The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Emergency supplies to Orkney, Climate change effects on British birds, Dairy summit
Emergency supplies of straw arrive in Orkney where farmers are struggling to feed their cattle.
British Birds have expanded their range in response to climate change, new research has found.
A dairy summit hopes to address the damaging cycle of boom and bust in the industry by using a fictional dairy herd.
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the snow goose found breeding across Canada and Alaska. Although most snow geese are all-white with black wing-tips, some known as blue geese are blue-ish grey with white heads. Snow geese breed in the tundra region with goslings hatching at a time to make the most of rich supply of insect larvae and berries in the short Arctic summer. As autumn approaches though, the geese depart and head south before temperatures plummet, and the tundra becomes sealed by snow and ice. As they head for areas rich in grain and nutritious roots hundreds of thousands of snow geese fill the sky with their urgent clamour providing one of the greatest wildfowl spectacles in the world.
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Patrick Vallance is something of a rare breed: a game-keeper turned poacher; an academic who's moved over into industry. And not just any industry, but the pharmaceutical industry.
At the time, Patrick Vallance was Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Head of the Department of Medicine at University College London. A pioneer of research into some of the body's key regulatory systems, he had also been publicly critical of BIG Pharma for "funding studies more helpful to marketing than to advancing clinical care". So what made him go over to "the other side"?
His involvement with the industry was limited until one evening in 2006 when he was asked a question over a dinner, a question that would be pivotal to his life and career.
Today, Patrick is head of research and development at GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies with annual revenues in excess of 20 billion pounds and nearly a hundred thousand employees worldwide. Whilst GSK is no stranger to scandal, since he joined, Patrick has attempted to tackle the culture of secrecy that pervades the industry. He's since reshaped the way GSK carries out its research and has been behind several radical initiatives in global healthcare, to produce a more collaborative approach to tackling major diseases like malaria.
Bel Mooney talks to author Penelope Lively about the nature of home. Is it an idea as much as a place?
Hattie Morahan reads Claire Harman's new and intimate portrait of Charlotte Bronte. The biography of one of our greatest novelists looks ahead to the two hundredth anniversary of her birth in April 2016. Today, a decision to write to the poet laureate, Robert Southey, yields a surprising response. Meanwhile, the fourteen year old Charlotte begins life at Roe Head School as a pupil before returning as an intransigent teacher.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson.
What's behind the record-breaking success of Adele and her hit single Hello? Music journalist Jude Rogers discusses what the singer's upcoming album, 25, could mean for her future career.
We discuss BBC Three's Is This Rape? Sex On Trial, a fictional drama about two teenagers at a house party, in which viewers were encouraged to vote on whether a girl was raped or gave her consent. Executive producer Mike Radford and Jayne Bullough from Rape Crisis discuss the programme and its ethics.
Self-harm is often linked to teenagers and young people however a rising number over the age of 30 are affected. Former self-harmer Judith Shaw and helpline co-ordinator Naomi Salisbury discuss.
Leather is Back for Autumn Winter 2015. Real or faux, you'll find it in skirts, Jackets, dresses, even leggings. Stacey Duguid Fashion Director at The Pool.com has tried them all and discusses with the journalist and ex-fashion editor Lowri Turner.
The series which explores the 20th century through the diaries and correspondence of real people.
It's 1954 and the avant-garde commercial artist Monica Rawlins finds herself alone, in the middle-of-nowhere rural Cardiganshire, breeding geese. How has her life come to this?
A heart-warming drama about unrequited love, unfulfilled dreams, art and poultry keeping.
Having endured an awful spring Monica hopes a visit from her nephew, the artist Geoffrey Rawlins, will bring some reprieve. Yet memories of the past are never far from her mind. Whilst in the present one very special gosling demands more attention than Monica can afford to give.
For as long as humans have been around, we’ve had the cockroach as an uninvited house guest. No other creepy-crawly has the power to elicit such strong feelings: the horror of uncleanliness and the involuntary shudder that only a scuttling cockroach can bring, as it vanishing behind the bread bin.
But they’ve entered our imaginations as well as our living spaces. We may have given the cockroach its dark reputation, but this insect is a survivor. Disgusting and revolting are some of the more polite descriptions we use for cockroaches. Is that because we associate them with squalor and poor hygiene, or because they hold a mirror up to the less savoury side of human nature?
But there is a different side to this great survivor. Probably the most famous cockroach in literature is Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis. Films such as Men in Black use the cockroach as a metaphor for alien arrivals. The cockroach can feed our imagination in other ways too. Its reputation can also be turned inward to explore humanity, satirically described by Archy the cockroach early in the last Century.
Maddy Prior has been the lead singer of Steeleye Span since they formed in 1969. Since then the band has had dozens of members, some have left for good, some have left and re-joined, Maddy herself, who is still with Steeleye, describes it as a 'bus' with people jumping on and off.
In the first of two programmes Maddy and her daughter Rose Kemp discuss how music has taken them in different directions.
Whereas Maddy is at the very heart of the folk and traditional music establishment, Rose is a major artist in the doom and drone metal scene, the slower heavier take on heavy metal. Together Maddy and Rose discuss their music and how it was they have followed such different musical paths.
As part of this two part series Rose and Maddy have composed and recorded brand new, original songs alongside artists, especially selected by the other.
Rose has linked up with Bellowhead front man Jon Boden to record a song she has written to explore the difficult subject of rape in marriage while Maddy collaborated with Dylan Carlson, part of the Seattle music scene and head of the metal band Earth.
Long standing fans of Maddy's and Steeleye will definitely be surprised at the way she uses her famous voice to fit the guitars of Carlson's arrangement.
Along the way, Rose and Maddy come together to discuss the world of music, feminism and misogyny in the folk world, spirituality, and how they view the world and their relationship through their different musical styles.
Mike Williams ponders why dolls are so universally popular. He discovers that it's not only girls who like dolls, as is commonly assumed. He speaks to people who've studied why dolls are such common playthings and to people who collect them.
The internet is part of everyday life - three quarters of adults use are online every day - according to the Office for National Statistics.
It's because so many services have moved online - not just shopping, utilities, banking, government departments.
We fill in endless forms online, giving all our personal details, names addresses, bank account numbers, card security codes, the lot. The cyber attack on TalkTalk is a reminder of how little most of us know about our vulnerability online.
News and analysis presented by Martha Kearney. Including government strategy on Syria; George Osborne talks British rights in EU; Margaret Thatcher's clothes - do they belong in a museum?
Before the last survivors of the First World War passed away, the memories of many of those who fought it were captured in sound recordings. Speakers recall in great detail as though it were yesterday the conditions of the trenches, the brutality of the battlefield, the experience of seeing their first casualty and hearing their first shell, their daily and nightly routines, and their psychological state in the face of so much trauma. The Imperial War Museum's holdings include a major oral history resource of remarkable recordings made in the 1980s and early 1990s with the remaining survivors of the conflict. The interviews were done not for immediate use or broadcast, but because it was felt that this diminishing resource, that could never be replenished, would be of unique value in the future. Among the BBC's extensive collection of archive featuring first hand recollections of the conflict a century ago are the interviews recorded for the 1964 TV series 'The Great War', which vividly bring to life the human experience of those fighting and living through the war. In a unique partnership between the Imperial War Museums and the BBC, the two sound archive collections are brought together for the first time in this Radio 4 series. 'Voices of the First World War', a fifty-part series which began in Autumn 2014, broadcasts many of these recordings for the first time, and will run in short seasons throughout the commemorative period, tracking the course of the war.
Presented by Dan Snow, the second five programmes to be broadcast this year look at the events of 1915, including veterans' memories of their first trips home on leave, the rise of U-Boat attacks, the disastrous Battle of Loos, and the experiences of those fighting on the Eastern Front as the war expanded, in Salonika and Mesopotamia.
In the second programme we hear the recollections of two German Officers who served on U-Boats, one of whom, Martin Niemoller, had become a Lutheran Pastor and leading voice in warning against the dangers of political apathy by the time of his contribution to the BBC Great War Series in 1964. And Alice Drury, a survivor of the Lusitania, vividly recalls its sinking by German torpedo in May 1915.
Anarchic comedy-drama. When farmer Barry changes radio station and hears himself as the star of a daily soap drama he fears for his sanity and grapples wildly with questions of free will and identity. As the rest of the village turn against him, he sets off on a quest to track down the broadcaster responsible but finds himself falling further into the wormhole.
Tom Wainwright is a writer, performer and theatre-maker living in Bristol. In 2011, Tom created the solo performance Pedestrian, co-commissioned and produced by Bristol Old Vic and Theatre Bristol. His play Muscle was produced by Bristol Old Vic. Tom also wrote and performed in the sell-out BOV Christmas sketch show Jesus Christ It's Christmas, plus Love in Idleness and The Grill Chef. Nuclear Family has been developed through Royal Court Young Writers Programme which Tom took part in 2010. Banksy: The Room in the Elephant was produced at Edinburgh Fringe 2013. This is Tom's first radio drama.
How imprisonment revealed an unlikely talent, a musical story of what follows after a dust storm has passed and the unexpected complications of standing still to watch the seasons change. Josie Long hears stories of what follows after the main event.
Feat. John McAvoy and Darren Davies
Feat. Lily Kestecher, Noel Debien, Claudia Taranto and Milan Durovic
Campaigners claim England's river life is under threat from 'insidious' pollution, yet the Environment Agency says rivers are at their healthiest in 20 years. Tom Heap visits the River Itchen, in Hampshire, and the River Thames to discover where the truth might lie. This is an important moment for rivers, the next five year plan for improving them is about to be published. The Government Minister for the Natural Environment, Rory Stewart, tells Tom what his priorities will be.
Solicitors are in uproar over government changes to the criminal legal aid system. The budget has been slashed by 17.5 per cent and the number of firms eligible to provide duty solicitors to represent clients at police stations has been reduced from 1600 to just over 500.
Firms which lost out are bitterly disappointed and there are fears that successful firms will be over-stretched, lowering the standard of service for clients.
In the week the new contracts are due to be signed, Joshua Rozenberg goes to Nottingham to meet two solicitors - one whose bid for three new contracts was successful, the other who got nothing.
Supreme Court judge Lord Carnwath on whether the courts should have a role in the climate change debate.
A magistrates court on the Isle of Wight recently dismissed a case against a father who refused to pay a fixed penalty notice for taking his daughter on holiday during term time. What might their ruling mean for other parents?
And on the 50th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty Joshua speaks to Julian Knowles QC, author of a history of capital punishment.
Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy and crime writer Ann Cleeves, the author of the novels dramatised as the TV detective series Vera, talk books with Harriett Gilbert. Ann Cleeves chooses Alain-Fournier's romantic only novel, The Lost Estate, or Le Grande Meaulnes. Krishnan Guru-Murthy champions George Orwell's combination of reportage and essay, The Road to Wigan Pier, and Harriett talks about Joanna Rakoff's memoir My Salinger Year.
No 10 denies scrapping plans to seek MPs approval which appears to be ebbing away.
When his girlfriend announces she's pregnant, Andrew faces one of the biggest decisions of his life: should he stay or should he go?
Sitcom about a man dissatisfied with his life, whose feeble attempts to run away invariably end with him traipsing home defeated.
Ruth has her executor's meeting to discuss Heather's effects. She's stressed and can't find her car keys, complaining that the place is a hovel. In the yard, David talks to Ruth about going back to an old way of doing things - feeding silage straight from the clamp, which Pip is keen on trying. Ruth agrees to try it as a short experiment - but they need to do it properly and properly cost it up.
Toby and Rex prepare to talk to Adam about the share farming idea. Rex worries about being grilled on his embellished CV. Toby's keen to do whatever it takes to get the gig. Toby goes in a bit too keen and Adam starts off with Rex's experience with beef cattle and then interrogates the finances - he'd be happier if they had some real capital upfront. Weighing this up with their lack of experience, Adam tells them it's a NO. Adam asks David whether Pip would be interested in share farming with him - David says YES, she'll bite your hand off. Toby then turns up to see Pip and tell her of his disappointment. David stalls Toby so that Adam can make an escape and agrees to pass on the news to Pip, who Toby just wanted to thank for all her help.
Danny Boyle on Steve Jobs, Ken Loach remembers Colin Welland, Billy Bragg's lyrics
Director Danny Boyle discusses his new film Steve Jobs, in which Michael Fassbender plays the Apple co-founder, with a script by The Social Network and The West Wing writer, Aaron Sorkin.
Chariots of Fire director Hugh Hudson and Kes director Ken Loach remember actor, writer and producer Colin Welland, whose death was announced today.
Singer and political activist Billy Bragg is about to publish A Lover Sings, a new anthology of lyrics to 70 of his songs. He discusses the collection which features some of his best-known songs, including A New England and Levi Stubbs' Tears.
How safe are we in the hands of locum staff at NHS hospitals? The Government's crackdown on big fees charged by agencies that hire them out has been making headlines, but what's being done to ensure they are up to the job?
Allan Urry investigates recent cases which raise questions about the quality of care delivered by some temporary staff. Should an agency doctor have better assessed a poorly surgical patient on his ward who died a short time later from a post -operative bleed? The programme also asks how well the agency sector is regulated following the revelation that a partly-qualified doctor was able to treat more than 3000 patients after lying about his qualifications.
The technology that helps you control your heating. Tom Walker meets Tracy and Ken McClymont who tell him about the heating app which enables them to control their central heating.
Peter also talks to Belinda Middleton from Cobalt Systems about their new talking wireless central heating unit.
Members of the Blind Veterans UK newly formed radio society, Bernard Parker and John Taylor along with producer Chris Kirk, talk about their first play for seventy years and writer Red Szell presents his latest column on street clutter.
The Rest Test. What exactly is rest, are you getting enough and what's the best way to do it? A global investigation of rest needs your help to find out. Claudia Hammond talks to Dr Felicity Callard about why she wants to find out about the nation's resting habits. Arson costs the UK economy around £45 million every week. So why do people start fires and what can be done to change their behaviour? Professor Theresa Gannon discusses her research into the unique psychology of people who set fires and why her findings have helped her to develop a new treatment programme. Claudia also talks to Dr Lisa Cameron, the first clinical psychologist to become an MP. She talks about her plans for changing mental health and her psychological insights into the machinations of politics in the House.
A special report; Death of Ahmed Chalabi; the man going off the "digital grid".
It's 1957 and James Bond, agent 007, has only just survived his showdown with Auric Goldfinger at Fort Knox. By his side is Pussy Galore, who was with him at the end.
Unknown to either of them, the USSR and the West are in a deadly struggle for technological superiority in the Space Race. And SMERSH is back.
The Soviet counter-intelligence agency plans to sabotage a Grand Prix race at the most dangerous track in Europe. But it's Bond who finds himself in the driving seat and events take an unexpected turn when he observes a suspicious meeting between SMERSH's driver and a sinister Korean millionaire, Sin Jai-Seong.
Soon Bond is pitched into an entirely different race with implications that could change the world. Thrown together with American agent Jeopardy Lane, Bond uncovers a plan that will bring the West to its knees in a heart-stopping climax.
Trigger Mortis is the first James Bond novel to feature previously unseen Ian Fleming material.
Charles closes in on the murderer of his old friend Hugo's wife with help from both his wife and his mother.
Charles ..... Bill Nighy
Frances ..... Suzanne Burden
Joan ..... Geraldine McEwan
Maurice ..... Jon Glover
Geoff ..... Patrick Brennan
Saskia ..... Christine Absalom
Hugo ..... Paul Ritter
Holly ..... Susie Ridell
Sean Curran reports as MPs clash on help for refugees; police chiefs protest at cuts in funding; and why an MP can't put solar panels on his cow shed.
WEDNESDAY 04 NOVEMBER 2015
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b06mbsqg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b06nbylv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b06mbsqn)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b06mbsqs)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b06mbsqz)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b06mbsr1)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06nxx2s)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Father Tim Byron.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b06mfx4v)
Potato power, Farming friends, Dangerous cows
Farming Today is at the first potato powered food factory in the world.
We visit a helpline for farmers dealing with loneliness and depression caused by rural isolation set up by a Gloucestershire farmer.
Cows that have attacked before, could do again, say animal behaviourists.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04hkxpc)
Resplendent Quetzal
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the resplendent quetzal of Guatamala. The image of resplendent quetzals are everywhere in Guatemala, but the source of their national emblem is now confined to the cloud forests of Central America. Its beauty has long entranced people, the male quetzal a shimmering emerald-green above and scarlet below. His outstanding features are the upper tail feathers which, longer than his entire body, extend into a train almost a metre in length, twisting like metallic ribbons as he flies through the tree canopy. Historically resplendent quetzals were considered sacred to the Mayans and Aztecs for their brilliant plumage, with the lavish crown of the Aztec ruler Moctezuma the Second, containing hundreds of individual quetzal tail - plumes.
WED 06:00 Today (b06mypgz)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b06mg2tf)
Janice Connolly, Thomas Pakenham, Asfa-Wossen Asserate, Hugh Warwick.
Libby Purves meets historian Thomas Pakenham; actor Janice Connolly; Asfa-Wossen Asserate, the great-nephew of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and ecologist Hugh Warwick.
Janice Connolly is an actor and comic who stars in the BBC Radio 2 sit com Barbara Nice, part of the network's Comedy Showcase season. The show is based around her character Barbara, a housewife from Stockport, mother of five and occasional stage-diver. Janice played in a range of punk bands before moving into comedy. She was discovered by Peter Kay and starred as Holy Mary in both series of Phoenix Nights. Barbara Nice is broadcast on BBC Radio 2.
Thomas Pakenham, the 8th Earl of Longford, is a writer, historian, photographer and champion of trees. In his latest book, The Company of Trees, he recounts his personal quest to establish an arboretum on the family estate, Tullynally, in Ireland. He writes about his often hazardous plant-hunting expeditions and his efforts to preserve old trees and historic woodland. He is chairman of the Irish Tree Society. The Company of Trees - A Year in a Lifetime's Quest is published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Prince Asfa-Wossen Asserate is a member of the Imperial House of Ethiopia. A political analyst, his book King of Kings tells the story of his great-uncle, Emperor Haile Selassie I. The book follows the emperor's story from his early life and coronation to exile and then return to his country where he fought alongside the Allies during World War Two. His downfall and death followed a military coup in Ethiopia in 1974. King of Kings - The Triumph and Tragedy of Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia is published by Haus Publishing.
Hugh Warwick is an ecologist and writer who has studied hedgehogs for 25 years. He is the author of A Prickly Affair - My Life with Hedgehogs and is a spokesperson for the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. He is running The Day of the Hedgehog - a hedgehog summit in which experts will launch a ten year conservation strategy for the species. The Day of the Hedgehog is at The International Centre in Telford.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b06nbz4h)
Charlotte Bronte: A Life
In a Strange Land
Hattie Morahan reads Claire Harman's new and intimate biography of Charlotte Bronte which looks ahead to the two hundredth anniversary, in April 2016 of one of our greatest novelists. Today, Charlotte and Emily Bronte travel to Brussels to attend school at the Pensionnat Heger. Here Charlotte is powerfully and hauntingly attracted to her charismatic tutor.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b06myrjm)
A celebration of Marguerite Patten, Inside the Women and Equalities Select Committee, Brene Brown
Cook a meal inspired by the recipes of Marguerite Patten to celebrate what would have been her 100th Birthday. Marguerite's daughter Judith and Rosemary Moon, former Chair of the Guild of Food Writers' Committee, discuss their favorite recipes.
We go inside the House of Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee and talk to the Chair, Maria Miller, and committee members Ben Howlett, Jess Phillips and Angela Crawley. If you would like to contribute to the committee's inquiry into the gender pay gap, follow the links below.
Brené Brown talks about her latest book, Rising Strong - and why she believes we should all have the courage to be vulnerable and tackle our self-doubt.
Presented by Jenni Murray
Producer Beverley Purcell.
WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b06mg2tr)
Writing the Century: The View from the Windows
Emotionally Unbuttoned
The View from the Windows
dramatised by Bethan Roberts.
The series which explores the 20th century through the diaries and correspondence of real people.
It's 1955 and the avant-garde commercial artist Monica Rawlins finds herself alone, in the middle-of-nowhere rural Cardiganshire, breeding geese. How has her life come to this?
A heart-warming drama about unrequited love, unfulfilled dreams, art and poultry keeping.
A trip to London offers Monica respite from the farm but not from memories of her ex-love. Meanwhile Stuart's declining health brings about a huge change back at Brynmeheryn.
Directed by Helen Perry
A BBC Cymru Wales production.
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b06mg2ty)
Kim and Luke - Really Good at Laughing
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between a mother and her nine year old son, sharing the joys and frustrations of life with his disabled twin; Another 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 Myanmar's Bright Young Stars (b06mg2v6)
45% of Myanmar's population is 25 or under, giving young adults a key role in the country's first open election in 25 years, to be held on 8th November.
The BBC's Nomia Iqbal spends time with youth radio show Lin Lat Kyair Sin (LLKS or 'Bright Young Stars'). They're running an unprecedented young people's 'Question Time' event, putting the country's young voters face to face with politicians - including a candidate from the military-backed USDP government. It would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, and it's an important chapter in the country's ongoing shift from military rule to full democracy.
WED 11:30 A Trespasser's Guide to the Classics (b06mg2vb)
Series 1
Tell Me A Story
By Richard Katz, John Nicholson and Javier Marzan
In ancient Persia, the new Queen cheats death by captivating the King with stories. For almost three years, she's kept the executioners waiting and now they're taking matters into their own hands by hatching a plot to kidnap her.
In this new series the comedy troupe Peepolykus assume the roles of minor characters in great works of fiction and derail the plot of the book through their hapless buffoonery.
Cast:
Richard . . . . . Richard Katz
The King . . . . . Javier Marzan
John . . . . . John Nicholson
Hayley . . . . . Hayley Carmichael
Scheherazade . . . . . Sirine Saba
Grand Vizier . . . . . Sam Dale
Guards . . . . . Richard Pepple & George Watkins
Director . . . . . Sasha Yevtushenko
WED 12:00 News Summary (b06mbsrd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 The Why Factor (b06n6fj0)
Sad Music
Helena Merriman asks why the sad music is often the most popular. She speaks to writers and musicians about a seemingly irresistible cultural phenomenon. Why do we love tales of heartbreak and melancholy set to slow, lilting melody?
Presenter:Helena Merriman
Producer:Helena Merriman
Editor:Jeremy Skeet
WED 12:15 You and Yours (b06myrk5)
Disconnecting calls, Airline comparison sites, English wine, Christmas adverts
Two of the biggest companies running charity chuggers have gone out of business - what impact will it have on charitable fundraising?
The biggest phone companies disconnect calls to prevent fraud.
Online flight comparison sites - do they offer the best deals?
How English wine is competing with its rivals.
The arrival of the long awaited ritual of the Christmas advert - which ones have pulled our heart, and our purse strings.
HMRC comes under fire from MPs for failing UK taxpayers.
WED 12:57 Weather (b06mbsrg)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b06myrk9)
The Home Secretary has outlined plans for the biggest shake-up of surveillance powers in over a decade. We hear worries about the oversight of the data collected, and discuss the plans with our panel of senior parliamentarians - Grant Schapps MP, Lisa Nandy MP and Baroness Jones.
Jeremy Corbyn again used PMQs to ask the Prime Minister about changes to Tax Credits, as well as plans to change employment contracts for junior doctors. Our panel discuss the nature of PMQs, and whether they would support strike action from health-care workers.
And in the latest in our series of reports following one family of refugees from Jordan to Northern Europe, Manveen Rana meets up with them in Greece.
WED 13:45 Voices of the First World War (b06kng0x)
Battle of Loos
Before the last survivors of the First World War passed away, the memories of many of those who fought it were captured in sound recordings. Speakers recall in great detail as though it were yesterday the conditions of the trenches, the brutality of the battlefield, the experience of seeing their first casualty and hearing their first shell, their daily and nightly routines, and their psychological state in the face of so much trauma. The Imperial War Museum's holdings include a major oral history resource of remarkable recordings made in the 1980s and early 1990s with the remaining survivors of the conflict. The interviews were done not for immediate use or broadcast, but because it was felt that this diminishing resource, that could never be replenished, would be of unique value in the future. Among the BBC's extensive collection of archive featuring first hand recollections of the conflict a century ago are the interviews recorded for the 1964 TV series 'The Great War', which vividly bring to life the human experience of those fighting and living through the war. In a unique partnership between the Imperial War Museums and the BBC, the two sound archive collections are brought together for the first time in this Radio 4 series. 'Voices of the First World War', a fifty-part series which began in Autumn 2014, broadcasts many of these recordings for the first time, and will run in short seasons throughout the commemorative period, tracking the course of the war.
Presented by Dan Snow, the second five programmes to be broadcast this year look at the events of 1915, including veterans' memories of their first trips home on leave, the rise of U-Boat attacks, the disastrous Battle of Loos, and the experiences of those fighting on the Eastern Front as the war expanded, in Salonika and Mesopotamia.
The third programme features first-hand accounts from those who fought at the Battle of Loos in September 1915, from an officer who provided the wind forecasts before the release of chlorine gas by the British, to those who helped burial parties clear the battlefields afterwards, collecting and identifying the dead by night, work which had to continue for several months.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b06mfwcj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Tommies (b06mg2vg)
4 November 1915
by Jonathan Ruffle
Series created by Jonathan Ruffle.
Meticulously based on unit war diaries and eye-witness accounts, TOMMIES traces one real day at war exactly 100 years ago.
Indira Varma, Danny Rahim and Avin Shah star in this story which begins on a gunboat making its way up the river Tigris. Signallers Ahmadullah and Zarbab have a perilous mission to deliver a wireless set to beleaguered British forces in Mesopotamia. It proves a particularly gruelling and testing time for Ahmadullah.
Producers: David Hunter, Jonquil Panting, Jonathan Ruffle
Director: David Hunter.
WED 15:00 Money Box (b06mg2vl)
Money Box Live: Your Pay
What do you need to know about pay? Equal pay, holiday pay, sick pay, or even how to get a pay rise? Call 03700 100 444 from
1pm to
3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk now.
Employees across the UK received a 2.8% pay rise, 3% if you include bonuses, when comparing earnings between June to August 2015 with the same period a year earlier.
The National Minimum Wage rose on 1 October and new rates for the Living Wage were announced on 2 November. On top of that Chancellor George Osborne announced the creation of a National Living Wage to being in April 2016. So which are you entitled to and what can you do if you aren't getting the right amount?
What are your rights to pay if you're an agency worker or have a zero hours contract?
Are you being paid the same as other colleagues doing the same job? The government has been consulting on making larger employers publish gender pay information to try to end gender inequality.
Perhaps you're seeking a greater challenge at work, a new job or a career change to improve your earning potential.
And how and when do you negotiate a pay rise? Perhaps you have some advice for other listeners?
Share your questions and experiences with the team. Presenter Paul Lewis will be joined by:
Nicola Smith, Head of Economics and Social Affairs, TUC.
Martin Warner, Managing Director, Reed Online Jobs and Recruitment.
Charles Cotton, Performance and Reward Adviser, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Call 03700 100 444 from
1pm to
3.30pm on Wednesday, standard geographic call charges apply. Or e-mail questions to moneybox@bbc.co.uk now.
WED 15:30 All in the Mind (b06mfwcv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b06mg9fh)
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, The hidden life of domestic things
The Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) has stirred more passionate controversy than any other trade negotiations. Critics suggest it will undermine democracy and workers' rights, lowering health and safety standards and eroding public services; supporters claim it will produce spectacular growth and job creation. Laurie Taylor explores the likely costs and benefits in a discussion with Gabriel Siles-Brugge, Lecturer in Politics at the University of Manchester and co-author of an analysis of the TTIP. They're joined by the Rt Hon Lord Maude of Horsham, Minister of State for Trade and Investment. Also, the hidden life of domestic things. Sophie Woodward, Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Manchester, explores the dormant objects we stash away in drawers, cupboards and lofts. What can they tell us about the history of our homes, lives and relationships?
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b06mg9fk)
Chief exec of Trinity Mirror Simon Fox, News UK's David Dinsmore, Heather Brooke on FOI
Trinity Mirror has taken full control of media network Local World, which has over 100 regional titles across England and Wales. Dubbed a 'good day for local media', by Chief Executive Simon Fox, the £187 million deal will create the UK's largest regional media group. In his first appearance on The Media Show, Steve Hewlett talks to Chief Executive Simon Fox about the purchase, what it means for a challenged local press, and whether it raises any issues around media plurality.
Britain's biggest-selling newspaper the Sun is to take down its online paywall, after failing to win enough readers. Rupert Murdoch's tabloid introduced the subscription model in 2013, when then editor David Dinsmore said that asking readers to pay for content was, "the only way to protect the future of the newspaper industry". Now in his position as newly promoted Chief Operating Officer of News UK, Steve Hewlett asks David what he hopes a free website will do to stem the decline in print circulation.
The Leader of the House of Commons Chris Grayling has said that the Freedom of Information Act is being misused as a research tool to generate stories for the media. At the same time, the Government has set up an independent cross party Commission to review how FOI is working. There are concerns this will lead to new restrictions on the release of information, a strengthening of the ministerial veto and the adding of new fees. Steve hears from Heather Brooke, freedom of information campaigner and Professor of Journalism at City University, and Dominic Ponsford, Editor of the Press Gazette which has launched a 'Hands Off FOI' campaign.
Producer: Katy Takatsuki.
WED 17:00 PM (b06myrkj)
PM at
5pm - Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b06mbss2)
Flights are halted to Sharm el-Sheikh over fears a bomb brought down the Russian plane
WED 18:30 To Hull and Back (b06mg9fp)
Series 1
My Casa Is Your Casa
A call from Auntie Pamela who lives abroad gets Sophie fired up about the life she could be living - a life of hot tubs and wood-fired lobster.
Her mother tries to compete with her sister, Pamela, but ends up filling the back yard with bubbles and sleeping downstairs on a lilo...
Series 1 of the sitcom by BBC New Comedy Award winner, Lucy Beaumont.
Sophie still lives at home with her mum in Hull. They make a living doing car boot sales at the weekend. Except they don't really make a living because her mum can't bear to get rid of any of their junk. Plus, they don't have a car. As their house gets more cluttered, Sophie feels more trapped.
Starring Lucy Beaumont as Sophie and Maureen Lipman as Sheila.
Producer: Carl Cooper
A BBC Radio Comedy Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2015.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b06mg9fw)
Jim has heard from Joe (and tells Shula) that it's bird flu at Berrow Farm. They joke about Joe's wild imagination and the claim that Alistair's verdict (botulism) is just a cover. Jim and Shula agree it's brave and good of Alistair to speak at the meeting tonight.
Brian's relieved and right behind Adam who has spoken to Pip about share farming. Brian wouldn't let the Fairbrothers within a mile of his farm if it was up to him. Phoebe did her PPE test today so is let off going to the meeting tonight, where Brian's keen to explain the facts clearly. Adam knows that Jennifer's terrified of any mention of the dead dog which poisoned the silage.
Lynda challenges the fact that Brian's chairing the meeting and not Charlie. Brian's there, neutrally, to explain the facts and hands over to Adam who confirms the botulism. Adam reluctantly explains that the cause was a dead animal but doesn't specify a dog. There's no risk to humans, it was just terrible bad luck and not bad management. Lynda's adamant that people sign her anti-Berrow petition.
Jim tells disappointed Eddie that he might try a goose for Christmas this year. Eddie then tells Jim he's heard it was a dog that got into the silage - they'd better make sure Lynda doesn't find out.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b06mys65)
Nicholas McCarthy, Backstage at the theatre, Burnt review, Dominic Sandbrook
Nicholas McCarthy will be performing Ravel's Piano Concerto for One Hand, the first one handed pianist to do so since Paul Wittgenstein's recital in 1951. He commissioned the work after losing his arm in WW1. Nicholas will also be playing pieces from his debut album, Solo, which recently went to number 4 in the classical charts.
Front Row goes on air at
7.15, shortly before, in theatres all over the country, the curtain goes up. The programme's contribution to this month's BBC On Stage Season is a series of items in which Front Row goes backstage and eavesdrops on what's going on shortly before the show begins. Tonight we're with the cast of 'As You Like' as Jeanette Nelson, Head of Voice at the National Theatre, leads their vocal warm up before they take the stage in the vasty Olivier auditorium.
In Burnt Bradley Cooper plays two starred Michelin Chef Adam Jones whose drinking, drug taking and diva behaviour have left his career in ruins. He is determined to rebuild his reputation with the help of talented but reluctant Sous Chef Helene (played by Sienna Miller) by gaining his third Michelin star. Antonia Quirke reviews.
The author and historian Dominic Sandbrook discusses his study of the success and background of British modern popular culture - from Agatha Christie to The X Factor - in his latest book The Great British Dream Factory and a new four-part BBC2 series Let Us Entertain You which begins this evening.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b06mg2tr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b06mg9fy)
Population Control
This week the Moral Maze asks: "is it our moral duty to have fewer children?" The question has been brought in to focus by two stories in the past week. First, that by 2027 the population of the UK is expected to top 70 million people and the second that China is to end its "one child" policy. With 238,737 births every day the world population is rapidly approaching 7 and a half billion and will be 8 billion by 2024. While many people will be campaigning for tougher policies at next month's UN climate change conference, should they also be calling for policies to control population growth? Without some technological miracle, more people will mean more unsustainable resource use, worse climate change, massive population displacement and large scale migration - something we're already seeing. If we can foresee the suffering that unrestrained population growth will cause for all those who live after us isn't it our moral duty to do something about it? Is it time to accept that having more than one child is just something that none of us has a moral right to do? Of course, if all the world's resources of food, energy, homes and knowledge were evenly distributed, the problems of population would be less urgent. So do we have a moral duty to take a less of them so that others who were born less fortunate can have more? This is global question, but also an intensely personal one. Is it reasonable to expect people to sacrifice their own family interests, in terms of size or privilege, in favour of the common good? Is our profound love for our family and our children a barrier to a more just society and equitable world? Chaired by Michael Buerk, with Matthew Taylor, Giles Fraser, Melanie Phillips and Anne McElvoy. Witnesses are Prof Sarah Conly, Hazel Healy, Frank Furedi and Dr Dernot Grenham.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (b06mg9g2)
Economists' Lost Literary Touch
Adam Kelly discusses the sometimes surprising relationship between literature and economics, and argues that economics needs to get back in touch with its literary side.
Exploring the literary inclinations of John Maynard Keynes, Adam Smith and Karl Marx, Adam explores how a shift in the order in which students study the subject can explain a lot about modern economics.
Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b06mfs7m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Midweek (b06mg2tf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b06mysnp)
Bomb fears halt UK-Sharm flights
Bomb fears halt UK - Sharm el-Sheikh flights, Number 10 says flights delayed as a "precautionary measure". Egypt's president comes to Britain - should we roll out the red carpet for authoritarian leaders like him? The government unveils a draft surveillance bill - does Britain need more surveillance powers than other countries? Student protests in London - are we entering a new era of campus activism? And why some sports don't attract women?
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b06mg9g8)
Trigger Mortis
Episode 8
It's 1957 and James Bond, agent 007, has only just survived his showdown with Auric Goldfinger at Fort Knox. By his side is Pussy Galore, who was with him at the end.
Unknown to either of them, the USSR and the West are in a deadly struggle for technological superiority in the Space Race. And SMERSH is back.
The Soviet counter-intelligence agency plans to sabotage a Grand Prix race at the most dangerous track in Europe. But it's Bond who finds himself in the driving seat and events take an unexpected turn when he observes a suspicious meeting between SMERSH's driver and a sinister Korean millionaire, Sin Jai-Seong.
Soon Bond is pitched into an entirely different race with implications that could change the world. Thrown together with American agent Jeopardy Lane, Bond uncovers a plan that will bring the West to its knees in a heart-stopping climax.
Trigger Mortis is the first James Bond novel to feature previously unseen Ian Fleming material.
Read by Rupert Penry-Jones
Written by Anthony Horowitz, with original material by Ian Fleming
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer/Director: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:00 The Pin (b06mg9gb)
Series 1
Episode 3
Join Alex and Ben in their weird twist on the double-act sketch show.
Strap in for a 15 minute delve in to a world of oddness performed in front of a live studio audience.
The Pin are an award-winning comedy duo, and legends of Edinburgh festival. They deconstruct the sketch form, in a show that exists somewhere between razor-sharp smartness and utterly joyous silliness.
After a sold-out run in Edinburgh, and a string of hilarious performances across BBC Radio 4 Extra, BBC 3, Channel 4, and Comedy Central, this is The Pin's debut solo show. Join them as they celebrate, make, collapse and rebuild their jokes, each other, and probably the radio too.
For fans of Adam and Joe, Vic and Bob, and Fist of Fun - a show of absurd offerings from two loveable idiots.
Producer: Sam Bryant.
First broadcast in Radio 4 in November 2015.
WED 23:15 Warhorses of Letters (b03pdhkq)
Series 3
Episode 1
First in a new series of the world's best-loved epistolary equine comedy-romance, as we reveal more of the recently-discovered, passionate letters between the Duke of Wellington's horse Copenhagen (played by Daniel Rigby) and Napoleon's steed Marengo (played by Stephen Fry), with an introduction by Tamsin Greig.
Beginning at the height of the Battle of Waterloo and Marengo's close brush with death our heroes deal with the aftermath of battle as Marengo becomes part of the spoils of war. Will defeat bring him exile to St Helena at his master's side, or will be be untied with his true love Copenhagen? And if the latter, should they rebrand themselves as hot new power-couple Mopenhagen? Or Carengo?
Written by Robbie Hudson and Marie Phillips
Produced by Gareth Edwards.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b06mgc2m)
New powers of surveillance are unveiled by Theresa May. Susan Hulme reports on the home secretary's statement to the Commons and on the response of MPs.
Also on the programme:
* Jeremy Corbyn probes David Cameron at the weekly round of Prime Minister's Questions.
* The effects of the squeeze on police budgets in England and Wales prompts some lively debate in the Commons.
* The arguments continue over the expansion of a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
THURSDAY 05 NOVEMBER 2015
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b06mbsy7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b06nbz4h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b06mbsy9)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b06mbsyc)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b06mbsyf)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b06mbsyh)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06pf3pv)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Father Tim Byron.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b06mtms6)
Illegal migrant workers on Irish fishing fleet, Financial advice for farmers
The Irish government meets to discuss the use of illegal migrant labourers who are allegedly being exploited in Irish fishing fleets. The Guardian newspaper has gathered evidence which it claims shows that Asian and African men are being subjected to sleep deprivation, working inhuman hours, and dangerous jobs with no safety training. Ella McSweeney tells us about the investigation, which has taken a year.
A new business support service is being launched for farmers - not by the government, or the banks but by one of the farming charities. The Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution - RSABI- has traditionally provided money for retired farmers and farmworkers who are struggling. Now, in response to increasing demand from working farmers who are facing financial difficulties, Nancy Nicolson reports that it's providing a confidential support service, staffed by volunteers with business expertise.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Mark Smalley.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04hkyr5)
Greater Honeyguide
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the greater honeyguide of sub-Saharan Africa. A loud repetitive "it's - here" – "it's -here" is a sound the greater honey guide only makes to humans in an extraordinary co-operative act between humans and bird. Relatives of woodpeckers they are one of the few birds which can digest wax and also feed on the eggs, grubs and pupae of bees. A greater honeyguide knows the location of the bee colonies in its territory and is able to lead honey-hunters to them. Once it has successfully guided its helpers to a nest, it waits while the honey-hunters remove the comb. Then it moves in to snap up the grubs and wax from the opened nest. So reliable are honeyguides that the Boran people of East Africa save up to two thirds of their honey-searching time by using the bird's services and use a special loud whistle (called a fuulido) to summon their guide before a hunt.
THU 06:00 Today (b06myp4g)
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b06mtms8)
P v NP
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the problem of P versus NP, which has a bearing on online security. There is a $1,000,000 prize on offer from the Clay Mathematical Institute for the first person to come up with a complete solution. At its heart is the question "are there problems for which the answers can be checked by computers, but not found in a reasonable time?" If the answer to that is yes, then P does not equal NP. However, if all answers can be found easily as well as checked, if only we knew how, then P equals NP. The area has intrigued mathematicians and computer scientists since Alan Turing, in 1936, found that it's impossible to decide in general whether an algorithm will run forever on some problems. Resting on P versus NP is the security of all online transactions which are currently encrypted: if it transpires that P=NP, if answers could be found as easily as checked, computers could crack passwords in moments.
With
Colva Roney-Dougal
Reader in Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews
Timothy Gowers
Royal Society Research Professor in Mathematics at the University of Cambridge
And
Leslie Ann Goldberg
Professor of Computer Science and Fellow of St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b06nbz8q)
Charlotte Bronte: A Life
Being Published
Hattie Morahan reads Claire Harman's new and intimate biography of Charlotte Bronte. This vivid and complex portrait of one of our greatest novelists looks ahead to the two hundredth anniversary of her birth in April 2016. Today, the Bronte sisters set about the business of bringing out their best known books. Meanwhile, their brother Branwell is the source of strained relations at the parsonage in Haworth.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b06mtmsb)
Patti Smith, The Bridge's Sofia Helin, Men who kill their children
Patti Smith talks about her new memoir M Train on the 40th anniversary of her hugely celebrated 1975 album, Horses.
We hear from Claire Throssell whose two young sons aged 12 and 9 died as a result of a house-fire started deliberately by their father in which he died. Dr Elizabeth Yardley, director of the Centre for Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University, explains how rare these tragic cases are.
Swedish actor Sofia Helin who plays Saga in the crime series The Bridge discusses her role and what to expect when it returns to our screens.
British adventurer Sarah Outen has just completed her expedition London2London: Via the World - an attempt to row, cycle and kayak a continuous loop of the planet. She has covered over 25,000 miles, broken world records and unsurprisingly faced huge obstacles.
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Anne Peacock.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b06mtmsd)
Writing the Century: The View from the Windows
Rigor Mortis
The View from the Windows
dramatized by Bethan Roberts.
The series which explores the 20th century through the diaries and correspondence of real people.
It's 1956 and the avant-garde commercial artist Monica Rawlins is alone in the middle-of-nowhere rural Cardiganshire, breeding geese. How has her life come to this?
A heart-warming drama about unrequited love, unfulfilled dreams, art and poultry keeping.
Monica struggles with her true identity when a charming journalist interviews her about her geese and then a portrait painting session with her neighbour goes horribly wrong.
Directed by Helen Perry
A BBC Cymru Wales Production.
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b06mbsyw)
An Audible Gasp
Insight, wit and story-telling from reporters worldwide. In this edition, Gulf governments get paranoid as tensions pile up on their doorsteps and western reporters ask tricky questions; so many Syrians are seeking refuge in Jordan that aid agencies are struggling to help them find food and shelter; on the election campaign trail with Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar - she may win the most votes, but she won't be the country's next president; the debt we owe the Namibian Beetle - just one of the potentially life-saving lessons scientists are learning from close observation of plants and animals. And the honey-making that's going on high above the sales floors of some of the most elegant shops in Paris.
THU 11:30 Alice in Teesside (b06mtmsg)
Not Oxford, nor Llandudno, but Croft-on-Tees.
This is the 150th year since the publication of one of the most famous and internationally popular children's books of all time, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Since the book first appeared, biographers and amateur enthusiasts have pored over the stories hunting for clues and trying to find the key to unlock the secret puzzles of Wonderland and Lewis Carroll's life. The world of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass have come to be almost entirely associated with Oxford - but in this programme, Simon Farnaby, the star of Horrible Histories, uncovers Lewis Carroll's roots in the North East of England.
Like Lewis Carroll, Simon Farnaby, grew up in Croft-on-Tees in North Yorkshire and went to school in nearby Richmond. Returning to the North East, he visits the Rectory Gardens where, as a boy, he scavenged in the bushes for Lewis Carroll memorabilia and meets the people determined to claim Carroll for the North-East.
Chris Lloyd introduces him to the Cheshire Cat and tells the story of the Jabberwocky's inspiration, The Sockburn Worm. Simon finds the grave of brave Sir John Conyers, the dragon's slayer on a lonely peninsula in the Tees. Bryan Talbot, graphic artist and author of Alice in Sunderland, makes the case for the Sunderland connection and Michael Wilcox, a relative of Lewis Carroll's Whitburn cousins, sets Simon his own puzzle to solve. Could Lewis Carroll have seen his first plays at the Georgian Theatre in Richmond?
Producer: Natalie Steed
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:00 News Summary (b06mbsz0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 The Why Factor (b06n6fmk)
Series 2
T-shirts
T-shirts are everywhere, every day. Plain ones, coloured ones, funny ones. Often they’re promotional, sometimes provocative. They’re so common that they’re very easy to ignore. From the catwalk to the building site and everywhere in between, these simple garments can be tools of the rebel, the protestor, the campaigner, the corporate marketeer. They are strangely powerful things but with humble origins. Mike Williams explores the T shirt. With Omar Mansoor, British Pakistani fashion designer, Tony Glenville, Creative Director, London College of Fashion, designer Milton Glaser, Beatrice Behlan, Museum of London, Steve Tropiano, author of Rebels and chicks – history of the Hollywood teen movie, Maureen Kabrik, campaigner for pressure group "Bring back our girls."
Presenter: Mike Williams
Producer: Bob Howard
Editor: Andrew Smith
THU 12:15 You and Yours (b06mtmsj)
Sharing personal data on social media, Decluttering your home
People who use dating apps to meet potential new partners have told You & Yours that they're concerned about their privacy, after finding that Facebook has gained access to the details of people they've been speaking to. The names of people they've been matched with on the dating apps are appearing in their "suggested friends" on Facebook. We investigate how social media sites access our personal information and how users give their permission.
"De-cluttering" is all the rage. There are books showing you how to do it and companies that will come to your home and help you to let go of your more useless possessions. The idea is to adopt a simpler and more paired-down lifestyle. We hear from someone who has tried it and loves it and ask if it really feels better when you've thrown things out.
A Barclays business customer tells us that she is tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket - after being unable to access her account for two weeks.
Insurance companies say they would like to use a range of modern technology to collect detailed personal information about their customers. Smart phone health apps and internet-connected household appliances could all be linked up with insurance companies. The idea is to offer more personalised quotes that more accurately reflect the risk being taken by the insurer. For some, it could mean cheaper premiums, but how will consumers feel about sharing more of their information with insurance companies?
Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Presenter: Winifred Robinson.
THU 12:57 Weather (b06mbsz2)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b06myp4j)
When will it be safe to fly from Sharm el-Sheikh?
David Cameron has said the Russian airliner crash in Egypt was "more likely than not" caused by a bomb -- and it could "take some time" to start flying British tourists back from Sharm el-Sheikh. We ask when - and if - it'll be safe to fly from the resort.
The Bank of England has reduced its forecast for UK economic growth this year, saying the global outlook has weakened. We analyse the latest report.
We speak to Khaled Khoja, leader of the Syrian National Coalition, on their exclusion from the talks in Vienna aimed at stopping the war.
And we've an update on the saga involving the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and Margaret Thatcher's dresses.
THU 13:45 Voices of the First World War (b06kng9v)
Salonika
Before the last survivors of the First World War passed away, the memories of many of those who fought it were captured in sound recordings. Speakers recall in great detail as though it were yesterday the conditions of the trenches, the brutality of the battlefield, the experience of seeing their first casualty and hearing their first shell, their daily and nightly routines, and their psychological state in the face of so much trauma. The Imperial War Museum's holdings include a major oral history resource of remarkable recordings made in the 1980s and early 1990s with the remaining survivors of the conflict. The interviews were done not for immediate use or broadcast, but because it was felt that this diminishing resource, that could never be replenished, would be of unique value in the future. Among the BBC's extensive collection of archive featuring first hand recollections of the conflict a century ago are the interviews recorded for the 1964 TV series 'The Great War', which vividly bring to life the human experience of those fighting and living through the war. In a unique partnership between the Imperial War Museums and the BBC, the two sound archive collections are brought together for the first time in this Radio 4 series. 'Voices of the First World War', a fifty-part series which began in Autumn 2014, broadcasts many of these recordings for the first time, and will run in short seasons throughout the commemorative period, tracking the course of the war.
Presented by Dan Snow, the second five programmes to be broadcast this year look at the events of 1915, including veterans' memories of their first trips home on leave, the rise of U-Boat attacks, the disastrous Battle of Loos, and the experiences of those fighting on the Eastern Front as the war expanded, in Salonika and Mesopotamia.
In this fourth programme of the series, Dan Snow brings together recollections by soldiers of the conditions they endured in Salonika, where they considered themselves a forgotten army, and the main threats were malaria and dysentery.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b06mg9fw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b03cv47h)
The Man in the Lift
A man has been contracted to repair the lift in a residential tower block. But trapped in a confined space and suspended in time, a lift can become a place of transformation.
A humorous and unsettling story about social fragmentation and the powerful influence of popular culture and new technology.
A first play for radio by Tom Connolly.
Tom has shot commercials and corporates across the globe. He is also the producer and director of award winning short films for the BBC and Channel 4, including the critically acclaimed "Dogfight". His debut novel "The Spider Truces" was shortlisted for the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award and the Desmond Elliott Prize - the Financial Times called it one of the top five debut novels of the year.
Producer/Director: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 15:00 Open Country (b06mtn8g)
Tollesbury Wick in Essex
Helen Mark visits Tollesbury Wick on the Essex coast. Situated on the mouth of Tollesbury Fleet and the Blackwater estuary, a giant sea wall snakes around the coast protecting both village and ancient grazing marshland. Helen meets the Wildlife Trust warden who cares for 650 hectares of unspoilt 'humpy bumpy' marshland and gets a surprise when she finds out what those bumps actually are.
She learns about the seafaring history of the place from a descendent of boat builders and discovers how it was the Dutch who shaped this English Landscape. Meanwhile, 'wild writer' James Canton and renowned sculptor, Roland Piche describe how Tollesbury Wick comes alive in art and literature. Tollesbury native Flavian Capes lives in the middle of this vast, salty landscape and discusses being at the mercy of the tides.
Producer: Ruth Sanderson.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b06lt1ml)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Bookclub (b06mblgl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b06mtqsr)
Bradley Cooper, Nick Hornby
With Francine Stock
Bradley Cooper reveals his plans to write, direct and star in a personal project and why he'd rather be bad in a great movie rather than great in a bad movie.
Nick Hornby discusses his adaptation of Colm Toibin's novel Brooklyn and why he wanted to turn it into an old fashioned weepie that would break people's hearts.
As the world's largest youth film festival, Into Film, begins, we hear from a 14 year old debutant who's just made a short movie in 5 days.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b06mtqst)
Grid cells and time, Boole, How your brain shapes your life
Grid cells and time
Animals navigate by calculating their current position based on how long and how far they have travelled and a new study on treadmill-running rats reveals how this happens. Neurons called grid cells collate the information about time and distance to support memory and spatial navigation, even in the absence of visual landmarks. New research by Howard Eichenbaum at Boston University has managed to separate the space and time aspects in these cells challenging currently held views of the role of grid cells in the brain.
Boole
It's the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Boole. We speak to Professor Des MacHale, his biographer at Cork University, and Dr Mark Hocknull, historian of science at University of Lincoln, where he was born, to uncover Boole's unlikely rise to Professor of Mathematics, given his lack of formal academic training. We discuss the impact of his work at the time, and his legacy for the modern digital age.
How your brain shapes your life
It weighs 3lbs, takes 25 years to reach maturity and, unique to bits of our bodies, damage to your brain is likely to change who you are. Neuroscientist David Eagleman's new book, The Brain: The Story of You, explores the field of brain research. New technology is providing a flood of data. But what we don't have, according to Eagleman, is the theoretical scaffolding on which to hang this. Why do brains sleep and dream? What is intelligence? What is consciousness?
Producer: Fiona Roberts.
THU 17:00 PM (b06mtqsw)
PM at
5pm - Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b06mbszc)
05/11/15 British tourists to be repatriated from Sharm el-Sheikh
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b01f883m)
Series 2
With Danny Baker
Another series of the comedy show hosted by Alex Horne and his five piece band and specially written, original music.
This opening epsiode explores the theme of 'games' and guest stars Danny Baker who sings with the band and champions an instrument that can't fail to put a smile on your face.
Plus the funkiest song you're ever likely to hear about Chess; an Ode to Chris Hoy and music to exercise to.
With electric guitarist Ben Jones.
Alex's Horne Section are:
Trumpet/banjo .... Joe Auckland
Saxophone/clarinet ....Mark Brown
Double Bass/Bass .... Will Collier
Drums and Percussion .... Ben Reynolds
Piano/keyboard .... Ed Sheldrake
Producer: Julia McKenzie.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2013.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b06mtqsy)
Rob feels cheerful and exhilarated after a day's hunting. Rob plays down his anger over Helen's decision on the café name, saying that Helen taking things easy is what's important. Rob's aghast that Susan's taking Henry to the bonfire while Helen works late, questioning the trustworthiness of the Grundys - but he concedes.
Charlie's grateful to Adam for his support and invites him to join him at the bonfire tonight and for a few drinks after. At the bonfire, Eddie promotes his turkeys, with George dressed up as a turkey. Henry goes off with George to play with Jake and Mia.
Charlie avoids being seen (remembering the Justin Elliot effigy last year) and admits he's facing costs of over £100K - how can he break this to Justin?
Susan stands up for Charlie when Lynda asks about putting a notice of her anti-Berrow petition in the village shop window. Eddie stops Susan when she almost mentions a dead dog. For Calendar Girls, Lynda's planning an actual calendar for which Robert will take the photos. They're distracted by a scream - Henry has burnt his hand on a sparkler. Rob contains his anger at Susan but turns it round to Helen privately in the car. Rob lets Helen get herself worked up in her guilt over being at work. Seizing on this, Rob offers to take responsibility at work and Helen agrees.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b06pf4n8)
Tom Rob Smith, Modern Scottish Women: Painters and Sculptors, Kevin Barry
Tom Rob Smith, the first crime writer to make it on to the Booker longlist with Child 44, discusses London Spy, his new TV thriller in which a young romantic, played by Ben Whishaw, is drawn through love into the dangerous world of espionage.
Irish writer Kevin Barry talks about his new novel Beatlebone, in which a crisis-ridden John Lennon tries to get to the island he owned in real life in Clew Bay, Co Mayo, in 1978.
Modern Scottish Women: Painters and Sculptors 1885-1965 is the first major exhibition of work by women artists to be mounted by the National Galleries of Scotland. Art critic Jan Patience reviews.
As part of the BBC On Stage season, Front Row goes backstage and eavesdrops on what's going on shortly before a show begins. Tonight Neve McIntosh, who plays Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible at the Bristol Old Vic, shares the ritual of her preparation in the last half-hour before curtain-up.
Presenter Kirsty Lang
Producer Jerome Weatherald.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b06mtmsd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 Law in Action (b06mfs7r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Tuesday]
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (b06mts63)
Fast Fashion
From the design desk to the shop window, how do fast fashion brands deliver the latest trends in double-quick time? Evan Davis and guests discuss fabric, factories and a nimble supply chain.
Guests:
Catarina Midby, Sustainability manager, H & M;
Carol Kane, Co-founder and Joint CEO, Boohoo;
Kim Winser, Founder and CEO, Winser London.
Producer: Sally Abrahams.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b06mtqst)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b06mtms8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b06mts65)
Latest on Egyptian Plane Crash
Latest on the Egyptian plane crash; the disappeared of Syria; and changes to the organ donation system.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b06mts67)
Trigger Mortis
Episode 9
It's 1957 and James Bond, agent 007, has only just survived his showdown with Auric Goldfinger at Fort Knox. By his side is Pussy Galore, who was with him at the end.
Unknown to either of them, the USSR and the West are in a deadly struggle for technological superiority in the Space Race. And SMERSH is back.
The Soviet counter-intelligence agency plans to sabotage a Grand Prix race at the most dangerous track in Europe. But it's Bond who finds himself in the driving seat and events take an unexpected turn when he observes a suspicious meeting between SMERSH's driver and a sinister Korean millionaire, Sin Jai-Seong.
Soon Bond is pitched into an entirely different race with implications that could change the world. Thrown together with American agent Jeopardy Lane, Bond uncovers a plan that will bring the West to its knees in a heart-stopping climax.
Trigger Mortis is the first James Bond novel to feature previously unseen Ian Fleming material.
Read by Rupert Penry-Jones
Written by Anthony Horowitz, with original material by Ian Fleming
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer/Director: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:00 Rob Newman (b06mts69)
Robert Newman's Entirely Accurate Encyclopaedia of Evolution
Episode 4
One of Britain's finest comedians, Rob Newman returns with a witty, fact-packed series mixing stand-up and sketches, challenging notions of Survival of the Fittest and The Selfish Gene with a new theory that's equal parts enlightening and hilarious.
Rob is our guide on a journey through a unique audio A-Z of nature that takes in everything from altruistic amoebae and dancing squid to Richard Dawkins wrestling naked with a postal worker.
Piecing these fragments together allows Rob to correct some major distortions of Darwinism, as well as rejig the theory of natural selection in the light of what we now know about epigenetics, mirror neurons and the Flintstones.
Written by Rob Newman
Starring Claire Price, with Jenni Murray as the voice of the Encyclopaedia.
Producer: Jon Harvey
Executive Producer: Richard Wilson
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2015.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b06mts6c)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster as the Transport Secretary explains why he suspended flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh following the Russian airliner crash. Also on the programme: complaints about the decision to invite the President of Egypt to Downing Street because of human rights concerns. And a Bishop leads a debate on the impact of pornography on society. Editor: Rachel Byrne.
FRIDAY 06 NOVEMBER 2015
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b06mbt21)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b06nbz8q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b06mbt25)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b06mbt29)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b06mbt2f)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b06mbt2h)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06pf5ry)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Father Tim Byron.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b06mv0tl)
Game fairs, the Gay Farmer Helpline, taste tourism in Scotland and the question of UK farming in or out of the EU
Are there too many Game Fairs being planned for 2016? One rural commentator says the array of events replacing or duplicating the defunct CLA Game Fair is "laughable". A Cheshire chaplain says the Gay Farmer Helpline he set up is saving lives. Keith Ineson says he talks every week to married, middle-aged men who are living a lie and have nowhere to turn. Food producers and the tourism trade in Scotland are being brought together in the hope that both will benefit from working side by side. As the debate over the EU referendum and the UK's role in Europe begins in earnest, a new report in to farming's future is hotly disputed by former Environment Secretary Owen Paterson. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Vernon Harwood.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04mlpgv)
Vegetarian Tree Finch
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Chris Packham presents the vegetarian tree finch on the Galapagos Islands. These streaky sparrow-like birds found on the Galapagos Islands may look rather plain, but belong to the evolutionary elite, having attracted the attention of Charles Darwin on his visit there in 1835. Darwin noticed that the fourteen or so species of finches, which he concluded were derived from a common ancestor on this isolate archipelago, had evolved bills adapted to the type of food available. The Vegetarian finch has a bill rather like a parrot's, with thick curved mandibles and a biting tip which also allows it to manipulate seeds, similar to a parrot or budgie. Vegetarian finches are especially fond of the sugar-rich twigs of certain shrubs and are use the biting tip of their bills to strip off the bark to reach the softer sweeter tissues beneath: a niche that other finches on Galapagos haven't exploited yet.
FRI 06:00 Today (b06myhmz)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b06ltb4g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b06nbzds)
Charlotte Bronte: A Life
Affairs of the Heart
Hattie Morahan reads Claire Harman's new and intimate biography of Charlotte Bronte. This vivid and complex portrait of one of our greatest novelists looks ahead to the two hundredth anniversary of her birth in April 2016. Today, Charlotte grieves for her brother Branwell and her sisters Emily and Anne who died in quick succession. Affairs of the heart are also on her mind.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b06myhn1)
Syrian doctor, Donna Hay, Muslim fashion, Declining tests for inherited diseases
Rape statistics - The latest figures show that one in four rape cases involving a child led to a charge and only one in eight involving an adult victim - and there is a huge variation across the country. So what's going on? Martin Hewitt, Vice Chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council talks to Jenni.
Mother and baby separated - Syrian doctor Zizit Abdel Algabbar fled her home country for Europe with her 16-month old, daughter, Maya. They became separated during the journey, and it wasn't clear how Zizit - with no papers or money left - was going to be able to join up with her baby again.
Gene testing - If you have a family history of diseases such as breast cancer, Huntingdon's disease, Motor neuron disease and Alzheimer's disease, you might be offered a test to see if you carry the gene. But would you want to take it? Two women, Emma East and Renee Maguire, tell Jenni why they decided not to get tested.
Donna Hay, Australian food stylist, author, and magazine editor tooks to Jenni about why she is a cook and a baker, but not a chef.
Muslim fashion - Brands Uniqlo and DKNY have launched collections catering specifically for Muslim customers. Salon owner and hijabi model, Mariah Idrissi, and Professor Reina Lewis from the London College of Fashion discuss why.
Presenter: Jenni Murray.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b06mv187)
Writing the Century: The View from the Windows
Christmas at Brynmeheryn
The View from the Windows
dramatized by Bethan Roberts.
The series which explores the 20th century through the diaries and correspondence of real people.
It's 1956 and the avant-garde commercial artist Monica Rawlins is alone in the middle-of-nowhere rural Cardiganshire, breeding geese. How has her life come to this?
A heart-warming drama about unrequited love, unfulfilled dreams, art and poultry keeping.
It's Christmas time. A time for joy, laughter and being surrounded by loved ones. But Monica can't think of anything worse. Alone, her thoughts once again turn to her ex-love. As the seasons greetings ring out around her, will Monica finally accept her life at Brynmeheryn without him?
Directed by Helen Perry
A BBC Cymru Wales Production.
FRI 11:00 Lives in a Landscape (b06mv2nb)
Series 21
Care for Claire
Lives in a Landscape reports from Penistone, where Claire Throssell is being helped by her community after her sons were killed by their father in a house fire exactly a year ago.
As well as killing his sons and himself, Darren Sykes also destroyed much of the house, lighting fires throughout the terraced home and luring his boys into the loft with the promise of a new train set. He had cancelled the home insurance before the blaze and Claire faced both the devastating loss of her sons and also the terrible reminder in a home she couldn't sell because of such extensive fire damage.
Local people wanted to stand firm against such 'evil', according to a local singer and archivist, Dave Cherry, who has helped raise money. Teams of volunteers organised by Reverend David Hopkins at St John's Church and both the Rotary and 41 Clubs, have overseen the rebuilding of the home.
Whilst nothing will replace her loss, Claire tells Alan Dein that such community support has helped her focus on creating a legacy for her sons. Jack, who was 12 when he died, was a promising trumpet player and his younger brother, Paul, was only nine and already showing considerable athletic talent. She has set up awards in their name and wants to ensure that their lives are remembered.
The volunteer project manager is Ged Brearley, who has coordinated 480 plus volunteer hours and manages a core team of 40 through house clearance, stripping back the walls to complete rewiring, re-plastering and re-plumbing.
Dave Cherry was one of the first to offer to help: "That man destroyed everything. Her house, her kids and her life. If we don't do anything then he wins. If we can help this lass then we can stop him from winning."
Producer Susan Mitchell.
FRI 11:30 John Finnemore's Double Acts (b06mv2nd)
Series 1
The Goliath Window
It is the year 1820, and Mark and Luke have agreed to meet in the vestry of St Anne's church in the village of Mayton Chennett.
John Finnemore and his "Souvenir Programme" regular Simon Kane star in the fourth of six two-handers written by John Finnemore.
Written by John Finnemore
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (b06mbt2p)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 The Why Factor (b06n6g64)
Series 2
Commuting
Millions of people across the world get in a car, board a bus or train with monotonous regularity each day. Why do they do it? Can they enjoy it? Can it be good for their health? And what's the connection between the commuter and the hunter-gatherer? Mike Williams aims to find out.
Presenter:Mike Williams
Producer:Sonia Rothwell
Editor:Andrew Smith.
FRI 12:15 You and Yours (b06myhn3)
Assistance dogs, Energy prices, University fees
The government is proposing English universities be allowed to increase tuition fees from their current maximum of £9000. But the rises will be permitted only if institutions can show they're providing high-quality teaching. Universities minister Jo Johnson tells Peter White why the plans are necessary and how they might work.
Ofgem's Chief Executive Dermot Nolan wants energy companies to reduce their tariffs this winter. Wholesale prices for gas are set to be at a record low so why can't our bills come down accordingly? Peter White asks what he will do to make them listen.
Curry might still be the UK's favourite dish, but new figures suggest that what we think of as a curry is changing. Indian food is getting spicier and regional dishes from across India are finding their way on to more restaurant menus.
Disabled people across the UK have lost thousands of pounds to a business claiming to train and sell specialist disability assistance dogs. You and Yours investigates.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b06mbt2r)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b06mv2ng)
There is more confusion at Sharm El Sheikh airport today. Thousands of British Tourists have arrived to fly home, to find that the flights they were expecting to board will not be taking off. Egypt's Minister for Tourism tells us that the reasons are purely logistical. Hisham Zaazou also told us his country respected the right of Britain to suspend flights because of security fears, but that there had not been enough communication about the decision.
We report from Northern Greece in our series of reports following one refugee family's journey from Jordan to Germany.
An MP issued with a Police Identification Notice tells us why a system designed to reduce harassment is now harassing the innocent.
And why Vauxhall's recall of two hundred and twenty thousand cars could be good for the company's reputation.
FRI 13:45 Voices of the First World War (b06kngpq)
Kut: Sand, Mud, Mirage
Before the last survivors of the First World War passed away, the memories of many of those who fought it were captured in sound recordings. Speakers recall in great detail as though it were yesterday the conditions of the trenches, the brutality of the battlefield, the experience of seeing their first casualty and hearing their first shell, their daily and nightly routines, and their psychological state in the face of so much trauma. The Imperial War Museum's holdings include a major oral history resource of remarkable recordings made in the 1980s and early 1990s with the remaining survivors of the conflict. The interviews were done not for immediate use or broadcast, but because it was felt that this diminishing resource, that could never be replenished, would be of unique value in the future. Among the BBC's extensive collection of archive featuring first hand recollections of the conflict a century ago are the interviews recorded for the 1964 TV series 'The Great War', which vividly bring to life the human experience of those fighting and living through the war. In a unique partnership between the Imperial War Museums and the BBC, the two sound archive collections are brought together for the first time in this Radio 4 series. 'Voices of the First World War', a fifty-part series which began in Autumn 2014, broadcasts many of these recordings for the first time, and will run in short seasons throughout the commemorative period, tracking the course of the war.
Presented by Dan Snow, the second five programmes to be broadcast this year look at the events of 1915, including veterans' memories of their first trips home on leave, the rise of U-Boat attacks, the disastrous Battle of Loos, and the experiences of those fighting on the Eastern Front as the war expanded, in Salonika and Mesopotamia.
In the final programme of the 1915 series, Dan Snow hears the recollections of those who were present during the siege of Kut-Al-Amara, situated on a loop of the River Tigris between Baghdad and Basra, where British troops became trapped by Turkish Ottoman forces for five months from late 1915. Speakers recount their experiences of desert marches, starvation, and eventual surrender in one of the most humiliating defeats for the British Army in its history.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b06mtqsy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b06mv2zc)
The Lost Sister
A family drama and detective story, this is the author's unflinching account of her search for a sister more abandoned than lost - exploring the consequences of our fear of mental illness as she relives a turbulent past.
Other parts played by members of the cast
Written by Eileen Horne
Script Editor: Katri Skala
Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b06mv2zf)
Cornwall
Eric Robson hosts the horticultural panel programme from Cornwall.
Chris Beardshaw, Anne Swithinbank, and Matthew Wilson answer questions from the audience.
This week the panel discuss how and when to cut back lilacs, how best to cultivate a lime tree, and how to create a 'tropical jungle' in a UK garden. They also reveal their topical tips for this time of year.
Matt Biggs investigates the fascinating story of the inspirational plant hunter William Lobb, and Matthew Wilson takes a trip round the Lost Gardens of Heligan.
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 New Writing from the Arab World (b06mv2zh)
A Bedtime Story for Eid
A series bringing attention to contemporary short fiction from the Arab World. In A Bedtime Story for Eid, the Syrian writer Zaher Omareen draws on the collective memories of the 1982 Hama massacre, when the father of the current President Assad ordered his army to seek out and destroy any resistance in what was considered a troublesome city.
The translator, Alice Guthrie writes, "Zaher Omareen's tale takes us on a journey back to 1980s Hama, zooming in on some of the individual victims of the massacres and disappearances committed by the regime there, as told by a mother to her son. Between 10,000 and 40,000 people perished at the hands of Hafez al-Assad's forces in a 27-day massacre in 1982: such was the climate of fear that it has only ever been referred to - if at all - as The Events.
"As this story is told in the imagined voice of a Syrian mother talking to her child, pre-2011, there is much that is not spelled out ... the words 'massacre', 'arbitrary detention', or 'torture' don't appear here, but are signalled by euphemisms such as 'the Events', 'serving a sentence', or 'having medical needs'.
Other references include 'Tadmor' and the 'Palestine Branch', which are both prisons notorious for extreme torture; the 'Tadmor Events', as they're known in Syria, refers to a massacre of at least a thousand inmates inside the prison in 1980. And 'al-rush' - is a phrase derived from a firing mode on a Kalashnikov - "it's a vernacular term for a mass execution of residents marched out of their houses and shot as one in the street."
Written by Zaher Omareen
Translated by Alice Guthrie
Reader: Jumaan Short
Directed by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b06mv2zk)
Norman Moore, Diane Charlemagne, Professor David Cesarani, Colin Welland and Peter Donaldson
Matthew Bannister on
Norman Moore, the conservationist who discovered that organochorine pesticides were decimating the UK's bird of prey population. He fought a twenty year campaign to have them banned.
The singer Diane Charlemagne - known as the diva of drum and bass. We have a tribute from Moby.
The academic David Cesarani - a leading authority on modern Jewish history.
The actor and screenwriter Colin Welland who, on winning an Oscar for Chariots of Fire, announced "The British Are Coming".
And a powerful poem read by the Radio 4 newsreader and Chief Announcer Peter Donaldson.
FRI 16:30 Feedback (b06mv2zm)
Free speech and Guantanamo reporting
Roger Bolton hears listeners' views on Vanessa Feltz's interview with a gay man awarded £7,500 by a judge in a landmark case. The man was said to have been a victim of discrimination that was purely non-verbal after he claimed he had been abused by a member of shop staff who used homophobic gestures at him over several months. Some listeners felt that the exchange went too far and forced the man into a distressing situation. Roger speaks to one such listener to debate the line between journalistic rigour and journalistic insensitivity.
Also, when Roger Scruton appeared on Radio 4's A Point of View, some listeners found his advocacy of free speech a refreshing antidote to certain modern sensibilities, but others felt that the freedoms he was endorsing could result in abuse of groups such as homosexuals and Muslims. Roger Scruton discusses the balance between free speech and social equality, and the place of political correctness in the modern age.
And in the week when the last British resident to be held at Guantanamo Bay Detention Centre, Shaker Aamer, was released after 13 years' imprisonment without charge, some listeners were surprised to hear contribution from a think tank calling his innocence into question. Roger Bolton speaks to the Editor of the Today programme Jamie Angus, to put the concerns to him and discuss the nature of balanced contribution.
Producer: Katherine Godfrey
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b06mv2zp)
Laurie and Roland – A Legacy in Lego
Fi Glover introduces a conversation recorded during a building session, between a father whose own childhood obsession with the Danish toy has been passed on to his small son; 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 (b06myhn7)
PM at
5pm - Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b06mbt2t)
Russia suspends all flights to Egypt until the cause of Saturday's plane crash in the Sinai peninsula is established. . British tourists in Sharm el Sheikh return home
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (b06mv2zr)
Series 88
Episode 8
A satirical review of the week's news. Joining Miles Jupp in this, the final episode of series 88, are Romesh Ranganathan, Jeremy Hardy, Rebecca Front and Camilla Long.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Radio Comedy Production.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b06mv4jn)
Ruth's horrified to discover that Ben has accidentally shrunk her jumper in the wash - since Emma left, Brookfield has become a pig-sty. David asks Eddie for his thoughts on their new experimental silage feeding. Hardly new, says Eddie, mentioning the old days on Grange Farm. David and Ruth need to make time to chat with Pip about her plan to go into share farming with Adam. Ruth realises she's coming into some money from Heather's life insurance and eventual house sale - nigh on £500K. David laughs in shock, unintentionally offending Ruth.
Ruth pays a surprise visit to Jill at Lower Loxley. Jill comforts Ruth, telling her there's no more she could have done for Heather. Ruth feels useless at home and on the farm. She asks Jill to come back to live at Brookfield. Jill's moved - she'd be delighted.
Clarrie's looking forward to being back in her own home at Keepers Cottage again. Joe grills Jill about Elizabeth buying Fairbrother geese for Christmas - she's making a big mistake. Eddie's not giving up in his quest to beat the Fairbrothers, but Joe feels they're heading for disaster this Christmas. It's a black year for the Grundys - it can't get any worse. But then Clarrie opens a letter from the agents - Hazel's giving them two months' notice to leave Keepers Cottage. What are they going to do?!...
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b06myhng)
Alina Ibragimova, John Niven, The war memorials of Edwin Lutyens and Nicki Wragg, Backstage in the wardrobe
Kirsty Lang meets the brilliant young Russian Alina Ibragimova - the violinist whose solo Bach recitals were a highlight of this year's Proms - who talks about on her new recording of Bach's Violin Concertos. And why she doesn't get nervous.
Kill Your Friends, a film about the cutthroat nineties music industry, is released this week. Kirsty speaks to John Niven, who adapted the semi-autobiographical novel for the screen.
Edwin Lutyens is famous for designing the Cenotaph. Less known is that the great British architect also designed 44 war memorials, to be found in towns and villages all over the country. Today it has been announced that all of them will be listed, and so protected, and that the government is providing £2.5 millions for the restoration and maintenance of our war memorials. Roger Bowdler, Director of Listings at Historic England considers the aesthetic and social importance of Lutyens' memorials, and explains the new initiative which will involve people caring for their local memorials.
As part of the BBC On Stage Season, Front Row goes backstage to eavesdrop on what happens in the crucial half hour before a show begins. Tonight, Nicki Wragg, who manages Wardrobe for Home, the new theatre in Manchester, describes her routine for making sure that everyone has the clothes, even the tattoos, that they need and that everything is in the right place for the quick changes, before the show starts.
Producer: Julian May
(Photo: Alina Ibragimova. Image courtesy Eva Vermandel).
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b06mv187)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b06mv4jq)
James Brokenshire MP, Lynne Featherstone, Max Hastings, Lisa Nandy MP
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from Churchill Academy School in Somerset with a panel including the Immigration Minister James Brokenshire MP, the Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone, the author and commentator Max Hastings, and the Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Lisa Nandy MP.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b06kh677)
Roger Scruton: Offensive Jokes
Roger Scruton says we must feel free to express opinions and to make jokes that others may find offensive; censoring them them only leads to a loss of reasoned argument.
"The policing of the public sphere with a view to suppressing 'racist' opinions has caused a kind of public psychosis, a sense of having to tip-toe through a minefield, and to avoid all the areas where the bomb of outrage might go off in your face."
Producer: Sheila Cook.
FRI 21:00 Voices of the First World War (b06mv4jv)
Omnibus 1915 Part Two
This Omnibus edition of the second five programmes in the series covering the events of 1915 is presented by Dan Snow. Drawing on the sound archives of the Imperial War Museum and the BBC, the series looks at soldiers memories of their first trips home on leave, the rise of U-Boat attacks, and the disastrous Battle of Loos. And we hear the experiences of those fighting on the Eastern Front as the war expanded, in Salonika and Mesopotamia, where the siege of Kut-Al-Amara began in December 1915.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b06mbt34)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b06myl7b)
Russia suspends Egypt flights
Will President Putin change his foreign policy as a result of the suspected terror attack?
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b06mv4jx)
Trigger Mortis
Episode 10
It's 1957 and James Bond, agent 007, has only just survived his showdown with Auric Goldfinger at Fort Knox. By his side is Pussy Galore, who was with him at the end.
Unknown to either of them, the USSR and the West are in a deadly struggle for technological superiority in the Space Race. And SMERSH is back.
The Soviet counter-intelligence agency plans to sabotage a Grand Prix race at the most dangerous track in Europe. But it's Bond who finds himself in the driving seat and events take an unexpected turn when he observes a suspicious meeting between SMERSH's driver and a sinister Korean millionaire, Sin Jai-Seong.
Soon Bond is pitched into an entirely different race with implications that could change the world. Thrown together with American agent Jeopardy Lane, Bond uncovers a plan that will bring the West to its knees in a heart-stopping climax.
Trigger Mortis is the first James Bond novel to feature previously unseen Ian Fleming material.
Read by Rupert Penry-Jones
Written by Anthony Horowitz, with original material by Ian Fleming
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer/Director: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:00 A Good Read (b06mfsj2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b06mv4jz)
Mark D'Arcy reports from Westminster as MPs debate plans to change the law to allow Great Ormond Street Hospital to keep the royalties from JM Barrie's Peter Pan.
Mark also talks to Antoinette Sandbach, a Conservative MP who broke down in the Commons this week as she spoke about losing her baby son during a debate called to highlight a lack of bereavement care in maternity units.
And there'll be reports on the work of the new Women and Equalities Committee and the launch of a new inquiry by two select committees who plan to work together to look at productivity.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b06myl7d)
Gareth and Leon - Not Perfect
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between a disabled father and his ten year old son about how they deal with the impact his disability has on their relationship; 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.