In her striking new collection of essays, award-winning novelist Rachel Cusk weaves observations of domestic concerns with art, psychology and current affairs.
The author contemplates the trials and tribulations of adolescence as she reflects on her own family's story.
Good morning. We’re right in the middle of holiday season. Maybe you’re just setting off on holiday, or just coming back from holiday; maybe you’re in the middle of a holiday (lucky you!); or maybe you’re watching everyone else going away and wishing that you had the money or the time to do the same.
Holidays are one of the ways that we measure time: are we clinging on by our fingernails, waiting till we can down tools or set an out of office email, or are we in the middle of a long trudge, dreaming about the distant holiday possibilities? Holidays also one of the ways that we measure ourselves against one another. What kinds of holidays are our friends and neighbours going on, and what does it say about them? Holidays matter, especially when work or life are stressful and exhausting. It’s worth remembering that in the age of zero-hour contracts and the gig economy, more and more of us don’t get time off, don’t get to stop and catch our breath, even as many of us are working to make other people’s holidays magical.
It’s easy to forget about all the people who’ve work hard to let us rest, to have that longed for holiday: the parents, grandparents, partners and friends who worked hard to save up money for our holidays; the colleagues who cover for us when we’re away, the service workers in restaurants, pubs and hotels; the workers who struggled so we would be entitled to holiday pay. Holidays are a collective effort.
Whether we are working or resting this weekend, God, we thank you for the gift of rest, whether it’s a gift we are receiving, or a gift we are giving to others. Bless our rest, and bless our work; bless us, this bank holiday weekend. Amen.
Dr Mark Williams believes we need to preserve the traditional GP home visit. Alongside new acute visiting services and an emerging role for artificial intelligence, he thinks the traditional home visit still plays a vital part in the delivery of good healthcare and can even be a lifeline back into society. "The truth is that home visits give us the best insights into our patients' real life".
Recorded in front of a live audience at the World of Music, Arts and Dance festival in Wiltshire.
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
In this week’s Open Country, Helen Mark journeys to 'The Centre of the Earth', an urban nature reserve in Birmingham, next to Winston Green Prison.
The Centre of the Earth is Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust’s purpose built environmental centre in Winston Green - just 1.5 km from Birmingham City Centre. Situated in what has historically been one of the country’s most deprived, urban areas, this little pocket of green is a special place for the community and a thriving home to all kinds of wildlife. Through tender love and care from the dedicated volunteers, there are otters, smooth newts and a wild flower nursery that helps populate other urban sites across the city, including the visitor’s garden at the prison next door. It's also inspired a local school, which has students who between them speak over 40 different languages, to develop their own nature space. And then, last but by no means least, there’s the Golden Sparkles community group…
Sybil Ruscoe goes Back to the Future on a mixed farm in Somerset, to find out how some farmers are moving their businesses forward by learning from the past.
Farmer, Fred Price, has turned his family arable farm around by introducing forage-fed pigs and perennial crops into his rotation. He has reduced his use of agri-chemicals and started growing heritage grains. He makes it pay by selling direct to restaurants, butchers and bakers.
We also hear from an organic cattle breeder who says mimicking ancient natural grazing patterns is a healthier and more efficient way of feeding cattle...as well as being better for the environment.
We visit a farm in Wales where they have reinstated a medieval system of strip farming and hear about how plant breeders are using wild potato varieties to solve future problems.
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Kate Silverton and Luke Jones meet singer P.P. Arnold; artist Mackenzie Thorpe; poet Charly Cox and the Reverend Peter Allen. With Inheritance Tracks from conductor John Eliot Gardiner.
Soul singer P.P. - Pat - Arnold found her voice as a young girl singing gospel songs in church. Her career took off when she joined the Ikettes - backing singers and dancers for the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. When the Revue arrived in London Pat -nicknamed P.P. by photographer Gered Mankowitz -became a fixture on the London music scene, collaborating with everyone from Rod Stewart to the Small Faces. Her new album The New Adventures of P.P. Arnold is out now.
This year Middlesbrough-born Mackenzie Thorpe celebrates 30 years as an artist. He is best known for his 'Square Sheep' series of works and 'Waiting for Me Dad' - a tribute to the men who worked in the industry of the area who crossed the town's transporter bridge to get to work and the families who waited for their return. He was the official artist for the Tour de Yorkshire 2019 and collectors of his work include the actor Tom Hardy, JK Rowling and Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth. Mackenzie Thorpe’s 30th year exhibition opens at his gallery, Arthaus, in Richmond, North Yorkshire on 14th September and his book, Out of the Shadows, is available now.
Charly Cox is a poet whose writing focuses on destigmatizing mental health and the coming-of-age of a young woman surviving the modern world. In January 2017 she published her first poem on Instagram; since then she’s raised money and awareness for charities which tackle mental health issues. Dubbed social media’s answer to Carol Ann Duffy, she is an ambassador for MQ Mental Health and was named by ELLE magazine as one of their 20 power players to watch out for in 2018. Her second book, Validate Me, is out in September.
Listener Reverend Peter Allen served as chaplain at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club and chaplain for Sport in the diocese of Sheffield. During this time he opened up brand new chaplaincies in a variety of sports in the region including volleyball, ice hockey and boxing. He talks about his life in the church and how a youthful misdemeanour came back to haunt him.
Alex Edelman encourages his guests from both sides of the Atlantic to think laterally about a diverse collection of special relationships in this loose limbed series of chat shows recorded in London and the USA.
This week, matters of faith and uncertainty are probed - and not only religious matters. Is faith misleading and can uncertainty have an upside?
Have you got one of those wine glasses that can hold an entire bottle of wine? Katy Brand does and she’s even used it for wine - albeit because of a sprained ankle, which would have stopped her from hobbling back and forth to the kitchen for refills.
But if we skip back a few hundred years, the wine glass was tiny. Footmen brought their masters what was essentially a shot glass. They quaffed back their wine in one. So how did we go from those dinky little things to the gargantuan goblets we have today? Is it because letting the wine breathe in a bigger glass makes it smell and taste better? Or is it a reflection of our drinking habits?
Join Katy and the show's resident public historian, Greg Jenner, is glass expert Russell Hand from Sheffield University and Barry Smith, Director for the Study of the Senses at London University.
The United States is experiencing a resurgence of far-right extremism. We meet a man trying to challenge the ideology and convert those who have been radicalised. But Aleem Maqbook says he's ploughing a lonely furrow.
In Serbia the government has been investing in traditional crafts - carpentry and pottery - in an attempt to sustain rural communities. Nicola Kelly goes to meet the craftsmen and women - and finds offers of the local tipple difficult to refuse.
It's not long ago that Zimbabweans were celebrating the political demise of Robert Mugabe, who was president for nearly three decades - during which the country's economy collapsed. But, as Kim Chakanetsa reports after a recent trip to Harare, many there now have an unexpectedly rose-tinted view of the past.
Argentina too has had its fair share of economic misery. Results of recent presidential primaries spooked the markets and raised fears of renewed difficulties. Natalio Cosoy hears echoes of the past in Buenos Aires.
Petanque, that traditional summer pastime of the French, is undergoing something of a face lift. But the changes - especially the one that outlaws an accompanying glass of pastis - have occasioned more than a few grumbles, as Chris Bockman finds out.
Money is one of the top three strains on relationships and it’s a common cause of rift between family and friends too.
You might be cautious and risk averse and hate to see your partner frittering their money away on new clothes and nights out; while they might think you should stop being so miserly with your cash and splash out once in a while.
In the Money Box Summer series Ruth Alexander introduces ‘The Money Clinic’. We eavesdrop on the conversations of three couples and a mother and son talking honestly about their finances with a relationship counsellor. We learn who they are, about their relationship with the other person, and what financial issues are coming between them. We hear practical tips on how each couple can better to manage their cash, and also how to manage the emotional side of money. We learn that individual attitudes to money are formed in early life, and how arguments about money are often about so much more than just money.
In this programme we meet Paul who wants to retire early, but his wife Julie says he can’t afford to. Can they come up with a plan for this next stage of life that they will both agree to?
Hugh Dennis and Marcus Brigstocke present the week via topical stand-up and sketches in a special edition of the Now Show coming from the BBC Hub at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Featuring Josh Berry and Karen Bartke, with stand-up from comedians Jena Friedman (The Daily Show, Soft Focus), and Alice Snedden (co-host of hit podcast Boners of the Heart), music from Jonny and the Baptists and an interview with environment researcher and comedian Matt Winning.
Ritula Shah presents topical debate from the Radio Theatre at Broadcasting House, London with the Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott, the Deputy Political Editor of the Spectator Katy Balls, the SNP's Environment Spokesperson at Westminster Deidre Brock MP and the Conservative MEP Dan Hannan.
Timberlake Wertenbaker’s adaptation from the French of Marcel Proust’s allegorical reflection on time, memory, art and love.
It begins with the vivid memory of a young boy’s childhood summers spent in the French countryside of Combray and the long nights waiting for his mother to come and kiss him goodnight. The young Marcel takes beautiful walks with his parents and has his first sighting of the young Gilberte Swann, daughter of family friend and well-connected Parisian Dandy, Charles Swann and his wife, the courtesan and seductress Odette de Crecy.
TANTE LEONIE/MARQUISE DE SAINTE EUVERTE. ……Pamela Miles
MADEMOISELLE VINTEUIL/PROSTITUTE .... Charlotte Blandford
Why does society judge women who are single? We’ll hear from listener Joy, Emily Hill author of Bad Romance and from the journalist Bibi Lynch.
Doreen and Virginia have belonged to the same book club, set up in 1965, for decades - is it one of the oldest in the UK? They're joined by Melissa Cummings-Quarry and Natalie Carter who are the co-founders of the Black Girls Book Club to discuss why book clubs are so appealing to women.
We explore Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (inattentive type) in girls, with Heidi whose daughter was diagnosed at 14 and Dr Celine Ryckaert a clinical lecturer at King’s College London.
And we talk about the pain of a close friendship ending with Annabel Fenwick-Elliot senior content editor at The Telegraph and psychotherapist Hilda Burke.
It’s known for precision and punctuality but Europe’s engine is slowing down. Germany’s economy relies heavily on selling its products abroad. Famed for luxury cars like Porsche, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, exports are nearly half the German economy. So if countries decide they don’t want to buy, or can’t afford to buy, the things that Germany makes, it’s a problem. And that’s what’s been happening to Germany today. China – the most important market for most German car makers - is slowing down. Much of Europe is struggling and the US is pursuing its own protectionist policies, to get Americans to buy US-made goods.
On top of that, the German car industry is facing tough new EU emissions tests (prompted by the Volkswagen emissions’s scandal of 2015), with crippling penalties if they don’t comply. So, buffeted by these adverse winds in part self-inflicted, in part beyond its control, the German government is being urged to boost its economy at home – by spending more on roads, bridges and broadband networks. But, as Neal Razzell discovers, despite having plenty of cash in the coffers, events in its past means Germany is reluctant to loosen the purse strings.
Frances Barber, Edwyn Collins, Stephen K Amos, London Hughes, Baba Brinkman, Arthur Smith, Nikki Bedi
Nikki Bedi and Arthur Smith are joined by Frances Barber, Edwyn Collins, Stephen K. Amos and London Hughes for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Edwyn Collins and Baba Brinkman.
Sunday league football is played up and down the country. The writer Ewan Flynn says that forging a team spirit against the odds can bring out the best in people.
Almodovar's Pain and Glory, Robert Icke's The Doctor, Brassic, Peter Pomerantsev
Pedro Almodovar's new film Pain and Glory has been hailed as his most personal to date
The Doctor at London's Almeida Theatre is Robert Icke's latest production. Freely adapted from Arthur Schnitzler's Professor Bernhardi, it's a play about ethics, morals and the repercussions of decisions both personal and professional. And how does what we say we are affect other people's perceptions of us?
Peter Pomerantsev's "This is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality" is a book exploring the wreckage of liberal democracy and a search for the signs of its revival.
Brassic is a new TV series on Sky, co-created by This Is England’s Joe Gilgun and Bafta-winning writer Danny Brocklehurst. It's about a group of working-class friends in Lancashire finding ways to win at life.
Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Adam Mars Jones, Dorian Lynskey and Kit Davis. The producer is Oliver Jones.
Jan Ravens has been "doing" Theresa May for five years - until, in July, she was succeeded by Boris Johnson. Inspired by this, Jan takes a personal look at the connection between an impersonator and their subjects, and what happens when their signature character retires form public life.
The archive includes material from Mike Yarwood, Spitting Image and Dead Ringers, and there are new interviews with Rory Bremner and star of Comedy Central's The President Show, Anthony Atamanuik.
Timberlake Wertenbaker’s adaptation from the French of Marcel Proust’s allegorical reflection on time, memory, art and love.
Charles Swann and his lover, the courtesan and seductress Odette de Crecy, struggle as their relationship finds itself under the scrutiny of the bourgeoise social climber, Madame Verdurin. Swann tries to steer Odette away from this vulgar gaiety but finds he has competition.
Meanwhile, going forward in time, young Marcel and his family have moved to Paris and, in the Champs Elysees, he falls in love for the first time, reinforcing his desire to become a writer.
How should the law respond to behaviour which causes harm or distress to the public, but isn’t actually criminal?
Clive Anderson and guests discuss Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) and other measures to tackle anti-social behaviour. Are they vital for curbing public nuisance - or a disproportionate, discriminatory response to behaviour which isn’t criminal?
CBOs were introduced in 2014 to replace Anti-Social Behaviour Orders. Imposed by a magistrate or a judge once someone has been convicted of a crime, they can be used to control all sorts of behaviour - from aggressive begging, to domestic abuse, prank calls to persistent shoplifting. They can, for example, prevent people from entering specific areas of town, stop them from associating with particular individuals, or compel them to enter a treatment programme for addiction. Their use is increasing year on year, and Andy Prophet, Assistant Chief Constable for Essex Police, argues they are a valuable tool that helps keep our streets safe.
One of the most high-profile uses of a CBO was in June 2018, when five members of the 1011 gang in west London were banned from making drill music – a type of rap which Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has blamed for fuelling murders and violent crime in London. Melanie Simpson was the barrister representing members of 1011 in court and she says that, far from keeping crime under control, these CBOs add to the alienation that causes crime and anti-social behaviour in the first place. Along with youth justice solicitor Greg Stewart, she believes the orders are too onerous, setting people up to fail and, too often, leading to time in prison. In 2018, more than 3000 people were convicted of breaching their CBO and roughly a third received an immediate custodial sentence as a consequence.
The programme also hears allegations that the use of CBOs and other anti-social behaviour measures unfairly targets young, black men living in deprived urban areas.
A funny and dynamic quiz show hosted by Steve Punt - this week from the University of Brighton with specialist subjects including Biomedical Sciences, Marketing and History and Globalization and questions ranging from Chinese state infrastructure to the heraldic name for a squirrel via Trypanosoma and tzatziki.
The programme is recorded on location at a different University each week, and it pits three Undergraduates against three of their Professors in an original and fresh take on an academic quiz.
The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quickfire bell-and-buzzer rounds and the Highbrow and Lowbrow round cunningly devised to test not only the students' knowledge of current affairs, history, languages and science, but also their Professors' awareness of television, sport, and quite possibly Ed Sheeran. In addition, the Head-to-Head rounds see students take on their Professors in their own subjects, offering plenty of scope for mild embarrassment on both sides.
Other Universities featured in this series include Royal Holloway University of London, Aberdeen, Plymouth, St Catharine's College Cambridge and Oxford Brookes.
A series of small poems by Holly Pester, set in the brief pauses of work-breaks. Inspired by Virgil, absurdism, and sound poetry. Performed by Maggie Nicols and Keeley Forsyth.
In the year 42 BC, the Latin poet Virgil began to write his famous Eclogues (the term comes from a word meaning sketch or draft), reflecting tensions in the countryside caused by civil-war in Italy and the assassination of Caesar. In these pieces, dispossessed herdsmen gossip, sing and fight alongside those who have been granted land by the new regime.
Since Virgil, poets including Percy B Shelley and WH Auden have used the eclogue form to explore more modern ideas of labour and land, touching on the real and the mythic at once.
Here, Holly Pester presents a new set of experimental eclogues that take place in a contemporary work-space, where two lowly office workers find themselves united yet divided, trying to find a connection in the stolen moments of not-working. But is there ever really such a moment?
SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 2019
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m0007wl4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:30 Short Works (m0007rtq)
In the Mountains
By Amanthi Harris
Anya seeks to escape her unhappiness in London in a Spanish village. But she discovers that she cannot escape from herself.
Writer and artist Amanthi Harris was born in Sri Lanka and grew up in Colombo, before moving to London. Her novella Lantern Evening won the Gatehouse Press New Fictions Prize in 2016. Her novel, Beautiful Place, will be published in September 2019.
Writer: Amanthi Harris
Reader: Aysha Kala
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0007wl6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0007wl8)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0007wlb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m0007wld)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m0007wlg)
St Andrew’s Church, Hurstbourne Priors in Hampshire
Bells on Sunday comes from St Andrew’s Church, Hurstbourne Priors in Hampshire. The tenor was cast in 1741 by Henry Bagley and is tuned to F. In 1998 two trebles were added by the Whitechapel Foundry to make up the present ring of eight. They were re-hung clockwise in a new steel frame by Whites of Appleton. We hear them ringing a plain course of Plain Bob Major.
SUN 05:45 Four Thought (m0000mrz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News Headlines (m0007wqb)
The latest national and international news headlines.
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b0bfx4v0)
The End of the Beginning
After being present at the death of a friend, journalist Abdul-Rehman Malik has been thinking about what - if anything - comes next. In many faith traditions, death is just the end of the beginning and is the doorway to the eternal. It is the soul that carries us forward.
From the visions of an itinerant Baptist preacher and the reflections of James Baldwin, Abdul-Rehman looks to the urgency of understanding something of the mystery of death while we are alive. The world's most enduring mythologies and beliefs describe a supernatural drama and kind of unseen theatre. Whether it's Virgil writing about crossing the River Styx, or the Prophet Muhammad explaining how the angels surround the soul after death, Abdul-Rehman takes us into this grey area between life and life everlasting.
Richard Thompson captures the comedy of what purgatory might look like, and theologian Dave Tomlinson offers a reinterpretation of the Christian narrative which has resonance with some enigmatic words from Einstein.
Abdul-Rehman seeks solace in the belief that his friend's soul is somewhere full of "life", dancing with the angels nourished by a truer reality. His eternity is just beginning.
Presenter: Abdul-Rehman Malik
Producer: Jonathan Mayo
A TBI production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m0007wqd)
Irish Inspiration
John Connell talks to Ruth Sanderson about his powerful memoir of life on an Irish farm. Trained as a journalist in Australia, John describes how mental ill health drove him back to the home farm in the midlands of County Longford. Ruth joins him feeding his cattle, and discusses his difficult relationship with his father and how farming helped to make him well again.
Producer: Beatrice Fenton
SUN 06:57 Weather (m0007wqg)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m0007wqj)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m0007wql)
Sunday morning religious news and current affairs programme presented by Edward Stourton.
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m0007wqn)
Anne Frank Trust.
Sudhesh Dahad makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Anne Frank Trust.
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That’s the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope ‘Anne Frank Trust’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Anne Frank Trust’.
Registered Charity Number: England and Wales 1003279 and Scotland SC040488
SUN 07:57 Weather (m0007wqq)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m0007wqs)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m0007wqv)
Silence among the sounds
Marking the Edinburgh Festival from Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church, Edinburgh, with
The Rev Dr Scott McKenna and Edinburgh's former Makar, Christine de Luca.
The Edinburgh Singers directed by Alistair Digges. Organist: Kate Pearson
Introit: Fanfare (Martin Shaw)
Sing to God new songs of worship (Tune: Ode to Joy)
Readings: 2 Chronicles 5; Mark 1: 32-39
Salutation (Esenvalds)
Holy wisdom, lamp of learning (Tune: In Babilone)
The Singing Heart (Chilcott)
Almighty Father of all things that be (Tune: Chilton Foliat)
Producer: Mo McCullough
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m0007rvb)
Nature Red in Tooth and Claw
"For several centuries", writes Rebecca Stott, "the dominant Western version of Nature has been Mother Nature, benevolent, ever-giving, nurturing, bountiful and compliant".
This was later replaced by a less compliant and benevolent image....but we've always perpetuated an idea of Nature as something outside us, something to be mastered.
Rebecca argues that we need to rethink our relationship with nature - and see ourselves as in nature and part of nature, not outside of it.
Producer: Adele Armstrong
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b0378x87)
Yellow Wagtail
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Michaela Strachan presents the yellow wagtail. Arriving in April, Yellow Wagtails are summer visitors to the UK, breeding mostly in the south and east. The Yellow Wagtail has several different races which all winter south of the Sahara and all look slightly different. The birds which breed in the UK are the yellowest of all.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m0007wqx)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m0007wqz)
Writer, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti
Director, Jess Bunch
Editor, Jeremy Howe
David Archer …... Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Tom Archer ….. William Troughton
Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge ….. Angela Piper
Phoebe Aldridge ….. Lucy Morris
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Neil Carter ….. Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter ….. Charlotte Martin
Chris Carter ….. Wilf Scolding
Rex Fairbrother ….. Nick Barber
Clarrie Grundy ….. Heather Bell
Will Grundy ….. Philip Molloy
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O'Hanrahan
Ed Grundy ….. Barry Farrimond
Shula Hebden Lloyd ….. Judy Bennett
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Adam Macy ….. Andrew Wincott
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Lynda Snell …..Carole Boyd
Peggy Woolley ….. June Spencer
SUN 11:15 The Reunion (m0007wrv)
Death on the Rock
Sue MacGregor brings together a group of people involved in the controversy surrounding the TV documentary Death on the Rock. The programme featured witnesses to the killing of three IRA members by the SAS in Gibraltar on March 6th 1989.
Sean Savage, Mairead Farrell and Daniel McCann were experienced IRA active service members, who had gone to Gibraltar as part of a plan to detonate a potentially devastating car bomb. Gibraltar was an ideal target because of the substantial British military presence on the rock.
All three were shot and killed by members of the SAS. However, in the days following the shooting, it was revealed that they were unarmed, they hadn’t planted a bomb and the explosives they had planned to use were waiting harmlessly in a Marbella car park.
Thames Television made a special documentary, Death on the Rock, transmitted on April 28th. It featured witnesses to the shootings, some of whom suggested the IRA members had been shot with their hands in the air and had been given no warning.
It led many to ask whether this was a case of “shoot to kill” with the SAS sent to assassinate rather than arrest Savage, McCann and Farrell.
Joining Sue MacGregor to look back on the controversy are the editor responsible for the programme, Roger Bolton; the programme’s researcher in Gibraltar, Alison Cahn; eyewitness to the shootings, Stephen Bullock; the Ministry of Defence’s then Chief of PR, Hugh Colver; and the legal manager for the Sunday Times, Alastair Brett.
Producer: Robert Nicholson
Executive Producer: Deborah Dudgeon
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m0007ws2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (m0007qbz)
Series 85
Episode 3
Recorded at this month's Edinburgh Fringe, Gyles Brandreth sits in for Nicholas Parsons with Paul Merton, Fred MacAulay, Lucy Porter and Ed Byrne playing the legendary game.
Producer: Richard Morris
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Sharpe
A BBC Studios Production
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m0007ws8)
Jamie Oliver: A Life Through Food Part II
On the anniversary of TV series 'The Naked Chef', Jamie Oliver talks to Sheila Dillon about two controversial decades dominating food on our TV screens and online, our home cooking, and dining out.
In a two-part programme, Jamie describes being propelled into the limelight as 'The Naked Chef'. The charismatic young line chef given an unexpected TV pilot. His decision not to aim for Michelin stars, but to open a training restaurant for young people who wouldn’t have considered a career in catering.
From writing his best-selling books, mainly into a dictaphone due to his Dyslexia, to his relationship with the UK press, and his successes and failings working with a succession of UK governments to get the UK eating healthier.
Sheila also speaks to Instagram chef Joe Wicks, Netflix chef Samin Nosrat and members of Jamie’s inner team on the influence of the highest grossing British food writer of all time.
This is the second part of two programmes on Jamie Oliver's Life Through Food. Part one was broadcast on Sunday 18th August 2019.
Presented by Sheila Dillon
Produced by Clare Salisbury
SUN 12:57 Weather (m0007wsd)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m0007wsk)
Global news and analysis, presented by Mark Mardell.
SUN 13:30 Open Book (m0007wsp)
What are young people writing and reading?
In a special programme from the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Mariella Frostrup and guests discuss what today's young people are writing and reading.
Joining Mariella on the panel are Patrice Lawrence, award-winning YA author of Orange Boy and most recently Rose, Interrupted, Laura Waddell, UK Publishing Director of Tramp Press, William Sutcliffe who's just published his fourth YA title The Gifted, The Talented, And Me, and Katie Hale, debut author of My Name is Monster.
Photo credit: Edinburgh International Book Festival/Simone Padovani
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0007sf6)
East Dorset
Kathy Clugston and the team of gardening experts are in East Dorset. Pippa Greenwood, Bob Flowerdew and Anne Swithenbank answer the audience's questions.
This week the panellists advise on vertical gardening, bringing an Apple Tree back to life, and what to do with a tree stump. They also discuss what may be wrong with a plum tree and whether or not there is a disease on a hydrangea.
Matt Biggs visits Peter and Cecilia Boycott at their home in Norfolk to see their alpine plant collection and talk about the returning trend for rockeries.
Producer: Darby Dorras
Assistant Producer: Jemima Rathbone
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (m0002lj4)
Glam Rock and Gooseberries
Three conversations driven by memories and music. Alastair and Frank discuss the power of Led Zeppelin, the allure of glam rock and the way music becomes lodged in our hearts and minds. Bob and Helen discuss growing up in Kiveton in South Yorkshire, a lost world featuring a multitude of aunts, some adored and some with lips so pursed they looked as if they'd been sucking gooseberries. For Jim and Liam, their childhood memories are of Larne. They share stories of bath times, barbers shops and the vanished world of County Antrim in the 1950s and 1960s.
Fi Glover presents another omnibus edition of the series that proves it’s surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject.
Producer: Julia Johnson
SUN 15:00 Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (m0007wst)
Episode 4
Timberlake Wertenbaker’s adaptation from the French of Marcel Proust’s allegorical reflection on time, memory, art and love.
Marcel is rejected by Gilberte Swann in Paris and we move on a few years, as Marcel visits the seaside town of Balbec with his Grandmother and stays at the Grand Hotel. It is here that he meets three people who will have a significant and lasting impact on his life - Albertine Simonet, Robert de Saint Loup and the Baron de Charlus.
Cast:
MARCEL (narrator) ………Derek Jacobi
MARCEL ………Blake Ritson
MOTHER …………Sylvestra le Touzel
GRANDMOTHER …………Joanna David
ELSTIR (BICHE) …………Daniel Flynn
ROBERT DE SAINT LOUP ………Kyle Soller
BARON DE CHARLUS ………… Simon Russell Beale
ALBERTINE …………. Hattie Morahan
ANDREE ………… Georgina Beedle
MADAME DE VILLEPARISIS ………. Serena Evans
MANAGER………… Finlay Paul
LIFT BOY…..……… Daniel Whitlam
OTHER VOICES………Nicholas Armfield, Phoebe Marshall
Translated and adapted from the French by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Produced and directed by Celia de Wolff
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Tombling
Recording and Sound Design: David Chilton and Lucinda Mason Brown
Executive Producer: Peter Hoare
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 16:00 Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (m0007wsy)
Episode 5
Timberlake Wertenbaker’s adaptation from the French of Marcel Proust’s allegorical reflection on time, memory, art and love.
Marcel and his beloved Grandmother return from Balbec at the end of the season and move to a new flat in Paris which is owned by the Duke and Duchess of Guermantes. Marcel becomes obsessed with the Duchess and is desperate to be introduced to her and invited to one of her famous musical soirees.
He visits his new friend Robert de Saint Loup, nephew of the Duchess, at his barracks with the aim of securing an introduction to the Duchess via her nephew. But will the Guermantes’ soiree live up to Marcel’s expectations?
Meanwhile, his Grandmother takes a turn for the worse and an invitation from the Baron de Charlus is received.
Cast:
MARCEL (narrator) ………Derek Jacobi
MARCEL …………Blake Ritson
FATHER …………. Oliver Cotton
MOTHER ………. Sylvestra le Touzel
FRANCOISE ………… Susan Brown
GRANDMOTHER ………. Joanna David
DUCHESS DE GUERMANTES (ORIANE) ……… Fenella Woolgar
DUC DE GUERMANTES (BASIN) ………. Robert Glenister
ROBERT DE SAINT LOUP ………Kyle Soller
MADAME D'ARPAJON……… Charlotte Blandford
PRINCESS DE PARME …………Emma Amos
DU BOULBON/SERVANT …………Ben Crowe
DOCTOR………… Finlay Paul
SOLDIERS……..… Daniel Whitlam
Nicholas Armfield
Toheeb Jimoh
Tom Glenister
TELEPHONE OPERATOR …………Alice Hoskyns
Translated and adapted from the French by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Produced and directed by Celia de Wolff
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Tombling
Recording and Sound Design: David Chilton and Lucinda Mason Brown
Executive Producer: Peter Hoare
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 17:00 Troubles Shared (m0007qzr)
The journalists Peter Taylor and Fergal Keane have each been indelibly shaped by their experience of reporting the Northern Ireland Troubles. Both witnessed the horror and pain of the conflict close up. Both would see the mixed fortunes brought by peace and reconciliation.
Peter Taylor first arrived in Northern Ireland on the night of Bloody Sunday in 1972. An Englishman with no family or personal connections with Ireland, he would go on to become one of the most distinguished journalists associated with the Troubles.
Fergal Keane grew up in County Cork and came to Belfast to work as a reporter for RTE in the late 1980s. His family's past is deeply entwined with Ireland's history of armed insurrection, stretching back to the Irish Civil War and beyond.
50 years on from the beginning of the Troubles, Peter Taylor and Fergal Keane are back in Northern Ireland to talk about what they saw and ask what it all means now.
Producer: Conor Garrett
SUN 17:40 Four Thought (m0000mrz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0007wt2)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 17:57 Weather (m0007wt6)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0007wtb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m0007wtg)
Liz Barclay
How do you rescue twelve small footballers from a cave in Northern Thailand? Who do you impersonate when the person you’re famous for impersonating leaves the world stage? And how do you go about writing a eulogy for an Icelandic Glacier? The dilemma of getting to know your family when you discover you have eleven siblings you never knew you had, we hear the symphony reverberating across tin roofs from London to Liberia? And how do three vicars put the fun back into funerals ... Liz Barclay has the answer to all these questions and much more in Pick of the Week.
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m0007wr3)
Hannah doesn’t mince her words and Jennifer’s new venture causes amusement
SUN 19:15 Cooking in a Bedsitter (b084wmzb)
Series 1
Coffee Chiffon
Beattie Edmondson and Nikesh Patel star in Sue Teddern's new comedy, set in a 1960s' bedsitter, inspired by Katharine Whitehorn's cookery classic. In this episode, Trisha is persuaded to cater for a double date.
Trisha.....Beattie Edmondson
Deepak.....Nikesh Patel
Jill.....Natasha Cowley
Mike.....Finlay Robertson
Stuart.....Luke MacGregor
June.....Alison Belbin
Len.....John Bowler
Tony.....John Dougall
Katharine Whitehorn.....Karen Bartke
Directed by Emma Harding
SUN 19:45 Stillicide (m0007wr5)
Episode 3: Butterflies
Hattie Morahan continues Cynan Jones' electrifying short story series set in the very near future.
Water is commodified and the Water Train that feeds the city is increasingly at risk of sabotage. And now ice bergs are being towed to a huge ice dock outside the capital city - a huge megalopolis that is draining the country of its resources.
Today: transported by the abundance of nature in in one of the few parks left in the city, a nurse takes a thrilling decision...
Reader: Hattie Morahan
Writer: Cynan Jones
Producer: Justine Willett
Music: Original music by Kirsten Morrison
SUN 20:00 Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (m0007wr7)
Episode 6
Timberlake Wertenbaker’s adaptation from the French of Marcel Proust’s allegorical reflection on time, memory, art and love.
Following a strange and unsettling encounter with the Baron de Charlus, Marcel learns sad news from Swann and receives an invitation to the Princess of Guermantes’ party Later, he returns to Balbec where he bumps into Albertine Simonet and her friends, including Andree.
His affections waver between Albertine and Andree before he makes a decision.
At a soiree organised by Madame Verdurin, Marcel meets the young composer and musician, Morel, whom he recognises as the son of a former servant. Morel is unwilling to acknowledge his past as he pursues his new life as a musician and becomes closer to the influential Baron de Charlus who is a loving supporter, but the tailor, Jupien, may know more about the Baron than Madame Verdurin and her circle.
Cast:
MARCEL (narrator) ………Derek Jacobi
MARCEL ………Blake Ritson
MOTHER ………… Sylvestra le Touzel
FRANCOISE ………Susan Brown
SWANN………. Paterson Joseph
DUCHESS DE GUERMANTES (ORIANE) ……… Fenella Woolgar
MADAME VERDURIN …………Frances Barber
MONSIEUR VERDURIN …………Jeff Rawle
DUC DE GUERMANTES (BASIN) ………… Robert Glenister
BARON DE CHARLUS …………Simon Russell Beale
BRICHOT………… Hugh Ross
DOCTOR COTTARD ..... Lloyd Hutchinson
ALBERTINE ………Hattie Morahan
MOREL …………Tom Glenister
JUPIEN …………Ben Crowe
MANAGER…………Finlay Paul
SANIETTE....……. Roger Watkins
SKI…….. Nicholas Armfield
MADAME DE CAMBREMER ………… Emma Amos
LIFT BOY ………Daniel Whitlam
Translated and adapted from the French by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Produced and directed by Celia de Wolff
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Tombling
Recording and Sound Design: David Chilton and Lucinda Mason Brown
Executive Producer: Peter Hoare
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 21:00 Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (m0007wr9)
Episode 7
Timberlake Wertenbaker’s adaptation from the French of Marcel Proust’s allegorical reflection on time, memory, art and love.
After being reunited with Albertine Simonet in Balbec, Marcel proposes. They return to Paris to live in his apartment, but the relationship is complex and Marcel begins to mistrust her, regularly allowing his jealousy to get the better of him.
Meanwhile, the Baron de Charlus is helping to plan the marriage of young composer, Morel, to Jupien’s niece, but how successful can this marriage be?
Madame Verdurin agrees to host a soiree with guests invited by the Baron de Charlus, but his high-handed manner will cost him dear by the end of the evening.
Cast:
MARCEL (narrator) ………Derek Jacobi
MARCEL …………Blake Ritson
FRANCOISE………. Susan Brown
DUCHESS DE GUERMANTES (ORIANE) ………Fenella Woolgar
MADAME VERDURIN …………Frances Barber
MONSIEUR VERDURIN …………Jeff Rawle
BARON DE CHARLUS …………. Simon Russell Beale
BRICHOT…………Hugh Ross
ALBERTINE …………Hattie Morahan
MOREL ……………Tom Glenister
SANIETTE....……… Roger Watkins
SKI…….. Nicholas Armfield
SERVANT……………Daniel Whitlam
MONSIEUR DE BREAUTE …………Daniel Flynn
QUEEN OF NAPLES.………Christine Kavanagh
ANDREE ……………Georgina Beedle
Translated and adapted from the French by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Produced and directed by Celia de Wolff
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Tombling
Recording and Sound Design: David Chilton and Lucinda Mason Brown
Executive Producer: Peter Hoare
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m0007wrc)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (m0007rll)
Where to Begin With... Pedro Almodovar
With Raifa Rafiq
Raifa Rafiq, of the Mostly Lit podcast, hosts three summer specials called Where To Begin With...
In the third edition, she enlists the help of critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Tim Robey to find out where she should begin with the films of Pedro Almodovar, whose autobiographical drama Pain And Glory is released this month.
SUN 23:30 Radio 4 Appeal (m0007wqn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 23:33 Last Word (m0007rts)
Peter Fonda, Princess Christina of the Netherlands, Geoffrey Paul OBE, Jim Bouton
Pictured: Peter Fonda
Matthew Bannister on
Peter Fonda, the actor who became a hero of the 1960s counterculture, by riding his Harley Davidson across America in the classic film Easy Rider.
Princess Christina of the Netherlands who was born nearly blind. When her mother Queen Juliana consulted a soothsayer, a constitutional crisis followed.
Geoffrey Paul the respected long serving editor of the Jewish Chronicle.
Jim Bouton, the baseball player whose memoir caused a scandal by revealing the behind the scenes antics of his colleagues.
Interviewed guest: Roger Corman
Interviewed guest: Diane Ladd
Interviewed guest: Tim Bullamore
Interviewed guest: Jenni Frazer
Interviewed guest: Michael Carlson
Producer: Neil George
Archive clips from: Easy Rider, directed by Dennis Hopper, Pando Company Inc./Raybert Productions 1969; The Wild Angels, directed by Roger Corman, American International Pictures 1966; The Trip, directed by Roger Corman, American International Pictures 1967; The Big Fix, directed by Joshua Tickell, Big Picture Ranch/Green Planet Productions 2012; Holland Aka New Princess 1947, Pathe News 1947; Huwelijk Prinses Christina en Jorge Guillermo (1975), Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid 27/06/2013; Sunday Night, BBC One 16/01/1983; The Long Goodbye, directed by Robert Altman, Lion's Gate Films 1973; Jim Bouton: MLB All-Star, EaglesTalent 13/02/2012.
MONDAY 26 AUGUST 2019
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m0007wrg)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 Mastertapes (m0001hwp)
Lily Allen (B-side)
John Wilson talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both episodes feature exclusive live performances.
Having discussed the making of "No Shame" - her fourth and most personal album to date in the A-side of the programme, Lily Allen responds to questions from the audience and performs live acoustic versions of some of the tracks on the album.
Producer: Paul Kobrak
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m0007wlg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0007wrj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0007wrl)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0007wrn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (m0007wrq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0007wrx)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Dr Marika Rose.
Good morning, and happy bank holiday, whether you’re working or taking the day off. In medieval Europe, public holidays were often carnivals, where the ordinary running of things got turned upside down. Servants would be served by masters, clowns and slaves would be crowned as carnival kings, and the rules of good manners and appropriate behaviour would be suspended for the day.
The Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin said that carnivals let people catch a glimpse of the world transformed, hierarchies upended, rulers toppled and the poor and despised of the world elevated to positions of honour. They let people imagine a world in which everyone was equal, in which everyone got to feast, in which everyone got to speak their mind without fear of consequences. But rather than revolutionizing normal life, carnivals often acted instead as a safety valve, enabling people to let off just enough steam so that when things went back to normal, everyone was ready again to accept a world in which some people were valued more highly than others, in which some people were always hungry, in which lots of people had to hold their tongues for fear of the consequences of speaking truth to power.
Lord Jesus, as your mother Mary said, you bring down the powerful from their thrones and lift up the lowly; you fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty. Help us to imagine our world as a carnival where everyone’s needs are met, everyone gets to speak and to be heard and unjust structures of power are overturned. Let us catch a glimpse of that topsy-turvy world, and carry it with us out of the bank holiday and into the rest of our lives. Amen.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m0007ws3)
Flower farm opens its doors to the public
For the first time, The Cotswold Posy Patch near Cheltenham has invited in visitors to pick their own flowers. It's part of a national campaign "The Flower Farmers Big Weekend". More than 100 growers, all members of the co-operative Flowers from the Farm, have opened their doors to the public. They want more people to buy home-grown British flowers.
MON 05:56 Weather (m0007ws9)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b0378tjf)
Oystercatcher
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Michaela Strachen presents the oystercatcher. These black and white waders used to be called sea-pies because of their pied plumage, which contrasts sharply with their pink legs and long red bill. Oystercatchers don't often eat oysters. Instead they use their powerful bill to break into mussels on rocks or probe for cockles in the mud of estuaries.
MON 06:00 Today (m0007wrw)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 The Public Philosopher (m0007ws1)
Will AI make thinking obsolete?
Would you choose an algorithm rather than a human to mark your exam papers? Would you welcome a translation app that replaced foreign language learning? Would you trust a marriage prediction app to choose your life partner? Professor Michael Sandel of Harvard University - Radio 4's 'Public Philosopher' - puts these and other questions to an audience of students at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He generates a debate on the relationship between artificial intelligence and human decision-making, asking how far faith in technology depends on a mistrust of human subjectivity.
Producer: Sheila Cook
MON 09:45 My Name Is Why (m0007wtm)
Episode 1
Lemn Sissay reads from his frank and powerful memoir about growing up in Britain's care system in the 70s and 80s, and the redemptive power of poetry. Today, the early days in foster care.
Lemn Sissay is an award winning writer, the author of five poetry collections, and was the official poet for the 2012 Olympics. He was awarded an MBE for services to literature and has worked tirelessly is supporting children in care.
My Name is Why is his courageous account of a childhood spent in a foster family and followed by six years in Britain's institutional care system. Interwoven with documents from his social work file, Lemn uncovers answers to questions that he has been asking since he left care aged 17. Truths are uncovered that reveal Lemn's story to be one of triumph over adversity.
Read by Lemn Sissay, Sean Baker and Susan Jameson.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0007wsf)
Women in Construction
A £10 million campaign to diversify the building industry was launched this month by the CITB (Construction Industry Training Board), backed by the Department for Education. Currently women make up 16% of the total UK construction workforce of two million people. How can the industry attract more girls to the trades and the wider world of construction, and what can be done to keep them there long-term? What’s the reality of working in such a male-dominated environment? And how might things change in the future? Tina Daheley speaks to Roma Agrawal, a structural engineer who worked on the Shard, Katie Kelleher, a former crane operator who now works as an Appointed Person at Select Plant Hire, Hattie Hasan, founder of Stopcocks Women Plumbers, Cristina Lanz Azcarate, Chair, London South East NAWIC (National Association of Women in Construction), Sarah Fenton, Partnerships Director Midlands and North, CITB, (Construction Industry Training Board) and Lynsey Davies, a plasterer who is now training to be a quantity surveyor.
Presenter: Tina Daheley
MON 10:45 The Country Girls Trilogy (m0007wsx)
The Country Girls
The Country Girls 6/10
by Edna O'Brien
Dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Kate ..... Charlie Murphy
Baba ..... Aoibhinn McGinnity
Mr Gentleman ...... Paul Chahidi
Dada ..... David Ganly
Martha ..... Deirdre Mullins
Mr Brennan ..... Paul Hickey
Jack Holland ..... Jonjo O'Neill
Mrs Holland ..... Susan Jameson
Directed by Sally Avens and Jessica Dromgoole
Best friends, Kate & Baba, hate their school life as boarders at a Convent , but the Christmas holidays offer welcome respite and a chance for Kate to rekindle her relationship with the much older, Mr Gentleman. Edna O'Brien's classic tale of coming of age in rural Ireland in the Fifties was banned on publication; it is a frank, funny and subversive portrayal of women's lives within a patriarchal & religious society.
MON 11:00 Three Vicars Talking (m0007xp4)
Marriage
Three Vicars Talking brings together the Reverends Richard Coles, Kate Bottley and Giles Fraser to swap curate shoptalk about three of the most significant roles carried out by Church of England vicars... the hatch, the match and the dispatch.
In a three-part series, the well known broadcasters combine gallows humour with pathos, as they chat about the clerical role in births, marriage and death.
In this second episode they compare notes on weddings.
MON 11:30 Loose Ends (m0007xp6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
MON 12:00 Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (m0007xp8)
Episode 8
Timberlake Wertenbaker’s adaptation from the French of Marcel Proust’s allegorical reflection on time, memory, art and love.
Albertine and Marcel’s relationship grows more impossible and she leaves him. Marcel enlists the help of his old friend, Robert de Saint Loup, to persuade her to return, but a telegram from Albertine’s aunt brings shocking news.
Marcel has his first article published in a newspaper and visits the Guermantes in Combray where he encounters his youthful amour, Gilberte.
Back in Paris, his growing friendship with Andree finally enables him to learn the truth about Albertine’s life. Secrets continue to be revealed as Marcel travels to Venice with his mother and and there is surprise news from Robert.
Cast:
MARCEL (narrator) ………Derek Jacobi
MARCEL …………Blake Ritson
FRANCOISE………. Susan Brown
MOTHER …………Sylvestra le Touzel
MADAME DE SAZERAT …………Pamela Miles
DUCHESS DE GUERMANTES (ORIANE) ……… Fenella Woolgar
DUC DE GUERMANTES (BASIN) ………. Robert Glenister
ROBERT DE SAINT LOUP ……… Kyle Soller
GILBERTE ………Emma Mackey
ALBERTINE ………Hattie Morahan
ANDREE …………Georgina Beedle
Translated and adapted from the French by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Produced and directed by Celia de Wolff
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Tombling
Recording and Sound Design: David Chilton and Lucinda Mason Brown
Executive Producer: Peter Hoare
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
MON 13:00 World at One (m0007xpb)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
MON 13:45 Our House (m0007xpd)
Our House: 1968
How might a young couple, unable to buy their first home today, have fared in past decades? Tacita and Charlie are in their mid twenties. They live near Brighton on the south coast and are desperate to move in together. But buying somewhere in that part of the country is out of their reach. They believe earlier generations had it easier than they do. In the first of five programmes, Tacita and Charlie travel back to 1968. This was when salaries - in real terms - were considerably lower than they are now, mortgages were hard to come by and would most likely be calculated only on the male earner's wages. It was also the year when house building hit its peak. So, is their hunch right - would they have had an easier time back then?
The experts who guide our couple through 1968 are economist Jonathan Cribb from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Professor Sharon Collard from the University of Bristol and Professor Claire Langhamer from the University of Sussex.
Producers: Rosamund Jones and Paul Kerley
MON 14:00 The Archers (m0007wr3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (m0007xpg)
Episode 9
Timberlake Wertenbaker’s adaptation from the French of Marcel Proust’s allegorical reflection on time, memory, art and love.
Still recovering from the death of Albertine, and with war looming, Marcel visits Gilberte in Combray and they discover their perceptions of the past are conflicting.
Times are changing as cultured society becomes more open and at least one aristocratic marriage ends in divorce.
It is 1914 and Robert de Saint Loup prepares for a war he believes will be very short - but, as the war continues, dark rumours circulate about the Baron de Charlus and Marcel inadvertently stumbles across the truth.
Cast:
MARCEL (narrator) ………Derek Jacobi
MARCEL …………Blake Ritson
FRANCOISE ………… Susan Brown
MADAME VERDURIN ………….Frances Barber
BARON DE CHARLUS …………Simon Russell Beale
DR COTTARD ……………Lloyd Hutchinson
BUTLER ………… Daniel Flynn
BOSS.………Nicholas Gleaves
JUPIEN ……………Ben Crowe
MAN AT DESK …………. Nicholas Armfield
ROBERT DE SAINT LOUP …………Kyle Soller
GILBERTE …………Emma Mackey
OLDER MAN …………Roger Watkins
YOUNG MEN …………. Toheeb Jimoh
.……… Finlay Paul
……….. Daniel Whitlam
.………. Sam Rawle
Translated and adapted from the French by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Produced and directed by Celia de Wolff
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Tombling
Recording and Sound Design: David Chilton and Lucinda Mason Brown
Executive Producer: Peter Hoare
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
MON 15:00 Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (m0007xpj)
Episode 10
Timberlake Wertenbaker’s adaptation from the French of Marcel Proust’s allegorical reflection on time, memory, art and love.
Society and culture are changing and suddenly it is the Verdurins who are socially on the rise as the Guermantes’ influence fades, like time.
The Baron de Charlus has a stroke and, in his vulnerability, reveals more of his heart to Marcel.
Gilberte enlightens Marcel on the complexities of the lives and relationships of people they know and Marcel can finally reflect on time. He discovers he has found the inspiration at last to write his book. He will become the writer he has always yearned to be.
Cast:
MARCEL (narrator) ………Derek Jacobi
MARCEL ………Blake Ritson
FRANCOISE …………Susan Brown
DUCHESS DE GUERMANTES (ORIANE) ……… Fenella Woolgar
MOREL …………Tom Glenister
BARON DE CHARLUS …………Simon Russell Beale
BUTLER ……… Daniel Flynn
BLOCH ………Nicholas Gleaves
MARQUIS DE CAMBREMER..………Ben Crowe
WOMAN GUEST ..... Emma Amos
GILBERTE …………Emma Mackey
Translated and adapted from the French by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Produced and directed by Celia de Wolff
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Tombling
Recording and Sound Design: David Chilton and Lucinda Mason Brown
Executive Producer: Peter Hoare
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
MON 16:00 The 3rd Degree (m0007xpl)
Series 9
Oxford Brookes University
A funny and dynamic quiz show hosted by Steve Punt - this week from Oxford Brookes University with specialist subjects including Anthropology, Motorsport Engineering and Human Biology and Biological Sciences and questions ranging from myelinated axons to the Neolithic Revolution via Wendy Houses and Sabrina The Teenage Witch.
The programme is recorded on location at a different University each week, and it pits three Undergraduates against three of their Professors in an original and fresh take on an academic quiz.
The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quickfire bell-and-buzzer rounds and the Highbrow and Lowbrow round cunningly devised to test not only the students' knowledge of current affairs, history, languages and science, but also their Professors' awareness of television, sport, and quite possibly Ed Sheeran. In addition, the Head-to-Head rounds see students take on their Professors in their own subjects, offering plenty of scope for mild embarrassment on both sides.
Other Universities featured in this series include Royal Holloway University of London, Aberdeen, Plymouth, St Catharine's College Cambridge and Brighton.
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4
MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m0007xpn)
The Religion of Spain
500 years ago this summer a fleet of ships left Spain in search of the Spice Islands and a way around the new world. Three years later just one ship returned barely afloat. The first documented circumnavigation of the Earth was complete. The voyage signalled the growth of the Spanish Empire and the spread of Christianity to the new world. The voyage was financed by a Papal grant and Spaniards were committed by Vatican decree to spread Catholicism to the new world. So how do we assess the role of religion in Spanish history, what have been the key moments and how has the place of religion changed in today’s contemporary Spain. In this episode of Beyond Belief, Ernie Rea is joined by historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Dr Elizabeth Drayson, author of “The Moor’s Last Stand: how seven centuries of Muslim rule in Spain came to an end" and Dr Javier García Oliva, Senior Lecturer in Law, The University of Manchester.
Producer:
Catherine Earlam
Series Producer:
Amanda Hancox
MON 17:00 PM (m0007xpq)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0007xps)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m0007xpv)
Series 85
Episode 4
A second programme from this month's Edinburgh Fringe. Gyles Brandreth sits in for Nicholas Parsons with Paul Merton, Fred MacAulay, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Mark Watson.
Producer: Richard Morris
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Sharpe
A BBC Studios Production
MON 19:00 The Archers (m0007wsn)
Tracy begins an investigation and Pip’s feelings are hurt
MON 19:15 Front Row (m0007wss)
Edna O'Brien on her new novel Girl, her first The Country Girls, and her career in between
A Front Row for Bank Holiday Monday: Kirsty Lang interviews the writer Edna O'Brien about her new novel, her first novel and her career in between, spanning almost sixty years, 25 works of fiction, as well as biographies and plays.
Radio 4 is now broadcasting an adaptation of The Country Girls trilogy. Edna O'Brien's stories of Kate and Baba as they leave rural Ireland for Dublin then London, find work, meet men, and have sex caused scandal when they were published in the 1960s. Her books were banned (six times) and publicly burned in her hometown. Now these are considered among the most significant novels of the last century, important for their exploration of the experience of women and for furthering the cause of their liberation. Times change and now, O'Brien tells Kirsty Lang, she has received, from the president, Ireland's highest cultural accolade.
Edna O'Brien is in her late eighties yet research for her new novel, Girl, took her to difficult, dangerous territory in Nigeria. Reading a report about a girl found with her baby wandering in the forest without food, she felt compelled to write their story so set out to find out about the schoolgirls abducted by Bokko Haram. She tells Kirsty how she visited camps, interviewed young women who had been kidnapped, raped and enslaved. She distilled this material into the story of Maryam. It is harrowing, redemptive and beautifully written.
Edna O'Brien speaks about the relationship between her own life and her writing and how she has found the courage to move beyond the autobiographical in her fiction. Her ambition, she tells Kirsty, is to carry on, to write one more novel. But that, too, will involve a perilous journey.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Reader: Shalifa Kaddu
Producer: Julian May
MON 19:45 The Country Girls Trilogy (m0007wsx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 The Food Programme (m0007ws8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m0007rl2)
Romania's killer roads
Everybody in Romania knows someone who has died in a road accident. The country has the highest road death rate in the European Union – twice the EU average and more than three times that in the UK. A young businessman, Stefan Mandachi, has built a metre long stretch of motorway near his home in the rural north-east of the country, as a visual protest against political inaction and corruption. For Crossing Continents, Tessa Dunlop travels to one of Romania’s poorest regions, Moldova, to meet this new champion of road safety, and the families who have paid the highest price for the country’s poor transport networks.
Producer, John Murphy.
MON 21:00 The Power of... (m0007qyr)
Power of Peace
“Nature red in tooth and claw”. “Dog eat dog”. “Fighting for survival". You may well think that the natural world is one dangerous, violent, lawless place, with every creature out for itself. And it can be, but it can also be peaceful, democratic and compassionate.
Lucy Cooke seeks out the animal communities that adopt a more peaceful and democratic way of life and asks why it works for them. Despite being fierce predators, African wild dogs are cooperative and compassionate within their packs, and they actually hold democratic votes on hunting decisions – one sneeze for yes, two sneezes for no! They are among the most effective predators in the world. They use extraordinary cooperation and teamwork to pursue, overhaul and bring down their prey. As a result 80% of their hunts end successfully, compared to lions' at 10%. This is nearly all a result of their pack coordination. They are also surprisingly non-aggressive; they don’t fight over food but instead beg to indicate their wish to eat. Adults will allow younger pack members to eat before them. And the African wild dogs are not alone: such societies are also common in insects, other mammals, and birds, but exist even in simple species like amoebas.
But what is the evolutionary advantage of this group cohesion? Why when nature selects for not just the individual but for the selfish gene, does it pay to be part of a complex social group? Lucy discovers that when the benefits of group-living outweigh the costs, it’s very much advantageous – when 10 pairs of eyes are better at spotting predators and pack strategies mean far more successful kills in a hunt, or when grooming not only strengthens bonds, but it also gets rid of your ticks and fleas. She also explores the different strategies of the highly complex social animals – the Great Apes – and asks whether Bonobos are truly the lovers and Chimpanzees the fighters?
This all touches on the complex social interactions we have as humans. We can be peaceful and we can be violent and war-like, and like every species, individual variation and circumstances can tip the balance of our behaviour. But anthropologist Agustin Fuentes questions the belief that humans are at their core violent, aggressive, and oversexed. Are these behaviours part of our genetic heritage? What can biology, evolution, and behaviour tell us about peace and aggression in everyday life?
MON 21:30 The Public Philosopher (m0007wt3)
Will AI make thinking obsolete?
Would you choose an algorithm rather than a human to mark your exam papers? Would you welcome a translation app that replaced foreign language learning? Would you trust a marriage prediction app to choose your life partner? Professor Michael Sandel of Harvard University - Radio 4's 'Public Philosopher' - puts these and other questions to an audience of students at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He generates a debate on the relationship between artificial intelligence and human decision-making, asking how far faith in technology depends on a mistrust of human subjectivity.
Producer: Sheila Cook
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m0007wt7)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
MON 22:45 The Offing (m0007wtc)
1/10 Leaving
One summer following the Second World War, sixteen year old Robert Appleyard sets out on foot from his Durham mining village, desperate to see something of the world before he goes down the pit. Acutely attuned to the rhythms and delights of the natural world, he sleeps rough and takes work where he can find it, until he meets Dulcie Piper, an eccentric older woman who lives in a ramshackle cottage looking out to sea. Dulcie is everything Robert is not: worldly, cynical, knowledgeable about poetry and politics, a lover of fine food and drink, someone who has seen both the best and the worst of human nature in the chaos of war. Despite their utterly different backgrounds, the two form an unlikely friendship which has a profound effect on both their lives.
As an old man, Robert looks back on that summer that changed the direction his life was to take, and the woman who opened his eyes to life's possibilities.
Benjamin Myers is an award-winning novelist, music journalist and landscape writer. His novel 'The Gallows Pole' received a Roger Deakin Award and won the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction; 'Beastings' won the Portico Prize for Literature; and 'Pig Iron' won the inaugural Gordon Burn Prize.
Kevin Whately is well known for his television roles in Boys From the Black Stuff, and as Robert 'Robbie' Lewis in Inspector Morse and Lewis.
Episode 1/10: Leaving
It's Spring, and Robert sets off from his village with a few basic provisions and no idea of where he'll end up.
Reader: Kevin Whately
Abridger: Sian Preece
Producer: Sara Davies
MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (m0007qzf)
The Language of Science
Michael Rosen looks at how English is used in Science. From the florid writings of the 17th century to modernist poetry and school experiments. With historian Charlotte Sleigh and historical linguist Laura Wright.
Producer: Melvin Rickarby
MON 23:30 Beyond Today (m0007wth)
Where should we learn about sex?
PART ONE
In April cricketer Alex Hepburn was jailed for raping a sleeping woman. The assault happened after Hepburn had set up a sexual conquest game on a WhatsApp group. The BBC’s Phil Mackie tells us about the trial, and we speak to lawyer Eleanor Law about the legal difficulties that arise when this kind of misogynistic behaviour goes to court. Plus self-confessed “reformed lad” Chris Hemmings explains why this culture exists and how best to tackle it.
PART TWO
Earlier this year the government announced updates to the 20-year-old sex education curriculum in England. It will now include lessons on sharing private photos and explicit content. We hear from a group of female students on their experiences of sex education and the influence of porn. The discussion is graphic.
TUESDAY 27 AUGUST 2019
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m0007wtk)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 00:30 My Name Is Why (m0007wtm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0007wtp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0007wtr)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0007wtt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m0007wtx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0007wv1)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Dr Marika Rose.
Good morning. I’ll be spending today travelling back from Greenbelt, one of the UK’s largest faith-based festivals, where I’ve spent the bank holiday weekend catching up with friends, encountering new ideas, and not getting nearly enough sleep. Perhaps you’re also on your way back from a festival, a holiday, or a trip to visit friends or family. Travel is interesting because being shaken out of our usual routines can help us experience different ways of being. How does it affect us to have to change our breakfast routine, to navigate around unfamiliar neighbourhoods, to experience different cultures, to speak different languages, to make do without a shower, or to cope with all the discomforts of camping in a grubby muddy field somewhere?
There’s nothing wrong with routine, but sometimes we can get so absorbed in the habits and busyness of day to day life that we forget that how we live isn’t the only way to live; that how we inhabit our bodies, our homes, and our relationships, is always partly the result of choices that we’ve made. We can come to think that our way of living is the only way of living, both for us and for other people, and there’s a danger that we can lose sight of the many possibilities of human life, and the richness of human difference.
God we thank you that you are no less present with us and in us when we travel than when we stay at home. Help us to learn from our experiences of travelling, what it might mean to live a life that is kinder and freer than the one we currently inhabit. Help us to develop compassion for others whose ways of being in the world are different from our own. Amen.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m0007wv5)
Farming Today begins a week-long exploration of the shooting industry. In this programme, we hear from a farmer who rears pheasant chicks, and Sybil Ruscoe puts some of the objections raised by opponents of the sport to the British Association for Shooting and Conservation.
In London sheep are being released to graze on Hampstead Heath, for the first time in over half a century. We find out why.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Emma Campbell.
TUE 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.
TUE 06:00 Today (m0007wty)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 Fry's English Delight (m0007wv2)
Series 10
Signs of the Times
Stephen Fry finds out what British Sign Language can tell us about language in general.
British Sign Language is the preferred first language of more than 70,000 deaf people in the UK. It’s also a language culture with a surprisingly short history as an official language. Records show the existence of the language back in the 1500s but the term wasn’t used by linguists until the late 1970s and it was only recognized officially by the British Government in 2003.
Stephen speaks and signs with Dr Kate Rowley (whose first language is BSL) and learns how the language has evolved and adapted, how it differs from other sign languages around the world and how its morphology works. As Professor Bencie Woll explains, BSL bears little relationship to spoken English. It’s written on the human body, rather than paper for a start. Still, it has rules. It has grammar. And it has regional diversity. No wonder it commands such interest from linguists.
We also hear from Paula Garfield, who is the founder of Deafinitely Theatre and profoundly deaf herself. She describes the complex process of translating Shakespeare’s comedy play Love’s Labour’s Lost into BSL and how certain signs, like the sign for love, are universally understandable. And we consider the naming of body parts in sign language using Caitlin Moran’s famous Ode to the Camel-Toe lecture at the 2016 Women of the World Festival at London’s South Bank Centre.
At Frank Barnes School for deaf children in North London, we hear from school children and teachers about language acquisition for BSL users and learn about one unique element of sign language – the personal sign name. Stephen may even be honored with his first ever name in BSL.
Producer: Sarah Cuddon
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 09:30 Classified Britain (m0007wv6)
Series 2
Oxford Times, 7 May 1926
James Naughtie explores history through front page small ads.
The classified ads in the Oxford Times of May 7th 1926, the midpoint of the General Strike, spell out the state of emergency and announce a rally at which Labour MP, Oliver Baldwin, son of the Conservative Prime Minister, will speak in support of the strike. The Morris car plant has displaced the University as the city's biggest employer and the Jane Austin Agency is recruiting battalions of domestic staff.
Front page news is a relatively late addition to the newspaper business. For most of their first couple of centuries, British newspapers carried classified ads rather than news on their front page. They transformed the hustle and bustle of the marketplace into newsprint, so you could take it home or to the inn to pore over at your leisure.
James Naughtie travels the country discovering how these front page ads give us a snapshot of time and place, exploring how they weave national and local life together - the heartbeat of history rolling daily or weekly off the presses.
The ads tell us what people were eating, drinking and wearing, what was on stage and what people were playing at home. They mark the mood of the time through notices for public meetings held to stoke up or damp down public fears of crime and political unrest. They are a record of the notices placed for houses and public buildings to be built, licenses applied for and subscriptions raised for publications and commemorations. They show the latest labour saving gadgets "trending" as technology arrived, and they track jobs and trades on the way up and down as the British Empire waxed and waned. The ever present ads for patent medicines record our most popular ailments.
Produced by John Forsyth.
Assistant Producer: Alexandra Quinn.
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 09:45 My Name Is Why (m0007wwy)
Episode 2
Lemn Sissay reads from his candid memoir about growing up in Britain's care system care during the 70s and 80s. Today, the documents in his social work file, shed new light on his own recollections of his childhood, and as he approaches his twelfth birthday events at home take an unwanted turn.
Lemn Sissay is an award winning writer, the author of five poetry collections, and was the official poet for the 2012 Olympics. He was awarded an MBE for services to literature and has worked tirelessly is supporting children in care.
My Name is Why is his courageous account of a childhood spent in a foster family and followed by six years in the institutional care system. Interwoven with documents from his social work file, Lemn uncovers answers to questions that he has been asking since he left care aged 17. Truths are uncovered that reveal Lemn's story to be one of triumph over adversity.
Read by Lemn Sissay, Shaun Mason, Katherine Press, Sean Baker and Susan Jameson.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0007wvb)
Six female candidates continue to vie for the democratic nomination for president in 2020 elections. We take a look at the front-runners including Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris
Jada Pinkett Smith is an American actress, producer, philanthropist, singer, businesswoman and talk show host. She, along with her 18-year-old daughter Willow and mother Adrienne, take part in Red Table Talk, an intimate chat show with three generations from the same family.
Throughout the summer we've been talking about clothes and accessories that most of us have and which tend to be trotted out for every holiday. Today the dress historian Amber Butchart examines the straw hat.
In April 2011, Karen Edwards received a visit from a police officer telling her that her daughter, Becky, was dead. Becky had been murdered & had been lying in a makeshift grave since 2003. Despite the killer confessing, he couldn't be convicted at the time as the evidence was not admissible in court. Karen had to fight to see the killer brought to justice. She has now written a book, A Killer's Confession and a Mother's Fight for the Truth.
Presenter: Tina Daheley
Interviewed guest: Martina Fitzgerald
Interviewed guest: Kelly Jane Torrance
Interviewed guest: Jada Pinkett Smith
Interviewed guest: Amber Butchart
Interviewed guest: Karen Edwards
Producer: Lucinda Montefiore
TUE 10:45 The Country Girls Trilogy (m0007wvd)
The Country Girls
The Country Girls 7/10
by Edna O'Brien
Dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Kate ..... Charlie Murphy
Baba ..... Aoibhinn McGinnity
Sister Margaret ..... Catherine Cusack
Mr Gentleman ...... Paul Chahidi
Dada ..... David Ganly
Martha ..... Deirdre Mullins
Mr Brennan ..... Paul Hickey
Jack Holland ..... Jonjo O'Neill
Sister Clare ..... Helen Clapp
Directed by Sally Avens and Jessica Dromgoole
Best friends, Kate & Baba, have been trapped as boarders in a Convent School for three long years so Baba comes up with a plan to get them expelled.
Edna O'Brien's classic tale of coming of age in rural Ireland in the Fifties was banned on publication; it is a frank, funny and subversive portrayal of women's lives within a patriarchal & religious society.
TUE 11:00 The Age of Consultancy (m0007wvg)
Award-winning Private Eye financial journalist and author Richard Brooks examines the impact of management consultancy - its history, the lifestyles and ideas of its practitioners and its influence on all of our lives.
Their elite training gives us many of our political and business leaders. Their techniques guided the post-war information revolution and helped put a man on the moon. They’ve shaped contemporary capitalism.
Management consultants operate inside 90% of FTSE 100 companies, most public services and many of the world’s governments. But most of us know very little about what they do or what impact they might be having on our world.
Guiding Richard on his exploration of the consultant’s world are:
Peter Lacy, senior managing director for UK and Ireland at Accenture Strategy.
Julian Richer, retailer, entrepreneur and vocal critic of management consultancy.
Felix Stein, an ex-management consultant and economic anthropologist. The author of Sleep, Work, Repeat: The Abstract Labour of German Management Consultants.
Dina Nayeri, previously a consultant with one of the world’s best known consultancy firms, McKinsey and Company and now the author of The Ungrateful Refugee.
Dr Christopher McKenna Reader in Business History and Strategy at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and author of The World's Newest Profession: Management Consulting in the Twentieth Century.
Original music composed by Daniel R. Wilson
Original concept and consultancy from Margot Gibbs
Produced by Michael Umney
A Resonance production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 11:30 Art of Now (m0007wvj)
Cymru Rising
Welsh-language music is breaking out of Wales and hitting the mainstream. Once, singing in Welsh was confined to the Eisteddfod and the folk club but now Welsh-language pop music is hitting a musical high.
Through a variety of genres, Welsh musicians have a new-found confidence and it's paying dividends. In 2019, Welsh-language music has been streamed more than eight million times through online platforms.
Now, DJ Huw Stephens meets some of the people in the eclectic world of Welsh-language pop music to find out what's behind the rise. From artists like Gwenno, who's been making music since the early 2000s, to relatively new acts like Alffa, a band who've achieved unprecedented success online.
Singing in Welsh has entered an exciting new era, but can new artists maintain the momentum?
Producer: Glyn Tansley for BBC Wales
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m0007wxd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 The Offing (m0007wvn)
2/10: Nettle Tea
One summer following the Second World War, sixteen year old Robert Appleyard sets out on foot from his Durham mining village, desperate to see something of the world before he goes down the pit. Acutely attuned to the rhythms and delights of the natural world, he sleeps rough and takes work where he can find it, until he meets Dulcie Piper, an eccentric older woman who lives in a ramshackle cottage looking out to sea. Dulcie is everything Robert is not: wordly, cynical, knowledgeable about poetry and politics, a lover of fine food and drink, someone who has seen both the best and the worst of human nature in the chaos of war. Despite their utterly different backgrounds, the two form an unlikely friendship which has a profound effect on both their lives.
As an old man, Robert looks back on that summer that changed the direction his life was to take, and the woman who opened his eyes to life's possibilities.
Benjamin Myers is an award-winning novelist, music journalist and landscape writer. His novel 'The Gallows Pole' received a Roger Deakin Award and won the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction; 'Beastings' won the Portico Prize for Literature; and 'Pig Iron' won the inaugural Gordon Burn Prize.
Kevin Whately is well known for his television roles in Boys From the Black Stuff and as Robert 'Robbie' Lewis in Inspector Morse and Lewis.
Episode 2/10: Nettle Tea
Dulcie Piper introduces Robert to nettle tea, and some shocking new ideas
Reader: Kevin Whately
Abridger: Sian Preece
Producer: Sara Davies
TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m0007wvq)
Call You and Yours: What are rents and house prices doing near you?
Winifred Robinson asks: What are rents AND house prices doing near you? A new report says rents outside of London have reached record highs. And when it comes to house values, there are warnings they could take a big hit after Brexit. There's also much discussion about possible changes to stamp duty too. Are you struggling to get on the housing ladder? Are you trapped in the rental market? Perhaps you're struggling to sell your home? Are you a landlord who's opted to quit owning property? Tell us your experience and what's happening where YOU live.
You can call 03 700 100 444 from
11am on Tuesday [Standard geographic charges. Mobile may be higher]. Or email us now: youandyours@bbc.co.uk and don't forget to include your phone number so we can call you back.
Producer: Mike Young.
TUE 12:57 Weather (m0007wvs)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m0007wvv)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
TUE 13:45 Our House (m0007wvx)
Our House: 1979
How might a young couple, unable to buy their first home today, have fared in previous decades? Tacita and Charlie are in their mid twenties. They live near Brighton on the south coast and are desperate to move in together. But buying somewhere in that part of the country is out of their reach. They believe that earlier generations had it easier than they do. In the second of five programmes, Tacita and Charlie travel back to 1979. Inflation rates were soaring and mortgage payments were likely to take up more of your income than ever before. Industrial unrest was commonplace, but the gap between top and low earners much less than in other decades. So how much difficulty would a young couple, trying to get on the housing ladder back then, have faced?
The experts who guide our couple through 1979 are economist Jonathan Cribb from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Professor Sharon Collard from the University of Bristol and Professor Claire Langhamer from the University of Sussex.
Producers: Rosamund Jones and Paul Kerley
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m0007wsn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b095tn1v)
Glue
Manchester poet Louise Wallwein works with young people, particularly disadvantaged teenagers and care leavers.
In Glue, Louise tells her own true story, beginning with a reunion with her birth mother, three decades after being adopted. After the failure of that placement, at the age of 9, Louise was taken in care where she stayed until she was old enough to leave. In Glue she examines the meaning of bloodlines and family and the quest she set out on hoping to find answers through meeting her birth mother.
The play opens in 1999: 'my life was moving in the right direction - a career, a new home and a new girlfriend. We share a very private first reunion with her mother, exposing fierce independence and emotional vulnerability.
Glue includes poems set to music and a soundtrack composed and played by musician Jaydev Mistry, including the text from her adoption file, 'born, transferred, placed, discharged, returned'.
Directed by Susan Roberts
TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m0007wvz)
Series 20
Self-Portrait
Josie Long draws her own image whilst presenting short documentaries about turning the camera lens or microphone on yourself.
A Private Ritual
Written by Jess Bineth and Tilly Lawless
Produced by Jess Bineth
Ghosts
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
How To Remember
Produced by Axel Kacoutié
Production Team: Andrea Rangecroft and Alia Cassam
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 15:30 The Walk: Across the Water (m0003cwc)
Calais
Calais and Dover are two ports just 21 miles apart. Over the centuries they’ve been bombed, invaded, besieged and passed through by millions of people who’ve barely given them a second thought. But writer Cole Moreton has taken time to walk across both towns to speak to people to find out what it’s like to live in places which can feel like they’re on the edge, but are also at the centre of the biggest story of our times – Brexit.
Cole wants to know what life is like beyond the headlines in these towns that are often half-forgotten but that have a front seat view of history. This surprising series asks the question: what are the people like, what do they have in common, and what keeps them apart beside the sea?
In this first episode Cole meets the Deputy Mayor of Calais responsible for clearing the Jungle camp, and a Frenchwoman who fell in love with a migrant and helped him escape by boat.
Presenter: Cole Moreton
Producer: Jonathan Mayo
A TBI production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (m0007ww2)
Anglo Saxon
Michael Rosen explores the origins of English in the Anglo-Saxon world. Ancient riddles, poems and a multi-cultural Britain, in the company of historical linguist Dr Laura Wright and Professor Andy Orchard.
Producer: Melvin Rickarby.
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m0007ww4)
Series 49
First Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay Macdonald, Labour's first Prime Minister, chosen by Shaun Ley.
In 1931 Ramsay MacDonald went to see the king in order to resign. George V persuaded him to stay, and a story of party betrayal began. Broadcaster Shaun Ley and journalist Anne Perkins pick though events that have a contemporary ring as the political class of the thirties struggled to cope with fast moving events. MacDonald's own story and background is remarkable too - illegitimate son, born in Lossiemouth in Scotland, he is remembered as one of the early founding fathers of the Labour party, and a man who bravely spoke out against the First World War.
The presenter is Mathew Parris, the producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.
TUE 17:00 PM (m0007ww6)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0007wwb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Paul Sinha's General Knowledge (m0007wwd)
Episode 1
Paul Sinha - comedian, lapsed GP, Chaser and genuinely the fourth best quizzer in the United Kingdom - returns to tell you about... well, everything.
Paul has already told you about history in the Rose d'Or-winning Paul Sinha's History Revision, as well as Britishness (Paul Sinha's Citizenship Test), Magna Carta (The Sinha Carta), the Olympics (The Sinha Games) and, most importantly, cricket (The Sinha Test). But as a competitive quizzer, Paul learns fascinating facts all the time. As a curious man, he then looks up the stories behind those facts and they often turn out to be even more fascinating. In Paul Sinha's General Studies, he shares these stories with you.
This week's show starts with a question about the city in which Paul recently got engaged, and takes you through the worlds of exploration, immigration and politics, ending with a quick quiz on facts about current MPs you may not be aware of. He also takes on the audience, as he challenges them to ask him questions for a change.
Written and performed by Paul Sinha
Produced by Ed Morrish
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m0007wdz)
Will gets the wrong impression and Brian makes a new contact
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m0007wwh)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
TUE 19:45 The Country Girls Trilogy (m0007wvd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 Rape Trials: Is the Jury Out? (m0007wwk)
Dr Nina Burrowes asks whether we should scrap the use of juries in rape trials - and if the current system for trying serious sexual assaults needs reform.
Figures from 2017 and 2018 show the number of rape cases being charged by prosecutors in England and Wales falling to the lowest in a decade, despite an increased number of incidents being reported. It was also revealed in September 2018 that less than a third of prosecutions for rape brought against young men by the Crown Prosecution Service result in a conviction.
Now many within the justice system and those who have been through it, say it is time for wholesale reform of the way we try serious sexual assault cases.
Dr Nina Burrowes, a psychologist and activist against sexual violence, investigates the recent calls for UK courts to scrap the use of juries in rape trials. She examines how so-called “rape myths” impact jurors’ decision making.
Dr Dominic Willmott discusses the research he’s conducted on common misunderstandings and misconceptions about rape and the effect they have on how a jury reaches a verdict.
Nina also meets Miss M, an anonymous campaigner who has experienced a rape trial both with and without a jury.
And she speaks to Sir John Gillen, a retired Court of Appeal Judge who has reviewed the conduct of rape trials in Northern Ireland and has come up with some innovative ways of improving a “seriously flawed system”.
Consent clips courtesy of Century Films
Actors: Anna Madeley and Daniel Mays
Producer: Anishka Sharma
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
If you have been affected by sexual abuse or violence, help and support is available.
BBC Action Line - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m0007wwm)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted
TUE 21:00 Science Stories (m0007wf5)
Series 9
Ignaz Semmelweiss: The Hand Washer
Lindsey Fitzharris tells the story of Ignaz Semmelweiss, the hand washer. In a world that had no understanding of germs, he tried to apply science to halt the spread of infection. Ignaz Semmelweis observed that many young medical students at his hospital in Vienna went directly from an autopsy, still covered in contaminated dead flesh, to attend pregnant women. Could this be the reason for such high maternal mortality rates from conditions like puerperal fever? Believing that the disease was caused by “infective material” from a dead body, Semmelweiss set up a basin filled with chlorinated lime solution in his hospital and began saving women’s lives with three simple words: ‘wash your hands’. He was demonised by his colleagues for his efforts, but today, he is known as the “Saviour of Mothers.”
Lindsey Fitzharris discusses some of the common myths surrounding the story of Semmelweiss with Dr Barron H. Lerner of New York University Langone School of Medicine. And she talks to Professor Val Curtis, Director of the Environmental Health Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who has studied the amount of hand washing by medical staff in hospitals today.
Main Image: Lindsey Fitzharris Credit: T. K. Smith
TUE 21:30 Fry's English Delight (m0007wv2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m0007wwp)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
TUE 22:45 The Offing (m0007wvn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
TUE 23:00 Phil Ellis Is Trying (m0007wwr)
Series 2
Parbold's Got Talent
When Phil's dad Goodison is discovered not dead but living in Phil's loft, Goodison tries to make amends by taking his son for a much needed holiday to popular holiday camp Mutlins. But are Goodison's motives as honest as they seem? Before long, Johnny and Polly are following Phil and Goodson to Mutlins in a bid to figure out what's really going on.
Written by Phil Ellis and Fraser Steele.
Starring:
Phil Ellis as Phil
Johnny Vegas as Johnny
Amy Gledhill as Polly
Terry Mynott as Bingo caller Derek Levoux
Katia Kvinge as Ellie
with special guest stars Alexei Sayle as Goodison
and Lee Mack as Bobby Dazzler
Produced by Sam Michell
A BBC Studios production
TUE 23:30 Beyond Today (m0007wwt)
Why are teenagers paid to stab each other?
PART ONE
Young people in Liverpool are being offered hundreds of pounds by older gang leaders to stab each other. An investigation by Layla Wright for Beyond Today found that bounties are being used in knife attacks. We speak to Alan Walsh, an experienced youth worker in Merseyside who spoke to and recorded the teenagers. He says he was shocked by what he heard. Merseyside Police say they have no evidence that this is happening, but have urged anyone who knows about it to come forward. We also hear from Layla about how difficult it was to get the teenagers to speak.
PART TWO
A look into the mindset that leads people to stab each other. We hear from a former gang member who tells our Home Affairs correspondent Danny Shaw why he’d never leave the house without carrying a knife.
WEDNESDAY 28 AUGUST 2019
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m0007www)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 00:30 My Name Is Why (m0007wwy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0007wx0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0007wx2)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0007wx4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m0007wx6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0007wx8)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Dr Marika Rose.
Good morning. The book of Genesis says that God spent six days creating the earth, and then God rested: a poetic image which tells us something important. We live in a world which increasingly treats rest as though it’s only important insofar as it helps us to work better, and more efficiently, but the ordering of things in Genesis suggests something different – rest isn’t just a pause in the middle of work, it’s the goal of work, the end of work, the crowning glory of creation.
Why did God create the world? Theologians have traditionally argued that God didn't create the world out of necessity: there wasn't a problem that God needed to solve or a lack in God that needed to be fixed by bringing things into existence. Creation is not for anything. It’s not meant to achieve anything. It's not useful: it's just good. It’s not hard to see the world as full of this unnecessary goodness. There’s something very over-the-top about the whole thing, something super-abundant. There are hundreds of billions of galaxies. There are millions of different species on earth. There are luminescent sea creatures at the bottom of the ocean, there are blobfish; there are peacocks; there are fractal vegetables.
Lord God, today may we have time to appreciate the people, plants and objects around us, not for what they do but just for what they are? Grant us rest, so that we can enjoy the marvellous, extravagant, unnecessary creation that we are. Thank you, God, for filling the world with such marvels. Help us today to pause and to rest – not so we can go back to work more efficiently, but so that we can enjoy things for their own sake. Amen.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m0007wxb)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b0378wy3)
Common Redstart
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Michaela Strachan presents the common redstart. Redstarts are summer visitors from sub-Saharan Africa. The males are very handsome birds, robin-sized, but with a black mask, white forehead and an orange tail. John Buxton gave us a fascinating insight into their lives when, as a prisoner of war in Germany, he made a study of them.
WED 06:00 Today (m0007wd3)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 A Singer's Guide to Britain (m0007wd5)
We Travel with Songs
Roderick Williams gets on the road to tell the stories of Britain through our songs.
WED 09:30 Four Thought (m0007wd7)
Thought-provoking talks in which speakers explore original ideas about culture and society
WED 09:45 My Name Is Why (m0007wd9)
Episode 3
Lemn Sissay, the acclaimed poet reads from his powerful memoir about growing up in Britain's care system in the 70s and 80s. Today, a life without love and family begins when he moves to his first care home at the start of 1980. Yet is here where Lemn discovers that the act of writing poetry offers hope.
Lemn Sissay is an award winning writer, and was the official poet for the 2012 Olympics. He was awarded an MBE for services to literature and has worked tirelessly is supporting children in care.
My Name is Why is his courageous account of a childhood spent in a foster family and followed by six years in Britain's institutional care system during the 1970s and 1980s. Interwoven with documents from his social work file, Lemn uncovers answers to questions that he has been asking since he left care aged 17. Truths are uncovered that reveal Lemn's story to be one of triumph over adversity.
Read by Lemn Sissay and Shaun Mason.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0007wdd)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
WED 10:41 The Country Girls Trilogy (m0007wdg)
The Country Girls
The Country Girls 8/10
By Edna O'Brien
Dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Kate ..... Charlie Murphy
Baba ..... Aoibhinn McGinnity
Dada ..... David Ganly
Joanna ..... Susan Jameson
Gustav ..... Sean Baker
Directed by Sally Avens & Jessica Dromgoole
Kate and Baba have been expelled from their convent school and the crowds and lights and noise of Dublin beckon. Edna O'Brien's novel was banned on publication but became an instant classic for its frank, funny & subversive portrayal of women's lives within a patriarchal and religious society.
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (m0003r3q)
Jillian and Krista: I Cried at My First Birth
Friends travel back in time to when they first met as student nurses and recall why one chose midwifery and the other turned to general nursing. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
WED 11:00 The Hansa Inheritance (m0006l6d)
Why does a medieval trading network still have a such a hold on Europe's imagination? Chris Morris explores the power of the Hanseatic League, a network which stretched from Russia to England, covering all kinds of vital products. It used its influence and sometimes force to protect its position for many centuries. In locations ranging from the Baltic island of Gotland to northern Germany and King's Lynn, he reveals why was it so successful, why its memory is still so strong, and how far it offers a model for today's trading nations
Producer: Chris Bowlby
Editor: Penny Murphy
WED 11:30 All Those Women (b09r7vd8)
Series 3
Episode 4
Comedy series by Katherine Jakeways about four generations of women living under one roof.
Emily's choosing her options, Jen's taking the plunge and applying for her first teaching job and Maggie's getting excited about the prospect of an adventure or two of her own. But will she be able to go away, or is Hetty hiding something?
All Those Women explores familial relationships, ageing, marriages - it's about life and love and things not turning out quite the way that you'd expected them to. Every week we join Hetty, Maggie, Jen and Emily as they struggle to resolve their own problems, and support one another.
Written by Katherine Jakeways
Producer Alexandra Smith
A BBC Studios Production.
WED 12:00 News Summary (m0007wdj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 The Offing (m0007wdl)
3/10: Lobster
One summer following the Second World War, sixteen year old Robert Appleyard sets out on foot from his Durham mining village, desperate to see something of the world before he goes down the pit. Acutely attuned to the rhythms and delights of the natural world, he sleeps rough and takes work where he can find it, until he meets Dulcie Piper, an eccentric older woman who lives in a ramshackle cottage looking out to sea. Dulcie is everything Robert is not: wordly, cynical, knowledgeable about poetry and politics, a lover of fine food and drink, someone who has seen both the best and the worst of human nature in the chaos of war. Despite their utterly different backgrounds, the two form an unlikely friendship which has a profound effect on both their lives.
As an old man, Robert looks back on that summer that changed the direction his life was to take, and the woman who opened his eyes to life's possibilities.
Benjamin Myers is an award-winning novelist, music journalist and landscape writer. His novel 'The Gallows Pole' received a Roger Deakin Award and won the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction; 'Beastings' won the Portico Prize for Literature; and 'Pig Iron' won the inaugural Gordon Burn Prize.
Kevin Whately is well known for his television roles in Boys From the Black Stuff, Inspector Morse and Lewis.
Episode 3/10: Lobster
Robert discovers the pleasures of fine food, good wine and conversation
Reader: Kevin Whately
Abridger: Sian Preece
Producer: Sara Davies
WED 12:18 You and Yours (m0007wdp)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.
WED 12:57 Weather (m0007wdr)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m0007wdt)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague.
WED 13:45 Our House (m0007wdw)
Our House: 1988
How might a young couple, unable to buy their first home today, have fared in past decades? Tacita and Charlie are in their mid twenties. They live near Brighton on the south coast and are desperate to move in together. But buying somewhere in that part of the country is out of their reach. They believe earlier generations had it easier than they do. In the third of five programmes, Tacita and Charlie travel back to 1988. Unemployment was high, the result of the deep recession that had hit manufacturing businesses so hard, but credit was easier to come by than ever before; deregulation was full steam ahead. And house prices, in London and the South East, were climbing fast. Would a young couple, back then, have faced the same sort of difficulties Tacita and Charlie do today?
The experts who guide our couple through 1988 are economist Jonathan Cribb from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Professor Sharon Collard from the University of Bristol and Professor Claire Langhamer from the University of Sussex.
Producers: Paul Kerley and Rosamund Jones
WED 14:00 The Archers (m0007wdz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (m0007wf1)
Blend
by Archie Maddocks
Tonight's the night they had planned to conceive a child, but Layla and Paris, both mixed-race, delve into the reasons for and against, and expose the rocky foundations of their relationship.
Layla ..... Rebekah Murrell
Paris ..... Jake Fairbrother
Guillermo ..... Mika Osei-Owusu
Director: David Hunter
WED 15:00 The Money Clinic (m0007wf3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
WED 15:30 Science Stories (m0007wf5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Mastertapes (m0001mp4)
Series 8
The Good, The Bad & The Queen (A-side)
John Wilson talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios., each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both episodes feature exclusive live performances.
A-side: The Good, The Bad & The Queen.
Modern-day supergroup, Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong talk to John Wilson about their acclaimed debut album "The Good, The Bad & The Queen."
Released in 2007, the album brought together Blur’s front-man, the bassist from The Clash, the Afrobeat pioneer who was also Fela Kuti’s drummer, and former guitarist from the Verve who co-created The Magnetic North. Described by Damon Albarn as “a song cycle that's also a mystery play about London”, the record was voted the Best Album of 2007 by the Observer Music Magazine and it includes the singles Herculean, Kingdom of Doom and Green Fields.
Although Simon Tong and Paul Simonon appeared on the next Gorillaz album and Tony Allen collaborated with Damon Albarn on Rocket Juice & the Moon, the band have not released any more material… until now. Their long overdue follow-up Merrie Land was released in November.
Producer: Paul Kobrak
WED 16:30 The Media Show (m0007wf7)
The programme about a revolution in media with Amol Rajan, the BBC's Media Editor
WED 17:00 PM (m0007wf9)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0007wff)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Gaby's Talking Pictures (m0007wfj)
Series 2
Episode 5
Gaby Roslin hosts the film quiz with impressions by Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona. This week, team captains John Thomson and Ellie Taylor are joined by special guests Samantha Spiro and Susan Calman.
Presented by Gaby Roslin
Team Captains: John Thomson and Ellie Taylor
Impressionists: Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona
Created by Gaby Roslin
Written by Carrie Quinlan and Barney Newman
Produced by Gaby Roslin and Barney Newman
Executive Producer Gordon Kennedy
Recorded at RADA Studios, London
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4
WED 19:00 The Archers (m0007wfn)
Kate’s plan backfires and Shula is offended by a surprising request
WED 19:15 Front Row (m0007wfs)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
WED 19:45 The Country Girls Trilogy (m0007wdg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 Unreliable Evidence (m0007wfx)
Series exploring and analysing the legal issues of the day
WED 20:45 Four Thought (m0007wd7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 today]
WED 21:00 Ghosts in the Machine (m0000xy9)
Laurie Taylor investigates the people who hear the voices of the dead in recorded sounds - and uncovers the strange and haunting world of auditory illusion.
Believers in EVP, or Electronic Voice Phenomena think they're hearing the voices of the beyond - messages captured in the throb and static of white noise.
Laurie Taylor's a rationalist - he doesn't go in for this mumbo-jumbo. But whilst the peculiar world of EVP may not be evidence of the afterlife, it does show how we're susceptible - far more susceptible than we might have ever believed - to be deceived by our ears.
Laurie takes us on an mind-bending journey through the world of aural hallucination and illusion - revealing how the ghosthunters of EVP actually are showing off something rather profound about the flaws in our auditory perception...and they way we scrabble for meaning in the booming, buzzing confusion of the world around us.
Contributors include the acclaimed expert on auditory illusion Diana Deutsch, writer and sound artist Joe Banks, neurologist Sophie Scott and parapsychologist Ann Winsper.
Producer: Steven Rajam for BBC Wales
WED 21:30 A Singer's Guide to Britain (m0007wd5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m0007wg0)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
WED 22:45 The Offing (m0007wdl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
WED 23:00 The John Moloney Show (m0007wg2)
The Different Dog
The Godfather of British stand-up John Moloney returns to the live stage to share his latest tribulations of modern life.
This week, John takes the whole family to the historic city of York for a short break. As travellers with pets will well know, dogs are not always welcome in hotels; after negotiating in the only way he knows how, Jeffrey the Jack Russell is welcomed to the fancy establishment under the strictest of security.
A very important person is staying in the same hotel, with a number of her own dogs taking residence on the top floor. This can only end well.
Featuring Karen Bartke and Ian Rankin.
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:15 TEZ Talks (m0001bqz)
Series 3
11. There's something about Maidenhead
Series 3. Episode 3. There's something about Maidenhead.
Comedian Tez Ilyas returns for a third series of TEZ Talks.
In this episode Tez talks about communication mishaps. He discusses messages people have sent to the wrong person and tells us about the worst gig he has ever had and how he managed to make it even worse.
Written and performed by Tez Ilyas
Produced by Carl Cooper
A BBC Studios Production
WED 23:30 Beyond Today (m0007wg4)
DNA testing: is it worth it?
There are lots of reasons you may want to take a DNA test. Perhaps you want to find out where in the world your DNA comes from or connect to relatives. But people don’t always know what they’re getting themselves into and some make shocking discoveries about their families.
We speak to Rebekah Drumsta from the NPE Friends Fellowship, a charity which helps people come to terms with finding out that one of their parents isn’t a biological relative. DNA tests also raise questions about healthcare. We hear from Nick in Kentucky, who thinks his life was saved after a DNA test spotted a hard to diagnose condition. So should they be used alongside traditional healthcare services such as the NHS? Kathy Hibbs from 23andMe tells us how the company would like to work with the NHS. And Adam Rutherford, who is a geneticist and author of ‘The Book of Humans: A Brief History of Culture, Sex, War and the Evolution of Us’, tells us why he’s sceptical about the idea.
Producers: Duncan Barber and Harriet Noble.
Mixed by Nicolas Raufast.
Editor: John Shields
THURSDAY 29 AUGUST 2019
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m0007wg6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 00:30 My Name Is Why (m0007wd9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0007wg8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0007wgb)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0007wgd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m0007wgg)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0007wgj)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Dr Marika Rose.
Good morning. We often talk about holidays as a chance to reset, and a similar principle shows up in the Bible. After God declares the seventh day a day of rest, a series of laws follows later in the Hebrew Bible – also known as the Old Testament – to try to build the principle of rest into the daily lives of the people of Israel. Alongside the Sabbath laws, there are also the laws of Jubilee, which declare that every seven years, the land is allowed to rest, all slaves and prisoners are to be set free, and all debts are forgiven. A reset.
We live, increasingly, in a society founded on debt, whether it’s credit card debt, mortgages, student loans, or the immensely complicated market in what the financial sector calls “futures”. A society built on debt is a society built on our promises that the future will be the same as the present, that we will carry on working hard to pay our debts, forever. This logic can spill over into our daily lives: we can get so caught up in thinking about what we owe – to banks, to our parents, to our children – that we forget that change is possible, that the future doesn’t have to be the same as the present. There’s no space for us to reset, to have our debts forgiven, to have the slate wiped clean so we can have another go; or to allow others to do the same.
God we thank you for the gift of rest, and for the possibility of a reset. Help us to be people who forgive debts, as you forgive our debts; who give ourselves and those around us the chance for a reset. Help us to imagine and work for a future that is full of rest, and of freedom. Amen
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m0007wgl)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b0378wz1)
Bullfinch
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Michaela Strachan presents the Bullfinch. The males have rose-pink breasts and black caps and are eye-catching whilst the females are a duller pinkish-grey but share the black cap. Exactly why they're called Bullfinches isn't clear - perhaps it's to do with their rather thickset appearance. 'Budfinch' would be a more accurate name as they are very fond of the buds of trees, especially fruit trees.
THU 06:00 Today (m0007x4l)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 Her Story Made History (m0007x4n)
Series 2
Michelle Bachelet
Michelle Bachelet was a student in Chile when General Pinochet took power in a coup in 1973. Her father, a military man who wasn’t complicit with the new regime was tortured and died the following year. 30 years later – after spending time as minister for health and becoming one of the handful of women ever to serve as minister for defence – Bachelet became president of Chile. During her first term she even had to decide whether to award Pinochet a state funeral.
Producer: Ben Carter
THU 09:30 One to One (m00045kk)
Life in prison: Alan Rusbridger talks to Dr Sohom Das
Former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger meets Dr Sohom Das, a consultant forensic psychiatrist. His job is to assess, treat and rehabilitate mentally ill offenders.
Dr Sohom discusses the effect that a life behind bars has upon the mind, tells Alan about the times when he has made a difference, and talks about the challenges of treating mentally ill offenders inside jail.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
THU 09:45 My Name Is Why (m0007x4q)
Episode 4
Lemn Sissay reads from his frank memoir about growing up in Britain's care system. Today, Lemn is 16 and revelations about his identity come to light after years of questions, mixed emotions follow.
Lemn Sissay is an award winning writer, and was the official poet for the 2012 Olympics. He was awarded an MBE for services to literature and has worked tirelessly is supporting children in care.
My Name is Why is his courageous account of a childhood spent in a foster family and followed by six years in Britain's institutional care system during the 1970s and 1980s. Interwoven with documents from his social work file, Lemn uncovers answers to questions that he has been asking since he left care aged 17. Truths are uncovered that reveal Lemn's story to be one of triumph over adversity.
Read by Lemn Sissay, Shaun Mason, Greg Jones, Nahel Tzegai and Sean Baker.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0007x4s)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
THU 10:45 The Country Girls Trilogy (m0007x4v)
The Country Girls
The Country Girls 9/10
by Edna O’Brien
Dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Kate ..... Charlie Murphy
Baba ..... Aoibhinn McGinnity
Reg ..... Ciarán McMenamim
Mrs Burns ..... Siobhan McSweeney
Mr Gentlemen ..... Paul Chahidi
Harry ..... Shaun Mason
Directed by Sally Avens & Jessica Dromgoole
Baba arranges a double date for her and Kate but it's lacking in the romance Kate longs for until a surprise visitor answers her need.
Edna O'Brien's novel was banned on publication but became an instant classic for its frank, funny & subversive portrayal of women's lives within a patriarchal and religious society
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m0007x4x)
Kazakhstan: Port in the Desert
China’s New Silk Road reaches across all parts of the globe; building roads, bridges and towering cities where before there were none. In Kazakhstan, China’s neighbour to the west, this vast project has created a port. But there’s no water there, just desert… and trains running all the way from China through to Europe and the Middle East. Meeting the hundreds of shoppers and traders, it’s astonishing to think that just a few years ago this border was a closed military zone - the frontier between two giant communist states. But turn the clock back further and we discover this part of Central Asia has always been closely tied to China, in languages, culture and contested history. For Crossing Continents, Rose Kudabayeva returns to her home country Kazakhstan, to meet people living along the New Silk Road and record how their world is changing.
Produced by Monica Whitlock
A BlokMedia production
THU 11:30 Art of Now (m0007x4z)
The World in Their Hands
We hear from one of the world’s last remaining globemakers and reflect on the globe’s cultural and symbolic currency.
While Google Earth may give us intricate detail of every inch of land, there’s nothing like clutching a globe to properly comprehend our place in the world. We’ve been fascinated by replicating our planet since before the Renaissance; an art and science that’s developed as our understanding has evolved.
In this programme, we step into the studio of Bellerby and Co, one of the few companies remaining that are making globes by hand today. From their Stoke Newington warehouse, we follow the journey of a globe from design to dispatch. We hear about the challenges they face daily, from retraining their hands to querying geopolitical protocol, and the customers who’ve commissioned their unique bespoke worlds.
Alongside this creative process, we hear from writer and cartography enthusiast Simon Garfield and globe conservator Sylvia Sumira to explore the rich history of globemaking as well as some bigger ideas around the influence of the artists who represent our planet to us. The globe is crucially illustrative of our shared experience. Do we need its symbol today more than ever?
Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Wales
THU 12:00 News Summary (m0007x51)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 The Offing (m0007x53)
4/10: Meadow Work
One summer following the Second World War, sixteen year old Robert Appleyard sets out on foot from his Durham mining village, desperate to see something of the world before he goes down the pit. Acutely attuned to the rhythms and delights of the natural world, he sleeps rough and takes work where he can find it, until he meets Dulcie Piper, an eccentric older woman who lives in a ramshackle cottage looking out to sea. Dulcie is everything Robert is not: wordly, cynical, knowledgeable about poetry and politics, a lover of fine food and drink, someone who has seen both the best and the worst of human nature in the chaos of war. Despite their utterly different backgrounds, the two form an unlikely friendship which has a profound effect on both their lives.
As an old man, Robert looks back on that summer that changed the direction his life was to take, and the woman who opened his eyes to life's possibilities.
Benjamin Myers is an award-winning novelist, music journalist and landscape writer. His novel 'The Gallows Pole' received a Roger Deakin Award and won the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction; 'Beastings' won the Portico Prize for Literature; and 'Pig Iron' won the inaugural Gordon Burn Prize.
Kevin Whately is well known for his television roles in Boys From the Black Stuff, and as Robert 'Robbie' Lewis in Inspector Morse and Lewis.
Episode 4/10: Meadow Work
As Dulcie continues to provide lavish meals at her garden table, Robert insists on earning his keep
Reader: Kevin Whately
Abridger: Sian Preece
Producer: Sara Davies
THU 12:18 You and Yours (m0007x55)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.
THU 12:57 Weather (m0007x57)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m0007x59)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague.
THU 13:45 Our House (m0007x5c)
Our House: 1997
How might a young couple, unable to buy their first home today, have fared in previous decades? Tacita and Charlie are in their mid twenties. They live near Brighton on the south coast and are desperate to move in together. But buying somewhere in that part of the country is out of their reach. They believe earlier generations had it easier than they do. In part four of five programmes Tacita and Charlie travel back to 1997; the Labour party has just won power in a landslide victory, the Conservatives claim to have left the economy in better shape than ever before. Just a few years earlier a property crash had left hundreds of thousands of people in negative equity or suffering repossession. So, what sort of difficulties might a young couple, trying to get on the property ladder back then, have faced? And how might they compare to the situation Tacita and Charlie are in today?
The experts who guide our couple through 1997 are economist Jonathan Cribb from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Professor Sharon Collard from the University of Bristol and Professor Claire Langhamer from the University of Sussex.
Producers: Paul Kerley and Rosamund Jones
THU 14:00 The Archers (m0007wfn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b08ynzbh)
The Man with the Hammer
by Phil Porter
A tale of two wheels. Why do we cycle and why do we cheat? Widowed father Tony and teenage daughter Jodie's relationship is navigated on the road.
Director: David Hunter.
THU 15:00 Open Country (m0007x5f)
Darwin’s Landscape Laboratory
Helen Mark finds out how Charles Darwin used the plants in his garden at Down House and the surrounding Kent landscape to develop his theory of evolution by natural selection
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m0007wqn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (m0007wsp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
13:30 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (m0007x5h)
Mark Jenkin on Derek Jarman's The Garden
With Francine Stock
Mark Jenkin, the director of acclaimed D-I-Y movie Bait talks about the influence of Derek Jarman's equally home-made movie, The Garden, on his Cornish drama that stars his wife and her ex-husband.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m0007x5k)
Gareth Mitchell and guests illuminate the mysteries and challenge the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.
THU 17:00 PM (m0007x5m)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0007x5p)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 The Tim Vine Chat Show (m0007x5r)
Episode 1
Recorded earlier this month at the Edinburgh Fringe, Tim Vine and the Great British Public are the stars.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production
THU 19:00 The Archers (m0007x5t)
Emma makes a horrifying discovery and David attempts to keep the peace
THU 19:15 Front Row (m0007x5w)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
THU 19:45 The Country Girls Trilogy (m0007x4v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 Making History (b0b5t81t)
Coastal change: Overfishing and the death of the seaside
Tom Holland is joined by Dr Matthew Green for a programme that's all at sea.
Helen Castor is in Great Yarmouth where local people voted overwhelmingly for Brexit. One of their major gripes with Brussels was the detrimental impact they thought EU quotas had on the town's fishing industry. Dr James Barrett is an archaeologist who researches the medieval fishing communities of Britain and he reveals that, 800 years ago, the fishermen of Gt Yarmouth worked closely with their counterparts across the North Sea to bring in unimaginable quantities of herring - along with Britain's main supply of wine.
Earlier this year and just a few miles north of Great Yarmouth, villagers living in chalets on the cliffs at Hemsby were evacuated as the so-called "Beast from the East" tore into the unstable, sandy cliffs. Several of these properties have since been demolished, while others have been the focus of a frantic attempt to protect them from the unforgiving sea. Such destruction is commonplace in the history of the East Coast. Geographer Sally Brown from the University of Southampton heads to East Yorkshire to meet Marcus Jecock from Historic England and find out how the North Sea has shaped the lives of people living nearby for centuries.
The British seaside resort has been an unloved place ever since package holidays took its clientele to sunnier climes overseas. Now funding bodies such as the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Arts Council have been investing in projects that seek to restore some of these places to their former glory. But how effective is this and does one seaside history fit every coastal resort? Guardian writer Tim Burrows goes home to Southend to ponder the death of the seaside.
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
THU 20:30 In Business (m0007x5z)
Managing Volunteers: Free and Easy?
Twenty million Brits give their time for free each year. From the National Trust to the hospice coffee morning, the Samaritans to the local football club, huge parts of our world rely on volunteers.
But how easy is it to manage a workforce who can walk out at a moment's notice? How can you ensure people perform well - or even turn up - without the "carrot and stick" of pay and disciplinary procedures?
Presenter Claire Bolderson knows both sides of this: she volunteers at a food bank, but also chairs the governors at her local school. With the help of an RNLI lifeboat crew, a bustling community centre, and a whole roomful of professional volunteer managers, she discovers just how to get the best out of volunteers - and how much managers of paid staff have to learn from them.
Contributors include:
Tim Ody - Station Manager, RNLI Teddington
Pam Bardouille - Volunteer Co-Ordinator, The Dalgarno Trust
Jarina Choudhury - Volunteering Development Consultant, NCVO
Emma Knights - Chief Executive, National Governance Association
Dr Jenna Ward - University of Leicester
Presenter: Claire Bolderson
Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m0007x5k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 Her Story Made History (m0007x4n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m0007x61)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
THU 22:45 The Offing (m0007x53)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
THU 23:00 Kevin Eldon Will See You Now (m0007x63)
Series 4
A Giraffe on a Pulley
Kevin Eldon and his all-important cast present the show from Kevin’s very own mansion, complete with an Italian genius, a brace of pedantic sons, a giraffe on a pulley and Britain’s noisiest toast.
Kevin Eldon is a comedy phenomenon. He’s been in virtually every major comedy show in the last fifteen years. But not content with working with the likes of Chris Morris, Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, Stewart Lee, Julia Davis and Graham Linehan, he’s also created his own comedy series for BBC Radio 4.
After all the waiting - Kevin Eldon Will See You Now.
Also starring Morwenna Banks, Kate Duchêne, Justin Edwards (The Thick Of It), Miles Jupp, Paul Putner (Little Britain), David Reed (The Penny Dreadfuls), Catherine Shepherd and Dan Skinner.
Written by Kevin Eldon
with additional material by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris (A Touch Of Cloth and those modern Ladybird books).
Produced and directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4
THU 23:30 Beyond Today (m0007x66)
Why aren’t lesbian couples taken seriously?
After Melania Geymonat and her girlfriend Chris were attacked on a London bus last week they chose to share the photo of the aftermath of the attack, and their story, with the world. They wanted people to understand something about what they and other lesbian couples face, not just violence but also the subtle ways in which their relationships are undermined and laughed about by men. On today’s episode Melania explains why she chose to go public about the horrific incident. And couple Bex Wilson and Becky Priest talk about what it’s like for their relationship to be fetishised and misunderstood.
Producers: Duncan Barber and Harriet Noble
Mixed by Nicolas Raufast
Editor: John Shields
FRIDAY 30 AUGUST 2019
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m0007x68)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 00:30 My Name Is Why (m0007x4q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0007x6b)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0007x6d)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0007x6g)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m0007x6j)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0007x6l)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Dr Marika Rose
Good morning. Lots of us at this time of the year are getting ready to go back to work. Some are just back from holiday and are putting off the final bits of unpacking. Some are waiting for school or university terms to start. Many of us are waiting for the pace of work to pick up as we head towards autumn and eventually – sorry to bring it up so early! – the Christmas season. Some of us are excited for a new season of dark evenings and snuggling up cosily at home; and others of us are dreading it.
It’s a good time to take stock. What have we brought back with us from holidays that we’d like to carry with us into normal life and which things don’t seem so important now we’re home, like the food which tastes amazing while you’re lounging around by the pool but isn’t quite so appetizing once it’s been dragged home sweatily in your suitcase? How have travel, and rest, helped us to imagine different ways of being in our bodies, with our friends, in our homes and at work Perhaps some things that used to seem essential now seem less important? As the dust has settled in our lives while we’ve been away, there are bound to be parts of our daily habits and routines that could do with shaking up a bit.
God we ask that you would help us to take the lessons of summer with us into September. Help us to stand back a little - to rethink our relationship to work and to rest; help us to love our bodies in work clothes as well as in shorts and swimsuits; help us to relish the time we spend with loved ones at home as well as away. Amen.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m0007x6n)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b0378x0n)
Rock Pipit
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Michaela Strachan presents the rock pipit. The sight of a greyish bird no bigger than a sparrow, at home on the highest cliffs and feeding within reach of breaking waves can come as a surprise. In spring and early summer, the male Pipits become wonderful extroverts and perform to attract a female, during which they sing loudly to compete with the sea-wash.
FRI 06:00 Today (m0007yll)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 The Reunion (m0007wrv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 My Name Is Why (m0007ynh)
Episode 5
The acclaimed writer Lemn Sissay reads from his powerful account about growing up in Britain's care system. Today, five years in care homes takes its toll, but Lemn has a plan for a better life.
Lemn Sissay is an award winning writer, and was the official poet for the 2012 Olympics. He was awarded an MBE for services to literature and has worked tirelessly is supporting children in care.
My Name is Why is his courageous account of a childhood spent in a foster family and followed by six years in Britain's institutional care system during the 1970s and 1980s. Interwoven with documents from his social work file, Lemn uncovers answers to questions that he has been asking since he left care aged 17. Truths are uncovered that reveal Lemn's story to be one of triumph over adversity.
Read by Lemn Sissay, Shaun Mason, Susan Jameson and Sean Baker.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0007ylq)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
FRI 10:45 The Country Girls Trilogy (m0007yls)
The Country Girls
The Country Girls 10/10
by Edna O'Brien
Dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Kate ..... Charlie Murphy
Baba ..... Aoibhinn McGinnity
Mr Gentlemen ..... Paul Chahidi
Reg ..... Ciarán McMenamim
Joanna ..... Susan Jameson
Minnie ..... Ell Potter
Directed by Sally Avens & Jessica Dromgoole
Kate' & Baba's Dublin dreams fall prey to sex & sickness. Edna O'Brien's novel was banned on publication but became an instant classic for its frank, funny & subversive portrayal of women's lives within a patriarchal and religious society.
FRI 11:00 Don't Log Off (m0007ylv)
Series 10
Seeking Fulfilment
Alan Dein connects with people around the world united by their desire to find fulfilment.
Alan speaks to a young gay man in China troubled by homophobia and an Egyptian woman determined to resist the religious extremism she witnesses in her small city.
He also reaches out to an Iranian man struggling to pursue his passion for foreign languages against the odds and a jobless Nigerian distressed by his inability to provide for his family.
Producer: Laurence Grissell
FRI 11:30 Dave Podmore (m00074jt)
Dave Podmore Loses the Ashes
England's sleaziest cricketer, Dave Podmore, finally has his hands on the most historic trophy in the whole of world sport. Or does he? And have the Aussies got plans of their own?
Starring Christopher Douglas as Dave Podmore and Andrew Nickolds as his trusty sidekick, Radio One County's Andy Hamer. With Nicola Sanderson and Lewis Macleod.
Written by Christopher Douglas, Nick Newman and Andrew Nickolds
Edited by John Whitehall
Executive Producer: Richard Wilson
Producer: Jon Harvey
A Naked production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m0007yvv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 The Offing (m0007ym2)
5/10: A Leavetaking
One summer following the Second World War, sixteen year old Robert Appleyard sets out on foot from his Durham mining village, desperate to see something of the world before he goes down the pit. Acutely attuned to the rhythms and delights of the natural world, he sleeps rough and takes work where he can find it, until he meets Dulcie Piper, an eccentric older woman who lives in a ramshackle cottage looking out to sea. Dulcie is everything Robert is not: wordly, cynical, knowledgeable about poetry and politics, a lover of fine food and drink, someone who has seen both the best and the worst of human nature in the chaos of war. Despite their utterly different backgrounds, the two form an unlikely friendship which has a profound effect on both their lives.
As an old man, Robert looks back on that summer that changed the direction his life was to take, and the woman who opened his eyes to life's possibilities.
Benjamin Myers is an award-winning novelist, music journalist and landscape writer. His novel 'The Gallows Pole' received a Roger Deakin Award and won the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction; 'Beastings' won the Portico Prize for Literature; and 'Pig Iron' won the inaugural Gordon Burn Prize.
Kevin Whately is well known for his television roles in Boys From the Black Stuff and as Robert 'Robbie' Lewis in Inspector Morse and Lewis.
Episode 5/10: A Leavetaking
Robert says goodbye to Dulcie, but doesn't get as far as he'd planned.
Reader: Kevin Whately
Abridger: Sian Preece
Producer: Sara Davies
FRI 12:18 You and Yours (m0007ym4)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.
FRI 12:57 Weather (m0007ym6)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m0007ym8)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
FRI 13:45 Our House (m0007ymb)
Our House: 2009
How might a young couple, unable to buy their first home today, have fared in past decades? Tacita and Charlie are in their mid twenties. They live near Brighton on the south coast and are desperate to move in together. But buying somewhere in this part of the country is out of their reach. They believe earlier generations had it easier than they do. In the final programme Tacita and Charlie travel back to 2009. The global financial crisis is biting hard, mortgage lending is being squeezed and workers are facing a pay freeze. So, is this the worst period so far for a young couple trying to get on the housing ladder? And how does it compare to today?
The experts who guide our couple through 2009 are economist Jonathan Cribb from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Professor Sharon Collard from the University of Bristol and Professor Claire Langhamer from the University of Sussex.
Producers: Rosamund Jones and Paul Kerley
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m0007x5t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (m0007ymd)
Tinsel Girl and the Pain Clinic
Uplifting comedy drama about the life, friendships and misadventures of wheelchair user Maz. Starring and inspired by Cherylee Houston. Written by Lou Ramsden
Normally sparky Maz hits rock bottom. In her darkest place yet her only option is a stay at a pain clinic. She reluctantly checks herself in and by doing so, embarks on an adventure, transforming a ward of unhappy, uncommunicative patients into a place of mischief and friendship. But by changing other people's outlooks, will Maz also be forced to change her own?
MAZ .....Cherylee Houston
RACHEL/STUDENT.....Kathryn Pemberton
JULIET/ MRS COATES....Krissi Bohn
DAWN.....Julie Hesmondhalgh
RICHARD.....Kevin Davids
BERNIE/ ED/ DS WARREN/ SPECIALIST.....Toby Hadoke
Directed by Nadia Molinari
This drama is dedicated to Ian from Bath Pain Clinic.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0007ymg)
Sissinghurst Castle Gardens: Correspondence Edition
Peter Gibbs and the panel are in Sissinghurst Castle Gardens in the Weald of Kent for a correspondence edition. Pippa Greenwood, Matt Biggs and Chris Thorogood answer the questions raised by post, email and social media.
Producer: Hannah Newton
Assistant Producer: Rosie Merotra
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m0007ymj)
The Bean Room
An original short work for BBC Radio 4 by the Irish author Caitriona Lally. As read by Christopher Grant.
Caitriona Lally is the author of ‘Eggshells’. She studied English Literature in Trinity College, Dublin was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature 2018. This is her first story for BBC Radio.
Writer ..... Caitriona Lally
Reader ..... Christopher Grant
Producer ..... Michael Shannon
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m0007yml)
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (m0007ymn)
Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life.
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (m0003rmf)
Eddie and Stacey: Fighting Talk
Father and daughter talk about their life-long passion for boxing. She went on to become a professional boxer and win the ABA title - just like her father. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
FRI 17:00 PM (m0007ymq)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0007ymv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m0007ymx)
Series 100
Episode 1
Zoe Lyons is the first guest host in the chair for series 100 of the long-running satirical quiz. She is joined to chew over news stories big and small by Andy Hamilton, Katy Brand, Helen Lewis and Geoff Norcott.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m0007yn0)
Writer, Tim Stimpson
Director, Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe
David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge ….. Angela Piper
Neil Carter ….. Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter ….. Charlotte Martin
Ian Craig ….. Stephen Kennedy
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Clarrie Grundy ….. Heather Bell
Will Grundy ….. Philip Molloy
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O'Hanrahan
Ed Grundy ….. Barry Farrimond
Shula Hebden Lloyd ….. Judy Bennett
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Alistair Lloyd ….. Michael Lumsden
Adam Macy ….. Andrew Wincott
Kate Madikane ….. Perdita Avery
Hannah Riley ….. Helen Longworth
Roy Tucker ….. Ian Pepperell
Bev Hanson ….. Alison Belbin
Jakob Hakansson ….. Paul Venables
Vince Casey ….. Tony Turner
FRI 19:15 Front Row (m0007yn2)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
FRI 19:45 The Country Girls Trilogy (m0007yls)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m0007yn4)
Misha Glenny, Justine Greening MP, Lara McNeill, Richard Tice MEP
Ed Stourton presents topical debate from the Radio Theatre at Broadcasting House, London, with a panel including the author and journalist Misha Glenny, the Conservative MP and former Education Secretary Justine Greening MP, the Youth representative on Labour's National Executive Committee Lara McNeill and the Chairman of the Brexit Party Richard Tice MEP.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m0007yn6)
On Ghost Cities
Rebecca Stott is fascinated with abandoned or ruined cities.
She knows she's in good company - along with the millions of people who've been drawn to the recent mini-series, Chernobyl... or the video game, Metro Exodus.
She believes that, in these precarious times, they give us what H.G. Wells once called 'a sense of dethronement'.
Producer: Adele Armstrong
FRI 21:00 Archive on 4 (b09zn0ln)
The Long Shadow of Canary Wharf
In April 1988, Margaret Thatcher drove in the first pile of the building that was to be the tallest in Britain and to represent her vision of renewal, free markets and international finance. Thirty years on, journalist Jane Martinson looks back on the aspirations and speaks to those who have grown up and grown old in the shadow of Canary Wharf.
Thirty years ago, work began on a tower destined to transform London into a global financial capital. Canary Wharf, completed in 1991, heralded a new world order in which new jobs and new buildings were meant to improve the lives of all Londoners, not least the mainly white working class residents at the bottom of its 50 floors.
In 1987, the Isle of Dogs was an area of high unemployment and the highest concentration of council homes in England. Today, tensions over low paid jobs and housing are huge. While there have been winners and losers from the changes of the past three decades, the voices of these residents, particularly white working class women, have all too rarely been heard.
This programme mixes archive of the time - rich in promise of future prosperity - with a series of intimate and revealing conversations between the denizens of the Isle of Dogs today with someone who knows this area well - because it is where she grew up. Jane Martinson lived in a council house, went to the local comprehensive and worked on a local market stall on Saturdays before going on to become a journalist. Join her on a journey home to a changed Britain.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m0007yn8)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
FRI 22:45 The Offing (m0007ym2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (m0007ww4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:25 Beyond Today (m0007ync)
Why is Korean spy cam porn everyone’s problem?
South Korea is thought to be one of the more progressive countries in Asia, with its technological advancements and dominance in pop music. But the recent introduction of 5G has led to a rise in secret recordings in public areas, including women’s changing rooms and toilets. The BBC’s Seoul correspondent Laura Bicker takes us through the rise of spy cams and how it’s fuelling the global porn industry.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (m0003rn4)
Joe and Charlie: The Relaxation of Running
Friends who met through their shared love of running talk about how it's helped them in stay in touch with the world around them. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.