Women far outnumber men as buyers, borrowers and readers of most kinds of fiction. and make up the majority of festival attendees, reading group members and online book bloggers. In this wide-ranging book Helen Taylor draws on over five hundred interviews and questionnaires to explore what, when and how contemporary women read, and why fiction in particular is so precious to them. She looks at how women readers draw on their fiction reading to tell the stories and mark the milestones in their own lives, pass childhood favourites on to children and grandchildren, and forge and sustain friendships. She hears from women about their childhood memories of learning to read, often taught by women in their family or at school, and about how books have become an indispensable part of their adult lives. Her book analyses the special appeal and changing readership for genres like romance, erotica and crime, and looks in detail at the continuing appeal of lasting classic novels like Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre.
As a male author, Ian McEwan, once said: 'When women stop reading, the novel will be dead.'
Helen Taylor is Emeritus Professor of English at Exeter University, has taught and published widely on women's writing, is a regular chairperson at literary festivals and was the first Director of the Liverpool Literary Festival. Her books include 'Scarlett's Women: Gone With the Wind and its Female Fans', 'Circling Dixie: Contemporary Southern Culture Through a Literary Lens' and 'The Daphne du Maurier Companion'.
The reader, Lucy Briers, has recently appeared in the television shows Victoria and Gentleman Jack. She played Mary Bennet in the memorable 1995 television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice
Spiritual reflection to start the day with Bob Fyffe of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
Anna Della has been writing a book about people inadvertently turned into gods, and in this bewitching talk she describes a journey across Morocco with one of them. She discusses what prompts people to regard others as gods, and what it might tell us about our society.
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
Ian Marchant visits the Chilterns to test out some of the ideas for new ‘National Landscapes’ in the recent government-commissioned Glover Review into England’s National Parks. What barriers do some people face when it comes to visiting the countryside? (Hint: it’s not just owning a pair of wellies). And why does spending a night under the stars for every child matter for the protection of the countryside?
Ian meets the author of the new review, Julian Glover, in a wet wood above Wendover, just a stone's throw from the Prime Minister's country residence, Chequers. Julian is confident that the government will support his recommendations, one of which is to improve access to the countryside for people from diverse backgrounds. This includes High Wycombe born-and-bred Sadia Hussain, who loves the countryside but understands some of the barriers faced by people like her parents, who settled here from Pakistan. To them, the countryside has a different meaning and set of associations. And it also includes Layla Ashraf-Carr, a Chiltern Ranger. Born in Singapore, Layla suspects the Malay side of her family might have preferred her to be a lawyer or a doctor rather than a custodian of the natural landscape.
Ian also meets farmer Ian Waller, who loves his worms and his flock of Herdwick sheep, and historian and teacher Stuart King, who can explain how the landscape of the Chilterns allowed the local furniture making industry to flourish.
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Jay Rayner hosts the culinary panel show from Northampton, with Rachel McCormack, Andi Oliver, Rob Owen-Brown and Dr Annie Gray.
Together, they answer questions on left over pork, the use of basil in cooking and savoury choux pastry.
The panellists are joined by two local food producers - James Dix of MicroGreener who talks about micro-greens, and Dean Hoddle, Head Chef at the Silverstone Circuit, who discusses a local delicacy, Ock n Dough.
Anne McElvoy of the Economist looks behind the scenes at Westminster .
Will government education policy, make significant changes, what will proposals for re-invigorating the civil service actually mean, and what to expect from a cabinet re-shuffle when it comes.
Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world.
The latest news from the world of personal finance plus advice for those trying to make the most of their money.
Chris Mason chairs topical debate from Belfast's Assembly Buildings Conference Centre with a panel including the Sinn Féin MLA Caoimhe Archibald, Economy Minister at Stormont Diane Dodds MLA, Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood and the new SDLP MP for South Belfast.
Animal Farm opens The Real George Orwell, a celebration of the writer's life and work.
One night, on an English farm, Major the boar recounts his vision of an utopia where his fellow creatures own the land along with the means of production and are no longer the slaves of humans. Before long, his dream comes true and for a short while all animals really are equal. But the clever pigs educate themselves and soon learn how to extend their own power, inevitably at the expense of the rest of the community.
Narrator ..... Tamsin Greig
Squealer ..... Toby Jones
Snowball ..... Patrick Brennan
Boxer ..... Ralph Ineson
Clover ..... Liza Sadovy
Major ..... Robert Blythe
Benjamin ..... Paul Stonehouse
Muriel ..... Sarah Thom
Mollie ..... Lizzy Watts
With Eleanor Crooks, Ben Crowe, Will Howard, Gerard McDermott, Adam Nagaitis and Stephanie Racine.
Musical director ..... Neil Brand
Director ..... Alison Hindell
George Orwell described his short novel as a fairy story and it is deceptively simple to read. Regularly on the school syllabus, this well-loved tale is, of course, a satire on the Soviet Communist system and it still reads as a powerful warning despite the changes in world politics since it was first published in 1945. This production uses Orwell's own radio version which was first produced in 1947.
Of course there is no real George Orwell - it was the pen name of Eric Blair - but he was a writer and political commentator who is very hard to pin down. Ever since his early death in 1950, he has been the darling of some on both the left and the right of British politics - whilst being reviled by others. For all the beautiful simplicity of his writing and storytelling Orwell/Blair is a complex mass of confusions - an anti-establishment, pro-English, ex-Etonian ex-policeman and socialist, who was ardently anti-authoritarian. He was as anti-fascist as he was anti-communist, a former Spanish Civil War soldier who was anti-war but pro the Second World War, and so on and so on.
Maggie Oliver, the former detective and whistleblower who exposed Greater Manchester Police’s poor handling of the sexual abuse of young girls in Rochdale, talks about the publication of the first part of an independent review into failures in the Investigation of the sexual grooming of children. She tells us why she thinks girls are continuing to be abused today.
A mother tells us about her daughter being able to access around 30 cosmetic procedures despite being under the age of 18. Caroline Payne a plastic and reconstructive surgeon discusses how and why this might happen.
We discuss the term ‘Mixed Weight Dating, used to describe a couple with a noticeable difference in body size or shape, with Steph Yeboah a plus size and body positive lifestyle blogger and Ebony Douglas the CEO of her own marketing and PR agency.
We hear from the heads of the UK’s only two women’s housing associations Zaiba Qureshi the Chief Executive of Housing for Women and Denise Fowler the Chief Executive of Women’s Pioneer Housing. How have women’s housing needs changed since the organisations were set up?
On 25 July 2019, the President of the United States made a phone call to the recently-elected President of Ukraine - congratulating him on his party’s election victory. What Donald Trump said in that call to Volodymyr Zelensky has ended up threatening his own presidency, triggering the impeachment of the president. Donald Trump says his interest was in rooting out corruption. Meanwhile Joe Biden’s role in Ukraine was to do the same - root out corruption. The Inquiry asks why Ukraine has such a corruption problem. Presented by Tanya Beckett.
David Baddiel, Njambi McGrath, John Shuttleworth, Paul Chahidi, Pepe Belmonte, Reuben James, Sara Cox, Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson and Sara Cox are joined by David Baddiel, Njambi McGrath, John Shuttleworth and Paul Chahidi for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Reuben James and Pepe Belmonte.
The judge taking up the presidency of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom as tensions with the government simmer.
British judges have been under attack like never before in recent years, described as “enemies of the people” by one newspaper. The Supreme Court was accused by Downing Street of making “a serious mistake” in its ruling on the prorogation of Parliament.
The Conservative Party’s election manifesto promised ominously to look at “the relationship between the Government, Parliament and the courts”.
The role of the country’s most senior judge has arguably never been more important.
A triple bill of Samuel Beckett plays has just started at London's Jermyn Street Theatre. Directed by Trevor Nunn, it's a chance to see Krapp's Last Tape as well as two lesser-known works - Eh Joe and The Old Tune.https://bit.ly/2Rm8AtG https://bit.ly/2uWA95b
Bombshell has been Oscar nominated. It's the story of Roger Ailes' reign at Fox News and the sexual harrasment cases that were brought against him. It stars Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie
Armando Iannucci has a new comedy TV series on HBO. Avenue 5 is set onboard a luxurious interplanetary cruiseship when things start to malfunction.
American Dirt is a new novel from Jeanine Cummins which follows a Mexican woman and her young son who have to flee to El Norte to escape drug cartel violence. They have become migrants
Tullio Crali was an Italian futurist painter who has an exhibition at London's Estorick Collection. He was a fervent futurist and you can see his paintings and sassintessi - compositions of stones and natural found objects
Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Rosie Boycott, Ekow Eshun and Amanda Craig. The producer is Oliver Jones
Tom: The Kinks' Days on Radio 4's Soul Music and Lucy Hughes Hallet's The Pike
Between 1969 and 1973, in the years before the US supreme court opened up access to abortion across the country, a group of women in Chicago built an underground service.
The University of Chicago student Heather Booth had been asked for help in 1965, when a friend's sister with an unwanted pregnancy was distraught and nearly suicidal. Her friend wanted to know if there was anywhere to turn in a state where abortion was illegal and where there was little guarantee for a woman's health or safety if she did manage to secure one.
In response, Booth found a connection to the civil rights leader and surgeon TRM. Howard, who performed the procedure. Word spread quickly that she was someone who could help women access safe abortions.
Operating under the pseudonym Jane, Heather Booth began to receive calls from other women. As the years went on and the number of calls increased, she looked for others to help carry on her work - and Jane: The Abortion Counseling Service of Women's Liberation began in earnest.
At first, the women sought out doctors for the procedure but, eventually, they found someone who trained them to carry out the abortions themselves. It's estimated that the women performed over 11,000 abortions during this time.
In this documentary, we hear archive from the time, exploring the climate in the years running up to Roe v Wade, alongside an interview with a detective tasked with investigating Jane (originally recorded for the Radio Diaries podcast The Story of Jane), voices from the city and new interviews with Jane members.
In an attempt to settle an age-old dispute, Pilgrim must confront the ruthless Mr Speed. But he has a secret weapon.
William Palmer ..... Paul Hilton
Richie ..... Joe Dempsie
Maxine ..... Rachel Davies
Mr Speed ..... Kim Wall
Carter ..... Paul Copley
Laura ..... Leah Brotherhead
Cassie ..... Sarah Thom
Legend ..... Agnes Bateman
Pilgrim, cursed with immortality by the King of the Greyfolk, is forever forced to walk between the human world and the world of Faerie in a never-ending quest to preserve the uneasy balance between the two. Armed with the Abaeron, a book of incredibly powerful magic that protects its owner above all else, he can finally challenge Mr Speed - who has stolen generations of brides from one family, separate devoted parents from their very strange new changeling baby, put a giant to sleep, and locate Merlin, the figure most feared in all the Faerie world. Hard tasks at the best of times, but Pilgrim must also contend with the relentless malice of the sorceress Mrs Pleasance and the devious cunning of the King of the Greyfolk himself.
The post-war novel that summed up middle-class white America and established John Updike as the major American author of his generation. Rabbit, Run is the first in a virtuoso Pullitzer Prize-wining quintet featuring hapless Harry Angstrom, whom we meet as a 26 year old former high school basketball star and suburban paragon in the midst of a personal crisis.
Harry prays for his daughter, but then returns to form - abusing his wife, horrifying his family, and running to Ruth who finally reveals her secret.
Rabbit, Run established Updike as one of the major American novelists of his generation. In the New York Times he was praised for his "artful and supple" style in his "tender and discerning study of the desperate and the hungering in our midst's".
Radio 4 plans to broadcast all five novels in the series over the next few years.
This is the third series of Radio 4's programme which tries to solve some of the UK's most difficult social problems. This year, The Fix spends three episodes looking at one issue: debt. Why is it such an intractable problem in the UK, where 15% of the population have no savings at all? Presenters Matthew Taylor and Cat Drew visit the borough of Barking and Dagenham in east London, where more than one in ten people there owe money to the council.
They speak to working people about how debt is affecting their lives, to the council about what they're doing to try to help, and ask why current solutions don’t go far enough.
Radio's longest running quiz returns for its 72nd year, with Tom Sutcliffe asking the trademark cryptic questions. The teams representing Scotland and Wales kick off the new series as they try to unravel the clues and make the right connections. The more help Tom has to give them in arriving at the solutions, the more points he deducts.
Taking part are Val McDermid, Alan McCredie, Myfanwy Alexander and David Edwards.
John Clare's first book, Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, was published in 1820. Clare describes the landscape and the poor who worked it so vividly because he lived and laboured in it. It was a literary sensation and Clare was hailed as the 'Northamptonshire Peasant Poet'. But Helpston, Clare's village, was far from a cultural desert. His father was a singer with a large repertoire. Clare appreciated the songs local people sang and collected many, hoping to make a song book.
Gypsy friends taught Clare to play the fiddle - he was, he wrote, 'a desent scraper' - and he learned tunes from Wisdom Smith. He gathered 263 tunes, noted dances and recorded country customs.
To explore the role of this culture on John Clare's life and work the musician Jon Boden) visits his home in Helpston, looks at his tune book, plays and sings. Jon talks to George Deacon, author of John Clare and the Folk Tradition, and hears from the poet David Morley who has written a collection inspired by Clare's friendship with Wisdom Smith. Mina Gorji reveals, too, that Clare was well-read and accumulated a sizable library. And we hear Clare's poems.
Jon Boden wanders into the fields, noting how enclosure altered the landscape that Clare loved. Clare laments this and it contributed to his mental fragility.
Clare describes an old village custom, ' to stick a piece of greensward full of field flowers and place it as an ornament in their cottages which ornaments are called Midsummer cushions'. A young Helpston man leads Jon to Clare's grave and describes bringing midsummer cushions to Clare's grave on his birthday with his primary school classmates. At the grave Jon plays one of the tunes Clare noted down and played himself.
SUNDAY 19 JANUARY 2020
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m000djkd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:30 Short Works (m000d7k4)
A Proper Couple by Naomi Ishiguro
A young woman meets her girlfriend's parents for the first time in this specially commissioned new work for Radio 4 about love, masochism and cake.
Naomi Ishiguro's debut short story collection "Escape Routes" is released in February 2020. Described as "delightfully fresh and contemporary", her magical and sometimes disquieting stories originated during her time working as a bookseller at Mr. B’s Emporium in Bath. She is a graduate of the Creative Writing MA at the University of East Anglia.
Writer ..... Naomi Ishiguro
Reader ..... Olivia Ross
Producer ..... Ciaran Bermingham
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000djkg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000djkj)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000djkl)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m000djkn)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m000dfb0)
Adelaide Ringing Centre, Australia
Bells on Sunday comes from Australia, from the Adelaide Ringing Centre housed in the Eastern Tower of the city’s St Peter’s Cathedral. The centre has state-of-the-art education facilities which, amongst other things, enables ringing of the cathedral bells to be viewed by congregation and general public alike. The bells were cast and installed by Taylors of Loughborough in 1946. The Tenor, tuned to C, weighs over two imperial tons and makes this octave second in weight only to that of Sherbourne Abbey. We hear them ringing Grandsire Triples
SUN 05:45 Profile (m000df9b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News Headlines (m000df82)
The latest national and international news headlines.
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b068s44f)
A Good Argument
The word ‘argument’ can have negative connotations. Yet argument is a mainstay of democratic life. Mark Tully talks to prominent QC Dinah Rose about the importance of legal argument and asks whether arguing is a skill that can be taught. He examines the positive side of disputing an issue, the benefits of debate and the healthy business of enjoying a good argument.
Here is argument in all its guises –philosophy with Schopenhauer, politics with Nixon, science with Huxley, poetry with Carl Sandburg and musical argument from battling drums to Leonard Bernstein.
The readers are Polly Frame, Peter Marinker and Francis Cadder.
Presenter: Mark Tully
Producer: Frank Stirling
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m000df84)
The Floating Farm
35 cows on a floating farm in Rotterdam Harbour. They graze on the roof and their milk is turned into yogurt on the deck below. It certainly brings farming much closer to the urban consumer but is this really the future of agriculture? Nancy Nicolson meets the floating farm pioneers.
SUN 06:57 Weather (m000df86)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m000df88)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m000df8b)
A Hidden Life, Xenobots; Synagogue Leadership Row
The true story of a Catholic priest who refused to pledge allegiance to Hitler but was let down by the Church is the subject of the film, A Hidden Life, out in cinemas this week. Bishop John Sherrington joins Sunday to discuss whether the film sheds new light on the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Nazis.
This week came news that researchers in the US have created the first living machines by assembling cells from African clawed frogs into tiny robots that move around under their own steam. To discuss the possible ethical implications of this William Crawley is joined by Rev Dr Malcolm Brown, Director of Mission and Public Affairs for the Church of England, and Dr Yaqub Chaudhary, Research fellow in Experimental Science at The Cambridge Muslim College. .
And Sunday's David Cook reports on allegations of bullying at a flagship London synagogue.
Producers:
Catherine Earlam
Louise Clarke-Rowbotham
Series Producer:
Amanda Hancox
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m000df8d)
The Virtual Doctors
Simon Mayo makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of The Virtual Doctors.
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 ‘The Virtual Doctors’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘The Virtual Doctors’.
Registered Charity Number: 1129924
SUN 07:57 Weather (m000df8g)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m000df8j)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m000df8l)
In June 1994, six people were murdered in Loughinisland in County Down by Loyalist paramilitaries, yet strong links between the various parts of the community. People from a number of faith traditions come together in Loughinisland Church of Ireland, Seaforde, Co Down ina service marking the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christ Unity.
Led by Rev Adrian Dorrian
Preacher: Very Rev Henry Hull, Dean of Down
Come let us join our cheerful songs (NATIVITY)
A new commandment I give unto you (Crabtree)
I Corinthians 1.1-9
Psalm 133
John
17.20-23
If ye love me (Tallis)
Love Divine (BLAENWERN)
The hand O God has guided (THORNBURY)
Director of Music: Michael McCracken
Organist: Stephen Hamill
Producer: Bert Tosh
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (b07cyvkr)
The Ring of the Nibelung
Following the death of the philosopher, author and self-professed Wagner fan, Sir Roger Scruton, this is one of our favourite talks he did for the series.
As Wagner’s Ring – that huge and controversial cycle of operas - went on tour around the UK, Roger talked about why The Ring is absolutely a story for our time.
"I have loved The Ring and learned from it for over 50 years and for me, it is quite simply the truth about our world - but the truth expressed by means of music of unquestionable authority and supreme melodic and harmonic power".
The talk was first broadcast in 2016.
Producer: Adele Armstrong
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b03mztnb)
Crossbill
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
David Attenborough presents the story of the Crossbill. Crossbills are large finches that specialise in eating conifer seeds. To break into the pine or larch cones, they've evolved powerful bills with crossed tips which help the birds prise off the woody scales of each cone. Crossbills breed very early in the year and incubating birds sometimes have snow on their backs.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m000df8n)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m000df8q)
Writer, Paul Brodrick
Director, Gwenda Hughes
Editor, Jeremy Howe
David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Tom Archer ….. William Troughton
Natasha Archer ….. Mali Harries
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Justin Elliott ….. Simon Williams
Shula Hebden Lloyd ….. Judy Bennett
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Alistair Lloyd ….. Michael Lumsden
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Kate Madikane ….. Perdita Avery
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Freddie Pargetter ….. Toby Laurence
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Roy Tucker ….. Ian Pepperell
Peggy Woolley ….. June Spencer
Gavin ….. Gareth Pierce
Stephanie ….. Kerry Gooderson
Megan Miller ….. Susan Twist
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m000df3z)
Dame Sue Campbell, Director Women's Football at the FA
Dame Sue Campbell is the Director of Women’s Football at the Football Association. The women’s game has become increasingly popular recently and last year the England team, the Lionesses, made it to the World Cup semi-finals.
Born in 1948, just outside Nottingham, Sue was sporty from an early age, even changing schools to allow her to play football. She became a PE teacher in Manchester and realised how transformative sport could be, increasing self-esteem, motivation and self-belief.
In the mid-1980s, after learning about excellence in sport at Loughborough University and playing netball for England as well as dabbling in the pentathlon, Sue became deputy chief executive (and a year later chief executive) of the National Coaching Foundation, which provided education for coaches at both ends of the spectrum, from parent volunteers to elite coaches.
Ten years later, in 1995, she co-founded the Youth Sport Trust to set up a sports activity programme for every primary school in the country. It was hugely successful: in 2003 only 23% of school children were getting two hours of PE a week. By 2008, this figure had risen to 95%. In 2010, the coalition government cut their funding.
By this time, back at the elite end of the sporting spectrum, Sue was also in charge of UK Sport, where she presided over Team GB's biggest Olympic medal haul in living memory, at the London 2012 games. In 2016, she took her current job as head of Women’s Football at the FA. She has also been a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords since 2008.
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m000df8s)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 The Unbelievable Truth (m000d7pb)
Series 23
Episode 3
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.
Marcus Brigstocke, Lou Sanders, Cally Beaton and Neil Delamere are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as chocolate, the human body, the Netherlands and rats.
Produced by Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m000df8v)
Yes We Can: What do the tins we eat say about the UK?
Baked beans, tinned pies, corned beef, creamed tomato soup, plum tomatoes, ackee, pineapple chunks and condensed milk.
Our store cupboards are bursting with tins of food, they provide comfort, cheap family meals, quick lunches and easy dinners. Maybe even a sure stock of ingredients as Brexit edges closer.
Yet over the years, the UK market is dwindling. Stats show young people are less interested in tinned fruit and fish. And then there's the image problem. Tinned food has a reputation in the UK it's struggling to shake off. Cheap, unhealthy. Fine for those making do with tiny budgets, not if you can afford the fresh equivalents.
As Madrid born Patrick Martinez found out first hand when he set up a bespoke tinned fish company in Liverpool, we have a funny relationship with tinned food in the UK. A relationship quite unlike our continental neighbours. We deeply love these foods, but we might not admit our affection openly.
In this programme Sheila Dillon speaks to food writer Jack Monroe about the politics of tinned food and why she thinks we ought to cook and love the tinned foods lurking in our cupboards.
Presented by Sheila Dillon.
Produced in Bristol by Clare Salisbury.
SUN 12:57 Weather (m000df8x)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m000df8z)
Global news and analysis, presented by Mark Mardell.
SUN 13:30 From Our Home Correspondent (m000df91)
In the latest programme of the monthly series, Mishal Husain introduces dispatches from:
Vincent Ni on a Chinese man who, like him, has come to Britain and is in his mid-thirties - but there the similarities abruptly end. What does living here undocumented mean in practical terms and why does he do it?
In Middlesbrough, Martin Vennard finds that while the town is proud of its explorer son 250 years on from James Cook's exploration of the Antipodes, it doesn't necessarily know a great deal about him. And that matters, he says, because Cook's life has significant contemporary relevance for today's Tees-siders.
Emilie Filou visits Pembrokeshire to meet the bug champions of St Davids and how an entomologist's start-up, created with her chef husband, is trying to influence how children think about what they eat. Can their bold ideas wreak a revolution in the city of the country's patron saint?
With the approach of Holocaust Memorial Day, which this year marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Adam Shaw reflects on the striking contemporary relevance of his own father's refugee status and escape from Nazi persecution in places as varied as a country estate in Northumberland and a "Lord of the Flies"-like "school" in Scotland. In a letter addressed to his father's grandchildren, he reveals how this child refugee managed to survive largely alone and ponders whether this story is as remote from our experience as we might first imagine.
And in Kent petrol-head Martin Gurdon ponders the reasons for - and implications of - today's teenagers not driving as much as previous generations.
Producer Simon Coates
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000d7k2)
Nailsworth, Cotswolds
Peter Gibbs and the team are in Nailsworth, Cotswolds. Pippa Greenwood, Chris Beardshaw and Chris Thorogood answer the questoins.
This week, te panellists offer ideas for a GP surgery garden, discuss the merits of a composting toilet and recommend winter flowers for bumblebees. Peter also visits neighbouring football team Forest Green Rovers to chat to Head Groundsman, Adam Witchell.
Away from the questions, Peter and Pippa go for a walk to talk about winter wildlife.
Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Jemima Rathbone
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (m00051fg)
Sunday Omnibus - The Tombola of Life
Fi Glover presents the omnibus edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen with three conversations between a mother and daughter; mother and daughter's boyfriend; and two friends and former BAME colleagues in the police.
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: Mohini Patel
SUN 15:00 Oliver: Lagos to London (m000df93)
Episode 1
Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist is a powerful indictment of child poverty and exploitation, as relevant now as when it was written. A young orphan’s epic search for family and home lies at the heart of award-winning writer Ayeesha Menon’s radical updating of Dickens’ story to modern-day Nigeria and the refugee journey to Britain.
Directed by acclaimed theatre director Michael Buffong, this classic story is reimagined as a powerful and moving drama for today.
Episode 1:
Ogoniland, rural Nigeria. Ten-year-old Oli plays with best friend Mene. Innocent games against a background of fear because, the next day, the oil company are coming to take their land. When the villagers fight back, many of them are killed - leaving Oli and Mene as orphans who only have each other.
They have to find work to survive at a mining camp run by ruthless Tinube. Ambitious documentary-maker Jann persuades Oli to take him down the mine to film, but Tinube is furious and locks Oli away. When Oli is released, he discovers Mene has been sold and taken away, and he is left truly alone.
Oli’s journey to find his best friend leads him to Lagos where a chance meeting with streetwise Dodger and his gang sparks a series of events that none of them can outrun.
CAST:
Oli - Jordan Nash
Young Mene - Maryam Drammeh
Agnes - Bisola Elizabeth Alabi
Saro - Charles Venn
Tinubu - Danny Sapani
Pastor Solomon - Cyril Nri
Mene - Tamara Lawrance
Miss Saffron Hill - Jocelyn Jee Esien
Jann - Alexander Campbell
Kwame - Alfie Nash
Mrs Solomon -Jumoke Fashola
Noah - Samuel Adebayo
Dodger - Nifemi Bankole
Bet - Nina Cassells
The children in the mine are played by Ethan Langley, Isiah Adeyeye, Marvellous Aigbedion and Saria Joye
Adapted by Ayeesha Menon
Produced by Gill Parry
Directed by Michael Buffong
Music by Tunde Jegede
Sound design by David Thomas and Steve Bond
Photography by The Masons
Development concept written by Silas Parry
Cultural Advisor: Onassis Andem
Sound Interns: Makee Ogbon and Kairon Edwards
Production Interns: Samantha Mandaza and Jayesh Fernando
Production Manager: Sarah Tombling
Executive Producer: John Scott Dryden
A CONNECTfilm production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 16:00 Open Book (m000df96)
Deepa Anappara, Helen Fielding on Hemingway, Rob Doyle and Finnish literature
Journalist turned novelist Deepa Anapara discusses her debut Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, about child disappearances in contemporary India. She tells Mariella about writing the perspective of a 9 year old amateur detective searching for his lost schoolmates.
For a Book I'd Never Lend Helen Fielding, author of Bridget Jones's Diary, picks a perhaps surprisingly "muscular" treatise by Ernest Hemingway.
Rob Doyle on a psycho-geographic search for cheap thrills and higher meaning in Threshold - an autofictional journey of sex, drugs and metaphysics narrated by an Irish writer called "Rob" on the threshold between hedonistic youth and contemplative middle-age.
And Finnish Antti Tuomainen sends his literary postcard from Helsinki.
SUN 16:30 William Sieghart’s Poetry Pharmacy (m000df98)
Founder of the Forward Prize for Poetry and National Poetry Day, William Sieghart welcomes you into his Poetry Pharmacy where he serves up poetic prescriptions to soothe the soul.
For William, poetry has never been the distant, lofty pursuit that it's sometimes portrayed as. He's always been an advocate of the therapeutic power of poems. It was this conviction in the power of poetry to transform our lives that led him to become a very different kind of pharmacist.
Since 2012, William has travelled the length and breadth of Britain and beyond meeting people with an issue they're keen to get off their chests. Following a consultation, William dips into his extensive library and selects a poem that's perfectly suited to advise, console or otherwise illuminate whatever is preoccupying his patient.
This is a process in which poetry leaps off the page and reveals its vital curative properties. Willam explains that hearing a poet's take on a problem can offer great comfort. The distance afforded by seeing our own emotions formalised and made beautiful combines with the connection we can feel with the poet - a stranger who somehow seems to understand what we're going through.
In this programme, William meets Rebecca who has been experiencing a loss of control in her life due to serious illness, Sarah whose 18 year old triplets are about to the fly the nest and head off to university, and Suzanne who is coming to terms with her role as carer within her family.
Presenter: William Sieghart
Producer: Caroline Thornham
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m000d71r)
Separated Siblings
When Sophia was growing up, she had an imaginary friend. It was only later she learned that the little girl she played with in her mind was not imaginary at all, but a distant memory of an older sister.
The two had been separated when they were in care, and contact between them was soon lost.
It might sound like a Dickensian tale of misery, but it’s not rare for siblings to be forced apart whilst in the UK’s care system.
In England alone, there are currently more than 78,000 children living in foster care or children’s homes.
Many have brothers and sisters, but keeping them together is difficult.
File on 4 hears from the children and young people who have been split up, and hear how it has affected the rest of their lives.
When they can’t be placed together, experts agree that robust plans should be put in place to maintain contact between them. So why is it not happening?
If one child goes on to be adopted, maintaining contact with their brothers and sisters is far from straight forward.
And for the families who do adopt sibling groups, there’s concern that they’re not getting the right help to support those relationships.
Some experts argue that keeping siblings together shouldn’t always be the default intervention.
For some, placing them apart might be in their best interests but are the views of children always being taken into account when these decisions are being made and is the importance of sibling relationships sometimes being overlooked?
Reporter - Paul Kenyon
Producer - Emma Forde
Editor - Carl Johnston
SUN 17:40 Profile (m000df9b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000df9d)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 17:57 Weather (m000df9g)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000df9j)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m000df9l)
Helen Lederer
The best of BBC Radio this week.
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m000df9n)
Ian is determined to uncover the truth and Eddie is not happy with recent developments
SUN 19:15 The Skewer (m000d869)
Series 1
Episode 2
From the mind of Jon Holmes comes topical satire like you've never heard it before.
SUN 19:45 No One Called Her Angel (m000df9q)
Episode 2
Lynn's relationship with her daughter suffers as the pressures of work intensify. Struggling to cope, Lynn spots a long-forgotten face in a crowded cafe.
A series about perspective and truth specially written by Louise Welsh.
Read by Maryam Hamidi
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
SUN 20:00 More or Less (m000d7k8)
The fugitive former Nissan boss, Carlos Ghosn, has raised questions about justice in Japan. The government in Tokyo has defended its system, where 99% of prosecutions lead to conviction. Prof Colin Jones, from Doshisha Law School in Kyoto, explains what's behind this seemingly shocking statistic. Also, is it possible to calculate the cost of Brexit? Gemma Tetlow from the Institute for Government helps us weigh the arguments. How much does luck play into Liverpool FC's amazing season? And, crucially, how fast is an alligator?
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m000d7k6)
Sir Roger Scruton FBA, FRSL, Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, Bobby Neame CBE, Elizabeth Sellars
Pictured: Sir Roger Scruton
Matthew Bannister on Sir Roger Scruton, the leading conservative philosopher of his generation, known for his work on aesthetics. His outspoken views made him a controversial figure for some on the left.
Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman who overthrew his father in a coup and transformed his country.
Bobby Neame, the Chairman of Shepherd Neame - the country's oldest brewing company based in Kent.
Elizabeth Sellars, the British actress who appeared alongside Humphrey Bogart in "The Barefoot Contessa" and Marlon Brando in "Desiree".
Interviewed guest: Lord Maurice Glasman
Interviewed guest: Douglas Murray
Interviewed guest: Calvin Allen
Interviewed guest: Jonathan Neame
Interviewed guest: Dr Melanie Williams
Producer: Neil George
Archive clips from: The English Fix, Radio 4 14/09/2017; On Your Farm, Radio 4 28/10/2001; Best of Today Podcast, Radio 4 26/04/2019; Profile: Sultan Qaboos Of Oman, Radio 4 11/01/1980; Sultan Of Muscat and Oman Interview, Radio 4 02/08/1970; Oman Civil War, Thames TV 22/03/2017; Slang: Spitfire Ale advert 27/06/2013; Newsroom South East, BBC One 21/01/1998; Forbidden Cargo, directed by Harold French, J. Arthur Rank Organisation/ London Independent Producers 1954; Hunted, directed by Charles Crichton, Independent Artists/ British Film Makers 1952; Desiree, directed by Henry Koster, Twentieth Century Fox 1954; The Barefoot Contessa, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Transoceanic Film /Figaro 1954; A Voyage Round My Father, directed by Alvin Rakoff, Thames Television 1982.
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m000df9t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m000df8d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 In Business (m000d8t4)
Is the UK up for sale?
Jaguar Land Rover, Cadbury, Weetabix are but some of the many British brands now owned by foreign corporations. The UK has one of the highest rates of company takeovers by new overseas owners. Sometimes these deals rescue a struggling business and save jobs. And sometimes they provide welcome investment for fast growth.
But is there also the risk of Britain suffering a permanent loss of technology and know-how, or even a threat to national security, such as when the company targeted for takeover is in the defence industry?
And what about the emotional side of takeovers? Research suggests they can be a huge burden for executives, and staff may be reluctant to cooperate with previous competitors, jeopardising the sales targets of the new owners.
Ruth Alexander asks if the UK is selling its family silver, and whether this matters in a globalised world. Is Britain for sale, or inviting investment? Or has Britain already been sold, with 54% of shareholdings of UK public companies now foreign-owned? She talks to current and former CEOs and to academics, to find out why so many British companies are being bought, what this says about the UK,, and what impact it has on jobs and the future of the economy.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m000df9w)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (m000d8sr)
Joker
With Antonia Quirke.
Todd Phillips explains how an impromptu pitch in the back of a limo led to the billion dollar blockbuster Joker. And he reveals how he dealt with the huge controversy about the film in the United States before the movie had even been released.
Cinematographer Roger Deakins takes us behind the scenes of 1917 and reveals how he made the war movie look like one continuous shot.
Neil Brand explains the reasons why Michael Nyman's score for Practical Magic was binned at the last minute and why the composer believes it's one of his best pieces of music for film.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b068s44f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 20 JANUARY 2020
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m000df9y)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 Rewinder (m000btvd)
Three: Robots, Bond, Eggs and Haddock
Greg James, host of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show and self-confessed 'proud radio nerd', rummages through the BBC's vast archives of audio, video and documents, using current stories and your suggestions as a springboard into the vaults.
This week he begins with a request from a listener, who wants to hear about pioneering women broadcasters - especially women who weren't booked to speak about cookery or childcare. Olga Collett was the first woman to commentate on horse racing - and she was adamant that her reports from Ascot would not focus on fashion. She became a familiar voice in the 1930s, but in a later interview, she revealed what happened when she asked if she could read the news on air - and why she fell out with the Director-General of the BBC at the time.
As the police in Boston, USA, experiment with robot dogs, Greg searches for robots of the past, uncovering Ferdinand the Beast, an early American example, along with bold predictions from the 1960s from visionary writers Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke.
Angling, it was reported this week, is becoming increasingly popular among women - Greg fishes up some earlier coverage of life on the riverbank, including a theory as to why women are more successful at catching salmon.
Letters between James Bond creator Ian Fleming and wife are about to be auctioned: Fleming himself made very few appearances on the BBC - but one is very memorable: a conversation with the revered American writer Raymond Chandler. And as a new baby on EastEnders is named Peggy, in memory of the role played so successfully by Barbara Windsor, Greg finds Barbara in 1963, delighted to see her name in lights for the very first time.
Producer Paula McGinley
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m000dfb0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000dfb2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000dfb4)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000dfb6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (m000dfb8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000dfbb)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with Bob Fyffe of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m000dfbd)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
MON 05:56 Weather (m000dfbg)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09nvrcl)
Jane Smith on the Barnacle Goose
Wildlife artist Jane Smith is captivated by Barnacle geese arriving from the Arctic Tundra and filling the air with their barking yapping sounds and wonderful black and white markings.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Whistling Joe.
MON 06:00 Today (m000dj9g)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m000dj9j)
Puritans and God-given government
Oliver Cromwell’s Protectorate in the mid-seventeenth century lasted a mere six years and was England’s sole experiment in republican government. The historian Paul Lay tells Andrew Marr how Cromwell forged both his foreign and domestic policy according to God’s will - including waging wars in the Americas.
Protestant separatists are at the heart of Stephen Tomkins's recreation of the journey of the Mayflower, three decades before Cromwell’s rule. Escaping religious persecution, the Pilgrim Fathers built their version of a brave new world in America.
In the 400 years since the sailing of the Mayflower the USA has become a world superpower. Lindsay Newman from Chatham House looks at President Trump’s foreign policy decisions, especially in relation to Iran, and examines the political ideology that drives them.
It is 70 years since the death of George Orwell. The academic Lisa Mullen explores the contemporary relevance of his writings on political and religious ideology, republicanism and the freedom to express heretical views.
Producer: Katy Hickman
MON 09:45 Orwell in Five Words (m000dj9l)
Fascism
In the last few years, George Orwell’s writing and thinking have come to seem ever more timely. But they are also much misrepresented. As BBC Radio 4 marks the 70th anniversary of his early death, BBC documentary-maker Phil Tinline takes five words that resonate through Orwell’s work, and tests out what light they can shed on our problems today.
In the late 1930s, Orwell worried that bourgeois democracy was just fascism’s more civilised twin. But within a couple of years, his position had swung round to champion democracy as the radical enemy of totalitarianism.
Today, many worry that democracy is in its greatest crisis since the 1930s. Phil asks a leading historian of totalitarianism, Timothy Snyder, if Orwell’s dramatic switch can help us work out how to tackle it.
Series contributors include: Nick Cohen, David Dwan, Maurice Glasman, Joanna Kavenna, Robert Jay Lifton, Dorian Lynskey, Ferdinand Mount, Jean Seaton, Timothy Snyder
Presenter/ Producer: Phil Tinline
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000dj9n)
PHONE-IN - Would you stop having kids to save the planet?
The population of Earth has doubled since 1970 and is heading for 10 billion by 2050. That’s a lot of extra strain on the planet. Could having fewer kids be the answer? Jane Garvey wants to hear your thoughts!
Would you consider having fewer kids for the greater good? Have you or someone you know decided to live a child-free life? Is Harry and Meghan’s choice to stop at two the ideal compromise? Are you someone who couldn’t ignore the urge for a third? Or is it over-consumption rather than over-population that’s the real issue?
Call 03700 100 444 or email us via the Woman's Hour website. Lines open from 0830
MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m000dk6t)
A Small Town Murder
Episode 1
This is the fourteenth and last series of Scott Cherry's "A Small Town Murder".
After many years service as a Family Liaison Officer Jackie (Meera Syal) is retiring. But she has ongoing cases - and they are not so happy about her leaving.
Cast
Jackie ..... Meera Syal
Peter ..... Matthew Marsh
Dee ..... Ayesha Antoine
Gary ..... Michael Higgs
Lorraine ..... Abigail Cruttenden
Karen ..... Nicola Stuart Hill
Hadley ..... Sarah Lambie
Ryan ..... Phil Yarrow
Steve ..... Scott Cherry
Dave ..... Alec Newman
Other parts played by the cast
Written By Scott Cherry
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill Production for BBC Radio 4
MON 11:00 The Untold (m000dj9q)
Fighting to Save Dunford
Grace Dent follows the fight to buy up and preserve the former home of notable Victorian MP and anti Corn Laws campaigner Richard Cobden.
A handsome 19th century mansion in rural West Sussex, Dunford House was permanently endowed by the Cobden family to the YMCA in the 1950s. The YMCA say it is making a loss and they now hope to sell the property.
Richard Cobden's descendant Nick Cobden Wright and local residents hope to raise funds to buy the property and capitalise on its heritage value. They worry that if Dunford falls into private hands, its link to Richard Cobden will be lost forever.
Producer: Laurence Grissell
MON 11:30 Loose Ends (m000dj9s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
MON 12:00 News Summary (m000dj9v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 Coming Up for Air (m000dj9x)
Episode 6
An overweight, married, middle-aged insurance salesman surveys his life while reflecting on the country he finds himself living in. George Orwell's novel is read by Tim McInnerny.
Written in 1939, Coming Up For Air was published just before the outbreak of the Second World War and offers premonitions of the impending conflict with images of an idyllic Thames-side Edwardian-era childhood at the same time as taking a rather dim view of capitalism and its effects on the best of rural England.
The reviews were among the best that Orwell had received for a novel. It sold 3,000 copies - a considerable improvement on the response to his previous works.
Abridged by Ellin Stein
Read by Tim McInnerny
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4
MON 12:18 You and Yours (m000dj9z)
Eating, Drinking and Playing with Toys
Cutting back on alcohol: We ask a former government advisor why UK health experts seem to back Dry January, when some countries actively don't.
The woman who founded the animal rights group PETA tells us why people should stop treating veganism as just another food fad.
What's the future for independent toy shops?
How one listener was billed for skiing holidays she was browsing online. How did she get charged BEFORE she put in her payment details?
And the court case that sheds light on the toughness of fire regulations for a block of flats.
Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Pete Wilson
MON 12:57 Weather (m000djb1)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m000djb3)
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 Green Originals (m000djb5)
Ken Saro-Wiwa
Ken Saro-Wiwa was a writer, television producer, human rights and environmental activist.
He was hanged by the Nigerian government in 1995 after a hearing John Major described as fraudulent.
He campaigned for the rights of the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta who found their land devastated by the pollution caused by oil extraction. They saw little financial benefit from the vast oil and gas resources and suffered from oil spills, gas flaring and water contamination.
Helon Habila is a Nigerian novelist and professor of creative writing at George Mason University in Virginia. His novel Oil on Water dealt with the human cost of the oil industry in Nigeria.
Producer: Natalie Steed
Series Editor: David Prest
A Whistledown production in association with The Open University.
MON 14:00 The Archers (m000df9n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 The Real George Orwell (b01q8l3k)
Biographical Dramas
Burma
By Mike Walker
The first of four dramas featuring episodes in the life of Eric Blair.
After an undistinguished academic career at Eton, Eric leaves in December 1921. Unlike most of his friends, his parents can't afford to send him to University. When the girl he hopes to marry rejects him, he sets sail for Burma to join the colonial police. His experiences in Burma will affect him profoundly. They will give him material for essays such as 'A Hanging' and 'Shooting An Elephant', and his first novel, 'Burmese Days' - and they will begin to shape his political thinking. When he rejects the Empire and returns to England, Blair begins to spend more and more time with the poor.
Eric Blair . . . Joseph Millson
Jacintha Buddicom . . . Sophie Roberts
Wilson . . . Joseph Kloska
Inspector d'Souza . . . Ernest Ignatius
Burmese youth . . . Armaan Kirmani
Man on Train . . . Derek Riddell
Ted . . . Alun Raglan
A BBC/Cymru Wales production, directed by Kate McAll.
MON 15:00 Round Britain Quiz (m000djb7)
Programme 2, 2020
(2/12)
Can you explain how an English magician, a football team whose motto is 'Power in Motion', and something developed by a Serbian-American inventor, could really shake up the start of the week?
The panellists in Round Britain Quiz this week will face this and many other similarly convoluted puzzles, for which they'll need all their reserves of arcane knowledge and all their powers of lateral thought. The North of England, represented by Adele Geras and Stuart Maconie, begin the defence of the Round Britain Quiz series champions' title which they won last year. Opposing them are the Midlands pairing of Stephen Maddock and Elizabeth-Jane Burnett. Tom Sutcliffe is in the chair to ensure fair play, and to offer helpful hints where necessary - but the more hints the teams need, the fewer points they'll get.
Producer: Paul Bajoria
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m000df8v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 The People's Pyramid (m000dk6w)
The KLF aka The Jams aka The Timelords aka The K Foundation aka K2 Plant Hire aka The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu...it's complicated.
Whatever name or weird mythology they happened to be operating under at the time, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty managed to top the UK pop charts in the early nineties with songs about love and ice-cream vans - often with plastic horns strapped to their heads. Then they turned their backs on the music industry, deleted their entire back catalogue and cremated £1 million of their own earnings on a remote Scottish island. Scroll forward 23 years and Drummond and Cauty re-emerge to announce they're building a pyramid in Liverpool out of bricks containing the cremated remains of just under 35,000 people.
As more bricks are added to The People's Pyramid at the 2019 Toxteth Day of the Dead, Conor Garrett tries to work out what's going on...
MON 16:30 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m000dfqn)
Series 21
Conspiracy Theories
Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined on stage by comedian Shazia Mirza, science writer and cancer researcher Dr David Robert Grimes and psychologist Prof Karen Douglas to look at the weird world of conspiracy theories. From Flat Earth believers to people who refuse to accept that humans have ever been to the moon, why is fiction often so much easier to believe than fact - and does it matter? They discuss the psychology and profile of people who are more likely to believe in conspiracies and the devastating effect some, like the anti-vaccine movement, have had on public health. They ask whether being irrational is our default setting and how to convince the most hard-core believers with the power of evidence and critical thinking. Although they would say that wouldnt' they?
Producer: Alexandra Feachem
MON 17:00 PM (m000djbb)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000djbd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m000djbg)
Series 23
Episode 4
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.
Sally Phillips, Tony Hawks, Holly Walsh and Henning Wehn are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as ferrets, words, Elvis and education.
Produced by Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4
MON 19:00 The Archers (m000dfpr)
Philip makes a controversial suggestion and Natasha's efforts take their toll.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m000djbj)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m000dk6t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 My Name Is... (m000dgy3)
Samayya: How Safe Are Our Mosques?
As a young Muslim growing up in Bradford, Samayya Afzal has never felt anything but British but she’s no stranger to Islamophobic slurs and attacks. As she says, “It was at a young age that I realised I was different. And people want to punish that difference”.
And when 50 people were killed at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand last year, Samayya noticed a sharp rise in Islamophobic incidents in the UK – a spike apparently confirmed by the monitoring group Tell Mama.
The Home Office has now pledged an extra £5 million to help make Mosques and other places of worship safe but Samayya feels much more needs to be done.
In this programme, Samayya takes a deeply personal look at the issue of Mosque safety and Islamophobia in the UK, as she seeks answers from faith leaders, fellow worshippers and the government.
Presenter: Samayya Afzal
Producer: Mend Mariwany
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m000d8s3)
Ayahuasca: Fear and Healing in the Amazon
Growing numbers of tourists are travelling to the Peruvian Amazon to drink ayahuasca, a traditional plant medicine said to bring about a higher state of consciousness. Foreigners come looking for spiritual enlightenment or help with mental health problems like trauma, depression, and addiction.
But not everyone is happy about Peru’s booming ayahuasca tourism industry. A group of indigenous healers are fighting back against what they see as the exploitation and appropriation of their cultural heritage by foreigners - who run most of the ayahuasca retreats popular with tourists. This coming together of cultures has thrown up another serious problem too: vulnerable women being sexually abused while under the influence of charismatic healers and this powerful psychedelic.
Reporter: Simon Maybin
Producer: Josephine Casserly
Editor: Bridget Harney
If you would like information and support with sexual abuse, details of relevant organisations are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline, or you can call for free, at any time to hear recorded information on 0800 077 077.
MON 21:00 Science Stories (b06vkkth)
How an eel sparked our interest in electricity
Naomi Alderman presents an alternate history of electricity. This is not a story of power stations, motors and wires. It’s a story of how the electric eel and its cousin the torpedo fish, led to the invention of the first battery; and how, in time, the shocking properties of these slippery creatures gave birth to modern neuroscience. Our fascination with electric fish and their ability to deliver an almighty shock - enough to kill a horse - goes back to ancient times. And when Alessandro Volta invented the first battery in 1800, the electric eel was a vital source of inspiration. In inventing the battery, Volta claimed to have disproved the idea of ‘animal electricity’, but 200 years later, scientists studying our brains revealed that it’s thanks to the electricity in our nerve cells that we are able to move, think and feel. So, it seems, an idea that was pushed out of science and into fiction, when Mary Shelley invented Frankenstein, is now alive and well and delivering insight once again into what it means to be alive.
Producer: Anna Buckley
MON 21:30 Start the Week (m000dj9j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m000djbm)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
MON 22:45 Coming Up for Air (m000dj9x)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (m000d719)
Communicating Climate Change
From the greenhouse effect, through global warming to climate chaos, Michael Rosen talks to George Marshall about the best ways to communicate what's happening to the planet. Producer Sally Heaven.
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000djbp)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
TUESDAY 21 JANUARY 2020
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m000djbr)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 00:30 Orwell in Five Words (m000dj9l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000djbt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000djbw)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000djby)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m000djc0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000djc2)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with Bob Fyffe of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m000djc4)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08x8n8d)
Kim Durbin on the Blackbird
Kim Durbin recalls an encounter with a blackbird for Tweet of the Day.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.
Producer Maggie Ayre.
TUE 06:00 Today (m000dfnz)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Touch Test (m000dfp3)
What impact does touch have on our lives? Claudia Hammond reveals the many aspects of touch and investigates what we still don’t know about this sensory experience.
TUE 09:45 Orwell in Five Words (m000dfqv)
Truth
In the last few years, George Orwell’s writing and thinking have come to seem ever more timely. But they are also much misrepresented. As BBC Radio 4 marks the 70th anniversary of his early death, BBC documentary-maker Phil Tinline takes five words that resonate through Orwell’s work, and tests out what light they can shed on our problems today.
Orwell thought the very idea of objective truth was in mortal danger from the totalitarian mindset, writing that: “The truth, it is felt, becomes untruth when your enemy utters it.”
In the era of ‘fake news’ and extreme online polarisation, copies of Orwell’s work have been flying off the shelves. But he wasn’t only worried about dictators and demagogues. So today, just how widely do his fears for the future of truth apply?
Series contributors include: Nick Cohen, David Dwan, Maurice Glasman, Joanna Kavenna, Robert Jay Lifton, Dorian Lynskey, Ferdinand Mount, Jean Seaton, Timothy Snyder
Presenter/ Producer: Phil Tinline
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000dfp7)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m000djx4)
A Small Town Murder
Episode 2
It's Jackie's (Meera Syal) last week at work as a family liaison officer. Whilst waiting for the court verdict over his son's murder, Gary has taken an overdose.
This is the fourteenth and last series of Scott Cherry's "A Small Town Murder".
Cast
Jackie ..... Meera Syal
Peter ..... Matthew Marsh
Dee ..... Ayesha Antoine
Gary ..... Michael Higgs
Lorraine ..... Abigail Cruttenden
Karen ..... Nicola Stuart Hill
Hadley ..... Sarah Lambie
Ryan ..... Phil Yarrow
Steve ..... Scott Cherry
Dave ..... Alec Newman
Other parts played by the cast
Written By Scott Cherry
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill Production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 11:00 Adam Buxton and the Human Horn (m000blwy)
William ‘Shooby’ Taylor, also known as The Human Horn, is the world’s weirdest scat singer.
Sometimes he’s accompanied by a Farfisa organ but mostly he just scats wildly and enthusiastically over other people’s records. Adam Buxton is beguiled by his originality. It was Louis Theroux who first sent Adam some Shooby on a compilation CD in the 1990s and, later, Adam and Joe Cornish chose to use Shooby as part of the theme tune for The Adam and Joe Show on TV.
But Adam could never find out anything about Shooby himself. There were rumours he worked as a postman in Harlem and that he’d been in and out of institutions. Rare leads were followed but sightings proved elusive and fans, like Adam, wondered whether he was even still alive. Then WFMU DJ and outsider music historian Irwin Chusid started to play the odd Shooby track on his music show and Shooby’s cult following continued to grow.
Shooby described how he’d started singing in Harlem clubs in his teens where he developed his own scat style. Growing up, he’d heard sounds in his head which he felt destined to express musically. Then he’d had an epiphany in which he realised he could transform his voice into a musical instrument – ‘the horn’’. Utterly eccentric, strange and, to many, brilliant, Shooby was also booed off stage by crowds who relished mocking his live shows. Despite his lack of commercial success though, he was not a quitter, remaining undaunted and proud of his work as Shooby Taylor – The Human Horn.
With contributions from Louis Theroux, Joe Cornish, Irwin Chusid and Rick Goetz.
Produced by Sarah Cuddon
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 11:30 Art of Now (m000dfp9)
The Algorhythms of Epilepsy
One in a hundred people in the UK have epilepsy - a secret and stigmatised condition.
Acclaimed artist Susan Aldworth has spent much of the past ten years working with neuroscientists and people with epilepsy to find out about the experience within the brain - and give it form outside.
A new technology called opto-genetics, still at an experimental stage, is a form of gene therapy that uses naturally occurring light-sensitive proteins, together with a device implanted in the brain, to monitor and stop some types of epileptic seizures.
As part of the project, scientists have turned to Aldworth to explore some of the personal and ethical issues around this potential treatment, also giving a voice to those who live with the debilitating and often lethal condition.
One hundred people living with epilepsy have written their testimonies, and for the past six months they have been embroidered onto items of Victorian clothing by volunteers from all over the UK. The underwear is then to be attached to a clunky moving pulley system which will move in the patterns of neurons during an epileptic seizure.
The algorithms of an epileptic brain will be fed into a computer programme which will move motors connected to the clothes in random patterns, ending with a fit.
The noisy system of the motors and pulleys will form the soundtrack to the work over which the chilling screeches recorded from a fitting brain will soar.
Aldworth's work is part of a scientific research project called CANDO, and opens at the Hatton Gallery in Newcastle on January 18th 2020 and runs until May.
Producer: Sara Jane Hall
Music by Barney Quinton
www.susanaldworth.com
exhibition link: https://hattongallery.org.uk/fascinating-exhibitions-explore-epilepsy-and-the-science-of-optogenetics
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m000dhjv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 Coming Up for Air (m000dfpf)
Episode 7
An overweight, married, middle-aged insurance salesman surveys his life while reflecting on the country he finds himself living in. George Orwell's novel is read by Tim McInnerny.
Written in 1939, Coming Up For Air was published just before the outbreak of the Second World War and offers premonitions of the impending conflict with images of an idyllic Thames-side Edwardian-era childhood at the same time as taking a rather dim view of capitalism and its effects on the best of rural England.
The reviews were among the best that Orwell had received for a novel. It sold 3,000 copies - a considerable improvement on the response to his previous works.
Abridged by Ellin Stein
Read by Tim McInnerny
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m000dfph)
Call You and Yours
News and discussion of consumer affairs.
TUE 12:57 Weather (m000dfpk)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m000dfpm)
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 Green Originals (m000dfpp)
James Hansen
With his trademark hat and clear message about climate change, Dr James Hansen has been described as somewhere between an old testament prophet and Indiana Jones.
In 1988, when he was Director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at NASA, he gave evidence to Congress that changed the conversation about the greenhouse effect and climate change. Since then, he’s been a powerful advocate for the importance of listening to scientists on climate change and has himself become an activist.
"Einstein said to think and not act is a crime," Hansen said in 2011. "If we understand the situation, we must try to make it clear."
In this episode, the science educator, writer and broadcaster, Dr Emily Grossman explains why James Hansen is an inspiration for the scientists who are increasingly stepping out of their labs and onto the streets to protest about inaction from governments on climate change.
Producer: Natalie Steed
Series Editor: David Prest
A Whistledown production in association with The Open University.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m000dfpr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 The Real George Orwell (b01qdtpw)
Biographical Dramas
Dreaming
By Mike Walker
The second of four plays featuring episodes in the life of Eric Blair.
In September 1938, Eric and Eileen Blair leave London for Marrakech. He is hoping that the climate will be good for his health, and that he will be able to complete 'Coming Up for Air' a novel that examines, among other things, the nature of England. But the bruising reception he received following the publication of Homage to Catalonia is troubling Eric. And both Eric and Eileen are still feeling guilty about the fate of one of their Spanish Civil War comrades, Georges Kopp. In the summer of 1938 Kopp had just been released from prison. In Marrakech, Eileen falls ill, and Eric dreams of England, and of Kopp.
Eric Blair... Joseph Millson
Eileen Blair... Lyndsey Marshal
Georges Kopp... Ewan Bailey
Tommy... Paul Stonehouse
With Ben Crowe and Will Howard
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer
Of course there is no real George Orwell - it was the pen name of Eric Blair - but he was a writer and political commentator who is very hard to pin down. Ever since his early death in 1950, he has been at one and the same time the darling of some on both the left and the right of British politics - whilst being reviled by others. For all the beautiful simplicity of his writing and storytelling Orwell/Blair is a complex mass of confusions - an anti-establishment, pro-English, ex-Etonian ex-policeman and socialist, who was ardently anti-authoritarian. He was as anti-fascist as he was anti-communist, a former Spanish Civil War soldier who was anti-war but pro the Second World War, and so on and so on.
TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m000dfpt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
TUE 15:30 Making History (m000dfpw)
High Flyers
Tom Holland and Iszi Lawrence continue to explore the historical connections behind today's headlines.
As the first electric commercial aircraft takes flight in Vancouver, Tom and Iszi look at the lengths people have gone to over the past millennium to reach for the skies.
Tom goes to the spot where Eilmer of Malmesbury, an 11th century English monk, made one of the earliest attempts at flight in the British Isles. Inspired by the Greek fable of Daedalus, he strapped wings to his hands and feet and jumped from the abbey tower. He broke both his legs.
And Iszi visits the Science Museum to find out about the first woman in space. At the age of 26, Valentina Tereshkova, orbited the earth 48 times over 3 days and parachuted out of the capsule to land safely in Siberia.
Producer: Kim Normanton
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (m000dfpy)
Lying
Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright talk to Professor Dawn Archer about her work in evaluating deception: is it possible to tell when someone might be lying and what are the clues? Dawn shares her analysis of the language used in a news interview and a press conference by two men who were trying to deceive the public but were later found guilty of very serious crimes.
Producer Beth O'Dea
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m000df5g)
Series 50
Andi Oliver on Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison
When Andi Oliver first read Toni Morrison's 'The Bluest Eye' she felt as though someone climbed inside her head. Morrison's books saved her life - both emotionally and cerebrally.
The author, editor and college professor Toni Morrison chronicled the lives of African-Americans in novels such as 'Beloved', 'Sula' and 'Song of Solomon'. She once said that what drove her to write was "the silence of so many stories untold and unexamined". Born in Ohio, she was granddaughter to a slave, and her work often drew on the legacies of slavery and how it has carried down the generations.
Awarded both the Pulitzer and the Nobel Prize for Literature, her work was internationally acclaimed.
Joining Matthew Parris and Andi Oliver is Morrison's close friend Fran Lebowitz, and professor at Morrison's college Howard University Dana Williams.
TUE 17:00 PM (m000dfq0)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000dfq4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Fags, Mags and Bags (b0bgg1q1)
Series 8
Lenzie Has Fallen
The hit series returns for an eighth series with more shop based shenanigans and over the counter philosophy, courtesy of Ramesh Mahju and his trusty sidekick Dave. Written by and starring Donald Mcleary and Sanjeev Kohli.
Set in a Scots-Asian corner shop, the award winning Fags, Mags and Bags sees a return of all the shop regular characters, and some guest appearances along the way, from the likes of Moray Hunter, Lorraine McIntosh & Mina Amwar.
In this episode, Mrs Birkett raises suspicions about the source of a lurgy outbreak in Lenzie and starts to point an accusing finger at Hilly.
Join the staff of Fags, Mags and Bags in their tireless quest to bring nice-price custard creams and cans of coke with Arabic writing on them to an ungrateful nation. Ramesh Mahju has built it up over the course of over 30 years and is a firmly entrenched, friendly presence in the local area. He is joined by his shop sidekick, Dave.
Then of course there are Ramesh's sons Sanjay and Alok, both surly and not particularly keen on the old school approach to shopkeeping, but natural successors to the business. Ramesh is keen to pass all his worldly wisdom onto them - whether they like it or not!
Producer: Gus Beattie for Gusman Productions
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m000dfq6)
Helen offers some tough love and Jolene starts to have second thoughts.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m000dfq8)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m000djx4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m000dfqb)
After The Flood
Few who saw the pictures of the devastating floods which hit the Yorkshire village of Fishlake will forget those images of houses and fields sunk beneath the waters of the River Don. But who knows what life looks like for the residents after the water has receded? Reporter Anna Cavell discovers a village fighting not only to get back into their homes, but also trying to find out what can protect them if the waters return.
Delays to insurance claims, land contaminated with oil and sewage and businesses struggling to get back to work are some of the everyday tasks facing the village. But with many not expected to return to their homes for many months, will the close knit community of Fishlake village ever recover?
Reporter: Anna Cavell
Producer: Rob Cave
Editor: Carl Johnston
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m000dfqd)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (m000dfqg)
Remote and Rural Healthcare
Nigel Edwards, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust, joins Dr Margaret McCartney for a special Inside Health about the challenges of healthcare in remote and rural areas.
Producer: Fiona Hill
TUE 21:30 The Touch Test (m000dfp3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m000dfql)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
TUE 22:45 Coming Up for Air (m000dfpf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
TUE 23:00 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m000dfqn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Monday]
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000dfqq)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
WEDNESDAY 22 JANUARY 2020
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m000dfqs)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 00:30 Orwell in Five Words (m000dfqv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000dfqx)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000dfqz)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000dfr1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m000dfr3)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000dfr5)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with Bob Fyffe of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m000dfr7)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08r2n4c)
Peter Cranswick on the Common Scoter
Peter Cranswick of the Slimbridge Wetland Centre on the amazing common scoter.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.
Producer Miles Warde.
WED 06:00 Today (m000dgxv)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Soul Music (m000dgxx)
Series 28
Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay
Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay was written while Otis Redding was reflecting on his life on Sausalito Bay in California in the summer of 1967. Its upbeat, laidback melody belies the loneliness of the lyrics. Just a few months later Otis Redding was killed in a plane crash and the song was released, becoming the first posthumous number 1 record in the US. His musician contemporaries including Booker T Jones and guitarist Steve Cropper, who co-wrote Dock of the Bay, tell the story of the song's genesis, and people in their twenties to their seventies reveal why they relate it to dramatic periods in their lives.
Booker T Jones' Time Is Tight is published by Omnibus Press
Producers: Maggie Ayre and Mair Bosworth
WED 09:30 Four Thought (m000df5z)
A Boy Who Died
Andrew Hankinson tells the story of a boy who died, and his parents, who wanted him alive.
Recorded at the Shambala Festival in 2019, this is also an extraordinary story about Andrew's quest to understand the family's story, his feelings of discomfort, and his reasons for wanting to tell it in the first place.
Producer: Giles Edwards
WED 09:45 Orwell in Five Words (m000dgxz)
Big
In the last few years, George Orwell’s writing and thinking have come to seem ever more timely. But they are also much misrepresented. As BBC Radio 4 marks the 70th anniversary of his early death, BBC documentary-maker Phil Tinline takes five words that resonate through Orwell’s work, and tests out what light they can shed on our problems today.
Throughout the 1940s, Orwell grew alarmed at the rise of the ‘oligarchical collectivists’ – the cadres of unaccountable technicians and managers on whom superstates – and large organisations – depend.
Free market economics was supposed to have upended all that – so do Orwell’s anxieties have anything to tell us about today’s corporations and big tech companies as well as resurgent authoritarian states? The conservative writer Ferdinand Mount, who once worked with a thinker who shaped Orwell’s ideas, argues that the oligarchs are back.
Series contributors include: Nick Cohen, David Dwan, Maurice Glasman, Joanna Kavenna, Robert Jay Lifton, Dorian Lynskey, Ferdinand Mount, Jean Seaton, Timothy Snyder
Presenter/ Producer: Phil Tinline
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000dgy1)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (m000djx7)
A Small Town Murder
Episode 3
It's Jackie's (Meera Syal) leaving party but Lorraine, one of her last clients, is grieving over the accidental death of her mother and just won't let her leave.
This is the fourteenth and last series of Scott Cherry's "A Small Town Murder".
Cast
Jackie ..... Meera Syal
Peter ..... Matthew Marsh
Dee ..... Ayesha Antoine
Gary ..... Michael Higgs
Lorraine ..... Abigail Cruttenden
Karen ..... Nicola Stuart Hill
Hadley ..... Sarah Lambie
Ryan ..... Phil Yarrow
Steve ..... Scott Cherry
Dave ..... Alec Newman
Other parts played by the cast
Written by Scott Cherry
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill Production for BBC Radio 4
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (m00081sq)
Angelica and Shobhna - Reaping Rewards
Mother and daughter discuss the benefits of being brought up with a strong work ethic. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
WED 11:00 My Name Is... (m000dgy3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
WED 11:30 Conversations from a Long Marriage (m000dgy5)
Series 1
Episode 1 - Why Didn't You Ask Me to Dance?
Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam play a couple who have been married ‘for ever’. Children of the Sixties, they’re still free spirits, drawn together by their passion for music and each other. Their warm and witty conversations dance around everyday chores and appointments as well as dealing with problems within long-held friendships, and tackling their own frustrations with each other. But underlying it all is their enduring love for each other and their desire to keep the passion alive.
This week they’re invited to a party with old friends but return home with a burning question: why didn’t you ask me to dance?
Written for Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam by award-winning comedy writer and journalist Jan Etherington, who’s been married for 35 years to Gavin Petrie, with whom she created many hit radio and TV series (Second Thoughts, Next of Kin, Faith in the Future, The Change). Conversations from a Long Marriage is her first solo narrative comedy series.
Produced by Claire Jones
A BBC Studios production
WED 12:00 News Summary (m000dgy7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 Coming Up for Air (m000dgy9)
Episode 8
An overweight, married, middle-aged insurance salesman surveys his life while reflecting on the country he finds himself living in. George Orwell's novel is read by Tim McInnerny.
Written in 1939, Coming Up For Air was published just before the outbreak of the Second World War and offers premonitions of the impending conflict with images of an idyllic Thames-side Edwardian-era childhood at the same time as taking a rather dim view of capitalism and its effects on the best of rural England.
The reviews were among the best that Orwell had received for a novel. It sold 3,000 copies - a considerable improvement on the response to his previous works.
Abridged by Ellin Stein
Read by Tim McInnerny
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4
WED 12:18 You and Yours (m000dgyc)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.
WED 12:57 Weather (m000dgyf)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m000dgyh)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
WED 13:45 Green Originals (m000dgyk)
Joni Mitchell
Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Joni Mitchell.
A Whistledown production in association with The Open University.
WED 14:00 The Archers (m000dfq6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 The Real George Orwell (b01qhqgf)
Biographical Dramas
Loving
By Jonathan Holloway
The third of four dramas featuring episodes in the life of Eric Blair.
Eric Blair's relationship with the opposite sex could be a distraught one; over the course of his lifetime, he made several awkward marriage proposals to different women. But his relationship with Eileen O'Shaugnessy, whom he married in 1935, had a huge influence both on his life and his writing. This drama explores the nine years of their relationship.
Eric Blair . . . Joseph Millson
Eileen O'Shaugnessy/Blair . . . Lyndsey Marshal
Dorothy . . . Isabella Marshall
Lydia Jackson . . . Vera Filatova
Inspector Summerfield . . . Dick Bradnum
Len . . . Alun Raglan
A BBC/Cymru Wales production, directed by Kate McAll.
WED 15:00 Money Box (m000dgym)
The latest news from the world of personal finance plus advice for those trying to make the most of their money.
WED 15:30 Inside Health (m000dfqg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m000dgyp)
New research on how society works.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (m000dgyr)
The programme about a revolution in media with Amol Rajan, the BBC's Media Editor
WED 17:00 PM (m000dgyt)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000dgyw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Joe Lycett's Obsessions (m000dgyy)
Series 2
Chelsea Norris and Jack Carroll
Joe Lycett returns to explore the nation's weird and wonderful obsessions by getting to know a selection of famous and not so famous guests, recorded in Manchester. Joining Joe on the sofa this week, BBC Manchester presenter Chelsea Norris shares her love of boxing, whilst comedian Jack Carroll reveals his obsession with the TV show ‘The Sopranos’. Joe also welcomes members of the public to share their secret passions, as well as this week's VOP (very obsessed person), Alex Bidolak, who through his love of Lego became an official Master Model Builder.
Joe Lycett's Obsessions was written and performed by Joe Lycett, with material from James Kettle and additional material from Catherine Brinkworth and Kat Sadler. The production coordinator was Damilola Mabadeje. The producer was Suzy Grant and it was a BBC Studios Audio production.
WED 19:00 The Archers (m000dgbg)
It's a big day for Jim and there's an awkward encounter for Lee.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m000dgz0)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m000djx7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 The Fix (m000djx9)
Debt
Debt and Poverty
This is the third series of Radio 4's programme which tries to solve some of the UK's most difficult social problems. This year, The Fix spends three episodes looking at one issue: debt. Why is it such an intractable problem in the UK, where 15% of the population have no savings at all? Presenters Matthew Taylor and Cat Drew bring together two teams of bright young minds and guide them through the process of designing a solution to problem debt. Then a panel of judges picks the best idea to be piloted by the local council.
Producer: Chloe Hadjimatheou
Researcher: Eleanor Biggs
WED 20:45 Four Thought (m000df5z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 today]
WED 21:00 D for Diagnosis (m0007126)
Ever Changing Labels
Treatment for most mental health problems is designed for the "unicorns"; people who have just one clear-cut diagnosis. But in reality, many people experience more than one problem and their symptoms can be shared across different formal diagnostic categories. The true picture is one of cross-cutting, porous diagnostic boundaries.
In this third and final programme in her series, Claudia looks at how new science is adapting to this new reality, making links between and within the traditional boundaries of different conditions in order to develop new treatments. The hope is that the end result will be more personalised, individualised treatments rather than a one-size fits all approach to care.
Researchers at the MRC's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge are working across boundaries with a new strategy called the transdiagnostic approach. They are testing new treatment modules where the person needing help, whether they have anxiety, depression, OCD or PTSD, is supported to select from a menu of treatments, like a pick and mix choice, to target the symptoms that are most affecting them. This transdiagnostic approach, Professor Tim Dalgleish says, better matches how people experience mental health difficulties in real life. Pat and Emily tell Claudia how the transdiagnostic treatments have given them new tools to cope with their difficulties and clinical psychologists and research scientists Dr Melissa Black and Dr Caitlin Hitchcock describe how this approach could be adapted for many other mental health problems.
Also in Cambridge, how the diagnostic category of depression could be broken down into lots of differently identified conditions. Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, Ed Bullmore, tells Claudia that in the future, there are likely to be many sub-types of depression with different causes and potential treatments. He is currently researching depression caused by inflammation in the body and although it's very early days, the possibility is that "inflamed depression" could be standalone diagnosis in the future.
And in London, researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College, London, are working to dissolve the diagnostic boundaries for three very different neurodevelopmental conditions: autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia. There are already recognised overlaps and genetic links between these conditions and teams led by Declan Murphy, Professor of Psychiatry and Grainne McAlonan, Professor of Translational Neuroscience, are working to identify these common pathways in order to develop treatments that work for particular groups of people.
Producer: Fiona Hill
WED 21:30 Soul Music (m000dgxx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m000dgz2)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
WED 22:45 Coming Up for Air (m000dgy9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
WED 23:00 The Skewer (m000dgz4)
Series 1
Episode 3
From the mind of Jon Holmes comes topical satire like you've never heard it before.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000dgz6)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
THURSDAY 23 JANUARY 2020
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m000dgz8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 00:30 Orwell in Five Words (m000dgxz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000dgzb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000dgzd)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000dgzg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m000dgzj)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000dgzl)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with Bob Fyffe of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m000dgzn)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08rptqt)
David Salmon on the Woodlark
David Salmon of the Slimbridge Wetland Centre on the song of the woodlark.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.
Producer Miles Warde.
THU 06:00 Today (m000dg9j)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m000dg9n)
Solar Wind
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the flow of particles from the outer region of the Sun which we observe in the Northern and Southern Lights, interacting with Earth's magnetosphere, and in comet tails that stream away from the Sun regardless of their own direction. One way of defining the boundary of the solar system is where the pressure from the solar wind is balanced by that from the region between the stars, the interstellar medium. Its existence was suggested from the C19th and Eugene Parker developed the theory of it in the 1950s and it has been examined and tested by a series of probes in C20th up to today, with more planned.
With
Andrew Coates
Helen Mason
And
Tim Horbury
Producer: Simon Tillotson
THU 09:45 Orwell in Five Words (m000dgd7)
Law
In the last few years, George Orwell’s writing and thinking have come to seem ever more timely. But they are also much misrepresented. As BBC Radio 4 marks the 70th anniversary of his early death, BBC documentary-maker Phil Tinline takes five words that resonate through Orwell’s work, and tests out what light they can shed on our problems today.
Early in Nineteen Eighty Four, Orwell makes clear that in Big Brother’s dictatorship, “there were no longer any laws” – because this is a regime which doesn’t distinguish between thought and deed, and where the only law is state power.
So we explore how useful are Orwell’s ideas about power in countries that still have the rule of law? And we hear from a Uyghur writer who spent months in a Chinese prison about his experience of law in the world’s most powerful authoritarian state.
Series contributors include: Nick Cohen, David Dwan, Maurice Glasman, Joanna Kavenna, Robert Jay Lifton, Dorian Lynskey, Ferdinand Mount, Jean Seaton, Timothy Snyder
Presenter/ Producer: Phil Tinline
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000dg9s)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m000dk13)
A Small Town Murder
Episode 4
It's Jackie's last week but one of her clients, Hadley, has returned to her abusive husband. Jackie feels she has to ensure that she is safe.
This is the fourteenth and last series of Scott Cherry's "A Small Town Murder".
Cast
Jackie ..... Meera Syal
Peter ..... Matthew Marsh
Dee ..... Ayesha Antoine
Gary ..... Michael Higgs
Lorraine ..... Abigail Cruttenden
Karen ..... Nicola Stuart Hill
Hadley ..... Sarah Lambie
Ryan ..... Phil Yarrow
Steve ..... Scott Cherry
Dave ..... Alec Newman
Other parts played by the cast
Written by Scott Cherry
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill Production for BBC Radio 4
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (m000dg9v)
Insight, and analysis from BBC correspondents around the world
THU 11:30 The Last of the Just: Finding Beauty in Barbarity (m000dnd7)
Writer and filmmaker Naomi Gryn revisits The Last of the Just by André Schwarz-Bart, a literary sensation when it was first published 60 years ago. It sold over a million copies and was translated into 20 languages.
Based on the Kabbalistic tradition that in every generation 36 righteous people save the world from destruction, the novel is a magical realist interpretation of Schwarz-Bart’s wartime experiences, and an act of mourning for the senseless slaughter of Europe’s Jews, including his own parents and brothers who were deported to Auschwitz when he was 13 years old.
Naomi travels to Paris to walk in the footsteps of the main character, Ernie Levy, and to meet the author’s widow, Simone, an eminent author in her own right, and their son, Jacques, a jazz saxophonist. His recent album – a tribute to his father’s memory - draws inspiration from both his parents’ past including the Voodoo faith of his mother’s African ancestors and chants from the Jewish liturgical heritage of his father's family.
Together they examine why this haunting, sometimes heart-breaking elegy for the innocence extinguished by the Holocaust is still so urgent and compelling, and why, despite the book’s enormous success, André Schwarz-Bart disappeared from public view.
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4
THU 12:00 News Summary (m000dgzq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 Coming Up for Air (m000dg9z)
Episode 9
An overweight, married, middle-aged insurance salesman surveys his life while reflecting on the country he finds himself living in. George Orwell's novel is read by Tim McInnerny.
Written in 1939, Coming Up For Air was published just before the outbreak of the Second World War and offers premonitions of the impending conflict with images of an idyllic Thames-side Edwardian-era childhood at the same time as taking a rather dim view of capitalism and its effects on the best of rural England.
The reviews were among the best that Orwell had received for a novel. It sold 3,000 copies - a considerable improvement on the response to his previous works.
Abridged by Ellin Stein
Read by Tim McInnerny
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4
THU 12:18 You and Yours (m000dgb1)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.
THU 12:57 Weather (m000dgb3)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m000dgb6)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
THU 13:45 Green Originals (m000dgbb)
Chico Mendes
When Chico Mendes was gunned down in the Amazon in December 1988, his assassin, a rancher named Darcy Alves, hoped to kill off his campaign to prevent forest clearance. Instead, it raised the alarm on the issue in Brazil and across the world, influencing a generation of conservationists and policy makers. Mendes is now a symbol of the global environmental movement in South America.
After starting to tap rubber as a child in Acre state in Brazil’s far west, Mendes co-founded the local branch of the rural workers union and organised demonstrations to stop thousands of square kilometres of rainforest being destroyed for timber and ranching, saving hundreds of families from destitution.
“He showed what we could do against the power of these people who had money, and gunmen, and the protection of the judiciary,” says Marina Silva, a former environment minister and presidential candidate.
The Brazilian singer Monica Vasconcelos reflects on the work of the union leader who only learned to read at 18 but went on to become a powerful advocate for forest people.
“Since Jair Bolsonaro became Brazil’s president at the start of last year, his government has weakened forest protections and encouraged land grabbers to move in. As we face an increase in violence towards local communities and deforestation in the Amazon, its worth looking back and remembering Chico’s extraordinary life,” she says.
Producer: Emily Williams
Series Editor: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4in association with The Open University
THU 14:00 The Archers (m000dgbg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 The Real George Orwell (b01qlhjp)
Biographical Dramas
Jura
By Jonathan Holloway
The last of four plays featuring episodes in the life of Eric Blair. In 1947, the year after Eileen's death, Eric leaves London and moves to Jura, with his sister Avril, and his three year old son. He is suffering from tuberculosis but is determined to try and make a go of living off the land. But most of all he is determined to finish Nineteen Eighty-Four, his final book.
Eric Blair..Joseph Millson
Avril Blair...Liza Sadovy
David Holbrook... Adam Nagaitis
Sonia Orwell ...Stephanie Racine
Ricky Blair...James Foster
Henry...Will Howard
Lucy...Alexandra Guelff
Jane...Lizzie Watts
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer
Of course there is no real George Orwell - it was the pen name of Eric Blair - but he was a writer and political commentator who is very hard to pin down. Ever since his early death in 1950, he has been at one and the same time the darling of some on both the left and the right of British politics - whilst being reviled by others. For all the beautiful simplicity of his writing and storytelling Orwell/Blair is a complex mass of confusions - an anti-establishment, pro-English, ex-Etonian ex-policeman and socialist, who was ardently anti-authoritarian. He was as anti-fascist as he was anti-communist, a former Spanish Civil War soldier who was anti-war but pro the Second World War, and so on and so on.
THU 15:00 Open Country (m000dgbk)
Ryebank Fields
Ryebank Fields is a small patch of land in Chorlton in the south of Manchester. Spanning around eleven acres this overgrown piece of grassland has become a favourite spot for the community's families to wander, explore and play. But this much-loved spot is now under threat. The owners, Manchester Metropolitan University, want to sell the land for development into housing and invest the money back into their existing inner-city site.
Campaigner Julie Ryan tells her she used to play there as a child before taking her own children there. She says it's her go-to place when she's stressed out, and together with campaigner Tara Perry they take Helen Mark on a tour. Tara describes Ryebank as the "green lungs" of Manchester and talks about why the land has a future as a community garden and orchard. Steve Silver and Helen walk around the oak trees that he planted at the turn of the Millennium and says that the nearby Longford Park would be no substitute. All three herald Ryebank as a habitat for wildlife and plantlife. Archaeologist Dr. Michael Nevell shows Helen the historic Nico Ditch and separates fact from folklore about its status and significance. Dr. Jenna Ashton tells Helen about her work into the benefits of semi-wild green spaces in cities and how it can lead to a sense of ownership and curiosity. Helen also speaks to a representative from Manchester Metropolitan University who argues that the money from the sale of Ryebank can be invested back into the University's inner-city campus and cites the sustainable measures that will be put in place as part of any development.
Presenter: Helen Mark
Producer: Toby Field
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m000df8d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (m000df96)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (m000dgbp)
The latest releases, the hottest stars and the leading directors, plus news and insights from the film world.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m000dgbt)
Dr Adam Rutherford and guests illuminate the mysteries and challenge the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.
THU 17:00 PM (m000dgby)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000dgc6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Elephant in the Room (m0006sfd)
Episode 4
Sarah Millican hosts a new panel show using surveys to discover who is the most Average Jolene, and who is the most Maverick Matilda. This week's sparkling panel features Lucy Beaumont, Annabel Giles, Evelyn Mok and Toby Hadoke.
Surveys on subjects including childhood, daily rituals and favourite cheese are the basis for Sarah's questions to the panellists, discovering who is the closest to, and furthest from, the average. Surprising quirks, hilarious insights and unexpected anecdotes are revealed along the way.
The winner will be the most average. But joint winner will be the most different, the furthest from the norm.
A little bit like a dinner party, but one where you know all of the spoons.
A Chopsy production for BBC Radio 4
THU 19:00 The Archers (m000df4m)
Jim is shocked by an emotional confession and Rex finds himself accused
THU 19:15 Front Row (m000dgcd)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m000dk13)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m000dgcj)
Combining original insights into major news stories with topical investigations.
THU 20:30 In Business (m000dgcn)
Making fashion sustainable
Fashion is a hugely polluting industry and is under enormous pressure to become more sustainable. From the way cotton is grown, to the use of synthetic materials and the conditions in factories where our clothes are made - these are all challenges facing the sector. In this programme Patrick Grant, the British menswear designer, factory owner and judge on the Great British Sewing Bee, asks how the fashion industry should respond and what we, as consumers, should be doing too.
Producer Caroline Bayley
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m000dgbt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (m000dg9n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m000dgcv)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
THU 22:45 Coming Up for Air (m000dg9z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
THU 23:00 Relativity (m0001y8z)
Series 2
Episode 2
Drawing on his own family, the second series of Richard Herring’s comedy drama, Relativity, builds on the warm, lively characters and family dynamics of the first series. His affectionate observation of inter-generational misunderstanding, sibling sparring and the ties that bind will resonate with anyone who has ever argued with their dad about who the current Pope is.
Amid the comedy, Richard broaches some more serious highs and lows of family life.
Richard Herring is a comedian, writer, blogger and podcaster and the world's premier semi-professional self-playing snooker player.
Episode 2:
Holly’s unexpected pregnancy brings the family together once again, as they all comes to terms with it in their own way. Pete and Billy bond over 59.1% Scotch, Margaret braves the supermarket and Holly won’t come out of her bedroom.
Cast:
Margaret…………….Alison Steadman
Ken……………..Phil Davis
Jane…………….Fenella Woolgar
Ian……………….Richard Herring
Chloe…………..Emily Berrington
Pete………………..Gordon Kennedy
Holly………………...Tia Bannon
Mark………………Fred Haig
Nick………………..Harrison Knights
Billy………………..Danny Kirrane
Written by Richard Herring
Sound Design by Eloise Whitmore
Produced by Polly Thomas
Executive Producers: Jon Thoday and Richard Allen Turner
An Avalon Television production for BBC Radio 4
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000dgcz)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
FRIDAY 24 JANUARY 2020
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m000dgd3)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 00:30 Orwell in Five Words (m000dgd7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000dgdc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000dgdh)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000dgdk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m000dgdm)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000dgdp)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with Bob Fyffe of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m000dgdr)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08rq6db)
Peter Cranswick on the Red-Breasted Goose
Peter Cranswick of the Slimbridge Wetland Centre on the beautiful red breasted goose, and freezing wintry days counting them in fields.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.
Producer Miles Warde.
FRI 06:00 Today (m000df3x)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m000df3z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Orwell in Five Words (m000df41)
Love
In the last few years, George Orwell’s writing and thinking have come to seem ever more timely. But they are also much misrepresented. As BBC Radio 4 marks the 70th anniversary of his early death, BBC documentary-maker Phil Tinline takes five words that resonate through Orwell’s work, and tests out what light they can shed on our problems today.
After Winston Smith has been tortured, brainwashed and broken in the Ministry of Love, Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty Four ends: “He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”
In this final programme, Phil traces the common origins of the world Orwell imagined in Nineteen Eighty Four and the ‘thought transformation’ process that the Chinese government is currently applying to hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs in ‘vocational training centres’ across Xinjiang.
Series contributors include: Nick Cohen, David Dwan, Maurice Glasman, Joanna Kavenna, Robert Jay Lifton, Dorian Lynskey, Ferdinand Mount, Jean Seaton, Timothy Snyder
Presenter/ Producer: Phil Tinline
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000df43)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m000dk19)
A Small Town Murder
Episode 5
It's Jackie's (Meera Syal) last week at work, but Hadley's abusive husband Dave has found out where Jackie lives and is determined to teach her a lesson for interfering.
This is the fourteenth and last series of Scott Cherry's "A Small Town Murder".
Cast
Jackie ..... Meera Syal
Peter ..... Matthew Marsh
Dee ..... Ayesha Antoine
Gary ..... Michael Higgs
Lorraine ..... Abigail Cruttenden
Karen ..... Nicola Stuart Hill
Hadley ..... Sarah Lambie
Ryan ..... hil Yarrow
Steve ..... Scott Cherry
Dave ..... Alec Newman
Other parts played by the cast
Written by Scott Cherry
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill Production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 11:00 Curating the Future (m000df45)
Museums Are Not Neutral
Museums and galleries remain hugely popular but also face increasing criticism over who visits, who pays and what's on display.
In an era of identity politics, V&A Director Tristram Hunt asks what future museums have when there is no greater sin than 'cultural appropriation', nationalism and nativism decry the multi-cultural stories that galleries tell, and the role of 'experts' is questioned.
With Directors of museums and galleries in London, Derby and Mumbai, Tristram discusses how best to attract new audiences and whether museums should try to promote social justice, transforming their traditional role. He also considers claims that 'Museums Are Not Neutral', explores the co-curation of exhibitions and asks whether 'lived experience’ is as valuable as curatorial knowledge.
Producer: Julia Johnson
FRI 11:30 No Gods No Golf (m000dk1c)
Zoe is a single, gay, 40-something low-level criminal defence lawyer. Without a religion, kids to look after, or golf club membership, she’s often woken with the nagging thought, ‘What’s this all about?’
She has reached a point in her career where, despite being financially secure, she realises her job will never deliver any of the fulfilment she thought it would and she’s beginning to feel trapped in a prison of her own making.
She shares her flat with her nephew, 20-something Grayson, a chef whose life revolves around banging on about the latest street food trends and pop up restaurants.
Her circle of friends are an eclectic mix of Brighton characters. Many of them pursuing freelance creative careers from cupcake making to dog fashion accessories. Her friends envy her job security and she in turn envies their apparent freedom. Zoe’s oldest pal Freddie is a no-nonsense, cigar-smoking upper-class lesbian antique dealer, who is always on hand to offer Zoe extraordinarily inappropriate advice and life-lessons.
In Zoe’s law practice, Alexa (28) - full of enthusiasm - hopes she will not end up like Zoe, who in turn hopes she won’t end up like Georgina (55) - always late, frequently drunk and a serial dater.
In this episode, Zoe is worried she’s being stalked by a stalker she defended on a stalking charge and ill-advisedly decides to invest in her friend’s new business.
Cast:
Zoe Lyons - Zoe
Terry Alderton - Tricky Dicky/Chris Eubank/Max
Angela Barnes - Mel
Jenny Bede - Alexa/Supermarket Woman
Michael Fabbri - Waiter/ Award winner
Selena Griffiths - Freddie/Sharon
Jon Pointing - Clive/Grayson
Steve Speirs - Patrick
Sue Vincent -Georgina
Written by Zoe Lyons
Producer: Barry Castagnola
A Golden Path production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m000df47)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Coming Up for Air (m000df49)
Episode 10
An overweight, married, middle-aged insurance salesman surveys his life while reflecting on the country he finds himself living in. George Orwell's novel is read by Tim McInnerny.
Written in 1939, Coming Up For Air was published just before the outbreak of the Second World War and offers premonitions of the impending conflict with images of an idyllic Thames-side Edwardian-era childhood at the same time as taking a rather dim view of capitalism and its effects on the best of rural England.
The reviews were among the best that Orwell had received for a novel. It sold 3,000 copies - a considerable improvement on the response to his previous works.
Abridged by Ellin Stein
Read by Tim McInnerny
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 12:18 You and Yours (m000df4c)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.
FRI 12:57 Weather (m000df4f)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m000df4h)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
FRI 13:45 Green Originals (m000df4k)
Severn Cullis-Suzuki
Severn Cullis-Suzuki was twelve years old when she gave a speech demanding action on the environment at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.
Like many young people who came after her, she demanded that adults listen and act swiftly to protect her future. She had grown up with a love of nature and was scared and angry about the extinction of animal species, pollution, and the destruction of forests.
In this programme, the naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham reflects on the impact of her speech and the power of children’s voices in the climate debate.
Producer: Natalie Steed
Series Editor: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4 in association with The Open University
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m000df4m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (m00036l4)
Five Rachels
What if you could replace sad memories with happy ones? What if it was really easy, just as easy as popping a pill? In Katie Hims’ beautifully layered and sweetly funny psychological drama, Rachel Davies stars as Rachel Ridley, a perfectly ordinary woman who seems to have discovered memories that she didn’t used to have. She thinks she used to have them, but her doctor is very sure she didn’t. As Rachel tries to research what might be happening to her, she discovers the almost mystical nature of the brain… we’ve all breathed in the atoms of the dead, maybe Rachel could have picked up their stories too… or… maybe she’s really a replicant, like the Rachael in Blade Runner…
Cast
Rachel Ridley ….. Rachel Davies
Rachel 2 …… Kika Markham
Dr Jones ….. Michael Bertenshaw
Girl in the newsagents ….. Sarah Ovens
Receptionist ….. Franchi Webb
Library customer ….. Christopher Harper
With thanks to Dr Paul Broks, Dr Katja Paeprer, Dr Frank Rohricht, Professor Peter Garrard, Dr Daniel Glaser.
Sound design by David Chilton
Written by Katie Hims
Directed by Allegra McIlroy
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000df4p)
Peter's Garden: Correspondence Edition
The panel join Peter Gibbs in his garden for a correspondence edition of show. Christine Walkden, Pippa Greenwood and Matthew Pottage answer questions sent in by listeners via post, email and social media.
Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Jemima Rathbone
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m000df4r)
Fifty Pence for the Meter
An original short work for BBC Radio 4 by the author Jamie Guiney. Read by Carol Moore.
Jamie Guiney is a literary fiction writer from County Armagh, Northern Ireland. His debut short story collection 'The Wooden Hill' was shortlisted under Best Short Story Collection in the 2019 Saboteur Awards. Jamie's short stories have been published internationally and he has been nominated twice for the 'The Pushcart Prize.' He is a graduate of the Faber & Faber Writing Academy and has twice been a judge for short story competition 'The New Rose Prize.' His work has been backed by the Northern Ireland Arts Council through several Individual Artist Awards and he has also been chosen by Lagan Online as one of their New Original Writers.
Writer, Jamie Guiney
Reader, Carol Moore
Producer, Michael Shannon
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m000df4t)
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (m000df4w)
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 (m000846q)
Sheila and Ron - Bit by Bit
A couple married for 65 years recall how they saved up to buy their first and only home. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
FRI 17:00 PM (m000df4y)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000df50)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m000df52)
Series 101
Episode 3
A satirical review of the week's news, chaired by Nish Kumar.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m000dfyl)
Writer, Keri Davies
Director, Gwenda Hughes
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Jolene Archer ….. Buffy Davis
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Tom Archer ….. William Troughton
Natasha Archer ….. Mali Harries
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Ian Craig ….. Stephen Kennedy
Rex Fairbrother ….. Nick Barber
Toby Fairbrother ….. Rhys Bevan
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Clarrie Grundy ….. Heather Bell
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O'Hanrahan
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Alistair Lloyd ….. Michael Lumsden
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Adam Macy ….. Andrew Wincott
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Freddie Pargetter ….. Toby Laurence
Fallon Rogers ….. Joanna Van Kampen
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Philip Moss ….. Andy Hockley
Lee Bryce ….. Ryan Early
Michael ….. Paul Stonehouse
FRI 19:15 Front Row (m000df54)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m000dk19)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m000df56)
Vaughan Gething, Liz Saville Roberts MP
Chris Mason presents topical debate from St Asaph Cathedral in North Wales with Vaughan Gething AM Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services in the Welsh Government and the leader of Plaid Cymru at Westminster Liz Saville Roberts MP.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m000df58)
A weekly reflection on a topical issue.
FRI 21:00 Green Originals (m000df5b)
From Ken Saro-Wiwa to Severn Cullis-Suzuki
Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement.
A Whistledown production in association with The Open University.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m000df5d)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
FRI 22:45 Coming Up for Air (m000df49)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (m000df5g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000df5j)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (m000843w)
Neil and David - Laughter’s a Great Healer
Friends talk about mental health and the healing power of talking - and of laughing. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.