The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Annika Strandhed is a leading light in the murder squad of the Oslo police. Her neuroses - and she has a few - are mostly hidden by a boisterous manner and a love of motor boats. And she thinks she's funny - although her colleagues aren't so sure.
Commissioned specially for Radio 4, these three stories by Nick Walker introduce us to a new Scandinavian detective: not as astute as Sarah Lund or Saga Norén perhaps, but probably better company.
A body is found in a metro carriage - but Annika's judgments are being clouded by personal matters.
Nick Walker is part of the Coventry-based mixed media experimentalists, Talking Birds, whose work has been presented extensively in the UK as well as in Sweden, Ireland, and the USA. He has worked with some of the country's leading new work theatre companies both in the UK and abroad, including Stan's Cafe, Insomniac, and Theatre Instituut Nederlands.
He is the author of two critically-acclaimed novels 'Blackbox' and 'Helloland'. His plays and short stories are often featured on BBC Radio 4 including: Arnold In A Purple Haze (2009), the First King of Mars stories (2007 - 2010), the Afternoon Play Life Coach (2010), and the stories Dig Yourself (2011) and The Indivisible (2012) - all of them Sweet Talk productions.
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at
The bells of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Hanbury in Worcestershire.
Samira Ahmed explores our representations of flowers, and our relationships with them.
Focusing on the flowers that have had a particular importance in her own life, she considers the meanings and cultural resonances of several species - passion-flower, bluebells, tulips and the exotically perfumed champa flower or frangipani.
Through music and poetry she explores how certain blooms have been thought to embody emotional, spiritual and philosophical ideas - and been used and subverted by artists, musicians and writers around the globe. She investigates how different countries have developed complex codes of communication through the gift of flowers and asks if sometimes it is better not to 'say it with flowers'. How can the giving and receiving of floral tributes be transformed from a simple gesture of affection to one of potential threat or insult?
The programme includes poetry by Sylvia Plath, Wendy Cope and Rabindranath Tagore, along with music from Katherine Jenkins, Ben E. King and the Dave Brubeck Quartet.
Henry Plumb had to leave school at the age of 15 to work the family farm during the Second World War. Thirty years later he'd become one of the most important figures in British agriculture, steering UK farmers into the Common Market in 1973 as President of the NFU. He later spent 20 years as an MEP, is the only Briton to have been President of the European Parliament, and is still active in the House of Lords. Now almost 90, Baron Plumb of Coleshill - Henry to all who know him - shares reflections on his life in farming and on current issues in the world of agriculture with Caz Graham, in a programme which revisits his Warwickshire family farm fifty years on from On Your Farm's first visit there back in 1965. With excerpts from that original programme offering a fascinating glimpse into farming and society fifty years ago, we hear how, despite a career that placed him on the world stage at the forefront of farming policy, Henry is still a stocksman at heart.
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
This week marks the second anniversary of Pope Francis' election to the papacy. What impact has he really had on the Catholic Church? Edward Stourton speaks to two of his biographers.
Sikh and Hindu organisations have signed an open letter claiming that sex-grooming gangs "predominantly originate from a Pakistani Muslim community, while their victims are almost always of a white, Hindu or Sikh background". The comments have attracted criticism from Muslim leaders. We explore the issues with Lord Indarjit Singh and Bradford Imam and councillor, Alyas Karmani.
A report out this week by the Christian think tank Theos argues that cuts to legal aid in England and Wales are "threatening" the rule of law. We hear from the report's co-author and Law Society president, Andrew Caplen.
Matt Wells reports from the US city of Ferguson, the scene of civil rights protests last summer, where tensions between young secular activists and older, more religious civil rights leaders are surfacing.
In the 70th anniversary year of Christian Aid, Kevin Bocquet looks back the history of the charity.
And as a series of public talks called "Faith and Fashion" resume at the London College of Fashion, we ask: what should you wear when you work for God?
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
'We worship a God in favour of the powerless and despised' - Dr Rowan Williams, Chair of Christian Aid, preaches for the third in a series of Lent services based on this year's Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book - Desmond Tutu's 'In God's hands' and exploring what it means to be made in God's image. Seventy Years ago out of the ashes of World War II, churches across the UK came together to work for a better world. From this a renewed sense of Christian responsibility was born. Led by the Revd Dr Kirsty Thorpe from Emmanuel Church, Didsbury in Manchester. Director of Music: Andrew Earis. Producer: Katharine Longworth. Lent resources for individuals and groups complementing the programmes are available on the Sunday Worship web pages.
Will Self reflects on the unsettling nature of time. "What gives our human cultures any sense of cohesion at all is an almost relentless effort to shore up our collective memory of the past against the remorseless depredations of time."
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
John Aitchison presents the dunnock. You'll often see dunnocks, or hedge sparrows, as they were once called, shuffling around under a bird table or at the bottom of a hedge. They're inconspicuous birds being mostly brown with a greyish neck and breast. They aren't, as you might imagine, closely related to sparrows, many of their nearest relatives are birds of mountainous regions in Europe and Asia.
Sunday morning magazine programme with news and conversation about the big stories of the week. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.
An American lawyer, he is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a private, not-for-profit organisation working on death penalty cases, cases of children sentenced as adults, prison and sentencing reform, and issues of race and poverty.
His great grandparents were slaves and he himself went to a segregated school in southern Delaware. Although from a poor African American background he made it to Harvard Law School. Since then he has secured relief for over a hundred prisoners sentenced to death. He has argued in front of the Supreme Court six times and won landmark rulings about the sentencing of children for both homicide and non-homicide offences. His TED talk from March 2012 has been viewed over two million times.
Radio 4's classic panel game, in which the contestants are challenged to speak on a given subject for a minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation.
Sheila Hancock, Graham Norton, Paul Merton and The Infinite Monkey Cage's Robin Ince are trying their hand at the game under the watchful eye of Nicholas Parsons. Although none of them seem to know very much about Marco Polo...
Oysters are receiving renewed attention around the world, with new ideas for producing more, and eating more. Dan Saladino finds out what's driving this oyster enthusiasm.
As Drew Smith, author of Oyster: A World History explains, "the oyster is older than us, they're older than grass, they go back into pre-history and it's quite mind boggling how we've forgotten we really survive on this planet because of oysters".
From discoveries of middens (piles of oyster shells left by our ancestors) through to tales of the Victorian Britain's enormous appetite for the oyster, Dan hears the evidence of why we used to have a much more intimate relationship with the bivalve.
Overfishing, disease and parasites turned something that was abundant into a rarity a century ago, but now people around the world are making an effort to bring the oyster back into mainstream.
In Denmark, where there still is an abundance of oysters in their waters, a national park along the Wadden Sea, on the north west coast of Denmark has started to encourage people to wade in the water and gather as many oysters as they can carry and eat. It's hoped the experience will help people understand the oyster more and also fight to protect the environment it lives in.
Meanwhile on the British Isles the oyster is seeing interest from brewers and shellfish farmers alike, all convinced we need to reconsider how delicious and import the animal has been in our food culture.
In New York, the most ambitious oyster mission of all is underway, the "billion oyster project", an effort to return the oyster to New York City's harbour, once a breeding ground for trillions of oysters.
Listen to the programme and hear why these efforts are underway, and why a gold speckled jar of marmite could be the oysters' best friend.
In this final programme, Mark Kermode considers the business of showing films. The route from script to finance to screen can be a long one - but then it all comes down to one nervous opening weekend.
Marketing may convince us of a film's merit but, one comment on social media can ruin even the most inventive campaign.
Film festivals are vital for launching a film. The Autumn festival season is where artistic creators battle for the first showing of the most talked about films. For many independent film makers exposure through awards is seen as a crucial - or perhaps only - means of survival. The artistic director of the Toronto Film festival reveals how film makers plead with him to admit their films.
The decline in DVD sales has led to nearly a halving of studio profits. Vincent Bruzzese runs a research entertainment firm and believes there is a disconnect between the film makers and the audience. By analysing data, it's possible to work out why a certain scene works. Hit on certain story tropes and a film will do well.
Netflix and Amazon's are all about giving customers what they want. Their algorithms are set to challenge the studios' dominance. How long is it until the streaming services become major studios themselves?
Meanwhile, the growth of cinema multiplexes have paved the way for boutique cinemas and the notion of the film as an event. Audiences today are engaging with films in very different ways, so how do UK cinemas make most of their money?
Eric Robson hosts the horticultural panel programme programme from the Wellesbourne, Warwickshire. Chris Beardshaw, Pippa Greenwood and Christine Walkden answer questions from an audience of local gardeners.
Christine visits a 170 year old allotment to find out what the current custodians are up to now that spring is upon us.
The importance of posture, teenage romance becoming adult love, and which box to tick when you are gender-queer are discussed in conversations from Birmingham, Cumbria and London, as Fi Glover presents the Omnibus edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
David Threlfall stars as John Gabriel Borkman, a disgraced banker now destitute after a fraud scandal and imprisonment.
Whilst trapped in his own home like a wolf in a cage, the living ghosts of his past wrestle to determine his future.
Henrik Ibsen’s rarely performed but all-too-pertinent play about the dangerous pursuit of power. Produced from a version by David Eldridge.
John Gabriel Borkman ….. David Threlfall
Miss Ella Rentheim ….. Susannah Harker
Mrs Gunhild Borkman ….. Gillian Bevan
Vilhelm Foldal ….. Philip Jackson
Erhart Borkman ….. Luke Newberry
Mrs Fanny Wilton ….. Jenny Rainsford
Malene ….. Claire Cage
Award winning travel and nature writer Robert Macfarlane discusses his latest book, which celebrates the language of our landscape. He talks to Mariella about why this is his most argumentative book yet, about his admiration for the writer Nan Shepherd and why he hopes that words like 'conker' and 'acorn' don't fall out of use.
The Danish writer Dorthe Nors sends Open Book a literary postcard from the west coast of Denmark, where minimalism is 'hot'; and novelist Sarah Bannan and critic Suzi Feay discuss bullying in literature - from the cruel words of Emma to Miss Bates, up to Sarah's book Breathless which explores the dreadful impact of cyber bullying on one young student.
Roger McGough with a selection of Shakespeare's passionate, jealous and lustful sonnets read in new and archive recordings by some favourite Poetry Please actors.
Can porn empower women? Can it liberate, celebrate or enhance or does it enslave, debase or corrupt? Jane Garvey hosts a debate at the Women of the World Festival at the Southbank Centre in London. Guests include artist, activist and erotic emporium founder Sam Roddick; feminist porn performer and producer Pandora Blake; Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans, who researches and writes about pornography at the University of Leicester and is a founder member of Resist Porn Culture; and Clarissa Smith, Professor of Sexual Cultures at Sunderland University and a member of Onscenity .
There's some very angry people in this week's Pick of the Week. Joan Rivers, Jeremy Paxman and James Baldwin, spitting mad, the lot of them, but we've music from the harmonica capital of the world and Bjork to sooth the troubled soul. There's the Spy who came in from Al Qaeda, Billy Bragg's in the north east in pursuit of the granddaddy of protest songs, we're foraging for oysters in Jutland and hearing how hobbits may be the ones to save the world.
Ruth has been trying to call David but the phone networks are still down. Worried David tells Ruth to stay put up North, as it's like a war zone in Ambridge. Josh is in Darrington. Freda Fry is in hospital with shock and hypothermia.
People are marooned at St Stephens. Ian has made food. Jim comments on lack of help from the Emergency Services, who are probably too busy helping in Borchester. Meanwhile, Sabrina Thwaite is collecting clothes to hand out and keep people warm.
Christine's dreading returning home, worried about what she'll find. Shula offers to put her up.
Bert's bungalow is like a cess pit. and the garden is a disaster area. Poor Freda's recipe books are soaking. David tries to reassure Bert that insurance will cover some items.
Ruth eventually arrives home, to David's shock and delight. Pip's overcome, so relieved to have her Mum home. Ruth's ready to help.
John Finnemore, the writer and star of Cabin Pressure, regular guest on The Now Show and popper-upper in things like Miranda and Family Guy, records a second series of his hit sketch show.
The first series was described as "sparklingly clever" by The Daily Telegraph and "one of the most consistently funny sketch shows for quite some time" by The Guardian. It featured Winnie the Pooh coming to terms with his abusive relationship with honey, how The Archers sounds to people who don't listen to the Archers and how Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde decided whose turn it was to do the washing up.
This episode doesn't feature any of those things, but it does feature an awkward celestial relationship, surprisingly easy contract negotiations, and a trailer for a film about the only mode of transport that hasn't had a film made about it yet.
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme is written by and stars John Finnemore. It also features Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan. It is produced by Ed Morrish.
A series of three specially commissioned stories by new writers from the African continent – writers who are part of an emerging literary scene bursting with young, talent.
In The Tranquil Minds by the Zimbabwean author Tonderai Munyevu, a recently widowed therapist prepares to return to work.
Tonderai Munyevu was brought up in Zimbabwe. This is his first story to be broadcast on radio.
Is there a formula to successful comedy on Radio 4? Before leaving her post as Commissioning Editor of Comedy on Radio 4 and 4Extra, Caroline Raphael talks about her 17 years in the job and reveals which hugely successful comedy almost didn't make it to air because the Controller of Radio 4 at the time turned it down.
Also, the debate over the licence fee has been ignited by a report from the Commons Media Select Committee. It suggests replacing the licence fee with a universal levy for all households. Listeners are divided over the issue and Steven Barnett, Professor of Communications at the University of Westminster in London breaks down the pros and cons of the different ways the BBC might be funded in the future.
And on New Year's Day, a number of listeners were dismayed by their favourite Radio 4 programmes being moved to long wave to accommodate ten hours of War and Peace. Partly, they were concerned about the reception quality on long wave. This prompted vintage radio aficionado Sean Stevens to get in touch to set the record straight about what he sees as the joys of long wave.
Yasar Kemal, Maureen Guy, Professor Oliver Rackham, Sir Noel Davies, Leonard Nimoy
Andrea Catherwood tells the life stories of international author and master of Turkish storytelling Yasar Kemal, Maureen Guy the Welsh opera singer who performed at Prince Charles' investiture, environmental historian Professor Oliver Rackham, Sir Noel Davies, the engineer who built Britain's fleet of Trident nuclear submarines and Leonard Nimoy the actor better know simply as "Spock".
Technology has been replacing manufacturing jobs for years. Is the same about to happen to white-collar work? Will new faster, smarter computers start destroying more jobs than they create?
Technologists and economists are now arguing that we are approaching a turning point, where professional jobs are becoming automated, leaving less and less work for humans to do. David Baker investigates the evidence and asks what this means for society, the individual and equality.
Dennis Sewell of The Spectator analyses how the newspapers are covering the biggest stories.
Neill Blomkamp, the creator of science fiction satire Chappie, tell us why we should learn to stop worrying and love Artificial Intelligence.
Neil Brand reveals why the spaghetti western would not have been the same without Ennio Morricone's memorable scores.
BAFTA winner Daisy Jacobs discusses her short film The Bigger Picture which combines animation, stop-motion, papier mache pigs and her mum's kitchen table.
As Life Of Riley, the final film from auteur Alain Resnais, is released in cinemas, critic Jonathan Romney considers the last works of other great directors.
MONDAY 09 MARCH 2015
MON 00:00 Midnight News (b054p6np)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b05417l9)
Commercial Surrogacy in India, Money
Wombs for Sale: commercial surrogacy in India & beyond. Couples from all over the world can now hire Indian women to bear their children for a fraction of the cost of surrogacy elsewhere. Laurie Taylor talks to Amrita Pande, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Cape Town, and author of a detailed study into a burgeoning business which has little or no government regulation. She talked to surrogates, their families, clients, doctors and brokers to capture the full mechanics of a labour regime rooted in global gender & economic inequality. They're joined by Michal Nahman, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of the West of England, who has studied reproductive tourism.
Also, the transformation of money in the post crisis world. Nigel Dodd, Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, highlights the proliferation of new forms and systems of money, from local currencies and social lending to mobile money and Bitcoin. Why has our understanding of money failed to keep pace with these changes?
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b054p93v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b054p6nr)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b054p6nt)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b054p6nw)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (b054p6ny)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0552c0h)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Reverend Prebendary Edward Mason, Rector of Bath Abbey.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (b054phtm)
Rural Payments Agency, Renewable Energy, Women Rural Entrepreneurs
Farmers are still having problems with the online system used to sort out subsidy payments, despite attempts to fix it. The Rural Payments Agency took the system down for a period of time at the end of last month to work on it, but it seems the problems persist. Now there are warnings that many farmers may not be able to complete the process by the deadline in mid May. Charlotte Smith talks to the chairman of a rural support group about the frustrations farmers have been experiencing.
Yesterday was International Women's Day - in celebration of which we talk to the Women In Rural Enterprise group, which offers business advice and support to women running small businesses in the countryside.
And Farming Today embarks on a week-long look at renewable energy, and the opportunities it can bring for farmers and landowners.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Emma Campbell.
MON 05:56 Weather (b054p6p0)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03whpln)
St Kilda Wren
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Bill Oddie presents the St Kilda wren. The Island of St Kilda is not where you'd expect to see wrens but the wrens that sing along the cliffs of St Kilda are the same species as the common wren, but after 5000 years of isolation they've evolved a different song and are slightly larger and slightly paler than the mainland wrens. Bill Oddie remembers an encounter with the St Kilda Wren.
MON 06:00 Today (b054pj6w)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (b054pj6y)
The Mathematical Mind with Cedric Villani
On Start the Week Tom Sutcliffe finds out what goes on inside the mind of a mathematician. Cédric Villani explains the obsession and inspiration which led him to being awarded the Fields Medal, 'the mathematicians' Nobel Prize' in 2010. Zia Haider Rahman combines pure maths, investment banking and human rights in his exploration of how abstract theory can impact on real life. Vicky Neale reveals the beauty of prime numbers, while the director Morgan Matthews finds love in his film x+y at the International Mathematics Olympiad.
Producer: Katy Hickman.
MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b054pmgr)
Cédric Villani - Birth of a Theorem
The Most Beautiful Equation in The World
Rock-star mathematician Cédric Villani's magical mystery tour through the world of mathematics.
He describes the journey which sees him wrestling with and taming a new theorem that will win him the most coveted prize in his field.
Along the way he encounters obstacles and setbacks, losses of faith and even brushes with madness. His story is one of courage and partnership, elation and despair.
His account unlocks what goes on inside the head of a mathematician and captures where inspiration comes from. Blending science with history, biography with myth, Villani conjures up a cast of mathematical greats including the omnipresent Einstein and Villani's personal hero, John Nash.
Read by Julian Rhind-Tutt
Translated by Malcolm DeBevoise
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
Cédric Villani is a French mathematician who has received many international awards for his work. In 2010 he was awarded the Fields Medal, the International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics, for his work on Landau damping and the Boltzmann equation.
Often called 'the mathematicians' Nobel Prize', it is awarded every four years and is viewed by some as the highest honour a mathematician can achieve.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2015.
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b054pmgt)
Can Porn Empower Women?
In a special programme for International Women's Day Jane Garvey hosted the Woman's Hour debate, where guests discussed the motion Porn Can Empower Women. Continuing the conversation, Psychotherapist Philippa Perry joins Jane. If you would like discuss your opinions and experiences on this topic then the number is 03700 100 444 [the lines open at
8am and calls cost no more than to 01, 02 landline numbers], you can also tweet the show using @BBCWomansHour or send an email via the website, leaving a contact number.
MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b054pmgw)
Ladder of Years
At the Family's Edges
By Anne Tyler dramatised by Rebecca Lenkiewicz.
Episode One - At The Family's Edges
An unexpected romantic encounter in the grocery aisle is the beginning of a new adventure for homely Delia Grinstead.
Director: David Hunter
You can hear an interview with Anne Tyler in World Book Club: Anne Tyler on Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant to be found on the BBC website.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003jhsk.
MON 11:00 The Life in My Head: From Stroke to Brain Attack (b054pmgy)
Episode 2
Robert McCrum journeys into his own brain to understand more about stroke.
Ever since he suffered a severe stroke in 1995, Robert has been living with its consequences. He says, "It's one of the remorseless side-effects of the affliction that, if you survive it, you will live with its after-effects and the conundrum about existence it poses, for the rest of your life." The demands of an ongoing recovery still have to be met.
In the second programme, we follow Robert through an intensive two week long rehabilitation course to rejuvenate his left side. This is conducted by Consultant Neurologist Dr Nick Ward at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. Ward is at the cutting edge of neurological research, but Robert is sceptical that his condition can be improved when part of his brain, roughly the size of a lime, is dead and sending no signals to the rest of his body.
In the process, Robert explores stroke rehabilitation more generally and seeks to understand more about the brain's "plasticity"- its capacity to find fresh neural pathways and repair itself.
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 11:30 When the Dog Dies (b01pw5s2)
Series 3
Auntie's Ashes
Ronnie Corbett returns for a third series of his popular sitcom by Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent.
Ronnie plays Sandy Hopper, who is growing old happily along with his dog Henry. His grown up children - both married to people Sandy doesn't approve of at all - would like him to move out of the family home so they can get their hands on the money earlier. But Sandy's not having it. He's not moving until the dog dies. And not just that, how can he move if he's got a lodger? His daughter is convinced that his too attractive lodger Dolores is also after Sandy and his money.
Luckily, Sandy has three grandchildren and, sometimes, a friendly word or a kindly hand on the shoulder can really help a Granddad in the twenty-first century. Man and dog together face a complicated world. And there's every chance they'll make it more so.
Episode Two - Auntie's Ashes
Sandy has a solemn duty to perform, but the spot which Auntie chose for her last resting place is not what is was. Neither, for that matter, is her widowed husband Uncle Arthur!
Sandy...........................Ronnie Corbett
Dolores..........................Liza Tarbuck
Blake.............................Jonathan Aris
Mrs Pompom................. Sally Grace
Ellie...............................Tilly Vosburgh
Arthur.............................Paul Chapman
Tyson............................Daniel Bridle
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:00 News Summary (b054p6p2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 Home Front (b054pmtm)
9 March 1915 - Geoffrey Marshall
Some news close to home leaves Geoffrey reeling.
Written by Richard Monks
Directed and produced by Lucy Collingwood
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
MON 12:15 You and Yours (b054pmtp)
Living Longer
Hearing aids have been available on the NHS since 1948. They are accepted to be the only viable treatment for people with adult-onset hearing loss. Last week North Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group announced it's to stop providing aids to people with mild hearing loss and to make people with moderate hearing loss go through an eligibility test to see if they should receive them. It's believed the plans will come into effect in September 2015.
Ever checked out the reviews for the latest app and found people don't rate it and are demanding refunds? Well up until now its been up to individual app stores to decided what to do. The new Consumer Rights Bill gets its final reading in the Commons this afternoon and will give you digital rights for the first time. It is expected to get Royal Assent fairly soon after and enshrined in law in October. It simplifies and draws together a whole raft of consumer rights across eight different bits of legislation. We talk to Jo Swinson the Consumer Affairs Minister
The heart has been a symbol of our emotions since ancient times. But imagine if we could send our heartbeat to someone else using a personal device. Apple's new smart watch - widely expected to be unveiled in San Francisco today - will allow us to do just that. Using a built-in heart rate sensor, it can record and send your pulse to another person wearing the watch. The person receiving it will feel a gentle tap on the wrist and see your beating heart on screen. Just another gimmick? Or could there be psychological benefits in sending your own heartbeat to someone else?
Women have traditionally lived longer than men, but that may reverse in the next decade, and it's partly due to how we spend money. Find out why?
Buying a car on Hire Purchase is nothing new, but how about paying for a car you'll never own? PCP (Personal Contract Purchase) means you pay a deposit and then pay monthly for the car - but at the end of the contract you don't own it. This way of buying cars is the driving force behind an increase in sales. 2014 sales figures were the best for a decade with 2.5 million new cars on the roads. Seventy six percent were bought on credit, and the majority of those were PCP sales. We look at the popular ways of buying and leasing a car.
When someone dies in custody or care, an inquest is held to find out how it happened. There's no legal aid for bereaved families at inquests - unless the case is exceptional and there's a wider public interest at stake. Families must pay for themselves.
Producer: Maire Devine
Editor: Chas Watkin.
MON 12:57 Weather (b054p6p5)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 13:00 World at One (b054pmtr)
Analysis of current affairs reports, presented by Shaun Ley.
MON 13:45 Promises, Promises: A History of Debt (b054pn4v)
The Medieval Period
Anthropologist David Graeber examines the medieval period when coinage largely disappeared and money become virtual once again.
During this period, the great popular religious movements of the Ancient world - Christianity, Islam in the West, Buddhism in Asia - became the dominant force in society. Religious authorities took over the management of the new credit systems because, during the Middle Ages, the economy did not, as text-books have long assumed, "revert to barter." What the Middle Ages really saw was the rise of an endless variety of credit arrangements.
In the West, tally sticks were commonly used to facilitate credit based transactions. These were short pieces of hazel wood which served as a receipt for payment. The stick would be notched in order to indicate the amount that had been paid, then the stick would be split lengthways and both the payer and the receiver would receive one half. This was quite a convenient sophisticated system as they were easy to store and they were very hard to forge. A tally stick could act as a receipt for money advanced, as a receipt for a loan, or as evidence of a debt and could later be proffered in court if there was a dispute.
With transactions carried out on credit, the religious authorities had to act in order to prevent those with the means to create credit from enslaving entire populations. Their response was to ban the charging of interest.
David Graeber pays particular attention to Islamic attitudes towards interest and finance, revealing the surprising fact that Adam Smith's free market ideology was heavily influenced by the work of medieval Islamic scholars.
Producer: Max O'Brien
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 14:00 The Archers (b054pfx6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Drama (b054pp3b)
Kingdom of Cloud
by Matthew Hurt
Why has Daniel been sitting in a car outside his own house for hours? What is it he can't admit to his wife - or himself? An investigation of love in crisis, set against the backdrop of the banking crisis.
Daniel ..... Neil Pearson
Juliet ..... Anne-Marie Duff
Producer/Director ..... Marion Nancarrow
This new drama is a 2-hander starring Neil Pearson ("Between the Lines" and "Waterloo Road") and Anne-Marie Duff ("Shameless" and "The Virgin Queen").
It's Matthew Hurt's second play for radio. He's most recently received rave reviews for "The Man Jesus", a one-man show performed by Simon Callow and for his adaptation for the Young Vic Theatre of Conrad's "The Secret Agent".
MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (b054pp3m)
Heat 11, 2015
(11/17)
In the name of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, what does the 'hebdo' part mean? And which two cities did Winston Churchill cite in 1946 as the northern and southern end-points of the newly-created 'Iron Curtain'?
The eleventh heat of radio's longest-running general knowledge quiz is chaired by Russell Davies. Competitors from London, Surrey and Bristol vie for one of the few remaining semi-final places, and a chance to take another crucial step towards the title of 62nd Brain of Britain.
The Brains will also face a challenge from a listener hoping to defeat their combined knowledge with his or her own question suggestions.
Producer: Paul Bajoria.
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (b054pbb5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Man with the Mohican (b054pp6c)
One man inspired a teenage David Morrissey to become an actor. His name is Roger Hill. But in Liverpool, from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, he was known as the Man with the Mohican.
Presenting this celebration of Roger Hill, David Morrissey reveals how the extraordinary Liverpool-based theatre director, DJ and transvestite performance artist inspires other artists, including actors, musicians and playwrights.
Hill's period as director at the Everyman Youth Theatre produced an explosion of creative talent - from David Morrissey, Ian Hart, Kathy Tyson and Stephen McGann, to performance poet Gerry Potter, journalists and playwrights. Janice Long, who worked alongside Hill at BBC Radio Merseyside, refers to him as an icon and, along with former punk singer turned nightclub and cultural entrepreneur Jayne Casey, thinks of him as "Liverpool's John Peel".
Roger Hill still helps shape arts policy and the next generation of actors, and continues to inspire as a performance artist. His alter ego, Mandy Romero, has travelled the world and was Liverpool's unofficial Queen of Culture in 2008.
Morrissey reminisces with Hill about the long lost Mohican, hears from those whose careers he has helped to shape, and pays a personal tribute to an unsung hero of the British arts scene.
Producer: Sue Nelson
A Boffin Media production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b054pq21)
End Time Beliefs in Islam
According to Islamic teaching, there will a be a Day of Judgement when all of humanity will be judged by Allah. It will be preceded by divisions within the body of Islam and battles throughout the Middle East, particularly in Syria. Little wonder that some Muslims are speculating that the End Times are upon them. The leader of Islamic State, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, uses the language of End Times to underpin his organisation's legitimacy. So are we really experiencing the signs of the End Time? Why are the end time beliefs in Islam similar to those in Christianity? Does Islamic State believe they are hastening the Last Judgement? Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the end of time is Ibrahim Mogra, an Imam working in Leicester and Assistant Secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain; Dr Shuruq Nagruib, Lectuere in Islamic Studies at Lancaster University and Dr Rebecca Masterton, Islamic scholar and Director of Online Shia Studies.
Producer: Amanda Hancox.
MON 17:00 PM (b054pq23)
PM at
5pm- Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b054p6p7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (b054pq25)
Series 71
Episode 5
Nicholas Parsons hosts this classic comedy panel game with Alun Cochrane, Tony Hawks, Josie Lawrence and Paul Merton, recorded in Canterbury. So naturally, the subjects include 'Canterbury Tales' and 'The Garden of England'.
This is series 71 of Radio 4's classic panel game in which the contestants are challenged to speak on a given subject for a minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation.
This series, the guests include Jenny Eclair, Stephen Fry, Sheila Hancock, Robin Ince Paul Merton, Graham Norton, and trying his hand at the game for the first time, the tenth doctor, David Tennant.
Recorded at the BBC's Radio Theatre and Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, this long running and popular series enters its 47th year with the same wonderful host, Nicholas Parsons.
MON 19:00 The Archers (b054pqv2)
The clear up at the Stables will take weeks. Bert offers help and admits it's a distraction from worrying about Freda. Bert and Freda have lost everything. Bert doesn't have the heart to tell Freda, who's suffering from pneumonia in hospital.
Tom helps Brookfield out by supplying some bales of silage. Ruth's so grateful, but exhausted Pip says it's not enough - they have nothing and she has to look after the cows. David remarks on how brave Pip has been and talks to Ruth about how events like the flood bring out the best in people.
Pip eventually breaks down, overcome by stress. David points out this was bound to happen after what she has been through.
To everyone's relief at Brookfield, the milk tanker arrives. They can start selling their milk again. David now needs to talk to Ruth about the future, but he'll need to be careful and is not going to push her.
MON 19:15 Front Row (b054pqv4)
Sean Penn, Leonora Carrington, Madonna's New Album
With John Wilson.
Sean Penn discusses his latest role in The Gunman, in which he plays a former Special Forces soldier and military contractor who goes on the run to clear his name.
When Leonora Carrington died in Mexico in 2011, many saw her as the final link with the generation of Surrealist artists that had included Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, and René Magritte. As a new exhibition of her work opens at Tate Liverpool, the gallery's artistic director Francesco Manacorda and the Mexican writer and journalist Elena Poniatowska - who knew Leonora Carrington and has written a prize-winning novel about her - discuss her art and life.
We review Madonna's new album, Rebel Heart, released today. Plus a tribute to documentary maker Albert Maysles, best known for filming the Rolling Stones at Altamont.
MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b054pmgw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 Saudi Arabia: Sands of Time (b054pqv6)
The Balance of Power
Saudi Arabia has been in the public eye recently, not least because of the death of King Abdullah. In the second part of a new series, Egyptian writer Tarek Osman examines the history of this desert Kingdom and asks why it is still so relevant and yet so misunderstood.
His journey takes him from the origins of the modern Kingdom through to the current reign of King Salman.
Having followed the dramatic events that led to the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its rise, in less than 50 years, to the status of global power, Tarek sees how that establishment was suddenly challenged. At the end of the 1970's - when Saudi Arabia was experiencing immense affluence and rapid development - a conservative religious backlash struck at the foundations of the Kingdom.
In 1979, religious extremists stage an armed takeover of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the Iranian Revolution took place on the other side of the Persian Gulf and the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. These three events, in different ways, posed significant challenges to Saudi Arabia, made the Kingdom change course and led to a more conservative balance of power in the Saudi establishment.
The 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait coincided with the return of thousands of Saudi jihadis who had been fighting in Afghanistan only to find half a million US military personnel stationed in Saudi Arabia, shoring up its defences. The following decade witnessed repeated attempts by jihadi groups to strike the US that has sullied Islam's sacred land, a campaign that culminated in 9/11, 15 of the 19 hijackers being Saudi nationals. A few years later, the "jihad abroad" was brought back home. Saudi Arabia was to endure ferocious jihadist strikes.
Having successfully suppressed extremist violence, again the Kingdom is poised for another period of shock and uncertainty as the wave of Arab uprisings and their aftermath rocks the region.
Producer Neil McCarthy.
MON 20:30 Analysis (b054pqv8)
The End of Development
Over recent decades, the richer world has poured money towards poorer countries, in the form of aid and loans for development over many decades. But is this top-down solution really effective? Anthropologist Henrietta Moore argues that the age of development is over, and that we need to move to new ideas about how to improve human lives. Professor Moore, who heads the Institute for Global Prosperity at University College London, says that the fatal flaw of "development" is that it is a concept invented by the global North and imposed on the global South. She speaks to students from across the world at Oxford University's Blavatnik School of Government, who and then faces their questions. The lecture is chaired by the school's dean, Professor Ngaire Woods.
Producer: Julie Ball.
MON 21:00 The Life Sub-Aquatic (b04fzc7m)
Marine biologist and avid scuba diver, Helen Scales, explores the human obsession with inhabiting the depths and meets aquanauts who want to go down and stay down. From Jules Verne to Jacques Cousteau, the dream of a life sub-aquatic has endured. But could it ever become a reality?
At the moment, there is one place on Earth where you can live deep underwater for weeks at a time: The Aquarius Reef Base, a research station run by Florida International University which sits on the seabed some 20 metres down. As Helen discovers herself on a short visit to Aquarius, this is paradise for marine scientists who can wave goodbye to the surface and conduct experiments in situ, 24/7. It also hosts astronauts who use the unique conditions to train for life on the International Space Station as well as voyages deeper into space. Helen talks to Commander Chris Hadfield (recently made famous through his rendition of Space Oddity) about his time testing space suits for NASA and meeting sharks face to face on night time sorties.
Aquarius stands alone today but the dream of working – and living – under the sea has a rich history that began years before we ever stepped foot on the surface of the moon. It was undersea pioneer Jacques Cousteau, co-inventor of the Aqua-Lung, who captured the world's imagination when he created the Conshelf underwater village in the Red Sea. This was followed by the US Navy's Sea Lab and NASA's own 'Tektite' house (built in 1969 by General Electric and described by inhabitant Sylvia Earle as looking like a giant kitchen appliance).
Interest from philanthropists, corporations and even individuals is keeping alive the dream of life as an aquanaut. Helen meets Lloyd Godson, a young Australian adventurer who is working on his third project - BioSub 3 - a submerged habitat powered by sustainable energy. As Helen discovers, there's a long way to go to meet the many challenges this hostile environment throws up - not least how our bodies and our brains cope with the pressure and confined conditions that come with living underwater.
Producer: Helen Scales
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.
MON 21:30 Start the Week (b054pj6y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b054pqvb)
Calls for the head of the BBC Trust to resign
Margaret Hodge, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, says Rona Fairhead should go
MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b054ps0b)
Kazuo Ishiguro - The Buried Giant
Episode 6
In this time of forgetting, one elderly couple - Axl and Beatrice - are determined to hold onto memories of their life together and have set out to find their long-lost son.
They've been joined on their quest by Wistan, a mysterious Saxon warrior from the East, and Edwin, a young boy in peril. The group take shelter at an isolated monastery, where they learn the cause of the mist of forgetting that has fallen over the land. Pursued by foes, can the group trust their hosts?
David Suchet continues Kazuo Ishiguro's powerful novel - a moving, mysterious and deeply philosophical book about how societies remember and forget.
“It’s queer the way the world’s forgetting people and things from only yesterday and the day before that. Like a sickness come over us all.”
The Romans have long since departed and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. In this desolate, uncultivated land of mist and rain, people find that their memories are slipping away from them. They live in an uneasy peace but memories of the wars that once ravaged the country are stirring.
Abridged by Sara Davies
Producer: Mair Bosworth
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2015.
MON 23:00 The Human Zoo (b01r80zr)
Series 1
Episode 2
Can we explain a wide variety of human behaviour - from unwillingness to go for health screening, to opposition to a new railway - as different versions of what is called 'status quo bias'?
What does it mean to say that we are biased towards the status quo? We all think we have our reasons for our preferences. And we do. But is one of them a feeling of which we can be entirely unaware - a tendency to resist change and prefer things just the way they are, simply because that's the way they are now?
In the Human Zoo this week, we'll hear the experiments that seem to show people clinging on to what they've got - even when they are certain to gain from changing. In other words, a suggestion that we don't judge the merits of a choice in an even-handed way, but are biased in favour of where we start from, even when that bias clearly costs us.
So, does status quo bias also suggest that we are irrational? Possibly. Although some argue that it often makes sense. Even so, it has implications for everything from the businesses who go on taking ever bigger risks to attempt to avoid the horror of a loss, to people's scepticism of new building, technology, or change of any kind. It might even help to explain why you can't seem to stop yourself arriving habitually late.
The Human Zoo, where we see public decisions viewed through private thoughts, is presented by Michael Blastland, with the trusted guidance of Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School.
Presenter: Michael Blastland
Producer: Toby Murcott
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b054ptdk)
The scandal of the HSBC bank helping customers avoid paying tax has produced heated moments at the Commons Public Accounts committee. Susan Hulme follows the robust questioning of HSBC chiefs.
Also on the programme:
* Labour steps up its attack on the Government over its new welfare system known as Universal Credit.
* Is an Ombudsman needed to deal with disciplinary issues in the armed forces?
* As the countdown to the General Election campaign continues, a committee looks at what might happen if it's a deadlocked result on May the 7th.
TUESDAY 10 MARCH 2015
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b054p6q8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b054pmgr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b054p6qb)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b054p6qd)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b054p6qg)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b054p6qj)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0552mg9)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Reverend Prebendary Edward Mason, Rector of Bath Abbey.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b054q5hf)
Rural Payments Agency
Problems are continuing to plague the new online system farmers have to use to claim subsidy payments.
As from this year, farmers must register all their details online - and if they don't get everything filled in by the deadline of the 15th May, they'll incur penalties. But the computer system has been dogged by problems - so much so that it was taken down completely at the end of February for work to be done. When it was put back online last Monday, things still weren't working properly.
When we spoke to the Rural Payments Agency at the end of last week, they said they were optimistic that things would have improved by today. So, have they?
Anna Hill speaks to a farmer facing delays and difficulties, and the chief executive of the Rural Payments Agency.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03wphhd)
Blackbird (Spring)
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Bill Oddie presents the blackbird. Blackbirds are thrushes and the brown female often has a few speckles on her throat to prove it. Velvety, black and shiny, the males sport an eye-ring as yellow as a spring daffodil and a bill glowing like a buttercup. Happily blackbirds aren't doing too badly. There's so many of them that their territories often overlap so that where one song leaves off, another song begins.
TUE 06:00 Today (b054qc1f)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (b054qc1h)
John O'Keefe on memory
John O'Keefe tells Jim Al-Khalili how winning the Nobel Prize was a bit of a double-edged sword, especially as he liked his life in the lab, before being made famous by the award.
John won the prize for his once radical insight into how we know where we are. When he first described the idea of 'place cells' in the brain back in 1971, many scoffed. Today it's accepted scientific wisdom that our spatial ability depends on these highly specialized brain cells.
A keen basketball player,John says, he has put this principle to the test by trying to shoot hoops with his eyes closed. But this belies the years of painstaking experiments on rats that John performed to prove that a rat's ability to know where it is depends not only on its sense of smell, but also on a cognitive map, or internal GPS, inside the rat's brain.
He describes how he listened in on the unique firing patterns of individual rat brain cells using the tiniest electrodes: "You almost imagine they are singing to you", he says, as he imitates the different sounds made by individual neurons. And, he says, he misses them when they fall silent.
It's important to John, and for his results, that his rats are happy and John welcomes the strong controls over animal experiments in the UK. Computer models are useful but, he says, they could never replace the need for experiments on animals, in the work that he does. And,while it need not necessarily have been the case, experiments on rats' brains have provided valuable insight into the workings of the human brain. John's research was entirely curiosity-driven but it could provide vital clues to understanding dementia and is already being used to develop a test for the earliest stages of Alzheimer's.
Producer: Anna Buckley.
TUE 09:30 One to One (b0540tr9)
Zubeida Malik meets Raja Tahir Masood
Zubeida Malik is a journalist who works mostly as a reporter for the Today programme. For two weeks she's taken over the One to One microphone to explore the nature of Britain's changing communities.
Today's interview is with Raja Tahir Masood, a chronicler of Peterborough's Pakistani community. Originally from Pakistan, Masood has lived in Peterborough for forty years. In that time he's worked closely with the Pakistani community and has seen it grow and change. He's also seen new immigrants arrive in Peterborough, from southern and eastern Europe.
Producer: Karen Gregor.
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b054qc1m)
Cédric Villani - Birth of a Theorem
Landau damping - the cold, unattainable beauty.
Cedric Villani relishes months of uninterrupted research at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study.
Rock-star mathematician Cédric Villani's quest to tame a new theorem continues.
Read by Julian Rhind-Tutt
Translated by Malcolm DeBevoise
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2015.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b054qc1p)
Julie Andrews, Chelsea Clinton
After 50 years of the Sound of Music, Julie Andrews reflects on her award winning career as a child performer, a Broadway star, an Oscar winning film actress & author of children's books; Chelsea Clinton discusses the progress made by the family foundation after 20 years; Leader of Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood, explains what they are offering women voters? What does it mean to be a Black feminist? Dina Brawer on becoming Britain's first Orthodox woman receiving rabbinical ordination; Psychotherapist, Philippa Perry, and her BBC4 documentary on the story of British Agony Aunts.
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b0552k56)
Ladder of Years
The Felson Girls
by Anne Tyler dramatised by Rebecca Lenkiewicz.
Episode 2 - The Felson Girls
Her chance meeting with a younger man has focussed Delia Grinstead's dissatisfactions with her husband and her disjointed Baltimore household.
Director: David Hunter.
TUE 11:00 Martha: An Endling's Tale (b054qc1r)
Wildlife cameraman and filmmaker John Aitchison sets up his hide near a partially-frozen lake in Missouri, Midwestern United States, and waits for flocks of Lesser Snow Geese to fly over. Its spring and the birds are on migration. Lesser Snow Geese are one of the commonest birds in America; there are more than 5 million breeding pairs. Watching their huge flocks has been likened to watching snowflakes in a storm; there are just too many birds to count, and yet when the first Europeans arrived in America, populations of the Passenger Pigeon numbered billions not just millions. The early settlers could look up at the sky and see flocks of passenger pigeons as dense as these geese pass over, not just for minutes but for hours or even days. It's hard to imagine such a huge abundance of birds. One nesting colony reportedly covered 850 square miles.
The last passenger pigeon, a bird called Martha who was born and lived in captivity at Cincinnati zoo, died just over 100 years ago on Sept 1st 1914. In this programme, John travels to the States to see Martha, (after her death, she was packed in ice and sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC where she was preserved and is now kept) and learns about the history and lives of the Passenger Pigeons and discovers the causes of their extinction (a combination of deforestation, hunting, railroads, refrigeration and human greed). A century on, John reflects on what lessons we have learned from the birds' demise and explores the possibility of bringing the passenger pigeon back from extinction, using genomic technology and a living relative, the band-tailed pigeon. It's a fascinating and sobering journey; as John says when he comes face to face with Martha; "Extinction is a terrible thing". Producer Sarah Blunt.
TUE 11:30 Tales from the Stave (b054qc1t)
Series 11
Beethoven's Spring Sonata
Although the Austrian National Library has a spectacular array of autographed classical music manuscripts by Bruckner, Brahms, Schubert, Mozart and Richard Strauss, the choice for this final programme in the latest series of Tales from the Stave comes from the Librarian Dr Thomas Leibnitz.
Beethoven's Spring Sonata of 1801 might lack the grandeur of his 7th or 9th Symphony but it was commissioned by the same Viennese banker as the former. It's not even his most taxing Violin sonata. That accolade usually goes to the Kreutzer. However the manuscript, complete with a relatively young Beethoven's grumblings about his copyist, is full of examples of detailed reworking and careful crafting that give a vivid insight into a man with far more than a sense of Sturm und Drang, gravity and drama.
Violinist Florian Zwiauer and pianist Jan Jiracek von Arnim join Dr Leibnitz as they work through the three manuscript movements of a work which was eventually published in four.
As well as trying to establish where the missing movement has gone they examine the unusually neat handwriting which makes it equally unusually clear how the composer set about his work and sought to refine it and deliver a meticulous score for the publisher.
While the opening theme was later described, and more importantly marketed by 19th century publishers, as an evocation of Spring, Florian Zwiauer believes it's the slow and reverential second movement that should have given the piece an altogether more anglophile name - the Evensong sonata.
Producer: Tom Alban.
TUE 12:00 News Summary (b054p6ql)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 Home Front (b054qc1w)
10 March 1915 - Robert Lyle
Luke refuses to tow the line with his father.
Written by Richard Monks
Directed and produced by Lucy Collingwood
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
TUE 12:15 You and Yours (b054qc1y)
Call You and Yours: When are people REALLY ready to get behind the wheel?
When are people really ready to get behind the wheel?
Four people died in a car crash in Wales at the weekend. Three of them - all aged 17 - were in the same car. The driver had not long passed his test.
Do the current driving tests really set you up for the open road?
Do they go far enough --- are you experienced enough --- to drive a car?
Statistics show around a fifth of all accidents involve young drivers - even though they only account for around 5 percent of all the miles driven.
Are you happy that you -- or your children -- were really ready to drive because you had a certificate?
PRESENTER: ANDREA CATHERWOOD
PRODUCER: PETE WILSON.
TUE 12:57 Weather (b054p6qn)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b054qc20)
Analysis of current affairs reports, presented by Shaun Ley.
TUE 13:45 Promises, Promises: A History of Debt (b054qc22)
The Conquistadors and the Birth of the Modern World Economy
Anthropologist David Graeber examines the importance of debt during the conquest of South America and the birth of the modern world economy.
Eurasian history has pivoted back and forth between periods dominated by credit, when people buy things without using physical money, and those periods dominated by coinage which see cash pass from hand to hand.
After around 1450, the pendulum began to swing back again towards a period of physical money. Huge amounts of gold and silver bullion soon began to flow across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, laying the foundations for what we have come to know as the world economy. The entire process was driven by debt.
David Graeber reveals that the Spanish conquest of Mexico was made possible by the desire for silver in China under the Ming dynasty. He notes that, reading accounts of the immediate results of the conquest of Peru or Mexico, reveals scenes of human cruelty - such an extreme and systematic destruction of societies that it's hard to imagine how human beings could be capable of inflicting such things on one another.
Today, the Conquistadors are remembered as a kind of apotheosis of human greed. David explains that their insatiable appetite for plunder was in fact fuelled by debt. Hernán Cortés, the conqueror of Mexico, had been living beyond his means for years. His men found themselves tricked into a debt trap and most ended up in severely indebted following the campaign, when the Aztec treasure they had been promised failed to materialise.
Producer: Max O'Brien
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b054pqv2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b01jhnzl)
Ruth Rendell - People Don't Do Such Things
It is 1979 and hapless accountant Arthur (a winning Reece Shearsmith) and his wife Gwen (Laura Pyper) have made a new friend.
Flashy novelist Reeve (Michael Maloney) is everything they're not - carefree, charismatic and seemingly irresistible. At first, his friendship seems to offer an enticing window into a world beyond their cloistered suburban existence, but it doesn't take long for the relationship to slip into rather more sinister territory. With unfussy performances and a rumbling documentary-style soundscape, the grimness of late-70s suburbia is palpable throughout.
From the moment colossal egotist Reeve arrives on the scene, it's clear that Arthur and Gwen don't stand a chance, and it's this festering inevitability, lurking in awkward pauses and fidgety middle-class tics, that gives this play its most haunting moments.
Dramatised by Mike Walker from a short story by Ruth Rendell.
Sound Design: Steve Bond
Directed by John Dryden
A Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:00 Making History (b054qc24)
The rags to riches tale of our greatest knight, the man who ensured the legacy of Magna Carta. Alice Taylor and Thomas Asbridge join Tom Holland to discuss the life and times of William Marshal.
Dr Sean Cunningham and Helen Castor are in the National Archives at Kew to explore anti-semitism in the 13th century and the expulsion of the Jews in 1290.
Finally, the historian of the First World War Heather Jones explains why a book on the East German secret police would make ideal reading for any budding history student.
Producer: Nick Patrick
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (b054qc26)
Greening the Green Belt
The UK's housing crisis is acute. We need to build but where? Many critics point to the ample green space which surrounds some of our most overcrowded cities and towns. The green belt celebrates 60 years since it became part of National Policy but its history stretches back far further. The idea of a stretch of land which separates the urban from the rural has been commended as the defining planning policy of the nation. This legislation is at the core of our notion of what it is to live in a 'green and pleasant land'. But is it fit for purpose in the 21st Century? Many critics feel that it is now time to reassess the lines upon which these boundaries were drawn and make a strategic plan for how we want people to live and commute in the near future. The green belt protects many environmental assets closest to our cities but Tom Heap asks whether we are making the most of this vital natural asset.
TUE 16:00 State of Grace (b045y41s)
The girls' name Grace fell out of fashion in the 1930s but has recently become very popular again.
Journalist Grace Dent sets out to discover what makes her name – and the notion - so captivating, by exploring the modern state of grace.
Grace's Nan once told her she was related to real-life Victorian heroine, Grace Darling. It was the first time Grace sensed her name had enviable properties, after years of wanting to be called Joanne.
The word 'grace' is associated with more than 20 different meanings and phrases.
From Greek mythology to Grace Jones, via philosophical reasoning and a morning at The Royal Ballet, Grace reflects on the modern merits of charm, poise and elegance as she searches for inner calm and acceptance in a more secular age.
With contributions from Olivia 'damegrace' Cowley, a soloist with The Royal Ballet; names expert, Carole Hough; Grace Kelly fan and film studies academic, Stella Bruzzi; philosophy professor Miranda Fricker; and Grace Maxwell, whose memoir Falling and Laughing documents the recovery of her husband from a near-fatal brain haemorrhage.
Producer: Nick Baker
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2014.
TUE 16:30 A Good Read (b054qc28)
Rebecca Front and Laura Dockrill
Actress Rebecca Front and poet and writer Laura Dockrill talk about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. All three guests choose books with a strong female protagonist, but settings range from wartime England to Seattle in the digital age.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple
Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther
Runaway by Alice Munro
Producer Sally Heaven.
TUE 17:00 PM (b054qc2b)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b054p6qr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Ayres on the Air (b03pmk77)
Series 5
Home
Pam Ayres presents poems, stories and sketches about Home.
Pam talks about her first home, the impact of her grown up sons leaving home and downsizing.
Plus, how making your home more 'vintage' can go too far - and how life changes when both partners retire.
And what should you do when your partner's snoring becomes too much to bear?
With:
Felicity Montagu
Geoffrey Whitehead as Pam's long-suffering husband 'Gordon'.
Poems include: A September Song, My Little Grandson & Pollen on the Wind
Sketch writers: James Bugg, Jan Etherington, Claire Jones, Grainne McGuire, Andy Wolton and Tom Neenan.
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b054qct5)
Adam surveys the damage at Woodbine Cottage, which includes slurry in the hot tub. He and Ian can use the staff flat at Grey Gables. Adam's worried about the state of his arable land. He thinks back to his time in Africa.
Clarrie's weary and annoyed with Eddie, who is trying to be positive and promises to restore all their furniture. If he hadn't messed up on the insurance, they could have had all new furniture. They move their stuff down to Bridge Farm.
Adam knows that people will look for someone to blame for the floods. While of course grateful to Adam for saving his life, Charlie is back to his businesslike self. Adam is insulted when Charlie offers him work clearing the Estate's ditches.
Ed and Emma are back at Ambridge View. Jazzer is at Bridge Farm. Clarrie is upset that her photos of the boys as babies have been ruined. Pat is angry that residents seem to have been left to fend for themselves during the floods. Something has got to change.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b054qct7)
X+Y Review, Tom McCarthy, Housing Crisis on Stage
Sally Hawkins and Rafe Spall star in X+Y, a new film which focuses on an international competition for maths prodigies and features Asa Butterfield as a mathematically gifted boy with autism. Leslie Felperin reviews.
Booker-shortlisted author Tom McCarthy, whose latest work of fiction is Satin Island, explains why he rejects the idea of the contemporary novel.
How to make a drama out of a crisis: housing is the inspiration for three plays which explore the lengths people will go to get a foot on the ladder. Two of the playwrights, Philip Ridley and Matt Hartley, discuss the dramatic possibilities of bricks and mortar.
And who is Richard Diebenkorn? The artist is revered as a great post-war master in his native US, but he is largely unknown here in the UK. As the Royal Academy prepares to stage a retrospective, curator Sarah Bancroft discusses the painter whose work hangs in Obama's personal quarters in the White House.
Producer: Craig Templeton Smith.
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b0552k56)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b054qct9)
A Pensions Patchwork
In Canada, everything is big - including powerful pension funds such as the Ontario Teachers fund which owns half of Birmingham airport and other large projects around the world. It's all a far cry from the British pension scene, where a hundred local government pension funds each run their own affairs separately and pay costly fees to City firms for investment advice.
Many of them still have financial deficits. Taxpayers have been forced to pick up bills to pay off those shortfalls and already hard-pressed local services have been stretched further.
Lesley Curwen investigates how these individual funds are run and asks whether we should have larger funds with cheaper costs - like Canada does. And she asks whether more councils should be using pension money to invest in housing and infrastructure as a way to boost their local economies?
Producer: Anna Meisel Reporter: Lesley Curwen.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b054qctc)
Judicial Review into PIP Delays
The change from Disability Living Allowance to the new Personal Independence Payment benefit (PIP) took place in Spring 2013. For visually impaired people this has only applied to people who are newly registered as visually impaired or blind and want to claim the benefit for the first time. Law firm Irwin Mitchell say that new claimants have been waiting up to fourteen months between sending off their application to the Department for Work and Pensions, and receiving a decision about their benefit. The court has granted the firm a judicial review in to the wait times some claimants say they have been facing. We hear from two visually impaired people about the delay to their benefit, and speak to Anne-Marie Irwin from Irwin and Mitchell, about the judicial review and what it can achieve.
Listener Mike Lambert shares his personal viewpoint on that awkward moment when a friendly voice just can't be placed.
Qualified fitness instructor Jane Taylor, herself visually impaired, demonstrates some strategies for staying mobile and maintaining baseline fitness when you're older and losing your sight.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Lee Kumutat.
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (b054qctf)
Cigarette Packets, Sex Education, Gallstones, Cosmetic Surgery
The big news in public health this week with the parliamentary vote on the introduction of standardised cigarette packets. A move the tobacco industry has resisted fiercely. Inside Health discusses the evidence for the sort of impact the policy might have on the nation's smoking habits?
The difficult issue of when and how to tell children about sex. Schools throughout England are to be offered new guidance to help them with sex education in PHSE classes for KS3 and KS4 pupils. But, the classes are still not going to be made a statutory part of the curriculum. Inside Health's Margaret McCartney examines the evidence.
And a listener has asked about gallstones after a recent scan had shown debris or sludge in the gallbladder.
Plus news from Las Vegas, New York and the UK on trends in plastic surgery.
TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (b054qc1h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 21:58 Weather (b054p6qt)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b054qcth)
Met Police Commissioner apologises over 3 girls missing in Syria.
We ask what schools should do about these cases - after it's revealed the police told everyone to keep quiet about a friend of the girls travelling to Syria.
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b054qctk)
Kazuo Ishiguro - The Buried Giant
Episode 7
In this time of forgetting, one elderly couple - Axl and Beatrice - are determined to hold onto memories of their life together and have set out to find their long-lost son.
They've been joined on their quest by Wistan, a mysterious Saxon warrior from the East, and Edwin, a young boy in peril. After an attack on the monastery where they were sheltering, the group have been separated. Wistan is still fighting off Lord Brennus's soldiers and Edwin slips back to find him.
David Suchet continues Kazuo Ishiguro's powerful novel - a moving, mysterious and deeply philosophical book about how societies remember and forget.
“It’s queer the way the world’s forgetting people and things from only yesterday and the day before that. Like a sickness come over us all.”
The Romans have long since departed and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. In this desolate, uncultivated land of mist and rain, people find that their memories are slipping away from them. They live in an uneasy peace but memories of the wars that once ravaged the country are stirring.
Abridged by Sara Davies.
Producer: Mair Bosworth
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2015.
TUE 23:00 The Hot Kid (b054qctm)
Shoot-out
Louly Brown tells of how her letters to Pretty Boy Floyd in prison led to her stealing her step-father's car and running away from home with a bank robber, before meeting the handsome Deputy Marshal Carl Webster at a fatal motel shoot-out.
Meanwhile, Jack Belmont's illegal moonshine operation is threatened when his roadhouse is attacked by members of the Klan.
Elmore Leonard's enthralling criminal odyssey is set against the dusty, sepia-toned backdrop of Oklahoma and Kansas during America's Great Depression.
Adapted by Katie Hims
Jack Belmont . . . . . Adam Gillen
Louly Brown . . . . . Samantha Dakin
Tony Antonelli . . . . . Nathan Osgood
Carl Webster . . . . . Luke Norris
Joe Young . . . . . Joe Jameson
Norm Dilworth . . . . . Paul Heath
Pretty Boy Flloyd . . . . . Shaun Mason
Virgil Webster . . . . . David Acton
Heidi Dilworth . . . . . Bettrys Jones
Nestor Lott . . . . . Ian Conningham
Sylvia Hagenlocker . . . . . Elaine Claxton
Filling Station Woman . . . . . Jane Slavin
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b054qctp)
The families of three schoolgirls who travelled to Syria to join Islamic State give evidence to the Home Affairs Committee. MPs debate the future of the BBC Licence Fee. The former leader of Rotherham Council gives evidence on the child sex abuse scandal. And in the House of Lords, peers fear a further humanitarian crisis in Iraq. And Sean Curran reports from Westminster.
WEDNESDAY 11 MARCH 2015
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b054qcxz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b054qc1m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b054qcy1)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b054qcy3)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b054qcy5)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b054qcy7)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b055658w)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Reverend Prebendary Edward Mason, Rector of Bath Abbey.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b054qd47)
Lynx, Wind Farms, Spring Wildlife
A public consultation on the reintroduction of the lynx in to Britain has been launched by The Lynx Trust UK. The conservation charity want to see them brought back in to Cumbria, Aberdeenshire and Thetford Forest on the Norfolk / Suffolk border .Dr Paul O'Donaghue is the charity's chief scientist, he believes the lynx will control deer and stop forest destruction. However,Farmers around Thetford forest are concerned.National Sheep Association area Chairman Andrew Foulds fears that any animals brought in would prey on lambs and piglets, which are farmed on the borders of the Forest, which is unfenced.
All this week Farming Today is taking a look at renewable energy. Cornish farmer John Smeaden explains to Anna Hill why he chose to erect a 34 meter high turbine on his deer farm. Wind energy has many objectors. Conservative MP Nigel Evans says that they are an eyesore in the countryside. With the beginning of spring comes the promise of a great year for wildlife, Anna Hill goes to visit Norfolk farmer Chris Skinner to see how birdlife is faring so far this year. Presenter Anna Hill. Producer Ruth Sanderson.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03wpzmk)
Chiffchaff
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Bill Oddie presents the chiffchaff. Chiffchaff are small olive warblers which sing their name as they flit around hunting for insects in woods, marshes and scrubby places. Chiffchaffs are increasing in the UK and the secret of their success is their ability to weather our winters. Many stay in the milder south and south-west of England where the insects are more active.
WED 06:00 Today (b054qd7x)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b054qd7z)
Michelle Mone, Tony Hawks, Doug Seegers, Lillete Dubey
Mariella Frostrup meets entrepreneur Michelle Mone; comedian and writer Tony Hawks; singer and songwriter Doug Seegers and actor and director Lillete Dubey.
Michelle Mone OBE is an entrepreneur and motivational speaker. In her memoir, My Fight to the Top, she tells of growing up in the tough East End of Glasgow and launching a global lingerie business. As a child she had a poster of Richard Branson on her bedroom wall and a paper round at 10. Her company made millions, she mixed in elevated circles but there was heartache along the way. My Fight To The Top is published by Blink Publishing.
Tony Hawks is a comedian and author. His new book Once upon a Time in the West...Country is the story of his move from London to Devon two years ago. In the book he writes about leaving the capital and beginning a new life of village halls, committees and tractor-driving. He also takes up the challenge of cycling from one Devon coast to another with a micro-pig called Titch. Once upon a Time in the West...Country is published by Hodder And Stoughton.
Doug Seegers is a 62-year-old country singer and songwriter who was a homeless busker living in Nashville until two years ago when he was plucked off the streets to record his first solo album. Doug moved to Nashville from New York in 1997 to pursue his dream of making it as a musician. Battling drug and alcohol addiction, he struggled to make a living before finally getting clean and sober in 2013. Not long afterwards Swedish country music star Jill Johnson discovered him playing in the street and whisked him into a recording studio. The album Going Down to the River is on Wrasse Records.
Lillete Dubey is an actor and director who has appeared in over 40 Bollywood and international films. She is artistic director of Mumbai-based English language theatre company, Primetime. Lillete is directing the company's production of Boiled Beans on Toast which traces the lives of six characters in Bangalore as they confront a changing India. Boiled Beans on Toast is at Waterman's Art Centre, Brentford, Middlesex.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b054qd81)
Cédric Villani - Birth of a Theorem
Breakthroughs and Set-backs
A series of breakthroughs and set-backs as the proof of Landau damping remains elusive.
Rock-star mathematician Cédric Villani's quest to tame a new theorem continues.
Read by Julian Rhind-Tutt
Translated by Malcolm DeBevoise
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2015.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b054qd9k)
Bring Back Our Girls Update, Daughterhood, SNP Women Candidates
Do you wish you were a better daughter? Irish journalists and daughters Natasha Fennell and Roisin Ingle discuss how to improve your relationship with your mother before it's too late; we also explore dutiful daughters in Shakespeare and their controlling fathers; Nigerian activist Oby Ezekwesili with an update on the #BringBackOurGirls campaign she started to rescue the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram last year; and in the last of our series focusing on women candidates for the general election, it's the turn of the SNP.
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Sarah Crawley.
WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b0552khz)
Ladder of Years
The Ocean
by Anne Tyler dramatised by Rebecca Lenkiewicz.
Episode Three - The Ocean
Aren't we all tempted at one time or another to leave our old lives behind? Delia Grinstead makes an impulsive decision on the annual family vacation.
Director: David Hunter.
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b054qdmw)
Christopher and Thomas – Monastery Men
Two monks from Buckfast Abbey in Devon reflect on how monastic life has changed over the past half century, in this conversation introduced by Fi Glover, in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess
WED 11:00 African Students Abroad (b054qf74)
Over 35 000 African students studied at British universities last year - part of a growing number of foreign students coming to the UK. Bola Masuro charts the progress of four students from Africa. What do they want to take back with them from the British way of life? And what we could learn from Africa?
Mayowa is 19 and from Lagos, Nigeria. She's studying Politics and History at Edinburgh University. Student life is cheap compared with the more affluent circles she's used to at home. "If you have the means in Lagos you can spend a lot of money. Boys are buying to impress the girls so they buy the best champagne. But here people buy their own drinks and only spend about £2 on shots."
Bob is from Kenya and studying for a Masters in Architecture and Environmental Design at Cambridge. He was immediately struck by the order of the town. "People walking on the pavements rather than the road and crossing at particular crossing points. In Nairobi it's more chaotic."
Mauricia is studying Engineering for Sustainable Development at Cambridge supported by a Cambridge Trust Scholarship. She found the more informal relationship with lecturers helpful. "It's so free here compared to how we do things back in Uganda."
James is studying Sustainable Energy Systems at Edinburgh. "I'm not used to having power for 24 hours. At home when you want to go out and need to iron your shirt there's no electricity. So even if it's the middle of the night, as soon as the light comes back on, I get up and iron twelve shirts. Here I iron things at any time I want to."
Through their moving, insightful and humorous observations we explore what Britain is like through African eyes.
Producer: Kim Normanton
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 11:30 Boswell's Lives (b0547ntj)
Series 1
Boswell's Life of Pinter
by Jon Canter
Comedy as James Boswell Dr Johnson's celebrated biographer pursues other legends to immortalise. Today he attempts to write the biography of Pinter but finds himself the victim of a betrayal.
Directed by Sally Avens
Jon Canter is an award winning comedy writer for both television and radio. He recently penned the radio series 'Believe It' starring Richard Wilson but his work goes back to Spitting Image. He is also the author of several books and has been called our greatest living comic novelist.
Miles Jupp is an actor and stand up. Miles Jupp is an actor and stand up. He is best known for hosting The News Quiz on Radio 4.
Harry Enfield is a Bafta award winning performer, writer and director. He starred with Paul Whitehouse in Harry and Paul's Story of the Two's last year winnng a British Comedy Award for best sketch show.
WED 12:00 News Summary (b054qcy9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 Home Front (b054qf76)
11 March 1915 - Luke Lyle
The Lyles are in for a nasty shock.
Written by Richard Monks
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
WED 12:16 You and Yours (b054qf78)
British Cars, Lifelong Learning, Unimpressive Discounts
The government is encouraging us to work for longer, review our careers and retrain throughout our working life. Yet Colleges say that cuts to further education budgets mean they will no longer be able to provide the classes that used to help people return to the workplace and gain new skills. We talk to skills minister Nick Boles about the cuts and their consequences.
As the number of UK-built cars exported to Asia trebles in five years, You and Yours investigates just how British those cars are.
And the rise in unspectacular discounts. What's the psychology behind those "special offers" that amount to a penny off.
WED 12:57 Weather (b054qcyc)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b054qf7b)
Analysis of current affairs reports, presented by Martha Kearney.
WED 13:45 Promises, Promises: A History of Debt (b054qf7d)
The Birth of Capitalism
Anthropologist David Graeber examines the influence of debt during the birth of capitalism and the centrality of debt to the slave trade.
The conventional view is that the innovations during the birth of capitalism led to greater material prosperity enabling us to lead happier lives. David argues that, in fact, these times were marked by extraordinary levels of war and violence. This was an age of giant empires, standing armies and chattel slavery - a time when money came to be seen as a physical thing and debts had to be repaid.
The enormous productivity of the era was only made possible by the existence of extraordinary mechanisms designed to pump out more and more disciplined labour. The history of the Atlantic slave trade is a perfect example and debt underpinned the entire process.
In the late 17th century, ship owners based in Liverpool or Bristol would acquire goods such as copper wires and brass rods on easy credit terms from local wholesalers, expecting to make good by selling slaves (also on credit) to plantation owners in the Antilles and North America. Ship owners would then transport their wares to African ports like Ouidah, Bonny, or Calabar. The goods were then advanced to African merchants, again on credit, and those African merchants would pay back what they owed in slaves.
David Graeber also discusses the foundation of the Bank of England, the first successful experiment to create a central, national bank. Since the first loan that the bankers made to King William III, bringing the Bank of England into existence, money has been essentially circulating government debt.
Producer: Max O'Brien
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b054qct5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b054qfj2)
Simon Passmore - Earworm
By Simon Passmore
Tasked with producing an item for a television show about Britain's worst film director, researcher Mia goes in search for the fabled horror film Earworm and its creator. Urban myths surround this little known video nasty, with rumours that cast and crew suffered unexplained accidents during production, its director went into hiding after destroying all known copies of the film, and that its soundtrack is capable of affecting the viewer in sinister ways. Spurred on rather deterred by the myths, Mia seeks out the film's secret, and in doing so, puts herself in danger.
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b054qfj4)
Paying for Child Care
Need help with childcare costs or employing a nanny? Call 03700 100 444 from
1pm and
3pm on Wednesday or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk.
It costs around £6,000 per year to pay for a part-time nursery place for a child under 2, according to the latest survey by the Family and Childcare Trust. Single parent charity Gingerbread say that the high cost of childcare is one of the biggest barriers faced by single parents looking for work, so it's worth finding out about any help that's available.
All 3 and 4 year olds and some 2 year olds can apply for free early years childcare places.
You may also be entitled to financial support through Working Tax Credits or Universal Credit and a new Tax Free childcare Scheme begins later this year.
You can reduce your tax and national insurance bill by using employer childcare vouchers and direct payments.
If you are thinking of employing a nanny to look after your children you'll have to think carefully about employment rights, contracts, tax, national insurance and pensions.
Whether you want to employ your own nanny or pay for childcare with vouchers, tax credits or cash, presenter Lesley Curwen and guests will be ready to explain how it all works. Joining Lesley will be:
Julie Mitchell, Gingerbread.
Jill Rutter, Family and Childcare Trust.
Helen Harvey, Nannytax.
Call 03700 100 444 from
1pm to
3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail your question to moneybox@bbc.co.uk now. Standard geographic call charges apply.
WED 15:30 Inside Health (b054qctf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b054qfj6)
Biologising Parenthood - A Lost Avant-Garde,
A lost avant garde: Laurie Taylor examines the tension between art & money in the contemporary art museum. He talks to Matti Bunzl, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, and author of a study which takes a rare look behind the scenes of Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. He found that a commitment to new and difficult work came into conflict with an imperative for growth, leading to an excessive focus on the entertaining and profitable.
Also, biologising parenthood: recent years have seen claims about children's brains becoming central to child health & welfare policies. Pam Lowe, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Aston University, Birmingham, argues that this has led to a simplistic construction of the child and one which claims parenting to be the main factor in child development.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b054qfj8)
Older People in the Media, Clarkson and the Top Gear Brand, TV Election Debates
Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended by the BBC following a 'fracas' with a producer on the programme. The BBC has announced that the scheduled episode of Top Gear will not be broadcast this Sunday. Top Gear is one of the BBC's most popular exports worldwide and has a large UK fan base. PR consultant Mark Borkowski will discuss the brand, the decision to pull the show, the relationship between production staff and talent and who, if anybody, could fill Clarkson's shoes.
A government report out today says the media's representation of older people is 'prejudiced' and 'out of date'. Ros Altmann, the government's Older Workers Champion, is calling for an end to images in the press of wizened hands and walking sticks, which she says perpetuate unhelpful stereotypes. She also wants to see older presenters and journalists on air, and fewer references to age in stories. Emma Barnett asks Ros about the key findings, and speaks to Alexander Chancellor, editor of 'The Oldie', and Dame Joan Bakewell, former 'tsar' for older people, to discuss whether the media needs to change its attitude towards the older generation.
The former chairman of the BBC, Sir Michael Grade, has today said the way the broadcasters have acted in trying to organise the TV debates is a "shambles". This week, David Cameron said he would take part in one 7-way debate, but not the others. Emma Barnett speaks to former Chair of the Lords Communications committee Lord Inglewood who last year published a report which showed clear public support for the televised debates. And talking about the challenges of organising a debate is Chris Birkett, from the Digital Debate, which is trying to engage voters from a younger demographic.
Producer: Katy Takatsuki.
WED 17:00 PM (b054qfjb)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b054qcyf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Chain Reaction (b054qfjd)
Series 10
Vic Reeves talks to Olivia Colman
One half of comedy double-act Vic & Bob, Vic Reeves, talks to Oscar and BAFTA award-winning actress Olivia Colman.
Chain Reaction is the long running hostless chat show where last week's interviewee becomes this week's interviewer.
Producer: Charlie Perkins
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2015.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b054qfjg)
Pip is safely back at university. It could be a week before the cows can be moved back into the yard at Brookfield. Ruth is very grateful when Adam delivers some straw.
Fallon's not giving up on the Bull. She is determined that she and Harrison will keep it open somehow - despite the cellar being a foot deep in water. Lynda is still searching for Scruff and puts up a 'missing' poster. The llamas were safe on higher ground. Lynda doesn't want to leave Ambridge Hall in case Scruff returns, but Lilian persuades her and Robert to move into the Dower House.
Adam saw David on the local news last night. They discuss Adam's heroic saving of Charlie - Borchester Land should have spent more time and money keeping their ditches properly maintained, says Adam. What's to stop this happening again?
Ruth has come around and decides that she's with David. They belong at Brookfield - it's their home.
WED 19:16 Front Row (b054qfjj)
The Wild Man of the West Indies, Joshua Reynolds, Polly Samson, Open Submissions
Kirsty Lang discusses the 18th Century artist Joshua Reynolds, whose portraits of actresses, child street sellers and the aristocracy are on show at the Wallace Collection.
Polly Samson discusses her new novel The Kindness, a tale weaving together love, grief and deception. Polly considers the similarities between novel-writing and creating song lyrics for Pink Floyd.
English Touring Opera director Iqbal Khan on the UK premiere of Donizetti's The Wild Man of the West Indies, his opera which depicts slavery in the Caribbean, written in 1833.
For two weeks, authors without an agent have been able to submit a manuscript directly to the publishers Tinder Press, with the promise that it will get read. This is the third such 'open submissions' scheme to be run by a mainstream publisher. Kirsty Lang talks to Mary-Anne Harrington of Tinder press and Andrea Bennett, whose novel Galina Petrovna's Three-Legged Dog Story is the first to be published through an open submission scheme.
Presenter Kirsty Lang
Producer Julian May.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b0552khz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b054qfjx)
The Morality of Social Inclusion
While other countries have their violent social revolutions, we in Britain tend to confine our class conflict to less bloody battles. Which door you're expected to use has long been a bone of contention. The term "tradesman's entrance" may have fallen victim to the forces of class war, but the concept is resurfacing in luxury housing developments, especially in London. To get planning permission for these prestigious projects, in some of the most desirable postcodes in the capital, the developers are required to include some affordable or social housing. The less well-off tenants are then expected to use separate entrances - so called "poor doors". This form of social apartheid has been dubbed "Dickensian" in a report out this week. It's argued that so publicly dividing society into the "haves" and "have not's" is a symptom of a much greater harm than being deprived of a 24-hour concierge to salute you when you walk through the door. How should people living in a diverse society relate to and interact with one another? The authors of this week's report believe that promoting social integration is a moral good - in the same way as - we've accepted - diversity is a good thing in other aspects of society. Should it be the business of the state to engineer integration? Developers have to maximize their profits to pay for the subsidised social housing - putting in premium services for those paying the market rate for their flats is part of that. Why should those people who are not paying the market price for their home get the same service as those who are paying the full whack? We're quite happy to accept the principle that you get what you pay for in other areas of life - flying for example - so why not in housing? And if we accept the idea of engineering social integration in housing, why not do it in other areas - for example by bussing school children from deprived areas to schools in more affluent districts? Does trying to promote social integration go against the grain of human nature? Studies of mixed housing in the US show that - far from encouraging integration by some kind of social osmosis - it actually entrenches divisions. And what about in our own lives? Do we as individuals have a moral duty to mix socially with people who are different from us?
WED 20:45 Lent Talks (b054tfhp)
Michael Symmons Roberts
Producer: Phil Pegum.
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b054qc26)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Midweek (b054qd7z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b054tfhr)
Election 2015: are old tribal loyalties breaking down ?
A special report from Beth McLeod in Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b054tfht)
Kazuo Ishiguro - The Buried Giant
Episode 8
In this time of forgetting, one elderly couple - Axl and Beatrice - are determined to hold onto memories of their life together and have set out to find their long-lost son.
They were joined on their quest by Wistan, a mysterious Saxon warrior from the East, and Edwin, a young boy in peril, but the group have been separated. They've learned that the source of the mist of forgetting is the dragon Querig, and Wistan has vowed to slay the beast.
The journey is taking its toll on Beatrice and Axl is afraid of losing her.
David Suchet continues Kazuo Ishiguro's powerful novel - a moving, mysterious and deeply philosophical book about how societies remember and forget.
“It’s queer the way the world’s forgetting people and things from only yesterday and the day before that. Like a sickness come over us all.”
The Romans have long since departed and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. In this desolate, uncultivated land of mist and rain, people find that their memories are slipping away from them. They live in an uneasy peace but memories of the wars that once ravaged the country are stirring.
Abridged by Sara Davies.
Producer: Mair Bosworth
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2015.
WED 23:00 Hannah Gadsby: Arts Clown (b054tfhw)
2. Jan van Eyck's The Arnolfini Portrait
Aussie comedian and art historian Hannah Gadsby continues her comedy lectures about art, looking this time at Jan Van Eyck's masterpiece 'The Arnolfini Portrait'.
She shares how she first came to study the portrait, the mystery behind it and why people have remained so fascinated by it down the years.
Plus she puts an image of Vladimir Putin in your head that you will find hard to shake.
Born in Tasmania, Hannah's first encounters with art were solely through books. When she worked in a bookshop after graduating, she realised the craze for Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code' had parallels with critics' sleuth-like 'readings' of 'The Arnolfini Portrait'.
Written by Hannah Gadsby.
Performed by Hannah Gadsby with her Quotebot aka John Lloyd.
Script edited by Jon Hunter
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2015.
WED 23:15 Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme (b054tfhy)
Series 3
Space
This week Tim Key is broadcasting from a space simulator in St Albans, while grappling with the concept of space through the medium of his poetry. Musical accompaniment is provided by Tom Basden.
Written and presented by Tim Key
With Tom Basden and Yasmine Akram
Produced by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b054tfj0)
Susan Hulme reports as David Cameron and Ed Miliband trade insults over election TV debates. The Democratic Unionist Party protests at being left out. And the head of the BBC defends coverage of Europe.
Editor: Peter Mulligan.
THURSDAY 12 MARCH 2015
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b054qcz8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b054qd81)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b054qczb)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b054qczd)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b054qczg)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b054qczj)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0556761)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Reverend Prebendary Edward Mason, Rector of Bath Abbey.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b054t0kn)
Rural Payments, Solar Energy, 'Green' Jobs
While Environment Secretary Liz Truss defends the Rural Payment Agency's online system to MPs, we hear from users who're still struggling with it.
Also a farmer explains why he's turning his acres of arable over to solar farming - the answer's in the figures - and Green MEP Jean Lambert explains why she's pressing for the creation of 'green jobs'.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Mark Smalley.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03wq2nz)
Lapwing
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Bill Oddie presents the lapwing. The lovely iridescent greens and purples of the lapwing: with its delicate crest and broad rounded wings that almost seem to twinkle in level flight, they are seen less often on our farmland today. At one time they were so common that their freckled eggs were harvested and sent off to the cities to pamper the palates of urban epicures.
THU 06:00 Today (b054t3s0)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b054t3s2)
Dark Matter
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss dark matter, the mysterious and invisible substance which is believed to make up most of the Universe. In 1932 the Dutch astronomer Jan Oort noticed that the speed at which galaxies moved was at odds with the amount of material they appeared to contain. He hypothesized that much of this 'missing' matter was simply invisible to telescopes. Today astronomers and particle physicists are still fascinated by the search for dark matter and the question of what it is.
With
Carolin Crawford
Public Astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge and Gresham Professor of Astronomy
Carlos Frenk
Ogden Professor of Fundamental Physics and Director of the Institute for Computational Cosmology at the University of Durham
Anne Green
Reader in Physics at the University of Nottingham
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b054t3s4)
Cédric Villani - Birth of a Theorem
Eureka
Rock-star mathematician Cédric Villani's quest to tame a new theorem continues.
Rejection by prestigious journal Acta Mathematica proves to be a turning point.
Read by Julian Rhind-Tutt
Translated by Malcolm DeBevoise
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Gemma Jenkins
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b054t3s6)
Kristin Scott Thomas, Landmark Divorce Ruling, Housing
Kristin Scott Thomas on the story that lies behind her latest film, Suite Francaise, based on Irene Némirovsky's best-selling novel of the same name. What will the landmark ruling for divorcee Kathleen Wyatt mean for other couples who end their marriages? A legal expert gives her opinion. As election day nears, we hear from women voters on why housing is high up on their list of priorities for political parties. One of the world's leading cancer treatment hospitals has turned to cookery to help patients overcome problems with eating - what tips can the Royal Marsden offer?
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Anne Peacock.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b0556763)
Ladder of Years
The Executive Secretary
by Anne Tyler dramatised by Rebecca Lenkiewicz.
Episode Four - The Executive Secretary
Delia Grinstead left her family on the beach this morning. Now is the chance to start a new, simpler life.
Director: David Hunter.
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b054qczl)
Dreams Deferred, Hope On Hold
Reporters' stories. Obstacles to President Obama's immigration reforms pile up: it could mean a long wait for those who came looking to become legal US citizens. Will prime minister Modi's plans for investment in India's infrastructure adversely affect the country's longterm development? 60,000 Indian troops were killed fighting for the British in World War One - we visit the battlefield in France where they fought their first major engagement. A freak injury in China provides an unexpected opportunity to examine the accident and emergency facilities of a Chinese hospital. And we meet a group of young men in D R Congo's capital Kinshasa whose outrageous dress sense brings rush-hour traffic and even football games, to a standstill.
THU 11:30 Inconspicuous Consumption (b054t3s8)
Series 1
Framing Device
A series exploring the cultural consumption that other media ignore.
Sarah Cuddon looks at - and through - a diversity of frames to understand what they're for, how they work and why we develop such strong feelings about them. In galleries, framers shops and people's homes, she meets those involved in negotiations over frames.
In a local London framing shop, Sarah hears about a request to frame a (human) ponytail, and meets the man who had his pacemaker framed. She tries to understand the allure of the ornate gold frame and considers the modern day opposite - framelessness.
She hears how Europe's galleries have obsessed over the 'white box frame' and she meets an artist for whom frames are merely an old-fashioned decoration.
What emerges is as much about how people see their possessions as it is about framing. Choosing the right frame for a deceased love one for example, is a revealing business. Which is why Robert's story is so telling. For him, the very business of framing provides a metaphorical framing device for his life story.
Produced and Presented by Sarah Cuddon
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:00 News Summary (b054qczn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 Home Front (b054t3sb)
12 March 1915 - Phyllis Marshall
Collingwood Park is prepared for a home coming.
Written by Richard Monks
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
THU 12:16 You and Yours (b054t3sd)
Financial Abuse, Roaming Charges, Florists, Council Tax Debt; Financial Ombudsman
Women's Aid and the TUC are calling on government departments, agencies and banks to review their practices to protect survivors of physical and financially abusive relationships.
We speak to one survivor who was left with £95,000 worth of debt and from Hilary Fisher, Director of Policy at Women's Aid.
By 2018 it's predicted that we'll all have 70 connected devices in our homes, which will change how we act as consumers. Melanie Abbott reports live from the Retail Week conference where it's been a topic of discussion, and hears from Dixons Carphone Warehouse CEO, Seb James.
EU governments have said roaming charges for mobile phone users travelling in the 28-member bloc should remain at least until the end of 2018. You and Yours hears from one customer who faced huge bills when their mobile phone signal automatically switched to overseas networks when close to the Irish border.
There are 15,000 florist businesses in the UK. It's an industry made up of mainly small businesses who are seeing their sales decline as Supermarkets offer cheaper and cheaper bouquets. So what are independent Florists doing to boost business?
Councils are being accused of using aggressive debt collection tactics and offering less help than banks to people who've fallen behind with their bills. We speak to debt charity StepChange who say too many councils adopt a heavy-handed approach to non-payment of council tax.
Complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service are taking longer to resolve than a year ago.Peter hears from one man who waited four and a half years for the financial ombudsman to settle his case and to the chief ombudsman at the FOS, Caroline Wayman, about why there are such long delays.
THU 12:57 Weather (b054vckj)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b054t3sg)
Analysis of current affairs reports, presented by Martha Kearney.
THU 13:45 Promises, Promises: A History of Debt (b054t56t)
The International Politics of Debt
Anthropologist David Graeber examines the rise of virtual money since the 1970s and the power of international creditors.
When Nixon abandoned the gold standard in 1970, he kick-started a process by which money has become a virtual commodity rather than a physical thing to be held in the hand.
But this is not a new, unprecedented phenomenon, made possible by the advent of computers. Periods of virtual money have occurred many times over the course of history. David explains that, ordinarily, periods dominated by virtual credit money have also seen the creation of overarching mechanisms designed to protect debtors from creditors, so that the system does not descend into continual social crisis. Where money is understood to be not a thing but a promise, there has to be a way to prevent those with the means to create credit from simply enslaving everyone else - hence the ancient Middle Eastern jubilees and debt cancellations, or the Medieval bans on interest-taking and debt peonage.
However, David Braeber argues that the last half century has been marked by exactly the opposite - the western powers have overseen the creation of great overarching mechanisms tasked with protecting creditors.
It was the outrage at this situation that led to the rise of the Global Justice Movement in the late 1990s. Beginning with popular uprisings against austerity policies, and gradually galvanizing into a planetary network of popular groups, the movement aimed to expose the global bureaucratic structure that enforced debt arrangements, and emphasized how they made any form of democratic self-governance impossible.
Producer: Max O'Brien
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b054qfjg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b054t79g)
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe
A new two-part dramatisation of Alexander McCall Smith's latest No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency book, 'The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe'. Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi return to Radio 4 for an eleventh series based on the popular novels set in Bostwana, dramatised by the author.
Episode 1 : The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe
New mother Mma Makutsi expands her business portfolio in an unexpected direction. Meanwhile Mma Ramotswe meets a client with a problematic house guest.
Directed by Eilidh McCreadie.
THU 15:00 Ramblings (b054t79t)
Series 29
Hertfordshire - Bell-Ringers
The theme of this series of Ramblings is 'bonding' and this week Clare walks with a group who bond, not just through walking, but through their shared passion for bell-ringing. Twice a year, Janet Betham and a fellow Janet organise what have become known as "Janets' Jaunts", where a number of bell-ringers gather together for a ramble between two churches. They ring bells at the start of the walk, stop for a pub-lunch mid-way, and ring again at their destination bell-tower. Join Clare Balding for one of her most unusual Ramblings to date.
Producer: Karen Gregor.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b054p996)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (b054pfn9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b054t7b7)
Terence Stamp, Joanna Hogg, Benshi
With Francine Stock.
Terence Stamp reveals why he fell out with director John Schlesinger on the set of Far From The Madding Crowd.
Film-makers Joanna Hogg and Adam Roberts tell Francine why they have set up their own film club, A Nos Amours, due to the demise of repertory cinema in this country.
Clive Bell and Tomoko Komura perform the Japanese art of silent film narration called Benshi.
Critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh picks her DVDs of the month.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b054t9hd)
Large Hadron Collider Run Two, Flooding, Nasa's Biggest Rocket, Violin Evolution
Today CERN announced that on 23rd March the largest single machine the world has ever seen gets plugged in, switched on, and rebooted after a 2 year rest. The Large Hadron Collider was crashing particles at energies just off the speed of light, and in doing so, simulating the universe in its neonatal form. It will be shortly achieving energies twice as great as before and as Adam Rutherford hears from particle physicists Tara Shears and Malcolm Fairbairn, vast new opportunities for discovery will open up
In The Archers, the current devastation caused by the rising of the River Am is a stark reminder of the impact of last year's floods and the unpredictable nature of river channels. But a new study argues that if we're to get a better grip on the hazard posed by a river - and even predict the likelihood it will flood - an overlooked factor needs to be embraced. Louise Slater from Queen Mary University of London discusses the missing piece in the puzzle
NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, will be capable of taking astronauts beyond low Earth orbit for the first time since the end of the Apollo era in 1972.Its first - unmanned - launch is due in 2018 and yesterday the first ground test on two of the massive boosters was successfully completed . BBC Future Space Correspondent, Richard Hollingham, reports from NASA's assembly facility to get the measure of this interstellar behemoth.
The golden age of violin making was dominated by master violinmaking families from the 17th and 18th centuries but what accounts for their revered acoustic power? Adam speaks to violin virtuoso Tasmin Little and hears of a new study by acoustician Nicholas Makris from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who's scanned, measured and documented the violin's changing dimensions to try and account for the unique fullness of sound during this era.
Producer Adrian Washbourne.
THU 17:00 PM (b054t9hg)
PM at
5pm- Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b054qczq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Britain Versus the World (b050crxj)
Series 1
Episode 6
The final episode of the comedy panel show that pits two British comedians against a team of comics from overseas to find out which side is superior.
Joining the British captain, Hal Cruttenden, is the English comedian Roisin Conaty while the captain of the Rest of the World - Henning Wehn - is teamed with his fellow German stand-up Christian Schulte-Loh.
The contest is overseen by Irishman Ed Byrne who does his very best to stay impartial.
Host
Ed Byrne
Guests
Hal Cruttenden
Henning Wehn
Roisin Conaty
Christian Schulte-Loh
Programme Associate Bill Matthews
Devised and produced by Ashley Blaker.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b054t9hj)
Pat's enraged to see Justin Elliott in the Borchester Echo - he has started a flood relief fund. Susan says 'good for Justin'. The Village Shop is closed until further notice - it will take months to reopen. They can set up a temporary shop at Bridge Farm.
Rob's recovering after his lifeboat accident. Helen is proud of him, and his little battle scar. Meanwhile, Peggy is donating clothes for Sabrina's collection.
Peggy and Jennifer feel for Bert and Freda. Kate is petulant with Phoebe, who's planning to spend Mother's Day with Hayley. Jennifer chastises Kate for not appearing to care about those affected by the flood - and also for focusing more on her social life than her studies.
Pat is excited that Tony's coming home next week. Peggy reminds Pat and Helen that she hasn't had her birthday party yet. So if they're celebrating Tony's return next week they can do both. After everything they've been through, says Pat, they're due a celebration.
THU 19:16 Front Row (b054t9hl)
Michael Flatley, Suite Francaise, Terry Pratchett Remembered, Wellington at the National Portrait Gallery
Michael Flatley, the American-born Irish dancer, choreographer and musician behind the phenomenon of Riverdance, is about to return to the stage for his farewell tour of Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games. Flatley looks back over his career, and what it feels like to be about to hang up his dancing shoes.
Irène Némirovsky had written just two of a planned five part series of novels about life in Nazi occupied France when she was arrested and detained at Auschwitz, where she went on to die. The manuscript was preserved and published in 2004 as one novel titled Suite Francaise. It became a literary sensation and has now been adapted into a film starring Michelle Williams and Kristin Scott Thomas. Sarah Crompton reviews.
To mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, the National Portrait Gallery is hosting Wellington: Triumphs, Politics and Passions, exploring the life and career of the Duke of Wellington. Historian and Wellington expert Andrew Roberts discusses the exhibits on show.
We pay tribute to Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series, who has died aged 66.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Ellie Bury.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b0556763)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Report (b054t9hn)
The Truth About Fat
There is no link between saturated fat and heart disease, according to a recent report in a respected scientific journal. So why has official public health advice for the past decades recommended a low fat diet? Adrian Goldberg investigates.
Producer: Gemma Newby
Reporter: Adrian Goldberg.
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (b054t9hq)
Going Global
Whether you're selling breakfast cereals, criminal tags or excavator buckets, expanding your business overseas can be a game changer. But when's the right time to export and which countries should you target? Evan Davis and guests discuss the ups and downs of trading internationally. They'll share their stories on why it can be easier to sell abroad than at home, how to adapt products for a new market and why doing your homework can ensure that nothing is lost in translation. Top tips on how to make exporting a business boost not a foreign flop.
Guests:
Sara Murray, Founder and CEO, Buddi
Giles Turrell, CEO, Weetabix
Jacqui Miller, Director, Miller International.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b054t9hd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b054t3s2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b05n8bvn)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b054t9hs)
Best-selling fantasy author, Sir Terry Pratchett, dies.
He was diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease 8 years ago.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b054t9hv)
Kazuo Ishiguro - The Buried Giant
Episode 9
In this time of forgetting, one elderly couple - Axl and Beatrice - are determined to hold onto memories of their life together and have set out to find their long-lost son. They were joined on their quest by Wistan, a mysterious Saxon warrior from the East, and Edwin, a young boy in peril, but the group have been separated.
They've learned that the source of the mist of forgetting is the dragon Querig, and Wistan has vowed to slay the beast. Axl and Beatrice also hope to kill the dragon but begin to fear a time when the mist lifts, and memory returns.
David Suchet continues Kazuo Ishiguro's powerful novel - a moving, mysterious and deeply philosophical book about how societies remember and forget.
“It’s queer the way the world’s forgetting people and things from only yesterday and the day before that. Like a sickness come over us all.”
The Romans have long since departed and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. In this desolate, uncultivated land of mist and rain, people find that their memories are slipping away from them. They live in an uneasy peace but memories of the wars that once ravaged the country are stirring.
Abridged by Sara Davies.
Producer: Mair Bosworth
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2015.
THU 23:00 Brian Gulliver's Travels (b01mqq6h)
Series 2
Kognitia
Brian Gulliver, a seasoned presenter of travel documentaries, finds himself in a hospital's secure unit after claiming to have experienced a succession of bizarre adventures.
More memories as Brian relives his experiences in Kognitia where selective memory is taken to a new extreme.
Brian Gulliver ..... Neil Pearson
Rachel Gulliver ..... Mariah Gale
Kalmena ..... Debra Stephenson
Lamet ..... Duncan Wisbey
Door ..... Harry Livingstone
PA ..... Amaka Okafor
Producer: Steven Canny
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2012.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b054t9hx)
Sean Curran follows the arguments in the Commons over how much money should be spent on defence.
Also on the programme:
* A Labour peer says the destruction of historic sites in Iraq by ISIS is like 'bulldozing Stonehenge'.
* MPs are given an update on efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
* Could the Bill banning hunting with dogs be repealed in the next Parliament?
* The Lords hears pleas for help for people affected by basement excavations in their neighbours' properties.
FRIDAY 13 MARCH 2015
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b054qd0n)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b054t3s4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b054qd0q)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b054qd0s)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b054qd0v)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b054qd0x)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0552bqv)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Reverend Prebendary Edward Mason, Rector of Bath Abbey.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b054tss2)
Transatlantic trade negotiations, Renewable energy
Doubts over a trade deal said to be worth billions of pounds to the British economy have been raised in a report published this week by MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or T-TIP, is a deal which could see trade between the EU and the US made easier. It's been in negotiation for years, and as we've reported, some fear it could lead to a weakening of Europe's animal welfare and environmental standards. We hear from the committee's chair, Joan Whalley.
Continuing our week-long look at renewable energy, we visit the Somerset project which is part of a trial scheme, investigating whether waste material from nature reserves can be turned into fuel, electricity or heat.
And we catch up with the Leicestershire couple who have just taken on a 25 year farm tenancy. With lambing underway, they're getting used to the first new arrivals on the farm for nearly a decade - not all of them livestock.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Emma Campbell.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03ws7gc)
Nuthatch
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Bill Oddie presents the nuthatch. Nuthatches are the only UK birds that can climb down a tree as fast they can go up and you'll often see them descending a trunk or hanging beneath a branch. Nuthatches are unmistakable: blue-grey above, chestnut under the tail and with a black highwayman's mask.
FRI 06:00 Today (b054tss4)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
We mentioned the Torbay mayoral election contest on the programme this morning. The prospective candidates who have said they plan to stand in that election on 7 May are:
Dennis Brewer, Liberal Democrat
Darren Cowell, Labour
Susie Colley, Independent
Gordon Oliver, Conservative
Julian Parrott, UKIP
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b054pbb3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b054tl6z)
Cédric Villani - Birth of a Theorem
The Fields Medal
Rock-star mathematician Cédric Villani's quest to tame a new theorem continues.
Villani learns he's been awarded the most coveted prize in mathematics, the Fields Medal.
Read by Julian Rhind-Tutt
Translated by Malcolm DeBevoise
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Gemma Jenkins
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b054tss6)
Naomi Klein, Diana Henry, Woman of the Week
Author Naomi Klein explains why climate change isn't another issue, but a civilisation wake-up call, referring to her new book "This Changes Everything."
Food writer Diana Henry rustles up spicy salsa and chicken and talks about her 9th cook book "A Bird in the Hand."
Sue MacGregor, former Woman's Hour presenter, remembers the editor of the programme in the 1980s, Sandra or Sandy Chalmers who died recently.
Reporter Angela Robson visits the Kenyan Community Engagement Initiative Network, a project funded by Comic Relief. It helps HIV positive women to support themselves through sustainable farming.
Woman's Hour listeners say who is their Woman of the Week and why.
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Rebecca Myatt.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b05564zs)
Ladder of Years
The Filling of White Hours
by Anne Tyler dramatised by Rebecca Lenkiewicz.
Episode Five - The Filling of White Hours
Little by little Delia Grinstead's new life in the sleepy town of Bay Borough is beginning to feel less solitary.
Director: David Hunter.
FRI 11:00 Don't Log Off (b054tl71)
Series 6
Dependence
Alan Dein crosses the world via Facebook and Skype, hearing the real life dramas of strangers he randomly encounters. In this episode he explores dependency, hearing from a young German woman who fell into a coma while in Ireland, and a workaholic in Singapore punishing his body with drink.
Producer Emma Betteridge.
FRI 11:30 Cleaning Up (b054tl73)
4. Surprise
Julie treats Nita to a little surprise.
Every night, as time is called and people are spat out onto the streets and squeezed into rides home to dream -tossed beds - others are hard at work. Teams of cleaners are in office spaces scrubbing, vaccuming and cleaning up.
And right at the bottom of the food chain we find our gang - Spit n' Polish tackling the floors of a plush tower block in Manchester city centre.
Written by Ian Kershaw.
Julie ..... Julie Hesmondhalgh
Nobby ..... Paul Barber
Dave ..... John Thompson
Shiv ..... Lauren Socha
Nita ..... Bhavna Limbachia
Our Bri ..... Jack Deam
Alex... Justin Moorhouse
Produced in Salford by Alison Vernon-Smith
First broadcast on Radio 4 in March 2015.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (b054qd0z)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Home Front (b054tl75)
13 March 1915 - Davy Wardle
The men at Marshalls are spoiling for a fight.
Written by Richard Monks
Directed and produced by Lucy Collingwood
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
FRI 12:16 You and Yours (b054tss8)
Public Service Complaints, Costly Drama School Auditions, Renewable Heat Incentive
Complaining about a public service such as a hospital or school is so complicated that many of us don't even bother. Which? says last year half of us didn't because we think it would not be worth the effort, and nothing would change. There are calls for England to follow Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in setting up a single Public Services Ombudsman. Peter White finds out how that might look, and how effective it could be.
A Government incentive set up to get more of us using renewable heat is being criticised for encouraging people to waste energy. The Renewable Heat Incentive was established in 2011, and has been paying non-domestic users for every unit of heat they generate by burning wood or wood pellets. So is the scheme inadvertently encouraging people to burn more wood than they need?
Plus paying for a place on the stage. After Julie Walters' recent comments about the shortage of actors from working class backgrounds, we hear from students who say the price to audition for drama school is too much.
Presented by Peter White
Produced by Natalie Donovan.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b054qd11)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b054tssb)
Analysis of current affairs reports, presented by Mark Mardell.
FRI 13:45 Promises, Promises: A History of Debt (b054tl77)
Hope
To conclude his series, anthropologist David Graeber examines recent events in the context of the long history of debt.
According to David, we are currently living in the early years of a new era in which physical money - cash passing from hand to hand - will be replaced by virtual money. There have been many eras of virtual money over the past 5000 years and David argues that we cannot yet know what this latest phase will mean as we are just a few decades years into a historical epoch likely to last 500 years.
To put the matter in perspective, capitalism's existence as an economic system has been entirely within one oscillation back and forth between physical and virtual money. There is every reason to believe that, if we are indeed heading towards a long period of virtual money, the predominant economic system in this period might also be something different.
David Graeber argues that, when the creditor has all the power, the repayment of debt becomes a sacrosanct principle and writing it off becomes inconceivable. The events of the 2008 financial crash provide us with a perfect example. When the banks were poised to go under, they were bailed out even if it meant making billions of pounds worth of debt disappear through a taxpayer funded injection of cash. By contrast, no matter what the circumstances, the requirement for small-scale debtors to pay back at agreed rates of interest was considered a matter of simple morality.
The financial crash might be over, but the international debt crisis continues. David concludes by arguing that we need to reinstate the ancient and medieval customs of institutionalised debt forgiveness in order to get out of our current malaise.
Producer: Max O'Brien
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b054t9hj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b054tl7c)
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
The Dish of Yesterday
A new two-part dramatisation of Alexander McCall Smith's latest No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency book, 'The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe'. Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi return to Radio 4 for an eleventh series based on the popular novels set in Botswana, dramatised by the author.
Episode 2 : The Dish of Yesterday
Mma Ramotswe decides to put her new intern on the case, while Mma Makutsi's distinctive approach to the restaurant business raises eyebrows.
Directed by Eilidh McCreadie.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b054tl7f)
Dartmouth
Peter Gibbs chairs the horticultural panel programme from Dartmouth, Devon. Bunny Guinness, Anne Swithinbank and Matthew Wilson join him to answer the questions from the audience.
Anne Swithinbank goes in search of an unusual use for coffee grounds and the team head out to the Royal Avenue Gardens for some topical tips.
Produced by Darby Dorras
Assistant Producer: Hannah Newton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 Shorts (b0552bqx)
New Irish Writing
Tommy and Moon
A series of original stories from some of Ireland’s most exciting writers.
Donal Ryan (The Spinning Heart, The Thing About December) brings us to Limerick where a young writer befriends a local octogenarian, Tommy, and discovers the beauty within the man. Eimear McBride (A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing) takes us into a world of dark family secrets and revenge, while playwright Rosemary Jenkinson reflects on the changing landscape of Belfast and its mythology as a young girl believes she’s discovered the fairy folk in the hill behind her home.
Writer ..... Donal Ryan
Reader ..... Liam O'Brien
Producer ..... Gemma McMullan
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b054tssd)
Sir Terry Pratchett, Florence Arthaud, Patrick Whitefield, Lord Molyneaux, Sam Simon
Matthew Bannister on
The author Sir Terry Pratchett who created the much loved "Discworld" and in later life contracted Alzheimer's disease which he described as 'An Embuggerance'.
Florence Arthaud, who was described as the first great female ocean racing sailor of the modern era.
The ecologist Patrick Whitefield, who promoted the idea of permaculture, helped to found the Green Party and, for a time, lived in a tipi.
The Ulster Unionist leader Lord Molyneaux who held his party together at the time of the Anglo Irish agreement.
And Sam Simon, the comedy writer who co-created the Simpsons.
FRI 16:30 Feedback (b054tssg)
After a year and half in the driving seat for Radio 4's beloved radio soap opera The Archers, editor Sean O'Connor has created controversy amongst some dedicated listeners - with debate over a number of cast changes and the playing out of a Biblical flood over a week of programmes. This week, Sean O'Connor came into the Feedback studio to answer listeners' questions and comments.
C2C, the Country Music Festival, was held in London last weekend bringing the sounds of Nashville to a UK audience. This prompted BBC Radio 2 to launch a pop-up music station playing wall-to-wall Country music which was on-air for just four days. Radio 2 Controller Bob Shennan explains why they did it and whether they'll do it again.
And after last week's discussion on how the BBC should receive its funding in future, listeners respond to news from the National Audit Office that the corporation will face more spending cuts.
Producer: Will Yates
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b054tmrf)
Jan and Kate - A Bolt from the Blue
Jan's diagnosis with Motor Neurone Disease has been balanced to a certain extent by the news that she will soon be a grandmother. She and her daughter face their uncertain future, introduced by Fi Glover in another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
FRI 17:00 PM (b054tssj)
PM at
5pm- Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b054qd13)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (b054tmrh)
Series 86
Episode 4
A satirical review of the week's news, chaired by Sandi Toksvig, who is joined by Andy Hamilton, Sara Pascoe and Andrew Maxwell, alongside regular panellist Jeremy Hardy.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b054tmrk)
The horses are safely back in now at the Stables. Shula's worried about the effect of the flood on their business, especially Alistair's vet practice. More happily, Dan is doing well and should soon be an officer in the Royal Tank Regiment.
Bert is missing Freda. He moves into Ben's bedroom at Brookfield. He'll get Ben a thank you gift in the form of a model figure. Ben managed to save Freda's soaked recipe books. David and Ruth cheer Bert up. They can give the bungalow a proper makeover and Freda can have a new kitchen.
The Bull is open for business - in the new upstairs 'Flood Bar'. David, Jill and Ruth go for dinner and discuss Heather, who may consider sheltered accommodation.
Shula has shock news. Freda has died. She had a heart attack. Bert feels so alone. Jill reveals they're not leaving Brookfield and Bert sobs. Jill comforts Bert and promises him he won't be left on his own.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b054tssl)
Raised by Wolves, The Staves, Compton Verney, 1990 Boston art heist
Raised by Wolves is a new sitcom written by author Caitlin Moran and her sister Catherine. Based in Wolverhampton and set in a large, home-schooled family led by matriarch Stella, the series is loosely based on Moran's own upbringing. Natalie Haynes reviews
As The Staves prepare to release their second album If I Was, the singing Stavely-Taylor sisters - Jessica, Emily and Camilla - discuss recording in Wisconsin with Bon Iver, and how they create their three-part harmonies.
Compton Verney re-opens to the public this weekend. John Wilson visits the country mansion and art gallery and previews two new exhibitions: Canaletto: Celebrating Britain, and The Non-Conformists: Photographs by Martin Parr.
Boston journalist Stephen Kurkjian, and Antony Amore, head of security at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, look back at the world's largest private property theft there 25 years ago when artworks by Rembrandt and Vermeer were stolen and never seen again.
Presenter John Wilson
Producer Jerome Weatherald.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b05564zs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b054tmrm)
Ken Clarke MP, Suzanne Evans, Tim Farron MP, Phil Redmond.
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate from the Wirral Grammar School for Girls with former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Ken Clarke MP, Deputy Chairman of UKIP Suzanne Evans, Former President of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron MP, TV Producer Phil Redmond.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b054tmrp)
Cognitive Decline
Tom Shakespeare says increasing wisdom in middle age is at least some compensation for declining cognitive powers. "Wisdom is not the amount you know, it's how you see and how you interpret what you see."
Producer: Sheila Cook.
FRI 21:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b054tnzn)
9-13 March 1915
The Battle of Neuve Chapelle drew to a close while the men at Marshalls are spoiling for a fight.
Written by Richard Monks
Story-led 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 (b054qd15)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b054tnzq)
Could efforts to tackle climate change have been more effective than previously thought ?
New data suggests global emissions of carbon dioxide stabilised last year.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b054tnzs)
Kazuo Ishiguro - The Buried Giant
Episode 10
In this time of forgetting, one elderly couple - Axl and Beatrice - are determined to hold onto memories of their life together and have set out to find their long-lost son.
On their journey they encounter knights, holy men and warriors. With the she-dragon Querig slain and memory restored, the land faces a dark future as old wounds are laid bare. With Beatrice weakening, the couple continue their journey to find their son but buried memories of their own lives are also stirring.
David Suchet concludes Kazuo Ishiguro's powerful novel - a moving, mysterious and deeply philosophical book about how societies remember and forget.
“It’s queer the way the world’s forgetting people and things from only yesterday and the day before that. Like a sickness come over us all.”
The Romans have long since departed and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. In this desolate, uncultivated land of mist and rain, people find that their memories are slipping away from them. They live in an uneasy peace but memories of the wars that once ravaged the country are stirring.
Abridged by Sara Davies.
Producer: Mair Bosworth
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2015.
FRI 23:00 A Good Read (b054qc28)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b054tnzv)
Mark D'Arcy reports from Westminster.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b054tp01)
Emma and Claire - The Importance of Being First
Even now they are nearing forty, people still confuse these twins. Yet they make it clear how much they differ from each other in this conversation introduced by Fi Glover, in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.