TUESDAY 25 AUGUST 2009

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b00m5w65)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b00m0tzf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00m5w7l)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00m5wbc)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00m5w8t)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b00m5x47)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00m5x5g)
Daily prayer and reflection with Shaykh Michael Mumisa.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b00m5xh1)
Plans to reintroduce the sea eagle to Scotland go back 50 years. Now 45 pairs are nesting and more than 30 young hatched this year. But its return has been controversial with many farmers claiming they feed on their lambs. To test the extent of the problem, a lamb tagging scheme was run in the Highlands. As Charlotte Smith hears, it has yielded interesting results.


TUE 06:00 Today (b00m5xj2)
Presented by Evan Davis and Edward Stourton.

Uri Geller discusses whether Michael Jackson's death should be considered as a homicide.

Media correspondent Torin Douglas explains why a large number of prosecutions against retailers selling adult content to children are being dropped.

Where can signs of an economic recovery be found? Reporter Rajini Vaidyanathan investigates some unusual sources of economic data.

Former US defence department official Charles Stimson discusses a report detailing the allegations of abuse against terror suspects by CIA agents.

Former Europe minister Denis MacShane and Conservative MP John Redwood discuss whether the European Union costs the taxpayer too much.

Quentin Sommerville reports on his attempt to reach a village in China where 1,300 children fell sick with lead poisoning.

Nick Troop, a lecturer in health psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, explains the relationship between the words of a song and the song's effect.

Thought for the day with the novelist and columnist Anne Atkins.

Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad, discusses whether he was enjoying the current tension between Israel and the Americans.

Production at the Corus hot strip mill at Llanwern near Newport is to restart next month, the steel giant says. Reporter Jack Izzard returns to the area to test the mood of the city's steel sector. Anatole Kaletsky, of the Times, and Martin Leach, former head of Ford Europe, Maserati and Mazda, discuss whether the economic recovery is now well underway.

Iran has placed several senior reformers - including former ministers - on trial. Correspondent Jon Leyne says these trials seem to operate as a philosophical denial of the reformist era.

Andy Woodward, chief executive of Farm Stay UK, which represents working farms, and art critic Brian Sewell discuss cultural heritage of the countryside.

Dangerous levels of the anaesthetic propofol was found in Michael Jackson's body when he died, coroner's office documents show. Anaesthetist Dr Andrew Hartle explains why someone might use such a powerful anaesthetic.

Maryon Stewart, whose daughter Hester Stewart died after taking GBL (which is used as a substitute for GBH or liquid ecstasy) explains her story about the dangers of taking drugs which are currently legal.

Controversial world champion athlete Caster Semenya is set to receive a heroine's welcome when she arrives back in South Africa. Correspondent Jonah Fisher reports from the airport in Johannesburg on the athlete at the centre of a gender row.

President of RIBA Sunand Prasad and architectural commentator Lucinda Lambton discuss the design of public conveniences.

Technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones examines the popularity of anonymous blogging. Paul Staines, who writes a blog under the name Guido Fawkes, and Dr Vince Miller, discuss whether writers have the right to keep their identity a secret.


TUE 09:00 Fry's English Delight (b00m68s5)
Series 2

Hallo!

Stephen Fry explores the highways and byways of the English language.

Hallo! Stephen says 'goodbye' with a programme about 'hallo', and how it came to be one of the world's favourite words.


TUE 09:30 Lost, Stolen or Shredded (b00m68s7)
Series 2

Has Anybody Seen a Copy of Et Tu Healy?

Series of programmes in which antiquarian book dealer Rick Gekoski tells the stories that lie behind five very different missing works of art.

Written by James Joyce in 1891 when he was just nine years old as a protest at the death of the Irish nationalist leader Charles Parnell, the poem Et Tu Healy was printed by his proud father and distributed to friends and family; even the Pope was sent a copy.

But it was never published, and, apart from three lines, no copy of it has ever been found. Rick Gekoski asks where might one be, and, if one were to be found, how much it might be worth.

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b00m0tpq)
When Skateboards Will Be Free

Episode 2

Josh Hamilton reads from American-Iranian writer Said Sayrafiezadeh's funny and touching memoir.

Said, now aged ten, and his mother move from Brooklyn to Pittsburgh and into a squalid apartment. While she attends Socialist Workers Party meetings, a lonely Said faces the terrors of strange noises and eerie shadows which only the TV can keep at bay. So when his mother hides the cord to the TV set, he is bereft.

Abridged by Francois Smit.

A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00m8qnm)
Uninsured midwives; Gender testing; Buying school shoes

The future of independent midwifery discussed. Plus; what is a gender test? And, the rights and wrongs of buying shoes for children.


TUE 11:00 Nature (b00m68s9)
Series 3

Restoring Heathlands

Brett Westwood investigates the potential for restoring large areas of heathland that could be unlocked by the thinning of Forestry Commission woodlands.

Made famous by Thomas Hardy and purple with heather in late summer, lowland heaths are some of the UK's rarest habitats and are home to some of our most specialised wildlife including sand lizards, insectivorous plants and the strange nightjar. They have steadily declined over the last century, but a new open habitats consultation could spell the restoration of large tracts of heathland from Forestry Commission woodland.

Brett talks to foresters and conservationists about the possibilities that opening up our woods present for people and for wildlife.


TUE 11:30 With Great Pleasure (b00m69jw)
Clive Stafford Smith

Guest performers select their favourite pieces of writing.

Lawyer and human rights activist Clive Stafford Smith chooses a selection of the writing which has inspired, amused or uplifted him.

In 1999 Clive founded the pressure group Reprieve, which fights for the human rights of prisoners.

Clive's readers for the programme, which was recorded in front of an audience in Dorset, are Pippa Haywood and Peter Marinker.


TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b00m62ys)
Consumer news and issues with Julian Worricker.


TUE 12:57 Weather (b00m64cb)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (b00m64dr)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


TUE 13:30 Train Tracks (b00m69ws)
Pianist and broadcaster Simon Townley samples the many different ways in which trains and railways have inspired composers and songwriters and what it is about this particular form of travel that makes it so influential.

They may be a shadow of their former infrastructural selves, but railways still hold a curiously affectionate place in our national life. Nowhere is this more true than in the world of music, where chuffing, whistling, steaming and clackety-clacking have been the inspiration for hundreds of songs. Simon has never described himself as a railway enthusiast, but he has always had an ear for the things that inspire composers and songwriters.

He explores the rhythms, themes and metaphorical uses of the train in music, from Honneger's Pacific 231 to American blues tracks such as Love in Vain and Freight Train Blues.

Country and western star Laura Cantrell, music professor Alan Moore and composer Sir Richard Rodney Bennett contribute their thoughts on this mass transit system which has provided such a rich seam of inspiration over the last 200 years.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (b00m64gk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b00m69wv)
The Incomplete Works of Dave McCabe

Romantic comedy, with music, by Nick Underwood.

Singer-songwriter Dave is given the opportunity to meet his muse and woo her with a song. But he has a problem: he cannot get past the opening lines.

Dave ...... Simon Donaldson
Mike ...... Sandy Grierson
Malena ...... Claire Knight
Lola ...... Lorraine M McIntosh
Queenie ...... Ann Scott-Jones
Frank ...... Finlay Welsh

Directed by Kirsty Williams.


TUE 15:00 Home Planet (b00m69wx)
Richard Daniel and the team are out and about for the British Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water. Unsurprisingly many of the questions are bird related: do seagulls eat insects on the wing, are jays on the increase and do kestrels eat birds as large as wood pigeons?

We also take a broader view of the universe, in fact the broadest possible, as one listener challenges our resident astronomer to provide an answer posed by her children: 'What is there beyond the stars?'

On the panel are astronomer Carolin Crawford, conservationist and ornithologist Derek Moore and Professor Philip Stott.


TUE 15:30 Comic Fringes (b00m69wz)
Comic Fringes: Series 5

May Contain Nuts

Written and read by Janey Godley.

"If I'm slowly turning into my dad, then I'd better start collecting owl calendars and squirrels."

A woman glimpses her own mortality when she calculates that only twenty-seven years separate her from her cantankerous father. Brilliant, unsentimental insight into the father / daughter relationship.

Another chance to hear this series of short stories by leading comedians recorded live in front of a packed audience at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2009. Coming up, at the same time over the next three Wednesdays, are stories by Sarah Millican, Jon Richardson and Susan Calman.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.


TUE 15:45 Cruickshank on New Zealand (b00m84p6)
Better Relations with the Natives

Dan Cruickshank explores the consequences of the arrival of the British on the indigenous Maori people after Captain Cook's arrival in New Zealand in 1769, and how the European settlers adapted and exploited the many riches this new world had to offer.

Dan is ferried out to sea, to a cove where Cook encountered friendly and inquisitive Maori, and both sides learned from each other.


TUE 16:00 A Small Business (b00m6b04)
Episode 1

Liz Barclay travels the UK meeting the passionate owners of the small businesses which keep our economy running.

Starting up in a recession.


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b00m6c3y)
Series 19

Freya Stark

Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.

Travel writer Dervla Murphy discusses the life of another fearless woman traveller, Freya Stark. Stark roamed across Arabia and Persia, frequently risking her life, and during the Second World War set up a pro-British intelligence network in Cairo. She was brave but also infuriating, and was liable to make impossible demands on her friends, such as John Murray, who joins the discussion.


TUE 17:00 PM (b00m64t9)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00m64xt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 That Mitchell and Webb Sound (b00m6bhh)
Series 4

Episode 1

How to talk to an emperor and inventing Saturday night TV shows. Stars David Mitchell and Robert Webb. From August 2009.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (b00m64g3)
Mike comes down for breakfast. Vicky tells Mike she'll be working two days a week from now on - she's got a husband to look after.

Brenda helps Helen with the yoghurt. Brenda's grateful for the work. She's applied for at least fifty jobs and still nothing. When Brenda goes to pick up Abbie, Vicky tells her about their honeymoon. Brenda's horrified when Vicky says they went to a nudist beach. Mike appears. Brenda tells him the job hunting isn't going well. Mike suggests she retrains. Brenda says she's in debt already; who's to say things will be better next year.

Helen has tea with Ian. Her date with Leon was fantastic. She's going to enjoy it while it lasts, and if it doesn't then it's not the end of the world.

Ed tells Mike he approached Brian about their milk expansion idea. Brian was fairly positive. Ed now has to write a proposal, but Mike says he'll have a go at it. Vicky appears. She's been to see Lynda, who's off on holiday in a motorhome tomorrow. Mike thinks that sounds fun but Vicky says holidays are for being waited on. Like on a cruise - that's what she's always fancied.

Episode written by Caroline Harrington.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (b00m657v)
Arts news and reviews with Mark Lawson.

The latest film from the Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, Broken Embraces, stars Penelope Cruz and tells the story of a writer who has lost his sight and the love of his life in a car crash. The critic Mark Eccleston gives his verdict.

The playwright Lee Hall found huge commercial success with his screenplay of Billy Elliot, the feature film for which he received an Oscar nomination and which has since become a long running West End musical. His latest play, The Pitmen Painters, tells the story of a group of miners who take up painting and is set to return to the National Theatre after its first highly successful run. Hall is also set to present a series of films at the British Film Institute celebrating a century of British coalmining on film.

The novelist Justin Cartwright joins Mark Lawson to discuss the latest book from South African author and Nobel Prize-winner JM Coetzee. Summertime is the third in a series of fictionalised memoirs and has been longlisted for the 2009 Man Booker Prize for fiction, which Coetzee has won twice before.

The violinist Jennifer Pike won the BBC Young Musician of the Year at the age of 12 in 2002, and has subsequently established a full-time career as a performer. She is taking part in a series of BBC concerts to celebrate 10 years of their New Generation Artists scheme, aimed at developing and nurturing exceptional young musical talent. Jennifer comes to the studio to discuss life as a professional musician when she's not yet 20 years of age.


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00m9gft)
The Quest

Episode 2

By Jonathan Holloway. Loosely based on the works of Sir Thomas Malory and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

King Arthur has fallen for the wrong girl; there will be trouble ahead.

Arthur ...... Julian Rhind-Tutt
Merlin ...... Mark Gatiss
Morgan Le Fay/Agravain ...... Jasmine Hyde
Lancelot ...... Stephen Noonan
Guinevere ...... Eleanor Tremain
Galahad ...... Paul Mundell

Directed by Tim Dee.


TUE 20:00 Says Who? The Rise of the Community Leader (b00m6c40)
Playwright and actor Kwame Kwei-Armah investigates the changing role of the community leader. The media turns to them to respond to the latest crisis and they are happy to oblige, but on whose authority do community leaders speak?

Kwame visits Birmingham to meet leaders from the Muslim and Afro-Caribbean communities. He discovers how these individuals are selected to voice the concerns of others, finds out how their agendas have responded to our increasingly diverse society and questions whether the idea of 'community' is still realistic in a world of multiplying lifestyles and opinions.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (b00m6c42)
Peter White with news and information for the blind and partially sighted.

The organisation National Talking Newspapers and Magazines has a largely voluntary workforce which produces a wide range of material available in accessible formats, and it's a much-appreciated service. Readers of national newspapers, consumers of celebrity magazines and enthusiasts of specialist transport journals are catered for in some format or other.

But what does it take to get this material out and is it economically viable? Reporter Richard Lane (also web editor of The Lancet) looks at how the material is selected, issues of censorship and how the navigation of dense text can be improved.

The chief executive of National Talking Newspapers and Magazines, John Kerby, joins Peter in the studio to discuss these issues and explain why there are advanced talks to become affiliated to the RNIB.


TUE 21:00 Case Notes (b00m6c44)
IVF

Dr Mark Porter visits the London Women's Clinic to learn about the latest developments in the field of in-vitro-fertilisation (IVF), and clarifies what the NHS now offers and to whom.

It has been over 30 years since Louise Brown entered the world as the first test tube baby. Now, one per cent of all children born in the UK are conceived through IVF, and couples who would previously have been called infertile are starting their own happy families. Mark visits the London Women's Clinic to find out about the latest developments in IVF, what's available on the NHS, and who can get treatment for free.

The increasing success of IVF means that the number of twins being born is rising. This has led the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to set targets for reducing twins - but why? And what are the risks associated with twin pregnancies?

Not all women find it hard to produce eggs and this can cause problems during IVF. Women with polycystic ovaries are particularly at risk of a serious disorder known as OHSS, or ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome. Consultant gynaecologist Tim Child from Oxford University talks about a solution.


TUE 21:30 Forbidden Families (b00d0sj8)
Episode 3

Bettany Hughes tells the stories of remarkable women denied their families by the march of history.

Brilliana Harley was an aristocrat whose husband's Parliamentarian sympathies led to her being besieged in her own castle home on the Shropshire borders during the English Civil War. She died emaciated and ill, but wrote 375 letters, smuggled out in vegetable boxes, describing her hopes, her frustrations and her faith in her absent husband and son. Throughout her ordeal, her faith in the power of love and the delight of having a family never wavered.


TUE 21:58 Weather (b00m6675)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b00m66dx)
National and international news and analysis with David Eades.

Preliminary results from Afghanistan point to a second round contest for the Presidency

President Sarkozy takes on the bonus culture at France's big banks

Why women in business need testosterone to succeed.


TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00m9g32)
A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy

Episode 2

Bill Nighy reads from Laurence Sterne's 1768 comic riposte to his contemporary Tobias Smollett's travel journal.

Yorick encounters Smelfungus and is pressed to hire a French manservant while meeting a man mourning for the death of his donkey.

Abridged by Robin Brooks.

A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 23:00 Heresy (b00bzdgj)
Series 5

Episode 5

Victoria Coren chairs the programme which challenges established ideas. Guests are Sue Perkins, Rev Richard Coles and Simon Evans.


TUE 23:30 The Hollow Men (b008crlg)
Series 2

Episode 4

Comic sketch show written and performed by David Armand, Rupert Russell, Sam Spedding and Nick Tanner, with Katy Brand.