The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with the Rev Dr Stephen Wigley.
Pig farmers are being warned to step up bio-security after a highly infectious disease was found to have arrived in Europe. Asian-American Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea - PED - has wiped out an estimated 8.5 million pigs in America since May last year. It's now been detected in Ukraine. Organisations are rolling out contingency plans in the UK soon.
Around 31 pubs across the UK close each week. Yet according to the real ale group Camra, 69% of pub-goers believe that a well-run pub is as important to rural life as a post office, local shop or community centre. Well many rural pubs are now finding niche ways to draw in custom and make them stand out from the rest - and for one in rural Gloucestershire - the Salutation Inn at Ham - this has meant rearing their own pigs.
Not everyone looks forward to Christmas. For some farmers it can be an extremely stressful time, especially for those living in very isolated areas. There are several helplines and advice services available for farmers to call, if they feel it's getting too much. The Farming Community Network keeps its lines open every day, and says with changes to the Common Agricultural Policy, this could be a difficult year.
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the hyacinth macaw of the Brazilian Pantanal. Raucous ear-piercing screeches are produced by one of the most beautiful parrots in the world, flying high over the marshy wetlands of the Pantanal. As their name suggests they are a rich cobalt blue, with sulphur-yellow eye rings with a massive bill and long elegant tail-feathers streaming behind them in flight, making them our longest parrot. Popular as captive caged birds, they are now endangered in the wild and legally protected in Brazil. They feed on palm nuts, including those of the acuri palm which are so hard that even the macaw's powerful bill can't break into them, until they've first passed through the digestive tracts of cattle.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Jonathan Freedland compares the current fashion for recording the details of our lives in digital photos and on social media with the 19th century obsession with keeping a diary.
Drummer Jimmy Cobb recalls playing with Miles Davis on the album that changed jazz for ever. Kind of Blue was recorded in just two sessions at 30th Street Studios in New York City in 1959.
A seasonal reading for clear and frosty nights, when the skies sparkle with thousands of dots forming half remembered, almost traceable shapes. These are the stories behind the names and shapes of the constellations that pattern the night sky.
Stories In The Stars by Susanna Hislop is read by a range of voices and accents from around the country and the globe. It might be one of the stories that the great Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy assigned to them in his masterwork that became known as the Almagest, or it might be a personified first person narration from the constellation Chameleon having a grumble about the number of different names and imagined shapes assigned to him over the millennia.
From Greco-Roman mythology to the lives of the eighteenth century astronomers, this is a delightful miscellany which gives us a reason to step outside, look up and wonder at the magic lantern show above us.
Orion is one of the most famous and recognisable figures in the night sky. Close by Taurus gallops across our night sky.
Listener, Mark Stewart on why he wants to raise the profile of stained glass artist Margaret Rope. Civil Partnerships for heterosexual couples. What support is there for young people experiencing domestic violence in relationships? Betsy Tobin on her novel Things We Couldn't Explain - and the history of virgin births. Leather, or the artificial alternative pleather, is in fashion. Dai Rees from the London College of Fashion gives his views on how to wear it and how to look after it.
Molesworth and his friend Peason explain the different types of masters and how best to deal with them.
Imelda Staunton stars as Nigel Molesworth, the Curse of St Custards, in this fresh adaptation of the notorious Goriller of 3B's guide to skool life for tiny pupils and their parents.
Aided by best friend Peason and thwarted by everyone from Grabber the skool bully to Wandsworth the skool dog, Nigel Molesworth teaches us the ins and outs of skool life - including how to avoid lessens and how to build your own H-bomb.
Molesworth ...... Imelda Staunton
Peason ...... Sophie Thompson
Grabber ...... Jack Farthing
Prudence ...... Jessica Brown Findlay
Mr Metcalf-Walker ...... Lewis Macleod
Adapted by Patrick Barlow and George Poles from the books by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle, with additional material by Abigail Wilson.
The Amur Falcon and the Swan Goose are both migrating birds. These birds, like many other migrating birds, need to rest, feed and refresh en route. Some journeys are thousands of miles and rich feeding habitat is disappearing for development. Wetlands, estuaries and coastlines are often the focus of industrial expansion, tourism and new housing, yet they are also the places most needed by migrating waders. Inland there are problems too as water bodies, scrub and insect rich grasslands are quickly taken over for agriculture and urban development. What can be done? In Nagaland in north-eastern India the Amur falcon has recently congregated at a newly built reservoir to feed on the rich insect life that it supports. Hundreds of thousands, millions even, of these small birds of prey come together for a few days and in the past have been heavily hunted and trapped for food. Yet local people, encouraged by NGOs and the churches, have decided to let the birds be. In America the migrating monarch butterfly is being helped by people planting nectar rich flowers and protecting the trees they like to roost in. Some of the challenges are huge, others easy to solve. Monty Don explores the trials of migration.
Elly Stone - a modest 87 year old New Yorker ("born and dragged up"), whose sublime voice will forever be associated with the songs of Belgian chanteur Jacques Brel - talks about her life in music.
In My Childhood, Song for Old Lovers, The Old Folks and Carousel she brings a new perspective to Brel's familiar emotional intensity and piercing social commentary.
20 years after her stage retirement, she offers a rare insight into her life and what music has meant to her - in a quiet New York studio, out on the streets of her bustling city and at Sardi's, the famous theatre restaurant.
Running through Elly's own story - from troubled childhood, through Broadway success, to marriage, motherhood and mid-life epiphany - there's a musical counterpoint that can be traced in the songs she famously made her own in the musical revue Jacques Brel's Alive and Well and Living in Paris.
Call You & Yours: what would you do to ease the pressure on A&E units; 25% of people who attend ought not to- could charging people who don't need to use it be the answer?
Over takeaway sushi in his London kitchen, American essayist and humorist David Sedaris talks to Nina Myskow about being greedy, good at dieting - for his regular book tours - and how he stopped wanting to eat the condiments after he gave up smoking drugs.
David's large, idiosyncratic family must play some part in his obsession with second helpings. From a thrifty father who hoarded titbits and clipped money-off coupons for the weekly grocery shop to a mother who spent hours in conversation with her six children around the dinner table, he still worries that there'll never be enough.
His boyfriend orders for him in restaurants and cooks elaborate meals like rabbit in mustard and cream sauce but he still relishes the thought of a huge hamburger called the 'Widow-maker' and a side order of spinach that comes in a dish the size of a mixing bowl.
"The hard thing about being on a diet is getting off of it" he explains, before recounting the unpleasant side effects of some French pharmacy diet pills he took, in order to get into his 'tour pants.' Eating on tour can be difficult so he orders supper at each venue and takes a bite in between signing books.
He also tells Nina about his love of Mr Whippy ice cream, sticky toffee pudding and why eating chocolate is like eating drain cleaner.
What would he choose for his last meal on earth? A comforting dish his mother used to make.
It's 1932, and the Chicago Beefsteak's Hour of Charm is the most successful programme on Midwest US radio. Tonight's live broadcast stars famous husband and wife team of composer/lyricists Grant Thornhill and Jean Forsythe. Gambling Grant is in debt to gangster Brannigan but a new song might just save the day.
Alexander McCall Smith explores the work of writers and their popular characters from literature, drama and comedy.
With contributions from Mark Haddon, Lee Hall, William Boyd, Helen Fielding and Adil Ray he examines the process of generating character and how creations such as Billy Elliot and Bridget Jones came into existence and infiltrated our lives.
Hilary Mantel explains the method of reimagining real life characters and McCall Smith offers insights into his own creation Precious Ramotswe and whether she's now part of public ownership.
Throughout the programme McCall Smith reveals that characters can be as enticing, vibrant and tangible as real people, allowing us to reflect on the world around us and accompany them on their journeys.
Some of the material was broadcast previously as part of Radio 4's Character Invasion.
Michael Rosen talks to Oxfam's media officer on Ebola, Ian Bray, about the language we use about the disease, both in this country and in Liberia, where he's been based. Michael also asks linguists Louise Sylvester and Laura Wright about the words we've used though history to describe disease and plague, and what they tell us about changing attitudes to sickness.
Brian Eno has worked with David Bowie, David Byrne and U2 but his choice of Great Life is not a rock star but the sociologist Lord Young of Dartington.
Michael Young wrote the Labour Party's 1945 election manifesto, researched slum clearance in the East End of London, set up the Consumers' Association, coined the word "meritocracy", co-founded the Open University and planned the colonisation of Mars.
With the help of Michael's son Toby, Brian considers the life and work of one of the architects of post-war Britain.
One of the most popular radio sitcoms of the past ten years bows out with a special double episode. As Martin decides whether to take his new job, is this the end for MJN Air? And just what has Arthur painted on the side of the van?
With the show titles running alphabetically from the first ever episode - "Abu Dhabi" through to this double finale "Zurich" - the cast and crew of MJN Air discover that whether it's choosing an ice-cream flavour, putting a princess in a van or remembering your grandmother's name, no job is too small, but many, many jobs are too difficult.
Phoebe rejects Roy's Christmas gift to her, a tablet. Kate had got in first and bought Phoebe an iPad. Besides, declares Phoebe, Roy will never have enough money to buy her forgiveness.
As stung Roy tries to leave, he is confronted by angry Kate. She can't believe he would come visiting unbidden, and upset Phoebe like that. Roy pleads his side of the story, and begs Kate to talk Phoebe round. After all, Kate is hardly a role model herself. Kate refuses. Adam tells Roy to keep his pecker up His sister always speaks before she thinks. Roy promises he'll try.
Lynda's technical rehearsal has been a disaster. Roy offers to do a double shift at Grey Gables on Christmas Eve, so that she can squeeze in another rehearsal. She's very grateful. Roy's fine with it; it's not as if he has anything better to do.
Adam is not looking forward to the party with the Borchester Land board, and more specifically Charlie Thomas. Kate detects a frisson, but Adam brushes it off.
At the party, Adam receives a very generous Secret Santa gift - an engraved hipflask. Charlie showers him with compliments about his work. But when Charlie suggests they go on to a club in town, Adam declines. Maybe another time.
Unbroken is Angelina Jolie's second film as director. Starring British actor Jack O'Connell it tells the story of US Olympian Louis Zamperini who was captured during WW2 and sent to a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Mark Eccleston reviews.
Mercury Prize winners Young Fathers discuss the origins of the band and why they strive to avoid simple classification.
Miranda Richardson discusses her role with Anna Chancellor in a new TV version of Mapp and Lucia.
At an exhibition of his photographs in London, dance star Mikhail Baryshnikov explains how smuggled European magazines inspired his love of photography when he was growing up in 1960s Russia.
The Islamic State has been described as one of the most brutal terrorist organisations currently fighting in the Middle East and one with the most sophisticated (social) media strategy. Much of their expansion is not happening on the ground but online through videos, magazines and blogs they publish.
In 'Terror and the Oxygen of Publicity' Gordon Corera, the BBC Security Correspondent, examines the jihadists' social media strategy, the attempts to combat it, and how media organisations tread the fine line of giving publicity to terrorists and reporting the news.
Peter White is joined by Tony Shearman, who finds himself dating again after a long-term relationship and opera singer Denise Leigh, who is now happily married following an earlier divorce.
The three share their experiences of dating, some with disastrous consequences and others more successful.
A show with a touch of magic, as Claudia discovers how magicians and conjurers use the power of our own beliefs as well as the power of suggestion, to perform their tricks. Professor Chris French, Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London, describes his latest study where a fake psychic bends keys using "psychokinetic" energy. Belief in the paranormal and the influence of others who claim to have seen the key bend, both affect what we see and remember.
And the use of hypnosis in science and medicine. Former President of the Section for Hypnosis and Psychosomatic Medicine at the Royal Society of Medicine, Dr Peter Naish, describes how this altered brain state is providing a useful new tool for researchers investigating how our brains function, as well as clinicians treating patients in the NHS.
Claudia visits the hypnosis unit at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College, London, and finds out about a unique study that has volunteers, hypnotised, in a brain scanner while "thoughts" are inserted in their brains. The result: automatic writing. Just like Caravaggio, 400 years ago, painted St Matthew, inspired and directed by an angel as he wrote the Bible, volunteers in this study are told "an engineer" is inserting thoughts into their heads and controlling their hand movements as they write. Dr Quinton Deeley, Dr Eamonn Walsh and Dr Mitul Mehta tell Claudia how their research is shining light on our brains and the nature of thought and consciousness.
E M Delafield was great friends with Margaret Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda, and became a director of Time and Tide magazine. When the editor "wanted some light 'middles', preferably in serial form, she promised to think of something". And so it was, in 1930, that her most popular and enduring work The Diary of a Provincial Lady was written. It has never been out of print.
The Diary of a Provincial Lady charts the day-to-day life of a Devonshire-dwelling lady and her attempts to keep her somewhat ramshackle household from falling into chaos.
Husband Robert, when he's not snoozing behind The Times, does everything with grumbling reluctance. Her children are gleefully troublesome. A succession of tricky servants invariably seem to gain the upper hand. And if her domestic trials are not enough, she must keep up appearances - particularly with the maddeningly patronising Lady Boxe, with whom our Provincial Lady eternally (and unsuccessfully) endeavours to compete.
This largely autobiographical novel substituted the names of "Robin" and "Vicky" for her own children, Lionel and Rosamund.
Comedian Andrew O'Neill looks at what makes up our sexual identity and why some people are so offended by homosexuality.
What lies underneath their hostility and what other sorts of sexuality there might be?
Andrew is a married, heterosexual transvestite. As such he totally confuses some people who assume he's gay, offends some who can't cope with the outfits and baffles people who aren't sure what he's all about.
Aziraphale consults Agnes's prophesies in the hunt for the antichrist, the Witchfinder Army send Newt to Tadfield, and the Horsepersons of the Apocalypse continue to be summoned.
With a cast led by Peter Serafinowicz and Mark Heap, this is the first ever dramatisation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens.
Events have been set in motion to bring about the End of Days. The armies of Good and Evil are gathering and making their way towards the sleepy English village of Lower Tadfield. The Four Horsepersons of the Apocalypse - War, Famine, Pollution and Death - have been summoned from the corners of the earth and are assembling.
Witchfinder Sergeant Shadwell and his assistant Newton Pulsifier are also en route to Tadfield to investigate some unusual phenomena in the area, while Anathema Device, descendent of prophetess and witch Agnes Nutter, tries to decipher her ancestor's cryptic predictions about exactly where the impending Apocalypse will take place.
Atlantis is rising, fish are falling from the sky; everything seems to be going to the Divine Plan.
Everything that is but for the unlikely duo of an angel and a demon who are not all that keen on the prospect of the forthcoming Rapture. Aziraphale (once an angel in the Garden of Eden, but now running an antiquarian bookshop in London), and Crowley (formerly Eden's snake, now driving around London in shades and a vintage Bentley) have been living on Earth for several millennia and have become rather fond of the place. But if they are to stop Armageddon taking place they've got to find and kill the one who will the one bring about the apocalypse: the Antichrist himself.
Crowley ...... Peter Serafinowicz
Aziraphale ...... Mark Heap
Major Pulsifer ...... Ben Crowe
Agnes Nutter ...... Josie Lawrence
Anathema Device ...... Charlotte Ritchie
Newton Pulsifer ...... Colin Morgan
Shadwell ...... Clive Russell
Madame Tracy ...... Julia Deakin
Lopez ...... Mitch Benn
Blake ...... Theo Maggs
Wasabi Computer ...... Andy Secombe
Carmine Zuigiber ...... Rachael Stirling
Chalk ...... Harry Lloyd
Death ...... Jim Norton
International Express ...... Ron Cook
Anforth ...... Nicholas Briggs
Nick Grimshaw ...... Himself
Martha Kearney ...... Herself
Neil Sleat ...... Himself
Adam ...... Adam Thomas Wright
Pepper ...... Hollie Burgess
Wensleydale ...... Bobby Fuller
Brian ...... Lewis Andrews
WEDNESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2014
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b04vd4n3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b04vdy10)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04vd4n5)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04vd4n7)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04vd4n9)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b04vd4nc)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04vf6t9)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with the Rev Dr Stephen Wigley.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b04vf6tc)
Welsh TB, Vet at Christmas, Dairy at Christmas
With the latest on the TB eradication programme in Wales, and hearing about a vet's working Christmas, Anna Hill presents the Christmas Eve edition of Farming Today.
Dr Christianne Glossop, the Chief Veterinary Officer in Wales, calls for full compliance by Welsh farmers with the TB-eradication programme. This is in the light of a farmer who was convicted of falsifying documents relating to bovine TB tests has had his appeal against conviction turned down by the High Court.
Like all livestock farmers, vets work every day of the year, and Christmas can be even busier than other times of the year, because many farms are calving and lambing. Molly McKay from Norfolk Farm Vets shows Anna what her working Christmas is like.
And it's not just vets who'll be working on Christmas day. Lucy Bickerton joins Rob Harrison, the NFU's dairy board chairman, for morning milking on his farm in the Cotswolds.
Presented by Anna Hill and Produced by Mark Smalley.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0lwc)
House Wren
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the house wren found across the New World. Having one of the largest ranges of any songbird in the New World, the migratory house wren occurs anywhere from their breeding grounds in Canada and North America, to their to wintering grounds from Central America to Chile. The male house wren's song is a torrent of trills delivered at full volume from his territory of shrubs, low trees and ferny banks. Diminutive he may be but he's feisty and is known to drag other birds' eggs or chicks from a nest-hole he wants for himself. In parts of North America, house wrens are a significant cause of nest failure in some other species of songbirds.
WED 06:00 Today (b04vf6tf)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b04vf6th)
Barbara Dickson; Mike McShane; Dr Sarah Coombes; Giles Abbott
Libby Purves meets singer Barbara Dickson; actor Mike McShane; medic Dr Sarah Coombes and storyteller Giles Abbott.
Dr Sarah Coombes is a consultant with the Ambulance Service of New South Wales (ASNSW). She appears in a new series of Helicopter Heroes Down Under which follows British medics and pilots working in Australia. She is in charge of recruiting new doctors for ASNSW as well as attending emergency calls - covering around 7 million people in a 300-400 km radius. Helicopter Heroes Down Under Series 2 is on BBC1.
Barbara Dickson OBE is a Scottish singer and actor. Her new album, Winter, includes 11 of her favourite seasonal songs; such as Silence of the Dawn by ABBA's Benny Andersson. Her hits include Another Suitcase in Another Hall and she has appeared in stage shows including Blood Brothers and John, Paul, George, Ringo... and Bert. Winter is released by Chariot Records. Barbara will be touring the UK in 2015.
Mike McShane is an American actor, writer and comedian. He is currently in the Stephen Sondheim musical Assassins, which explores the history of American would-be presidential assassins and those who succeeded - from John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Mike joined the army at 18 before taking up acting at San Francisco State University. He appeared on TV shows such as Whose Line Is It Anyway? and played Friar Tuck in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Assassins is at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London.
Giles Abbott is a professional storyteller. He will be touring his new show, Tongues of Flame, based on the life of British explorer, writer and translator, Richard F Burton. Giles started storytelling in 1999 in response to his sudden and serious, but not total, sight loss the year before. Formerly resident storyteller for the Chelsea Community Hospital School, Giles is a trained voice teacher. Tongues of Flame is touring.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b04vf6tk)
Stories in the Stars
24/12/2014
A seasonal reading for clear and frosty nights, when the skies sparkle with thousands of dots forming half remembered, almost traceable shapes. These are the stories behind the names and shapes of the constellations that pattern the night sky.
Stories In The Stars by Susanna Hislop is read by a range of voices and accents from around the country and the globe. It might be one of the stories that the great Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy assigned to them in his masterwork that became known as the Almagest, or it might be a personified first person narration from the constellation Chameleon having a grumble about the number of different names and imagined shapes assigned to him over the millennia.
From Greco-Roman mythology to the lives of the eighteenth century astronomers, this is a delightful miscellany which gives us a reason to step outside, look up and wonder at the magic lantern show above us.
Readers: Noma Dumezweni, Jessica Gunning, Colman Domingo
Episode Three:
A Unicorn – the constellation Monoceros is as likely to exist as Father Christmas.
Abridged, directed and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04vf6tm)
First women in the family to go to university
A couple of years ago we, we did a series about the first woman in the family to go to university. Jane Garvey catches up with two of them, Emma James and Charmaine Dixey, to hear what impact studying for a degree has made on their lives and career choices.
Approaching the anniversary of Benazir Bhutto's assignation, Christina Lamb talks about her close relationship with Pakistan's former Prime Minister.
Listener Karel Lush explains her fondness for tribute bands as she takes us on a '70's night out.
Plus a Christmas cracker from ALISON STEADMAN and your stories of spending Christmas not necessarily with family but with friends and neighbours.
Presented by Jane Garvey.
Producer Beverley Purcell
Guest; Christina Lamb.
WED 10:40 15 Minute Drama (b04vf6z5)
The Skool Days of Nigel Molesworth
Lessens and How to Avoyd Them
Molesworth's efforts to explain the best way to bunk off class are thwarted by the fact all the masters seem to have disappeared.
Can he and Peason find the missing teachers in time to avoyd their lessens?
Imelda Staunton stars as Nigel Molesworth, the Curse of St Custards, in this fresh adaptation of the notorious Goriller of 3B's guide to skool life for tiny pupils and their parents.
Aided by best friend Peason and thwarted by everyone from Grabber the skool bully to Wandsworth the skool dog, Nigel Molesworth teaches us the ins and outs of skool life - including how to avoid lessens and how to build your own H-bomb.
Molesworth ...... Imelda Staunton
Peason ...... Sophie Thompson
Grabber ...... Jack Farthing
Prudence ...... Jessica Brown Findlay
Headmaster ...... Patrick Barlow
Latin Master ...... Lewis Macleod
Adapted by Patrick Barlow and George Poles from the books by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle, with additional material by Abigail Wilson.
Director: Patrick Barlow
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2014.
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b04vf6z7)
Lily and Matilda - Best Friends
Fi Glover with friends who had their share of disagreements through primary school and were about to start new schools on opposite sides of town when this conversation was recorded.
This conversation was first broadcast on R4 on 22/11/2013.
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 One Day in Winter: Driving Home for Christmas (b04wgsmt)
Each year nearly 15 and a half million people travel home for the festive period. Just a few of them share their stories as they head home.
Long journeys, short journeys, each trip is for a reason and each trip will trigger a multitude of emotions.
This programme captures those feelings: from the excitement of Christmas that never seems to leave us, the feeling of relief of making it to a safe haven after a difficult year, the feeling of uncertainty and fear of how Christmas will play out, the feeling of stress from the actual journey. Tension levels increase depending on the weather and traffic conditions and the kids in the back of the car gradually getting more and more bored, chiming 'Are we nearly there yet?' every five minutes.
The great Christmas getaway is always wildly anticipated but often fraught and highly stressful: are all the kids in the car, is the snow going to come, will we get caught in a jam?
Feelings and emotions galore as travellers make their journeys home.
Producer: Martin Poyntz-Roberts
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2014.
WED 11:30 David Sedaris: The Santaland Diaries (b04vf7nc)
David Sedaris wasn't always an award-winning writer and satirist. For two consecutive Christmases in the early 1990s, he was a Christmas elf at Santaland in the famous New York department store, Macy's. These are hilarious extracts from his diaries at the time.
"My costume is green. I wear moss-colored velvet breeches, an emerald smock, and a stocking cap decorated with spangles. This is my work uniform. My elf name is Crumpet, and I was allowed to chose it myself, which is something."
The Santaland Diaries drew David's writing to the attention of America and the World. He hasn't read them out loud for nearly twenty years - but has agreed to read them once more for BBC Radio 4.
The original recording of the story, made for Morning Edition on America's National Public Radio (NPR), has been aired every Christmas since it was first broadcast. A very much shortened version was also recorded by David for Radio 4 in 1996.
Crumpet, the little elf in the perky green cap, is re-born - and you'll never hear Billie Holiday in the same way ever again.
Writer/Performer: David Sedaris
Produced by Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:00 News Summary (b04vd4nf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 Home Front (b04vf7nf)
24 December 1914 - Joe Macknade
It's Christmas Eve and one keen young man has an appointment to keep.
Written by: Shaun McKenna
Directed and produced by: Lucy Collingwood
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
WED 12:15 You and Yours (b04vf7nh)
Why are there so many unwanted dogs?
In the UK, almost anybody can breed and sell dogs. At any time, thousands of them are for sale online.
Each year, more than 100,000 strays are collected by councils and more than 7000 of them are put to sleep.
Winifred Robinson looks at why the market for dogs is producing so many unwanted animals.
Winifred visits Dogs Trust Manchester to see how stray animals are assessed and judged to be safe for rehoming. Author and animal behaviour expert John Bradshaw explains what dogs need from humans, and how science has changed our understanding of successful training.
Editor of Dogs Today, Beverley Cuddy, explains how breeding and selling could be improved, and how other countries approach dog welfare. We also hear from the founders of the Open Paw training programme in Berkeley, California.
And Winifred visits Ralph, a lurcher who survived a fire at Manchester Dogs Home in September 2014, to see how he's getting on with his new family.
Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Joel Moors
(Photo: Dawn Bishop from Dogs Trust Manchester, Winifred Robinson, Gypsy the poodle).
WED 12:57 Weather (b04vd4nh)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b04vf7q4)
Analysis of current affairs reports, presented by Mark Mardell.
WED 13:45 Food for Thought (b0368fwm)
Series 3
Mary Portas
At breakfast at her favourite local cafe, retail guru Mary Portas remembers fighting for scraps as the fourth child in a large Irish family in the 1970s.
As the Government's 'Queen of Shops', she tells Nina Myskow how her passion for the local High Street came from losing her mother at the age of 16, and needing to provide for herself and her younger brother.
Over porridge and a flat white, Mary contemplates the emotion and experiences behind her love of good food and a full fridge. With another young mouth to feed, who does the cooking now in her household?
And she talks about the relationship between food and sex, and admits to a love of fine wine and cheap chocolate.
Producer: Rebecca Maxted
A Wise Buddah production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b04vf25g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b04vf8dr)
Big Broadcast
Culture
Words and Music by Neil Brand
It's 1933 and Radio Station WKAZ Chicago delivers live radio every week from its theatre. Today, however, the Dusenberg Hour of Charm is threatened by the disappearance of its sponsor. The arrival of a new owner heralds a new high-culture focus much to the dismay of the regular crew.
Singers
Helen Neeves, Vanessa Heine, Edward Saklatvala, John Ward
Director: David Hunter.
WED 15:00 A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (b04vf8dt)
Live from the Chapel of King's College, Cambridge
Hymn: Once in Royal David's City (desc. Cleobury)
Bidding Prayer read by the Dean
A Babe is Born (Mathias)
First lesson: Genesis 3 vv 8-19 read by a Chorister
Remember, O Thou Man (Ravenscroft)
Adam Lay Ybounden (Ledger)
Second lesson: Genesis 22 vv 15-18 read by a Choral Scholar
One Star, at Last (Maxwell Davies)
In Dulci Jubilo (Praetorius)
Third lesson: Isaiah 9 vv 2, 6-7 read by a Representative of the Cambridge Churches
Sussex Carol (arr. Willcocks)
Hymn: Unto us is born a Son (arr. Willcocks)
Fourth lesson: Isaiah 11 vv 1-3a, 4a, 6-9 read by a Representative of the City of Cambridge
A Spotless Rose (Howells)
There Is No Rose (Medieval)
Fifth lesson: Luke 1 vv 26-38 read by a Representative of the sister College at Eton
Gabriel's Message (arr. Pettman)
Joys Seven (arr. Cleobury)
Sixth lesson: Luke 2 vv 1 -7 read by the Chaplain
Lullaby (Birtwistle)
In The Bleak Midwinter (Holst)
Seventh lesson: Luke 2 vv 8-16 read by the Director of Music
L'adieu des Bergers (Berlioz)
Hymn: God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (arr. Willcocks)
Eighth lesson: Matthew 2 vv 1-12 read by the Vice-Provost
De Maria Virgine (Rütti - newly commissioned)
Ding, Dong, Merrily on High (arr. Wilberg/Stevens)
Ninth lesson: John 1 vv 1-14 read by the Provost
Hymn: O come, all ye faithful (arr. Willcocks)
Blessing
Hymn: Hark, the Herald Angels Sing (desc. Cleobury)
Organ voluntaries:
In dulci jubilo (BWV 729) (Bach)
Symphony No. 6 in g minor Finale: Vivace (Widor) [broadcast on Radio 3 on Christmas Day only]
Director of Music: Stephen Cleobury
Organ Scholar: Douglas Tang
Producer: Philip Billson
For many people around the world, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, live from the candlelit Chapel of King's College, Cambridge, marks the beginning of Christmas. It is based around nine Bible readings which tell the story of the loving purposes of God. They are interspersed with carols old and new, sung by the world-famous chapel choir who also lead the congregation in traditional Christmas hymns.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b04vf8dw)
ABC President Paul Lee; Monty the penguin; filming Arctic wolves; John Sergeant on John Freeman.
US entertainment group ABC has brought such classics as Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy to TV. As president since 2010, Paul Lee is responsible for all development, programming and scheduling. He joins Steve to discuss the enduring popularity of Modern Family, the importance of diversity in the commissioning process, and how research into the Great Depression, of all things, has influenced recent dramas on ABC.
BBC2's natural history offering this Christmas, The Snow Wolf Family and Me, is promising an intimate portrait of Arctic wolves. The presenter wildlife filmmaker Gordon Buchanan explains how with a small crew he got up close and personal with a pack of wild wolves in the Arctic. With them, Caroline Hawkins, filmmaker and creative director at Oxford Scientific Films. They discuss whether Gordon's back to basics, hands-on approach is a turning point in a genre that has become increasingly reliant on high-tech gadgetry.
John Lewis' Monty the Penguin Christmas advert has made the humble penguin the surprise media sensation of the year. The two-minute tale of a boy and his imaginary feathered friend has driven up sales of penguin toys and all-important John Lewis brand awareness. Ewen Brown, the producer of Monty the Penguin explains what is involved in making an ad with viral potential and why the penguin stole the public's hearts.
The journalist, diplomat and Labour MP John Freeman has died at the age of 99. He was perhaps best known for his interviews with public figures like Martin Luther King and Tony Hancock for BBC television series Face to Face. He was renowned for his persistence and direct approach as an interviewer. Former political editor and correspondent John Sergeant talks about his style and legacy.
Producer: Katy Takatsuki.
Editor: Karen Dalziel.
WED 17:00 PM (b04vf8dy)
PM at
5pm- Paddy O'Connell with interviews, context and analysis.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04vd4nk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:15 Christmas With... (b04vf8f0)
Damien Trench - Christmas Eve
Christmas is finally here and yet there's still room for things to go wrong. But don't worry renowned cookery writer Damien Trench is on hand to offer survival tips, recipes and insights into how he copes so that the only hiccups you encounter on Christmas Day are merely of the gastric variety.
WED 18:30 Cabin Pressure (b04vf959)
Series 5
Zurich, Part 2
One of the most popular radio sitcoms of the past ten years bows out with a special double episode. In this second and concluding part, as the crew embark on a race against time, just what is Gerti's secret? And will it be happy ever after for Carolyn and Herc?
With the show titles running alphabetically from the first ever episode - "Abu Dhabi" through to this double finale "Zurich" - the cast and crew of MJN Air discover that whether it's choosing an ice-cream flavour, putting a princess in a van or remembering your grandmother's name, no job is too small, but many, many jobs are too difficult.
Starring Stephanie Cole as Carolyn Knapp-Shappey, Roger Allam as 1st Officer Douglas Richardson, Benedict Cumberbatch as Captain Martin Crieff and John Finnemore as Arthur Shappey.
With special guests including Anthony Head and Timothy West.
Written by John Finnemore
Produced and Directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b04vf95c)
Carol urges Jill to take things a bit easier, and consider her own needs more. The doctor has given Jill the all clear over her chest pain, but Carol sees it as a symptom of a greater heartache. She feels Jill is not reconciled to the idea of Brookfield being sold.
At the Nine Lessons and Carols service, Pat becomes tearful. She doesn't know what she'd do if she lost Tony. Jill reassures her. Tony will pull through. He has people who love him, and everyone is praying for him. Comforted, Pat heads home.
Carol gives Jill flowers for Phil, and suggests she has a quiet moment at his grave.
Pat is very down, and matters aren't made any better when Johnny presents the family with a Christmas tree. He hadn't realised there was a Bridge Farm tradition, this year disrupted by Tony's injury. But Tom relents and encourages Johnny to go ahead. He's sure Dad would still want them to have a tree.
Pat discovers them in the middle of cheerful decorating, and at first is taken aback. But she has to admit it's lovely. She gives Johnny the honour of putting John's pig at the top of the tree - the finishing touch.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b04vf7nm)
John Kander on Cabaret, The Scottsboro Boys and Chicago
Kirsty Lang talks to John Kander, composer of Cabaret, New York New York and Chicago and one half of Broadway partnership Kander and Ebb.
87 year old John Kander discusses The Scottsboro Boys, his final work with lyricist Fred Ebb, which is currently a hit in London's West End.
How he and Ebb discovered Liza Minnelli, and why Judi Dench remains his favourite Sally Bowles (Cabaret) on stage.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b04vf6z5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:40 today]
WED 20:00 Pass the Turkey Twizzlers (b04vf95h)
Has the middle class obsession with organic, artisan and locally sourced food gone too far?
Lucy Kellaway hosts an argumentative dinner party where all the debates are about food. Her guests are the columnist India Knight, the presenter of Radio 4's The Food Programme Sheila Dillon and the author of Bad Science Ben Goldacre.
Producer: Mark Turner.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (b04vf95m)
Series 4
Art, Design and Politics
Paola Antonelli explores the politics in art and design.
The curator of design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Paola uses examples from a recent exhibition to show how curatorial decisions can be extremely political, and to examine the role of museums and curators in stimulating political debate and discussion.
The programme is presented by Amanda Stern, from McNally Jackson Books in New York City.
Producer: Giles Edwards.
WED 21:00 Frontiers (b04vf95r)
Virtual Therapy
"e-Therapy" has come a long way since the (slightly tongue in cheek) days of ELIZA, a very early attempt at computer based psychotherapy. ELIZA was little more than an algorithm that spotted patterns in words and returned empty, yet meaningful-sounding questions back at the user.
All sorts of e-therapies are now available to help low-moderate level mental health issues.
But could Virtual Reality technology bring the next great leap in our understanding of mental processes, and, in turn, be the basis of future psychotherapies? Quentin Cooper meets some of the researchers trying to find out.
WED 21:30 Midweek (b04vf6th)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b04vd4nm)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b04vf95x)
In this special edition of the programme, we examine the future of the National Health Service. Can better care in the community end the 'crisis' of full hospitals and overwhelmed Accident and Emergency services. Opinion polls suggest that voters see the NHS as one of the most important political issues in the UK, so it will be a key issue in the 2015 General Election. But is anyone prepared to pay more? Presented by Ritula Shah.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04vf960)
The Diary of a Provincial Lady
EM Delafield - The Diary of a Provincial Lady
E M Delafield was great friends with Margaret Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda, and became a director of Time and Tide magazine. When the editor "wanted some light 'middles', preferably in serial form, she promised to think of something". And so it was, in 1930, that her most popular and enduring work The Diary of a Provincial Lady was written. It has never been out of print.
The Diary of a Provincial Lady charts the day-to-day life of a Devonshire-dwelling lady and her attempts to keep her somewhat ramshackle household from falling into chaos.
Husband Robert, when he's not snoozing behind The Times, does everything with grumbling reluctance. Her children are gleefully troublesome. A succession of tricky servants invariably seem to gain the upper hand. And if her domestic trials are not enough, she must keep up appearances - particularly with the maddeningly patronising Lady Boxe, with whom our Provincial Lady eternally (and unsuccessfully) endeavours to compete.
This largely autobiographical novel substituted the names of "Robin" and "Vicky" for her own children, Lionel and Rosamund.
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Read by Claire Skinner
Produced by Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:00 The Lach Chronicles (b04vf964)
Series 2
Home on the Range
Lach was the King of Manhattan's East Village and host of the longest running open mic night in New York. He now lives in Scotland and finds himself back at square one, playing in a dive bar on the wrong side of Edinburgh.
His eccentric night, held in various venues around New York, was called the Antihoot. Never quite fitting in and lost somewhere lonely between folk and punk music, Lach started the Antifolk movement. He played host to Suzanne Vega, Jeff Buckley and many others. He discovered and nurtured lots of talent including Beck, Regina Spektor and the Moldy Peaches - but nobody discovered him.
In this episode, Lach recalls the genesis of his career and - ultimately - his independent life. Always an outsider, his young rejection of aspiration and fledgling discoveries of Messrs Bruce and Bob led Lach to a salvation he still holds dear.
Producer: Richard Melvin
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2014.
WED 23:15 Mission Improbable (b01p4254)
Series 1
Splash!
A brand new series of high octane mini-adventures, written by and starring The Boom Jennies - Anna Emerson, Lizzie Bates and Catriona Knox.
When cub reporter Jane arrives in Tintagel to get an interview with Cornwall's oldest whelk fisherman, her long-suffering companions could be forgiven if they were a little reluctant to tag along. Not a bit of it. Spinster-in-waiting Lucy has her eye on Jane's septuagenarian man of the sea, and zoo assistant Amelia has her mind fixed on dolphins. But as they head out into the bay to intercept the aged shellfish gatherer, the speed of Amelia's rowing sets them on a very different course - one of world records, mountainous seas and near misses with oil tankers.
Will Jane get her story? Will Lucy catch the man of her dreams? Will Amelia remember to take the lens cap off her binoculars? All these questions will be answered before their plucky rowing boat spies land once more.
Jane ................ Catriona Knox
Lucy .................Lizzie Bates
Amelia ..............Anna Emerson
Bill ................... Paul Ryan
Written by Anna Emerson, Lizzie Bates and Catriona Knox
Audio production by Matt Katz
Produced by Dave Lamb and Richie Webb
A Top Dog Production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:30 Midnight Mass (b04vf968)
A Venetian-style First Mass of Christmas with splendid Gabrieli motets and Palestrina's Missa Hodie Christus Natus Est (Today Christ is Born) make for a very special atmosphere as the Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols celebrates the First Mass of Christmas live from Westminster Cathedral. The vibrant sounds of traditional sackbutts and cornets played by the vituoso English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble will echo and re-echo around the cathedral exploiting its unique spacial properties. The service closes with the resplendent brass and organ voluntary: Hodie Christus Natus Est by Heinrich Schutz. The renowned choir of Westminster Cathedral is directed by Master of Music Martin Baker and the organ is played by the Assistant Master of Music Peter Stevens. Cathedral Administrator: Canon Christopher Tuckwell; Precentor: Fr Alexander Master. Producer: Clair Jaquiss.
THURSDAY 25 DECEMBER 2014
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04vd4pm)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04vd4pp)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04vd4pr)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b04vd4pt)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04vfczc)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with the Rev Dr Stephen Wigley.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b04vfczf)
Away in a Manger - Farmyard Nativity
For a special Christmas morning programme, Farming Today joins farmers, children and parishioners for the annual Bittadon nativity staged in a barn at a dairy farm.
Church Farm nestles between Dartmoor, Exmoor and the Devon coast and has been in the Houlton family for three generations. They produce milk, butter and traditional clotted Devon cream.
Each year after the afternoon milking on a night just before Christmas; the Houltons are joined by 300 people for a nativity play in one of their barns.
Children, animals and local parishioners keep the spirit of Christmas alive by re-enacting the Christmas story where it all began - it a lowly cowshed.
Produced by Sybil Ruscoe.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0ly5)
Christmas Shearwater
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
On Christmas Day, Sir David Attenborough presents the Christmas shearwater. 2000km south of Hawaii the highly marine Christmas shearwater is at home over the Central Pacific seas, tirelessly riding the air-currents, skimming wave-crests and hugging the contours of the sea looking for food. They rarely come to land as adults, but when they do, it is to return to their place of birth on remote oceanic islands to breed. Here they form loose colonies, laying a single white egg which is incubated for around 50 days. Inhabiting these far flung inaccessible islands means little is known about their biology, but that remoteness gives them protection from land based predators.
THU 06:00 Word of Mouth (b04v382j)
First Words: How do children develop language?
Michael Rosen finds out about the first sounds, words and phrases that babies recognise and learn to say. He talks to author Tom Chatfield and his 15-month-old son, and to linguists Laura Wright and Kriszta Szendroi.
Producer: Beth O'Dea.
THU 06:30 Open Book (b04vd69r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 07:00 The Reunion (b04w5nn9)
Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit - created by Bristol-based animation company Aardman - have entertained millions, made their Plasticine stars national treasures, won multiple Oscars and boosted sales of Wensleydale cheese.
Sue MacGregor is joined by Aardman founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton, producer Carla Shelley, ex-manager Mary Lowance and Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park - as well as the two stars themselves - to recall four decades of comic craft and innovation at Aardman that have left an indelible impression on British cultural life.
Aardman came to prominence with their Plasticine man Morph and went on to create classics, such as Creature Comforts which pioneered the use of real-life interviews as the voices of Aardman's eccentric animal kingdom.
Wallace and Gromit remain firm favourites. Wallace, the eccentric inventor from Wigan who loves cheese, and his silent but very well-read associate, quietly saving the day with a range of facial expressions that have brought comparisons with the great silent star Buster Keaton.
A collaboration with American producers Dreamworks led to the big-budget feature film Chicken Run. And few who saw it will ever forget Wallace's moonlit transformation in The Curse of the Were Rabbit.
Yet there have also been moments of real-life drama, like the huge fire that destroyed many character models, original drawings and sets.
As our guests reveal how they created these extraordinary films and characters, they reflect on the ups and downs of their experiences and look forward to the next chapter of Aardman, Wallace and Gromit, Shaun The Sheep and those characters waiting in the wings.
Produced by David Prest and Peter Curran
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 08:00 All the Christmases (b04wgt8l)
Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales remains one of his most enduring and characterful works. In the year of the poet's Centenary, Cerys Matthews takes us on a new musical journey through the memories and characters of Swansea's Christmas past.
THU 09:00 Christmas Service (b04vfczk)
Christmas morning worship from Portsmouth Cathedral celebrates the season with members of the naval community, many of whom worship at the Cathedral. That includes several younger members of the cathedral choir who are from naval families whose parents are frequently on the other side of the world serving on ships in situations of danger or conflict.
Leader: The Dean of Portsmouth, the Very Reverend David Brindley
Preacher: The Chaplain of the Fleet, the Venerable Ian Wheatley
Director of Music: David Price
Sub Organist: Oliver Hancock
Producer: Clair Jaquiss.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b04vfczm)
Stories in the Stars
25/12/2014
A seasonal reading for clear and frosty nights, when the skies sparkle with thousands of dots forming half remembered, almost traceable shapes. These are the stories behind the names and shapes of the constellations that pattern the night sky.
Stories In The Stars by Susanna Hislop is read by a range of voices and accents from around the country and the globe. It might be one of the stories that the great Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy assigned to them in his masterwork that became known as the Almagest, or it might be a personified first person narration from the constellation Chameleon having a grumble about the number of different names and imagined shapes assigned to him over the millennia.
From Greco-Roman mythology to the lives of the eighteenth century astronomers, this is a delightful miscellany which gives us a reason to step outside, look up and wonder at the magic lantern show above us.
Readers: Jessica Gunning, Paul Copley, Maggie Steed, Colman Domingo
Episode Four:
A telescope – Telescopium – is given as a gift. Libra balances things out.
Abridged, directed and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company Production for BBC Radio 4
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04vfczp)
Kirsty Young, Adil Ray and the Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin
Jenni and Jane join forces for a special Christmas morning celebration where they will turn the tables on Kirsty Young, asking her about her favourite Christmas music, chat to Adil Ray about writing and starring in the Citizen Kahn Christmas Special and to Charles Collingwood, better known as Brian Aldridge in The Archers. Diana Henry will be doing the food, with cocktails mixed by Kay Plunkett-Hogge. In this extended edition of Woman's Hour Jane and Jenni will be reporting back from a dog walk in the park, the Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin will be talking about Christmas in the House of Commons and we'll have music from super cool choir, Urban Voices Collective.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b04vfczr)
The Skool Days of Nigel Molesworth
Wizz for Atomms
Tired of masters skipping lessens to visit the new under-matron, Prudence, the Headmaster has banned everyone in school from visiting the infirmary.
But Grabber, the skool bully, has fallen for her and orders Molesworth to help him out.
Imelda Staunton stars as Nigel Molesworth, the Curse of St Custards, in this fresh adaptation of the notorious Goriller of 3B's guide to skool life for tiny pupils and their parents.
Aided by best friend Peason and thwarted by everyone from Grabber the skool bully to Wandsworth the skool dog, Nigel Molesworth teaches us the ins and outs of skool life - including how to avoid lessens and how to build your own H-bomb.
Molesworth ...... Imelda Staunton
Peason ...... Sophie Thompson
Grabber ...... Jack Farthing
Headmaster ...... Patrick Barlow
Radio Announcer ...... Lewis Macleod
Adapted by Patrick Barlow and George Poles from the books by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle, with additional material by Abigail Wilson.
Director: Patrick Barlow
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2014.
THU 11:00 Woman's Hour (b04vkflc)
Kirsty Young, Adil Ray and the Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin
Jenni and Jane join forces for a special Christmas morning celebration where they will turn the tables on Kirsty Young, asking her about her favourite Christmas music, chat to Adil Ray about writing and starring in the Citizen Kahn Christmas Special and to Charles Collingwood, better known as Brian Aldridge in The Archers. Diana Henry will be doing the food, with cocktails mixed by Kay Plunkett-Hogge. In this extended edition of Woman's Hour Jane and Jenni will be reporting back from a dog walk in the park, the Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin will be talking about Christmas in the House of Commons and we'll have music from super cool choir, Urban Voices Collective.
THU 11:30 Music on Hold (b04vflsd)
Each of us spends 43 days of our whole lives on hold. That's far too many hours listening to Greensleeves or Vivaldi's Four Seasons.
Despite being in an age of emails and social media, people are still turning to customer service lines for support and are still having to listen to music on hold. It's supposed to be designed to calm the listener but often only incenses them more in time for when they speak to a customer service representative.
Isy Suttie knows the wrath of angry callers, having worked in several call centres herself, and feels their pain. So she has decided to do the noble thing and compose the ultimate on hold music to end their suffering.
Isy will ring up experts for help – what instruments? What tempo? What genre? And why? She'll take all of their advice on board to create something that will both reassure and entertain callers while they wait so those 43 days will be a pleasure and not a chore.
Produced by Emily Smallman
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
THU 12:00 News Summary (b04vd4pw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 Home Front (b04vj0y1)
25 December 1914 - Dorothea Winwood
At St Jude's Vicarage, not everyone's feeling the festive spirit.
Written by: Shaun McKenna
Directed and produced by: Lucy Collingwood
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
THU 12:15 Pick of the Year (b04vj0y3)
Pick of the Year 2014
Can a year's worth of radio be condensed into less than an hour? Lynne Truss does, with the help of a nightingale singing to a cello. An elephant tickling some ivories. A Mongolian thunderstorm throws listeners right across the kitchen, and we will learn the meaning of friendship, being from Yorkshire, and growing chrysanthemums.
Tweet of the Day: Great Bustard (Radio 4, 4th February)
Outlook: Poets, Cartoonists and Elephants (World Service, 18th May)
Journey of a Lifetime: Wrestling With the Future (Radio 4, 15th September)
The Life Scientific: Sue Black (Radio 4, 25th February)
5Live Sport: Hillsborough Untold Stories (Radio 5Live, 14th April)
Between the Ears: Skylarking (Radio 3, 5th July)
Short Cuts (Radio 4, 1st April)
Chrysanthemum (Radio 4, 8th April)
The Listening Project: Kizzy and Emma - Friendship on Four Wheels (Radio 4, 12th November)
Soul Music: Myfanwy (Radio 4, 22nd April)
The Ballads of the Great War (Radio 2, 11th November)
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (Radio 4, 20th November)
Singing with the Nightingales (Radio 4, 19th May)
Tom Wrigglesworth: The Well of Loneliness (Radio4, 16th December)
Bunk Beds (Radio 4, 2nd April).
THU 12:57 Weather (b04vd4py)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 News (b04vj15r)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 13:15 Voices of the First World War (b04n67xq)
The Christmas Truce
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. 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 10 - The Christmas Truce
In the last of the series for 1914, veterans of the First World War recall the few hours of impromptu ceasefire on 25th December 1914, when German and British troops mingled and played football in No Man's Land on the Western Front. Drawing on the recollections of soldiers in the oral history collection of the Imperial War Museum and the BBC archive. Narrated by Dan Snow.
THU 13:45 Food for Thought (b018gylx)
Series 2
Carlos Acosta
In a rehearsal studio at the Royal Opera House, over an impromptu picnic of tostones (fried plantains) and moros y cristianos (rice with black beans), dancer Carlos Acosta recalls a lifetime of counting the carbs, and his blessings, during a successful career in ballet.
From the food ration in his native Cuba, to the abundance of sugar on the island that left him with an explicably sweet tooth, Carlos tells Nina about stealing mangoes as a boy to fund trips to the cinema. He also explains how, arriving in Europe as a teenager, he had to adapt his tastes, his attitudes and his body. He eats a steak before each performance and avoids carbohydrates after six o'clock, despite the fact that he dances for over eight hours almost every day of the week.
Eating well is crucial to Carlos' livelihood and eating badly could end his career but the Royal Ballet's principal guest artist still chows down on ice cream, chicken korma and gets drunk, occasionally. He also tells Nina where you can get the perfect mojito.
Producer: Tamsin Hughes
A Wise Buddah production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b04vf95c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b04vj0y5)
Big Broadcast
Snow
Words and Music by Neil Brand
It's 1933, Christmas Eve, and Radio Station WKAZ Chicago's promise to deliver its last Hour of Charm programme from its theatre is threatened by a snowstorm which has trapped a handful of staff in the building. But the festive show must go on.
Singers
Helen Neeves, Vanessa Heine, Edward Saklatvala, John Ward
Director: David Hunter.
THU 15:00 HM The Queen (b04vj15t)
The Queen's Christmas message to the Commonwealth and the nation, followed by the national anthem.
THU 15:05 News (b04vj15w)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 15:15 Desert Island Discs (b04nvgq1)
Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown
Kirsty Young's guest is former Royal Navy test pilot Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown - the programme's 3000th edition.
The Fleet Air Arm's most decorated pilot, his life reads like a handbook in beating the odds.
Landing on a flight deck is acknowledged as one of the most difficult things a pilot can do. Eric Brown has held the world record for the most flight deck landings - 2,407 - for over 65 years. He was one of only two men on his ship, HMS Audacity, to survive a German U-boat bombing.
In a long and remarkable life he has witnessed first-hand momentous events in world history, from the Berlin Olympics in 1936 to the liberation of the Belsen concentration camp.
Flying, he believes, is in his blood. He originally climbed into the open cockpit of a Gloster Gauntlet as a child to sit on his father's knee. Thirty years later he would pilot Britain's first ever supersonic flight.
He says: "It's an exhilarating world to live in. There's always that aura of risk - you come to value life in a slightly different way."
Producer: Paula McGinley.
THU 15:56 Radio 4 Appeal (b04vd695)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 Cells and Celluloid: A Science and Cinema Special (b04vj1x8)
When Science Meets Cinema
The Film Programme's Francine Stock and Adam Rutherford from BBC Inside Science join forces for a special Christmas day programme celebrating science in the movies. Francine meets Paul Franklin, the special effects wizard behind blockbuster Interstellar, and discovers how he worked with theoretical physicist Kip Thorne to create the most detailed simulation of a black hole ever produced. But can Hollywood ever really be faithful to science and should it be? Professor Sidney Perkowitz, one of the authors of Hollywood Chemistry, considers what happens when physics gets warped by cinema. Christopher Frayling explores the scientist on screen, from Frankenstein to Dr Strangelove; and can science save celluloid? Adam visits the archives of British Film Institute to uncover the science behind film preservation. Adam and Francine subject themselves to a psychological experiment that tracks their eye movements as they watch a film on the big screen.
THU 17:00 With Great Pleasure (b04vj1xb)
With Great Pleasure at Christmas 2014
Ian Hislop, star of Have I Got News for You and editor of Private Eye, chooses the pieces of writing that mean the most to him, with the help of readers Jim Broadbent and Tamsin Greig. It's a special Christmas edition of With Great Pleasure recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio Theatre.
Robyn Stapleton joins them to sing My Love is like a Red Red Rose by Robert Burns. She's BBC Radio Scotland's Young Traditional Musician of the Year.
Ian's choices range from poems that form part of his own family's Christmas tradition, such as The Oxen by Thomas Hardy, to newer works by Carol Ann Duffy, and extracts from plays he loves such as Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth. There are satirical pieces by Craig Brown and Spike Milligan, and sound archive recordings of comedy from Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Danny Kaye, Mitchell & Webb and Flanders and Swann.
Producer Beth O'Dea.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04vd4q0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:15 Christmas With... (b04vj1xd)
Damien Trench - Christmas Day
Cookery writer Damien Trench invites listeners into his home for a special Christmas helping of tips and recipes for surviving Christmas intact.
THU 18:30 My Teenage Diary (b04vj1xg)
Series 6
Lucy Worsley
Rufus Hound is joined by the historian Lucy Worsley, whose diaries reveal that she was swottier than the average teenager. While her friends were out at parties, Lucy was curating her collection of rocks, and gardening.
Produced by Harriet Jaine
A Talkback production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b04vj1xj)
Emma relishes Christmas in their new home with her family all around. Joe and Eddie treat everyone to a rendition of carols before dozing off and snoring loudly. Emma and Ed break the wishbone and talk about their plans for a simple wedding - a homespun affair in the summer, not like Tom and Kirsty's.
Ed surprises the children by making snow on Christmas Day. He has borrowed a snow machine from the bloke doing the Young Farmers' ski party.
Lunch at Brookfield is a more sombre affair, with much reflection and reminiscing on this being the last Christmas at the farm. Jill expresses how lucky she is to have her family round one table. Later Jill finds Phil's sixpence in her Christmas pudding.
Elizabeth confides in Shula that Roy has sent a text wishing her a merry Christmas. She wishes he would leave her alone. Elizabeth just wants to put the year behind her.
Jill has important news for David. She is sorry but she can't leave Phil or Ambridge. David wishes there was something he could say to change her mind, but realizes there isn't. David assures Jill that he understands her decision.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b04vj6gv)
Sir Alan Ayckbourn
In conversation with Kirsty Lang, Sir Alan Ayckbourn discusses his long and prolific career that has seen him, at the age of 75, premiere his 78th play - Roundelay.
Sir Alan is one of this country's most celebrated playwrights. His ability to write and stage his tales of British middle-class domestic disharmony in ever more inventive ways has endeared him to a national audience. However, with his plays performed worldwide, he has a devoted international audience as well.
He talks to Kirsty Lang about Scarborough, his adopted home, his love of event theatre, and his belief in theatre's power to connect people - whether they want to be connected or not.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b04vfczr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 Thinking Allowed (b04vj6gx)
Rituals at Christmas
Customs at Christmas and beyond. It may be best not to invite a sociologist for Xmas - they're liable to spend their time chronicling, even questioning your seasonal rituals. In this festive programme, Laurie Taylor looks at the ever shifting nature of our habits, practices and customs; changes in our lives which have been detected and discussed in previous editions of Thinking Allowed. Is our concept of romantic love as timeless as we often presume? How did bathrooms evolve from luxurious Victorian rooms to classless and clinical spaces? Do contemporary constructions of sophisticated drinking downplay the risks of middle class alcohol consumption? In what ways has the elevator changed the status associated with the top and bottom floors of homes and buildings? And when did consumerism cease to be about the satisfaction of mere wants as opposed to the indulgence of hedonistic pleasures? Thinking Allowed subjects the trivial, the everyday and the taken for granted to entertaining sociological scrutiny.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
THU 20:30 In Business (b04vj6gz)
The Business of Kindness - Revisited
The Business of Kindness - Revisited
Random acts of kindness can help businesses grow in surprising ways. Peter Day talks with one woman who explains how the generosity of others has made all the difference to her company. Henrietta Lovell, the Rare Tea Lady, started her firm just before becoming seriously ill. Through the kindness of strangers she has managed to return to health and run a prosperous company. She is now a great advocate for spreading the idea that kind gestures are an important force in the way we conduct our personal and professional lives.
Producer: Sandra Kanthal.
THU 21:00 All the Christmases (b04wgt8l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
THU 22:00 Wireless Nights (b04l0pwh)
Series 3
BBC Philharmonic Presents...
Jarvis Cocker brings his award winning series Wireless Nights to Salford, forming part of this year's BBC Philharmonic Presents... series, a celebration of orchestral music in its many different forms.
In front of a studio audience, Jarvis Cocker and the BBC Philharmonic weave tales of insomnia, nocturnal inspirations and dark imaginings from the world of classical music - against the backdrop of a President embroiled in the Vietnam War. There's also a special performance from Jarvis himself.
Jarvis tells stories of an insomniac German Count who supposedly had Bach compose his Goldberg Variations as a sleeping aid, and a wired President Nixon listening to Rachmaninov in the small hours when he felt the urge to go on a bizarre excursion in the presidential limo.
He also conjures up music that came in dreams and revelations - from Stravinsky's wild visions in the Rite of Spring to Schumann's once forgotten Violin Concerto, which apparently re-emerged during a séance many years after the composer's death.
Maxime Tortelier conducts the BBC Philharmonic led by Yuri Torchinsky. Anthony Marwood plays solo violin and Peter Donohoe plays solo piano. The programme was recorded on 1 October.
Producers: Laurence Grissell & Neil McCarthy.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04vjb5w)
The Diary of a Provincial Lady
Episode 4
E M Delafield was great friends with Margaret Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda, and became a director of Time and Tide magazine. When the editor "wanted some light 'middles', preferably in serial form, she promised to think of something". And so it was, in 1930, that her most popular and enduring work The Diary of a Provincial Lady was written. It has never been out of print.
The Diary of a Provincial Lady charts the day-to-day life of a Devonshire-dwelling lady and her attempts to keep her somewhat ramshackle household from falling into chaos.
Husband Robert, when he's not snoozing behind The Times, does everything with grumbling reluctance. Her children are gleefully troublesome. A succession of tricky servants invariably seem to gain the upper hand. And if her domestic trials are not enough, she must keep up appearances - particularly with the maddeningly patronising Lady Boxe, with whom our Provincial Lady eternally (and unsuccessfully) endeavours to compete.
This largely autobiographical novel substituted the names of "Robin" and "Vicky" for her own children, Lionel and Rosamund.
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Read by Claire Skinner
Produced by Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:00 The Infinite Monkey Cage (b04vjb5y)
The Infinite Monkey Cage Christmas Special
Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by Brian Blessed, astronaut Chris Hadfield, bible scholar Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou and the Reverend Richard Coles for a very special festive edition of the show. They'll be taking their own unique look at the Christmas story and the history of the bible and asking whether the christmas story and your view of humanity changes once you've look back at earth from the heavens themselves.
Producer : Alexandra Feachem.
THU 23:30 Good Omens (b04vjb60)
Episode 4
Newt and Anathema try to decipher Agnes's cryptic riddles; Aziraphale and Crowley receive visits from the Angelic and Demonic authorities, and Adam begins to formulate some plans.
With a cast led by Peter Serafinowicz and Mark Heap, this is the first ever dramatisation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens.
Events have been set in motion to bring about the End of Days. The armies of Good and Evil are gathering and making their way towards the sleepy English village of Lower Tadfield. The Four Horsepersons of the Apocalypse - War, Famine, Pollution and Death - have been summoned from the corners of the earth and are assembling.
Witchfinder Sergeant Shadwell and his assistant Newton Pulsifier are also en route to Tadfield to investigate some unusual phenomena in the area, while Anathema Device, descendent of prophetess and witch Agnes Nutter, tries to decipher her ancestor's cryptic predictions about exactly where the impending Apocalypse will take place.
Atlantis is rising, fish are falling from the sky; everything seems to be going to the Divine Plan.
Everything that is but for the unlikely duo of an angel and a demon who are not all that keen on the prospect of the forthcoming Rapture. Aziraphale (once an angel in the Garden of Eden, but now running an antiquarian bookshop in London), and Crowley (formerly Eden's snake, now driving around London in shades and a vintage Bentley) have been living on Earth for several millennia and have become rather fond of the place. But if they are to stop Armageddon taking place they've got to find and kill the one who will the one bring about the apocalypse: the Antichrist himself.
There's just one small problem: someone seems to have mislaid him...
Crowley ...... Peter Serafinowicz
Aziraphale ...... Mark Heap
Agnes Nutter ...... Josie Lawrence
Anathema Device ...... Charlotte Ritchie
Newton Pulsifer ...... Colin Morgan
Shadwell ...... Clive Russell
Madame Tracy ...... Julia Deakin
Hastur ...... Phil Davis
Ligur ...... Neil Maskell
Melatron ...... Nicholas Briggs
Adam ...... Adam Thomas Wright
Pepper ...... Hollie Burgess
Wensleydale ...... Bobby Fuller
Brian ...... Lewis Andrews
Corrie Corfield ...... Herself
Adaptation and sound design by Dirk Maggs.
Producer: Heather Larmour.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2014.
FRIDAY 26 DECEMBER 2014
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b04vd4r2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:15 Christmas Meditation (b04vjh7f)
Famous for his 10 Second Sermons, comedian Milton Jones offers witty and winsome thoughts on the spirit of Christmas at the conclusion of the day's festivities.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b04vfczm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04vd4r6)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04vd4r8)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04vd4rb)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b04vd4rd)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04vjh7h)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with the Rev Dr Stephen Wigley.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b04vjh7k)
Ten years on from the hunting ban
Ten years on since hunting with dogs was banned in England and Wales, Farming Today explores what the ban has meant for both sides of the debate. Sybil Ruscoe visits the Bicester with Whaddon Chase hunt where she meets huntsmen Patrick Martin and his pack of hounds as they prepare to go out for a days hunting. Pro-hunt supporters, such as Patrick, would like to see the Hunting Act repealed by government, however anti-hunt campaigners are calling for tighter regulations. Sybil hears from the League Against Cruel Sports about the changes they would like to see and questions the RSPCA on the high profile prosecutions they have brought forward since the ban was enforced.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Lucy Bickerton.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0lzb)
Wandering Albatross
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the wandering albatross of the South Atlantic Ocean. On the windswept South Georgian Islands, a stiff breeze is ruffling the grass tussocks as a Wandering Albatross is billing and coo-ing to its mate. These huge seabirds, mate for life and can live for 50 years (or more). Longevity is vital for a species which produces only one chick every two years. The chocolate brown youngster takes to the air nine months after hatching, the longest pre-fledging period of any bird, but when it does, it breaks another record, as adults have the longest wingspan of any living bird, which can reach over 5metres.
FRI 06:00 Archive on 4 (b04v9r5f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Saturday]
FRI 07:00 Today (b04vjh7m)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b04vd69f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b04vjh7p)
Stories in the Stars
26/12/2014
A seasonal reading for clear and frosty nights, when the skies sparkle with thousands of dots forming half remembered, almost traceable shapes. These are the stories behind the names and shapes of the constellations that pattern the night sky.
Stories In The Stars by Susanna Hislop is read by a range of voices and accents from around the country and the globe. It might be one of the stories that the great Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy assigned to them in his masterwork that became known as the Almagest, or it might be a personified first person narration from the constellation Chameleon having a grumble about the number of different names and imagined shapes assigned to him over the millennia.
From Greco-Roman mythology to the lives of the eighteenth century astronomers, this is a delightful miscellany which gives us a reason to step outside, look up and wonder at the magic lantern show above us.
Readers: Colman Domingo, Paul Copley, Maggie Steed
Episode Five:
Virgo - The Maiden points towards Spring. Canis Major is leader of the pack.
Abridged, directed and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04vjh7r)
Young men's attitudes to women; Plus-size exercise kit; Ellen White and the female charismatics
As women in their thirties as well as their twenties now out earn men, what does the new generation of men really think about living with alpha women? Join Sheila McClennon and her male guests to hear what they have to say.
For many of us our New Year's resolution will probably be the same as it was last year....to get fit and do more exercise. And this probably means a trip to a sportswear retailer, but what if you're not the average size woman? When you get to the larger sizes there seems to be very little on offer. With growing concern about obesity, and more people encouraged to do exercise why isn't more sportswear aimed at larger women?
With nearly 18 million followers, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church is one of a number founded by a woman. Ellen White, had visions upon which the church's teachings are based. These include a number of health messages forbidding followers to smoke tobacco or drink alcohol whilst also encouraging them to avoid meat and salt. Her writings are still adhered to today, and in Adventist communities in America, followers of the religion have been proven to live longer than the average American. Sheila discovers more about Ellen White and other notable female charismatics.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b04vjh7t)
The Skool Days of Nigel Molesworth
Fun with Scrumms
As the school term comes to an end, Molesworth must find a way to survive the perils of the playing field and the wrath of skool bully Grabber if he’s to have any hope of tucking into some Christmas turkey.
Imelda Staunton stars as Nigel Molesworth, the Curse of St Custards, in this fresh adaptation of the notorious Goriller of 3B's guide to skool life for tiny pupils and their parents.
Aided by best friend Peason and thwarted by everyone from Grabber the skool bully to Wandsworth the skool dog, Nigel Molesworth teaches us the ins and outs of skool life - including how to avoid lessens and how to build your own H-bomb.
Molesworth ...... Imelda Staunton
Peason ...... Sophie Thompson
Grabber ...... Jack Farthing
Prudence ...... Jessica Brown Findlay
Headmaster ...... Patrick Barlow
Chief Prune ...... Lewis Macleod
Adapted by Patrick Barlow and George Poles from the books by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle, with additional material by Abigail Wilson.
Director: Patrick Barlow
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2014.
FRI 11:00 Music to Save Grimethorpe (b04vjh7w)
Ian McMillan, Yorkshire poet and broadcaster, was born and brought up near Grimethorpe, home of one of the most famous brass bands in the world - Grimethorpe Colliery Brass Band. He knows and loves their music, and understands their importance to the local community. In this programme, he celebrates brass band music, revels in its power and precision and explores it's meaning in a world where coal-mining has all but disappeared.
Throughout the twentieth century, the local brass band was a badge of pride for British industry that sat at the very centre of the community. Grimethorpe Colliery Brass Band was founded in 1917 and paid for by the pit to offer miners a hobby. After the mine shut, its fight to survive inspired the 1995 film Brassed Off, starring Ewan McGregor and Tara Fitzgerald.
Through thick and thin, Grimethorpe Colliery Band have toughed it out and remained one of the world's best known brass bands. The band manager Nigel Dixon and trustees have committed to staying involved as long as they can and have turned attention to trying everything they can to save Grimethorpe.
To hear them strike up, there is no other sound like it and this programme is filled with their wonderful, rich, colourful, emotional sounds.
Ian McMillan meets members of the band, sits in on rehearsals, and finds out how they fight to survive financial catastrophe. He talks to the community as the band push on with their work of funding music education in the local school so that children can learn instruments for free and, for one or two, offer the potential to change their lives too, in the same way most of the current Grimethorpe band first started out.
Produced by Bob Dickinson
A Sparklab production
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
FRI 11:30 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! (b04vjh7y)
Arthur in Pantoland?
Count Arthur is saved from the seemingly simple task of writing his Christmas cards by a call from the Vicar. An invitation to star in the local pantomime gets Arthur excited about possible return to the stage.
Count Arthur Strong - one time Variety Star, now sole proprietor and owner of Doncaster's Academy of Performance - is a show business legend, raconteur, and lecturer extraordinaire. All false starts and nervous fumbling badly covered up by a delicate sheen of bravado and self-assurance, and an expert in everything from the world of entertainment to the origin of the species, everyday life with Arthur is an enlightening experience.
This episode was the first return of the long running series as a seasonal special and was produced by John Leonard and Mark Radcliffe. The show features Count Arthur and his erstwhile protégé Malcolm (Terry Kilkelly), surrounded by a host of regular characters created by his Radio Repertory Company - Mel Giedroyc, Alastair Kerr and Dave Mounfield. Dave, who played amongst others the much-loved characters Jerry and Geoffrey, sadly died in March 2020. His final Count Arthur recordings were two Christmas specials recorded in Autumn 2019, the first of which aired on Christmas Day 2019 and the second is yet to air. The 2020 hybrid return of the ever-popular family friendly sitcom is dedicated to Dave's memory.
A Komedia Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (b04vd4rg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Home Front (b04vjh80)
26 December 1914 - Isabel Graham
The Grahams plan a quiet harmonious Boxing Day.
Written by: Shaun McKenna
Directed and produced by: Lucy Collingwood
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
FRI 12:15 You and Yours (b04vjh82)
The big brands that try to be a force for good
Is corporate charity work all about looking good rather than doing good?
Peter White presents a special edition assessing some of the causes taken up by big brands including:
The bank promising to teach everyone about technology, the baker funding breakfast clubs for school children and the high street cobbler actively recruiting convicted criminals.
We examine the progress of a plan to improve the safety of clothing factories supplying UK high streets following the deaths of over a thousand workers in Bangladesh.
And we hear from a former 'big oil' employee who now advises other firms on corporate responsibility.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Jon Douglas.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b04vd4rj)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b04vjh84)
Analysis of current affairs reports, presented by Mark Mardell.
FRI 13:45 Food for Thought (b00mjk5v)
Series 1
Joan Rivers
Journalist Nina Myskow discovers how attitudes to food, shape and affect individual lives.
Over tea and chocolate tart in a suite at The Ritz, comedian Joan Rivers recounts a lifetime of self-loathing and fear of being fat. She recalls the shock of discovering she wasn't beautiful, her mother's advice on dinner parties and an extraordinary daily diet of vitamin pills, low calorie ice cream sandwiches and cereal with whipped cream.
The producer is Tamsin Hughes, and this is a Wise Buddah production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b04vj1xj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b04vklq9)
Blithe Spirit
In a first for Radio 4, Ambridge's Queen of Am Dram, Lynda Snell, brings a ghostly chill to this year's Christmas Production as she directs and stars in Coward's classic wartime comedy. Joined by Julian Rhind-Tutt, Eleanor Bron, Michael Cochrane and other members of THE ARCHERS cast, Lynda finds much sympathy with the eccentric medium Madame Arcati and her efforts to conjure some seasonal high spirits. Novelist Charles Condomine is researching a book about a fake medium. But has he bitten off more than he can chew when his dead wife is summoned from beyond the grave?
Adapted and directed by Sean O'Connor.
FRI 15:45 King Albert's Book (b04vjh86)
Episode 2
King Albert's Book was a tribute to the Belgian King and people, published by subscription in December 1914.
The book was the idea of Hall Caine, a novelist and playwright of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, to raise money for the Daily Telegraph Belgium fund. He invited princes, statesman, churchmen, authors, political activists, artists and composers to present their view of the tragedy that had befallen Belgium in the preceding months of war.
Contributors include Winston Churchill, Thomas Hardy, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Bernhardt, Emmeline Pankhurst and Rudyard Kipling. The result is an extraordinary snapshot of a moment in time and the passions aroused by the conquest of Belgium and the resistance led by King Albert.
As the book was being prepared in the Autumn of 1914, no one knew how the tragedy of the First World War would unfold - there was still hope that it would all be over fairly swiftly. What seemed to be a heroic defence of a sovereign state was the primary concern of the book's contributors, little knowing how long the conflict would continue and how the greater tragedy of the war would supersede this event.
In the second episode, narrated by the writer and producer Paul Dodgson, there is a poem by Thomas Hardy, a statement of support from Emmeline Pankhurst, and the writer Arnold Bennet remembers his first trip to the Continent.
Readers: Kenneth Cranham, Tim McMullan and Harriet Walter.
Pianist: Kevin Matthews
Narrated and Produced by Paul Dodgson
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b04vjh88)
In a special edition of Last Word, Matthew Bannister talks to obituary editors from around the UK about the nature of their work
Matthew Bannister and a group of obituary editors from around the UK gather to compare notes and discuss why the world of the obituary writer is very often an uplifting one.
Producer: Neil George.
FRI 16:30 A Good Read (b04kbl8c)
Jeremy Paxman and Mary Beard
Jeremy Paxman and Mary Beard argue heatedly and entertainingly about the books they love, with presenter Harriett Gilbert acting as referee.
Jeremy's choice is Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain: a rollercoaster of a novel that's been called the Catch-22 of the Iraq War.
The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis is classicist Mary Beard's recommendation. It's a depiction of French peasant life that's been described as even greater than the film of the same story.
Travels with my Aunt, a genuinely funny novel by Graham Greene, is Harriett Gilbert's contribution.
Producer Beth O'Dea.
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b04vjl6z)
Kiki and Faith - Dreams of Daddy
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between sisters who are still at primary school reflecting on the alcohol-related death of their father with extraordinary perceptiveness and wisdom. The sisters were supported through their loss by the charity Children and Families in Grief, and their counsellor and their mother sat in on the recording.
This conversation was first broadcast on R4 on 15/10/2014.
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 (b04vjl71)
PM at
5pm- Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04vd4rl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:15 Christmas With... (b04vjl73)
Ed Reardon
It's Boxing Day in Ed Reardon's House and we find Ed making a toast in celebration of another successful year for the Reardon Family. Yes, you read correctly, Ed is surrounded by his wonderful family. Not only that but he's up there amongst the best writers in the world and his Boxing Day lunch is joined by Jaz Milvain, one of the best directors in the world. Yes, Jaz and End are riding high and Ed and his gorgeous wife and kids are happy.
But this, after all, is Ed Reardon's Week and all is not as it seems as Ed is visiting Christmas long past. In 2014 he only has Elgar and a rather disappointing Millennium Cracker to keep him company. Still, there's always something good on the telly.......
Written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas
Produced by Dawn Ellis.
FRI 18:30 Dead Ringers (b04vjl75)
Series 13
Episode 1
The impression show takes a look at all the shows that come out around Christmas time and are given that extra festive cheer: Crimewatch and Embarrassing Bodies. Who doesn't want to see a crime scene brightened up with tinsel and fake snow? And a pustulating sore that looks like a snowman?
Starring Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Duncan Wisbey, Lewis MacLeod, Debra Stevenson.
Producer: Bill Dare.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b04vjl77)
Peggy unveils the new Jack Woolley Remembrance window in the church. She remembers Jack's friends - Dan, Walter, Tom - and when she mentions her own son Tony her voice cracks. Pat comments on how vibrant the window looks even in the winter light. Peggy feels that the window is the only good thing that has come out of winding up Jack's estate. She becomes philosophical about focusing more on the present than planning for the future.
Peggy visits Tony in hospital. She is stunned when he manages to speak, and brought to tears when Tony tells her he loves her.
It's the opening night of Blithe Spirit. As nervous Susan struggles into her costume, Helen teases Fallon about her flowers from Harrison. Lynda's beads keep catching and one minute before curtain up, Susan's zip bursts. Susan unwittingly turns this into a comedy routine onstage - with Lynda watching in horror at her 'hammy' performance.
After the show, Harrison congratulates proud Susan, who gleefully paraphrases Lynda's own words: "There ain't no small parts, only small actors". Meanwhile, Harrison also congratulates Fallon. They share a moment - and a kiss - under the mistletoe.
Pat happily reports to Helen that Tony is speaking. They embrace at this brilliant news and wish each other a happy Christmas.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b04vjl79)
The Art of Book Cover Design
John Wilson explores the art of book cover design and meets artist Suzanne Dean, who has been responsible for more Booker-winning covers than any other designer. Writers Ian McEwan, Tom McCarthy and Audrey Niffenegger discuss the art that represents their words and Telegraph books editor Gaby Wood provides a reader's perspective on what makes a book stand out in a bookshop. As more of us than ever read books on e-readers, is beautiful design the key to the survival of the physical book?
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b04vjh7t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 21st Century Mythologies (b04wy810)
Omnibus, Part 1
In 1954, the French critic and semiotician Roland Barthes began a series of essays in which he analysed the popular culture of his day. He called his essays "Mythologies." In this series of witty talks, the acclaimed writer and critic Peter Conrad delivers a series of 21st Century Mythologies in a French accent of the mind. Conrad ranges over the defining effluvia of our era, from the Cronut, to the Shard, to the Kardashians. Today he looks at the ubiquitous home of piri piri chicken, Nandos.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b04vjl7c)
Monarch's Message
David Cannadine reflects on the history of the Queen's Christmas message. Following the success of the first broadcast in 1932 by the Queen's grandfather, King George V, "what had begun as a one-off innovation" soon "became an invented tradition".
"There can be no doubt," says Cannadine, "it brought the King closer to his subjects than had been true of any monarch who had gone before him."
Producer: Sheila Cook.
FRI 21:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b04vjl7f)
22-26 December 1914
This week, the Grahams host a family Christmas and Folkestone's yuletide festivities don't go entirely to plan.
Story-led by: Katie Hims
Written by: Shaun McKenna
Consultant Historian: Professor Maggie Andrews
Music: Matthew Strachan
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Directed and produced by: Lucy Collingwood
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b04vd4rs)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b04vjl7h)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04vjl7k)
The Diary of a Provincial Lady
EM Delafield - The Diary of a Provincial Lady
E M Delafield was great friends with Margaret Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda, and became a director of Time and Tide magazine. When the editor "wanted some light 'middles', preferably in serial form, she promised to think of something". And so it was, in 1930, that her most popular and enduring work The Diary of a Provincial Lady was written. It has never been out of print.
The Diary of a Provincial Lady charts the day-to-day life of a Devonshire-dwelling lady and her attempts to keep her somewhat ramshackle household from falling into chaos.
Husband Robert, when he's not snoozing behind The Times, does everything with grumbling reluctance. Her children are gleefully troublesome. A succession of tricky servants invariably seem to gain the upper hand. And if her domestic trials are not enough, she must keep up appearances - particularly with the maddeningly patronising Lady Boxe, with whom our Provincial Lady eternally (and unsuccessfully) endeavours to compete.
This largely autobiographical novel substituted the names of "Robin" and "Vicky" for her own children, Lionel and Rosamund.
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Read by Claire Skinner
Produced by Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b04vdzyh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:27 Good Omens (b04vjll9)
Episode 5
The Four Horsepersons of the Apocalypse assemble and set off for Lower Tadfield, while Aziraphale finds himself inhabiting a most unexpected host body.
With a cast led by Peter Serafinowicz and Mark Heap, this is the first ever dramatisation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens.
Events have been set in motion to bring about the End of Days. The armies of Good and Evil are gathering and making their way towards the sleepy English village of Lower Tadfield. The Four Horsepersons of the Apocalypse - War, Famine, Pollution and Death - have been summoned from the corners of the earth and are assembling.
Witchfinder Sergeant Shadwell and his assistant Newton Pulsifier are also en route to Tadfield to investigate some unusual phenomena in the area, while Anathema Device, descendent of prophetess and witch Agnes Nutter, tries to decipher her ancestor's cryptic predictions about exactly where the impending Apocalypse will take place.
Atlantis is rising, fish are falling from the sky; everything seems to be going to the Divine Plan.
Everything that is but for the unlikely duo of an angel and a demon who are not all that keen on the prospect of the forthcoming Rapture. Aziraphale (once an angel in the Garden of Eden, but now running an antiquarian bookshop in London), and Crowley (formerly Eden's snake, now driving around London in shades and a vintage Bentley) have been living on Earth for several millennia and have become rather fond of the place. But if they are to stop Armageddon taking place they've got to find and kill the one who will the one bring about the apocalypse: the Antichrist himself.
There's just one small problem: someone seems to have mislaid him...
Crowley ...... Peter Serafinowicz
Aziraphale ...... Mark Heap
Agnes Nutter ...... Josie Lawrence
Anathema Device ...... Charlotte Ritchie
Newton Pulsifer ...... Colin Morgan
Madame Tracy ...... Julia Deakin
War ...... Rachael Stirling
Famine ...... Paterson Joseph
Pollution ...... Harry Lloyd
Death ...... Jim Norton
Big Ted ...... Mitch Benn
Scuzz ...... Mark Benton
Pigbog ...... Arsher Ali
Greaser ...... Ben Crowe
Tyler ...... Andy Secombe
Mrs Omerod ...... Marcella Riordan
Julia ...... Tracy Wiles
Adaptation and sound design by Dirk Maggs.
Producer: Heather Larmour.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2014.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b04vjllc)
Claudia and Isabella - Sisterly Heirarchy
Fi Glover hears a conversation between sisters Claudia and Izzy, recorded when Claudia was 11 and Izzy 10; they're close, but Claudia will always be the older sister.
This conversation was first broadcast on R4 on 30/11/2012.
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.