David Attenborough reads from J. A. Baker's classic of British nature writing. It's late March and Baker forges a deeper connection with the peregrine.
Published over fifty years ago to critical acclaim, The Peregrine is regarded as a masterpiece, and has gone on to inspire some of today's most celebrated nature writers, including Robert Macfarlane. Written in the form of a diary it charts Baker's almost daily observations of this extraordinary predator over the course of seven months, from autumn to spring.
"What are wormholes and do they really exist?" asks Manlee-Fidel Spence, aged 12. In this exotic episode, the doctors investigate how wormholes would work.
Cosmologist Andrew Pontzen explains why wormholes could allow you to travel through time as well as space. And physicist Jim AlKhalili outlines the infinite problems this could generate.
When it comes to wormholes and time travel, many science fiction stories have married solid science and successful storytelling, as Jennifer Oullette describes, but others really have defied the laws of physics. Jim also reveals why some quantum physicists now think that wormholes could be everywhere. But don't expect to jump back to 1955 any time soon.
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
Psychotherapist, Dr. Ruth Allen, explains how outdoor counselling works. She takes Clare Balding on a walk near Kelstedge in Derbyshire to discuss the healing power of walking & talking.
In this series of Ramblings, Clare Balding is exploring the impact that walking in nature can have on our inner lives. She’s been up Glastonbury Tor with Druids, walked the Wilberforce Way with a Methodist minister, been on retreat in Winchester and rambled across the Malverns with the Herefordshire Interfaith Group.
The Free Range Egg Producers Association say hens that lay brown eggs are more aggressive than hens that lay white eggs. Birds have their beaks trimmed to prevent them from hurting each other, but beak trimming is considered by many animal welfare groups to be a cruel practice. The government would like to phase it out, but some farmers are concerned that would mean more serious 'hen-pecking' and are calling on consumers to change to white eggs to help improve welfare. We investigate the claims.
It's lambing season and adverts for lambing assistants are popping up all over social media, because finding labour to help in the lambing sheds isn't easy. We visit a sheep farmer busy lambing his two thousand ewes near Stratford on Avon. He enlists around 20 vet students to help each year, as well as additional paid staff, but finding them is getting increasingly difficult and it could mean downsizing his flock.
And we go out at night, surveying birds on a farm in south Staffordshire. Members of the Belvide Bird Ringing Group are using thermal imaging cameras to catch and ring species like skylarks which are hard to get hold of using more traditional methods like mist nets. Usually only about 200 skylarks a year are ringed across the whole of the UK but with this high tech kit, the team ringed 400 on just one farm.
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Neil Morrissey became a household name in the 1990’s playing Tony in sitcom Men Behaving Badly. As the voice of Bob the Builder he had two number one singles in the UK Charts and now combines acting with running pubs.
Alice Morrison is an adventurer who lives and (mostly!) explores in Morocco. She was previously a BBC news editor. She’s travelled extensively in the region, most recently completing a 78-day trek across the Saharan desert with three Berber companions and six camels, receiving help from nomads, and walking through areas of quicksand and landmines.
As a teenager who was suffering from depression, Matt Wesolowski was drawn to goth culture and wrote fiction involving vampires and monsters. He is now a bestselling author but has kept his day job teaching English to young people in Pupil Referral Units.
Nadia Finer is a business coach with a small voice. The kind of small voice that once made another mum at the school gates tell her own mum that ‘she ought to get that sorted out’, and which led to Nadia avoiding speaking in public for most of her adolescence and twenties. Now she’s embracing her shyness and by founding the Shy and Mighty Society and challenging herself to live in a bigger way.
And singer Jane McDonald shares her Inheritance Tracks - Downtown by Petula Clark and Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.
The random postcode generator delivers its first postcode in the North East of England. Hartlepool.
There are seventeen different postcodes in Hartlepool. Dying whales and doughnuts, residents describe this particular patch of the town in various ways.
Patch producer Camellia Sinclair heads to the heart of historic Hartlepool with its flurry of for sale boards and tells the story of two very different houses.
This continues a series of seven new Patches. Each week a new postcode is generated and a new story searched for, taking us to Warrington, Blackford in Perthshire, Torry in Aberdeen, Hartlepool, Croxteth in Liverpool, and the town of Elland.
George Parker of the Financial Times looks back at the week. This week we'll be discussing the Coronavirus, with Philippa Whitford MP, SNP, and Stephen Farry MP, Alliance Party. Looking at past Budgets, with Lord Darling of Roulanish and Lord MacPherson of Earl's Court. Looking at the present Budget, also with: Rachel Reeves MP, Labour, and Anthony Browne, Writer. And lastly, no platforming, with Lord Patten of Barnes, Chancellor of the University of Oxford.
For well over a decade, the Al Qaeda linked group Al Shabab has struck terror in Somalia, Kenya and beyond blowing up shopping malls and hotels. Its senior leaders want to establish a caliphate, where their draconian form of Islam is imposed. But most Al Shabaab foot-soldiers come from deprived backgrounds and now hundreds have defected and are rebuilding their lives. Mary Harper visited a rehabilitation centre in the capital Mogadishu.
In Afghanistan too, there are hopes of militants disarming, Taliban prisoners being released and of an end to a long drawn out conflict. But the peace process is overshadowed by a crisis in government. The defeated candidate in the presidential election, Abdullah Abdullah, proclaimed himself as president at the same time as the official inauguration of President Ghani earlier this week. David Loyn was there.
There was much praise for the three journalists whose dogged investigations ultimately led to Harvey Weinsteins's conviction. But an important question remains says Kirsty Lang: why was the movie mogul's systematic abuse of women, kept out of the media for so many years?
In France schools are closing until further notice as the government battles to stem the spread of the coronavirus. But President Macron said local elections would go ahead as planned. Elderly people, most at risk, may stay away from the polls. But in Pamiers, Chris Bockman met a candidate for mayor, a hardy nonagenarian.
Despite its beautiful lakes, forests and hilltop castles Estonia had a hard time attracting tourists in the 1970s. Few Westerners fancied spending their holidays on that side of the Iron Curtain. But then the Soviet authorities built a luxury hotel fitted out with state of the art listening devices says Rob Crossan.
The financial fallout from the Corona Virus pandemic. Making sense of the help available.
And the Chief Financial Ombudsman, Caroline Wayman, tells us that the banks warnings are not good enough and that they need to do much to stop people becoming victims of so-called "push payment fraud". We report on a "never seen before" fraud that lead to a ninety-one year old losing his life's savings. The criminals used the victim's driving licence to set up an account in his name, but under their control. They stole £90,000 over five months. When he became suspicious he contacted his bank but they refused to refund him.
Join The Now Show team with their unique take on the week's events. Chris McCausland visits A Quiet Place, Sara Barron is in splendid isolation and Huge Davies washes his hands of it all...
Written by the cast, with additional material from Catherine Brinkworth, Jon Hunter, Aidan Fitzmaurice and Simon Alcock
Hilary Benn, Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, Professor Sian Griffith, Lord Lamont, Dr David Nabarro
Chris Mason presents political debate from London Broadcasting House with the Chair of the Brexit select committee Hilary Benn, the director general of the CBI Carolyn Fairbairn, Professor Sian Griffith who co chaired the Hong Kong government's SARS inquiry, the former chancellor of the exchequer Lord Lamont of Lerwick and the World Health Organisation envoy on Covid-19 Dr David Nabarro.
In normal times this would have been the week we talked about the budget...but these are not normal times.
Any Questions was recorded without a live audience yesterday, and there was only one topic - the one that all of us, our friends and our loved ones have been talking about all week.
Ian Fleming’s psycho-political Cold War thriller, written in 1964 and dramatised by Archie Scottney. James Bond’s obit appears in the Times. But suddenly he’s back in London with murder on his mind. Brainwashed by the Russians?
M gives him one more chance - terminate international assassin, Francisco Scaramanga.
Bond infiltrates the killer’s Jamaican HQ. But 007 has a conscience. Can he eliminate the butcher in cold blood? Will his cover be blown?
A stellar cast includes Toby Stephen's return as 007. Cuban/American star Guillermo Diaz excels as psychopath Scaramanga and Janie Dee returns as Moneypenny, with John Standing as M and Moira Quirk as a feisty Mary Goodnight.
Martin Jarvis directs and is the voice of Ian Fleming in a dazzling Caribbean soundscape with specially composed music by A-Mnemonic.
James Bond ….. Toby Stephens
Scaramanga ….. Guillermo Diaz
M ….. John Standing
Chief-of-Staff ….. Lloyd Owen
Moneypenny ….. Janie Dee
Townsend ….. Simon Templeman
Professor Gillian ….. Lisa Dillon
Tiffy ….. Monica McSwain
Mary Goodnight ….. Moira Quirk
Paradise ….. Seamus Dever
Gengerella ….. Tim Dekay
Hendricks ….. Matthew Wolf
Binion ….. André Sogliuzzo
Garfinkel ….. Darren Richardson
Ruby ….. Anna Mathias
Leiter ….. Josh Stamberg
Nicholson ….. JD Cullum
Doctor ….. Gilbert Glenn Brown
Matron ….. Inger Tudor
Cargill ….. John Cothran
Telephonists ….. Anna-Louise Plowman, Paula Jane Newman, Anna Lyse Erikson
Newsreader ….. Brian Perkins
Fleming ….. Martin Jarvis
Specially composed music: A-Mnemonic.
We hear from the singer turned interviewer Jessie Ware and her mum Lennie about their hit podcast Table Manners, where they cook dinner for a different celebrity every week. They’ve turned their favourite recipes into a cook book.
Black Women and sexual violence. What are the cultural barriers making it difficult for black women to discuss and disclose sexual violence? And what is cultural betrayal theory?
Chief Foreign correspondent Christina Lamb tells us about her new book ‘Our Bodies Their Battlefield'. And we talk about the signficance of Women’s History Month with Professor Selina Todd and Professor Krista Cowman.
Presenter Jane Garvey.
Can new businesses survive without some form of hype or over-promotion? Or will consumer or investor disillusionment inevitably correct this? One recent example where hype came back to bite a company founder is that of the shared office space provider, WeWork. Its stock market valuation fell from $50bn to near bankruptcy over the course of a few weeks.
Brent Hoberman, serial entrepreneur and investor, chair and co-founder of Founders Factory and First Minute Capital
Rory Sutherland, Vice Chair of Ogilvy, the global advertising and marketing agency
Ten more people who had coronavirus have died, taking the total number of deaths across the UK to 21.
Hugo Weaving, Tamsin Greig, Rachael Stirling, Samra Habib, Julia Biel, Alex Rex, Arthur Smith, Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson and Arthur Smith are joined by Hugo Weaving, Tamsin Greig, Rachael Stirling and Samra Habib for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Julia Biel and Alex Rex.
The coronavirus epidemic is a growing crisis for England's chief medical officer. This week he has faced criticism from journalists, politicians and public health specialists. Mark Coles finds out about the life and career of Professor Chris Whitty. He is a physician, a plague expert and an epidemiologist. But that's just for starters. He has also studied law, economics and business. But how will he cope with a role in the bright political spotlight?
Misbehaviour is a new film about the 1970 Miss World pageant which saw the first black Miss World and was also disrupted by the nascent Women's Liberation movement who threw flour bombs at host Bob Hope
Sebastian Barry's play On Blueberry Hill is set in a prison cell where two men's stories of how they got there become intertwined.
Abi Daré's novel The Girl With The Louding Voice is the tale of Adunni, a fourteen year old Nigerian girl who has to go into domestic service in Lagos but is determined to better herself
A new retrospective of the work and life of Andy Warhol has just opened at Tate Modern in London, including many works never previoulsy exhibtited in the UK before
Two new TV comedies with impeccable pedigrees - ITV's Kate and Koji (written by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin - who wrote Outnumbered) and Breeders (co-produced by Chris Addison and Simon Blackwell) on Sky TV - have just started. Theyre very different.. are they very funny?
Tom Sutcliffe guests are Sara Colllins, Alex Preston and Tiffany Jenkins. The producer is Oliver Jones
Sara: Toni Mossion: The Pieces I Am + Fons Americanus by Kara Walker at Tate Modern
See it once, that giant mushroom cloud - you can't take your eyes off it.
See it twice - the sensation is the same - a shock wave blasting the camera; those men standing staring, with strange sun glasses covering their face.
Between 1952 and 1991 over 22,000 service men took part in nuclear testing - most conscripted - at sites in Australia, and close by, including Christmas Island where the veterans in this programme were stationed. Most servicemen had no idea what they were doing until they arrived - and then they found out with a mixture of shock and awe. One soldier wrote home that - "the next bomb blast may well destroy the whole island - but at least it will be quick!" Everyone was terrified.
So what was the human fall out of the fall out - not only on the people who took part, but their children too?
We are all equally transfixed, awed, and horrified, by archive footage from the early years of nuclear testing. But who were those men, sitting in bunkers, standing in rows, laughing in shock? What about them, and what about their children?
Gordon Murray, academic and playwright at the University of Winchester, has been gathering stories from the children of the soldiers ordered to stay on Christmas Island during the tests - back in the 50's and 60's. Many of them have health issues, or a sense of what he calls, the Nuclear Uncanny, which they believe comes from the tests their fathers were exposed to.
What is the effect of knowing that your father was exposed to perhaps 5 or 6 nuclear tests? Is it surprising that campaigning for compensation, and attempts to get scientific confirmation of ill health resulting from the tests, continues.
Using recordings, dramatic recreations and imaginative sound pieces, re-enacting those moments that would change lives for ever - Gordon Murray resists a human experiment that few would now subject themselves to willingly.
The final play of five comedy dramas about an immigrant fish and chip shop in Chapeltown, Leeds. We have now rewound to 1936, and a Jewish family run the business. Melvyn's batter is limp and lifeless, that is until a stranger arrives with a new recipe. The riddle of the 'Battered Devil' is about to be revealed.
Eight new cases to challenge the detective wit of Chief Inspector Annika Strandhed, queen of the Oslo Police boat patrol.
Annika is still coming to terms with the death of her friend and long-time, long suffering forensic photographer Mikel. But life goes on, and so does police work on the Oslofjord. Annika must forge a new relationship with Mikel’s young replacement, Sigrid.
When a soldier is found murdered during NATO exercises in the Kvikneskogen forest, the army asks Annika to investigate.
Nick Walker is the author of two critically-acclaimed novels, Blackbox and Helloland. His plays and short stories have often featured on BBC Radio 4 - including the First King of Mars stories (2007 - 2010) and the plays Life Coach (2010) and Stormchasers (2012). The previous series of Annika Stranded were broadcast in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018.
The anti-racism campaigner Trevor Phillips has been suspended from the Labour Party over allegations of Islamophobia. Some have described the move as “Orwellian”; others believe he has a case to answer. The issue turns on what we mean by ‘Islamophobia’ – although even to pose that question is to invite denunciation in some quarters; why split hairs when it’s obvious that anti-Muslim bigotry is rife? The Conservative party has been under attack for the allegedly Islamophobic utterances of some within its ranks, but it is waiting to agree on a definition of ‘Islamophobia’ before committing to an inquiry. It is 20 years since the term entered the political lexicon and almost a decade since Baroness Warsi declared that Islamophobia had passed the ‘dinner table test’ and become acceptable in polite society; yet, we still haven’t quite decided what it is and what it isn’t. Some people – including many Muslims – have a problem with the word itself because they think it reinforces the idea that Islam is something to be afraid of. Islam is a religion, not a race, but the definition used by the Labour Party calls Islamophobia ‘a type of racism’, because of the comparable experiences described by Muslims at the sharp end of group discrimination. Meanwhile, free speech advocates are concerned that any formal definition risks blurring the line between the unacceptable hatred of people (Muslims) and the legitimate criticism of ideas (Islam). Once we have our definition, whom should we appoint to decide whether particular words or deeds are Islamophobic? And if there’s a spectrum that runs from insensitivity and disrespect at one end to the most hideous kinds of hate crime at the other, where along that line should the law intervene? With Mohammed Amin, Myriam Francois, Ibrahim Mogra & Fiyaz Mughal.
Tom Sutcliffe chairs the re-match between the South of England and Northern Ireland, who finished neck and neck last time they met. Paul Sinha and Marcus Berkmann are the South of England pairing, opposite Freya McClements and Paddy Duffy for Northern Ireland.
They'll need their wits about them as Tom's cryptic questions require them to make connections involving medieval chroniclers, early Hollywood comedies, Formula One drivers, children's literature and folk songs. The questions include a number of the most intriguing ideas sent in by Round Britain Quiz listeners in recent months.
Tom also reveals the solution to the puzzle he left unanswered for listeners to ponder at the end of last week's quiz.
Anna Scott-Brown's conversations and chance encounters on a bench in Potternewton Park, Leeds provide the context for Zodwa Nyoni's specially commissioned poem.
Meeting visitors of the Leeds West Indian Carnival, whose home is this very park, along with established and new residents of Leeds' Chapeltown area, Anna uncovers stories of displacement and belonging, of shared space and shared humanity. There emerges a picture of what makes Potternewton distinctive - as well as how it has changed over the years.
The importance of music, heritage and food comes to the fore, alongside racial tensions of the 1960s, 70s and 80s, with experiences of bias that still exists today. The Windrush scandal provides a contrast to the celebration of the West Indian Carnival, and the shocking death of David Oluwale in 1969 following serial police victimisation sits alongside historical accounts of police brutality suffered in this area.
Poet Zodwa Nyoni deftly interweaves her own rhythms into the stories and celebrates the beauty and vitality of this space and its people.
SUNDAY 15 MARCH 2020
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m000gdv2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:30 Short Works (m000g4gj)
From Fact to Fiction: Lucky
A new short story inspired by this week's news. As the coronavirus pandemic changes behaviour across the country, Allan Radcliffe explores one woman's struggle to keep her carefully balanced life on track.
Journalist and theatre critic Allan Radcliffe has written short fiction for anthologies as well as for broadcast on Radio 4.
Writer Allan Radcliffe
Reader Karen Bartke
Producer Eilidh McCreadie
A BBC Scotland production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000gdv4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000gdv6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000gdv8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m000gdvb)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m000gd8d)
St George’s Church, Poynton in Cheshire.
Bells on Sunday comes from St George’s Church, Poynton in Cheshire. There are six bells, all cast in 1887 by Taylors of Loughborough, with the tenor weighing thirteen hundredweight. We hear an unusual method of ringing, Kingston Treble Bob Minor.
SUN 05:45 Lent Talks (m000g457)
Simon Thomas - Identity and Grief
Lent Talks is a personal perspective on an aspect of the story leading up to Easter. This year’s theme is identity – losing and gaining identity; struggling with identity; accepting and owning identity. TV presenter Simon Thomas reflects on the words of Jesus on the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", and how personal grief gave him a new identity.
Producer: Dan Tierney.
SUN 06:00 News Headlines (m000gd6r)
The latest national and international news headlines.
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b02116yv)
Walking a Mile in Another Man's Shoes
As the old saying has it, "Before you judge a man, you must walk a mile in his shoes".
At a time when some claim divisions in society to be widening, Mark Tully examines the place of empathy in politics, religion, medicine, popular culture and the arts. He tries to establish the difference between empathy, pity and compassion and consults the works of thinkers and writers - ranging from Jain Mystic Shrimad Rajchandra to T.S. Eliot and comic poet Shel Silverstein.
Mark also talks to veteran politician Tony Benn about the importance of developing empathy in political life and plays music by Mozart, Mark Campbell and the Bhutanese monk, Lama Gyurme.
The readers are Harriet Walter and Tim Pigott-Smith.
Producer: Frank Stirling
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:35 Living World (b01cj38d)
Winter Flies
Where do flies go in the winter? It's a question often asked and Miranda Krestovnikoff goes is in search of the answers. Her guide is Erica McAlister, the Collections Manager of Diptera (two-winged flies) at London's Natural History Museum. The location is an icy pool and woodland near Kidderminster where the conditions look anything but favourable. When they arrive nothing is flying, but Erica's backpack suction sampler (what she calls her "ghostbuster gear") reveals a host of metallic greenish flies hiding under the leaves of a tussock sedge. These are known as "dollies" to fly experts ... easier to say than dolichopodids!
These dollies are expert dancers and can be seen on most garden ponds in summer when the males pose on the surface film and wave their wings to flirt with females and threaten other males.
Flies are excellent indicators of good habitat, claims Erica. With over 7,500 species in the UK they outnumber butterflies, moths and beetles and get into every niche, so if you want to study the health of a habitat look for its diversity of flies. Producer: Brett Westwood
SUN 06:57 Weather (m000gd6t)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m000gd6w)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m000gd6y)
The Bones of Saint Eanswythe; Christ Church College Dispute; Coronavirus and the Vatican
In the coastal town of Folkestone, historians and archaeologists are celebrating a remarkable find. It dates from 7th Century and is thought to be the earliest verified remains of the English Saint Eanswythe – one of the first converts to Christianity in England. The BBC's Religion Editor, Martin Bashir, reports from Folkestone.
Andrew Billen from The Times unpacks the dispute between the Dean of Christ Church College and the some of the academic staff that has cost over £2.5 million in legal fees and created damaging divisions.
Italy is in lock-down as the entire nation has been quarantined to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Rome is a place of pilgrimage for millions of people but the Vatican and St Peters Square is closed to the public. Emily talks to Christopher Lamb, Tablet’s Rome correspondent, about the latest news and how coronavirus might impact Easter celebrations.
Producers:
Carmel Lonergan
David Cook
Editor
Amanda Hancox
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m000gbj8)
Sport Relief
Iwan Thomas, Olympic silver medallist, makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Sport Relief.
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 ‘Sport Relief’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Sport Relief’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
Registered Charity Number 326568 in England/Wales; SC039730 in Scotland
SUN 07:57 Weather (m000gd70)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m000gd72)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m000gd74)
Live Lent - Land and Plants
Land and Plants
The service just before St Patrick’s Day continues the Sunday Worship Lenten theme, “Live Lent – Care for God’s Creation.” From St Patrick’s Church, Coleraine, the Rev, Stuart Reid considers “Land and Plants”
Genesis 1.9-13
St John 15.1-4
Ephesians
2.13-22
How Great Thou Art
The King of Love my shepherd is
Dear Lord and Father of mankind
Be still for the presence of the Lord
Love divine, all loves excelling
A Gaelic Blessing (Rutter)
The service is led by the Rev Emma Carson with “Cantemus”, directed by Tony Morrison.
Producer: Bert Tosh
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m000g4h7)
Empty-nesters and gangsters
"There is nothing some of us enjoy more," writes Adam Gopnik, "than finding analogies to our own paltry and predictable lives in scenes from famous gangster movies."
As his children move away from home and he becomes an "empty nester", Adam finds himself, too, doing just that.
Producer: Adele Armstrong
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b038qk0c)
Green Sandpiper
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Brett Westwood presents the Green Sandpiper; a bird with a wonderful yodelling call and the heart-stopping suddenness with which it leaps up from its feeding place and dashes off. The birds that visit the UK are often from Scandinavia, where they nest high up in a fir-tree. When the chicks hatch they tumble unharmed from the nest and are escorted to safe feeding places by their parents.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m000gd76)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m000gd78)
Writer, Naylah Ahmed
Director, Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Tom Archer ….. William Troughton
Natasha Archer ….. Mali Harries
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Clarrie Grundy ….. Heather Bell
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O'Hanrahan
Ed Grundy ….. Barry Farrimond
Shula Hebden Lloyd ….. Judy Bennett
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Elizabeth Pargetter ….. Alison Dowling
Freddie Pargetter ….. Toby Laurence
Lily Pargetter ….. Katie Redford
Robert Snell ….. Graham Blockey
Lynda Snell .... Carole Boyd
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane
Roy Tucker ….. Ian Pepperell
Philip Moss ….. Andy Hockley
Russ Jones ….. Andonis James Anthony
Doctor ….. Jessica Turner
Other roles ….. Ayesha Antoine, Nick Underwood
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m000gc48)
Daniel Radcliffe, actor
Daniel Radcliffe reached a global audience in the title role of the hugely successful Harry Potter films. He has also appeared on Broadway and in the West End, as well as in over a dozen films since the final part of the Harry Potter series was released in 2011.
Born in 1989, the only child of Alan and Marcia Radcliffe, Daniel made his acting debut aged 10 in a BBC adaptation of David Copperfield. The following year he was cast as Harry Potter, and he and his co-stars, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, would spend ten years filming the series. Daniel made a point of taking other roles before it had finished, and he appeared on stage in Peter Shaffer’s play Equus in 2007, a role which involved prolonged full frontal nudity.
Since then he has appeared on screen, on stage and on television, playing characters from the beat poet Allen Ginsberg to a cop going undercover as a neo-Nazi, and his recent films include Guns Akimbo and Escape from Pretoria. In the theatre, he is appearing in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame in London.
He supports the Trevor Project which works to prevent suicides among LGBTQ youth and which Daniel first became aware of during the Broadway run of Equus in 2008. Daniel has been in a long-term relationship with fellow actor Erin Darke who he met on a film set in 2012.
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m000gd7b)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 Nature Table (m000g4zz)
Series 1
Episode 5
Nature Table is comedian, broadcaster and writer Sue Perkins’ new comedy ‘Show & Tell’ series celebrating the natural world and all its funny eccentricities.
Taking the simple format of a ‘Show & Tell’, each episode Sue is joined by celebrity guests from the worlds of comedy and natural history. Each of the natural history guests brings an item linked to the wild world to share with the audience, be it an amazing fact or funny personal anecdote. Each item is a springboard for an enlightening and funny discussion, alongside fun games and challenges revealing more astonishing facts. We also hear from some of the London Zoo audience, a mix of London Zoo staff and members of the public, as they bring us their own natural history ‘show and tells’ for Sue and the guests to discuss.
Nature Table has a simple clear brief: to positively celebrate and promote the importance of all our planet’s wonderfully wild flora and fauna in an fun and easily grasped way... whilst at the same time having a giggle.
Episode 5
Recorded at London Zoo, this week Sue Perkins is joined by special guests award-winning wildlife cameraman Doug Allan, ant expert Dr. Claire Asher and comedian Sindhu Vee.
Written by: Catherine Brinkworth, Kat Sadler & Jon Hunter
Researcher: Catherine Beazley
Music by Ben Mirin. Additional sounds were provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Produced by: Simon Nicholls
A BBC Studios Production
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m000gcwf)
Covid-19: The Food Dimension.
Dan Saladino tracks the origins and impact of coronavirus within the global food supply chain. Where are pressures being felt and who's making decisions about feeding Britain? The spead of Covid-19 around the world isn't just proving to be a challenge for public health and economies, it is also proving to be one of the biggest tests faced by the global food system.
With around fifty per cent of the UK's food supplies coming from overseas and our dependence on a complex and interconnected food system Dan investigates where the pressures are being exerted and how the government and retailers are responding. Concerns are growing for food banks, charities dependent on surplus food and the most vulnerable in society.
Dan also hears from people who have had to feed themselves during the lockdowns in China and Italy. He also speaks to Professor Andrew Cunningham, an expert in zoonotic diseases about the origins of coronavirus within the food supply chain.
Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.
SUN 12:57 Weather (m000gd7f)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m000gd7h)
Global news and analysis, presented by Mark Mardell.
SUN 13:30 Art of Now (m000gd7k)
Christchurch
One year since the Christchurch Mosque attacks, New Zealand’s creatives discuss how their work in poetry, music and art can provide relief and healing to a nation in the wake of one of their darkest days.
New Zealand’s 2017 Poet Laureate, Selina Tusitala Marsh, reflects on her poem Christchurch Mosque Shootings.
Janneth Gil, a Christchurch-based photographer and fine artist, discusses her project Darkness into Light.
Viv Kepes, a Christchurch-based painter, discusses her painted series - working title Bouquet - as part of the umbrella project Darkness into Light.
Mohamed Hassan, slam poet champion and award-winning journalist, discusses the sketches of a poem written in the months since the attack.
Dr Charles Te Ahukaramū Royal, a New Zealand Māori musician, academic and Māori-music revivalist, discusses his composition, Ra Te Rongo Kino, for kapa haka and orchestra which was composed in response to the Christchurch Mosque shootings. The piece was performed by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra with Taniwha Ventures on the 29th June 2019 at the Auckland Town Hall.
Producer: Claire Crofton
Executive Producer: Anishka Sharma
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
Image Credit: Janneth Gil - Widow in prayer - A martyr's absence gives way to his eternal presence. Al Noor Mosque, Christchurch, New Zealand.
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000g4gg)
Over Allotments, Cheshire
Kathy Clugston and the team are visiting the Over Allotments in Cheshire. Matthew Wilson, Bunny Guinness and Bob Flowerdew are on hand to answer the green-fingered audience's questions.
The panellists discuss greening-up a town centre, the best vegetables to grow, and struggling Euphorbias.
Matt Biggs visits Tony Kirkham, Head of Arboretum, Gardens and Horticulture at Kew Gardens, to look at the Turner Oak tree and the discuss the fascinating recent history of the tree which has helped shape how they garden at Kew.
Producer: Laurence Bassett
Assistant Producer: Jemima Rathbone
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (m000gd7m)
Neil and Daisy - It's your world now
A dairy farmer and a vegan talk about the pros and cons of a meat versus plant-based diet. Fi Glover presents the Sunday edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moments 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 The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (m000gd7p)
Part One
Set in a small mill town in the 1930s in the middle of the Deep South of America, Carson McCullers' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is the story of Mick Kelly, a tomboyish girl who loves music and dreams of buying a piano. John Singer, is a lonely deaf-mute who comes to stay as a lodger in Mick's house. No-one knows where he's from. A disparate group of people who live in the town are drawn towards Singer's kind, sympathetic nature. The owner of the café where Singer eats every day, an angry socialist drunkard, a frustrated black doctor: each pours their heart out to Singer, their silent confidant. He in turn changes their disenchanted lives in ways the could never imagine.
Often cited as one of the great novels of twentieth-century American fiction, Carson McCullers' prodigious first novel was published to instant acclaim when she was just twenty-three. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter explores loneliness, the human need for understanding and the search for love.
Part One. Cast
MICK KELLY ..... Coco Green
BUBBER ..... Aaron Gelkoff
JOHN SINGER ..... David Bower
BIFF BRANNON ..... Michael S. Siegel
JAKE BLOUNT ..... Andonis Anthony
ALICE BRANNON ..... Laurel Lefkow
PORTIA JONES ..... Anna Jobarteh
DR BENEDICT COPELAND ..... Delroy Brown
ETTA KELLY ..... Lily Green
WILLIE COPELAND ..... Tachia Newall
HARRY MINOWITZ ..... Eric Sirakian
Dramatised by Amanda Dalton
Directed by Susan Roberts
A BBC Drama North Production
SUN 16:00 Open Book (m000gbjb)
Christos Tsiolkas, Mothers and Daughters in fiction, Nairobi books
Mariella Frostrup talks to Australian author of The Slap Christos Tsiolkas. His latest novel, Damascus has been inspired by the Biblical story of Paul and and the Apostle's struggle to spread the radical message of a nascent Christianity 2000 years ago.
Nicola Upson, author of the Josephine Tey detective series, puts lesbian fiction in the spotlight, from Radcliffe Hall to Agatha Christie.
Having often been overlooked in literature, mother-daughter relationships are beginning to get the attention they deserve in contemporary writing. Authors of two recent stand-out examples, Frances Leviston and Janet Todd, discuss the nuances and complexities of such depictions.
Plus Hassan Ghedi Santur's literary postcard considers the material challenges facing readers and booksellers in Nairobi.
SUN 16:30 Conversations on a Bench (m000gd7s)
Ilford
Anna Scott-Brown hears more stories from the people who stop to sit beside her on benches around the country.
In this edition, she sits on a bench in Ilford. Throughout the programme, a specially commissioned work by the poet Hussain Manawer draws on the voices of those passing by – and sometimes pausing on – the bench beside Valentines Mansion in Valentines Park.
It creates a portrait of a diverse London borough built on farmland, and the constant flow of people arriving and moving on. From the first white middle class residents to the Jews and people of the Windrush generation, arrivals from Asia and latterly Somali - immigrants and refugees.
Memories from childhoods in the park, and ones that go back to the Partition of India and Pakistan, illustrate the power of place and belonging and some of the barriers to full integration.
We hear the story of an abusive marriage against the background of the murder of sex-worker Marianna Popper on Ilford Lane, and of a young woman who counts members of the drugs gangs as her "family", but who has escaped.
Rising crime is pushing some people out, and the bench is dedicated to Levi Miller who took his own life. But what we learn from Ilford is that, if the same energy that depresses you can be used for living life, life can be different.
Hidden lives are revealed and common threads recur as Anna’s gentle but insistent, and sometimes extremely direct, questions elicit poignant and profound responses from those sitting on the bench.
An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m000g3k2)
Extreme measures: Can extremists be de-radicalised?
Usman Khan was released from prison in 2018 for plotting a terror attack. He'd undertaken two de-radicalisation programmes designed to turn him away from violent extremism. Yet despite efforts to rehabilitate him, Khan launched an attack near London Bridge - killing two people. It was the first of two violent attacks involving convicted extremists in a little over two months. So just how effective are schemes designed to de-radicalise offenders? For the first time, File on 4 hears from those at the heart of these programmes - the 'intervention providers' tasked with turning offenders away from violence. Some say offenders are able to cheat the system and convince the authorities they've changed their ways. So how can these intervention providers ever know when their work has been successful? The programme hears from a serving prisoner in a maximum security jail who says convicted terrorists are "gaming" the system by pretending to comply with "de-radicalisation" courses - and he warns that non terrorist offenders are being dangerously radicalised.
Reporter: Adrian Goldberg
Researcher: Luke Radcliff
Producer: Helen Clifton
Editor: Carl Johnston
SUN 17:40 Profile (m000gd7v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000gd7x)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 17:57 Weather (m000gd7z)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000gd81)
Ministers are warning that the UK will need to take extraordinary action not seen in peacetime to contain the coronavirus.
Ministers are warning that the UK will need to take extraordinary action not seen in peacetime to contain the coronavirus. The death toll from the virus has risen to 35.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m000gd83)
Jake Yapp
At a time when it might be needed most, a heartfelt appreciation of the elderly and the old. From Michael Rosen’s observations on ageing to senior citizen’s skills, hewn over a lifetime. We’ll find out how to add an extra eight years to your life, and we’ll show you what to do with them, from singalongs…to Balinese Monks with banging tunes. All that, and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Sir David Attenborough, Maureen O'Hara, Mark Watson and Pam Ayres.
Presenter: Jake Yapp
Producer: Stephen Garner
Production support: Sarah Hardial
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m000gcw7)
Freddie apologises for not being in the party mood at Ben’s 18th last night but Ben’s not bothered. Ben shows Freddie the car that Jill bought him for his birthday – they got it for a good price as Leonard has a contact in the know. Freddie teases him about the colour; Ben suggests Freddie’s just jealous because he has to share a car with Lily. Ben invites Freddie for a spin and Jill joins them. Jill is impressed with Ben’s driving.
Lilian brings Robert some tempting sandwiches from Underwoods and encourages him to keep his strength up. Robert’s heard about the report on the explosion and can’t believe the recklessness of the builders. Robert shares with Lilian about how he and Lynda met and his emotions at the time, and they both acknowledge Lynda’s good heartedness. The doctor calls in Robert to Lynda’s room and Lynda speaks. Robert is overwhelmed; his wife is conscious again.
SUN 19:15 Reluctant Persuaders (m0000t4z)
Series 3
Because She's Worth It
Work at Hardacre’s advertising agency is brought to a standstill when Teddy (Rasmus Hardiker) becomes obsessed with a series of literary thrillers – the continuing adventures of John Soldier in titles such as Kill And Let Die and The Deathman Cometh.
Soon he has Joe (Mathew Baynton) and Amanda (Josie Lawrence) hooked on them as well, and all work is put on hold as the team obsess over the most exciting books they’ve ever read.
Meanwhile, Hardacre (Nigel Havers) receives a visit from an old flame (guest star Frances Barber), and finds himself caught in a battle for her affections with a wholly unexpected opponent.
Cast:
Hardacre...............................Nigel Havers
Joe...........................................Mathew Baynton
Amanda.................................Josie Lawrence
Teddy.....................................Rasmus Hardiker
Laura......................................Olivia Nixon
Laurie Patterson.................Frances Barber
Book Launch Host.............Edward Rowett
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 19:45 New Irish Writing (b03wsb40)
Days of White Tulips
A series of new readings by some of Ireland's most exciting and talented writers. Clare Dwyer-Hogg, Michèle Forbes, Paul McVeigh and Martin Meenan bring us a range of stories where human emotions are tested, and memories are forged, forgotten or found, all the while taking a humorous and poignant look at how people withdraw, connect and reconnect with one another throughout the course of their lives.
Dearbhla Molloy reads 'Days of White Tulips' by Michèle Forbes, a story of two sisters and the shift in their relationship when one becomes increasingly forgetful and moves into a nursing home.
Written Michele Forbes
Producer Heather Larmour
Reader Dearbhla Molloy.
SUN 20:00 Feedback (m000g4gn)
As the coronavirus outbreak is confirmed as a pandemic, the BBC’s medical correspondent Fergus Walsh talks about the daily dilemmas he faces in reporting the story, and answers comments from the audience about the coverage.
The Editor of Ramblings - a long-running staple of the BBC Radio 4 schedules - responds to some listeners who think it has lost its way.
And two more listeners review That Peter Crouch Podcast.
Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Kate Dixon
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m000g4gl)
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Max von Sydow, Professor Hannah Steinberg, Charles Portis
Pictured: Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Matthew Bannister on
The United Nations Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar. The Peruvian diplomat faced major challenges including the Iran-Iraq war and the Falklands War.
Max von Sydow the Swedish-born actor whose film roles ranged from Ingmar Bergman to James Bond and, more recently, Game of Thrones.
Professor Hannah Steinberg - a pioneer of psychopharmacology - the study of the effects of drugs on the human mind.
Charles Portis, the American writer best known for his novel "True Grit" which was twice adapted for the big screen.
Interviewed guest: Richard Gowan
Interviewed guest: Angela Errigo
Interviewed guest: Sandra Fraser
Interviewed guest: Professor Clare Stanford
Interviewed guest: Michael Carlson
Producer: Neil George
Archive clips from: Witness, BBC World Service 12/01/2012; Interview with Cuellar, The Classic Sports 17/11/1991; Iran/Iraq War, TV Eye 1980; Meeting Of The U.N. Security Council (Falklands Conflict), BBC Sound Archive 23/05/1982; Perez De Cuellar Admits Defeat, BBC Sound Archive 31/05/1984; UN 40th Anniversary: J. Perez De Cuellar, BBC Sound Archive 31/05/1984; Virendra Dayal on Cuellar, UN News 05/03/2020; The Seventh Seal, directed by Ingmar Bergman, Svensk Filmindustri 1957; The Film Programme, Radio 4 19/02/2012; The Greatest Story Ever Told, directed by George Stevens, George Stevens Productions 1965; Never Say Never Again, directed by Irvin Kershner, TaliaFilm II Productions/Woodcote/Producers Sales Organization (PSO) 1983; The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin, Warner Bros/Hoya Productions 1973; Liv Ullmann on Working with Max von Sydow, Criterion Collection 11/02/2019; The Simpsons: The War of Art, Fox Broadcasting Company 23/03/2014; Games of Thrones Season 6, HBO 24/04/2016; True Grit, directed by Henry Hathaway, Wallis-Hazen 1969; True Grit, Radio 4 Extra 26/09/2016; True Grit, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, Paramount Pictures/Skydance Media/Scott Rudin Productions/Mike Zoss Productions 2010.
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m000gd86)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m000gbj8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 Analysis (m000g503)
Unequal England
Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies explores what the world of work can tells us about inequality and why some towns and cities feel left behind. He finds England is one of the most regionally unequal economies in the developed world.
He looks at the differences in wages and opportunities across the county and seeks to understand why this has created areas where people struggle to find well paid work.
This edition of the programme includes interviews with:
Professor Steve Machin - The Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics
Helen Barnard - Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Tom Forth - Open Data Institute Leeds
Henry Overman - Director, The What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth
James Bloodworth - Author "Hired - Six months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain"
Richard Hagan - MD, Crystal Doors
Tony Lloyd MP for Rochdale
Jade & Billy - workers
Producer - Smita Patel
Editor - Jasper Corbett
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m000gd88)
Carolyn Quinn discusses the government's handling of coronavirus with the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Mel Stride; Labour's Dame Diana Johnson; and the Chief Executive of the New Economics Foundation, Miatta Fahnbulleh. The Guardian's political editor Heather Stewart provides analysis of the latest developments and the programme also includes a report by Jack Fenwick on Iceland's drive to give a greater priority to people's well-being, when measuring the success of government policy.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (m000g3gc)
And Then We Danced
With Antonia Quirke
In November 2019, far right protesters tried to stop the premiere of Georgia's first LGBTQ film And Then We Danced. They fought with riot police and attacked cinema-goers in Tiblisi. As the film is released in this country, its star Levan Gelbakhiani talks about what it was like to be in the eye of the storm and why the cast and crew needed bodyguards during the making of the movie.
Directors Kleber Mendonca Filho and Juliano Dornelles discuss their modern day western Bacurau, in which the inhabitants of a remote Brazilian village are hunted by wealthy tourists for sport.
In the latest episode of Pitch Battle, critic Pamela Hutchinson pitches a remake of a forgotten 30's comedy that has something to say about today's gender politics. Industry insiders Lizzie Francke, Rowan Woods and Clare Binns decide whether or not to give the project the all important green light.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b02116yv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 16 MARCH 2020
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m000gd8b)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m000g44s)
Kidnap
KIDNAP - Millions of people live, travel, and work in areas with significant kidnap risks, yet kidnaps of foreign workers, local VIPs, and tourists are surprisingly rare and the vast majority of abductions are peacefully resolved. Anja Shortland, Reader in Political Economy, King's College London, explores this lucrative but tricky business. Also, Jatin Dua, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan, examines the upsurge in maritime piracy off the coast of Somalia, taking us inside pirate communities in Somalia. In what ways are modern day pirates connected to longer histories of trade and disputes over protection?
Producer: Jayne Egerton
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m000gd8d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000gd8g)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000gd8j)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000gd8l)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (m000gd8n)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000gd8q)
Reflection and prayer with Sister Geraldine Smyth OP
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m000gd8s)
16/03/20 Coronavirus compensation for the self-employed in Ireland; the new Agriculture Bill; breeding oysters
As the Coronavirus pandemic unfolds, we look at what Ireland's doing to support farmers and agriculture workers affected by Covid 19. The Irish Government's promised to pay 300 Euros a week to the self-employed. They'll be able to claim two weeks of illness benefit if they are medically required to self-isolate.
Unpacking the Agriculture Bill: as it makes its way through parliament, Caz Graham talks to Dr David Rose from Reading University's School of Agricultural Policy and Development to find out what it will mean for farmers.
An oyster hatchery in Cornwall which hopes to boost stocks of native oysters and keep fishing traditions on the River Fal alive.
BBC Radio Cornwall's Julie Skentelbery has been speaking to oyster fisherman, Chris Ranger, who is currently raising funds to start the hatchery...
Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Rebecca Rooney
MON 05:56 Weather (m000gd8v)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b038qj2c)
Roseate Tern
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Brett Westwood presents the Roseate Tern. One of the rarest of the UK's breeding seabirds, the Roseate Tern is exquisitely graceful. Roseate means flushed with pink and seen close this bird does have a faint pinkish wash on its chest in summer, but from a distance, it's the brilliant-white freshly-laundered look of its back and wings that distinguishes a Roseate Tern from its greyer relatives, the Common and Arctic Terns.
MON 06:00 Today (m000gcvg)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m000gcvj)
Cultural icons from Shakespeare to Superman
Shakespeare has always been central to the American experience, argues the leading scholar James Shapiro. He tells Tom Sutcliffe how Shakespeare has been invoked – and at times weaponised – at pivotal moments in the history of America, from Revolutionary times to today’s divisionary politics.
The film critic Mark Kermode celebrates another global phenomenon: cinematic superheroes. The genre stretches back more than eight decades and taps deeply into timeless themes and storytelling traditions. Kermode also shows how spy-heroes such as Bond have shaped our political identity.
For the poet Don Paterson, the classic television series The Twilight Zone was the starting point for his latest collection. Elements of horror, science fiction and fantasy provide a backdrop to his exploration of the mid-life crisis.
The political theorist Teresa Bejan returns to the world of Shakespeare to explore what appears to be the most modern of dilemmas: Twitter spats and put-downs. Seventeenth-century thinkers understood there were competing conceptions of civility. They thought that outlawing heated political disagreement could lead to silencing dissent.
Producer: Katy Hickman
MON 09:45 Shakespeare in a Divided America, by James Shapiro (m000gcxb)
Episode 1
Leading scholar James Shapiro makes a timely exploration of what Shakespeare’s plays reveal about deep divisions in the United States - from revolutionary times to the present day.
The plays of William Shakespeare are rare common ground in the United States. They are read at school by almost every student, staged in theatres across the country, and valued by conservatives and liberals alike. For well over two centuries, Americans of all stripes - presidents and activists, writers and soldiers - have turned to Shakespeare’s works to explore the nation’s fault lines, including issues such as race, gender, immigration, and free speech.
In a narrative arching across the centuries, from revolutionary times to the present day, James Shapiro traces the unparalleled role of Shakespeare’s 400 year-old tragedies and comedies in illuminating the concerns on which American identity has turned. No writer has been more closely embraced by Americans, or has shed more light on the pressing issues in their history. Shapiro argues it is by better understanding Shakespeare’s role in American life that Americans might begin to mend their bitterly divided land.
Written by James Shapiro
Read by Kerry Shale
Abridged by Kerry Shale and Jill Waters
Producer: Lizzie Davies
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000gcvn)
Covid-19. Jane Garvey takes your calls.
Jane Garvey takes your calls on Covid-19. Joined by Psychologist Laverne Antrobus and Sarah Stewart Brown Professor of Public Health at Warwick University .
What measures are you putting in place? How will you manage with young as well as older children, do you face particular problems with those that have special needs. What about work ? If you are someone who can work at home do you have the tech to support that.
Have you thought about setting up a local neighbourhood support network? What provisions are you putting in place for older relatives?
How do you think you will cope with being socially isolated ? If you’re in cramped accommodation or shared housing, how do you see that working out.
What about the financial implications - if you’re on low income or a zero hours contract and perhaps rely on things like free school meals
We'd love to hear your thoughts. Lines open at
8am on Monday morning 03700 100 444. You can email via the website or tweet your comments @bbcwomanshour now.
Presenter Jane Garvey
Producer Beverley Purcell
Guest; Prof Sarah Stewart Brown
Guest; Lavern Antrobus
MON 10:45 Your Blue-Eyed Boy, by Helen Dunmore (m000gcvq)
Episode 1
Simone is a district judge whose husband Donald is on the verge of bankruptcy and breakdown. She attends court, passes judgement on the lives of others when out of the blue a letter arrives; someone she has tried to forget has not forgotten her and Simone's private history is about to collide with her public world.
Simone - Pippa Nixon
Donald - Graeme Hawley
Michael - Andonis Anthony
Matt - Elija Wolf
Joe - Milo Robinson
Busker - Paul Cargill
Dramatised by Fiona Evans
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris
MON 11:00 Out of the Ordinary (m000gcvs)
Series 7
Aliens are the size of polar bears (probably)
There are millions of planets out there that could contain intelligent life. We can't look at them all, so which should we focus on? Using nothing but statistics, astronomer Fergus Simpson predicts the aliens will be living on small, dim planets, they'll have small populations, big bodies, and will be technologically backward.
This goes against many astronomers' working assumption that the earth is typical of inhabited planets - and that our sun is an ordinary star in an ordinary galaxy. Fergus argues that this is an example of the "fallacy of mediocrity" which we fall for time and time again, whether it's in our assumptions about gym membership, taxi drivers, or train overcrowding.
Presenter/Producer: Jolyon Jenkins
MON 11:30 Loose Ends (m000gcvv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
MON 12:00 News Summary (m000gcz2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel (m000gcvz)
Episode 1: Beheading
Anton Lesser reads the eagerly-awaited finale to Hilary Mantel's Booker-winning Thomas Cromwell series. Today: the beheading of Anne Boleyn raises difficult questions as to who will succeed Henry VIII.
Writer: Hilary Mantel is one of the UK's most distinguished writers. Her two previous Thomas Cromwell novels, Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies, both won the Booker Prize.
Reader: Anton Lesser
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett
MON 12:18 You and Yours (m000gcw1)
Coronavirus, Pension scams, Digital streaming
We bring the latest on coronavirus, looking at how supermarkets are planning to keep supplies flowing and what's happening with travel now that Tui has stopped selling holidays. We also report live from a care home about the latest advice for care workers, residents and their families. We speak to Catherine Shuttleworth, the chief executive of the consultancy, Savvy, which works with many of the supermarket chains and Simon Calder, Travel Editor of The Independent, who is currently stranded in Aden in Yemen.
The new pension freedoms, where you can invest your pension savings where you like, have led to a huge rise in the numbers being stripped of their pension funds. A report from Portsmouth University estimates that 1.6 million people in the UK have lost their pension funds to fraud. We speak to Baroness Ros Altmann, a former Pensions minister, about the launch, later today, of a new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pensions Scams, and what needs to be done to tackle to better protect people from becoming victims of fraud.
We report on the unstoppable rise of digital streaming services. In the latest battle for streaming supremacy, Disney is hoping to get in on the act with the launch of a new service next week. We ask Jonathan Easton of Digital TV Europe about how Disney will fare in this already crowded market.
Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Tara Holmes.
MON 12:57 Weather (m000gcw3)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m000gcw5)
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 Girl Taken (m00055n1)
1. The Smuggler
BBC journalist Sue Mitchell and ex-soldier-turned-good-Samaritan Rob Lawrie thought they were involved in the heart-breaking, but straightforward, story of an Afghan father and his motherless daughter as they struggled to get to Britain. The following four years saw Sue and Rob fall into a web of lies and life-changing, mind-changing events. Girl Taken is a 10-part hunt - across closed borders and broken promises - for the truth and to find a little girl, taken.
Producer: Sue Mitchell
Studio Production and Sound Design: Richard Hannaford
MON 14:00 The Archers (m000gcw7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 This Thing of Darkness (m000gcw9)
Part 4
Written by Lucia Haynes with monologues by Eileen Horne.
Dr Alex Bridges is an expert Forensic Psychiatrist, assessing and treating perpetrators of the most unthinkable crimes.
In this gripping drama, Alex charts the psychological impact of the murder of a young man on his family, and explores the long shadow of homicide through her therapy group for murderers.
The Group begin to consider their relationships with their parents. And Hannah visits David with a challenging question about his relationships.
Cast:
Alex … Lolita Chakrabarti
Dougie … Simon Donaldson
Hannah … Jessica Hardwick
Kyle/Tyler … Reuben Joseph
David … Robin Laing
Laura… Shauna Macdonald
Frankie … Brian Vernel
Series created by Audrey Gillan, Lucia Haynes, Eileen Horne, Gaynor Macfarlane, Anita Vettesse and Kirsty Williams.
Series consultant: Dr Gwen Adshead
Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane and Kirsty Williams
A BBC Scotland Production directed by Kirsty Williams
MON 15:00 Round Britain Quiz (m000gcwc)
Programme 10, 2020
(10/12)
Freya McClements and Paddy Duffy of Northern Ireland meet the Scots Val McDermid and Alan McCredie, for their last clash of the current series - with both sides needing a victory to shore up their position in the league table this year. Tom Sutcliffe asks the cryptic questions, and deducts points each time he has to rescue them from a blind alley or steer them round a red herring.
A knowledge of Pixar animation, European prog rock, the history of the Norman Conquest and Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals could prove useful to the panellists, as could an ability to spell.
Producer: Paul Bajoria
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m000gcwf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Re-enactment Radio (m000dk15)
There is at the end of Titanic a desperate scene. Kate Winslet, playing Rose, is floating on a large piece of wood. Jack, her beloved, is freezing to death. And audiences everywhere are wondering why Rose doesn't budge up. The man responsible, James Cameron, is fed up with the controversy. "I've never really seen it as a debate. It's just stupid really."
We think he's wrong, so we've re-enacted Jack's death to prove that he could have survived, if only Rose had moved up.
“Movies are amazing – they transport you to places you’ve never been, immerse you in strange worlds, make you laugh and cry,” says presenter Antonia Quirke. “But when a movie goes wrong, it can make you ask, could we do that better ourselves?”
Fighting in high heels, bogus computer hacking, car chases that simply look fake ... we are out to expose why film makers repeatedly get it wrong by doing it ourselves. Expert advisers include Simon Brew and Jonathan Howell.
Re-enactment Radio is a new arts feature presented by Antonia Quirke. The producers in Bristol are Miles Warde, Emily Knight and Victoria Cansfield
MON 16:30 PM (m000gcwk)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000gcwp)
Boris Johnson announces new measures to attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus, saying the UK should expect a fast growth in cases.
MON 18:30 Nature Table (m000gcwr)
Series 1
Episode 6
Nature Table is comedian, broadcaster and writer Sue Perkins’ new comedy ‘Show & Tell’ series celebrating the natural world and all it’s funny eccentricities.
Taking the simple format of a ‘Show & Tell’, each episode Sue is joined by celebrity guests from the worlds of comedy and natural history. Each of the natural history guests brings an item linked to the wild world to share with the audience, be it an amazing fact or funny personal anecdote. Each item is a springboard for an enlightening and funny discussion, alongside fun games and challenges revealing more astonishing facts. We also hear from some of the London Zoo audience, a mix of London Zoo staff and members of the public, as they bring us their own natural history ‘show and tells’ for Sue and the guests to discuss.
Nature Table has a simple clear brief: to positively celebrate and promote the importance of all our planet’s wonderfully wild flora and fauna in an fun and easily grasped way... whilst at the same time having a giggle.
Episode 6
Recorded at London Zoo, this week Sue Perkins is joined by special guests zoologist Lucy Cooke, crustacean expert Miranda Lowe and actress and writer Sally Phillips.
Written by: Catherine Brinkworth, Kat Sadler & Jon Hunter
Researcher: Catherine Beazley
Music by Ben Mirin. Additional sounds were provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Produced by: Simon Nicholls
A BBC Studios Production
MON 19:00 The Archers (m000gcwt)
Alistair floats the idea of a sheep healthcare group with Ed who’s interested. Ed explains to Alistair that Oliver’s not coping well since the explosion. Later Ed asks Oliver for a hand with his sheep. Oliver doesn’t feel absolved by the inspection laying the blame with Philip’s workmen, and he can’t get over how he froze in the immediate aftermath.
Lilian sits with Lynda. Lilian reports that Ben and Ruairi are walking Monty. Lynda thanks her for sitting with her when she wasn’t awake. She asks Lilian for a mirror but Lilian has forgotten her usual compact.
Alistair comes across Philip who whilst feeling bruised by village gossip, also thinks people are entitled to have a go at him. Philip’s worried he could be prosecuted and he’s not sure he can ever forgive himself for what’s happened. Philip wonders about cancelling his and Kirsty’s wedding party; he expects most people won’t come anyway. Alistair argues that if Philip hides away people will think he’s got something to hide. Alistair invites him to a meeting to organise a fundraiser for the explosion’s victims. Philip will come if he can muster the courage.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m000gcww)
How theatres will cope with PM's advice? Jennifer Offill, Roy Hudd, Kevin Guthrie
American author Jenny Offill discusses her highly anticipated new novel, Weather, about a female librarian struggling to cope with a domestic life haunted by the growing awareness of catastrophic climate change.
Actor and comic Roy Hudd has died at the age of 83. We speak to producer and writer John Lloyd - who was also a friend - about Roy's career.
The English Game, a new Netflix drama written by Julian "Downton Abbey" Fellowes charts the formative years of football in late 19th century England. The six-part series which follows two sportsmen on opposite sides of the class divide, begins streaming this week. Actor Kevin Guthrie, talks about taking on the role of Fergus Suter, the man considered to be the first professional footballer.
The Prime Minister has announced that - among other precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus - the public should 'avoid pubs clubs theatres and other social venues'. How is this likley to affect arts venues?
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Oliver Jones
MON 19:45 Your Blue-Eyed Boy, by Helen Dunmore (m000gcvq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 Wales: A Twentieth Century Tragedy? (m000gcwy)
Sir Simon Jenkins presents a challenging personal view of the economics of contemporary Wales.
Beginning with the premise that Wales began the twentieth century rich and ended it poor, Simon talks to a variety of people -- historians, economists, entrepreneurs -- about Wales' problems and possibilities -- in the past, the present and the future.
Featuring:
Joe Earle, Chief Executive of Ecnmy.org
Gerald Holtham, Hodge Professor of Regional Economy at Cardiff Metropolitan University
Patricia Hudson, Emeritus Professor of Economic History at Cardiff University
Elin Hywel, CwmniBro.cymru
Martin Johnes, Professor of History at Swansea University
Auriol Miller, Director of the Institute of Welsh Affairs
Adam Price, Leader of Plaid Cymru
With thanks to Mark Hooper, Euryn Roberts and everyone who took part in the workshop in Bangor.
MON 20:30 Analysis (m000gcx0)
Command and Control?
When Sajid Javid resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer in February rather than accept Boris Johnson's reported demand that he dismiss his own team of special advisers and accept a new one drawn up in 10 Downing Street, many saw the episode as a crude attempt by the Prime Minister to wrest control of economic policy from the Treasury. But would such a reform necessarily be a bad thing?
Edward Stourton considers the case for economic policy being driven from the very top of government. If decision-making, in arguably the most important government department, took place on the prime minister's terms rather than having to be negotiated with a powerful colleague leading a vast bureaucracy, would that make for quicker and more streamlined decision-making that gave clearer direction to the government overall? And has in any case the time come to clip the wings of the Treasury which too often determines policy on narrowly financial grounds rather than properly allowing for the potential benefits of government spending - and which has recently signed off such alarmingly over-budget projects as HS2 and London's Crossrail?
In seeking answers to those questions, Edward speaks to the former Chancellors, Alistair Darling and Norman Lamont; to former Chief of Staff to Tony Blair in Downing Street, Jonathan Powell; to former Treasury minister, David Gauke; and and to ex-officials, including former top Treasury civil servant, Nic Macpherson.
Producer Simon Coates
MON 21:00 The Digital Human (m000gcwh)
Series 19
Sync
Listen to the chimes of Big Ben stiking midnight at new year, on the stroke of 12 we cheer, embrace and kiss loved ones but when did that actually happen. Well it depends on what device you're listening to. If its over the web or digital radio it could be many seconds in the past; does that matter, what happens to those seconds in between?
Aleks Krotoski mediatates on our urge to converge and how the digital era can throw us in and out of sync with the universe and each other.
Producer: Peter McManus
MON 21:30 Start the Week (m000gcvj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m000gcx3)
People in UK told to stop unnecessary social contact
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
MON 22:45 The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel (m000gcvz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
MON 23:00 Lights Out (m000gcx5)
Series 2
The Space Between Stories
Documentary adventures that encourage you to take a closer listen.
Inhabiting the ideas of author and speaker Charles Eisenstein, this edition of Lights Out explores our current historical moment in the West as a "space between stories", embracing the state of not-knowing and the ways in which certain kinds of questions can lead us towards the creation of a more beautiful world.
For thousands of years, for many people on earth, The Story of Separation has dominated our way of being. According to this story, we are separate individuals whose purpose is to maximise rational self-interest and conquer nature and death in a universe of atoms and void. At a time of social polarisation, ecological collapse and political crisis, this story is unravelling, and with it our sense of who we are in the world.
Propelled out of the old story, we enter the unknown, a space of bewilderment into which a new story, a new reality, can come.
Produced by Phil Smith
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000bcnq)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament.
TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m000gcx8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 00:30 Shakespeare in a Divided America, by James Shapiro (m000gcxb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000gcxd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000gcxg)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000gcxj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m000gcxl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000gcxn)
Reflection and prayer with Sister Geraldine Smyth OP
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m000gcxq)
Calls to ban caged farm animals, consumer trends, ELMS
Should all forms of caging be banned in farming? We hear a vet's opinion.
A trend-forecasting company says there's a growing awareness among consumers of the environmental impact of products.
The farming secretary, George Eustice, sets out plans for the new Environmental Land Management Scheme - or ELMS.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tycf8)
Black-browed Albatross
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the black-browed albatross.
Although they're residents of the Antarctic seas , black-browed albatrosses have turned up in the UK many times. For a while, Albert-or Albert Ross as he was christened by birdwatchers- was one of the most well-known birds in the British Isles. He was first spotted in the gannet colony on Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth in 1967. Sadly he failed to find a mate among the masses of gannets there.
TUE 06:00 Today (m000gczk)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Patch (m000fn8t)
Blackford, Perthshire
The random postcode generator takes us to the village of Blackford near Gleneagles, where a mysterious championship golf course has sat maintained and empty for a decade.
The golf course is called gWest - but as the story unravels it reveals much more about the wealth in the area.
Produced/Presented by Polly Weston
TUE 09:30 New Storytellers (m00074hz)
Kidnapped
This documentary-drama presents a binaural experience which follows two very different true stories of abduction - one without long-lasting consequences, the other, devastatingly fatal.
The feature asks if we are we blind to the possible risks in our everyday lives as, through the power of binaural surround sound, Kidnapped places you in the victim’s place giving the listener the experience of being abducted. For the best listening experience - put your headphones on, close your eyes, and allow the 3D binaural audio to immerse you in a kidnapping.
New Storytellers presents the work of radio and audio producers new to BBC Radio 4 and this first series features the five winners of this year's Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Radio Feature. The award is presented every year in memory of pioneering radio producer Charles Parker who produced the famous series of Radio Ballads with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger.
Kidnapped was produced by Harry Stokoe who has just graduated from the University of Salford. The Charles Parker Award judges were struck by the “great, direct interviews; it’s a well-crafted feature with interesting stories and is technically mature.”
Producer: Harry Stokoe
A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 09:45 Shakespeare in a Divided America, by James Shapiro (m000gd10)
Episode 2
Leading scholar James Shapiro makes a timely exploration of what Shakespeare’s plays reveal about deep divisions in the United States - from revolutionary times to the present day.
The plays of William Shakespeare are rare common ground in the United States. They are read at school by almost every student, staged in theatres across the country, and valued by conservatives and liberals alike. For well over two centuries, Americans of all stripes - presidents and activists, writers and soldiers - have turned to Shakespeare’s works to explore the nation’s fault lines, including issues such as race, gender, immigration, and free speech.
In a narrative arching across the centuries, from revolutionary times to the present day, James Shapiro traces the unparalleled role of Shakespeare’s 400 year-old tragedies and comedies in illuminating the concerns on which American identity has turned.
Deeply researched, Shakespeare in a Divided America reveals how no writer has been more closely embraced by Americans, or has shed more light on the pressing issues in their history. Shapiro argues it is by better understanding of Shakespeare’s role in American life that Americans might begin to mend their bitterly divided land.
Written by James Shapiro
Read by Kerry Shale
Abridged by Kerry Shale and Jill Waters
Producer: Lizzie Davies
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000gczr)
Glenda Jackson, Coronavirus & Advice for Pregnant Women
We consider the latest advice for pregnant women when it comes to coronavirus. Jane speaks to Jess Brammer, editor in chief HuffPost UK who is currently on maternity leave & Dr Mary Ross-Davie – Director for Scotland, Royal College of Midwives. And in other coronavirus news: many offices, shops, bars, restaurants, schools, are likely to close. Many workers and businesses will see their income collapse, almost overnight. So what if you are laid off? What if you are self-employed? What financial decisions should you be making? What support could you be entitled to?
Glenda Jackson plays the poet, writer and critic Edith Sitwell in Radio 4 drama Edith Sitwell in Scarborough. She joins Jane to discuss Edith, as well as being on grandma duty and what books she would recommend during a period of isolation.
The Scottish Government is currently consulting on a Bill to reform the Gender Recognition Act. Jane talks to Rhona Hotchkiss, former governor of Cornton Vale prison in Stirling and signatory of SNP women’s pledge and James Morton, Manager of the Scottish Trans Alliance about concerns for protecting trans rights and women’s rights and how any Scottish legislation will sit with the UK Equality Act 2010.
Presenter: Jane Garvey
Interviewed guest: Dr Mary Ross-Davie
Interviewed guest: Jess Brammer
Interviewed guest: Jasmine Birtles
Interviewed guest: Glenda Jackson
Interviewed guest: Rhona Hotchkiss
Interviewed guest: James Morton
Producer: Lucinda Montefiore
TUE 10:45 Your Blue-Eyed Boy, by Helen Dunmore (m000gczt)
Episode 2
Set in 1998. Simone is a district judge whose reputation is in the balance when she receives letters and photographs from Michael, a lover from 20 years ago, when she lived in the States as an 18-year-old in a gap year. Michael, a veteran of the Vietnam War, has now gone a step further.
Simone - Pippa Nixon
Donald - Graeme Hawley
Michael - Andonis Anthony
Matt - Elija Wolf
Joe - Milo Robinson
Dramatised by Fiona Evans
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris
TUE 11:00 And the Good News Is You’re Jewish (m000gczw)
When Sunday times writer Katie Glass lost her father she began her own search for a Jewish identity and place in the world that is still unresolved. But what kind of Jewish soul is she and where does she belong? Is it culture or bloodline, food or politics? Does perpetually feeling like an outsider make her part of the club? In a deeply personal journey, Katie Glass wrestles with her own anxieties and unanswered questions that were triggered by her father's death. What does modern Jewish identity mean in 21st Century Britain. Taking in Friday Night, speaking to Jewish friends, meeting with rabbis of different denominations, taking a DNA test and shopping for Salt Beef, Katie asks what it means to be Jewish today and if that really changes her identity or anxiety!
Producer: Mark Burman
TUE 11:30 Eighteen (m000gczy)
Ibukun Ajagbe & Groa
Unravelling the lives, dreams and creative worlds of six 18 to 21 year-old artists across the globe.
In today’s episode, we visit the streets of Lagos to meet Ibukun Ajagbe (19), one of Nigeria’s foremost spoken word poets and former winner of War of Words, West Africa’s leading slam poetry competition. Meanwhile in Reykjavik, female punk trio, Groa (18), are preparing for a gig at one of the city’s grassroots venues.
Eighteen explores the lives, dreams and creative world of six brilliant young artists from the fields of visual art, folk music, slam poetry, opera, contemporary dance and punk rock.
Their stories take us from a teenage Icelandic punk band to an Aboriginal Australian contemporary dancer, from an award-winning Nigerian slam poet to a Palestinian visual artist, and from a South African opera student to a transgender Scottish folk musician.
Presented in immersive binaural stereo, these are the tales of remarkable young people at the dawn of their careers. Told largely through personal testimony and sound montage, Eighteen offers a unique opportunity to hear their voices and stories without mediation - as the intoxicating soundscapes of Cape Town, Lagos, Glasgow and Reykjavik create an intimate portrait of their world.
Producer: Steven Rajam
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m000gdb4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel (m000gd03)
Episode 2: Wedding Night
Anton Lesser reads the eagerly-awaited finale to Hilary Mantel's Booker-winning Thomas Cromwell series. Today: on the day his first wife loses her head, Henry VIII marries his second wife, Jane Seymour. England needs a legitimate heir, so Cromwell is keen to hear how the wedding night went.
Writer: Hilary Mantel
Reader: Anton Lesser
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett
TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m000gd05)
Call You and Yours: Coronavirus and caring for those in isolation
Winifred Robinson focuses on Coronavirus and asks: How are you planning to help someone who'll be spending a long period in isolation?
Call 03 700 100 444 during the programme. Or email anytime youandyours@bbc.co.uk You can tweet #youandyours or send text messages to 84844.
Among our guests is Nadra Ahmed who's the chair of the National Care Association.
PRODUCER: Mike Young.
TUE 12:57 Weather (m000gd07)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m000gd09)
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 Girl Taken (m000ghxx)
2. The Arrest
BBC journalist Sue Mitchell and ex-soldier-turned- good-Samaritan Rob Lawrie thought they were involved in the heart-breaking, but straight forward story of an Afghan father and his motherless daughter as they struggled to get to Britain. The following four years saw Sue and Rob fall into a web of lies and life changing, mind changing events. Girl Taken is a 10 part hunt - across closed borders and broken promises - for the truth and to find a little girl, taken.
Producer: Sue Mitchell
Studio Production and Sound Design: Richard Hannaford
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m000gcwt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (m000gd0c)
Edith Sitwell in Scarborough
Delightful mixture of fact and fantasy exploring the extraordinary poet, writer and critic Edith Sitwell. Edith returns to Scarborough where she was born, and meets her younger self to wreak revenge on her parents where she was subjected to cruelty as a child.
Dame Edith - Glenda Jackson
Miss Edith - Bella Ramsey
Lady Ida - Julia Davis
Sir George - Jonathan Keeble
Moat - Roger Ringrose
Written by Mary Cooper from an idea by Lavinia Murray
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris
TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m000gd0f)
Series 22
Encounters With Old Texts
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, a cryptic crossword, personal ads and the work of Dylan Thomas inspire new short documentaries and adventures in sound presented by Josie Long.
Poem for October
Featuring Terry Jones
Produced by Sarah Cuddon
Slow Burn Seeking
Featuring Casey Orozco-Poore
Produced by Ariana Martinez
Maslow
Produced by James T. Green
Relics
Featuring John-Luke Roberts
Production Team: Andrea Rangecroft and Alia Cassam
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (m000gbgl)
Eco Homes Now!
The demand for housing is pushing through developments of millions of new build homes. So why aren't these all being built to the best energy efficiency standards possible with the technology that's now available? Tom Heap reveals how the scrapping of zero carbon homes has meant years of construction has not had to meet the higher standards hoped for. The new Future Homes Standard has just been consulted on but Tom Heap hears it's not just missing the mark for some groups but is at risk of reducing some standards altogether.
Homes now come with an EPC - an Energy Performance Certificate - to test how reliable they are Tom trains thermal cameras onto a new build house to reveal any leaks or hidden short cuts that may be lurking behind the walls.
Tom also gets a vision of the future - where clever design on village scale and with artificial intelligence could see us living in a low carbon way without even having to think too hard about it.
Presented by Tom Heap
Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock.
TUE 16:00 Law in Action (m000gbjs)
Workplace law
Recent high-profile discrimination claims have cast a media spotlight on the employment tribunals of England, Wales and Scotland. But how good are they are at resolving disputes between employers and staff? How independent are they of the government? And how well have they recovered from fee increases that meant some employment judges had to move jobs?
Why an autistic man’s experiments with explosives were lawful. Joshua speaks to Jonathan Hall QC, Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation about the case of Chez Copeland, who spent almost two years in a maximum security prison for setting off explosions in his garden.
Also US courtroom drama Judge Judy is to end after 25 years. Joshua asks Adam Benforado, associate professor of law, about the show’s legacy and popularity.
Producer: Neil Koenig
Researcher: Diane Richardson
TUE 16:30 PM (m000gd0h)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000gd0m)
The Chancellor has announced a 330 billion pound package of loans and grants to help struggling businesses survive the coronavirus crisis.
TUE 18:30 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (b09yfqst)
Hexagonal Phase
Episode 6
Simon Jones stars as Arthur Dent in a brand new full-cast series based on And Another Thing..., the sixth book in the famous Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy.
Forty years on from the first ever radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur Dent and friends return to be thrown back into the Whole General Mish Mash, in a rattling adventure involving Viking Gods and Irish Confidence Tricksters, with our first glimpse of Eccentrica Gallumbits and a brief but memorable moment with The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast Of Traal.
Starring John Lloyd as The Book, with Simon Jones as Arthur, Geoff McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Sandra Dickinson and Susan Sheridan as Trillian, Jim Broadbent as Marvin the Paranoid Android and Jane Horrocks as Fenchurch. The cast also includes Samantha Béart, Toby Longworth, Andy Secombe, Ed Byrne, Lenny Henry, Philip Pope, Mitch Benn, Jon Culshaw and Professor Stephen Hawking.
The series is written and directed by Dirk Maggs and based on And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer, with additional unpublished material by Douglas Adams.
Music by Philip Pope
Production research by Kevin Jon Davies
Written and directed by Dirk Maggs
Based on the novel And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer, with additional material by Douglas Adams
Recorded at The Soundhouse Ltd by Gerry O'Riordan
Sound Design by Dirk Maggs
Produced by Dirk Maggs, Helen Chattwell and David Morley
A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m000gbfp)
Roy’s bruising from the explosion is now coming out and Kirsty’s working at the health club tomorrow when it re-opens. Kirsty is worried about what people are saying about Philip. She wonders again about cancelling their wedding party but Roy says it’s what the village needs. They discuss what music act to hire for the night.
Adam’s running on little sleep with lambing as well as Xander waking a lot at night. Brian helps with the hinds and Adam will be late to drill at Brookfield because of an aquaponics task. Brian suggests they hire someone to replace Ed to make Adam’s life easier. Adam tells him to stop worrying and that he doesn’t think they need a full time employee.
Robert updates Lynda on life at Ambridge Hall and that he told Oliver he blames him for Lynda’s injuries. Lynda is annoyed by this. She asks Robert to invite Oliver to see her. She wants to tell him herself that he has nothing to feel bad about.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m000gd0p)
David Baddiel, arts prize for social change, film news
Author and comedian David Baddiel is going to read The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow, now his UK tour has been cancelled due to coronavirus, and he has the time. David tells Stig Abell why this novel has always been such a challenge to him.
As cinemas close round the country, Universal Pictures have announced they are home releasing several current big films such as Emma and The Invisible Man. Critic Jason Solomons discusses what this means for the industry.
The Visionary Honours is a prize recognising artworks in all genres that have generated the greatest social change from diversity, mental health, anti-social behaviour and environmental change. We speak to the co-founder Adrian Grant about why he felt this award was needed, and critic Hannah McGill charts the ups and downs of art for social good.
And Irish musicians John Gaughan and Gerry Diver perform Splendid Isolation live in the studio to celebrate St Patrick's Day
Presenter : Stig Abell
Producer : Dymphna Flynn
TUE 19:45 Your Blue-Eyed Boy, by Helen Dunmore (m000gczt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m000gd0r)
Critical Condition: Allegations of failings at Great Ormond Street
Great Ormond Street Hospital in London has a global reputation for providing outstanding care to children with the most complex medical conditions who need expert help.
The hospital, known as GOSH, boasts more specialist services for children under one roof than any other and employs some of the country's leading doctors to staff them.
The vast majority of the 43,000 children who stay at GOSH every year receive care which befits its reputation.
But when things go wrong, is the hospital being transparent about its failings and does it do everything it can to prevent mistakes being repeated?
When serious mistakes happen hospitals are duty-bound to launch serious incident investigations to understand what exactly happened and report them to external bodies.
But File on 4 investigates claims that in some cases the hospital has failed to declare serious incidents despite evidence of harm.
Reporter Michael Buchanan began investigating how the hospital deals with errors after attending the inquest of 14-year-old Amy Allan, from North Ayrshire, who died following elective back surgery.
Michael returns to Scotland six months later to investigate how the hospital responded to Amy's death and meets other families who say they cannot get the answers they're seeking.
Producer: Ben Robinson
Reporter: Michael Buchanan
Editor: Carl Johnston
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m000gd0t)
Coronavirus and Pavement Parking
As more information about measures to reduce the impact of coronavirus are revealed - what is their impact on the blind and visually impaired? Reliance on touch - and the impact of too much caution could have serious implications according to listener Kirsten Hearn. And Director of Operations at Guide Dogs Peter Osborne tells us what his organisation is doing to mitigate the situation in a time of upheaval.
And he hinted at a change on our programme a few weeks ago - but Grant Shapps has revealed measures to ban pavement parking in England. We work through the implications of a consultation with Tom Walker, and Sarah Lambert, Head of Social Change at RNIB gives a reaction.
And - if you need some light relief, a clip from Chris McCausland's recent Now Show appearance on the joys of Audio Description.
Presented by Peter White
Produced by Kevin Core
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (m000gbft)
Covid-19 Intensive Care Beds; Ibuprofen; Laser and Glaucoma; Faecal Incontinence
The UK has one of the lowest numbers of critical care beds in Europe but as the coronavirus threatens to engulf us, drastic measures are being taken to increase capacity. Dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine, Dr Alison Pittard, tells Saleyha that the NHS has been asked to plan for doubling, trebling and then quadrupling the number of critical care beds. So far, health authorities in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have identified how they can increase the number of beds from just under 5,000 to around 10,000 but as Nicki Credland, Chair of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses says, increased beds mean more specialist intensive care nurses in numbers that can't be invented overnight. Additional non-specialist staff are being earmarked to help fully qualified intensive care nurses in the current virus crisis.
Dr Margaret McCartney addresses the confusion around two medications: ibuprofen for viral symptoms and the potential risks to Covid-19 patients who are using ACE inhibitors for their high blood pressure or heart failure.
Meanwhile away from coronavirus, Saleyha reports on new advances for the treatment of glaucoma, a condition which involves increased pressure to the eye and damage to the optic nerve. It's usually treated using eye drops, but laser treatment could be coming to a hospital near you. Saleyha watches as Gus Gazzard, Professor of Ophthalmology at University College London, uses a laser to treat the high pressure in Veenay Shah's right eye. Evidence from the LiGHT trial, which showed the laser works for newly diagnosed glaucoma patients, is likely to lead to new NICE guidelines which could give patients the choice: eye drops or laser.
Faecal incontinence is one of the most debilitating conditions and patients can go for years without even seeking help. But at Sandwell General Hospital in West Bromwich, a revolutionary non-surgical approach is transforming lives. Called the FINCH service, Lead Nurse Kelly Stackhouse, colorectal consultant Rajeev Peravali and patients 21 year old Lara and 74 year old John, tell Saleyha how the new approach works.
Producer: Fiona Hill
TUE 21:30 New Weird Britain (m0005t2r)
Post-Industrial Towns
Music journalist John Doran travels across the country in search of an underground movement of musicians, blossoming in the margins of Britain.
Artists of all stripes have been driven out of the city centres by soaring rent prices and hit hard by the dwindling revenues of the digital economy. But, untethered from the prospect of making any money and fuelled by the current political turmoil, a new wave of musicians is splintering away from convention to stage bizarre one-off performances that fly in the face of austerity.
They are living off-grid in the countryside, building their own instruments out of electronic junk, staging strange rituals with priests smeared in clay or even performing with a team of dancers dressed as anatomically correct vaginas which squirt cream over the audience.
Rather than moving to the capital to seek out the crumbling infrastructure of the music industry, they are self-releasing straight to the internet, teaching themselves how to edit via YouTube or avoiding recording entirely to put on unrepeatable live shows.
In this episode, John Doran heads to the East Midlands and Northern England where a musical underground is flourishing in the back rooms of Newcastle, the bedrooms of Nottingham and the phone boxes of Todmorden.
Contributors include Sophie Cooper, Nwando Ebizie, AJA, Richard Dawson and Urocerus Gigas from Guttersnipe.
Produced by Alannah Chance
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4
Image credit: Laura Kate Bemrose
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m000gd0w)
Chancellor's economic plan to combat coronavirus
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
TUE 22:45 The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel (m000gd03)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
TUE 23:00 Liam Williams: Ladhood (b09b0wbn)
Series 2
Episode 4
Comedian Liam Williams recounts his youthful misadventures in this autobiographical sitcom. Episode four finds Liam post-graduation and back in his parent's house while his girlfriend enjoys the trip of a lifetime on the other-side of the world. Adjusting to the real world won't be easy.
Ladhood is written and performed by Liam Williams and starred.
Al Roberts
Emma Sidi
Freya Parker
Kieran Hodgson
Paul G Raymond
Sally Grace
Paul Copley
The Producer is Joe Nunnery
It is a BBC Studios Production.
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000bfj5)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament.
WEDNESDAY 18 MARCH 2020
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m000gd0y)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 00:30 Shakespeare in a Divided America, by James Shapiro (m000gd10)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000gd12)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000gd14)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000gd16)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m000gd18)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000gd1b)
Reflection and prayer with Sister Geraldine Smyth OP
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m000gd1d)
Farming Today is having to adapt in the face of coronavirus, with Anna Hill presenting from her home. But how are rural businesses coping? We hear from a Gloucestershire pub and a Norwich farm shop.
And should the phasing out of Basic Payments be delayed? We visit one of the new Environmental Land Management Scheme trials and hear concerns about the timeframe for change.
Presented (from home) by Anna Hill
Produced by Heather Simons
WED 06:00 Today (m000gbdr)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Only Artists (m000gbdw)
Series 10
David Lan meets Nico Muhly
The theatre producer and writer David Lan meets the composer Nico Muhly.
David Lan was the artistic director of the Young Vic in London for 18 years, winning the special Olivier Award in 2018 for his outstanding contribution to the stage. Born in South Africa, he trained as an actor, and then gained PhD in social anthropology, before working as a writer and director.
Nico Muhly has written more than 80 works, including the opera Marnie, staged by English National Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including Philip Glass and Bjork, and his recent work for the screen includes the score for the BBC TV drama Howards End. Three of his compositions have inspired new dance works, currently being performed at Sadlers Wells.
WED 09:30 The Extinction Tapes (m0009z7g)
The Alabama Pigtoe Mussel
Rob Newman tell the story of a species we've lost forever, and explores our role in their extinction.
The Alabama Pigtoe Mussel was an unassuming little mollusc. Half buried in the silty banks of the Mobile river, they filtered plankton and algae from the slow-moving waters. But that's not all they filtered. There were dark secrets and forgotten history buried in the riverbed. And when the last Alabama Pigtoe closed its shell forever, those secrets came boiling up to the surface.
Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight
WED 09:45 Shakespeare in a Divided America, by James Shapiro (m000gbgw)
Episode 3
Leading scholar James Shapiro makes a timely exploration of what Shakespeare’s plays reveal about deep divisions in the United States - from revolutionary times to the present day.
The plays of William Shakespeare are rare common ground in the United States. They are read at school by almost every student, staged in theatres across the country, and valued by conservatives and liberals alike. For well over two centuries, Americans of all stripes - presidents and activists, writers and soldiers - have turned to Shakespeare’s works to explore the nation’s fault lines, including issues such as race, gender, immigration, and free speech.
In a narrative arching across the centuries, from revolutionary times to the present day, James Shapiro traces the unparalleled role of Shakespeare’s 400 year-old tragedies and comedies in illuminating the concerns on which American identity has turned.
Deeply researched, Shakespeare in a Divided America reveals how no writer has been more closely embraced by Americans, or has shed more light on the pressing issues in their history. Shapiro argues it is by better understanding of Shakespeare’s role in American life that Americans might begin to mend their bitterly divided land.
Written by James Shapiro
Read by Kerry Shale
Abridged by Kerry Shale and Jill Waters
Producer: Lizzie Davies
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000gbf1)
Family Secrets...
In the latest in our series of Family Secrets a listener called Helen got in touch to tell us about the discovery she made after the death of her mother and the suicide pact she kept quiet about for nearly forty years.
Last week’s budget saw a series of big public spending and investment projects announced. These focused on physical infrastructure. But what of social infrastructure – the investment in people who staff social care and the support for women in and out of work as the country faces the enormous challenge of Covid 19. Jenni speaks to Professor Diane Elson of the Women’s Budget Group and Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director of Age UK.
Curator, writer and lecturer Bolanle Tajudeen is the founder of Black Blossoms, a platform dedicated to spotlighting black women and black non-binary visual artists. Jenni met Bolanle recently at the Women of the World 10th anniversary festival. How has black feminism influenced the work of black female fine art artists and why do they struggle to get a platform for their work.
Diana Nammi grew up in the Kurdish region of Iran in the 1960s and 1970s, playing her own part in the revolution of 1979. At the age of 17, under the new Islamic regime, she became a Pershmerga, Kurdish fighter. Twelve years on the frontline, she discusses her book ‘Girl with a Gun’.
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Kirsty Starkey
Interviewed Guest: Carolyn Abrahams
Interviewed Guest: Diane Elson
Interviewed Guest: Bolanle Tajudeen
Reporter: Jo Morris
Interviewed Guest: Diana Nammi
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (m000gbf6)
Debbie and Janette - Are we local yet?
Friends talk about their affinity with the place they both now live in the Forest of Dean. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
WED 11:00 Le Divide (m000gbf8)
Le Divide - Egalite
France's motto of "liberte, egalite, fraternite" - liberty, equality and fraternity - also sums up some of the key challenges facing the nation today. The BBC's Paris correspondent Lucy Williamson travels around the country to find out more about the issues and asks: are President Macron's policies helping to heal divisions, or make them worse?
France may be less unequal than many of its neighbours, but there is a deep and growing fracture between increasingly wealthy cosmopolitan elites, and the inhabitants of a "peripheral France" who say they feel left behind. Lucy travels from Versailles in the north to the former mining town of La Grand-Combe in the south, to ask why anger there is so strong, what the gilets jaunes protests achieved, and whether President Macron has delivered on his promise to heal the economic divisions in France.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
WED 11:30 The Price of Happiness (b05v6gnt)
Series 1
Children
Stand-up poet Kate Fox explores some of the things she doesn't want and has cheerfully failed to achieve in life, despite feeling society constantly reminds her that, as a woman, she should.
Kate kicks off with a look at the subject of children.
Are we all wired to be baby-making machines? Not always, no. Some of us would rather spend our hard earned cash in Mango than Mothercare. Prospective parents are plagued by questions - Would I be a good parent? Would a child change my life beyond all recognition? Would having a child mean I could legitimately buy myself Lego and eat jelly?
Can legislation across the world be used to either encourage or discourage parenthood? And what's the cost of feeling you have to want the same things as everybody else? Kate and the audience draw up a list of pros and cons of having children, and work out whether the average cost of raising a child could be better spent making our lives more fun and meaningful in other ways.
Kate Fox is a comedian and poet from the North East of England. She has contributed poems and comic pieces to many Radio 4 shows including "Saturday Live", "Wondermentalist Cabaret", "From Fact to Fiction", "Woman's Hour" and "Arthur Smith's Balham Bash".
Producer: Lianne Coop
An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2015.
WED 12:00 News Summary (m000gc7g)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel (m000gbfd)
Episode 3: Succession
Anton Lesser reads the eagerly-awaited finale to Hilary Mantel's Booker-winning Thomas Cromwell series. Today: The king has been granted the right to choose his own heir, should Jane fail to give him a child. And Cromwell now wonders if Henry might favour his illegitimate son, Fitzroy, the Duke of Richmond...
Writer: Hilary Mantel
Reader: Anton Lesser
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett
WED 12:18 You and Yours (m000gbfh)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.
WED 12:57 Weather (m000gbfk)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m000gbfm)
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 Girl Taken (m000gj7t)
3. The Trial
BBC journalist Sue Mitchell and ex-soldier-turned- good-Samaritan Rob Lawrie thought they were involved in the heart-breaking, but straight forward story of an Afghan father and his motherless daughter as they struggled to get to Britain. The following four years saw Sue and Rob fall into a web of lies and life changing, mind changing events. Girl Taken is a 10 part hunt - across closed borders and broken promises - for the truth and to find a little girl, taken.
Producer: Sue Mitchell
Studio Production and Sound Design: Richard Hannaford
WED 14:00 The Archers (m000gbfp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b09nxxss)
Freezing to Death (and How to Avoid It)
Drama by Abigail Youngman based on the true story of probably the worst (and coldest) wedding night ever. In 1739 Empress Anna Ivanovna had an ice palace built on the River Neva in St Petersburg. An exceptionally cruel woman and inveterate match-maker, she arranged the marriage of two of her jesters: Prince Mikhail Golitsyn and Avdotya Buzhenina, a hunchback peasant woman. After a lavish ceremony, the happy couple were forced to spend the night in the ice palace. This is the story of how two very different characters attempt to survive extreme adversity.
Cast:
Mikhail / Old Mikhail.....................Karl Theobald
Avdotya.............................................Mandeep Dhillon
Traveller / Grigori Petrovich..........John MacKay
Writer....................................................Abigail Youngman
Studio Manager................................Iain Hunter
Director................................................Alison Crawford
With thanks to Yelena Alexander for guidance on Russian language and culture.
WED 15:00 Money Box (m000gbfr)
MBL: Travel and coronavirus
The UK government has urged Britons to avoid non-essential travel to anywhere in the world for 30 days to tackle the spread of coronavirus. Where does that leave people and their holiday plans? And what about future holidays?
Joining presenter Louise Cooper to share their views:
Simon Calder, Travel Editor at The Independent.
Charlie Campbell, Senior Policy Adviser at the Association of British Insurers.
Gary Rycroft, solicitor at Joseph A Jones & Co LLP.
Email questions to moneybox@bbc.co.uk
Producer: Darin Graham
Editor: Richard Vadon
WED 15:30 Inside Health (m000gbft)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 The Media Show (m000gbfy)
Return of the expert
How good a job is the media doing at explaining the science behind what's going on with coronavirus? Are we hearing enough from the experts? The right experts? Or is the Westminster lobby still setting the news agenda? Amol Rajan is joined by Emily Wilson, editor of New Scientist, Gareth Mitchell, presenter and lecturer in Science Communication at Imperial College London, and Dr Ellie Cannon, GP and Mail on Sunday columnist. Also in the show, how the BBC is responding with Dan McGolpin, BBC Controller of iPlayer and Programming.
WED 16:30 PM (m000gbg2)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000gbg6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Mark Watson Talks a Bit About Life (m000gbg8)
Series 3
Episode Three: Autumn
Multi-award winning comedian and author Mark Watson continues his probably doomed quest to make sense of the human experience. He's aided by the sardonic musical brilliance of Flo and Joan, and by a different comedy friend in each programme. This time, it's Jen Brister.
This new series examines the four seasons of the year and the seasons of a human life, as Mark - at the halfway point of his expected lifespan - considers what might come next. In this third episode, Mark and his guests take on Autumn - the season of falling leaves and (in some cases) falling expectations of life.
As always, there's a huge number of jokes, some songs, and an awful lot of other stuff crammed into each show as the much-loved comic and his guests make their way through life at dizzying speed.
Produced by Lianne Coop
An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4
WED 19:00 The Archers (m000gbgb)
Roy reports his car being stolen from outside his house to Harrison. Later, Harrison calls round to say the car has been found on the Beechwood estate – some kids must have used it for joy-riding. When Roy discovers he has both sets of keys for his car, it dawns on him that the car was never stolen. He parked it on Beechwood when he went to visit Kirsty and then got a lift back. Phoebe can’t believe how this happened.
Philip gets an update from the doctor about Blake’s recovery – he should be able to walk again though he’s still not talking very much.
Kenton, Jolene, Lilian and Alistair gather to think up ways to fundraise for those injured by the Grey Gables explosion. Alistair wonders about asking Philip to fix the field shelter for Lynda’s llamas which gets a mixed reaction. They wonder about doing something for Blake too. Philip arrives and makes a public apology for the Grey Gables explosion. This makes a good impression on Kenton, Jolene and Lilian. Philip will also repair the llama shelter but Shula has given Lilian another idea for making Lynda feel better.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m000gbgd)
Gary Sinyor, Arts Council aid, Theatre Uncut
Director and writer Gary Sinyor joins John Wilson to discuss his new sitcom The Jewish Enquirer. This follows hapless journalist Paul, played by Tim Downie, in search of scoops for Britain’s “fourth most-read Jewish newspaper”. Sinyor reveals how his own Jewish heritage inspired this irreverent depiction of a Jewish family and how everything and everyone from circumcision to Philip Green is ripe for satire.
Most people working in the arts are freelance and so may lose their livelihoods when shows close and projects are curtailed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Earlier this week the Arts Council announced that it will change some of its funding programmes to help compensate individual artists and freelancers for lost earnings. Laura Dyer, the Deputy Chief Executive of Arts Council England, explains what is planned and how this will work.
Theatre Uncut has created an online film, which stars actors from different Universities across Europe who have filmed themselves on their phones. Their performances were then edited together. Written by Kieran Hurley using text and emojis, Bubble is about freedom of speech and will premiere on Facebook on Monday. Director Emma Callander discusses this unique project. With actors working in isolation, edited elsewhere and viewed on phones and laptops, this is a film for our troubled times.
Presenter: John Wilson
Producer: Simon Richardson
WED 19:45 Your Blue-Eyed Boy, by Helen Dunmore (m000gbf3)
Episode 3
Simone comes face to face with Michael.
Simone - Pippa Nixon
Michael - Andonis Anthony
Matt - Elija Wolf
Joe - Milo Robinson
Dramatised by Fiona Evans
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m000gbgg)
Danger and Opportunity?
The coronavirus pandemic has given the world a smack in the face. Sporting events have been cancelled, national borders have closed, jobs and livelihoods hang in the balance, the over-seventies will soon be asked to self-isolate and families are having difficult conversations about whether grandparents can be allowed to see their grandchildren. It’s life, but not as we know it. A cynical politician once said that you should never let a serious crisis go to waste, and pundits are already suggesting that we now have an opportunity to re-think society. After all, in Chinese, the word for crisis is often interpreted as signifying both "danger" and "opportunity". Is it time to make changes that would not have been feasible without an existential threat hanging over us? Could we, for example, strengthen global partnerships, accelerate the shift to sustainable energy, think about a universal basic income or forge a new sense of community? Such ‘politicisation’ of the problem is appalling to those who just want to get through this ordeal and return to normal; they say it’s much too soon to conclude that free market liberal democracy has failed the stress-test. They are sure that, if we do the right things to protect the most vulnerable, it will soon be business as usual. Yet history shows that a major crisis can be a catalyst for crucial changes. Talk of re-purposing hotels as make-shift hospitals and manufacturing plants to make ventilators, invites comparisons with the Second World War, which gave us the welfare state as we know it today. We won’t get through the corona crisis without ceding a lot of our individual autonomy to the state, but is that an opportunity for greater collectivism in the future - or a danger to liberty? With Rachel Cunliffe, Laura Perrins, Rabbi Lord Sacks and Dr Jamie Whyte.
Producer: Dan Tierney.
WED 20:45 Lent Talks (m000gbgj)
Anthony Reddie - Identity and Race
Lent Talks is a personal perspective on an aspect of the story leading up to Easter. This year’s theme is identity – losing and gaining identity; struggling with identity; accepting and owning identity. Anthony Reddie reflects on his journey of identity as a Black theologian and activist.
Producer: Dan Tierney.
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (m000gbgl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Only Artists (m000gbdw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m000gbgn)
Virus: UK schools to shut from Friday
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
WED 22:45 The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel (m000gbfd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
WED 23:00 Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme (m000gbgq)
Series 5
Accountancy
By Tim Key
In the first of a new series of the anarchic comedy, Tim Key plans to recite poetry high above the Norwegian fjords. But his cable car has broken down and, worse, his accountant is on his trail.
Key…. Tim Key
Lord…. Tom Basden
Megan…. Katy Wix
Jiffy…. Mike Wozniak
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000bfvz)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament.
THURSDAY 19 MARCH 2020
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m000gbgt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 00:30 Shakespeare in a Divided America, by James Shapiro (m000gbgw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000gbgz)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000gbh1)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000gbh3)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m000gbh5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000gbh7)
Reflection and prayer with Sister Geraldine Smyth OP
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m000gbh9)
Open Farm Sunday and the Glastonbury Festival are among the latest casualties of the coronavirus pandemic, but what about the gathering of farmers to sell their animals at livestock auctions? Farmers are concerned that the markets may face restrictions as the virus spreads. We speak to Devon farmer Mike Tewson who's sold hundreds of sheep at market this week, and the man in charge of Hereford Market Richard Hyde, who says auctions are a vital part of our food chain.
All week we’re focusing on the new Environmental Land Management Schemes being planned in the Agriculture Bill. We visit a farmer who's been paid public money for public goods for his work on natural flood management on his dairy farm in Somerset.
And the sounds of the countryside - an antidote to the stress of Covid-19.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe in her spare room.
Produced by Rebecca Rooney
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03x45jq)
Goldeneye
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Bill Oddie presents the goldeneye. Although they’re a common winter visitor, you’ll need to travel to Speyside in the Scottish Highlands to see goldeneyes in their breeding season where, since 1970, a small population has bred there. Unlike dabbling ducks, such as mallard and teal, they don’t need muddy shorelines and lots of vegetation. Goldeneyes are diving ducks that feed mainly on shellfish and crustaceans.
THU 06:00 Today (m000gbhc)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m00051n6)
Frankenstein
In a programme first broadcast in May 2019, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Mary Shelley's (1797-1851) Gothic story of a Swiss natural philosopher, Victor Frankenstein, and the creature he makes from parts of cadavers and which he then abandons, horrified by his appearance, and never names. Rejected by all humans who see him, the monster takes his revenge on Frankenstein, killing those dear to him. Shelley started writing Frankenstein when she was 18, prompted by a competition she had with Byron and her husband Percy Shelley to tell a ghost story while they were rained in in the summer of 1816 at the Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva.
The image of Mary Shelley, above, was first exhibited in 1840.
With
Karen O'Brien
Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford
Michael Rossington
Professor of Romantic Literature at Newcastle University
And
Jane Thomas
Professor of Victorian and Early 20th Century Literature at the University of Hull
Producer: Simon Tillotson
This programme is a repeat
THU 09:45 Shakespeare in a Divided America, by James Shapiro (m000gbhh)
Episode 4
Leading scholar James Shapiro makes a timely exploration of what Shakespeare’s plays reveal about deep divisions in the United States - from revolutionary times to the present day.
The plays of William Shakespeare are rare common ground in the United States. They are read at school by almost every student, staged in theatres across the country, and valued by conservatives and liberals alike. For well over two centuries, Americans of all stripes - presidents and activists, writers and soldiers - have turned to Shakespeare’s works to explore the nation’s fault lines, including issues such as race, gender, immigration, and free speech.
In a narrative arching across the centuries, from revolutionary times to the present day, James Shapiro traces the unparalleled role of Shakespeare’s 400 year-old tragedies and comedies in illuminating the concerns on which American identity has turned.
Deeply researched, Shakespeare in a Divided America reveals how no writer has been more closely embraced by Americans, or has shed more light on the pressing issues in their history. Shapiro argues it is by better understanding of Shakespeare’s role in American life that Americans might begin to mend their bitterly divided land.
Written by James Shapiro
Read by Kerry Shale
Abridged by Kerry Shale and Jill Waters
Producer: Lizzie Davies
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000gbhk)
School closures, Legal challenges to the CPS, Family Secrets
The Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson has confirmed that all schools will close in England and Wales and there’ll be no GCSE or A Level exams this summer. How are schools and pupils proposing to cope? Ruby is a 17-year old pupil in Somerset, due to take her A levels shortly. Charlie is 25 and is doing an access course to be a paramedic. It involves cramming 2 years of A-levels into 1 year. Carolyn Roberts is the Head Teacher at Thomas Tallis School in South London.
A legal challenge over alleged changes to Crown Prosecution Service policy on bringing charges in rape cases was dismissed by the high court this week. The Centre for Women’s Justice brought the case on behalf of the End Violence Against Women Coalition following concerns over steep falls in rape charges and convictions in recent years - at a time when an increasing number of women have been making rape complaints to police. Human rights lawyer, Harriet Wistrich, clarifies why the case was brought and someone we are calling Olivia explains why she wanted her case to be one of the 21 cases included as evidence.
The writer Sali Hughes has been talking to women about objects in their lives that are important to them. The things we cherish aren’t always vintage, or even antique - or even expensive. The TV presenter and chef Andi Oliver talks about a one-of-a-kind blanket knitted by her mother.
And in today’s family secret is that of a woman we are calling ‘H’ whose whole life has been shaped by the sense that there was something she wasn’t being told. Finding out the truth at the age of 17 at a family party and the realisation that everyone else in the family knew all along made her ill. H tells Jo Morris her story.
THU 10:45 Your Blue-Eyed Boy, by Helen Dunmore (m000gbhm)
Episode 4
Simone discovers the truth about why Michael has got in touch.
Simone - Pippa Nixon
Michael - Andonis James Anthony
Dramatised by Fiona Evans
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (m000gbhp)
Mixed Messages in Bolsonaro's Brazil
While Europe seals its borders, Latin America, which has far fewer confirmed Coronavirus cases, has started to do the same to stop the disease spreading. But not all leaders are taking the threats seriously says Katy Watson.
All over the world Coronavirus is spreading, unseen. Paul Adams found himself in Beirut as it approached. He watched as the city shut down and found himself reflecting on this hidden enemy.
Aung San Suu Kyi was once a much admired recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. But her repeated denials over the persecution of the Rohingya, the country’s Muslim minority, have earned her global opprobrium. As Nick Beake bids farewell to his life in Yangon and to Myanmar, he reflects on its elusive first lady.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah which is backed by Iran has lost at least one thousand two hundred men in Syria. But by no means all Syrians are grateful for these sacrifices says Lizzie Porter.
Living in an online world makes tracking down something or someone infinitely easier. Rob Cameron spotted a face in a film from the Prague Spring, and was so besotted with the man that he set out to find him – 50 years later.
THU 11:30 Out of Soweto: BCUC (m000gbhr)
BCUC – Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness – sound like no other band. Bringing together polyrhythms, prison songs, chanting, electronics and heavy bass, they're incredible performers. They remember the end of apartheid, and they feel the weight of their inheritance as South African musicians, living and working in an iconic site in the political struggle: Soweto, outside Johannesburg.
But they constantly defy expectation, and have found success well beyond Soweto - after a few years of touring globally, last year they achieved their ambition of playing Glastonbury. This programme, presented by South African spoken word poet Thabiso Mohare, follows them over the course of three years from their hang out in Soweto - a container on a roadside verge - to backstage at the festival, and finds out how they’ve forged their sound and their outlook.
THU 12:00 News Summary (m000gbht)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel (m000gbhw)
Episode 4: Reconciliation
Anton Lesser reads the eagerly-awaited final part of Hilary Mantel's Booker-winning Thomas Cromwell series.
Today: Fearing that forces in Europe are gathering behind Henry's daughter Mary, Cromwell urges a reconciliation between Henry and his eldest daughter.
Writer: Hilary Mantel
Reader: Anton Lesser
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett
THU 12:18 You and Yours (m000gbhy)
Supermarket stock; Virtual Hang Outs; Pension Life
Shop shelves are being stripped bare in supermarkets across the UK as people panic buy ahead of feared Coronavirus lock down. Toilet Roll, hand sanitisers, and pasta are among the goods being bought in bulk. So how are supermarkets dealing with the demand, and why do they seem unable to replenish stocks more quickly? We speak to one supermarket about how it's system is coping.
An investigation by You & Yours can reveal how a high profile champion for people who have lost their pensions has been secretly getting paid by some of the very organisations she had campaigned against. Angela Brooks encouraged people who had lost money to lousy investment schemes to join her Class Action, charging them up to £1500 a year in fees. Leaked documents seen by You & Yours show Ms Brooks has been accepting tens of thousands of pounds a year from some of the companies involved with the lousy investment schemes - but none of her members have reported receiving any of their pension money back. In a letter to You & Yours, Ms Brooks' lawyer said she is currently bringing a case to court in Spain on behalf of 17 British people who are victims of pension investment scams.
Plus as increasing numbers of events get cancelled, and people are having to work from home, we hear how some individuals are moving their meet ups online - from music, to comedy to cheese and wine nights.
Presented by Winifred Robinson
Produced by Natalie Donovan
THU 12:57 Weather (m000gbj0)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m000gbj2)
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 Girl Taken (m000gj9f)
4. A Missing Girl
BBC journalist Sue Mitchell and ex-soldier-turned- good-Samaritan Rob Lawrie thought they were involved in the heart-breaking, but straight forward story of an Afghan father and his motherless daughter as they struggled to get to Britain. The following four years saw Sue and Rob fall into a web of lies and life changing, mind changing events. Girl Taken is a 10 part hunt - across closed borders and broken promises - for the truth and to find a little girl, taken.
Producer: Sue Mitchell
Studio Production and Sound Design: Richard Hannaford
THU 14:00 The Archers (m000gbgb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (m000gbj4)
Moving the Goalposts
Pam Ferris is Mattie in Juliet Ace's new drama.
Words are becoming more and more difficult for Mattie. Is this because of her illness, dementia or just old age?
Duty. Dignity. Fear. Pain and Humour are words she'll never forget. You can add Bloody-mindedness to the list
and the refusal to call cancer a battle to be won. Her diagnosis allows Mattie the golden opportunity to plan her
'future' but then unbelievably she doesn't die. Mattie is startling truthful but she has a wicked sense of humour too.
Mattie ...... Pam Ferris
Written by Juliet Ace
Directed by Tracey Neale
Juliet Ace, television and radio writer, has written a wonderful drama right from the heart.
Eighty year old Mattie has Stage 4 cancer. Words are becoming more and more difficult to find. Is this because of cancer, dementia or just old age? Duty. Burden. Dignity. Fear. Pain and Humour are words she’ll never forget. You can add Bloody-mindedness to the list and the refusal to call cancer a battle to be won. Mattie regards her cancer as a pantomime villain who is, by turns, devious and full of dark humour.
She is given 18 months to live which allows Mattie the golden opportunity to plan her ‘future’. There’s a will to make, a funeral to organise and possessions to give away. It’s an empowering experience. But then, unbelievably, she doesn’t bloody die. Four years later, Mattie is left with very limited mobility and exhaustion – a condition she shares with many cancer patients who are supposedly cured of the disease. Thank god for her wicked sense of humour, her irreverence and her ability to appreciate the ironies of the situation.
THU 15:00 Ramblings (m000gbj6)
A brand new waymarked walking route in South Wales
In one of the rainiest Ramblings we've ever recorded, Clare Balding discovers a brand new waymarked walking route in South Wales which has been established on the path of an ancient pilgrimage. It's called the Penrhys Pilgrimage and connects Llandaff to Penrhys.
As Clare hears, while walking (and getting soaked) along the final five mile stretch from Trebanog to Penrhys, a huge amount of work from local volunteers has gone into making this project happen.
Penrhys is the site of an ancient well and a statue of Mary and already has a pilgrimage passing through from east to west (the Cistercian Way) but from March 25th 2020 this new route , running south to north, will be available to all comers, pilgrims or not. Please scroll down to the 'related links' box to find out more.
(Please note: the launch events mentioned in the programme have now been cancelled due to Covid-19)
Producer: Karen Gregor
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m000gbj8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (m000gbjb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 BBC Inside Science (m000gbjg)
TB vaccination to replace culling in badgers; Neil Shubin on the wonders of evolution
The government have announced that the controversial cull of badgers across England will begin to be phased out in the next few years. It will be replaced by vaccinating badgers for bovine TB. The cull is intended to cut tuberculosis in cattle and has killed at least 100,000 badgers since 2013. TB in cattle is a severe problem for farmers and taxpayers, leading to the compulsory slaughter of 30,000 cattle and a cost of £150m every year.
However culling is thought to have failed because frequent trading of cattle and poor biosecurity on farms severely hampering efforts to tackle the crisis. Expert and ecologist Rosie Woodroffe at the Institute of Zoology, the research division of the Zoological Society of London, who has been trialling vaccinations for the past few years in Cornwall explains to Marnie Chesterton why it is highly desirable to move from culling to vaccination of badgers. Plus they discuss the parallels between this and the coronavirus outbreak in humans.
Evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin at the University of Chicago, is also the author of the best-selling book on evolution – ‘Your Inner Fish’. In his new book, out this week, ‘Some Assembly Required – Decoding four billion years of life from ancient fossils to DNA’, Neil revisits the topic of evolutionary development and explains to Adam how we have now arrived at a remarkable moment—prehistoric fossils coupled with new DNA technology have given us the tools to answer some of the basic questions of our existence: How do big changes in evolution happen? Is our presence on Earth the product of mere chance? This new science reveals a multi-billion-year evolutionary history filled with twists and turns, trial and error, accident and invention.
Presenter - Marnie Chesterton
Producer – Fiona Roberts
THU 16:30 PM (m000gbjj)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000gbjl)
Boris Johnson has said he's confident the UK can "turn the tide" in the coronvirus pandemic in the next 12 weeks
THU 18:30 The Break (b0b5sqkb)
Series 2
The Clench
Andy and Jeff clash with The Mayor (Rasmus Hardiker) as a missing sweet shop sets off a tale of kompromat, corruption and coastal erosion. Starring Philip Jackson and Mark Benton.
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 19:00 The Archers (m000gbjn)
There’s a near miss for Ed and Lilian delivers some good news.
THU 19:15 Front Row (m000gbjq)
Lennie James, Rob Auton, Jess Gillam
Actor and screenwriter Lennie James talks about the return of his award-winning Sky drama Save Me, in which he plays a father trying to rescue his daughter from a sex trafficking ring. In the new series Save Me Too, he finds someone who may hold the key to her location.
Writer and comedian Rob Auton performs live and talks about finding inspiration from small everyday things including hair, water, talking, and the colour yellow. His stand-up tour has been cancelled but his daily podcast will continue with a short burst of spoken word each day to lift us from the gloom.
Saxophonist Jess Gillam performs live with pianist James Ballieu.
Presenter: Chrystal Genesis
Producer: Edwina Pitman
THU 19:45 Your Blue-Eyed Boy, by Helen Dunmore (m000gbhm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 Law in Action (m000gbjs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Tuesday]
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (m000gbjv)
Bonuses and Incentives
Bonuses, tips, profit share? What is the best way to incentivise your staff? Evan Davis and guests discuss
GUESTS
Kate Griffiths-Lambeth, HR Director, Charles Stanley Wealth Management
Ed Reeves, Co-Founder, Moneypenny
Martin Tiplady, Managing Director, Chameleon People Solutions Ltd.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m000gbjg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (m00051n6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m000gbjy)
PM: we can turn the tide against coronavirus within 12 weeks
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
THU 22:45 The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel (m000gbhw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
THU 23:00 Alfie Brown's School Of Wrong (m000gbk0)
Comedian Alfie Brown finds himself deep in conversation with Marie Le Conte on the subject of British politics and politicians and the inner workings of their meeting rooms, bars and secret nooks.
Why do things happen the way they do, and how did we drift to a space where wrong seems right?
Producer: Richard Melvin
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000bg4k)
Susan Hulme reports from Westminster where MPs attack ministers for not getting financial help fast enough to people losing their livelihoods due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Environment Secretary says despite the empty shelves in some supermarkets there is no shortage of food. And an independent report condemns the Home Office over the Windrush Scandal saying it was "forseeable and avoidable".
THU 23:55 The Listening Project (m000gbk2)
Marie-Anne and Anne - User and provider
Two palliative care nurses share thoughts on life on the receiving end of NHS cancer care. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
FRIDAY 20 MARCH 2020
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m000gbk4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 00:30 Shakespeare in a Divided America, by James Shapiro (m000gbhh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000gbk6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000gbk8)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000gbkb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m000gbkd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000gbkg)
Reflection and prayer with Sister Geraldine Smyth OP
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m000gbkj)
20/03/20 Coronavirus and agricultural labour; Veg box demand; Payment for soil health.
Travel restrictions because of coronavirus means there's a shortage of seasonal workers to pick crops. HOPS - an organisation which employs farm labourers - is inviting UK workers, whose jobs are affected by Covid 19, to apply for agricultural jobs.
There's been a big upturn in demand for veg boxes as supermarkets run out of food and people stay at home. We speak to Riverford Organic Farmers in Devon to find out how they're coping with demand.
And as we leave the Common Agricultural Policy we look at how farmers may be paid in the future. We visit a scheme in Sussex where farmers receive money for improving soil health.
The presenter is Sybil Ruscoe, at home in Gloucestershire.
The producer in Bristol is Rebecca Rooney.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03x45q5)
Ruff
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Bill Oddie presents the ruff. The glory of the ruff lies in its extravagant courtship displays. For most of the year these waders look similar to our other long-legged water-birds such as redshanks or sandpipers but in the breeding season the males sprout a multi-coloured ruff. The impressive ruffs of feathers come in infinite variety, black, white, ginger, or a mixture of these. The males gather at traditional spring leks with the aim of winning one or more mates.
FRI 06:00 Today (m000gc46)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m000gc48)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Shakespeare in a Divided America, by James Shapiro (m000gc4b)
Episode 5
Leading scholar James Shapiro makes a timely exploration of what Shakespeare’s plays reveal about deep divisions in the United States - from revolutionary times to the present day.
The plays of William Shakespeare are rare common ground in the United States. They are read at school by almost every student, staged in theatres across the country, and valued by conservatives and liberals alike. For well over two centuries, Americans of all stripes - presidents and activists, writers and soldiers - have turned to Shakespeare’s works to explore the nation’s fault lines, including issues such as race, gender, immigration, and free speech.
In a narrative arching across the centuries, from revolutionary times to the present day, James Shapiro traces the unparalleled role of Shakespeare’s 400 year-old tragedies and comedies in illuminating the concerns on which American identity has turned.
Deeply researched, Shakespeare in a Divided America reveals how no writer has been more closely embraced by Americans, or has shed more light on the pressing issues in their history. Shapiro argues it is by better understanding of Shakespeare’s role in American life that Americans might begin to mend their bitterly divided land.
Written by James Shapiro
Read by Kerry Shale
Abridged by Kerry Shale and Jill Waters
Producer: Lizzie Davies
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000gc4d)
Children's Tantrums: why they happen and how to cope
Tantrums are an inevitable part of living with a toddler. But with the prospect of weeks or even months of families cooped up together ahead of us, how can parents keep meltdowns (by toddlers and themselves!) to a minimum? Emily Jones is a professor of infant neurodevelopment and autism at the Birkbeck Babylab and she tells Jane what’s happening when a child has a tantrum, when and how to intervene, and gives top tips for parents trying to cope.
Earlier this week, the former cabinet minister Amber Rudd tweeted “During Gov briefings am I the only one thinking ‘where are all the women?’ Why are there no senior women in the “war cabinet” or used to convey those critical messages? Equality means better decisions. Don’t pack the women away during a crisis.” Many were quick to reply that this was no time for quotas and that ability matters more than equality. But what are the problems with not including the different perspectives and lived experiences of women in decision making? We hear from former Conservative cabinet minister, Amber Rudd, Caroline Criado-Perez, the author of ‘Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men’ and Simone Schnall, Reader in Experimental Social Psychology and Director of Studies in Psychological and Behavioural Sciences at Jesus College, Cambridge.
To mark the Spring Equinox, Radio 4 is broadcasting readings of seasonal poetry. Today we have poetry from the award-winning Welsh poet and playwright, Menna Elfyn.
Mothers' Day can be a difficult time for some people, Robyn Donaldson and Emma Hopkinson tell us why they started Others' Day.
Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Kirsty Starkey
Interviewed Guest: Amber Rudd
Interviewed Guest: Caroline Criado-Perez
Interviewed Guest: Simone Schnall
Interviewed Guest: Professor Emily Jones
Interviewed Guest: Menna Elfyn
Interviewed Guest: Emma Hopkinson
Interviewed Guest: Robyn Donaldson
FRI 10:45 Your Blue-Eyed Boy, by Helen Dunmore (m000gc4g)
Episode 5
Simone has met Michael resulting in devastating consequences. She has to take action.
Simone - Pippa Nixon
Michael - Andonis Anthony
Donald - Graeme Hawley
Matt - Elijah Wolf
Joe - Milos Robinson
Dramatised by Fiona Evans
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris
FRI 11:00 Faith on the Move (m000gc4j)
A railway chaplain may sound quaint - romantic even - harking back to the days of steam travel when the Railway Mission was first established in the 1880s. Back then, train travel was new and men of the cloth respected. But these days the chaplain’s role is a stressful 24/7 job on the front line of society.
Faith on the Move looks at the work of the chaplains who support railway staff on the near-10,000 miles of Britain’s railway. Dylis George, a Pastor in South London, is our travelling companion and guide. Since becoming a railway chaplain five years ago, Dylis has supported staff on London Underground as well as the British Transport Police. Last year, she took over as chaplain on South Eastern Railway, to the Kent and Sussex coast.
Every day is different and demanding as Dylis offers friendship and a listening ear to those facing life and work issues - including increasingly abusive and sometimes violent passengers. She has also been there to offer support through the very worst of times, from attacks by extremists to deaths on the track.
A mother of two, Dylis finds her faith is often tested, but she also finds solace in her family and cooking dishes which bring back happy childhood memories of Sierra Leone.
Along with the stories of railway workers and passengers, the programme features Andrew Buchanan who was once a train driver, but is about to start as a chaplain on the West Country network. He has his own experience of a track suicide. Other voices include Dylis’s predecessor John Robinson who has taken time out from chaplaincy to look after his family, and CEO of the Railway Mission Liam Johnston.
Narrator: Eleanor Rushton
Producer: Sara Parker
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 11:30 Help! My Head's in Wookey Hole (m000gc4l)
Anneka Rice goes on the hunt for her Madame Tussaud's waxwork head. This leads her into a hilarious and honest look back at her own life and career.
It's time to ask some tough questions. Why did she even have a waxwork in the first place? Is it because she was once famous? And does that mean she is now 'unfamous'?
Producer: Harriet Jaine
A Talkback production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m000gc4n)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel (m000gc4q)
Episode 5: Fighting Fires
Anton Lesser reads the eagerly-awaited finale to Hilary Mantel's Booker-winning Thomas Cromwell series.
It is July 1536. Henry has been reunited with his eldest daughter Mary, and England still hopes for a legitimate heir from Henry’s new wife Jane. But in the meantime, Cromwell must now concern himself with demands from Henry’s illegitimate son and his Scottish niece, Margaret.
Writer: Hilary Mantel
Reader: Anton Lesser
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett
FRI 12:18 Four Seasons (m000gc4s)
City Lilacs by Helen Dunmore read by Tanya Moodie
Radio 4 marks the change of seasons with poetry. March 20th is the Vernal Equinox. The poem "City Lilacs" by Helen Dunmore is read by Tanya Moodie
Producer: Maggie Ayre
FRI 12:20 You and Yours (m000gc4v)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.
FRI 12:57 Weather (m000gc4x)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m000gc4z)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
FRI 13:43 Four Seasons (m000gc51)
Late March by Richard Schiffman
The actor Richard Harrington reads Late March by the American poet Richard Schiffman as part of Four Seasons poetry for the Spring Equinox
Producer: Maggie Ayre
‘Late March’ by Richard Schiffman from ‘What the Dust Doesn’t Know’ by Salmon Poetry.
FRI 13:45 Girl Taken (m000gj88)
5. Dangerous Journeys
BBC journalist Sue Mitchell and ex-soldier-turned- good-Samaritan Rob Lawrie thought they were involved in the heart-breaking, but straight forward story of an Afghan father and his motherless daughter as they struggled to get to Britain. The following four years saw Sue and Rob fall into a web of lies and life changing, mind changing events. Girl Taken is a 10 part hunt - across closed borders and broken promises - for the truth and to find a little girl, taken.
Producer: Sue Mitchell
Studio Production and Sound Design: Richard Hannaford
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m000gbjn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b09qd0m0)
Becoming Betty
In 1986 Elizabeth Lewis dreamed of a glorious summer in Italy. Working as an au pair in a remote picturesque village she planned to cook Italian, learn Italian, be Italian. There was so much hope to be dashed...
A long hot summer begins with Lizzie re-christened Betty - or should that be Cinderella? - by her Italian hosts. Between daily chores and child-minding, dreams of becoming Sophia Loren grow hazy. That is until her knight in shining armour arrives, in a Cinquecento, and Lizzie's romantic Brief Encounter begins.
A joyous romantic comedy, and an ode to Italy, youth and summertime. Based on a true story.
Directed by Helen Perry
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000gc53)
Wrest Park: Postbag Edition
Peter Gibbs and the team answer horticultural questions sent in by listeners.
Matthew Wilson, Pippa Greenwood and Christine Walkden advise on reviving an ailing Camellia, what to grow in a difficult patch of a garden, and the best time to replant a Cherry Tree.
Andrew Luke, the Head Gardener at Wrest Park, shows the team around the garden.
Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Rosie Merotra
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Aunt Mirrie and the Child (b055dttn)
A short story from award-winning author Kate Clanchy about what we inherit, and what we pass on.
Kate Clanchy was born and grew up in Scotland but now lives in Oxford. She is an award-winning novelist, short story writer and poet. Her work includes poetry collections 'Slattern', 'Samarkand' and 'Newborn' and the acclaimed novel 'Antigona and Me'. Her first novel, 'Meeting the English', was published by Picador in 2013 and was shortlisted for the 2013 Costa First Book Award. In 2018 she was awarded an MBE for services to literature, and an anthology of her students' work, England: Poems from a School, was published.
Producer: Mair Bosworth
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m000gc57)
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently.
FRI 16:30 PM (m000gc5c)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000gc5h)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The Now Show (m000gc5k)
Series 56
Episode 3
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis present the week via topical sketches and chat, we don't have an audience but we do have stand-ups Rosie Jones and Andy Zaltzman (who will probably sit down for this one) and Gemma Arrowsmith.
Written by the cast, with additional material from Gareth Gwynn, Katie Storey, Charlie Dinkin and Mo Omar.
Producer: Julia McKenzie
A BBC Studios Production
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m000gc5m)
Writer, Adrian Flynn
Director, Jessica Bunch
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Jill Archer..... Patricia Greene
Ben Archer..... Ben Norris
Kenton Archer.... Richard Attlee
Jolene Archer.... Buffy Davis
Brian Aldridge.... Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge.... Angela Piper
Phoebe Aldridge.... Lucy Morris
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Harrison Burns .... James Cartwright
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O'Hanrahan
Ed Grundy ….. Barry Farrimond
Alistair Lloyd ..... Michael Lumsden
Adam Macy .... Andrew Wincott
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Elizabeth Pargetter ….. Alison Dowling
Freddie Pargetter ….. Toby Laurence
Robert Snell ….. Graham Blockey
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane
Roy Tucker ….. Ian Pepperell
Philip Moss ….. Andy Hockley
Gavin Moss ..... Gareth Pierce
Doctor ….. Jessica Turner
FRI 19:15 Front Row (m000gc5p)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
FRI 19:45 Your Blue-Eyed Boy, by Helen Dunmore (m000gc4g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m000gc5r)
Bim Afolami, Nick Chater, Tina McKenzie, Emily Thornberry
Chris Mason presents political debate from Broadcasting House with a panel including: Conservative MP Bim Afolami; Professor of Behavioural Science, Nick Chater; Labour MP Emily Thornberry; Tina McKenzie, Northern Ireland policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m000gc5t)
Cause for Hope
"I have come to think of the virus as that monster from the ancient Norse legend of Beowulf, Grendel," writes Michael Morpurgo. "He's out there now, threatening my home, my village, my family and friends".
Michael talks about what it feels like to be hunkered down in his little cottage in Devon - waiting for coronavirus to pass.
Recorded by Hamish Marshall from Radio Devon.
Produced by Adele Armstrong.
FRI 21:00 Girl Taken (m000gj8b)
Omnibus (1-5)
BBC journalist Sue Mitchell and ex-soldier-turned- good-Samaritan Rob Lawrie thought they were involved in the heart-breaking, but straightforward story of an Afghan father and his motherless daughter as they struggled to get to Britain. The following four years saw Sue and Rob fall into a web of lies and life changing, mind changing events. Girl Taken is a 10 part hunt - across closed borders and broken promises - for the truth and to find a little girl, taken.
Producer: Sue Mitchell
Studio Production and Sound Design: Richard Hannaford
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m000gc5w)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
FRI 22:45 The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel (m000gc4q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
FRI 23:00 A Good Read (m000gc5y)
Sharleen Spiteri & Hugh Dennis
The lead singer of Glasgow band Texas Sharleen Spiteri selects a contemporary thriller The Secretary by Renee Knight as her good read. Hugh Dennis goes back to a book he remembers from when his vicar father had a parish in east London. Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd is a murder story featuring the eponymous 1980s detective investigating macabre deaths in seven London churches built in the 1800s.
Caitlin Moran's How To Be A Woman is Harriett's choice.
Have you read any of them? Join the conversation on instagram @agoodreadbbc
THE SECRETARY by Renee Knight
HAWKSMOOR by Peter Ackroyd
HOW TO BE A WOMAN by Caitlin Moran
Producer: Maggie Ayre
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000bgq6)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament.
FRI 23:55 Four Seasons (m000gc60)
Poems for the Spring Equinox
Four poems to end Four Seasons day of poetry for the Spring Equinox.
Siobhan Redmond reads A Little Madness In the Spring by Emily Dickinson
Simon Russell Beale reads A Blackbird Singing by RS Thomas
Richard Harrington reads In Praise of Spring by Linda Gregg
Tanya Moodie reads May by Kerry Hardie
Anton Lesser reads Sixty by Philip Booth
Producer: Maggie Ayre