RADIO-LISTS: BBC RADIO 4
Unofficial Weekly Listings for BBC Radio 4 — supported by bbc.co.uk/programmes/
SATURDAY 01 FEBRUARY 2025
SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m0027d4y)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 00:30 The History Podcast (m001zdtd)
Shadow War: China and the West
Shadow War: 10. Collision
Could growing tensions lead to conflict? The rise of China is the defining challenge of our times – how far to co-operate, compete or confront? But has the West taken its eye off the ball? BBC Security Correspondent Gordon Corera looks at the points of friction in recent history, from espionage to free speech, the battle over technology and claims of political interference. This is a story about the competition to shape the world order. He speaks to politicians, spies, dissidents and those who’ve been caught up in the growing tension between China and the West.
Presenter: Gordon Corera
Series Producer: John Murphy
Producer: Olivia Lace-Evans
Sound Designer: Eloise Whitmore (Naked Productions)
Programme Coordinator: Katie Morrison
Series Editor: Penny Murphy
SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0027d50)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0027d52)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0027d54)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m0027d56)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0027d58)
'I wrote a novel.' 'Neither did I.'
Reflection with Fiona Stewart, a writer who runs a Christian arts charity.
SAT 05:45 Why Do We Do That? (m0027d3x)
Series 2
2. Why do I get so upset when my team loses?
Ella Al-Shamahi is joined by Crystal Palace superfan Bobby and psychologist Martha Newson to find out why it's so devastating when our football team loses.
People who normally keep a stiff upper lip through life's ups and downs are distraught after a defeat. Is this a cultural response or something more primeval? Martha’s work shows that being beaten by another team deepens social bonds with fellow fans. From her results the fans of the least successful football clubs, including Crystal Palace, saw one another as kin and were willing to sacrifice themselves for each other.
BBC Studios Audio
Producer: Emily Bird
Additional production: Olivia Jani and Ben Hughes
Series Producer: Geraldine Fitzgerald
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem
SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m0027kzg)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m0027d7j)
Fife - Clatto Reservoir to Pitscottie
Clare is in the Kingdom of Fife today, hiking from Clatto Reservoir to Pitscottie. It’s a beautiful stretch of the Fife Pilgrim Way, a long-distance footpath that runs 65 miles from either Culross or North Queensferry (there’s a choice of starting places) and ends in St Andrews.
Joining her are three colleagues from the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, who helped to develop the route, and an Elder from the church in the village of Ceres who would like to see 'champing' (that's camping in churches) established as a way of providing good accommodation for Pilgrims passing through Ceres on their way to St Andrews.
The Fife Pilgrim Way was officially opened in 2019 and connects west to east Fife via routes traditionally used by religious pilgrims. The route is divided into seven sections, ranging from 8 to 11 miles in length. You can find more information here: https://fifecoastandcountrysidetrust.co.uk/walks/fife-pilgrim-way/
Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor
SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m0027kzj)
01/02/25 - Land Use Framework, inheritance tax, avian flu
There are a lot of different things we want land to deliver - growing food, producing green energy, supporting wildlife and supplying space for new homes. The Government has released a new Land Use Framework to help decide what should go where.
A new analysis of the planned inheritance tax on farm businesses suggests over 75% of commercial farms in England and Scotland could be impacted. Farmers are being urged to seek advice.
And 5 years since the UK left the EU we assess the progress towards new farm payments systems in each part of the UK.
Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced by Heather Simons
SAT 06:57 Weather (m0027kzl)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 07:00 Today (m0027kzn)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m0027kzq)
Malorie Blackman, Cat Burford, Claire Fayers, Felicity Jones
Former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman who’s transformed the literary landscape, broken boundaries and redefined storytelling, brings her brand of honesty and unfiltered storytelling to the stage with Pig Heart Boy.
Cat Burford, aka The Molar Explorer, navigates both teeth and tundras, balancing dentistry with daring polar expeditions - and has returned from Antarctica to join us.
The mythological author Claire Fayers isn't scared by lions, tigers and bears...she deals with Giants, Ghosts and Goblins.
All that plus the Inheritance Tracks of Oscar nominated actor Felicity Jones.
Presenters: Nikki Bedi and Jon Kay
Producer: Ben Mitchell
SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m0027kzs)
Sojourner Truth: American abolitionist, suffragist, preacher
Greg Jenner is joined in 19th-Century America by Dr Michell Chresfield and comedian Desiree Burch to learn all about abolitionist and suffragist Sojourner Truth. Born into slavery in a Dutch-speaking area of New England, Sojourner Truth fought to free herself and then others, becoming one of the best-known abolitionist activists in America. She even succeeded in freeing her son, making her the first Black American woman to win a court case. A devoutly religious woman, Truth felt that God had called her to travel the country, preaching and advocating for the end of slavery, women’s rights and universal suffrage. Along the way, she rubbed shoulders with abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, and politicians including Abraham Lincoln himself. This episode tells the story of her incredible life, beliefs and fight for justice, and even examines the true story behind her famous “ain’t I a woman?” speech.
If you’re a fan of inspirational activists, courtroom drama and questionable cults, you’ll love our episode on Sojourner Truth.
If you want more from Desiree and Michell, check out our episodes on Harriet Tubman and Josephine Baker. And for more abolitionist history, listen to our episode on Frederick Douglass.
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: Madeleine Bracey
Written by: Madeleine Bracey, 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 What's Funny About... (m0027kzv)
3. Yes Minister & Yes, Prime Minister
Peter Fincham and Jon Plowman are joined by Jonathan Lynn to hear the story of how he and his co-writer Sir Anthony Jay created their sitcom masterpiece Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.
Jonathan explains the challenges of writing a comedy about the on-the-face-of-it-not-entirely-hilarious subject of politicians and civil servants, and how he and Tony found such a rich vein of humour in the world of Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey. He reveals the politicians who inspired the character of Jim, and the unlikely role that John Cleese’s corporate training video company played in the creation of the series.
Producer: Owen Braben
An Expectation Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m0027kzx)
Caroline Wheeler from The Sunday Times assesses the latest developments at Westminster.
Following Rachel Reeves' speech setting out a series of major announcements on infrastructure projects, including backing plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, Caroline speaks to Labour MP, Josh Simons and crossbench peer, Richard Harrington, who chairs the manufacturers organisation Made UK about how to achieve growth in the UK economy.
On the fifth anniversary of the UK’s official departure from the EU, the chair of the Foreign Affairs select committee Emily Thornberry and the former Conservative MP and leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt discuss the state of play in EU-UK relations.
The Conservative peer, Charlotte Owen is campaigning to stop the rise of deep fake online pornography and she discusses this with Caroline and "Jodie", a victim of deep fake porn.
And, the Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle explains the importance of marking Holocaust Memorial Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in parliament.
SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0027kzz)
Donald Trump's rapid start
Kate Adie presents stories from the US, Mexico, Bangladesh, Guatemala and Malaysia
Donald Trump marked his return to the White House with a deluge of executive orders and announcements, which included an immigration crackdown, ending federal diversity programmes, and withdrawing the US from the WHO. Anthony Zurcher travelled with the president on board Air Force One.
In cities across the US, the Immigration Enforcement Agency has been conducting raids and arresting thousands of undocumented migrants, as part of President Trump’s crackdown. Mexico is preparing itself for the potential arrival of tens of thousands of people in the coming weeks. Will Grant reports from both sides of the border.
In Bangladesh, deaths related to diseases, such as cholera and rotavirus are considered especially high because of long-standing issues with overcrowding, poor sanitation and access to clean water. Rebecca Root visited a hospital in the capital, Dhaka, which is leading the way in treatment and prevention.
Many of Guatemala's indigenous communities live outside the major cities, and the stress of living isolated lives has fuelled mental health problems. A group of indigenous women is trying to change that - Jane Chambers went to Lake Atitlan to meet them.
The Malaysian state of Sabah, in northern Borneo is a mountainous region covered in dense rainforest. On a recent visit there, Stephen Moss came across the increasingly rare black hornbill – and a new generation of keen birdwatchers.
Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production coordinators: Katie Morrison & Sophie HIll
SAT 12:00 News Summary (m0027l01)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 12:04 Money Box (m0027l03)
Energy Back Billing and Lifetime ISAs
Thousands of people have made complaints to the Energy Ombudsman related to so-called back billing, which is when customers are sent new bills for energy use longer than 12 months prior. The practice was banned by the regulator Ofgem in 2018 but is still causing consumers problems. In the cases investigated by Money Box customers had to complain multiple times before their suppliers recognised they'd broken these rules and cancelled the bills. Ofgem says it's committed to reviewing billing practices while the trade industry body Energy UK says suppliers are continuously working to improve practices.
Is the Lifetime ISA fit for purpose in 2025? That's the question being asked as Parliament's Treasury Committee calls for evidence about whether it is still an appropriate financial product nine years after it was created. We'll discuss how it works successfully for some, but also the problems some people face.
The price people in England and Wales pay for water and sewage services will rise sharply from 1st April. Figures announced this week revealed that households in England and Wales will pay on average £123 a year more for their water. What can you do if you're worried about affording your bills?
And thousands of people in Northern Ireland are still without power after Storm Éowyn last week - what help is available?
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Eimear Devlin
Researcher: Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle
(First broadcast
12pm Saturday 1st February 2025)
SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m0027d49)
Series 116
Gear shifting and Shoplifting
This week on The News Quiz, Andy Zaltzman is joined by Simon Evans, Athena Kugblenu, Susie McCabe and Hugo Rifkind l to unpack the week's new stories. In the week Keir Starmer set his sights on growth, the panel looked backing of a third runway at Heathrow, a shoplifting epidemic, and the decline of urban chess in the streets of Nottingham.
Written by Andy Zaltzman.
With additional material by: Cameron Loxdale, Sascha LO, Meryl O'Rourke and Peter Tellouche.
Producer: Rajiv Karia
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman
Sound Manager: David Thomas
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4
An Eco-Audio certified Production
SAT 12:57 Weather (m0027l05)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 13:00 News (m0027l07)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4
SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m0027d4h)
Alex Burghart MP, Lord Falconer, Inaya Folarin Iman, Maya Goodfellow
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from London Museum Docklands with shadow cabinet minister Alex Burghart MP; Labour peer Lord Falconer; journalist and broadcaster Inaya Folarin Iman; and journalist and academic Maya Goodfellow.
Producer: Paul Martin
Lead broadcast engineer: Kevan Long
SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m0027l09)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week.
SAT 14:45 The Archers (m0027d4c)
The panto’s about to start and Lynda’s pleased to see a queue outside the Brookfield Events Barn. When Joy comments that tonight will be a dress, tech and opening night all in one, Lynda points out that they didn’t even have a set until this morning. But Vince persuaded Felpersham Arts Centre to lend them some flats. And he also trained up the scene shifters. When Joy wonders why, Mick just says it’s down to the magic of panto. Lynda reveals that Vince has also settled the bet, but she and Lilian aren’t sure what to do with it yet. Joy’s subdued and heads off, but Mick catches up with her, pointing out it’s decision day about whether he should stay or go. He doesn’t want to leave and Joy admits she feels the same. Later Joy returns to the panto where Mick, as Buttons, spontaneously announces Joy lights up his life. After the show Mick reaffirms that he meant it.
Susan returns Tracy’s lost shoe, explaining it was Neil’s fault it had got lost. He’d been trying on an outfit for the Felpersham panto trip, but had to quickly take the shoes off when someone rang the doorbell. Tracy’s delighted and agrees to go to the panto. At The Bull afterwards, Lynda hands Tracy and Susan an envelope. They discover £500 inside along with a note saying how precious sisters are and to do something lovely together with it. It’s signed from ‘a friend’. Lynda makes a speech thanking everyone for taking part, and honorary Ambridgian Berwick raises a toast to the one and only Lynda Snell!
SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m000nwqw)
Fusion Confidential
Dedicated young physicist, Jane, makes a discovery that she believes will enable nuclear fusion and pave the way for limitless clean energy. She confides in her opera-singer flatmate, Elvira. But Elvira realises that her brilliant, idealistic friend will need to be protected from all the vested interests out in the world.
Charlotte Ritchie and Cecilia Appiah star in a comedy about nuclear science - and opera - by Marcy Kahan.
CAST
Elvira.....Charlotte Ritchie
Jane.....Cecilia Appiah
Alex.....Adam Fitzgerald
Luba Lampedusa.....Tamara Ustinov
Alicia Mittelbaum.....Charlotte East
Dmitri 2.....Carl Prekopp
With additional music from Helen Neeves, Tom Raskin and Jessica Gillingwater from the BBC Singers and pianist Christopher Weston
Technical producer.....Keith Graham
Directed by Emma Harding
A BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m0027l0c)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Refuges, Mary Robinson, Polar Preet, Vicky Pattison’s deep fake doc, Rumer
In the last year, women with disabilities experienced domestic abuse at more than twice the rate of those without, according to the latest figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Yet data from Women’s Aid shows less than 1% of refuge vacancies in England are suitable for wheelchair users. Where does this leave women with disabilities impacted by domestic abuse? Anita Rani hears one anonymous woman’s experience and is joined by Angie Airlie, CEO of Stay Safe East and Rebecca Goshawk, a director of Solace Women’s Aid.
Mrs Robinson is a feature-length documentary about Ireland’s first female president, Mary Robinson. Telling the story of her childhood and career for the first time on screen, it was filmed over three years, and takes a deep-dive into Mary Robinson’s career as she discusses the significant controversies throughout her tenure, her own professional regrets and examines how her gift for bridging differences was instrumental in bringing about seismic change in Ireland. Mary Robinson joined Clare McDonnell to talk about it.
Preet Chandi, better known as Polar Preet, broke world records in 2023 when she made the longest solo and unsupported journey across Antarctica, crossing 922 miles in 70 days. Now Preet is setting her sights on the North Pole, hoping to cross 500 miles of sea ice to reach it in under 70 days. She joined Anita to discuss why she’s making the change to the North Pole, how she plans to get there and how she plans on dealing with polar bears.
Reality star turned documentary filmmaker Vicky Pattison joined Clare to discuss her latest project, Vicky Pattison: My Deepfake Sex Tape. The documentary sees her exploring the proliferation of videos generated by AI, whereby people’s faces are placed onto pornographic images and shared without their consent. Vicky talked about creating her own deepfake sex tape and looks at the impact the phenomenon is having on women and girls.
The singer-songwriter Rumer is a MOBO award winner and double Brit Award nominee. Her new album In Session is out, celebrating the 15th anniversary of her platinum debut album Seasons Of My Soul. The success that followed that album affected Rumer's mental health. She stepped away from the industry and relocated to the US. Now back in the UK she has returned to the record that has shaped so much of her life both professionally and personally. Rumer joined Anita to talk about her life and to perform live in the studio.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Annette Wells
Editor: Rebecca Myatt
SAT 17:00 PM (m0027l0f)
The Rafah border crossing re-opens after eight months
We hear the latest from the The Rafah Border crossing as it re-opens after eight months as 183 Palestinians held in Israeli jails were released. Also, we hear from the Chair of the Science and Technology committee as AstraZeneca cancels a 450 million pound investment in a vaccine-manufacturing plant on Merseyside.
And as 'War and Peace' is turned into a West End musical, we ask the screenwriter Andrew Davies why Tolstoy proves so timeless.
SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m0027l0h)
The Chris Philp One
The Shadow Home Secretary joins Nick in the Political Thinking studio to reflect on mistakes of the last government, humility in opposition and his anger at the new government.
Chris Philp also opens up about the impact of caring for his premature baby twins and what he has learned from success and failure in business.
Producer: Daniel Kraemer
SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0027l0k)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 17:57 Weather (m0027l0m)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0027l0p)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m0027mgv)
Mhairi Black, Gordon Buchanan, EMEL, Cal MacAninch, Michael Pedersen, LÉDA
Natural history presenter and cameraman Gordon Buchanan’s new book In The Hide is a look back at some of his greatest adventures across the world, from Mumbai to Mongolia.
In 2015 Mhairi Black became the youngest MP elected to the House of Commons since the 1800s. After stepping down at the 2024 General Election, she turned her mind to her tell-all comedy show Politics Isn’t For Me which took last year’s Fringe by storm. She's now taking it on tour.
Cal MacAninch is well known for roles in Downton Abbey, Mr Selfridge, Vigil and Wild At Heart amongst much else. He plays Banquo in a production of Macbeth that has wowed audiences at the Donmar Warehouse and the West End and can be seen in cinemas in February.
Edinburgh’s Makar Michael Pedersen writes about friendship, grief and pretending to be a cat. The newest addition to his expanding body of works is his debut novel, Muckle Flugga.
Tunisian singer-songwriter EMEL has performed across the world, and rose to fame with her protest song Kelmti Horra which became an anthem for revolution. She performs from her latest album is MRA.
Irish-Scottish contemporary folk duo LÉDA share a new track ahead of their debut album launch later this year.
SAT 19:00 Profile (m0027l0r)
Alexander Lukashenko
Despite just winning a seventh consecutive presidential term, a look at Alexander Lukashenko’s early life reveals rather humbler origins.
Brought up by a single mother in a poor village in eastern Belarus, he first made his mark as the manager of a farm in the late 1980s.
After moving into politics at the end of that decade, he quickly established his reputation as a man with authoritarian instincts – and by 1994, he was elected president of Belarus for the first time.
Ever since, he has managed a balancing act between Russia, his closest economic and political partner, and overtures to the West. But, the country’s faced sanctions following its role in the invasion of Ukraine, while many Western governments have labelled this latest election as a sham.
Stephen Smith takes a closer look at the man often referred to as Europe's last dictator.
Production Team
Producers: Sally Abrahams, Charlotte McDonald and Nathan Gower
Editor: Ben Mundy
Sound: James Beard
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele and Jack Young
Guests
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, leader of the democratic opposition of Belarus
Olga Dryndova, Editor of Belarus-Analysen, University of Bremen
Katia Glod, Russia-West Policy Fellow at the European Leadership Network and Non-resident Fellow with Centre for European Policy Analysis, Washington DC
Pavel Latushka, former Minister of Culture, Belarus government, now Belarus opposition politician
Rosemary Thomas, former UK ambassador to Belarus
Credits
Animal Farm by George Orwell, recording produced by Ciaran Bermingham
Narrated by Roger Ringrose
SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m0027d70)
Cynthia Erivo
Born and raised in south London, Cynthia Erivo made her name with musical theatre in London, starring in shows including The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg and Sister Act. In 2015 she became a Broadway star and won Tony, Emmy and Grammy awards for her role in The Color Purple, the musical adaptation of the Alice Walker novel which had transferred from London. Her screen acting credits include the title role in Harriet, about the 19th century abolitionist and campaigner Harriet Tubman, a film which earned her two Academy Award nominations, including for Best Actress. Oscar nominated again for her lead role in the musical film Wicked, she became the first black British woman to receive multiple Academy award nominations for acting. An acclaimed singer, she performed a solo show of songs made famous by female artists including Aretha Franklin, Etta James and Barbra Streisand at the 2022 BBC Proms.
Cynthia Erivo tells John Wilson about the influence of her Nigerian born mother, who raised her as a single mum. She remembers two mentors who encouraged her to perform at at young age; school music teacher Helen Rycroft, and Rae McKen who ran a local drama club. Cynthia recalls winning a place at the prestigious drama school RADA, and returning to become Vice President of the institution last year. She talks about the emotional pressures she underwent on playing Celie in The Color Purple, a story of abuse and survival, and how the themes of prejudice and acceptance explored in the musical Wicked, resonated so strongly with her. Cynthia also chooses the 2015 Alexander McQueen exhibition Savage Beauty at the V&A as a inspiring creative moment, and discusses her love of glamorous fashion.
Producer: Edwina Pitman
SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m0025ss6)
Prisoners, Saints and Persuaders: The World of ITC
Return of the Saint star Ian Ogilvy tells the story of Lew Grade's ITC company, which revolutionised British television in the 1960s and 70s. From espionage on the Riviera to surrealist thrillers filmed in Wales, and talking to actors, historians, producers and composers, this is a joyous celebration of ITC’s undoubtedly suave place in the history of pop culture.
Originally formed to produce upscale adventure, crime, espionage and sci-fi drama series for commercial British TV and syndication around the world – shot in luxurious 35mm film and moving to full colour years before BBC television - ITC produced an incredible catalogue of shows from the late 1950s to the early 1980s. They were stylishly produced, location driven, beautifully scored and often slightly surreal. Beginning in 1955 with the fantastically successful Adventures of Robin Hood (which employed Left-leaning American writers blacklisted by the McCarthy trials in the States), by the late 1950s ITC moved to modern Cold War espionage and crime drama, producing Danger Man two years before the James Bond film franchise was launched. Ian Fleming himself was an early consultant for the series.
Other action titles followed featuring gentleman adventurers and lone wolf agents from The Saint (Roger Moore) and The Baron (Steve Forrest) to Man in a Suitcase, Randal and Hopkirk (Deceased), The Champions, The Persuaders (Tony Curtis, Roger Moore) and finally Ian Ogilvy’s Return of the Saint, produced in 1978 and filmed across Italy and the South of France. A jewel in the ITC crown was Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner (1967) - a strange, psychedelic and psychologically intense series still hotly debated by fans.
Lew Grade was also the champion of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Supermarionation series of the 1960s – Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Stingray and others – a huge success for ITC and beloved by generations of children. The Muppets followed a decade later, as Lew gave Jim Henson his first break after Sesame Street. As ITC shifted focus towards film and away from television, the company took a slightly stranger turn in the early 1970s with live action sci-fi – including UFO and Space 1999 - before commissioning the genuinely eerie titles of the late 70s which marked the end of ITC’s great television era, distributing Sapphire and Steel (David McCallum and Joanna Lumley) and finally a partnership with Hammer Studios, the genuinely nasty Hammer House of Horror which substituted the Carpathian mountains for present day England.
The story of ITC is crucial to the story of television in Britain and the arrival of commercial TV as a challenge to the BBC's monopoly. While the BBC’s Reithian mission focused on British audiences, Lew Grade understood the new medium as a truly international one, and through sales to foreign markets ITC could command huge budgets to be reinvested in high-production values, art direction and rich, cinematic scoring.
With contributions from Lew’s nephew Lord Michael Grade, ITC actors Annette Andre and Jane Merrow, ITC composer John Cameron, conductor Gavin Sutherland, daughter of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson Dee Anderson, cultural historian Matthew Sweet, television writer and former Dr Who show-runner Steven Moffat, founder of Trunk Records and curator Jonny Trunk, BFI television historian Dick Fiddy and Jaz Wiseman, author of ITC Entertained the World.
Presented by Ian Ogilvy
Produced by Simon Hollis
A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 21:00 The Poetry Detective (m0024vv5)
Poet, Philosopher and Failure
Our Poetry Detective Vanessa Kisuule investigates two headstones with mysterious epitaphs and finds out about people drawing on poetry to help them choose the words to mark their loved one's final resting place.
Listener Michelle Thomas asks Vanessa if she can find anything out about a grave she encountered years ago, in the cemetery of St Peter's, Heysham - a small village overlooking Morecambe Bay. The epitaph on the headstone reads "Poet, Philosopher & Failure". Who is buried there, why were they deemed a 'failure', and can we find any of their poetry?
David Bingham is the author of 'The London Dead', a blog he has been adding to for more than 10 years with stories of London's cemeteries and graveyards. He tells us about a striking and unusual grave he's encountered, bearing text from three separate poems. Who wrote the poems? And why were they chosen? Vanessa investigates, with the help of the writer Damian Le Bas.
And we visit the Oxfordshire workshop of stone carver Fergus Wessel where the walls are covered in lines of poetry cut into stone. He tells us about supporting people through the process of choosing an epitaph for a headstone, and how poetry might be one source of inspiration as we search for the right words.
Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio
SAT 21:30 Illuminated (m0022c1n)
Sybil Phoenix, a Civil Life
The years after Sybil Phoenix's arrival in England from British Guiana in 1956 follow a not unfamiliar pattern - trying to find a home and secure a livelihood, learning how to manage the endemic racism in Britain and, above all things, building a community.
Fostering countless children, setting up the famous Moonshot youth club in south-east London and dealing with the reaction from right-wing extremists bound together her personal and public lives. In 1972 she accepted - not without controversy - an MBE, the first black woman to do so. With her new status she set up a hostel for young women, the Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust.
Now aged 97, Sybil's story is shared by her son Woodrow and daughter Loraine, the activist Eric Huntley, who's known her for over 80 years, and through previously not heard recordings that touch on her troubled early life, the death of her daughter Marsha, the New Cross Fire and much else.
Produced by Cherise Hamilton-Stephenson and Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:00 News (m0027l0t)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m0027d3c)
Low and No
What's behind the rise and rise of low alcohol and alcohol free drinks? The sector grew by a quarter last year alone, fuelled by our changing relationship with alcohol. More than fifteen million people are thought to have considered taking part in Dry January this year and younger drinkers in particular are turning away from alcohol and embracing alcohol-free versions of beer, wine and spirits or entirely new drinks coming onto the market.
In this programme Jaega Wise considers the changes in the drinks industry. She eavesdrops on an alcohol-free workshop with the mindful drinking movement Club Soda and speaks to its founder Laura Willoughby. She hears from the alcohol-free beer brand Lucky Saint and the market research company Kam on our changing drinking patterns, including the trend for zebra-striping - alternating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
Then Jaega visits Bristol to find out how breweries are using different techniques to make alcohol-free beer that is far superior to the much-derided watery and flavourless versions of old. The Bristol Beer Factory tells her that their alcohol-free brand now makes up a fifth of sales. At Wiper & True nearby, they reckon within five years around half of all their beers will be alcohol-free.
The movement towards "low and no" drinks means there is now a World Alcohol Free Awards as their co-founder Chrissie Parkinson explains and Dash Lilley from the Three Spirit brand talks about how some drinks makers are looking to very different ingredients from the plant world to create original flavours.
Presented by Jaega Wise
Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Robin Markwell
SAT 23:00 What? Seriously?? (m0027l0w)
5. Duels, Feuds and Stolen Solos
In this episode, Dara and Isy are joined by the broadcaster Stuart Maconie to learn about inventive instruments - with some diverting conversations about jazz, quiz shows, egos, and intellectual property.
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 Stuart Maconie
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 (m0027ch4)
Series 38
Heat 5, 2025
(5/13)
Another three contenders face Paul Gambaccini's questions on the full spectrum of music, from the classical repertoire to musical theatre, jazz, folk, world music and sixty years of the pop charts.
Taking part today are:
Rosanne Jardine from Dorset
Clive Manning from London
Claire Sanderson from Cardiff.
Counterpoint is a BBC Studios Audio production.
Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria
SUNDAY 02 FEBRUARY 2025
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m0027l0y)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:15 Take Four Books (m0027ch2)
Michelle de Kretser
This week Take Four Books, presented by James Crawford, talks to the award-winning Australian writer Michelle de Kretser about her new novel - Theory & Practice - and its three key influences. Michelle's choices were: the diary of Virginia Woolf from 1932; Ali Smith’s The Accidental from 2005; and Shirley Hazzard’s The Transit of Venus, from 1980.
Producer: Dom Howell
Editor: Annie McGuire
Take Four Books is a BBC Audio Scotland production.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0027l10)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0027l12)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0027l14)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m0027l16)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m0027l18)
The Minster Church of St John the Baptist, Halifax in West Yorkshire
Bells on Sunday comes from the Minster Church of St John the Baptist, Halifax in West Yorkshire. The present church was built in the fifteenth century with work on the fine tower taking over thirty years to complete. The current bells were installed in 1951 and are one of the last rings of bells to be cast by the Gillett and Johnston foundry of Croydon. They are a diatonic ring of twelve with a tenor bell weighing twenty eight hundredweight tuned to the key of D. We hear them ringing Grandsire Cinques.
SUN 05:45 In Touch (m0027cn0)
Regulator rejects macular disease treatment; Optomap
The treatment of Geographic Atrophy (GA) or late stage dry age-related macular degeneration as it's also known, is proving to be a pretty tough nut to crack. Hopes had been high that a treatment available in the USA would also be approved for use here in the UK. However, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has rejected the application. Ed Holloway, Chief Executive of the Macular Society and Bill Best who has lived with GA for many years join us to discuss the MHRA decision.
Optomap is an imaging system which produces significantly more detailed information about the retina than had been available before. This can lead to earlier diagnosis of many eye conditions and accordingly a better chance of preventing sight loss. Dr Peter Hampson, Policy and Clinical Director of the Association of Optometrists and John Hopcroft, Clinical Services Manager at Boots join us to discuss the system and how public access to it is being improved by bringing it to the high street.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Fern Lulham
Production Coordinator: David Baguley
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual 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 a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to
the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.’
SUN 06:00 News Summary (m0027l1c)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Thinking Allowed (m0027cm2)
Crime Stories
Laurie Taylor explores the fascination for true crime stories. He's joined by Jennifer Fleetwood, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at City, University of London, whose latest work considers the remarkable rise in the number of people who speak publicly about their experience of crime. Personal accounts used to be confined to the police station and the courtroom, but today bookshops heave with autobiographies by prisoners, criminals, police and barristers while streaming platforms host hours of interviews so how easy is it for the 'truth' to come out?
Louise Wattis, Assistant Professor in the Department: Social Sciences ·at Northumbria University, Newcastle looks at the skyrocketing interest in true crime as a form of popular entertainment. What do we know about the appeal of 'Hardman' biographies of violent criminals, a hugely popular subgenre, particularly for male readers?
Producer: Jayne Egerton
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m0027l1f)
A Natural Capital Deal
The 57,000 acre Corrour Estate in the Scottish Highlands is being managed to restore habitats, increase biodiversity and sequester carbon. That means widescale restoration of degraded peat bogs, planting thousands of trees and culling of thousands of deer.
The work is being paid for, in part, by a Natural Capital Deal done with the University of St Andrews. It's 100 year partnership, with the estate agreeing to sequester carbon to offset the emissions from the international students attending the University.
In this programme, Caz Graham visits the estate to see the work that's being done, and explores the implications for wildlife, communities and the future of Scottish upland management.
Presented by Caz Graham
Produced by Heather Simons
SUN 06:57 Weather (m0027l1h)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m0027l1k)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m0027l1m)
Bishop of Liverpool resigns; Rowan Williams; Israel-Gaza latest
It has been yet another tumultuous week for the Church of England, which has seen another bishop resign and yet more pressure on the interim leader, Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell. Julie Etchingham speaks to the Archdeacon of Liverpool, the Venerable Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, who signed the letter asking her Bishop to step aside, and hears from Alicia Kearns, Shadow Minister for Safeguarding and Preventing violence against women and girls who is calling for a Royal Commission to look at safeguarding in the Church.
Dr Rowan Williams, theologian and former Archbishop of Canterbury, has written a new book called 'Discovering Christianity: A Guide for the Curious'. He speaks about the themes of the book, the current situation with the Church of England and his thoughts on the discussions around Christianity at the top of US politics.
There have been encouraging scenes in Israel and Gaza this weekend with a far more orderly handover of hostages from Hamas. The Rafah crossing was also opened, allowing the evacuation of Gazans needing medical care into Egypt. We hear the latest on the ongoing situation.
Presenter: Julie Etchingham
Producers: Bara'atu Ibrahim and Linda Walker
Studio Mangers: Carwyn Griffith and Jonathan Esp
Editor: Dan Tierney
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m0027jy2)
The Forward Trust
Beneficiary Melissa Rice makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of The Forward Trust. The charity runs two rehabilitation centres in England and offered Melissa a bursary for a residential stay to help her tackle her alcoholism.
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That’s the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope ‘The Forward Trust’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘The Forward Trust’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
Registered Charity Number: 1001701. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.forwardtrust.org.uk
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites
SUN 07:57 Weather (m0027l1p)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m0027l1r)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m0027l1t)
Candlemas
Mass on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord recorded in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool. Lumen ad revelationem gentium (plainchant), Gloria from Little Organ Mass (Haydn), Malachi 3:1-4, Psalm 24 (responsorial), Luke
2:22-40, Christ be our Light (Bernadette Farrell), Nunc Dimittis (in G - Stanford), Sanctus and Agnus Dei from Missa Brevis (Haydn), Zion see your Saviour come (Mendelssohn), Grand Choeur in Bb (Dubois), President: Monsignor Anthony O'Brien; Homily: Fr Derek Lloyd; Metropolitan Cathedral Youth Choir directed by Joe Watson and Josie Baker; Organist: Richard Lea; Director of Music: Dr Christopher McElroy; Producer: Philip Billson
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m0027d4k)
The Overwhelm
The 'overwhelm' - noun, not verb - has been around 'since at least 1596', AL Kennedy discovers.
She looks at the reasons why the word is making a comeback - and she has some advice for those who also feel lost in 'the overwhelm.'
Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m0027l1w)
Michael Palin on the Dunnock
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.
If ever a bird typified the phrase 'little brown job' then the dunnock must be a strong contender. This unremarkable bird leads, for the most part, a quiet solitary life deep within a shrubbery or hedge, giving it an old and incorrect name of hedge sparrow. But in the breeding season the dunnock can develop complex relationships, males sharing territories, females sharing males. This louche lifestyle also attracts the cuckoo. Dunnock are one of the preferred species for the female cuckoo to lay her egg, which once hatched the chick will quickly dwarf the parent dunnock.
Producer : Andrew Dawes of BBC Audio in Bristol
Studio Engineer : Ilse Lademann
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m0027l1y)
As Keir Starmer seeks a reset in EU relations, former Brexit negotiator Lord Frost worries the government will inch us back into Europe's orbit "by stealth". A Californian musician tells us how wildfires destroyed his piano and how stars at the Grammys should help survivors. Plus presenter Kirstie Allsopp married her partner after 20 years together - we hear from one couple who married after 30 years.
SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m0027l20)
Nemone Lethbridge, lawyer and writer
Nemone Lethbridge is a barrister who was called to the bar in 1956. One of very few female barristers working at the time, she encountered misogyny and was one of the trailblazers for women working in the legal profession who followed behind her.
At her first Chambers, she wasn’t allowed to share a toilet with her male colleagues and had to use the facilities in a nearby café. It was hard for her to find work and for some time she represented the Kray twins.
After her marriage to a writer, and former convicted criminal was revealed, she was forced to leave the legal profession and they moved to Greece for a number of years where both of them had careers as writers having their work filmed for the BBC.
Nemone returned to the Bar in 1981 and continues to do pro bono work at 92 years old.
She lives in London.
DISC ONE: Go Down, Moses - Paul Robeson
DISC TWO: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - The Choir of King’s College Cambridge
DISC THREE: Scarborough Fair – Simon & Garfunkel
DISC FOUR: I Wanna Go Back to Dixie - Tom Lehrer
DISC FIVE: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 / Act 3: "Sull’aria ... Che soave zeffiretto"
Performed by Edith Mathis (soprano), Gundula Janowitz (soprano), Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin and conducted by Karl Böhm
DISC SIX: Strose to Stroma sou – Mikis Theodorakis
DISC SEVEN: September Song - Gracie Fields
DISC EIGHT: Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147: Chorale. Jesus bleibet meine Freude (Arr. for Piano) (Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Lang Lang
BOOK CHOICE: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
LUXURY ITEM: A doll
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 / Act 3: "Sull’aria ... Che soave zeffiretto". Performed by Edith Mathis (soprano), Gundula Janowitz (soprano), Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin and conducted by Karl Böhm
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor
SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m0027l22)
Writer: Nick Warburton
Director: Jeremy Howe
Editor: Jeremy Howe
Tony Archer…. David Troughton
Lilian Bellamy…. Sunny Ormonde
Leonard Berry…. Paul Copley
Susan Carter…. Charlotte Martin
Vince Casey…. Tony Turner
Mick Fadmoor…. Martin Barrass
Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell
Joy Horville…. Jackie Lye
Jazzer McCreary…. Ryan Kelly
Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd
Berwick Kaler as himself
SUN 12:15 Profile (m0027l0r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 12:30 Just a Minute (m0027bp6)
Series 94
2. Where they make cheese and milk out of butterflies
Sue Perkins challenges Tony Hawks, Ian Smith, Zoe Lyons and Charlotte Ritchie to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation. Subjects include Getting Butterflies, Bottling it, and a Desire for Revenge.
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Rajiv Karia
An EcoAudio certified production.
A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.
SUN 12:57 Weather (m0027l24)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m0027l26)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world.
SUN 13:30 Germany: Rebellion on the Rhine (m0027l28)
Germans head to the ballot box on February 23rd to decide the new national government. In Ludwigshafen, a Rhineland city that is emblematic of the sudden economic shocks battering the nation's industrial heartlands, ordinary Germans are questioning their loyalty to mainstream parties. Jeremy Cliffe meets local leaders and voters to see whether the populists who have been surging in the east can expect similar results here on the back of profound economic discontent.
Producer: Jeanny Gering
Presenter: Jeremy Cliffe
Executive Producer: Robert Nicholson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0027d3z)
East and West Hanney
Is gardening a solitary or a social activity? What could I grow up a garage wall? What do the panel expect to see in open gardens?
Kathy and a team of experts visit The Hanneys to solve gardeners' problems. Joining Kathy to answer the questions are fanatical plantswoman Christine Walkden, dedicated botanist Dr Chris Thorogood, and passionate plant expert Matthew Biggs.
Later in the programme, Matthew Pottage and GQT producer Dominic Tyerman visit the Sydney Botanic Gardens in Australia to understand the wide appeal of living wall gardens, as well as provide tips for making your own.
Producer: Dominic Tyerman
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Executive Producer: Carly Maile
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 Someone Else's Bed by MJ Hyland (b07w6ft7)
Mick seeks escape from his lack of a job and marital problems by doing something he’s never done before, “good or bad, big or small”, that no-one else need ever know about.
M J Hyland is an ex-lawyer, a lecturer at the University of Manchester and the author of three novels - How the Light Gets In, Carry Me Down (shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize) and This is How. She has twice been shortlisted for the National Short Story Award.
Writer: M J Hyland
Reader: Rob Jarvis
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m0027l2b)
The History of Mr Polly
Making an End to Things
Alfred Polly is an ordinary middle-aged man who is tired of his wife’s nagging and his dreary job as a gentleman’s outfitter in a small town. Faced with the threat of bankruptcy, he decides that the only way to escape his frustrating existence is to burn his shop to the ground and kill himself. Unexpected events, however, conspire at the last moment to lead the bewildered Mr Polly to a bright new future – after he saves a life, fakes his death and escapes to a world of heroism, hope and ultimate happiness.
A comic take on mid-life crisis, The History of Mr Polly (published in 1910) is generally considered H G Wells' funniest novel. But it’s not without serious purpose. Beneath the surface is an implicit criticism of a society that forces people to suppress their imaginations and lead lives of drab conformity.
In the final episode, Mr Polly attempts to put his reckless plan of arson and self-destruction into practice.
Episode 2: Making an End to Things
Narrator ..... Stephen Mangan
Alfred Polly ..... Paul Ready
Miriam ..... Clare Corbett
Annie ..... Emma Kilbey
Rumbold ..... Richard Attlee
Captain Boomer ..... Trevor Littledale
Gambell ..... Julian Parkin
Rusper ..... Nigel Anthony
Mrs Rumbold ..... Jean Trend
Flo ..... Karen Ascoe
Uncle Jim ..... Ben Crowe
Miss Polly ..... Betsy Horsfall
Horace ..... James Joyce
Gwendoline ..... Ela Chapman
Written by HG Wells
Dramatised by Stephen Sheridan
Producer / Director: David Blount
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 16:00 Bookclub (m0027l2d)
Sara Collins
This month, BBC Bookclub, presented by James Naughtie, speaks to the writer Sara Collins, as she takes questions from a live audience about her award-winning debut novel, The Confessions of Frannie Langton. Sara was the Costa Book Awards First Novel Winner in 2019. She has also adapted the book for television.
Producer: Dom Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
SUN 16:30 Counterpoint (m0027l2g)
Series 38
Heat 6, 2025
(6/13)
Another three contenders join Paul Gambaccini at the Radio Theatre in London, to answer questions on the widest possible spectrum of music. Paul will be testing their knowledge of the classical repertoire as well as musical theatre, jazz, folk, world music and sixty years of the pop charts - with plenty of musical extracts to identify.
Appearing in today's heat are:
Eleanor Ayres from Cambridge
Nancy Braithwaite from East London
Mike Sarson-Rowe from Wiltshire.
As well as fielding general questions on music, the competitors will have to choose a special subject on which to answer solo questions in the spotlight - with no prior warning of the topics on offer. How wise will their spur-of-the-moment choices turn out to be?
Counterpoint is a BBC Studios Audio production.
Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria
SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct5yh3)
The Situation Room photograph
Pete Souza was Chief Official White House Photographer during Barack Obama's presidency. His photo from when Bin Laden was killed by US soldiers in 2011 has become one of his most famous.
He tells Uma Doraiswamy what that day was like leading up to the moment when he took the photo.
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: President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden. Credit: Getty Images / Pete Souza, White House)
SUN 17:10 The Verb (m0027l2j)
Reeta Chakrabarti, Fred D'Aguiar, Ella Frears, Edward Wilson-Lee
Flames and poetry - what poetry tell us about the Los Angeles fires, the pleasure the poet John Keats took in reading - a poem-letter to an imaginary estate agent, and magical language. To explore all this McMillan is joined by poetry writers and poetry lovers.
Ian's guests:
BBC newsreader and journalist Reeta Chakrabarti is a trustee of the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association. She shares her passion for John Keats' poem 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer' - with its 'realms of gold' and a planet that 'swims'.
Fred D'Aguiar is a British-Guyanese poet who lives and teaches in Los Angeles - he shares a powerful new commission which bears witness to the Los Angeles fires, and asks how we might depict and talk about fire in an age of rising temperatures.
What does it mean to be a tenant, or an artist in residence in someone else's house - at a time when it is harder to buy houses than in the past?
The poet Ella Frears has written a book-length poem exploring rented and borrowed spaces - addressed to an imaginary estate agent - full of tender and frank observations about modern life.
Edward Wilson-Lee's new book 'The Grammar of Angels - A Search for the Magical Powers of Language' explores the attraction (and the rejection) of language that has a powerful effect, or casts a spell on us - including the speech of angels and inscriptions on amulets. The book invites us to consider when sound is more powerful than sense, and why that might have concerned our ancestors.
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0027l2l)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 17:57 Weather (m0027l2n)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0027l2q)
President Trump: Potential impact of tariffs on the US is "worth the price"
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m0027l2s)
Clive Anderson
This week, we hear how the train network under London is making a museum rethink its own existence, a Rembrandt being brought to life on the radio, and how a regular photo shoot is bringing a mother and son closer together. Plus, there’s some classic comedy with Frankie Howerd’s typewriter, and we hear some of the incredible stories in sound across the BBC as it commemorated 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz.
Presenter: Clive Anderson
Producer: Anthony McKee
Production Coordinator: Jack Ferrie.
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m0027l2v)
Lynda, Tom and Harrison discuss the new challenges the cricket team could face now they’ve been promoted to a higher division. When Lynda brainstorms who might replace Harrison as captain, he suggests Chris, but Lynda’s doesn't think Chris will have time. Tom mentions that Freddie thought Vince was quite keen. But Lynda’s not sure he’s the right fit and Harrison points out Vince would have to live locally to play for Ambridge. The Chair of Roserran-In-the Vale cricket club arrives and gives them the inside track as division runners up. Lawrence is in awe of Lynda and her MBE, congratulating her on putting on such an entertaining pantomime. Lynda’s interested to hear that ‘Wicket and Stumps’ magazine will be featuring Roserran cricket team in an upcoming edition. When Harrison and Tom make their excuses and leave, Lawrence and Lynda find they have much in common leading to Lawrence proclaiming that he feels like Lynda’s a kindred spirit. Lynda suggests they meet up for a coffee to continue their conversation.
When Fallon remarks to Harrison that she can’t remember the last time they spent a day together, Harrison suggests booking a holiday. They could go somewhere hot, and it would give them something to look forward to before Harrison’s secondment. But as they’re deciding on where to go, Harrison’s interrupted by a phone call from Inspector Norris. She drops the bombshell that Harrison’s secondment has been moved forward to next Friday. When Harrison tells Fallon, she points out that it’s on Valentine’s Day.
SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m0027l2x)
Scattering
Over 80% of people in Britain choose to be cremated rather than buried after death and the scattering of a loved one's ashes is a ritual that's increasingly familiar to many of us.
In a lyrical and bittersweet meditation on grief and memory, writer and producer Tim Dee reflects on a West Country road trip to scatter his father’s mortal remains in places of significance to both of them. Each stop has a unique story and forms part of a revealing and poignant commemoration.
In the car, the cardboard tube of John Dee's cremated remains travels in the passenger seat, safely buckled up. Then at each place, some of the contents are decanted into an recycle Indian Takeaway container for the act itself.
They are cast into the wind from the top of Dunkery Beacon on Exmoor, from a bridge over the River Horner nearby. A pot of ashes is put into a paper boat as an attempt to sail John out to sea from Madbrain Sands in Minehead.
Then to Bristol. To the family home on Sion Hill to remember domestic rancour between father and mother. And below the bridge over the Avon Gorge, a place of profound early trauma for son Tim.
All this is set to a soundtrack of remembrance on the car stereo with songs from The Beach Boys, Julie Andrews, Taylor Swift and the recorded memories of Tim's father from a conversation they had 20 years before his death.
Presenter: Tim Dee
Producer: Alastair Laurence
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m001vmbm)
Drink Green Tea
Michael takes a break to brew up a cup of green tea, warming up to its distinctive taste and its health benefits. Dr Edward Okello, from the Human Nutrition Research Centre at the University of Newcastle, reveals how green tea can benefit our brain power and health. Green tea contains the polyphenol EGCG (Epigallocatechin Gallate) and Professor Okello explains how this polyphenol inhibits a destructive enzyme which harms our brain cells. Michael also learns that a nice hot cup of green tea also induces calming brain waves, improves heart health and could even help delay dementia. Meanwhile, volunteer Jacqui enjoys the benefits of going green.
Series Producer: Nija Dalal-Small
Science Producer: Catherine Wyler
Researcher: Sophie Richardson
Researcher: Will Hornbrook
Production Manager: Maria Simons
Editor: Zoe Heron
A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.
SUN 20:00 Word of Mouth (m0027d7l)
Politeness with Louise Mullany
Professor Louise Mullany talks to Michael Rosen about politeness, and how it governs our lives, from the behaviour of football managers to the different ways children can embarrass us. Why, in this country at least, is it so mortifying to mistakenly assume someone is pregnant, when in other cultures it's simply thoughtful to book two seats on a plane for a larger person. Starring Michael Rosen as Spanish football manager Unai Emery, the politest man in football.
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sally Heaven
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 (m0027d43)
Rev Don Cupitt, Phyllis Dalton, Cecile Richards, Michael Longley
Matthew Bannister on
The Reverend Don Cupitt, the controversial theologian whose TV series “The Sea of Faith” asked in what form - if any - is Christian faith possible for us today?
Phyllis Dalton, the Oscar winning costume designer who worked on classic films, including “Lawrence of Arabia”, “Doctor Zhivago” and “Oliver!”.
Cecile Richards, the American activist who campaigned for women’s right to have abortions.
Michael Longley, the Northern Irish poet whose subjects included love, war and the natural world.
Interviewee: Professor Catherine Pickstock
Interviewee: Alexander Ballinger
Interviewee: Laura Kusisto
Interviewee: Paul Muldoon
Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies
Archive used:
Sea of Faith, BBC TWO, 12/09/1984; Thinking Aloud: Religion, BBC TWO, 22/12/1985; Don Cupitt on the non-realist position on God, Podcast 20:, The Middle Way Society, YouTube 12/04/2014; Doctor Zhivago film promo, Warner Bros, 1965; Oliver! Film promo, (1968), Sony Pictures Entertainment, YouTube 07/10/2021; Phyllis Dalton, The British Entertainment History Project, www.historyproject.org.uk, 11/02/2000; Championing Choice, The Thread Documentary Series, Life Stories. 17/06/2022; Hundreds protest at Planned Parenthood, WPRI, YouTube 22/08/2015; Cecile Richards, Life Stories, YouTube uploaded 12/10/2022; Protesters outside Louisville's Planned Parenthood, Courier Journal, 22/08/2015; Letters to a Young Poet: Michael Longley, BBC Radio 3, 15/01/2014; Poet Michael Longley reads "Wounds" in UCD Library, University College Dublin Library, UCD YouTube Channel 16/08/2016; Michael Longley, "Ceasefire", The Arts Show, BBC TWO, 12/03/2014; Michael Longley interview, Where Poems Come From, BBC, 11/02/2024; Michael Longley, The Culture Cafe, BBC Radio 4, 18/02/2024
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m0027l03)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m0027jy2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0027kzz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:30 on Saturday]
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m0027l2z)
Vicki Young hosts topical discussion with her panel, including Labour's Shami Chakrabarti and Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell
Vicki Young is joined by Labour's Baroness Shami Chakrabarti; Conservative former deputy Foreign Secretary, Andrew Mitchell; and foreign policy expert, Sophia Gaston. They discuss Keir Starmer's efforts to "reset" the UK's relationship with the EU, and whether the UK can escape the imposition of US trade tariffs. Rosa Prince - UK political commentator for Bloomberg - provides additional context and analysis. The panel also consider the UK's controversial deal with Mauritius, to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands - home to a crucial US naval base.
SUN 23:00 In Our Time (m0027d6t)
Pope Joan
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss a story that circulated widely in the middle ages about a highly learned woman who lived in the ninth century, dressed as a man, travelled to Rome, and was elected Pope.
Her papacy came to a dramatic end when it was revealed that she was a woman, a discovery that is said to have occurred when she gave birth in the street. The story became a popular cautionary tale directed at women who attempted to transgress traditional roles, and it famously blurred the boundary between fact and fiction. The story lives on as the subject of recent novels, plays and films.
With:
Katherine Lewis, Honorary Professor of Medieval History at the University of Lincoln and Research
Associate at the University of York
Laura Kalas, Senior Lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Swansea University
And
Anthony Bale, Professor of Medieval & Renaissance English at the University of
Cambridge and Fellow of Girton College.
Producer: Eliane Glaser
Reading list:
Alain Boureau (trans. Lydia G. Cochrane), The Myth of Pope Joan (University of Chicago Press, 2001)
Stephen Harris and Bryon L. Grisby (eds.), Misconceptions about the Middle Ages (Routledge, 2008), especially 'The Medieval Popess' by Vincent DiMarco
Valerie R. Hotchkiss, Clothes Make the Man: Female Cross Dressing in Medieval Europe (Routledge, 1996)
Jacques Le Goff, Heroes and Marvels of the Middle Ages (Reaktion, 2020), especially the chapter ‘Pope Joan’
Marina Montesano, Cross-dressing in the Middle Ages (Routledge, 2024)
Joan Morris, Pope John VIII - An English Woman: Alias Pope Joan (Vrai, 1985)
Thomas F. X. Noble, ‘Why Pope Joan?’ (Catholic Historical Review, vol. 99, no.2, 2013)
Craig M. Rustici, The Afterlife of Pope Joan: Deploying the Popess Legend in Early Modern England (University of Michigan Press, 2006)
In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio production
SUN 23:45 Short Works (m0027d41)
Incandescent by Clare Duffy
An original short story specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 written and read by Clare Duffy.
Clare Duffy is an Irish writer and performer across stage and screen. She is currently living and writing in Belfast and dreaming about Paris. She gained an MA in Creative Writing from the Seamus Heaney Centre and Queens University Belfast and is working on a screen project, a short story collection, and teaching screenwriting at Queens University Belfast.
Writer: Clare Duffy
Reader: Clare Duffy
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
MONDAY 03 FEBRUARY 2025
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m0027l31)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 Crossing Continents (m0027cn3)
Reel Revolution? The dramatic rise of Saudiwood
Saudi Arabia is rolling out the red carpet to filmmakers and foreign companies as it sets out to establish itself as a major player in the entertainment industry. After lifting a 35-year ban on cinemas in 2018, the Kingdom is now luring Hollywood with cash incentives to shoot in the desert, and playing host to a glitzy international film festival. The move is all part of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's ‘Vision 2030’ - a grand blueprint to rewrite the Kingdom's script, diversify its economy away from oil, and expand its cultural influence though films, gaming and sport, all at the same time seeking to keep an overwhelming young population happy. It is a dramatic transformation with writers, directors and actors now prepared to test boundaries and break taboos on screen. But as Emily Wither finds out Saudi Arabia is still a country where not every story can be told.
Presenter: Emily Wither
Producers Emily Wither and Ben Carter
Editor: Penny Murphy
Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill
Production manager: Gemma Ashman
Archive credits:
Fox News, The Bret Baier Podcast
Netflix, Masameer
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m0027l18)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0027l33)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0027l35)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0027l37)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 05:30 News Briefing (m0027l39)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0027l3c)
Banquet under the stars
Reflection with Fiona Stewart, a writer who runs a Christian arts charity.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m0027l3f)
03/02/25 - Tenant farmers, silage competition, slow fashion
Silage is the preserved chopped grass or other crops that farmers feed to livestock through the winter. The more good-quality silage you can harvest and store yourself, the less money you need to spend on bought in feed. There’s also a real pride in producing a great crop of silage. The Westmorland Agricultural Society runs an annual hotly contested silage competition. The entries are lab analysed and the best four farms in each category get a personal visit from the judge. We visit a prize winner.
All this week we'll be looking at the current state of tenant farming. 14% of farms are rented, and many of those who own their own land also rent some, so about 30% of farmed land in England is tenanted. The Rock Revie, commissioned by the last government, made a number of recommendations to improve things for farmers who rent, from more protection from landlords wanting to take land back, to the appointment of a commissioner, a recommendation accepted by this government.
The fashion industry has come under scrutiny in recent years for the impact it has on the environment. Here in the UK, some textile producers are now turning to so-called 'slow fashion', which aims to ensure full traceability in textile supply chains.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
MON 05:57 Weather (m0027l3h)
Weather reports and forecasts for farmers
MON 06:00 Today (m0027l4z)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m0027l51)
Manufacturing and sustainability
We might live surrounded by manufactured goods but the business of making is far removed and often hidden from our lives, according to the Professor of Innovation at the University of Cambridge, Tim Minshall. In Your Life Is Manufactured he takes readers on a tour of mega-factories to artisanal craft shops, seaports to supermarkets to reveal the systems and decisions behind manufacturing.
The former Chief Scientist of BP, Bernie Bulkin is interested in how cutting edge developments in manufacturing have helped both companies and countries remain financially competitive in the global market. In The Material Advantage he looks at the latest innovative materials and new opportunities.
But at the heart of the discussion around manufacturing in the 21st century is sustainability. Fiona Dear is Co-Director of the Restart Project, a social enterprise that runs repair events in the community, but also campaigns for broader Right 2 Repair legislation to force companies to make it easier and cheaper for people to mend products, rather than simply buying new.
Producer: Katy Hickman
MON 09:45 Café Hope (m0027l53)
From coal to cakes
Michael Beynon tells Rachel Burden how he wanted to show others that having Down Syndrome doesn't stop him from running his own Welsh cakes business.
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 (m0027l55)
Mikey Madison, Jojo Moyes, Inside the RAF
Oscar-nominated actress Mikey Madison joins Clare McDonnell in the Woman’s Hour studio. She speaks about playing the title role in Anora, a film about a sex worker in New York. Mikey spent months embedded in a strip club to fully immerse herself in the world. The film is nominated for six Academy Awards as well as BAFTAs and Golden Globes – we speak to Mikey about how she’s finding receiving such attention so early in her career.
The government have announced £13 million of funding for a national centre to tackle violence against women and girls. How will it work, and what difference might it make? Clare speaks to BBC Senior UK Correspondent Sima Kotecha and National Police Chief's Council lead for violence against women and girls Maggie Blyth.
Top Guns: Inside the RAF is a Channel 4 documentary that gives viewers a rare view of RAF operations both in the air and on the ground. One of the women featured in the new series is Chief of Staff Jenni, who was recently stationed at an airbase in Romania. She joins Clare to tell us more about being a woman in the RAF and her experiences.
Jojo Moyes is the bestselling author of 17 novels, including the smash hit Me Before You which was adapted into a Hollywood film. Her new novel We All Live Here tells the story of Lila, a woman dealing with divorce, teenage children and duelling fathers. Jojo joins Clare in the studio to tell us about this ultimate sandwich situation.
Presenter: Clare McDonnell
Producer: Lottie Garton
MON 11:00 How Boarding Schools Shaped Britain (m0027l57)
1. Building men of Empire
Boarding schools have long been synonymous with leadership, privilege and tradition. Woven into the fabric of British society, these institutions have played a significant role in shaping the nation's leaders - from Empire builders to politicians.
In the first of three programmes, Nicky Campbell unravels the complex history of boarding schools, from their humble origins as day schools for the poor to their transformation into elite institutions that have defined power and influence.
But does early separation from family and loved ones come at a cost? And what impact has Britain's most enduring educational tradition had on the rest of British society?
MON 11:45 Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst (m0027l5b)
1. The Whale
Maurice and Maralyn tells the story of what happened when a husband and wife decided to escape their suburban life in 1970s Derby, and instead build a boat and sail to New Zealand. Their dream crumbled after a perilous encounter with a whale left them adrift on the Pacific ocean on a tiny raft. A fight for survival followed, as well as a test of their endurance and their love for one another. Maurice and Maralyn is the Nero Books Awards 2024 Non-Fiction Winner. Dorothy Atkinson reads.
Sophie Elmhirst is a prize-winning journalist. In 2020 she won the British Press Award for Feature Writer of the Year. She first came across Maurice and Maralyn Bailey's story when she was researching a piece on the desire to escape. This is her first book.
Dorothy Atkinson is well known for her work in theatre, film and television. She has appeared in several films by Mike Leigh most notably Mr Turner. She is also well known for playing Pauline in the sitcom Mum. Recent work includes Ludwig, Joan, Saltburn, Without Sin, Pennyworth, Harlots and Call the Midwife.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton.
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
MON 12:00 News Summary (m0027l5d)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 You and Yours (m0027l5g)
Claims Management, Coffee and Heathrow
If you are involved in a car accident, and don't have your insurance company's details with you, beware! Many of the numbers you'll be offered in online searches may look like your insurance company but could be a third party.
Despite the price of a cup of coffee rising, we are buying more of it. More than 500 coffee shops opened last year and it is predicted another 2000 will open by 2030.
Will Heathrow's third runway make much difference to consumers who don't live in London or the south-east.
The secret codes in supermarkets that let you know about how long discounted items will be on offer.
How work place benefits have become a tool in the battle to get people back to the office, and which ones workers value- and those that they don't.
Presenter: Shari Vahl.
Producer: Kevin Mousley
MON 12:57 Weather (m0027l5j)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m0027l5l)
US and EU teeter towards full-scale trade war
President Trump says EU will be next in line for tariffs, as world braces for trade war. Yanis Varoufakis, Greek's former finance minister, gives his assessment on what this means for global trade. Also, Ofsted’s new report card system, Channel 4’s controversial TV experiment, and a spectacular showing in the sky.
MON 13:45 At Your Own Peril (m0027l5n)
The Gamble
The modern world is full of risks, from natural hazards such as flooding to the existential threat of nuclear war, artificial intelligence and climate change.
With the scientific and technological progress of the past few centuries, we’ve created new hazards that threaten our very survival and, in this series, emergency planner and disaster recovery expert Lucy Easthope explores the history of risk to find out how it’s understood, perceived and managed, and to ask how we can become more resilient as individuals, as a society and as a planet.
The Ancient Romans had a passion for dice and would even consult them to predict the future, but despite a love of gambling - and a life of danger - they didn’t have a theory of risk. Fate was in the hands of the gods.
With the discovery of probability during a game of chance between a French nobleman and two brilliant mathematicians in the middle of the 17th century, there was a revolution in human thought as, for the first time in history, we could calculate risk and begin to look - however dimly - into the future.
But did this give us mastery over our fate or simply the illusion of control? Is prediction an art or a science? Are the ‘superforecasters’ of today like the oracles of the past? And how much are we simply gambling with our future, playing with dice while the volcano smokes in the distance.
Lucy Easthope is the co-founder of the After Disaster Network in the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience at the University of Durham, Professor in Mass Fatalities and Pandemics at the University of Bath and the author of When The Dust Settles.
Presenter: Lucy Easthope
Producer: Patrick Bernard
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
MON 14:00 The Archers (m0027l2v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 A Charles Paris Mystery (m0027l5q)
Charles Paris: Situation Tragedy
Episode 2
CHARLES PARIS ..... Bill Nighy
FRANCES ..... Suzanne Burden
MAURICE ..... Jon Glover
ASH AMOS ..... Phaldut Sharma
JUDY GILMORE ..... Christine Kavanagh
SCOTT / ARGYLL / ART TUTOR ..... Joseph Ayre
HOWARD LANGRIDGE.....Tony Turner
CHERYL .....Anna Spearpoint
Written by Jeremy Front from a story by Simon Brett
Technical Producers ..... Peter Ringrose & Alison Craig
Production Coordinator ..... Luke MacGregor
Director ..... Sally Avens
Charles has landed a role in a grimly unfunny sitcom when a PA falls through a glass roof and dies, but was it an accident or murder as Charles believes?
It's not long before he has some suspects in his sights.
MON 14:45 Marple: Three New Stories (m001gjfh)
The Unravelling by Natalie Haynes
The Unravelling (Part 2)
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.
The Unravelling by Natalie Haynes
When an itinerant farm hand is found dead outside Weaver’s Haberdashers it’s chalked up as a brawl gone tragically wrong - until the body is moved and an arrow found lodged in his heart. The Weavers claim never to have met the man; Sergeant Dover has his doubts and, as usual, Jane Marple is three steps ahead of every one of them.
Read by Monica Dolan
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 and Christie devotees.
MON 15:00 Great Lives (m0027l5s)
Mark Billingham chooses George Harrison
George Harrison was a musician, singer and songwriter who became one of the most famous people in the world as one quarter of the Beatles. That alone would merit a place in the Great Lives pantheon, but his work in the decades after the band broke up indicates a man of diverse and arguably underestimated talents.
Erupting onto the pop music scene in the 1960's, the Beatles' success was swift and dizzying; and for the rather private George, sometimes dubbed ‘the quiet Beatle’, this celebrity and adulation seems to have never quite sat comfortably. Nevertheless, he became a musical icon: responsible for a captivating collection of songs, from those he wrote with the Beatles through to his solo work; collaborating with a host of international artists; popularising Indian music and instruments; and even venturing into the movie-making business. At the same time, like many others thrust into the spotlight, George appears to have struggled with balancing success and the celebrity lifestyle with a more meaningful and spiritual existence.
This tension and how it drove George Harrison as an artist is part of what attracts crime writer, occasional musician and self-professed Beatles fanatic Mark Billingham to his story, and why he's nominated him today. Also in the studio to offer her insights is Dr Holly Tessler, a senior lecturer in music industries at the University of Liverpool, where she leads their MA programme: 'Beatles, Music Industry and Heritage'.
Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Studios Audio by Lucy Taylor.
MON 15:30 History's Heroes (m0027l5v)
History's Youngest Heroes
History's Youngest Heroes: 9. The Grisly World of Andreas Vesalius
An arrogant young man with a passion for dissecting corpses challenges his teachers and changes the course of modern medicine.
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: Suniti Somaiya
Edit Producer: Melvin Rickarby
Assistant Producer: Lorna Reader
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Written by Alex von Tunzelmann
Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts
MON 16:00 Germany: Rebellion on the Rhine (m0027l28)
[Repeat of broadcast at
13:30 on Sunday]
MON 16:30 Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics (m001t3f0)
Series 9
Demeter
Natalie tells the powerful and painful story of Demeter's fight to get justice for her daughter Persephone.
Hades conspires with his siblings Zeus and Gaia to abduct Persephone and force her to live with him in the underworld as his wife. Many versions of this story are sanitized for children but the original is not. It is clear that Persephone is tricked and trafficked, that she hates and fears Hades and never becomes accustomed to life among the dead. And that her mother Demeter is furious and grief-stricken.
The light is gone from Demeter's life and consequently from the world: crops fail and the people starve. It's only now that Zeus takes note of her pleas to get Persephone back. He doesn't really care about the people but he misses their gifts and praise.
In a tour de force solo performance recorded at the Hay festival, Natalie reclaims the goddess' story for our times. A story of a mother's love and fury that speaks painfully to us across millennia.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery
MON 17:00 PM (m0027l5x)
Trump delays new tariffs on Mexico
We assess President Trump's strategy after he delayed higher import tariffs against Mexico. In Brussels, Keir Starmer is meeting with EU leaders, we analyse what might be achieved. And we hear from the British student Zara Lachlan, who's become the youngest person to row between mainland Europe to mainland South America.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0027l5z)
Mexico cuts an eleventh-hour deal with Donald Trump to avert a trade war but EU leaders react angrily to Mr Trump's warning that Europe is "definitely" in line next.
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m0027l61)
Series 94
3. Hesitation, Repetition, Deviation or Enunciation
Sue Perkins challenges Josie Lawrence, Ivo Graham, Sara Pascoe and Daliso Chaponda to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation. Subjects include Glastonbury Festival, Negotiating with A Toddler, and Those Listening At Home.
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Rajiv Karia
An EcoAudio certified production.
A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.
MON 19:00 The Archers (m0027l63)
Fallon, Jolene and Harrison discuss his secondment being brought forward. Harrison’s going to confirm it with Inspector Norris later. When Fallon heads off Jolene asks Harrison if she’s alright. He admits he was tempted not to agree to it, but it was always going to be hard saying goodbye to Fallon whenever it was. Jolene counsels makings the most of their time left. Later Harrison surprises Fallon by booking a meal at their favourite restaurant and Fallon says she’s done the same thing!
Tracy and Chelsea enjoy the Steam Room at Grey Gables using Oliver’s free spa passes. Chelsea reveals to Tracy that she thinks Brad fancies Zainab. Especially because he agreed to play badminton as soon as he heard Zainab was joining them. Chelsea’s going to suggest that Brad invites Zainab to the cinema on Valentine’s Day. Tracy’s not sure that’s a good idea, but Chelsea disagrees.
Later, while waiting for Brad and Ben to arrive, Zainab tells Chelsea that Brad asked her to go to the cinema, but she said no as it was clearly a date. When Chelsea says it’s obvious they like each other, Zainab points out that it doesn’t mean she wants to go out with Brad. Later Chelsea’s disgruntled at having had Derek Fletcher as her doubles partner after Brad pulled out. She unloads to Tracy, who reminds her that she’d advised Chelsea not to interfere with Brad’s love life. Chelsea can’t believe Zainab’s not bothered about hurting Brad. And to boot she was flirting with Ben right in front of Chelsea’s eyes!
MON 19:15 Front Row (m0027l65)
Director Coralie Fargeat on The Substance, Josephine Baker's autobiography, poet Anne Carson on Elektra on stage
Coralie Fargeat has been nominated as best director for her film The Substance which stars Demi Moore. She tells Samira about her inspiration for the satirical horror about a Hollywood star who takes a dangerous drug to create a younger version of herself.
Josephine Baker’s memoir has been translated into English for the first time, fifty years after the death of the iconic performer. Cultural historian Dr Adjoa Osei and translator Anam Zafar discuss Baker's incredible life and legacy.
The story of Greek heroine Electra has been written in play form by Sophocles, was made into an opera by Richard Straus and inspired Marvel comics and films. A new production, based on Sophocles' Electra which was translated by Canadian poet Anne Carson has just hit London’s West End starring Brie Larson and Stockard Channing. Anne joins Samira to talk about the translation.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Paula McGrath
MON 20:00 Rethink (m0027d7n)
Rethink: is big tech stealing your life?
Rethink examines emerging issues in politics, society, economics, technology and the UK's place in the world, and how we might approach them differently. We look at the latest thinking and research and discuss new ideas that might make the world a better place.
In this episode, we consider the changing relationship between the public and big tech companies.
Big technology companies have given us incredible social media and online services, that came with a price - our data. They used it to target advertising and to learn about our likes and dislikes, and the vast majority of us couldn't have cared less about giving up this information.
But Artificial Intelligence products have changed the game, from chatbots that can hold human-like conversations, to Generative AI that can write prose or create a picture from a simple text prompt.
And these unthinking machines require endless amounts of data to train them.
Some companies have been quietly changing their terms and conditions to access our social media and messages for AI training. Privacy regulators in the UK have called a halt to this so far, but US consumers don't have that protection.
Developers have also been scraping the internet, gathering both free and copyrighted material, and leading to legal actions in both the USA, the EU and the UK.
Copyright holders are concerned about a lack of payment or licencing deals, and also that AI imitates their content, putting them out of work. The Government has now launched a consultation to try to balance up the needs of AI and the creative industries.
But with some companies refusing to pay for content, creators have a new tool at their disposal - a program that makes stolen pictures poisonous to AI.
Presenter: Ben Ansell
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Clare Fordham
Contributors:
Ben Zhao, Neubauer Professor of Computer Science at University of Chicago
Jack Stilgoe, Professor in science and technology studies at University College London, where he researches the governance of emerging technologies
Justine Roberts, CEO and founder of Mumsnet.
Cerys Wyn Davies, Partner at Pinscent Masons solicitors, specialising in IP and Copyright.
Neil Ross, Associate director of policy for Tech UK
MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (m0027d7q)
Is 1.5 still alive?
1.5C.
It’s THE number we talk about when we talk about climate change.
But what does 1.5C actually mean now – and as the world saw record-breaking heat last year, does it even matter anymore?
Climate scientist Mark Maslin and environmental psychologist Lorraine Whitmarsh discuss.
Also this week, new clues about how life may have begun from a dusty space rock called Bennu, and New Scientist’s Graham Lawton brings us the science of the week, including AI’s ‘Sputnik moment’, the mice born with two fathers, and how often do unexpected discoveries happen?
Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producers: Sophie Ormiston, Ella Hubber & Gerry Holt
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
If you want to test your climate change knowledge, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University to take the quiz.
MON 21:00 Start the Week (m0027l51)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:45 Café Hope (m0027l53)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m0027l67)
Who's winning Trump's trade war?
President Trump has agreed to pause the imposition of tariffs on Mexico and Canada by a month, in return for increased efforts to stop drug trafficking into the US. We ask whether President Trump is winning a trade war - and what lies behind his decision.
Also tonight:
The sister of Ruth Perry - the headteacher whose suicide prompted changes to Ofsted's school grading system - gives us her view on the proposed new system.
And a pub scores an own goal by offering free pints for all seven goals Nottingham Forest scored at the weekend.
MON 22:45 Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee (m0027l69)
Steeping
Sunita's peaceful life in the village of Glentorrance is about to be upended by the arrival of a mysterious letter.
A Highland heist story specially written for Radio 4 by Abir Mukherjee, author of the Wyndham and Banerjee series.
Read by Sudha Bhuchar
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
A BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4.
Abir Mukherjee's standalone novel HUNTED was published in 2024 and is a gripping white-knuckle ride across contemporary America. Sudha Bhuchar can be seen in 'Virdee', the Bradford-set detective series coming soon to the BBC.
MON 23:00 Limelight (m001hg08)
The Incident at Ong's Hat
The Incident at Ong’s Hat - Episode 1: The Incunabula Papers
Sarah Larsen, a yoga instructor, and her friend Charlie Brill went in search of Ong’s Hat, a fabled gateway to another dimension. Now Sarah is missing, and maybe this urban legend isn’t a legend at all…
Cast:
Charlie - Corey Brill
Sarah - Avital Ash
Rodney Ascher - Himself
Det. Stecco - James Bacon
Casey - Hayley Taylor
Ringo - Benjamin Williams
Kit - Randall Keller
Denny Unger - Himself
Joseph Matheny - Himself
Newscasters: Elizabeth Saydah, Dean Wendt
Created and Produced by Jon Frechette and Todd Luoto
Inspired by Ong’s Hat: The Beginning by Joseph Matheny
Music by Blue Dot Sessions, Jon Frechette, Chris Zabriskie, Anthéne, Alessandro Barbanera, Blanket Swimming, Macrogramma (under Creative Commons)
Editing and Sound Design - Jon Frechette
Additional Editing - Brandon Kotfila and Greg Myers
Special Thanks - Ben Fineman
Written and Directed by Jon Frechette
Executive Producer - John Scott Dryden
“Ong’s Hat Survivors Interview” courtesy of Joseph Matheny
Visit thegardenofforkedpaths.com and josephmatheny.com
A Goldhawk production for Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0027l6c)
Sean Curran reports as a minister unveils new grades for England's schools.
TUESDAY 04 FEBRUARY 2025
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m0027l6f)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 00:30 Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst (m0027l5b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0027l6h)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0027l6k)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0027l6m)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m0027l6p)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0027l6r)
Just passing by
Reflection with Fiona Stewart, a writer who runs a Christian arts charity.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m0027l6t)
04/02/25 - UK-EU trade relations, the Rock Review, Breckland soils
The Prime Minister has been with EU Leaders in Brussels intending to 're-set' the UK's position with the EU. The Government is seeking a veterinary agreement with the EU to free up trade in food and animal products - something some farmers and food businesses have been calling for.
We visit the author of the Rock Review into Tenant Farming - Baroness Kate Rock is herself a tenant, farming 450 hectares of arable and a small beef herd with her father in Dorset.
And under the new system of farm payments in England, farmers can be paid for improving their soils. But how to do it depends on local geology. We visit a farm in the Brecklands on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, where growing crops in the sandy, stony soils can be difficult at the best of times.
Presented by Anna Hill
Produced by Heather Simons
TUE 06:00 Today (m0027ltn)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 Young Again (m0027ltq)
24. Adam Buxton
Kirsty Young asks podcaster Adam Buxton what advice he would give his younger self.
Buxton rose to prominence in partnership with Joe Cornish, first on TV with The Adam and Joe Show then as co-hosts of radio shows on XFM and BBC 6 Music. He has since struck out alone with his live show, Bug, and a hit interview podcast. He reflects on his time at art school, the split with Cornish, and the loss of both of his parents.
A BBC Studios Audio production.
TUE 09:30 Inside Health (m0027k1d)
Bird flu update after UK farm worker infected and your questions on urinary problems
James Gallagher discusses the risk from H5N1 bird flu in the UK as a poultry worker in the West Midlands is infected and looks to the US where the disease is spreading in cattle. He's joined by virologist Dr Ed Hutchinson from the University of Glasgow to discuss how the virus is evolving, whether we are edging closer to bird flu becoming a pandemic and how it's being handled in the US as President Trump's government takes office.
Also, you've been sending in your questions on embarrassing health problems and lots of you have asked about the problem of leaking urine, known as urinary incontinence. James puts your questions to Dr Vanessa Apea, a consultant physician in Genito-urinary and HIV medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London.
Presenter: James Gallagher
Producer: Tom Bonnett
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0027lts)
Daisy May Cooper, The Bad Guru, Fiona-Lee
Actor and writer Daisy May Cooper shot to fame with This Country, the mockumentary about rural poverty in the Cotswolds that she wrote and starred in with her brother Charlie. She followed that with the lead in BBC/HBO show Rain Dogs and in 2022 she co-wrote and starred in the twisting female-friendship thriller Am I Being Unreasonable? With the second series about to drop on BBC 1 and BBC iPlayer Daisy joins Clare McDonnell in the Woman’s Hour studio.
Spanish footballer Jenni Hermoso has given evidence at the trial of Spain's former football chief Luis Rubiales. He is accused of sexual assault and coercion after he kissed her during the medal ceremony when Spain won the 2023 World Cup final, charges which he denies. Clare speaks to Semra Hunter, sports broadcaster journalist.
A new BBC podcast has uncovered some shocking allegations of grooming, trafficking and sexual exploitation linked to a yoga movement. The Bad Guru podcast follows Miranda who joined a yoga class in the UK which she discovered had links to the Atman Federation, an international yoga movement led by the Romanian guru Gregorian Bivalaru. After becoming part of the wider movement, Miranda says that she was groomed and sexually exploited. Clare hears from Miranda and from the podcast’s presenter, investigative journalist Cat McShane.
From her close relationship with her mum to her mental health struggles as a teenager, 24-year-old Fiona-Lee from Howden in Yorkshire writes earnestly about the emotional rollercoaster that is adolescence to adulthood. Her EP, ‘Nothing Compares to Nineteen,’ is released on the 7th of March and she joins Clare to perform the track 'Lavender'.
Presenter: Clare McDonnell
Producer: Laura Northedge
TUE 11:00 Screenshot (m0027d4f)
Hitmen
The last few years have seen a number of new entries on the cinematic hit list, from David Fincher’s The Killer to Richard Linklater’s Hit Man. TV has also seen its fair share of hitmen in the last year; the reboot of the 2005 Brad and Angelina film Mr and Mrs Smith; Eddie Redmayne donning various elaborate disguises in a Day of the Jackal update, as well as Black Doves. It seems these days hitmen are among TV and film’s most wanted.
Mark talks to critic Christina Newland about the history of crime cinema's enigmatic icon, exploring everything from cult oddities such as Branded to Kill to the female assassin of the 90's such as Nikita and The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Ellen goes deep on cult classic Le Samouraï with Kill List and A Field in England director Ben Wheatley and academic Ginette Vincendeau; they discuss the relationship between hitmen and samurai in cinema.
Produced by Queenie Qureshi-Wales
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 11:45 Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst (m0027ltv)
2. Life on the High Seas
Sophie Elmhirst is an award-winning writer, and in her account of Maurice and Maralyn Bailey's dreams of escape and their extraordinary adventure on the high seas, events take a disastrous turn. Dorothy Atkinson reads.
Maurice and Maralyn tells the story of what happened when a husband and wife decided to escape their suburban life in 1970s Derby, and instead build a boat and sail to New Zealand. Their dream crumbled after a perilous encounter with a whale left them adrift on the Pacific ocean on a tiny raft. A fight for survival followed, as well as a test of their endurance and their love for one another. Maurice and Maralyn is the Nero Books Awards 2024 Non-Fiction Winner.
Sophie Elmhirst is a prize-winning journalist. In 2020 she won the British Press Award for Feature Writer of the Year. She first came across Maurice and Maralyn Bailey's story when she was researching a piece on the desire to escape. This is her first book.
Dorothy Atkinson is well known for her work in theatre, film and television. She has appeared in several films by Mike Leigh most notably Mr Turner. She is also well known for playing Pauline in the sitcom Mum. Recent work includes Ludwig, Joan, Saltburn, Without Sin, Pennyworth, Harlots and Call the Midwife.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton.
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m0027ltx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m0027ltz)
Call You and Yours - Cost of Care
On this week's Call You and Yours we're talking about the cost of care. The average cost of a care home has passed £1000 a week. For many people with more complex needs the costs can be even higher spiralling to over a hundred thousand pounds a year. Research shows that over half of care seekers will have to fund their care privately because they have assets above a certain threshold. So this affects many people.
We often don't know whether we - or our relatives - will need care later in life. So the reality of how much you may have to pay can come as a huge shock. We may not have thought about it before and suddenly the costs can be eating through life savings and leaving families with dilemmas about what to do when the money runs out.
The Government has set up an independent commission, chaired by Baroness Louise Casey, to look at social care reform. But it is not due to publish its final report until 2028. Critics argue we need change to come sooner than that.
We want to hear from you. How much are you paying for adult social care right now? What's your experience of the social care system and how are you coping with the costs? Are you having to sell property or drain savings in order to pay for care?
Email us - youandyours@bbc.co.uk and from
11am on Tuesday call us on 03700 100 444
PRODUCER: CATHERINE EARLAM
PRESENTER: SHARI VAHL
TUE 12:57 Weather (m0027lv1)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m0027lv3)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.
TUE 13:45 At Your Own Peril (m0027lv5)
Cassandra
The modern world is full of risks, from natural hazards such as flooding to the existential threat of nuclear war, artificial intelligence and climate change.
With the scientific and technological progress of the past few centuries, we’ve created new hazards that threaten our very survival and in this series, emergency planner and disaster recovery expert Lucy Easthope explores the history of risk to find out how it’s understood, perceived and managed, and to ask how we can become more resilient as individuals, as a society and as a planet.
The theory of risk that emerged from the Renaissance and Enlightenment was based on the idea of the individual as rational and self-interested - ‘homo economicus' - and decision-making as an objective science. But as Lucy Easthope discovers, risk is ultimately a subjective construct, and our perception of it is shaped not only by our psychology and feelings but by our beliefs and values.
Risk is political - which has a number of significant consequences for our management of risk, for if we can’t agree on the risks that face us as a society then how are we supposed to prevent these hazards from becoming a disaster?
Presenter: Lucy Easthope
Producer: Patrick Bernard
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
Lucy Easthope is the co-founder of the After Disaster Network in the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience at the University of Durham, Professor in Mass Fatalities and Pandemics at the University of Bath and the author of “When The Dust Settles”.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m0027l63)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 This Thing of Darkness (p0h2jxkl)
Series 3
The Christmas Killers
by Frances Poet with monologues by Eileen Horne
Part Four – The Christmas Killers
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.
How do you come to terms with your own capacity for violence?
Dr Alex Bridges ….. Lolita Chakrabarti
Anthony ….. Lorn Macdonald
Finn ….. Reuben Joseph
Twitch …. Brian Ferguson
Simon ….. Shaun Mason
The Governor….. Karen Bartke
Dani ….. Elysia Welch
Dead Elvis….Andy Clark
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 Kirsty Williams
TUE 15:00 The Gift (m00255wz)
Series 2
4. Taboo
One man’s determination to find his mother reveals an unbearable secret.
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
Details of organisations providing support with mental health, adoption and feelings of despair are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline
TUE 15:30 Thinking Allowed (m0027lv7)
Touch
When, where, and who gets to touch and be touched, and who decides? How does touch bring us closer together or push us apart? These are urgent contemporary questions, but they have their origins in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Britain. Laurie Taylor talks to Simeon Koole, Senior Lecturer in Liberal Arts and History at the University of Bristol about his new study of the way in which the crowded city compelled new discussions about touch, as people crammed into subway cars, skirted criminals in London's dense fogs and visited tea shops, all the while negotiating the boundaries of personal space. How did these historical encounters shape and transform our understanding of physical contact into the present day?
Also, digital touch. Carey Jewitt Professor of Technology at the Institute of Education, London, explores the way technology is transforming our experience of touch. Touch matters. It is fundamental to how we know ourselves and each other, and it is central to how we communicate. So how will the the digital touch embedded in many technologies, from wearable devices and gaming hardware to tactile robots and future technologies, change our sense of connection with each other. What would it be like if we could hug or touch digitally across distance? How might we establish trust or protect our privacy and safety? How might radically different forms of touch impact our relationships and the future?
Producer: Jayne Egerton
TUE 16:00 Moving Pictures (m0027lv9)
The War of Troy tapestry
Cathy FitzGerald invites you to discover new details in old masterpieces. Each episode of Moving Pictures is devoted to a single artwork – and you’re invited to look as well as listen, by following a link to a high-resolution image made by Google Arts & Culture. Zoom in and you can see the pores of the canvas, the sweep of individual brushstrokes, the shimmer of pointillist dots.
Things get brutal this week, as we take a closer look at an extraordinary textile from the V&A - the War of Troy tapestry. It takes us to Troy in the ninth year of the siege, as Penthesilea, the Queen of the Amazons, rides out to meet the Greeks. Cathy FitzGerald hears why Renaissance nobles were fascinated by the Trojan myth and learns an excellent trick for cleaning a tapestry with a loaf of bread.
To see the high-resolution image of the painting, visit www.bbc.co.uk/movingpictures. Scroll down and follow the link to explore The War of Troy tapestry.
Interviewees: Venetia Bridges, Thomas Campbell, Paula Nuttall, Silvija Banić, Angus Patterson.
Producer and presenter: Cathy FitzGerald
Executive producer: Sarah Cuddon
Mix engineer: Mike Woolley
Art history consultant: Leah Kharibian
A White Stiletto production for BBC Radio 4
Picture credit: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London / Kira Zumkley
TUE 16:30 When It Hits the Fan (m0027lvc)
Rachel Reeves’ PR pivot, how to talk to Trump and Bill Gates’ memoir
How do you PR a pivot and change the mood music as a politician? David Yelland and Simon Lewis take a look at the language Rachel Reeves is deploying as she tries to go for growth and what might lie behind the timing of AstraZeneca scrapping its UK vaccine plant.
Also, the split that divides the world's PR elite - the political and business world is having to decide whether to follow Donald Trump's language or resist it, kowtow or fight. How do we all talk to America now?
And a PR take on the publicity for Bill Gates' new memoir.
Producer: Eve Streeter
Editor: Sarah Teasdale
Executive Producer: William Miller
Music by Eclectic Sounds
A Raconteur Studios production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 17:00 PM (m0027lvf)
President Trump prepares to meet Benjamin Netanyahu
The Israeli Prime Minister is the first foreign leader to visit the White House this term. We'll bring you a briefing on what each man wants to take away from the talks. Plus - should Labour allow the exploitation of the North Sea Rosebank oil field? We’ll discuss the next issue potentially dividing the party.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0027lvh)
Police in Sweden say ten people have been killed in a shooting at a school campus.
TUE 18:30 Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar (m001d59f)
Series 4
A Monopoly of Violence
Alexei considers the role of the police force, discusses his own involvement in the ‘spy cops’ scandal, draws comparisons between President Assad and a beloved British comedian and details his seven stages of grief post the 2019 general election.
A mixture of stand-up, memoir, and philosophy from behind the counter of an imaginary sandwich bar.
Written and performed by Alexei Sayle.
With original music and lyrics from Tim Sutton.
Produced by Joe Nunnery
A BBC Studios Production
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m0027k0x)
Robert’s at the dentist while Lynda and Lawrence chat cricket in a Borchester coffee shop. Lynda steers the conversation to Roserran’s ‘Wicket and Stumps’ feature, suggesting that it would benefit from having another team in the article. But as she’s about to outline her proposal, Robert appears from his dental visit wanting to head home. Intrigued by Lynda’s proposal Lawrence suggests that they set another date to chat. Later Lynda tells Robert that she’s meeting Lawrence again on Thursday when she’s sure he’ll jump at the chance to include the Ambridge cricket team in the feature.
Tracy asks Alice to join her quiz team at The Bull later. When Alice agrees saying she’ll ask Chris to have Martha, Tracy points out that he’s the only other team member. Tracy suggests that Susan could babysit and Alice muses that it might be nice to do something with Chris as adults, rather than as parents.
Chris arrives at the quiz with Hannah, having convinced her earlier to join the team. When Tracy mentions Alice is coming too, Chris says that it will be nice to see her socially. Tracy points out that’s exactly what Alice said too. After the quiz Hannah and Chris head to the bar and Tracy checks if subdued Alice is alright. Tracy wonders if there’s something going on between Hannah and Chris. Alice isn’t sure but says it would be great if they did get together because Chris deserves to move on. When Tracy says it is hard though, Alice admits it is really hard.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m0027lvk)
25 Years of 21st Century: Film and Television
Front Row continues to look at how culture has changed in the first 25 years of the century with an edition focusing on film and TV.
Samira is joined by Radio 4's Screenshot presenters Mark Kermode and Ellen E. Jones, Jane Tranter, who relaunched Doctor Who in 2005 and co-founded Bad Wolf productions and Boyd Hilton, the Entertainment Director of Heat magazine. From reality TV to superhero franchises and the rise of binge-watching, the panel discuss how transformations have changed what we watch, how we watch it and who makes it.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Claire Bartleet
TUE 20:00 Today (m0027k0g)
The Today Debate
The Today Debate is about taking a subject and pulling it apart with more time than we could ever have during the programme in the morning.
Nick Robinson is joined by a panel of guests to consider whether it’s possible to go for growth at the same time as going green.
On the panel are Beccy Speight, Chief Executive RSPB; Dale Vince, founder of the green energy company Ecotricity; Shevaun Haviland, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce; Tim Leunig, an economist who was an advisor to Rishi Sunak when he was Chancellor; Justin King, Chair OVO Energy.
TUE 20:45 In Touch (m0027lvm)
Unknown Unknowns!
What are the things you don't know that you don't know?!
That was the question posed to us by blind listener Lexi Hibberd who told us that there were aspects of everyday life like eye contact and other body language which hadn't been explained to her. What else then, she asked, didn't she know?
We were so intrigued by Lexi's question that we thought we should explore it further. Joining us to do just that is blind writer and broadcaster Lyndall Bywater, audio description writer Liz Gutman, Richard Lane who lost his sight in his early 20s, and of course Lexi herself. We discuss a range of issues that arise from Lexi's question, including what it was that inspired her to ask it.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Fern Lulham
Production Coordinator: David Baguley
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual 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 a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to
the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.’
TUE 21:00 World Of Secrets (m0026jxn)
The Bad Guru
The Bad Guru: 2. The Technique
Miranda joins thousands of the guru Gregorian Bivolaru’s followers from around the world at a yoga festival in a Romanian seaside resort. It’s a two-week-long holiday and her food and accommodation is free. But is she being drawn into something darker?
This episode contains explicit sexual content.
Host: Cat McShane
Producers: Emma Weatherill and Cat McShane
Sound design: Melvin Rickarby
Production Coordinator: Juliette Harvey
Unit Manager: Lucy Bannister
Executive Producer: Innes Bowen
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
TUE 21:30 The Bottom Line (m0027d74)
Robots On the Doorstep: Is This The Future Of Food Delivery?
Evan Davis talks to the Estonian Ahti Heinla, co-founder of robot delivery firm Starship Technologies, which is hoping to expand across the UK. Evan hears about Ahti's early life in Estonia, how he competed in a Nasa competition, the start of the delivery system in Milton Keynes and how he thinks robot deliveries will grow in the future in Britain and worldwide.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m0027lvp)
Trump hosts Netanyahu at White House
The future of the Gaza ceasefire deal is in the balance as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets US President Donald Trump in the White House. We're live in Washington, assessing what both leaders want from the meeting.
Also in the programme:
A mass shooting in Sweden - in which around ten people were killed - has been described by the country's prime minister as the worst in the country's history.
We have a report from Spain - where scientists are trying to protect Andalusia's olive trees from a bacteria that's helped to drive up the price of olive oil.
And as rare earth metals get dragged into the US-China trade war - why is access to them so important?
TUE 22:45 Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee (m0027lvr)
Proof
In the new thriller from the author of the Wyndham and Banerjee series, a woman's peaceful life in the Scottish Highlands is about to be shattered when she stumbles on an intruder in her shop.
Read by Sudha Bhuchar
Written by Abir Mukherjee
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
A BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4.
Abir Mukherjee's standalone novel HUNTED was published in 2024 and is a gripping white-knuckle ride across contemporary America. Sudha Bhuchar can be seen in 'Virdee', the Bradford-set detective series coming soon to the BBC.
TUE 23:00 Uncanny (m0011jxv)
Series 1
Case 4: My Best Friend's Ghost
Laura, a young woman with a wild streak, leaves home and finds a room in a flat-share where she meets Anna, who becomes her best friend. When Anna dies tragically from cancer, Laura is heartbroken, but then… Anna comes back.
As Laura tells Danny Robins her story, he explores the world of mediums (is it really possible to contact the dead?) and investigates the greatest of all mysteries – what happens to us when we die?
Written and presented by Danny Robins
Experts: Chris French and Ashley Darkwood
Editor and Sound Designer: Charlie Brandon-King
Music: Evelyn Sykes
Theme Music by Lanterns on the Lake
Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard
A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0027lvv)
Susan Hulme reports as energy security and net zero ministers take questions from MPs.
WEDNESDAY 05 FEBRUARY 2025
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m0027lvx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 00:30 Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst (m0027ltv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0027lw1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0027lw5)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0027lw7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m0027lwc)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0027lwf)
Don't Give Up
Reflection with Fiona Stewart, a writer who runs a Christian arts charity.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m0027lwk)
05/02/25 - Illegal meat imports, council farms and plant nutrients
Animal products from Germany were still getting into the UK days after the Government banned imports in response to cases of Foot and Mouth there. That's according to evidence given to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee of MPs as they started a new enquiry into animal and plant diseases. We have the latest from the first session.
The future of councils farms in England is being thrown into uncertainty by the proposed reorganisation of local authorities - according to one Devon councillor. It comes after many rural councils facing financial problems have chosen to sell some, or all, of their farms.
And scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich have discovered a special genetic signal, which allows crops to take up more nutrients from soil, without needing so much chemical fertiliser.
Presented by Anna Hill
Produced by Heather Simons
WED 06:00 Today (m0027k06)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Sideways (m0027k08)
70. Digital Ghosts
Amy Kurzweil’s dad is a famous inventor, futurist and pioneer in the field of AI. In 2015, she discovers his aspiration to make an AI chatbot of her late grandfather, Fred. Fred was a musician who dramatically escaped the Holocaust, but he died before Amy was born. Matthew Syed delves into Amy’s fascinating journey with her father to build the ‘Fredbot’ and have an online conversation with the grandfather she never met.
He also hears from Lynne Nieto, who worked with her late husband to make an interactive AI video of him before he passed away. Today, she struggles to engage with it.
The idea of using AI to simulate conversations with the dead troubles Matthew and raises all sorts of ethical questions. With the help of experts, he discovers how similar concepts were once debated by ancient Chinese philosophers and explores how digital ghosts could affect the grieving process.
With cartoonist and writer Amy Kurzweil; Alexis Elder, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota Duluth and author of the forthcoming book The Ethics of Digital Ghosts: Confucian, Mohist, and Zhuangist Perspectives on AI and Death; grief therapist and author of The Loss Prescription, Dr Chloe Paidoussis-Mitchell; and Lynne Nieto.
Featuring references to the graphic novel Artificial: A Love Story by Amy Kurzweil, published in 2022 by Catapult Books.
Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Vishva Samani
Series Editor: Georgia Moodie
Sound Design and Mix: Daniel Kempson
Theme music by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
WED 09:30 In Dark Corners (m0027k0b)
Series 2
5. This Evil Thing
Journalist Alex Renton is sent a secret membership list of a pro-paedophile group active in the 1970s and 80s.
It’s a lot to take in. Alex is not only a journalist, he’s a survivor of child sexual abuse.
The Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) campaigned to 'normalise' sex between children and adults. Their spokesmen claimed that adult members always sought consent.
But from the moment Alex was passed the list he knew that was a lie. He recognised some of those names and he knew they had convictions for child sexual abuse.
The List set Alex off on a dizzying journey into the dark history of PIE. As he uncovered more, he started to wonder: where were all those hundreds of members now? Could children still be at risk?
316 names. Most with UK addresses. All but a handful are men.
In this final episode Alex makes contact with some of the former members of PIE; people he believes may still come into contact with children.
Archive credits: BBC, Nationwide 1981; BBC, Newsnight 1983; BBC Parliament, 2025.
Presenter: Alex Renton
Producer: Caitlin Smith
Executive Producers: Gillian Wheelan and Gail Champion
Story Consultants: Jack Kibble-White and Kirsty Williams
Sound design: Jon Nicholls
Theme Tune: Jeremy Warmsley
Details of organisations offering information and support for victims of child sexual abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0027k0d)
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Comedian Hajar J Woodland, how often to wash your laundry?
Women in prison are resorting to self-harm because of “astonishing gaps” in basic services including strict time limits when contacting their children, according to a new report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for England and Wales released today. The report's author Sandra Fieldhouse joins Anita Rani, as does the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahmood.
Singer and stand-up comedian Hajar J Woodland joins Anita to discuss her show, First Love, coming to Soho Theatre in London. After being raised in a household where singing wasn't encouraged, her show explores the boundaries we put up around ourselves and what it means to finally find love and your voice.
New research has quantified for the first time how many young people have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria by GPs in England. Academics at the University of York studied a decade’s worth of NHS records and discovered a 50-fold increase in this particular diagnosis between 2011 and 2021. However each general practice will only see one or two such patients each year. Anita speaks to Professor of Health Policy Tim Doran.
The French have been told to wear the same T-shirt for five days before washing it, and sports clothing three times. It’s part of advice from the government’s Ecological Transition Agency, which is trying to get people to do less laundry to save water. So how often should we really be washing our clothes? Anita is joined by Professor Sally Bloomfield from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to tell us more.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Emma Pearce
WED 11:00 Today (m0027k0g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
WED 11:45 Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst (m0027k0j)
3. Adrift
In Sophie Elmhirst's story of shipwreck and love, Maurice and Maralyn are adrift in the Pacific Ocean struggling to survive on a tiny raft. Dorothy Atkinson reads.
Maurice and Maralyn tells the story of what happened when a husband and wife decided to escape their suburban life in 1970s Derby, and instead build a boat and sail to New Zealand. Their dream crumbled after a perilous encounter with a whale left them adrift on the Pacific ocean on a tiny raft. A fight for survival followed, as well as a test of their endurance and their love for one another. Maurice and Maralyn is the Nero Books Awards 2024 Non-Fiction Winner.
Sophie Elmhirst is a prize-winning journalist. In 2020 she won the British Press Award for Feature Writer of the Year. She first came across Maurice and Maralyn Bailey's story when she was researching a piece on the desire to escape. This is her first book.
Dorothy Atkinson is well known for her work in theatre, film and television. She has appeared in several films by Mike Leigh most notably Mr Turner. She is also well known for playing Pauline in the sitcom Mum. Recent work includes Ludwig, Joan, Saltburn, Without Sin, Pennyworth, Harlots and Call the Midwife.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton.
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
WED 12:00 News Summary (m0027k0l)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 You and Yours (m0027k0n)
Are we too tolerant of fraud?
We talk about fraud a lot on You and Yours - but usually you're unlikely to know, or be, the criminal behind it. But there's a growing type of fraud where you're the fraudster - and you don't seem to mind. So are we too tolerant of certain types of crime? Also - what could the effect of weight-loss drugs like Mounjaro and Wegovy be on companies trying to sell us stuff - from makeup to alcohol? The difficulties of finding a decent builder - are trader recommendation sites any help? Meanwhile, Spain's prime minister wants to crack down on foreigners buying homes there - and back in the UK, are rents finally going to start coming down?
PRESENTER: SHARI VAHL
PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY
WED 12:57 Weather (m0027k0q)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m0027k0s)
Widespread opposition to President Trump's plan for Gaza
Both Gazan and Israeli politicians respond to the US president's proposed takeover of Gaza. And we find out what it takes to turn Margaret Thatcher's life into an opera.
WED 13:45 At Your Own Peril (m0027k0v)
The Great Tide
The modern world is full of risks, from natural hazards such as flooding to the existential threat of nuclear war, artificial intelligence and climate change.
With the scientific and technological progress of the past few centuries, we’ve created new hazards that threaten our very survival and in this series, emergency planner and disaster recovery expert Lucy Easthope explores the history of risk to find out how it’s understood, perceived and managed, and to ask how we can become more resilient as individuals, as a society and as a planet.
The North Sea Flood of 1953 - the combination of a high spring tide and a storm surge which swept across the East Coast killing 307 people in England - was described as the worst natural disaster in Britain of the 20th century.
It was also the birth of modern risk management as the state began to recognise its increased responsibility - and accountability - in preventing future disasters.
From cost-benefit analysis and risk assessments to the insurance industry, Lucy Easthope finds out how we protect ourselves from these hazards, and whether there is ever such a thing as a ‘natural’ disaster or if they are always the result of political choices.
Presenter: Lucy Easthope
Producer: Patrick Bernard
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
Lucy Easthope is the co-founder of the After Disaster Network in the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience at the University of Durham, Professor in Mass Fatalities and Pandemics at the University of Bath and the author of “When The Dust Settles”.
WED 14:00 The Archers (m0027k0x)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama on 4 (m0027k0z)
Margaret White and the Alcoran of Mahomet
By Hannah Khalil
1649 was a significant year in British History because King Charles I was executed for treason. A lesser known, but arguably equally important, historical moment occurred in that same year: the first publication of the Qu'ran in English. Surprisingly, it was instigated by an English woman, called Margaret White, who was the wife of a printer called Robert based in Fleet Street, London.
Based on historical research, this drama imagines the circumstances as to how the Qu'ran came to be first published in the English language.
Cast:
Margaret ......... Erin Shanagher
Ayesha ..................Laila Alj
Robert ...................Graeme Hawley
Nicholas ............ Jon-Paul Bell
Sergeant ............ Hamilton Berstock
Production Co-ordinator - Pippa Day
Studio Manager- Amy Brennan
Sound Designer- Sharon Hughes
Producer/Director- Jessica Mitic
With thanks to Professor Suzanne Trill, the Arab British Centre and Dr Johnson’s House Museum
Historical consultant-Professor Matthew Birchwood
A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.
WED 15:00 Money Box (m0027k11)
Money Box Live: Your Care Cost Questions Answered
Paying for care in later life is something many of us will face. Unlike other NHS services, social care is not free at the point of use, the average annual care home cost is £60,000, if additional care is needed that price will go up.
After a recent special Money Box Live from Grange Care Residential Home in Sheffield we received so many questions that we simply couldn't get through them all on air, so we've raided the inbox and brought in the experts to return to the topic to answer as many was we can.
From how to plan to pay for care, what your money pays for, and how to challenge fees, Felicity Hannah, is joined by Tish Hanifan, the Founder of the Society of Later Life Advisors and Vic Rayner, CEO of the National Care Forum and Chair of the Care Providers Alliance.
Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Catherine Lund/Sarah Rogers
Editor: Sarah Rogers
(This programme was first broadcast on Wednesday the 5th of February, 2024).
WED 15:30 The Artificial Human (m0027k13)
What Is Trump's AI Agenda?
Ai is at a turning point, Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong ask what direction it will take and who is advising the most powerful man in the world on what vision of AI to pursue?
There are numerous camps vying for President Trump's favour over how to develop Ai. There are those demanding that it be allowed to run free without the burden of innovation stifling regulation. Others still cling to the notion that the risks of rampant Ai still need to be curbed, while a third camp want to see 'big tech' working even closer with government to harness the power of this new 'wonder technology' and beat China both economically and in cyber security.
Who will be listened to, and what does it mean for the rest of a world that's a good deal more sceptical about the potential of Ai and its risks? Andrew Strait Associate Director at the Ada Lovelace Institute helps Aleks and Kevin understand the various characters pushing their Ai agendas, while Nobel prize winning economist Daron Acemoglu explains the possible consequences of what's being proposed and how it is only a very narrow view of what Ai could be and how it could benefit mankind.
Presenters: Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong
Producer: Peter McManus
Researcher: Juliet Conway
Sound: Sean Mullervy
WED 16:00 The Media Show (m0027jyn)
Future-proofing media
Katie and Ros are joined by some of the biggest names in media to dissect the shifting landscape of news, business models, and audience trust. Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon discusses the network’s latest research on Gen Z’s relationship with truth and news consumption, while Sky News Group Executive Chair David Rhodes lays out his vision for the future of Sky’s journalism in a digital-first world. Lorna Woods from The University of Essex weighs up how some of the proposals we've heard to regulate online content might work in practice. The Independent’s Editor-in-Chief Geordie Greig reflects on the publication’s digital success and its latest funding from the Bill Gates Foundation. Plus, an exclusive interview with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who reflects on the power and pitfalls of big tech.
Guests: Alex Mahon, CEO, Channel 4; David Rhodes, Executive Chairman, Sky News Group; Geordie Greig, Editor-in-Chief, The Independent; Lorna Woods, Professor of Internet Law, University of Essex; Bill Gates, Co-Founder, Microsoft
Presenters: Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins
Producer: Simon Richardson
Assistant Producer: Lucy Wai
WED 17:00 PM (m0027k15)
Trump defends Gaza plan despite backlash
The President says 'everybody loves' his proposal to force Palestinians out of Gaza, despite widespread international condemnation. Plus why 9 council elections are being delayed, and the poet Paul Muldoon on the whether endorsements on book covers help sales.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0027k17)
President Trump's remarks on Gaza and the removal of its population have prompted condemnation from allies but in Israel and Washington there's praise for "his bold thinking".
WED 18:30 ReincarNathan (m001g9j0)
Series 3
Snowshoe Hare
Nathan Blakely was a popstar. But he was useless, died, and was reincarnated. The comedy about Nathan’s adventures in the afterlife returns for a third series, starring Daniel Rigby, Ashley McGuire and guest-starring Elis James as Gary Grape.
In the season finale, Nathan is brought back to life as a Showshoe Hare in the Rocky Mountains. And this time he’s got a friend - a hare called Gary Grape, a reincarnation of Nathan’s arch nemesis from his human days. Can Nathan get Gary to forgive him for being such a terrible human being and finally get to Elysium? Will he ever learn to do the right thing and make it back to human again?
Cast:
Ashley McGuire - Carol
Daniel Rigby – Nathan
Elis James – Gary Grape
Writers: Tom Craine and Henry Paker
Producer: Harriet Jaine
Sound: Jerry Peal
Music Composed by: Phil Lepherd
A Talkback production for BBC Radio 4
WED 19:00 The Archers (m0027jxw)
Fallon and Tracy chat about The Bull’s Valentine’s offerings when Harrison will be heading off to his secondment. Fallon will really miss him and worries about how they’ll manage while he’s away. Later she and Harrison agree to make a ‘rules of engagement’ list, which they continue discussing on a romantic moonlit walk.
Zainab wonders how Brad is after she turned down his cinema date – even though she hadn’t ever said that she fancied him. Chelsea disagrees pointing out Zainab was constantly flirting with him. And now she’s turned her attention to Ben. Zainab was all over him at badminton on Monday. Incensed Zainab says that not everyone sleeps with the first person who’s nice to them – but that must be how Chelsea operates.
Later Zainab tries to apologise but points out that if Brad or Ben misread her friendship as a come on then that’s their problem, not hers. And anyway, she doesn’t date, but Chelsea probably wouldn’t understand why. Chelsea storms off saying she’s probably too thick to understand! Later Tracy checks in on Chelsea who worries that she’s not a good person. She apologises for running away; it was such a selfish thing to do. Supportive Tracy points out that Chelsea was in survival mode; all Tracy cared about was getting Chelsea safely back home. Chelsea talks about her argument with Zainab, worrying that everyone thinks she sleeps around. Tracy counters she’s not defined by who she does or doesn’t sleep with. When Tracy suggests making up with Zainab, Chelsea despairs that she’s messed up with her only good friend in Ambridge.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m0027k19)
September 5 director Tim Fehlbaum, new Motherland spin-off TV series Amandaland, the history of Slapstick
Writer Holly Walsh and actor Lucy Punch on the Motherland spin-off series, Amandaland which also stars Joanna Lumley
Director, screenwriter and producer of September 5, Tim Fehlbaum about his new film that explores what happened at the 1972 Munich Olympics from the perspective of the sports journalists who found themselves broadcasting the story
As the Slapstick Festival returns to Bristol for its 20th anniversary, we look at the history of this enduring form of comedy
Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Fiona McLellan
WED 20:00 AntiSocial (m0027d3h)
Bats v trains
Do we have to choose between conserving nature and growing the economy?
The Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been complaining about the £100m being spent on a tunnel to stop bats being squished by trains on the HS2 railway line. A debate about whether looking after the environment is getting in the way of developing Britain's infrastructure has ensued.
Is nature conservation getting in the way of economic growth - and can there only be one winner?
Presenter: Adam Fleming
Producers: Josephine Casserly, Simon Tulett, Beth Ashmead-Latham
Editor: Penny Murphy
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Studio engineer: Andy Mills
WED 20:45 How They Made Us Doubt Everything (m001yxkv)
Talc Tales: 4. ‘Time for more confusion’
When talc might be listed as a potential carcinogen, the industry assembles a ‘talc task force’. It’s the year 2000 and the talc industry has heard something big is coming its way. The US government agencies tasked with listing cancer causing substances are set to include talc. The initial recommendation was to list talc containing asbestiform fibres as ‘known to be a human carcinogen’. They’d list talc that did not contain asbestiform fibres as ‘reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen’. In response, the industry lobbying group holds an emergency conference call and sets out a plan. ‘To be listed on the Report on Carcinogens can be devastating’, one internal industry memo asserts, listing the financial losses they would incur. How would they respond? An industry memo sets out one of their tactics: ‘Time to come up with more confusion’.
Presenter and Producer: Phoebe Keane
Sound mix: James Beard
Series Editor: Matt Willis
WED 21:00 Sideways (m0026ngb)
25 Years of the 21st Century
25 Years of the 21st Century: 4. The Age of Changing Families
As we swipe to find love and consult chatbot therapists, Matthew Syed asks how technology has altered the way we approach dating, friendship and community.
It’s not all technology, though. Key changes in social trends, medical innovations, demography and economic factors have also played a part in how people live. How have relationships changed in the past 25 years?
Contributors
Margaret MacMillan, Emeritus Professor of International History at the University of Oxford and author of several acclaimed books.
Meghan Nolan, an Irish novelist and journalist based in New York.
Sarah Harper, Professor of Gerontology at the University of Oxford and a fellow at University College.
Production team
Editor: Sara Wadeson
Producers: Emma Close, Marianna Brain, Michaela Graichen
Sound: Tom Brignell
Production Co-ordinators: Janet Staples and Katie Morrison
Archive
Steve Jobs launches the Apple iPhone, 2007
WED 21:30 Inside Health (m0027k1d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m0027k1g)
International condemnation of Trump's Gaza plan
The White House says America won't fund Gaza's reconstruction or put US boots on the ground - after President Trump suggested taking over the territory and relocating Palestinians. We get reaction to that idea from a Gaza resident.
Also on the programme:
Seven years after the deadly fire, Grenfell Tower looks set to be demolished - we have reaction from the community.
The Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch unveils a plan to make it harder to become a British citizen.
And a Ukrainian filmmaker on why he chose to tell the story of his country's war through the eyes of animals.
WED 22:45 Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee (m0027k1j)
Feints
In the new thriller from the author of the Wyndham and Banerjee series, a woman's peaceful life in the Scottish Highlands is shattered when a figure from her past tracks her down. She's got five days to find a hundred grand, and only Margot from the village shop can help her.
Read by Sudha Bhuchar
Written by Abir Mukherjee
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
A BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4.
Abir Mukherjee's standalone novel HUNTED was published in 2024 and is a gripping white-knuckle ride across contemporary America. Sudha Bhuchar can be seen in 'Virdee', the Bradford-set detective series coming soon to the BBC.
WED 23:00 Alison Spittle: Petty Please (m0027k1l)
Series 1
The Glitterbabes
In this new series for Radio 4, comedian Alison Spittle explores some of her longest and deepest-held grudges. The kind of thing most people would be ashamed to still be thinking about 30 minutes later, let alone contemplating exacting retribution decades on.
Alison and her Wheel of Misfortune co-host Kerry Katona have one very important thing in common: they were both ejected from girl bands at crucial stages of their careers. In Alison's case, aged 9, from primary school breaktime supergroup The Glitterbabes. It's an injustice that's never left her. Can Kerry help her find closure?
Written by Alison Spittle & Simon Mulholland
With Kerry Katona
Script edited by Joel Morris
Produced by Lyndsay Fenner
A Mighty Bunny Production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0027k1n)
Sean Curran reports on the weekly clash between Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister's Questions.
THURSDAY 06 FEBRUARY 2025
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m0027k1q)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 00:30 Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst (m0027k0j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0027k1s)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0027k1v)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0027k1x)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m0027k1z)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0027k21)
Appreciating Grasshoppers
Reflection with Fiona Stewart, a writer who runs a Christian arts charity.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m0027k23)
06/02/25 - Call for countrywide bird flu housing order, inheritance tax uncertainty for Scottish farm tenants, food preparedness
Egg producers want the Government to order all free range chickens inside to protect them from bird flu. The British Free Range Egg Producers Association has told Farming Today that with rising numbers of cases of the virus, it's time to protect the national flock.
In Scotland, tenant farmers are concerned about inheritance tax because of the way their farm lease system works.
A new report gives a 'critical' warning about the UK's ability to feed us all, given pressures like climate change and global political instability. The report published today by the National Preparedness Commission, an independent body which describes its aim as being to make the country better prepared to withstand major shocks, warns that food supply chains are fragile and the UK 'complacent'.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
THU 06:00 Today (m0027jws)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m0027jwv)
Sir John Soane
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the architect Sir John Soane (1753 -1837), the son of a bricklayer. He rose up the ranks of his profession as an architect to see many of his designs realised to great acclaim, particularly the Bank of England and the Law Courts at Westminster Hall, although his work on both of those has been largely destroyed. He is now best known for his house in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London, which he remodelled and crammed with antiquities and artworks: he wanted visitors to experience the house as a dramatic grand tour of Europe in microcosm. He became professor of architecture at the Royal Academy, and in a series of influential lectures he set out his belief in the power of buildings to enlighten people about “the poetry of architecture”. Visitors to the museum and his other works can see his trademark architectural features such as his shallow dome, which went on to inspire Britain's red telephone boxes.
With:
Frances Sands, the Curator of Drawings and Books at Sir John Soane’s Museum
Frank Salmon, Associate Professor of the History of Art at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Ax:son Johnson Centre for the Study of Classical Architecture
And
Gillian Darley, historian and author of Soane's biography.
Producer: Eliane Glaser
In Our time is a BBC Studios Audio production.
Reading list:
Barry Bergdoll, European Architecture 1750-1890 (Oxford University Press, 2000)
Bruce Boucher, John Soane's Cabinet of Curiosities: Reflections on an Architect and His Collection (Yale University Press, 2024)
Oliver Bradbury, Sir John Soane’s Influence on Architecture from 1791: An Enduring Legacy (Routledge, 2015)
Gillian Darley, John Soane: An Accidental Romantic (Yale University Press, 1999)
Ptolemy Dean, Sir John Soane and the Country Estate (Ashgate, 1999)
Ptolemy Dean, Sir John Soane and London (Lund Humphries, 2006)
Helen Dorey, John Soane and J.M.W. Turner: Illuminating a Friendship (Sir John Soane’s Museum, 2007)
Tim Knox, Sir John Soane’s Museum (Merrell, 2015)
Brian Lukacher, Joseph Gandy: An Architectural Visionary in Georgian England (Thames and Hudson, 2006)
Susan Palmer, At Home with the Soanes: Upstairs, Downstairs in 19th Century London (Pimpernel Press, 2015)
Frances Sands, Architectural Drawings: Hidden Masterpieces at Sir John Soane’s Museum (Batsford, 2021)
Sir John Soane’s Museum, A Complete Description (Sir John Soane’s Museum, 2018)
Mary Ann Stevens and Margaret Richardson (eds.), John Soane Architect: Master of Space and Light (Royal Academy Publications, 1999)
John Summerson, Architecture in Britain 1530-1830 (9th edition, Yale University Press, 1993)
A.A. Tait, Robert Adam: Drawings and Imagination (Cambridge University Press, 1993)
John H. Taylor, Sir John Soane’s Greatest Treasure: The Sarcophagus of Seti I (Pimpernel Press, 2017)
David Watkin, Sir John Soane: Enlightenment Thought and the Royal Academy Lectures (Cambridge University Press, 1996)
David Watkin, Sir John Soane: The Royal Academy Lectures (Cambridge University Press, 2000)
John Wilton-Ely, Piranesi, Paestum & Soane (Prestel, 2013)
THU 09:45 Strong Message Here (m0027jwx)
Flying a Kite and Rolling the Pitch (with Rob Hutton)
Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language.
Why do we know what's going to be in a political speech before it happens? What is 'kiteflying' and 'pitch rolling'? To find out, Helen and Armando are joined by sketch writer for The Critic, Rob Hutton, who has been at more political announcements than he's had hot dinners. What's the best speech he's heard? What's the worst? And who are all those people who turn up to watch the Prime Minister give a speech at a carpet factory in Darlington?
Listen to Strong Message Here every Thursday at
9.45am on Radio 4 and then head straight to BBC Sounds for an extended episode.
Have you stumbled upon any perplexing political phrases you need Helen and Armando to decode? Email them to us at strongmessagehere@bbc.co.uk
Sound Editing by Charlie Brandon-King
Production Coordinator - Katie Baum and Caroline Barlow
Executive Producer - Pete Strauss
Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4.
An EcoAudio Certified Production.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0027jwz)
Emma Webber & Sinead O'Malley Kumar, Maureen Lipman, Nina Bhadreshwar
Anita Rani speaks to Emma Webber and Sinead O’Malley Kumar mothers of Barnaby and Grace, both 19, who were killed in Nottingham in June 2023. They’ll be responding to the findings of a major review of the NHS care of Valdo Calocane the man who attacked their children. A report Emma has already described as a horror show.
Nina Bhadreshwar’s crime novel The Day of the Roaring tells the story of Sheffield Detective Inspector Diana Walker, who is trying to solve some particularly grisly murders while dealing with corruption and racial and sexual discrimination at work. Nina joins Anita to discuss her own Yorkshire upbringing, launching a magazine which led her to a friendship with rapper Tupac Shakur and a job at the notorious hip hop label Death Row Records.
A new opera is being written about Margaret Thatcher. Seen by many as a divisive figure, the Rest is History podcast co-host Dominic Sandbrook's new work is going to look at her 11-year tenure as prime minister. Dame Maureen Lipman - who played Margaret Thatcher in an episode of the British sitcom About Face - discusses her appeal and what she was like to play as a character.
Dr LaShyra ‘Lash’ Nolen is one of the charity, One Young World’s young leaders. She was the first African American woman to serve as student president at Harvard Medical School in 2019, was on Forbes 30 Under 30 Healthcare list in 2022 and now works as a resident physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. ‘Lash’ as she is known, joins Anita to talk about her daily work, her journey to a career in medicine and her desire to see equity in healthcare throughout the US.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Kirsty Starkey
THU 11:00 This Cultural Life (m0027jx1)
David Hare
The premiere of David Hare’s play Plenty at the National Theatre in 1978 marked him out as one of the UK’s most skilled and socially conscious playwrights. Plenty transferred to Broadway, Hare adapted it into a film starring Meryl Streep, and in the following years he became known as a writer for whom the political and the personal are deeply entwined. Often referred to as Britain’s pre-eminent ‘state of the nation playwright’, his plays in the 1980s examined a wide range of social and political issues, including the Church of England in Racing Demon, the judiciary in Murmuring Judges and party politics in The Absence of War. He tackled international geopolitics in Via Dolorosa - about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - and the invasion of Iraq with Stuff Happens and the Vertical Hour. Equally skilled as a screenwriter, his film screenplays for The Hours and The Reader saw him twice nominated for Academy Awards. David Hare was knighted in 1998 for ‘services to theatre’.
He talks to John Wilson about how his lower-middle class background and family life in Bexhill-on-Sea stimulated his imagination. He pays tribute to some of the most formative people in his life: his Cambridge university tutor, the Welsh writer and academic Raymond Williams, whose maxim that ‘culture is ordinary’ had a profound effect on his life as a writer; the actress Kate Nelligan, who starred in several of Hare's plays, including Plenty; and his wife Nicole Farhi who, he says, transformed his idea of himself and who inadvertently helped inspire one of his best loved plays, Skylight.
Producer: Edwina Pitman
THU 11:45 Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst (m0027jx3)
4. Hope Dwindles
In Sophie Elmhirst's story of shipwreck, survival and love, hope of rescue dwindles after 60 days adrift on the Pacific Ocean. Dorothy Atkinson reads.
Maurice and Maralyn tells the story of what happened when a husband and wife decided to escape their suburban life in 1970s Derby, and instead build a boat and sail to New Zealand. Their dream crumbled after a perilous encounter with a whale left them adrift on the Pacific ocean on a tiny raft. A fight for survival followed, as well as a test of their endurance and their love for one another. Maurice and Maralyn is the Nero Books Awards 2024 Non-Fiction Winner.
Sophie Elmhirst is a prize-winning journalist. In 2020 she won the British Press Award for Feature Writer of the Year. She first came across Maurice and Maralyn Bailey's story when she was researching a piece on the desire to escape. This is her first book.
Dorothy Atkinson is well known for her work in theatre, film and television. She has appeared in several films by Mike Leigh most notably Mr Turner. She is also well known for playing Pauline in the sitcom Mum. Recent work includes Ludwig, Joan, Saltburn, Without Sin, Pennyworth, Harlots and Call the Midwife.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton.
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
THU 12:00 News Summary (m0027jx6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 The Bottom Line (m0027jx9)
DEI: Are Businesses Dumping Workplace Diversity?
Major US businesses have begun ditching or scaling back their diversity initiatives. Will UK firms be next? Evan Davis is joined by three guests who specialise on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) schemes, as well as environmental and sustainability issues. Do they see signs of UK companies shifting their stance? And to what extent is the DEI industry - and their jobs - under threat?
Guests:
Daniel Fellows, General Manager of Diversio UK and EU
Erinch Sahan, busines and enterprise lead at Doughnut Economics Action Lab
Chris Turner, Executive Director of B Lab UK
Production team
Producers: Farhana Haider, Simon Tulett and Eleanor Harrison-Dengate
Sound: James Beard
Production Coordinator: Katie Morrison
Editor: Matt Willis
THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m0027jxf)
Boiling Water Taps
Do Boiling Water Taps save you money?
They're often seen in offices but boiling water taps are increasingly popular for the home kitchen too. They hold hot water at a constant temperature in a tank under your sink and claim to save you money compared to boiling a regular kettle. But does the evidence back up the marketing hype?
Listener Jenny got in touch with Sliced Bread because she's upgrading her kitchen and is thinking about investing in a boiling water tap. She's keen to know how the figures for daily use stack up - and if there IS a saving how long it would take before she gets her money back on the original outlay. And then there's maintenance too...
Greg is joined in the studio by Jenny and energy expert Mark Thompson to crunch the numbers, along with Debbie Birkbeck from Stopcocks Women Plumbers.
We are looking for more of YOUR suggestions of products to investigate. 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
PRODUCERS: SIMON HOBAN AND PHIL SANSOM
THU 12:57 Weather (m0027jxk)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m0027jxp)
Interest rates cut to 4.5%
The Bank of England cuts interest rates cut to lowest level since 2023 - but with gloomy predictions for growth. We speak to a recent rate setter, who thinks the UK has entered a period of stagflation.
Also: President Trump doubles down on his plan for Gaza; ministers say Grenfell Tower will be brought down; and ahead of a new Bridget Jones film, we speak to creator Helen Fielding.
THU 13:45 At Your Own Peril (m0027jxs)
Show Me The Bodies
The modern world is full of risks, from natural hazards such as flooding to the existential threat of nuclear war, artificial intelligence and climate change.
With the scientific and technological progress of the past few centuries, we’ve created new hazards that threaten our very survival and in this series, emergency planner and disaster recovery expert Lucy Easthope explores the history of risk to find out how it’s understood, perceived and managed, and to ask how we can become more resilient as individuals, as a society and as a planet.
Every few years, the government publishes the National Risk Register, a long list of the most serious short-term hazards that we face as a society.
But what happens when these acute risks are themselves the product of chronic risks? How do we deal with these long-term risks within the short-term cycle of politics? And why do we always wait until there is a disaster before we do anything?
As Lucy Easthope discovers, not acting is the same as acting - and when it comes to the prevention of a disaster like the COVID-19 pandemic or the Grenfell Tower fire, the consequences of not acting can be catastrophic.
Presenter: Lucy Easthope
Producer: Patrick Bernard
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
Lucy Easthope is the co-founder of the After Disaster Network in the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience at the University of Durham, Professor in Mass Fatalities and Pandemics at the University of Bath and the author of “When The Dust Settles”.
THU 14:00 The Archers (m0027jxw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m0027jxy)
Chicken Burger N Chips
Corey and his friends are hanging out at a local fried chicken shop. It's their last summer together before going to university. Then along comes Jodie, alluring and intelligent, and awakens him to the progressing changes in south London's Lewisham Borough. Corey must now consider the choices that will affect his future.
Chicken Burger N Chips is a raw coming-of-age story about growing up in south London amid redevelopment and gentrification. Corey Bovell's script is fast-paced and witty and tells a fictional account, inspired by his own experiences, of the consequences of change's impact on the lives of a community.
Corey Bovell's play tells a story about gentrification and its impact on the lives of its youths. Chicken Burger N Chips is an audio adaptation of the one-person play that takes the audience through determining which of the protagonist's options will be best for him, amid his changing neighbourhood, a new love, honouring friendships, and dedication to his family.
Cast;
Corey - Gamba Cole
Jodie - Bellah
Pops - Chris Tummings
Shawn - Montel Douglas
Additional voices - Corey Bovell, Junior Afolabi and Camile Murdock
Writer - Corey Bovell
Director - Bernard P Achampong
Executive Producer - Caroline Raphael
An Unedited production for BBC Radio 4
THU 15:00 Ramblings (m0027jy0)
Capel y ffin and the Twmpa
Clare meets a passionate proponent of walking today on a hike around Capel y ffin and the Twmpa in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park. Andrew Green has just published a book called Voices on the Path, a History of Walking in Wales and for him it’s not just a case of putting one foot in front of the other and admiring the scenery, it’s “an activity loaded with all kinds of social, cultural and economic associations”.
Their immediate surroundings have long attracted writers and artists from across the generations including William and Dorothy Wordsworth, JMW Turner, Bruce Chatwin and Allen Ginsberg. Also drawn to the beauty of Capel y ffin was the poet and painter, David Jones, described in 1965 as the 'best living British painter' by the then Director of the National Gallery. Peter Wakelin's book 'Hill Rhythms' tells Jones' story, which he wanted to share with Clare on the walk but a twisted ankle meant he had to remain at base, however he used the time to seek out the potential location of one of Jones's best loved paintings.
They met at the tiny Capel-y-ffin chapel on the Monmouthshire/Powys border and walked up the Twmpa - also known as Lord Hereford’s Knob - in the Black Mountains returning via the valley of Nant Bwch. A walk of just over six miles.
Grid Ref for where they met: SO253316
Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m0027jy2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Word of Mouth (m0027jy4)
Creating Languages for Film and Television with Professor David Adger
David Adger is Professor of Linguistics at Queen Mary University of London. He's created new languages for TV series and films and he explains to Michael Rosen how he goes about it. For his latest language he used existing Creole languages for his 'conlang', or constructed (artificial) natural language. He talks Michael through the grammar and language principles he applies to his creations and lets him try his hand at the monsters' language he invented for a televised version of Beowulf.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
THU 16:00 Rethink (m0027jy6)
Rethink... crime prevention
In 2024, more than two million crimes went unsolved in England and Wales, with police unable to identify a suspect. That figure has increased by 180,000 since 2022, despite there being 86,000 fewer crimes in the same period.
So with detection rates down, and constant financial pressures on the police services across the UK, should crime prevention play a greater role in policing? Targeting preventable crimes and the people most likely to commit them, a process called "focused deterrence" is being trialled at five sites in England. Police services already have better intelligence resources available than in any time in history, and they are also working with care services and other agencies to flag up potential problems.
How could crime prevention be taken further? Would a more academic approach to policing result in knowledge being spread more quickly, and how could police be better prepared for emerging crimes as society and technology change?
Ultimately, could it lead to lower crime rates and financial savings, and is there any evidence to suggest it does either?
Presenter: Ben Ansell
Producer: Ivana Davidovic
Editor: Clare Fordham
Contributors:
Katrin Hohl, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at City University
Alexander Murray, Threat Leadership at the National Crime Agency and the Chair of the Society for Evidence Based Policing
Alex Sutherland, Professor in Practice Criminology & Public Policy at Oxford University
Dr Rick Muir, Director of the Police Foundation
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m0027jy8)
The World’s Biggest Iceberg
It’s the biggest story of recent weeks. Literally.
Trillion-tonne iceberg A23a is on the move. But where is it headed and why – and what might it mean for the scientists and penguins in its path?
And from a giant ‘megaberg’ to a giant pile of highly radioactive material, we find out what locking away a load of radioactive waste has in common with baking a cake.
And we’re joined by science journalist Caroline Steel to guide us through this week’s science news.
We’ll hear about the first study into whether banning phones in schools works, why scratching an itch might have benefits beyond just satisfaction, and the perfect formula to boil an egg...
Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producers: Sophie Ormiston, Ilan Goodman & Gerry Holt
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinators: Jana Bennett-Holesworth & Josie Hardy
Science-backed boiled egg recipe:
- You need two pans… and exactly 32 minutes
- Keep one pan at 100 degrees Celsius (boiling) and the other pan at 30 degrees Celsius
- Move the egg between the two every two minutes for 32 minutes
Enjoy!
To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.
THU 17:00 PM (m0027jyb)
Bank of England slashes growth forecast
Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the Bank of England downgraded economic growth forecasts 'just spurs us on'. We speak to the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and assess what it means for the government's economic strategy.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0027jyd)
The Bank of England has halved its forecast for growth and cut interest rates.
THU 18:30 P.O.V. (m0027jyg)
Series 1
A Guy Who Decides... Decides
The internet's best comedy creators bring you a sketch show that features drunk people using their inside voices, Christmas getting cancelled, teachers getting decoded, and A Guy Who Decides... deciding.
Written and performed by Davina Bentley, Jake Bhardwaj, Emma Doran, Daniel Foxx, Ms. Frazzled, Rosie Holt, Kathy Maniura, Jimmy Rees, Leah Rudick, Will Sebag-Montefiore and Ali Woods.
Recorded in London, Dublin, Los Angeles, and Sydney.
Edited by Rich Evans at Syncbox Post
Produced by Ed Morrish
A Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4
THU 19:00 The Archers (m0027jyj)
Fallon catches up with Alice at The Stables and Alice mentions that Hannah was on the quiz team with her and Chris. Fallon wonders how Alice feels about that, but Alice doesn’t want to talk about it. Hannah unexpectedly arrives for a riding lesson, and Alice offers to do the lesson. When talk turns to Chris, Alice tentatively asks how it’s going with him and Hannah. Hannah’s surprised by the question and confirms that they’re not dating, though they might’ve come close once.
Lynda’s at Grey Gables for a meeting with Lawrence, chair of Roserran-in the-Vale’s cricket club. She promotes why it would be such a bonus to include the Ambridge cricket team in the ‘Wicket and Stumps’ article. Lawrence is impressed by Lynda’s vision and is certain the journalist will go for the change of focus. Fallon arrives for her Spa date with Harrison, and as she hurries off, leaves one of The Bull’s Valentine’s Day flyers for guests. Lynda points out that she and Robert wont’ be dining out that night as Robert’s having some dental work and will be on a liquid diet. When Fallon jokes that Lynda could come with a friend instead, Lawrence says he'd be happy to step in and have a romantic meal with Lynda. She’s a very attractive woman.
Later, Lynda reveals to Robert that Lawrence asked her out on a date, so she’s having second thoughts about their collaboration. Robert’s shocked but doesn’t think that it should stop her. However, he’s not surprised by Lawrence’s proposition – Lynda’s the most beautiful and spirited woman in the world.
THU 19:15 Front Row (m0027jyl)
Review: The Last Showgirl, Oedipus, Nobel author Han Kang's novel We Do Not Part
Tom is joined by the writer and broadcaster Octavia Bright and the Observer's theatre critic Susannah Clapp to review another version of the Greek classic Oedipus, this time at the Old Vic in London and starring Rami Malek.
Also reviewed: The Last Showgirl, which has Pamela Anderson starring as Shelley with Jamie Lee Curtis as her good friend. Shelley's Vegas cabaret show is closing and the imminent change forces her to confront her life choices.
And: We Do Not Part, the new novel by Nobel Prize for Literature winner, the Korean writer Han Kang.
We also hear about the Japanese collaborative SANAA, founded by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, which has won the Royal Institute of British Architects' Royal Gold Medal for architecture, from Professor Sadie Morgan.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Corinna Jones
THU 20:00 The Media Show (m0027jyn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Wednesday]
THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m0027mgv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
THU 21:45 Strong Message Here (m0027jwx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m0027jys)
Is UK economy headed for 'stagflation'?
The Bank of England has halved Britain's growth forecast for 2025 as it also predicted a spike in inflation due to rising gas and utility bills. On the day the Bank cut interest rates from
4.75% to 4.5%, governor Andrew Bailey stressed he believed the underlying trends still pointed towards reduced inflation long term. However some economists said the economy could be heading for a bout of "stagflation" - that's when growth is low but inflation is high.
As a judge in the US pauses the Trump administration's offer to pay off potentially thousands of federal workers, we examine Elon Musk's takeover of the international development agency USAID.
And we speak to conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya about the refugee orchestra she formed, as she prepares to conduct Shostakovich's wartime sixth symphony at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.
THU 22:45 Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee (m0027jyv)
Cask Finish
In the new thriller from the author of the Wyndham and Banerjee series, a woman's peaceful life in the Scottish Highlands is shattered when a figure from her past threatens blackmail. Her friend Roddy has created a whisky fit for the finest palate, but will it be enough to save Sunita?
Read by Sudha Bhuchar
Written by Abir Mukherjee
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
A BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4.
Abir Mukherjee's standalone novel HUNTED was published in 2024 and is a gripping white-knuckle ride across contemporary America. Sudha Bhuchar can be seen in 'Virdee', the Bradford-set detective series coming soon to the BBC.
THU 23:00 The Today Podcast (m0027jyy)
How To Deal With Trump (and the EU)
The prime minister has rejected the idea that Britain will have to choose between Brussels and Washington, but with the US president threatening the European Union and other allies with tariffs, how should Keir Starmer deal with him?
And what should he do about Donald Trump saying he wants the US to “take over” Gaza and turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East”, which would mean resettling the almost two million Palestinians who live there.
Nick and Amol are joined by the senior Labour MP and chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Emily Thornberry, and Raoul Ruparel who was a special advisor to Theresa May on trade and Brexit.
To get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories and insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme make sure you hit subscribe on BBC Sounds. That way you’ll get an alert every time we release a new episode, and you won’t miss our extra bonus episodes either.
GET IN TOUCH:
* Send us a message or a voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346
* Email today@bbc.co.uk
The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson who are both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.
This episode was made by Lewis Vickers with Nadia Gyane and Hugo Chambre. Digital production was by Nadia Gyane. The technical producer was Annie Smith. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0027jz0)
Susan Hulme reports as MPs debate President Trump's plans for Gaza and the UK's proposed reset with the EU.
FRIDAY 07 FEBRUARY 2025
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m0027jz2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 00:30 Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst (m0027jx3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0027jz4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0027jz6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0027jz8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m0027jzb)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0027jzd)
Head Screwed On
Reflection with Fiona Stewart, a writer who runs a Christian arts charity.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m0027jzg)
Scottish farming leaders have been told they need to be more effective in calling out sexist, racist and homophobic language. An internal report presented to the NFU Scotland conference says inappropriate comments are going unchallenged.
We hear about the would-be farmers competing for a tenancy on national TV.
And we speak to The Crown Estate about its new rural strategy. It's one of the country's biggest landlords, with over 300 tenant farmers across over 200,000 acres. As part of the estate's new approach, tenants are being offered 'environmental farm business tenancies' or green leases.
Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced by Heather Simons
FRI 06:00 Today (m0027lbt)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m0027l20)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Sunday]
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0027lby)
Marisha Wallace on Cabaret, Giving birth in prison, DR Congo, Ethical fashion
The West End star Marisha Wallace joins Anita Rani in the studio. She's the latest actor to play Sally Bowles in Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club in London, alongside Billy Porter who plays Emcee. Marisha talks about the significance of them both playing these roles together and her journey to the top.
The UN has reported that more than 100 female prisoners were raped and then burned alive during a jailbreak in the Congolese city of Goma. The conflict in eastern DR Congo dates back to the 1990s but has rapidly escalated in recent weeks. Since the start of 2025, more than 400,000 people have been forced from their homes, according to the UN's refugee agency. We’re joined by Anne Soy, the BBC’s Deputy Africa Editor & Senior Correspondent based in Nairobi.
What's it like giving birth in prison? New play Scenes from Lost Mothers, currently touring universities and prisons, explores the real-life experiences of pregnant women and new mothers in prison. Performed by actors with lived experience of the criminal justice system, or at risk of entering it, it’s based on research from the Lost Mothers Project and explores the impact of separating imprisoned mothers from their newborns. We hear from the project's lead, midwife and associate professor, Dr Laura Abbott, and a mother shares her experience.
Emma Hakansson is an ex-model turned ethical fashion campaigner and film director, who founded her own organisation - Collective Fashion Justice. She joins Anita to talk about her new film featuring a community of women in the Amazon who make a sustainable leather alternative which helps keep their environment protected.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Sarah Jane Griffiths
Editor: Deiniol Buxton
FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m0027lc1)
Broken Policies
It's 2025, and the same old questions are still being asked about food and health—how do we get people eating better, reduce obesity, improve health, and ease pressure on the NHS? Despite decades of policies and campaigns, the challenge remains. In this episode, Sheila Dillon is joined in the studio by three people whose work is dedicated to finding answers: Dr Dolly Van Tulleken, a visiting researcher at Cambridge University's MRC Epidemiology Unit, who has examined UK government obesity policy, documenting its repeated failures and interviewed several leaders about what can be learned from them; Anna Taylor, head of the Food Foundation, whose organisation has been researching the impact of poor diets, particularly on those living in poverty; and Ben Reynolds, formerly of Sustain, where he played a key role in some of the most successful food campaigns and is now working on food and farming policy across Europe as Executive Director of the Institute for European Environmental Policy.
Also featured are Henry Dimbleby, author of The National Food Strategy, and Welsh food historian Carwyn Graves.
Together, they discuss what’s gone wrong, what’s worked, and, as the new government announces plans for a fresh food strategy, what must be put in place to ensure it delivers real change.
Presented by Sheila Dillon
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan
FRI 11:45 Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst (m0027lc3)
5. Shipwreck and Marriage
In Sophie Elmhirst's story of endurance and love 117 days have passed since Maurice and Maralyn were cast adrift on the Pacific Ocean after a whale struck their boat. Hopes of rescue have faded daily. Dorothy Atkinson reads.
Maurice and Maralyn tells the story of what happened when a husband and wife decided to escape their suburban life in 1970s Derby, and instead build a boat and sail to New Zealand. Their dream crumbled after a perilous encounter with a whale left them adrift on the Pacific ocean on a tiny raft. A fight for survival followed, as well as a test of their endurance and their love for one another. Maurice and Maralyn is the Nero Books Awards 2024 Non-Fiction Winner.
Sophie Elmhirst is a prize-winning journalist. In 2020 she won the British Press Award for Feature Writer of the Year. She first came across Maurice and Maralyn Bailey's story when she was researching a piece on the desire to escape. This is her first book.
Dorothy Atkinson is well known for her work in theatre, film and television. She has appeared in several films by Mike Leigh most notably Mr Turner. She is also well known for playing Pauline in the sitcom Mum. Recent work includes Ludwig, Joan, Saltburn, Without Sin, Pennyworth, Harlots and Call the Midwife.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton.
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m0027lc5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 AntiSocial (m0027lc7)
Surrogacy
An online debate about whether surrogacy should be allowed was energised this week after actress Lily Collins and her partner announced they had a baby by surrogate on Instagram. In this episode, we explore what surrogacy is like when you're not a celebrity including hearing from woman who was a surrogate for her best friend. In the UK surrogacy is legal but it can't be done for money. We assess calls to change the law and find out where the movement in opposition to surrogacy comes from.
Presenter: Adam Fleming
Producers: Josephine Casserly, Beth Ashmead Latham and Emma Close
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Penny Murphy
FRI 12:57 Weather (m0027lc9)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m0027lcc)
UK demands access to Apple users' private information
The Home Office wants access to encrypted data under laws to fight crime and terrorism. How will tech firms respond? Plus, the ex-MP serving in Ukraine.
FRI 13:45 At Your Own Peril (m0027lcf)
The Precipice
The modern world is full of risks, from natural hazards such as flooding to the existential threat of nuclear war, artificial intelligence and climate change.
With the scientific and technological progress of the past few centuries, we’ve created new hazards that threaten our very survival and in this series, emergency planner and disaster recovery expert Lucy Easthope explores the history of risk to find out how it’s understood, perceived and managed, and to ask how we can become more resilient as individuals, as a society and as a planet.
The atomic bomb which would go on to destroy the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - marked not just the end of the Second World War but also a turning point in history as for the first time we had the ability to destroy life on Earth.
In this episode Lucy explores the subject of ‘existential risk’, from nuclear war to artificial intelligence, to discover how in the effort to liberate ourselves from the constraints of nature we have created new hazards that threaten not only society but the environment upon which we depend for survival.
The greatest risk that faces us as a planet is undoubtedly climate change, but despite the overwhelming evidence of the human impact on the climate she finds out why we have done so little to mitigate this catastrophic threat.
Presenter: Lucy Easthope
Producer: Patrick Bernard
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4.
Lucy Easthope is the co-founder of the After Disaster Network in the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience at the University of Durham, Professor in Mass Fatalities and Pandemics at the University of Bath and the author of “When The Dust Settles”.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m0027jyj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Limelight (m0027lch)
Exemplar - Series 2
Exemplar - Episode 2
When a never before heard track by iconic 90s band The Daisy Chains is discovered, a bitter argument over ownership between the lead singer’s widow and the bandleader ensues. Jess and Maya are brought in to work out who really wrote the song, with just an old school tape recording of the original track as a clue.
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.”
The return of a modern day thriller set in the world of audio forensics. In Exemplar, Gina McKee plays Jess, a forensic analyst born and bred in the North East. Together with her colleague Maya, she undertakes a different sound challenge in every episode. When DS Serena Gray comes into their world, things become a little bit more complicated.
Created by leading sound designers, Ben and Max Ringham, and rooted in factual research. The first series of Exemplar won Best Series at the 2022 BBC Audio Drama Awards.
Jess ….. Gina McKee
Maya ….. Shvorne Marks
Seb ….. Afnan Iftikhar
Lucia ….. Tracey Wilkinson
Clare ….. Amy McAllister
Writers: Ben and Max Ringham, with Dan Rebellato
Audio forensic consultants: James Zjalić, plus Dr Katherine Earnshaw and Bryony Nuttall, forensic specialists in speech and audio at the Forensic Voice Centre
Police consultant: Alex Ashton
Sound recordist: Alisdair McGregor
Production coordinator: Annie Keates Thorpe
Sound design: Ben and Max Ringham with Lucinda Mason Brown
Original music: Ben and Max Ringham
Directors: Polly Thomas and Jade Lewis
Executive producer: Joby Waldman
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 14:45 Why Do We Do That? (m0027lck)
Series 2
3. Why do we have grandmas?
Grandmothers are a bit of a mystery, biologically speaking. If the biological purpose of life is to survive and have children, why are they so important even once they've stopped being able to reproduce?
Of course, as we all know, grandma's are the rock of most families, and it turns out, biologically also incredibly useful. Grandmothers are a logical necessity, your mother and father also had mothers so that equals two grandmas for you.
But the evolutionary role they play in many of our lives has been less easily explained until now. Why are they so helpful? Why do they stop having children of their own? Why do we have grandmothers?!
Ella speaks to anthropologist Dr Emily Emmott, and midwife, educator and grandmother Sheena Byrom OBE
BBC Studios Audio Production
Producer Emily Bird
Additional production Olivia Jani
Series Producer Geraldine Fitzgerald
Executive Producer Alexandra Feachem
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0027lcm)
From the Archives: Planting for Wildlife
Peter Gibbs guides us through the GQT archive, which includes some much needed advice on how to make your garden more wildlife friendly.
The GQT team have pruned through 77 years of questions and answers to reveal useful advice provided by our various horticultural experts. This includes tips on how to attract bats to the garden, advice on rabbit proof plants and the benefits of snakes in the garden
Later, we listen back to when Kirsty Wilson visited Glenarm Castle and discussed how we make our gardens to safe for hedgehogs.
Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Executive Producer: Carly Maile
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m0027lcp)
Soft Play
An original short story for radio, written and read by Eley Williams.
Dazed by the primary colours of a local soft play centre, a parent finds it difficult to be fully present. She is distracted by something on her phone, a clip looping over and over of a gesture that has gone viral. She doesn't know how to interpret it, and its potential for harm, until an unexpected moment involving her five year old son forces her to confront its implications.
Eley Williams' short fiction appears in anthologies including The Penguin Book of the Contemporary British Short Story, and has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. Her debut collection 'Attrib. and Other Stories' won the James Tait Back Memorial Prize for fiction, and her second collection 'Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good' is longlisted for this year's Dylan Thomas Prize.
Writer: Eley Williams
Producer: Becky Ripley
A BBC Audio Bristol Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m0027lcr)
Tony Martin, Pete Wilkinson, Loretta Ford, Marianne Faithfull
Matthew Bannister on
Tony Martin, the Norfolk farmer who shot dead a burglar and started a national debate about the rights of householders to defend themselves.
Pete Wilkinson, the co-founder of Greenpeace UK, known for his high-profile direct-action campaigns.
Loretta Ford, who pioneered the role of nurse practitioner in American health care.
Marianne Faithfull, the singer and actress who came to fame in the 1960s and overcame drug addiction and ill health to continue performing.
Producer: Ed Prendeville
Archive:
The World at One, BBC, 1985; Today, BBC, 1985; Sizewell Power Station Protest, 2009; What to do with nuclear waste?, TV Eye, 1981; GREENPEACE SHIP SUNK BY BOMB, BBC News, 1985; Close Up: Marianne Faithful – Keeping the Faith, BBC2 7th October 1999; Including a performance of “As Tears Go By – written by Mick Jagger Keith Richards & Andrew Loog Oldham on Decca record; Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 28th May 1995; BBC news 23rd August 1999; Newsnight – 19th April 2000; BBC News 15th August 2023; Loretta Ford Documentary - University of Colorado College of Nursing, Sue Hagedorn and Seed Works, uploaded to Youtube 15 Nov 2019; This is your life 05 Jan 1998
FRI 16:30 Sideways (m0027k08)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
FRI 17:00 PM (m0027lct)
Bereaved parents sue TikTok for access to children's accounts
The families hope access to the children's TikTok accounts will shed light on their deaths. Plus, USAID lays off nearly 10,000 staff and cancels hundreds of projects. Former Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, Lord Mark Malloch Brown joins us live.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0027lcw)
The Government has demanded the right to access encrypted data stored by Apple users. And, it's been confirmed that Grenfell Tower will be demolished.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m0027lcy)
Series 116
5. Tariffs, Tabloids and Typewriters
On The News Quiz this week, Andy Zaltzman is joined by Ayesha Hazarika, Susie McCabe, Geoff Norcott and Pierre Novellie to discuss Britain's attempts to court the US and the EU, Trump's tariff turmoil, new report cards from Ofsted, and Starmer's uncovered voice coaching.
Written by Andy Zaltzman.
With additional material by: Jade Gebbie, Alex Kealy, Christina Riggs and Stuart McPherson.
Producer: Rajiv Karia
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4
An Eco-Audio certified Production
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m0027ld0)
Writer: Sarah Hehir
Director: Dave Payne
Editor: Jeremy Howe
Ben Archer…. Ben Norris
Jolene Archer….. Buffy Davis
Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee
Tom Archer….. William Troughton
Harrison Burns….. James Cartwright
Alice Carter….. Hollie Chapman
Chris Carter….. Wilf Scolding
Chelsea Horrobin…. Madeleine Leslay
Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell
Zainab Malik…. Priyasasha Kumari
Hannah Riley…. Helen Longworth
Fallon Rogers…. Joanna Van Kampen
Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd
Robert Snell…. Michael Bertenshaw
Lawrence…. Rupert Vansittart
FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m0027ld2)
Video Shops
With physical media sales on the rise and streaming fatigue setting in, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the life, death and rebirth of the video shop.
Ellen takes a trip to one of the UK's few remaining stores, 20th Century Flicks in Bristol, which has a strong claim to being the longest-running video shop in the world, first opening in 1982. She speaks to manager Dave Taylor about the evolution of the shop over the last 43 years, and finds out how he feels about how video shop clerks have been depicted on screen.
Mark talks to American filmmaker Alex Ross Perry about his new essay film Videoheaven, which explores the history of videotape as a medium and video stores as physical locations, told entirely through their depiction in film and TV shows.
And Mark also speaks to writer and producer Kate Hagen about her search for the world's last great video stores.
Produced by Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m0027ld4)
Lord Frost, Bronwen Maddox, James Murray MP, Steve Richards
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from The Bishop's Stortford High School in Hertfordshire, with Conservative peer and former chief Brexit negotiator Lord Frost; Bronwen Maddox of the international affairs think tank Chatham House; treasury minister James Murray MP; and writer and broadcaster Steve Richards.
Producer: Paul Martin
Lead broadcast engineer: Rob Dyball
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m0027ld6)
Geese, Aristotle and Migration
Walking along the muddy tracks of the River Ouse near her home a few days ago, Rebecca Stott reflects on migration.
She contemplates the lives of the Canada geese that frequently fly over her home, as well as Aristotle's own studies of bird migration - and his extraordinary life as a migrant - while considering the historic links between the migration of people and human progress.
Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Liam Morrey
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
FRI 21:00 Free Thinking (m0027ld8)
Repetition
Matthew Sweet with art critic TJ Clark, who has written about the importance of repeated viewing for appreciating a work of art; philosopher and film historian Lucy Bolton, who's seen a re-issue of Chantel Akerman's film Jeanne Dielman, which documents the crushing routine of a Belgian housewife; philosopher and theologian Clare Carlisle, who has written on the philosopher Kierkegaard, who discussed repetition as a major feature structuring human life, and historian and educationalist Anthony Seldon. Plus composer, dramatist and regular silent film accompanist Neil Brand will be at the piano.
TJ Clark's new collection of Essays is called Those Passions: On Art and Politics.
The BFI is hosting a season of films by Chantal Akerman which runs for 2 months in London with further screenings at selected cinemas - and the 2k restoration of the film Jeanne Dielmann is in cinemas across the UK
Anthony Seldon's books include Truss At 10: 49 Days That Changed Britain; Johnson at 10: The Inside Story and The Fourth Education Revolution
Book by Anthony Seldon
Lucy Bolton's books include Contemporary Cinema and the Philosophy of Iris Murdoch
Clare Carlisle's books include 'Philosopher of the Heart: The Restless Life of Soren Kierkegaard'
Neil Brand's tour dates are available here https://www.laurelandhardypresentedbyneilbrand.co.uk/
Producer: Luke Mulhall
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m0027ldb)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.
FRI 22:45 Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee (m0027ldd)
Angel's Share
The conclusion of the new thriller from the author of the Wyndham and Banerjee series. Sunita's peaceful life in the Scottish Highlands is shattered when a figure from her past threatens blackmail. Her dangerous plan to raise a hundred grand has come together but everything depends on Primakov - is the billionaire in a buying mood?
Read by Sudha Bhuchar
Written by Abir Mukherjee
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
A BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4.
Abir Mukherjee's standalone novel HUNTED was published in 2024 and is a gripping white-knuckle ride across contemporary America. Sudha Bhuchar can be seen in 'Virdee', the Bradford-set detective series coming soon to the BBC.
FRI 23:00 Americast (m0027ldg)
Elon Musk vs The U.S. Government
In the three weeks since Donald Trump returned to the White House, Elon Musk has taken a wrecking ball to the federal government in what he has called "a revolution of the people".
That revolution has included offers to buyout millions of federal employees, accessing sensitive data of millions of Americans and sweeping efforts to shut down federal agencies like USAID.
What, if anything, can get in Musk's way? And has there ever been so much power wielded in America by an unelected individual?
HOSTS:
• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
• Sarah Smith, North America Editor
• Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Correspondent
GET IN TOUCH:
• Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB
• Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480
• Email Americast@bbc.co.uk
• Or use #Americast
This episode was made by George Dabby with Rufus Gray, Catherine Fusillo and Claire Betzer. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.
You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers.
US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155
Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including The Global Story, The Today Podcast, and of course Newscast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.
The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd
The Today Podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r
Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl
Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0027ldj)
Alicia McCarthy reports from Westminster as members of the Houses of Lords debate a call to change the rules on school assemblies in England.
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
A Charles Paris Mystery
14:15 MON (m0027l5q)
A Point of View
08:48 SUN (m0027d4k)
A Point of View
20:50 FRI (m0027ld6)
Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar
18:30 TUE (m001d59f)
Alison Spittle: Petty Please
23:00 WED (m0027k1l)
Americast
23:00 FRI (m0027ldg)
AntiSocial
20:00 WED (m0027d3h)
AntiSocial
12:04 FRI (m0027lc7)
Any Answers?
14:00 SAT (m0027l09)
Any Questions?
13:10 SAT (m0027d4h)
Any Questions?
20:00 FRI (m0027ld4)
Archive on 4
20:00 SAT (m0025ss6)
At Your Own Peril
13:45 MON (m0027l5n)
At Your Own Peril
13:45 TUE (m0027lv5)
At Your Own Peril
13:45 WED (m0027k0v)
At Your Own Peril
13:45 THU (m0027jxs)
At Your Own Peril
13:45 FRI (m0027lcf)
BBC Inside Science
20:30 MON (m0027d7q)
BBC Inside Science
16:30 THU (m0027jy8)
Bells on Sunday
05:43 SUN (m0027l18)
Bells on Sunday
00:45 MON (m0027l18)
Bookclub
16:00 SUN (m0027l2d)
Broadcasting House
09:00 SUN (m0027l1y)
Café Hope
09:45 MON (m0027l53)
Café Hope
21:45 MON (m0027l53)
Counterpoint
23:30 SAT (m0027ch4)
Counterpoint
16:30 SUN (m0027l2g)
Crossing Continents
00:15 MON (m0027cn3)
Desert Island Discs
10:00 SUN (m0027l20)
Desert Island Discs
09:00 FRI (m0027l20)
Drama on 4
15:00 SAT (m000nwqw)
Drama on 4
15:00 SUN (m0027l2b)
Drama on 4
14:15 WED (m0027k0z)
Drama on 4
14:15 THU (m0027jxy)
Farming Today
06:30 SAT (m0027kzj)
Farming Today
05:45 MON (m0027l3f)
Farming Today
05:45 TUE (m0027l6t)
Farming Today
05:45 WED (m0027lwk)
Farming Today
05:45 THU (m0027k23)
Farming Today
05:45 FRI (m0027jzg)
Free Thinking
21:00 FRI (m0027ld8)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:30 SAT (m0027kzz)
From Our Own Correspondent
21:30 SUN (m0027kzz)
Front Row
19:15 MON (m0027l65)
Front Row
19:15 TUE (m0027lvk)
Front Row
19:15 WED (m0027k19)
Front Row
19:15 THU (m0027jyl)
Gardeners' Question Time
14:00 SUN (m0027d3z)
Gardeners' Question Time
15:00 FRI (m0027lcm)
Germany: Rebellion on the Rhine
13:30 SUN (m0027l28)
Germany: Rebellion on the Rhine
16:00 MON (m0027l28)
Great Lives
15:00 MON (m0027l5s)
History's Heroes
15:30 MON (m0027l5v)
How Boarding Schools Shaped Britain
11:00 MON (m0027l57)
How They Made Us Doubt Everything
20:45 WED (m001yxkv)
Illuminated
21:30 SAT (m0022c1n)
Illuminated
19:15 SUN (m0027l2x)
In Dark Corners
09:30 WED (m0027k0b)
In Our Time
23:00 SUN (m0027d6t)
In Our Time
09:00 THU (m0027jwv)
In Touch
05:45 SUN (m0027cn0)
In Touch
20:45 TUE (m0027lvm)
Inside Health
09:30 TUE (m0027k1d)
Inside Health
21:30 WED (m0027k1d)
Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley
19:45 SUN (m001vmbm)
Just a Minute
12:30 SUN (m0027bp6)
Just a Minute
18:30 MON (m0027l61)
Last Word
20:30 SUN (m0027d43)
Last Word
16:00 FRI (m0027lcr)
Limelight
23:00 MON (m001hg08)
Limelight
14:15 FRI (m0027lch)
Loose Ends
18:15 SAT (m0027mgv)
Loose Ends
21:00 THU (m0027mgv)
Marple: Three New Stories
14:45 MON (m001gjfh)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 MON (m0027l5b)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 TUE (m0027l5b)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 TUE (m0027ltv)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 WED (m0027ltv)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 WED (m0027k0j)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 THU (m0027k0j)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 THU (m0027jx3)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 FRI (m0027jx3)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 FRI (m0027lc3)
Midnight News
00:00 SAT (m0027d4y)
Midnight News
00:00 SUN (m0027l0y)
Midnight News
00:00 MON (m0027l31)
Midnight News
00:00 TUE (m0027l6f)
Midnight News
00:00 WED (m0027lvx)
Midnight News
00:00 THU (m0027k1q)
Midnight News
00:00 FRI (m0027jz2)
Money Box
12:04 SAT (m0027l03)
Money Box
21:00 SUN (m0027l03)
Money Box
15:00 WED (m0027k11)
Moving Pictures
16:00 TUE (m0027lv9)
Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics
16:30 MON (m001t3f0)
News Briefing
05:30 SAT (m0027d56)
News Briefing
05:30 SUN (m0027l16)
News Briefing
05:30 MON (m0027l39)
News Briefing
05:30 TUE (m0027l6p)
News Briefing
05:30 WED (m0027lwc)
News Briefing
05:30 THU (m0027k1z)
News Briefing
05:30 FRI (m0027jzb)
News Summary
12:00 SAT (m0027l01)
News Summary
06:00 SUN (m0027l1c)
News Summary
12:00 MON (m0027l5d)
News Summary
12:00 TUE (m0027ltx)
News Summary
12:00 WED (m0027k0l)
News Summary
12:00 THU (m0027jx6)
News Summary
12:00 FRI (m0027lc5)
News and Papers
06:00 SAT (m0027kzg)
News and Papers
07:00 SUN (m0027l1k)
News and Papers
08:00 SUN (m0027l1r)
News
13:00 SAT (m0027l07)
News
22:00 SAT (m0027l0t)
On Your Farm
06:35 SUN (m0027l1f)
P.O.V.
18:30 THU (m0027jyg)
PM
17:00 SAT (m0027l0f)
PM
17:00 MON (m0027l5x)
PM
17:00 TUE (m0027lvf)
PM
17:00 WED (m0027k15)
PM
17:00 THU (m0027jyb)
PM
17:00 FRI (m0027lct)
Pick of the Week
18:15 SUN (m0027l2s)
Political Thinking with Nick Robinson
17:30 SAT (m0027l0h)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 SAT (m0027d58)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 MON (m0027l3c)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 TUE (m0027l6r)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 WED (m0027lwf)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 THU (m0027k21)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 FRI (m0027jzd)
Profile
19:00 SAT (m0027l0r)
Profile
12:15 SUN (m0027l0r)
Radio 4 Appeal
07:54 SUN (m0027jy2)
Radio 4 Appeal
21:25 SUN (m0027jy2)
Radio 4 Appeal
15:27 THU (m0027jy2)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 MON (m0027l69)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 TUE (m0027lvr)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 WED (m0027k1j)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 THU (m0027jyv)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 FRI (m0027ldd)
Ramblings
06:07 SAT (m0027d7j)
Ramblings
15:00 THU (m0027jy0)
ReincarNathan
18:30 WED (m001g9j0)
Rethink
20:00 MON (m0027d7n)
Rethink
16:00 THU (m0027jy6)
Saturday Live
09:00 SAT (m0027kzq)
Screenshot
11:00 TUE (m0027d4f)
Screenshot
19:15 FRI (m0027ld2)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SAT (m0027d52)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SUN (m0027l12)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 MON (m0027l35)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 TUE (m0027l6k)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 WED (m0027lw5)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 THU (m0027k1v)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 FRI (m0027jz6)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SAT (m0027d50)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SAT (m0027d54)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SAT (m0027l0k)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SUN (m0027l10)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SUN (m0027l14)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SUN (m0027l2l)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 MON (m0027l33)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 MON (m0027l37)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 TUE (m0027l6h)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 TUE (m0027l6m)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 WED (m0027lw1)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 WED (m0027lw7)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 THU (m0027k1s)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 THU (m0027k1x)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 FRI (m0027jz4)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 FRI (m0027jz8)
Short Works
23:45 SUN (m0027d41)
Short Works
15:45 FRI (m0027lcp)
Sideways
09:00 WED (m0027k08)
Sideways
21:00 WED (m0026ngb)
Sideways
16:30 FRI (m0027k08)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SAT (m0027l0p)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SUN (m0027l2q)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 MON (m0027l5z)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 TUE (m0027lvh)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 WED (m0027k17)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 THU (m0027jyd)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 FRI (m0027lcw)
Sliced Bread
12:32 THU (m0027jxf)
Someone Else's Bed by MJ Hyland
14:45 SUN (b07w6ft7)
Start the Week
09:00 MON (m0027l51)
Start the Week
21:00 MON (m0027l51)
Strong Message Here
09:45 THU (m0027jwx)
Strong Message Here
21:45 THU (m0027jwx)
Sunday Worship
08:10 SUN (m0027l1t)
Sunday
07:10 SUN (m0027l1m)
Take Four Books
00:15 SUN (m0027ch2)
The Archers Omnibus
11:00 SUN (m0027l22)
The Archers
14:45 SAT (m0027d4c)
The Archers
19:00 SUN (m0027l2v)
The Archers
14:00 MON (m0027l2v)
The Archers
19:00 MON (m0027l63)
The Archers
14:00 TUE (m0027l63)
The Archers
19:00 TUE (m0027k0x)
The Archers
14:00 WED (m0027k0x)
The Archers
19:00 WED (m0027jxw)
The Archers
14:00 THU (m0027jxw)
The Archers
19:00 THU (m0027jyj)
The Archers
14:00 FRI (m0027jyj)
The Archers
19:00 FRI (m0027ld0)
The Artificial Human
15:30 WED (m0027k13)
The Bottom Line
21:30 TUE (m0027d74)
The Bottom Line
12:04 THU (m0027jx9)
The Food Programme
22:15 SAT (m0027d3c)
The Food Programme
11:00 FRI (m0027lc1)
The Gift
15:00 TUE (m00255wz)
The History Podcast
00:30 SAT (m001zdtd)
The Media Show
16:00 WED (m0027jyn)
The Media Show
20:00 THU (m0027jyn)
The News Quiz
12:30 SAT (m0027d49)
The News Quiz
18:30 FRI (m0027lcy)
The Poetry Detective
21:00 SAT (m0024vv5)
The Today Podcast
23:00 THU (m0027jyy)
The Verb
17:10 SUN (m0027l2j)
The Week in Westminster
11:00 SAT (m0027kzx)
The World This Weekend
13:00 SUN (m0027l26)
The World Tonight
22:00 MON (m0027l67)
The World Tonight
22:00 TUE (m0027lvp)
The World Tonight
22:00 WED (m0027k1g)
The World Tonight
22:00 THU (m0027jys)
The World Tonight
22:00 FRI (m0027ldb)
Thinking Allowed
06:05 SUN (m0027cm2)
Thinking Allowed
15:30 TUE (m0027lv7)
This Cultural Life
19:15 SAT (m0027d70)
This Cultural Life
11:00 THU (m0027jx1)
This Thing of Darkness
14:15 TUE (p0h2jxkl)
Today in Parliament
23:30 MON (m0027l6c)
Today in Parliament
23:30 TUE (m0027lvv)
Today in Parliament
23:30 WED (m0027k1n)
Today in Parliament
23:30 THU (m0027jz0)
Today in Parliament
23:30 FRI (m0027ldj)
Today
07:00 SAT (m0027kzn)
Today
06:00 MON (m0027l4z)
Today
06:00 TUE (m0027ltn)
Today
20:00 TUE (m0027k0g)
Today
06:00 WED (m0027k06)
Today
11:00 WED (m0027k0g)
Today
06:00 THU (m0027jws)
Today
06:00 FRI (m0027lbt)
Tweet of the Day
08:58 SUN (m0027l1w)
Uncanny
23:00 TUE (m0011jxv)
Weather
06:57 SAT (m0027kzl)
Weather
12:57 SAT (m0027l05)
Weather
17:57 SAT (m0027l0m)
Weather
06:57 SUN (m0027l1h)
Weather
07:57 SUN (m0027l1p)
Weather
12:57 SUN (m0027l24)
Weather
17:57 SUN (m0027l2n)
Weather
05:57 MON (m0027l3h)
Weather
12:57 MON (m0027l5j)
Weather
12:57 TUE (m0027lv1)
Weather
12:57 WED (m0027k0q)
Weather
12:57 THU (m0027jxk)
Weather
12:57 FRI (m0027lc9)
Westminster Hour
22:00 SUN (m0027l2z)
What's Funny About...
10:30 SAT (m0027kzv)
What? Seriously??
23:00 SAT (m0027l0w)
When It Hits the Fan
16:30 TUE (m0027lvc)
Why Do We Do That?
05:45 SAT (m0027d3x)
Why Do We Do That?
14:45 FRI (m0027lck)
Witness History
17:00 SUN (w3ct5yh3)
Woman's Hour
16:00 SAT (m0027l0c)
Woman's Hour
10:00 MON (m0027l55)
Woman's Hour
10:00 TUE (m0027lts)
Woman's Hour
10:00 WED (m0027k0d)
Woman's Hour
10:00 THU (m0027jwz)
Woman's Hour
10:00 FRI (m0027lby)
Word of Mouth
20:00 SUN (m0027d7l)
Word of Mouth
15:30 THU (m0027jy4)
World Of Secrets
21:00 TUE (m0026jxn)
World at One
13:00 MON (m0027l5l)
World at One
13:00 TUE (m0027lv3)
World at One
13:00 WED (m0027k0s)
World at One
13:00 THU (m0027jxp)
World at One
13:00 FRI (m0027lcc)
You and Yours
12:04 MON (m0027l5g)
You and Yours
12:04 TUE (m0027ltz)
You and Yours
12:04 WED (m0027k0n)
You're Dead to Me
10:00 SAT (m0027kzs)
Young Again
09:00 TUE (m0027ltq)
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES ORDERED BY GENRE
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
Comedy
Alison Spittle: Petty Please
23:00 WED (m0027k1l)
You're Dead to Me
10:00 SAT (m0027kzs)
Comedy: Chat
What's Funny About...
10:30 SAT (m0027kzv)
What? Seriously??
23:00 SAT (m0027l0w)
Comedy: Panel Shows
Just a Minute
12:30 SUN (m0027bp6)
Just a Minute
18:30 MON (m0027l61)
The News Quiz
12:30 SAT (m0027d49)
The News Quiz
18:30 FRI (m0027lcy)
Comedy: Satire
Strong Message Here
09:45 THU (m0027jwx)
Strong Message Here
21:45 THU (m0027jwx)
The News Quiz
12:30 SAT (m0027d49)
The News Quiz
18:30 FRI (m0027lcy)
Comedy: Sitcoms
ReincarNathan
18:30 WED (m001g9j0)
Comedy: Sketch
P.O.V.
18:30 THU (m0027jyg)
Comedy: Standup
Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar
18:30 TUE (m001d59f)
Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics
16:30 MON (m001t3f0)
Drama
Drama on 4
15:00 SAT (m000nwqw)
Drama on 4
15:00 SUN (m0027l2b)
Drama on 4
14:15 WED (m0027k0z)
Drama on 4
14:15 THU (m0027jxy)
Marple: Three New Stories
14:45 MON (m001gjfh)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 MON (m0027l69)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 TUE (m0027lvr)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 WED (m0027k1j)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 THU (m0027jyv)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 FRI (m0027ldd)
Short Works
23:45 SUN (m0027d41)
Short Works
15:45 FRI (m0027lcp)
Drama: Action & Adventure
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 MON (m0027l69)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 TUE (m0027lvr)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 WED (m0027k1j)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 THU (m0027jyv)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 FRI (m0027ldd)
Drama: Crime
A Charles Paris Mystery
14:15 MON (m0027l5q)
Marple: Three New Stories
14:45 MON (m001gjfh)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 MON (m0027l69)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 TUE (m0027lvr)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 WED (m0027k1j)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 THU (m0027jyv)
Raiders of the Lost Cask by Abir Mukherjee
22:45 FRI (m0027ldd)
This Thing of Darkness
14:15 TUE (p0h2jxkl)
Drama: Political
The History Podcast
00:30 SAT (m001zdtd)
Drama: Relationships & Romance
Someone Else's Bed by MJ Hyland
14:45 SUN (b07w6ft7)
Drama: Soaps
The Archers Omnibus
11:00 SUN (m0027l22)
The Archers
14:45 SAT (m0027d4c)
The Archers
19:00 SUN (m0027l2v)
The Archers
14:00 MON (m0027l2v)
The Archers
19:00 MON (m0027l63)
The Archers
14:00 TUE (m0027l63)
The Archers
19:00 TUE (m0027k0x)
The Archers
14:00 WED (m0027k0x)
The Archers
19:00 WED (m0027jxw)
The Archers
14:00 THU (m0027jxw)
The Archers
19:00 THU (m0027jyj)
The Archers
14:00 FRI (m0027jyj)
The Archers
19:00 FRI (m0027ld0)
Drama: Thriller
Limelight
23:00 MON (m001hg08)
Limelight
14:15 FRI (m0027lch)
Factual
AntiSocial
20:00 WED (m0027d3h)
AntiSocial
12:04 FRI (m0027lc7)
Archive on 4
20:00 SAT (m0025ss6)
At Your Own Peril
13:45 MON (m0027l5n)
At Your Own Peril
13:45 TUE (m0027lv5)
At Your Own Peril
13:45 WED (m0027k0v)
At Your Own Peril
13:45 THU (m0027jxs)
At Your Own Peril
13:45 FRI (m0027lcf)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:30 SAT (m0027kzz)
From Our Own Correspondent
21:30 SUN (m0027kzz)
Germany: Rebellion on the Rhine
13:30 SUN (m0027l28)
Germany: Rebellion on the Rhine
16:00 MON (m0027l28)
How Boarding Schools Shaped Britain
11:00 MON (m0027l57)
Illuminated
21:30 SAT (m0022c1n)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 MON (m0027l5b)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 TUE (m0027l5b)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 TUE (m0027ltv)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 WED (m0027ltv)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 WED (m0027k0j)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 THU (m0027k0j)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 THU (m0027jx3)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 FRI (m0027jx3)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 FRI (m0027lc3)
Radio 4 Appeal
07:54 SUN (m0027jy2)
Radio 4 Appeal
21:25 SUN (m0027jy2)
Radio 4 Appeal
15:27 THU (m0027jy2)
Rethink
20:00 MON (m0027d7n)
Rethink
16:00 THU (m0027jy6)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SAT (m0027d52)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SUN (m0027l12)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 MON (m0027l35)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 TUE (m0027l6k)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 WED (m0027lw5)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 THU (m0027k1v)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 FRI (m0027jz6)
Sideways
09:00 WED (m0027k08)
Sideways
21:00 WED (m0026ngb)
Sideways
16:30 FRI (m0027k08)
Why Do We Do That?
05:45 SAT (m0027d3x)
Why Do We Do That?
14:45 FRI (m0027lck)
World Of Secrets
21:00 TUE (m0026jxn)
Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media
AntiSocial
20:00 WED (m0027d3h)
AntiSocial
12:04 FRI (m0027lc7)
Bookclub
16:00 SUN (m0027l2d)
Desert Island Discs
10:00 SUN (m0027l20)
Desert Island Discs
09:00 FRI (m0027l20)
Free Thinking
21:00 FRI (m0027ld8)
Front Row
19:15 MON (m0027l65)
Front Row
19:15 TUE (m0027lvk)
Front Row
19:15 WED (m0027k19)
Front Row
19:15 THU (m0027jyl)
Loose Ends
18:15 SAT (m0027mgv)
Loose Ends
21:00 THU (m0027mgv)
Pick of the Week
18:15 SUN (m0027l2s)
Start the Week
09:00 MON (m0027l51)
Start the Week
21:00 MON (m0027l51)
Strong Message Here
09:45 THU (m0027jwx)
Strong Message Here
21:45 THU (m0027jwx)
Take Four Books
00:15 SUN (m0027ch2)
The Media Show
16:00 WED (m0027jyn)
The Media Show
20:00 THU (m0027jyn)
The Verb
17:10 SUN (m0027l2j)
When It Hits the Fan
16:30 TUE (m0027lvc)
Word of Mouth
20:00 SUN (m0027d7l)
Word of Mouth
15:30 THU (m0027jy4)
Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts
Moving Pictures
16:00 TUE (m0027lv9)
Screenshot
11:00 TUE (m0027d4f)
Screenshot
19:15 FRI (m0027ld2)
The Poetry Detective
21:00 SAT (m0024vv5)
This Cultural Life
19:15 SAT (m0027d70)
This Cultural Life
11:00 THU (m0027jx1)
Factual: Consumer
Sliced Bread
12:32 THU (m0027jxf)
You and Yours
12:04 MON (m0027l5g)
You and Yours
12:04 TUE (m0027ltz)
You and Yours
12:04 WED (m0027k0n)
Factual: Crime & Justice
In Dark Corners
09:30 WED (m0027k0b)
Factual: Crime & Justice: True Crime
In Dark Corners
09:30 WED (m0027k0b)
Factual: Disability
In Touch
05:45 SUN (m0027cn0)
In Touch
20:45 TUE (m0027lvm)
Factual: Families & Relationships
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 MON (m0027l5b)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 TUE (m0027l5b)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 TUE (m0027ltv)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 WED (m0027ltv)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 WED (m0027k0j)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 THU (m0027k0j)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 THU (m0027jx3)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 FRI (m0027jx3)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 FRI (m0027lc3)
Saturday Live
09:00 SAT (m0027kzq)
Factual: Food & Drink
The Food Programme
22:15 SAT (m0027d3c)
The Food Programme
11:00 FRI (m0027lc1)
Factual: Health & Wellbeing
In Touch
05:45 SUN (m0027cn0)
In Touch
20:45 TUE (m0027lvm)
Inside Health
09:30 TUE (m0027k1d)
Inside Health
21:30 WED (m0027k1d)
Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley
19:45 SUN (m001vmbm)
The Gift
15:00 TUE (m00255wz)
Woman's Hour
16:00 SAT (m0027l0c)
Woman's Hour
10:00 MON (m0027l55)
Woman's Hour
10:00 TUE (m0027lts)
Woman's Hour
10:00 WED (m0027k0d)
Woman's Hour
10:00 THU (m0027jwz)
Woman's Hour
10:00 FRI (m0027lby)
Factual: History
Great Lives
15:00 MON (m0027l5s)
History's Heroes
15:30 MON (m0027l5v)
In Our Time
23:00 SUN (m0027d6t)
In Our Time
09:00 THU (m0027jwv)
The History Podcast
00:30 SAT (m001zdtd)
What? Seriously??
23:00 SAT (m0027l0w)
Witness History
17:00 SUN (w3ct5yh3)
You're Dead to Me
10:00 SAT (m0027kzs)
Factual: Homes & Gardens: Gardens
Gardeners' Question Time
14:00 SUN (m0027d3z)
Gardeners' Question Time
15:00 FRI (m0027lcm)
Factual: Life Stories
A Point of View
08:48 SUN (m0027d4k)
A Point of View
20:50 FRI (m0027ld6)
Café Hope
09:45 MON (m0027l53)
Café Hope
21:45 MON (m0027l53)
Crossing Continents
00:15 MON (m0027cn3)
Desert Island Discs
10:00 SUN (m0027l20)
Desert Island Discs
09:00 FRI (m0027l20)
Great Lives
15:00 MON (m0027l5s)
History's Heroes
15:30 MON (m0027l5v)
Illuminated
19:15 SUN (m0027l2x)
In Dark Corners
09:30 WED (m0027k0b)
In Touch
05:45 SUN (m0027cn0)
In Touch
20:45 TUE (m0027lvm)
Last Word
20:30 SUN (m0027d43)
Last Word
16:00 FRI (m0027lcr)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 MON (m0027l5b)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 TUE (m0027l5b)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 TUE (m0027ltv)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 WED (m0027ltv)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 WED (m0027k0j)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 THU (m0027k0j)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 THU (m0027jx3)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 FRI (m0027jx3)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 FRI (m0027lc3)
Profile
19:00 SAT (m0027l0r)
Profile
12:15 SUN (m0027l0r)
Saturday Live
09:00 SAT (m0027kzq)
Sideways
09:00 WED (m0027k08)
Sideways
16:30 FRI (m0027k08)
The Gift
15:00 TUE (m00255wz)
This Cultural Life
19:15 SAT (m0027d70)
This Cultural Life
11:00 THU (m0027jx1)
Uncanny
23:00 TUE (m0011jxv)
Woman's Hour
16:00 SAT (m0027l0c)
Woman's Hour
10:00 MON (m0027l55)
Woman's Hour
10:00 TUE (m0027lts)
Woman's Hour
10:00 WED (m0027k0d)
Woman's Hour
10:00 THU (m0027jwz)
Woman's Hour
10:00 FRI (m0027lby)
Young Again
09:00 TUE (m0027ltq)
Factual: Money
Money Box
12:04 SAT (m0027l03)
Money Box
21:00 SUN (m0027l03)
Money Box
15:00 WED (m0027k11)
The Bottom Line
21:30 TUE (m0027d74)
The Bottom Line
12:04 THU (m0027jx9)
Factual: Politics
Americast
23:00 FRI (m0027ldg)
Any Answers?
14:00 SAT (m0027l09)
Any Questions?
13:10 SAT (m0027d4h)
Any Questions?
20:00 FRI (m0027ld4)
Political Thinking with Nick Robinson
17:30 SAT (m0027l0h)
Strong Message Here
09:45 THU (m0027jwx)
Strong Message Here
21:45 THU (m0027jwx)
The Week in Westminster
11:00 SAT (m0027kzx)
Today in Parliament
23:30 MON (m0027l6c)
Today in Parliament
23:30 TUE (m0027lvv)
Today in Parliament
23:30 WED (m0027k1n)
Today in Parliament
23:30 THU (m0027jz0)
Today in Parliament
23:30 FRI (m0027ldj)
Westminster Hour
22:00 SUN (m0027l2z)
When It Hits the Fan
16:30 TUE (m0027lvc)
Factual: Real Life Stories
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 MON (m0027l5b)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 TUE (m0027l5b)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 TUE (m0027ltv)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 WED (m0027ltv)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 WED (m0027k0j)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 THU (m0027k0j)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 THU (m0027jx3)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 FRI (m0027jx3)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 FRI (m0027lc3)
The History Podcast
00:30 SAT (m001zdtd)
Factual: Science & Nature
BBC Inside Science
20:30 MON (m0027d7q)
BBC Inside Science
16:30 THU (m0027jy8)
Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley
19:45 SUN (m001vmbm)
Sliced Bread
12:32 THU (m0027jxf)
Thinking Allowed
06:05 SUN (m0027cm2)
Thinking Allowed
15:30 TUE (m0027lv7)
Tweet of the Day
08:58 SUN (m0027l1w)
Why Do We Do That?
05:45 SAT (m0027d3x)
Why Do We Do That?
14:45 FRI (m0027lck)
Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment
Farming Today
06:30 SAT (m0027kzj)
Farming Today
05:45 MON (m0027l3f)
Farming Today
05:45 TUE (m0027l6t)
Farming Today
05:45 WED (m0027lwk)
Farming Today
05:45 THU (m0027k23)
Farming Today
05:45 FRI (m0027jzg)
How They Made Us Doubt Everything
20:45 WED (m001yxkv)
On Your Farm
06:35 SUN (m0027l1f)
Ramblings
06:07 SAT (m0027d7j)
Ramblings
15:00 THU (m0027jy0)
Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology
BBC Inside Science
20:30 MON (m0027d7q)
BBC Inside Science
16:30 THU (m0027jy8)
The Artificial Human
15:30 WED (m0027k13)
Factual: Travel
Crossing Continents
00:15 MON (m0027cn3)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 MON (m0027l5b)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 TUE (m0027l5b)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 TUE (m0027ltv)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 WED (m0027ltv)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 WED (m0027k0j)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 THU (m0027k0j)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 THU (m0027jx3)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
00:30 FRI (m0027jx3)
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
11:45 FRI (m0027lc3)
Ramblings
06:07 SAT (m0027d7j)
Ramblings
15:00 THU (m0027jy0)
Music
Counterpoint
23:30 SAT (m0027ch4)
Counterpoint
16:30 SUN (m0027l2g)
News
Broadcasting House
09:00 SUN (m0027l1y)
How They Made Us Doubt Everything
20:45 WED (m001yxkv)
Midnight News
00:00 SAT (m0027d4y)
Midnight News
00:00 SUN (m0027l0y)
Midnight News
00:00 MON (m0027l31)
Midnight News
00:00 TUE (m0027l6f)
Midnight News
00:00 WED (m0027lvx)
Midnight News
00:00 THU (m0027k1q)
Midnight News
00:00 FRI (m0027jz2)
News Briefing
05:30 SAT (m0027d56)
News Briefing
05:30 SUN (m0027l16)
News Briefing
05:30 MON (m0027l39)
News Briefing
05:30 TUE (m0027l6p)
News Briefing
05:30 WED (m0027lwc)
News Briefing
05:30 THU (m0027k1z)
News Briefing
05:30 FRI (m0027jzb)
News Summary
12:00 SAT (m0027l01)
News Summary
06:00 SUN (m0027l1c)
News Summary
12:00 MON (m0027l5d)
News Summary
12:00 TUE (m0027ltx)
News Summary
12:00 WED (m0027k0l)
News Summary
12:00 THU (m0027jx6)
News Summary
12:00 FRI (m0027lc5)
News and Papers
06:00 SAT (m0027kzg)
News and Papers
07:00 SUN (m0027l1k)
News and Papers
08:00 SUN (m0027l1r)
News
13:00 SAT (m0027l07)
News
22:00 SAT (m0027l0t)
PM
17:00 SAT (m0027l0f)
PM
17:00 MON (m0027l5x)
PM
17:00 TUE (m0027lvf)
PM
17:00 WED (m0027k15)
PM
17:00 THU (m0027jyb)
PM
17:00 FRI (m0027lct)
Political Thinking with Nick Robinson
17:30 SAT (m0027l0h)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SAT (m0027l0p)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SUN (m0027l2q)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 MON (m0027l5z)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 TUE (m0027lvh)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 WED (m0027k17)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 THU (m0027jyd)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 FRI (m0027lcw)
The Bottom Line
21:30 TUE (m0027d74)
The Bottom Line
12:04 THU (m0027jx9)
The Today Podcast
23:00 THU (m0027jyy)
The World This Weekend
13:00 SUN (m0027l26)
The World Tonight
22:00 MON (m0027l67)
The World Tonight
22:00 TUE (m0027lvp)
The World Tonight
22:00 WED (m0027k1g)
The World Tonight
22:00 THU (m0027jys)
The World Tonight
22:00 FRI (m0027ldb)
Today
07:00 SAT (m0027kzn)
Today
06:00 MON (m0027l4z)
Today
06:00 TUE (m0027ltn)
Today
20:00 TUE (m0027k0g)
Today
06:00 WED (m0027k06)
Today
11:00 WED (m0027k0g)
Today
06:00 THU (m0027jws)
Today
06:00 FRI (m0027lbt)
When It Hits the Fan
16:30 TUE (m0027lvc)
World at One
13:00 MON (m0027l5l)
World at One
13:00 TUE (m0027lv3)
World at One
13:00 WED (m0027k0s)
World at One
13:00 THU (m0027jxp)
World at One
13:00 FRI (m0027lcc)
Religion & Ethics
Bells on Sunday
05:43 SUN (m0027l18)
Bells on Sunday
00:45 MON (m0027l18)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 SAT (m0027d58)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 MON (m0027l3c)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 TUE (m0027l6r)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 WED (m0027lwf)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 THU (m0027k21)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 FRI (m0027jzd)
Sunday Worship
08:10 SUN (m0027l1t)
Sunday
07:10 SUN (m0027l1m)
Weather
Midnight News
00:00 SAT (m0027d4y)
Midnight News
00:00 SUN (m0027l0y)
Midnight News
00:00 MON (m0027l31)
Midnight News
00:00 TUE (m0027l6f)
Midnight News
00:00 WED (m0027lvx)
Midnight News
00:00 THU (m0027k1q)
Midnight News
00:00 FRI (m0027jz2)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SAT (m0027d50)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SAT (m0027d54)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SAT (m0027l0k)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SUN (m0027l10)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SUN (m0027l14)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SUN (m0027l2l)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 MON (m0027l33)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 MON (m0027l37)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 TUE (m0027l6h)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 TUE (m0027l6m)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 WED (m0027lw1)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 WED (m0027lw7)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 THU (m0027k1s)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 THU (m0027k1x)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 FRI (m0027jz4)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 FRI (m0027jz8)
Weather
06:57 SAT (m0027kzl)
Weather
12:57 SAT (m0027l05)
Weather
17:57 SAT (m0027l0m)
Weather
06:57 SUN (m0027l1h)
Weather
07:57 SUN (m0027l1p)
Weather
12:57 SUN (m0027l24)
Weather
17:57 SUN (m0027l2n)
Weather
05:57 MON (m0027l3h)
Weather
12:57 MON (m0027l5j)
Weather
12:57 TUE (m0027lv1)
Weather
12:57 WED (m0027k0q)
Weather
12:57 THU (m0027jxk)
Weather
12:57 FRI (m0027lc9)