ruth's still up there looking after Heather who has suffered a broken wrist from her fall. David enthuses to Adam about the farm they visited. Adam wonders why the rush to look for a new farm, but David feels they need to be ready, admitting that Jill is less keen than the kids.
Peggy sees Jennifer reading John's book 'Communication With The Other Side'. Jennifer might even hold a séance just for fun. Peggy's sceptical.
Carol has been foraging for sloes at Manor Court. Instead of the usual bridge lesson with Jill, she gets Jill and Peggy to help her make sloe gin. Jill bravely tells Carol about the farm in Northumberland. Carol defiantly says she'd chain herself to Brookfield to protest at the new road.
Jill's happy to see Peggy so animated. She tells Carol about Jennifer's séance idea. Carol comments that if John was to come back and haunt anyone it would be her (Carol).
Tonight's Front Row reviews Daniel Radcliffe's latest film, Horns, and talks to singer Edwyn Collins about the documentary that's been made about his recovery after two strokes.
Also in the programme: Stephen Daldry explains why his film, Trash - set in the slums of Rio de Janeiro - has won top prize at the Rome Film Festival, and composer Thomas Adès on seeing choreographers' response to his music.
Rajini Vaidyanathan travels to North Carolina to investigate whether current bitter disputes over voting rights mean that the United States is involved in a crisis of democracy.
Over the last two decades the controversy over voting rights has become increasingly bitter and polarised along party lines. This process has intensified since 2013 when the US Supreme Court overturned important parts of the Voting Rights Act. North Carolina is one key location for these crucially important arguments. It has seen one of the furthest-reaching packages of voting reform of any state and is now in the midst of one of the closest election campaigns this year.
Rajini travels across the state and hears from those who argue that a concerted campaign is under way to deprive liberal-leaning groups of access to the electoral process. And she speaks to those responsible for the legislation who insist that they are trying to stop voter fraud and ensure the sanctity of the ballot.
Rajini looks at a number of states where political control has alternated over the last 20 years, and voting law with it, as Democrats pass laws which make it easier to vote - typically benefiting groups which vote for them - and Republicans often do the opposite. She asks what this is doing to American democracy.
Economist Jonathan Portes assesses how well the government has implemented its controversial welfare reforms. The government describes the programme as "the most ambitious, fundamental and radical changes to the welfare system since it began".
When the Coalition came to power in 2010, welfare - not including pensions - was costing the country nearly £100 billion a year. Iain Duncan Smith, the secretary of state for work and pensions, was given the task of making work pay and - in so doing - taking millions of people off benefit and saving the country billions.
Influential figures from parliament, the civil service and one of Iain Duncan Smith's closest advisers offer revealing accounts of what's been happening during those past 4 years.
Economist Jonathan Portes asks whether these changes are a vital strategy to stem a welfare system spiralling out of control or - as some argue - nothing short of a fiasco, which has caused genuine hardship?
Hen harriers are persecuted in the British Isles because they eat grouse. Seals cause problems for salmon fishermen; lions eat the livestock of pastoralists in Africa and so on. All over the world there are conflicts between people and wildlife, often with devastating consequences. In Shared Planet this week Monty Don looks at how we are approaching solving these issues, who is taking the bull by the horns and getting people around a table to come up with a shared solution? Conflict resolution is growing area that brings together scientists, local people, businesses, NGOs and many others who are affected by wildlife conflict. It is a demanding task finding a solution that all parties feel they can accept, on a par with the negotiations undertaken with trade unions by ACAS. This new area for conservation brings political and social science to sit alongside traditional conservation ideas. Monty Don investigates.
"Otto had felt surprisingly nervous on the plane across from Geneva; not from any fear of flying, but a fear of what he was flying to. [...] Throughout the short flight he experienced a strange inner turbulence. He had a queasy sensation that he was re-establishing a connection with the past; flying backwards into his own memories. He would no longer be experiencing them from a distance, but in the city where they had once been real."
Architect Otto Laird has been living a semi-reclusive life with his second wife in Switzerland. But he is forced to re-engage with the wider world when he learns that his landmark building Marlowe House - a 1960s tower block in South London - has been marked for demolition.
Episode One.
Otto's mood darkens after he reads a disturbing article in the Architectural Review.
Nigel Packer lives in London. He has been a music reviewer for BBC News Online and Ceefax, a reporting officer at the International Committee of the Red Cross and a contributor to various magazines and newspapers. The Restoration Of Otto Laird is his first novel.
Jarvis Cocker wanders the lava fields of Iceland in search of the unseen forces of night. In the midnight shadow of Snaefellsjokull, the volcano featured in Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Jarvis considers the timelessness of the landscape, until he discovers sheep time. His sheep guides only lead him further into the unknown, through a hole in the lava floor and on a journey through a magma underworld, finding there a symphony orchestra, human seals and a wake.
TUESDAY 28 OCTOBER 2014
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b04mb0wt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Germany: Memories of a Nation (b04k6sd7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04mb0ww)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04mb0wy)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04mb0x0)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b04mb0x2)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04mq31b)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with The Rev Laurence Twaddle.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b04mcbhk)
Salt-tolerant potatoes, EU aid, Trees to fuel boilers
A Dutch farmer claims that he, and a small team of scientists, are perfecting potatoes which can tolerate salt water. The development could bring land back into production which has been lost to salinization, and reduce pressure on fresh water resources.
UK fruit and vegetable growers affected by the Russian trade ban are unhappy that the Government has turned down EU financial help.
Will there be enough trees to fuel woodchip boilers in the future? Nancy Nicolson finds out.
Presented by Anna Hill and Produced by Sarah Swadling.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04hkyn2)
Snow Goose
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the snow goose found breeding across Canada and Alaska. Although most snow geese are all-white with black wing-tips, some known as blue geese are blue-ish grey with white heads. Snow geese breed in the tundra region with goslings hatching at a time to make the most of rich supply of insect larvae and berries in the short Arctic summer. As autumn approaches though, the geese depart and head south before temperatures plummet, and the tundra becomes sealed by snow and ice. As they head for areas rich in grain and nutritious roots hundreds of thousands of snow geese fill the sky with their urgent clamour providing one of the greatest wildfowl spectacles in the world.
TUE 06:00 Today (b04mcbhm)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (b04mcbhp)
Richard Fortey on fossils
Richard Fortey found his first trilobite fossil when he was 14 years old and he spent the rest of his career discovering hundreds more, previously unknown to science.
Professor of Palaeontology at the Natural History Museum, he talks to Jim Al-Khalili about why these arthropods, joint-legged creatures which look a bit like woodlice and roamed the ancient oceans for almost 300 million years, are so important for helping us to understand the evolution of life on our planet.
These new trilobite fossils were found at an exciting time for the earth sciences because of the emergence of plate tectonics. The discovery of communities of trilobite fossils could be used to reconstruct the shape of the ancient world and Richard used the new discoveries to help map the geologically very different Palaeozoic continents and seas.
He admits that he's a born naturalist, fascinated by all aspects of the natural world (he's a leading expert on fungi) with a powerful drive to communicate its wonders to a wider public. His books and TV programmes on geology, the evolution of the earth, fossils as well as the creatures that survived mass extinctions have brought him a whole new audience.
And Richard reveals to Jim an earlier secret life, as a writer of humorous books, all written under a pseudonym.
TUE 09:30 One to One (b04mcbhr)
Isabel Oakeshott and Surrogacy
Political journalist Isabel Oakeshott seriously considered surrogacy in India after having four miscarriages, when trying to have a second child. Although her fifth attempt at having a baby naturally worked, she's always wondered about the route she very nearly took.
In this series for One to One, Isabel talks to two mothers who went down the surrogacy road, one in the UK and now in the second of two programmes, to Rekha, who went to India in 2012 to try to have a baby there through surrogacy.
Producer: Sara Conkey.
TUE 09:45 Germany: Memories of a Nation (b04k6t0s)
Kathe Kollwitz: Suffering Witness
Neil MacGregor focuses on the art of Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945), who expresses the loss and suffering of war, especially after the death of her younger son Peter at the front in 1914.
Neil MacGregor argues that she is one of the greatest German artists. Like no other artist of the time, Kollwitz gave voice to the overwhelming sense of personal loss felt by ordinary Germans - the loss of a whole generation, the loss of political stability and of individual dignity.
Producer Paul Kobrak.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04mcmnd)
Emma Pooley; Imelda Staunton; Rae Morris
Silver Olympic medalist Emma Pooley and Ruth Holdaway from The Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation discuss the gender gap in sports prize money, sponsorship and funding. Imelda Staunton on her role in Gypsy. Rae Morris sings Closer and tells us about her inspiration for the song. What can Jane Austen's heroines teach us about dating today?
Presented by Jane Garvey
Produced by Jane Thurlow.
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b04mcmng)
My Life with Flu
Episode 2
By Sarah Woods
A love story, about flu.
It's 1975, six years since Jill and David huddled under the blankets together, full of flu. Now Jill is preparing to marry John – the wedding preparations are in full swing, but then David arrives on the doorstep.
My Life with Flu has been produced in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. In five episodes it follows the story of Jill across five decades as she struggles with the highs and lows of life, love and viruses. At the same time the story tracks the life of Hong Kong Flu – how, over 45 years, it has traversed the globe, evolved and is ultimately being superseded by new, more virulent strains, such as Swine Flu.
The series uses cutting edge science – of transmission, viral evolution and genetic predisposition – to tell the story of flu, and investigate the unique qualities of Jill's genome which make her a 'severe responder'. Paul Kellam, Virus Genomics team leader at the Sanger Institute worked closely with writer Sarah Woods to weave the science seamlessly into the story. The drama underlines the deep connection human beings have to the viruses that survive through us, and how illness can shape the course of our lives.
Jill.... Hannah Daniel
David.... Ronan Summers
John.... Liam Williams
Minister.... Alun Raglan
Yvette.... Eirlys Bellin
Narrator.... Eiry Thomas
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production
TUE 11:00 Shared Planet (b04mcmnj)
Albatross and Fishing
Albatrosses are giant flying seabirds that inhabit the southern oceans. Many species have been studied intensively over decades on their breeding grounds in the sub-Antarctic and the Pacific. Clever studies involving satellite tracking and simple observations from ships have shown they can disperse and forage across the whole of the southern ocean. Monitoring of their populations has shown a marked decline in their numbers since the 1980's so much so all albatross species are now threatened. A key cause of albatross decline was found quickly after the decline in populations was noticed; long-line fishing hooks baited with squid and floating on the surface after being deployed was an easy meal for an ocean scavenger and often their last. Shared Planet visits this story many years after it broke to report a cautious success on the high level conservation measures that were put in place involving biologists and the fishing industry. On this trajectory, it seems, we might be able to share the ocean with albatrosses and catch fish.
TUE 11:30 Dr Hepcat and the Hepster's Dictionary (b04mcmnl)
In 1938, the singer and band leader Cab Calloway became the first known African American to publish a book and call it a dictionary. His book of jive talk, Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary, translated some of the lively and inventive slang being used among musicians and entertainers in New York's Harlem, for a new audience of jazz fans who weren't yet 'hep to the jive'.
The poet Lemn Sissay finds out how Calloway, famous for his hit song Minnie the Moocher, came to write the dictionary, and how it became the official reference book of jive in the New York Public Library at a time when black people in America were still highly segregated from the white mainstream.
Lemn speaks to Cab Calloway's eldest daughter Camay Murphy who remembers Harlem in the 1930s and 40s, and Cab's grandson Christopher Calloway Brooks who is a bandleader himself.
Jive grew out of older African American vernaculars which had their roots in slave plantations in the nineteenth century. As people came up from the southern states to the northern cities to look for work, jive developed around the world of jazz music, entertainment and night life in Harlem. It was a private 'in the know' language, a form of protection and a way to get past the authorities, but it was also fun and incredibly creative.
Some words survive, like hip, chick, groovy, dig, cool and beat. Other jive terms may no longer be in use - like collar to comprehend, pounders for policemen, or a rug cutter for a good dancer - but the words of jive remain a revealing portrait of Harlem in its heyday.
Produced by Jo Wheeler
A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:00 News Summary (b04mb0x4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 Across the Board (b04mcmnp)
Series 2
Murray Campbell
Across The Board: a series of interviews conducted by Dominic Lawson over a game of chess. Today Dominic takes on Murray Campbell, the brains behind the chess computer Deep Blue. Deep Blue made headlines around the world when it beat the former world chess champion Garry Kasparov.
TUE 12:15 You and Yours (b04mcmnr)
Call You and Yours: Are you happy with rail services?
Are you happy with your train services? On Call You and Yours we want to hear about the state of the rail services near you. Moves to investigate the possibility of HS3 - improvements to the rail infrastructure between Leeds and Manchester - have been approved. The Chancellor George Osborne says the seven billion pound project could have "a transformative effect on the economic geography of this country," which will rebalance us, and make a "northern powerhouse". Is he right?
Is your commute, or your business being dragged down by late, crowded services? Will the massive injection of funds into our rail infrastructure improve job and wealth prospects for your children? Or have we got it about right already? You may have ditched the car in favour of an easy commute. We want to hear your stories about the rail services you use. Is billions of pounds of expenditure on High Speed Rail our only option for a country which is less reliant on the economy in the south?
Email us at youandyours@bbc.co.uk and include a phone number as we may see if you can join us on the programme - think of the examples you can give us about your experience of train travel - and what can improve.
The number to call is 03 700 100 444 and the lines open at
11am on Tuesday. You can text us on 84844.
TUE 12:57 Weather (b04mb0x6)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b04mcmnt)
Ministers insist there will be no power cuts this winter, despite the National Grid warning that capacity will be at its lowest since 2006/7 because of power station closures and breakdowns. Chris Vallance reports on the contingency measures being taken to ensure the lights stay on, Oxford University professor Dieter Helm tells us how we got here, and former Conservative cabinet minister Peter Lilley warns the situation could get worse.
The head of the Army, General Sir Nick Carter, tells us he needs more Muslim recruits to counter the "very disturbing" situation in Iraq and Syria. He also wants to recruit and keep more women, and talks about the future role of the Army after Afghanistan. We also visit Camp Souter in Kabul.
Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed it's cutting 9,000 jobs and shutting 200 branches - our Business Editor Kamal Ahmed reports.
Continuing our interviews with the authors shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction, we talk to Marion Coutts about The Iceberg, an account of her husband's struggle with cancer.
And after the UK refuses to support future search and rescue operations for migrants in the Mediterranean, Emma Jane Kirby assesses the capability of Frontex, the EU's border agency, to take on the role from the Italian navy.
Presented by Martha Kearney.
TUE 13:45 Voices of the First World War (b03thb8x)
Battle and Retreat
There are now no living veterans of WW1, but it is still possible to go back to the First World War through the memories of those who actually took part. In a unique partnership between the Imperial War Museums and the BBC, two sound archive collections featuring survivors of the war are brought together for the first time. The Imperial War Museums' holdings include a major oral history resource of remarkable recordings made in the 1980s and early 1990s with the remaining survivors of the conflict. The interviews were done not for immediate use or broadcast, but because it was felt that this diminishing resource that could never be replenished, would be of unique value in the future. Speakers recall in great detail as though it were yesterday the conditions of the trenches, the brutality of the battlefield, the experience of seeing their first casualty and hearing their first shell, their daily and nightly routines as soldiers, pilots or navy members of all ranks, and their psychological state in the face of so much trauma. This series will broadcast many of these recordings for the first time. Among the BBC's extensive collection of archive featuring first hand recollections of the conflict a century ago, are the interviews recorded for the 1964 TV series 'The Great War', which vividly bring to life the human experience of those fighting and living through the war.
Dan Snow narrates this new oral history, which will be broadcast in short seasons throughout the commemorative period.
Programme 2 - Battle and Retreat
In the second programme of the series, we hear from those who experienced the Battle of Mons, which was the first realisation for many British soldiers of what they were up against.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b04mc1hn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Tommies (b03thc4z)
28 October 1914
by Michael Chaplin.
Series created by Jonathan Ruffle.
Meticulously based on unit war diaries and eye-witness accounts, each episode of TOMMIES traces one real day at war, exactly 100 years ago.
Through it all, we'll follow the fortunes of Mickey Bliss and his fellow signallers, from the Lahore Division of the British Indian Army. They are the cogs in an immense machine, one which connects situations across the whole theatre of the war, over four long years.
Indira Varma, Danny Rahim and Nicholas Farrell star in this story, as the first Indian Army soldiers arrive on the battlefields of France, and the under-equipped infantry of the 9th Bhopal Regiment find themselves on the front line at the first battle of Neuve Chapelle.
Producers: David Hunter, Jonquil Panting, Jonathan Ruffle
Director: Nandita Ghose.
TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (b04mcp9f)
Series 6
After Dark
Love found after a blackout, telephone counselling for bereaved rock star managers and erotica for the elderly. Josie Long presents tales of blackouts, late nights and bedtime stories.
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (b04mcp9h)
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
Despite being protected on paper, many of the world's and the UK's rare plants and flowers are being targeted by thieves and smugglers. From the moment a new species is discovered it can have a high price on its head, with collectors going to the ends of the earth to source a prized specimen. Tom Heap discovers how easy it is to find rare plants for sale on the net and how such trade not only threatens those plant species with extinction but could destroy the elements within them that could help in medicine.
There are five times as many plants as animals protected by CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) meaning they can only be sold if a permit is granted but arguably there is less public concern about flora than fauna. Many orchids, cacti, cycads and various timbers are among them which the Border Force and Kew Botanic Gardens try to help monitor and police.
But not all thieves are on expeditions to remote mountains. Tom hears how many of the UK's botanic gardens have been targeted. In some cases it may be an opportunist gardener but in other cases it involves organised crime. Some gardens are using new techniques to protect specimens or simply having to keep them locked away, out of sight.
Some thefts which aren't in monitored collections may not even be discovered for months, if at all. Calls are being made for us to monitor pathways, hills and towpaths and report when plants disappear. But Tom also learns about clever new devices and scientific methods to help raise the alarm, detect illegal sales and prove guilt in the absence of a smoking trowel.
Presented by Tom Heap. Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.
TUE 16:00 Law in Action (b04mcp9k)
The Spywatcher
The Intelligence Services Commissioner, Sir Mark Waller, gives Law In Action his first broadcast interview.
Sir Mark, a retired judge, is charged with judicial oversight of, among other organisations, MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.
It's his job to check the security services comply with the law when applying for warrants against individuals. Joshua Rozenberg asks him about the delicate balance between privacy and security, and the challenges created by Edward Snowden's revelations.
Also: why the County Court might not be the best place to solve disputes. We hear from a disappointed litigant and explore the possibility of resolving disputes online in the fashion pioneered by companies eBay and PayPal.
Following the collapse of a trial concerning sham marriages at a south London church in which immigration officers were found to have lied on oath and covered up evidence, Joshua speaks to Trevor Francis of Blackford solicitors, which represented one of the defendants in the case.
And is an establishment figure the right person to lead an inquiry into allegations of an establishment cover-up of sexual abuse? The journalists Andreas Whittam Smith and Oliver Kamm discuss.
Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg
Producers: Tim Mansel and Keith Moore
Editor: Richard Knight.
TUE 16:30 A Good Read (b04mcp9n)
Martina Cole and Janet Street-Porter
Janet Street-Porter and crime writer Martina Cole discuss their good reads with Harriett Gilbert. The guests talk - and vociferously disagree - over American Wife, Curtis Sittenfeld's fictionalised biography of Laura Bush, The Iron King, the first novel of Maurice Druon's 1950s series which has been hailed as 'the original Game of Thrones', and Muriel Spark's classic novel The Ballad of Peckham Rye.
Producer Sally Heaven.
TUE 17:00 PM (b04mcp9q)
PM at
5pm- Carolyn Quinn with interviews, context and analysis.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04mb0x8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Mark Watson Talks a Bit About Life (b04mcssb)
Series 1
Money
Mark Watson attempts to answer the big questions and make sense of life.
Written and performed by Mark Watson, Tim Key and Tom Basden as they tackle academic and abstract topics.
In this episode, Mark looks at "Money". These days it's quite unfashionable to like money. People get demonised for having high salaries. Bankers are seen as bad-guys. Less-is-more philosophies abound, yet they are flawed - mathematically, more is actually more. Is it so bad to try and get rich?
Mark probes the corrupting influence of money and the harm it does versus the good impact it can have, and weigh them up. Mark discusses his own experiences of being poor and quite well-off and how each impacted his personality.
Is money really the root of all evil? Or a useful way of buying things like Polo mints, fruit, etc?
Producer: Lianne Coop
An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in October 2014.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b04mctvz)
Looking at a spring, Eddie tells Ed about his plan back in the 70s or 80s to bottle water for sale. Like Ed, Eddie wishes he'd had more money. If Ruth and David move, Eddie will say goodbye to his wages from Brookfield. But Eddie says to see the bright side.
Ed's anxious to know about the sale of Willow Farm. Eddie tries to distract Ed by getting him to help with his turkey events. Ed suggests getting Will to make up Eddie's 'Three Amigos' with Joe.
Henry helps Helen decorate for Halloween. Rob's wary of the mess a party will cause and complains to apologetic Helen. Helen's keen to look nice for Rob. Emma points out the attractive blonde Charlie was with at the ball. Susan is full of gossip.
Helen and Emma notice loads of dead pheasants on the road. Emma feels for overworked Will. Emma has got Ed some gardening work at the kids' party she's doing on Friday. But Ed's miffed at being the village odd job man.
Rob comes home to find his Hunt Ball jacket dirty because of the children's party. Full of apologies, Helen offers to get it express cleaned. Stern Rob says having Emma and her kids round just isn't going to work.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b04mctw1)
Nightcrawler; Laura Mvula; Bastille
Samira Ahmed discusses the film Nightcrawler, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal as an ambulance chasing cameraman.
Laura Mvula and Bastille on composing a new score for the film Drive, commissioned by Radio 1's Zane Lowe.
Historian Juliet Gardiner reviews BBC1's new First World War drama series, The Passing Bells.
And Paul Ewen on his humorous novel, Francis Plug: How to be Public Author, about a wannabe writer who shows up at literary events starring Man Booker winners in the hope of learning how to achieve literary success.
Producer: Timothy Prosser.
TUE 19:45 Germany: Memories of a Nation (b04k6t0s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b04mctw3)
The Last Taboo?
As inquiries into child abuse in Rotherham continue, File on 4 investigates claims of a hidden problem of sexual abuse within Britain's Asian communities.
While the victims of recent grooming scandals have mostly been white girls, campaigners say Asian boys and girls have also been subjected to abuse over many years.
Male and female survivors tell Manveen Rana there's a powerful culture of denial stopping many speaking out and getting justice. They say communities too often close ranks and ostracise or threaten those who complain, while leaving perpetrators to carry on.
Reporter: Manveen Rana
Producer: Sally Chesworth
Assistant Producer: Yasminara Khan.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b04mctw5)
Audible pedestrian signals; Giles Abbott
Audible pedestrian crossings - are they on the decline and what the alternatives? Peter White talks to Traffic Signals Consultant, Richard Bishop, Professor of Inclusive Environment Peter Barker, and Gavin Neate, designer of the Neatebox app.
We also hear from blind storyteller Giles Abbott, about his career as a storyteller.
Producer: Lee Kumutat
Photograph: Giles Abbott.
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (b04mctw7)
GP incentives; Walk-in CT scans; Hot Flushes feedback; New anti-coagulants
Financial incentives for GPs - do they work? Mark Porter learns there are parallels between the latest £55 to diagnose dementia and an incentive to diagnose depression which didn't work and was dropped. Are walk-in CT Scans a good idea - two experts who authored recent reports address concerns about people arranging their own scans. Hot Flushes feedback; plus the new generation of anti-coagulants offering an alternative to warfarin.
TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (b04mcbhp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 21:58 Weather (b04mb0xb)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b04mctx8)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04mcw87)
The Restoration of Otto Laird
Episode 2
A story of memory and place, old age and architecture.
"Otto had felt surprisingly nervous on the plane across from Geneva; not from any fear of flying, but a fear of what he was flying to. [...] Throughout the short flight he experienced a strange inner turbulence. He had a queasy sensation that he was re-establishing a connection with the past; flying backwards into his own memories. He would no longer be experiencing them from a distance, but in the city where they had once been real."
Architect Otto Laird has been living a semi-reclusive life with his second wife in Switzerland. But he is forced to re-engage with the wider world when he learns that his landmark building Marlowe House - a 1960s tower block in South London - has been marked for demolition.
Episode Two.
79-year-old Otto gets an invitation to go to London to make a TV documentary about Marlowe House. But will he decide to go?
Nigel Packer lives in London. He has been a music reviewer for BBC News Online and Ceefax, a reporting officer at the International Committee of the Red Cross and a contributor to various magazines and newspapers. The Restoration Of Otto Laird is his first novel.
Reader: Allan Corduner
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Rosalynd Ward
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 23:00 Small Scenes (b04mcw89)
Series 2
Episode 3
A man gets lost in a breakfast buffet and a stag party goes very wrong.
Symphonious sketch show, starring Daniel Rigby, Sara Pascoe, Mike Wozniak, Cariad Lloyd and Henry Paker.
Written by Benjamin Partridge, Henry Paker and Mike Wozniak with additional material from Olly Cambridge.
Producer: Simon Mayhew-Archer.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2014.
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b04mcw8c)
How can the funding crisis in the health service be solved? Susan Hulme hears how the boss of NHS England answered the questions of MPs.
Also on the programme:
* How should serious crimes be dealt with in the criminal justice system? Peers weigh up government proposals.
* Labour repeats its call for the Welfare Reform Minister Lord Freud to resign.
* The Mayor of Calais talks to MPs about the problem of migrants determined to cross the English Channel to reach the UK.
WEDNESDAY 29 OCTOBER 2014
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b04mb0y8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Germany: Memories of a Nation (b04k6t0s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04mb0yb)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04mb0yd)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04mb0yg)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b04mb0yj)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04mq33j)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with The Rev Laurence Twaddle.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b04md4n9)
Bumper strawberry crop, Gene editing, Timber industry
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside. Presented by Anna Hill and Produced by Sally Challoner2014 has been a record year for British strawberries, with a harvest estimated at 60 thousand tonnes - 8 percent up on last year. The season started early, in March, and the mild autumn means it's expected to go on right up until December.
Proposals to introduce stricter European rules on genetic techniques used in plant breeding are being opposed by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the funding body for biological research. A method called gene editing is being used in crop research, but scientists fear that any new curbs on the process would prevent research projects continuing across the EU. Anna Hill goes to the John Innes Centre in Norwich to find out more.
The timber industry contributes £8 billion to the UK economy every year, but two thirds of the timber we use in this country is imported. Anna hears about efforts to increase sustainable supplies of home-grown wood.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Emma Campbell.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04hkxpc)
Resplendent Quetzal
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the resplendent quetzal of Guatamala. The image of resplendent quetzals are everywhere in Guatemala, but the source of their national emblem is now confined to the cloud forests of Central America. Its beauty has long entranced people, the male quetzal a shimmering emerald-green above and scarlet below. His outstanding features are the upper tail feathers which, longer than his entire body, extend into a train almost a metre in length, twisting like metallic ribbons as he flies through the tree canopy. Historically resplendent quetzals were considered sacred to the Mayans and Aztecs for their brilliant plumage, with the lavish crown of the Aztec ruler Moctezuma the Second, containing hundreds of individual quetzal tail - plumes.
WED 06:00 Today (b04md4nc)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b04md4nf)
Grayson Perry; Thomas Lauderdale; Drummond Money-Coutts; Tracey Miller
Libby Purves meets artist Grayson Perry; musician Thomas Lauderdale; former gang member Tracey Miller and magician Drummond Money-Coutts.
Drummond Money-Coutts is a magician and illusionist. He presents a new series, Beyond Magic with DMC, in which he travels the world demonstrating his skills with card tricks, stunts and occasional cheating. Each episode recreates a historic trick or stunt. Beyond Magic with DMC is on National Geographic Channel.
Grayson Perry is an artist who won the Turner Prize in 2003 and presented the BBC Reith Lectures on BBC Radio 4 in 2013. His book, Playing to the Gallery, is based on those Reith Lectures. He is presenting a three-part series for Channel 4, Grayson Perry: Who Are You? The programmes focus on identity and he creates portraits - from tapestries to sculptures and pots - of diverse people who are trying to define who they are. Subjects include former politician Chris Huhne. There is an accompanying art display at the National Portrait Gallery. Playing to the Gallery is published by Particular Books.
Tracey Miller is a former gang member. Known as 'Sour', she was part of a notorious gang that terrorised areas of south London in the 1990s. After serving a prison sentence, she eventually turned her life around and is now a campaigner who urges teenagers not to follow her own path into gang life. Her book Sour - My Story, written with Lucy Bannerman, is published by Harper Collins.
Thomas Lauderdale is the founder and pianist with Pink Martini, a 12-piece orchestra from Portland, Oregon. After an early career in local politics, he founded Pink Martini in 1994 to liven up the entertainment then on the bill at political rallies. Once described as somewhere between a "thirties Cuban dance orchestra, a classical chamber ensemble and a Brazilian marching band," Pink Martini has performed its multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras around the world. Pink Martini is currently on tour - UK dates include the Cambridge Corn Exchange.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 09:45 Germany: Memories of a Nation (b04k6t1g)
Money in Crisis
Neil MacGregor examines the emergency money - Notgeld - created during World War One and its aftermath. Small denomination coins began to disappear because their metal was worth more than their face value. People hoarded them or melted them down. Paper notes replaced coins, but as cities produced their own money, there was also currency made from porcelain, linen, silk, leather, wood, coal, cotton and playing cards.
He also focuses on the crisis of hyperinflation in the early 1920s. At its peak, prices doubled every three and a half days, and in 1923 a 500 million mark note might buy a loaf of bread.
Producer Paul Kobrak.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04md4nh)
Lena Dunham
Lena Dunham, the writer, director and star of acclaimed television series Girls, joins Jenni to discuss her extraordinary career and her no-holds-barred new memoir Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's Learned. Covering topics from sex to psychiatry, the book adopts the same unflinching approach to young womanhood depicted in Girls and Lena will talk to Jenni about her take on modern feminism. Lena stays with us to discuss the power of what we wear with blogger Susie Bubble; why the issue of consent is still so problematic on university campuses; and speaks to Ruby Tandoh about whether the internet is actually having a positive effect on body image for young women and girls.
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Laura Northedge.
WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b04md4nk)
My Life with Flu
Episode 3
By Sarah Woods
A love story, about flu.
1986, New York – Jill and David embark upon an illicit affair. And as she travels home for Christmas Jill has a life changing decision to make. But inside her body, Hong Kong Flu is travelling with her.
My Life with Flu has been produced in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. In five episodes it follows the story of Jill across five decades as she struggles with the highs and lows of life, love and viruses. At the same time the story tracks the life of Hong Kong Flu – how, over 45 years, it has traversed the globe, evolved and is ultimately being superseded by new, more virulent strains, such as Swine Flu.
The series uses cutting edge science – of transmission, viral evolution and genetic predisposition – to tell the story of flu, and investigate the unique qualities of Jill's genome which make her a 'severe responder'. Paul Kellam, Virus Genomics team leader at the Sanger Institute worked closely with writer Sarah Woods to weave the science seamlessly into the story. The drama underlines the deep connection human beings have to the viruses that survive through us, and how illness can shape the course of our lives.
Jill.... Hannah Daniel
David.... Ronan Summers
John.... Liam Williams
Paramedic 1.... Alun Raglan
Paramedic 2.... Eirlys Bellin
Narrator.... Eiry Thomas
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b04md4nm)
Janey and Sarah - Living in the Loss of Harry
Fi Glover with a conversation between Harry's Mum and play worker, who know they will never forget Harry but are determined his death won't overshadow his younger brother's 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.
WED 11:00 The Move (b04md4np)
A Move into the Unknown
In a brand new series aims to satisfy our fascination with moving, as Rosie Millard charts the progress of people across the UK as they take the plunge and look for a new home - whether out of necessity or just for a change.
Whether contemplating a mansion or a shoe-box, all her subjects have one thing in common - it's a jump into the unknown, somewhere where there is no network of friends waiting for them, no family and no preconceptions.
In the first programme we follow Hannah and John, cycling fanatics, who are hoping to buy a live/work space in a converted mill in the Yorkshire dales. It's a big step for them both as Hannah has always lived in the far South of England, and now contemplates a new life in the North, whilst John, Cumbrian born and bred has, like so many 30 somethings, still kept his room on at his parent's house. Most of the time he just lives out of a kit bag as he travels the world as a cycle guide, and he certainly never contemplated having a mortgage.
Trudi, meanwhile, is facing eviction for the second time in two years, as her run-down flat in Islington has dramatically turned into prime London real estate. "There was a two bed flat across the road went on the market for £770,000. It was sold in a week!"
The notice to quit has arrived, and as a wheelchair user she's facing life on the streets or in sheltered accommodation, something she's none too pleased to contemplate at the age of 55 - "It's like God's waiting room..."
But as Rosie finds out, things don't always turn out for the worst, or the best, in the moving business.
Producer: Sara Jane Hall.
WED 11:30 Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully (b04md4nr)
Series 2
Questioning Loyalties
Field Commander Uljabaan's loyalty cards, rewarding villagers for their collaboration, are not only ruining Katrina's plans but also Richard's chances in the weekly pub quiz. They turn to Ron, the landlord of the Rose & Crown for help in scuppering the scheme.
Series two of Eddie Robson's sitcom about an alien race that have noticed that those all-at-once invasions of Earth never work out that well. So they've locked the small Buckinghamshire village of Cresdon Green behind an impenetrable force field in order to study human behaviour and decide if Earth is worth invading.
The only inhabitant who seems to be bothered by their new alien overlord is Katrina Lyons, who was only home for the weekend to borrow the money for a deposit for a flat when the force field went up.
So along with Lucy Alexander (the only teenager in the village, willing to rebel against whatever you've got) she forms The Resistance - slightly to the annoyance of her parents Margaret and Richard who wish she wouldn't make so much of a fuss, and much to the annoyance of Field Commander Uljabaan who, alongside his unintelligible minions and The Computer (his hyper-intelligent supercomputer), is trying to actually run the invasion.
Katrina Lyons ...... Hattie Morahan
Richard Lyons ...... Peter Davison
Margaret Lyons ...... Jan Francis
Lucy Alexander ...... Hannah Murray
Field Commander Uljabaan ...... Julian Rhind-Tutt
Computer ...... John-Luke Roberts
Ron ...... Dave Lamb
Lawrence ...... Michael Bertenshaw
Written by Eddie Robson
Script-edited by Arthur Mathews
Original music written and performed by Grace Petrie
Producer: Ed Morrish.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2014.
WED 12:00 News Summary (b04mb0yn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 Across the Board (b04md54h)
Series 2
Sigrid Rausing
Across The Board: a series of interviews conducted by Dominic Lawson over a game of chess. Today Dominic takes on one of Britain's leading philanthropists, Sigrid Rausing, who plays chess every day with her husband.
WED 12:15 You and Yours (b04md54k)
Hidden care home reports, Food allergies, Preserving your tattoos
New EU laws will help allergy sufferers know what's really in their meals.
Payday loan brokers raiding bank accounts.
Would you like your tattoo to live on after you die? We ask the UK's most tattooed man, King of Ink Land, why he's having his preserved.
The Netflix users tricking their computers into thinking they're in another country.
We report from the National Children and Adult Services Conference about the government's plans to merge health and social care.
Producer: Lydia Thomas
Presenter: Melanie Abbott.
WED 12:57 Weather (b04mb0yq)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b04md54m)
Analysis of current affairs reports, presented by Martha Kearney.
WED 13:45 Voices of the First World War (b04md54p)
Outnumbered and Outgunned
There are now no living veterans of WW1, but it is still possible to go back to the First World War through the memories of those who actually took part. In a unique partnership between the Imperial War Museums and the BBC, two sound archive collections featuring survivors of the war are brought together for the first time. The Imperial War Museums' holdings include a major oral history resource of remarkable recordings made in the 1980s and early 1990s with the remaining survivors of the conflict. The interviews were done not for immediate use or broadcast, but because it was felt that this diminishing resource that could never be replenished, would be of unique value in the future. Speakers recall in great detail as though it were yesterday the conditions of the trenches, the brutality of the battlefield, the experience of seeing their first casualty and hearing their first shell, their daily and nightly routines as soldiers, pilots or navy members of all ranks, and their psychological state in the face of so much trauma. This series will broadcast many of these recordings for the first time. Among the BBC's extensive collection of archive featuring first hand recollections of the conflict a century ago, are the interviews recorded for the 1964 TV series 'The Great War', which vividly bring to life the human experience of those fighting and living through the war.
Dan Snow narrates this new oral history, which will be broadcast in short seasons throughout the commemorative period.
Programme 3 - Outnumbered and Outgunned
Dan Snow looks at the Great Retreat, when all armies marched long distances with little food or sleep in scorching heat. Those who took part in the almost 200 mile journey across Belgium and France recall what it was like.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b04mctvz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b01h6670)
Ronald Frame - The Dreamer
The son of a renowned Nazi hunter attempts to retrieve a stolen Matisse painting. Jane Asher and William Gaminara star in this atmospheric drama by Ronald Frame.
Paulette is a music teacher in Nice. She is being shadowed by a man. Levin, when cornered, claims that he wants to take up the piano again. In fact Levin is the son of a famous Nazi-hunter, recently deceased. Paulette is the daughter of an SS officer who escaped to Buenos Aires. In Paulette's apartment Levin locates the object of his searches - a Matisse painting. But is it an original? Both Paulette and Levin have been held in a dream-like state, troubled by and unable to shake off the past. Paulette moved to Nice, attracted by the image in the painting, and frustrated by her mother's attempts to ruin her romances. Levin was never able to please his father: by finding the painting, will he finally be 'proving' himself?
Producer/ Director: David Ian Neville.
WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b04md569)
Energy Bills and Saving
Paying too much for energy? To cut your bills, find out about help with insulating your home or challenge a customer service issue, call 03700 100 444 from
1pm to
3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk.
Energy switching companies claim they can save you up to £400 per year so what is the cheapest plan on the market?
Are you eligible for help with the costs of installing energy-saving improvements in your home?
Can you benefit from the Warm Home Discount Scheme, Winter Fuel or Cold Weather Payments?
Or perhaps you're having a problem with billing or customer service, what should you expect and how do you get it sorted out?
Whatever your question, Paul Lewis will be joined by:
Brian Horne, Energy Saving Trust.
Richard Lloyd, Executive Director, Which?
Joe Malinowski, The Energy Shop.
Lawrence Slade, Energy UK Home Heat Helpline.
Call 03700 100 444 between
1pm and
3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk now. Standard geographical charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher.
WED 15:30 Inside Health (b04mctw7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b04md56c)
Post-Dictatorship Art in Argentina; Young Jazz Musicians in London
Post dictatorship art in Argentina and beyond. Laurie Taylor talks to Vikki Bell, Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths College, about the role of the arts in a society's journey to democracy. Whilst scholars of transitional justice tend to focus on the courts and the streets; this study asks how culture enables a country marked by state oppression to both mark, as well as transcend, its past. They're joined by Professor Sanja Bahun from the Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies at the University of Essex. Also, Charles Umney, Senior Lecturer in Human Resources and Organisational Behaviour at the University Of Greenwich, talks about the 'creative labour' of jazz musicians in London.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b04md56f)
Guardian Media Group CEO; Broadmoor doc; Facebook and Twitter results; RT launches in UK
The Guardian newspaper is launching a new website for its US readers today. It's the latest step in a global digital expansion, which has seen it move into the Australian and American markets. But with a strategy that focuses on being 'open' - not behind a pay wall - and with annual losses of upwards of £30 million a year, how can the group afford to keep content free? Andrew Miller the CEO of Guardian Media Group joins Steve Hewlett to discuss his strategy.
Filmmakers have gained access to high security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor - home to some of the country's most violent men, including Peter Sutcliffe and Kenneth Erskine. The documentary, to be broadcast on ITV, offers a window into the lives of patients and support staff. Steve speaks to the Producer and Director Olivia Lichtenstein about the ethical issues of recording inside one of the country's most dangerous places.
Facebook and Twitter both reported strong revenues this week. However, figures showed that Twitter has struggled to get new users, and Facebook is saying its spending will increase next year. Steve Hewlett talks to Katherine Rushton, The Telegraph's US business editor, about the results and what this could mean for the two social networking giants.
Russia Today is to launch a dedicated UK TV channel. It's been criticised in the past as a propaganda mouthpiece for the Russian government and has faced complaints over its stance on the Ukraine crisis. Steve hears from Afshin Rattansi, presenter and journalist, about what the new dedicated UK service has to offer.
Producer: Katy Takatsuki.
WED 17:00 PM (b04md56h)
PM at
5pm- Carolyn Quinn with interviews, context and analysis.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04mb0ys)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 In and Out of the Kitchen (b01qdsms)
Series 2
The Dinner Party
Damien and Anthony invite their nearest and dearest round for a dinner party to celebrate some good news: Anthony has finally decided to start his own investment company, whilst Damien has finally got from Sky Arts for a new series all about the culinary habits of the great poets.
Unfortunately, things do not get off to an auspicious start when Anthony is beset by incurable hiccups, and Damien's agent Ian arrives with marital problems in tow.
Includes recipes for Baked Camembert, Trout "en papillotte" and Rum Baba.
Written by Miles Jupp.
Damien Trench ...... Miles Jupp
Anthony MacIlveny ...... Justin Edwards
Damien's Mother ...... Selina Cadell
Damien's Dad ...... Philip Fox
Mr Mullaney ...... Brendan Dempsey
Marion Duffett ...... Lesley Vickerage
Producer: Sam Michell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2013.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b04md585)
Contemporary drama in a rural setting.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b04md587)
Keira Knightley; Nick Drake; A Real Birmingham Family; Mercury Prize hopefuls
John Wilson talks to Keira Knightley about new film Say When and her preparations for her Broadway debut in Therese Raquin.
Gabrielle Drake and Joe Boyd discuss Nick Drake as they publish a book about his life and work.
We hear from Emma and Roma Jones as Gillian Wearing prepares to reveal her statue, A Real Birmingham Family, tomorrow in Birmingham.
Music journalist Ruth Barnes discusses the runners and riders for tonight's Mercury Music Prize.
Producer: Ellie Bury
Presenter: John Wilson.
WED 19:45 Germany: Memories of a Nation (b04k6t1g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b04md589)
Teaching Moral Values
Teaching your children a set of moral values to live their lives by is arguably one of the most important aspects of being a parent - and for some, one of the most neglected. In Japan that job could soon be handed to teachers and become part of the school curriculum. The Central Council for Education is making preparations to introduce moral education as an official school subject, on a par with traditional subjects like Japanese, mathematics and science. In a report the council says that since moral education plays an important role not only in helping children realise a better life for themselves but also in ensuring sustainable development of the Japanese state and society, so it should to taught more formally and the subject codified. The prospect of the state defining a set of approved values to be taught raises some obvious questions, but is it very far away from what we already accept? School websites often talk of their "moral ethos". The much quoted aphorism "give me the child until he is seven and I'll give you the man" is attributed to the Jesuits and why are church schools so popular if it's not for their faith based ethos? Moral philosophy is an enormously diverse subject, but why not use it to give children a broad set of tools and questions to ask, to help them make sense of a complex and contradictory world? If we try and make classrooms morally neutral zones are we just encouraging moral relativism? Our society is becoming increasingly secular and finding it hard to define a set of common values. As another disputed epigram puts it "When men stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing. They believe in anything." Could moral education fill the moral vacuum? Moral Maze - Presented by Michael Buerk
Panellists: Michael Portillo, Anne McElvoy, Claire Fox and Giles Fraser
Witnesses: Adrian Bishop, Dr. Sandra Cooke, Professor Jesse Prinz and Dr. Ralph Levinson
Produced by Phil Pegum.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (b04md5b0)
Series 4
Killing the Consumer
Jon Alexander argues that consumer power has become an idea which from parenting to politics is damaging society.
He argues that the age of the internet offers an alternative path, but that it is one we as a society must choose proactively.
Producer: Giles Edwards.
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b04mcp9h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Midweek (b04md4nf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b04mb0yv)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b04mgsqm)
With Ritula Shah
A report on the risks to missing children in Greater Manchester; the rate of new ebola cases slows down in West Africa; the winner of the Mercury music prize is announced and we have a report on the Iraqi economy.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04md5b2)
The Restoration of Otto Laird
Episode 3
A story of memory and place, old age and architecture.
"Otto had felt surprisingly nervous on the plane across from Geneva; not from any fear of flying, but a fear of what he was flying to. [...] Throughout the short flight he experienced a strange inner turbulence. He had a queasy sensation that he was re-establishing a connection with the past; flying backwards into his own memories. He would no longer be experiencing them from a distance, but in the city where they had once been real."
Architect Otto Laird has been living a semi-reclusive life with his second wife in Switzerland. But he is forced to re-engage with the wider world when he learns that his landmark building Marlowe House - a 1960s tower block in South London - has been marked for demolition.
Episode Three.
Otto flies from Geneva to London to start work on the TV documentary, only to become haunted by his past.
Nigel Packer lives in London. He has been a music reviewer for BBC News Online and Ceefax, a reporting officer at the International Committee of the Red Cross and a contributor to various magazines and newspapers. The Restoration Of Otto Laird is his first novel.
Reader: Allan Corduner
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Rosalynd Ward
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:00 The Music Teacher (b01h75l2)
Series 2
Episode 6
Richie Webb returns as multi-instrumentalist music teacher Nigel Penny.
Nigel finds himself losing pupils as a new music teacher who is able to get outstanding exam results starts working at the Arts Centre.
Meanwhile Belinda is keen to put the new income stream to good use.
Audio production by Matt Katz
Directed by Nick Walker
Written and produced by Richie Webb
A Top Dog Production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:15 Terry Pratchett (b01rgj25)
Eric
Episode 4
Demon King Astfgl surfs the space-time continuum in a rage, determined to lure Eric and Rincewind finally to Hell.
But when they arrive at the Dread Portal, there's a bit of a staff motivation issue.
Terry Pratchett's many Discworld novels combine a Technicolor imagination with a razor sharp wit, especially when he rewrites Faust as spotty teenage demonologist Eric.
Rincewind ..... Mark Heap
Eric ..... Will Howard
Demon King Astfgl ..... Nicholas Murchie
Urglefloggah ..... Jack Klaff
Duke Vassenego ..... Ben Crowe
Screwpate ..... Michael Shelford
Drazometh ..... Robert Blythe
Narrator ..... Rick Warden
Last of four parts adapted by Robin Brooks.
Director: Jonquil Panting
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b04md5b4)
The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, makes a strong attack on the Government's record on dealing with immigration accusing it of callousness and incompetence.
But the Prime Minister, David Cameron, says the Government has cut immigration from outside the EU by a third and Ed Miliband should apologise, because Labour had left the system in a shambles.
The House of Lords debates devolution in the wake of Scotland's referendum.
MPs investigate the problem of violence against women and children.
And Government plans to allow people access to their retirement savings clear their first hurdle in the Commons.
Sean Curran and team report on today's events in Parliament.
THURSDAY 30 OCTOBER 2014
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b04mb0zx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Germany: Memories of a Nation (b04k6t1g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04mb0zz)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04mb101)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04mb103)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b04mb105)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04mq34c)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with The Rev Laurence Twaddle.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b04mgtdn)
Pesticides, Bird crime, Trees as flood prevention
More research is needed into possible risks to human health posed by pesticides, according to scientists meeting in France this week. Charlotte Smith talks to a scientific officer from the European Food Safety Authority about the health risks posed by repeated exposure to pesticides. She hears that the impact on people living near farms will be a top priority for them.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds releases its latest figures on bird crime today. The charity is calling for changes in legislation, which it says would help tackle the problem.
Can trees help prevent flooding? Charlotte visits a farm in the Yorkshire Dales to find out.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and Produced by Emma Campbell.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04hkyr5)
Greater Honeyguide
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the greater honeyguide of sub-Saharan Africa. A loud repetitive "it's - here" – "it's -here" is a sound the greater honey guide only makes to humans in an extraordinary co-operative act between humans and bird. Relatives of woodpeckers they are one of the few birds which can digest wax and also feed on the eggs, grubs and pupae of bees. A greater honeyguide knows the location of the bee colonies in its territory and is able to lead honey-hunters to them. Once it has successfully guided its helpers to a nest, it waits while the honey-hunters remove the comb. Then it moves in to snap up the grubs and wax from the opened nest. So reliable are honeyguides that the Boran people of East Africa save up to two thirds of their honey-searching time by using the bird's services and use a special loud whistle (called a fuulido) to summon their guide before a hunt.
THU 06:00 Today (b04mgxt2)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 08:57 DEC Ebola Crisis Appeal (b04pljk5)
Lenny Henry presents the DEC Ebola Crisis Appeal.
To give: 0370 60 60 900 Standard geographic charges from landlines and mobiles will apply or send a cheque payable to DEC Ebola Crisis Appeal to PO Box 999, London EC3A 3AA.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b04mgtdq)
Nuclear Fusion
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss nuclear fusion, the process that powers stars. In the 1920s physicists predicted that it might be possible to generate huge amounts of energy by fusing atomic nuclei together, a reaction requiring enormous temperatures and pressures. Today we know that this complex reaction is what keeps the Sun shining. Scientists have achieved fusion in the laboratory and in nuclear weapons; today it is seen as a likely future source of limitless and clean energy.
Guests:
Philippa Browning, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Manchester
Steve Cowley, Chief Executive of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
Justin Wark, Professor of Physics and fellow of Trinity College at the University of Oxford
Producer: Thomas Morris.
THU 09:45 Germany: Memories of a Nation (b04k6t2s)
Purging the Degenerate
Neil MacGregor examines how the Nazis attacked art they viewed as 'entartet' - degenerate.
He charts how Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, led a process designed to purify all German culture, including books, music, paintings and pottery.
The programme focuses on a vase created by Grete Marks, with an evident debt to Chinese ceramics, and a loose brush-splashed glaze suggestive of modernist painting. Goebbels condemned this vase in his newspaper Der Angriff - The Attack. Grete Marks, who was Jewish and had trained at the Bauhaus, left Germany for England.
Producer Paul Kobrak.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04mgtds)
Cook the perfect raspberry jam
Thane Prince is the author of twelve books, several of which are about jams, curds, pickles, chutneys and relishes. She joins Jenni to cook the perfect Raspberry Jam.
In our series on historical abuse we examine institutional abuse and why it's often been overlooked in the past. Plus are quotas the answer to getting more women into politics? And a celebration of the work of the poet Audre Lorde, 30 years on from her seminal work Sister Outsider.
Presented by Jenni Murray
Producer Beverley Purcell.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b04mgtdv)
My Life with Flu
Episode 4
By Sarah Woods
A love story, about flu.
It's the year 2000 and Jill's lungs bear the scars of the bacterial pneumonia she suffered fourteen years ago. The doctor urges her to have the flu jab, but Jill has other things on her mind - her daughter Polly is preparing to leave for University, and Jill has the urge to phone an old friend.
My Life with Flu has been produced in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. In five episodes it follows the story of Jill across five decades as she struggles with the highs and lows of life, love and viruses. At the same time the story tracks the life of Hong Kong Flu – how, over 45 years, it has traversed the globe, evolved and is ultimately being superseded by new, more virulent strains, such as Swine Flu.
The series uses cutting edge science – of transmission, viral evolution and genetic predisposition – to tell the story of flu, and investigate the unique qualities of Jill's genome which make her a 'severe responder'. Paul Kellam, Virus Genomics team leader at the Sanger Institute worked closely with writer Sarah Woods to weave the science seamlessly into the story. The drama underlines the deep connection human beings have to the viruses that survive through us, and how illness can shape the course of our lives.
Jill.... Sharon Morgan
David.... William Hope
John.... Simon Armstrong
Polly.... Hannah Daniel
Doctor.... Alun Raglan
Narrator.... Eiry Thomas
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b04mb107)
The Most Dangerous Job in the World?
Gabriel Gatehouse with the medical team who have collected hundreds of Ebola patients from their homes in the Liberian capital, Monrovia; Andrew Hosken on the extraordinary efforts made by the people of Baghdad to clear up amidst a new wave of bombings; once a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the city of Trieste now has an independence movement which believes the place would be better off severing its ties to Rome - Tara Isabella Burton's been there to listen to their argument; how can a herd of cows indicate the economic health of a nation? It's a question Damien McGuinness has been addressing in the German capital, Berlin; and three-solid-meals-a-day man James Jeffrey's been getting to know about the extreme fasting traditions of Ethiopia.
THU 11:30 In a Nutshell (b04mgxt4)
Frances Glessner Lee revolutionised the study of crime investigation, founding the first centre for the study of forensic pathology at Harvard University . Glessner Lee built a series of Dolls Houses in the 1940's with a carpenter in which she constructed meticulous replica crime scenes to teach detectives their craft. These are still used in training new detectives today .
Poet Simon Armitage travels to the Medical Examiners office in Baltimore to investigate them , and their maker - regarded as the mother of modern CSI.
with Bruce Goldfarb, Corinne May Botz, Dr David Fowler, Detective Robert Ross and Jerry Dziecichowicz.
THU 12:00 News Summary (b04mb109)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 Across the Board (b04mgxt6)
Series 2
Sol Campbell
Across The Board: a series of interviews conducted by Dominic Lawson over a game of chess. Today Dominic takes on the former England footballer Sol Campbell - and asks him whether his decision to transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Arsenal was a chess player's move.
THU 12:15 You and Yours (b04mgxt8)
Free loft insulation; Fox damage; Disability rights
Millions of people are missing out on getting free loft insulation under a Government scheme, according to British Gas. The offer is now open to 90% of homes that need it. So who is eligible? And why is money originally collected from bill payers for the fuel poor being offered up to everyone?
Human drugs are not designed to be consumed by animals, but some vets do recommend it. Peter White speaks to a woman who self-medicated her Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
The disability charity that is saying the UK's public buildings have been cutting back on facilities for disabled people.
Plus foxes damage a woman's van twice in 7 months. What's attracting them?
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Natalie Donovan.
THU 12:57 Weather (b04mb10c)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b04mgxtb)
Analysis of current affairs reports, presented by Martha Kearney.
THU 13:45 Voices of the First World War (b04mgxtd)
At Sea
There are now no living veterans of WW1, but it is still possible to go back to the First World War through the memories of those who actually took part. In a unique partnership between the Imperial War Museums and the BBC, two sound archive collections featuring survivors of the war are brought together for the first time. The Imperial War Museums' holdings include a major oral history resource of remarkable recordings made in the 1980s and early 1990s with the remaining survivors of the conflict. The interviews were done not for immediate use or broadcast, but because it was felt that this diminishing resource that could never be replenished, would be of unique value in the future. Speakers recall in great detail as though it were yesterday the conditions of the trenches, the brutality of the battlefield, the experience of seeing their first casualty and hearing their first shell, their daily and nightly routines as soldiers, pilots or navy members of all ranks, and their psychological state in the face of so much trauma. This series will broadcast many of these recordings for the first time. Among the BBC's extensive collection of archive featuring first hand recollections of the conflict a century ago, are the interviews recorded for the 1964 TV series 'The Great War', which vividly bring to life the human experience of those fighting and living through the war.
Dan Snow narrates this new oral history, which will be broadcast in short seasons throughout the commemorative period.
Programme 4 - At Sea
Dan Snow hears the extraordinary experiences of those who took part in and witnessed the battles of the British and German navies during the first few months of the war.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b04md585)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b04mgxtg)
Hancock's Ashes
After comedy legend Tony Hancock took his own life in Sydney in June 1968, fellow performer Willie Rushton brought his ashes back to Britain from Australia.
Based on a real event, Caroline and David Stafford’s drama imagines what might have happened behind-the-scenes...
Ewan Bailey stars as Willie Rushton.
Director: Marc Beeby
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
THU 15:00 Open Country (b04mgxtj)
Elmley Nature Reserve
As Open Country returns for a new series, Helen Mark ventures to The Isle of Sheppey where she becomes immersed both in the marsh swathed landscape of Elmley Nature Reserve and the infectious enthusiasm of the man who oversaw its creation.
Elmley is the only National Nature Reserve in the UK to be managed by a farming family and this unique status is down to the forward thinking of farmer Philip Merricks. Bumping along the ridge of the reserve's sea wall in his trusty 4x4, Philip introduces Helen to this historic Kent landscape, accompanied by the flight of lapwing and wigeon.
It's an area that is believed to have inspired Charles Dickens in the writing of 'Great Expectations' but as Helen discovers, it has also inspired an even bigger story of ground breaking conservation.
During the 1980's, farmers were paid compensation for turning land over to wildlife but Philip felt that this was unproductive for both farmers and wildlife and so wrote - what he calls - a fairly strong letter to the House of Commons Select Committee that had been tasked with finding a solution to what was becoming a rural battle ground. Remarkably, Philip's letter found its way into Parliament and his ideas were held up as a potential way forward.
Thirty years on Philip's enthusiasm and dedication to this one of a kind nature reserve is as strong as it ever and now - with the support and care of long standing farm manger Steve Gorden - Philip's daughter Georgina and son-in-law Gareth are moving forward with sharing this special place with visitors and encouraging that passion for farming and conservation that Philip began decades ago.
Produced by Nicola Humphries.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b04mgxtl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (b04mgxtn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b04mgxtq)
Mike Leigh, Korean classic cinema, Jurassic Park sound effects
British director Mike Leigh discusses his latest film Mr Turner. With a career spanning over 40 years, he tells The Film Programme why he has wanted to make a film about the artist for over 20 years, and why actor Timothy Spall was the only man for the job. In the run up to the London Korean Film Festival, Film critic Anton Bitel discusses Korean 1960 classic 'The Housemaid'. Seen as utterly shocking by cinema goers at the time, it has been rediscovered and its restoration has attracted a new audience. Francine Stock presents a new series running throughout The Film Programme for the next two months- The Story Of The Sound Effect. To mark the BFI's season Days Of Fear And Wonder, the programme will hear from the people who created some of the most famous sound effects in the history of science fiction cinema. This week, Gary Rydstrom on Jurassic Park. Continuing The Cinema Memory series, Girlhood director Celine Sciamma recalls the first film to make her cry - E.T.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b04mgxts)
The Making of the Moon
It's the nearest and most dominant object in our night sky, and has inspired artists, astronauts and astronomers. But fundamental questions remain about our only natural satellite.
Where does the Moon come from?
Although humans first walked on the Moon over four decades ago, we still know surprisingly little about the lunar body's origin. Samples returned by the Apollo missions have somewhat confounded scientists' ideas about how the Moon was formed. Its presence is thought to be due to another planet colliding with the early Earth, causing an extraordinary giant impact, and in the process, forming the Moon. But, analysing chemicals in Apollo's rock samples has revealed that the Moon could be much more similar to Earth itself than any potential impactor. Geochemist Professor Alex Halliday of the University of Oxford, and Dr Jeff Andrews-Hanna, Colorado School of Mines - who is analysing the results from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) lunar mission - discuss the theories and evidence to-date.
Are we going back?
Settling the question of the Moon's origin seems likely to require more data - which, in turn, requires more missions. BBC Science correspondent Jonathan Amos tells us about the rationale and future prospects for a return to the Moon, including the Google Lunar XPrize.
As the Moon's commercial prospects are considered, who controls conservation of our only natural satellite?
If commerce is driving a return to the Moon, who owns any resources that may be found in the lunar regolith? Dr Saskia Vermeylen of the Environment Centre at Lancaster University is researching the legality of claiming this extra-terrestrial frontier.
Producer: Jen Whyntie.
THU 17:00 PM (b04mgypq)
PM at
5pm- Carolyn Quinn with interviews, context and analysis.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04mb10g)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:27 DEC Ebola Crisis Appeal (b04pljk5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:57 today]
THU 18:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b04mgyps)
Series 4
Episode 3
John Finnemore, the writer and star of Cabin Pressure, regular guest on The Now Show and popper-upper in things like Miranda, records a fourth series of his hit sketch show.
3/6: In this third edition of the fourth series we get updates from some ongoing political negotiations; witness an awkward encounter at an interfaith conference; and hear a curious tale of a young man who heads to Canada to win the respect of his father.
The first series of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme was described as "sparklingly clever" by The Daily Telegraph and "one of the most consistently funny sketch shows for quite some time" by The Guardian. The second series won Best Radio Comedy at both the Chortle and Comedy.co.uk awards, and was nominated for a Radio Academy award. The third series actually won a Radio Academy award.
In this fourth series, John has written more sketches, like the sketches from the other series. Not so much like them that they feel stale and repetitious; but on the other hand not so different that it feels like a misguided attempt to completely change the show. Quite like the old sketches, in other words, but about different things and with different jokes. (Although it's a pretty safe bet some of them will involve talking animals.)
Written by and starring ... John Finnemore
Also featuring ... Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan.
Producer ... Ed Morrish.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b04mgypv)
Brian scoffs as Jennifer digs out an old table for her séance tonight.
Lilian and Alice blow off the cobwebs from last night with a horse ride. There are several hungover hunt ball revellers today. Lilian admits Justin wasn't the ogre she was expecting. But Alice isn't so sure.
Lilian shares Brian's scepticism about the séance, but tells Alice about a spooky coincidence that Peggy reminded her of. Carol's first husband, Charles, was in a car accident with John Tregorran's first wife, Janet. Charles lost a leg and Janet was killed. The crash happened at Halloween.
Nursing a sore head, Adam is not only worrying about the estate contract but also the prospect of losing the Brookfield one if Ruth and David pack up. He's done some ringing around for contract work, to no avail. Ian's keen on a holiday to Jamaica. But Adam can't go anywhere until he's sorted things with Charlie. And lambing's coming up.
Jennifer takes the séance seriously, preparing delicacies to offer to the spirits. Brian mocks and ends up moving the table to trick people into thinking there's a reaction. He confesses to Jennifer who tells him off for spoiling what might have been.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b04mh3r1)
Elijah Wood, Angela Hewitt, Crowd-funding your novel, The Overnighters
Elijah Wood talks to Kirsty Lang about his role in Set Fire to the Stars, a biopic about Dylan Thomas's turbulent time in 1950s New York. Pianist Angela Hewitt discusses her new recording of Bach's The Art of Fugue. Writers Paul Kingsnorth and Julian Gough explain how important crowd-funding was to help them write their novels. And film-maker Molly Dineen reviews The Overnighters, a documentary about a pastor in North Dakota who came to the aid of the flood of men who travelled from all over the USA to seek work in the area's booming oil industry.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Olivia Skinner.
THU 19:45 Germany: Memories of a Nation (b04k6t2s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
THU 20:00 Law in Action (b04mcp9k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Tuesday]
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (b04mh3r3)
Wearable Technology
From smartglasses to smartwatches, tech companies like Apple, Google and Samsung are investing big money in technology that you can wear. They're designed to keep us eternally connected, fully fit and super smart. But will they go mainstream or are they still the preserve of the gadget geeks? Evan Davis and guests discuss how fitness bands that measure how far you walk and how deeply you sleep could transform our healthcare. And hear about the intelligent fabric that's set to revolutionise the way US and British soldiers are kitted out.
Guests:
Andy Griffiths, President, Samsung UK and Ireland
Asha Peta Thompson, Co-founder, Intelligent Textiles
Joss Langford, Technical Director, Activinsights
Producer: Sally Abrahams.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b04mgxts)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b04mgtdq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b04mb10j)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b04mh3r5)
Two former addicts discuss whether drugs should be legalised in the UK.
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04mh3r7)
The Restoration of Otto Laird
Episode 4
A story of memory and place, old age and architecture.
"Otto had felt surprisingly nervous on the plane across from Geneva; not from any fear of flying, but a fear of what he was flying to. [...] Throughout the short flight he experienced a strange inner turbulence. He had a queasy sensation that he was re-establishing a connection with the past; flying backwards into his own memories. He would no longer be experiencing them from a distance, but in the city where they had once been real."
Architect Otto Laird has been living a semi-reclusive life with his second wife in Switzerland. But he is forced to re-engage with the wider world when he learns that his landmark building Marlowe House - a 1960s tower block in South London - has been marked for demolition.
Episode Four.
With no filming to do until the afternoon, Otto goes for a walk in Fitzrovia and revisits the scenes of former triumphs.
Nigel Packer lives in London. He has been a music reviewer for BBC News Online and Ceefax, a reporting officer at the International Committee of the Red Cross and a contributor to various magazines and newspapers. The Restoration Of Otto Laird is his first novel.
Reader: Allan Corduner
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Rosalynd Ward
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:00 52 First Impressions with David Quantick (b04mh3r9)
Series 1
Episode 3
Journalist and comedy writer David Quantick has met and interviewed hundreds of people. What were his first impressions, how have they changed and does it all matter?
In this third programme (of four), there are stories about Tom Jones, Morrissey and Mrs Phyllis Pearsall, among others.
Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b04mh3rc)
Alicia McCarthy presents the highlights of Thursday in the Commons and the Lords:
* MPs react to news that search and rescue missions for migrants in the Mediterranean are being stopped.
* Are strong penalties on drug taking effective or ineffective? Drugs policies are debated in the Commons.
* Former LibDem leader Paddy Ashdown calls for an inquiry into Britain's 13-year military operation in Afghanistan.
* And the 'green' credentials of the Environment Secretary Liz Truss are called into question.
FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER 2014
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b04mb11j)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Germany: Memories of a Nation (b04k6t2s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04mb11l)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04mb11n)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04mb11q)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b04mb11s)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04mq35m)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with The Rev Laurence Twaddle.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b04mhd54)
Fishery closures, Trees, Horse wormers
Fishermen are warning of job losses in the industry following the temporary closure of some UK fishing grounds. The Marine Management Organisation, who regulate marine activities in the seas around England and Wales, says it's had to close some areas as there's risk of going over the set quota. Farming Today speaks to a fish processor who has been closed since the middle of October because none of the boats that supply him have been able to go out.
Can being outdoors boost your mental well-being? Anna Jones visits a Forest School on the Isle of Wight who certainly think it can.
And the president of the British Equine Veterinary Association is warning horse owners to be vigilant over worming their animals, as resistance to wormers in horses is becoming an increasing problem.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and Produced by Lucy Bickerton.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04hkysz)
Vampire Finch
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the blood sucking vampire finch. On Wolf Island in the remote Galapagos archipelago, a small dark finch sidles up to a booby with a taste for blood. Sharp-beaked ground finch is found on several islands in the Galapagos and is one of the family known as Darwin's finches. Several species of ground-finches have devolved bill sizes which vary depending on their diet and the competition for food. Usually seeds, fruits, nectar and grubs. But one sharp-beaked ground-finch has gorier ambitions. On the isolated islands of Wolf and Darwin where seeds are scarcer in times of drought this bird has taken to drinking the blood of other seabirds, especially boobies. It pecks at the bases of their feathers and greedily laps up the flowing blood. For this reason it's often known as the, the vampire finch.
FRI 06:00 Today (b04mhfhs)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b04mh755)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Germany: Memories of a Nation (b04k6t31)
At the Buchenwald Gate
Neil MacGregor visits Buchenwald, one of the earliest and largest concentration camps.
Producer Paul Kobrak.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04mhfhv)
Primodos; Ghost Stories; Dementia; Watches
Following a recent debate in Parliament, the government has announced that it is going to release all the information it holds on the drug Primodos - a hormonal pregnancy test which some people believe caused birth defects in the 60s and 70s. The author Joanna Briscoe talks about the essentials of a good ghost story. Judy Merry takes a look at a project which is screening films for people with dementia and their partners. Watch maker and antiquarian horologist Rebecca Struthers talks about women and watches.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b04mhd56)
My Life with Flu
Episode 5
A love story, about flu.
It's October 2014 and Jill is now 71. When she runs into an old familiar face at the chemists, she has one last shot at happiness. But the flu has other ideas.
Written by Sarah Woods, My Life With Flu has been produced in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
In this omnibus of five episodes, it follows the story of Jill across five decades as she struggles with the highs and lows of life, love and viruses. At the same time the story tracks the life of Hong Kong Flu – how, over 45 years, it has traversed the globe, evolved and is ultimately being superseded by new, more virulent strains, such as Swine Flu.
The series uses cutting edge science – of transmission, viral evolution and genetic predisposition – to tell the story of flu, and investigate the unique qualities of Jill's genome which make her a 'severe responder'.
Paul Kellam, Virus Genomics team leader at the Sanger Institute worked closely with writer Sarah Woods to weave the science seamlessly into the story. The drama underlines the deep connection human beings have to the viruses that survive through us, and how illness can shape the course of our lives.
Jill.... Sharon Morgan
David.... William Hope
John.... Simon Armstrong
Polly.... Hannah Daniel
Doctor.... John Norton
Narrator.... Eiry Thomas
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production first broadcast in 2014.
FRI 11:00 Assassination: When Delhi Burned (b04mhd58)
Bobby Friction was in Delhi visiting his relatives when the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated on the 31st October 1984 by her two Sikh bodyguards. Riots erupted across the city to avenge the killing. Bobby went into hiding with his family to escape the mobs who went on the rampage in the shocking aftermath of her death.
Professor Swaran Singh, Head, Division of Mental Health and Wellbeing at Warwick University and a Consultant Psychiatrist, was a trainee surgeon in Delhi in 1984. He witnessed first-hand the riots, the killings and the anguish of those who survived. He was moved to work with the children who had lost either one or both parents - and set up a play area for them where he could also carry out medical checks in the Tilak Vihar area of Delhi.
However, two years later he left not only Tilak Vihar, but India, vowing never to return, traumatised by all he'd seen.
Now, 30 years on from the assassination of Indira Gandhi, Bobby Friction takes Swaran back to Delhi and together they go in search of the children he left behind in 1984.
Producer: Perminder Khatkar.
FRI 11:30 The Missing Hancocks (b04ly3xv)
Series 1
The Matador
Between 1954 and 1959, BBC Radio recorded 102 episodes of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson's comedy classic Hancock's Half Hour. The first modern sitcom, it made stars of Tony Hancock, Sid James and Kenneth Williams, and launched Galton and Simpson on one of the most successful comedy-writing partnerships in history. But 20 episodes of the show are missing from the BBC archives, and have not been heard since their original transmission nearly sixty years ago. Now, five of those episodes have been lovingly re-recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC Radio Theatre, featuring a stellar cast led by Kevin McNally as The Lad Himself.
Tonight's episode: The Matador. Tony uses Sid's travel agency to book a holiday in Spain, little knowing that Sid also runs a bullfighting business....
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and with the classic score newly recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, the show stars Kevin McNally, Kevin Eldon, Simon Greenall, Robin Sebastian and Susy Kane. The Matador was last broadcast in October 1955.
Produced by Ed Morrish and Neil Pearson.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (b04mb11v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Across the Board (b04mhd5b)
Series 2
Demis Hassabis
Across The Board: a series of interviews conducted by Dominic Lawson over a game of chess. In this, the last of the series, Dominic takes on Demis Hassabis. Demis was a child chess prodigy, who moved into computer programming, and has just sold his company to Google for £400million.
FRI 12:15 You and Yours (b04mhg0d)
Proposed changes to MOTs; Number-spoofing fraud
Peter White looks at the criminals who are cheating us by hijacking the phone numbers of trusted companies.
The problems that arise when parents die without having made a will.
And the possible changes to MOTs that could see older cars no longer needing an annual check up.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b04mb11x)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b04mhg0g)
Analysis of current affairs reports, presented by Mark Mardell.
FRI 13:45 Voices of the First World War (b04mhd5d)
By Night
There are now no living veterans of WW1, but it is still possible to go back to the First World War through the memories of those who actually took part. In a unique partnership between the Imperial War Museums and the BBC, two sound archive collections featuring survivors of the war are brought together for the first time. The Imperial War Museums' holdings include a major oral history resource of remarkable recordings made in the 1980s and early 1990s with the remaining survivors of the conflict. The interviews were done not for immediate use or broadcast, but because it was felt that this diminishing resource that could never be replenished, would be of unique value in the future. Speakers recall in great detail as though it were yesterday the conditions of the trenches, the brutality of the battlefield, the experience of seeing their first casualty and hearing their first shell, their daily and nightly routines as soldiers, pilots or navy members of all ranks, and their psychological state in the face of so much trauma. This series will broadcast many of these recordings for the first time. Among the BBC's extensive collection of archive featuring first hand recollections of the conflict a century ago, are the interviews recorded for the 1964 TV series 'The Great War', which vividly bring to life the human experience of those fighting and living through the war.
Dan Snow narrates this new oral history, which will be broadcast in short seasons throughout the commemorative period.
Programme 5 - By Night
Dan Snow looks at soldiers' experiences at night on the battlefields of the Western Front during the early stages war, when they had to be more alert than during the day.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b04mgypv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 The Devil's Violin (b04mhd5g)
A magical, murderous, musical fairy tale by Lucy Rivers.
Life for 16-year-old Hannah is pretty miserable. Her mother's a drunk and her baby brother Gethin is an evil little gremlin child. But then one night she meets an alluring violinist who plays the most seductive melodies. He offers Hannah the chance to fulfil her darkest desires. How far will Hannah go to get what she wants?
A wickedly playful dark modern fable with an original score composed and performed by Lucy Rivers.
Guitarist ..... Dan Messore
Violinist ..... Lucy Rivers
Composer ..... Lucy Rivers
Director ..... Helen Perry
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
Lucy Rivers is a multi-talented writer, musician and performer. She's achieved great success with her company Gaggle Babble on acclaimed shows such as The Bloody Ballad - uniquely fusing music and theatre, humour and the macabre. The Devil's Violin is her first radio drama.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b04mhd5j)
Cambridge
Eric Robson chairs the horticultural panel programme from Cambridge. Chris Beardshaw, Bob Flowerdew and Christine Walkden take questions from the audience.
Produced by Darby Dorras
Assistant Producer: Hannah Newton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
This week's questions and answers:
Q. My Marjorie's Seedling Plum is normally prolific. This year, there was lots of fruit but it was tasteless. There was a large wound on the trunk, could this have anything to do with it?
A. The problem with a heavy crop is that the volume of fruit dilutes the sweetness. The tree may have contracted a bacterial disease through the wound - perhaps silver leaf is already affecting it. Next year, give it a big dose of manure and spray it with seaweed solution. Thinning may help. If it doesn't do any better, plant a 'Coe's Golden Drop' plum tree instead, it's even better!
Q. I have two Wisterias grown in the same place. One has thrived and one has not. What is going on? The Wisteria that is not doing well is a clear butter yellow, while the other looks healthy and is just beginning to get a bit of autumn colour.
A. This looks like a cultivation problem rather than a stock issue. This could mean the root is being compromised in some way; perhaps it has hit the foundations of the house? Minor changes in which the soil has been treated can affect the health of the plant. It's worth lifting the weak plant out and having a look at the soil profile and checking if there is any concrete or pipes down there (be careful not to rupture a gas or sewage pipe!) because this may be the source of the problem.
Q. How could I improve my Sweet Potato yield?
A. Don't grow them in the ground. Grow them in tubs or containers. Tie up the foliage into the sun; don't let it touch the ground.
Q. I planted crocuses under my apple tree beneath the turf. The crocuses grew up through the long grass. When I trimmed the grass with shears, there were bald patches. What should I have done differently?
A. Grass will get bald patches when it grows long, and Crocuses like free-draining conditions and lots of sunshine and so they will struggle in their current location. You could try growing Fritillaria Meleagris ('Snake's Head Fritillary') in the long grass instead. Try Camassias or just another variety of Crocus that thrives in damper, darker conditions like Colchicums ('Naked Ladies'). Mow the grass in the spring and summer and then let the grass grow for Autumn when the Colchicums will come through.
Q. The shoots and suckers of a Lilac grown in a hedge are taking over! What can I do?
A. This sounds like the Vulgaris species, it is very invasive and it will compromise other plants - so not a good choice for a hedge! Chris suggests letting one or two of the suckers to grow up to form a clear stem or multi stem plant that forms a canopy above the hedge rather than trying to incorporate it into the hedge. Bob disagrees, and thinks that Lilac can make a lovely hedge, just keep it under control with regular trimming.
Q. The plants in our small pond are getting overgrown, when is the best time to thin them out without disturbing the wildlife?
A. Bob says that there is no good time because the wildlife will be disturbed either way, but thinning in late November would minimise the disturbance. Take out as much water as possible before you thin and then pop it back in when you've finished because you don't want to put tap water in there.
Chris says that if you want to maximise the wildlife remaining in the pond after thinning, assemble a washing line above the pond and hang the removed plants on it so that any creepy-crawlies simply drip back into the pond. Leave the clearing to mid summer when the water is warmer and the larvae have moved on. You can clear the pond one section at a time.
Christine suggests you tell your neighbours what you're planning, because this can be dangerous. Eric suggests using a plastic hairbrush for removing the weeds.
Q. Could the panel suggest suitable rootstocks for apple trees that will be planted in less than ideal conditions?
A. Get a survey done of the site and then pay a visit to a rootstock expert like East Malling. Be warned that you won't be able to grow every apple variety well because some varieties need a very wet climate. Ensure that each plant has a custodian - someone to keep an eye on it and tend to its specific needs.
Q. What can I plant now that will look amazing within the next few weeks to wow a guest? I don't mind throwing money at it!
A. Autumn bulbs are the way to go. You can plant them in big swathes for a spectacular display.
FRI 15:45 Man About the House (b04mhd5l)
The Top Back by Andrew Martin
Three stories explore men's relationships with their homes:
1. The Top Back by Andrew Martin
When he was born, Clive's bedroom in the old house was full of toys. Decades
later he still seems to be there, surrounded by them all..
Reader: Paul Copley
Producer: Duncan Minshull.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b04mpr5w)
Jack Bruce, Gough Whitlam, Efua Dorkenoo, James Dunlop
Matthew Bannister on
Jack Bruce, the bassist, singer and principal songwriter of the sixties supergroup Cream. With Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, he changed the course of rock music. Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music pays tribute.
Efua Dorkenoo, the Ghana born nurse, who campaigned for thirty years to end the practice of female genital mutilation.
Gough Whitlam the Australian Labour Prime Minister who was spectacularly sacked by the Governor General after only three years in office.
And Glasgow firefighter James Dunlop who was awarded the George Medal for his courage in tackling the Cheapside Street fire which killed 14 of his colleagues and 5 members of the city's salvage corps.
FRI 16:30 Feedback (b04mpr5y)
Russell Brand was invited onto Radio 4's Start the Week to join a discussion on Revolution. But was he out of place on the panel of experts? Some listeners saw it as little more than blatant promotion of his latest book. The programme's editor, Rebecca Stratford, explains the thinking behind her decision.
Surround sound has long been enhancing mainstream cinema, and it's now made an appearance in BBC radio drama. And you don't need a 5.1 surround sound speaker set to hear it. So how does it work? All is revealed in a behind the scenes laboratory at BBC Research and Development, where the authentic sounds of World War 1 are brought to life.
John Humphrys recently declared on Feedback that UKIP is Britain's fourth political party - leading listeners to wonder if the Green Party ranked anywhere in his poll. With the 2015 General Election around the corner, how does the BBC determine which parties appear in its political debates? Breaking down the stats and figures behind the selection process is the BBC's Chief Political Advisor, Ric Bailey.
And how did two Radio 4 programmes get repeated minutes after their original broadcast?
Produced by Will Yates
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b04mhd5n)
Diana and Elise - Travelling Companions
Fi Glover introduces friends who are now in their 70s and have travelled to more than 30 countries since they caught the travel bug after bringing up their families.
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 (b04mpr60)
PM at
5pm- Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04mb121)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (b04mhd5q)
Series 85
Episode 2
A satirical review of the week's news, chaired by Sandi Toksvig, with Samira Ahmed, Susan Calman and Phill Jupitus, and regular panellist Jeremy Hardy.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b04mhd5s)
The Bull has got into the Halloween spirit with fancy dress and themed cocktails. Jolene and Fallon are dressed as Morticia and Wednesday Addams. Fallon's annoyed to see PC Burns there with Justine. Jolene is unsympathetic, as Fallon was the one who dumped him.
Jolene reads Harrison's palm, hinting at what he should do with his love life. Harrison asks Fallon for a proper catch up. She mockingly says he'll have to get Justine's permission.
Kenton persuades Brian to have his fortune told with tarot cards. As Kenton learns of Jennifer's ridiculous séance, he holds a séance of his own and tries to cheer up Fallon. The glass spells out the initials J O H N T R E G. Kenton insists it wasn't his doing.
Ruth's worried about Heather having another fall. She's rather tense with David, commenting sarcastically about Jill always seeming to know best. With Jill over at Carol's for a bridge lesson, David tries to get Ruth to relax and forget about Heather.
But their quiet night in together is ruined as Brian rushes round to Brookfield with news. The Council has chosen Route B as the preferred route for the new road. Stunned David sees this as the end for them at Brookfield. Ruth cries in despair.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b04mpr62)
Michael Bond on Paddington, Lloyd Newson, Edward Snowden documentary
Michael Bond, the creator of the much-loved Paddington Bear, joins Kirsty Lang. He'll be talking about writing in Paddington's voice for the first time in a new collection of letters to the bear's Aunt Lucy, Love From Paddington. And he reveals his role in the new Paddington film.
Documentary film maker Laura Poitras discusses Citizenfour, her film about being contacted by the mystery whistle blower who eventually revealed himself as Edward Snowden.
The dance theatre company DV8 premieres a new verbatim dance work, John, at the National Theatre. Artistic Director Lloyd Newson discusses the art of making a dance documentary.
And as pumpkins make their annual appearance, Adam Smith considers how what was once beyond the pale in horror films is now unremarkable.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Sarah Johnson.
FRI 19:45 Germany: Memories of a Nation (b04k6t31)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b04mhd5v)
David Blunkett MP, Ratna Lachman, Allison Pearson, Nadhim Zahawi MP
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from the Al Mahdi Mosque in Bradford with the former Home Secretary David Blunkett MP, Ratna Lachman Director of the civil liberties pressure group Just West Yorkshire, Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson, and Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b04mhd5x)
Cures for Anxiety
Adam Gopnik identifies four different types of anxiety that afflict modern people and suggests ways to cure them. "The job of modern humanists is to do consciously what Conan Doyle did instinctively: to make the thrill of the ameliorative, the joy of small reliefs, of the case solved and mystery dissipated and the worry ended, for now - to make those things as sufficient to live by as they are good to experience."
Producer: Sheila Cook.
FRI 21:00 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04mhd5z)
Omnibus
Episode 4
Prof Kathy Willis, Director of Science at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, with an omnibus edition of her history of our changing relationship with plants from the early 20th century.
She examines new insights into plant hormones during the first few decades of the 20th century, the manipulation of which underpinned the perceived success of the so called Green Revolution; unlocking biodiversity through the creation of plant flora encyclopaedias - and their influence in conservation; the surprising benefits to emerge from the devastation wreaked by the great storm of 1987; what can be gained by preserving the diversity of plants through seed banking; the legacy of Arabidopsis - the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced.
Producer Adrian Washbourne.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b04mb123)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b04mq07v)
Fiona Woolf resigns as chair of the historical child abuse inquiry. We hear from a friend of hers, discuss Teresa May's handling of the issue - and what happens to the inquiry now.
A Virgin Galactic passenger spaceship crashes during a test flight in the Mojave Desert in California. We assess the impact on Sir Richard Branson's global ambitions.
After two polls suggesting a collapse in Labour's vote in Scotland, we debate what is going wrong and how they could get themselves out of the hole.
Plus Jamie Coomarasamay in Kentucky for the US mid terms, and Caroline Wyatt on the launch of the "poppy hijab"
And we hear from the writer of a new song by African artists trying to raise money for the ebola epidemic.
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective. with David Eades.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04mhd61)
The Restoration of Otto Laird
Episode 5
A story of memory and place, old age and architecture.
"Otto had felt surprisingly nervous on the plane across from Geneva; not from any fear of flying, but a fear of what he was flying to. [...] Throughout the short flight he experienced a strange inner turbulence. He had a queasy sensation that he was re-establishing a connection with the past; flying backwards into his own memories. He would no longer be experiencing them from a distance, but in the city where they had once been real."
Architect Otto Laird has been living a semi-reclusive life with his second wife in Switzerland. But he is forced to re-engage with the wider world when he learns that his landmark building Marlowe House - a 1960s tower block in South London - has been marked for demolition.
Episode Five.
During filming, Otto recalls how the design for Marlowe House was achieved, and in particular the inspiration of his first wife, Cynthia.
Nigel Packer lives in London. He has been a music reviewer for BBC News Online and Ceefax, a reporting officer at the International Committee of the Red Cross and a contributor to various magazines and newspapers. The Restoration Of Otto Laird is his first novel.
Reader: Allan Corduner
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Rosalynd Ward
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:00 A Good Read (b04mcp9n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b04mhd7c)
Mark D'Arcy reports from Westminster.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b04mhd7f)
Gill and Mari - A Good Team
Fi Glover introduces a conversation about whether a massage can ever feel too close for comfort, and the ups and downs of a working relationship.
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.