SATURDAY 11 JANUARY 2025

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m0026npw)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 How to Read the News (m001v3xn)
What you’re not being told

Why don’t journalists tell everything they know? One reason is privacy law. We hear from the lawyer who warned editors off publishing the name of Phillip Schofield’s former lover, and speak to the chief lawyer for The Times and The Sunday Times who took the risk of naming a parliamentary researcher alleged to be spying for China.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Charlotte McDonald
Researchers: Beth Ashmead Latham, Kirsteen Knight
Editors: China Collins, Emma Rippon


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0026npy)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0026nq0)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0026nq2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m0026nq4)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0026nq6)
Music changes everything

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Fleur Dorrell

Good Morning.

Wherever we are in the world, music is a powerful gift for expressing and elevating our emotions. Music can speak to us at any time and in any situation. It transcends language and culture as it touches our hearts.

On this day four years ago, my Dad died of Covid during one of the worst periods of that pandemic. We weren’t allowed to visit him until the very last moment, and only six people could attend his short funeral. It was an icy January on the south coast, no café or hotel was permitted to open afterwards, and it felt utterly bleak. Yet we were walking this hard path of grief with many others. We were not alone.

My Dad always wanted the Radetzky March by Johann Strauss Senior to be played at his funeral. It’s jubilant and energetic music was composed as a victory celebration and that is exactly what it is. Inevitably, hands clap and feet stamp as the rhythm develops. On this cold and cheerless morning, I saw a glimpse of this joy as the music played out - memories of my Dad listening to the piece every New Year’s Day and at other times, tapping his slender fingers to the beat, smiling at Strauss, and delighting in the melody of life all came flooding back.

I pray that music will soothe and comfort all those who mourn, bring joy and delight to those who welcome hope, and unite us all in peace across time and space.

Amen.


SAT 05:45 Something to Declare (m0026nnw)
How to Rise to the Challenge

Jack Boswell explores the Finnish concept of sisu - a profound inner strength that emerges when we face life’s toughest challenges.

Joining him is Emilia Elisabet Lahti, a Finnish behavioural scientist, who delves into the origins of sisu, a cornerstone of Finnish culture. She explains how this powerful quality - described as the “life force in times of adversity” - has helped individuals and the nation persevere through extraordinary hardships, including the Winter War. Elisabet shares how her own experiences of overcoming personal trauma inspired her to study sisu and its universal relevance.

Jack also meets Mikko Paasi, a Finnish cave diver whose reliance on sisu was tested during the 2018 Tham Luang Cave Rescue in Thailand. Mikko recounts the harrowing operation to save a trapped youth football team, describing how determination, step-by-step focus, and a deep reservoir of mental strength helped him and his team navigate impossible odds. His reflections on resilience and redemption reveal how sisu can guide us not just through crises, but also towards healing from our past.

Elisabet offers practical insights into how sisu can be cultivated by anyone, anywhere. Through techniques like breathwork and self-compassion, she highlights how this universal human quality helps us push forward when the going gets tough.

This episode is an inspiring exploration of resilience, courage, and the quiet power within all of us to persevere - no matter how steep the climb.

Host: Jack Boswell
Producer: Emma Crampton
Senior Producer: Harry Stott
Executive Producer: Sandra Ferrari
Production Coordinator: James Cox
Audio Supervisor: Tom Biddle
Sound Editor: Alan Leer and Lizzy Andrews

A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m0026ttn)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m0026ngx)
Clare's 25th Year! Bakewell with the RamSoc

This is Clare's 25th year of walking and talking on Ramblings! To mark this, ahem, milestone her first hike of 2025 is with a group of students from the University of Nottingham who are all members of the RamSoc (The Rambling and Hiking Society) which has just celebrated its 90th anniversary.

All of today's walkers are under the age of 25, so weren't even around when Clare first stepped out with the Ramblings microphone. It's joyful to know that walking in the great outdoors continues as a rich part of our culture with young people like Theo, Amy, and others leading the way...

They met in Bakewell, Derbyshire on a rainy, windy, wintery Sunday morning and set off on a circular hike taking in the grounds of Chatsworth House.

Producer: Karen Gregor
Presenter: Clare Balding


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m0026ttq)
11/01/25 Farming Today This Week: the farming conferences in Oxford

Farming Today This Week comes from Oxford where two big conferences have been taking place: the Oxford Farming Conference and the Oxford Real Farming Conference. The first is traditionally seen as attended by the established and larger farms, and the Real Farming Conference has wider scope with more smaller farms, organic producers and artisan food producers. Both together represent UK farming as a whole.

A convoy of tractors and farmers with placards staged a protest in Oxford City Centre as Defra Secretary Steve Reed gave his speech to the Oxford Farming Conference. They're angry at plans to change the rules around inheritance tax. This wasn't the focus of Steve Reed's speech; instead he promised a plan for change. He told delegates this must have three things: food production at its core, diversification of income, and restoration of nature as part of farming. He also announced speeding up the planning process for farm buildings. Agriculture's a devolved issue, and farming ministers for the devolved nations gave speeches about what's happening in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

We also report from The Oxford Real Farming Conference, where have similar concerns about the future of their businesses. We speak to the manager, interview an upland farmer about whole farm profitability, and drop in on a session about inheritance tax.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


SAT 06:57 Weather (m0026tts)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m0026ttv)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m0026ttx)
Jackie Kay, Huw Ware, Peter Murray

Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.


SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m0026ttz)
Causes of the British Civil Wars: Royalists versus Parliamentarians

Greg Jenner is joined in 17th-Century England by Dr Jonathan Healey and comedian Toussaint Douglass to learn about King Charles I and the causes of the British Civil Wars.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of Charles I coming to the throne on 27th March 1625. Less than two decades later, his antagonistic relationship with Parliament would ignite a civil war, one that would end with his capture, trial and execution, and the rule of Oliver Cromwell. The war is remembered as a fight between Cavaliers and Roundheads, but what did each side actually believe in, and what were the causes of this conflict? Tracing the breakdown of the relationship between the King and Parliament, this episode takes in clashes over taxation, religion and the limits of royal power, disastrous wars, unpopular advisers, and Charles’s attempts to rule without Parliament altogether. It also moves outside London, exploring popular uprisings against everything from the King’s taxes and contentious church reforms to the 17th-Century cost-of-living crisis.

If you’re a fan of royals behaving badly, political bust-ups, rebellion and revolution, you’ll love our episode on the causes of the British Civil Wars.

If you want to hear more from Toussaint Douglass, check out our episode on abolitionist Frederick Douglass. And for more Stuart history, listen to our episodes on King James I and VI and scandalous actress Nell Gwyn.

You’re Dead to Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner
Research by: Matt Ryan
Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Production Coordinator: Ben Hollands
Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse
Executive Editor: James Cook


SAT 10:30 Rewinder (m0026tv1)
Singing Dogs!

It’s Dry January so...Greg is bucking the trend and taking his archive search down the pub. The BBC Archive is overflowing with innkeeping oddities: goat riding, phantoms lurking in an 800-year-old walls and how to play a new game called 'plasticine splat'.

With a new season of Traitors in full swing, Greg dons his black cloak and finds an early incarnation of the game the BBC killed off 20 years ago. No castles, cloaks or fringes in sight, just a plain white studio - and a very young Ruth Wilson, future star of Luther and His Dark Materials, taking on a man who claims to own a four foot monitor lizard. But which of them is a traitor?

A listener request leads Greg to a weird slice of BBC history as he revisits beeb.com, an internet shopping website from the BBC where you could buy a WAP-enabled phone and tickets to see S Club 7.

And to mark the release of a new biopic about the great opera singer Maria Callas, Greg looks back at some archive highlights of the soprano known as La Divina, including being pelted with radishes, getting into blazing rows with opera bosses, and an extraordinary duet with her singing dog.

Producer: Tim Bano
Series archivists: Joe Schultz and Jonathan Charlton

An EcoAudio certified production.


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m0026tv3)
Radio 4's weekly assessment of developments at Westminster


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0026tv5)
Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m0026tv7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m0026tv9)
Breakfast Clubs and Housing Costs

The Government made a start this week on its manifesto promise to provide free breakfast clubs in every primary school in England. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill got through its first big step in the House of Commons on Wednesday and will give every parent of a child in a state primary school in England the legal right to a half hour breakfast club for their children with food and childcare. Schools Minister Stephen Morgan speaks to Paul Lewis about the plans.

New research form the housing and homelessness charity Shelter, seen exclusively by this programme, suggests more than half of those facing housing worries have been kept awake at night over the past year due to concerns about things like high rents, poor conditions and the risk of eviction. What can be done to help them?

And millions of people who need to file a self assessment tax form have still not done it - and the deadline is less than three weeks away on January 31st. Listen for the Money Box guide on what you need to know.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Emma Smith, Eimear Devlin and Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 11th January 2025)


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m0026np8)
Series 116

Checked Facts & Unfettered Fictions

This week on The News Quiz, Andy Zaltzman is joined by Geoff Norcott, Paul Sinha, Angela Barnes and Anushka Asthana to unpack the week's new stories. The panel look into Donald Trump's international ambitions, Keir Starmer looking ahead to the not-too-distant, yet not-too-close future, and the relentless interjections to British politics from Elon Musk.

Written by Andy Zaltzman.

With additional material by: Jade Gebbie, Christina Riggs Mike Shephard, and Angela Channell.
Producer: Rajiv Karia
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss.
Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4
An Eco-Audio certified Production


SAT 12:57 Weather (m0026tvc)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m0026tvf)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m0026nph)
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Lord Finkelstein, Meg Hillier MP, Greg Swenson

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Trinity College, Oxford with i Paper columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown; Conservative peer and Times columnist Lord Finkelstein; Meg Hillier, the Labour MP and chair of the Treasury select committee; and Greg Swenson, chair of Republicans Overseas UK.

Producer: Paul Martin
Lead technical engineer: Rob Dyball


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m0026tvh)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week.


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m0026npc)
Writer: Shaun McKenna
Director: Peter Leslie Wild
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Ben Archer…. Ben Norris
David Archer…. Timothy Bentinck
Henry Archer…. Blayke Darby
Jolene Archer…. Bufffy Davis
Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee
Ruth Archer…. Felicity Finch
Leonard Berry…. Paul Copley
Harrison Burns…. James Cartwright
Justin Elliot…. Simon Williams
Brad Horrobin…. Taylor Uttley
Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell
Khalil Malik…. Krish Bassi
Kirsty Miller…. Annabelle Dowler
Lily Pargetter…. Katie Redford
Fallon Rogers…. Joanna Van Kampen
Inspector Norris…. Bharti Patel
Scarlett…. Beatrice White


SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m000h1g2)
Return to Vegas: A Musical Drama

Musical drama written by and starring Roland Gift, one of our finest soul singers and ex-lead singer of the 1980s band Fine Young Cannibals.

Johnny Holloway, an ex-pop star wrongly convicted of drug dealing, gets out of prison and is picked up on his release by his "brother from another mother", Sean. Having missed the funeral, Johnny asks to be taken to the wake of his colleague Frank to pay his respects. When he gets there, he finds he has inherited his nightclub - the Las Vegas - much to the disgust of Frank's son, Ricky.

To add insult to injury, Johnny used to be with Ricky’s wife Carol. He's determined to right a few wrongs and, when Ricky steps out of line, Johnny sees the way forward - he needs to battle an old rival to win the girl he loves.

It's a story about love, felony and betrayal. Who will rise above and win the day?

Recorded on location in Gerry’s Club in Soho, London, with music written by Gift and Barson and performed by Roland Gift and members of the cast.

Cast:
JOHNNY ..... Roland Gift
SEAN ..... Ian Puleston-Davies
EZRA ..... Miles Richardson
RICKY ..... Carl Prekopp
PEARL ..... Sophie Melville
CAROL ..... Katy Cavanagh-Jupe
BARRY ..... Bill Fellows
FRANK ..... Robert Glenister
ELOISE ..... Claudia Jolly

MOURNERS and PUNTERS
Poppy Allen-Quarmby, Tallulah Bond, Zooey Gleaves, Tom Glenister, Ellis Howard, Jonny Lavelle, Declan Mason

Writer: Roland Gift
Producer/Director: Celia de Wolff
Sound Design: David Chilton
Photograph by Jerry Tremaine

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m0026tvk)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Rape gangs, Lucy Lawless on Margaret Moth, Deep fakes, Exploring Antarctica, Oti Mabuse

Victims groomed and raped by gangs have told the BBC's Senior UK Correspondent Sima Kotecha that they are adamant the crime is still happening to girls across the country. This week, a Tory amendment to the government's Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which wanted a national inquiry into grooming gangs, was voted down. Krupa Padhy talked to Sima and Simon Morton, a former senior investigating officer for Thames Valley Police, about what is known about how these gangs operate.

Lucy Lawless, best known for playing Xena: Warrior Princess, joined Nuala McGovern to discuss another fearless woman. In her directorial debut, Never Look Away, she explores Margaret Moth, a warzone camerawoman for CNN who covered conflicts from the liberation of Kuwait in the early 90s to the Lebanon War in the mid-2000s armed only with a camera and an attitude.

A new law change has made the creation of explicit deepfakes illegal, with those found guilty facing up to two years in prison. Nuala was joined by Durham Law Professor Clare McGlynn to hear more about what this means, and Channel 4's Cathy Newman, who was a victim of deepfakes herself, gives her thoughts.

Victoria Melluish is a listener who wrote to us to highlight women working in environmentally hostile environments and to encourage more women to get out in the field. Victoria is currently employed as a marine mammal specialist and expedition guide on a cruise expedition ship. She says, 'I’m 30 and I work in the Arctic and Antarctic, and I often get asked how I manage having endometriosis while driving Zodiac boats around glaciers and marine megafauna.' Nuala spoke to her about her work.

2025 is a big year for former Strictly professional Oti Mabuse who is judging Dancing on Ice, then going on tour and publishing her first adult novel. She joined Krupa to talk about these projects, becoming a mother and how being on I’m A Celebrity taught her the importance of sharing feelings.

Presenter: Krupa Padhy
Producer: Annette Wells
Editor: Rebecca Myatt


SAT 17:00 PM (m0026tvm)
Full coverage of the day's news.


SAT 17:30 Sliced Bread (m0026ngn)
Smart Scales

Listener Steve got in touch with us after trying out a set of Smart Scales himself. He wanted to keep an eye on his protein levels – which his scales claimed to do – for health reasons, and because he’d heard that we need more protein as we get older.

His scales also promised to show him his body fat, muscle mass, and bone mass via a corresponding app on his phone. However, some of those readings didn’t seem quite right – making him question how accurate his scales are, and if they can REALLY tell you so much about yourself?

Greg Foot asks two experts - a GP and a professor of applied mathematics – to weigh in on the topic, and find out whether these scales can measure up.

As always, all of our investigations start with YOUR suggestions. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or wonder product promising to make you happier, healthier or greener, email us at sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk OR send a voice note to our WhatsApp number, 07543 306807.

PRESENTER: GREG FOOT

PRODUCER: KATE HOLDSWORTH


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0026tvp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m0026tvr)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0026tvt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m0026tvw)
Joanne Harris, Richard Blackwood, Dr Rangan Chatterjee, Nina Gilligan, Clive Anderson, The Deep Blue, John Bramwell

Loose Ends is in Hebden Bridge this week, a town made famous by the BBC drama Happy Valley, but you might also recognise the place and its glorious scenery from Last Tango in Halifax, Gentleman Jack or The Gallow's Pole.

Clive will talk to local resident and bestselling novelist Joanne Harris, maybe best known for Chocolat which was adapted into an Oscar nominated film of the same name. Her latest book The Moonlight Garden is a fantasy set in a "long ago and far away" version of London and fits right into the wildly popular "romantasy" genre - a good fit for a town renowned for its quirky ways and alternative lifestyles.

Also in the show, the acclaimed comedian and actor Richard Blackwood, best known for roles in Hollyoaks and EastEnders as well as on stage, is out on the road and passing through town on a stand up tour promising heavyweight laughs and no messing.

TV presenter, GP and host of Europe's most popular wellness podcast Dr Ranjan Chatterjee will be easing us all into the New Year, just about the time when we all begin to fall off the New Year resolutions wagon and we'll be hearing about what happened to his own long held ambition to be Jon Bon Jovi.

And award wining stand-up comedian and Hebden resident Nina Gilligan will explain why her new show is called Goldfish.

Music from former I am Kloot frontman John Bramwell and band The Full Harmonic Convergence and also from all female Indie-folk band The Deep Blue.

Presented by Clive Anderson
Produced by Olive Clancy


SAT 19:00 Profile (m0026tvy)
Allan Leighton

He's been described as the best connected man in the business world. Allan Leighton’s the arch-moderniser who's led some of the UK's most well-known companies.

His career started at Mars Confectionery in the mid-70s, working his way up through the business over nearly two decades. But, it was in the 90s that Allan Leighton really made his name.

He moved to Asda in 1992, becoming Chief Executive four years later. There he was credited with a successful turnaround of the supermarket and oversaw its acquisition by Wal-Mart in 1999.

By the 2000s, Allan Leighton had left Asda to 'go plural', as he put it, and went on to take prominent positions in companies including Royal Mail, Co-Op, Dyson and lastminute.com. But late last year, the supermarket chain came calling again.

Mark Coles has been talking to his friends and peers to understand where Allan Leighton came from and what’s in store for him at Asda.

Production Team

Producers: Nathan Gower and Sally Abrahams
Editor: Ben Mundy
Sound: James Beard
Production Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Jack Young

Credits:
Marketing Academy: Rene Carayol interviews Allan Leighton
Mars Maltesters, TV advert 1970s
Walmart Rollback TV advert 1998
Asda Rollback TV advert


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m0026ngg)
James Ivory

James Ivory formed the filmmaking company Merchant Ivory with producer Ismail Merchant and the writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala in 1961. The company went on to produce over 40 films and became synonymous with a particular sumptuous movie genre in the 80s and 90s, often adapted from literary classics. Merchant Ivory won awards and acclaim for A Room With A View, Howard’s End, The Remains Of The Day and many more. In 2018, at the age of 89, James Ivory became the oldest ever winner of an Academy Award. Having been nominated three times previously for best director, he won the best adapted screenplay Oscar for the coming-of-age drama Call Me By Your Name.

Now 96 years old, James Ivory recalls his upbringing in Oregon, the son of a timber merchant. He says that seeing Gone With the Wind soon after the film had first been released in 1939 was a formative moment in his love of cinema. Having initially studied architecture, he enrolled at the University of California to study cinema and began making short films. It was during a trip to India that he first became fascinated with the country and was introduced to the great Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, who was a hugely influential figure. James Ivory also talks about the unique relationship he had with Ismail Merchant and Ruth Jhabvala whom he describes as his "life's partners".

Producer: Edwina Pitman


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m0026tw0)
Do You Speak English?

English has been taught to people abroad using radio and television for more than half a century and this is how it all started.

Miriam Margolyes is among the stars of English by Radio and Television, broadcast to millions around the world, who reflects on the amazing global impact of the programmes. From their beginnings in 1943 when English was taught to occupied Europe, to their role today reaching girls in Afghanistan banned from school, Josephine McDermott unearths the English programmes lost to time which feature everything from Abba to Morris dancing and a furry, green, alien monster who eats metal.

Most of the programmes have never been heard by a UK audience and took months to track down, but they provide an intriguing insight into the way Britain has been projected in the booming years of broadcast media.

Josephine’s late father Brian McDermott starred in the BBC’s first television series to teach English in the 1960s, Walter and Connie. Unsure if any of the series still exists in the archive, she gets to see films for the first time. He used to tell stories of being mobbed by fans in Europe which sounded like exaggeration for the sake of a good story. It's Josephine’s task to find out if there was any truth in it - and it may be some ageing Dutch pop stars have the answer. She discovers they still perform a song inspired by her father's TV programme teaching English.

With insights from Professor Jean Seaton, former English by Radio and Television producer Hamish Norbrook, the actor Miriam Margolyes, Kathy Flower, presenter of Follow Me in China, plus Robert Jan Stips and Rob Kloet from the band Nits.

Presenter and producer: Josephine McDermott
Editor: Tom Bigwood
Sound: Richard Hannaford
Production coordinator: Ellie Dover
Consultant: John Escolme


SAT 21:00 Moral Maze (m0026ndl)
What should we do about inherited inequality?

In every species, including homo sapiens, the family is nature’s way of passing inequality down the generations. The family gives us our genetic make-up and a large proportion of our training, education, socialisation and cultural attitudes. It may bequeath to us wealth or poverty. None of this is fair.

Should we get cross about silver spoons and livid about nepotism? We don’t seem to. Inheritance tax is deeply unpopular (not just with farmers). And it's not merely money that tilts the scales when a child is born. There's the where and when of it, there's parental character and competence, there are genetic pluses and minuses. How should we, as a society, address the unfairness that results from inherited advantage? And how can we know whether it’s made a difference? Everyone claims to want equality of opportunity. Some of us want to measure our success by equality of outcome; the rest of us say ‘dream on.’

Should we aim to eradicate or compensate for inherited inequality? Should we try to correct for the effects of genetic and environmental misfortune? Or should we just accept that, in the words of William Blake, 'Some are Born to sweet delight. Some are Born to Endless Night'?

Chair: Michael Buerk
Panel: Tim Stanley, Ash Sarkar, James Orr and Mona Siddiqui
Witnesses: Aaron Reeves, Ruth Porter, Will Snell, Edward Davies.

Producers: Dan Tierney and Peter Everett.
Editor: Tim Pemberton


SAT 22:00 News (m0026tw2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m0026nnh)
Food and AI

How will Artificial Intelligence (AI) transform the food industry? Experts say it's already having an effect - whether through self-service checkouts or the algorithms that determine which recipes you see online or the way supermarkets are using it to predict the next big food trend.

Jaega Wise heads to the Waitrose Headquarters in Berkshire to find out how their product development team is using AI to inform which ingredients they stock on the shelves. She also talks to the firm Tastewise which makes software that calculates food trends by analysing social media and online menus.

A restaurant in Glasgow is already using embodied AI in the form of robots which serve their customers. Jaega witnesses the robots in action and finds diners are divided over their use. She also talks to consumer affairs journalist Harry Wallop about how supermarkets use our data and the futurist Tracey Follows who gives us her take on what might happen next in the world of AI. Jaega also hears the tipped top food trends for 2025.

Presented by Jaega Wise
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Robin Markwell


SAT 23:00 What? Seriously?? (m0026swh)
2. Beaks and Bloody Battles

In this episode, Dara and Isy are joined by the Aussie comedian Rhys Nicholson to learn about a humbling event in Australia's military history - with some diverting conversations about foxes, films, and flightless birds.

What? Seriously?? is a new podcast which combines comedy with quirky history, hosted by Dara and Isy who unravel an extraordinary real-life tale each week with the help of a celebrity guest.

The stories are definitely true, but also kind of unbelievable at the same time - the sort of stories that make you go ‘What? Seriously??’ when you hear them, but you resolve to tell them in the pub the first chance you get.

Across the series, Dara and Isy will be joined by I’m A Celeb winner Georgia Toffolo, the Aussie comedian Rhys Nicholson, the broadcaster Stuart Maconie, Master Chef star Louisa Ellis, Miles from The Traitors, the comedian Richard Herring, the astronaut Helen Sharman, and Slow Horses star Chris Chung.

‘What? Seriously??’ with Dara Ó Briain and Isy Suttie and special guest Rhys Nicholson
Format co-developed by Dan Page. Story compiled by Gareth Edwards and Dan Page.
Producer: Laura Grimshaw
Executive Producer: Jon Holmes
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:30 Counterpoint (m0026n4g)
Series 38

Heat 2, 2025

(2/13)
Three more contenders line up to display their knowledge of music in all its varieties, with Paul Gambaccini asking the questions. They'll be expected to know about Pavarotti, Handel and Mussorgsky as well as Pink Floyd, the Supremes and Shania Twain. In the second round Paul will be giving them a choice of special musical topics on which they'll have to answer individual questions, without any advance notice of what the categories are going to be.

Taking part are:
Gareth Aubrey from Beddau in south Wales
Nicholas Brann from Wimbledon
Sue Bates from Leicestershire.

Counterpoint is a BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria

SUNDAY 12 JANUARY 2025

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m0026tw4)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Bookclub (m0026n4d)
Richard Osman

Presented by James Naughtie, BBC Bookclub speaks to the writer Richard Osman about his crime-fiction novel The Thursday Murder Club, which sold millions of copies, and has been made into a film.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0026tw6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0026tw8)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0026twb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m0026twd)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m0026twg)
St Mary’s church in the village of Frittenden, Kent

Bells on Sunday comes from St Mary’s church in the village of Frittenden, Kent. The church underwent extensive renovation and rebuilding in 1848 following a fire in the Church when lightning struck the Church steeple. This included a new upper tower and recessed stone spire. There are eight bells which were cast by the Gillett and Johnston foundry in 1928 using metal from an earlier ring of eight. The tenor bell weighs fifteen and one quarter hundredweight and tuned to the note of F sharp. We hear them ringing Spliced Surprise Major.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m0026ndz)
Macular Society's New CEO, Ed Holloway; New OCT Scanner Technology

The Macular Society has a new CEO, Ed Holloway. With Macular disease being the most common form of sight loss in the UK, its important that the charity continue their work in supporting people with the condition, but also push towards more research and the discovery of new treatments. Ed Holloway describes what his plans are in these areas and other ambitions he has for the future of the charity.

Siloton are a medical equipment manufacturing company that also have big ambitions within this space. Ben Hunt is one of their co-founders and he describes to In Touch about a new form of OCT scanner they are developing, with the aim of empowering patients to conduct their own scans within the home and also to reduce NHS waiting lists.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: David Baguley
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio’ in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m0026typ)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Beyond Belief (m0026nd2)
Divine Comedy

Faith based comedy is growing in popularity. Why is religion such a good source for jokes? Is God funny? And, is there anywhere with religion that you just don’t go?

Dillon Mapletoft, the writer and creator of hit comedy Everyone Else Burns, explains his fundamentalist Christian upbringing and the influence it had on him writing the coming-of-age sitcom about a Manchester family who are part of a puritanical Christian sect and doomsday cult.

To explore Giles Fraser is joined by Shazia Mirza, comedian and part of a female only Halal comedy tour, Shanny Luft, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Winconsin, and Ashley Blaker, a Jewish comedian and writer once described as "the UK's only Orthodox comedian".

Producer: Alexa Good
Assistant Producer: Linda Walker
Editor: Tim Pemberton


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m0026tyt)
The Bake Off Farmer - Mike Wilkins

Mike Wilkins is an arable farmer who shot to fame as a contestant on this season's Great British Bake Off. Charlotte Smith meets him on his family's farm in North Wiltshire. His passion is the arable side of the business, but over the past few years, he and his family have started to introduce livestock back onto the farm. His vision - to open a farm shop and cafe, which will sell produce and serve locally grown food, with minimum food miles. He says celebrity baker Paul Hollywood's promised to visit!

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced by Rebecca Rooney


SUN 06:57 Weather (m0026tyy)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m0026tz2)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m0026tz6)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m0026tzb)
MicroLoan Foundation

Mariella Frostrup makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of MicroLoan Foundation. The charity provides small start-up loans for female entrepreneurs in Africa so they can set up businesses and help themselves out of poverty.

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 ‘MicroLoan Foundation’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘MicroLoan Foundation’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4

Registered Charity Number: 104287 (Scotland: SC041941). If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.microloanfoundation.org.uk
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites

Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m0026tzg)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m0026tzl)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m0026tzq)
A new year, a new term and a new hope

At the start of a new year and a new term Sunday Worship comes from St Mary’s – the neighbouring church to Reigate Grammar School – for a service of celebration as the school marks its 350th anniversary year and reflects on the success of student, Sharon, the BBC Young Chorister of the Year 2024.

The Godfrey Searle Choir made up of pupils from Reigate St Mary’s and Reigate Grammar School will provide the music and there will be solo performances from Sharon, Senior winner of BBC Young Chorister of the Year.

The service will be led by the School Chaplain the Rev Philip Jackson and the Headmaster Shaun Fenton. The Director of Music is Tali Glynne-Jones.

Music:

Be Thou My Vision (Bob Chilcott)

Bethlehem Down (Peter Warlock)

A New Year Carol (Benjamin Britten)

Ubi Caritas (Ola Gjeilo)

Producer: Alexa Good


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m0026npk)
On a Gloomy Moment

In deepest, darkest January, Adam Gopnik muses on light and dark.

Adam reminds us that - from the natural world of the ghost moth to the politics of today's America - although we live in a 'gloomy moment' we can 'adjust our eyes to the gloom.'

'Every little bit of light we make,' writes Adam, 'in every decent thing we do and every indecency we refuse to accept, illuminates some small corner of our universe. Even at night, after all, we still see light. The stars shine, too.'

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m0026tzv)
Mya Bambrick on the Waxwing

A new series of Tweet of the Day for Sunday morning revealing personal and fascinating stories from some fresh voices who have been inspired by birds, their calls and encounters.

For Mya Bambrick, the punks are back in town! Celebrating some of the young birdwatchers and emerging naturalists Tweet of the Day features the urban arrival of waxwings in Sussex. Ornithologist Mya, winner of the BTO Young Ornithologist Award 2023, alerted by social media of the waxwings arrival, heads into the centre of town to see a flock of Bohemian waxwing feeding on berries.

Producer: Andrew Dawes for BBC Audio Bristol
Studio engineer : Ilse Lademann


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m0026tzz)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m0026v03)
Laurie Anderson, artist

Laurie Anderson is an artist and performer who came to fame in the UK with her 1981 hit O Superman. Her work spans music, film and multimedia projects which interrogate our relationship with technology and tell stories about the world we live in.

She was born in Chicago in 1947, the second-oldest of eight children, and started learning the violin when she was five. She studied Art History at Barnard College in New York and took a Masters in Sculpture at Columbia University.

In the 1970s she was part of the downtown New York art scene and her friends and contemporaries included Philip Glass, Gordon Matta-Clark and the choreographer and dancer Trisha Brown. One of Laurie’s first performance art pieces featured a symphony played by car horns.

In 1992 she met Lou Reed, the singer and songwriter who fronted the Velvet Underground. They were together for 21 years until his death in 2013. Laurie is the head of Lou’s archive which is at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and open to anyone who wants to learn more about his musical adventures.

In 2024 Laurie was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award at the Grammys and a Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication.

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m0026v05)
Writer: Shaun McKenna
Director: Peter Leslie Wild
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Ben Archer…. Ben Norris
David Archer…. Timothy Bentinck
Henry Archer…. Blayke Darby
Jolene Archer…. Bufffy Davis
Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee
Ruth Archer…. Felicity Finch
Leonard Berry…. Paul Copley
Harrison Burns…. James Cartwright
Justin Elliot…. Simon Williams
Brad Horrobin…. Taylor Uttley
Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell
Khalil Malik…. Krish Bassi
Kirsty Miller…. Annabelle Dowler
Lily Pargetter…. Katie Redford
Fallon Rogers…. Joanna Van Kampen
Inspector Norris…. Bharti Patel
Scarlett…. Beatrice White


SUN 12:15 Profile (m0026tvy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m0026nk3)
Series 82

Episode 5

The godfather of all panel shows pays a visit to the City Hall in Sheffield. On the panel are Milton Jones, Lucy Porter, Miles Jupp and Tony Hawks, with Jack Dee in the umpire’s chair. Colin Sell accompanies on the piano.

Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:57 Weather (m0026v07)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m0026v09)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world.


SUN 13:30 12/01/2025 (m0026v0c)
Last summer, Canada’s population grew to a record 40 million people - a moment the Canadian government described as an “exciting milestone”.

The Canadian people didn’t necessarily agree. Canada has long been proud of its multicultural roots, but - for the first time - surveys show a significant number believe there are too many immigrants coming into the country.

Accusations that newcomers are hurting “the real Canada” are spreading on social media, with some arguing that Canadian cities simply can’t support so many new arrivals.

The BBC’s Celia Hatton travels to her home country to learn why more Canadians are questioning their country’s relationship with immigration, and why others are fighting to keep the country’s doors open to newcomers.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0026nny)
Midlothian: Polytunnels, Gardening Regrets and Plants With Purpose

Is a polytunnel good for keeping weeds out? What type of wall would be more suitable for a lean-to greenhouse? What are the panel's gardening regrets?

Kathy Clugston and a team of experts return to the windswept region of Midlothian, to solve the gardening questions of a green-fingered audience. Kathy is joined by ethnobotanist James Wong, garden designer Neil Porteous and Head of Gardens at Balmoral Kirsty Wilson.

Later in the programme, James Wong learns about Royal Edinburgh Botanical Gardens 'Plants with Purpose' campaign, which uses horticulture to mitigate the effects of climate change on urban locations.

Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod

Executive Producer: Carly Maile

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m0026v0f)
Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Episode 2

John Yorke examines Kate Atkinson’s 1995 Whitbread award-winning debut Behind the Scenes at the Museum. An epic tragi-comedy, the novel tells the story of protagonist Ruby Lennox, who is born above a family pet shop in York in the early 1950s and grows up in post-war Britain. Through Ruby, the reader is transported back and forth through the centuries as she recounts the stories of four generations of her family from the 1800s to the mid-1990s.

Behind the Scenes at the Museum was the first in a series of novels by Kate Atkinson to explore the war and its fall-out. In this episode, John explores the themes and structure of a novel praised for its inventiveness, ambition and wit. Thirty years on, it remains a contemporary classic. So why, and how, does it work?

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy, he's trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative - including many podcasts for R4.

Contributors:
Alex Clark, Literary Journalist and Broadcaster
Armelle Parey, Professor of Contemporary British Fiction at the University of Caen-Normandie
Lee Randall, Writer, editor and book festival programmer

Credits:
Audio archive clips from Book Club (BBC Sounds), A Good Read (BBC Sounds)

Producer: Lucy Hough
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Readings: Clare Corbett
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Production Hub Coordinator: Nina Semple

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Behind the Scenes at the Museum (m0026v0h)
Episode 2

Ruby Lennox’s family is ostensibly ordinary. But behind the scenes, secrets, lies and inexplicable coincidences are waiting to be found.

In Kate Atkinson’s beguiling Behind The Scenes At The Museum, the effervescent Ruby pulls at threads at to unravel a tragi-comic story of family love, loss and heartbreak that spans a century. Starring Rosie Cavaliero, Kate O'Flynn and Samuel James.

Behind the Scenes at the Museum won the Whitbread Best Book of the Year in 1995, and is now dramatised by one of our very best audio writers, Katie Hims, for BBC Radio 4. This is part two of three episodes.

Bunty’s disappeared, so Ruby, Gillian and Patricia spend a glorious week on holiday in Whitby with George’s ‘friend’ Doreen. But the fun can’t last forever..

CAST
Ruby ..... Rosie Cavaliero
Bunty ..... Kate O’Flynn
George/Edmund ..... Samuel James
Doreen ..... Laura Dos Santos
Young Ruby ..... Matilda Kent
Young Gillian ..... Ava Talbot
Young Patricia ..... Frankie-Jae Simmonds
Lilian ..... Andi Bickers
Nell ..... Shreya Lallu
Paddy ..... Nuhazet Diaz Cano
Mac ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr

Dramatist ..... Katie Hims
Director ..... Anne Isger
Production Co-ordinators ..... Jenny Mendez and Maggie Olgiati
Sound ..... Keith Graham, Ali Craig, Andy Garratt

A BBC Studios Audio Production for BBC Radio 4

KATIE HIMS

Katie has written extensively in audio drama including multiple leading adaptations for BBC Radio 4: Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'ubervilles, George Eliot's Middlemarch, Edna O'Brien's The Country Girls and The Martin Beck Killings by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo.

Katie was also lead writer on BBC's Home Front and other radio work includes Black Eyed Girls (winner of the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Original Drama), Lost Property (winner of the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Original Drama), The Gunshot Wedding (winner of The Writer’s Guild Best Original Radio Drama) and The Earthquake Girl (winner of the Richard Imison Award).

In TV Katie is developing an original grounded sci-fi drama with Hooley Productions, and has episodic experience on BBC's long running series Casualty. In theatre, Katie is currently on attachment at the National Theatre. Her recent stage work includes a contemporary retelling of Kafka's The Trial which ran at The Unicorn Theatre in 2023 and received 4 and 5 star reviews.


SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m0026v0k)
Jonathan Coe

This week Take Four Books, presented by James Crawford, speaks to the award-winning writer Jonathan Coe about his new novel - The Proof Of My Innocence - and explores its connections to three other literary works. Jonathan's three influencing texts were: The Pledge by Friedrich Durrenmatt; Good As Gold by Joseph Heller; and Unexplained Laughter by Alice Thomas Ellis.

Producer: Dom Howell
Editor: Annie McGuire
This was a BBC AUDIO SCOTLAND production


SUN 16:30 Counterpoint (m0026v0m)
Series 38

Heat 3, 2025

(3/13)
In the third heat of the 2025 series, Paul Gambaccini's questions cover everything from minimalism to Michael Jackson, the new Master of the King's Music and the pop songs inspired by Bach. One of today's trio of competitors will win a place in the semi-finals and take another step towards the 38th BBC Counterpoint title.

Appearing today are
John Gallagher from Warwickshire
Liz Langley from Buckinghamshire
Jonathan Brick from Hertfordshire

As well as demonstrating their musical general knowledge, they'll each have to choose a special category on which to answer individual questions in Round 2, with no prior warning of the choices.

Counterpoint is a BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct5ydw)
Saving lives after the 2002 Bali bombings

Two bombs ripped through the Kuta area of the Indonesian island of Bali on 12 October 2002.

202 people were killed.

28 burns victims were taken to Royal Perth Hospital, Australia, where plastic surgeon Professor Fiona Wood worked.

She led a team working to save patients suffering between two and 92 percent body burns using ‘spray-on skin’.

Professor Wood speaks to Megan Jones.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Professor Fiona Wood. Credit: Fiona Wood Foundation)


SUN 17:10 The Verb (m0026v0r)
Richard Dawkins, Gwyneth Lewis, Kate Fox, Eartoon

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins tells Ian McMillan about the influence of poetry on his writing, and shares poems written by his own mother. Ian also explores the influence of a very competitive mother on the life and poetry of former National Poet of Wales Gwyneth Lewis. And as it's the first Verb of the year, stand-up poet Kate Fox suggests new names for all the calendar months, whilst Stagedoor Johnny brings a new 'eartoon' (which explains why the names of baby animals can be so confusing).

Richard Dawkins' new book is 'The Genetic Book of the Dead'
Gwyneth Lewis' memoir is 'Nightshade Mother'
Kate Fox's latest book is 'On Sycamore Gap'


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0026v0t)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m0026v0w)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0026v0y)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m0026v10)
Elizabeth Alker

A selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m0026v12)
Justin faces a dilemma, and plans forge ahead for Ruth.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m0026x15)
In Pieces

For some, burnout feels like an unravelling - a slow, creeping dissolution where the threads of your life and identity loosen and fray until you are completely undone.

For others, it’s a breaking point - a sharp, sudden, collapse where everything shatters all at once. It doesn’t just kill physical vitality it also guts the entire internal mechanism of us. Like lifting the hood off a car and finding no engine. There’s nothing, a void, which feels very shameful and fragile to those who have defined themselves by performance and always had the ability to bounce back.

Driven by extensive rumination both burnout and shame thrive in silence.

Stories are often how we create shape from the mess, they turn shame into something softer; something shared. They are how we make sense of the world, and often how we survive it. Giving us the power to hold what feels unholdable and ultimately creating a space where someone else can say, “me too”.

And sometimes required isn’t the courage to keep it all together, but to surrender and come apart.

Recovery is messy, non-linear but also deeply creative.

This is where the feature maker Hana Walker-Brown finds herself in this tender and intimate programme, sifting through the fragments, the scattered pieces of a life upended, considering how to start putting it back together.

With contributions from Luca and Theo Walker-Brown, Hana’s swimming companions Zoë and Gabby, Dr Sophie Mort, Dr Aaron Balick, Andrew Tobert and Services Director for Calm Wendy Robinson.

With thanks to Kenwood Ladies Pond and Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)

Featuring the use of "Prayer" by PJ Harvey

Produced and presented by Hana Walker-Brown

Sound design and original music by Hana Walker-Brown

Executive Producer: Anishka Sharma

Mix and Mastering: Peregrine Andrews

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m001scrp)
Walk Backwards

Step out - backwards! The Chinese have a saying that 100 steps backwards are worth 1000 steps forward - and they might be onto something! It may look bizarre to onlookers, but Michael delves into the research and finds some surprising benefits. It’s been used for decades in rehabilitative physical therapy, and recent research reveals that it could even boost memory - by giving your brain a workout! Michael also speaks to biomechanics expert and champion of backwards walking, Professor Janet Dufek from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, whose research suggests that walking backwards could help with lower back pain. They discuss why walking backwards is so beneficial for our muscles and how to do it safely. Volunteer Nina takes her daughter with her for a backward stroll - and gets a laugh out of it!

New episodes will be released on Wednesdays, but if you’re in the UK, listen to new episodes, a week early, first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3zqa6BB

Producer: Nija Dalal-Small
Science Producer: Catherine Wyler
Assistant Producer: Gulnar Mimaroglu
Trainee Assistant Producer: Toni Arenyeka
Executive Producer: Zoe Heron
A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.


SUN 20:00 Word of Mouth (m0026ngz)
Susie Dent's World of Words

Susie Dent joins Michael to talk about her lifelong fascination with words and their origins. It's a programme bringing some apricity, which is one of Susie's favourite words. Her love of language began when she was a child, then found expression in her passion for French and German and now in her work as a lexicographer, writer and language broadcaster.

Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Beth O'Dea.
Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m0026np2)
Jean-Marie Le Pen, Catherine Brown, Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes, Johnnie Walker

Matthew Bannister on Jean-Marie Le Pen, who built up the French right wing National Front Party before being ejected from it by his daughter.

Catherine Brown, the food writer who championed traditional Scottish cuisine.

Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes, the parliamentarian who fought for consumer rights.

And the radio DJ Johnnie Walker, known for his passion for music and his rebellious attitude. Bob Harris pays tribute.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

Archive:
Birmingham Six Case Reopens, BBC News, 1990; Release of the Birmingham Six, BBC News, 1991; Hard Talk, BBC, 2000; BBC Radio 4, 1974; Anti-IRA Marches, BBC News, 1974; Sounds of the 70s with Bob Harris, BBC R2, 2024; Johnnie Walker, Radio Caroline, 1968; Johnnie Walker: Interview, BBC Radio 1 Vintage, 2017; Sounds of the 70s with Johnnie Walker, BBC R2, 2024; Offshore Radio RSL and Johnnie Walker interview, Sky News, 1992; Sounds of the 70s with Johnnie Walker - Walker & Walker: Johnnie & Tiggy, BBC R2, 2024; Johnnie Walker Show, Radio Caroline, 14/08/1967; Walker on Walker, BBC R2, 2025; Johnnie Walker on KSAN, 1976; Johnnie Walker Documentary on Pirate Stations; Radio Cafe, BBC Radio Scotland, 2009; Kitchen Cafe, BBC Radio Scotland, 2009; Catherine Brown, Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, 2017; BBC World at One,1981; House of Lords, 2017; BBC West, 1974: Tomorrow’s World, BBC1, 1976; BBC News, 1989


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m0026tv9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m0026tzb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0026tv5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m0026v14)
Ben Wright and guests discuss the economy, UK-China relations and the government's plans for schools

Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 Illuminated (m002698f)
My Night With Tracy - How the Darwin Cyclone Made a Man of Mike Thomson

What drives us? What makes us who we are? For one of the BBC’s most experienced foreign correspondents, the multi-award-winning Mike Thomson, it was a near-death experience in Australia’s worst natural disaster this century. Having been kicked out of school at 17 for refusing to cut his hair, Mike opts to go travelling. With an older family friend, Mick Kendall, he journeys overland from Ivybridge in Devon to Australia’s 'top end' via Turkey, Afghanistan, India, Burma and Indonesia. Mike arrives in Darwin in December 1974. However, the search for fun and adventure with Mick and their new friend, Daryl Johnson, turns to terror when an “evil wind” known as Cyclone Tracy strikes on Christmas Eve and flattens the city in one night. For days Mike’s parents think their youngest child is "presumed dead" His name is on a list of causalities when in fact Mike was being well looked after as a refugee and evacuated to a farm in Western Australia. Why the confusion? Who is this ‘other’ Thomson? Now, 50 years on, Mike returns to Darwin to answer these questions and search for the two friends who helped him through the ordeal that shaped him.

For more stories like this, search for Illuminated on BBC Sounds. It was produced by Ed Prendeville for BBC Audio Wales and Jane Ray for Cat Flap Media. Sound design is by John Wakefield, original music by Ben Goodman. This edition of ILLUMINATED was written and presented by Mike Thomson.

With thanks to Rod Louey-Gung on behalf of the Northern Territories Museum for use of their archive.


SUN 23:30 The Bottom Line (m0026v16)
Decisions That Made Me: Sir John Hegarty (The Garage Soho, Founder)

The advertising exec behind some of the most successful adverts of recent decades shares some of the decisions that have influenced his career, including an early decision to accept a lower salary and instead pursue and opportunity that would bring him more opportunities. Sir John would go out to co-found successful agencies Bartle Bogle Hegarty, and Saatchi and Saatchi.

Today, Sir John says he shuns five year plans, instead focusing on 'five minute plans' and says he tries to make each day as interesting as it can be.

Production team:
Producer: Drew Hyndman
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison


SUN 23:45 Short Works (m0026np0)
The Third Wave

On New Year's Day 1919, more than 200 men returning home from the Great War were killed when HMY Iolaire struck rocks close to Stornoway Harbour. Iain Finlay Macleod's story marks the anniversary of one of Britain's worst maritime disasters.
Read by Daibhidh Walker
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie

MONDAY 13 JANUARY 2025

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m0026v18)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Crossing Continents (m0026nf3)
South Korea: The Feminist Hunters

Why feminism has become a dirty word in South Korea. Being a feminist is now something that can only be admitted in private, thanks to a fierce backlash against feminism. Anti-feminists accuse South Korean women who advocate for equality as being man-haters, worthy of punishment. Online witch-hunts - spearheaded by young male gamers - target women suspected of harbouring feminist views, bombarding them with abuse and demanding they be fired from their jobs. Jean Mackenzie investigates how these witch-hunts have silenced women, and asks what this means for the future of women's rights in a country where gender discrimination is still deeply entrenched.

Presenter: Jean Mackenzie
Producers: John Murphy, Jake Kwon, Hosu Lee and Leehyun Choi
Mixed by: Neil Churchill
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Penny Murphy


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m0026twg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0026v1b)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0026v1d)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0026v1g)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m0026v1j)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0026v1l)
Pandora's Box

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Fleur Dorrell

Good Morning.

When I was 14 my father made me a metal box which I’ve cherished ever since. I put my sports badges in it from my convent school days – athletics, netball and volleyball. The box with its art deco lid and beautiful hinge, contained my teenage hopes and dreams. When I open it now, I am straight back on the running track and reminded of those halcyon days.

Originally, Pandora’s box was actually a jar. In Greek mythology Pandora was the first woman to be created. She was given a jar full of the best gifts of the gods and goddesses to preserve for the human race. But among all the gifts that Zeus - the Father of the gods - had also planted, were evil, toil and illness. Pandora’s curiosity got the better of her and so she opened it, and the gifts and curses flew around the earth. By the time she closed the jar - only hope remained!

Sometimes the world feels out of control, and we want to ‘put a lid on it’. Or we seek a knowledge and power that have consequences that we cannot anticipate, and which neither free us nor those around us as we perceive they should.
In spite of what emerged, Pandora kept hold of hope, and so can we. We cannot undo the past, but we can face the future in hope and use our own gifts for the healing of the world.

I pray that today we will discern the times with more wisdom and less curiosity. May we be vessels of hope and a blessing in our time, bringing people together rather than fragmenting the earth.

Amen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m0026v1n)
13/01/25 - Glyphosate resistant weeds, willow trial for sheep, farm machinery sales down

A weed which is resistant to the herbicide glyphosate has been discovered for the first time in the UK, on a farm in Kent. What that could mean for regenerative farms which rely on the weedkiller?

All this week we’re turning our sights on farm machinery, and what innovations may be available to farmers in the coming years and decades.

A trial using Suffolk mule lambs, supported by Innovative Farmers, has been putting the benefits of browsing on willow to the test.

Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


MON 05:57 Weather (m0026v1q)
Weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m0026v86)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m0026v88)
Socrates, optimism and racism

In the first programme of the New Year Adam Rutherford follows two possible guides to a more fulfilled life – Socrates and optimism – but asks whether either has any answers to dealing with racism.

The philosopher Agnes Callard proposes the questioning Socratic method in Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life. She shows that this ancient method offers a new ethics to live by, from answering questions about identity and inequality, to helping us love and die well. But to truly flourish we also need a huge dose of optimism, according to the science writer Sumit Paul-Choudhury. In The Bright Side he argues that being optimistic is not only central to the human psyche, but plays a crucial role in overcoming the challenges of the twenty-first century.

The social psychologist Keon West is more sceptical. In his new book The Science of Racism, he challenges those – a reputed half of the population – who think that racism doesn’t exist. He goes back to the data and research to reveal the extent and prevalence of racist behaviour, and the repeated inadequacy of attempts to address it.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 Café Hope (m0026v8b)
Grub not garbage

Co-founder of REfUSE, Nikki Dravers, tells Rachel Burden how the social enterprise helps reduce food waste by running a 'pay-as-you-feel' cafe.

Café Hope is our virtual Radio 4 coffee shop, where guests pop in for a brew and a chat to tell us what they’re doing to make things better in big and small ways. Think of us as sitting in your local café, cooking up plans, hearing the gossip, and celebrating the people making the world a better place.

We’re all about trying to make change. It might be a transformational project that helps an entire community, or it might be about trying to make one life a little bit easier. And the key here is in the trying. This is real life. Not everything works, and there are struggles along the way. But it’s always worth a go.

You can contact us on cafehope@bbc.co.uk


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0026v8d)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


MON 11:00 The Body Politic (m0026v8g)
Surrogacy

The politics of the human body is at the centre of intense debate in the UK and beyond. Thanks to science, technology and a fast-moving political landscape, humans are increasingly able to intervene in the natural processes of life – how we are conceived, how we are born and how and when we die. But what are the limits to this intervention, how should we decide and who should decide?

Broadcaster and columnist Sonia Sodha gets behind divides and polarisation to discover nuance, complexity and compelling stories, often involving a fascinating clash of competing rights and interests.

The first episode focuses on surrogacy, where a woman gestates and gives birth to a baby for a couple or and individual. The UK surrogacy debate is at a crossroads - the practice is legal but limited, with reforms on the table to create new routes and attract more surrogates to come forward. Should they be implemented or should we follow countries like Italy, Spain and Germany and ban surrogacy entirely?

Sonia hears emotional testimony from those who have become new parents through surrogacy – a single man parenting a young daughter, a gay male couple who now run a leading surrogacy agency and an Irish senator whose experience of infertility led her to surrogacy in India and a campaign to reform the law in Ireland. Sonia hears too from a former surrogate who defends her right to use her body to help others become parents.

We also hear powerful stories from opponents, including a French woman born through surrogacy who is now estranged from her parents and claims long term psychological damage. And radical feminists explain why they see surrogacy as exploitative and misogynistic and why their campaign has brought strange new alliances across ideological divides.

Producer: Leala Padmanabhan
Sound Design: Hal Haines


MON 11:45 The Ideas List (m0026v8k)
1. Mondex

Thirty years ago, in March 1995, a fresh-faced Claudia Hammond arrived at the BBC for a job interview as a trainee science producer. To prepare, she put together a comprehensive list of science and health stories, ready to pitch at the interview.

Fast forward to the present day and Claudia, now an award-winning broadcaster and presenter of Radio 4’s All in the Mind, is sorting through the drawer of paper she keeps to recycle in her printer and she discovers the list of stories she’d prepared to pitch at that interview three decades earlier.

In this quirky, personal journey, Claudia revisits five ideas from her Ideas List to find out what happened next. She tracks each headline-grabbing story forward through the false-starts and dead ends, the surprises and successes. And she asks what each tale teaches us about the tortuous path of scientific progress.

In the first episode she looks into a bold experiment in digital cash which aimed to consign notes and coins to history.

Mondex looked like any other debit or credit card but it wasn’t associated with a bank account. The money was right there on the card and it was designed to be used for all those smaller purchases where cash was king, from a lunchtime sandwich to a pint in your local.

Swindon was chosen as the place to trial Mondex and in July 1995, amid a blaze of publicity, the card was launched in the town centre. The first official Mondex transaction was a copy of the local paper, the Swindon Advertiser.

Claudia meets one of the inventors of Mondex, Tim Jones. He tells her about the moment of inspiration which turned digital cash from a bright idea into reality. We also hear from Rob Jamieson whose job it was to win hearts and minds for Mondex among the businesses and residents of Swindon. And photographer Richard Wintle recalls the excitement of launch day, when the eyes of the world were on the Wiltshire town.

Producers: Florian Bohr and Jeremy Grange


MON 12:00 News Summary (m0026v8m)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m0026v8p)
Supermarket Challenges, Lost Phones on Airplanes, Pets on the Internet

How will supermarkets react to increased tax and wages costs this year. Leaving phones on planes; what are the chances of getting them back?


MON 12:57 Weather (m0026v8r)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m0026v8t)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


MON 13:45 Human Intelligence (m0026v8w)
Teachers: Michael Faraday

The modern world is inconceivable without this son of a blacksmith and his meticulous, relentless brain. Naomi Alderman meets the mind behind huge scientific advances – who made breakthroughs in the understanding of electricity, changed the technology by which we live and contributed to our theoretical understanding of the forces underpinning the universe. Faraday also devoted his life to spreading the understanding of science into public life via his lectures at the Royal Institution.

Special thanks to Frank James, Professor of the History of Science at University College London.

Produced by BBC Studios Audio in partnership with The Open University.


MON 14:00 The Archers (m0026v12)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Hennikay (m0026v8y)
Series 2

5. G.O.A.P.T.

Bill Bailey stars as Guy Starling, a middle aged man who, after 45 years, and for reasons quite unknown to him, is suddenly revisited by his imaginary childhood friend, Hennikay.

Guy is doing exceptionally well at his new job as a funeral plan salesman, mainly because he always listens to the advice of his imaginary friend, Hennikay, and ignores everything he’s told to do by his real boss, Tony.

This is quite easy to do because, since Tony visited the company’s head office in America, he has started speaking a totally incomprehensible form of corporate gibberish which has made him even more ignorable than before.

So everything is going well until the head of the company pays a surprise visit to learn the secret of Guy’s extraordinary success. Which is a problem for Tony, because he doesn’t know the secret and an even bigger problem for Guy, because he can’t tell anyone that it’s all down to an invisible 11 year old boy from 1976. And to make matters worse, Hennikay, his trusted friend and advisor seems to have disappeared and not even his therapist, Marika, seems able to summon him back.

Bill Bailey stars in this warm, funny look at the confusions of modern life - where adults too often act like and children and it takes a child to make sense of it all.

Written by David Spicer

Guy: Bill Bailey
Hennikay: Max Lester
Marika: Elizabeth Carling
Tony: Tony Gardner
Laura: Lorelei King

Producer: Liz Anstee
ACPL production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:45 Marple: Three New Stories (m001gj0d)
Miss Marple's Christmas by Ruth Ware

Miss Marple's Christmas (Part 3)

Agatha Christie’s iconic detective is reimagined for a new generation with a murder, a theft and a mystery where nothing is quite what it seems.

Miss Marple's Christmas by Ruth Ware
As the Bantry's guests at Gossington Hall await their sumptuous feast, a theft is discovered. Cook will not be amused when police interviews take precedence over turkey...

Read by Georgie Glen
Abridged and produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Almost 50 years since the publication of Agatha Christie's last Miss Marple novel, 'Marple: Twelve New Stories' is a collection of ingenious stories by acclaimed authors who also happen to be Christie devotees.


MON 15:00 Great Lives (m0026v90)
Jessica Fostekew on Boudica

"The Queen Boadicea, standing loftily charioted, Brandishing in her hand a dart and rolling glances lioness-like, Yell'd and shriek'd between her daughters in her fierce volubility": so wrote Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the 19th Century, celebrating the story of an ancient English warrior queen who sparked a brutal and bloody rebellion against Roman rule in the first century AD.

Today, Boudica - or as the Victorians renamed her, Boadicea - remains a symbol of bravery, independence, and that indomitable British underdog spirit; although how much of that is true and how much should be attributed to the romanticising of her story in later years, is open to debate...

Bringing that debate to the Great Lives studio is comedian and erstwhile Boudica impersonator Jessica Fostekew, along with expert insight from Professor Miranda Aldhouse-Green, known for her research on the Iron Age and the Celts as well as books including 'Boudica Britannia: Rebel, War-leader and Queen'.

So was Boudica a brutal giant of a women hell-bent on personal revenge, or a forward-thinking feminist leader determined to overthrow her country's conquerors?
And could her death possibly have been down to a war elephant? Jess, Miranda and Matthew thrash it out.

Presented by Matthew Parris, produced for BBC Studios Audio by Lucy Taylor.


MON 15:30 History's Heroes (m0026v92)
History's Youngest Heroes

History's Youngest Heroes: 6. Louis Braille: Code Maker

After losing his sight in a childhood accident, a young Frenchman invents a tool that will change the lives of blind people around the world.

Nicola Coughlan shines a light on extraordinary young people from across history. Join her for 12 stories of rebellion, risk and the radical power of youth.

A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Elaina Boateng
Series Producer: Suniti Somaiya
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Written by Alex von Tunzelmann
Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts


MON 16:00 12/01/2025 (m0026v0c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Rewinder (m0026tv1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m0026v94)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0026v96)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 18:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m0026v98)
Series 82

Episode 6

Back for a second week at the City Hall in Sheffield, panellists Milton Jones, Lucy Porter, Miles Jupp and Tony Hawks compete with one another, with Jack Dee the unimpressed umpire. Piano accompaniment is provided by Colin Sell.

Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random production for BBC Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m0026v5h)
Joy isn’t herself at all, and Helen considers her options.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m0026v9b)
Matthew Bourne on Oliver! and 30 years of male Swan Lake, Sidney Poitier season @ BFI, ghost writers want more recognition

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Ruth Watts


MON 20:00 The Briefing Room (m0026nh1)
Why does Trump love tariffs?

Donald Trump says he wants to introduce more tariffs on imports during his second presidency. He’s mentioned targeting imports from countries including Mexico, Canada, China and Demark as well as floating the idea of a universal tariff on all goods coming into the US.

So why does Trump like tariffs so much? What can we realistically expect him to do? And what would the effect be on the rest of us?

Archive clip included from Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Spotify, 25 October 2024.

Guests:
Sam Lowe, Partner at Flint Global consultancy
Meredith Crowley is a Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge
David Henig, Director of the UK Trade Policy Project
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Charlotte McDonald, Kirsteen Knight and Beth Ashmead Latham
Sound engineers: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (m0026nh3)
Science in 2025

How will science shape up in 2025?

Marnie Chesterton is joined by a panel of science watchers to discuss what we can expect from the year ahead. We'll talk big science, small science - and the plain cool. What will science do for us in the coming year?

On the Inside Science panel, we have:

- Tom Whipple, science editor of The Times
- Shaoni Bhattacharya, former acting science editor of The Observer & freelance editor at Research Professional News
- Penny Sarchet, commissioning editor at New Scientist

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producer: Gerry Holt
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth 

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.


MON 21:00 Start the Week (m0026v88)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 Café Hope (m0026v8b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m0026v9d)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


MON 22:45 Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban (m0026v9g)
Episode 1

In a tank of golden-green water at London Zoo, three giant sea turtles swim in futile circles. They are born to navigate, by some mysterious instinct, across thousands of miles of ocean - but these turtles are going nowhere.

Two isolated single people in their early 40s are both beset by ‘turtle thoughts’ and separately begin to conceive of a plan to return them to the sea.

William G is a divorced father, a junior assistant in a bookshop, he lives in a bedsit in Putney and has no idea where his two daughters are. Neaera H is a children's author and illustrator who has run out of ideas for her next book. Their diaries reveal the quiet sadnesses and dramas of their parallel lives and the shared enterprise that brings them together.

It's a story about hope and despair, loneliness and the heroic eccentricity of two individuals who feel compelled to act in a world which feels to both of them as if it is careering towards madness.

Turtle Diary is a modern classic, first published exactly 50 years ago. 2025 also marks the centenary of Russell Hoban's birth. One cover review calls Turtle Diary “life-saving”; novelist Max Porter said that it “has medicinal qualities. I only need to think about it and I’m in a better mood.”

"This lovely human fable seems to me one of the best things of its kind - a fine and touching achievement." John Fowles

"Worth rejoicing in ... a banquet of whimsical delights. Each Russell Hoban book is surprising ... but you also know what you're getting, which is curiosity, wonder and a world-encompassing empathy." John Self, The Guardian

Russell Hoban was an American writer born in 1925. His works span many genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magical realism, poetry, and children's books. He lived in London from 1969 until his death in 2011.

Written by Russell Hoban
Read by Daniel Weyman and Katherine Parkinson
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Limelight (m001bl3q)
Exemplar - Series 1

Exemplar - Episode 3

A modern day thriller set in the North East of England starring Gina McKee as a lone wolf audio forensic analyst and Juliet Stevenson as a populist leader. Jess and Maya reluctantly agree to assist a controversial public figure to verify a piece of incriminating audio.

Exemplar: an audio recording made by a forensic analyst to recreate the precise audio conditions of a piece of evidence in a criminal or civil case.

Exemplar is based on an idea by leading sound designers Ben and Max Ringham, and written by Ben Ringham, Max Ringham and Dan Rebellato.

Jess ..... Gina McKee
Maya ..... Shvorne Marks
Aoife ..... Fenella Woolgar
Judith ..... Barbara Marten
Rose ..... Juliet Stevenson
Lawrence ..... Asif Khan

Writers: Ben and Max Ringham, with Dan Rebellato
Showrunner: Dan Rebellato
Audio forensic consultant: James Zjalić
Sound recordist: Alisdair McGregor
Studio assistant: Oyin Fowowe
Production coordinator: Darren Spruce
Sound design: Lucinda Mason Brown and David Chilton
Original music/Sound consultants: Ben and Max Ringham
Directors: Polly Thomas and Jade Lewis
Executive producer: Joby Waldman

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0026v9j)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

TUESDAY 14 JANUARY 2025

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m0026v9l)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 The Ideas List (m0026v8k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0026v9n)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0026v9q)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0026v9s)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m0026v9v)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0026v9x)
Jubilee Hope

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Fleur Dorrell

Good Morning.

Pilgrimages are popular at the moment, whether to a local shrine close to home or a trek across the globe. They heal and restore us. The pilgrimage I remember with fondness is to Santiago di Compostela in northern Spain. Camping in tents, washing in rivers, and like a swarm of bees, finally descending on the Cathedral Square of St James to queue for our blessing and our pilgrim’s scallop shell.

Pope Francis has declared 2025 to be a Jubilee Year with the theme of ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. He is encouraging us, during this year, to go on a pilgrimage and change the way we live alongside each other. His model is the biblical Jubilee first celebrated in the Book of Leviticus, chapter 25.

Originally a year of restoration, justice and freedom, it represented the most radical system of social reform in the ancient world. It blocked land and wealth from becoming the focus of a wealthy elite at the expense of the ordinary people.
Meanwhile, the weekly Sabbath helped the people sustain this same vision: a day of rest for everyone, for the land and the animals. A time set aside and hallowed, to the praise and glory of God. Today Sunday Worship and weekend rest still provide many with a welcome break from work.

I pray that in this jubilee year - whether we find time to rest, or travel to a shrine of our faith, that we come together as pilgrims of this earth in the struggle for justice, freedom and hope.

Amen.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m0026v9z)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 06:00 Today (m0026v4r)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 Young Again (m0026v4t)
21. Sara Pascoe

Kirsty Young asks the comedian Sara Pascoe what advice she would give her younger self.

Pascoe found fame soon after moving from acting to stand up comedy in 2007. She has since packed out national tours, starred panel shows and sitcoms, and written three books including her acclaimed recent novel, Weirdo. She discusses drinking on stage, declaring bankruptcy, her first gig in front of just 12 people, becoming a mum in her forties and her continuing passion for performing stand up.

A BBC Studios Audio production.


TUE 09:30 Inside Health (m0026v4w)
Series that demystifies health issues, bringing clarity to conflicting advice.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0026v4y)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


TUE 11:00 Screenshot (m0026npf)
Therapists

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore how therapists have been portrayed on screen throughout cinema and television history. From the benign care of Claude Rains’ Dr Jaquith in Now, Voyager (1942), and the neuroses of Woody Allen, to the deadly Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs (1991), they survey the archetypes, the foibles, and the dramatic potential of the psychotherapist - both fictional and real.

Mark speaks with Richard Hughes, the TV producer and director turned psychotherapist, about his favourite screen therapists. And actor and writer Brett Goldstein talks about his Emmy nominated TV show, Shrinking, which features a therapist going off the rails.

Ellen speaks to Dr Orna Guralnik from the TV show Couples Therapy about what it's like conducting real therapy sessions on screen and what film and TV gets wrong about its depiction of therapy. ‘Therapy Speak’ is everywhere on social media, but it’s also present in many film and TV shows - Ellen discusses its rise with journalist Billie Walker.

Produced by Freya Hellier
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 11:45 The Ideas List (m0026v50)
2. Inhalable Vaccines

Thirty years ago years ago, in March 1995, a fresh-faced Claudia Hammond arrived at the BBC for a job interview as a trainee science producer. She put together a comprehensive list of science and health stories, ready to pitch at the interview. In this quirky, personal journey, Claudia revisits five ideas from her Ideas List to find out what happened next. She tracks each headline-grabbing story forward through the false-starts and dead ends, the surprises and successes. And she asks what each tale teaches us about the tortuous path of scientific progress.

In this episode, Claudia reexamines a story about inhalable flu vaccines that she had found in the New Scientist edition from March 11th, 1995. Normally, vaccines are administered via injections, but, in some ways, this isn’t ideal as it does not induce immunity in the mucosal tissues in the upper airways and nose.

In the early 90s, virologist Jan Wilschut decided to explore an idea: what if we were to create vaccines that could be administered right where influenza viruses enter the human body? After some very promising experiments in mice, he and his colleagues work together with a pharmaceutical company. But translating their approach into an actual medical treatment proves too difficult. And Jan wrote off the idea entirely.

Immunologist Chris Chiu shares with Claudia that, for the last decade or so, children in the UK have received an intranasal flu vaccine. The issue is that it is the only vaccine of its kind and does not work in adults. Other attempts to create similar intranasal or inhalable vaccines have not been successful as of yet. But there is hope on the horizon. The Covid pandemic has renewed interest in the idea of stopping infections in their tracks. And with new technological developments and a better understanding of the human immune system, Chris believes that inhalable vaccines could become a reality in the future.

Jan Wilschut didn’t follow any of these new developments. And hearing about it now made him reflect on his old failed attempt to revolutionise flu vaccines. Maybe his idea was just too visionary.

Producers: Florian Bohr and Jeremy Grange


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m0026v53)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m0026v55)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


TUE 12:57 Weather (m0026v57)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m0026v59)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


TUE 13:45 Human Intelligence (m0026v5c)
Teachers: Maimonides

Naomi Alderman explores one of the greatest minds of the medieval world and in the history of Jewish thought. His work, The Guide for the Perplexed, is among the most influential works of medieval philosophy. In his efforts to reconcile faith and reason, Maimonides was having parts of the Enlightenment in his head 600 years early.

Special thanks to Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum, Dean of the London School of Jewish Studies and the Rabbi Sacks Chair of Modern Jewish Thought.

Produced by BBC Studios Audio in partnership with The Open University.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m0026v5h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 This Thing of Darkness (m001tr8k)
Series 3

A Dangerous Animal

by Frances Poet with monologues by Eileen Horne.

Part One – A Dangerous Animal

Dr Alex Bridges is an expert forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, assessing and treating perpetrators of serious crime.

This gripping drama explores the psychological impact of murder on teenage perpetrators and follows the fortunes of participants in a Long Sentence therapy group.

Has Dr Bridges made a mistake in putting co-offenders together in Group therapy?

Dr Alex Bridges ….. Lolita Chakrabarti
Anthony ….. Lorn Macdonald
Finn ….. Reuben Joseph
Twitch …. Brian Ferguson
Simon ….. Shaun Mason
Donna ….. Karen Bartke
Mental Health Nurse ….. Elysia Welch

Sound Design: Fraser Jackson

Series Consultant: Dr Gwen Adshead

Series format created by Lucia Haynes, Audrey Gillan, Eileen Horne, Gaynor Macfarlane, Anita Vettesse and Kirsty Williams.

Thanks to Victoria Byrne, Barlinnie Prison, Vox Liminis Distant Voices Project and Prof Fergus McNeill.

Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane and Kirsty Williams

A BBC Scotland Production directed by Gaynor Macfarlane and Kirsty Williams


TUE 15:00 The Gift (m0024p01)
Series 2

1. Switched - Part 1

An at-home DNA test - taken by chance when a game of golf is rained off - forces one man and three women to reassess everything they thought they knew about their families.

It’s the perfect gift for the person who already has everything. It promises to tell you who you really are, and how you’re connected to the world. A present that will reveal your genetic past – but could also disrupt your future.

In the first series of The Gift, Jenny Kleeman looked at the extraordinary truths that can unravel when people take at-home DNA tests like Ancestry and 23andMe.

For the second series, Jenny is going deeper into the unintended consequences - the aftershocks - set in motion when people link up to the enormous global DNA database.

Reconnecting and rupturing families, uprooting identities, unearthing long-buried secrets - what happens after technology, genealogy and identity collide?

Presenter: Jenny Kleeman
Producer: Conor Garrett
Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett
Editor: Philip Sellars
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

The Gift is a BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:30 Beyond Belief (m0026v5m)
Pharisees: a byword for hypocrisy?

The word hypocrite gets used with such regularity – and Jesus himself had form using the term.

How did the Pharisees became a byword for hypocrisy and is it fair? Was Jesus wrong about the Pharisees? Is the view of the Pharisees changing?

To discuss Giles Fraser is joined by Amy-Jill Levine, Professor of New Testament Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt University and co-author of ‘The Pharisees’, James Alison a Catholic Theologian and Dr Stephen de Wijze, a philosopher and Senior Lecturer in Political Theory at Manchester University.

Producer: Alexa Good
Assistant Producer: Linda Walker
Editor: Tim Pemberton


TUE 16:00 50 years of the Koln Concert (m0026v5r)
Fifty years after Keith Jarrett performed the Koln Concert to a sellout crowd, Kevin le Gendre explores the enduring appeal of the biggest selling solo piano record of all time, and unpicks a new musical language born out of adversity.

That night in January 1975 is full of stories - of Keith Jarrett's long journey, no food, poor sleep and arriving at the Cologne Opera House to find a broken piano. The concert was almost cancelled and the legendary recording beloved by millions nearly never happened. Yet could these problems be at the heart of the album's bewitching new sound world?

Multi Grammy award winner, Jacob Collier, sits at the piano to unpick Jarrett's evocative harmonies that have captured millions of hearts far beyond the jazz world.

Writer Geoff Dyer applauds Jarrett's gorgeous lyricism and discusses the momentous achievement of improvising live for over an hour, not knowing what the first note would be. Also, British jazz pianists Nikki Yeoh and Django Bates reflect on Jarrett's influence and tell stories of gigs where limitations lead to magic

And in testament to the album's blockbuster success, we hear from a few of the many guests who have picked the Koln Concert on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.

Presenter: Kevin le Gendre
Producer: Erika Wright
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
A TellTale Industries production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 16:30 When It Hits the Fan (m0026v5w)
Who's in the news for all the wrong reasons? With David Yelland and Simon Lewis.


TUE 17:00 PM (m0026v60)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0026v64)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 18:30 Janey Godley: The C Bomb (m001x53c)
Series 2

2. It Was Acceptable in the 70s

Trying her best to live in the present and working as hard as ever, Janey is compelled to share the strange, colourful, almost mythical world of her past. With stories of stealing coal, copper wires and playing on train tracks, and the poignant reason she’s taken up a challenging new hobby in the limited time she has left.

Reflecting on the past with honesty, vulnerability and empathy for those who let her down, she continues to find humour and insight in both the darkness and the ridiculous.

A mix of stories told onstage to a hometown audience, and candid conversations with her daughter Ashley Storrie, recorded in the living room of their home in Glasgow.

Produced by Julia Sutherland.
Featuring Ashley Storrie.

A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m0026v6d)
Rex is left confused, and Neil has questions.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m0026v6j)
Leigh Whannel's new horror film, Michael Morpurgo's reworking of Vivaldi's Four Seasons sonnets, improving access to culture

Presenter: Nick Ahad
Producer: Ekene Akalawu


TUE 20:00 File on 4 Investigates (m0026v6n)
Current affairs documentary series investigating major issues at home and abroad.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m0026v6s)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.


TUE 21:00 Crossing Continents (m0026v6x)
Series focusing on foreign affairs issues.


TUE 21:30 The Bottom Line (m0026ngl)
Networking: Will It Actually Help Me Get a Job?

Evan Davis gets up-to-date tips on finding a new job and hears how the process of making yourself stand out to an employer has changed over the years.

Episode guests:
Sophie O'Brien: CEO and Founder of Pollen Careers
Depesh Nathwani: CEO of The Consumer Helpline Group
Shan Saba: Director of Brightwork Staffline

Presenter: Evan Davis
Producers: Bob Howard and Nick Holland
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Editor: Matt Willis

The Bottom Line is produced in partnership with The Open University.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m0026v71)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


TUE 22:45 Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban (m0026v75)
Episode 2

In a tank of golden-green water at London Zoo, three giant sea turtles swim in futile circles. They are born to navigate, by some mysterious instinct, across thousands of miles of ocean - but these turtles are going nowhere.

Two isolated single people in their early 40s are both beset by ‘turtle thoughts’ and separately begin to conceive of a plan to return them to the sea.

William G is a divorced father, a junior assistant in a bookshop, he lives in a bedsit in Putney and has no idea where his two daughters are. Neaera H is a children's author and illustrator who has run out of ideas for her next book. Their diaries reveal the quiet sadnesses and dramas of their parallel lives and the shared enterprise that brings them together.

It's a story about hope and despair, loneliness and the heroic eccentricity of two individuals who feel compelled to act in a world which feels to both of them as if it is careering towards madness.

Turtle Diary is a modern classic, first published exactly 50 years ago. 2025 also marks the centenary of Russell Hoban's birth. One cover review calls Turtle Diary “life-saving”; novelist Max Porter said that it “has medicinal qualities. I only need to think about it and I’m in a better mood.”

"This lovely human fable seems to me one of the best things of its kind - a fine and touching achievement." John Fowles

"Worth rejoicing in ... a banquet of whimsical delights. Each Russell Hoban book is surprising ... but you also know what you're getting, which is curiosity, wonder and a world-encompassing empathy." John Self, The Guardian

Russell Hoban was an American writer born in 1925. His works span many genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magical realism, poetry, and children's books. He lived in London from 1969 until his death in 2011.

Written by Russell Hoban
Read by Daniel Weyman and Katherine Parkinson
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:00 Now You're Asking with Marian Keyes and Tara Flynn (m0026v7c)
The Knick-Knack Nightmare Problem

You're gay and your best friend is married to a man who seems to be jealous of your relationship with his wife - what would you do? Your girlfriend's father is sick and you want to support her but are conflicted - what should you do? Your boyfriend's mother seems determined to fill your new flat with horrible ornaments - what could you do? Another week of listener problems - plus the living hell that is a tasting menu. Marian and Tara are here to unpack the shoulds, woulds and coulds.

We have been inundated with emails since the last series, but everything gets read, and we're always on the lookout for new questions, queries and conundrums to include on the show.

Marian Keyes is a multi-award-winning writer, with a total of over 30 million of her books sold to date in 33 languages. Her close friend Tara Flynn is an actress, comedian and writer. Together, these two friends have been through a lot, and now want to use their considerable life experience to help solve the biggest - and smallest - of the things that keep us awake at night.

Got a problem you want Marian and Tara to solve? Email: marianandtara@bbc.co.uk.

Producer: Steve Doherty.
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0026v7h)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament