The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Has French culture become provincial and inward looking? France aspires to be a global cultural power. But a new book - 'The Death of French Culture' - argues that its government creates a walled garden producing cinema and literature for its own market but not for the world. Gone are the days of geniuses like Emile Zola and Francois Truffaut who spoke to millions. Laurie Taylor is joined by the book's author Donald Morrison and by Noelle Lenoir, a former French minister for European affairs. They consider whether protectionism has caused a decline in French creativity and if state subsidies produce mediocre art. Also, the economist Paul Ormerod highlights the power of networks to change behaviour. Could an understanding of how our connections influence our choices help tackle everything from obesity to unemployment?
A massive mussel farm in Lyme Bay has been given the go-ahead and not everyone in the area is happy. Fishermen fear that their activities will be restricted by the mussel farm. This week Farming Today is focussing on the dairy industry and today we ask whether its a good time to be in dairy.
Morning news and current affairs with Sarah Montague and Justin Webb, including:
Could the UK's elite sportsmen could learn a thing or two from their female counterparts?
In a special Radio 4 series 'Uncertain Climate', the BBC's Environmental Analyst Roger Harrabin
questions whether his own reporting - and that of others - has adequately told the story about global warming.
Roger Harrabin has reported on the climate for almost thirty years, but last November while working on the "Climategate" emails story, he was prompted to look again at the basics of climate science.
At this crucial moment in global climate policy making, he talks to seminal characters in the climate change debate including Tony Blair, Lord Lawson, Sir Crispin Tickell and the influential blogger Steve McIntyre.
This second programme discusses the nature of uncertainty in science. It asks whether scientists have properly explained climate uncertainties or whether they have been seduced by reporters into simple headline statements.
The programme examines how scientific uncertainly plays out in the media and politics.
Nick Clegg's meteoric rise to become Deputy Prime Minister has brought into sharp focus the role of the number two. It's not always an enviable position. So why, in British politics, does the deputy so rarely reach the summit? And why, when he does, does it usually end in disaster? Think of Michael Foot or Anthony Eden. These programmes talk to a number of the politicians who became deputy leader of their party or even Deputy Prime Minister but who just didn't reach the summit -- people like Roy Hattersley, Michael Heseltine, Shirley Williams, Margaret Beckett and Geoffrey Howe. Some never really wanted the job in the first place, others found it an exciting experience from which they learned a lot. One likens it to a bucket of warm spit, only worse. So is there a jinx on the role of the deputy? The political commentator, Julia Langdon, finds out in The Curse of the Number Two.
"Roald Dahl thought biographies were boring. He told me so while munching on a lobster claw."
The new biographer of Dahl is Donald Sturrock, who once made a film about the writer, so knew the man and his family very well. His book charts Dahl's rich and varied life as fighter pilot, intelligence operative, and the adult writer who then wrote for children in such an impactful way that he remains hugely popular with today's young readers. He was truly on their wavelength. He spoke to them through books such as Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, The BFG and Danny, Champion of The World.
Sturrock investigates Dahl's eternal popularity as a writer. And of course the man behind the books...
1.In the first of five episodes, abridged by Alison Joseph, the biographer sits at the Dahl dinner table and recounts a memorable visit to the writer's hut, where certain treasures are unearthed.
Actress Drew Barrymore talks to presenter Jane Garvey about her new film. Musical star Kerry Ellis on her Proms in the Park debut, new project with Brian May and role in the stage show Oliver. We look at the cohort of Republican challengers in this year's US midterm elections. And Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, judges from the TV show the Great British Bake Off talk about the craft of baking, pastry and bread making.
In the second of a series of programmes telling stories of the Blitz from around the UK, Peter Sissons is in his home town of Liverpool to find out about the Blitz on Merseyside.
Peter starts by exploring the 'secret diary' kept by one of Liverpool's newspaper journalists during the city's Blitz. Arthur Johnson was the Blitz Correspondent for Liverpool's Daily Post and Echo newspapers. Throughout the bombing he reported for the papers. But once he got home, he would also type up his own detailed accounts of the bombing and the deaths and damage caused. At a time when all newspaper reports had to be censored, this was his own personal record which told exactly what was happening during the Blitz.
Arthur Johnson died towards the end of the War, but Peter meets his son - also Arthur Johnson - who takes him through some of the diary entries and tells him more about his father and how he gathered this remarkable account.
Liverpool's importance as a port made it an obvious target for the Luftwaffe, but it was also home to the command centre for the Battle of the Atlantic. Local historian Ken Pye takes Peter to see the underground complex where that crucial campaign was co-ordinated
During the programme, Peter also talks to some of the men and women who lived through Merseyside's May Blitz in 1941. One of these is Sophie Griffiths - whose home was destroyed by the bombers on her 21st birthday. She gives Peter a vivid account of what it was like to face up to the German bombers and how her family survived a direct hit on their street.
When Francis Campbell went to see his careers advisor to find out about becoming a diplomat, he was told that the Foreign Office didnt recruit in Northern Ireland. That was the 1980s, things are different now. He was the first Catholic to be appointed to the role of Ambassador to the Holy See since the Reformation and he's been our man in the Vatican since 2005. Not bad for a man born into farming stock in a tiny Northern Irish village on the border with Ireland.
The Holy See might be one of the smallest British Embassies, but Francis is quick to point out the international scope of his team. In this two part series, Ruth Mcdonald follows the work of the tiny team in Rome, as they prepare for the Pope's visit to the UK - the first STATE visit by the head of the Catholic Church to this country. Francis talks about the day he had to apologise to the Vatican after the leaked memo from the Foreign Office was front page news around the world ("there are a few things in your life as a diplomat that you would prefer not to do, and one if them is to have to offer an unreserved apology for stupid actions of your colleagues" says Francis).
Francis is a charming, friendly and honest man, whose own memories of the Pope's visit to Ireland in 1979 means he knows just what a papal visit can mean to the Catholic minority in the UK. He himself started training for the priesthood - although his interest in politics won out, and he dropped out of seminary. But a strong faith is behind his enthusiasm and drive for this papal visit - enthusiasm that doesnt flag even though the media focus on the visit has so far been on cost and clerical abuse.
In programme 2, Ruth travels between London and Rome, following Francis and the team in Whitehall and the Vatican.
Comedy drama series by Nigel Williams that charts the misfortunes of a middle-aged HR officer and his trouble-making colleague.
Sam and Peter wile away retirement blues with a holiday in Spain. Suddenly Sam, a lifelong virgin, seems to be presented with a life-changing opportunity.
Sam ..... Nicholas Le Prevost
Peter ..... Jonathan Pryce
Miguel ..... Sam Dale
Gwenda ..... Christine Kavanagh
On You and Yours today we hear from the heavily pregnant mum-to-be who had her phone cut off without warning. She describes her anxiety, and Virgin Media explains why it takes this action from time to time.
We also get the latest statistics on the drug and medicine shortage in this country
Plus we learn about a French delicacy called the ortolan: exclusive but controversial.
(6/12) Tom Sutcliffe referees the latest cryptic contest in the 2010 series. Their previous appearances left both the Midlands (Stephen Maddock and Rosalind Miles) and Northern Ireland (Polly Devlin and Brian Feeney) needing a win. Which of them will triumph today?
Michael's a teenager who feels like his life's about to begin. He's travelling from Leeds to London for a date with a guy he's met online.
David's a forty year-old man who feels like he might be over the hill. When his partner announces he's leaving, David's life finally caves in.
Michael and David's worlds are about to collide as each wanders Soho on a quest that will change them forever.
1/5. Like many small boys James Aldred loved climbing trees. Today, he stills loves climbing trees, but as a professional, helping scientists and wildlife filming crews into the canopy to study and film the wildlife there. As well as climbing trees, he loves building tree houses. When he isn't climbing trees, he's dreaming about them and scribbling designs for tree houses on scraps of paper or the back of cereal boxes. So, when he received a phone call inviting him to build a tree house which would be large enough to accommodate at least 4 people for over a month whilst they filmed Red-capped Mangabey monkeys in the forests of Gabon in Central West Africa, he didn't hesitate in accepting the challenge. This is the story of what happened; a terrific Boy's Own Adventure high above the ground in the forest canopy!
The first challenge was to find a suitable tree. After several days searching in an area called Petit Luango, James finally finds a suitable tree. With microphones attached to his helmets, he uses ropes to climb up into the canopy to get a better look at the tree. Before he reaches the top though, he is attacked by a swarm of aggressive honey bees. High above the forest floor, he has to stay calm and transfer onto his abseil ropes, whilst receiving some 60 or more bee stings. Fortunately he makes it safely back down to the ground. But once back in camp, his entire face and head swell up like a football. Shaken but not deterred, James is determined to continue his search for a suitable tree and build the giant treehouse!
In Beyond Belief, Ernie Rea and his guests explore the place of faith in our complex world.
Ernie is joined by three guests who discuss how their own religious tradition affects their values and outlook on the world, often revealing hidden and contradictory truths.
In this programme, ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's state visit to England and Scotland, Ernie and his guests ask what is distinctive about English Catholicism. How did the ban on Catholics taking public office, only lifted in 1829 with the Catholic Relief Act, alter the treatment and perception of Catholics in England? What were the key moments and factors which restored Catholicism to a place in society and how have those created a distinctive form of Catholicism, unique to England and different to traditional Catholic countries. How does this play out today in public life, in relationship to the Pope and in acceptance of Vatican authority?
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news, with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.
Radio 4's popular panel game is back this week with Paul Merton, Sue perkins, Liza Tarbuck and John Sergeant.
They attempt to speak for a minute without repetition, hesitation or deviation under the watchful eye of Nicholas Parsons. Subjects include How to Audition, What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor! and Two to Tango - What will John Sergeant make of that one..?
Showing off his runner beans to Eddie, Joe mentions that Jim's entering his onions in the flower and produce show. Joe decides to go and size up his competition. Joe scoffs at how Bert's puffing himself up as Nigel's special allotment advisor, and also gossips about Lilian and the Bull.
Lynda's keen to know how many bookings Eddie's taken for his campsite this month. She also compliments Joe's vegetable expertise, wishing him well in the competition.
Jennifer needs a word with Lynda about the bird hide. However, Lynda has her own worries - one of the flower and produce show judges has pulled out.
Brian's horrified to discover that wily Matt has snapped up the piece of land that was vital for gaining access to the market site. Smug Matt sets out his terms - he wants shares in Borchester Land and a seat for Lilian on the BL board. Brian will need to put it to the board at the next meeting. Livid Brian resolves to stand firm and call Matt's bluff. Jennifer suddenly remembers they'll be seeing Lilian and Matt at the golf club do this Thursday. She urges Brian to avoid a scene.
Based on the graphic novel by Posy Simmonds, Stephen Frears' new film Tamara Drewe is a dark comedy about a young London newspaper journalist who returns to her rural Dorset village following the death of her mother. It stars Gemma Arterton, Tamsin Greig and Roger Allam. Kate Saunders reviews.
Eadweard Muybridge broke new ground in the emerging art form of photography. Best known for his extensive portrayal of animal and human subjects in motion, he was also a landscape photographer, documentary artist and inventor. Joanna Pitman reviews a new retrospective at Tate Britain, London.
TV critic Boyd Hilton gives his verdict on ITV1's new breakfast show Daybreak, hosted by Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley.
Composer-writer Richard Thomas, whose previous work includes Jerry Springer the Opera, opens Sadler's Wells Autumn 2010 season with Shoes, a song and dance revue inspired by footwear.
The Sun newspaper has launched a perfume called Buzz to "capture the essence of celebrity." David Quantick takes a look at what makes a successful celebrity scent, from the top notes of lemon in the Sex Pistols perfume to Britney Spears' Circus Fantasy.
The first of two programmes about the image of poverty and of the working class that's been created by writers (Part 1) and by films and TV (Part 2).
Whether it's Friedrich Engels's report on the Salford slums in the 1840s through to George Orwell's account of his expeditions to Wigan and the hop-fields of Kent, our picture of the poor has been painted by members of the middle class.
Paul Mason asks whether this outsider's view gives us a full and fair account - or whether it says more about the attitudes of the literary class than about the poor themselves.
Interviewees include Orwell's biographer DJ Taylor; Polly Toynbee (author of "Hard Work: Life In Low-Pay Britain") and Michael Collins (author of "The Likes Of Us - A Biography Of The White Working Class").
Christopher Landau explores the explosive growth of christianity in China, with millions flocking to the official Protestant and Catholic churches. The country has the world's largest bible printing press while some factories are run on Christian principles. Why has the Communist state, which is formally atheist, endorsed this transition? There is official interest in the idea of a "Protestant work ethic" aiding the country's economy while some branches of government hope that the church's social services will help care for an ageing population.
Quentin Cooper presents this week's digest of science in and behind the headlines. In this edition; The Cluster mission is ten years old this week. Quentin discusses how its findings help us understand the protective properties of the magnetosphere against solar winds. The problem of cracking concrete and its potential bacterial solution is discussed as Quentin looks at bio-concrete which uses a strain of mineral-eating bacteria to do the job. As the humble fruit fly stars in its own conference Quentin takes a closer look at how important Drosophilia are in genetic experiments and interviews with all four So You Want To Be A Scientist finalists at the crucial results phase of their experiments.
The BBC has obtained a draft UN report alleging Rwandan atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1993 and 2003. Should the UN publish it?
Written by Wena Poon. In contemporary Spain bullfighting is in decline, squeezed by recession and overshadowed by the threat of being banned. It's a bad time for anyone to want to be a matador, let alone a girl, and an American girl at that.
Unfortunately, Alejandra 'Alex' Herrera has wanted to do little else since she was a child. She seeks the help of Roberto de la Torre, a young and famous matador. Among the things they have in common: their grandfathers were friends and matadors who both perished in the bullring in 1959.
Alex flies from Austin to Valencia. The University of Texas believes she's attending a Spanish study programme but Alex has other plans, and sets off for San Martin: hometown of her matador grandfather.
faena - the third and final act of a bullfight, in which the red cape and the sword are used
banderilleros - the men who place colorful darts on the bull, in the second act of the bullfight
Wena Poon is the author of Alex y Robert and three other books of literary fiction: Lions In Winter, The Proper Care of Foxes, and The Biophilia Omnibus. Winner of the 2010 Willesden Herald Prize in England, she has been twice nominated for the Frank O'Connor Award in Ireland. Her books have also been shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize, the Readers' Choice Awards in Malaysia, and voted Best Book Gift of the Year by CNN Singapore. A freelance journalist and a corporate lawyer, Poon is a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School.
Every two weeks another language becomes extinct and, according to UNESCO, more than 2400 languages spoken today are endangered and will probably vanish by the end of the century. In this edition of Word of Mouth Chris Ledgard meets some of those who are dedicating their lives to maintaining global linguistic diversity. These include Dr Mark Turin, the founder of the Oral Literature Project in Cambridge who works with Thangmi speakers in a remote region of Nepal; Dr Stephen Leonard who is preparing to spend a year in Northern Greenland with a community whose language is threatened as an indirect consequence of global warming; and Dr Julia Sallabank who is working to preserve Guernesiais, a language unique to the island of Guernsey. According to the 2001 census, it was spoken by just 2% of the population. Producer Paul Dodgson.
TUESDAY 07 SEPTEMBER 2010
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b00tkrd8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b00tkymr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00tkrfy)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00tkxls)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00tkrht)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b00tkxqf)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00tkxtd)
with The Rev'd Dr Stephen Wigley.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b00tky2f)
With rural thefts on the increase, police in Hampshire are using new technology to chemically 'tag' fuel so diesel stolen straight from tractor tanks and the thieves can be traced.
As the Dairy Event in Birmingham prepares for more than 14 thousand visitors Farming Today sees how last minute checks are being made at the livestock show and hears how a dairy farmer's venture to produce clotted cream saved his business.
And as farmers prepare for the potato harvest Anna Hill visits a new storage research facility to find how to keep potatoes in top condition for a year-round supply.
Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.
TUE 06:00 Today (b00tky8q)
Morning news and current affairs with Sarah Montague and Justin Webb, including:
0810 Why did millions of people pay the wrong amount of tax?
0751 Remembering the Blitz, 70 years on.
08:53 Is President Obama doomed to failure?
TUE 09:00 What's the Point of...? (b00tmkyf)
Series 3
The Kennel Club
It has a fine dining room and a celebrated collection of canine art. It has a charitable trust and organises the greatest dog show on earth. That doesn't stop Quentin Letts asking, "What's the point of the Kennel club?"
The kennel club was founded in 1873 by twelve Victorian gentlemen who liked dogs and dinners in equal measure, and wanted to bring some discipline into the world of dog breeding and showing. It's struggling to do that today. Some breeders and showers are in open revolt against Kennel Club health regulations. Others from the welfare lobby say the Kennel club hasn't been doing enough to tackle the suffering caused to dogs by generations of inbreeding.
Quentin enjoys the sunshine, spectacle and order of a dog show in Worcestershire, goes for a walk with a breathless dog suffering a range of genetic disorders, and enters the hallowed halls of the Kennel club Clarges street as he considers whether this British institution still has the teeth needed to improve the lot of dogs in this country.
TUE 09:30 How The Mighty Have Fallen (b00tmlgy)
Pills, Potions and Quackery
"How can a magic box of pills, syrup or vegetable juice, Eradicate at once those ills, Which years of luxury produce?" - Surgeon William Wadd in 1816, warning a gullible public of the dangers of obesity remedies.
The search for a wonder-drug to cure obesity has persisted for centuries. Over the ages, possible contenders have included such unlikely remedies as deadly poisons - mercury, arsenic and strychnine "as well as goats' ovaries, tobacco and perhaps even tape worms: 'Eat! Eat! Eat! And always stay thin!".
In his final programme on the history of obesity, Dr Hilary Jones focuses on Pills, Potions and Quackery.
In conversation with Professor David Haslam of the National Obesity Forum, he peruses a collection of weird and wonderful historic remedies, including the 'King of Corpulency Cures'. And he hears about the dire consequences of some of the more dangerous remedies.
What can we learn from the past- will there ever be a miracle obesity cure?
Other contributors include pharmacist Dr Terry Maguire and leading obesity expert Professor Stephan Rossner, of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.
Readings by Toby Longworth and Michael Fenton-Stevens
Producer: Susan Kenyon
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b00tkymm)
Storyteller: The Life of Roald Dahl
Episode 2
"Roald Dahl thought biographies were boring. He told me so while munching on a lobster claw."
The new biographer of Dahl is Donald Sturrock, who once made a film about the writer, so knew the man and his family very well. His book charts Dahl's rich and varied life as fighter pilot, intelligence operative, and the adult writer who then wrote for children in such an impactful way that he remains hugely popular with today's young readers. He was truly on their wavelength. He spoke to them through books such as Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, The BFG and Danny, Champion of The World.
Sturrock investigates Dahl's eternal popularity as a writer. And of course the man behind the books...
2. According to Dahl, it was a dramatic war-time plane crash that steered him towards being a writer.
The reader is Julian Rhind Tutt and the voice of Dahl is Ian McDiarmid
Producer Duncan Minshull.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00tkyy8)
Presented by Jane Garvey. Increasing numbers of children receive extra tutoring at home - but how helpful is it and could it be socially divisive? Playwright Nell Leyshon is the first woman to have a play staged at The Globe, she joins Jane to discuss 'Bedlam'. Thirty years ago China confirmed its one-child policy, artist Aowen Jin talks about the impact the policy has had on her life. And Lebanese journalist Joumana Haddad explains what prompted her to write "I Killed Scheherazade: Confessions of an Angry Arab Woman".
TUE 10:45 The Blitz (b00tl03z)
London
The 7th of September 1940 saw the start of the London Blitz. In an attempt to crush British morale and force a surrender from Churchill, Hitler ordered his bombers to embark upon a ferocious and sustained bombing campaign. On "Black Saturday" - as the first day of the Blitz would come to be known - 348 German bombers attacked London, forming a 20 mile wide block of aircraft filling 800 square miles of sky.
London was bombed for 76 consecutive nights. By the time the bombing ended in May 1941 more than 20,000 people had been killed, and nearly one and a half million had lost their homes.
Broadcaster and author Rosie Millard explores the technology of the Blitz, from the iconic searchlights which swept the sky hunting for German bombers, to the woefully inaccurate "Ack-Ack" anti-aircraft guns.
Rosie speaks to Londoners who were charged with operating the many technological devices that became part of the fabric of daily life in London during the Blitz. She hears the fascinating story of those who oversaw the enormous hydrogen filled barrage balloons that floated eerily above the city, with the purpose of warding off low flying enemy pilots.
Rosie also visits the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon in North London. She is shown around their extensive collection, which includes many startling examples of the machines that defended our capital during the dark days of the Blitz, 70 years ago.
Producer: Max O'Brien
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 11:00 Saving Species (b00tmlh0)
Series 1
Episode 19
19/40 Over August, the European Cranes we have been monitoring in Saving Species have been moved to their new home in the Somerset Levels. Earlier in the year they were brought over from Germany - still as eggs! - they were then hatched at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) Centre in Slimbridge and hand reared. Extraordinary efforts have been made not to expose these birds to people and WWT have even taught them to be wary of terrestrial predators by using a wildfowl decoy dog, which looks like a fox. We are going to be live on the Somerset Levels to witness the release of the European Crane by the RSPB, another collaborator in the release project. Pensthorpe Conservation Trust are also partners in this sophisticated conservation work - all of whom are helping to bring the lanky European Crane back to the Somerset Levels, not seen in the South West for over 400 years. And they join many other long-legged birds resident in the reedbeds, including the Heron and the Bittern.
Follow the links below to see mug shots of the wild cranes.
And we get into citizen science. The Open University with OPAL (open air laboratory) launch a hedge row survey for us to conduct and we join a "BioBlitz" in Dorset - all lay people oberserving and recording and filingthe data on public record. But is it of any real value? We ask the questions.
Presented by Brett Westwood
Produced by Kirsty Henderson
Series Editor Julian Hector.
TUE 11:30 In Search of the Singing Postman (b00tmlh2)
The writer DJ Taylor grew up in Norfolk. When he was missing his roots, he'd put on a record by Allan Smethurst, The Singing Postman, to remind him of home.
Smethurst is best known for one song - Have You Got A Loight Boy. By the mid 1960's he featured on the pop chart, just behind The Moody Blues. With his goofy smile and postman's uniform, he was the one hit wonder to end all one hit wonders. But DJ Taylor believes he was something far more than that.
Taylor argues that the songs turn out, not to be novelty numbers, but plaintive celebrations of a kind of lost, rural life that had begun to disappear, even as it was committed to vinyl. His songs are firmly rooted in the traditional ballads of Norfolk. His work is the last gasp of a genuinely popular art form, before it went down amid the onslaught of post-war mass culture.
There were even plans to send Smethurst to Nashville, the idea being that 'Country and Eastern' would appeal to the US audience. Smethurst admired the early American greats like Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family - their playing influenced his own lilting guitar style.
This programme tells the story of Smethurst's brief dalliance with fame and his steady fall into obscurity as he struggled with alcohol addiction. DJ Taylor pays tribute to the man who loved Norfolk, and through his songs preserved the memories and language of an entire way of life.
The programme is produced in Manchester by Nicola Swords.
TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b00tl054)
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is intended to make government more transparent, participatory, effective and responsive to its citizens. Has it worked? Who uses the Act, and what do people really want to know? Has it improved your trust in government? Has it made government more effective and responsive? Or do you think its simply stopped Government working properly ? We want to hear from you
Tony Blair believes the Freedom of Information Act, which among other things can be directly credited with leading to the MPs' expenses scandal, is "not practical for good government".
He told the Guardian in an interview to plug his book: "If you are trying to take a difficult decision and you're weighing up the pros and cons, you have frank conversations. If those conversations then are put out in a published form that afterwards are liable to be highlighted in particular ways, you are going to be very cautious. That's why it's not a sensible thing."
Call You&Yours is asking for your views of the freedom of information act....have you used it, did it work? Do you share Tony Blair's reservations that it might restrict conversations in government to the detriment of running the country? And if it needs reform, how would you change it?
TUE 12:57 Weather (b00tl067)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b00tl07g)
National and international news with Shaun Ley.
TUE 13:30 Soul Music (b00tmlh4)
Series 10
Send in the Clowns
Stephen Sondheim's song, Send In the Clowns, from the musical 'A Little Night Music' was written late in rehearsals for the actress Glynis Johns, playing the part of Desiree.
A song of regret and anger, the part has famously been played by Judi Dench, and the song became an independent hit, sung by Judy Collins, Shirley Bassey and Barbra Streisand.
Hannah Waddingham played the youngest ever Desiree in Trevor Nunn's production, and used her memories of an unhappy relationship to inspire her performance.
Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.
Producer: Sara Conkey.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2010.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b00tl092)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b00tmlh6)
Pilgrim, series 2
The Lost Hotel
by Sebastian Baczkiewicz. In this latest adventure, Pilgrim has to return a changeling child - Ray Norris - to his rightful father, the King of the Greyfolk. Ray, meanwhile, is beginning to feel the benefits of his faerie lineage, with remarkable success on the stock market.
Cast
William Palmer ..... Paul Hilton
Ray ..... Stuart McLoughlin
Croft ..... Sam Alexander
Doris ..... Judy Parfitt
Penny ..... Eliza Caitlin Parkes
Mr Winstanley ..... Iain Batchelor
Jack ..... Sam Dale
Mary ..... Christine Kavanagh
Mr Hazelbury ..... Sean Baker
Legend ..... Agnes Bateman
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
TUE 15:00 Making History (b00tmlh8)
Vanessa Collingridge and the team follow up more questions and research sent in by listeners that help us to understand some of the bigger stories from our past.
Today, Vanessa travels to Musselburgh to find out more about the first modern battle on British soil and the first modern map that depicted it. On 10th September 1547 the English and Scottish armies faced each other just a few miles to the east of Edinburgh in one of the key moments of what's become known as the War of the 'Rough Wooing'.
The English were using new, European-influenced, fighting techniques that included artillery; the Scots, however, relied on the medieval duality of man and horse. They were dealt a heavy defeat. However, despite this being: the last battle between Scots and English and the first 'modern' battle, there is little locally that commemorates it and few know much about it.
Vanessa talks with historian Dr Fiona Watson and then travels to the British Library in London to look at a map of the Battle of Pinkie that librarian Peter Barber believes is our first 'modern' map.
Also in the programme, listeners in a small town on the Essex/Suffolk border have got together for a community performance of song and speech which recalls bitter rural unrest in East Anglia in 1816 when the cry went up: 'bread or blood'. We hear how an economic downturn, new technology and the return of thousands of farm-workers from the Napoleonic wars pushed this sleepy part of the world into open revolt.
Producer: Nick Patrick
A Pier Production for Radio 4.
TUE 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00tmmb6)
Susie Maguire - I Got the Dog
Andria's Story
Susie Maguire's trilogy of comic stories about the fallout from a break up. Who gets left with what? Music, water, transportation, arithmetic...possessions, separations...and Love. Rebecca Front reads Andria's story.
Andria fell hook, line and sinker for the enigmatic and brooding Russian pianist, Boris. They met at a street market and the attraction was instant. He posted a little Russian doll through her letterbox with his phone number attached. How could she resist?
She decides to buy a bed. A 'lit bateau'; a boat bed, which she hoped was going to be a metaphor for the fantastic voyage the two of them were about to embark on together.
Sure enough, nine months later, the sound of Boris's piano playing is punctuated by the patter of feet across the parquet floor. Well, they are paws to be precise, belonging to an Italian greyhound that Andria found on the street. They name her Mimi.
Boris's passion for his art, once the very thing that attracted Andria, is becoming a source of friction. That intensity that was once directed to her is now being poured into his music. He's playing piano at
4am in the morning, Andria is angry and Mimi is confused.
After one particularly blazing row, Andria wakes to the realisation that her bed that was once so symbolic of the dreams she held for their future, now resembled the raft of the Medusa. Things can't go on - but what about poor Mimi? Beds, pianos, dogs and shipwrecks as Rebecca Front reads Andria's story.
Producer: Sarah Langan.
TUE 15:45 James and the Giant Tree House (b00tl2ys)
Episode 2
2/5. Like many small boys James Aldred loved climbing trees. Today, as a professional tree climber, he helps scientists and wildlife film crews up into the canopy to study and film the wildlife there. As well as climbing trees, James loves building tree houses in them. And when he isn't climbing trees, he's dreaming about them and scribbling designs for tree houses on scraps of paper or the back of cereal boxes. So, when he received a phone call inviting him to build a tree house which would be large enough to accommodate at least 4 people for over a month whilst they filmed Red-capped Mangabey monkeys in the forests of Gabon in Central West Africa, he didn't hesitate in accepting the challenge. This is the story of what happened; a terrific Boy's Own Adventure high above the ground in the forest canopy!
The first challenge was to find a suitable tree. After several days searching in an area called Petit Luango, James finally finds a suitable tree. With microphones attached to his helmets, he climbs up into the canopy to get a better look at the tree. As he approaches the top, he is suddenly attacked by a swarm of aggressive honey bees. High above the forest floor, he has to stay calm and transfer onto his abseil ropes, whilst receiving some 60 or more bee stings. Back in camp, his entire face and head swells up like a football. He's probably lucky to be alive. Shaken but not deterred, James is determined to continue his search for a suitable tree and build the giant tree house!
But things don't get much easier when James and Nick are chased by one large and very fast bull elephant!
Narrated by James Aldred
Produced by Sarah Blunt.
TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (b00tmt93)
Voices for Posterity
Chris Ledgard talks to people who are preserving their voices for posterity. He meets Tony Crimlisk who's been recording his family and friends on an old Grundig tape player since 1956, oral historian Shelley Trower and Laurence Brewer who's in the process of banking his voice before he loses it forever.
Produced by Beatrice Fenton.
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b00tmt95)
Series 22
Golda Meir
Golda Meir was the Iron Lady of Israeli politics, a straight-talking, intransigent leader who once said, "There is a type of woman who does not let her husband narrow her horizons". She is the choice of former Conservative government minister Edwina Currie.
Golda Meir was born in Kiev and educated in the United States, but moved to Palestine her twenties, just after the First World War. One of the signatories on Israel's Declaration of Independence in 1948, Meir was elected to the Knesset and stayed there until she retired in her late sixties. But when prime minister Levi Eshkol died unexpectedly she was called back to take his place. She was the compromise candidate but stayed there for five years and was in power during the Yom Kippur War.
Edwina Currie admires her conviction and humanity, and that fact that she reminds her of her granny.
Ahron Bregman from the Department of War Studies at Kings College London, served in the Israeli army and was present at Golda Meir's funeral. Unlike Edwina, Ahron thinks Golda Meir made some unforgiveable mistakes.
TUE 17:00 PM (b00tl3cv)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00tl3gw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Listen Against (b00tmt97)
Series 3
Episode 1
A week of radio and TV that never happened in the show that works its way through it all, like a critical tapeworm going through a giant media dog.
* Jeremy Paxman finally breaks and goes rogue,
* Today gets remade as a US sitcom,
* Listeners thoughts on the Food Programme giving recipes for cooking a Flump and spit roasting a Clanger.
With special guests Jenni Murray, Richard Bacon and John Humphrys.
Presented by Alice Arnold and Jon Holmes.
Featuring: James Bachman, Stephen Critchlow, Sarah Hadland and David Schnieder.
Producer: Sam Bryant
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2010.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b00tl08t)
The kids are back at school. Ruth hasn't seen Emma at the gates. Eddie makes nothing of her absence - she's just running late.
David's on his way to the Dairy Event. Ruth asks him to look out for a new tool kit for Josh's birthday. At the show, David admires a new mixer wagon, as Ed makes the most of the day. Proud Eddie points out he's come a long way as a farmer, but Ed feels he has a lot to prove to Oliver. Eddie reveals he knows about Emma being pregnant.
As Ruth helps Jill feed hungry calves, they discuss the scandal at the Echo with the eloping couple. It means Lynda's lost her vegetable judge for the flower and produce show. Ruth's keen to discuss Jill's birthday. Jill's keen to avoid a big do at Lower Loxley, remembering what a wonderful time she and Phil had for their 50th anniversary. She suggests a small family gathering away from Ambridge, for a change.
At an emergency meeting, Lynda proposes Joe Grundy to replace the vegetable judge. Bert's not happy, so Lynda gives Bert until the end of the week to find a more suitable judge.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b00tl3kz)
Martin Gayford on Lucian Freud; the Booker shortlist
With John Wilson.
Andrew Motion, chair of the judges of this year's Man Booker Prize, discusses the shortlist of novels in contention for the prize. The winner will be announced on Tuesday 12 October
The winner of the Mercury Prize for best album of the year is announced this evening. Steve Lamacq reports live from the awards ceremony and tells John his tip to win.
Art critic Martin Gayford and David Dawson, photographer and Freud's assistant, discuss the experience of having their portrait painted by Lucian Freud.
Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei stars alongside John C Reilly (Boogie Nights, Chicago) in Cyrus, a comedy drama exploring modern relationships. When a down on his luck divorcee meets the woman of his dreams, he discovers she shares a very close relationship with another man in her life: her son. Film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews.
Producer Ella-mai Robey.
TUE 19:45 The Blitz (b00tl03z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 Labour Saving Devices (b00tmt99)
In this programme Shaun Ley examines what Labour needs to do to revitalise itself in opposition in the light of historical precedents. He hears from some of the party's leading figures in its recent history about how New Labour lost its way and how they think the party can avoid repeating the mistakes from the past.
Some think their party's in pretty good shape, others that it narrowly avoided catastrophe. Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock, John Prescott, David Blunkett, Roy Hattersley, Bryan Gould and the former Labour party secretary Margaret McDonagh are just some of the leading Labour politicians and party insiders to give their view on the state of the Labour party and which direction Labour needs to follow now to avoid being being cast into the political wilderness of opposition for the next decade.
Producer: Kate Dixon.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b00tmt9c)
Are children missing out on sight-saving eye tests? The Association of Optometrists say schools should be doing more to check on the eye health of the children in their care. Karen Sparrow, education adviser at the Association debates the issue with Anita Lightstone, Director of the UK Vision Strategy. Your reaction to last week's interview with Marilee Talkington and her one-woman show that explores her congenital macular disease. And back to the issue of smart-phones for visually impaired people - a total revolution in information technology or an expensive exercise in frustration, as phone technology and our specific needs fail to keep in step. Steve Nutt from Computer Room Services and the BBC's political correspondent Gary O'Donoghue discuss.
TUE 21:00 Case Notes (b00tmt9f)
Biomechanics
This week Case Notes explores the uses of the medical science of biomechanics - from helping elite atheletes avoid sports injuries to easing the pain of those with osteoarthritis in the knee.
At the University of Bath Sports Training Village, Dr Mark Porter has his gait analysed and is given advice on preventing injuries as a recreational runner. Mark talks to sports doctors and physiotherapists at the centre's sports injury clinic about tennis, football and athletics. He meets Paralympic sprinter Ben Rushgrove who overcame his own biomechanical challenge to mount the podium in Beijing two years ago.
Case Notes also reports on biomechanical research at the University of Salford looking at the benefits of specially engineered shoes in easing the pain and possibly changing the course of osteoarthritis in the knee.
Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker.
TUE 21:30 What's the Point of...? (b00tmkyf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 21:58 Weather (b00tl3y3)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b00tl4b8)
The Home Secretary will review the extradition treaty between Britain and the United States following concerns over cases like Gary McKinnon's
Juan Manuel Barroso gives the first State of the European Union address. Is he being too optimistic?
Why are Latvians leaving their homeland in their thousands?
With Robin Lustig.
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00tnskh)
Alex y Robert
Episode 2
Written by Wena Poon. Alex has contacted Roberto. After his latest bullfight in Valencia they drive somewhere they can talk away from his entourage and the paparazzi.
Some bullfighting terms:
corrida de toros - "running of the bulls", or bullfight veronica - a pass made by a torero during the first act of a bullfight, using the pink and yellow cape held before his chest with both hands. Named after Saint Veronica, who is often depicted in classical paintings holding her veil in the same way.
recibiendo - a high-risk method of killing the bull. The bullfighter urges the bull to charge at him and his raised sword, such that he "receives" it, as opposed to running at a stationary bull.
Abridged by Jeremy Osborne
Read by Lorelei King
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 23:00 Nick Mohammed in Bits (b00tmt9h)
Lila
It's the start of term time, and second year student Lila is going to teach the Freshers everything she knows. Featuring Nick Mohammed as Lila with Colin Hoult as the reporter and Anna Crilly (Lead Balloon) as Lila's best friend.
Bits is a series of character pieces showcasing the best of Nick Mohammed's idiosyncratic characters in a series of one off comic plays.
Produced by Victoria Lloyd.
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00tl4mq)
MPs question the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner, John Yates, following the News of the World mobile phone hacking allegations. Health Ministers face opposition challenges over the coalition's plans to shake-up the health service. Labour says moves to limit civil service redundancy are unfair. And the Government defends its decision to scrap the Audit Commission. Susan Hulme and team report on today's events in Parliament.
WEDNESDAY 08 SEPTEMBER 2010
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b00tkrdb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b00tkymm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00tkrg0)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00tkxlv)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00tkrhw)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b00tkxqh)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00tkxtg)
with The Rev'd Dr Stephen Wigley.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b00tky2h)
Anna Hill reports from the Dairy Event 2010, the UK's largest livestock trade show, to look at the challenges facing dairy farmers in the months and years ahead. Anna meets the organisers of the event, the farmers showing cattle and talks to Farming Minister Jim Paice about life in dairy farming.
Presenter: Anna Hill; Producer: Martin Poyntz-Roberts.
WED 06:00 Today (b00tky8s)
Morning news and current affairs with Justin Webb and Sarah Montague, including:
07:50 Vince Cable on the future of science funding.
08:10 Should first and second degree murder be introduced in England and Wales?
08:30 Has Stephen Hawking killed philosophy?
08:40 John le Carre on the Russian connection in his latest book.
WED 09:00 The Blitz (b00tmtb0)
As part of the Radio 4 Blitz season of programmes, Michael Portillo chairs a discussion with leading historians about the strategy and ongoing legacy of Nazi Germany's decision to bomb and destroy Britain's cities. The 7th of September 1940 marks the begining of nine months of aerial bombardment of Britain; an unprecedented seige experience which has been seared into the national psyche. London bore the brunt but Liverpool, Coventry, Plymouth and Belfast were amongst other cities badly damaged. In this discussion the homefront historian Juliet Gardiner, leading expert on Nazi Germany Sir Ian Kershaw and Terry Charman from the Imperial War Museum take a close look at the months leading up to the Blitz to understand Hitler's designs on Britain and how His Majesty's Government began preparing for the massive attack which quickly became an inevitability. We'll hear how volunteer forces were mobilized under extreme circumstances and how the fire service became the frontline fighters of the Blitz.
They'll discuss the true scale of the operation and the damage inflicted and also how it was judged and acted upon both in Hitler's High Command as well as in Churchill's War Cabinet. They'll also examine 'Blitz Spirit' to find out what it really consists of, how it has been reflected in popular culture and how well it is understood today.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b00tkymp)
Storyteller: The Life of Roald Dahl
Episode 3
"Roald Dahl thought biographies were boring. He told me so while munching on a lobster claw."
The new biographer of Dahl is Donald Sturrock, who once made a film about the writer, so knew the man and his family very well. His book charts Dahl's rich and varied life as fighter pilot, intelligence operative, and the adult writer who then wrote for children in such an impactful way that he remains hugely popular with today's young readers. He was truly on their wavelength. He spoke to them through books such as Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, The BFG and Danny, Champion of The World.
Sturrock investigates Dahl's eternal popularity as a writer. And of course the man behind the books...
3. Living in New York gave the author a premonition of a family disaster, which was vividly realized all too soon.
Read by Julian Rhind Tutt and the voice of Dahl is Ian McDiarmid
Producer Duncan Minshull.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00tkyyb)
Presented by Jenni Murray. The actress Tamsin Greig on her new film 'Tamara Drewe'. The latest statistics on the teacher workforce show that almost one in four primary schools in England have no male teachers - we look at what the impact of this and what can be done? Iris Murdoch died in 1999 with 26 novels to her name and numerous literary awards - 11 years on from her death, how does her reputation as a novelist stand? And there's live music from American singer Nell Bryden.
WED 10:45 The Blitz (b00tl041)
Belfast
Part of a series of programmes exploring how different UK cities experienced the Blitz.
Former Blue Peter presenter Zoe Salmon goes back home to Belfast in Northern Ireland to find out about how people there coped with the air raids and bombing.
At the start of the Second World War, Belfast was uniquely ill-prepared for the threat of air raids. The Government in Stormont did not expect their city to be a target, and civil defence was far less advanced than in other parts of the nation. Efforts to ensure that the city's people were adequately prepared were made more complicated by Northern Ireland's divide between the Protestant and Catholic communities.
Belfast's Blitz came in April and May of 1941. In the course of four nights of bombing more than a thousand people were killed and around half of the city's housing was damaged.
Zoe visits Clonard Monastery and finds out about one remarkable story of how the threat of the raids led to the breakdown of the some of the divisions between the city's Protestants and Catholics. On the night of the second major attack on Belfast, the Monastery's crypt was opened up as an air raid shelter for local women and children. Clonard's Chronicle tells how people from the local Catholic and Protestant communities alike spent the night together there, saying prayers and singing hymns. It was a moment, as the Chronicle records, which was "very much appreciated by all".
Producer: Louise Adamson
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 11:00 Bandits of the Blitz (b00tmtj8)
With Britain at war and London under siege from the Luftwaffe, everyone's pulling together. Or are they? Whilst bombs rained down and long-suffering Brits helped each other, some people were simply helping themselves - stealing, looting, and making money on the black market.
The Second World War created vast opportunities for crime. Warehouses were robbed, army stores rifled and forgers kept busy providing false identity documents, ration books and clothing coupons. Looters, stealing anything of value, cleaned out blitzed houses.
The blackout and bombing provided perfect cover for safe cracking and Post Office raids. Professional criminals thrived. People like Billy Hill, who despite prison terms used his wartime muscle to become, in his words, "Boss of Britain's Underworld".
Complex emergency rules left normally-law-abiding citizens facing the courts. Shopkeepers who fell foul of the tangle of red tape faced heavy fines.
Even as the war ended, rationing continued, and the black market flourished. Presenter Duncan Campbell unearths once-secret papers that put Billy Hill at the centre of London's organized crime in the 1950s.
Using archive accounts and talking to people who were there, Campbell tells the tale of crime on the home front. With interviews from Billy Hill's son, Justin Hill, former jewel thief Peter Scott, veteran ex police officers, and historians and academics.
Presenter Duncan Campbell is a former crime correspondent for the Guardian.
Producer: Liz Carney
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2010.
WED 11:30 Mum's on the Run (b00tmtjb)
Episode 3
When Jen starts trying to date again, things are bound to go awry. She manages to get involved in a complicated online mix up which involves the neighbours and the kids' teacher.
Mum's on the Run is a modern-day twist on the single-family situation. It follows the hectic life ("What life?") of single mum, Jen.
Mother of two, Master of none - Jen seems to spend most of her time as an unpaid chauffeur to a 15 year-old teenage existentialist son, Toby, and a tonally challenged recorder-practising 11 year-old daughter, Felicity, whilst also coping with the jazz musician ex-husband, the fiercely competitive and annoying downstairs neighbour and a huge crush on her son's history teacher.
Jen ..... Ronni Ancona
Mr. Rigby ..... John Gordon Sinclair
Shelley ..... Alexis Zegerman
Vivienne ..... Christine Kavanagh
Felicity ..... Amy Dabrowa
Toby ..... Alexander Heath
Radio DJ/Waiter ..... Lloyd Thomas
Adam ..... Caleb Hughes
Written by Alexis Zegerman.
Producer Dawn Ellis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2010.
WED 12:00 You and Yours (b00tl056)
Julian Worricker investigates websites offering free health supplements. We hear why potholers are digging to connect 100 kilometres of tunnels and caves across the counties of Cumbria, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and why the European Union has said it is 'discriminatory' to test nurses who want to work in the UK if they are from another EU country.
WED 12:57 Weather (b00tl06b)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b00tl07j)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.
WED 13:30 The Media Show (b00tmtjd)
Paul Staines, aka Gudio Fawkes, is the political blogger behind the story of William Hague and his special advisor. Critics describe him as an anti-journalist, un-accountable and a peddler of political soft porn. How does he respond?
With a Papal visit to the UK imminent, issues like the ordination of women, and arguments about whether to build a Mosque at Ground Zero in New York, religion is never far from the headlines. But, can a secular media cover events in the world of religion effectively? And do newspaper article or television news have any hope of getting to grips with questions like 'Does God exits?' Former religious correspondent for The Guardian Stephen Bates and Baroness Warnock discuss.
And the big story of the week. What exactly have we learnt from the New York Times' allegations about phone hacking at the News of The World, and why is an American newspaper so interested in what happens in the news room of a British tabloid?
Steve Hewlett speakers to Professor of Journalism and former tabloid editor Roy Greenslade and Rupert Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff.
The producer is Joe Kent.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b00tl08t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b00tmtjg)
Julie Mayhew - Stopgap
by Julie Mayhew. New graduate Max takes a temp job while on her way to bigger things. She considers her colleague Emma to be a victim of dull office life, but Emma's secret postcards tell a very different story.
Emma ..... Liz White
Max...... Claire Harry
Ian..... Iain Batchelor
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer.
WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b00tmtjj)
Money Box Live returns to Radio 4 this afternoon, with Paul Lewis and guests taking your calls about dealing with tax errors.
HM Revenue and Customs are writing to six million people who've paid the wrong amount of tax through the Pay as You Earn system. People who've underpaid will be asked to make good the shortfall while others will receive a rebate.
If you've received a letter and would like some advice about what to do next, why not contact the programme?
Perhaps you're wondering how to check your tax record and correct mistakes.
And could any over or underpayment affect your benefit claims?
Whatever your concern, Paul Lewis and guests will be ready to help.
Phone lines open at
1.30 this afternoon and the number to call is 03700 100 444. Standard geographic charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher. The programme starts after the three o'clock news. That number again 03700 100 444.
Following the news that around 6 million people have paid the wrong amount of tax due to mistakes made by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over the last two years, Paul Lewis will invite your questions about what this means for you.
You can call the programme when lines open on Wednesday at 1330 BST. The number is 03700 100 444.
Standard geographic charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher.
Producer: Diane Richardson.
WED 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00tmmyn)
Susie Maguire - I Got the Dog
Boris's Story
Boris is an artist - a pianist. When he's working on a piece, time becomes meaningless; he will play all through the night and not notice. That enigmatic passion, once the very thing that attracted Andria to him, eventually caused their break up.Boris left, taking his piano and their dog Mimi with him.
Things begin to look up for him when he starts seeing another artist Chiara. Surely she will understand the creative drive? Chiara is a performance artist. When she asks Boris to compose a piece of music for her next 'project', it seems that perhaps they are kindred spirits.
He's also pleased that Chiara is getting along very well with Mimi, until one he's shocked to discover that Mimi has been co-opted into Chiara's performance! Tensions mount further as Boris's obsessive drive to work takes over, and poor Mimi is caught in the cross-fire again. Who'll get the dog this time?
John McGlynn reads Boris's story
Producer: Sarah Langan.
WED 15:45 James and the Giant Tree House (b00tl38v)
Episode 3
3/5. Like many small boys James Aldred loved climbing trees. Today, he stills loves climbing trees, but as a professional, helping scientists and wildlife filming crews into the canopy to study and film the wildlife here. As well as climbing trees, he loves building tree houses. When he isn't climbing trees, he's dreaming about them and scribbling designs for tree houses on scraps of paper or the back of cereal boxes. So, when he received a phone call inviting him to build a tree house which would be large enough to accommodate at least 4 people for over a month whilst they filmed Red-capped Mangabey monkeys in the forests of Gabon in Central West Africa, he didn't hesitate in accepting the challenge. This is the story of what happened; a terrific Boy's Own Adventure high above the ground in the forest canopy!
Having overcome lots of problems in the first weeks of work, including angry honey bees and a stampeding elephant - they are faced with a new one; a dead tree is leaning against their tree house tree, and the only way to remove is it to take down a live tree as well. As they are working in an area of conservation they have to seek consul and advice before they can proceed. More problems follow: their chainsaw and drill both prove temperamental, and then when their boat runs out of fuel and they try to get some more, they discover the fuel station has also run dry!
Narrated by James Aldred
Produced by Sarah Blunt.
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b00tmtjl)
British Society of Criminology Conference at Leicester University
When is a crime a 'hate crime', and what does that term actually mean? How has living on what other people throw away become a subject for criminologists? Laurie explores some of the latest ideas on crime as he visits the British Society of Criminology Conference held this year at Leicester University. He hears from the film maker Rex Bloomstein, from Sylvia Lancaster whose daughter Sophie was murdered because of the way she looked, from Jon Garland, Senior Lecturer in Crimilogy, University of Leicester, and also from Jeff Ferrell, the Professor of Criminology from the United States who has been living out of dumpsters, skips, rubbish bins in an attempt to understand an increasingly criminalised and marginalised way of life.
Producer: Charlie Taylor.
WED 16:30 Case Notes (b00tmt9f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 17:00 PM (b00tl3cx)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Carolyn Quinn. Plus Weather.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00tl3gy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 The Maltby Collection (b00wwj28)
Series 2
Episode 1
With the museum stuck in the past, modernising deputy curator Rod wants to make it sexy. Stars Geoffrey Palmer. From June 2008.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b00tl08w)
Alistair drives Elizabeth to Felpersham Cathedral School. She's paying a covert visit before seeing the place officially with Nigel next Tuesday. Alistair admits he's not so keen on private schools, discussing his own experiences with his children. All he really cares about is keeping Shula and Daniel happy. Elizabeth's impressed by the school. There, she and Alistair discuss Jill's upcoming birthday. A weekend in Bath is planned. Elizabeth has delegated the organisation to Ruth and David.
Harry reveals to Fallon his plans to move into a modest new Hillside flat. He's all set to move next week, but Fallon reminds him he'll need furniture. Jolene and Fallon offer some bar stools and an old computer desk. Meanwhile, Jazzer's gobsmacked when Fallon misleading tells him she's been "looking at a flat with Harry".
Fallon's pleased that Jolene seems to have perked up. However, Jolene's upset when a customer comes in and asks how her husband is. She retreats upstairs. Fallon realises that Jolene's not up to running the Bull any more. And if it does close, Fallon won't blame her at all.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b00tl3l1)
Deathtrap and Michael Sheen completes his Blair trilogy
With Mark Lawson. Crime writer Frances Fyfield reviews a new staging of Ira Levin's thriller Deathtrap, with a cast including Simon Russell Beale, Jonathan Groff from Glee, and Claire Skinner.
Martin Sheen completes his Blair trilogy acting opposite Dennis Quaid as Clinton in Peter Morgan's new TV drama The Special Relationship. Journalists Anne McElvoy and Stryker McGuire give their views.
The Turner Prize-winning artist Rachel Whiteread made her name with large plaster cast sculptures including one taken from the inside of a Victorian house which was later demolished. As her drawings go on show at Tate Britain, she discusses how they inform her work.
Pianist Paul Lewis discusses completing his cycle of Beethoven piano concertos at this year's Proms.
And another instalment of the Front Row chain story with contributions from writers including Frederick Forsyth and Felix Francis. The complete story is available on the Front Row website.
Producer Martin Williams.
WED 19:45 The Blitz (b00tl041)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
WED 20:00 Has the Taliban Won in Afghanistan? (b00tmtqc)
Eddie Mair chairs a debate at Chatham House in London on the progress of the conflict in Afghanistan. Some expert observers say 'It's over; the Taliban have won the war'. Others believe neither side can win.
Yet all agree that the coalition's work in the country is not going well and that the end must be in sight.
Panellists include Peter W. Galbraith, outspoken critic of the 2009 presidential elections in Afghanistan, Mariam Abu Zahab who is a sociologist from SciencePo, one of France's most respected academic institutions, Lieutenant General Sir Graeme Lamb who was working, until recently, as a senior advisor to US General McChrystal and Abubakar Siddique, who is the Afghanistan Correspondent for Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty.
Producer: Sue Davies.
WED 20:45 1960-2010 (b00tmtqg)
Episode 2
In the second part of our series where commentators born in 1960 reflect on the social consequences of the 1960s, Cristina Odone discusses sex and the sixties. The arrival of the pill at the start of the decade offered women the chance to truly rebalance relationships in a feminine direction. Could emotions, nurture, commitment and love have taken centre stage instead of empty sexualisation? And if that opportunity was indeed thrown away fifty years ago, might it be about to present itself again?
Producer: Giles Edwards.
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b00tmtwh)
Blackpool: the New Dallas?
The Deepwater Horizon disaster proved the dangers of searching for our oil and gas in ever more challenging environments. Oil companies that had been keen to explore in deeper, colder and more isolated waters have been forced to take a step back and reconsider their options.
Their response has been to launch an extraordinary land grab, buying up the rights to explore vast tracts of the US and Europe in search of unconventional oil and gas. From Lancashire to Gdansk and New York to the Rockies enormous reserves of shale gas lurk temptingly close to the centres of population. Recent advances in extraction techniques have launched an industry in the US and persuaded the major oil companies to begin prospecting expeditions throughout Europe.
The advantages are obvious, removing our dependence on the Middle East, cutting back on the costs of transport and transmission. The disadvantages are less obvious but could be fatally insurmountable. In the US shale gas producers are blamed for poisoning water courses and even causing earthquakes.
Exploratory drilling is already happening within sight of the Blackpool Tower so the need to consider the pitfalls and potentially enormous prizes of land-based oil and gas in the UK is urgent.
WED 21:30 The Blitz (b00tmtb0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b00tl3y5)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b00tl4bc)
BP has published its report into what went wrong at the Deepwater Horizon oil well. Will it placate the company's critics in the US?
The UN admits it failed to protect hundreds of women and children who were raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
And a new study suggests vitamin B supplements may help guard against dementia.
With Brian Hanrahan.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00tnsjx)
Alex y Robert
Episode 3
Written by Wena Poon. Alex has returned to Texas to continue her studies while Roberto is bullfighting in the South America. To shrink the miles between them Alex has introduced him to text messaging. But all is not well with Roberto's career.
Some bullfighting terms:
pena - a bullfighting fan club novillero - a bullfighter not yet graduated to professional matador status. He fights younger, smaller bulls.
plaza - short for plaza de toros,
the bullring ole - an audience cry of appreciation during a bullfight, said to have come from the Muslim word for God, Allah.
Las Fallas - an annual fireworks and effigy-burning festival in the city of Valencia, held in honour of Saint Joseph.
Abridged by Jeremy Osborne
Read by Lorelei King
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:00 Continuity (b00tmtwk)
Episode 4
A seasoned and meticulous continuity announcer presents the very best of next week's radio with aplomb.
There's something for everyone here: Radio 4 goes to Preston for the national pie competition, Sarah Topolski gives us a sneak preview of next week's obituaries - exciting for most of us - and there's unbridled hilarity from the United Nations as our Foreign Office sitcom goes Stateside. No Philosophical Logic this week though. You can't have everything.
Alistair McGowan stars in this subversive sitcom about a continuity announcer, written by Hugh Rycroft. Also starring Lewis Macleod, Sally Grace, Charlotte Page and David Holt.
Produced by David Spicer and Frank Stirling
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:15 What to Do If You're Not Like Everybody Else (b00tmtwm)
Series 1
Communication
Andrew Lawrence examines the difficulties of human interaction and communication.
A four part mini-series of short comedic monologues taking a light-hearted look at various aspects of conventional living and the pressure we feel to conform to social norms and ideals.
From South London comedy club 'Up The Creek'.
Written by Andrew Lawrence.
Producer: Jane Berthoud
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2010.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00tl4ms)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament.
THURSDAY 09 SEPTEMBER 2010
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b00tkrdd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b00tkymp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00tkrg2)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00tkxlx)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00tkrhy)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b00tkxqk)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00tkxtj)
with The Rev'd Dr Stephen Wigley.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b00tky2k)
Charlotte Smith hears concerns that slurry at a proposed 8,000 cow dairy farm may damage the health of Lincolnshire villagers. Nocton Dairy plans to submit its planning proposal later this month.
In the House of Commons Nick Clegg rules out a ban on Chinese lanterns, but is demanding that they should be totally biodegradable. The National Farmers' Union has been campaigning against the lanterns, which they say kill animals and are a fire risk.
And we could soon be paying even more for food. Rocketing wheat prices are the cause, and The Grocer magazine warns that once Christmas promotions have run their course, shoppers will start to pay.
Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Melvin Rickarby.
THU 06:00 Today (b00tky8v)
Morning news and current affairs with John Humphrys and Justin Webb, including:
07:50 A tax inspector says the system is "at melting point".
08:10 Deputy PM Nick Clegg outlines the coalition's approach to cutting spending.
08:23 British heavyweight boxers David Haye and Audley Harrison continue their pre-fight row.
08:36 Journalist Simon Heffer goes back to school in his quest to improve our use of grammar.
THU 09:00 The Pope's British Divisions (b00tmtxn)
As British Catholics prepare to welcome Pope Benedict XVI, Mark Dowd investigates the UK's biggest religious minority and asks - is it becoming more conservative?
Twenty-eight years have passed since the last Papal visit and the Catholic landscape in Britain has changed dramatically. The Church's standing has been badly damaged by clerical sex abuse; parishes are facing an unprecedented shortage of priests and - in a country where The God Delusion was a best-seller - to be a practising Roman Catholic is to be counter-cultural. Meanwhile, immigration is swelling the Catholic population and transforming congregations as migrants from Poland, Africa and Asia bring with them a tougher, more traditional theology. And a new generation of young Catholics is emerging which wants a greater emphasis on orthodoxy and tradition.
In The Pope's British Divisions, journalist Mark Dowd investigates the changes in Britain's Catholic community since 1982 and the consequences of these changes for wider society. He asks if the Church's once-strong liberal wing is becoming a minority as British Catholics heed Benedict's call for a smaller, purer church. And he examines the influence of the Catholic Church on public life in the UK.
As Mark tests the fault lines of British Catholic identity, he visits a Vatican-approved mass for gay and lesbian Catholics and meets fellow-Catholics who want this special mass to be shut down. He investigates the new breed of 'Radical Traditionalists' who campaign for traditional Latin church rites and are scathing of modern 'pick and mix' Catholicism; and he talks to their liberal opponents who fear a conservative takeover of their Church.
Mark Dowd is a former Dominican Friar, a documentary maker, a TV presenter and a practising Catholic.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b00tkyx5)
Storyteller: The Life of Roald Dahl
Episode 4
"Roald Dahl thought biographies were boring. He told me so while munching on a lobster claw."
The new biographer of Dahl is Donald Sturrock, who once made a film about the writer, so knew the man and his family very well. His book charts Dahl's rich and varied life as fighter pilot, intelligence operative, and the adult writer who then wrote for children in such an impactful way that he remains hugely popular with today's young readers. He was truly on their wavelength. He spoke to them through books such as Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, The BFG and Danny, Champion of The World.
Sturrock investigates Dahl's eternal popularity as a writer. And of course the man behind the books...
4. Aged fifty six, it's suddenly all change for Dahl, and then there is his manifesto for entertaining children.
Reader Julian Rhind Tutt and the voice of Dahl is Ian McDiarmid.
Producer Duncan Minshull.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00tkyyd)
Presented by Jenni Murray. Sadie Frost has lived much of her life in the glare of the media spotlight with marriages to Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp and the actor Jude Law. She joins Jenni to tell her story.
As Britain prepares for the visit of the Pope next week, we examine the personal spiritual journey and the struggles with faith which it can involve. There are new concerns for women who are standing up for human rights in Iran following the arrest of a high profile human rights lawyer - we talk to Amnesty International. Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim has earned a reputation for creating complex and troubled characters with women taking centre stage - we hear about the influences behind some of his most interesting characters. Driving a convertible in middle age is usually seen as a symbol of male mid-life crises but new research shows that women are more likely to drive a soft-top than a man, so what is it about driving such visible cars that appeals to us?
THU 10:45 The Blitz (b00tl043)
Birmingham
Part of a series of programmes telling stories of the Blitz from around the UK. Jasper Carrott finds out what happened in Birmingham during the worst of the bombing.
Birmingham was a crucial centre for the manufacture of armaments during the Second World War - everything from anti-aircraft shells to Spitfire planes was made there.
Workers - many of them young women - were brought from across Britain to keep the factories of England's manufacturing powerhouse going. Birmingham was justifiably known as the 'city of a thousand trades'. By 1944, four hundred thousand people people were involved in war work there - a greater percentage of the population than anywhere else in the country.
Jasper meets some of those who undertook this gruelling work. They recall how they worked round the clock to keep the nation's armed forces supplied and they remember the dangerous nights of the Blitz when they city's factories were often the bombers' targets and workers would sometimes carry on through the air raid sirens in order not to lose production.
Jasper also hears about one of the darkest episodes of the Birmingham Blitz - the bombing of the Birmingham Small Arms Company's factory at Small Heath on the night of the 19th of November, 1940. Many of the workers were trapped inside the burning building, and tremendous heroism was shown by the rescuers, with two George Medals being won that night. Nonetheless, more than fifty workers were killed in a vivid demonstration of the bravery shown and risks taken by those who worked on the home front through the Blitz.
Producer: Louise Adamson
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b00tmtxq)
Delhi
This year's Commonwealth Games will be held in October in the Indian capital Delhi, the largest sporting event ever to be held there. No expense is being spared to build the appropriate facilities and infrastructure. But many are questioning whether spending billions of dollars hosting a two-week sporting event is the best use of resources in a city where poverty is entrenched.
As the budget for the games spirals, the organisers are being accused of hiding the true cost, and of diverting funds intended for the very poorest. They're also accused of condoning the displacement of thousands of poor families and a blatant disregard of the rights of the workers building the stadiums.
Rupa Jha asks who are the winners and who the losers in Delhi's attempt to turn itself into a "world-class" city.
Producer: Tim Mansel.
THU 11:30 Juggling Chainsaws with Archaos (b00tmtxs)
Chainsaws, forklift trucks and semtex - in 1990, the French ripped into the traditional circus format with a demented vitality that outraged authorities across the UK. Archaos were the creation of Pierrot Bidon, "part gypsy, part street urchin, very hairy" according to Mark Borkowski. He was their British publicist, and saw it as his job to get them out of the cultural pages and onto the front pages instead.
"The Human Circus Hides Sick Secrets" - a typical tabloid headline that followed Archaos wherever they went. As a result, local councils banned them again and again, a cunning ploy to sell huge numbers of tickets wherever they went.
In Juggling Chainsaws with Archaos, presenter Miles Warde tracks down the British participants who made Archaos more successful here than anywhere else - including their producer Adrian Evans and performers like Mischa Eligoloff, who moved from backstage to fire-eater, hiccupped during a performance, and felt all his paraffin enter his lungs. Or as Pierrot Bidon used to say, "A life without danger is not a life; a show without danger is not a show.".
THU 12:00 You and Yours (b00tl058)
Consumer affairs with Julian Worricker. The argument for 250 new towns: A club is launched that wants the public to identify land which could play host to the half a million new homes a year we need to build to meet housing demand in the next two decades. Housing minister Grant Shapps responds.
Last week the high street banks revealed they received 1.3 million complaints between January and June but Consumer Focus says they are not much use to consumers because they were not broken down either by financial brand or by specific complaint.
Cambridge mathematicians have developed an algorithm which will help the police more accurately predict the nature, the frequency and the location of crime; what will it add to the fight against crime?
The world is fast running out of helium. Its most visible use is in party balloons but it does have more important applications too. The gas cannot be replaced and currently it is too cheap to recycle. The true cost of a novelty balloon, say researchers, should be £64!
Not so long ago, from a Polish perspective, the UK was viewed as a land of plenty but now it seems the tables are turning. Poland was the only EU country not to dip into recession and sales of luxury goods in the country are booming.
THU 12:57 Weather (b00tl06d)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b00tl07l)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.
THU 13:30 Costing the Earth (b00tmtwh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:00 The Archers (b00tl08w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b00tmtz4)
What the Bishops Knew
'What the Bishops Knew' by Hugh Costello fictionally explores an accusation of child abuse by a Catholic Priest in Ireland and how over several decades this was allegedly covered up within the hierarchy of the Church in an attempt to protect its reputation.
Mary Dowdall - Brid Brennan
Bob McCabe - Mark Lambert
Barry Glynn - Patrick Fitzsymons
Barry, aged 10 - Peter Gilmore
Fr Brand - Kevin Flood
Monsignor Milligan - Pat Laffan
Professor McGovern - Niall Cusack
Bishop Culleton - Gerard Murphy
Cardinal Finnerty - Des Nealon
Director Eoin O'Callaghan
The writer:
As well as being a regular writer for R4, Hugh Costello is an Emmy Award nominated screenwriter (Bernard and Doris with Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon). He is loathe to see himself as the scourge of the Catholic Church but his interest in its affairs has lead him to write a number of plays about the Vatican; Conclave and My Dear Children of the Whole World.
Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan
Please find details of organisations which offer advice and support below.
The Churches' Child Protection Advisory Service has been in existence since 1977 and has developed over the years into a highly reputable child protection agency. Today the charity is not only involved in developing child protection policies and safe practice but in recognition of the wider issues, offers help and support to all those affected by abuse as well as those seeking to provide pastoral care. They can offer support to anyone affected by abuse within the church or not. Contact them by phone on 0845 120 45 50, 24 hours a day or visit www.ccpas.co.uk
Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors is a support group for women and men from Christian backgrounds who have been sexually abused by Ministers or Clergy, as children or as adults. They support both survivors who have remained within their Christian communities and for those who have left. Contact them by phone on 0808 801 0340, Tuesdays from 2-
5pm and Wednesdays & Thursdays from 6-
9pm, or log onto www.macsas.org.uk
The National Association for People Abused in Childhood is a charity that offers support, advice and guidance to adult survivors of any form of childhood abuse. You can contact them on 0800 085 3330 Monday to Thursday between
10am and
9pm and Friday between
10am and
6pm or visit www.napac.org.uk
Stop it Now! UK and Ireland works to protect children and prevent child sexual abuse. Their helpline offers confidential advice, information and support to anyone with concerns about child sexual abuse and helps callers take the action that is in the best interests of children. The helpline is available to any adult who is concerned that an adult or child they know is sexually abusing a child, or is at risk of doing so; is concerned about their own thoughts or behaviour towards children, including an interest in child pornography; or is a parent or carer of a child whose sexual behaviour or interests they find worrying. Contact the Freephone Helpline on 0808 1000 900,
9am to
9pm Monday to Thursday and on Fridays from
9am -
7pm, or visit www.stopitnow.org.uk. There is also an email address and Emails received are anonymised to preserve confidentiality. That address is help@stopitnow.org.uk
Samaritans provides confidential non-judgemental emotional support, 24 hours a day for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which could lead to suicide. Contact the Samaritans by phone on 08457 90 90 90, 24 hours a day, or log onto www.samaritans.org.
THU 15:00 Open Country (b00tjvhj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:07 on Saturday]
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b00tkp1t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00tmmyj)
Susie Maguire - I Got the Dog
Chiara's Story
Susie Maguire's trilogy of comic stories about the fallout from a break up. Who gets left with what? Music, water, dogs, arithmetic, possessions... and love. Vicki Pepperdine reads Chiara's story.
Chiara is a performance artist. She does a little bit of dance, singing, theatre and mime.
Boris was her first Russian. Dimitri was her second, although he was more Hampstead than St Petersburg.
All she has left from these relationships is a selection of battle scars. Surely she can salvage something from this? Never one to under-analyse the events in her life, she convinces herself that she can create something from this mess: "Yes," she decides, "I can workshop this." Pretty quickly she's mapped out an entire performance project complete with Rimsky Korsakov, some 'Eugene Onegin-y' type music, with Boris represented by a Nosferatu figure, whilst Andria and Dimitri are played by a pair of coats and hats. With references to film noir, Dali and Eisenstein all chucked into the melting pot for luck.
Will Chiara's creativity bring her salvation? And what happened to the dog?
Vicki Pepperdine reads Chiara's story
Producer: Sarah Langan.
THU 15:45 James and the Giant Tree House (b00tl38x)
Episode 4
4/5. Like many small boys James Aldred loved climbing trees. Today, he stills loves climbing trees, but as a professional, helping scientists and wildlife filming crews into the canopy to study and film the wildlife here. As well as climbing trees, he loves building tree houses. When he isn't climbing trees, he's dreaming about them and scribbling designs for tree houses on scraps of paper or the back of cereal boxes. So, when he received a phone call inviting him to build a tree house which would be large enough to accommodate at least 4 people for over a month whilst they filmed Red-capped Mangabey monkeys in the forests of Gabon in Central West Africa, he didn't hesitate in accepting the challenge. This is the story of what happened; a terrific Boy's Own Adventure high above the ground in the forest canopy!
James, his friend Nick Dunbar and their team face numeorus problems and delays during the construction, but they keep going. Now, with time running out, James, Nick and the team work furiously to get the tree house completed on time. This means early starts and long days. Everyone is getting tired, and as James and Nick swing in mid-air on their ropes hauling up and manipulating heavy timbers between them, below in the lagoon a crocodile launches out of the water after prey. This is not the time for making mistakes!
Narrated by James Aldred
Produced by Sarah Blunt.
THU 16:00 Bookclub (b00tkpff)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:30 Material World (b00tmv3m)
Quentin Cooper presents this week's digest of science in and behind the headlines. In this edition: Business Secretary Vince Cable has unveiled plans for a squeeze on public funding for scientific research. Quentin discusses what impact this could have on British science. Quentin talks to archaeologist Dr Timothy Taylor about why, despite our frailty, humans have become the dominant species. Quentin also asks why the European eel is on the decline. He talks to Dr Julian Metcalfe from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), about the 'Eeliad' project which will use GPS to track eels as they migrate across the Atlantic Ocean. And, a week before the So You Want To Be A Scientist final, Nina Jones and her mentor Dr Bernie Hogan analyse the results from their Facebook experiment & discuss their findings.
The producer is Ania Lichtarowicz.
THU 17:00 PM (b00tl3d1)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Carolyn Quinn. Plus Weather.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00tl3h0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Clare in the Community (b00hq0nc)
Series 5
Too Cool for School
Control freak and social worker, Clare Barker, likes nothing better than interfering in other people's lives on both a professional and personal basis - so making friends isn't easy. However, in this episode she manages it.
Clare ..... Sally Phillips
Brian ..... Alex Lowe
Helen ..... Liza Tarbuck
Ray ..... Richard Lumsden
Megan/Nali ..... Nina Conti
Irene ..... Ellen Thomas
Simon ..... Andrew Wincott
Chloe ..... Alex Tregear
Mrs Boxer ..... Anna Bengo
Written by Harry Venning and David Ramsden
Producer: Katie Tyrrell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2009.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b00tl08y)
Matt's looking forward to the golf club dinner dance tonight. Anxious Lilian dresses to impress - one in the eye for the Borchester Land directors.
Busy Kathy literally bumps into Jennifer. Kathy's harassed by last minute arrangements for tonight's event, which she's been organising. Lilian admits to Jennifer she's nervous about the board members looking down their noses at her. So she's relying on Jennifer and Brian to be sociable.
After Lilian is snubbed, Matt eagerly leads her over to Jennifer and Brian, who are also trying to avoid the Borchester Land directors. Brian notices Benedict and new wife Amanda, then spots Benedict's ex-wife Amelia at the bar. The two women later end up arguing, much to Lilian's amusement.
Kathy's grateful when Kenton promises to be a credit to her tonight, despite his initial misgivings. He makes an effort to help with canapes, but Kathy reminds him he's there as a guest. Later, though, Kenton disgraces himself by getting into a drunken argument with Leigh from the golf club, over his girlfriend.
Kathy furiously drives Kenton home, before going back to clean up the damage. She just hopes she still has a job after tonight.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b00tl3l3)
Jean Michel Jarre and Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Jean Michel Jarre - composer, performer and music producer in instrumental electronic, synth and ambient pop music, as well as a creator of outdoor music spectaculars - had his first mainstream success in 1976 with the album Oxygene. He has since sold an estimated 90million albums and singles, and holds the world record for the largest ever audience at an outdoor event. He was also the first western musician to be allowed to perform in the People's Republic of China.
As his 150-date world tour - which kicked off in May last year - arrives in the UK and Ireland, Jean Michel Jarre talks to Mark Lawson about how technology has changed, the benefits of instrumental music, and why he likens a crowd to a lover.
Sir John Eliot Gardiner marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of Monterverdi's Vespers with a performance at the BBC Proms. He made his Proms debut in 1968 conducting his Monteverdi Choir in this piece. Tomorrow they will be joined by the period instrumentalists of the English Baroque Soloists with the additional brass forces of His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts.
What are the world's most expensive books?
John James Audubon's Birds of America became the world's most expensive book 10 years ago at $8.8m. As a leading auction house prepares to auction a copy - its director of books and manuscripts considers what influences large price tags for books.
As the school year begins writer Alan Bennett, rap artist Dizzee Rascal, playwright Peter Shaffer and actor Todd Carty reflect on how their education has inspired their artistic output.
Producer Jerome Weatherald.
THU 19:45 The Blitz (b00tl043)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Report (b00tmv7g)
A Level Blues
Straight A's and on the verge of signing-on. Thousands of disappointed young people who failed to gain a university place last month are now facing a tough future. The Government has offered additional apprenticeships, but will employers take up the offer?
Can Further Education colleges cope with the increased demand for places for Foundations Degrees. Connexions, the specialised information and advice service has already been severely reduced in some parts of the country.
As Ministers draw up plans for major public spending cuts to be announced next month, and with long term youth unemployment figures already of concern, how will these young people fair? Morland Sanders reports on the plight of the well-educated unemployed, and asks whether a generation of young people is being shut out of the jobs market.
Producer: Andy Denwood.
THU 20:30 In Business (b00tmv7j)
Chips Off The Old Block
Once upon a time, British computing led the world. In a mobile world, some people think it might be happening again. From Bletchley Park to Bristol, Peter Day reports on the past, present and future of computers UK.
THU 21:00 Saving Species (b00tmlh0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Tuesday]
THU 21:30 The Pope's British Divisions (b00tmtxn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b00tl3y7)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b00tl4bg)
George Osborne targets social security 'scroungers' for £4bn in budget cuts.
Pastor Terry Jones's past attacks on Islam.
Life under the shadow of Eyjafjallajokull
with Robin Lustig.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00tnsjz)
Alex y Robert
Episode 4
Written by Wena Poon. It is the annual bullfight for Las Fallas in Valencia. Roberto has just spotted Alex amongst the press photographers. But he must put that out of his mind. He's alone in the ring with a thousand pounds of angry bull and to impress needs to be better than perfection.
Abridged by Jeremy Osborne
Read by Lorelei King
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:00 That Mitchell and Webb Sound (b00mbm3j)
Series 4
Episode 2
"Make Me a Celebrity Centaur", an exciting new reality show that features cutting edge surgery and some horses.
Sketch show starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb,
With Sarah Hadland, Olivia Colman and James Bachman.
Producer Gareth Edwards
Firs broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2009.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00tl4mv)
Susan Hulme and team present today's top stories from Parliament, including the latest on the phone hacking allegations and the first specific Commons vote on the UK's continued military deployment to Afghanistan. Editor: Rachel Byrne.
FRIDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2010
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b00tkrdg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b00tkyx5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00tkrg4)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00tkxlz)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00tkrj0)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b00tkxqm)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00tkxtl)
with The Rev'd Dr Stephen Wigley.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b00tky2m)
With between 2 and 3 dairy farmers leave the industry each week, Farming Today asks how difficult it is to make money from producing milk. Charlotte Smith finds out how close the UK is to the eradication of the disease bluetongue, and the latest food product bidding for Protected Geographic Indicator status is west country beef and lamb. Charlotte asks why meat from the south west of England deserves to be awarded protected status by the European Commission.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Martin Poyntz-Roberts.
FRI 06:00 Today (b00tky8x)
Morning news and current affairs with John Humphrys and Sarah Montague including:
07:50 Will paying by results on preventing reoffending work?
08:10 When is staying on benefit a "lifestyle choice"?
08:50 The most intelligent burial ground in Britain.
FRI 09:00 The Reunion (b00tkpc1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b00tkyx7)
Storyteller: The Life of Roald Dahl
Episode 5
"Roald Dahl thought biographies were boring. He told me so while munching on a lobster claw."
The new biographer of Dahl is Donald Sturrock, who once made a film about the writer, so knew the man and his family very well. His book charts Dahl's rich and varied life as fighter pilot, intelligence operative, and the adult writer who then wrote for children in such an impactful way that he remains hugely popular with today's young readers. He was truly on their wavelength. He spoke to them through books such as Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, The BFG and Danny, Champion of The World.
Sturrock investigates Dahl's eternal popularity as a writer. And of course the man behind the books...
5. Even close to death Dahl was in mischievous mood, and his appeal to children will never fade.
Reader Julian Rhind Tutt and the voice of Dahl is Ian McDiarmid.
Producer Duncan Minshull.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00tkyyg)
A Woman's Hour Special: Deborah Cavendish
A Woman's Hour special with Jenni Murray.
Deborah Cavendish is 90 years old and has witnessed the 20th century up close. She has met anybody who's anybody - Churchill, Hitler, JFK. She is also the last survivor of a remarkable set of women - the Mitford sisters: Nancy, who became a writer, Jessica who became a Communist, Unity who became a Fascist - and Diana who married one. In a special edition of Woman's Hour Jenni talks to 'Debo' - the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire about her life, and the times she lived through. In her autobiography 'Wait for Me' she also talks about her own personal challenges; her husband, the Duke, had a long battle with alcohol and three of her children died within hours of their birth. She's also credited with helping to save one of Britain's great country houses, Chatsworth, which is enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year.
FRI 10:45 The Blitz (b00tl045)
Lubeck
In the last of our series telling stories of the Blitz from around the UK, we travel to Luebeck in Northern Germany for a rather different perspective. We hear about the experience of being bombed from the 'other side,' as we tell the story of the night when one German city came under attack.
The programme is presented by John F Jungclaussen, who is the UK Correspondent of Die Zeit newspaper. John's family come from this part of Germany and his father was born in a village near Luebeck, just a few days before the air raid.
Luebeck was bombed on the night before Palm Sunday in March 1942. The raid marked a change of tactics by the British and led to the destruction by fire of many of the medieval buildings at the heart of the city. Several hundred people were killed, and many more lost their homes.
On his journey into the past, John meets some of those people who were in Luebeck at the time of the bombing. Kurt Adler - a 14 year old schoolboy in 1942 - remembers the terror of the raid and climbing to the top of his family home where he watched the flames of the burning city. He recalls the moment when the bells in one of the nearby churches suddenly stopped ringing - the fire had burnt through the bell ropes sending them crashing to the ground.
Today those molten, twisted bells are preserved where they fell in St Mary's Church as a memorial to the bombing and those who died in it. John meets the pastor of the church who tells him about the work which has gone on in the intervening years to build up reconciliation between the two former enemies. The chapel where the bells are kept also contains a cross from Coventry - given as a sign of peace between the two cities.
Producer: Louise Adamson
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 11:00 Journey of a Lifetime (b00tmt84)
2010: Nick Hunt
Each year, the Royal Geographical Society in association with BBC Radio 4 offers a prize for the best adventurous dream-travel idea. This year's winner is Nick Hunt and his award-winning project is to investigate the little-heard-of lives of the migrant workers - mainly from the Indian subcontinent - constructing the steel and glass towers of Dubai.
Says Nick: "Beneath the gleaming skyscrapers of downtown Dubai, twenty Indian men huddle on a rooftop under a torn plastic sheet. Homeless, jobless and far from their families, some have been trapped here for years, victims both of the economic downturn and the systematic exploitation of migrant labour. I follow in the footsteps of one, ex-construction worker Ramu, who has managed to make the journey home to a remote part of rural Andhra Pradesh. Ramu's story is the story of how the Dubai dream turned sour, and of the hardships faced by migrants when boom turns to bust..."
Producer: Simon Elmes.
FRI 11:30 Old Harry's Game (b00wtb2v)
Series 6
Ginger
Satan finally resolves Edith's murder, while she discovers something astonishing about humans descended from angels.
Andy Hamilton's comedy set in Hell.
Starring Andy Hamilton as Satan, Annette Crosbie as Edith, Robert Duncan as Scumspawn and Jimmy Mulville as Thomas.
Other characters played by Michael Fenton Stevens, Philip Pope, Felicity Montagu and Nick Revell.
Producer: Paul Mayhew-Archer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2007.
FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b00tl05b)
Peter White speaks to No Impact Man - the star of a new documentary who tried to live for a year without using any carbon.
We'll also report on airlines increasing their debit and credit card charges.
Plus, the latest on the government's plans for Royal Mail.
And, as Les Miserables celebrates its 25th Birthday, we discuss how easy it is to please punters with a musical.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b00tl06h)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b00tl07n)
National and international news with Shaun Ley.
FRI 13:30 More or Less (b00tmt86)
Tim Harford and the team investigate more numbers stories including how maths is taught in primary schools. And what would Europe's population be today if the Great War had never happened?
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b00tl08y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b00tmtb4)
What the Nun Discovered
What the Nun Discovered by Harriet O'Carroll
Sr. MaryJo returns home to Ireland after 25 years as a missionary in Uganda, to a disillusioned public and a Church which has lost so much of its moral authority. But with an honesty and simplicity learned in another continent she sets in train a quiet but radical revolution.
MaryJo - Marcella Riordan
Fr Paul - Pat Laffan
Sr Frances - Lise-Ann McLaughlin,
Sr Agnes - Julia Dearden
Sr Bernadette - Stella McCusker
Cathy - Ali White
The Mayor - Des Nealon
Director Eoin O'Callaghan.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00tmtb6)
Chris Beardshaw, Anne Swithinbank and Matt Biggs are trouble-shooting with gardeners in Northamptonshire. The programme is chaired by Eric Robson.
Anne Swithinbank revisits the rooftop allotment-holders in Brighton taking part in our Listeners' Gardens series. Time to get thinking about winter crops.
Produced by Lucy Dichmont
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 James and the Giant Tree House (b00tl38z)
Episode 5
5/5. Like many small boys James Aldred loved climbing trees. Today, he stills loves climbing trees, but as a professional, helping scientists and wildlife filming crews into the canopy to study and film the wildlife there. As well as climbing trees, he loves building tree houses. When he isn't climbing trees, he's dreaming about them and scribbling designs for tree houses on scraps of paper or the back of cereal boxes. So, when he received a phone call inviting him to build a tree house which would be large enough to accommodate at least 4 people for over a month whilst they filmed Red-capped Mangabey monkeys in the forests of Gabon in Central West Africa, he didn't hesitate in accepting the challenge. This is the story of what happened; a terrific Boy's Own Adventure high above the ground in the forest canopy!
After a catalogue of disasters, delays, excitements and unique experiences, the last day arrives. After a mammoth effort by everyone involved, work on the tree house is finally finished. Their first visitor is one of the scientists (Richard Ibessa) who is studying the Red-capped Mangabey monkeys in this area. He tells James and Nick that the monkeys have changed their daily routines and begin each morning with a visit to the tree house! James and Nick are sure that as soon as they move out, the monkeys will move in. After all, the tree house could make the perfect luxury nest; complete with a roof! There's just one last ceremony before James and Nick leave the rainforest, involving a whistle, a pair of dancing feet and some reflective thoughts.
Narrated by James Aldred
Produced by Sarah Blunt.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b00tmtfh)
John Wilson presents Radio 4's obituary programme, analysing and reflecting on the lives of people who have recently died. On this week's programme the solitary Hope Bourne, who lived in a caravan, shot animals for supper, and was known as the Lady of Exmoor.
We hear how Corinne Day's portraits of Kate Moss changed the face of fashion.
Former ELO drummer Bev Bevan remembers his bandmate Mike Edwards. And the wildly varied life of Micky Burn. He saluted Hitler as a youth, but later embraced Marxism. He led a daring commando raid in the war and ended up in Colditz. He was a gay man who was married to a woman for 27 years.
FRI 16:30 The Film Programme (b00tmtfm)
Stephen Frears talks to Francine Stock about his rural comedy Tamara Drewe, which has been described as the dark side of The Archers.
Composer, writer and silent film accompanist Neil Brand presents his unique audio description of the found footage of Metropolis. 25 minutes of Fritz Lang's masterpiece were missing presumed lost, until a full print turned up in Argentina in 2008. Two years later, the restored version is finally being released, and Neil tells us if the new scenes improve a film that's already regarded as a classic of science fiction
Actor John C Reilly discusses his career playing the perpetual loser in modern American cinema.
FRI 17:00 PM (b00tl3d3)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Carolyn Quinn. Plus Weather.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00tl3h2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 Chain Reaction (b00tmtfp)
Series 6
Harry Shearer interviews Stephen Merchant
The new series of the tag team talk show continues as last week's guest, voice of The Simpsons, face of Derek Smalls and political satirist Harry Shearer takes the microphone to interview multi award-winning co-creator of The Office and Extras, and famously tall funny man Stephen Merchant.
Harry asks Stephen what its like to be part of a creative double act with Ricky Gervais, broadcasting radio from the bushes and sharing a hot tub with playboy bunnies.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b00tl090)
'Bert's given a lot of thought to the allotments, so Nigel agrees that Eddie can turn the ground over and mark the plots. Bert's not happy about Lynda's plan for a ledge to encourage the peregrines to return to the church tower but Nigel thinks it's an excellent idea.
Joe's had some good news. Eddie assumes it's about Emma's baby but quickly realises that Joe's talking about being asked to judge the flower and produce show. Joe can't wait to see the look on Bert Fry's face.
Nigel and Elizabeth need to decide on either Felpersham Cathedral School or Mercer College for the children, but there are other worries to deal with too. Lower Loxley is in need of roof repairs, and the cost will far out-weigh the money saved on boarding school fees.
Kathy and Kenton have clearly got big issues with each other. Kenton turns to Elizabeth and Nigel, hoping to stay with them for a couple of days. Elizabeth insists he should be trying to sort things out with Kathy but eventually gives in to male pressure, agreeing that Kenton can even have his old room.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b00tl3l5)
Reviews of Bedlam and The Young Ones
With Kirsty Lang
Bedlam, by Nell Leyshon, is the first play by a female playwright to be performed at The Globe, London. Set in the famous hospital, it's an exploration of madness and includes original 18th century folksongs and dances. Writer and historian Kathryn Hughes reviews.
New television series, The Young Ones, tries to recreate a landmark psychological experiment by sending six celebrities back in time. They spend a week isolated from the outside world, living as if it's 1975 to discover whether re-living your youth can really make you young again. Joan Bakewell reviews.
With the new series of Mad Men starting on BBC4 this week, we look at the office romance as a plot in drama and fiction. Interviews with playwright DC Jackson on his new play My Romantic History; writer Lucy Kellaway on her novel In Office Hours; and Russian film expert Vlad Strukov on the popular 1970s Russian film Office Romance.
Choreographer and dancer Akram Khan's latest show, Vertical Road, is a full scale contemporary ensemble which brings together performers from across Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He discusses collaborating with Nitin Sawhney on the score and how he had to create a PG version of his performance with Juliette Binoche for a Middle Eastern Audience.
Producer Gavin Heard.
FRI 19:45 The Blitz (b00tl045)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b00tmtfr)
Shaun Ley chairs the topical discussion from Sheffield High School with questions for the panel including General Secretary of the TUC, Brendan Barber; Labour leadership candidate Ed Balls; Minister for Political & Constitutional Reform, Mark Harper; and Executive Editor of the Evening Standard, Anne McElvoy.
Producer: Victoria Wakely.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b00tmtft)
Book Choice
Book-lover Lisa Jardine muses on her latest conversion to the e-book and admits she's found herself reading Tony Blair's autobiography not in one of her beloved hardbacks but on her electronic reader. She ponders how we consume our books and wonders what effect the government's austerity measures will have on our public libraries. Will the coalition really pursue a suggestion that libraries could be moved to supermarkets or pubs?
Producer: Adele Armstrong.
FRI 21:00 Friday Drama (b00tmtnf)
Siege
Peter and Veronica Pleasance are residents of Skylarks Residential Home for the Elderly. They haven't spoken to their high-flying son - Managing Director of Trixel Technologies - for over twenty years. When one of his employees, Oludayo Akano is kidnapped in Nigeria, son Jerome Akano decides it is time for some action.
Along with his friends Damien (trying to make a name for himself as an activist) and Chalky (along for the ride), they attack the residential home in order to hold Peter and Veronica Pleasance ransom in the name of Akano.
Siege - which came from an idea by writer Francesca Joseph, was developed through a series of improvisation workshops with the cast, who provided the dialogue for the piece.
This fast-moving tragi-comic piece hurtles towards a surprising climax.
Siege by Francesca Joseph, improvised by the cast.
Peter ..... Karl Johnson
Veronica ..... Marlene Sidaway
Jack ..... David Hargreaves
Leo ..... Peter Martin
Tracy ..... Christine Brennan
Jerome ..... Nathan Stewart-Jarrett
Damien ..... Danny Dalton
Chalky ..... Stefan Gumbs
PC Singh ..... Muzz Khan
Director Susan Roberts.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b00tl3y9)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b00tl4bl)
As the Florida pastor puts his Koran-burning protest "on hold", what do the events of the last week tell us about the legacy of the September 11th attacks?
Turkey prepares for a referendum that could transform its constitution. We'll be live in Istanbul.
And the Catholic church in Australia bans secular music at funerals. What would be your swan song?
With Ritula Shah.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00tnsk1)
Alex y Robert
Episode 5
Written by Wena Poon. Three months after being gored at Las Fallas, Roberto has retired from the bullring and has moved to San Francisco to study art. But Alex won't let him put bullfighting behind him.
Some bullfighting terms:
alternativa - the graduation ceremony of a bullfighter to professional matador status, usually held in the Las Ventas bullring in Madrid.
traje de luces - "suit of lights", the bullfighter's sparkling costume.
Abridged by Jeremy Osborne
Read by Lorelei King
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b00tmt95)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00tl4mx)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament.
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
1960-2010
20:45 WED (b00tmtqg)
A Guide to Coastal Birds
14:45 SUN (b00tkpf9)
A Point of View
08:50 SUN (b00tjsm6)
A Point of View
20:50 FRI (b00tmtft)
Afternoon Reading
00:30 SUN (b00hb4ly)
Afternoon Reading
15:30 TUE (b00tmmb6)
Afternoon Reading
15:30 WED (b00tmmyn)
Afternoon Reading
15:30 THU (b00tmmyj)
Americana
19:15 SUN (b00tkqs1)
Any Answers?
14:00 SAT (b00tjvxr)
Any Questions?
13:10 SAT (b00tjsjh)
Any Questions?
20:00 FRI (b00tmtfr)
Archive on 4
20:00 SAT (b00tk7sf)
Archive on 4
15:00 MON (b00tk7sf)
Bandits of the Blitz
11:00 WED (b00tmtj8)
Bells on Sunday
05:43 SUN (b00tkp1c)
Bells on Sunday
00:45 MON (b00tkp1c)
Beyond Belief
16:30 MON (b00tmkr3)
Beyond Westminster
11:00 SAT (b00tjvxf)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 MON (b00tl4h6)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 TUE (b00tnskh)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 WED (b00tnsjx)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 THU (b00tnsjz)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 FRI (b00tnsk1)
Book of the Week
00:30 SAT (b00thw3s)
Book of the Week
09:45 MON (b00tkymr)
Book of the Week
00:30 TUE (b00tkymr)
Book of the Week
09:45 TUE (b00tkymm)
Book of the Week
00:30 WED (b00tkymm)
Book of the Week
09:45 WED (b00tkymp)
Book of the Week
00:30 THU (b00tkymp)
Book of the Week
09:45 THU (b00tkyx5)
Book of the Week
00:30 FRI (b00tkyx5)
Book of the Week
09:45 FRI (b00tkyx7)
Bookclub
16:00 SUN (b00tkpff)
Bookclub
16:00 THU (b00tkpff)
Broadcasting House
09:00 SUN (b00tkpbx)
Brother Mine
05:45 SAT (b00cm7hg)
Case Notes
21:00 TUE (b00tmt9f)
Case Notes
16:30 WED (b00tmt9f)
Chain Reaction
12:30 SAT (b00tjsjf)
Chain Reaction
18:30 FRI (b00tmtfp)
Clare in the Community
18:30 THU (b00hq0nc)
Classic Serial
21:00 SAT (b00thpvx)
Classic Serial
15:00 SUN (b00762ts)
Continuity
23:00 WED (b00tmtwk)
Costing the Earth
21:00 WED (b00tmtwh)
Costing the Earth
13:30 THU (b00tmtwh)
Crazy For Love: Layla and the Mad Poet
16:30 SUN (b00tkqjg)
Crossing Continents
20:30 MON (b00tjrgx)
Crossing Continents
11:00 THU (b00tmtxq)
Divided Britain
17:00 SUN (b00tjb1k)
Drama
14:15 MON (b00tgd80)
Drama
14:15 TUE (b00tmlh6)
Drama
14:15 WED (b00tmtjg)
Drama
14:15 THU (b00tmtz4)
Drama
14:15 FRI (b00tmtb4)
Edwin Morgan: A Book of Lives
13:30 SUN (b00tntd9)
Excess Baggage
10:00 SAT (b00tjvhv)
Farming Today
06:30 SAT (b00tjvhl)
Farming Today
05:45 MON (b00tky8n)
Farming Today
05:45 TUE (b00tky2f)
Farming Today
05:45 WED (b00tky2h)
Farming Today
05:45 THU (b00tky2k)
Farming Today
05:45 FRI (b00tky2m)
Friday Drama
21:00 FRI (b00tmtnf)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:30 SAT (b00tjvxh)
Front Row
19:15 MON (b00tl3y1)
Front Row
19:15 TUE (b00tl3kz)
Front Row
19:15 WED (b00tl3l1)
Front Row
19:15 THU (b00tl3l3)
Front Row
19:15 FRI (b00tl3l5)
Gardeners' Question Time
14:00 SUN (b00tjsj7)
Gardeners' Question Time
15:00 FRI (b00tmtb6)
God's Ambassador
11:00 MON (b00tmkg7)
Great Lives
16:30 TUE (b00tmt95)
Great Lives
23:00 FRI (b00tmt95)
HR
11:30 MON (b00tmkg9)
Has the Taliban Won in Afghanistan?
20:00 WED (b00tmtqc)
How The Mighty Have Fallen
09:30 TUE (b00tmlgy)
Iconoclasts
22:15 SAT (b00tjq8f)
In Business
21:30 SUN (b00tjrp8)
In Business
20:30 THU (b00tmv7j)
In Search of the Singing Postman
11:30 TUE (b00tmlh2)
In Touch
20:40 TUE (b00tmt9c)
James and the Giant Tree House
15:45 MON (b00tl2nz)
James and the Giant Tree House
15:45 TUE (b00tl2ys)
James and the Giant Tree House
15:45 WED (b00tl38v)
James and the Giant Tree House
15:45 THU (b00tl38x)
James and the Giant Tree House
15:45 FRI (b00tl38z)
Journey of a Lifetime
11:00 FRI (b00tmt84)
Juggling Chainsaws with Archaos
11:30 THU (b00tmtxs)
Just a Minute
12:00 SUN (b00tj74s)
Just a Minute
18:30 MON (b00tmkr5)
Labour Saving Devices
20:00 TUE (b00tmt99)
Last Word
20:30 SUN (b00tjsj9)
Last Word
16:00 FRI (b00tmtfh)
Listen Against
18:30 TUE (b00tmt97)
Living World
06:35 SUN (b00tkp1k)
Loose Ends
18:15 SAT (b00tk7s7)
Making History
15:00 TUE (b00tmlh8)
Material World
21:00 MON (b00tjrp4)
Material World
16:30 THU (b00tmv3m)
Midnight News
00:00 SAT (b00tjsvt)
Midnight News
00:00 SUN (b00tkn24)
Midnight News
00:00 MON (b00tkrf1)
Midnight News
00:00 TUE (b00tkrd8)
Midnight News
00:00 WED (b00tkrdb)
Midnight News
00:00 THU (b00tkrdd)
Midnight News
00:00 FRI (b00tkrdg)
Money Box Live
15:00 WED (b00tmtjj)
Money Box
12:00 SAT (b00tjvxk)
Money Box
21:00 SUN (b00tjvxk)
More or Less
20:00 SUN (b00tjsj3)
More or Less
13:30 FRI (b00tmt86)
Mum's on the Run
11:30 WED (b00tmtjb)
News Briefing
05:30 SUN (b00tkp19)
News Briefing
05:30 MON (b00tkxtb)
News Briefing
05:30 TUE (b00tkxqf)
News Briefing
05:30 WED (b00tkxqh)
News Briefing
05:30 THU (b00tkxqk)
News Briefing
05:30 FRI (b00tkxqm)
News Headlines
06:00 SUN (b00tkp1f)
News and Papers
06:00 SAT (b00tjsw6)
News and Papers
07:00 SUN (b00tkp1p)
News and Papers
08:00 SUN (b00tkp1y)
News and Weather
22:00 SAT (b00tk7sh)
News
13:00 SAT (b00tjvxp)
Nick Mohammed in Bits
23:00 TUE (b00tmt9h)
Norn But Not Forgotten: Sounds of Shetland
23:30 SAT (b00thpw1)
Old Harry's Game
11:30 FRI (b00wtb2v)
Open Country
06:07 SAT (b00tjvhj)
Open Country
15:00 THU (b00tjvhj)
PM
17:00 SAT (b00tk7rx)
PM
17:00 MON (b00tl3dr)
PM
17:00 TUE (b00tl3cv)
PM
17:00 WED (b00tl3cx)
PM
17:00 THU (b00tl3d1)
PM
17:00 FRI (b00tl3d3)
Pick of the Week
18:15 SUN (b00tkqjq)
Portraying the Poor
20:00 MON (b00qyw6y)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 SAT (b00tjsw4)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 MON (b00tky2c)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 TUE (b00tkxtd)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 WED (b00tkxtg)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 THU (b00tkxtj)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 FRI (b00tkxtl)
Profile
19:00 SAT (b00tk7s9)
Profile
05:45 SUN (b00tk7s9)
Profile
17:40 SUN (b00tk7s9)
Radio 4 Appeal
07:55 SUN (b00tkp1t)
Radio 4 Appeal
21:26 SUN (b00tkp1t)
Radio 4 Appeal
15:27 THU (b00tkp1t)
Round Britain Quiz
23:00 SAT (b00tj5w1)
Round Britain Quiz
13:30 MON (b00tmkgc)
Saturday Drama
14:30 SAT (b00tjw5p)
Saturday Live
09:00 SAT (b00tjvhs)
Saturday Review
19:15 SAT (b00tk7sc)
Saving Species
11:00 TUE (b00tmlh0)
Saving Species
21:00 THU (b00tmlh0)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SAT (b00tjsvy)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
05:30 SAT (b00tjsw2)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 MON (b00tkxqc)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 TUE (b00tkxls)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 WED (b00tkxlv)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 THU (b00tkxlx)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 FRI (b00tkxlz)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SAT (b00tjsvw)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SAT (b00tjsw0)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SAT (b00tk7s1)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SUN (b00tkn26)
Shipping Forecast
01:00 SUN (b00tkn28)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SUN (b00tkn2b)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SUN (b00tkqjj)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 MON (b00tkrhr)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 MON (b00tkrlg)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 TUE (b00tkrfy)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 TUE (b00tkrht)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 WED (b00tkrg0)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 WED (b00tkrhw)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 THU (b00tkrg2)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 THU (b00tkrhy)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 FRI (b00tkrg4)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 FRI (b00tkrj0)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SAT (b00tk7s5)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SUN (b00tkqjn)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 MON (b00tl3kx)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 TUE (b00tl3gw)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 WED (b00tl3gy)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 THU (b00tl3h0)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 FRI (b00tl3h2)
Something Understood
06:05 SUN (b00tkp1h)
Something Understood
23:30 SUN (b00tkp1h)
Soul Music
13:30 TUE (b00tmlh4)
Stock Car Sewell
10:30 SAT (b00tjvxc)
Sunday Worship
08:10 SUN (b00tkpbv)
Sunday
07:10 SUN (b00tkp1r)
That Mitchell and Webb Sound
23:00 THU (b00mbm3j)
The Archers Omnibus
10:00 SUN (b00tkpbz)
The Archers
19:00 SUN (b00tkqkm)
The Archers
14:00 MON (b00tkqkm)
The Archers
19:00 MON (b00tl092)
The Archers
14:00 TUE (b00tl092)
The Archers
19:00 TUE (b00tl08t)
The Archers
14:00 WED (b00tl08t)
The Archers
19:00 WED (b00tl08w)
The Archers
14:00 THU (b00tl08w)
The Archers
19:00 THU (b00tl08y)
The Archers
14:00 FRI (b00tl08y)
The Archers
19:00 FRI (b00tl090)
The Blitz
19:45 SUN (b00tkqs3)
The Blitz
10:45 MON (b00tkz4d)
The Blitz
19:45 MON (b00tkz4d)
The Blitz
10:45 TUE (b00tl03z)
The Blitz
19:45 TUE (b00tl03z)
The Blitz
09:00 WED (b00tmtb0)
The Blitz
10:45 WED (b00tl041)
The Blitz
19:45 WED (b00tl041)
The Blitz
21:30 WED (b00tmtb0)
The Blitz
10:45 THU (b00tl043)
The Blitz
19:45 THU (b00tl043)
The Blitz
10:45 FRI (b00tl045)
The Blitz
19:45 FRI (b00tl045)
The Curse of the Number Two
09:30 MON (b00t4q0z)
The Film Programme
23:00 SUN (b00tjsjc)
The Film Programme
16:30 FRI (b00tmtfm)
The Food Programme
12:32 SUN (b00tkpc3)
The Food Programme
16:00 MON (b00tkpc3)
The Maltby Collection
18:30 WED (b00wwj28)
The Media Show
13:30 WED (b00tmtjd)
The Pope's British Divisions
09:00 THU (b00tmtxn)
The Pope's British Divisions
21:30 THU (b00tmtxn)
The Report
20:00 THU (b00tmv7g)
The Reunion
11:15 SUN (b00tkpc1)
The Reunion
09:00 FRI (b00tkpc1)
The World This Weekend
13:00 SUN (b00tkpc7)
The World Tonight
22:00 MON (b00tl4cv)
The World Tonight
22:00 TUE (b00tl4b8)
The World Tonight
22:00 WED (b00tl4bc)
The World Tonight
22:00 THU (b00tl4bg)
The World Tonight
22:00 FRI (b00tl4bl)
Thinking Allowed
00:15 MON (b00tjfzj)
Thinking Allowed
16:00 WED (b00tmtjl)
Today in Parliament
23:30 MON (b00tl4mn)
Today in Parliament
23:30 TUE (b00tl4mq)
Today in Parliament
23:30 WED (b00tl4ms)
Today in Parliament
23:30 THU (b00tl4mv)
Today in Parliament
23:30 FRI (b00tl4mx)
Today
07:00 SAT (b00tjvhq)
Today
06:00 MON (b00tkymk)
Today
06:00 TUE (b00tky8q)
Today
06:00 WED (b00tky8s)
Today
06:00 THU (b00tky8v)
Today
06:00 FRI (b00tky8x)
Uncertain Climate
09:00 MON (b00tmcz3)
Uncertain Climate
21:30 MON (b00tmcz3)
Weather
06:04 SAT (b00tjvhg)
Weather
06:57 SAT (b00tjvhn)
Weather
12:57 SAT (b00tjvxm)
Weather
17:57 SAT (b00tk7s3)
Weather
06:57 SUN (b00tkp1m)
Weather
07:58 SUN (b00tkp1w)
Weather
12:57 SUN (b00tkpc5)
Weather
17:57 SUN (b00tkqjl)
Weather
21:58 SUN (b00tkqwf)
Weather
05:57 MON (b00tmjdy)
Weather
12:57 MON (b00tl07d)
Weather
21:58 MON (b00tl4b4)
Weather
12:57 TUE (b00tl067)
Weather
21:58 TUE (b00tl3y3)
Weather
12:57 WED (b00tl06b)
Weather
21:58 WED (b00tl3y5)
Weather
12:57 THU (b00tl06d)
Weather
21:58 THU (b00tl3y7)
Weather
12:57 FRI (b00tl06h)
Weather
21:58 FRI (b00tl3y9)
Westminster Hour
22:00 SUN (b00tkqwh)
What the Papers Say
22:45 SUN (b00tkqwk)
What to Do If You're Not Like Everybody Else
23:15 WED (b00tmtwm)
What's the Point of...?
09:00 TUE (b00tmkyf)
What's the Point of...?
21:30 TUE (b00tmkyf)
Woman's Hour
16:00 SAT (b00tk7rv)
Woman's Hour
10:00 MON (b00tkz4b)
Woman's Hour
10:00 TUE (b00tkyy8)
Woman's Hour
10:00 WED (b00tkyyb)
Woman's Hour
10:00 THU (b00tkyyd)
Woman's Hour
10:00 FRI (b00tkyyg)
Word of Mouth
23:00 MON (b00tj94q)
Word of Mouth
16:00 TUE (b00tmt93)
World at One
13:00 MON (b00tl07q)
World at One
13:00 TUE (b00tl07g)
World at One
13:00 WED (b00tl07j)
World at One
13:00 THU (b00tl07l)
World at One
13:00 FRI (b00tl07n)
You and Yours
12:00 MON (b00tl052)
You and Yours
12:00 TUE (b00tl054)
You and Yours
12:00 WED (b00tl056)
You and Yours
12:00 THU (b00tl058)
You and Yours
12:00 FRI (b00tl05b)
iPM
17:30 SAT (b00tk7rz)