SATURDAY 02 MAY 2026

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002vnh3)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 To the Edge of the World by Tilar J Mazzeo (m002sg5k)
Episode 5

Summer 1856. Nineteen-year-old Mary Ann Patten and her husband, Joshua, are young and ambitious. Both from New England seafaring families, they have already completed their first voyage around the world with Joshua as captain. Their dream of building a home and a family is coming within reach. It would mean freedom. But the price of that freedom is one last dangerous transit – a race to deliver supplies to the California Gold Rush.

As their ship leaves New York Harbour and sails down the jagged coast of South America, Joshua falls dangerously ill. The treacherous first mate is imprisoned in the brig for insubordination. With no obvious option for a new captain, Mary Ann steps into the breach forced to take the helm from her husband. Within days she has put down a mutiny and must now attempt to steer this 216’ clipper ship laden with the modern equivalent of $11 million dollars of cargo through Drake’s Passage and around Cape Horn – the most treacherous waters in the world.
Author Tilar J. Mazzeo undertook an expedition of her own to Cape Horn and Antarctica in 2022 to retrace Mary Ann’s footsteps. Drawing on her own first-hand experiences, as well as new archival research into nineteenth century women’s maritime writing, this thrilling adventure blows apart the well-worn image of the meek, retiring nineteenth-century wife.

Read by Nina Bowers.
Written by Tilar J. Mazzeo
Abridged by Katrin Williams
Producer: Lu Kemp

Tilar J Mazzeo is the New York Times bestselling author of more than a half-dozen award-winning non-fiction cultural histories, including Widow Cliquot – now a major Hollywood Film.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002vnh5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002vnh7)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:30 News Summary (m002vnh9)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002vnhc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002vnhf)
Stillness

Spiritual reflection to start the day with Fr Philip Blackledge of Holy Trinity Scottish Episcopal Church, Melrose.
Script:
Good morning.
Later on today I will be going to a graveyard with a family, to bless the headstone they have erected in memory of a loved one.

There are some places where there is a stillness that feels intentional. Art Galleries and empty churches and graveyards. Those places seem to have silence built into them, as though the ground itself is helping you rest and be quiet.

My church is surrounded by a graveyard, and as I have been there for many years now, there are many folk who used to sing their hymns with us in the church, who are now buried outside of it, with us in a different kind of communion, their names carved into the stones. And strangely enough, for me there’s nothing sad about that, they are still with us.

We live in a very hectic world, and we can all get caught up in a whirlpool of urgent and necessary things. But as the phrase goes, the graves are full of indispensable people. The stillness of a graveyard gives us pause to put our own lives and urgencies into perspective.

This will be a busy weekend for many people, who will go away with family and friends, and life will be joyous and hectic. But for a moment today, a family will pause, and reflect, and remember, and the warm silence of that place will help them in that journey.

Almighty God, you are the God of the living and of the dead; for you dwell in time and in eternity. Give us in our moments of stillness and pause, a glimpse of your vast perspective. Quiet our false urgencies, calm our anxious thoughts. And be with us, now and for ever. Amen.


SAT 05:45 The Hackers (m0012fsx)
Series 1

The Worm

In 1988, the first major computer worm shook the early internet to his core, disabling computers across the network and even causing panic in the Pentagon. Biella uncovers the story with Eugene Spafford, the first person to analyse the worm that caused so much chaos, and finds out why worms can still be so devastating decades later.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002vwxd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m002vml2)
Roadside Verges

Britain's roadside verges rarely get much attention, but can play host to a whole range of plant and animal species. In this programme Martha Kearney finds out about this overlooked habitat. She meets a community group in East Sussex whose members grow plants at home specially to plant in the verges of their village, and talks to the charity Plantlife about the importance of verges as an environmental habitat. She goes out exploring with artist Nessie Ramm, who focuses on painting the tiny details of roadside verges, and who last year won the New English Art Club Climate Emergency prize for her work entitled 'Reduce Speed Now'.

Producer: Emma Campbell


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002vwxg)
02/05/26 Dry April, Agroforestry, Giant greenhouse

Farmers are hoping for more rain in May after an unusually dry and windy April in many part of the UK. The East of England had between 2 and 4 per cent of the expected rainfall last month. We hear from a farmer struggling to plant his crops.
This week we look at agroforestry - that's farming with trees in the mix. We visit farms using trees for different reasons - including providing shade for livestock, adding nutrients to soil, and providing habitats for useful insect predators.
And the UK's second largest greenhouse - which could replace 7 per cent of the tomatoes the UK imports - has been given the go ahead. Rivenhall Greenhouse near Braintree in Essex will cover 40 hectares and use power from a domestic waste incinerator - burning all the black bag waste from the county.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Sally Challoner.


SAT 06:57 Weather (m002vwxj)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m002vwxl)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m002vwxn)
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Lucy Shepherd, Jonathan Shalit and the Inheritance Tracks of Liz Earle

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall found his calling in the countryside of Gloucestershire and Devon to become a cook on the wild side championing seasonal and sustainable ingredients.

Lucy Shepherd is our explorer who has navigated her way from the safety of the Suffolk countryside to the amazon and arctic, including the Cardiff studio.

And Jonathan Shalit, who began writing music reviews at school and ended up managing the talents of some of the biggest names in music and show business.

Plus the Inheritance Tracks of the beauty entrepreneur and author Liz Earle.

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies
Assistant Producers: Ribika Moktan and Lowri Morgan
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Andrea Kennedy


SAT 10:00 What's Up Docs? (m002vmdt)
Should you improve your balance?

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken tune in to the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.

In this episode, they turn their attention to balance. Where does it come from, why is it so important for our health, and do some people naturally have better balance than others? They also explore how much we can improve it, and what we should be doing to maintain it.

To help them find their balance, they’re joined by physiotherapist and vestibular rehabilitation specialist, Maggie Stacey.

Falls can have serious consequences for our health and wellbeing, especially as we get older. If you've fallen or are worried about falling, doing exercises to improve your strength, balance and flexibility can help make you stronger and feel more confident on your feet. The current UK fall prevention guidelines advise that adults over the age of 65 should:

- be physically active every day, even if it's just light activity
- do activities that improve strength, balance and flexibility on at least 2 days a week
- do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity if you are already active, or a combination of both
- reduce time spent sitting or lying down and break up long periods of not moving with some activity

If you want to get in touch, you can email us at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08000 665 123.

Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken
Guest: Maggie Stacey
Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Jo Rowntree
Researcher: Grace Revill
Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable
Visuals Producer: Leon Gower
Digital Lead: Richard Berry
Composer: Phoebe McFarlane
Sound Design: Ruth Rainey

At the BBC:
Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002vwxq)
Series 52

Swindon

Jay Rayner is joined by chefs, cooks and food writers, Tim Hayward, Lerato, Melissa Thompson and Angela Gray at the Swindon Arts Centre to talk roast pork, tuna and the items they would add to a railway buffet.

With Swindon’s pig‑hill roots in mind, the panellists explore what makes the perfect roast pork, from choosing the right cut to methods of achieving proper crackling.

They also discuss how cheesy a cheesecake should really be, whether steaks should be thick or thin, and relive some discomfort as they describe the foods that they feel should never be eaten cold.

And, as World Tuna Day approaches, opinions are divided on canned tuna, with the panel debating oil versus brine and offering ideas to take this ingredient far beyond the realms of tuna mayo and pasta bakes.

Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: William Norton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m002vwxs)
The appointment of Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador dominated Commons proceedings again this week. Isabel discusses where it leaves Sir Keir Starmer's authority with Labour MP Sarah Champion and Conservative MP Sir Bernard Jenkin.

Isabel discusses the Golders Green attack where two Jewish men were stabbed with Labour peer, John Mann who has served as the UK government's Independent Adviser on Antisemitism since 2019.

Earlier this week, a report on the health of the nation was published showing a drop in the number of healthy years that British people can expect live to. Former Conservative health minister Steve Brine and Labour MP, Anna Dixon who used to work in health policy review the findings.

And, with local elections in England, the Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly next week, Isabel brings together Conservative peer and political anaylst Robert Hayward and Sienna Rodgers, the deputy editor of The House Magazine for their predictions.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002vwxv)
President Trump, the King, and a special relationship

Kate Adie introduces stories on the King and Queen's visit to Washington, the current mood inside Iran, elections in Gaza and the West Bank, and why fish are front and centre in the politics of West Bengal.

King Charles and Queen Camilla's state visit to Washington came at a fragile moment in the UK-US relationship. A gulf has opened up between the two nations over issues such as Ukraine, defence spending, tariffs, and the Iran War. Sarah Smith reflects on how far the visit has helped restore the 'special relationship'.

Donald Trump’s admiration for the traditions of the Royal Family was on full display during the visit, as he praised the King as an ‘elegant man’. Sean Coughlan has travelled with the King on previous tours, and reveals what made this one different.

Inflation has soared to 50 per cent in Iran and people continue to struggle with rising prices of staples such as rice, eggs and cheese, as the stand-off in the Strait of Hormuz continues to disrupt trade. Lyse Doucet reflects on her recent encounters while visiting Tehran.

Municipal elections were held last weekend in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Hamas was officially excluded from participating, as the Palestinian Authority requires parties and candidates to recognise the state of Israel - something Hamas refuses to do. Jon Donnison has been in Ramallah.

And in West Bengal a fierce state election battle is underway. Indian PM Narendra Modi's BJP has mounted an aggressive push to unseat the Trinamool Congress party which is seeking a fourth consecutive term. Soutik Biswas reveals how a culinary tradition has become a surprising hot-button issue.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison and Sophie Hill
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002vwxx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002vwxz)
NS&I Delays and Youth Unemployment

Some bereaved listeners whose relatives had money put away with National Savings and Investments are facing weeks and months of delay in getting their own money. It comes as NS&I works to track down the accounts of tens of thousands of people who had died, after it admitted keeping nearly half a billion pounds in its coffers that should have been passed to their estates. The state-owned bank has apologised and says its working hard on its plan to ensure those affected are paid what is owed to them, along with returning the processing of current and new bereavement claims to their normal time-frame.

The cost of borrowing has been held steady by the Bank of England. On Thursday its Monetary Policy Committee held the Bank Rate at 3.75%. How is that affecting mortgage deals?

And, how can young people, who’re out of work, find a job? Dan Whitworth reports on a scheme run by the charity Spear to address barriers to work. It comes as University College London publishes research which finds being out of work and education between ages 16 and 24 has long-term consequences for people’s employment and finances in midlife.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner
Researcher: Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast 12pm, Saturday 2nd May 2026)


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m002vngk)
Series 120

3. When the King came round for tea

This week you’re all cordially invited to join us for King Charles’ state visit to Donald Trump’s White House. Please dress to impress. We’ll also be digging into the state of the nation ahead of the upcoming elections on 7th May. Plus, what do we think about MPs drinking at work?

Written by Andy Zaltzman.

With additional material by: Matt Hulme, Eleri Morgan, Joe Topping and Angela Channell
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Coordinator: Asha Osborne-Grinter
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


SAT 12:57 Weather (m002vwy1)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m002vwy3)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002vngr)
Hilary Benn MP, Robbie Moore MP, Lisa Smart MP, Gawain Towler

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Grassington Town Hall in North Yorkshire with the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Labour MP Hilary Benn; Conservative MP and shadow environment minister, Robbie Moore; the Liberal Democrats' Cabinet Office spokesperson Lisa Smart MP; and Reform UK board member, Gawain Towler.

Producer: Paul Martin
Assistant Producer: Jo Dwyer
Production Coordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Lead broadcaster engineer: Mike Smith
Editor: Colin Paterson


SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m002vwy5)
Listeners respond to the issues raised in the preceding edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002vngm)
While Ruth waits to hear from Josh, David moans about his Borchester Show workload, before going to meet George and Amber to discuss marketing ideas. George is nervous about making his pitch to David, hoping it will kick-start his business back into life and boost Amber’s ambitions. When David arrives, Amber leads on explaining their concept, with George chipping in. David thinks it sounds amazing but also wants them to promote farming generally. George suggests adding sweeping aerial footage, only he’ll need to buy a new drone. David can’t pay him up front, but George assures David he’ll find the money from somewhere. Later, George promises Amber he won’t do anything dodgy to raise the money but will earn it fair and square.

David reports back positively to Ruth, who tells him Josh doesn’t want to know the result if she has the BRCA test. Ruth understands Josh saying that, but it doesn’t help her make the decision whether to have the test in the first place. David thinks they should wait to see what Azra says at next week’s appointment, and try not to worry about it until then, while Ruth apologises for being snappy.

Lilian tells Adam she knows Brian reneged on his promise about the farm. Adam doesn’t know why he did and starts opening up, before they’re interrupted. Later, Adam suggests several reasons why Brian has something against him, assuming he’ll never change. Lilian hints at another reason behind Brian’s volte face, mentioning Ruairi, then covers up, insisting Brian isn’t as callous as he seems.


SAT 15:00 Hardy's Women (m000wjf6)
Jude the Obscure

Episode 1

Sue Bridehead relates the story of Wessex stonemason, Jude Fawley, who aspires to be a scholar at the university of Christminster. But an early romance threatens to blow him off course. Starring Robert Emms, Kirsty Oswald, Elinor Coleman and Julius D'Silva. Dramatised by Graham White.

Directed by Emma Harding

Sue ..... Kirsty Oswald
Young Jude ..... Hector Bateman-Harden
Jude ..... Robert Emms
Drusilla ..... Jane Slavin
Arabella ..... Elinor Coleman
Phillotson ..... Julius D’Silva
Mrs Edlin ..... Jessica Turner
Troutham .....T ony Turner
Taylor/ Shepherd ..... Nicholas Murchie
Michael/ Carter 1/ Hawker ..... David Sturzaker
Anny ..... Megan McInerney
Miss Fontover ..... Marilyn Nnadebe
Carter 2/ Undergraduate .... Joshua Riley
Carter 3/ Undergraduate .... Stewart Campbell

Production co-ordinator: Maggie Olgiati
Sound designer: Caleb Knightley


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m002vwy7)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Maureen Lipman, Women in security, Female birdsong

Dame Maureen Lipman joins Chloe Tilley to talk about Allegra, the joyful new musical play that begins a nationwide tour just two days after her 80th birthday. She tells us about playing a woman who finds happiness in a world that can't quite handle it, and the physical demands of singing and dancing eight times a week.

The use of illegal, unregistered children's homes in England has surged by more than 370% in five years, according to a new report, Hidden Children: An investigation into Unregistered Children’s Homes, published by Commonweal Housing and written by Public First. Nuala is joined by Fraser McLean, Policy and Communications Manager for the charity Commonweal Housing and Rebekah Pierre, Deputy Director of the charity Article 39.

Simone Pennant, the founder and CEO of The TV Collective, has just been presented with the 2026 BAFTA Television Craft Special Award at this year’s ceremony. It was in recognition for her outstanding contribution in championing diversity within the screen industries.

Is it time to retire the term 'bouncer'? We hear from Satia Rai, CEO of the International Professional Security Association, who told the largest gathering of the security profession in Europe this week that we should ditch it in favour of 'guardian' to help women feel safer, and to attract more women into the job. We also get the view of Tee, a female door supervisor at a Birmingham bar.

And as the spring dawn chorus reaches its peak, a new book is challenging long held assumptions about birdsong, and revealing the overlooked role of female birds. Researcher Lucy McRobert, collaborator for the new book, The Sound of Birding: Second Edition, joins Anita to tune our ears to a richer, more complex soundscape.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Kirsty McQuire


SAT 17:00 PM (m002vwy9)
US plans to pull 5,000 troops from Germany

President Trump announces plan to withdraw 15% of American troops from German bases. What will it mean for European security? In the UK, more calls from political leaders to ban some protests. And we discuss the line-up for the new season of The Celebrity Traitors.


SAT 17:30 Sliced Bread (m002vmkp)
Vibration Plates

Can Vibration Plates help with fitness, bone density, and even lymphatic drainage?

They've been around for a while but vibration plates seem to be having another 'moment'. Originally touted as a piece of fitness kit for the gym or home, the latest ads on social media seem to be promoting claims around benefits to bone density and lymphatic drainage.

Listeners Natasha and Steve got in touch wanting to know whether all this could really be true of a single wonder product! To find out, presenter Greg Foot is joined by Dr Claire Minshull, a sports rehabilitation expert, and Professor Neil Mansfield, author of the book 'Human Response to Vibration'.

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

RESEARCHER: PHIL SANSOM
PRODUCERS: SIMON HOBAN AND GREG FOOT


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002vwyc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m002vwyf)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002vwyh)
PM suggests ban on some pro-Palestinian protests

A suggestion from the prime minister that there might be a case for banning some pro-Palestinian marches, because of their impact on the Jewish community, has drawn a mixed response from opposition parties. Also: Two activists on an intercepted aid flotilla bound for Gaza have been taken to Israel for questioning. And the line-up for the second series of The Celebrity Traitors has been revealed.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002vwyk)
Tracy Borman, Phil Wang, Anna Haugh, Pulman and Stilgoe, Finn Forster

Its food, glorious food week on Loose Ends as new Masterchef host - the Irish restaurateur and chef Anna Haugh - joins Clive to talk about her chemistry with co-host Grace Dent, kitchen etiquette and the hierarchy of carbohydrates (spuds on top, of course).

Potatoes just don't cut it for the comedian Phil Wang, who will always be a noodles-man. He's going on tour but has a number of foodie side hustles, including hosting the Great British Menu and judging "the slurpies" his award for best chinese restaurant at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

And the historian Tracy Borman has a new novel all about the Boleyn family, its seems Tudor real lives were strange enough to seem made up and yes, foods like marchpane and manchet feature alongside the odd turkducken roast.

Plus music from singer songwriter Finn Forster (who loves a Middlesborough chicken parmo) and from the golden era of the Hollywood musical from jazz pianist Joe Stilgoe with singer Liza Pulman (popcorn, anyone?).

Presenter: Clive Anderson
Producer: Olive Clancy
Assistant Producer: Sam Nixon
Technical Producers: Gayl Gordon and Giles Aspen


SAT 19:00 Profile (m002vwym)
Emily Thornberry

Dame Emily Thornberry, Labour MP and the influential head of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, is in the hot seat as the committee
continues its ongoing investigation - dubbed ‘Scandelson’ scrutinising - into the circumstances behind Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.

Born in Guildford in 1960 her mother was a teacher and her father an academic who would go on to be a UN Assistant Secretary General. When Emily was seven her father walked out on the family leaving her mother with no income and three children to look after. They were made homeless and moved to a council estate.

After A Levels she studied law and qualified as a barrister in the mid 80s and spent 20 years as a human rights barrister at the chambers of Michael Mansfield KC.

She was first elected as a Labour MP in 2005. She has since been re-elected 5 times and held a number of Shadow Cabinet positions including Defence, Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Attorney General. But when Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister to many people’s surprise there was no ministerial job for Emily.

Now, as chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, she has the power to scrutinise government decisions and appointments; a role that has seen her grilling members of her own party in recent weeks.

Mark Coles looks back on her life.

Contributors:
Michael Mansfield KC
Dawn Butler MP
Sir Jeremey Hunt MP
Lord Christopher Smith
Jim Thornberry

Archive :
Devil Wears Prada 2 trailer - 20th Century Studios / Wendy Finerman Productions / Sunswept Entertainment

Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Tom Gillett and Nathan Gower
Editor: Justine Lang
Sound mix: Neil Churchill
Production co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Rosie Strawbridge


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m002vmkh)
Lubaina Himid

Turner Prize-winning Artist Lubaina Himid talks to John Wilson about her formative influences. She made her name in the mid-1980s as a pioneering member of the British black arts movement, organising exhibitions to champion the work of fellow women artists. Having trained as a theatre designer, her paintings and installation pieces often have a strong narrative aspect, telling stories of race, history and identity. In 2017, at the age of 63, she became the oldest artist to win the Turner Prize, as well as the first black woman to do so. The following year, she was made a CBE for services to art. In 2026, Lubaina Himid will represent Britain at the international arts festival, the Venice Biennale.

Producer: Edwina Pitman


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002vwyp)
Voices of the General Strike

Accompanied by the recorded memories of those who took part, historian David Runciman explores the General Strike of 1926: nine days that shook the nation.

On the 4th of May 1926, millions of workers downed tools and went on strike. They did so in sympathy with coal miners who'd been locked out of work by mine owners demanding longer working days for lower pay. In places, life almost ground to a halt — public transport stopped, docks were blockaded, gas and electricity threatened, food supplies halted, newspapers ceased publication.

For coal miners the strike was an attempt to halt the worsening of their already desperately poor pay and conditions. For the millions of workers who, trusting their union leaders, took the extraordinary step of sacrificing their own pay in support of others, it was a radical hope that collective action might improve a system that seemed weighted against them.

For Labour leader Ramsay Macdonald the strike was a misguided tactic on the road to socialism. For Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin it was a constitutional threat. He said so on the airwaves, in a speech partly rewritten for him by the BBC's General Manager John Reith, who felt that the national schism of the strike threatened the future of the BBC and that a closeness to government was the only way to ensure its survival. With newspapers mostly out of action, the BBC — soon to transform from a private company to a public corporation — gained a new primacy as a source of news.

Meanwhile Winston Churchill commandeered paper supplies to produce a daily propaganda newspaper, called the British Gazette. The TUC countered with their own more modest and often more level-headed publication, the British Worker.

The government instituted emergency measures and across the country volunteers were recruited to break the strike and maintain essential services.

In the background loomed the spectre of the Soviet Union and a fear — grounded in reality or not — of revolution.

Until, on the 12th of May 1926, the TUC called off the strike, having secured no concessions for the miners, who remained locked out of the pits until they agreed to the conditions of the mine owners six months later.

Before, during and after — and almost forgotten amid the drama and febrile politics — is the predicament of the coal miners.

Featuring:
David Hendy, cultural historian, author of The BBC: A People's History 
Neil Kinnock, former leader of the Labour Party who grew up in a mining family with memories of the Strike
Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, historian, co-author of Women and the Miners' Strike 1984-1985
David Torrance, historian, author of The Edge of Revolution: the General Strike that Shook Britain


SAT 21:00 In Time to the Music (m001hp31)
Plaisir d'amour

In Time to the Music is the story of a piece of music, song, an air or melody travelling through time as a folk tune, a theatre melody, a hymn, a composition, a symphony - reinterpreted across years, centuries or millennia through revival, musical revolution, social fashions or archaeological discovery. 

We examine why certain tunes have managed to reach out over time, across genres, class, race and continents, how some are reimagined by oppressors even though they were written by its oppressed, how melodies from earlier periods are borrowed by subsequent composers, and how these illusive musical engravings change genre - from hymn to reggae, from court song to rock and roll - all with the passage of time.

The second episode explores the journey of Plaisir d'amour, starting out as a love song for Marie Antoinette to sing, through various revivals to its reworking as a 1961 hit for Elvis Presley. The programme also examines other music that has travelled through time.

Featuring musicologists Laura Tunbridge, Professor Richard Dumbrill, Julia Doe, jazz pianist and educator Gareth Williams and singer Ian Shaw.

Written and Presented by Andrew McGibbon

Assistant Producer: Saul Sarne

Producer: Nick Romero

A Curtains For Radio production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:30 Planet Bach (m000ytzj)
It seems that every minute of every day, a musician is playing Bach’s music somewhere on our planet. Clemency Burton-Hill charts the playing of Bach across a day and around the globe with stories from musicians who each have a daily ritual of playing some of this music.

Ilay Kenes is an 11-year-old Belgian boy who plays some Bach on his guitar every morning when he gets out of bed. Other musicians around the world who play Bach every morning include Masaaki Suzuki on the harpsichord or organ in Tokyo, Hungarian-born organist Xaver Varnus in his own church in Nova Scotia, pianist Grant McLachlan looking out at Table Mountain from his house in Cape Town and cellist Nicola Yamazaki in Austria.

Some musicians play Bach every day but not at a set time. Iranian-born pianist Ramin Bahrami plays Bach whenever he needs him throughout the day. In one of Kenya’s largest slums, David Joroge shares the cello he plays with other students at the Art of Music Foundation and so he plays Bach Cello Suites every day, at a time when there’s a cello free.

Finally, British viola player, Robin Ireland plays last thing at night before bed in his house in Brittany.

Where did this daily ritual of playing Bach every day begin? Maybe with Beethoven or perhaps Mendelssohn. But it was the Catalan cellist Pablo Casals who wrote, "For the past 80 years I have started each day in the same manner. It is not a mechanical routine but something essential to my daily life. I go to the piano, and I play two preludes and fugues of Bach. I cannot think of doing otherwise. It is a sort of benediction on the house. Each day is something new, fantastic, unbelievable. That is Bach, like nature, a miracle!"

Clemency herself either listened to or played Bach every day for as long as she can remember. But in January 2020 she experienced a brain haemorrhage, and everything changed. After emergency surgery, she was unconscious for 17 days and then slowly emerged. She’s still working her way back to her own daily encounter with Bach’s music.

Producer: Rosie Boulton
A Must Try Softer production for BBV Radio 4

Bach music played:

Violinist Hilary Hahn: Adagio from Sonata No.3 in C major, BWV 1005
Guitarist Ilay Kenes: Prelude in E Major, BWV 1006a
Organist Xaver Varnus: Double Fugue in C minor, BWV 582B
Cellist Pablo Casals: Allemande from 1st Cello Suite in G major, BWV 1007
Pianist Grant McLachlan: Allemande from French Suite in G Major, BWV 816
Pianist Glenn Gould: Sarabande from Partita in C minor, BWV 826
Cellist David Joroge: Minuet from 1st Cello Suite in G major, BWV 1007
Violist Robin Ireland: Fugue from Violin Sonata in G minor (transcribed for viola) BWV 1001
Violinist Hilary Hahn: Adagio from Sonata No.3 in C major, BWV 1005


SAT 22:00 News (m002vwyr)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m002v04z)
Food Stories of Roots and Roads

Dan Saladino reports from Parabere Forum, a gathering of food storytellers, featuring Olia Hercules on the Ukrainian cooks who inspired her, indigenous Australian chef Mindy Woods on saving First Nations' cuisine and Palestinian writer Fidaa Abuhamdiya with a powerful story of olive trees and oil from the West Bank.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.


SAT 23:00 The Many Wrongs of Lord Christian Brighty (m0022kfw)
Series 1

2. The Best Friend I Locked Up

Challenged by Babs to find a single person he’s never wronged, Brighty’s search leads them to Cornwall and to best friend Russ Blackshark. Whilst Brighty and Babs re-run Russ’s stag do, Churlington gets into a spot of bother auditing the family tin mine.

Lord Christian Brighty is the talk of the Regency 'Ton' - a celebrated libertine, a heartthrob and a hero to many. But close-up, he is a spoilt, impetuous, life-ruining bastard… Or at least he was. Because his carefree life of infinite privilege has been upended by an encounter with his new chambermaid - the uneducated but forthright Babigail - who became the first person to tell him the unvarnished truth about his selfish behaviour. Overnight, his lifelong trust that everyone loved him had been replaced with a gnawing fear that Babs was right.

So now, with his narcissism collapsing and a need to prove to Babs he is actually a good person, Lord Brighty is determined to fix all his past wrongs. And by extension all the ills of Regency society. Accompanying him in his quest are Babs (elevated beyond her station to a chambermaid-cum-adviser role), and his butler, Mr Churlington. Although Churley would prefer everything to stay exactly as it used to be (as would all Brighty’s friends, family and the entirety of high society).

Written by Christian Brighty & Amy Greaves

Cast:
Lord Christian Brighty ….. Christian Brighty
Babs ….. Jessica Knappett
Churlington ….. Colin McFarlane
Russ Blackshark ….. David Reed
Reticent Tom ….. Nimisha Odedra
Briny Briony ….. Chiara Goldsmith
Gareth Hornpipe ….. Joz Norris

Script Editor ….. David Reed
Sound & Recording ….. David Thomas
Photographer ….. Will Hearle
Production Assistant ….. Katie Sayer
Producer ….. Ben Walker

A DLT Entertainment Production for BBC Radio 4

Christian Brighty and Amy Greaves are award-winning comedians. Their viral sketches based on Bridgerton, Poldark and Jane Austen have catapulted them to viral stardom, securing Christian’s place as the internet’s answer to Mr Darcy and amassing 150 million views across TikTok and Instagram (@brightybuoy). Amy and Christian both have a deep love of the work Jane Austen, traditional regency romance (not smut), and historical romance set in the regency (smut).


SAT 23:30 Round Britain Quiz (m002vm9j)
4. Scotland vs Wales

Teams from all over the UK will face Kirsty Lang's cryptic questions across the series, with Kirsty offering support and the odd hint where it might be needed.

The fourth match in the series is between Scotland and Wales.

As always, they'll drop points every time they need a clue from the chair to steer them towards the right solution.

You can follow the questions for this episode which will appear below on the day of the match.

Teams:
Scotland - Val McDermid and Alan McCredie
Wales: Cariad Lloyd and Myfanwy Alexander.

Host: Kirsty Lang
Recorded by: Phil Booth
Sound Design: Chris Maclean
Production Coordinator: Caroline Barlow
Producer: Carl Cooper

A BBC Studios Production

Questions set by Lucy Porter, Martin Mor, and by you, the listeners!

Questions in today's edition:

Q1 (From David Piper)
Place these in their correct numerical order - and identify the odd one out:
The title of a 1987 Hollywood comedy starring Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg.
A popular rural TV series whose title was taken from a children's nursery rhyme.
A misnamed novel by a female author published in 1865 set on the Atlantic coast of the USA.
A 1911 book describing a 140-kilometre walking journey across Sussex.
And a series of children's adventure books written in the days before helicopter parents

Q2 (From George Crozier)
Why might an unwon jackpot, a wading bird, the motherly cart-horse from Orwell’s Animal Farm, Mel’s lethal partner and something that’s spread further than intended, help you have a successful date – and what might you wear for the occasion?

Q3 (Phil Ware)
Music: Why are the following on a train, and who is waiting at journey’s end?

Q4 (David Winpenny)
Can you put these five in proper order from highest to lowest?
The Voice of the Dark Side. A purée of mashed potato, egg yolk and butter. Nurse Gladys. Longleat’s fashionable chatelaine, and Tarzan.

Q5 (Christopher Dickins)
How were the birthplace of a prodigy, the origin of Lady’s twin nemeses, the Sooner State! A lofty part of Indonesia, and Captain Smith’s coastline
visited by Lorenz and Jerome’s successors?

Q6 (From Simon and Tom Meara)
Music: Listen to the following pieces of music - can you give them a small, appropriate honorific?

Q7 (From George Crozier)
At 337.5 degrees, why might an individual with a burdensome amount of knowledge, with symptoms of Meniere’s Disease, and a title shared by Brad, Angelina, Donald and Maya, keep you in suspense?

Q8 (From Helena Minton)
Why would someone with diplopia recognise these?
A spa town at the foot of the Black Forest;
A Eurasian bird in the crow family;
A 1977 movie starring Minnelli and De Niro
And a band with three unrelated Taylors.

SUNDAY 03 MAY 2026

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002vwyt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:15 Take Four Books (m002vm9g)
Gwendoline Riley

The award-winning English writer Gwendoline Riley speaks to Take Four Books, about her new novel The Palm House, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its three influences.

The Palm House follows the friendship between Laura Miller and Edmund Putnam, known as ‘Putnam’, who both work in the London media landscape in 2017. Over the course of a long weekend, they meet several times for drinks and crisps, and discuss the state of their lives, and share stories from their past.

Gwendoline Riley won the Betty Trask Award for her debut novel Cold Water in 2002. Subsequent works have seen her win the Somerset Maugham Award and she was recently given the prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize from Yale University in recognition of her life’s work to date.

For her three influences Gwendoline chose: Annie Ernaux's short non-fiction book about her experiences of having an abortion called Happening from the year 2000; Charles Dickens's last completed novel, Our Mutual Friend from 1864; and Penelope Fitzgerald's novel Offshore from 1979, which won the Booker Prize that year.

Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002vwyw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002vwyy)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:30 News Summary (m002vwz0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002vwz2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002vwz4)
St Swithin Clunbury, Shropshire

Bells on Sunday comes from the Parish church of St Swithin Clunbury in Shropshire. Situated on the edge of the Black Mountains the church was originally constructed in the 12th century as a chapel of ease with major additions and alterations in the 14th and 15th centuries. There are six bells, five cast by the John Warner foundry of London in 1887 and a 1620 Tenor bell by William Clibury which weighs ten hundredweight and is tuned to the note of A. We now hear them ringing Cambridge Surprise Minor.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002vmf6)
Barriers at the Ballot

Despite some encouraging developments, many blind and visually impaired people complain that they are still unable to secretly and independently cast their vote at elections. With UK elections fast approaching, this episode examines the current situation. Ian Hamilton reports on an initiative in Scotland, and also joining us are:-

Rachael Andrews, whose action to bring a case to Court resulted in the Judge finding that the existing arrangements were "a parody of the Electoral system".

Duncan Johnson from Pakflatt, a company that makes the McGonagle Reader, a device designed to enable secret and independent voting for blind people, and,

Jackie Killeen, Director of administration and regulation at The Electoral Commission.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Fern Lulham
Production Coordinator: Helen Surtees

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 (m002vy8d)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Beyond Belief (m002vmdr)
War and Peace

Giles Fraser and the panel discuss religious views on military action and how conflict is justified theologically across different faiths and contexts. They reflect on the personal story of Michael Elstub, and his journey from military service to becoming a Quaker and peace campaigner.

Panel:
Mandeep Kaur MBE - Sikh Chaplain to the Armed Forces
Prof David Chandler - Professor of International Relations, Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster
Sheikh Dr Usama Hasan - Imam and counter-extremism practitioner
Major General Timothy Cross CBE - retired British Army officer and military logistics expert and lay minister in the Church of England

Producers: Katharine Longworth and Peter Everett


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002vy8g)
New to Dairy Farming

James Scott wasn't planning to become a farmer, but everything changed during the Covid pandemic. Lockdown bought him home from his university course in Sports Business. He discovered a passion for agriculture whilst filling the days working on his father's beef and sheep farm. James had the realisation that what he really wanted to do was become a dairy farmer. He's now building a herd, and is optimistic about his future. These are difficult times for UK dairy farmers as global oversupply has led to a crash in milk prices. James tells Sarah Swadling that he's hopeful his business model will help him ride the rollercoaster of a volatile market for the years to come.

Presented and produced by Sarah Swadling.


SUN 06:57 Weather (m002vy8j)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002vy8l)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002vy8n)
Sunday special: One year of Pope Leo XIV

A special edition of Sunday marking a year since the election of Pope Leo XIV - 12 months marked by a clash of the titans, the two most powerful Americans on the planet, pope and president, going head to head.

Edward Stourton is joined by a panel of Pope watchers: Professor Anna Rowlands, Austen Ivereigh and Melanie McDonagh, giving live analysis of the highs and lows.

Presenter: Edward Stourton
Producers: Catherine Murray and Katy Booth
Editor: Dan Tierney.


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002vy8q)
RNID

The singer-songwriter and musician KT Tunstall makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of RNID (The Royal National Institute for Deaf People).

The Radio 4 Appeal features a new charity every week.
Each appeal then runs on Radio 4 from Sunday 0755 for 7 days.

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 ‘RNID’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘RNID’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
- Please ensure you are donating to the correct charity by checking the name of the charity on the donate page.

Registered Charity Number: 207720 (SC038926). If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://rnid.org.uk/
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites

Producer: Anna Bailey


SUN 07:57 Weather (m002vy8s)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002vy8v)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002vy8x)
Sing to the Lord a new song

A special service from the iconic BBC Maida Vale studios hosted by Swarzy with UK worship leader Philippa Hanna and Grammy award winning Israel Houghton.
Based on Psalm 96 'Sing to the Lord a new song' the service celebrates contemporary Christian music and the tradition of scripture inspiring new worship music.
The music is a mix of new music from Philippa and Israel, favourite hymns and the classic 'Alpha & Omega'.
The band is 'Psalms x Saints' led by Nathaniel Broome. The producer is Miriam Williamson

Readings: Psalm 96 and Revelation 21: 1-7

Music:
Free Indeed
It is well
Great is thy faithfulness
Alpha & Omega
And Ever Amen
Till the whole world knows


SUN 08:48 Witness History (w3ct8r33)
Straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa

On 15 December 2001, the Leaning Tower of Pisa reopened to the public after an unprecedented 11-year closure.

Famous worldwide for its dramatic lean, the tower also became, during the 1990s, the most closely monitored building on Earth. Engineers and scientists watched anxiously as the tilt worsened year by year, raising the very real possibility that the tower could topple.

The lengthy restoration effort — invisible to tourists but watched closely by experts — was a race against time, during which visitors were barred from climbing the tower for over a decade.

The complex €27 million stabilization project reduced the tower’s tilt by around 17 inches, securing the iconic structure for an estimated 200–300 years.

Nunziante Squeglia, professor of geotechnics at the University of Pisa, tells Colm Flynn about the extraordinary moment the tower reopened.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about 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 how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: The Leaning Tower of Pisa. Credit: Martin Ruegner/via Getty Images)


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m002vy8z)
George McGavin on the Swift

Entomologist George McGavin worked at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History for 25 years, where each year he looked forward to the return of swifts to their nest boxes.

Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002vy91)
Help for airlines in case of fuel shortages

The government will give carriers extra flexibility. We've a briefing and hear from the travel industry. Plus, the glory of the dawn chorus from deep in a wood in Buckinghamshire, and Paddy tours a crumbling parliament. On the papers – comedian Grainne Maguire, Jon Williams from the Rory Peck Trust and Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy.


SUN 10:00 The Reunion (m002vxcv)
Women's Ashes Winners 2005

On a village green near Guildford in Surrey, eleven maids of Bramley played eleven maids of Hambledon. It was the first ever recorded game of cricket involving women – and the year was 1745.

But the history of women’s cricket gives us a familiar tale of failure to thrive at a sport controlled by, played by, and largely watched by men.
There were some trailblazers. Rachael Heyhoe Flint helped organise the first Women’s Cricket World Cup in 1973, and Enid Bakewell scored a century on her England debut in 1968.

But as in men’s cricket, the battles between England and Australia have always been the most intense, and with great tradition. The women’s side play for the ashes of a cremated miniature bat – ceremonially set alight in a wok sometime in the late 1990s.

The 2005 season promised it all and delivered. Not only the greatest-ever Ashes series of the men’s game, but also a triumph for the England Women’s team with a 1-0 victory in their two-match series against Australia.

In a symbolic first, the two teams shared a celebratory open-topped bus tour through central London.

Joining Kirsty Wark are Claire Taylor, the first woman to be named as one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year in 2009; Holly Colvin, who took part in the Ashes in 2005 aged just 15; women’s assistant coach and manager Neil Rider; Rosalie Fairbairn, lower middle order batter; off-break bowler Laura Kelly MacLeod; and BBC Sport reporter and commentator Alison Mitchell.

Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Howard Shannon
Editor: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002vy93)
26th April – 1st May 2026
Writer: Tim Stimpson
Director: Mel Ward
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge … Charles Collingwood
Ben Archer … Ben Norris
David Archer …Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer … Felicity Finch
Helen Archer … Louiza Patikas 
Natasha Archer … Mali Harries 
Tom Archer … William Troughton 
Lilian Bellamy … Sunny Ormonde
Alice Carter … Hollie Chapman 
Chris Carter … Wilf Scolding
Susan Carter … Charlotte Martin
Ian Craig …  Stephen Kennedy 
Amber Gordon … Olivia Bernstone
George Grundy … Angus Stobie
Bert Horrobin…  David Sterne
Tracy Horrobin … Susie Riddell 
Adam Macy … Andrew Wincott  
Kirsty Miller …. Annabelle Dowler 
Lottie Summers ... Bonnie Baddoo
Erik Hakansson … Steven Hartley
Debbie Aldridge ... Tamsin Greig


SUN 12:15 Profile (m002vwym)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m002vm5n)
Series 33

1. Hats, Drugs, Germany and the BBC

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they’re able to smuggle past their opponents.

Henning Wehn, Holly Walsh, Miles Jupp and Lucy Porter are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as hats, drugs, Germany and the BBC.

The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith

Producer: Jon Naismith

A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:57 Weather (m002vy95)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002vy97)
Strait talk from Keir Starmer

The Prime Minister calls the economic fallout from the Iran war a generation-defining moment for the UK. We'll ask how prepared the country is for prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, hearing from people who have prepared and will prepare the nation for shortage and price hikes.


SUN 13:30 The Documentary (p0n6g2qv)
How to Spend Billions – Fast: Carney’s Defence Deadline

The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has given his generals and admirals an unusual command: spend money. Lots of it. Quickly. For years, it was the other way around. Canada wore the uniform of a serious NATO ally – while undershooting the alliance’s 2% of GDP defence spending target. Now, spurred by what Carney has called a “rupture” in geopolitics, Ottawa is adding billions to hit NATO’s target by 31 March 2026 – the end of the fiscal year.

Military leaders are scrambling to reverse a culture of frugality and long planning cycles. Parliament’s budget watchdog has said the Department of National Defence sometimes struggles to spend the funds it already has. The Conservative defence critic has said the new billions are money “the department won’t be able to shovel out the door.”

Neal Razzell follows the money to see what changes — and what doesn’t — when a military tries to expand at speed. In Quebec, at Canada’s main basic training base, he watches the rebuild begin — as recruits and instructors grapple with the limits of time, staff and space. In British Columbia, at the Navy’s Pacific headquarters, he asks the commander of Maritime Forces Pacific what “spend fast” can actually fix in a fleet Carney says is less than half operational.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002vng7)
From The Archives: Summer Colour

Kathy Clugston guides us through the GQT archives to hear how our panellists and experts, old and new, advise on delivering dazzling displays of summer colour.

Along the way, the gardeners explore how thoughtful structural planting underpins great colour all season long, explain why deadheading matters, and reveal the origins of the Chelsea chop.

They also advise on watering in hot weather, compost mixes for long-lasting displays, and the surprising relationships between insects and plants. So if you're anti-Ant, hear how Dr Chris Thorogood gives some positive PR to these charming creatures often mislabelled as 'pests'.

Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Assistant Producer: William Norton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m002vx3w)
Don Quixote - Episode One

John Yorke explores why Don Quixote has had such a profound influence on storytelling in the four hundred years since it was published. The first European novel, it’s an epic work of comic - and tragic - genius. Quixote embodies an ideal of heroic resilience in the face of a broken reality. And it’s a novel that’s in our bones: familiar even if we haven’t read any of its nearly a thousand pages.

The programme includes an interview with film director, cartoonist and Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, who spent nearly thirty years attempting to make a film about Don Quixote. He says:

“What I love about Cervantes - he's been through it all. This is the guy who's really had rough and tumble life. And he's learned to laugh at it: because he'd been through so much. And he survived with a sense of humour and a brilliant pen. [Quixote] wouldn’t have been like that if Cervantes hadn't experienced this. It's about the falling, and the dignity with which he manages to pull himself up from the mess that he finds himself in. It's just wonderful.”

Also including contributions from Isabel Torres, Professor of Spanish Golden Age Literature at Queen’s University, Belfast.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain; from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters, now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for Radio 4.

Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery
Reader: Ewan Bailey
Executive Producer: Sara Davies and Caroline Raphael
Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams and Nina Semple
Researcher: Henry Tydeman
Sound: Iain Hunter

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m002vy99)
Don Quixote

Episode 1

“Somewhere in La Mancha, in a place whose name is best forgotten...”

So begins the odyssey of the knight-errant, Don Quixote de la Mancha, resolved to restore honour and chivalry to a world that has lost its values. He recruits to his cause a loyal squire, Sancho Panza, and saddles up his mighty steed, Rocinante – all in the name of the fair maiden Dulcinea, the object of his courtly love.

Except that Sancho is a gluttonous farm labourer, Rocinante a bony old nag and Dulcinea a local peasant woman. But this is of little concern to this Knight of the Sad Countenance, who sees the world as he wishes to see it, in a quest that has him take on brigands, muleteers, rival knights, and famously, windmills.

An epic tale set in the wide, open plains and the mountains of Spain. With original music recorded in Castile on medieval and 16th century instruments.

By Miguel de Cervantes
Adapted by Ernesto Caballero
Translated by David Johnston and Nicolas Jackson

Don Quixote de la Mancha ..... Jason Watkins
Sancho Panza ….. Mackenzie Crook
Cide Hamete Benengeli ..... Khalid Laith
Niece ….. Sofia Oxenham
Priest ….. John Sackville
Barber ….. Will Howard
Maritornes ….. Lucy Speed
Muleteer ….. Jason Forbes
Galleyslave ….. Tyler Pringle
Housekeeper….. Liis Mikk

Other voices performed by the cast

Music performed by Paco Díez and recorded at the Aula-Museo Paco Díez, Mucientes, Spain

Armour foley by Emma Pearn
Jousting by The Knights of Middle England

Script supervisor ..... Liis Mikk
Executive producer ..... Sara Davies
Production manager ..... Eleanor Mein

Track laying ...... Andreina Gómez Casanova
Sound design, music production and mix ..... Jon Nicholls

Directed and produced by Nicolas Jackson

An Afonica production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 16:00 Bookclub (m002vy9d)
Nicola Barker

Described as a book of startling originality, the writer Nicola Barker speaks to Bookclub, presented by James Naughtie, about her 838-page epic novel, Darkmans, which was published in 2007 and shortlisted for the Booker Prize that same year. Set in the town of Ashford, Kent, the novel centres around a father and son relationship - Daniel and Kane Beede - and a jester from the court of Edward IV makes his presence known in mysterious ways.

Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
Author image credit: Colin Alderman


SUN 16:30 Round Britain Quiz (m002vy9g)
5. England v Wales

Teams from all over the UK will face Kirsty Lang's cryptic questions across the series, with Kirsty offering support and the odd hint where it might be needed.

The fifth match in the series is between England and Wales.

As always, they'll drop points every time they need a clue from the chair to steer them towards the right solution.

You can follow the questions for this episode which will appear below on the day of the match.

Teams:
England - Jenny Ryan and Stuart Maconie
Wales - Myfanwy Alexander and Cariad Lloyd

Host: Kirsty Lang
Recorded by: Phil Booth
Sound Design: Chris Maclean
Production Coordinator: Caroline Barlow
Producer: Carl Cooper

A BBC Studios Production

Questions set by Lucy Porter, Martin Mor and by you, the listeners!

Questions in today's edition:

Q1 (From Laurence Phillips)
Why would Lord Charles' gentleman companion,
Marion's Western incarnation,
Kramer's adversarial Dancing Queen,
a colourful corvid and
a presidential duck
have caused teenage hysteria half a century ago?

Q2 Observe the guest list for this rather eclectic dinner party and tell me:
Which meal would these guests earn, and why does the final member of the group find themselves going hungry?
Philip E. Marlow
Jeanne Paule Marie Deckers
Big Mouth Billy Bass
An East German kids film that inspired a wind powered sculpture overlooking Burnley
...and someone of interest to Dr. Sam Ryan.

Q3 I want you tell me why these 4 tunes all provide a pick-me-up? (4 clips)

Q4 (from James Douglas)
Why could you sum up the following as causing Brad Pitt to feel sinful:
Start by dividing Murphy’s Hours by Marshall’s Miles before dividing Lumet’s disagreeing dozen, by McDormand’s Midwest Manifestos, and finish by subtracting Kieślowski’s colours.

Q5 (from Phil Ware)
What would cause Modern English to melt,
Simon and friends to lament,
Kate to respire,
a pink binary sunset and
a famous former royal to party?

Q6 (from Simon Meara) Music: Which Mariah Carey song might they remind you of?

Q7 If you started at Hayle Estuary in Cornwall
Then travelled up the River Avon
And ended your journey at Uig Bay on the Isle of Lewis
Why might dolphins, whales and bats be able to find you?

Q8 (from Tim Riley)
What drab colour covers:
A whale’s unlikely gift to perfumers;
A pale Alsatian pressed from a ghostly grape;
A river with a feline hiss through ancient lands;
And the green gown worn by a goddess of freedom?


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct74p3)
Elvis visits Scotland

In 1960, as he headed home from military service, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll made an unexpected stop at Prestwick Airport.

It's believed to be the only time Elvis Presley is known to have set foot on British soil.

It was only a brief visit, but for 16-year-old Anne Murphy, watching him walk down the airplane steps is a memory that has never faded.

More than six decades later, she tells Megan Jones what it was like to see Elvis up close.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about 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 how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Elvis at Prestwick Airport, with Anne Murphy looking up at him. Credit: The Hollywood Archive/Alamy)


SUN 17:10 Understand (m002sdyn)
How Reading Made Us

1. How Reading Made Our Brains

Reading seems an unremarkable skill. After all, everyone can read. Even small children. When we say something is as “easy as ABC”, we mean it is very easy indeed. In fact, learning to read has dramatic and irreversible consequences for people and for societies. Learning to read permanently alters your brain. It changes the emotions you experience and the way you relate to others. When a society learns to read the consequences are dramatic: wars break out, revolutions erupt and new political systems spring into being. Reading made us who we are.

For centuries people have been reading more and more. Recently the trend has gone into reverse. The number of people who pick up a book has been falling steadily for twenty years. Now half of adults no longer read regularly.

How will this change us?

Over three episodes, Times writer James Marriott explores how reading made us, and what might happen if we stop.

In this first programme, James finds out how unnatural the process of reading is, and the complex alchemy our brains create to make words on the page make sense to us, and asks what we gain - and lose - when we learn to read.

Guests include:

- Professor Maryanne Wolf, Director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at UCLA
- John Burn-Murdoch, chief data reporter for the Financial Times
- Naomi Alderman, writer and presenter
- Dr Joseph Henrich, Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University

Producer - Beth Sagar-Fenton
Editor - Chris Ledgard


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002vy9k)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m002vy9m)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002vy9p)
Green Party leader says policing language won't protect Jewish people in the UK

The leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, Zack Polanski, has said he's not interested in policing the language of protests, after the Prime Minister called for prosecutions for some antisemitic chants during pro-Palestinian marches. The row about whether to ban the demonstrations has grown since two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green in north London on Wednesday. Mr Polanski apologised for sharing a critical social media post about the conduct of the officers who tackled the suspect.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002vy9r)
Jon Harvey

This week, Jon hears about why the power of urine has been celebrated for thousands of years, plus a supposedly autonomous AI chatbot that claimed to have the cure for cancer. We turn the clock back to mark 40 years after Chernobyl with a wedding day during the world’s worst nuclear disaster, and reflect on a bit of cinematic gold with the moment Michael Caine played football with Pele against the Nazis.

Presenter: Jon Harvey
Producer: Caitlin Sneddon
Editor: Steven Hobson
Production Coordinator: Caoilfhinn McFadden

A BBC Audio Scotland and Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.

Programmes featured in this episode include:

The Unbelievable Truth: Hats, Drugs, Germany and the BBC
The Documentary: Under the Influence of AI
Writing the Atom: The Atomic Age
Archive on 4: The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl
Start The Week, 27/04: Chemical Reactions
Uncanny: Case 4: The Cock Lane Poltergeist
Open Country: Roadside Verge
Cafe Hope: Rhymes for Resilience
Key Changes: 1492 The Fall of Granada
Long Player with Steven Rainey: Prince - Sign o' the Times
Drama on 4: The Madness of George III
Front Row, 27/04: Stage kissing
Screenshot: Nudity
Sporting Witness: Making Escape to Victory


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002vx3q)
When George asks Brian to give him the money for a new drone, Brian tells him he’ll be in touch. George then bumps into Brad and they talk about Bert’s new fitness regime, plus getting ready for the new baby. Later, Brian confides in Lilian about George’s request, worried it might be the start of a blackmail campaign. Lilian thinks Brian needs to make it clear this is a one-off payment. She’ll be there as a witness, also offering to lift the bar on George at The Bull, so she can keep an eye on him. When George calls round at Blossom Hill later, he’s amazed by Lilian’s offer and very grateful for the money, agreeing this will be the end of the matter. Brian really hopes so.

Anna calls Ruth, asking if someone can help set up the pendant alarm she’s ordered for Carol. She’s worried about tomorrow morning, when the Occupational Therapist is due to visit Glebe Cottage. Anna’s busy in court, so can’t be there herself. Ruth can’t help, but then Leonard offers his services, after Ruth tells him about Anna’s predicament. When Ruth calls to let Anna know she’s grateful, but has to rush off. Leonard then tells Ruth he’ll take a sweetener along to Carol’s tomorrow, in case he ends up staying all day.

Brad tells Tracy that Den keeps messaging him. Tracy thinks Den wants to make up for lost time, but Brad’s torturing himself about whether he wants Den back in his life. Tracy suggests he take his time to make a decision.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002vx40)
Strong Women

World champion Strongwomen Lucy Underdown, Rebecca Roberts and Donna Moore redefine what it means to be strong. They reveal what we can all learn from these record-breaking athletes, while also challenging what it really means to be powerful woman.

Contributors: Rebecca Roberts, Lucy Underdown and Donna Moore

Produced by Justine Potter

Executive Producer: Geoff Bird

A Savvy production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m001z6tx)
Deep Calm - with Michael Mosley

Deep Calm - Episode 5: Using Music

Sit back, leave behind the cares of the day and take a sonic journey with Dr Michael Mosley. In this new podcast series, designed to help you let go and unwind, each episode focuses on a scientifically-proven technique for activating the body’s built-in relaxation response, and takes a deep dive to explore what’s happening inside as we find stillness and calm.

Most of us instinctively know that music can have a huge impact on our mood. But it can also be an effective tool to tap into your body’s relaxation response. Plus thought loops, soundwaves and an encounter with the Organ of Corti.

Guest: Stefan Koelsch, professor at the University of Bergen in Norway.

Series Producer, sound design and mix engineer: Richard Ward
Researcher: William Hornbrook
Production Manager: Maria Simons
Editor: Zoë Heron
Specially composed music by Richard Atkinson (Mcasso)
A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m002vml4)
Fergal Keane, Doing Death Differently, and Visualisation

It's the end of this series of Feedback, and Andrea Catherwood is talking to someone who has just brought his own long run at the BBC to a definitive close. Fergal Keane has covered conflicts and events all over the world as a BBC News correspondent, and now he's stepping away. Andrea asks him for his reflections on bearing witness to many world conflicts for 37 years at the Corporation.

And last week we spoke to Jonathan Kanagasooriam, the person in charge of strategy for a new raft of video podcasts from BBC Sounds. You've been in touch with your thoughts about the discussion.

Finally, the team behind obituary programme Last Word have recently produced a series about approaching a big fear in a new way. In Doing Death Differently, presenter Matthew Bannister looks at our changing attitudes and approaches to death. Andrea sits down with Matthew to share your views on the series and discuss the different ways we memorialise the departed.

Presenter: Andrea Catherwood
Producer: Pauline Moore
Assistant Producer: Rebecca Guthrie
Executive Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002vngc)
Xia De-hong, Lord Hunt of Chesterton, Joan Burstein, Bill Leader

Xia De-hong, inspired her daughter Jung Chang to write the best selling book Wild Swans about her trials and tribulations at the hands of the Chinese government.

Lord Hunt, the meteorologist and former Director General and Chief Executive of the Met Office, who was an expert in turbulence.

Joan Burstein, ran the influential Browns boutique in London’s South Molton Street, backing the careers of many leading designers.

Bill Leader, the recording engineer who captured all the leading performers of the folk revival of the 1960s and 70s.

Presenter: Matthew Bannister
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Andrea Kennedy

Archive:
Tomorrow's World, BBC One,18/11/1965; You and Yours, BBC Radio 4, 27/06/2005; My Life in Seven Charms, with Annoushka Ducas MBE, 27/05/2021; Joan Burstein Browns 50 Testimonial, Browns Fashion (Uploaded to Youtube - 22 Oct 2020); Best of Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, BBC Two, Uploaded to Youtube


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m002vwxz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002vy8q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002vwxv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m002vy9t)
Taking stock of Starmer's premiership and the local elections in London

Ben Wright's guests are the Labour backbencher Tom Hayes; shadow business minister, Gareth Davies; and the Green Party MP Sian Berry. They discuss the costs to the UK of the conflict in the Middle East and look ahead to the local elections in London. Ben reports from the borough of Bromley, where Reform UK are hopeful of making gains. Rowena Mason - Whitehall editor of The Guardian - brings additional expert insight and analysis. And Jennifer McKiernan hears reflections on the departure of the remaining hereditary peers from the House of Lords, marking a moment of parliamentary history.


SUN 23:00 In Our Time (m002vmk4)
Cybernetics

Misha Glenny and guests discuss cybernetics – the field of study which gave us the prefix ‘cyber’ and helped lay the foundations for the information age. After the Second World War, cybernetics emerged as the study of communication, feedback, and control in both animals and machines. Cybernetics was first defined in 1948 by the American mathematician Norbert Wiener (1894-1964) and aimed to find a shared universal language which could be used across disciplines. The name drew on an Ancient Greek word for steersman, the person who stands at the helm of a ship to steer or govern its course. Cybernetics saw the world as systems which used loops of information and feedback to adjust their own course of action. Those ideas could be applied to anything from thermostats to the human brain, and arguably laid foundations for the information age.

With

Jacob Ward
Historian of science and technology at Maastricht University

Jon Agar
Professor of Science and Technology Studies at University College London

And

Orit Halpern
Lighthouse Professor and Chair of Digital Cultures at Technische Universität Dresden

Producer: Martha Owen

Reading list:

Peter Galison, 'The ontology of the enemy: Norbert Wiener and the cybernetic vision' (Critical Inquiry 21, 1994)

Slava Gerovitch, From Newspeak to Cyberspeak: A History of Soviet Cybernetics (MIT Press, 2004)

Orit Halpern, Beautiful Data: A History of Vision and Reason (Duke University Press, 2015)

Orit Halpern, Robert Mitchell and Bernard Dionysius Geoghegan, The Smartness Mandate: Notes toward a Critique (Grey Room 68, 2017)

Orit Halpern, Financializing Intelligence: On the Integration of Machines and Markets (e-flux, March 2023)

N. Katherine Hayles, How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics (University of Chicago Press, 1999)

Steve J. Heims, John Von Neumann and Norbert Wiener, From Mathematics to the Technologies of Life and Death (MIT Press, 1980)

Ronald R. Kline, The Cybernetics Moment: Or Why We Call Our Age The Information Age (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015)

Eden Medina, Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende’s Chile (MIT Press, 2011)

David A. Mindell, Between Human and Machine: Feedback, Control, and Computing before Cybernetics (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004)

Andrew Pickering, The Cybernetic Brain: Sketches of Another Future (University of Chicago Press, 2010)

Norbert Wiener, The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society (first published 1950; Da Capo Press, 1988)

In Our Time is a BBC Studios production

Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.


SUN 23:45 Short Works (m002vng9)
Now That Summer's Coming by Deirdre Anna Rose Kelly

An original short story specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to mark Bealtaine, the Gaelic festival heralding the beginning of summer traditionally held on the first day of May. Written and read by Deirdre Anna Rose Kelly.

The Author.
Deirdre Anna Rose Kelly is a writer from Donegal, who lives in Belfast. She is a member of the Duncairn Arts Centre's Creative Collective. She has read her work on stage and on BBC Radio Ulster.

Writer: Deirdre Anna Rose Kelly
Reader: Deirdre Anna Rose Kelly
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.

MONDAY 04 MAY 2026

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002vy9w)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 00:15 Crossing Continents (m002vmf8)
Driving Against Net Zero

Is defence of the petrol car and liberated motoring becoming the new battleground for Europe’s populist parties? Chris Bowlby visits one of the homes of German car culture and a populist stronghold, Zwickau, to see how motoring is rising up the German agenda. Is Zwickau a foretaste of something affecting all of Germany – a car-loving, car-manufacturing powerhouse in the past, now wondering anxiously what the future holds against the emergence of Chinese electric cars. And less than a hundred miles from Zwickau, just across the border in the Czech Republic, a new coalition government has recently taken power, including ministers from a populist party called Motorists for Themselves – muscular defenders of the old petrol car.

Producer: Jim Frank
Studio engineer: Neil Churchill
Production coordinator: Katie Morrison
Editor: Penny Murphy


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002vwz4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002vy9y)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002vyb0)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:00 News Summary (m002vyb2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:04 Last Word (m002vngc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Sunday]


MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002vyb4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002vyb6)
All ye that are heavy-laden

Spiritual reflection to start the day with Fr Philip Blackledge of Holy Trinity Scottish Episcopal Church, Melrose.
Script:
Good morning. I hope you’re having a good bank holiday weekend.

When I was growing up there was something kind of magical about a bank holiday. I remember thinking how important banks must be, that everyone else stopped working when they stopped. And in those days they did - banks and shops and almost everything was shut. Because of that, activities were simpler; going out on bikes with friends, or a family trip in the car to see a local ruined monastery or place where you could sit and have a picnic.

Long into the past, Holidays or Holy days were times of celebration and rest. A time for communal eating, singing together and worshipping God, much of which we still do in a more ritual form in church, and in a more relaxed way at home. And even now in a world where everyone seems to need more and more stimulation and interest, that word, embedded in our language, holiday - holy day, is a reminder of the God who says “come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”.

We often have burdens to bear, real and difficult troubles. But that makes it all the more essential that those of us who are fortunate enough, should savour those Holy Days, when we may be at rest from the world, and where we have space to quiet our minds.

Almighty God, your son called us to come to him, that our yoke may be easy and our burden light.
Give us the wisdom to remove from our shoulders the weight of anxiety and worry, the fear of the future and the regrets of the past. Take from us the heaviness of this world, and put upon us the lightness of your love. This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, whose burden was borne for all of us. Amen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002vyb8)
04/05/26 Neolithic Farming and Feasting

Neolithic peoples made the transition from being nomadic hunter-gatherers to crop-growing farmers, and their diets are the subject of numerous studies.

Archaeological evidence informs us about the farming and foraging activities of these ancient peoples, but it's unusual to get a first hand taste of how it might have been to forage on the shore and land!

On the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, the arts organisation, Haar, facilitated an opportunity to sit down to an interpretation of a Stone Age feast - albeit with considerable artistic and culinary licence! The event was centered around the 5000-year-old Calanais standing stone circle. Nancy Nicolson joined the foragers to find out about the farming and feasting habits of our ancestors, and met one of the crofters whose sheep today graze the machair, the strip of flower and herb-rich land that borders the sea and which it is believed contributed to the flavours and nutrition of the food Neolithic people ate.

Produced and presented by Nancy Nicolson.


MON 05:57 Weather (m002vybb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m002vx2z)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m002vx31)
Laurie Anderson: Strange and Disorientating Landscapes

What happens when art, fiction and biography take us to places that unsettle, reorient and transform our sense of the world? On Radio 4’s weekly discussion programme, Naomi Alderman moves from science fiction and land art to the landscape of the mind.

Pioneering multimedia artist and musician Laurie Anderson discusses The Republic of Love, which she is performing at the Brighton Festival on 6th May. It’s an immersive multi-sensory experience, in which she reinterprets past pieces, including her 80s hit Big Science, to illuminate the political and emotional strangeness of the present moment. (Her new album, Let X=X is released on May 8, 2026)

Writer Nina Allan reflects on co-authoring The Illuminated Man, the biography her late husband, the novelist Christopher Priest, had started about J. G. Ballard. She explores Ballard’s singular imagination, shaped by wartime internment in Shanghai, and his repeated motifs of flooded cities, drained swimming pools, and the violence seeping through gated communities seen in books including Empire of the Sun, Crash and The Drowned World.

Art historian Joy Sleeman introduces the first major UK exhibition devoted to the American artist Nancy Holt, MoonSunStarEarthSkyWater, at the Goodwood Art Foundation (until November 2026). She reveals how Holt’s land art, from her 18 feet long concrete Sun Tunnels to a posthumous installation Hydra’s Head, invites viewers into cosmic and elemental landscapes where art and the environment meet.

Producer: Katy Hickman
Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez


MON 09:45 Café Hope (m002vx33)
Cleaning with compassion

Jo Revett, from the charity Dora Brown, tells Rachel Burden how volunteers transform homes for free for families living in crisis. They may need help because of domestic neglect or hygiene poverty. The team go in and do a deep clean, clearing out the home, as well as showing the family how to maintain their homes themselves.

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

Presenter: Rachel Burden
Series Producer: Uma Doraiswamy
Sound Design: Nicky Edwards
Editor: Tom Bigwood


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002vx35)
How to have difficult conversations

We all have to have difficult conversations at some point in our lives. We have them at work, at home, and with friends and family. So why do we often feel ill-equipped to initiate that challenging chat? And why are we not more optimistic that airing our issues will lead to a more positive outcome for all involved? In this special edition of Woman's Hour, Nuala McGovern explores how we can have better difficult conversations.

She is joined by psychotherapist, international conflict mediator and author of How to Agree to Disagree: Turning Conflict into Connection, Gabrielle Rifkind. She reflects on what makes a conversation difficult and the skills we require to tackle them.

In our personal lives, difficult conversations can feel especially daunting, because they’re usually with the people we care about most. TV and podcast host Vicky Pattison and comedian and author Helen Thorn reveal how they approach discussing sensitive topics with their loved ones.

And difficult conversations at work can make even the most confident among us feel strangely tongue‑tied: asking for a pay rise, giving feedback or managing conflict. Entrepreneur Izzy Obeng MBE and former social worker Sophie Baker explain how to have the hardest conversations at work.

And romance author, Talia Hibbert, explains how she scripts difficult conversations and explores how they work as plot devices in novels and on screen.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Sophie Powling


MON 11:00 Writing the Atom (m002vx37)
The mystery of quantum mechanics

Jim Al-Khalili is a quantum physicist and as a science communicator he knows the value of metaphors and imagery to bring theories and equations to life. Translating them into stories that capture the imagination, turning the inconceivable and the obscure into the familiar. However, in this third and final chapter of "Writing the Atom" on quantum mechanics this ambition becomes more difficult to achieve. The often quoted physicist Richard Feynman said, "if you think you understand quantum physics you don't understand quantum physics." Perhaps paradoxically, the one thing the physicists do agree on is that quantum mechanics is the most successful theory in all of science.

Quantum mechanics has given us modern electronics, from computers to mobile phones, as well as the laser, GPS, medical imaging devices, and the internet. And it has changed our perceptions of reality. One hundred years after the birth of quantum mechanics, a survey in the journal Nature found physicists still disagreeing ferociously about how to interpret the theory that so enraged Einstein. So how does one communicate this strange and counter intuitive science in a way that is not confusing when the scientists themselves can’t find a consensus.
Jim looks at how comedy, with characters like the ill-informed Philomena Cunk can inadvertently cut to the heart of sub atomic particles, or how Michael Frayn's play Copenhagen gives us a multilayered understanding of Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Geraldine Fitzgerald
Executive Producer Sasha Feachem
A BBC Studios Production


MON 11:45 The Dark Frontier by Jeffrey Marlow (m002vx39)
Episode 1: A Portal to Another Realm

The deep sea is one of our last frontiers. For most of human history, it was a vast, dark, and unknown realm that invoked awe and terror. Now, one thing we do know is that it is critically important and central to the future of life on this planet.

In The Dark Frontier, marine microbiologist and deep-sea explorer Jeffrey Marlow reveals how life can thrive in even the most remote, unforgiving landscapes. Professor Marlow takes us on a series of deep-sea dives in the world’s most scientifically-advanced submersible:
“Gelatinous creatures whir by the window. We overtake a sinking gob of seaweed, a micro-universe unto itself. By a depth of two hundred metres beneath the waves, virtually no light remains. Beneath this boundary lies the deep sea – more than 95% of the earth’s habitable volume. I am struck by the realisation that the ocean we’ve been looking at all these years from shores and ships is in fact a portal to another realm – one that may well be the largest, most diverse, most consequential habitat on earth.”

Jeffrey Marlow’s research focuses on understanding the microbes that inhabit the rocks and sediments of the seafloor. In his lab in Boston, he works with a team of scientists to discover how these communities of microbes perform feats of metabolic ingenuity that shape the global carbon cycle and push the boundaries of life’s limits in extreme environments.

In this first episode, he takes us on a deep dive into the Caribbean Sea and sees the ocean’s “biological pump” in action – a process that removes carbon from the air and the surface ocean and stores it in the deep sea, far from the atmosphere, where it could contribute to global warming.

Reader: Adam Sims
Abridged and produced by Elizabeth Burke
Executive producer: Sara Davies
Sound design: Jon Calver
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


MON 12:00 News Summary (m002vx3d)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002vx3g)
Rising Care Costs, World Cup Hospitality, Egg Demand

The average cost for a place in a care home for a frail older person is rising rapidly and now sits at around £1,465 a week, according to healthcare data provider LangBuisson. Fees have risen sharply because of increased labour costs and the rise in employers' National Insurance contributions, but it is causing concerns over affordability.

GivEnergy provides battery systems for solar panels and electric vehicles. It had been in business for solar panels since 2018 before going into administration a few weeks ago. It had tens of thousands of customers – and once held about a third of the UK market - but its collapse has caused concern over future support and maintenance for its products.

Is value now more important than cost when it comes to your food shop? According to new findings from Lumina Intelligence, consumers are re-defining what value means. The report finds that price is still important but is no longer the main driver in our shopping choices, with consumers now focusing more on quality and freshness in their products.

The UK's appetite for eggs is at a 22 year high, according to new data from the British Egg Industry Council. It found that the average person in the UK eats just over 200 eggs a year, which is 45 more than we did in 2004. So, what’s behind our growing love for eggs?

Note: During this item it was mentioned that the NHS advice is that babies can eat well cooked eggs from 6 months or older.
Further advice from the NHS is that hen eggs stamped with the British Lion mark are fine for most babies and children to have raw or lightly cooked and provide the highest standards of safety. More advice can be found on the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/baby/weaning-and-feeding/childrens-food-safety-and-hygiene

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON

PRODUCERS: CATHERINE EARLAM AND CHARLIE FILMER-COURT


MON 12:57 Weather (m002vx3j)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m002vx3l)
Confusion in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran threatens to attack US forces after President Trump said they will help to "guide" stranded ships. We'll hear from a tanker captain and have the latest from the waterway.

The prime minister has stressed the need for greater cooperation at a European summit today. We'll ask what Britain will need to put in to get more out of closer ties with the EU.

We'll have a report from Coventry as the city celebrates its team's return to the Premier League and hear a response from holiday-makers to the RSPCA's call to stop crabbing.


MON 13:45 Naturebang (m002vx3n)
Giant Anteaters and Power Posing

Becky Ripley and Emily Knight look to the animal world to question why we "power pose". Anteaters are masters of it. When feeling threatened, they rear up on their hind legs and extend their arms out wide to show off their huge claws. It is a posture that is designed to make them look more intimidating to predators or competing rivals. Does it work like this for us? If we take up more space in a power pose, are we perceived to be more powerful in the eyes of others?

Featuring Arnaud Desbiez, president and founder of ICAS (The Wild Animal Conservation Institute), and Dr Daniel Gurney, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. Produced and presented by Emily Knight and Becky Ripley.


MON 14:00 The Archers (m002vx3q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Conversations from a Long Marriage (m002vx3s)
Series 7

1. Changing Places

Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam return as the loving, long-married couple, in the 7th series of Jan Etherington’s award-winning comedy.

This week, we join them as they wake up in their new house. Joanna is keen to meet the neighbours but finds them unwelcoming. And how will she react when Roger discovers that an old flame lives in the same village?

Written by Jan Etherington
Producer: Claire Jones
Production coordinator: Giulia Lopes Mazzu
Studio Engineer: Wilfredo Acosta
Sound Designer: Jon Calver

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4


MON 14:45 Opening Lines (m002vx3w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Sunday]


MON 15:00 Great Lives (m002vx3y)
Peter Cook picked by Jon Harvey aka Count Binface

Peter Cook was at the centre of the satire boom of the early sixties, both on stage with Beyond the Fringe and with his Soho club, The Establishment. Later he became a famous double act with Dudley Moore, and was also less well known as Lord Gnome, the proprietor of Private Eye.

"I can't believe that after 600 episodes of Great Lives, no one has ever nominated him before."

A funny half hour on the life of Peter Cook, featuring archive of him both young and old. Jon Harvey makes the case for this comedy great along with the voices of biographer Harry Thompson, Jonathan Miller, Ian Hislop, Richard Ingrams, and - in an interview from 1993 - Chris Morris. Also includes an extract of The Strange Death of the Establishment from Radio 4 in 2004

The producer for BBC Studios is Miles Warde


MON 15:30 Illuminated (m002vx40)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 The Documentary (p0n6g2qv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002vwxq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m002vx42)
Can the US escort ships safely through the Strait of Hormuz?

Following President Trump’s announcement of Project Freedom, promising safe passage for stranded vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, we dig into the competing claims over whether any ships have actually made it through and get insight on the US plans from retired four star General Jack Keane. Also on the programme, we hear from a Ukrainian MP as a European summit considers a £78bn loan package for the country’s war effort, and we hear from the town with the worst phone signal in the country.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002vx44)
The US says military and cargo ships have gone through the Strait of Hormuz

The US military says some of its navy destroyers have passed through the Strait of Hormuz, and are now operating in the Gulf, as part of President Trump's operation to break Iran's blockade. Also: Two people have been killed in Leipzig, as a car drives into a crowd in the centre of the German city. And scientists say deep-sea mining in parts of the world’s oceans would likely breach global commitments to protect nature.


MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m002vx46)
Series 33

2. Pets, The Brain, Breakfast and Shopping

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they’re able to smuggle past their opponents.

Alan Davies, Celya AB, Ian Smith and Angela Barnes are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as pets, the brain, breakfast and shopping.

The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith

Producer: Jon Naismith

A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m002vx48)
Leonard arrives at Glebe Cottage with the pendant alarm for Carol, who tells him she doesn’t want it. She suspects Leonard’s there to keep an eye on her with the Occupational Therapist. Leonard explains it’ll just be an assessment, but it’s the tin of flapjacks he’s brought which swings the balance, so Carol lets him in. After the Occupational Therapist’s gone Carol grudgingly allows that she did a good job listening and making suggestions. Leonard’s flapjacks and tea-making skills seem to have softened Carol, too. Leonard hints at some tension currently at Brookfield, before Carol tells him she’s been hearing noises at night and thinks it might be the ghost of a vicar’s wife. Leonard goes into the loft to investigate and discovers bats up there. Carol’s delighted, imagining what Anna will say when she finds out…

Tom and Natasha discuss the Battling Bull’s heavy defeat in yesterday’s cricket match and the knee injury Tom sustained. Tom’s in a bad mood, but Natasha’s looking forward to showing round a group of prospective buyers for Justin’s shares and selling Ambridge to them. It’ll be a good earner for Natasha, but she’s still anxious about not managing to sell any clothes on the app yet. Tom suggests selling the clothes stored in bags in their loft – so long as he takes joint responsibility and starts using the app as well, Natasha chides. Later, disappointed Natasha admits Justin’s potential investors weren’t interested in anything she showed them, despite her best efforts, while Tom still isn’t keen on getting involved with selling their clothes.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m002vx4b)
Celebrating the art of Illustration, with Sir Quentin Blake and Posy Simmonds

As the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration prepares to open in London, we find out how illustrators are adapting to a changing world.

Starting with a rare interview from Quentin Blake, we'll hear how this once undervalued side of the visual arts still creates the defining images of childhoods, whilst also now playing a central role in the visual language of the internet.

Featuring voices working across illustration, including Posy Simmonds, Chris Riddell, Michael Rosen, Christoph Niemann, Lizzy Stewart, Benji Davies, Murugiah, Chie Kutsuwada and Jane Rosenberg and Olivia Ahmad.

The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration opens 5th June.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Harry Graham


MON 20:00 The Briefing Room (m002vml6)
Can Europe build digital sovereignty?

Ask Claude a question, Google a query, order from Amazon, chat with mates on WhatsApp, tune in to Youtube. And where ever you do it from, you’ll never be somehow not in America. Because Britain, like Europe is dependent on US tech and as the AI revolution unfolds, governments are increasingly worried about it.

The new buzz phrase is digital sovereignty. But what does that mean? Is it even feasible? And can the UK and the Europe take back control?

David Aaronovitch talks to:

Stanley Pignal, Europe editor at The Economist
Cecilia Rikap, Associate Professor in Economics and Head of Research at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
Seb Johnson, founder of Scaling Europe, a media company focused on European Tech

Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Ben Carter, Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineer: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct977j)
Why is Europe the fastest-warming continent?

The latest European State of the Climate report has found that Europe is once again getting warmer, and at a rate that is twice as fast as the global average. Tom Whipple is joined by Dr Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, to understand the driving forces behind this stark difference and anticipate what Europeans can expect in the coming years as a result.

We also remember Dr J Craig Venter, one of the famous founders of what we might now call the genomic age of science who dies this week.

In the lead-up to the 100th birthday of the world-famous broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, Inside Science is shining a spotlight on a species of scientific importance that has been named after him. This week, Dr Leonidas-Romanos Davranoglou shares his treacherous search for a unique species of echidna previously thought to be extinct.

Plus, science journalist Caroline Steel fills us in on the latest science news that you might have missed - from the surprising growth rates of Neanderthal babies to 10,000 newly discovered planets.

Presenter: Tom Whipple
Producer: Alex Mansfield
Assistant Producer: Katie Tomsett
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


MON 21:00 Start the Week (m002vx31)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 Café Hope (m002vx33)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002vx4d)
Trump pushes ahead with a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump pushes ahead with a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The UAE has been attacked by Iranian missiles - what does it all mean for the region's fragile truce?

A Russian deserter tells us about life among the contract soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

After FIFA allows a team of Afghan women refugees to take part in international football competitions, we speak to the captain.

and the tech entrepreneur who has paid to conduct a professional orchestra.


MON 22:45 The Prisoner by Sally Carson (m002vx4g)
Episode Six

The Prisoner by Sally Carson is the 1936 sequel to her novel Crooked Cross, first published in 1934 and based on her first-hand experience of travelling through Bavaria witnessing the inexorable and devastating rise of fascism. The Prisoner was written by Carson whilst she was on holiday in Germany in 1935. Carson was only 38 when she died in 1941 of breast cancer, so she never lived to see the end of the war - which makes her novels and her foresight even more extraordinary.

Despite the excellent reviews for both books, both she and the texts disappeared. Long out of print, they were recently rediscovered by Persephone Books and republished.

The Prisoner picks up the story of the Kluger family a few months after the death of Lexa Kluger and her boyfriend Moritz Wiseman who were hounded and hunted down on the mountains between their home town of Kranach and Austria. The reason – relationships between Germans and Jews were now forbidden. Despite his family being long assimilated and his father having won an Iron Cross in the First World War fighting for his country, Germany, Moritz, while technically not Jewish because his mother wasn’t, had a Jewish surname.

The Prisoner follows the Klugers as they try to make sense of Lexa’s death, each in their own way. And in particular Helmy, Lexa’s brother, who was on patrol on the mountain that night. The trauma of what he witnessed has affected his behaviour so much that his family now fear for his safety as the Nazi Party tightens its grip on German society.

Reader: Daniel Weyman
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Caroline Raphael
Production Co-ordinator: Dawn Williams
Recorded and mixed by Matt Bainbridge

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Drama on 4 (m000vz8v)
Talawa Stories: NSA by Charles Entsie

Set within the charged confines of a car, a clandestine encounter between two Black men leads to far more than either had bargained for.

Each man must come to terms with their identities and very different life trajectories.

Written by Charles Entsie.

Man ...... Don Gilet
Boy ...... Idris Debrand

Talawa Theatre is the UK’s outstanding Black theatre company.

Recorded during the national lockdown and in line with Covid safe measures.

Sound Design: Steve Bond
Producer: Alison Holder
Director: Jade Lewis

A Talawa Theatre / feral inc production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in May 2021.


MON 23:30 Hotel Room Art (m001tqbs)
The inside story of art in hotel rooms - and why hoteliers think it's so important to get it right. Ian McMillan has always been fascinated by the artworks he finds on his travels. Here he encounters mass produced flowers, abstract excitement and ancient artefacts. In three very different hotel bedrooms he meets curators, designers and artists - but most importantly he meets the art, and asks why we have ‘art’ hotels .