The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Dance halls: a social and cultural history. James Nott, Lecturer in History at the University of St. Andrews, talks to Laurie Taylor about the origins, meaning and decline in a ritual which was once central to many young people's romantic lives and leisure time. He's joined by Caspar Melville, Lecturer in Global, Creative and Community Studies at SOAS.
The 'Seduction Community': a study into the mores and codes of self styled, male 'pick up artists'. Rachel O'Neill, Phd graduate at Kings College London, interviewed men whose attitudes to women have attracted considerable condemnation in the wake of the banning of Julien Blanc, US 'pick up artist', from the UK.
A Farming Today investigation has found at least one dog a week is being shot on farms for worrying livestock. The figures for England and Wales - obtained through a Freedom of Information Request - aren't routinely collected and show major disparities across police areas.
And we meet the people of Glastonbury campaigning to save their last bank standing, as we look at rural services all this week.
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Brett Westwood presents the swallow. You can see Swallows at this time of year gathering on telegraph wires, strung out like musical notes on a stave, before their long journey south to Africa. The female swallow often rears two broods of young each year but in sunny weather when there are plenty of flying insects, she may manage three broods.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
On Start the Week Andrew Marr discusses the state of the Eurozone and the politics of austerity with the economist and former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, the Director of the Institute of Global Affairs Erik Berglof and the Mayor of London's Chief Economic Advisor, Gerard Lyons. Yanis Varoufakis tracks the problems of the Eurozone to its woeful design and its continued reliance on debt and austerity, rather than reform. The classicist Paul Cartledge explores the history of democracy back to its birthplace in Athens and traces the long slow degradation of the original Greek concept. Since the crisis in 2008 Greece has been in economic and political turmoil but there has also been a cultural renaissance. The academic Karen Van Dyck has brought together the best of contemporary Greek poetry by multi-ethnic poets in a new anthology.
Edward Dusinberre is the Tackas Quartet's first violinist and in his illuminating account he takes us inside the daily life of a string quartet and explores his creative, musical and personal relationships with his fellow players. He also looks at the challenges of performing Beethoven's extraordinary quartet music which was composed against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars.
Recordings of the Tackas Quartet playing Beethoven's string quartets will be interwoven into each programme. Tim McMullan is the reader.
In 1984, when she was a 30-year-old reporter for a local newspaper in the United States, Joanna Connors was raped at knife-point by a stranger. She joins Jane to discuss why twenty years after that assault she decided to find her attacker.
The Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry Claire Stevens joins Jane Garvey with tips about how to look after children's teeth from babyhood to teens.
Shirley Manson suggests a woman who's inspired her for our first link of The Chain.
In this the 7th series of 'How Does that Make You Feel?' Martha's clients have made few changes to their circumstances.
Richard's PA Genevieve has advised him to get a Twitter and Facebook account to help raise his profile. And despite some initial abuse from disgruntled constituents his profile does seem to rise - a little. But when he is contacted by an old friend from school, a female friend for whom he once had a big passion, this turns out to be a major mistake.
Shelagh Stephenson is the author of 'A Short History of Longing' and 'Guests Are Like Fish', recently heard on Radio 4. She is an Olivier Award winner for her play 'The Memory of Water' and has won Sony and Writer's Guild awards for her plays 'Darling Peidi' and 'Five Kinds of Silence'. She wrote Enid (the life of Enid Blyton) for BBC4 and Shirley (the Shirley Bassey story) for BBC2. She is currently writing, new plays for Hampstead Theatre and Live Theatre in Newcastle, a number of feature films and a TV series for BBC 1.
Writer ..... Shelagh Stephenson
Producer ..... Eoin O'Callaghan
Director ..... Eoin O'Callaghan.
Almost two-and-a-half billion people lack access to an adequate toilet, and around one billion have no sanitation facilities whatsoever. Poor sanitation kills a child under five every 100 seconds. Anthropologist and broadcaster Mary-Ann Ochota visits Bangladesh and India to understand the challenges involved in achieving sanitation for all.
It's a problem that is often addressed without any sustained success. The United Nations' Millennium Development Goal aimed to halve the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015 - a goal that failed by some 700 million people.
Bangladesh has achieved much in its sanitation coverage over recent years, in spite of many challenges, but its capital Dhaka is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Like many cities in an increasingly urbanised world, it struggles to cope with the demands of a rapidly growing population.
India has a separate challenge - how to stop 600 million people relieving themselves outdoors. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to end the practice of open defecation by October 2019, in time to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi.
Jon Canter’s sitcom sees James Boswell, Dr Johnson's celebrated biographer, pursue other legends to immortalise.
James Boswell ..... Miles Jupp
Madonna ..... Debra Stephenson
On this day in 1916, strikers returned to work at the Clyde shipyards, and at Halecot Farm the future of Isaac Cox's family hangs in the balance.
This seventh season of Home Front is set in a farming community in South Devon, where Gabriel's sister Cora lives, and - coincidentally - where Adam Wilson headed at the end of Season Six, running away from his crime, and looking for Dieter. Our characters' stories take place against the backdrop of history, in this case, a notable shift in the preoccupations of the Home Front.
April 1916 marks the moment in the First World War when recruitment was no longer voluntary, and conscription into the military began to take hold. And with conscription came objection, and the war witnessed over two million tribunals looked into the merits of men appealing against the draft. Devon was one of the counties most resistant to joining up, voluntarily or not.
Season 7 of Home Front is story-led by Richard Monks (STONE, INQUEST) and written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz (PILGRIM, MR RAINBOW), Lucy Catherine (THE MASTER AND MARGARITA, RIOT GIRLS), Shaun McKenna (THE FORSYTES, THE COMPLETE SMILEY), and Sarah Daniels (THE CAZALETS, EATING FOR ENGLAND).
The mobile phones stolen using innocent people's names. What's being done to stop it?
As UK workers get a new 'living' wage, how did a similar scheme work out in Germany?
And which motorists will lose the most from the government's shake up of car tax?
Italian architect Francesco da Mosto presents a humorous and thoughtful take on the history of Britain from his Italian perspective.
From the roots of the British stiff upper lip found in Roman stoicism, to the Venetian skies of a Canaletto painting that seem to evoke those he saw during his time in Britain, and seeking out a Rolling Stones record sung in Italian in London's Portobello market - a modern nod to the century's old cultural connection between Britain and Italy.
With contributions from historian Professor Eugenio Biagini from the University of Cambridge, Dr Lucia Rinaldi from the Italian department of University College London, and Mariano Rubinacci the head of the second generation of tailors who have made their mark on British and Italian fashion.
Across this series, five mainland Europeans give their take on Britain's historical relationship with their home country - the historical moments and popular culture that have created the image of the Brit in the mind of continental Europeans.
The notion of Britain being separated in splendid isolation from the continent is fundamental to many of the historical misunderstandings and strains on the relationship with Europe. Yet as frequently as the British appear to be the haughty thorn in Europe's side, our authors find moments of intertwined history that have drawn the island closer to the mainland - from how the Brits live to how they dress and their ability to get a good cup of coffee.
Each author reflects on the moments in their own lives that have drawn them to Britain and Britishness - The Beatles, psychologist Hans-Jürgen Eysenck, or the call of Aberdeen from the most westerly part of Denmark.
A disgruntled customer, driven to despair by his internet service provider, takes matters into his own hands by confronting the staff at its call centre. Very quickly, events spiral out of his control.
The competition steps up a gear with the start of the 2016 semi-finals, chaired by Russell Davies. Three heat winners and one of the top-scoring runners-up across the series compete for a place in the 2016 Final.
On which of the Hawaiian islands is Pearl Harbor? How many players are there on a Gaelic football team? And which character in Disney's original cartoon of The Jungle Book was voiced by the actor George Sanders?
As always, there's also a chance for a Brain of Britain listener to 'Beat the Brains' by suggesting devious questions of his or her own with which to outwit the competitors.
"A dancer dies twice", the legendary choreographer Martha Graham said, "once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful."
This is a documentary about first deaths and last dances, about what happens when an instrument as finely tuned as a dancer's body begins to change.
From the music which prompts a twitch of muscle memory to the comedown which follows a burst of performance adrenaline, we hear stories of the last dances and what comes next from Gabriella Schmidt, Isabel Mortimer from Dancers' Career Development, and former principal ballerinas Natasha Oughtred and Wendy Whelan.
We eavesdrop on the training of young dancers at the Royal Ballet School as they shape muscle and bone into elegant lines, diving into the visceral excitement of pounding pointe shoes and powerful leaping bodies. And we visit Sage Dance Company and the Company of Elders as they work with dancers who move with grace and beauty in defiance of their changing bodies.
From the first anxious glance in the mirror to the last touch - how does the language of our bodies change as we age?
In the 1st of a new series Aleks Krotoski gets down to work. From micro-taskers paid pennies to be the janitors of our digital services to car drivers jumping on the Uber bandwagon.
Aleks speaks to technology writer Kashmir Hill who spent a month as an invisible girlfriend writing loving texts to service subscribers for a few cents per message. This is just one example of 'micro-tasking' made famous by Amazon's Mechanical Turk service. For Vili Lehdonvirta of the Oxford internet institute they're examples of the hidden human effort going into services we would assume were automated. Its a new form of piece work undertaken by a causal workforce doing it where and when it suits them.
This type of work treats you like part of a system managed by algorithms an artificial, artificial intelligence. In some senses this isn't anything new as work historian Richard Donkin explains using the examples of the time and motion studies pioneered by Fredrick Winslow Taylor and later taken up by Henry Ford.
What is new is that having an algorithm as a boss runs the risk of having only the appearance of freedom and flexibility. Its what attracts people to the so called gig economy, where tasks are farmed out by the app to a willing freelance workforce. Aleks hears both sides of that experience from two people who make their living off a digital platform; one by day and the other by night.
So what promise do these new forms of digital work offer? Aleks discovers they have the potential to be both a race to the bottom for labour markets and usher in a new era for those currently unable to work.
04/04/16 Tax authorities worldwide to investigate leaked Panama papers which reveal how rich hide their wealth
Tax authorities around the world say they'll investigate the leaked papers from a law firm in Panama which reveal how the rich and powerful hide their wealth.
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.
Henning Wehn, Jon Richardson, Susan Calman and Jack Dee are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as tattoos, milk, supermarkets and Vladimir Putin.
Devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith, the team behind Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2016..
Helen tells Kirsty on the phone that she needs her here right away - she thinks she has killed Rob! Kirsty races round to Blossom Hill and realises that Rob is still breathing. She calls an ambulance.
The police and the paramedics arrive on the scene and take control of the situation. The police work through the night's events. Dr Corby reports on Rob's severe wounds, and says that he is lucky to still be alive...
Pat and Tony are getting ready for bed when the phone rings. PC Hunter reports that Henry's grandparents are coming to take him home. A distraught Helen is arrested on "suspicion of wounding". Peggy, Pat and Tony arrive at the scene, confused as to what has happened. They watch as Rob is wheeled out to an ambulance. Kirsty protests - it's not Helen's fault! Helen is led to the police car and Pat tries to reassure Henry that she will be back soon...
Exhibitionism: The Rolling Stones features over 500 items including backstage paraphernalia, costumes, video footage, and personal diaries. Music critic Kate Mossman takes a look.
Hans Rosenfeldt, creator of Scandinavian crime drama The Bridge, discusses writing his first UK drama Marcella, starring Anna Friel.
Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner has returned with his side project The Last Shadow Puppets. He joins John to talk about how his songwriting has evolved for their second album Everything You've Come To Expect.
Plus Sir Ian McKellen chooses one of Shakespeare's darkest characters, the Machiavellian Richard III, for our new series Shakespeare's People.
How did notorious traitor Kim Philby manage to infiltrate MI6 and send its most sensitive secrets to the Soviets? Now, for the first time, we can hear his account in a once secret tape the BBC has unearthed. It is a story of documents smuggled, Cold War operations betrayed, and Philby's ability to evade detection by simply denying everything. BBC Security Correspondent Gordon Corera reveals the full story.
Photo with kind permission from BStU (Federal Commissioner for Stasi Records).
An unholy spat is stirring the Sangha, Thailand's top Buddhist authority - who will become the next Supreme Patriarch, Thailand's most senior monk? Meanwhile, allegations of 'cheque-book Buddhism', cronyism and corruption abound - including allegations about tax-evasion on an imported vintage Mercedes car. In Thailand, where the majority of the population profess Buddhism, seeking ordination isn't unusual. But salacious stories about monks who commit serious crimes - everything from sex offences to wildlife trafficking - continue to shock. Watching quietly from the side-lines is the Venerable Dhammananda - female, and a Buddhist monk since 2003. Although the Sangha bars women from ordination, there are now around 100 bhikkhunis, as female monastics are known, in Thailand. And their growing acceptance by some Buddhist believers might partly be explained by a widespread disillusionment with the behaviour of some male monks. For Crossing Continents, Linda Pressly explores the rifts and sexual politics challenging Thai Buddhism and its devotees.
Over a million people die from mosquito-borne diseases every year. Hundreds of millions more people suffer from the illnesses transmitted by mosquitoes.
Malaria, the most widespread mosquito-borne disease, affects 350-500 million people each year. The Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects in children is spreading. Dengue Fever infects nearly 400 million people each year, causing an estimated 25,000 deaths and an enormous economic cost in affected countries. Chikungunya, Yellow Fever and Eastern Equine Encephalitis are also transmitted by mosquitoes and are on the rise. These are painful and debilitating diseases which can, in some cases, prove fatal.
Although malaria is transmitted by several different species of mosquito, Zika, Dengue Fever, Yellow fever and Chikungunya are carried by just two related species, of mosquito - Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (the Asian Tiger Mosquito).
Biologist Professor Adam Hart knows only too well how complex and interconnected nature is. If we wipe out an entire species, how will the rest of the natural environment cope? Well, it seems the public enemy number one mosquito - Aedes aegyptii, wouldn't be missed very much at all. It's a mosquito that has evolved fairly recently. The females nearly always feed on humans and they breed in and near our homes, often in small pots of water and car tyres.
In Goodbye Mosquito, Adam Hart discovers some of the latest technological advances being trialled to rid us of these winged-beasts; including genetically engineering male A. aegypti mosquitoes so that their offspring don't survive.
Demonstrators in Iceland demand that their PM, named in the Panama papers, step down. We ask how this kind of huge data leak is changing the power relationship between politicians and their people. And as the first migrants deported from Greece under a controversial EU deal arrive in Turkey, the mayor of Chios tells us they have no resources to deal with such huge numbers of people.
Booker prize-winner Graham Swift's new novel is a luminous and sensual meditation on truth, loss and the forging of a writer.
Berkshire, 1924. On the one day of the year when servants are given leave to visit their families, orphaned maid Jane languishes in the bed of her lover.
Ian McMillan sets out on a personal quest to find out more about the late professional footballer turned TV comedy star, Charlie Williams, who rose to national fame in the early 1970s with appearances on The Comedians and The Golden Shot, delivering his trademark 'me old flower' in his broad Yorkshire accent.
At 14, Charlie went down the pit and excelled at football, playing for the Upton Colliery team. This led to a successful career as a professional footballer in the 1950s when he made 151 appearances for Doncaster Rovers and was one of the first black footballers in the country.
After retiring from football, he turned his hand to singing in the local Working Men's Clubs. He soon realised his in-between song banter was going down much better than his singing and a new career in comedy was born. He made his TV debut in 1971, starring in the Comedians alongside Bernard Manning and Frank Carson, and had a six month residence at the London Palladium.
Ian talks to Doncaster Rovers' club historian Tony Bluff to find out just why the club's fans voted him 'all time club cult hero' in a 2004 Football Focus poll. He visits Charlie's widow Janice and learns about the day he received his MBE from Prince Charles. We also hear from writer and broadcaster Dotun Adebayo, who wrote and starred in a play based on Charlie, and from Charlie's best mate and one-time agent Neil Crossland.
The combination of a black man with a broad Yorkshire accent and first-hand experience of working class life made Charlie Williams unique. Some say his gags reinforced racial stereotypes of the time, but nevertheless he was a pioneer and role model for a new generation of British black comedians.
From finding your way in a cold, dark sea swim to coping with the isolation at the bottom of the ocean, Josie Long hears stories of wild water.
TUESDAY 05 APRIL 2016
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b075mdrw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b075pb4t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b075mdry)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b075mds0)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b075mds2)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b075mds4)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b076zzcp)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with The Revd Laurence Twaddle
Producer Mo McCullough.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b075psp0)
Domestic abuse as common in the countryside as the city
We hear that domestic abuse is as common in the countryside as the city.
Community services in rural areas are under pressure of funding cuts, says the Rural Services Network.
And your reaction to our report on the shooting of dogs worrying livestock.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02twhqd)
Coal Tit
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the coal tit.
Coal tits often visit our bird-tables but don't hang around. They dart off with food to hide it in crevices and crannies. What the bird is doing is hiding or cache-ing food to be eaten later. Coal tits are smaller than their relatives and have lower fat reserves, so they store food to compensate for any future shortages. In the winter they store seeds and in summer they will hide small insects.
TUE 06:00 Today (b075pszy)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Deobandis (b06gqr66)
Episode 1
The Deobandis are virtually unknown to most British people, yet their influence is huge. As the largest Islamic group in the UK, they control over 40% of mosques and have a near monopoly on Islamic seminaries, which propagate a back-to-basics, orthodox interpretation of Islam.
Founded in a town called Deoband in 19th Century India, it's a relatively new tradition within the Islamic faith, but has spread throughout the world, with the UK being a key centre. Migrants from India and Pakistan brought Deobandi Islam to the UK during the 1960s and 1970s, setting up mosques and madrassas in the mill towns of Bury and Dewsbury, from which a national network grew.
The Deobandi movement is large and diverse: from the quietest and strictly non-violent missionary group the Tablighi Jamaat to the armed sectarian and jihadist groups of Pakistan.
The BBC's former Pakistan correspondent Owen Bennett Jones investigates which strands of Deobandi opinion have influence in the UK, speaking to people from within the British Deobandi community, from scholars to missionaries to madrassa students.
In the first of two programmes he explores claims that Deobandi Islam is intentionally isolationist and that its strict beliefs put it at odds with mainstream British culture, leaving the community segregated from wider British society. Though if true, is that really the fault of Deobandi Muslims?
Producers: Richard Fenton-Smith & Sajid Iqbal
Researcher: Holly Topham.
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b075pt02)
Beethoven for a Later Age
The First Season
Edward Dusinberre recalls his first season as the Takacs Quartet's first violinist. As he and his three fellow performers set out to perfect their performance of Beethoven's Opus 18, no 1 he is preoccupied by questions of more individual and more integrated expression in the musical ensemble. He also finds that adapting to life as a touring musician has it's challenges.
Read by Tim McMullan
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b075mds6)
Jean 'Binta' Breeze, Junior Doctors' Contract, Women in Films
The poet Jean 'Binta' Breeze on her new collection, 'The Verandah Poems' and a life lived between Britain and Jamaica; The Department of Health have conducted what's called an Equalities Impact Assessment for the new Junior Doctors Contract. In it they acknowledge a potential disadvantage to women, but justify this because they say it's "achieving a legitimate aim."
What kind of precedent does this set and what does it mean for women in the profession? The American writer, Cheryl Strayed, is the next link in The Chain; And the author and film-maker, Shamim Sarif, talks about her new film 'Despite the Falling Snow' and the challenges of making films which feature strong female characters.
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b075pt3d)
How Does That Make You Feel?
Episode 2
In this the 7th series of 'How Does that Make You Feel?' Martha's clients have made few changes to their circumstances.
Having completed his rehabilitation course, following accusations of sexism and cruelty to his employees, Tony has returned to Martha's sessions a new man - or so he thinks. He has even launched a women only menu in his restaurant to cater for the female obsession with calories - with special attention and advice to be given to ladies whom he considers overweight. He is mystified as to why this considerate gesture is not met with the acclaim he feels it deserves.
Shelagh Stephenson is the author of 'A Short History of Longing' and 'Guests Are Like Fish', recently heard on Radio 4. She is an Olivier Award winner for her play 'The Memory of Water' and has won Sony and Writer's Guild awards for her plays 'Darling Peidi' and 'Five Kinds of Silence'. She wrote Enid (the life of Enid Blyton) for BBC4 and Shirley (the Shirley Bassey story) for BBC2. She is currently writing, new plays for Hampstead Theatre and Live Theatre in Newcastle, a number of feature films and a TV series for BBC 1.
Tony ..... Tim McInnerny
Martha ..... Frances Tomelty
Writer ..... Shelagh Stephenson
Producer ..... Eoin O'Callaghan
Director ......Eoin O'Callaghan.
TUE 11:00 Rewinding the Menopause (b0643vfl)
Dr Aarathi Prasad looks at how new research into women's fertility may help stave off the menopause, improving health and quality of life.
The conventional wisdom is that a woman has a finite number of eggs which begin dying off before she is even born. Researchers in the 1950s counted the number of healthy eggs in human ovaries over the course of a life time. After the menopause none remain.
In 2004, Dr Jonathan Tilly's lab at the Massachusetts General Hospital challenged this assumption when they identified cells they believed could replenish a woman's bank of eggs. The research is controversial as it has yet to be convincingly replicated, although scientists like Dr Evelyn Telfer - once sceptical of Dr Tilly's claims - have isolated the cells and already produced some promising results.
Meanwhile, medical colleagues in Edinburgh have been freezing ovarian tissue, harvested from patients who - either through illness or medical treatment such as chemotherapy - face an early menopause. The aim is to use the patient's ovarian tissue at a later date to reverse the menopause and restore their fertility.
In the long-term, such research could have implications for all menopausal women. However, obstetrician Dr Susan Bewley warns that benefits could come at a cost. She believes the menopause is a natural part of aging and there are risks in trying to reverse it.
So what might the future hold for the application of this new research?
Producer: Sara Parker
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 11:30 Soul Music (b075pxfx)
Series 22
Bring Him Home
Bring Him Home, from Les Miserables, is a beautiful and moving prayer-in-song that has developed meaning and identity outside the hit musical.
Taking part in the programme:
The celebrated tenor, Alfie Boe, has sung this many times in the West End and on Broadway; he discusses what the song means to him.
Herbert Kretzmer talks about the agonising process of writing the lyrics.
The Greater Manchester Police Male Voice Choir recorded a version especially for the programme; one of their members describes singing Bring Him Home at the funeral of PC Dave Phillips in November 2015.
The original Cosette, from Les Miserables, Rebecca Caine now sings this song - written for a male voice - regularly as part of international recitals.
And for Becky Douglas it will forever be a reminder of her daughter whose death inspired the foundation of a leprosy charity.
Jeremy Summerly, Director of Music at St Peter's College, Oxford plays through the piece and describes why it moves us emotionally.
Producer: Karen Gregor.
TUE 12:00 News Summary (b075mds8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 Home Front (b075pxg0)
5 April 1916 - John Rossiter
On this day in 1916, a Zeppelin raid dropped bombs on the North East coast, while at Spittal End Farm conscription appears on the horizon.
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Directed by Allegra McIlroy
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
TUE 12:15 You and Yours (b075mdsb)
Call You and Yours: The New Living Wage
Call You & Yours asks what does the new Living Wage mean for you?
All workers over 25 must now be paid at least £
7.20 an hour.
We want to hear from you if you're earning the new National Living Wage - or if you're paying it.
If you're earning it - has the rise meant you've lost other perks? Or if you're paying it - how are you finding the money?
Whether your work is in a pub, shop or care home, or you employ labourers, cleaners or shop assistants we want to hear from you.
Email us at youandyours@bbc.co.uk
Call 03700 100 444 (after
10.30am)
Text 84844
Social media use #youandyours
Presented by Winifred Robinson
Produced by Natalie Donovan.
TUE 12:57 Weather (b075mdsd)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b075pxg3)
Analysis of news and current affairs.
TUE 13:45 Inglorious Isolation: A European's History of Britain (b075t8b1)
France
French journalist Catherine Guilyardi presents her thoughtful take on the history of Britain from her French perspective. It's the story of two countries who like to see themselves as exceptional but find common ground in this exceptionality. The interplay between Winston Churchill and Charles De Gaulle speaks to this long-standing relationship between old rivals - one that oscillates between admiration and irritation.
With contributions from historian Professor Eugenio Biagini from the University of Cambridge and French author and journalist Agnès Poirier, Catherine presents a view of the relationship between these pragmatic isolationists who are more than happy to go it alone but ready to build bridges, or tunnels, when it serves their interests.
Catherine Guilyardi is a French journalist and author who lives in both Paris and London.
Across this series, five mainland Europeans give their take on Britain's historical relationship with their home country - the historical moments and popular culture that have created the image of the Brit in the mind of continental Europeans.
The notion of Britain being separated in splendid isolation from the continent is fundamental to many of the historical misunderstandings and strains on the relationship with Europe. Yet as frequently as the British appear to be the haughty thorn in Europe's side, our authors find moments of intertwined history that have drawn the island closer to the mainland - from how the Brits live to how they dress and their ability to get a good cup of coffee.
Each author reflects on the moments in their own lives that have drawn them to Britain and Britishness - The Beatles, psychologist Hans-Jürgen Eysenck, or the call of Aberdeen from the most westerly part of Denmark.
Producer: Katherine Godfrey
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b075pm47)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b03zb4b4)
Silk: The Clerks' Room
Jake
By Mick Collins
Jake thinks that barristers' clerks and Italian-American gangsters are cut from the same cloth. They both demand loyalty, run people's lives and if you want your business to survive, you have to pay them a chunk of your earnings. In the first part of a series on based on the TV drama Silk, Jake inadvertantly continues the analogy, when he finds himself in the firing line after double-crossing Head Clerk Billy.
Based on the BBC1 series Silk created by Peter Moffat.
Executive producer: Hilary Salmon
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
TUE 15:00 The Design Dimension (b075pxg6)
Series 3
Playing 'God'
In the first of a new series, Tom Dyckhoff looks at the doll and how we represent ourselves both individually and socially. He goes from the doll's ethnographic roots in stylised fertility to a future of personalised dolls - demonstrated as he has a life-like model created of himself through 3-D printing in a supermarket booth.
He questions gender and stereotypes, looking at the design features of successful dolls and meeting the voice of talking Barbie from the 1960s.
Not all dolls are for children, and Tom visits the workshop of a doll-maker who designs for adults with her re-born babies, also discovering how dolls can be used in education as well as therapeutically, with dementia patients in care homes.
Produced by Sara Parker
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (b075pxg8)
From Iceland with Love
The Ice Link interconnector would link Iceland's cheap and carbon free electricity from hydro and geothermal to the UK. It could provide the equivalent power of a medium sized power plant through a copper cable laid under the sea between the two countries. Crucially the power would be reliable and available when other renewable sources such as wind and solar are not. However, as Tom Heap discovers when he visits the land of fire and ice, environmental campaigners like Bjork fear that this green solution for UK homes could create a need to develop into the pristine wilderness of Iceland's Highlands. Should we pursue our global climate goals even if it has the potential to affect untouched and fragile landscape elsewhere? Tough decisions for Iceland and for us all.
Producer: Helen Lennard.
TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (b075pz7x)
Steven Pinker on Language
Professor Steven Pinker joins Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright in the studio for a wide-ranging talk about his love of, and life working in, language. Steven is Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and he's come up with some of the biggest and most exciting ideas about language. His books include The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and most recently, The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century.
Producer Beth O'Dea.
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b075pz7z)
Series 39
Anthony Horowitz chooses Alfred Hitchcock
Anthony Horowitz regards Alfred Hitchcock as a genius who changed the language of cinema and made some of the most memorable films of the twentieth century.
However, the film director is also seen as a troubled man who was at times abusive towards some of his leading ladies. The expert witness is Nathalie Morris; Senior Curator at the BFI, National Archive.
Presenter: Matthew Parris
Producer: Perminder Khatkar
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.
TUE 17:00 PM (b075mdsg)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b075mdsj)
The Panama Papers tax scandal claims its first scalp
The Prime Minister of Iceland has resigned, after leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm revealed he had invested millions worth of assets in an offshore company.
TUE 18:30 Clare in the Community (b062n4nb)
Series 10
Sisters
Clare and her estranged sister are forced to co-operate with one another, in between some Sparrowhawk team lead self-defence training.
Sally Phillips is Clare Barker the social worker who has all the right jargon but never a practical solution.
A control freak, Clare likes nothing better than interfering in other people's lives on both a professional and personal basis. Clare is in her thirties, white, middle class and heterosexual, all of which are occasional causes of discomfort to her.
Clare continually struggles to control both her professional and private life In today's Big Society there are plenty of challenges out there for an involved, caring social worker. Or even Clare.
Written by Harry Venning and David Ramsden.
Clare ...... Sally Phillips
Brian ...... Alex Lowe
Nali/ Megan ...... Nina Conti
Ray ...... Richard Lumsden
Helen ...... Pippa Haywood
Simon ...... Andrew Wincott
Libby ...... Sarah Kendall
Joan/ Sarah Barker ...... Sarah Thom
Scarlett ...... Eleanor Curry
Stine Wetzel ...... Amelia Lowdell
Hunter ...... Neet Mohan
Dylan ...... Elliot Steel
Producer Alexandra Smith.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2015.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b075pz81)
Kirsty is questioned and examined by the police. They are keeping her in the dark about Helen. Kirsty tells DS Madeley that Rob has hit Helen in the past. She explains about Rob's mind games. They come to the end of their questions and release her.
In the corridor, Kirsty almost comes into contact with Helen. She calls to her, encouraging Helen to tell the police what Rob has been doing. Kirsty goes to see the Archer family. She fills them in on what happened on that fateful night, and how Rob has secretly been behaving. The family feel awful for not realising something was wrong.
At the police station, Sergeant Mills takes a swab of Helen's DNA. A dazed Helen doesn't think she needs a solicitor. Helen is examined by Dr Sharma - the baby is healthy. Sharma notes the recent-looking red marks on Helen's arm. Dominic Farrell, Helen's solicitor, arrives. He tells her she is likely to be remanded in custody. When Helen is interviewed, to several questions she replies: "No comment.".
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b075mdsl)
Timothy Spall, Catherine Tate, 11.22.63, Dutch flowers.
Timothy Spall talks to John Wilson about his return to the stage. It's at the Old Vic but is scarcely glamorous. He's playing Davies in Pinter's The Caretaker. "He's a hobo," Spall says, "a dosser." He and John discuss the attractions and challenges of playing such as character.
Catherine Tate chooses the outspoken and witty Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing, as part of our Shakespeare's People series.
Writer and critic Michael Carlson reviews the TV adaptation of Stephen King's novel
11.22.63. James Franco plays a teacher who discovers a time portal that leads to October 21st, 1960 and goes on a quest to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
As a display of twenty-two intricate paintings of Dutch Flowers goes on show at the National Gallery, curator Betsy Wieseman tells us the story of the growth of a genre, which began in the Netherlands in the early 1600s.
Presenter: John Wilson
Producer: Jack Soper.
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b075pt3d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 The Panama Papers (b075pz83)
This week's massive leak of confidential documents from the Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, has given unprecedented access to the way the rich and powerful have used tax havens to hide their wealth. But within the eleven and a half million documents, there is also evidence of how some of the shell companies set up by the firm, or the individuals that owned them, have been the subject of international sanctions and have been used by rogue states and oppressive regimes including North Korea and Syria.
Simon Cox reveals details from the leaked papers and travels to the British Virgin Islands where a small office run by Mossack Fonseca was used to create more than 100,000 companies. One of them was a front for a North Korean Bank that was later sanctioned by the United States for supporting the regime's illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programme. According to the US, the BVI based front company managed millions of dollars in transactions in support of North Korea.
Other companies set up by on the island were used by a billionaire businessman who is a cousin of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and who was sanctioned by the US for using "intimidation and his close ties to the Assad regime at the expense of ordinary Syrians."
Mossack Fonseca has said it never knowingly allowed the use of its companies by individuals with any relationship with North Korea or Syria and says it has operated beyond reproach for 40 years and has never been charged with criminal wrong-doing.
Reporter: Simon Cox Producer: James Melley.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b075mdsn)
The Future of Braille
A new electronic braille reader called The Orbit Reader 20 has been unveiled in California. When it eventually comes on to the market it promises to be more affordable than anything currently available. We get our hands on one of the prototypes and test it out. Plus, we get very rare access to the high-security prison Full Sutton near York, where prisoners have been making braille books for the last twenty years. Peter White talks to them about the challenges of transcribing books into braille, and the job satisfaction they get from it.
Producer: Siobhann Tighe.
TUE 21:00 The Joy of 9 to 5 (b06pbw9v)
Lucy Kellaway looks at the UK's long hours office culture and asks what happened to the 9 to 5?
In 1930 John Maynard Keynes predicted that, by 2030, we'd all be working a 15 hour week. And yet, almost half of us in the UK put in over a 40 hour week and most of those who work over 48 hours say they're unhappy.
In part one of a new series on modern work culture, Lucy Kellaway, management columnist for the Financial Times, discovers the origins of the eight hour working day.
She finds out what people are actually up to when they're in the office at all hours and argues much of the typical working day is taken up with time-wasting. For Lucy, our self image has become so intertwined with our job that we bolster it by putting the hours in - even if in doing so we're less happy and productive.
Speaking to business leaders, management researchers, and office workers, Lucy asks whether it's time to re-define our notion of 'hard work', and explores the idea that working less could actually be better for everyone.
Written and presented by Lucy Kellaway
Producer: Gemma Newby
Executive Producer: Russell Finch
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 21:30 The Deobandis (b06gqr66)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 21:58 Weather (b075mdst)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b075mdsw)
The prime minister of Iceland resigns over the Panama Papers scandal
The crisis claims its first political casualty
Jeremy Corbyn raises the prospect of 'direct rule' of some British territories over their tax arrangements.
The International Criminal Court drops charges of crimes against humanity that were faced by Kenya's deputy president.
How an act of love - from father to son - led to Smithers 'coming out' on The Simpsons
(Picture shows tourists walking along the seafront of Panama City. Credit: REUTERS/Carlos Jasso).
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b075q02n)
Mothering Sunday
Episode 2
Booker prize-winner Graham Swift's new novel is a luminous and sensual meditation on truth, loss and the forging of a writer.
Maid Jane Fairchild answers a telephone call at Beechwood which will change not only the course of her Mothering Sunday but, in time, also her life.
Read by Eileen Atkins
Abridged and produced by Eilidh McCreadie.
TUE 23:00 Love in Recovery (b075q02q)
Series 2
Coming Clean
Julie is having a tough time with her new bloke, and Danno has a secret to share with the group. A big secret. A shameful secret. A secret he thought he'd never have to reveal.
Continuing the award-nominated comedy drama set in Alcoholics Anonymous, written by Pete Jackson and inspired by his own road to recovery.
It follows the lives of five very different recovering alcoholics. Taking place entirely at their weekly meetings, we hear them moan, argue, laugh, fall apart, fall in love and - most importantly - tell their stories.
Julie...............Sue Johnston
Danno............Paul Kaye
Marion...........Julia Deakin
Fiona.............Rebecca Front
Simon............John Hannah
Andy..............Eddie Marsan
Writer Pete Jackson is a recovering alcoholic and has spent time in Alcoholics Anonymous. It was there he found support from the unlikeliest group of disparate souls - with one common bond. As well as offering the support he needed throughout a difficult time, AA also offered a weekly, sometimes daily, dose of hilarity, upset, heartbreak and friendship.
There are lots of different kinds of AA meetings. Love in Recovery is about meetings where people tell their stories. There are funny stories, sad stories, stories of small victories and milestones, stories of loss, stories of hope, and those stories that you really shouldn't laugh at - but still do, along with the storyteller.
Written and created by Pete Jackson
Producer/Director: Ben Worsfield
A Lucky Giant production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2016.
TUE 23:30 With Great Pleasure (b06vk6nf)
Phill Jupitus
Comedian Phill Jupitus takes us through his life in books, comedy, poetry and songs, from the Sex Pistols to Steve Martin and the speech that has changed his life. With readers Thom Tuck and Cariad Lloyd, and live music by Boo Hewerdine. Recorded in front of an audience at the BBC's Maida Vale studios.
Phill's readings are from Clothes Music Boys by Viv Albertine, Born Standing Up by Steve Martin, Genesis by Billy Collins, Bossypants by Tina Fey and The House at Pooh Corner by AA Milne.
Sound archive is of Professor Richard Demarco accepting his honorary degree as Doctor of Arts from Southampton Solent University.
Live song is Bell Book and Candle by Boo Hewerdine.
Producer Beth O'Dea.
WEDNESDAY 06 APRIL 2016
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b075mdv9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b075pt02)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b075mdvc)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b075mdvf)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b075mdvh)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b075mdvk)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b077jtt7)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with The Revd Laurence Twaddle
Producer Mo McCullough.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b075qflp)
New rules on micro-chipping dogs
From today all dogs in England, Scotland and Wales must be micro-chipped.
There's only a month to go for farmers to claim for next year's EU farm subsidy payments, but thousands still haven't received their money for this year.
Sarah Falkingham is in Derbyshire where villagers bought and re-opened their only pub and put a post office and cafe in it.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b0378tmb)
Long-tailed Tit
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Michaela Strachan presents the long-tailed tit. They are sociable birds and family ties are vital. They even roost together at night, huddled in lines on a branch, and this behaviour saves lives in very cold winter weather. The nest of the Long-Tailed Tit is one of the most elaborate of any UK bird, a ball of interwoven moss, lichen, animal hair, spider's webs and feathers.
WED 06:00 Today (b075qflr)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b075qflt)
Julian Clary, Wendy Cope, Carmen Aguirre, Patrick Deeley
Libby Purves meets poet Wendy Cope; performer Julian Clary; poet Patrick Deeley and actor and playwright Carmen Aguirre.
Wendy Cope OBE is a poet. A former teacher and television critic, she has written on a variety of topics including education, romance, religion, television and psychoanalysis. She has been commissioned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to write poems to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death. In 2011 she donated her archive of correspondence and diaries to the British Library. Her book Life, Love and the Archers is published by Two Roads.
Patrick Deeley is an Irish poet and former teacher and principal. He has published six collections of poetry including Decoding Samara and The Bones of Creation. In his memoir, The Hurley Maker's Son, he tells of growing up in rural Ireland with a wood worker father who made hurley sticks in his Galway workshop. The Hurley Maker's Son is published by Doubleday Ireland.
Carmen Aguirre is an actor and playwright. She is the daughter of Chilean revolutionaries who, from the age of six, lived in exile in North America and as a young adult actively fought the Chilean dictatorship herself. In her memoir, Mexican Hooker #1: And Other Roles Since the Revolution, she tells of her personal struggles to find her own identity after the revolution. Mexican Hooker #1: And My Other Roles Since the Revolution is published by Portobello Books.
Julian Clary is a comedian, performer and writer. He became a household name in the late 1980s and has appeared on numerous TV shows including Strictly Come Dancing, Have I Got News For You and is a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's Just a Minute. He has starred in West End productions of Taboo and Cabaret, and appears in panto most years. He is on tour in his one man show, the Joy of Mincing and new children's book, the Bolds to the Rescue, is published by Anderson Press.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b075qflw)
Beethoven for a Later Age
Irretrievably Fractured
The Takacs Quartet's first violinist Edward Dusinberre recalls a time of loss and grief. He finds solace and a changed perspective in performing Beethoven's turbulent Opus 59, no 2.
Read by Tim McMullan
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b075mdvm)
Angela Rippon, Northern Ireland Abortion, Women Fire Control Operators
Angela Rippon, who celebrates fifty years in broadcasting this year, tells Jenni about her new television series on How To Stay Young.
As a twenty one year old woman is given a three-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, after admitting procuring her own abortion Jenni hears from Clare Murphy from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service. How different are the abortion laws in Northern Ireland and England?
The Chain - philanthropist Maggie Doyne nominated by Cheryl Strayed, describes how she founded an orphanage in Nepal while she was still in her teens. She recently won the CNN Hero of the Year Award and is now legal guardian to fifty one children.
In 2000 Fire Control Operator Sam Pendlebury received an emergency call from a woman trapped in a building. That event inspired this years BAFTA-winning short film The Operator. Sam joins Jenni along with Sasha Hitchins from the Fire Brigade Union to talk about the work of Fire Control Operators who are mainly women.
Cook The Perfect - Sumayya Usmani cooks Chapli Beef Kebab with Pomegranate Chutney and describes the childhood memories of Pakistan and her mothers cooking that inspired her.
Presented by Jenni Murray
Produced by Caroline Donne.
WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b075qfly)
How Does That Make You Feel?
Episode 3
In this the 7th series of 'How Does that Make You Feel?' Martha's clients have made few changes to their circumstances.
Caroline is mildly disturbed by the fact that her recently returned husband is building a guillotine in the spare room. However she hasn't yet figured out what he might want to use it for. Meanwhile her blog on how to stay thin and be successful, which largely involves eating kale and shaved cardboard clippings, seems to be gaining a growing readership. Caroline's philosophy is that if people want to pay her be told how to eat rubbish in the deluded belief that its doing them some good, then who is she to deny them the recipes...
Shelagh Stephenson is the author of 'A Short History of Longing' and 'Guests Are Like Fish', recently heard on Radio 4. She is an Olivier Award winner for her play 'The Memory of Water' and has won Sony and Writer's Guild awards for her plays 'Darling Peidi' and 'Five Kinds of Silence'. She wrote Enid (the life of Enid Blyton) for BBC4 and Shirley (the Shirley Bassey story) for BBC2. She is currently writing, new plays for Hampstead Theatre and Live Theatre in Newcastle, a number of feature films and a TV series for BBC 1.
Caroline ..... Rebecca Saire
Martha ..... Frances Tomelty
Writer ..... Shelagh Stephenson
Producer ..... Eoin O'Callaghan.
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b075qjff)
Linsey and Tamsyn - Theatrical Friends
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between friends who both work for the British Library, but who formed their strong bond through their commitment to amateur dramatics. 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 Sport and Fitness: Running in Circles (b0736vv6)
The Olympic legacy has failed to translate into greater sporting opportunities for our children and in this programme Peter White hears from them and their counterparts in the United States. In Britain there is still a mismatch between funding for elite sports and the fitness and activity that health experts say youngsters need. With audio diaries tracking the weekly activity of pupils, Peter unpicks what was promised in the run up to the Olympics and what has actually transpired: asking what more, if anything, could be done?
Billboards across the country tell us: "This girl can", to encourage younger women to participate in sport. But why should this succeed when, according to the former Minister for the Olympics, Tessa Jowell, the billions spent on the 2012 Games failed to deliver a legacy of sporting engagement?
She believes that we squandered a once in a lifetime opportunity. But perhaps the writing was already on the wall even before the cheers for Farah, Ennis, Rutherford and co had died on our lips. A Freedom of Information request revealed in September 2012 that one-third of Councils in the UK said they had recently cut grass-roots sports facilities, or raised charges for them: playing-fields, parks and sports centres. Meanwhile, according to numerous head teachers, sport hardly gets a look-in when the Ofsted inspector comes calling.
Although the chief Medical Officer of Health has said he wants children to be taking five or six hours of exercise each week, PE lessons are struggling to reach two hours; there's also evidence that the numbers of disadvantaged children taking part in sport is falling. And yet every week there are headlines about the crisis in childhood obesity.
As Rio approaches Peter asks why we should believe that an Olympic gold medallist will encourage a thirteen-year-old boy to set aside his play station on a wet December evening and go for a run? Some, such as former Olympic coach Tom McNab, claim that we are mired in a very fundamental confusion about elite sport and elite sporting competition, both of which actually have little to do with health-related fitness: to assume that one will influence the other is misguided.
He feels that Government stats which group together dedicated club athletes with people who like a run round the block now and again are just misleading. Local authorities and schools could do much more to encourage health and fitness, but this has nothing to do with elite sport, and most national sporting bodies are aimed at national competitors, not people who want to lose a bit of weight or improve their general health.
So can this ever be untangled? If we're hoping to tackle our predicted obesity epidemic through exercise, then some solutions are absolutely necessary. This programme seeks answers through recordings with sports scientists, administrators, doctors, politicians, and children; and by exploring whether other countries, like the United States, are doing better at navigating the current gaps in provision and performance.
WED 11:30 Chain Reaction (b03nt8bk)
Series 9
Frankie Boyle talks to Grant Morrison
Comedian Frankie Boyle continues the chain talking to comic book legend Grant Morrison.
They're talking Batman, where ideas come from and the future of humanity.
Chain Reaction is the long-running host-less chat show where last week's interviewee becomes this week's interviewer.
Producer: Carl Cooper
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.
WED 12:00 News Summary (b075mdvp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 Home Front (b075qjfj)
6 April 1916 - Sylvia Graham
On this day in 1916, Britain intercepted £56,000 of Swedish herring on its way to Germany, while at Staverley Court Sylvia Graham wants to enjoy an English summer's day.
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Directed by Allegra McIlroy
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
WED 12:15 You and Yours (b075mdvr)
Gambling, Dodgy emails, Gym gadgets
New rules on gambling come into force today. Bookies should make sure those who ask to be stopped from betting are refused service, and proper checks should be carried out to see how much of a social impact a new bookmakers will have in an area. But do the safeguards go far enough?
When you go to the gym, or out for a run, do you use a gadget to monitor what you are doing? We look at how accurate they are at measuring your performance?
Petrol prices are on the rise, so what happened to the promise that cheap car costs were here to stay for a while?
A former salesman lifts the lid on how he was trained to use high-pressure techniques on potential customers, including using Hollywood as an inspiration.
And a new batch of email scams has been unleashed, which target your home email account to inform you of a massive debt you owe to a company you have never heard of. But it seems the scammers aren't after your money.......
PRESENTER: Winifred Robinson
PRODUCER: Pete Wilson.
WED 12:57 Weather (b075mdvt)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b075qjfl)
News with Martha Kearney including diabetes increase, doctors' strike and Irish feuds.
WED 13:45 Inglorious Isolation: A European's History of Britain (b075thlq)
Germany
Developmental psychiatrist Uta Frith presents her take on the history of Britain - from a German perspective in which scientific and intellectual history between the two nations looms large.
In her own career, she was drawn to the Institute of Psychiatry in London by the presence of German-British psychologist Hans-Jürgen Eysenck, and the close academic connection between nations is exemplified by the figure of Lord Dahrendorf, the German-born political scientist who had the rare distinction of belonging to both the German and British parliaments.
But, as Uta and contributors explore, this relationship has historically become strained when the fundamental difference between the British and the German political mindset comes into play. As Winston Churchill and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer grappled with what Europe meant in the wake of the devastation of World War II, the British isolationist perspective with a pragmatic rather than ideological commitment to the European Community rubbed up against Germany's position at the heart of Europe.
With contributions from German journalist and historian Thomas Kielinger; Daniel Kehlmann, international bestselling author of Measuring the World; and historian Professor Eugenio Biagini from the University of Cambridge.
Across this series, five mainland Europeans give their take on Britain's historical relationship with their home country - the historical moments and popular culture that have created the image of the Brit in the mind of continental Europeans. Dame Uta Frith is a German-born scientist, currently working at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London, and has pioneered research into autism and dyslexia.
Producer: Katherine Godfrey
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b075pz81)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Day Release (b075qjfp)
Safe Space
by Peter Jukes
Lenny Henry plays Frank Watt, who is getting ready to face life on the outside after 30 years in prison. Frank is looking forward to coming out, but things have changed a lot in 30 years and he’s institutionalised. He quite likes his bookish, monk-like life inside and the anger he was boiling over with when he went to prison is down to a manageable simmer. Frank has already had a few days out on day release and it was full on; almost unbearably intense compared to the quiet order of his cell.
Frank Watt ..... Lenny Henry
Geoff Hoagland ..... Ralph Ineson
Shudi Misir ..... Deeivya Meir
Haani Said ..... Danny Rahim
Barry Gibbons ..... Sargon Yelda
Solomon Dunn ..... Burt Caesar
Eileen O’Connor ..... Scarlett Brookes
Director ..... Mary Peate
WED 15:00 Money Box (b075qjl2)
Money Box Live: Pension Freedoms One Year On
Paul Lewis and a panel of guests from the finance industry take your questions on the shake-up of retirement savings, first brought in last April.
If you have a question about pension freedoms and your options, or if you'd like to share your experience, you can email moneybox@bbc.co.uk.
Since April 2015, it's no longer been necessary to buy an annuity and people have had much greater freedom over how they can access their pension savings. Critics feared the new pension freedoms would tempt people to fritter away their retirement savings on fast cars. Were they right?
Paul Lewis will be reviewing how, and to what extent, people have been taking advantage of the new so-called 'freedom and choice' options. He'll be joined by:
Michelle Cracknell, chief executive of the Pensions Advisory Service.
Jamie Jenkins, head of pensions strategy at Standard Life.
Keith Churchouse, chartered financial planner and director of Chapters Financial.
Producer: Ruth Alexander.
WED 15:30 The Joy of 9 to 5 (b06pbw9v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b075qjl5)
The BSA and Thinking Allowed Ethnography Award Shortlist
The Ethnography award 'short list': Thinking Allowed, in association with the British Sociological Association, presents a special programme devoted to the academic research which has been short listed for our third annual award for a study that has made a significant contribution to ethnography, the in-depth analysis of the everyday life of a culture or sub culture. Laurie Taylor is joined by three of the judges: Claire Alexander, Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester, Helen Sampson, Director of the Seafarers International Research Centre at Cardiff University and Olivia Sheringham, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Geography at Queen Mary, University of London.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b075mdvw)
BBC Trust chair Rona Fairhead, 'Tips' when interviewing will.i.am, Press freedom v privacy
Some weeks ago, Sir David Clementi said the current regulatory model of the BBC Trust, was 'flawed and that a unitary board should run the BBC. Since then, John Whittingdale, the culture secretary, has said if board members were appointed by the government, that this would not compromise the independence of the BBC. However, the current chair of the BBC Trust, Rona Fairhead, has concerns. Steve Hewlett talks to her about whether the Clementi model is really the best model, the importance of the BBC retaining its independence, and why she thinks the White Paper on the future of the BBC, initially due out in March, needs to be published as soon as possible.
A three page list of "tips for maximising your interview time" with the popstar will.i.am were given to journalists interviewing him recently, dictating what can and cannot be discussed, and offering advice for when to ask the most important questions. Is this level of involvement from celebrity PRs helpful or meddling in journalism? Steve Hewlett talks to Telegraph writer Harry Wallop who was the recipient of the 'tip' checklist.
The Sun on Sunday has lost a court battle to print a story about a celebrity's alleged threesome on the grounds their children deserve protection. It's raised concerns amongst press freedom advocates that this defence will be used by claimants more frequently, and offer those with children carte blanche to act in any way they want, with immunity from press coverage. Steve Hewlett discusses the issues with lawyers Sara Mansoori from Matrix Chambers and Mark Stephens from Howard Kennedy. Plus, editor of the Press Gazette Dominic Ponsford explains his concerns about the potential impact on journalism.
Prod: Katy Takatsuki.
WED 17:00 PM (b075mdvy)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b075mdw0)
06/04/16 Global diabetes cases quadruple since 1980
Swiss police raid UEFA headquarters, Tata Steel to begin selling UK plants by Monday.
WED 18:30 Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully (b04l0zq7)
Series 2
Counter Plot
Richard is alarmed to discover that Uljabaan has commandeered six allotments for some sort of experiment, while Katrina is more concerned that he's arrested Lucy. But what kind of plants is he planting inside the building he has built?
Series two of Eddie Robson's sitcom about an alien race that's noticed an all-at-once invasions of Earth never works out that well. So they've locked the small Buckinghamshire village of Cresdon Green behind an impenetrable force-field in order to study human behaviour and decide if Earth is worth invading.
The only inhabitant who seems to be bothered by their new alien overlord is Katrina Lyons, who was only home for the weekend to borrow the money for a deposit for a flat when the force-field went up.
So along with Lucy Alexander (the only teenager in the village, willing to rebel against whatever you've got) she forms The Resistance - slightly to the annoyance of her parents Margaret and Richard who wish she wouldn't make so much of a fuss
This is also much to the annoyance of Field Commander Uljabaan who, alongside his unintelligible minions and The Computer (his hyper-intelligent supercomputer), is trying to actually run the invasion.
Katrina Lyons ...... Hattie Morahan
Richard Lyons ...... Peter Davison
Margaret Lyons ...... Jan Francis
Lucy Alexander ...... Hannah Murray
Field Commander Uljabaan ...... Charles Edwards
The Computer ...... John-Luke Roberts
Ron ...... Dave Lamb
Lawrence ...... Michael Bertenshaw
Written by Eddie Robson
Script-edited by Arthur Mathews
Producer: Ed Morrish.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2014.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b075szsm)
Fallon is being hounded by journalists at the Tea Room. Harrison drops in on Susan - but it's not a social call, it is police business. He is asking the neighbours if they witnessed anything last night. Susan tells Harrison all about Helen's traumatic past. Fallon implies Harrison should go easy on his friend, Helen, but he is haunted by what he saw at the crime scene...
Pat is still processing it all - recently she had thought Rob a godsend. Tom had had his doubts all along. DS Madeley calls round to ask them some questions. Pat and Tom tell Madeley about Helen's bruise, and all about manipulative Rob. Madeley asks if Helen is a violent person, which they unreservedly refute.
Ursula and Bruce, Rob's father, are at the hospital. Rob has had an operation and now he is being taken to intensive care. Bruce is firm with Ursula - tears aren't going to help Rob. Bruce and Ursula storm into Bridge Farm. Bruce confronts them about the daughter they raised. Ursula says she knew all along that Helen was a madwoman, and reminds Pat that she once threatened to kill Rob. Ursula has told that to the police.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b075mdw2)
Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art
As the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art opens with exhibitions across the city, Kirsty Lang asks if it's Glasgow's industrial legacy, its history of metal work and textiles, or the very buildings and environment of the city itself that makes it such an inspiration for artists.
Turner Prize winner Duncan Campbell, Muriel Gray, and the artist Claire Barclay, among others, share their views as Kirsty visits exhibitions at Tramway, GOMA, Kelvin Hall and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum to see some of the many works in the festival reacting to the city. She meets the artist Tessa Lynch who is showing her Painter's Table at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), views the Tramway group show featuring artists Alexandra Birken, Sheila Hicks, Lawrence Lek, Mika Rottenberg and Amie Siegel, speaks to Claire Barclay who is installing Bright Bodies at Kelvin Hall, and Aaron Angell who has his installation The Death of Robin Hood at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Glasgow Botanic Gardens.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Angie Nehring.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b075qfly)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 Agree to Differ (b075szsp)
Series 2
Trident
A final decision to commit to the successor programme to Britain's nuclear weapons programme, Trident, is expected this year. For supporters, Trident is the ultimate security guarantee in the unpredictable strategic environment of the next forty-to-fifty years. For those against, Trident is militarily nonsensical, financially insane, and morally intolerable. You might feel you have heard a great deal on this subject and yet public opinion is still divided over the issue. In this programme the aim is to give listeners a completely new way to understand the debate and to decide where they stand. Two experts who passionately disagree on Trident renewal are challenged to reach agreement over their differences and bring clarity over what the disagreement is fundamentally about. Sir Malcolm Rifkind is a former Defence and Foreign Secretary and was once third in line to 'push the button'. Dr Rebecca Johnson is a life-long peace activist and Chief Executive of the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy. They join Matthew Taylor for the first in a new series of Agree to Differ.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (b0761d4g)
Spice In Prison
Stuart J. Cole, a writer and drugs counsellor - with past personal experience of addiction and prison - warns of a crisis in our prisons caused by "spice", a synthetic cannabis. He advocates a controversial way to tackle the problem. "Lower the punishment for cannabis," he says, "until a means of detection can be put in place along with punishment."
Producer: Sheila Cook.
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b075pxg8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Midweek (b07896nc)
Julian Clary, Wendy Cope, Carmen Aguirre, Patrick Deeley
Libby Purves meets poet Wendy Cope; performer Julian Clary; poet Patrick Deeley and actor and playwright Carmen Aguirre.
Wendy Cope OBE is a poet. A former teacher and television critic, she has written on a variety of topics including education, romance, religion, television and psychoanalysis. She has been commissioned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to write poems to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death. In 2011 she donated her archive of correspondence and diaries to the British Library. Her book Life, Love and the Archers is published by Two Roads.
Patrick Deeley is an Irish poet and former teacher and principal. He has published six collections of poetry including Decoding Samara and The Bones of Creation. In his memoir, The Hurley Maker's Son, he tells of growing up in rural Ireland with a wood worker father who made hurley sticks in his Galway workshop. The Hurley Maker's Son is published by Doubleday Ireland.
Carmen Aguirre is an actor and playwright. She is the daughter of Chilean revolutionaries who, from the age of six, lived in exile in North America and as a young adult actively fought the Chilean dictatorship herself. In her memoir, Mexican Hooker #1: And Other Roles Since the Revolution, she tells of her personal struggles to find her own identity after the revolution. Mexican Hooker #1: And My Other Roles Since the Revolution is published by Portobello Books.
Julian Clary is a comedian, performer and writer. He became a household name in the late 1980s and has appeared on numerous TV shows including Strictly Come Dancing, Have I Got News For You and is a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's Just a Minute. He has starred in West End productions of Taboo and Cabaret, and appears in panto most years. He is on tour in his one man show, the Joy of Mincing and new children's book, the Bolds to the Rescue, is published by Anderson Press.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b075mdw4)
Anger over government's EU leaflets
We hear reaction from Nigel Farage and talk to Tory MP Damian Green, member of Britain Stronger in Europe campaign group. Panama Papers - we ask if the Chinese will be surprised by the wealth amassed by their leaders and their families. And the rise and rise of diabetes - we talk to a man who turned his health around.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b075szsr)
Mothering Sunday
Episode 3
Set in the aftermath of the Great War, Booker prize-winner Graham Swift's new novel is a luminous and sensual meditation on truth, loss and the forging of a writer.
On the traditional servants' holiday maid Jane has been summoned by her lover Paul, the only surviving son of neighbouring Upleigh House.
Read by Eileen Atkins
Abridged and produced by Eilidh McCreadie.
WED 23:00 Nurse (b075szst)
Series 2
Episode 1
A bittersweet comedy drama about a community mental health nurse.
Created by Paul Whitehouse and David Cummings.
Liz (Esther Coles), the community psychiatric nurse of the title makes her rounds to visit "service users" in their homes. Most of those patients are played by comedy chameleon Paul Whitehouse himself – with supporting roles for Rosie Cavaliero, Vilma Hollingbery and Cecilia Noble.
Paul Whitehouse brings us an obese bed-bound mummy's boy, an agoraphobic ex-con, a manic ex-glam rock star, ageing rake Herbert who hoards his house with possessions and memories, a Jewish chatterbox in unrequited love with his Jamaican neighbour, and a long-suffering carer and his Alzheimer's-afflicted mother.
There are new characters too in the guise of a self-proclaimed DJ and a Geordie struggling with his wife's job in the world's oldest profession.
We follow their humorous, sometimes sad and occasionally moving interactions with Liz, whose job is to assess their progress, dispense medication and offer support.
Nurse gives a sympathetic insight into the world of some of society's more marginalised people in a heartfelt and considered way.
Paul Whitehouse
Esther Coles
Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Rosie Cavaliero
Sue Elliott-Nichols
Charlie Higson
Vilma Hollingbery
Jason Maza
Cecilia Noble
Written by David Cummings and Paul Whitehouse, with additional material by Esther Coles.
A Down The Line production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2016.
WED 23:15 Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme (b03pjfj7)
Series 2
Magic
Tim Key jettisons his poems in favour of magic.
He's assisted by a glamorous assistant in a sequin dress called Emerald, much to the annoyance of his guitarist Tom Basden.
Written and presented by Tim Key.
With Tom Basden and Diane Morgan
Producer: James Robinson.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.
WED 23:30 With Great Pleasure (b06vk6fm)
Helen Baxendale
Actress Helen Baxendale chooses favourite pieces of writing, including poems by WB Yeats, Seamus Heaney and Edward Lear. Readers are fellow-'Cuckoo' stars, Esther Wilson and the comedian Greg Davies.
Star of 'Cold Feet', 'Friends' and 'An Unsuitable Job for a Woman', Helen reveals how she experienced love at first sight when she was introduced to fellow actor, David L Williams, at a rehearsal for one of her choices, 'La Ronde', by Arthur Schnitzler. On the preview night for the play, the director asked Helen and David to appear naked in one of the scenes together. This was Helen's parents' first introduction to the father of their grandchildren, naked on stage.
Helen's other book choices include 'The Poisonwood Bible' by Barbara Kingsolver, 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' by John Irving, and the lyrics to 'The Whole of the Moon' by The Waterboys.
Funny, touching and revealing about one of Britain's great comic actresses, Helen's 'With Great Pleasure' was recorded in her home and reflects a more intimate atmosphere.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.
THURSDAY 07 APRIL 2016
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b075mdxn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b075qflw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b075mdxq)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b075mdxs)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b075mdxv)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b075mdxx)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b076zd8v)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with The Revd Laurence Twaddle
Producer Mo McCullough.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b075t5mj)
World agriculture ministers to meet
World agriculture ministers meet in Paris today and tomorrow to discuss the pressing issue of our time - how to feed a growing population while protecting the environment. It's a summit called by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and aims to explore how agriculture policies can be changed to make this happen.
And the Rail Accident Investigation Branch calls for better checks on livestock fencing alongside railway tracks.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Sally Challoner.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b01sbyhp)
Greenfinch
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. David Attenborough presents the Greenfinch. Often seen singing from the tops of garden trees looking large for a finch with a heavy bill, these are sadly a declining garden bird.
THU 06:00 Today (b075t5ml)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b075t5mn)
The Sikh Empire
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the rise of the Sikh Empire at the end of the 18th Century under Ranjit Singh, pictured above, who unified most of the Sikh kingdoms following the decline of the Mughal Empire. He became Maharaja of the Punjab at Lahore in 1801, capturing Amritsar the following year. His empire flourished until 1839, after which a decade of unrest ended with the British annexation. At its peak, the Empire covered the Punjab and stretched from the Khyber Pass in the west to the edge of Tibet in the east, up to Kashmir and down to Mithankot on the Indus River. Ranjit Singh is still remembered as "The Lion of the Punjab."
With
Gurharpal Singh
Professor in Inter-Religious Relations and Development at SOAS, University of London
Chandrika Kaul
Lecturer in Modern History at the University of St Andrews
And
Susan Stronge
Senior Curator in the Asian Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b075t5mq)
Beethoven for a Later Age
Recreation
The Takacs Quartet's first violinist Edward Dusinberre takes us into the recording studio and away from the stage as he and his fellow musicians set about recreating Beethoven's extraordinary music for CD.
Read by Tim McMullan
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b075mdxz)
When is a cake a biscuit, or even a pudding?
From King Alfred to our modern-day love of the Victoria sponge cake and puddings such as Pineapple upside down cake, there's a cake and a pudding for every occasion. Jenni talks to Alysa Levene, author of Cake: A Slice of History and Regula Ysewijn author of Pride and Pudding about their social history and what making them tells us about women.
Ian Duncan Smith can be seen breaking down in tears in documentary 'Workers or Shirkers' which goes out tonight on BBC 2 As he adds his name to the list of weeping politicians Behavioural Psychologist, Jo Hemmings joins us to discuss how we react when men and women in power cry.
Di Slaney decided to take a step back from run her own marketing company in Nottingham in order to move to the country and take over an old farm. Little did she know that the lifestyle change would also lead to a creative career. She talks about how becoming a farmer inspired her new poetry collection The Reward for Winter.
When two female backpackers were killed in Ecuador earlier this year, many were quick to ask why they didn't have a man with them. Why is travelling alone still considered by many a risky, frivolous pursuit for women? Francis Lynsey-Gordon a writer for Lonely Planet and solo traveller Sophie Radice, currently in the Borneo jungle.
Plus the fourth link in The Chain - the American art director Libby Delana founder of the advertising agency Mechanica
Presenter Jenni Murray
Producer Beverley Purcell.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b075t5ms)
How Does That Make You Feel?
Episode 4
In this the 7th series of 'How Does that Make You Feel?' Martha's clients have made few changes to their circumstances.
Philip's mum is still caring for him but he believes he may have found a new career in the form of acting. Obviously his vast experience on the shopping channel makes him something of a celebrity with his amateur group, though so far they seem disinclined to let him play King Lear. However, he feels it's only a matter of time before they come round to the idea.
Shelagh Stephenson is the author of 'A Short History of Longing' and 'Guests Are Like Fish', recently heard on Radio 4. She is an Olivier Award winner for her play 'The Memory of Water' and has won Sony and Writer's Guild awards for her plays 'Darling Peidi' and 'Five Kinds of Silence'. She wrote Enid (the life of Enid Blyton) for BBC4 and Shirley (the Shirley Bassey story) for BBC2. She is currently writing, new plays for Hampstead Theatre and Live Theatre in Newcastle, a number of feature films and a TV series for BBC 1.
Writer ..... Shelagh Stephenson
Producer ..... Eoin O'Callaghan
Director ..... Eoin O'Callaghan.
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b075t5mv)
Born Free, Killed by Hate in South Africa
In 1994 apartheid ended in South Africa and Nelson Mandela was elected president. He promised in his inauguration speech to "build a society in which all South Africans will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts ... a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world." These promises were enshrined in South Africa's post-apartheid constitution, the first in the world to outlaw all forms of discrimination.
In 1994 Motshidisi Pascalina Melamu was born, making her one of the first of the so-called 'born free generation'. Pasca, as she was known, dreamed of becoming a politician, and studied hard at school. She loved singing, dancing and football. And girls - Pasca was a lesbian.
In December last year, Pasca's body was found in a field. She had been beaten and mutilated. She was one of three LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex) people murdered in a six-week period last year. Hate crimes against the LGBTI community have long been a problem in South Africa, and the government has tried to tackle them. But activists say these recent crimes are just one sign that things aren't getting better. James Fletcher travels to the townships south of Johannesburg to speak with Pasca's family and friends, and to ask whether the government is failing LGBTI South Africans.
THU 11:30 Will Gompertz Gets Creative (b061p38c)
Life Drawing
Will Gompertz meets people with a passion for art at a life-drawing class in Brighton, with expert advice from artist Humphrey Ocean, and Sue Tilley, who modelled for Lucian Freud, and has now taken up art herself.
If you are inspired to get involved in drawing or painting, or any other art, there's lots to discover at the BBC's Get Creative website http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/sections/get-creative
Producer Clare Walker.
THU 12:00 News Summary (b075mdy1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 Home Front (b075t5mz)
7 April 1916 - Elspeth Taverner
On this day in 1916, newspapers reported the discovery in Chicago of an anarchist plot to assassinate the rulers of Europe, while at Halecot Farm, more old feuds are reignited.
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Directed by Allegra McIlroy
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
THU 12:15 You and Yours (b075mdy3)
Phishing emails, M&S quarter sales, Overseas GPs
On today's You and Yours:
As fourth quarter results for Marks & Spencer are published, we discuss what will help improve the sales of its clothing lines. Fashion journalist Hilary Alexander, OBE joins the programme.
The Government committed to finding five thousand more GPs to address the shortage in England by 2020. Will they meet the target and what is the solution? We hear from Pulse Magazine.
Two thirds of us return to the same place when we go on holiday abroad every year. We find out why.
Research shows at least one hundred and eighty million emails are sent in the UK every day by people trying to con you but what are FTSE 250 companies doing to help?
And, new Dixons Carphone chief executive Seb James takes us on a tour of a flagship store.
Presenter Winifred Robinson
Producer Helen Roberts.
THU 12:57 Weather (b075mdy5)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b075t5n1)
Analysis of news and current affairs.
THU 13:45 Inglorious Isolation: A European's History of Britain (b075thmf)
Spain
Mexico-born author Laia Jufresa, reflects on her experience of being a 'global European' and the connection between Spanish and British history that runs through her heritage.
She grew up in Mexico, studied in Paris and lived in Spain - but her dual citizenship comes from her grandfather's experience in the Spanish Civil War when he became a refugee in Mexico. Here she reflects on the feeling of being at home in Europe - but not quite - and how the somewhat alien nature of working in the English language informs her writing style and career, which began when she would eagerly await deliveries of Roald Dahl books as a child.
The programme also explores the allure of swinging London for a young British woman, the relief at finally finding a good cup of coffee as Britain developed a Latin cafe culture, and how the Brit image was transformed from the English gent to the lager lout and the Costa del Crime became a destination.
With contributions from historian Dr Graciela Iglesias Rogers from the University of Oxford and the University of Winchester, and Spanish author Lala Isla.
Across this series, five mainland Europeans give their take on Britain's historical relationship with their home country - the historical moments and popular culture that have created the image of the Brit in the mind of continental Europeans. Laia Jufresa is the critically acclaimed author of Umami. She was a writer in residence at Hay Festival 2015.
Producer: Katherine Godfrey
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b075szsm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Day Release (b075t6kg)
Killing Time
by Peter Jukes.
Lenny Henry plays lifer Frank Watt who is coming to the end of his prison sentence.
Frank has planned a full day of activity for Geoff's first day release – but it turns out that Geoff has different plans.
Frank Watt ..... Lenny Henry
Geoff Hoagland ..... Ralph Ineson
Shudi Misir ..... Deeivya Meir
Karen Atkins ..... Adjoa Andoh
Dan Trebor ..... Ewan Bailey
Jacqui Montgomery ..... Adie Allen
Directed by Mary Peate
THU 15:00 Open Country (b075t6kj)
Gainsborough's Nodding Donkeys
Forget Texas! There's oil in the plains of Lincolnshire. But not many people seem to notice.
Helen Mark travels to the market town of Gainsborough to discover more about the nodding donkeys that pepper its landscape. Oil wells sit comfortably fringed by a housing estate, the leisure centre and the golf course.
It turns out that the East Midlands is the UK's second largest inshore oil producing area, courtesy of the Gainsborough Trough, once a deep and dirty patch of sea. Now it produces twelve hundred barrels of high quality oil a day, mostly pumped up by nodding donkeys.
Whereas fracking attracts protest and controversy, local people seem quite content to live alongside these nodding pumps, perhaps because they look so benign - friendly even - and work away quietly with apparently little human intervention.
Helen meets local teacher and long-distance runner Nigel Bowler, for whom the donkeys are a landmark on his running routes. There's artist Verity Barrett, who loved the pumps as a child, part of the 'scenic route' on trips to visit her granddad.
Julie Barlow from i-gas explains the business of oil extraction and geologists Malcom Fry and Paul Hildreth slice through the soil to bring alive the geological layers that led to the Gainsborough Trough. Then there are Daniel Ashman and Louise Hammond, who've spent the last week camping outside a new exploratory oil boring site near the village of Laughton, as part of an anti-fracking protest.
As the dustbin lorry and the postman do their rounds of the Park Springs Housing Estate on the edge of Gainsborough, another few barrels of oil are drawn up from 1500m underground. The nodding donkeys aren't bad neighbours, it seems. 'I think they're wonderful' says Paul Hildreth.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b075mfyr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Bookclub (b075mltp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b075mdy7)
Jacques Audiard
With Francine Stock
Director Jacques Audiard reveals why he cast a former Tamil Tiger to star in his drama Dheepan, which won the prestigious Palme D'Or at last year's Cannes festival.
Composer Neil Brand unravels the mysteries of the score to one of the greatest openings in cinema history, Citizen Kane.
Location scout Philip Lobban explains how a key scene in a recent James Bond film was set in Surrey and Scotland simultaneously, with the help of some digital trickery.
Couple In a Hole director Tom Geens on his debut movie, which took five years to get financed and was abandoned after two days when his lead actor broke his leg, and why this turned out to be a happy accident.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b075mdy9)
Air pollution monitoring, Britain breathing, Tracking Hannibal
This week a "Faraday Discussion" - a unique way of presenting and sharing cutting edge science - is underway at the Royal Society of Chemistry in London looking specifically at Chemistry in the Urban Atmosphere. As Prof Ally Lewis of York University tells Adam Rutherford, atmospheric chemistry is so complex, and detector standards so variable - in particular the cheaper commercial brands - that it can be hard to check whether our environmental policies are working. Whilst local and national governments spend precious public money checking for compliance with a number of common pollutants, atmospheric chemists would like a more investigative approach, looking at the chemistry in action, rather than the end products.
Do you suffer in the spring and summer? Allergies are on the increase in the UK. And scientists don't know why. But the environment, and what we breathe from it, is thought to be key. A new app for smartphones called Britain Breathing has been developed by scientists at Manchester University working with allergy sufferers. Hay fever affects millions of Britons but is under-reported and poorly understood. Combining large numbers of reports of symptoms with their location and time could lead to valuable insights.
Last December, BBC Inside Science reported on the mothballing of several Carbon Capture and Storage pilot schemes, following withdrawal of government funding. But some work continues. Doug Connelly of the National Oceanographic Centre in Southampton tells Adam about a scheme currently trialling carbon storage in the North Sea, to see whether disused oil and gas fields can be used to store our dangerous emissions.
A little over 2200 years ago, Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca infamously led a huge army of elephants and horses across the Alps, almost to the gates of Rome. It has been celebrated as one of the most audacious military campaigns in history, but his exact route has always been subject to debate. This week further results from a consortium of disparate scientists have been published, supporting their preferred route taken by the grand army. Microbiologist Chris Allen from Queen's University talks Adam Rutherford through the "deposition of data", marking the passage of thousands of animals. What is the new evidence? A microbially recalcitrant, precisely dated, phylogenetically relevant layer of euphemism.
THU 17:00 PM (b075mdyc)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b075mdyf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Hal (b04tdqwq)
Series 1
Fidelity
Hal Cruttenden stars as a 40-something husband and father who, years ago, decided to give up his job and become a stay at home father. His wife, Sam, has a successful business career which makes her travel more and more. His children, Lilly and Molly, are growing up fast, and his role as their father and mentor is diminishing by the day.
So what can Hal do as he reaches a crossroads in his life? Help is (sort of) at hand in the form of his eager mates - Doug, Fergus and Barry - who regularly meet at their local curry house for mind expanding conversations that sadly never give Hal the core advice he so desperately needs.
Hal is confused even further as he regularly has visions of his long dead and highly macho father, who he's forced to engage in increasingly frustrating conversations.
In this last episode of the series, Hal faces a new challenge - unwanted romantic attention. Happily married to Sam and with two adoring daughters, life is a picture of roses at home. But how will Hal cope with the romantic attention of a new, attractive neighbour Angie?
The cast includes co-writer Dominic Holland, Ed Byrne, Ronni Ancona, Anna Crilly, Gavin Webster, Dominic Frisby, Samuel Caseley and Emily and Lucy Robbins.
Produced by Paul Russell
An Open Mike production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2014.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b075t6kl)
DS Madeley and DC Sharples discuss the case. Madeley says that the accusations of Rob's abuse are only coming from Helen's relations - they are rallying round, understandably. They haven't got long before they need to apply for a warrant to hold Helen for longer...
Kirsty and Pat are made to wait outside while Henry is interviewed. As Henry plays in the children's interview room, DC Sharples determines that Henry knows the difference between truth and lies. Pat and Kirsty discuss the case with Dominic, Helen's solicitor.
Dominic stands up for Helen in her interview. The police ask if she was already holding the knife when Henry came in, or if she picked it up to protect him. Helen accidentally confirms that she did once threaten to kill Rob, and Dominic tries to curtail the interview. Dominic tells the Archers that Helen is being held by the police after all. She will appear in the Magistrates Court tomorrow morning. They have charged Helen with attempted murder.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b075mdyh)
Palme d'Or winner Dheepan, Diana Damrau, Noma Dumezweni, Garth Greenwell
Dheepan, the winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, tells the story of a former Sri Lankan Tamil fighter who flees the civil war to France with a woman and young girl he has never met. After finding work and housing in the suburbs of Pairs this fake family soon find that the violence they have run from is replaced by a new danger. Agnes Poirier reviews the film.
German soprano Diana Damrau discusses her role as Lucia di Lammermoor in a controversial and bloody new production at the Royal Opera House in London.
Noma Dumezweni, who is about to star as Hermione in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on stage, chooses Paulina from The Winter's Tale as part of our Shakespeare's People series.
US writer Garth Greenwell's debut novel What Belongs to You is the story of a American teacher who becomes obsessed with a sex worker in Bulgaria. Garth talks to Samira about the mixture of fact and fiction in the novel, and his growing up gay in Kentucky and his advocacy of 'queer culture'.
Presenter Samira Ahmed
Producer Jerome Weatherald.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b075t5ms)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 Psychedelic Science (b076v9zj)
Jamie Bartlett asks if new research into psychedelic drugs will lead to them being accepted as mainstream medical treatment - or whether their controversial history will prove insuperable.
After lying dormant for decades, scientific research into psychedelics is experiencing a renaissance. Academics at some of the world's leading institutions are exploring the potential of these drugs to treat a variety of medical conditions, from addiction to anxiety and depression. The findings so far are astonishing. Admittedly the sample sizes are small and there are methodological problems, yet it appears that psychedelics can help where other treatments before them have failed. So is there any chance that substances like LSD and psilocybin - the psychedelic ingredient in magic mushrooms - will ever become accepted medical treatments?
We have been here before. In the 1960s, researchers published thousands of scientific papers on the potential medical benefits of psychedelics and there were four international conferences on the subject. Within the space of just a few years these efforts came shuddering to a halt, as the recreational use of the drugs ballooned and stories of 'bad trips' hit the headlines, leading to strict legal restrictions, which still remain in force.
Jamie examines the latest scientific findings and asks whether the drugs' cultural stigma can ever be overcome.
Producer: Hannah Barnes.
THU 20:30 In Business (b075t6kq)
Tax transparency - Norway's model
The Panama papers reveal tax evasion is a huge international problem.
But how can governments clean things up? One way might be by opening things up.
In the UK, it is a criminal offence to reveal someone else's tax affairs, but in some countries you can easily discover how much anyone earns and how much they pay in tax, from the prime minister and the richest business leader to the poorest pensioner.
It can have a profound effect on business practice and wider society, as business correspondent Jonty Bloom discovers, travelling to Norway.
Producer: Ruth Alexander
With special thanks to Bill Lomas, Leek Town Crier.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b075mdy9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b075t5mn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b075mdyk)
Jewish organisation criticises Corbyn
The Board of Deputies of British Jews accuses the Labour leader of failing to take action
Brexit Generation Game: Grandmother and granddaughter on the family dynamics of the referendum
What their favourite movies tells us about the US Presidential candidates
and why we're being asked to "ring a random Swede"
(picture: Jeremy Corbyn; credit: PA).
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b075t6ks)
Mothering Sunday
Episode 4
Set in the aftermath of the Great War, Booker prize-winner Graham Swift's new novel is a luminous and sensual meditation on truth, loss and the forging of a writer.
After spending the morning in bed together, Jane accepts that her lover Paul Sheringham must leave her to meet his wealthy fiancée.
Read by Eileen Atkins
Abridged and produced by Eilidh McCreadie.
THU 23:00 Down the Line (b01s8mq6)
Series 5
Episode 2
The ground-breaking Radio 4 phone-in show, hosted by the legendary Gary Bellamy and brought to you by the creators of The Fast Show.
Starring Rhys Thomas, with Amelia Bullmore, Simon Day, Felix Dexter, Charlie Higson, Lucy Montgomery, Adil Ray, Robert Popper and Paul Whitehouse.
Producers: Charlie Higson and Paul Whitehouse
A Down The Line production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:30 With Great Pleasure (b06wcsnd)
Rebecca Front
Comedy actress Rebecca Front, star of Alan Partridge and The Thick of It, takes the audience at the Radio Theatre through her life in reading and comedy. Her readers are Nicola Stephenson and Ben Willbond. The pieces she loves are from How To Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran, The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse, Rabbi Hugo Gryn and The Wind in the Willows. Rebecca also sings a song by the songwriter she most admires, Stephen Sondheim. It's Could I Leave You?, from the musical Follies, for which she's accompanied on piano by Benjamin Frost
Producer Beth O'Dea.
FRIDAY 08 APRIL 2016
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b075mf02)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b075t5mq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b075mf04)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b075mf06)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b075mf08)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b075mf0b)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b077nrct)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with The Revd Laurence Twaddle
Producer Mo McCullough.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b075thg5)
Lynx for the British Countryside?
New Government Bovine TB movement tests have just come into force but they haven't gone down well with the organisers of major agricultural shows. They claim cattle breeders are cancelling their appearances because animals from areas at low-risk of TB will have to be tested as soon as they return from big public events in high risk areas.
A leading livestock group is condemning any plans to reintroduce lynx to the UK. The National Sheep Association says the impact on sheep farmers and their animals would be "completely unjustifiable". But the Lynx Trust is robustly defending the 'big cat' proposal.
Therapeutic Care Farms which help people with learning disabilities, dementia, mental health problems and addictions have been given support by the Farming Minister, George Eustice. It's being suggested that the idea could be expanded to help up to half a million people.
A newspaper is leading a campaign for what it calls a 'better deal' for its local, largely rural population. The Isle of Wight County Press claims council cutbacks of £31 million are looming because the island doesn't qualify for extra Whitehall grants designed to help rural areas. The Government, though, has a different view of the media's 'Fight for Wight'.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Vernon Harwood.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b038qjrh)
Meadow Pipit
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Brett Westwood presents the Meadow Pipit. The thin but penetrating calls of the meadow pipit can be heard on a remote mountainside or high above the city streets on an autumn day. Meadow pipits are often the main hosts for the parasitic Cuckoos and many a pipit pair ends up stuffing insects into a much larger cuckoo chick.
FRI 06:00 Today (b076w25y)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 The Reunion (b075mhgp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b075tddr)
Beethoven for a Later Age
Convalescence
The Takacs Quartet's first violinist Edward Dusinberre reflects on his career with his fellow players; taking a leap of faith, and Beethoven's late and transcendent music.
Read by Tim McMullan
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b075mf0d)
The Grand National - we talk to the chairman of Aintree racecourse, Rose Paterson
Rose Paterson, Chair of Aintree Racecourse on running the 2016 Grand National and the business of horseracing.
Journalist Decca Aitkenhead's partner drowned in 2014 while rescuing their son from a riptide. She talks to Jenni about her grief and life after tragedy, subjects explored in her book All at Sea.
Dr Elizabeth Yardley, Associate Professor of Criminology at Birmingham City University and Gillian Mezey, Professor of Forensic Psychiatry at St Georges University Hospital, London discuss children who kill and the sentencing of the teenage girls who murdered Angela Wrightson.
The final link of Woman's Hour series 'The Chain' is US retail star Marta Benson. Marta has more than 25-years experience in trade and is now Executive Vice President of American company Williams Sonoma Inc which sells products for the home.
From the Woman's Hour Archive Collection, an interview Jenni Murray did in 1995 with actor Debbie Reynolds who starred in the 1952 film Singin' in the Rain. Debbie had no confidence in her ability to sing and dance, so how did she learn to do it so well?
Presenter: Jenni Murray.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b075tddt)
How Does That Make You Feel?
Episode 5
In this the 7th series of 'How Does that Make You Feel?' Martha's clients have made few changes to their circumstances.
Richard Fallon MP has been on a quest for self-knowledge. He has pored over some recent publications in the self-help section of the bookshop but has found little comfort. As a result he has begun re-examining some painful and humiliating incidents from his past. But this re-examination has provided little in the way of solace. Nor has it, as Martha had hoped, done much to help build Richard's desperately needed resilience in the face of adversity. And Richard needs a lot of resilience.
Writer ..... Shelagh Stephenson
Producer ..... Eoin O'Callaghan
Director ..... Eoin O'Callaghan.
FRI 11:00 Three-sided Football (b075tddw)
All over the world people are getting together to play a game that seems quite baffling - a version of football in which three sides take part at the same time on one pitch.
The invention of the Danish artist Asger Jorn, a member of the 1960's Situationist group, the game now has its own monthly league matches in London. Ian McMillan is tempted to become a fan - but can he get his head round it?
Three-sided football was initially a metaphor for a better version of society. Nobody tried playing it for real until the 1990's. Now the game has given rise to the most philosophical , least corporate football league in the UK - and it has staged its first World Cup.
In this action packed programme, Ian McMillan meets some of Britain's best teams, including Philosophy Football FC, the Deptford Three-Sided Football Club , the Strategic Optimists FC, Aesthetico Athletico, the New Cross Irregulars and the London-based Polish side, Hussaria.
From a distance, Ian thinks it looks like a normal kickabout in the park. But when he gets closer and tries to work out what on earth is going on, he discovers a bewildering twist on the beautiful game. Imagine a hexagonal pitch, with three goal-mouths, around which three teams of five players are not deliberately attempting to score, but trying to avoid conceding goals by forming temporary defensive alliances with one or other opposing team.
A Pennine production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 11:30 Josie Long: Romance and Adventure (b075tddy)
Series 1
Episode 2
Josie swears off romance and almost imediately finds herself in a budding relationship with Darren's former flatmate, Roddy.
Comedy drama from award-winning comedian Josie Long about a young woman trying to build a new, more fulfilling life for herself in Glasgow.
Based on characters from the short films "Romance and Adventure" and "Let's Go Swimming" by Josie Long and Douglas King.
Josie ...... Josie Long
Darren ...... Darren Osborne
Roddy ...... Sanjeev Kohli
Kerry ...... Hatty Ashdown
Eleanor ...... Clare Grogan
Chris ...... Michael Bertenshaw
Janie ...... Georgie Glen
Mona ...... Rebecca Hamilton
Fraser ...... Chris Pavlo
Producer: Colin Anderson
A BBC Radio Comedy production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2016.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (b075mf0g)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Home Front (b075tdf0)
8 April 1916 - Alexander Gidley
On this day in 1916, an escaped German POW was re-captured, and Alexander Gidley is shaken by an encounter with a young war hero.
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Directed by Allegra McIlroy
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole
SECRET SHAKESPEARE
A Shakespeare quote is hidden in each Home Front episode that is set in 1916. These were first broadcast in 2016, the 400th anniversary year of the playwright's death. Can you spot them all?
FRI 12:15 You and Yours (b075mf0j)
CCTV systems being cut, Telematics technology in cars, Super recognisers
Peter White hears about the younger drivers being priced off the road.
The councils struggling to cope with the costs of maintaining old CCTV systems.
And the "super recogniser" police officers with the gift of recalling almost every face they see.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b075mf0l)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b075thg7)
Analysis of news and current affairs.
FRI 13:45 Inglorious Isolation: A European's History of Britain (b075thg9)
Scandinavia
Danish fiction author Dorthe Nors casts her eye across the North Sea towards Aberdeen - and across the centuries - to consider the wars fought and connections forged between the Scandinavian countries and Britain.
She reflects on the island mentality from a different perspective living as she does in Jutland, which shares its borders with Germany, but also being from a region with a strong island sensibility - "the continent" has always been something that Swedes, Norwegians and the rest of Denmark cross the water to get to, just like the British.
But it hasn't always been a comfortable relationship with Britain - the close cultural connection, perhaps most strongly felt in Norway, threatened to be severed by widespread protests at Margaret Thatcher's visit to Oslo.
Dorthe Nors is the acclaimed author of fiction including Minna Needs Rehearsal Space and the short story collection Karate Chop. Yes, she is a Danish writer with a darkness to her fiction but, in this programme, she considers how British Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle are the grandparents of Nordic noir.
With contributions from Øivind Bratberg, Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Oslo, and Magnus Englund, co-founder of the British retailer of Scandinavian design Skandium and Director of the Isokon Gallery Trust.
Across this series, five mainland Europeans give their take on Britain's historical relationship with their home country - the historical moments and popular culture that have created the image of the Brit in the mind of continental Europeans.
Producer: Katherine Godfrey
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b075t6kl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Day Release (b075thgc)
Back to Life
by Peter Jukes.
Lenny Henry as Frank Watt, a lifer coming to the end of a 30 year prison sentence.
Frank tries to prevent the real identity of his daughter leaking out during the London Mayoral elections.
Cast:
Frank Watt ..... Lenny Henry
Geoff Hoagland ..... Ralph Ineson
Shudi Misir ..... Deeivya Meir
Charla May ..... Karla Crome
Aisha Davies ..... Petra Letang
Stella Hemmings ..... Adie Allen
Hanna Asprey ..... Scarlett Brookes
Sam Wallace ..... Sam Rix
Dennis Dyke ..... Sargon Yelda
Mick Todd / Gideon Torun ..... James Lailey
Directed by Mary Peate
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b075thgf)
Cornwall Garden Society Show
Eric Robson hosts the programme from the Cornwall Garden Society Show.
James Wong, Anne Swithinbank and Matt Biggs are this week's panellists, discussing the best ways to quickly compost perennial weeds, singing the praises of raised beds, and advising on how to rid your garden of invasive bamboo.
The panel also takes a look at what the Cornwall Garden Society Show has to offer, and Chris Beardshaw investigates the gardening scene in Seattle, WA.
Produced by Darby Dorras
Assistant Producer: Laurence Bassett
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 David Constantine - In Another Country (b075thgh)
Tom Courtenay reads this story in which a young woman falls to her death in the Alps.
Sixty years later, the man who accompanied her receives a letter. A body has been discovered. But what was the relationship of these two naïve teenagers? And how will memories of their flight from Nazi Germany affect this man’s relationship with his long suffering wife?
David Constantine's masterful story of unearthed memories was the inspiration behind the Oscar-nominated film 45 Years starring Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling.
Abridger: Lisa Martinson
Producer: Simon Richardson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2016.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b075mf0n)
Mother Angelica, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, DJ Derek, Doreen Massey and Joe Medicine Crow
Matthew Bannister on
The American broadcasting nun Mother Angelica who founded the Eternal Word Television Network and dispensed traditional Catholic advice to viewers.
The German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, one of the principal architects of his country's re-unification.
Derek Serpell-Morris, who gave up his job as an accountant to become DJ Derek, playing reggae and ska and claiming to be Britain's oldest DJ.
Doreen Massey who changed the way we think about geography
and Joe Medicine Crow, the native American historian who was a direct link back to Custer's last stand.
Producer: Neil George
Interviewed guest: Joanna Bogle
Interviewed guest: Paul Burnell
Interviewed guest: Lord Owen
Interviewed guest: Hilary Wainwright
Interviewed guest: Emma Jackson
Interviewed guest: Dr David Featherstone
Interviewed guest: Herman Viola.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (b075thgl)
Fathers and Babies
Paternity Leave
This week it was claimed that only 1 percent of men are taking up the option of shared parental leave - a new provision that came into force a year ago. A number of media outlets covered the story, interviewing experts about why there was such a low take-up. But in reality the figures used are deeply flawed and cannot be used to prove such a statement.
Exponential Love
"I love you twice as much today as yesterday, but half as much as tomorrow." - This is the inscription on a card that teacher Kyle Evans once saw in a card from his father to his mother. But if that was true, what would it have meant over the course of their relationship? Kyle takes us through a musical exploration of what exponential love would look like. The item is based on a performance he gave for a regional heat of Cheltenham Festivals Famelab - a competition trying to explain science in an engaging way.
The cost of the EU
One of our listeners spotted a comparison made this week between the UK's contribution to the EU and a sandwich. One blogger says it's like buying a £3 sandwich with a £5 note, and getting over a £1,000 in change. We look at the figures on how much the UK pays to the EU, and what it gets back.
The story of 'average'
In the 1600s astronomers were coming up with measurements to help sailors read their maps with a compass. But with all the observations of the skies they were making, how did they choose the best number? We tell the story of how astronomers started to find the average from a group of numbers. By the 1800s, one Belgian astronomer began to apply it to all sorts of social and national statistics - and the 'Average Man' was born.
And we set a little maths problem to solve...
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Charlotte McDonald.
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b075thgq)
Kathy and Nuala - Colour of Life
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between friends who grew close when one of them battled with cancer, but whose support for each other is now mutual. 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.
FRI 17:00 PM (b075mf0q)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b075mf0s)
Pope Francis's key document on family life which could impact on millions of Catholics.
FRI 18:30 The Now Show (b075thgv)
Series 48
Episode 6
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by Zoe Lyons, Vikki Stone, Jon Holmes and Freya Parker to present the week in news through stand-up and sketches.
Zoe Lyons lays out her thinking as to why there are now more overweight people on the planet than underweight, Jon Holmes denounces our increasingly selfie obsessed society, Vikki Stone performs a song to help engage the British Public on the EU referendum and The Guardian's Foreign Correspondent Luke Harding discusses what it was like to investigate the Panama Papers.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b075thgx)
Susan leafs through the local paper, reading the reports of the stabbing at Blossom Hill. Susan tells Ursula that she wishes Rob well. She tries to gossip but Ursula stays tight-lipped. Peggy comes in and Susan lets slip to her that Helen has been charged.
Helen's family fear her stress could bring on another complicated birth, like Henry's. Helen appears, traumatised, in Borchester Magistrates Court. The prosecution submit that Helen should be remanded in custody. Helen can't even speak as she is taken down. Pat and Tony lament the lack of compassion shown for their daughter. Dominic tells them that the next stage is for Helen to find a barrister and discuss what type of defence she will have.
Tom and Kirsty reminisce sombrely. Tom worries that if they had married as planned, then maybe Helen would have had a friend to turn to. Kirsty tells him not to transfer his guilt on to this situation.
Peggy finds Ursula cleaning up Blossom Hill Cottage. They have both started praying in this difficult time. Tom is angered that Peggy's loyalties seem to be moving to Ursula and Rob. But Peggy points out that if Rob doesn't make it, Helen will face a charge of murder.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b075mf0v)
Helen Mirren, Cyprus Avenue and X, Barrie Rutter, Jem Lester
Helen Mirren talks about her role as a military intelligence officer in a new thriller about drone warfare, Eye in the Sky.
Two new plays opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London this week: Alistair McDowall's X, set on Pluto and David Ireland's Cyprus Avenue, set in Belfast. In both locations life's certainties unravel. Ian Shuttleworth, who grew up close to Cyprus Avenue, reviews.
Barrie Rutter, founder of Northern Broadsides theatre company, chooses the character of Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor, as part of our Shakespeare's People series.
Jem Lester's debut novel Shtum focuses on 10-year-old Jonah who is severely autistic and told from the perspective of his struggling, alcoholic father. Jem, who has an autistic son, explains why he put his own experience in a work of fiction.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Rachel Simpson.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b075tddt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b075thgz)
Natalie Bennett, Michael Fallon MP, Frank Field MP, Lord Digby Jones of Birmingham
Jonathan Dimbleby with topical debate from Holy Trinity Church in Prestwood, Buckinghamshire, with the Leader of the Green Party in England and Wales Natalie Bennett, the Defence Secretary Michael Fallon MP, Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee Frank Field MP, and Lord (Digby) Jones of Birmingham. Together they discussed what level of personal and financial privacy public figures are entitled to; the pamphlet on the EU published by the government; European unity; and how the government is responding to the strike threat by junior doctors.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b075thh1)
The Meaning of Time
Will Self reflects on our sense of the meaning of time and the changes in our perception brought about by new technologies.
"Obviously the world wide web and the internet have played a key role in making each and every one of us a little hot spot of Nowness: over the past twenty years as more and more people have chosen to spend more and more of their time in this virtual realm, so we've sought to furnish its fuzzy immensity with our memories, individual and collective."
Producer: Sheila Cook.
FRI 21:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b075thh3)
4-8 April 1916 (Season 7 start)
In the week in 1916 when a Zeppelin raid dropped bombs on the North East coast, old feuds are reignited in Ashburton.
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Directed by Allegra McIlroy
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole
Story-led by Richard Monks
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Composer: Matthew Strachan
Consultant Historian: Maggie Andrews
SECRET SHAKESPEARE - Did you spot them?
A quote is hidden in each episode of 2016. If you discover one, tweet it using #BBCHomeFront.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b075mf0x)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b075mf0z)
Cameron's authority under fire
Expectations of political leaders; the Pope's view of family and a history of leaking. Picture: Prime Minister David Cameron, credit PA.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b075thh5)
Mothering Sunday
Episode 5
Set in the aftermath of the Great War, Booker prize-winner Graham Swift's new novel is a luminous and sensual meditation on truth, loss and the forging of a writer.
As Jane languishes in Paul Sheringham's bed, her lover dresses with meticulous care in preparation for meeting his fiancée.
Read by Eileen Atkins
Abridged and produced by Eilidh McCreadie.
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b075pz7z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:27 With Great Pleasure (b06ybg82)
Craig Brown
Satirist Craig Brown takes us through his life in reading, with humorous and touching extracts read by Simon Russell Beale and Eleanor Bron. Craig, who's best known for the parodies he writes for Private Eye, chooses an extract from The Story-teller by Saki; Evelyn Waugh's description of sunset from Labels: A Mediterranean Journey; The Mermaid by WB Yeats; extracts from The Education of Hyman Kaplan by Leo Rosten and Mr Palomar by Italo Calvino, translated by William Weaver, a short poem from The Rattle Bag collection called And the days are not full enough by Ezra Pound; Our Frank from Letters of Note and an extract from Enjoy by Alan Bennett.
Producer Beth O'Dea.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b075thh7)
Kate and Ian – Country Girl, City Boy
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between friends whose different outlooks on life don't affect the strength of their relationship at all. 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