A warm and wonderfully moving memoir from the legendary songwriter and creative force behind some of the twentieth century’s biggest hits. Black shares the stories behind some of his most iconic numbers, as well as delightful anecdotes of his collaboration with the industry’s brightest stars. The Sanest Guy in the Room is a celebration of a life in music and a touching tribute to Black’s ultimate inspiration, his wife Shirley.
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Tim Thornton, Bishop to the Armed Forces.
Shamefully one of the realities that we remember at this time of year is that so many of the conflicts that have taken place have been between people who profess faith. Even more than that many of the people who have been killed in wars and fighting have been killed by people who profess the same religion and that is true of Christianity.
It is important that we recognise how deep the divisions go within Christian faith and how easily division moves towards violence.
Every day in Lambeth Palace we say the prayer I am going to use this morning. It is the prayer of a relatively new ecumenical community Chemin Neuf. A community founded by Roman Catholics and includes members of different Christian traditions. A key charism of Chemin Neuf is that it prays for unity.
As you will hear in so doing it reminds all of us of the pain and suffering of division. It is a true scandal of the Christian church that we choose not to move towards unity.
For me the prayer is powerful both because it states so clearly the reality of the pain and wrongness of division and also because it ends with suggesting there is hope, beyond all else there is hope.
As we remember so many who have died during this time of year, I pray in sorrow for forgiveness for all those who lose their lives in the name of Christianity and I pray earnestly that the hope which is beyond all hope will prevail.
according to your means.
Adam Morse, who is registered blind, explains how he directed an award winning film by seeing differently. When he was diagnosed at the age of nineteen with a rare eye condition, he feared at first that his ambitions to act and direct might be thwarted. A decade later, his dreams are being fulfilled and he hopes to blaze a trail for other artists with disabilities.
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
Gilbert White, born on the 18th July 1720, is one of Britain's most influential natural scientists. He is often described as the Father of Ecology and revolutionised the way people observed and interacted with Nature. His main work 'The Natural History of Selborne' which was published in 1789 and is a series of letters to fellow naturalists has never been out of print and is thought to be the fourth most published book in the English Language. 'Open Country' steps back in time as we take a tour of Gilbert White’s garden and the surrounding landscape of Selborne 300 years after this pioneering naturalist and gardener was born, to explore the landscape and wildlife which so inspired him and which remarkably has changed relatively little since then. Presenter Helen Mark, Producer Sarah Blunt.
Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles are joined by Akram Khan. Winning a disco dance competition as a child encouraged Akram to pursue what he saw as his one talent: dance. Today he is one of the UK’s leading choreographers, has an MBE for services to dance, and tells stories through dance on stages as varied as Sadlers Wells to the 2012 London Olympics stadium.
Sarah Beeny has graced our TV screens for the past 20 years as one of the nation’s most loved property experts. She estimates that she’s now been in more than 1,000 homes offering advice on all things remodeling, interior design and extensions. Now, the cameras follow her and her family as they build a house from scratch in Somerset.
When Dwayne Fields moved to London from Jamaica aged 6 he wondered where all the trees were. He escaped the city after discovering Epping forest and adventures in nature, becoming the first black Briton to reach the North Pole in 2010. The Scout ambassador and Countryfile contributor is now planning to take 20 disadvantaged youngsters to the Antarctic and has his sights on reaching the South Pole within the next two years.
Saturday Live listener Bill Murray's father was the bodyguard and painting companion of Winston Churchill - he contacted us to talk about his memories.
Writer Sophie Kinsella chooses her inheritance tracks, Five Hundred Miles by The Seekers and F. Couperin "Les Baricades Mysterieuses" played by Angela Hewitt on Hyperion Records and your "thank you".
Jay is joined round the virtual table by his team of culinary experts - Tim Anderson, Rob Owen Brown, Shelina Permaloo and Dr Zoe Laughlin - along with a virtual audience.
This week, the team talks about its favourite biscuits for a cup of tea. Zoe Laughlin does an experiment with the audience on whether its best to suck or chew chocolate and the panellists suggest their best recipes for a fish finger sandwich.
Iain Martin of the Times and guests look back at a dramatic week in UK and world politics with the coronavirus second wave and the US presidential election dominating debate. MPs voted to approve a second national lockdown in England - but with a significant Conservative rebellion. We speak to one of the MPs who opposed his government's new measures. We explore the economic fallout of the Covid crisis with the former Conservative chancellor, Ken Clarke. And what political lessons can the UK learn from the unexpectedly close, gladiatorial contest between Donald Trump and Joe Biden?
Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis do their best to identify the next president of the USA, with a bit of help from Geoff Norcott and Sophie Duker, with music from Jess Robinson
Written by the cast, with additional material from Gareth Gwynn, Athena Kugblenu, Ambika Mod and Charlie Dinkin
Chris Mason presents political debate and discussion from Broadcasting House in London with a panel including Former Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas, Shadow Attorney General Lord Falconer and the businessman and Brexit Party Chairman Richard Tice.
Bartholomew Abominations is the latest collaboration between award winning audio producers, Naked Productions and Graeae Theatre, placing Deaf and disabled artists centre stage.
This radical reinvention of a classic drama for 21st century audiences is a vibrant, biting political commentary about modern British identity.
In the original,Ben Jonson takes a swipe at the narrow-minded puritanism of the early 17th century. Paul Sirett’s new version reflects on narrow-minded disability discrimination and English nationalism of the early 21st century. The story is set in 2032, at an annual event where suitors must find the “perfect” partner or face deportation.
Naked Productions and Graeae have a strong reputation for taking famous titles and turning them into engaging new audio drama. Previous work includes The Midwich Cuckoos, Little Dorrit and Three Sisters.
Recorded remotely, Bartholomew Abominations has an exceptional cast of disabled and non-disabled actors, including Liz Carr (Silent Witness), Stephen Collins (Reasons to Be Cheerful), Garry Robson (Fittings MultiMedia Arts) and Mina Anwar (Life of Pi).
Bartholomew Abominations is part of the BBC season Exploring Disability Through Art. This November sees the 25th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act, one of the most significant civil rights landmarks in our history, criminalising discrimination against disabled people in many areas of life. This moment is being marked across the BBC, with a special focus on the arts.
A transcript of the drama will be available on BBC Radio 4 website on broadcast.
The writer, Paul Sirett, is an Olivier-nominated playwright with over 25 professional productions to his name including two plays for disabled-led theatre company Graeae (Reasons to be Cheerful and The Iron Man) and two West End transfers (The Big Life and Rat Pack Confidential). Paul also writes for radio and has won two Best Writer awards at the New York International Radio Festival and a Special Commendation at the Prix Italia. Paul works a dramaturg and teaches playwriting and dramaturgy at RADA.
Sign Language Interpreters…..Caroline Richardson, Jeni Draper, Vikki Gee-Dare and Chandrika Gopalakrishnan
Supporting a child with depression, Flexible working, Maggie O'Farrell, Paint recycling, Carers and the pandemic.
Liz Brookes looks after her husband Mike, who has had vascular dementia and Chris Black cares for his wife, Helen, who has Picks disease, or Frontotemporal dementia. How have they coped during the pandemic? We also hear from Emily Holzhausen, Director of Policy and Public Affairs from Carers UK.
Has the Covid crisis helped to usher in a future of flexible working? A new report from the campaign Flex Appeal says while that forced remote working during a pandemic is not the same as flexible working, there are lessons that can be learned from lockdown. Anna Whitehouse aka Mother Pukka who co-founded Flex Appeal, and Louise Deverell-Smith who runs Daisy Chain, an online platform that matches flexible employers with flexible job-seekers discuss.
As part of our new series on life and shoes, we speak to Carmen about her espadrilles her mother danced in decades ago.
Josh suffered his first major depressive episode just before he was due to take his A levels. At university his mental health deteriorated further. Josh and his mum Mandy have written a book 'The Boy Between'. They tell us about their experiences – in Josh’s case, learning to live with depression, and in Mandy’s case how best to support and help someone you love who suffers with depression.
Cat Hyde is one of the founders of Seagulls, a project which takes leftover paint and repurposes it into new paint. They take volunteers such as Ash, a young woman who now works at their paint shop, who says that working at Seagulls was vital in her regaining her confidence.
Maggie O’Farrell’s first picture book for children, 'Where Snow Angels Go By' is the story of a brave little girl who is visited by her snow angel in her time of need. The idea for the book grew out of a story Maggie told her own sick child in the back of an ambulance.
Commercial landlords and tenants are at odds over unpaid rents due to the pandemic. Many retail, hospitality and leisure businesses are suffering acutely. Most have landlords who collect rent for their premises. In turn, many landlords have to pay interest on their loans to the banks. The pandemic is upsetting that delicate financial balance. It's estimated that billions of pounds is owed to landlords in unpaid rents. Threats of legal action against tenants are hitting the headlines. Just who should take more of the financial hit - commercial landlords or their tenants?
Edward Ziff, Chair and CEO of Town Centre Securities, a property investment firm
Mark Dixon, CEO of International Workplace Group, which rents, develops and sublets office space
Amir Wilson, The Hairy Bikers, Toby Marlow, Lucy Moss, Lucy O'Brien, Sting & Melody Gardot, Judi Jackson, Emma Freud
Clive Anderson and Emma Freud are joined by The Hairy Bikers, Toby Marlow, Lucy Moss, Lucy O'Brien and Amir Wilson for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Sting & Melody Gardot and Judi Jackson.
As Wales eases its covid restrictions, Profile explores the life and various careers of the country's First Minister. Born and brought up in rural Wales, before entering the world of Labour politics Mark Drakeford worked as a social worker and an academic. And Mark Coles discovers that those are not his only interests. Tending his allotment, playing music and body boarding in all weathers also loom large.
Actor, comedian and writer John Cleese hosts a dinner party with a twist - all his guests are from beyond the grave, his heroes brought back to life by the magic of the BBC radio archive.
John is joined by writer and philosopher Aldous Huxley, Hollywood actress Bette Davis, comedian and writer Spike Milligan, the film maker and writer Susan Sontag and neurologist Oliver Sacks.
While John and his guests wait for the Indian takeaway to arrive, they don't waste any time in discussing past drug experiences, the trauma of war, being a superstar, the threat of technology - and the joy of silliness.
Then the comedians Peter Cook and Dudley Moore turn up for a late night brandy.
Starting with an examination of our early experiences of stories, Marina Warner looks at the world of contemporary fiction.
In the company of leading contemporary writers, she considers a story and story writing from a different angle.
Marina speaks with writers as diverse as Julian Barnes, Michelle Roberts, Fanny Howe, Marlene van Niekerk, Alain Mabanckou, Lydia Davis, Edwin Frank, Elleke Boehmer, Wen-Chin Ouyang, Daniel Medin, Nadeem Aslam and Laszlo Krasznahorkai.
There are questions around the boundaries between fact and fiction which Marina believes are central to any consideration of storytelling, since readers' pleasure depends so much on trust built up between the storyteller or writer and the audience.
Over ten episodes, there are discussions on the reasons for writing, writers as witnesses and political interaction.
Marina was Chair of the Man Booker International Prize 2015 and the series draws on the expertise of the International Booker judging panel, the views of the shortlisted writers, as well as other key literary talent.
Alec Ryrie argues that the Second World War is our modern sacred narrative, as well as underpinning our collective sense of what constitutes good and evil.
Alec is Professor of the History of Christianity at Durham University, and in this programme he will blend news archive with fiction, film and serious works of history and commemoration, to chart the development of this new sacred narrative.
He'll show how Adolf Hitler became the most potent moral figure in our culture and Nazism became the reference point for good and evil; how fictional portraits such as Sauron, Darth Vader and Voldermort echo the notion of Hitler; and why in a society where religious symbols have less potency than they once did, no visual image packs the same emotional punch as a swastika.
Alec will hear from Simon McCallum, BFI National Archive Curator, about how wartime and post-war film handled WW2. Dr Debra Ramsay will explain the interplay between Cold War politics and portrayals of Germany.
Daniel Truhitte, who played the most famous fictional Nazi of all time - Rolf in the Sound of Music - tells Alec how he prepared for, and improvised, the film's famous final scene. And Dr. Dimitra Fimi, co-director for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow analyses how the evil in Tolkien's world was influenced by the Nazis.
Alec also speaks to Michaela Kuchler, President of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, to Professor Gavriel Rosenfeld, about the way in which the Holocaust came to be a defining characteristic of the Second World War, to YouTuber Jackson Bird about evil in Harry Potter, and to Black Lives Matter activist Imarn Ayton about Churchill.
Helen and Freddy drive back from Scotland with what could be proof that the sunken ship exists - the severed hand they found on the beach. But on the motorway they're being followed. And disaster awaits.
A gripping thriller, Tracks was the first drama to hit the top of the iTunes podcast chart back in 2017. It went on to win Best Sound (BBC Audio Drama Awards) and Best Fiction (British Podcast Awards). Now Tracks is back with a fifth and final 9 part series.
Freddy…. Jonathan Forbes
Amina.... Emma Fryer
Rebecca.... Carys Eleri
Frances.... Juno Robinson
John Updike's masterful Rabbit quintet established Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom as the quintessential American White middle class male. The first book Rabbit, Run was published in 1960 to critical acclaim. Rabbit Redux was the second in the series, published in 1971 and charted the end of the sixties - featuring, among other things, the first American moon landing and the Vietnam War.
This third book finds Rabbit in middle age and successful, having inherited his father in law's car business - selling newly imported Toyotas to the mass American market. But his relationship with his son Nelson was severely compromised by Rabbit's affair with Jill and her subsequent death has left them both wary of each other.
Published in 1981, Rabbit is Rich won Updike, among other awards, the Pulitzer Prize for fiction - and it's extraordinary how many of its themes continue to reverberate down to the present day.
The Prime Minister said the second lockdown in England was necessary to avoid the "medical and moral disaster" of the NHS being overwhelmed. In starker terms: many people will die if nothing is done, and not just of Covid-19. Depending on one’s perspective, the government’s strategy has either been too concerned, or not concerned enough, with the avoidance of death above all else. What has the crisis revealed about our attitude to our own mortality and how we value human life? Some are accused of being too blasé about the fact that many who died in the first wave of the pandemic either had ‘underlying conditions’ or, more bluntly, would have died soon anyway. Others, who believe the second lockdown should have been sooner and more severe, are accused of giving in to fear – as one lady quipped in a TV vox pop: “I’m 83 and I don’t give a sod”. Nevertheless, the coronavirus has made many people face death far earlier than they were expecting. People have died alone and their loved ones have grieved for them in isolation. For some, the pandemic has highlighted how inadequate we are at confronting death more generally. Medical progress has given us longer and healthier lives yet there are many who believe that we have focused too much on prolonging life rather than making the time we have left meaningful. We also live in an age when some think the prospect of ‘defeating death’ is in touching distance. Is death the ultimate taboo in our culture? If we can’t medicalise our way out of it, how can we live – and die – well? With Prof Michael Hauskeller, Kathryn Mannix, Revd Dr Brendan McCarthy and Prof Ellen Townsend.
Nigel Rees quizzes a host of celebrity guests on the origins of sayings and well-known quotes, and gets the famous panel to share their favourite anecdotes and quotes.
*Author Victoria Hislop, known for The Island, The Return, The Thread and Those Who Are Loved
*Novelist and screenwriter Nikesh Shukla, known for Coconut Unlimited, Meatspace, and as editor of The Good Immigrant
*Comedy writer and podcaster Benjamin Partridge, known for The Beef and Dairy Network podcast, Horrible Histories and others
Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan meets Muslim poets continuing the tradition of praise poetry.
During lockdown, Suhaiymah received a large parcel in the post. It was a poem: Qasida Burda – or The Mantle Adorned. It was new to her, but it didn’t take much digging for her to find out it’s one of the most famous poems in Islamic history, if not world history: a praise poem. And as she delved into the history of praise poetry Suhaiymah started making connections with modern spoken word poetry.
In this programme Suhaiymah will talk to spoken word poets who are writing and performing modern praise poems, examining whether they feel free to talk about these issues in poetry in a way they can’t in their daily lives. And she’ll consider whether poetry events help these Muslim poets to form communities of healing away from the state’s purview. Finally she’ll ask how this came about: many modern praise poets came to poetry via rap and only gradually removed the music, but how did they fuse that with religiosity?
SUNDAY 08 NOVEMBER 2020
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m000p60s)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:15 A British History in Weather (b07bft85)
Storm
Alexandra Harris tells the story of how the weather has written and painted itself into the cultural life of Britain. An island at sea - the storms of King Lear and Turner and others.
Any storm has its drama, but Coleridge knew the particular exhilaration of this place. The lane west from Lynton leads into a giant, irregular bowl of heathland known as the Valley of the Rocks. From the cramped streets of the village the walker is thrown out into an alien land where rocks stick up like injured bones from the earth. Even on a calm day the wind in this valley is enough to drown out voices and make the eyes water; the ear canals ache with the pressure. Blowing in from the Bristol Channel, the north and north-west gales are funnelled into the bowl where they beat around furiously, trying to get free. Coleridge wanted to be in the midst of this great weather theatre, opening himself to its energy, feeling its effects on his skin, his nerves, his imagination.
Music by Jon Nicholls.
A BBC Audio production, made in Bristol
SUN 00:30 Short Works (m000p0tb)
The McFeggan Offensive by William Boyd
John Sessions reads William Boyd's wry new story for radio about bad haircuts, worst accent and illicit cigarettes in a 1960s boys school.
Sessions was a star of radio as well as screen and stage. This was his final recording for the medium he loved. Written for him by a long term friend and collaborator, it is a fitting tribute to the late, great comic actor.
Boyd is a multi-award winning novelist, short story writer and playwright. The author of 16 highly-acclaimed novels, including Any Human Heart and Restless, his latest Trio is set in Brighton during the swinging sixties, and has garnered rave reviews following its recent release.
Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000p60v)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000p60x)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000p60z)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m000p611)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m000p613)
Worcester Cathedral
Bells on Sunday comes from Worcester Cathedral. The tower contains fifteen ringing bells tuned to the major scale of B, and a large clock bell. The current ringing bells were cast in 1928, replacing an earlier peal dating back to 1869, which had been cast as part of the Cathedral’s Victorian restoration. We hear the tower’s minor ten, ringing Stedman Caters. The bells are being rung half muffled to mark Remembrance Sunday.
SUN 05:45 Profile (m000p60l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News (m000p712)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b00zd8f7)
No East and West in Our Round World
Dr Nabil Mustapha was born in Egypt and raised in the Baha'i faith which has at its heart the principle of world unity. He has practiced as a surgeon worldwide and in this programme talks about how he has learned to see unity in diversity and to embrace difference.
The programme includes an interview with Professor Suheil Bushrui who was also raised in the Baha'i faith and who teaches an inter-faith course at the university of Maryland in the United States.
Dr Mustapha recalls the challenge of being accepted in social circles in London in the sixties when he was a young doctor who didn't drink because of his faith. He draws upon music and literature to illustrate his belief that even without a shared language or religion we have much in common.
He talks about how his search for greater understanding between faiths helped him to establish a multi-faith forum with people in his Borough. They meet to pray for peace, to break down differences and to highlight commonalities.
Producer: Kim Normanton
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m000p715)
Cornish Saffron
At this time of year, Brian and Margaret Eyers sift through their crocus flowers for the saffron harvest. Anna Jones visits them to hear how they started the Cornish Saffron Company and how the most expensive spice in the world is woven into Cornish history.
Produced in Bristol by Caitlin Hobbs for BBC Audio.
SUN 06:57 Weather (m000p717)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m000p719)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m000p71c)
William Crawley takes a look at the ethical and religious issues of the week
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m000p71f)
WaterAid
Broadcaster and journalist Rageh Omaar makes the BBC Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the international charity WaterAid.
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 ‘WaterAid’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘WaterAid’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
Registered Charity Number: 288701
SUN 07:57 Weather (m000p71h)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m000p71k)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m000p71m)
Seek Higher things
A service for Remembrance from the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell in its centenary year. Preacher: The Revd (Air Vice Marshall) John Ellis, Chaplain in Chief RAF; Leader: The Revd (Wing Commander) David Norfield, RAF, the College Chaplain. RAF personnel speak of their experience of the place of God in their life of service, as a nurse looking after COVID patients, as the newest officer in the Royal Air Force, and as a junior officer whose fast jet pilot father lost his life on active service. Readings: Isaiah 55 (from verse 6) and Matthew 25. Including recordings from RAF music services.
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m000p0tv)
Don't Mention the War
Howard Jacobson with his personal reaction to a monumental week in US politics.
In an attempt to define what's at stake, Howard turns his attention to Basil Fawlty, the Garden of Eden and Jonathan Swift's Big and Little-Endians.
And he has a brush with concussion along the way!
Producer: Adele Armstrong
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m00010pj)
Derek Niemann Sparrows of the Western Front
Derek Niemann recalls that within the horrors of the First World War the ubiquitous house sparrows living in the shattered buildings along the Western Front were one of the great survivors during the onslaught. Despite the devastation they thrived within the ruins of bombed out buildings and for the soldiers these 'wee spuggies' brought a little bit of home, and hope, to their day.
Derek who previously worked for the RSPB for 25 years, has latterly turned his knowledge of birds and nature into a career as a writer, including the book Birds in a Cage, an affectionate tale of British prisoner of war ornithologists. For the next two weeks Derek has chosen episodes from the Tweet of the Day archive, with a connection to times of conflict. Derek begins his tenure curating the archives with his own tale. You can hear more from Derek and his interest in birds during wartime in the Tweet of the Week podcast, available as a download from the Radio 4 website..
Producer Andrew Dawes
SUN 09:00 The Archers Omnibus (m000p71p)
Writers, Naylah Ahmed & Caroline Harrington
Director, Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe
David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Ben Archer ….. Ben Norris
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Will Grundy ….. Philip Molloy
Shula Hebden-Lloyd – Judy Bennett
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Philip Moss ….. Andy Hockley
Gavin Moss ….. Gareth Pierce
Freddie Pargetter ….. Toby Laurence
Lily Pargetter ….. Katie Redford
Johnny Phillips ….. Tom Gibbons
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
SUN 09:54 Tweet of the Day (m000p71r)
Tweet Take 5 : Cetti's Warbler
Until the early 1960's the explosive song of this rarely seen drab and secretive bird was absent from Britain. Arriving in the south east of England in 1961 with a liking damp areas close to wetlands, today the song of the Cetti's warbler can now be heard in reedbeds and wetland as far north as Yorkshire. In this extended version of Tweet of the Day this new member of the British fauna provides the story as told by comedian and birdwatcher Bill Oddie, TV and radio presenter Lindsey Chapman and author and naturalist Stephen Moss.
Produced by Andrew Dawes for BBC Audio in Bristol
SUN 10:00 Natural Histories (m000b0qd)
Poppy
Poppies are associated with many things but to most people they are a symbol of remembrance or associated with the opium trade. Natural Histories examines our fascination with the flower. Lia Leendertz visits the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew where James Wearn shows her a collection of poppy paraphernalia from around the world. Andrew Lack, of Oxford Brookes University and author of Poppy, explains how the flower made its way to the British Isles with the introduction of agriculture, and Joe Crawford of Exeter University describes the popularity of the opium poppy in 19th century Britain, especially among female poets. A vibrant opium trade led British horticulturalists to try and establish a home grown opium crop - without success.
Fiona Stafford appraises the poppy in art encouraging us to look again at Monet's late 19th century painting of a poppy field in northern France. It was painted just a few decades before the outbreak of the Great War which established the red poppy as a permanent reminder of the bloodshed of fallen soldiers.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
SUN 10:30 Ceremony of Remembrance from the Cenotaph (m000p71t)
Paddy O’Connell sets the scene in London's Whitehall for the solemn ceremony when the nation remembers the sacrifice made by so many in the two world wars and in other more recent conflicts.
The traditional music of remembrance is played by the massed bands. After the Two Minutes Silence and Last Post, wreaths are laid at the foot of the Cenotaph by members of the Royal Family, political leaders and representatives of Commonwealth countries, before a short Service of Remembrance. The number of veterans in the March Past is reduced this year, and the streets are not lined by the usual crowds, but the familiar music and movements of the ceremony remain. As the nation marks anniversaries of The Battle of Britain, VE Day, VJ Day and The Korean War, and also reflects on the response to Covid-19, veterans, military personnel, historians and people affected by conflict share their thoughts.
Producer: Katharine Longworth
SUN 11:45 Let's Talk About Rama and Sita (b03w38qc)
Patriot or Traitor?
Award-winning poet and broadcaster Daljit Nagra takes stories from the Ramayana into his community and finds the ancient tales alive with contemporary Asian dilemmas. He examines what they can still teach us about loyalty and betrayal.
Contributors include Kripamoya Das - Senior Priest at Bhaktivedanta Manor Hare Krishna Temple, playwright Amber Lone, Jatinder Verma - Artistic Director of Tara Arts, members of the City Hindus Network, Satish Sharma - General Secretary the National Council of Hindu Temples, and students from Avanti House Free School in Stanmore.
Producer: Julian May
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m000p71w)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (m000p1vf)
Compilation
Episode 3
An episode from 2001, hosted by Nicholas Parsons.
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m000p6fl)
University Challenge: How students and universities are managing meals during the pandemic
Universities have become big business in the UK in recent decades - educating around 2.3 million students, with an annual operating expenditure of over £37 billion at the last count.
But since the start of this academic year, we’ve heard massively mixed reports on how universities are coping; not least, with managing food provision.
In a term when COVID-19 has put new and unexpected pressures on existing frameworks the response from institutes has been hugely varied, from teams rising to the challenge and delivering innovative meal solutions, to “disgraceful profiteering". The situation's prompted student petitions, protests and even rent strikes.
So what has this unprecedented clash of virus, education and money taught us about the UK’s centres of learning – and what lessons have they learned, to help things run more smoothly next year?
Presented by Sheila Dillon. Produced in Bristol by Lucy Taylor.
SUN 12:57 Weather (m000p71z)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m000p721)
Global news and analysis, presented by Mark Mardell.
SUN 13:30 The Listening Project (m000p723)
Fi Glover presents the longer weekly edition of the programme on the shared experience of being in lockdown and beyond.
In this edition small business owners in the north-west, Catalina who runs a children’s play centre in Bolton and Conor is a licensee who runs two venues in Liverpool, share their thoughts and anxieties about lockdown; Lisa from Liverpool and Christina from Gloucestershire, both funeral celebrants, exchange notes on their working lives during the pandemic; and Fi interviews two people who would like to record chats with strangers for the Project.
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 this decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Mohini Patel
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000p0t8)
GQT at Home: Episode Thirty
Kathy Clugston is joined by a panel of experts to answer gardening questions in front of a virtual audience. Bob Flowerdew, Bunny Guinness and Pippa Greenwood are on the panel.
This week, the panellists answer questions on how to choose the right mulch, recommend palm trees for a south-easterly facing garden and compare techniques on saving an un-cheery cherry tree.
Away from the questions, Peter Gibbs is at Wakehurst, Royal Botanic Garden Kew to see their American Prairie project with Ed Ikin, and Juliet Sargent is sharing tips on preparing your garden for winter.
Producer - Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer - Jemima Rathbone
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
Picture: Jim Holden © RBG Kew
SUN 14:45 Legacy of War (m000lms3)
Episode 10
Sean Bean presents a series exploring the ways in which wartime experiences have filtered down through the generations.
Ingrid Von Oelhafen thought she knew who she was. But she was to discover the legacy of the Second World War meant that she had been living a lie, the victim of a Nazi programme called ‘Lebensborn’ in which children were stolen from their parents. Nazi officials searched for blonde blue-eyed children in the countries they occupied, and children were removed from their families as part of a plan to build an Aryan master race. Ingrid was one of these.
She grew up in Germany and only found out at a much later age that she had actually been born to Slovenian parents. As a baby she had been taken away and sent to a Lebensborn children's home.
In this programme Ingrid reflects on how her whole life was changed by the events of the war, and how she feels about discovering her true identity.
Producers Kate Bissell and Mark Rickards
Photo: Ingrid Von Oelhafen aged about two. Courtesy of Ingrid Von Oelhafen.
SUN 15:00 Electric Decade (m000p725)
Clash. Part 1
Ellen Wilkinson's political romance, set during the General Strike, looking at the clash between North and South, work and life, tradition and emerging roles. Joan Craig bridges all these divides with energy and talent, but ultimately has to choose whose side she's on.
Cast
Kate O’Flynn ..... Joan Craig
Paul Ready ..... Tony Dacre
Luke Nunn ..... Gerry Blain
Jane Whittenshaw ..... Mary Maud Meadowes
Roger Ringrose ..... William Royd
Emma Handy ..... Helen Dacre
Stefan Adegbola ..... Harry Browne
Charlotte East ..... Factory worker
Ian Dunnett Jnr ..... Chemical Worker
Adaptation - Sharon Oakes
Sound - Peter Ringrose
Directors - Ciaran Bermingham and Jessica Dromgoole
Notes
Ellen Wilkinson is an all too rare working class, female voice from early 20th century literature. As one of the first ever women MPs and cabinet members, she is better known as a political pioneer. Joan's story echoes Wilkinson's own life. A woman with major personal and political dilemmas: Joan is born into a working class family, fights for social equality but is enchanted by world of ease and luxury represented by Mary Maud Meadowes and Tony Dacre.
SUN 16:00 Open Book (m000p727)
Rumaan Alam, Words and Photography, Bookshop.org
Johny Pitts talks to Rumaan Alam about his novel Leave The World Behind. Shortlisted for a National Book Award in the US, it's the story of a middle class family on holiday in a remote, beautiful house in Long Island, but their idyllic peace is broken by a knock at the door and news of a blackout across the region.
The novel explores prescient themes around parenthood, race, and class and what happens when our twenty four seven access to information disappears.
Writer and photographer Geoff Dyer and novelist and artist Sarah Baume explore the creative links between photography and writing; from insightful introductions in photography books to textual narratives in fiction.
And as many small independent bookshops have to close their front doors to Christmas book shoppers, we find out about a new online platform set up to help them reach customers at the busiest time of the year.
SUN 16:30 My Muse (b096h773)
Series 2
The Young'uns on Graeme Miles
"The terraced streets were my Grand Canyons, the shipyard cranes my redwood trees, those steelwork tips were my mountain ranges and the brickyard ponds were my seven seas".
These are the words of the songwriter Graeme Miles that inspired Sean Cooney, David Eagle and Michael Hughes of the Teesside folk group The Young'uns - Radio 2's Folk Band of the Year Award winners in 2015 & 2016. Stumbling across a folk club at the age of 17, school friends Sean, David & Michael first heard the songs of Graeme Miles - songs about their local area - songs that resonated. They realised that there was beauty to be found in a place they had been brought up to believe was "deprived" and "unromantic", and that Graeme's songs instilled a sense of pride.
For years now the band have been singing Graeme's songs, and, in this programme, they find out more about the man and his work. Featuring interviews with Graeme's widow Annie, and discussion and performances from esteemed musicians from the folk world, including the critically-acclaimed band The Unthanks, this programme highlights some of Graeme's finest songs. From an emotive performance of 'Waiting For The Ferry' on the banks of the River Tees, to a stirring rendition of 'Ring of Iron' accompanied by the legendary Billingham group The Wilson Family, The Young'uns discover more about their muse, and present the programme in their unique and humorous way.
Produced by Elizabeth Foster.
SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m000p10t)
Reynhard Sinaga: Britain’s most prolific rapist
In January, Reynhard Sinaga was convicted of 159 sexual offences against 48 different men over the course of four trials. But according to police, there’s evidence he abused more than 200 men whilst living as a student in Manchester. He preyed on vulnerable young men, drugged them until they were unconscious and raped them while recording most of his abuse on his phone. Most of his victims woke up with no memory of what had been done to them - oblivious until the police turned up at their doors to explain the horrific truth.
As police renew their efforts to identify more of Sinaga's victims, File on 4 has been given exclusive access to those at the centre of the police investigation and hears from many of those who knew him and who have never spoken before. The programme hears how how the softly spoken and highly intelligent student played Good Samaritan to lure victims to his flat in central Manchester - then plied them with drinks laced with the date rape drug GHB. How one man fought off Sinaga and called police, triggering the biggest rape inquiry in British history. The programme also hears about the moment the police realised they were dealing with a monster when they accessed his phone and discovered a catalogue of videos he'd made of himself abusing his unconscious victims. Police then painstakingly trawled through hours and hours of video and numerous trophies found in Sinaga's flat to help identify his victims. Having never shown any remorse for his crimes, the Court of Appeal is now reviewing Sinaga's sentence. So will he become the UK’s first non-homicide criminal to die behind bars?
If you have information about this case you believe may be of interest to police you can contact them here: https://mipp.police.uk/operation/06GMP19V24-PO2
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme you can access support via the following organisations:
St Mary’s Rape Crisis Centre in Manchester provides a range of support and services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to people of all ages who have been sexually abused, assaulted or raped, whether this happened in the past or more recently. https://www.stmaryscentre.org
Safeline provides support and counselling for survivors of sexual abuse or rape. Phone: 0808 8005005 (Male support) www.safeline.org.uk
Survivors UK run the National Male Survivors Online Helpline and Webchat Service for men who have experienced sexual abuse either as a child or an adult. www.survivorsuk.org
The Survivors Trust provides support and signposting for women, men and children who are survivors of rape, sexual violence or childhood sexual abuse. Phone: 0808 801 0818 www.thesurvivorstrust.org
Samaritans is available for anyone struggling to cope and provide a safe place to talk 24 hours a day. Phone: 116 123 Email: jo@samaritans.org www.samaritans.org
BBC Action Line: Sexual abuse and violence:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support-sexual-abuse-and-violence
SUN 17:40 Profile (m000p60l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000p729)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 17:57 Weather (m000p72c)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000p72f)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m000p72h)
Naga Munchetty
Presenter: Naga Munchetty
Producer: Elizabeth Foster & Richard McIlroy
Production support: Sandra Hardial & Ellen Orchard
Studio Manager: Richard Hannaford
Contact potw@bbc.co.uk
The full programmes of all of the selections featured can be accessed in the Related Links section on the Pick of the week homepage.
SUN 19:00 The Whisperer In Darkness (m000p72k)
Episode 15
An unexpected phone call turns Matthew Heawood’s attention to a mystery in the gloom of Rendlesham Forest. Folklore, paranormal, otherworldly? Up for debate, but fertile ground for a new investigative podcast, that’s for sure. One question still lingers, will our host be re-joined by his roaming researcher, Kennedy Fisher?
The duo’s last venture patched together frantic updates from Baghdad, as they pursued suspected occultists in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Very little hope lingered of solving the mystery, and maybe even less that Kennedy would return home safe. But for now, a new investigation calls.
Following the success of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, (Silver, British Podcast Awards) Radio 4 commissions a return to this HP Lovecraft-inspired universe. Once again, the podcast embraces Lovecraft’s crypt of horror, braving the Sci-Fi stylings of The Whisperer in Darkness.
Episode Fifteen
A ritual involving Kennedy is about to take place in Rendlesham Forest. Can Heawood save her?
Cast:
Matthew Heawood……………BARNABY KAY
Kennedy Fisher.....................JANA CARPENTER
Dean Perry…………………….ROBERT GLENISTER
Albert Wilmarth………………..MARK BAZELY
April Marston………………….REBEKAH STATON.
Parker………………………….PHOEBE FOX
Henry Akeley…………………..DAVID CALDER
Producer: Karen Rose
Director/Writer: Julian Simpson
Sound Recordist and Designer: David Thomas
Production Coordinators: Sarah Tombling and Holly Slater
Music by Tim Elsenburg
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
SUN 19:15 Love in Recovery (m00027ng)
Series 3
Making Plans
Third series of the award-nominated comedy drama set in Alcoholics Anonymous. Written by Pete Jackson and inspired by his own road to recovery. Stars Rebecca Front, John Hannah, Sue Johnston, Paul Kaye and Johnny Vegas.
Love in Recovery follows the lives of five very different recovering alcoholics. Johnny Vegas is Andy, the sweet but simple self-appointed group leader. Sue Johnston plays straight talking Julie, who's been known to have the odd relapse here and there - and everywhere. Rebecca Front is the snobby and spiky Fiona, an ex-banker who had it all and then lost the lot. John Hannah is Simon, a snide journalist who’s not an alcoholic – he got caught drink driving, his boss made him attend the meeting, but he fell in love with Fiona and stayed. And, despite her best efforts, she fell in love with him too. Paul Kaye is Danno, a down and out two-bit chancer with a shady past but a lot of heart, who’s desperate to turn his life around.
As we follow their weekly meetings, we hear them moan, argue, laugh, fall apart, fall in love and, most importantly, tell their stories.
In episode five, talk turns to weddings. What’s it like to go to a wedding as a recovering alcoholic? As usual, the answers are far from simple and the experiences of the group couldn’t be more different.
Writer Pete Jackson is a recovering alcoholic and has spent time in Alcoholics Anonymous. It was there he found, as most people do, support from the unlikeliest group of disparate souls, all banded together due to one common bond. As well as offering the support he needed throughout a difficult time, AA also offered a weekly, sometimes daily, dose of hilarity, upset, heartbreak and friendship.
Love in Recovery doesn’t seek to represent an AA meeting exactly as it might happen in real life, but to capture the funny stories, the sad stories, the stories of small victories and of huge milestones, stories of loss, stories of hope, and most importantly, the many highs and lows in the journey of recovery.
Cast:
Fiona….. Rebecca Front
Simon….. John Hannah
Julie….. Sue Johnston
Danno….. Paul Kaye
Andy..... Johnny Vegas
Written and created by Pete Jackson
Producer/Director: Ben Worsfield
A King Bert production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 19:45 The Hotel (m000p72m)
8: The Monster
The next in Daisy Johnson's deliciously unsettling and hugely original ghost stories set in a remote hotel on the Fens.
In today's story we hear from the walls of The Hotel itself...
Writer: Daisy Johnson
Producer: Justine Willett
Reader: Bettrys Jones
SUN 20:00 Feedback (m000p0tg)
Veteran broadcaster Mark Mardell has just left the Corporation. He said goodbye to listeners of the World at One and The World This Weekend and now feels free to speak his mind. He tells Roger Bolton about his concerns over the reporting of Donald Trump and his supporters.
He also explains why he believes cuts in the numbers of BBC reporters threatens to damage its journalism, and discusses the new Director General’s campaign on impartiality.
And two listeners give their thoughts on the Radio 5 Live podcast What Planet Are We On? in which Sir David Attenborough outlines his concerns about the environment.
Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Kate Dixon
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m000p0td)
Sir Sean Connery, Eavan Boland, Nobby Stiles MBE, Bobby Ball
Pictured: Sir Sean Connery
Matthew Bannister on
Sir Sean Connery, seen by many as the definitive James Bond, he won an Oscar for The Untouchables and was a supporter of the Scottish National Party.
Eavan Boland, who changed the course of Irish poetry by making women’s experiences central to her work.
The footballer Nobby Stiles, one of only two Englishmen to have won both the World Cup and the European Cup.
Bobby Ball, the comedian whose double act with Tommy Cannon was hugely popular on TV during the 1980s. His catchphrase was “Rock On Tommy”.
Interviewed guest: Christopher Bray
Interviewed guest: Professor Peggy Reynolds
Interviewed guest: Mary Robinson
Interviewed guest: Alex Stepney
Interviewed guest: Gary Richardson
Interviewed guest: Rob Harper
Interviewed guest: Darren Harper
Interviewed guest: Lee Mack
Producer: Neil George
Archive clips from: Sean Connery In His Own Words, BBC 2 Scotland 18/08/2015; Dr No, directed by Terence Young, Eon Productions 1962; With Great Pleasure, Radio 4 09/11/2000; ‘Our Future Will Become The Past of Other Women’ by Eavan Boland, read by Fiona Shaw, The Royal Irish Academy 09/12/2018; Archive on 4: Four Women Poets Today, Radio 4 18/07/2020; My Top Ten: Bobby Ball, Radio 1 15/09/1985; Not Going Out, BBC One 30/12/2009.
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m000p5zv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m000p71f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 Analysis (m000p1vk)
This Fractured Isle
On February 1st this year nearly every news bulletin began with the words 'the UK has officially left the European Union'. Boris Johnson could have been forgiven for congratulating himself for fulfilling his constitutional promise to 'get Brexit done'. But there was another story in the news that day too - health officials were trying to find anyone who’d had close contact with two Chinese tourists being treated in Newcastle for coronavirus.
No one at the time could have predicted then that a virus which began thousands of miles away in China would shake the foundations of Britain’s system of government; ten months on all the nations of the United Kingdom are living under different social regimes, internal borders divide the country as never before, and even parts of England have been in open revolt against Westminster.
In this programme Edward Stourton will explore how Covid19 is rewriting the rules Britain’s leaders live by and ask where it could take the UK.
Producer: Ben Carter
Editor: Jasper Corbett
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m000p72p)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (m000nzqj)
Being A Human Person
With Antonia Quirke.
When Fred Scott began his documentary on the making of Roy Andersson's About Endlessness, he had no idea about the drama behind the scenes that he was about to uncover.
When Marion Stokes died, she left behind 70,000 VHS tapes of American television that she'd been recording 24 hours a day for 30 years. Director Matt Wolf describes the long and arduous process of sifting through those tapes to make his documentary Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project
Cathy Schulman, the Oscar winning producer of Crash, reveals what life was like in Hollywood before and after the pandemic struck.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b00zd8f7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 09 NOVEMBER 2020
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m000p72r)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m000p1gx)
Civilians in the line of fire
CIVILIANS IN THE LINE OF FIRE: Laurie Taylor talks to Nicola Perugini, Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Edinburgh, about the global history of human shields, from civil wars to Black Lives Matters. How have ordinary people come to be both voluntary and involuntary shields for protection, coercion, or deterrence? Also, war lawyers. Craig Jones, Lecturer in Political Geography at Newcastle University, discusses the way in which legal professionals have increasingly been invited to advise on military operations which were once the exclusive preserve of commanders. What implications has this had for the conduct of war, in general and the treatment of civilians, in particular? Why has it allowed for an extension, rather than a curtailment, of civilian deaths?
Producer: Jayne Egerton
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m000p613)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000p72t)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000p72w)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000p72y)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (m000p730)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000p732)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Tim Thornton, Bishop to the Armed Forces
Good morning.
One of the elements of remembering is to retell the stories of what happened. At this time of year in particular many veterans will be retelling their stories. This year more than ever it will be important for this to happen especially as so many of the gatherings that normally take place cannot happen. The stories are crucial they share and communicate the reality. Words shape actions.
Of course for so many of us who have not taken part or been there when the wars and conflict took place it is even more important that we hear the stories. As the stories are told and re told the language inevitably changes.
However the language changes it cannot change the reality both of what happened and that so many of us were not there, did not experience it.
For me with the privilege of meeting so many members of the armed forces I am reminded at this time of year both of the pain of all that has happened and also of the way in which, whilst I was not there, I can therefore commit myself to ensure I do not simply stand and watch but I take part in making a difference about life now.
Remembrance is not only about then it is about now. The language must change, and the words should make a difference and result in our actions.
Empower me to be a bold participant, rather than a timid saint in waiting, in the difficult ordinariness of now.
to exercise the authority of honesty, rather than to defer to power, or deceive to get it.
to influence someone for justice, rather than impress anyone for gain and,
by grace, to find treasures of joy, of friendship, of peace
hidden in the fields of the daily you give me to plough.
Amen.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m000p734)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
MON 05:56 Weather (m000p736)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (m00018sd)
Carry Akroyd Black and White Birds
Calling herself a bird noticer rather than a bird watcher, for painter and print maker Carry Akroyd birds are part of the landscape she connects to for her work. Carry illustrated the Tweet of the Day British Birds book in 2013, where she began noticing birds of a single bold colour; black, white, or even black and white.
Carry has chosen 5 episodes from the back catalogue which you can hear Monday to Friday and in the Tweet of the Week Omnibus.
Producer Andrew Dawes
MON 06:00 Today (m000p6dj)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m000p6dl)
Physics in all its glory
Sir Roger Penrose was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in physics this year for his ground-breaking work on black holes and their relationship with the general theory of relativity. He looks back at his extraordinary career with Andrew Marr – from his early interest in mathematical patterns and the ‘impossible’ works of Escher, to his revolutionary use of mathematics in cosmology and his continued fascination with the beginning and end of time.
Carlo Rovelli is a theoretical physicist who researches quantum gravity, as well as a best-selling author. In his latest collection of essays, There are Places in the World Where Rules are Less Important than Kindness, he demonstrates a curiosity that crosses the boundaries from the sciences to the arts. He reflects on everything from Newton’s alchemy to Einstein’s mistakes, and from Dante’s cosmology to Nabokov's butterflies.
The world underwater is the physicist Helen Czerski’s playground. The focus of much of her research has been the physics of breaking waves and bubbles on the ocean surface. As one of this year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lecturers, Czerski will reveal the vital role oceans play in the Earth’s heating and plumbing systems, and the impact of human activity on the planet.
Producer: Katy Hickman
MON 09:45 An Unknown Warrior (m000p6gk)
Episode 1
Drawn from official documents of the time, newspaper reports and writings of those involved, this is the story of how, on Armistice Day 1920, 100 years ago, an unknown warrior was buried among the kings in Westminster Abbey, and became a symbol of a nation’s grief and gratitude.
Britain in 1920 was extremely unsettled - spiritually, emotionally and politically. Many were still in mourning for those lost in the Great War. Across the fields of France and Flanders, bodies were still being exhumed and taken to the new war cemeteries, many of them never to be identified.
Many families were never to know where their loved ones were buried. And for those that did, the government had already decided that no bodies were to be returned to their families and that, for the time being, travel to the graves in the fields of France and Flanders was not permitted.
One wise war padre, who felt acutely the sorrow of the bereaved, suggested that one unknown soldier could be brought home. One body to stand for the many.
Readers: Janet Ellis and David Haig
Sound by Lucinda Mason-Brown
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Wright
Written, compiled and produced by Caroline Raphael
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
The music used in this programme was played as the congregation waited in the Abbey for the cortege to arrive:
Arthur Sullivan: In Memoriam
Arthur Somervell: The "Thalassa" Symphony in D minor
With thanks to:
Charlotte Beskeen & Samantha Gibson: The London Library
Eddie Bundy: British Newspaper Archive
Julie Crocker, Senior Archivist: The Royal Archives
Peter Francis & Andrew Featherston: Commonwealth Graves Commission
Tim Kendall
Tanya-Jayne Park, WRAC Association
Victoria Ribbans: Westminster Abbey
Antony Schipani: Mirrorpix
William Smith: Imperial War Museum
Tasha Swainston, Archivist: National Army Museum
Tony Trowles: Westminster Abbey Collections & Library
Stephen Tyers, SPCK
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000p6dq)
Down's syndrome, USA presidential elections, The forgotten history of women slaves, Young inventor
A current storyline in Emmerdale is about a couple who decide to have a termination when their baby’s diagnosed with Down Syndrome. It’s a difficult decision for anyone, but some campaigners say expectant parents are routinely given outdated advice and encouraged to have a termination. Nicola Enoch who set up the support website Positive About Downs talks about her experiences and we hear from Jane Fisher who is the Director of ARC - Antenatal Results and Choices - and also from Professor Basky Thilaganathan from the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology who will talk about the issues health professionals need to consider when delivering unexpected results.
We take a look at the US Presidential election results with Dr. Jeanne Morefield, Senior Lecturer in political theory at the University of Birmingham + Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, Washington, DC.
Stella Dadzie is a teacher, writer, artist and education activist. In her new book, A Kick in the Belly: Women, Slavery & Resistance, she reveals the largely untold stories of women of African descent who, caught up in the horrors of over 400 years of slavery, were transported across the Atlantic to the sugar plantations of Jamaica and beyond. Women, who Stella reveals, were central to slave rebellions and played a vital role in developing a culture of slave resistance and liberation across the Caribbean.
Eight-year-old Betty Seabrook is the UK winner in the most recent Ideas4Ears competition, organised by hearing implant makers MED-EL. Her ingenious invention is a special custom helmet that Cochlear Implant users can wear with their audio processor while riding a bike. Betty got the inspiration from her family bike rides and her father Tom who couldn’t wear a helmet without taking his processor off - which could be more dangerous. Betty and Tom join Jane.
Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Dianne McGregor
MON 10:45 Eleanor Rising (m000p6ds)
Series 1
Episode 1
Wife and mother to a dynasty of kings, crusader, prisoner and formidable political operator, this is the story of the young Eleanor of Aquitaine. At 16 she has one ambition - to become the Duchess (and ruler) o the Aquitaine. But her father has other ideas...
Eleanor ..... Rose Basista
Petronilla ..... Cecilia Appiah
Duke William ..... John Lightbody
Archbishop Laroux ..... Roger Ringrose
Pierre ..... Luke Nunn
Written by Shaun McKenna
Directed by Marc Beeby
Though Eleanor of Aquitaine lived nine hundred years ago, she is very modern woman. At 16 she inherits the richest province in France and plans to run it her own way, as her grandfather promised she could. The men around her have other ideas – a young woman with so much power is far too great a threat. There is a kidnap attempt, a midnight escape on horseback, bribery, an armed invasion and a forced marriage to the sexually repressed young French king. Even then, Eleanor finds a way to challenge the status quo and march to her own drum, always determined to decide her own destiny. Intelligent, tough, imaginative and witty, Eleanor first scandalises then subtly reshapes the world she inhabits. This gains her a host of admirers as well as, inevitably, powerful enemies determined to bring her down. Somehow she stays one step ahead of them all. It’s not that Eleanor think likes a man – it’s that the men have no idea how to contain someone with power who thinks like a woman.
MON 11:00 The Untold (m000p6dx)
The School and the Depot
Grace Dent follows a parent-led campaign to stop Ocado from opening a new distribution depot next to a primary school in North London.
Yerbury Primary School in Upper Holloway backs onto a light industrial estate. Over the past year, Ocado has been developing a distribution centre at the site. With the Covid pandemic the demand for online grocery services has risen dramatically. But this has also led to a conflict with the school and parents who believe a depot like this, adjacent to a primary school, will be detrimental to the health of the children and the local community.
Grace follows the 'Nocado' campaign from its early stages, through Lockdown, and into autumn as it tries to overturn the local council's permission for Ocado to operate from the site.
Producer Neil McCarthy
MON 11:30 Loose Ends (m000p60j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
MON 12:00 News Summary (m000p84w)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (m000p6f2)
1: Dreams
Colson Whitehead's electrifying and heartbreaking Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, set in Jim Crow-era Florida, where two boys are unjustly sent to a hellish reform school.
Elwood Curtis has taken the words of Dr Martin Luther King to heart: he is as good as anyone. He's a hard-working student, but his bright future is destroyed by an innocent and tragic mistake. Finding himself at the brutal Nickel Academy, he tries to to hold on to Dr King's ringing assertion to love your enemies and to work hard to get on, but his new friend Turner calls him naive at best. The tension between Elwood's idealism and Turner's scepticism leads to a decision which will have decades-long repercussions....
Writer: Colson Whitehead's previous novel, The Underground Railroad won the Pulitzer Prize. The NIckel Boys, his latest novel, has also won the Pulitzer.
Reader: Rhashan Stone
Producer: Justine Willett
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
MON 12:18 You and Yours (m000p6f5)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
MON 12:57 Weather (m000p6f7)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m000p6f9)
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 Intrigue (m000p6fc)
Mayday
Episode 1. On the Ledge
First episode in a series about James Le Mesurier, who was found dead in a street in Istanbul in November 2019. Le Mesurier co-founded a Syrian civil defence force called the White Helmets who filmed themselves pulling survivors and bodies from the rubble of bombed out buildings. They, along with Le Mesurier, found themselves at the very centre of a global race to control the narrative of the Syrian war. Was Le Mesurier a British spy? Who were the White Helmets really working for? Was the devastating, electrifying footage they were uploading to YouTube simply faked? How could any of the rest of us ever tell?
Produced, written and presented by Chloe Hadjimatheou
Editor: Emma Rippon
Researcher: Tom Wright
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Mixed by Neil Churchill
Arabic translation and additional research: Vanessa Bowles, Abdul Kader Habak
Turkish Researcher: Nevin Sungur
Narrative Consultant: John Yorke
Original music: Nick Mundy and Bu Kolthoum
MON 14:00 Tracks (m000p6fg)
Series 5: Abyss
Abyss: Episode Three
By Caroline Horton.
Episode three of the gripping conspiracy thriller
Dr Helen Ash receives a call from Eddy’s daughter Lucy - there is a survivor, she is sick, and Lucy is hiding her in her University halls of residence.
A gripping thriller, Tracks was the first drama to hit the top of the iTunes podcast chart back in 2017. It went on to win Best Sound (BBC Audio Drama Awards) and Best Fiction (British Podcast Awards). Now Tracks is back with a fifth and final 9 part series.
All four previous series of Tracks are available now in full on BBC Sounds.
Helen… Olivia Poulet
Freddy…. Jonathan Forbes
Lucy…. Kiran Sonia Sawar
Joanna.... Beatrice Engel
Naani… Sindhu Vee
Frances…Juno Robinson
Lead writer.... Matthew Broughton
Directed by John Norton
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
MON 14:45 The Unseen - A History of the Invisible (b07dm2k8)
The Spirit World
Science writer and broadcaster Philip Ball sets out on a quest to explore the peculiar world of the invisible, a mysterious realm where magic and science meet.
In this episode, Philip visits London’s College of Psychic Studies to meet archivist and historian Leslie Price. The college is a unique institution, dedicated to furthering research into the psychic arts for over 130 years. In a seance room, surrounded by spirit photographs, Leslie reveals that 19th century developments in communications technologies such as telegraphy had a profound impact on the popular religion of spiritualism. Spiritualists believed that it was possible to converse with the invisible dead and the discovery that we could communicate over vast distances with unseen figures using the telegraph seemed to offer their beliefs a form of scientific verification.
The invention of radio, which sent invisible messages through the air, appeared to lend some support not just to spiritualism but to a whole range of paranormal and psychic phenomena, such as telepathy and telekinesis.
Later, the discovery of invisible X-rays which could peer into our bodies, revealing images of our skeletons like a presentiment of death, was also fascinating to those who believed in the spirit realm. X-rays and radioactivity shattered the notion that the material world was impenetrable, all of a sudden atoms could be broken apart.
Philip explains that those who believed in invisible spirits were hugely stimulated by this scientific research that suggested there is far more to our world than meets the eye.
Presenter: Philip Ball
Producer: Max O’Brien
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4
MON 15:00 Quote... Unquote (m000p6fj)
Steven Isserlis, Anna Ptaszynski, Sophie Duker
Nigel Rees quizzes a host of celebrity guests on the origins of sayings and well-known quotes, and gets the famous panel to share their favourite anecdotes and quotes.
*Cellist Steven Isserlis, also known for his childrens' books, including Why Handel Waggled His Wig
*Comedian Sophie Duker, best known for her critically acclaimed stand up show, Venus
*Podcaster and television host Anna Ptaszynski, best known as co-host of the QI spin off show and podcast No Such Thing As A Fish
This is the 56th series of the popular humorous celebrity quotations quiz.
Producer: Ella Watts
Production co-ordinator: Gwyn Davies
Sound design: Hedley Knights
A BBC Studios Production
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m000p6fl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Michael Morpurgo's Folk Journeys (m000p6fn)
Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore
The author Michael Morpurgo (War Horse, Private Peaceful) explores the ways in which folk songs have reflected timeless human experiences, both in the past and today.
With help from singers, songwriters and other passionate experts, Michael admires the indelible stories within classic songs that deal with migration, war, protest and love.
Over the four themed episodes, Michael considers the locations and historical contexts that gave rise to much-loved traditional songs, and finds out how the same topics are inspiring new folk songs in the 2020s.
In the final episode, Michael considers a song of migration, Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore.
With Karine Polwart, Martin Simpson, broadcaster Martin Logan, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Georgina Boyes, Julie Matthews and Chris While.
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4
MON 16:30 The Digital Human (m000p6fq)
Series 21
Monstrous
The monsters we create have always given us insight into what we're scared of in the world around us. Whether that's zombies igniting fears around racial tensions in the United States of the nineteen sixties or Dracula articulating a fear of the other and of immigration at the end of nineteenth century.
Aleks Krotoski asks what those monsters born in tech tell us about our fears today.
Producer: Peter McManus
MON 17:00 PM (m000p6fs)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000p6fx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (b08v07n4)
Compilation
Episode 4
Just A Minute is 50 years old this year! Nicholas Parsons has been hosting since day one and presides over an all-star panel: Paul Merton, Ross Noble, Fern Britton and Gyles Brandreth.
Hayley Sterling blows the whistle and it was produced by Matt Stronge.
Just A Minute is a BBC Studios production.
From 2017.
MON 19:00 The Archers (m000p6fz)
Ruairi makes a shocking discovery and Lynda is on a mission
MON 19:15 Front Row (m000p6g1)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
MON 19:45 Eleanor Rising (m000p6ds)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 East Meets West (m000p6g3)
The UK may have a divide north and south, but how about east and west? Chris Mason takes a virtual journey from Whitby in the east to the Lake District in the west to find out. Chris was born and brought up in the Yorkshire Dales, straddling the centre of the country, so he has had a foot in both camps. But is there a real difference in the east from the west? Certainly the weather, the geology, and the landscapes are contrasting in nature. Chris Mason talks to artists, poets, farmers and journalists about their different identities east and west, and listens carefully as the accents change on his imagined journey across the country.
MON 20:30 Analysis (m000p6g5)
Who Runs that Place?
Increasingly, Western governments see China as a problem to deal with because, as it has grown more powerful, it has re-committed to being a Leninist state.
But under President Xi Jinping, how far does it still conform to the Leninist model and how far does it reflect much more traditional forms of Chinese statecraft? Is a country with a massive bureaucracy run by its nominal leaders or by other actors? And why do senior government figures - who in Russia and Western countries carry clout and influence - seem in China to have little to say about the policies Beijing is following?
As the rest of the world continues to grapple with the consequences of Covid-19, these questions have never been more pertinent or more urgent. In this timely edition of "Analysis", Isabel Hilton, the eminent student of Chinese politics, considers who makes the decisions in Beijing and how they are reached.
Speaking to China-watchers both internationally and in the UK, she explodes some myths about Chinese politics - including that it is a seamless polity with a single unchanging party line - and explores how power struggles take place and what happens to the losers of them. With the 14th Five Year Programme finally due to be unveiled next year, she assesses how far state planning still drives decision-making. And she considers how and when Xi Jinping's successor is likely to emerge - and what lessons that figure may draw from Xi's leadership since 2012.
Presenter Isabel Hilton
Producer Simon Coates
Editor Jasper Corbett
MON 21:00 Across the Red Line (m000p1g4)
Series 5
Are American approaches to combating racism worth trying in Britain?
Anne McElvoy presents the debate programme which invites two people who disagree on an issue of principle to listen closely to each other's arguments - and then to find out what drives them.
In this edition, policy researcher Kimberly McIntosh and journalist Tom Owolade discuss whether US approaches to combating racism are worth trying in Britain.
And Anne works with conflict resolution specialist Gabrielle Rifkind to foster a more exploratory conversation, to encourage both speakers to probe the values and experiences that underpin each other's beliefs.
Producer: Phil Tinline
MON 21:30 Start the Week (m000p6dl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m000p6g9)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
MON 22:45 The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (m000p6f2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
MON 23:00 Lights Out (m000p6gc)
Series 3
How Do You Sleep At Night?
A dreamlike glimpse at our collective consciousness in this documentary composed entirely of questions.
Produced by Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000p6gf)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
TUESDAY 10 NOVEMBER 2020
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m000p6gh)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 00:30 An Unknown Warrior (m000p6gk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000p6gn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000p6gq)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000p6gs)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m000p6gv)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000p6gx)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Tim Thornton, Bishop to the Armed Forces
Good morning
The perspective on any conflict changes the more it is considered, and the more time goes by. It is vital that we remember but that very act of remembering entails a reworking of both the details of what happened and the attempt to search for truth and justice in all that took place.
Inevitably in conflict horrendous actions take place, wrong things are done, and all sorts of people have to live with the consequences. There is always a danger in trying to reach definitive conclusions about rights and wrongs in war. The one lesson we should learn is never to do it again. Yet of course that is the one lesson we keep forgetting to learn.
God is not surprised by the failings of humans. God is not surprised by the goodness shown by many humans. God is not surprised by the courage shown by so many who serve in the armed forces.
It should not be a surprise to any of us to understand how complicated war is and how very difficult it is to strive to live to bring about justice and peace.
What is a surprise in the light of all that we remember at this time of year is that there is hope? And as Charles Peguy a French writer and theologian who sadly died in the first world war in 1914 said God is surprised by hope.
As we remember may we continue to work to understand the lessons of the past and even more may we be open to the surprise of hope.
O God of truth and justice, we hold before you those people who have been injured or who have died in active service. As we honour their courage and cherish their memory, may we put our faith in your future; for you are the source of life, peace and hope, now and for ever.
Amen
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m000p6gz)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (m0001985)
Carry Akroyd and the Snipe
Although Carry Akroyd, who is is President of the John Clare Society, grew up in the countryside, as a child she was never shown or taught anything of the natural world around her.
It was not until adulthood that a revelatory moment occurred. Walking one day in Wicken Fen, that she heard an unfamiliar noise above her, which she discovered was the drumming flight of an overhead snipe, a bird whose long bill the peasant poet John Clare described as "...of rude unseemly length" .
Carry has chosen 5 episodes from the back catalogue to share with you, which you can hear Monday to Friday and in the Tweet of the Week Omnibus.
Producer Andrew Dawes
TUE 06:00 Today (m000p6vy)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Long View (m000p6w0)
The Long View of the US election
It's been a US Presidency like no other and a Presidential race like no other, but is that really the case. Jonathan Freedland looks back to find parallels between what's just happened in the States and an election from the past.
TUE 09:30 NatureBang (m000p6w2)
Dog Poo and the Challenge of Navigation
Naturebang is back. Becky Ripley and Emily Knight are again trying to make sense of what we humans are all about, with a little help from the natural world. And this week, they’re getting lost.
Navigating our world is a challenge faced by every creature that moves. From dung beetles mapping the desert dunes, to eels circumnavigating the globe, each finds its own way about with unerring accuracy. How do they do it? And how is that going to help Becky and Emily get out of the woods?
The story of animal (and human) navigation is a story of the sun, the stars, magnetic fields, polarised light, and… dog poo. Yes, dog poo.
Featuring Michael S. Painter, Assistant Professor at Barry University, and John Edward Huth, Donner Professor of Science at Harvard University.
TUE 09:45 An Unknown Warrior (m000p6w4)
Episode 2
Drawn from official documents of the time, newspaper reports and writings of those involved, this is the story of how, on Armistice Day 1920, 100 years ago, an unknown warrior, was buried among the kings in Westminster Abbey, and became a symbol of a nation’s grief and gratitude.
Britain in 1920 was extremely unsettled - spiritually, emotionally and politically. Many were still in mourning for those lost in the Great War. Across the fields of France and Flanders, bodies were still being exhumed and taken to the new war cemeteries, many of them never to be identified.
Many families were never to know where their loved ones were buried. And for those that did, the government had already decided that no bodies were to be returned to their families and that, for the time being, travel to the graves in the fields of France and Flanders was not permitted.
One wise war padre, who felt acutely the sorrow of the bereaved, suggested that one unknown soldier could be brought home. One body to stand for the many.
Readers: Janet Ellis and David Haig
Sound by Lucinda Mason-Brown
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Wright
Written, compiled and produced by Caroline Raphael
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
The music used in this programme was played as the congregation waited in the Abbey for the cortege to arrive or during the funeral service itself:
Arthur Sullivan: In Memoriam
Arthur Somervell: The "Thalassa" Symphony in D minor
Beethoven: Equale for Trombones
With thanks to:
Charlotte Beskeen & Samantha Gibson: The London Library
Eddie Bundy: British Newspaper Archive
Julie Crocker, Senior Archivist: The Royal Archives
Peter Francis & Andrew Featherston: Commonwealth Graves Commission
Tim Kendall
Tanya-Jayne Park, WRAC Association
Victoria Ribbans: Westminster Abbey
Antony Schipani: Mirrorpix
William Smith: Imperial War Museum
Tasha Swainston, Archivist: National Army Museum
Tony Trowles: Westminster Abbey Collections & Library
Stephen Tyers, SPCK
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000p6w6)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
TUE 10:45 Eleanor Rising (m000p6w8)
Series 1
Episode 2
Following the death of her father, Eleanor is now Duchess of Aquitaine. But her guardian - 'Fat Louis', the king of France -has other ideas and betroths her to his son, the Dauphin. Their first meeting, however, is not a success....
Eleanor ..... Rose Basista
The Dauphin ..... Joel McCormack
Abbot Suger ..... Carl Prekopp
Archbishop Laroux ..... Roger Ringrose
Petronilla ..... Cecilia Appiah
Written by Shaun McKenna
Directed by Marc Beeby
TUE 11:00 The Invention of... (m000p6wb)
Scandinavia
The Bridge
In a brief September window, Misha Glenny and Miles Warde flew into Copenhagen to begin work on a new Invention of ... series. The plan - find out why Denmark, Sweden and Norway had responded to the pandemic in such different ways. Denmark was one of the first countries in Europe to lock down. Sweden famously took another route.
This is the ninth Invention series, and the aim is to understand what these three countries are - their people, the borders, the stories they tell themselves. Can history explain what is happening now?
With contributions from the novelists Dorthe Nors, Linn Ullman, and Carsten Jensen; historians Erika Sandstrom, Ulf Zander and Gunnar Wetterberg; tour guide and journalist Anna Toon; and author Michael Booth, author of The Almost Nearly Perfect People - Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia.
Presenter Misha Glenny is an award-winning reporter and author of McMafia
The producer for BBC Audio in Bristol is Miles Warde
TUE 11:30 Epiphanies (m000p6wd)
New arts feature from BBC Radio 4
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m000p6wg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (m000p6wj)
2: Error
Colson Whitehead's electrifying and heart-breaking Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, set in Jim Crow-era Florida, in which two boys are unjustly sent to a hellish reform school.
Elwood Curtis has taken the words of Dr Martin Luther King to heart: he is as good as anyone. A hard-working student and, as the times seem to be changing for people like him, his future looks bright. But an innocent and tragic mistake changes his life for ever...
Today: It's the early 60s, and Elwood is swept up by the civil rights marches going on around him....
Writer: Colson Whitehead's previous novel, The Underground Railroad won the Pulitzer Prize. The NIckel Boys, his latest novel, has also won the Pulitzer.
Reader: Rhashan Stone
Producer: Justine Willett
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m000p6wl)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
TUE 12:57 Weather (m000p6wn)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m000p6wq)
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 Intrigue (m000p6ws)
Mayday
Episode 2. The Pizza in the Suitcase
“I was completely naked having a strip search and I just know James was somewhere laughing his head off”. – Who was James Le Mesurier?
When James Le Mesurier fell to his death in Turkey in 2019 he left behind a tangle of truths and lies. Mayday tells the extraordinary real story of the man who organised the White Helmets – rescuers who film themselves pulling survivors from bombed out buildings in rebel-held areas of Syria – and investigates claims that, far from being heroes, they are part of a very elaborate hoax. James Le Mesurier – his detractors say – was a British secret agent, pulling the strings. So when his body was found by worshippers on their way to morning prayers, there were a lot questions.
Produced, written and presented by Chloe Hadjimatheou
Editor: Emma Rippon
Researcher: Tom Wright
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Mixed by Neil Churchill
Arabic translation and additional research: Vanessa Bowles, Abdul Kader Habak
Turkish Researcher: Nevin Sungur
Narrative Consultant: John Yorke
Original music: Nick Mundy and Bu Kolthoum
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m000p6fz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (m000p6wv)
Connections
Connections is made up of three short dramas from three exciting new writers - Anita Karla Kelly, Kathyryn Golding and Leanne Allen - starring Liz Carr, Chloe Ewart and Nadia Albina.
It is part of BBC Radio 4’s Exploring Disability Through Art. This November sees the 25th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act, one of the most significant civil rights landmarks in our history which criminalised discrimination against people with disabilities in many areas of life. This moment is being marked across the BBC, with a special focus on the arts.
The dramas were written and remote recorded during the spring lockdown as part of a five-part series of short dramas. The other two dramas were by Michael Southan and Shahid Iqbal Khan.
Connections was originally funded by the Audio Content Fund for broadcast on 20 UK community radio stations. Naked Productions developed the project with input from Graeae Theatre. Inspired by lockdown, we asked the writers to create dramas set in different kinds of isolation and to explore what positive connections can be made in difficult times. Many disabled and D/deaf people experience isolation on a daily basis and so for many, the notion of isolation and how to survive/overcome it was not new.
A transcript of the dramas will be available on BBC Radio 4 website on broadcast.
Red Flags by Anita Karla Kelly
A divorcee comes to terms with her new life, but trying to get rid of her wedding rings proves surprisingly difficult
Tina – Liz Carr
Directed by Jenny Sealey
Anita Karla Kelly’s latest stage play, Buzzing, was part of Bristol Old Vic’s Rep season, tackling sexuality, mental health, teenagers and bees. Anita is part of Sphinx 30 women’s playwright initiative, the new writing group at Royal Court Theatre, Graeae's ‘write to play year six’ and the playwright group ‘open sessions’ at Bristol Old Vic. Her latest monologue Flesh, was voted as one of the top eight monologues written in lockdown by The Guardian.
'Daringly Dangerous' - Jack Thorne.
‘Great Uninhibited Writer’ - The Guardian.
To the Stars by Leanne Allen
A young woman reaches out to her estranged mother, and inadvertently connects with a lonely stranger.
Tina – Liz Carr
Cassie – Nadia Albina
Directed by Polly Thomas
Leanne Allen is a new writer from the Midlands. She has written for Naked Productions and Theatre of Debate. Her work with Theatre of Debate was written as part of the COVID And Me campaign by the National Institute for Health Research. The monologue was made public on the NIHR website in 9th July 2020 and shared widely across social media.
My Time by Kathryn Golding
Sitting out lockdown by sorting out her cupboards, a woman finds old mixtapes that rekindle a friendship.
Lizzie – Chloe Ewart
Directed by Polly Thomas
Kathryn Golding is a British playwright currently on the BEATS Fellowship programme. First published in 2018, she was on a year-long attachment with Graeae Theatre Company as part of their Write To Play programme, as well as writers groups at the Royal Court and Soho Theatre. Her first full-length play, A Perpetual State of Happiness, developed with Graeae, had a rehearsed reading in 2019 at the Bush Theatre. Her previous work has been showcased at Soho Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre Jerwood Upstairs.
Production Team:
Script editor, Sarah Daniels
Directors, .Jenny Sealey and Polly Thomas
Sound recordist, Louis Blatherwick
Sound design and producer, Eloise Whitmore
Executive Producer, Celia de Wolff
Connections was originally funded by the Audio Content Fund and broadcast on UK community radio.
A Naked production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m000p5zl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (m000p6wx)
American election
Whatever the outcome of the American presidential race, there will be implications for environmental policy - both in the USA and globally. In this programme Tom Heap and a panel of commentators discuss what the election result may mean for everything from energy production to national parks, and from tree-planting to the Paris Agreement.
Produced by Emma Campbell
TUE 16:00 Law in Action (m000p6wz)
Good advice
How has the North Kensington Law Centre managed to keep going for 50 years when other social legal advice providers have run out of money? One reason must be the vision of Peter Kandler, 85, who set up the UK’s first law centre in a former butcher’s shop and is still closely involved in running it today. He tells Joshua Rozenberg that, half a century on, the centre is now coping with housing and immigration problems that he thought were a thing of the past.
Researcher: Diane Richardson
Producer: Neil Koenig
TUE 16:30 A Good Read (m000p6x1)
Yasmin Khan & David Mitchell
Travel and food writer Yasmin Khan and novelist David Mitchell talk about the books they love with presenter Harriett Gilbert. David chooses Circe by Madeline Miller, Yasmin picks Shah of Shahs by Ryszard Kapuściński and Harriett loves Anne Tyler's Redhead by the Side of the Road.
Producer: Becky Ripley
Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc
TUE 17:00 PM (m000p6x3)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000p6x5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Keep It Light (m000p6x7)
Critically acclaimed sketch duo Lazy Susan bring their take on light entertainment to BBC Radio 4. With a mix of character skits and sketches, Keep It Light is a comedy magazine show.
Starring and written by Celeste Dring & Freya Parker, with performances from Shappi Khorsandi and Tom Rosenthal.
Produced by Suzy Grant for BBC Studios
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m000p6x9)
The stars align for Helen and Brian is on the warpath.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m000p6xc)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
TUE 19:45 Eleanor Rising (m000p6w8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m000p6xf)
Transforming Care?
Back in 2018, File on 4 revealed the story of Bethany – an autistic teenager who had been locked in a hospital room alone for two years, her only contact with the outside world through a hatch.
What happened to her and others with learning disabilities who have been promised care in therapeutic community settings?
Following what NHS England called the ‘appalling scandal’ at Winterbourne View, the Government promised to close up to half of all inpatient beds for people with a learning disability or autism by March 2019, under a programme called Transforming Care.
Yet this target has been missed. And almost one in 5 patients with learning disabilities still in hospital has now been there for over ten years.
A series of damning reports – most recently from the CQC – have called for urgent reform. So what has gone wrong with Transforming Care?
Reporter: Melanie Abbott
Producers: Helen Clifton & Paul Grant
Editor: Gail Champion
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m000p6xh)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted
TUE 21:00 All in the Mind (m000p6xk)
Fake news can travel faster and lodge itself deeper in the mind than the truth. Fact-checking comes too late and lies have already spread like a virus. Claudia Hammond investigates a new approach to pre-bunking misinformation via social media by inoculating the mind through exposing people to a mild dose of the methods used to disseminate fake news.
Producer Adrian Washbourne
TUE 21:30 The Long View (m000p6w0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m000p6xm)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
TUE 22:45 The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (m000p6wj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
TUE 23:00 To Hull and Back (b09tcnm7)
Series 3
Fourth in Show
When Sophie's new boyfriend Imran tells her he doesn't like her glasses, Sophie becomes desperate for a new pair of designer Givenchy spectacles. But the salon's client list is still worryingly short and she can't get the money together for such an expensive purchase. But when she hears that there's a dog show coming to town with big cash prizes to be won for well groomed pets, Sophie realises how she might be able to make her designer glasses dream become a reality. Meanwhile, Sheila makes a worrying discovery and Jean meets a potential girlfriend...
Written by Lucy Beaumont
Production Co-ordinator - Luke Mason
Producer - Sam Michell
A BBC Studios Production.
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000p6xp)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
WEDNESDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2020
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m000p6xr)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
WED 00:30 An Unknown Warrior (m000p6w4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000p6xt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000p6xw)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000p6xy)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m000p6y0)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000p6y2)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Tim Thornton, Bishop to the Armed Forces
Good morning.
On this day we remember the end of the First World War the moment when the guns went silent. It’s one hundred years ago today that the body of the Unknown Warrior was buried in Westminster Abbey. The anonymity of that soldier is a significant and poignant reminder of how many people lost their lives in conflicts and their bodies do not come home, they are unknown. There is so much unknown about war and perhaps the biggest unknown is when it does come to an end and when we can say that peace has arrived
When did the war, any war for that matter, in fact come to an end? The ceasing of fighting doesn’t bring about peace. Tragically some fighting continues after the formal cease fire is called and of course more than that we know how the deep feelings of hatred and the consequences of war go on affecting people and nations for so very long.
As we note the one hundredth anniversary of the burial of the unknown warrior may we strive to work for peace in our world aware that its presence is in many ways unknown and peace appears to stretch out of our reach. Peace is not the absence of war. True peace is a presence of a deeper sense of relating to one another and a desire to work for the common good.
Almighty God, from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed: kindle, we pray, in the hearts of all, the true love of peace and guide with your pure and peaceable wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth that in tranquillity your kingdom may go forward, till the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.
Amen
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m000p6y4)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (m00013j6)
Grey Partridge in No-Man's Land
Throughout the First World War, birds were protected across the Western Front and elsewhere, which resulted in some remarkable stories of soldiers ceasing fire in order to protect birds from being killed.
Writer Derek Niemann who worked for the RSPB for 25 years, has latterly turned his time to writing, including the book Birds in a Cage, an affectionate tale of British prisoner of war ornithologists. Derek recalls how one species, the grey partridge, thrived in the area that became known as no-mans land. Including one remarkable story involving a French Colonel who halted a planned artillery barrage to allow his sergeant to move a covey of grey partridge to safety.
Producer Andrew Dawes
WED 06:00 Today (m000p78b)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Britain in Ten Operas (m000p78g)
Royals and Rogues
Renowned baritone Roderick Williams picks his top ten highlights from over three centuries of opera in Britain and discovers what our opera story can tell us about British identity.
Britain has often held an ambivalent attitude towards opera. At many points over the last 350 years, sung dramas have spoken to and for a mass audience. At other times we’ve viewed opera as elitist and foreign. In this first three-part series we'll see how, throughout that history, the changing place of opera in British culture tells a revealing story about who we are.
In this first episode, Roderick looks at our early opera story and sees how Britain’s struggle with a new, flamboyant and decidedly decadent style of musical theatre from Europe mirrored the dramatic changes that were happening in British society during the eighteenth century. We hear from treasured works by Purcell and Handel, along with a celebrated patriotic anthem still famous today.
WED 09:30 Four Thought (m000p78k)
Series of thought-provoking talks on topics that affect culture and society.
WED 09:45 An Unknown Warrior (m000p7bc)
Episode 3
Drawn from official documents of the time, newspaper reports and writings of those involved, this is the story of how, on Armistice Day 1920, 100 years ago, an unknown warrior, was buried among the kings in Westminster Abbey, and became a symbol of a nation’s grief and gratitude.
Britain in 1920 was extremely unsettled - spiritually, emotionally and politically. Many were still in mourning for those lost in the Great War. Across the fields of France and Flanders, bodies were still being exhumed and taken to the new war cemeteries, many of them never to be identified.
Many families were never to know where their loved ones were buried. And for those that did, the government had already decided that no bodies were to be returned to their families and that, for the time being, travel to the graves in the fields of France and Flanders was not permitted.
One wise war padre, who felt acutely the sorrow of the bereaved, suggested that one unknown soldier could be brought home. One body to stand for the many.
Readers: Janet Ellis and David Haig
Sound by Lucinda Mason-Brown
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Wright
Written, compiled and produced by Caroline Raphael
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
The music used in this programme was played as the cortege left Victoria Station, at the Cenotaph or while the congregation waited in the Abbey for it to arrive:
Arthur Sullivan: In Memoriam
Chopin: Funeral March
The Last Post
Alexandre Guilmant: Marche Funèbre Et Chant Seráphique
With thanks to:
Charlotte Beskeen & Samantha Gibson: The London Library
Eddie Bundy: British Newspaper Archive
Julie Crocker, Senior Archivist: The Royal Archives
Peter Francis & Andrew Featherston: Commonwealth Graves Commission
Tim Kendall
Tanya-Jayne Park, WRAC Association
Victoria Ribbans: Westminster Abbey
Antony Schipani: Mirrorpix
William Smith: Imperial War Museum
Tasha Swainston, Archivist: National Army Museum
Tony Trowles: Westminster Abbey Collections & Library
Stephen Tyers, SPCK
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000p78p)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
WED 10:45 Eleanor Rising (m000p78r)
Series 1
Episode 3
Following Eleanor's marriage to the Dauphin, a wedding feast is prepared. But news comes of an imminent attack, led by the renegade Lord, Theobald. Eleanor and the Dauphin are forced to slip away during the night.
Eleanor ..... Rose Basista
The Dauphin ..... Joel McCormack
Abbot Suger ..... Carl Prekopp
Archbishop Laroux ..... Roger Ringrose
Petronilla ..... Cecilia Appiah
Written by Shaun McKenna
Directed by Marc Beeby
WED 10:59 Armistice Day Silence (m000p78t)
The traditional two-minute silence to mark Armistice Day.
WED 11:04 East Meets West (m000p6g3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
WED 11:30 Rich Hall's (US) Breakdown (m000nzqs)
Rich Hall's (US Election) Breakdown 2020
Episode 2
Multi award-winning comedian and US Citizen Rich Hall follows the closing stages of the US Presidential race, offering an acerbic look at the electoral system and the two candidates vying for the most important job in the world.
Join them for this Election 2020 special as they bring you all the uncertainty as it happens.
A combination of stand-up, sketch and interview, Rich Hall’s (US Election) Breakdown broadcasts live from the fictional IBBC network in Washington to the whole of the United States.
Rich and his producer Nick Doody take calls from every corner of the United States to hear the concerns of voters, offering their take on the issues troubling the American electorate.
Cast: Lewis McLeod, Freya Parker and Kemah Bob with interview guest Walter Kirn.
Written by Rich Hall and Nick Doody, with additional material from Ben Patridge, Sarah Campbell, Simon Alcock, Kemah Bob and Charlie Dinkin.
Producer: Adnan Ahmed
Production Coordinator: Gwyn Davies
A BBC Studios Audio Production
WED 12:00 News Summary (m000p7bt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (m000p78z)
3: Hell
Colson Whitehead's electrifying and heart-breaking Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, set in Jim Crow-era Florida.
Elwood Curtis has taken the words of Dr Martin Luther King to heart: he is as good as anyone. A hard-working student and, despite the times, his future looks bright. But an innocent and tragic mistake changes his life for ever...
Today: Elwood's first night at the hellish Nickel Academy.
Writer: Colson Whitehead's previous novel, The Underground Railroad won the Pulitzer Prize. The NIckel Boys, his latest novel, has also won the Pulitzer.
Reader: Rhashan Stone
Producer: Justine Willett
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
WED 12:18 You and Yours (m000p791)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
WED 12:57 Weather (m000p793)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m000p795)
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 Intrigue (m000p797)
Mayday
Episode 3
“Cement and hard objects have a way of echoing back the voice.” – How James Le Mesurier got involved in a war.
When James Le Mesurier fell to his death in Turkey in 2019 he left behind a tangle of truths and lies. Mayday tells the extraordinary real story of the man who organised the White Helmets – rescuers who film themselves pulling survivors from bombed out buildings in rebel-held areas of Syria – and investigates claims that, far from being heroes, they are part of a very elaborate hoax. James Le Mesurier – his detractors say – was a British secret agent, pulling the strings. So when his body was found by worshippers on their way to morning prayers, there were a lot questions.
Produced, written and presented by Chloe Hadjimatheou
Editor: Emma Rippon
Researcher: Tom Wright
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Mixed by Neil Churchill
with additional mixing by: Graham Pudifoot and Gareth Jones
Arabic translation and additional research: Vanessa Bowles, Abdul Kader Habak
Turkish Researcher: Nevin Sungur
Narrative Consultant: John Yorke
Original music: Nick Mundy and Bu Kolthoum
Comissioning editor: Richard Knight
WED 14:00 The Archers (m000p6x9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (m000p799)
Keeping the Wolf Out
Mad Dog
The return of Philip Palmer's crime drama set in Hungary in 1964. The fearsome former secret policeman Tibor Farkas is back in charge of the Ministry, where he is Franciska's new boss.
Bertalan Lazar ..... Leo Bill
Franciska Lazar ..... Clare Corbett
Tibor Farkas ..... Andy Linden
Gyozo Novak ..... Carl Prekopp
Florian Hevesi ..... Luke Nunn
Sandor Boros ..... Stephen Greif
Pathologist ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Cop ..... Stefan Adegbola
Mother ..... Emma Handy
Directed by Toby Swift
WED 15:00 Money Box (m000p79c)
Paul Lewis and a panel of guests answer calls on personal finance.
WED 15:30 All in the Mind (m000p6xk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m000p79f)
Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (m000p79h)
Topical programme about the fast-changing media world
WED 17:00 PM (m000p79k)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000p79p)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 The Wilsons Save the World (m000p79r)
Series 3
Friendly Milk
Another day, another pint of oat milk, or as Cat explains ‘milque’. Mike isn’t convinced by the over familiar packaging of Cat’s latest dairy alternative and decides to pay a visit to its head office in a nearby industrial park. Max is trying to avoid small talk in the local shop with varying success.
Mike: Marcus Brigstocke
Max: Kerry Godliman
Cat: Aine McNamara
Lola: Jasmine Sakyiama
Shopkeeper: George Fouracres
Mrs Denton & Cosmos: Nimisha Odedra
Writers: Marcus Brigstocke and Sarah Morgan
Producer: Suzy Grant
A BBC Studios production
WED 19:00 The Archers (m000p79t)
Ben is surprised by an unexpected revelation and Jennifer admits her concerns
WED 19:15 Front Row (m000p79w)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
WED 19:45 Eleanor Rising (m000p78r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m000p79y)
Combative, provocative and engaging live debate chaired by Michael Buerk. With Giles Fraser, Anne McElvoy, Tim Stanley and Matthew Taylor. #moralmaze
WED 20:45 Four Thought (m000p78k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 today]
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (m000p6wx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 The Media Show (m000p79h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m000p7b0)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
WED 22:45 The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (m000p78z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
WED 23:00 Sarah Keyworth - Are You a Boy or a Girl? (m000p7b2)
Pink and Blue
In her first stand-up series for Radio 4, Edinburgh Best Newcomer Nominee, Chortle Best Newcomer and Winner of the Herald Angel Award, Sarah Keyworth explores her personal journey with gender fluidity.
Join Sarah as she looks back on her own funny, ridiculous and bizarre experiences, as she attempts to shed light on why gender still remains such an important issue in the 21st Century.
In the opening episode, Sarah looks at very early gender posing questions such as Why exactly is pink girly? Why does it matter if children's clothes are gender neutral? And do boys and girls really have different feet?
Producer: Adnan Ahmed
BBC Studios Production
WED 23:15 Bunk Bed (b07dm8tj)
Series 3
Episode 1
Everyone craves a place where their mind and body are not applied to a particular task. The nearest faraway place. Somewhere for drifting and lighting upon strange thoughts which don't have to be shooed into context, but which can be followed like balloons escaping onto the air. Late at night, in the dark and in a bunk bed, your tired mind can wander.
This is the nearest faraway place for Patrick Marber and Peter Curran. Here they try to get to the heart of things in an entertainingly vague and indirect way. This is not the place for typical male banter. From under the bed clothes they play each other music, and archive.
Work, family, literature, and their own badly-scuffed dreams are the funny and warped conversational currency.
A Foghorn Company production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000p7b7)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2020
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m000p7b9)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
THU 00:30 An Unknown Warrior (m000p7bc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000p7bf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000p7bh)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000p7bk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m000p7bm)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000p7bp)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Tim Thornton, Bishop to the Armed Forces
Good morning
The tentacles of war and conflict reach into so many different parts of our world and affect far more people that than might at first seem to be the case. We're learning all the time but it is clear that the mental health impacts of war and violence are far more deep seated and extend much further in their impact that we had ever assumed.
Whilst we are now so much better at encouraging and supporting people who have been affected to find their voice and talk about their experiences it is still very difficult for many to put into words what is happening to them as a result of past experience.
Ironically in my experience those who serve now in the armed forces are so much more aware of what you might call the hidden or invisible injuries and wounds or of war and conflict and put in place resources and opportunities for those serving to try and face them - than is the case with those of us who do not serve in the military.
Let us remember all affected by war and work to encourage every one of us to look deep into our lives and own the scars and pains and ask for support when it is needed.
God of justice and peace,
we pray for those who have been injured
or disabled through war.
For those who have lost homes
and security through conflict.
for those who have lost loved relatives in wars.
for those who face danger and take risks for peace.
for all those, especially children, caught up in current conflicts.
for refugees and all those in need of aid and other help.
God of encouragement
and Saviour of the despairing,
comfort those who remember past sacrifices
and guide us in building
a just and healthy community for all.
Amen.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m000p7br)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09fjk67)
Fyfe Dangerfield on the Golden Oriole
As a child, musician Fyfe Dangerfield learnt bird calls from a sound tape borrowed from the library, meaning he was able to hear before seeing a golden oriole in the French countryside.
Producer Mark Ward
Photograph Martin IG.
THU 06:00 Today (m000p8c6)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m000p8cb)
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of ideas
THU 09:45 An Unknown Warrior (m000p8f2)
Episode 4
Drawn from official documents of the time, newspaper reports and writings of those involved, this is the story of how, on Armistice Day 1920, 100 years ago, an unknown warrior, was buried among the kings in Westminster Abbey, and became a symbol of a nation’s grief and gratitude.
Britain in 1920 was extremely unsettled - spiritually, emotionally and politically. Many were still in mourning for those lost in the Great War. Across the fields of France and Flanders, bodies were still being exhumed and taken to the new war cemeteries, many of them never to be identified.
Many families were never to know where their loved ones were buried. And for those that did, the government had already decided that no bodies were to be returned to their families and that, for the time being, travel to the graves in the fields of France and Flanders was not permitted.
One wise war padre, who felt acutely the sorrow of the bereaved, suggested that one unknown soldier could be brought home. One body to stand for the many.
Readers: Janet Ellis and David Haig
Sound by Lucinda Mason-Brown
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Wright
Written, compiled and produced by Caroline Raphael
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
The music used in this programme was played as the congregation waited in the Abbey for the cortege to arrive or during the funeral service itself:
Arthur Somervell: The "Thalassa" Symphony in D minor
Beethoven: Equale for Trombones
With thanks to:
Charlotte Beskeen & Samantha Gibson: The London Library
Eddie Bundy: British Newspaper Archive
Julie Crocker, Senior Archivist: The Royal Archives
Peter Francis & Andrew Featherston: Commonwealth Graves Commission
Tim Kendall
Tanya-Jayne Park, WRAC Association
Victoria Ribbans: Westminster Abbey
Antony Schipani: Mirrorpix
William Smith: Imperial War Museum
Tasha Swainston, Archivist: National Army Museum
Tony Trowles: Westminster Abbey Collections & Library
Stephen Tyers, SPCK
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000p8cg)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
THU 10:45 Eleanor Rising (m000p8cj)
Series 1
Episode 4
Louis and Abbot Suger are determined to send the army to punish the Eleanor's beloved Aquitaine for its perceived disloyalty. Eleanor knows that this is a terrible idea but Louis will not give in.
Eleanor ..... Rose Basista
The Dauphin ..... Joel McCormack
Abbot Suger ..... Carl Prekopp
Petronilla ..... Cecilia Appiah
Written by Shaun McKenna
Directed by Marc Beeby
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (m000p8cl)
Insight, and analysis from BBC correspondents around the world
THU 11:30 Can I Still Read Harry Potter? (m000n47p)
Journalist and fan Aja Romano examines their decision to close the books on the boy wizard and hears different viewpoints toward Harry Potter and contemporary readership.
Aja Romano has been a Harry Potter fan for many years, but after personally disagreeing with statements by their author JK Rowling regarding gender identity, they are considering closing the books for good.
Across the world, millions continue to embrace the Wizarding World in all its forms and JK Rowling has received a lot of support for speaking out on an important issue in a personal way.
With this in mind Aja assesses the different factors at play in their choice, speaking to cultural experts, academics and fans and considering influences such as social media, trends in fan communities, "cancelling" , literary theory and more. Contributors include critic Sam Leith, writer Gavin Haynes , journalist Sarah Shaffi and fans Jackson Bird and Patricio Tarantino.
Produced by Sam Peach
THU 12:00 News Summary (m000p8jv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (m000p8cq)
4: Do the Right Thing
Colson Whitehead's electrifying and heart-breaking Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, set in Jim Crow-era Florida, read by Rhashan Stone.
Elwood Curtis has taken the words of Dr Martin Luther King to heart: he is as good as anyone. A hard-working student, whose future looks bright until an innocent and tragic mistake changes everything...
Today: Elwood is still convinced that following Dr King's advice to work hard and turn the other cheek will get him out of Nickel...
Writer: Colson Whitehead
Reader: Rhashan Stone
Producer: Justine Willett
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
THU 12:18 You and Yours (m000p8cs)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
THU 12:57 Weather (m000p8cv)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m000p8cx)
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 Intrigue (m000p8cz)
Mayday
Episode 4
“There’s something addictive about uncovering the world as it really is.” – The allegations begin.
When James Le Mesurier fell to his death in Turkey in 2019 he left behind a tangle of truths and lies. Mayday tells the extraordinary real story of the man who organised the White Helmets – rescuers who film themselves pulling survivors from bombed out buildings in rebel-held areas of Syria – and investigates claims that, far from being heroes, they are part of a very elaborate hoax. James Le Mesurier – his detractors say – was a British secret agent, pulling the strings. So when his body was found by worshippers on their way to morning prayers, there were a lot questions.
Produced, written and presented by Chloe Hadjimatheou
Editor: Emma Rippon
Researcher: Tom Wright
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Mixed by Neil Churchill
Arabic translation and additional research: Vanessa Bowles, Abdul Kader Habak
Turkish Researcher: Nevin Sungur
Narrative Consultant: John Yorke
Original music: Nick Mundy and Bu Kolthoum
THU 14:00 The Archers (m000p79t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (m000p8d1)
Keeping the Wolf Out
The Light of Dawn
Philip Palmer's crime drama continues. The murder of an infamous official in the Ministry changes everything for Franciska and her police inspector husband.
Bertalan Lazar ..... Leo Bill
Franciska Lazar ..... Clare Corbett
Gyozo Novak ..... Carl Prekopp
Florian Hevesi ..... Luke Nunn
Kulcsar ..... Roger Ringrose
Sandor Boros ..... Stephen Greif
Detective ..... Stefan Adegbola
Billiards player ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr.
Directed by Toby Swift
THU 15:00 Open Country (m000p8d3)
The Sea
As he strolls along the coast of Northumberland, an archaeologist points out where you can still see the signs of a tsunami which played a part in the separation of mainland Britain from Europe. Meanwhile, a cross-channel swimmer, a keen bird watcher, and an environmental artist reveal their own very personal connections with the landscape of the sea. From the beauty and mental healing we gain from the sea to the pollution we cause in it, these are stories of revelation, respect, fear, horror, unknowing, wonder and inspiration. Presenter Helen Mark, Producer Sarah Blunt.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m000p71f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (m000p727)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (m000p8d5)
Film programme looking at the latest cinema releases, DVDs and films on TV
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m000p8d7)
Dr Adam Rutherford and guests illuminate the mysteries and challenge the controversies behind the science that's changing our world
THU 17:00 PM (m000p8d9)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000p8df)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Mark Steel's in Town (m000p8dh)
Series 10
Brighton
Mark Steel returns to Radio 4 with a short series of shows recorded outdoors during the coronavirus pandemic.
For the first ever outdoor Mark Steel's In Town episode, and Radio 4 Comedy's first ever COVID-friendly audience show, what better place to start than on Brighton beach?
Famous for its pavilion, piers and progressive nature as well as for being the playground of George, Prince Regent, Brighton welcomes Mark where he performs on the pebbles, accompanied by the sound of the waves, with a busy zip-wire ride and squawking seagulls overhead. A first for the show but a completely normal day in life of the people of Brighton.
Written and performed by Mark Steel
Additional material by Pete Sinclair
Production co-ordinator Beverly Tagg
Sound Manager, Jerry Peal
Producer, Carl Cooper
Picture Credit, Tom Stanier
THU 19:00 The Archers (m000p8dl)
Writers, Liz John & Katie Hims
Director, Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Ben Archer ….. Ben Norris
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge ….. Angela Piper
Alice Carter ….. Hollie Chapman
Ruairi Donovan ….. Arthur Hughes
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Johnny Phillips ….. Tom Gibbons
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Robert Snell …..Graham Blockey
THU 19:15 Front Row (m000p8dn)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
THU 19:45 Eleanor Rising (m000p8cj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 Law in Action (m000p6wz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Tuesday]
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (m000p8dq)
Sector Shutdown
How are industries like live music, travel, conferences and events coping with the pandemic recession - and what plans do they have for survival? These business sectors have been hit disproportionately hard by the dramatic changes in our ways of life. Evan David discusses with three business leaders from across these industries.
Producer: Julie Ball
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m000p8d7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (m000p8cb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m000p8dt)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
THU 22:45 The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (m000p8cq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
THU 23:00 The Likely Dads (m000p8dw)
Series 1
Episode 3 - Representation
Former Blue Peter presenter and father to two-year-old twins Tim Vincent continues to host this comedy discussion programme, featuring regular panellists Mick Ferry and Russell Kane.
Tim and The Likely Dads talk about how dads are represented, both in life and in the media. The conversation turns to some of the different stereotypes they’ve all heard, or even faced, and asks whether or not some of them are grossly outdated or might actually be accurate.
One of our Likely Dads shares their experience of participating in a fly-on-the-wall documentary while raising a new-born baby and some of the comments they were faced with as a result. And what is the difference between being a single dad and a sole parent?
In our regular feature, we ask one of the children of our Likely Dads a few questions and hear how accurately the respective Dad can guess their offspring’s answers. Will it result in happy families or tears before bedtime?
Our special guests joining Tim, Mick and Russell this week are anti-racism campaigner and businessman Dominic Bruce and comedian and playwright Laurence Clark.
A Made In Manchester production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000p8dy)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
FRIDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2020
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m000p8f0)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 00:30 An Unknown Warrior (m000p8f2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000p8f4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000p8f6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000p8f8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m000p8fb)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000p8fd)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Tim Thornton, Bishop to the Armed Forces
Good morning
In my role as Bishop to the Armed Forces I have the privilege of visiting men and women in this country and abroad who are serving their Queen and country. I’ve never served and so am both fascinated and amazed to learn about the lives they lead and the extraordinary range of work they do.
Remembrance is of course not only about the past and striving hard to learn lessons from history but it’s also vital that we remember all those who are now serving in the armed forces. They become a little more visible sadly at a time like this as they take up a role in our communities assisting with testing of Coronavirus and other work to help the nation.
I have learnt a lot from the armed forces and of course many of the lessons I learnt have surprised me. I have learnt that so very many of the men and women who serve understand far more about the complexity of human nature than I had presumed and they have a very strong desire to avoid war and conflict at all costs.
I have learnt that so many of those who serve have a very clear sense of ethics and wanting to grapple with complex questions of how nations can and do live together in our small yet fragmented world.
I go on learning and thank them for all they teach me. May we remember those who serve today and pray for them in all that they do.
Almighty God, stretch forth your mighty arm to strengthen and protect the armed forces: grant that meeting danger with courage and all occasions with discipline and loyalty, they may truly serve the cause of justice and peace; to the honour of your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m000p8fg)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09r3yy4)
Penny Anderson on the Red Grouse
Ecologist Penny Anderson has always liked Red Grouse and they never fail to make her laugh as she reveals in this recollection about her encounters with this dumpy red bird.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Fox Pix.
FRI 06:00 Today (m000p8xg)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m000p8xl)
David Mitchell, novelist
David Mitchell, novelist, shares the soundtrack of his life with Lauren Laverne.
FRI 09:45 An Unknown Warrior (m000p8zb)
Episode 5
Drawn from official documents of the time, newspaper reports and writings of those involved, this is the story of how, on Armistice Day 1920, 100 years ago, an unknown warrior, was buried among the kings in Westminster Abbey, and became a symbol of a nation’s grief and gratitude.
Britain in 1920 was extremely unsettled - spiritually, emotionally and politically. Many were still in mourning for those lost in the Great War. Across the fields of France and Flanders, bodies were still being exhumed and taken to the new war cemeteries, many of them never to be identified.
Many families were never to know where their loved ones were buried. And for those that did, the government had already decided that no bodies were to be returned to their families and that, for the time being, travel to the graves in the fields of France and Flanders was not permitted.
One wise war padre, who felt acutely the sorrow of the bereaved, suggested that one unknown soldier could be brought home. One body to stand for the many.
Readers: Janet Ellis and David Haig
Sound by Lucinda Mason-Brown
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Wright
Written, compiled and produced by Caroline Raphael
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
The music used in this programme was played as the congregation waited in the Abbey for the cortege to arrive:
Arthur Sullivan: In Memoriam
Alexandre Guilmant: Marche Funèbre Et Chant Seráphique
With thanks to:
Charlotte Beskeen & Samantha Gibson: The London Library
Eddie Bundy: British Newspaper Archive
Julie Crocker, Senior Archivist: The Royal Archives
Peter Francis & Andrew Featherston: Commonwealth Graves Commission
Tim Kendall
Tanya-Jayne Park, WRAC Association
Victoria Ribbans: Westminster Abbey
Antony Schipani: Mirrorpix
William Smith: Imperial War Museum
Tasha Swainston, Archivist: National Army Museum
Tony Trowles: Westminster Abbey Collections & Library
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000p8xq)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
FRI 10:45 Eleanor Rising (m000p8xs)
Series 1
Episode 5
In an attempt to facilitate Petronilla's marriage to the man she loves, Eleanor arranges to have his original marriage annulled. When the Pope becomes involved, disaster threatens - not just Eleanor and Louis but the Kingdom of France itself.
Eleanor ..... Rose Basista
The Dauphin ..... Joel McCormack
Cardinal Yves ..... Carl Prekopp
Theobald ..... Roger Ringrose
Petronilla ..... Cecilia Appiah
Written by Shaun McKenna
Directed by Marc Beeby
FRI 11:00 The Corrections (m000p8xv)
Trojan Horse: The kingpin
The Corrections revisits one of the most controversial news stories of recent years to see how journalists told it and how they could have told it differently.
In March 2014, The Sunday Times broke the story of the Trojan Horse Affair about an alleged plot to Islamise schools in Birmingham and beyond. It named as the ‘kingpin’ a local Ofsted inspector, Tahir Alam. He was later banned from governing schools. But is he the villain or the hero of this story?
In this episode, Jo Fidgen learns about Tahir Alam’s backstory to see how that changes our understanding of his role in this story. And a Muslim women’s rights campaigner reveals what she was hearing from teachers and parents behind the scenes, and how that challenges the narrative reported in the mainstream press.
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Editor: Emma Rippon
FRI 11:30 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! (m0001r8n)
Doorknobs and Matchsticks
Arthur returned to BBC Radio 4 in 2018 with a celebratory 50th episode of his long running sitcom. The former variety star is understudy on a Christmas production of Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Will he ever get on stage?
Steve Delaney starred as Count Arthur, supported by a host of regular characters created by Mel Giedroyc, Terry Kilkelly, Alastair Kerr and the late Dave Mounfield, who sadly died in February 2019.
The first 50 episodes of Count Arthur Strong’s Radio Show! comprise seven series and eight specials since the programme first aired in December 2005. Highlights include winning the Sony Radio Award for Best Comedy in 2009 and being voted as the Best Radio Sitcom by the British Comedy Guide in 2016 and 2018. The long running radio series aired until 2012 when the character stepped on to BBC TV for three series of the BAFTA nominated and critically acclaimed TV sitcom Count Arthur Strong. Since then, Count Arthur has returned to BBC Radio 4 annually with his celebrated Christmas specials.
A Komedia Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m000p8zl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (m000p8xz)
5: A Way Out
Colson Whitehead's electrifying and heart-breaking Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, set in Jim Crow-era Florida, read by Rhashan Stone.
Elwood Curtis has taken the words of Dr Martin Luther King to heart: he is as good as anyone. A hard-working student, whose future looks bright until an innocent and tragic mistake changes everything...
Today: Elwood finally thinks he sees a way out of Nickel - he just needs to be patient, and play the long game...
Writer: Colson Whitehead
Reader: Rhashan Stone
Producer: Justine Willett
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
FRI 12:18 You and Yours (m000p8y1)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
FRI 12:57 Weather (m000p8y3)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m000p8y5)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
FRI 13:45 Intrigue (m000p8y7)
Mayday
Episode 5
“Our volunteers were seen as if they were waiting for the execution.” – How to tell who the jihadists are.
When James Le Mesurier fell to his death in Turkey in 2019 he left behind a tangle of truths and lies. Mayday tells the extraordinary real story of the man who organised the White Helmets – rescuers who film themselves pulling survivors from bombed out buildings in rebel-held areas of Syria – and investigates claims that, far from being heroes, they are part of a very elaborate hoax. James Le Mesurier – his detractors say – was a British secret agent, pulling the strings. So when his body was found by worshippers on their way to morning prayers, there were a lot questions.
Produced, written and presented by Chloe Hadjimatheou
Editor: Emma Rippon
Researcher: Tom Wright
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Mixed by Neil Churchill
Arabic translation and additional research: Vanessa Bowles, Abdul Kader Habak
Turkish Researcher: Nevin Sungur
Narrative Consultant: John Yorke
Original music: Nick Mundy and Bu Kolthoum
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m000p8dl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (m000p8y9)
Keeping the Wolf Out
The Great Society
Crime drama by Philip Palmer. Franciska continues to deny her involvement in a murder as her battle of wits with a CIA agent threatens her career.
Bertalan Lazar ..... Leo Bill
Franciska Lazar ..... Clare Corbett
Gyozo Novak ..... Carl Prekopp
Florian Hevesi ..... Luke Nunn
Kulczar ..... Roger Ringrose
Draskovic ..... Ewan Bailey
Prison Officer ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr
Directed by Toby Swift
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000p8yc)
GQT at Home: Episode Thirty-One
Kathy Clugston hosts the horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts. Bunny Guinness, Pippa Greenwood and Bob Flowerdew answer questions from green-fingered listeners.
Producer - Dan Cocker
Assistant producer - Jemima Rathbone
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m000p8yf)
From Fact to Fiction
Marcus Brigstocke writes and performs a story inspired by the news.
Credits
Writer ….. Marcus Brigstocke
Reader ….. Marcus Brigstocke
Producer ….. Kirsty Williams
A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m000p8yh)
Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to unsung but significant.
FRI 16:30 Feedback (m000p8yk)
The programme that holds the BBC to account on behalf of the radio audience
FRI 17:00 PM (m000p8ym)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000p8yr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The Now Show (m000p8yt)
Series 57
Episode 3
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis get to grip (from a safe distance) with all things 2020 in the form of sketches and guest contributions.
Joining them are Sarah Keyworth, Darren Harriott; with music from Beardyman
Additional voices from Karen Bartke and Josh Berry
Written by the cast, with additional material from Mike Shepherd, Laura Major, Suchandrika Chakrabarti and Simon Alcock
Production Co-Ordinator: Caroline Barlow
Engineer and Editor: David Thomas
Producer: Adnan Ahmed
A BBC Studios Production
FRI 19:00 Front Row (m000p8yw)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
FRI 19:45 Eleanor Rising (m000p8xs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m000p8yy)
Sir Ed Davey MP
Chris Mason presents political debate and discussion from Broadcasting House, London, with a panel including the Leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey MP.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m000p8z0)
Weekly reflections on topical issues from a range of contributors.
FRI 21:00 Intrigue (m000p8z2)
Mayday (Omnibus 1)
When James Le Mesurier fell to his death in Turkey in 2019 he left behind a tangle of truths and lies. Mayday tells the extraordinary real story of the man who organised the White Helmets – rescuers who film themselves pulling survivors from bombed out buildings in rebel-held areas of Syria – and investigates claims that, far from being heroes, they are part of a very elaborate hoax. James Le Mesurier – his detractors say – was a British secret agent, pulling the strings. So when his body was found by worshippers on their way to morning prayers, there were a lot questions.
Produced, written and presented by Chloe Hadjimatheou
Editor: Emma Rippon
Researcher: Tom Wright
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Mixed by Neil Churchill
Arabic translation and additional research: Vanessa Bowles, Abdul Kader Habak
Turkish Researcher: Nevin Sungur
Narrative Consultant: John Yorke
Original music: Nick Mundy and Bu Kolthoum
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m000p8z4)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
FRI 22:45 The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (m000p8xz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
FRI 23:00 Americast (m000pfzp)
Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel follow the aftermath of the US election.
FRI 23:30 Things That Made the Modern Economy (m000gvch)
Series 2
SWIFT
From blocked vacuum tubes to mistyped telegrams, sending sensitive financial information is no easy matter. SWIFT – the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication – has solved some of the key problems. But, asks Tim Harford, has it created a new one?
Producer: Ben Crighton
Editor: Richard Vadon
FRI 23:45 Today in Parliament (m000p8z6)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament