The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Today Stephen reveals the origins of his enduring love of technology and his great friendship with Douglas Adams.
The Fry Chronicles is a book that is not afraid to confront the aching chasm that separates public image from private feeling.
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at
"Why can't we strike like the French?" British and French listeners compare notes on manning the barricades, plus a play with accents. Matt Frei reads Your News. With Eddie Mair and Jennifer Tracey. Email iPM@bbc.co.uk.
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
Helen Mark visits Pluckley, a village with the reputation as the most haunted in Britain. While genuine ghosthunters, with an interest in all things paranormal, bring with them a welcome boost to local businesses, this reputation is not without problems. In recent years the village has seen an increased police presence due to the sheer number of visitors, particularly around the time of Halloween. There have been problems of anti-social behaviour which last year led to the parish council cancelling the Halloween festivities.
For this week's Open Country Helen meets some of the villagers, both believers and sceptics, about their experiences in Britain's most haunted village and the impact this has on village life. During the course of one evening, Helen chats with several residents and finds out about the 12 ghosts that are said to haunt Pluckley before heading back to her hotel room at the haunted Elvey Farm Hotel.
On Farming Today This Week, Caz Graham visits a Derbyshire farm to investigate how the UK is going to meet its target of producing 15% of energy from renewable sources by 2020. This UK has enormous wind, wave and tidal power - more than enough to meet all of our energy needs many times over according to Friends of the Earth. So just how much renewable energy is the UK producing? Latest Government figures show we're currently producing only at 3%. Wind power for example provides enough electricity to supply close to 3 million homes in the UK every year. But we are behind many of our European counterparts - Germany for example has built more than ten times our wind farm capacity.
Former Home Secretary Lord Reid considers the impact on airport security of yesterday's major alert
Bruce Springsteen talks about one of his classic albums, Darkness on the Edge of Town
Phil Duckworth, blinded by shrapnel from the shin bone of a 7/7 bomber, describes his ordeal.
John McCarthy meets Dr Lavinia Byrne who leads tours to the ancient sites of Syria and tour operator Amelia Stewart who has started to offer trips there and talks to them about why the many layers of its past make it so rewarding for those fascinated by history. The Greeks and Romans, the early Christians, Islam and even the French have all left a mark on this multi-layered country that is beginning to attract more western tourists who now see it as a much less dangerous destination.
And broadcaster Steve Blacknell tell John about his fondness for the smallest Channel Island of Sark and how its peace and quiet and lack of motor cars really mean you can get away from it all.
John F. Jungclaussen, UK correspondent for German newspaper Die Zeit, travels to Munich to join the millions of revellers celebrating 200 years of the Oktoberfest- the largest folk festival in the World. When he was a student, Jungclaussen spent three years working at the festival selling cigarettes in one of the big beer tents- an experience he describes as 'somewhat traumatic'. He was born in the northern city of Hamburg and found Bavaria to be an alien land- a place of strange customs where people wear lederhosen and dirndl dresses, drink beer out of huge mugs and where brass bands play Oom-pah music.
In this programme, Jungclaussen returns to the festival to ask what it means for Bavarian identity and why over 6 million tourists come from across the globe to join in. He speaks to Prince Luitpold of Bavaria whose great-great-great-grandfather King Ludwig I founded the Oktoberfest in 1810 and who has had a long argument with the city of Munich over his right to sell beer at the festival. He also meets a tent owner who sells thousands of litres of beer for 12 hours a day to increasingly inebriated party-goers.
He speaks to locals who come with their families dressed in traditional clothing and are very proud of their distinctive culture. He goes inside the beer tents and meets tourists from many different countries and from the rest of Germany - many of whom also come in traditional dress. He asks how Bavarian symbols and customs have come to represent the German stereotype and considers why many are still wary of celebrating their national and local identity since the War.
Housing benefits cuts announced this week lead to emotive exchanges in the House of Commons. Ministers were accused of everything from outright unfairness, to social cleansing of the poor from big cities.
Two London MPs, Labour's Siobhain McDonagh and the Conservative Bob Blackman, discuss the implications of this major reform of the welfare benefit system, with Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George.
On Thursday the government produced a White Paper on Local Growth, following on the better than expected figures for economic growth. But how will growth be achieved given the size of the spending cuts? Conservative MP Simon Hart and Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop consider the consequences of these measures for their constituencies in Wales and the North East.
Ed Miliband gave shadow ministerial positions to a large number of his party's new young MPs, raising questions about how much basic parliamentary experience MPs should have, before sitting on the front benches.
Catherine McKinnell got the most senior of these posts- shadow Solicitor General. Did she think she was up to it?
From the new intake to the "leavers". In the week when details of former MPs resettlement payments were published Lembit Opik and Tom Levitt (formerly Liberal Democrat and Labour MPs respectively) talk about what has been happening to them since the election.
We explore the ruined heart of an American city, laid waste by economic collapse.
President Obama's job may be just about to get even tougher... His Democrat allies in Congress are expected to take a beating in Tuesday's mid-term elections.... The major cause of Mr Obama's troubles is the persistently dire state of the economy. Unemployment, poverty, and the repossession of homes are making a mockery of the American Dream... And Paul Mason has been to a city at the centre of the storm...
It's hard to think of any country more broken than Somalia... Nearly twenty years of war, famine and disease have taken up to a million lives. Huge numbers of Somalis have been forced into exile. And Mary Harper has been the exploring the world that some of them have built, just across the border, in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi....
Nelson Mandela knows more than enough about prison life... He has said that you don't really understand a nation, until you've seen inside its jails. And the prisons in Mr Mandela's homeland are indeed a grim reflection of South Africa's troubles. They suffer from chronic overcrowding. And as in so many countries, they're frightening violent places. But as Hamilton Wende has been finding out, even in that brutal environment, it is still possible to find a better path...
Istanbul is on show this year. It's enjoying its spell as Europe's officially declared "capital of culture". It's a fine chance to focus attention on the art emerging in the vibrant new Turkey. The number of galleries has mushroomed in recent years, and the city's modern artists have never had it so good.... But as Rosie Goldsmith explains, in old Istanbul....not everyone approves....
It's that time of year when...to many outsiders at least.....Americans seem to go a little mad. It's Halloween....a time for dressing up as witches and werewolves, and generally celebrating scary things. This oddest of festivals has it roots very much in ancient, pagan, Europe. And David Willis has been wondering why it's managed to gain such a grip on the imagination of modern, Christian America....
Sandi Toksvig presents another episode of the ever-popular topical panel show. Guests this week include Jeremy Hardy and Ava Vidal.
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the topical discussion from St Mary's Parish Church in Leeds, with questions for the panel including the Chairman of the Conservative Party, Sayeeda Warsi, Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens, author Tariq Ali and Jack Dromey, Labour MP and Communities and Local Government spokesman.
Any Answers? Listeners respond to the issues raised in Any Questions? If you have a comment or question on this week's programme or would like to take part in the Any Answers? phone-in you can contact us by telephone or email. Tel: 03700 100 444 Email: any.answers@bbc.co.uk.
Rex and Saskia stop at a petrol station. Saskia goes in to buy drinks and is never seen again.
Eight years later, Rex is so haunted by her disappearance that he sets out to discover what happened to her, regardless of the cost.
Rex ... Samuel West
Saskia ... Melody Grove
Lieneke ... Ruth Gemmell
Lemorne ... Liam Brennan
Cashier/Woman ... Claire Knight
Jean-Pierre Gallo/Manager ... Robin Laing
In 1926, the Czech composer Leos Janacek was in Britain on a short visit. Addressing the Czechoslovak Club in London, he thanked the person who had been responsible for inviting him, discovering his music and championing him in Britain - not a conductor or a performer, but an elderly Englishwoman named Rosa Newmarch.
Although little known today, Rosa Newmarch was a pivotal figure in making concert-goers in early 20th century Britain appreciate and understand new music from Czechoslovakia, Russia and Finland. She travelled extensively abroad, hearing new works performed and later getting them played in English concert halls. She was friends with composers such as Sibelius and Elgar and she wrote copious programme notes and books on musical trends abroad.
In 1920 Rosa visited Prague for the first time and was immediately taken with the music of Leos Janacek. She eventually met the composer in person and, on her return to England, she began writing about him. She also began mounting performances of his work. In 1926, she managed to persuade Janacek to come to London. Rosa booked the Wigmore Hall and planned an ambitious programme of her friend's music. However, the visit coincided with the beginning of the General Strike. Although the concert of Janacek's work took place, there was little publicity surrounding it, as there were no newspapers being printed. Still, it was an introduction for concert-goers. Rosa had also planned excursions for Janacek which couldn't take place because of the lack of transport. But he did manage to get to London Zoo, where he took down notes of the noises that the monkeys made.
The friendship between Janacek and Rosa continued until his death two years later and was cemented when he dedicated his well-loved "Sinfonietta" to her.
In this programme, music writer and lecturer Peter Avis tells the remarkable and unknown story of Rosa Newmarch and her friendship with Leos Janacek. With contributions from Rosa's grand-daughter, musical experts and extracts from correspondence of the time, he re-evaluates the significance of Rosa's place in musical history.
Presented by Jane Garvey. Kirsty Allsopp talks about her new series and domestic projects.Is putting a child on a diet ever a good idea? the little known history of female troubadours, Bollywood star, Preity Zinta, Gee Walker and forgiveness five years after her son's murder, the enduring appeal of Holly Golightly and the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and the Royal Dolls House.
The view from the top of business. Presented by Evan Davis, The Bottom Line cuts through confusion, statistics and spin to present a clearer view of the business world, through discussion with people running leading and emerging companies.
Evan and a panel of guests from the worlds of spirits, security and digital publishing discuss the special relationship between the two people at the top of a company: the chairman and chief executive. Is it a recipe for tension, or a sensible balancing of responsibilities?
The panel also discusses the merits of youth versus experience in the workplace. What qualities do young people bring to a business compared with their older colleagues - or is there no difference?
Evan is joined in the studio by Séamus McBride, President and Chief Executive of spirits company Bacardi Ltd; Nick Buckles, Chief Executive of security company G4S; Anthony Habgood, Chairman of digital publisher Reed Elsevier and the hotel, coffee shop and restaurant company Whitbread.
Clive Anderson and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.
Clive is joined by the artist and author Molly Parkin who reveals all in her memoir Welcome to Mollywood . Top Gear's James May is on a mission to save modern men - teaching them vital skills he feels they've lost in his new BBC Two series Man Lab. His book, How to Land an A330 Airbus, is on a similar theme......
And Geoffrey Robertson QC has written the afterword to the special edition of 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' to mark the 50th Anniversary of the obscenity trial against Penguin for publishing DH Lawrence's controversial novel.
Allegra McEvedy returns to Loose Ends and does a bit of improv with one of the founders of The Comedy Store Players, Richard Vranch as the troupe celebrate their twenty-fifth year.
And music from bluegrass folk troupe The Southern Tenant Folk Union and the western swing trio Hot Club of Cowtown.
Series in which writers create an imaginative response to a story from the week's news.
With a new brand of austerity on the horizon, and the implications of Housing Benefit cuts to inner cities, playwright Lavinia Murray takes a satirical and bizarre look into the future in - Octopus's Garden by The Sea
Exodus Shelfstacker ....... Kathryn Hunt
Bourne Leader ...... Zara Turner
Tom Sutcliffe and his guests writers Kevin Jackson and David Aaronovitch and novelist Dreda Say Mitchell review the cultural highlights of the week including The Kids Are Alright.
In Lisa Cholodenko's film The Kids Are Alright, Julianne Moore and Annette Bening play a couple whose children track down the anonymous sperm donor who is their biological father. When he enters the picture the family implodes.
Men Should Weep is a 1947 play by Ena Lamont Stewart which portrays the tough life of a family in a Glasgow tenement during the Depression. Josie Rourke's revival at the National Theatre in London stars Sharon Small and Robert Cavanah as the parents trying to make ends meet.
Brian Turner served in the US Army for seven years and his experiences during a year-long tour of duty in Iraq provide the subject matter for many of the poems in his collection Phantom Noise.
The British Art Show is staged every five years and aims to provide a snapshot of what is happening in British contemporary art. Its seventh incarnation - subtitled In the Days of the Comet - has opened in Nottingham. It will also travel, in 2011, to London, Glasgow and Plymouth.
Michael Winterbottom's six part BBC2 series The Trip stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon essentially playing themselves. Coogan has been asked to review some restaurants in the north of England and takes Brydon along for company. Beautiful landscapes, exquisite food and duelling impressionists.
Ride the Ghost Train from Los Mochis to Veracruz, and travel across country, coast to coast, from the Pacific to Atlantic, on an acoustic journey through the heart of Mexico on board one of the most exciting, beautiful and dynamic engineering projects the country has ever known, but which has now passed into history.
It's more than a decade since the Mexican State Railway System operated its last continuous passenger service across the country. Sound recordist Chris Watson spent a month on board the train with some of the last passengers to travel this route. In this sound portrait, based on his original recordings, we recreate the journey of the 'ghost train'; evoking memories of a recent past, capturing the atmosphere, rhythms and sounds of human life and wildlife along the tracks of one of Mexico's greatest engineering projects.
Our journey begins on the west coast at Los Mochis. From here the track rises to an altitude of around 2,500 metres (over 8,000 ft) travelling through truly spectacular scenery as it sweeps through the Copper Canyon. The Tarahumara people, descendants of the Aztecs, still live a simple life in these canyons, as they have done for thousands of years. From here, we descend into Chihuahua City, and pause in the goods yard of the station, eavesdropping on an industrial symphony of metallic sounds. Further south, near the city of Durango, we swap railway coach for stage coach and travel to La Joya, the ranch once owned by the actor, John Wayne. Then it's back on the train, and onwards to the silver mines of Zacatecas. The dangers of working here are legendary. The ghost train travels on .. a gentle breeze sighs through the pine forest along the track side, and then, further south, the sounds of the Mariachi bands greet the train as it travels through Mexico city. In the vast landscape of shanty towns, the tracks are used as commuter routes by the locals. Cattle are even driven along them. But such practices can be fatal; in these suburbs, the trains don't stop. Then there's a diversion to El Tajin; here the descendants of the Mayans spin from tall poles and play games where the winner faces a sacrificial death. The end of the journey approaches; the ghost train thunders on towards the east coast, the Gulf of Mexico and our destination, Veracruz, where ship hooters in the harbour compete with the deafening screech of the train horn.
The recordings used in this programme were originally made by Chris Watson whilst in Mexico with a film crew for the BBC Television programme, Great Railways Journeys: Mexico. Sadly, since these recordings were made, the artist Phil Kelly has died (August 2010).
Herman Melville's classic tale of adventure on the high seas. In this last episode Ishmael comes to the end of the story of what he witnessed as a young man, a story that has haunted him ever since. Captain Ahab, himself now rarely sleeping or eating, ignores the need of the crew for rest and presses on in his obsessive quest for the white whale. After The Pequod is battered by a ferocious typhoon, first mate Starbuck is presented with an opportunity to prevent what seems an inevitable tragedy. To succeed he must overcome his milder nature and steel his nerve. But, in the end, it is Ahab's will that is the stronger, and it seems that nothing can prevent the boiling, wrenching climax, as the maddened whale turns on the ship.
Adapted by Stef Penney, winner of the Costa Award for Best First Novel and overall Costa Best Novel Award in 2007 with her first novel The Tenderness of Wolves.
Ishmael ..... Trevor White
Young Ishmael ..... PJ Brennan
Captain Ahab ..... Garrick Hagon
Peter Coffin ..... Howell Evans
Queequeg ..... Sani Muliaumaseali'i
Captain Boomer ..... Mark Meadows
Captain Mayhew ..... Dorian Thomas
Starbuck/Gabriel ..... Richard Laing
Stubb ..... Simon Lee Phillips
Archy ..... Adam Redmayne
Daggoo ..... Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.
The thousands of secret documents published by Wikileaks detail an horrific catalogue of torture, friendly fire deaths and casual killings and have given us an insight into the brutal chaos after the fall of Saddam Hussein and how ill prepared the allies were to deal with it. But at what cost? The American and British governments say the leaks are grossly irresponsible and risk endangering the lives of soldiers. Some argue the revelations will even encourage more terrorist attacks against the West.
So how do we balance the right to know the truth against the damage that might be caused by publishing it? Are the leakers champions of freedom, liberty and democracy against Big Brother states, or just conspiracy theorists who've set themselves up as unaccountable arbiters of truth? Is transparency the disinfectant that will keep us all clean and pure or are the endless demands for transparency and freedom of information a substitute for searching out the truth? Will an endless cascade of disclosure with no context undermine our trust in civic society and if so, what will replace it?
Combative, provocative and engaging live debate chaired by Michael Buerk with Michael Portillo, Matthew Taylor, Claire Fox and Clifford Longley.
Russell Davies welcomes the first competitors in the latest series of the long-running general knowledge quiz, to find who will be crowned the 58th Brain of Britain.
As ever, 48 of the brightest quiz contestants from around the UK will be joining Russell for the knockout competition. Each of the twelve heats sends a winner forward to the semi-finals, where they will be joined by the four highest-scoring runners-up of the series.
This year's contestants include civil servants, teachers and IT professionals alongside a novelist, a gardener and a postman. Most are completely new to the contest, while one or two are having another go after being pipped at the post in previous years. Only one of them can be named the 58th Brain of Britain, at the end of the Final which will be broadcast in the new year.
'Scotland small?' is the title of an indignant poem by Hugh MacDiarmid which sets the tone of this selection of requests for poems about Scotland. Stella Gonet and Jimmy Yuill read a varied selection of works by Scottish poets ancient and modern, from Sir Walter Scott to Liz Lochhead. In this programme Roger McGough also introduces requests for some poems by the internationally acclaimed Scottish poet Edwin Morgan who died aged 90 in August.
SUNDAY 31 OCTOBER 2010
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b00vhjrg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
SUN 00:30 Lost and Found (b00kdvmb)
The Undertaker's Tale
Series of three short stories by major writers which have only recently come to light.
By Mark Twain.
Newly published in the book 'Who Is Mark Twain?' and The Strand Magazine, Twain's tale about the funeral industry had lain undiscovered for 130 years. Twain tackles the same problems that we are challenged with today and pokes fun at the same type of characters that inhabit our present-day world.
This world broadcast premiere is read by Hector Elizondo.
A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00vhjrj)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00vhjrl)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00vhjrn)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b00vhjrq)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b00vkn6p)
The bells of St Mary's Church, Ilmington, Warwickshire.
SUN 05:45 Should We Listen to Philosophers? (b00vhhn6)
In a barrel, in a think tank or in a cave? We have lots of different ideas about the right place for a philosopher to be but do we listen to philosophers enough, too much, or in the right way? Julian Baggini, Editor in Chief of the Philosopher Magazine, asks "Should we listen to philosophers?".
SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b00vhjrs)
The latest national and international news.
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b00vknht)
The Exercise of Conscience
Mike Wooldridge explores the decision of the conscientious objector.
What drives the decision not to take up arms, often taken in the face of punishment, hostility and broken relationships?
He asks Oscar Wallis, a Quaker who refused to bear arms in the Second World War, and Charles Yeats, the first Anglican to refuse the call-up to the South African Defence Force, why they did what they did, and if they would do the same today?
Presented by Mike Wooldridge
Producer: Eley McAinsh
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b00vknmf)
Alex James is in Kent visiting one of the country's biggest orchards. Fruit producer, Paul Mansfield, of FW Mansfield and Son, is a finalist in this year's BBC Farmer of the Year category. Paul farms around 3000 acres and harvest approximately 15,000 tonnes of apples and pears. The company developed from a 20 acre smallholding 40 years ago to now be the largest apple and cherry producer in the country. Alex James and fellow judge, Michael Jack, discover if mass production can be done environmentally sensitively and why so many apples are imported when the UK could be entirely self-sufficient in them.
Producer: Martin Poyntz-Roberts.
SUN 06:57 Weather (b00vhjrv)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b00vhjrx)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (b00vknmh)
Edward Stourton with the religious and ethical news of the week. Moral arguments and perspectives on stories, familiar and unfamiliar.
We take a look at the growth of gaming shops and bookies in poorer areas. Critics say that bookmakers are closing shops in more affluent areas, and then exploiting legal loopholes to open more store in the poorest areas. Bookmakers say that they are providing a service and that the amount of shops in the country has been more or less static over the last 5 years. Trevor Barnes reports on the cost of gambling to the poorest areas of the country.
Is Britain an anti-Christian country? Have our diversity regulations undermined our Christianity or do we still respect organised religion too much? Matthew Parris & Peter Hitchens debate.
Americans go to the polls on Tuesday for Mid-Term Elections that are expected to propel dozens of new conservative Christian "tea party" candidates into office. A survey published earlier this month revealed that half of those who identify with the tea party movement, also see themselves as members of the Religious Right, a force in American politics that many believed was in sharp decline. So how have religious conservatives returned in such numbers to the culture war battlefield? Matt Wells reports from Kentucky.
As Halloween becomes more commercial The Dean of Hereford is urging all parishioners to throw a party on the last Sunday of this month and have a good time its time for churches to reclaim Halloween (All Hallows Eve) which is the evening before All Saints' day and make it part of the Christian Festival.
A Legal challenge for the rights of gay couples to marry and straight couples to be able to have civil partnerships takes place on Tuesday. Reverend Sharon Ferguson of Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement will go along and apply for a marriage licence as the first of four couples to challenge the law. Edward asks Reverend Ferguson what they hope to achieve.
The first steps towards the renovation of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity began this week and it is expected to take several years and millions of dollars. This is the first comprehensive restoration project of the church since it was completed in the fourth century. Edward speaks to Samir Qumsieh from Bethlehem.
Charles Carrol reports from Wembley on Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. What does it mean and how is it celebrated?
Bishop of Dudley David Walker talks to Edward about the effects of the new Housing Benefit system and the Church will have to play a big role in helping people who have been displaced.
E-mail: sunday@bbc.co.uk
Series producer: Amanda Hancox.
SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b00vknmk)
LEPRA Health in Action
Fergus Walsh presents the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity LEPRA Health in Action.
Donations to LEPRA should be sent to FREEPOST BBC Radio 4 Appeal, please mark the back of your envelope LEPRA. Credit cards: Freephone 0800 404 8144. You can also give online at www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/appeal. If you are a UK tax payer, please provide LEPRA with your full name and address so they can claim the Gift Aid on your donation. The online and phone donation facilities are not currently available to listeners without a UK postcode.
Registered Charity Number: 213251; SC039715.
SUN 07:58 Weather (b00vhjrz)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b00vhjs1)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b00vknpy)
A Celebration of Wholeness and Healing
Members of local churches in South Belfast come together for a live service in St Nicholas' Church.
Director of Music: Andrea Rea; Organist: Neale Agnew; Producer: Bert Tosh.
SUN 08:50 A Point of View (b00vhf4j)
Sarah Dunant: Tribute to Teachers
Sarah Dunant pays tribute to outstanding women teachers who inspired her own generation of schoolgirls to achieve through education as well as any boy. She remembers, in particular, her headmistress and her art teacher, who deserve credit for the part they played in the fight for women's equality.
Producer: Sheila Cook.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b00vknq1)
News and conversation about the big stories of the week with Paddy O'Connell.
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b00vknq3)
For detailed synopses, see daily episodes
Written by: Tim Stimpson
Directed by: Julie Beckett
Editor: Vanessa Whitburn
Brian Aldridge ..... Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge ..... Angela Piper
David Archer ..... Timothy Bentinck
Kenton Archer ..... Richard Attlee
Pip Archer ..... Helen Monks
Ruth Archer ..... Felicity Finch
Susan Carter ..... Charlotte Martin
Alan Franks ..... John Telfer
Clarrie Grundy ..... Rosalind Adams
Eddie Grundy ..... Trevor Harrison
Edward Grundy ..... Barry Farrimond
Emma Grundy ..... Emerald O'Hanrahan
William Grundy ..... Philip Molloy
Nic Hanson ..... Becky Wright
Kate Madikane ..... Kellie Bright
Harry Mason ..... Michael Shelford
Jazzer McCreary ..... Ryan Kelly
Nigel Pargetter ..... Graham Seed
Jamie Perks ..... Dan Ciotkowski
Jolene Perks ..... Buffy Davis
Kathy Perks ..... Hedli Niklaus
Lynda Snell ..... Carole Boyd
Mike Tucker ..... Terry Molloy
Vicky Tucker ..... Rachel Atkins
Peggy Woolley ..... June Spencer.
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b00vknrn)
Lang Lang
Kirsty Young's castaway is the Chinese pianist Lang Lang.
He was five years old when he gave his first public recital in front of an audience of 800 people. It was a pivotal moment and from that point on it was clear where his future lay. His parents were both musical too but, during the cultural revolution, had not been able to pursue their own ambitions. Lang Lang was born under the one-child rule and so he was, he says, their only chance. Their aim was that he should become the No.1 pianist in China and in the years that followed, family life was sacrificed to that end.
Still only 28 years old, he is a phenomenon in the classical music world - he played to a global audience of four and a half billion people for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and, when he returns to China, he says he is mobbed in the streets.
Producer: Leanne Buckle
Record: The Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 played by Vladimir Horowitz
Book: The Analects of Confucius.
Luxury: Two feathered pillows.
SUN 12:00 The Unbelievable Truth (b00vhfb8)
Series 6
Episode 5
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.
Tony Hawks, Arthur Smith, Henning Wehn and Graeme Garden are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as: Noses, Apples, Fishing and Lord Byron.
The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith, the team behind Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.
Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b00vkns1)
Sustainable Public Food and Nottingham
In these hard economic times does a Private Members Bill introducing new standards for the food sourced by public bodies stand a chance of becoming law? Simon Parkes visits Nottinghamshire, where some hospital meals and all school dinners are procured this way, to look at what such a change might mean in practice.
The Nottingham City Hospital has been sourcing sustainably for 7 years, buying its meat and vegetables from local farmers. Food is fresher, higher quality, and no more expensive, and now over half the money the hospital spends on food goes into the local economy, benefitting local suppliers like dairy wholesalers Transfresh, and butchers Owen Taylor.
Also 7 years ago Nottinghamshire County Council began its process of sourcing its school meals food sustainably, and has now achieved Silver Standard under the Soil Association Food for Life Partnership scheme. Donna Baines, School Food Development Manager, met Simon in Maloney's butchers, which now supplies all their meat, with Alison Maloney and Jeanette Orrey, school meals campaigner, to discuss the impact of these changes on the food, their finances, and the threats posed by the current spending review. The service is currently being "market tested" with a view to potential privisation. Conservative Councillor Andy Stewart explains what that might mean.
In the studio to discuss the Bill are Labour MP Joan Walley (Stoke on Trent North) who tabled the Private Members Bill; Tony Cooke Government Relations Director of catering service provider Sodexo; and Kath Dalmeny, Policy Director of Sustain, which runs the Good Food for Our Money campaign.
Producer: Rebecca Moore.
SUN 12:57 Weather (b00vhjs3)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b00vkns7)
A look at events around the world.
SUN 13:30 The Gorbals Vampire (b00rmt00)
In September 1954 hundreds of Glasgow schoolchildren crowded into a Gorbals graveyard to hunt for a Vampire with Iron Teeth. Novelist Louise Welsh discovers how the "Gorbals Vampire" led to a change in Britain's censorship laws.
In 1954 in Glasgow's Southern Necropolis cemetery hundreds of local children, ranging in ages from 4 to 14, were discovered by police roaming between the crypts. They were armed with sharpened sticks, knives stolen from home and stakes. They said they were hunting down "a vampire with iron teeth" that they believed had kidnapped and eaten two local boys.
The local press got hold of the story of what became known as the 'Gorbals Vampire' and it soon went national. The press and politicians cast around for an explanation. They soon found one in the wave of American Horror comics with names like "Astounding Stories" and "Tales from the Crypt" which had recently flooded into the west of Scotland.
Academics pointed out that none of the comics featured a vampire with iron teeth, though there was a monster with iron teeth in the Bible (Daniel 7.7) and in a poem taught in local schools. Their voices were drowned out in a full-blown moral panic about the effect that terrifying comics were having on children. Soon the case of the "Gorbals Vampire" was international news.
The British Press raged against the "terrifying, corrupt" comics and after a heated debate in the House of Commons where the case of Gorbals Vampire was cited, Britain passed the Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955 which, for the first time, specifically banned the sale of magazines and comics portraying "incidents of a repulsive or horrible nature" to minors.
Produced by David Stenhouse.
First broadcast on Radio 4 in 2010.
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00vh9jp)
Ashcott Garden Club, Somerset
Anne Swithinbank, Chris Beardshaw and Matthew Biggs are guests of the Ashcott Garden Club in Somerset. Peter Gibbs is the chairman.
Matthew Wilson presents the second half of our Urban Forest series.
Producer: Howard Shannon
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 14:45 How The Mighty Have Fallen (b00tj826)
Diets Through The Ages
"He that dieteth himself, prolongeth his life" - Ecclesiastes.
Dr Hilary Jones continues his series on the history of obesity with a look at diets and dieting through the ages.
"It is very injurious to health to take in more food than the constitution will bear, when at the same time, one uses no exercise to carry off this excess" - Hippocrates, millennia ahead of his time, defining the energy balance equation. Plutarch, in 1AD, recognised the link between weight and health: "thin people are generally the most healthy; we should not therefore indulge our appetites with delicacies or high living, for fear of growing corpulent".
Twenty years on from the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror grew too large to ride his horse, and decided to lose weight by consuming nothing but alcohol. Other historic diets include Cheyne's lettuce diet, Fletcherising - "nature will castigate those who don't masticate", and Banting. William Banting lost almost a quarter of his weight in a few weeks by adopting a diet "low in farinaceous food" - a precursor of the modern low-carbohydrate diet. His 1863 diet book was a top-seller.
And we hear about the extraordinary exploits of the Great Eater of Kent, a "Tugmutton" who could eat an entire sheep in one sitting. There are interviews with Dr Susan Jebb of MRC Human Nutrition Research in Cambridge, and Prof David Haslam of the National Obesity Forum, plus readings and music - a popular song from 1929 encapsulating the new craze in America: the grapefruit diet.
Readings by Toby Longworth & Michael Fenton-Stevens.
Producer: Susan Kenyon
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b00vkp4q)
Amber Lone - The Ramayana
Cast Out
By Amber Lone. A distinctive modern version of an ancient Indian epic and one of the world's most popular love stories. Teenage Sita sees the most beautiful stranger in the street. She'll marry him or die. He is Prince Rama, heir to the throne but his stepmother wants Rama sent into exile.
Sita...Manjinder Virk
Rama...Lloyd Thomas
Lakshman...Adeel Aktar
Ravan...Paul Bhattacharjee
Surparnaka...Sasha Behar
Dasarath...Jude Akuwudike
Sister...Deeivya Meir
Bharat...Saikat Ahamed
Music composed by Niraj Chag
Directed by Claire Grove
The ancient Indian epic The Ramayana is one of the world's most popular love stories. The separation and reunion of two lovers gives it perennial appeal but Rama's jealousy and Sita 's metamorphosis into a strong independent woman gives the story a contemporary feel. "Be as Rama," young Indians have been taught for 2,000 years, "be as Sita." but Rama is an interestingly flawed character, driven by powerful emotions in a world where monkeys can be gods, and gods can be as fallible as humans. Amber Lone's modern version of this Indian epic is scheduled to coincide with Divali, the festival of Lights, which celebrates Rama and Sita's return to their kingdom. Outstanding composer Niraj Chag creates original music.
Amber Lone (dramatist) is a bold new British Asian voice. She has had three acclaimed plays at Birmingham Rep: Paradise (2003), Deadeye(2006) & Four Streets (2009). She was a regular writer on Silver Street for BBC Asian network.
Niraj Chag (composer) wrote original music for the R4 dramatisation of The Mahabharata and a witty score for Rafta Rafta at the National Theatre. He is currently working on the feature film of Rafta Rafta . He has written and produced his own albums 'Along the Dusty Road' 2006 and 'Lost Souls' 2009 and composed music for BBC TV documentaries on Turner, Picasso and Bhopal.
SUN 16:00 Open Book (b00vkp4s)
Mariella Frostrup talks to the historian Amanda Foreman about her new book, A World on Fire, which examines Britain's role in America's Civil War. Foreman's previous book, a biography of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, became an instant bestseller, making her a rarity amongst historians. She discusses the art of making history compelling reading, and why feels she has to fall in love with her subjects in order to write about them.
Also on the programme - fifty years after the death of Boris Pasternak, a new translation of his most famous book, Doctor Zhivago, is being published. Two of his descendants, Ann Pasternak-Slater and Anna Pasternak, who have researched his life and work, join Mariella to re-examine the novel which won him the Nobel Prize.
Plus - the second part of the memoirs of Germany's most acclaimed living writer, Gunter Grass. Treading the line between autobiography and fiction, Grass writes in the voice of his eight children and reflects on the decades of literary success which followed the publication of his most famous novel, The Tin Drum, in 1959. Novelist Lawrence Norfolk, an enthusiast of Grass's writings, joins Mariella to give the Open Book verdict.
PRODUCER: AASIYA LODHI & ELLA-MAI ROBEY.
SUN 16:30 The Electric Polyolbion (b00vkp4v)
Part poetry and part national topological survey with a rich seam of encounters along the way, The Electric Polyolbion will be poet and broadcaster Paul Farley's reimagining of Michael Drayton's sprawling, extraordinary Poly-Olbion, first published in 1612.
The term Poly-Olbion suggests 'many Albions', the plurality of place, and Drayton described his own project as "...a chorographicall [sic] description of tracts, rivers, mountains, forests, and other parts of this renowned isle... with intermixture of the most remarkable stories, antiquities, wonders, rarities, pleasures and commodities of the same."
Drayton's Poly-Olbion is a remarkable poem: 30,000 lines, arranged in 30 sections or 'songs', describing the geography and history of England and Wales county by county. References to place are clear and precise.
The Electric Poly-Olbion will follow and explore the same topographies as Drayton's work, and Paul Farley will use its precursor to create a new version out of our contemporary landscape that incorporates and synthesizes historical, scientific, political, literary, pop-cultural and autobiographical dimensions into the imaginative region of the long poem.
As he travels the country Farley writes his own long form verse in and around the places and references of Drayton's original: the same landscapes, two wildly different time frames. Paul has a lovely ease of style in conversation, and he'll meet other local writers along the way.
Presenter: Paul Farley
Producer: Simon Hollis
A Brook Lapping Production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 17:00 File on 4 (b00vhgpl)
A Taxing Dilemma
While the government axes public spending to try to cut the deficit, Michael Robinson investigates loopholes which let big businesses slash their UK tax bills.
This month George Osborne said he plans to make Britain the most attractive corporate tax regime in the G20. But some companies have already moved abroad for tax reasons. And for others able to operate on a global scale, there are many ways for them to reduce their tax liability. So how does the Government square the tax circle?
Producer: Gail Champion.
SUN 17:40 From Fact to Fiction (b00vklsd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00vhjs5)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 17:57 Weather (b00vhjs7)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00vhjs9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b00vkp4x)
Liz Barclay makes her selection from the past seven days of BBC Radio
The League of Gentlemen encounter ghosts, Stephen Fry encounters Stephen Sondheim, the inmates of Louisiana State Penitentiary pit themselves against raging bulls, Sue Perkins revisits the car parks of her youth and Frank McCourt embraces life in paradise in that peculiarly Frank McCourt fashion. To Malawi to meet musicians, coast to coast across Mexico, a thrilling investigation in India, up the Blackpool Tower and home on the ghost train ... Join Liz Barclay for Pick of the Week....
Archive On 4: El tren Fantasma - Radio 4
The Ghost Trains of Old England - Radio 4
The League of Gentlemen's Ghost Chase - Radio 4
Afternoon Play: The Climb - Radio 4
The Seven Car Parks of Croydon - Radio 4
Book of the Week: The Fry Chronicles - Radio 4
The Strand - World Service
Afternoon Play: Severed Threads - Radio 4
Rosa and Leos - Radio 4
Inside the Cage - Radio 4
From Our own Correspondent - Radio 4
Sunday Feature: The Romans in Britain - Radio 3
Leading Ladies - Radio 4
Analysis - Radio 4
Craig Brown's Lost Diaries - Radio 4
PHONE: 0370 010 0400
FAX: 0161 244 4243
Email: potw@bbc.co.uk or www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/potw
Producer: Cecile Wright.
SUN 19:00 The Archers (b00vkp5h)
At first rehearsal for the Dick Whittington panto, Lynda still has the problem of quite a few vacant roles, in particular Dick and Alice. Harry's starting to enjoy himself but the rehearsals are interrupted when Nigel insists he needs to get ready for the Bull's Halloween party.
Fallon encourages Jolene to dress up and join in the Halloween festivities. Jolene's not in the mood but agrees to some glittery make up. Fallon admires Kenton and Nigel's costumes and Kenton asks after Jamie, who he was hoping would be there. Fallon wants Harry to hurry up - he's missing all the fun. Harry arrives dressed as a brooding character from the Twilight movie. Freda chooses him as the best fancy dress, confusing him for a zombie. Kenton's disappointed when Jamie doesn't come. Jolene confides in Kenton that she's missing Sid, especially as they're coming up to Bonfire night. It was always one of Sid's big nights.
Lynda and Vicky meet up again at the Bull to discuss ways to recruit people for the panto/ Alistair and Daniel will do the set and lighting, Mike could be persuaded to play Alderman Fitzwarren but they still need to cast the two main roles. They're looking for two strong leading ladies.
SUN 19:15 Americana (b00vkp6k)
Americana examines the defining and redefining of a nation.
Once every ten years, when U.S. Census figures are updated, American politicians have the opportunity to draw crooked lines to map out districts of political supporters to their advantage. The abuse of power is called gerrymandering. The honest practice is called redistricting. Americana talks with the filmmaker Jeff Reichert about his new film on the history of gerrymandering and about the debate unfolding about how best to keep the system of redistricting honest.
Matt Frei talks to former poet laureate Rita Dove about how to define the culture of a nation through poetry.
And Garry Wills discusses his new book "Outside Looking In: Adventures of an Observer," a memoir that grapples with how to define oneself.
SUN 19:45 Come Away, Come Away! (b00s6t4p)
Daredevil, by Michael Morpurgo
A reckless challenge leads to a dark discovery in a tale of nature and brotherhood.
James Bryce reads 'Daredevil' by Michael Morpurgo.
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.
To mark 150 years since author J M Barrie was born, birth, three leading writers for young people contribute stories inspired by a chapter title from 'Peter Pan'. The authors have been set the task of exploring the joys and the terrors of childhood without sentimentality, much as Barrie did in his original text.
Award-winning author and former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo has written over 100 books including 'The Wreck of the Zanzibar' and 'Kensuke's Kingdom'. The stage production of his 2007 novel, 'War Horse' has just transferred to the West End after an award-winning run at the National Theatre.
SUN 20:00 Feedback (b00vh9hf)
Roger Bolton asks whether this was the best week for the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to wash up on Kirsty Young's Desert Island Discs.
As Peggy learns to cut and paste on The Archers, Roger examines the BBC's role in Government backed education campaigns.
And after Richard Herring's endorsement - listeners are desperate to know how to get hold of this season's must have Radio 4 hoodie.
Email the team: feedback@bbc.co.uk
Producer: Karen Pirie
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 20:30 Last Word (b00vh9kb)
On Last Word this week:
The British aid worker Linda Norgrove - killed during an American military operation to rescue her from her captors. In an emotional interview her parents talk about her childhood, her determination to help those less fortunate than herself and the tragic violence of her death.
Also children's'writer Eva Ibbotson, who imagined a mystery platform at King's Cross station long before JK Rowling.
Reggae singer Gregory Isaacs - famous for his romantic ballads - he fought a battle with cocaine addiction.
And Mary Malcolm - BBC announcer in the early days of television. We hear from her on screen colleague Sylvia Peters.
SUN 21:00 Money Box (b00vklh3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:00 on Saturday]
SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b00vknmk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 today]
SUN 21:30 Analysis (b00vhfl2)
The secret history of Analysis
Analysis celebrates its 40th birthday by making its own history the subject of its trademark examination of the facts.
The Director General of the BBC, Mark Thompson, recently told the New Statesman that in decades past the organisation's current affairs output had displayed a left wing bias. He could not have had in mind the early years of Analysis. "We tried to avoid received opinion like the plague," says the programme's founder editor George Fischer. He required his producers to look at issues from scratch and to go beyond the bien pensant agenda.
In doing so they spotted issues that others missed. Amongst the themes they identified as important were the depth of the Thatcherite project before the term Thatcherism was coined; the tensions likely to emerge in the feminist movement; and the potential for disaster in Zimbabwe if expectations over land reform were not fulfilled. The programme's willingness to question fashionable assumptions attracted some accusations of political bias. Was that fair? Michael Blastland, an Analysis producer from the 1990s and now a regular presenter, looks back at the programme's history and meets some of its early staff and contributors. Follow Analysis on Twitter: @R4Analysis
Contributors:
George Fischer, founder editor of Analysis
Ian McIntyre, founder presenter of Analysis, later Controller of Radio 4
Rt Hon Tony Benn
Gillian Reynolds, radio critic, The Daily Telegraph
Michael Green, former Analysis producer, later controller of Radio 4
Caroline Thomson, former Analysis producer, now Chief Operating Officer for the BBC
Fraser Steel, former Analysis producer
Hugh Chignell, Associate Professor of Broadcasting History, Bournemouth University
Lord Griffiths
Producer: Linda Pressly.
SUN 21:58 Weather (b00vhjsc)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b00vw0w3)
Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster.
SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b00vkp7y)
Episode 25
BBC Radio 4 brings back a much loved TV favourite - What the Papers Say. It does what it says on the tin. In each programme a leading political journalist has a wry look at how the broadsheets and red tops treat the biggest stories in Westminster and beyond. This week Jan Moir of The Daily Mail takes the chair and the editor is Catherine Donegan.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b00vhdr1)
Francine Stock talks to Lisa Cholodenko, director of The Kids Are All Right, starring Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as a couple whose relationship begins to founder when their children track down their biological father.
Screenwriters Moira Buffini, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Simon Beaufoy reveal the secrets of a good ending
Olivier Assayas, the director of Carlos, discusses geo-politics, international terrorism and the reason why his five and a half hour epic is not eligible for an Oscar.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b00vknht)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 01 NOVEMBER 2010
MON 00:00 Midnight News (b00vhjsp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b00vhhjm)
Happy families? - Science's first mistake
Was there ever a golden age of the family? Political debates about the family often invoke a norm of family life in which marriages lasted and children thrived. But a new report suggests that pre-marital sex, cohabitation, single parenthood and illegitimacy have been rife for two centuries. It's the post war period from 1945-1970 which is unusual for its high rates of enduring marriages. Many people in the past didn't ever marry because of the problems in obtaining or affording a divorce. The historian Professor Pat Thane discusses families, real and ideal, with Laurie Taylor. Also, are most scientific claims little more than delusions? The Professor of Information Systems, Ian Angell talks about his co-authored book 'Science's First Mistake' which critiques science's claims to 'truth'.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b00vkn6p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00vhjsr)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00vhjst)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00vhjsw)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (b00vhjsy)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00vkpbv)
With Shaunaka Rishi Das, Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (b00vkpbx)
Caz Graham hears Britain's seas will have a full planning system for the first time. The first zone will be from Flamborough Head to Felixstowe, and The Marine Management Organisation tells Farming Today the North Sea fishing industry should benefit.
Worcestershire Wildlife Trust are concerned government money is being wasted on farming wildlife schemes. Agri-environment schemes avoided the recent government cuts, but Farming Today hears there is little evidence the schemes are working as they should, to increase bio-diversity.
A sharp rise in feed and straw costs is forcing farmers to sell their cattle before the winter. A trip to Dartmoor National Park reveals the cost of bedding and feed is proving too much, and many farmers are selling their stock.
MON 05:57 Weather (b00vhjt0)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 06:00 Today (b00vkpk2)
Morning news and current affairs with Sarah Montague and Justin Webb, including:
08:10 The new head of the armed forces, Gen Sir David Richards, outlines his priorities
08:25 Authors Ian Rankin and Frederick Forsyth discuss National Novel Writing Month
08:36 Former government drugs adviser Prof David Nutt on the dangers of alcohol
08:41 Evan Davis explores the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (b00vkpk4)
Andrew Marr looks at what the future holds for Ireland after the financial crisis, with the cultural commentator, Fintan O'Toole, who argues for wholesale reform of the political system. While the Conservative MP, Nick Boles puts forward his blueprint for a new Britain. The fate of Deborah Cadbury's family firm was sealed when it was bought out by an American company. But she looks back at a chocolate dynasty that mixed sweet success with bitter rivalry. And the cellist Steven Isserlis is on a mission to enhance the reputation of the much-maligned composer, Saint-Saens.
Producer: Eleanor Garland.
MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b00vkpk6)
Philip Larkin - Letters to Monica
Episode 1
Philip Larkin's Letters to Monica span the forty years of their relationship from 1946 when they met, until Larkin's death in 1985. They only came to light after Monica Jones died in 2001, when nearly two thousand letters were discovered in Larkin's house in Hull. This never previously published correspondence, edited by Anthony Thwaite, offers a unique insight into Larkin's most intimate thoughts.
Philip Larkin writes to Monica about his poetry, his lack of inspiration, his mundane life in Belfast and then Hull, his relationship with her, with his friends (notably Kingsley Amis), his parents and with his other lover Maeve. They often discuss books and reading, writers and writing, and their shared love animals and Beatrix Potter. Larkin's letters are infused with the music he's listening to, the work he's immersed in, his general domesticity, the food he's eaten, the sounds from the flats below: they paint a vivid picture of the real world that inspired his poetry.
Read by Hugh Bonneville, who recently appeared in ITV's Downton Abbey and BBC TV's The Silence. He has previously played Larkin in Love Again on BBC 4.
In Episode 1, the letters are introduced by Anthony Thwaite, a close friend of Larkin and the editor of the collection Letters to Monica.
The abridger is Miranda Davies and the producer Lucy Collingwood.
Episode 1:
Larkin arrives in Belfast to take up his new job as librarian at the University and struggles to self- publish a collection of poetry.
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00vkpk8)
Presented by Jenni Murray. The number of women over 50 who are HIV positive is rising. We ask why. Stephen Wynn talks about his new book 'Two Sons in a War Zone' - an account of being a father with two boys on active service. We debate the merits of walking versus running and discuss the rising hemline; the catwalks say below the knee - but will that be enough to end the reign of the high street mini?
MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00vkpkb)
So Much For That
Episode 6
Shep Knacker has been saving all his working life for 'the Afterlife' - his retirement escape route from Brooklyn to Pemba, a remote island off the coast of Zanzibar. But just as Shep was about to put the Afterlife into action, his wife Glynis revealed that she had cancer.
In today's episode, Shep watches his once substantial savings continue to evaporate as he funds the elements of Glynis' treatment not covered by their health insurance. He also faces care home costs for his elderly father, who has broken his leg. Meanwhile, his best friend Jackson copes with the marital and financial fall-out of his botched penis-enlargement surgery.
Narrator ..... Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Shep ..... Henry Goodman
Glynis ..... Debora Weston
Carol ..... Elizabeth McGovern
Jackson ..... Stuart Milligan
Flicka ..... Sasha Pick
Dr Knox/Gabe ..... Peter Marinker
Adapted for radio by Penny Leicester
Directed by Emma Harding
Lionel Shriver won the 2005 Orange Prize for her novel We Need to Talk About Kevin. Other novels include The Post-Birthday World and Double Fault.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's work in film includes The Color of Money, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Abyss; TV includes Law & Order: Criminal Intent and on Stage: A View From the Bridge at the Duke of York's, London.
Henry Goodman is currently playing Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes, Prime Minister in the West End. Other stage work includes Duet for One, with Juliet Stevenson, Fiddler on the Roof and Chicago. Recent film includes The Damned United and Taking Woodstock.
Elizabeth McGovern is currently starring in Julian Fellowes' new ITV drama series, Downtown Abbey. Her film work includes Ragtime, Once Upon a Time in America and The Wings of the Dove.
MON 11:00 Grayson on His Bike (b00vkw55)
Turner Prize winning artist Grayson Perry takes his teddy bear and childhood hero, Alan Measles, across Bavaria on a highly decorated Kenilworth AM1 motorcycle.
Grayson spent a troubled childhood in suburban Essex creating a fantasy life where he fought off the brutish invading Germans, under the command of his teddy bear Alan Measles, a plucky wartime Resistance leader who became his hero, a sort of personal God and the embodiment of everything that was good about masculinity.
Now Grayson Perry has commissioned a highly decorative Kenilworth AM1 motorcycle, with a shrine on the back for his teddy bear, whose inaugural voyage, Ten Days of Alan, takes them across Bavaria, on a mission of reconciliation with their old enemies.
Starting out from their hometown of Chelmsford, Grayson and Alan Measles' journey takes in the 1920s Nurburgring racetrack and religious icons like the Isenheim Altar by Matthias Grunewald and the church in Wies, where a peasant saw tears in the eyes of a flagellated Christ figure in 1738. They visit Mad King Ludwig's fantastically Rococo Schloss Neuschwanstein where much of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was filmed,the Steiff Teddy bear factory in Giengen and end up in Backnang, Chelmsford's twin town, to hand over a message of goodwill to the local Mayor.
As they go, Grayson and Alan reflect on the nature of art and pilgrimage, shared memories of childhood and the speed of their motorbike on Tyrolean mountain passes. Come sunshine ? Or rain.
Producer: Nicki Paxman.
MON 11:30 Craig Brown's Lost Diaries (b00vkw57)
September and October
September and October. Autumn brings gloom for Sylvia Plath, Thomas Hardy and Max Clifford.
A second chance to hear satirist Craig Brown dip into the private lives of public figures from the 1960's to the present day.
Voiced by Jan Ravens, Alistair McGowan, Lewis McLeod, Ewan Bailey, Margaret Cabourn-Smith and Dolly Wells.
Written by Craig Brown.
Produced by Victoria Lloyd.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
MON 12:00 You and Yours (b00vkw59)
As You and Yours celebrates its 40th Birthday - Julian Worricker takes a look how energy has shaped the past four decades.
In 1970 an electricians' strike brought power cuts, a former National Coal Board adviser was warning that the UK was over-reliant on fossil fuel and Prince Charles caused controversy by warning about harming the environment.
"Natural Gas" was being introduced to homes for the first time and bringing down domestic fuel bills and one of the biggest North Sea oilfields was first discovered.You and Yours investigates how attitudes to energy policy have changed during the lifetime of Radio 4's midday consumer programme.
MON 12:57 Weather (b00vhjt2)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 13:00 World at One (b00vkw5m)
National and international news.
MON 13:30 Brain of Britain (b00vkwcq)
(2/17) The contestants in the second heat of the nationwide general knowledge contest are from Derbyshire, West Yorkshire and the West Midlands. Russell Davies is in the chair.
Producer Paul Bajoria.
MON 14:00 The Archers (b00vkp5h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Drama (b00vkwcs)
Number 10 - Series 4
Episode 2
Written by Jonathan Myerson. A leaked consultation document has the PM suggesting the armed forces budget should be cut in half. The Chief of General Staff declares war on the PM.
It's a minority Tory government and they need Lid Dem support to get their Health Bill through - Whitman (LD Whip) wants imposed industry regulation, whilst the Tories want it to be voluntary.
The good news is that they have just signed a huge armaments deal with Saudi Arabia- securing factories and jobs - which Hugo, the Deputy Prime Minister, did all the hard work on. But suddenly a journalist says that Hugo took a bribe while there - in the form of a prostitute....
But obscuring all this is the news that the new Sheriff of Essex - controlling police and prisons - is cutting costs by getting convicted criminals to stand outside the Lakeside Thurrock wearing placards proclaiming their crime such as 'Thief'". She is determined to stick to it putting her in direct confrontation with the PM.
Cast:
PM (Simon Laity) .....Damian Lewis
Nathan ..... Mike Sengelow
Hugo ..... Julian Glover
Georgie ..... Gina Mckee
Amjad ..... Arsher Ali
Whitman ..... Christian Rodska
Alan ..... John Hollingworth
Sally Tyler..... Jane Slavin
Sheriff ..... Hannah Waddingham
Whitecross ..... Theo Fraser Steele
Thief ..... Harry Smith
Journalists ..... Theo Fraser Steele, Kate Gilbert, Kate Lamb
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Pacificus Production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 15:00 Archive on 4 (b00vkmt0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Saturday]
MON 15:45 Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Escape to the Country (b00s8djt)
Healing in the Open Air
How the rural landscape came to be seen as a place of moral, physical and spiritual healing for First World War veterans.
MON 16:00 The Food Programme (b00vkns1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:30 Click On (b00vkwdp)
Series 7
Biometrics, clever plasters and SMS maps
Mouse fingers at the ready... Simon Cox explores the week's most exciting IT stories, hearing about the latest developments in the digital world and uncovering the multitude of ways in which new technology affects our lives. This week: how much of your personal data is collected during travel? And how SMS technology is being used to give women a voice in Egypt.
MON 17:00 PM (b00vkwf0)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00vhjt4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (b00vkwg9)
Series 6
Episode 6
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.
Rhod Gilbert, Kevin Bridges, Tom Wrigglesworth and Lucy Porter are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as: Bells, Donkeys, The Police and Mrs Beeton.
The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith, the team behind Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.
Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 19:00 The Archers (b00vkwgc)
Tom wants to do an energy audit, using an online tool kit, to help bring down the farm's high electricity bills. Tony's not worried about his carbon footprint but tells Tom to go ahead if he thinks he can save them money.
Kenton's hoping to see Kirsty. He needs cover for Friday as he needs the night off. Kirsty's not around but he comments on how well Helen looks. Helen's planning to visit Emma, who's 17 weeks pregnant, to swap notes. Lynda's also trying to get hold of Kirsty, to ask her about the panto. She's also hopeful David will join the cast.
Jim's been through a bag of videos that Alan gave him. They included some specially recorded horse races. It's given Jim an idea. Jim later tells Kenton that he and Alan have discussed holding a race evening at the village hall. Kenton's pleased they weren't thinking of holding it at the Bull, as he doesn't think Jolene would be up to it. He offers Jim some advice abut fundraising.
Helen's baby is busy kicking away. Pat eagerly feels Helen's tummy. Tony does too - but with reluctance.
MON 19:15 Front Row (b00vkwhl)
PD James, Mike Leigh's film Another Year reviewed
With Mark Lawson, who talks to PD James as her only book about a true crime - The Maul and the Pear Tree - is republished.
Also a review of Mike Leigh's film Another Year which features Lesley Manville, Jim Broadbent, Phil Davis and Imelda Staunton.
And Entertainment reporter Lizo Mzimba compares and contrasts new albums from Cheryl Cole and Charlotte Church.
Messy Little Raindrops by Cheryl Cole and Back To Scratch by Charlotte Church are both out now.
Producer Robyn Read.
MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00vkpkb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 Sack 'Em (b00vkwk6)
Winifred Robinson explores what it means to get sacked.
Is it true that almost nobody gets sacked in the public sector? Are businesses forced to pay incompetent people off rather than sack them? And does the compensation culture really mean that people who deserve to be sacked get thousands of pounds when they take their employers to court?
Winifred sets out to answer all these questions. Along the way she meets businessmen, employment lawyers, trade unionists, and people who have been sacked. She finds out what it means to be sacked, and asks whether as a country we are too casual about the impact of sacking someone - or too cautious. She hears about recent changes to employment law, and asks whether more are needed. And she finds surprising common ground between businesses and trade unionists about the tribunal system.
Producer: Giles Edwards.
MON 20:30 Analysis (b00vkwk8)
Defence: no stomach for the fight?
To take successful military action, you do not only need soldiers, aircraft or warships. The support of the society and political leadership is crucial in sustaining armed action. Yet public involvement in current debates about the future of the military has been very limited, as old ideas of 'leaving it to the professionals' prevail.
So what happens when society becomes divorced from the business of defending itself? In liberal Britain, some sections of society seem more and more alienated from military action. Using force clashes with modern concerns about human rights and risk-avoidance. New forms of media have cut through the more sanitised portrayal of war in the mainstream media, adding to public concern. And politicians, scarred by the unpopularity of recent military actions, noting the grief which every single casualty prompts, are likely to be ever more wary of future warfare.
Within the military too there is change, and friction. New technology is taking armed action further away from old ideas of heroism and codes of conduct. These days lawyers sit in army headquarters challenging military decisions. Many in the military appear frustrated by what they see a lack of popular and political understanding of their role.
In this programme Dr Kenneth Payne, military specialist at King's College London, explores how deep these tensions run, and what they mean for Britain's military future. He asks too whether Britain's experience is different from that of other countries, such as the US. Contributors include distinguished military historian and commentator Hew Strachan, and former soldier and senior politician Lord Ashdown.
Producer: Chris Bowlby.
MON 21:00 Material World (b00vhg9y)
Indonesian disasters: Quentin hears from the experts about the causes of this week's Sumatran earthquake and tsunami, and the latest eruption of Mount Merapi on Java, and how science can help.
Also, after the last in the series A History of the World in a Hundred Objects celebrates the latest in electrical gadgetry, Quentin sees the humble glass electrical valve that kick started the whole electronic revolution. The first electronics.
And pollution from space travel. As the world's richest line up for the first private flights into space, experts warn that rocket exhausts could exacerbate the problem of global warming.
MON 21:30 Start the Week (b00vkpk4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:58 Weather (b00vhjt6)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b00vkwlz)
The World Tonight reported four years ago on the security loopholes for transporting airline cargo - has anything changed?
A hostage drama in a Baghdad church ends with more than fifty deaths
And will the working poor be worse off after the spending review?
With David Eades.
MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00vkwm1)
Crimson China
Episode 6
By Betsy Tobin. Wen is desperate to get a new passport so he can leave the UK - whilst Lili is trying to avoid Johnny's urgent phonecalls.
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Read by Penny Downie and Elizabeth Tan
Produced by Clive Brill
A Pacificus Production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 23:00 The A-Z of Dr Johnson: Words, Words, Words (b00mkgn1)
Comedian Sue Perkins explores the house of Dr Johnson, author of the great English dictionary, which would set the standard for all future dictionaries and yet still led to his being sent to debtor's prison.
The towering figure of Dr Johnson has dominated the classification of English. The publication in 1755 of his dictionary has traditionally been seen as the starting point of the defining of our language, but this was by no means the first dictionary.
Sue gets her hands on a precious first edition of the Johnson's Dictionary and, along with biographer Henry Hitchings, meets the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, John Simpson, to find out how Johnson set about his monumental task, which he completed in just nine years. Sue also visits the British Library in the company of antiquarian book seller Karen Thomson, who gives her a whirlwind tour of our earliest dictionaries, with all their attendant quirks and oddities.
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00vkwm3)
Susan Hulme, with the day's events at Westminster.
Tonight, the Home Secretary announces a review of all air cargo security - following last week's discovery of explosives aboard a plane at East Midlands airport. She tells MPs: "we are in a constant battle with the terrorists":
David Cameron says the European Union has taken a "big step forward" in dealing with its budget - thanks to the intervention of the UK and its allies.
The Prime Minister was reporting back to the Commons on last week's EU Summit.
He hailed his achievement in limiting the size of the budget increase - but the Labour Leader, Ed Miliband, thought he'd caved in to other members.
TUESDAY 02 NOVEMBER 2010
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b00vrv3z)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b00vkpk6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00vhjt8)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00vhjtb)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00vhjtd)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b00vhjtg)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00vkwrl)
With Shaunaka Rishi Das, Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b00vkwrn)
Anna Hill hears how private business may cash in on the government's proposed sale of state-owned woodland. Farming Today visits a private wood in Norfolk where they are looking forward to getting a share of the £16 million the national forests bring in from recreation.
Greenpeace is expressing concern that targets set at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference are not ambitious enough. But Mark Driscoll from WWF UK tells Farming Today that the new plans to protect more of the world's oceans and land are good news for wildlife.
And after criticism that schemes which pay farmers to look after wildlife aren't providing value for money, Anna Hill visits a farm in Suffolk, where farmland birds appear to be thriving.
Presenter: Anna Hill. Producer Melvin Rickarby.
TUE 06:00 Today (b00vkwrq)
Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Long View (b00vkwrs)
US Mid-term Elections
Jonathan Freedland searches for the past behind the present in Washington DC, comparing this year's US mid-term elections with those of 1982. Then, as now, the economy was on the ropes, unemployment was high and a President once lauded as a great communicator saw his approval ratings slide.
With Washington's political pundits and players, Jonathan explores the issues at the heart of the 2010 and 1982 elections, the changing fortunes of Democrats and Republicans and the significance of the mid-terms for Presidents Reagan and Obama.
Producer: Julia Johnson.
TUE 09:30 Africa at 50: Wind of Change (b00vkwrv)
Episode 4
When Kenya gained its independence from Britain in December 1963, young Zarina Patel had great hopes for the future.
Everyone felt it was going to be a united Kenya and there would be no differences between Africans and Asians. Zarina Patel is a third generation Kenyan Asian. Her grandfather Alibahi Mulla Jivanjee, came to Kenya from Karachi in 1890, and established himself as the most prosperous Asian businessman of his day. Zarina grew up during colonial rule, and today she's a prominent writer and human rights activist, and in which her research has revealed that many Asians played an important part in the fight for Kenya's independence.
"Looking back at history we are amazed at the role Asians played", she says. Their involvement in Kenya's independence struggle through the East African National Congress, was set up by her grandfather and modelled on Indian National Congress. Many other Asians were influential in the Trades Union movement and supplied weapons to the Mau Mau movement through their links to India.
Despite this involvement, after independence many East African Asians found themselves 'surplus to requirements', as politicians whipped up 'anti-Asian' sentiment. "That forced me to think about my identity and my role and rights here in Kenya", says Zarina.
Producer: Ruth Evans
A Ruth Evans Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b00vkwrx)
Philip Larkin - Letters to Monica
Episode 2
Episode 2: Larkin gives Monica feedback on her conversational style, meets EM Forster and ponders the difficulty of writing a new novel.
Philip Larkin's Letters to Monica span the forty years of their relationship from 1946 when they met, until Larkin's death in 1985. They only came to light after Monica Jones died in 2001, when nearly two thousand letters were discovered in Larkin's house in Hull. This never previously published correspondence, edited by Anthony Thwaite, offers a unique insight into Larkin's most intimate thoughts.
Philip Larkin writes to Monica about his poetry, his lack of inspiration, his mundane life in Belfast and then Hull, his relationship with her, with his friends (notably Kingsley Amis), his parents and with his other lover Maeve. They often discuss books and reading, writers and writing, and their shared love animals and Beatrix Potter. Larkin's letters are infused with the music he's listening to, the work he's immersed in, his general domesticity, the food he's eaten, the sounds from the flats below: they paint a vivid picture of the real world that inspired his poetry.
Read by Hugh Bonneville, who recently appeared in Downton Abbey and BBC TV's The Silence and played Larkin in Love Again on BBC 4.
The abridger is Miranda Davies and the producer Lucy Collingwood.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00vkwrz)
Presented by Jane Garvey. Maureen Lipman joins Jane to talk about the art of delivering a monologue. As a campaign for gay marriage/heterosexual civil partnership gets underway, we discuss whether they should be open to all couples. Now is the season of parents' evenings, so how do you get the most out of them? And the Court Yard Hounds perform live.
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00vkws1)
So Much For That
Episode 7
Shep Knacker has been saving all his working life for 'the Afterlife' - his retirement escape route from Brooklyn to Pemba, a remote island off the coast of Zanzibar. But just as Shep was about to put the Afterlife into action, his wife Glynis revealed that she had cancer.
In today's episode, Glynis appears not to realise the severity of her condition. Meanwhile Shep faces up to the fact that, despite their medical insurance, the costs of Glynis' treatment are sending them hurtling towards bankruptcy.
Narrator ..... Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Shep ..... Henry Goodman
Glynis ..... Debora Weston
Carol ..... Elizabeth McGovern
Jackson ..... Stuart Milligan
Flicka ..... Sasha Pick
Dr Knox/Gabe ..... Peter Marinker
Adapted for radio by Penny Leicester
Directed by Emma Harding
Lionel Shriver won the 2005 Orange Prize for her novel We Need to Talk About Kevin. Other novels include The Post-Birthday World and Double Fault.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's work in film includes The Color of Money, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Abyss; TV includes Law & Order: Criminal Intent and on Stage: A View From the Bridge at the Duke of York's, London.
Henry Goodman is currently playing Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes, Prime Minister in the West End. Other stage work includes Duet for One, with Juliet Stevenson, Fiddler on the Roof and Chicago. Recent film includes The Damned United and Taking Woodstock.
Elizabeth McGovern is currently starring in Julian Fellowes' new ITV drama series, Downtown Abbey. Her film work includes Ragtime, Once Upon a Time in America and The Wings of the Dove.
TUE 11:00 Saving Species (b00vkws3)
Series 1
Episode 27
27/40 We're planning this programme to be full of geese. The UK is a wonderland for wintering wildfowl and it's the spectacle of wintering geese we want to focus on in this programme. We're planning to be in Norfolk with Joanna Pinnock and Pink Footed Geese and Islay with Michael Scott edging ever closer to Greenland-White Front Geese and Barnacle Geese. The conservation of these birds is a great saving species success story which links the UK with the Arctic and the geese, with other wildfowl, provide one of the great animal spectacles of the world.
And we'll be there.
TUE 11:30 Tom, Michael And George (b00vkws5)
Toby Jones marks the 50th anniversary of notorious British horror film 'Peeping Tom' and examines the effect of this disturbing tale of 'glamour photographer turned serial killer' on the careers of two people - the director Michael Powell and real-life glamour photographer George Harrison Marks.
Condemnation of 'Peeping Tom' was almost universal, with Sunday Times critic Dilys Powell describing the film as "essentially vicious" and other critics being less generous in their views - " the sickest and filthiest film I can remember seeing" was a fairly typical response.
Anglo-Amalgamated, who had financed the film, were alarmed at the furore and curtailed the film's UK distribution, selling it on. The film resurfaced in the United States and Europe a couple of years later but in a cut version. When the film arrived at the BBFC in 1960, seven cuts were made in order to allow the film to be classified at 'X'.
For Michael Powell, the hostile reaction to this movie effectively ended his long and illustrious career - which at its height included 'The Red Shoes' and 'A Matter of Life and Death'.
The movie was only recognised as a masterpiece in the late 1970s, thanks to the efforts of Martin Scorsese. Conversely, for Harrison Marks, a consultant on the film (which utilised his sets and model/partner Pamela Green) this boosted his career, leading to the first British feature film to include nudity (under the guise of a "documentary" about naturism).
With contributions from Columba Powell, Shirley Anne Field and Michael Winner.
The programme is written and researched by Alan Stafford and produced by Stephen Garner.
TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b00vkwsw)
"Kosovo-style social cleansing" is how the Mayor of London Boris Johnson described the possible effect of changes to housing benefits - families will be driven out of parts of the county as they'll no longer be able to afford rents.
Housing Minister Grant Shapps says such claims are "complete nonsense," and that "rents will almost certainly fall," as a result of the changes.
As debate around changes to housing benefit, and just what you can get for £400 a week, continues we want your experience of renting.
How easy is it to find somewhere to rent, somewhere affordable and the right size?
Are you a landlord, either reluctantly so, or a buy to let speculator?
Or do you think its time we revaluated our attitudes to renting?
Call You and Yours with Julian Worricker. An opportunity to contribute your views to the programme. Email youandyours@bbc.co.uk or call 03700 100 444 (lines open at
10am on Tuesday).
TUE 12:57 Weather (b00vhjtj)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b00vkwtb)
National and international news.
TUE 13:30 Beat It: The World of The Modern Drummer (b00vkwvc)
When John Lennon was asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the world he quipped " He wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles". Lennon's natural put-down is typical of the way drummers are belittled within music circles.
Presenter Phill Jupitus challenges this notion with the help of a cross-section of musicians to discover how they have gained this reputation?
We hear from Clem Burke (drummer with Blondie) and Dr. Marcus Smith who together have proven scientifically that Clem burns a similar amount of calories during a concert as a premiership footballer. Phil Collins (Genesis) and Stewart Copeland (The Police), explain how they cope with the physical demands of performing and how these veterans react to the negative image of the drummer.
Having established the physical demands made on drummers does this exclude women? Dame Evelyn Glennie thinks not as she believes the physicality is not an obstacle. The programme also hears from Kenny Jones (The Small Faces, The Faces and The Who) who still features a drum solo in his set but has the drum solo had its day? Has the modern drummer discarded this indulgence and settled for keeping time at the back? If so why?
For many, the drummer is the joker in the group, Phil Selway of Radiohead explains within the ranks of Britain's moodiest band, there is not too much light hearted banter but he does see his role as a supporting one for the others to be creative.
This whimsical programme hears its fair share of drummer jokes which happily filter through this engaging half hour and yes we discover what Phil Collins thought of the gorilla crashing his way through 'In The Air Tonight" for that famous chocolate TV commercial.
Beat It - The World Of the Modern Drummer an exhaustive and fun exploration of life at the back.
Producer: John Sugar
A Sugar Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b00vkwgc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b00vkwvf)
Nick Warburton - Setting a Glass
By Nick Warburton
A man is summoned to a hospital where his elderly mother is fading away. He arrives in the middle of the night and walks through empty corridors looking for a coffee machine. So why is he avoiding sitting at his mother's bedside?
He gets talking to an auxiliary nurse, a disgruntled but determined young woman whose life is starting, just as his mother's is ending. As he tells this complete stranger about his mother's uneventful life, her small achievements, he comes to understand some of the mechanisms at play in his strange inability to sit with her.
Directed by Peter Kavanagh.
TUE 15:00 Home Planet (b00vkxh5)
Each year, grass fields in Northumbria sprout mysterious frothy clumps. They start out white and quickly decay to yellow then crumble away. No bird or animal has been seen depositing them and they appear overnight like something in a fairy tale.
On today's Home Planet, the team dive into these curious clumps and come up with the answer. They're not magical but they do come from one of the strangest living things to be found in the British Isles. There's also the puzzle of the geese that fly North for the winter; the source of the bright light that rushes South across the night sky and how do gold atoms formed in distant supernovae end up nuggets here on Earth.
Answering these questions in this week's Home Planet are astronomer Dr Carolin Crawford of Cambridge University; conservationist Derek Moore and; Professor Philip Stott, an environmental scientist from the University of London.
Contact:
Home Planet
BBC Radio 4
PO Box 3096
Brighton
BN1 1PL
Or email home.planet@bbc.co.uk
Or telephone: 08700 100 400
Presenter: Richard Daniel
Producer: Toby Murcott
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00vkxh7)
Red Herrings
Unwanted Presence
"Unwanted Presence" by Lynda La Plante.
Read by Rory Kinnear.
Crime writing at its twisted best... Leading authors Lynda La Plante, Brian McGilloway and Andrew Taylor tackle the red herring - that most effective weapon in the crime writer's arsenal - in a series of new short stories specially written for BBC Radio 4.
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
About the author:
Born in Liverpool, Lynda La Plante trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Work with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company led to a career as a television actress with regular roles in dramas such as Fox, Minder and The Sweeney.
While filming The Gentle Touch as an actress, La Plante wrote four plot outlines and sent them to the show's producers. All were returned as unsuitable, but on one someone had written 'this is wonderful!' That was all the encouragement La Plante needed, and that brief synopsis eventually became the phenomenally successful TV series Widows. La Plante's original scripts for the highly acclaimed Prime Suspect (starring Helen Mirren) garnered many awards and set a new standard for television drama.
TUE 15:45 Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Escape to the Country (b00sbcdh)
Gertrude Jekyll and the Suburban Countryside
How gardens became more than just lawns and borders, and transformed instead into a microcosm of the natural world.
TUE 16:00 Law in Action (b00vkxh9)
Military Justice
The case of Baha Mousa, an Iraqi hotel worker who died in the custody of British troops in 2003, exposed not just abusive behaviour by some British soldiers but a failure of the military justice system to adequately investigate and punish those responsible.
Other cases have raised doubts about the independence of the military police and prosecution authorities.
Joshua Rozenberg asks whether recent reforms to the military justice system are sufficient to restore confidence in the way the armed forces deal with crimes committed by their own troops.
TUE 16:30 A Good Read (b00vkxhc)
Mike Brearley and Julie Welch
Sue MacGregor is joined by the former England cricket captain Mike Brearley, now a psychoanalyst, and sports writer, Julie Welch, to discuss their chosen paperbacks.
There's a sporting tie that links this week's guests on A Good Read. Mike Brearley captained the England cricket team in the early 1980s, later retraining as a psychoanalyst. He discusses a Graham Greene novel set in the Congo, while sports writer Julie Welch chooses a book by the other Elizabeth Taylor - the novelist, not the film star.
A Burnt Out Case by Graham Greene
Publisher: Vintage Classics
In A Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor
Publisher: Virago Modern Classics
The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer
Publisher: Harper Perennial
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
TUE 17:00 PM (b00vkxj2)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00vhjtl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 The Write Stuff (b00vkxj4)
Series 14
Stephenie Meyer
Bestselling writer of the "Twilight" series, Stephenie Meyer, is this week's "Author of the Week".
The teams set about answering questions about her life and work as well as solving other literary conundrums. They will as ever finish with one of their own pastiches of Meyer's work - this time imagining what the twilight series might have sounded like had it been set in a typical British comp.
Guest panellists are bestselling crime writer and "Tom Thorne" creator, Mark Billingham, and "Horrid Henry" author, Francesca Simon.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b00vkxjv)
Brian wants everything to run smoothly for Friday's shoot. Will assures him everything is in place.
Helen calls on Emma, and offers her plenty of advice on exercise and preventing stretch marks. Emma's not convinced, though. She knows from experience that things don't go according to plan.
Brian shows Lilian the plans for the market development land but Lilian's ready for action. She'd rather walk the site than talk through the plans. She's impressed, and takes plenty of photos. She also audio records Brian giving her the names of all the board members: Brian, Lilian, Andrew, Annabelle and Martyn.
Ed's not happy when Will's buggy is blocking the road. After a heated spat, Ed complains to Emma that he's now behind schedule. Emma wishes he wouldn't let Will wind him up. Emma's bought tickets from Pip for the Young Farmers' ball but Ed's annoyed that Will and Nic will be going. Emma tells him about Helen's visit. She thinks Helen needs to lighten up.
Lilian calls into Ambridge Organics and notices Helen's got a bad knee. She twisted it this morning at step aerobics. Lilian's concerned about Helen's regime, but Helen insists the midwife is happy, and she knows what she's doing.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b00vkxjx)
Suede and Let Me In
With John Wilson, including an interview with Brett Anderson and Mat Osman from the re-formed band Suede as they release an album of their remastered hits.
Antonia Quirke reviews the Hammer Films remake of the acclaimed Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In.
Historian Tom Holland reviews a new British Museum exhibition which explores ancient Egyptian beliefs about life after death through displays of rare and fragile papyri.
Architectural historian Gavin Stamp has written a book lamenting the destruction of many Victorian buildings; architectural writer Owen Hatherley's new book questions the reality behind claims made about recent urban regeneration schemes. They discuss the state of urban architecture today - and asks how the recession will affect cities' development plans.
Producer Jack Soper.
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00vkws1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b00vkxkc)
The Somali Connection
Jenny Cuffe investigates how British-based Somalis are being lured into fighting for the al-Qaeda-linked Islamists of al-Shabaab.
There have been consistent rumours that dozens, perhaps scores of British-based Somali men have travelled to Somalia to join the militant Islamist group which was banned by the British Government earlier this year.
In September the rumours were given new urgency when the Director of MI5, Jonathan Evans, warned it was only a matter of time before the UK suffered an act of terrorism committed by al-Shabaab-trained Britons.
File on 4 explores the techniques used by Al-Shabaab to persuade young members of the 250,000-strong British Somali community to sign up for Jihad in Somalia. Members of the close-knit and reticent British Somali community tell Jenny Cuffe of their fears that youngsters are being seduced through the internet and by shadowy recruiting sergeants for the Horn of Africa's most feared military force.
And the programme travels to the state of Minnesota to see how a vigorous FBI investigation and cooperation from the Somali community have laid-bare a pipeline which first lured, then transported young American Somalis to the training camps and battlefields of Somalia.
Producer: Andy Denwood.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b00vkxkf)
In Touch investigates the state of the nation's pavements and a panel of blind and visually impaired people ask why there are no national standards for street surfaces.
And reporter Mani Djazmi takes to the streets to find out just how bad things are.
TUE 21:00 All in the Mind (b00vkxm2)
Battlefield Military Mental Health - Antidepressants and Morality - Community Treatment Orders
John, an infantry officer for 19 years, was held up at gunpoint, bombed and saw friends and colleagues killed in action. He tells Claudia Hammond about the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that he suffered when he left the armed forces. And in the first-ever UK study of military personnel in a theatre of war, in Iraq, to test mental health, the military is revealed to have experienced less psychological distress than police or fire officers. One of the study's co-authors, Professor Simon Wessely, Director of the King's Centre for Military Health Research, describes the mental health lessons that are being being learned from the front line.
Antidepressants and Morality:
Molly Crockett from the Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cambridge says how a particular group of anti depressants, SSRIs, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, have been found to increase morality by raising the levels of Serotonin in the brain.
Community Treatment Orders:
Introduced two years ago to enable people with mental illness to leave hospital and continue their treatment at home, new figures show ten times more CTOs have been issued than original Department of Health predictions. Reka, who has a diagnosis of bi-polar disorder, describes her experience of spending a year subject to a CTO, compelled to take injections of anti-psychotic medication which she says left her "like a zombie". Anthony Deary from the Care Quality Commission, Tony Maden, Professor of Forensic Psychiatry from Imperial College in London and Dr Tony Zigmond, mental health law lead for the Royal College of Psychiatrists discuss the reasons for the ballooning use of CTOs.
Producer: Fiona Hill.
TUE 21:30 The Long View (b00vkwrs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 21:58 Weather (b00vhjtn)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b00vkxm4)
Voters go to the polls in the US mid term elections - will the Republicans win big?
Cameron and Sarkozy agree to greater defence co-operation
And Nasa scientists hatch plan to send robot to the moon
With David Eades and Claire Bolderson.
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00vkxm6)
Crimson China
Episode 7
By Betsy Tobin. Wen gets a job tending to Miriam's garden but is still terrified about being found by the Snakeheads - whilst Lili gets a glimpse of the trouble her brother may have been in.
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Read by Penny Downie and Elizabeth Tan
Produced by Clive Brill
A Pacificus Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 23:00 Beautiful Dreamers (b00vkxm8)
The Traitor of the Zazalcara
By James Lever and Nat Segnit
In this series documentary maker Nat Segnit investigates the untold stories of visionary mavericks. This week Nat explores the difficult life of a Uruguayan footballer who made an ingenious attempt to counter one of world football's worst scandals. With Contributions from Andrew Sachs, Javier Marzan, Kevin Eldon, David Sant, Sean Baker, Tony Bell and Iain Batchelor.
Produced by Steven Canny and Sasha Yevtushenko
Nat Segnit's short stories and journalism have appeared in The Times and The Independent on Sunday. For Radio 4 he has written Dolphin Therapy and Strangers on Trains.
James Lever is author of the best-selling Me Cheeta, which Lynne Truss loved so much she said, "It will subtly change forever the way we think not only about Hollywood but also about our own species" (The Sunday Times).
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00vkxmb)
Sean Curran reports on events at Westminster.
WEDNESDAY 03 NOVEMBER 2010
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b00vl259)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 America Votes (b00vkxn3)
Coverage of the US mid-term elections.
WED 05:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00vv7z6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00vhjtv)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b00vhjtx)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00vl2gd)
With Shaunaka Rishi Das, Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b00vl2gg)
From today haddock from sustainable stocks will be clearly labelled, allowing shoppers to purchase fish that is not on the verge of extinction. Anna Varle meets a dairy farmer preparing for the winter with concerns about the high cost of animal feed, and Anna Hill takes stock of the current schemes on offer that allow farmers to look after the wildlife on their farms whilst still being productive.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Martin Poytnz Roberts.
WED 06:00 Today (b00vl2gj)
Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b00vl2gl)
This week Libby Purves is joined by Jo Wilding, Michele Dotrice, Ronald Blythe and Jane Green.
In 2003 Jo Wilding spent several months in Iraq before, during and after the invasion, documenting civilian casualties and writing a weblog which became a book, 'Don't Shoot the Clowns'. She also set up and ran a small circus working with traumatised and internally displaced children there. A new play, Don't Shoot The Clowns, by Paul Hodson, inspired by Jo's book, is currently touring the UK.
Michele Dotrice an actor probably best known for playing Betty, the long-suffering wife of Frank Spencer in comedy 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'. She comes from a great acting dynasty, the daughter of actor Roy Dotrice and wife of the late Edward Woodward. She is currently starring in JB Priestley's comedy 'When We Are Married' at the Garrick Theatre.
Ronald Blythe is a writer whose career began in 1960 with the publication of 'A Treasonable Growth', a novel set in Suffolk and reissued this year. However much of his considerable achievement has been non-fiction, most notably 'Akenfield', a portrait of an English village in the middle years of the 1960s, his Wormingford Diary in the Church Times, and his essays on John Clare and Penguin editions of Hazlitt and Hardy. His latest book 'Aftermath: Selected Writings 1960-2010' is published by Black Dog Books.
Jane Green is an amateur astronomer. She first became interested in astronomy during her sixteen year career at sea, first in the Merchant Navy and then as an officer on cruise ships when she gave informal guided tours of the night sky during outdoor cocktail parties on deck. She is the author of the new Haynes Astronomy Manual: The Practical Guide to the Night Sky.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b00vkxn5)
Philip Larkin - Letters to Monica
Episode 3
Philip Larkin's Letters to Monica span the forty years of their relationship from 1946 when they met, until Larkin's death in 1985. They only came to light after Monica Jones died in 2001, when nearly two thousand letters were discovered in Larkin's house in Hull. This never previously published correspondence, edited by Anthony Thwaite, offers a unique insight into Larkin's most intimate thoughts.
Philip Larkin writes to Monica about his poetry, his lack of inspiration, his mundane life in Belfast and then Hull, his relationship with her, with his friends (notably Kingsley Amis), his parents and with his other lover Maeve. They often discuss books and reading, writers and writing, and their shared love animals and Beatrix Potter. Larkin's letters are infused with the music he's listening to, the work he's immersed in, his general domesticity, the food he's eaten, the sounds from the flats below: they paint a vivid picture of the real world that inspired his poetry.
Read by Hugh Bonneville, who recently appeared in Downton Abbey and BBC TV's The Silence and played Larkin in Love Again on BBC 4.
The abridger is Miranda Davies and the producer Lucy Collingwood.
Episode 3: Larkin successfully gains the Head Librarianship in Hull, has his collection 'The Less Deceived' published and is frustrated by his new neighbours.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00vkxp2)
Presented by Jane Garvey. Joan Rivers on her film 'A Piece of Work' . The documentary follows her during her 75th year and is a brutally honest look at the ruthless entertainment industry.The biographer Michael Holroyd talks about his latest work:A Book of Secrets. Professor Janet Mann is one of the worlds leading authorities on dolphin behaviour and she tells Jane about the secret world she's captured on film for the BBC's 'Natural World' series. And the results of the mid term elections in the United States. With many disgruntled with the Obama administration, the threat of the Tea Party candidates to the Republican Party will today's vote be the "political earthquake" within the US some expect? And will this be the Year of the Republican Woman and how will the so-called Mama Grizzlies fare?
WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00vkxp4)
So Much For That
Episode 8
Shep Knacker has been saving all his working life for 'the Afterlife' - his retirement escape route from Brooklyn to Pemba, a remote island off the coast of Zanzibar. But just as Shep was about to put the Afterlife into action, his wife Glynis revealed that she had cancer.
In today's episode, an exhausted Glynis reflects on the real achievements of her life. Meanwhile, Jackson's many problems are coming to a head and, unable to see a plausible means of escape, he makes a decision that will impact on everyone.
Narrator ..... Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Shep ..... Henry Goodman
Glynis ..... Debora Weston
Carol ..... Elizabeth McGovern
Jackson ..... Stuart Milligan
Flicka ..... Sasha Pick
Dr Knox/Gabe ..... Peter Marinker
Adapted for radio by Penny Leicester
Directed by Emma Harding
Lionel Shriver won the 2005 Orange Prize for her novel We Need to Talk About Kevin. Other novels include The Post-Birthday World and Double Fault.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's work in film includes The Color of Money, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Abyss; TV includes Law & Order: Criminal Intent and on Stage: A View From the Bridge at the Duke of York's, London.
Henry Goodman is currently playing Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes, Prime Minister in the West End. Other stage work includes Duet for One, with Juliet Stevenson, Fiddler on the Roof and Chicago. Recent film includes The Damned United and Taking Woodstock.
Elizabeth McGovern is currently starring in Julian Fellowes' new ITV drama series, Downtown Abbey. Her film work includes Ragtime, Once Upon a Time in America and The Wings of the Dove.
WED 11:00 Doc Martens at 50 (b00vkxqw)
1/1
An iconic pair of boots turns fifty this year: the Doc Martens.
Sarfraz Manzoor tells a story which weaves through British politics, fashion and music.
Originally designed as practical footwear for workers such as postmen or policemen, Doc Martens were to capture the imagination of the many waves of British youth. As they were adopted by different sub cultures across the UK, so they came to represent what it meant to be young, urban and British in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Even today they retain their popularity and prized status, one of the few things still worn despite all changes in fashion and youth culture.
In the programme, Pete Townshend, one of the first people to wear Doc Martens on the stage in 1967, reflects on what they meant to him. "I bought a white boiler suit and these working boots. I remember on the label it said something like, 'the soles of these shoes will resist all kinds of dangerous chemicals'. As soon as I put them on I felt released from psychedelia and all the nonsense that went with it."
Presenter Sarfraz Manzoor also meets up with members of the band Madness, talking to them about their use of Doc Martens and the skinhead following that came in their wake in the 1980s. He'll look at rebellion, Thatcherism, and urban life in Britain. Sarfraz also meets an unexpected fan of the boots in Tony Benn, who valued the fact that they were so tough when he went on many political marches.
The last word is with Pete Townshend. "There would sometimes be a couple of things I would take to bed with me, other than what you'd expect a rock star would take to bed. One would be a cognac bottle and the other would be a Doc Marten boot. I was extremely fond of my boots.".
WED 11:30 The Secret World (b012rf47)
Series 2
Episode 5
Prince Charles ends up helping his driver move a sideboard. Jon Culshaw explores famous folk's private lives. From July 2010.
WED 12:00 You and Yours (b00vkxqy)
Consumer affairs with Winifred Robinson. Europe's top court is considering if it is illegal for insurance companies to factor gender into calculating insurance premiums; if the judges decide it is illegal women drivers can expect steep rises in the cost of motor insurance, while men will get less money from their pension plans.
Farmers are being offered thousands of pounds a year to rent their fields to enterprises who install solar panels. Generous subsidies for micro generation launched earlier this year, which were aimed at homes and small businesses, are attracting speculators because the returns are so high and tax free.
Trading Standards warn pensioners to beware of a winter fuel payment con. Fraudsters have been phoning up recipients ostensibly to check bank details explaining it is necessary to ensure the winter fuel payment reaches the right bank account. The only bank account they are really interested in is their own; it is a con trick.
It is National Stress Awareness Day. Life is tough for many but how soon we forget the privations of years gone by. Mark Stephenson is an optimist and says we should snap out of it, count our lucky stars and give thanks to those innovators over the centuries that have put themselves under stress to make life better.
Britain can't keep pushing its older generation into nursing homes and day centres if there's to be any hope of saving its creaking care system from collapse, so says the Local Government Association at the Association of Directors of Adult Services at their conference in Manchester today.
WED 12:57 Weather (b00vhjtz)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b00vl3tz)
National and international news.
WED 13:30 The Media Show (b00vl3ws)
ITV's chairman Archie Norman has said ITV's caught up in a ratings rat race, that the demand for a mass audience "drives us to the lowest common denominator every time." At the same time, Daybreak with Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley has lost enough of the mass audience to raise concerns about the programme's future. Is there really anything wrong with ITV's schedules and what, if anything, needs to be done to fix them?
Times editor James Harding talks to Steve about the number of people paying to read The Times online. Do the figures provide a clue for other newspapers looking to make money from their journalism online?
And Private Eye editor Ian Hislop discusses the future of investigative journalism, speaking to Steve before last night's Paul Foot awards.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b00vkxjv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b00j751w)
Mike Bartlett - Miss St Andrews
By Mike Bartlett. Old grudges resurface as Miss St Andrews 1961 meets her old rival for the university Charities Queen title nearly 50 years later.
Young Robert ...... Joe McFadden
Jenny ...... Ellie Haddington
Young Jenny ...... Tracy Wiles
Robert ...... Tom Mannion
Judy ...... Sandy Walsh
Holly ...... Caroline Guthrie
Directed by Claire Grove.
WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b00vl3xk)
Making a will is often a subject people prefer to put off, but without one, the law will decide who handles your estate and who inherits any property, money and possessions you leave behind.
If you have a questions about making a will or appointing an executor to carry out your wishes, you can call Wednesday's/this afternoon's Money Box Live.
Or perhaps you are wondering how inheritance tax could affect your heirs?
Whatever you question about making a will or estate planning Vincent Duggleby 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.
WED 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00vkxr0)
Red Herrings
In Pursuit of the Uneatable
Crime writing at its twisted best... The red herring - that most effective weapon in the crime writer's arsenal - inspires this series of new short stories by leading exponents of the genre.
"In Pursuit of the Uneatable" by Brian McGilloway. Read by Eugene O'Hare.
A new case for McGilloway's detective hero Inspector Benedict Devlin. Protesters get more than they bargained for at a fox hunt on the Irish borderland.
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
About the author:
Brian McGilloway was born in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Inspector Benedict Devlin series. His first novel, "Borderlands", was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger 2007 and was hailed by The Times as 'one of (2007's) most impressive debuts.' The second novel in the series, "Gallows Lane", was shortlisted for both the 2009 Irish Book Awards/Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year and the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2010. The new Inspector Devlin novel, "The Rising", was published in the UK earlier this Spring in hardback, alongside the paperback of the third novel, "Bleed A River Deep".
WED 15:45 Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Escape to the Country (b00sf8ky)
The Brotherhood of Ruralists, part 1
The designer explains how Mother Nature inspired a group of 1970s artists to paint rural life in the countryside.
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b00vkxr2)
Supermax - Western Rule
Laurie Taylor explores the growth of high security prisons in America alongside the increased use of solitary confinement with criminologist Dr Sharon Shalev whose book 'Supermax' examines both topics. Laurie's second discussion is with Professor Ian Morris whose major new book 'Why The West Rules- For Now' examines the rise and fall and rise of Eastern and Western societies and asks whether it's possible for historians to predict the future with any confidence.
Producer: Chris Wilson.
WED 16:30 All in the Mind (b00vkxm2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 17:00 PM (b00vl3ys)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00vhjv1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 What Went Wrong with the Olympics? (b00vkxsy)
Episode 2
Spoof documentary set in 2014, looking back at the fiasco that WAS the London Olympics, by Ian Hislop & Nick Newman.
The preparation for the London Olympics is a huge and very funny developing story. Eleven thousand people are now employed on the Olympic site to ensure everything is in place, on time. One and a half million tons of East End soil have been washed. Lorries, arriving on site at the rate of one per minute, are subjected to the same rigorous timetabling that applies at Heathrow Airport. Visitors undergo extensive security checks and are issued with a list of over sixty prohibited items (amongst them, animal stunners, icepicks and blowtorches).
It's an exciting race against time; the most important race of all being the one to get a memorable Olympic programme on air.
Introduced from the standpoint of 2014 by controversial reporter Sylvester Halloran (Kevin Eldon), 'What Went Wrong With The Olympics?' combines contemporary news reports, archive footage, stupid "audio graphics", live interviews and fisticuffs in the studio with the key figures responsible. We sift through the cock-ups and the conspiracies in a tough and revealing probe into the reality of what makes Britain run - not very fast.
Starring Kevin Eldon (Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, Harry & Paul, The I.T.Crowd, Big Train), the cast also features Vicky Pepperdine (Getting On), Adrian Scarborough (Psychoville, Gavin & Stacey), Lewis MacLeod (Dead Ringers, The Life Of Hattie Jacques, Harry & Paul) and the real Brian Perkins.
Cast:
Sylvester Halloran ..... Kevin Eldon
Toby Morrison ..... Adrian Scarborough
Lloyd Waterhouse ..... Dan Tetsell
Caroline Grant ..... Vicki Pepperdine
Writers Ian Hislop (Have I Got News For You) & Nick Newman (Dave Podmore) are the writing team behind News At Bedtime, Murder Most Horrid and My Dad's The Prime Minister.
Producer: Lucy Armitage
A Tiger Aspect production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b00vkxt0)
Pat meets Kathy for lunch. While they're out she finds a warm outfit for Helen's baby. Helen's been to see a physiotherapist. She's twisted her knee but can still do light exercise. Helen decides swimming might be a good alternative. Pat's really concerned, and reminds Helen to eat. She worries when Helen says she'll be eating less now she's not doing any calorie-burning exercise.
Jim hopes Grey Gables will sponsor one of the races at the race evening. Lynda tells him that Caroline's dashed off to see her uncle, Lord Netherbourne, who's had a fall. Jim and Alan have agreed that all money raised will go to the British Legion.
Lynda's behind with casting and still needs two leads. Kirsty and Mike have both said no. Lynda asks Vicky to persuade Mike to reconsider - she'll even include a dance number in the show for both of them if it helps. It's a relief when Mike agrees. But Lynda's still anxious and needs to cast her leading ladies, among others, with only seven weeks of rehearsal left. Vicky suggests Fallon but they agree she's far too busy. Lynda's usually such a creative problem-solver, but she really has run out of ideas.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b00vkxxt)
Dawn French, Cleo Laine, Any Human Heart reviewed
Dawn French discusses her new novel, A Tiny Bit Marvellous, which she finished writing during her separation from Lenny Henry.
Cleo Laine talks about performing following the death of her husband John Dankworth. She appears with her son and daughter at the London Jazz Festival on November 16th.
William Boyd's novel Any Human Heart has been dramatised for television starring Jim Broadbent and Matthew McFadyen as a man whose life spans most of the twentieth century and includes encounters with the Duchess of Windsor, Ernest Hemingway and Ian Fleming.
Peter Kemp reviews.
Producer Robyn Read.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00vkxp4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b00vkxxw)
The Al-Qaeda bombs on cargo planes heading for America may have failed to detonate, but for psychological impact their timing couldn't have been better. The prospect of airline chiefs getting their much sought after reform of the stringent checks on passengers must now look remote. Of course the terrorists want us to be constantly reminded of their threat; to disrupt our lives; to make us live in fear, even though the chances of any of us being a victim of the terrorism are miniscule. But are we playing in to their hands with the blanket news coverage and seemingly constant stream of security experts ready to warn us of the sinister threats to our safety? Perhaps it's not only our psychological well being that's being eroded - there's our civil liberties as well. The police are allowed to hold suspects for 28 days without trial; the government is reviewing the use of detention orders, but it's going to take a brave politician in the current climate to stand up and say we need less security. Perhaps that's a case of moral cowardice, but then the ongoing inquest in to the 7/7 bombing is a sobering reminder of the horrors of terrorism. The terrorists only have to be lucky once, our security services have to be lucky every day. Shouldn't they have all the tools they need to combat those who want to do us harm and that may mean temporarily sacrificing some of our freedoms. So, terrorism, the politics of fear and the price we're willing to pay to defend our civil liberties.
Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk with Michael Portillo, Kenan Malik, Claire Fox and Melanie Philips.
WED 20:45 The AA Bible (b00vr78f)
For millions of alcoholics around the world, Alcoholics Anonymous's basic text - informally known as the Big Book - is the Bible. After being hidden away for nearly 70 years the original manuscript by AA co-founder Bill Wilson is about to become public for the first time complete with evidence of re-writes that reveal a profound debate in 1939 about how overtly to talk about God.
Literary critic John Sutherland, himself a member of AA and a distinguished textual analyst, turns his textual critic's eye to the Wilson manuscript.
WED 21:00 Frontiers (b00vkxy0)
Cancer Treatment
Is a new personalised drug for skin cancer set to revolutionise cancer medicine? In the first of a new series of Frontiers, Geoff Watts finds out about a new cancer drug that has had dramatic results in a previously almost untreatable type of skin cancer. Based on our knowledge of the human genome, he finds out how the drug works and what hope it offers for the future of cancer medicine .
The molecule, PLX 4032 made headlines earlier this year when it was shown to dramatically shrink tumours in people with malignant melanoma who had the right gene mutation. Because their prognosis was previously very poor the results, from experimental clinical trials, sent a wave of excitement through the cancer community.
While PLX4032 isn't on the market yet, could this kind of drug also pave the way for more personalised medicine in the treatment of other, more common cancers?
But is it enough to know the gene involved in a particular cancer, to then find a drug that can successfully target it? Unfortunately many cancers quickly become resistant to treatment and drug discovery is a time consuming and expensive process. But as more cancer genes are identified and the mechanisms for resistance understood will these hurdles, one day, be overcome? And will we, by the end of this decade, be using the genome sequence as the natural diagnostic for cancer?
Producer: Pam Rutherford.
WED 21:30 Midweek (b00vl2gl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b00vhjv3)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b00vl3yv)
President Obama plots a new course following his mid-term drubbing
What England's University fee rises mean for Scotland and Wales
Has a policy of 'befriending' Yemen borne fruit in counter-terrorism ?
with Robin Lustig.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00vkxy2)
Crimson China
Episode 8
By Betsy Tobin. Lili finally discovers that Wen - her brother - is not dead. But it's too late - the Snakeheads have found Wen.
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Read by Penny Downie and Elizabeth Tan
Produced by Clive Brill
A Pacificus Production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:00 Bespoken Word (b00vkxy4)
Molly Naylor was already a successful up-and-coming writer and performer when she, together with her boyfriend, was on a London Underground train which was blown up on 7 July 2005. This was seven-seven, and coming so close to such an outrage would change anybody.
With a poet, particularly one with the talent of the young Naylor, it resulted in a period of going off the rails followed by a deepening of her creativity. Her appearance on Bespoken Word includes a piece inspired by the experience.
Molly has performed at events and festivals all over the world including Latitude, Glastonbury, Palabra y Musica, The Big Chill, Poet in the City, Edinburgh Fringe, Hull Truck, Purple Ronnie's Stand Up Poetry Club, Shunt, Soho Theatre and many more. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia.
Her solo spoken word show- Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think Of You is produced by Sarah Ellis and Apples & Snakes.
Bespoken Word is Radio 4's performance poetry series. It was the first programme on British radio and television devoted to performance poetry, and is now in its seventh year.
Producer: Graham Frost
A Somethin' Else Production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:15 The Cornwell Estate (b00vkxy6)
Series 2
Jimmy Baker
Phil Cornwell brings six edgy comic characters to life in a new series of The Cornwell Estate, starring Tony Gardner (Fresh Meat), Roger Lloyd Pack (Only Fools and Horses, Vicar of Dibley), Simon Greenall (Alan Partridge) Daisy Haggard (Psychoville) Ricky Champ (Him and Her, BBC3) Jill Halfpenny (Eastenders, Legally Blonde) and Cyril Nri.
Written by Andrew McGibbon and Phil Cornwell
Jimmy leaves the Cornwell Estate for his native Newcastle to restart his career as a stand up comedian. But that's not all he's come back to do.
Cast:
Jimmy Baker ..... Phil Cornwell
Sergeant Paul Farris ..... Simon Greenall
Emma Baker ..... Jill Halfpenny
Terry ..... Andrew McGibbon
Malkey Robey ..... Paul Brennen
Created by Phil Cornwell and Andrew McGibbon with additional material by Nick Romero
Producer/Director: Andrew McGibbon
A Curtains for Radio production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00vkxy8)
Ed Miliband accuses Liberal Democrat ministers of "destroying trust in politics" by breaking pledges on university tuition fees. David Cameron says the Labour leader is dealing in "lame soundbites". MPs debate the Saville report into Bloody Sunday. And the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, faces MPs questions over the spending review. In the Lords, peers consider changes to the way decisions are made about which drugs can be supplied by the NHS. Susan Hulme and team report on today's events in Parliament.
THURSDAY 04 NOVEMBER 2010
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b00vl3zh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b00vkxn5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00vhjv5)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00vhjv7)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00vhjv9)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b00vhjvc)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00vl3zm)
With Shaunaka Rishi Das, Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b00vky4j)
38 people died working on British farms last year, a sharp rise on the previous year's figure. We ask how farming can be made safer. And last year, £70 million was given to farmers to make their farms more wildlife-friendly. Farming Today asks what we get for that money, and how well those schemes are going.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Martin Poyntz-Roberts.
THU 06:00 Today (b00vky4l)
Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day with Rhidian Brook; Yesterday in Parliament.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b00vky4n)
Women and Enlightenment Science
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the role played by women in Enlightenment science. During the eighteenth century the opportunities for women to gain a knowledge of science were minimal. Universities and other institutions devoted to research were the preserve of men. Yet many important contributions to the science of the Enlightenment were made by women. These ranged from major breakthroughs like those of the British astronomer Caroline Herschel, the first woman to discover a comet, to important translations of scientific literature such as Emilie du Chatelet's French version of Newton's Principia - and all social classes were involved, from the aristocratic amateur botanists to the women artisans who worked in London's workshops manufacturing scientific instruments.
The image above, of Emilie du Chatelet, is attributed to Maurice Quentin de La Tour.
With
Patricia Fara
Senior Tutor at Clare College, University of Cambridge
Karen O'Brien
Professor of English at the University of Warwick
Judith Hawley
Professor of 18th Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London
Producer: Thomas Morris.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b00vky4q)
Philip Larkin - Letters to Monica
Episode 4
Philip Larkin's Letters to Monica span the forty years of their relationship from 1946 when they met, until Larkin's death in 1985. They only came to light after Monica Jones died in 2001, when nearly two thousand letters were discovered in Larkin's house in Hull. This never previously published correspondence, edited by Anthony Thwaite, offers a unique insight into Larkin's most intimate thoughts.
Episode 4:
Larkin works on his poem about 'An Arundel Tomb' which he first saw with Monica and ponders the nature of their relationship.
Read by Hugh Bonneville, who recently appeared in Downton Abbey and BBC TV's The Silence and played Larkin in Love Again on BBC 4.
The abridger is Miranda Davies and the producer Lucy Collingwood.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00vky4s)
Presented by Jane Garvey. Star of stage and screen Lesley Manville is currently receiving rave reviews in Mike Leigh's latest film 'Another Year'. She discusses playing Mary - a single, lonely and needy middle aged woman who likes a drink.
Children's Minister Tim Loughton on why he wants the so-called 'barriers' to white couples adopting children of another ethnic background to be removed. With Black and Asian children over-represented in the care system they can wait longer for adoption, so is it time to return to a practice once common in the seventies?
The life of Iranian woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, remains at risk after one report this week that her execution may be imminent. What's been the impact in Iran of the international outcry against her sentence?
How can you stop people misusing personal photos posted on the internet? We hear about one young woman who successfully sued an American company for using her teenage photo in a porn movie.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00vky4v)
So Much For That
Episode 9
Shep Knacker has been saving all his working life for 'the Afterlife' - his retirement escape route from Brooklyn to a remote island off the coast of Zanzibar. But just as Shep was about to put the Afterlife into action, his wife Glynis revealed that she had cancer.
In today's episode, Shep and Glynis face imminent bankruptcy, having spent their once substantial savings on the aspects of Glynis' cancer treatment not covered by their health insurance. But when Shep learns about Jackson, he decides to make his best friend proud, by transforming himself from Mug to Mooch.
Narrator ..... Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Shep ..... Henry Goodman
Glynis ..... Debora Weston
Carol ..... Elizabeth McGovern
Jackson ..... Stuart Milligan
Flicka ..... Sasha Pick
Dr Knox/Gabe ..... Peter Marinker
Adapted for radio by Penny Leicester
Directed by Emma Harding
Lionel Shriver won the 2005 Orange Prize for her novel We Need to Talk About Kevin. Other novels include The Post-Birthday World and Double Fault.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's work in film includes The Color of Money, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Abyss; TV includes Law & Order: Criminal Intent and on Stage: A View From the Bridge at the Duke of York's, London.
Henry Goodman is currently playing Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes, Prime Minister in the West End. Other stage work includes Duet for One, with Juliet Stevenson, Fiddler on the Roof and Chicago. Recent film includes The Damned United and Taking Woodstock.
Elizabeth McGovern is currently starring in Julian Fellowes' new ITV drama series, Downtown Abbey. Her film work includes Ragtime, Once Upon a Time in America and The Wings of the Dove.
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b00vky73)
We explore the glittering new capital city built by Burma's generals.
The population count in China that will shed light on more than a billion lives.
Anger and fear in Indonesia's restless province of Papua.
And in a forest in the Czech Republic, we tap into the local passion for sausages, cold beer....and a game that you've probably never heard of.....
Burma is about to hold its first election for twenty years. But there's no sense that Sunday's vote will be any great triumph for democracy. The military government's leading opponent, Aung San Suu Kyi -- who's currently under house arrest - has urged her supporters not to vote. Her party is not participating. But Sue Lloyd Roberts has been meeting some pro-democracy activists who have decided to fight the election....
Right now, China is trying to find out exactly how vast its population is. The world's biggest census is underway. Officials doing the count will have to knock on the doors of about four-hundred million homes altogether. And as Damian Grammaticus explains, when this colossal task is finally done, we'll know much more about the powerful social forces that are re-shaping the nation...
At the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago, lies the troubled province of Papua. It's long had a fraught relationship with the government in far away Jakarta. A low level insurgency has simmered for decades, and foreign journalists are rarely allowed to visit. But Rachel Harvey has just been allowed in on condition that she travelled with a government minder. And in the provincial capital, Jayapura she found a deepening sense of frustration....
There's just been a major shock to the Argentine political system. It lost a huge figure last week when Nestor Kirchner died of a heart attack. Mr Kirchner was half of the husband and wife team that's dominated Argentina's politics for years, and many credit him with having saved the country from economic collapse nine years ago. In Buenos Aires, Daniel Schweimler has been reflecting on the implications of the sudden, stunning departure of this powerful man...
Almost everywhere....from Afghan villages, to bars in Tokyo, and beaches in Brazil...you find a passion for football. Great swathes of the world have fallen in love with what they call "the beautiful game". Very much at the other... more obscure...end of the sporting spectrum, lies a pastime dreamed up in Prague ninety years ago. Mike Wendling has been having a shot at a game that's enjoyed in the forests of Bohemia....but not in too many other places....
THU 11:30 He Belonged to Glasgow - The Will Fyffe Story (b00vky75)
Born in Dundee in 1885, Will Fyffe became synonymous with a different city when his song 'I Belong To Glasgow' captured the nation's hearts.
After spending his formative years in touring theatre, Will Fyffe switched to comedy and music hall, and became a headline act throughout Scotland. Along with his contemporary Harry Lauder, his humour transcended the regional stage and appearances all over Britain led to five Royal Variety performances.
A leading film star of the 1930s and 40s, he made one Hollywood film, although this burgeoning career was put on hold as war broke out and he returned to entertain the troops.
An accident in 1947 led to his untimely death, but his body of work lives on through his songs, sketches and films.
In this programme, singer-songwriter and Deacon Blue frontman Ricky Ross looks at Fyffe's life, career and legacy with family, film historians and music hall experts, including Professor Jeffrey Richards, and Will Fyffe's daughter, Eileen.
Producer: Elizabeth Foster
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2010.
THU 12:00 You and Yours (b00vky77)
Consumer affairs with Winifred Robinson. A survey of 350 GPs is claiming that up to one in four has an investment with a private provider of NHS services in their local area. There is concern, that in the light of the Government's commissioning plans for the health service, this could lead to a conflict of interest.
Since the 1970s, people have talked about the imminent arrival of the paperless office , but it appears to have remained tantalisingly out of reach for all but a few progressive firms. Despite growing environmental awareness, we still get through 700,000 tonnes of cut-size paper a year in the UK, so is the paperless office just a futurist's dream?
THU 12:57 Weather (b00vhjvf)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b00vl4lv)
National and international news.
THU 13:30 Off the Page (b00vky79)
Living Cheap
"My name is David Collins. I'm 69 years old and I live in an almshouse."
Everyone tells us we are living in tough times, so three guests explain what that means for them. David Collins is an actor who has found a medieval sounding solution - an almshouse - to the big squeeze. Laurie Penny is a 23 year-old recent graduate who writes for free on her blog Penny Red, and until recently was living in a house she described as a scene from 'Withnail and I.' And Pauline Black, the lead singer of the Selector, resists the charge that it was her baby boomer generation that has spent all the money and messed up the economy for everyone else.
Fresh, provocative writing and fiery debate. The presenter is Dominic Arkwright, the producer Miles Warde.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b00vkxt0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b008dqgt)
Boniface and Me
By Gillian Plowman
A recently divorced woman begins to write to an African child she met on a trip to Zimbabwe. Soon, she is corresponding with several children and their grateful headmaster.
In a series of beautifully observed and accurately captured letters, she finds more love, support and wisdom from their friendship than she does from her own materialistic and egregious offspring.
Cast:
Nell Porter ..... Harriet Walter
Boniface Katambo ..... Jude Akuwudike
Enock ..... Tonderai Munyevu
Tawanda ..... Denver Issac
Wilson ..... Denton Chikura
Portia ..... Diane Findlay
Pertunia ..... Gracy Goldman
Director: Annie Castledine
Producer: Catherine Bailey
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 15:00 Open Country (b00vkjf9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:07 on Saturday]
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b00vknmk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00vky9y)
Red Herrings
Catch 13
"Catch 13" by Andrew Taylor.
Read by James Fleet.
Last in a series of short stories inspired by the red herring - that most effective weapon in the crime writer's arsenal.
Andrew Taylor won the 2009 Crime Writer's Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger, awarded for sustained excellence in crime writing. In "Catch-13", specially written for Radio 4, Taylor displays his pedigree with a brilliant story that twists and turns its way to a stimulating conclusion.
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
About the author:
Andrew Taylor's first novel "Caroline Minuscule" won the CWA's John Creasey Award in 1982. He is the only author to have won the Ellis Peters Historical Award twice, in 2001 for "The Office of the Dead" and in 2003 for "The American Boy" (about the English boyhood of Edgar Allan Poe), which also won the US Audie in the literary fiction category. He has been shortlisted for the Gold Dagger, the Edgar, and many other awards in the UK and abroad. His latest novel is "The Anatomy of Ghosts".
THU 15:45 Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Escape to the Country (b00shgb5)
The Brotherhood of Ruralists, part 2
How John Seymour's 1976 Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency proved a huge hit with disaffected city dwellers keen on a rural life.
THU 16:00 Open Book (b00vkp4s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:30 Material World (b00vkybc)
The International Space Station - is it worth the cost? Giant Dragonflies from the First Forests; The Electrical Generator that Changed the World.
THU 17:00 PM (b00vkycg)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news. Including at
5.57pm Weather.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00vhjvh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Richard Herring's Objective (b00vkycj)
Series 1
Dolly the Sheep
Comedian Richard Herring reclaims those things we've grown to hate. In the final show of the series Richard reclaims Dolly the sheep as he examines why we are fearful and suspicious of the idea of cloning without really understanding it.
Richard talks to a genetics professor about how cloning works and what it was like to meet Dolly. Richard also asks science writer Dr Ben Goldacre whether evil scientists exist and whether he is allowed to clone Dr Who assistant Amy Pond.
The show was recorded in front of an audience.
Producer ..... Tilusha Ghelani.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b00vkycl)
Ruth suggests she and David invite Bert and Freda for a meal. They can celebrate his 2nd place at Lakey Green ploughing contest, and Pip passing her driving theory test.
Jazzer's been supermarket shopping for Harry but he's not happy with Jazzer's choices. It's all crisps and processed food, and no bleach. Jazzer used the shopping list to write his mobile number on for a "fit" woman he met.
Lynda asks David to play the ship captain, to complement Josh and Ben's roles. David makes excuses but says he'll think about it. When Ruth drops Ben off at rehearsal, she assures Lynda that David's a safe bet for the part of ship captain. Harry arrives early, clearly keen. When Lynda hears him practicing his lines, she's so impressed that she offers him the part of Dick. He accepts, then calls Jazzer to offer him his old part of Idle Jack. Jazzer declines.
Kenton really hopes Jamie will be at tomorrow's bonfire. He's brought a load of fireworks. There's a few hundred pounds worth, which he hopes will be worth every penny. Kenton explains to David that as this is the first Bonfire Night without Sid, they should do him proud - for Jolene and Fallon's sake.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b00vkycn)
South African Athol Fugard talks about playwriting and politics. The Train Driver, which was inspired by a real story of a woman who was killed by a train, opens at Hampstead Theatre tonight.
A report on a new wave of innovative music videos, including one, from the band Arcade Fire, which includes images of your childhood home-town, based on the post-code you enter.
Due Date, starring Robert Downey Jnr, is the sequel to hit film comedy The Hangover. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews
Producer Gavin Heard.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00vky4v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 Law in Action (b00vkxh9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Tuesday]
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (b00vkyjh)
The view from the top of business. Presented by Evan Davis, The Bottom Line cuts through confusion, statistics and spin to present a clearer view of the business world, through discussion with people running leading and emerging companies.
Evan and a panel of top guests from the worlds of online retail, investment and utilities examine how young upstart companies can outsmart their well-established incumbent opponents, and how those opponents can defend themselves.
The panel also discusses company names. What makes a good one? And why the business obsession with changing them?
Evan is joined in the studio by Katherine Garrett-Cox, Chief Executive of Alliance Trust, an investment trust; Brent Hoberman, serial internet entrepreneur and founder of web-based furniture company made.com; Phil Bentley, Managing Director of utility company British Gas.
THU 21:00 Saving Species (b00vkws3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Tuesday]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b00vky4n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b00vhjvk)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b00w57nh)
What's behind the failure of the Rolls Royce engine on the Qantas A380 ?
The Presidents of Croatia and Serbia meet in reconciliation in Vukovar, the scene of atrocities in 1991
The people of Burma prepare to vote on Sunday in an election which is neither free nor fair. So why might the results matter?
With David Eades.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00vkyjk)
Crimson China
Episode 9
By Betsy Tobin. Lili discovers the existence of Angie and her relationship with her brother Wen. Together they desperately hope to hear from him after his abduction by the Snakeheads.
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Read by Penny Downie and Elizabeth Tan
Produced by Clive Brill
A Pacificus Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:00 A Charles Paris Mystery (b00qld0x)
Cast in Order of Disappearance
Episode 3
Dramatised by Jeremy Front from the novel by Simon Brett.
Someone is determined to kill Jodie; can Charles stop them before it's too late?
Charles Paris ...... Bill Nighy
Jodie ...... Martine McCutcheon
Frances ...... Suzanne Burden
Maurice ...... Jon Glover
Juliet ...... Tilly Gaunt
Nick ...... Rhys Jennings
Elspeth ...... Kate Layden
Terry ...... Philip Fox
Yvonne ...... Avril Clark
Directed by Sally Avens.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00vkyjm)
Sean Curran reports on events at Westminster.
FRIDAY 05 NOVEMBER 2010
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b00vl4m7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b00vky4q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00vhjvp)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00vhjvr)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:30 Shipping Forecast (b00vhjvt)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00vl4mh)
With Shaunaka Rishi Das, Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b00vkyys)
Charlotte Smith hears claims from the RSPCA that chickens from Thailand enjoy better welfare than British birds. But the British Poultry Council disagrees and tells Farming Today that UK chickens have world-leading welfare.
And as government plans to increase spending on farm wildlife schemes by millions of pounds, a visit to Cumbria shows how farmers can cash in. But farming minister Jim Paice admits not enough is being done by government to check these schemes are value for money.
Presented by Charlotte Smith, produced by Melvin Rickarby.
FRI 06:00 Lord Kitchener's Image (b0088l43)
Ian Hislop examines the iconic status of Lord Kitchener, the face of World War I, with help from art critics, military historians and members of the Kitchener family.
FRI 06:30 Off the Page (b00vky79)
[Repeat of broadcast at
13:30 on Thursday]
FRI 07:00 News Bulletin (b00w8779)
News bulletin from the BBC.
FRI 07:15 The Estuary (b008kf0n)
Episode 1
Peter France narrates an extraordinary story of life on the Wash as the tides and the seasons change, set against a backdrop of sounds recorded on location by Chris Watson.
At low tide, the vast expanses of mud which stretch almost as far as the eye can see are a magnet for migratory birds.
FRI 07:30 Great Lives (b00tpsvk)
Series 22
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's is the Great Life chosen by Lord Digby Jones, former Director General of the CBI. Expert contribution comes from Professor David Reynolds. Both men have vivid memories of the day in 1965 when, as children, they heard that Churchill had died. Surprisingly this is the first time that Churchill has been nominated in the series.
Considered by many a busted flush in the 1930s, Churchill is now remembered as our greatest wartime leader - his speech before the Battle of Britain still sends a shiver down the spine. But his great qualities and personal flaws remained inextricably linked. David Reynolds has uncovered a stark revelation about Churchill's real state of mind at the time he made that speech, while Digby Jones argues that the ability to instil confidence in people even when there is little rational hope of victory is one of the signs of a great leader. He believes that no one made his mark on the last century in the way that Churchill did.
David Reynolds does not subscribe to the Great Man theory of history. He is the Professor of International History at Cambridge University. Known to Radio 4 listeners as the writer and presenter of "America, Empire of Liberty", he has also written extensively on Churchill, including the book "In Command of History" about Churchill's memoirs of World War Two. The presenter is Matthew Parris.
FRI 08:00 News Bulletin (b00w877c)
News bulletin from the BBC.
FRI 08:15 The Estuary (b008khxv)
Episode 2
Peter France narrates an extraordinary story of life on the Wash as the tides and the seasons change, set against a backdrop of sounds recorded on location by Chris Watson.
As the tide turns and starts to advance across the mud flats, the dunlin, knot, curlew and other feeding birds are forced to move nearer and nearer the shore.
FRI 08:30 I've Never Seen Star Wars (b00hkprc)
Series 2
Dame Joan Bakewell
Marcus Brigstocke invites guests to try new experiences.
Dame Joan Bakewell listens to the Arctic Monkeys, has a beat boxing lesson and places a horse racing bet.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b00vknrn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b00vkyyv)
Philip Larkin - Letters to Monica
Episode 5
Philip Larkin's Letters to Monica span the forty years of their relationship from 1946 when they met, until Larkin's death in 1985. They only came to light after Monica Jones died in 2001, when nearly two thousand letters were discovered in Larkin's house in Hull. This never previously published correspondence, edited by Anthony Thwaite, offers a unique insight into Larkin's most intimate thoughts.
Episode 5: Larkin looks back at his life leading up to his fiftieth birthday and despite the success of The Whitsun Weddings, wonders if he has achieved all that he set out to. Anthony Thwaite concludes the episode.
Read by Hugh Bonneville, who recently appeared in Downton Abbey and BBC TV's The Silence and played Larkin in Love Again on BBC 4.
In Episode 5, the letters are concluded with comment from Anthony Thwaite, a close friend of Larkin and the editor of the collection Letters to Monica.
The abridger is Miranda Davies and the producer Lucy Collingwood.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00vl4n6)
Presented by Jenni Murray
Guerrilla Mum: Parenting a child with special educational needs and getting the proper institutional and educational support is not something most of us prepare for. It is, however, something many of us end up doing. Ellen Power is one such mother and she's written a book about her experiences. Pam Johnson is Community Development Manager in the Midlands and North West for MENCAP - the UK charity for people with a learning disability.
Comedy vs Tragedy? Which is the best guide to living? It's an argument older than the Stoics and Epicureans or the Cavaliers and the Roundheads, and has raged from Athens to Eastenders - and again it's the subject of a debate at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival taking place this weekend. Jenni is joined by two of the protagonists: Natalie Haynes, taking the side of the tragedians, and Janey Godley for the comedians.
After 11 years, the writer Polly Samson has just published a new book of short stories entitled Perfect Lives. She talks to Jenni about the collection and why it's taken her so long to write it.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00vkyyx)
So Much For That
Episode 10
Shep Knacker has been saving all his working life for 'the Afterlife' - his retirement escape route from Brooklyn to a remote island off the coast of Zanzibar. But just as Shep was about to put the Afterlife into action, his wife Glynis revealed that she had cancer.
In today's episode, an unexpected change of fortunes convinces Shep to take drastic action.
Narrator ..... Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Shep ..... Henry Goodman
Glynis ..... Debora Weston
Carol ..... Elizabeth McGovern
Jackson ..... Stuart Milligan
Flicka ..... Sasha Pick
Dr Knox/Gabe ..... Peter Marinker
Adapted for radio by Penny Leicester
Directed by Emma Harding
Lionel Shriver won the 2005 Orange Prize for her novel We Need to Talk About Kevin. Other novels include The Post-Birthday World and Double Fault.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's work in film includes The Color of Money, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Abyss; TV includes Law & Order: Criminal Intent and on Stage: A View From the Bridge at the Duke of York's, London.
Henry Goodman is currently playing Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes, Prime Minister in the West End. Other stage work includes Duet for One, with Juliet Stevenson, Fiddler on the Roof and Chicago. Recent film includes The Damned United and Taking Woodstock.
Elizabeth McGovern is currently starring in Julian Fellowes' new ITV drama series, Downtown Abbey. Her film work includes Ragtime, Once Upon a Time in America and The Wings of the Dove.
FRI 11:00 Inside the Elephant Mind (b00qxgzw)
Everyone knows that elephants are clever but science is only now beginning to reveal just how smart they are. Andrew Luck-Baker joins British and Kenyan researchers on the East African savannah who are revealing the depths of the elephant mind with the help of a huge loudspeaker in the back of a Land Rover.
By playing different sound recordings (of elephants, lions and people) at elephant family groups, the scientists are probing the sophistication of elephant memory and pachyderm numerical skills. They are also testing whether elephants can distinguish between different human languages. Anecdotes suggest they can.
Another team of British researchers have been using urine samples and smelly clothes in other experiments to probe the agility of elephant grey matter.
All this has been taking place on the plains of Amboseli National Park in Kenya, under the looming presence of Mount Kilimanjaro. Amboseli is home to the world's longest running study of a single elephant population. Started by journalist-turned-biologist Cynthia Moss almost forty years ago, the study is a continuing record of every facet of the lives of every elephant living there. Cynthia Moss says the Amboseli data is like "gold" for the visiting animal psychologists to make sense of their experiments.
It turns out that that elephants are more intelligent than humans in some respects. For example, elephants have a much better short-term working memory than we do and out-perform people on at least one numerical skill. But why might they need to distinguish between the English language and the language of the local Masaai people? And what does this research tell us about the evolution of animal intelligence in general?
FRI 11:30 Safety Catch (b00vkyz1)
Series 3
Better the Devil You Know
Reluctant arms dealer Simon McGrath finally has the opportunity to leave his dubious line of employment when an American company puts in a takeover bid.
Series three of Laurence Howarth's black comedy of modern morality sees Simon going to some bizarre lengths to excuse his profession.
Simon is a generally nice chap who just fell into arms dealing and he needs to pay his mortgage just like everyone else. His real love is electronic music so this is just a stop gap until he finds the perfect outlet for it. Okay the gap has lasted five years, but that's not the point.
His personal life with Anna is as unsatisfactory as his work life...
Simon McGrath ...... Darren Boyd
Anna Grieg ...... Joanna Page
Boris Kemal ...... Lewis Macleod
Judith McGrath ...... Sarah Smart
Angela McGrath ...... Brigit Forsyth
Madeleine Turnbull ...... Rachel Atkins
Charles ...... John Schwab
Producer: Dawn Ellis.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2010.
FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b00v1nhd)
You and Yours is 40. To mark this special Birthday Julian Worricker presents the first in a series of special programmes.
The Telephone.
In 1970 your phone was supplied by the GPO and the big news was that all domestic users would soon be able to call the USA and Australia from the comfort of their own home. Four decades ago there were 6,000 telephone exchanges connecting calls across the UK, today there are none.
To celebrate the programme's 40th anniversary You and Yours explores the direction of a revolution which means phones are now mobile mini-computers and which has given rise to two modern pet hates - the call centre and the automated switchboard.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b00vhjvy)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 News (b00w8j7j)
The latest news from around the UK and around the world.
FRI 13:15 Africa at 50: Wind of Change (b00v71qp)
Episode 1
This year is very special for Africa: Seventeen African states that gained political independence in 1960 are celebrating 50 years of existence as self-governing nation-states. And the number of countries gaining independence was to double over the next three years, as the wind of change swept through Africa.
In Africa at 50: The wind of Change, Tanzanian journalist Adam Lusekelo presents some personal reflections and reminiscences from five Africans living through those momentous events in five former British colonies.
We hear from Elizabeth Ohene who was 12 years old when the Gold Coast achieved independence from Britain in 1957. As Africa's first post- independence leader, Kwame Nkrumah became a hero to millions all over the continent, inspiring others in their struggles against colonial powers. Ghana was the forerunner in the race to independence, which for many other countries was just beginning as the wind of change swept through Africa.
But Elizabeth's father remained unimpressed. He opposed the union of the British protectorate of Togoland with the newly-independent state of Ghana, and kept the young Elizabeth home from school so that she could not take part in independence celebrations. As a result she was suspended from school- the first of many run-ins she would subsequently have with authorities.
Elizabeth Ohene describes how by 1960, Ghana had become a magnet for many other would-be independence movements, and several future leaders found inspiration and funding in Accra.
Producer: Ruth Evans
A Ruth Evans production for Radio 4.
FRI 13:30 Feedback (b00vkyz5)
Radio 4's forum for comments, queries, criticisms and congratulations.
Presented by Roger Bolton, this is the place for listeners to air their views on the things heard on BBC Radio.
Email the team: feedback@bbc.co.uk
Producer: Karen Pirie
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b00vkycl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b00vkyz7)
Gracey and Me
By Gillian Plowman
Kate (Harriet Walter) returns to South Africa to meet Gracey (Jenny Jules), the woman she betrayed twenty-five years ago when she was a ten-year-old staying with her godparents in a luxury suburb of Johannesburg during the height of apartheid. The repercussions of that betrayal have profoundly affected both women, psychologically and physically.
The play takes Kate on a journey into her past. Beauty was the daughter of the housemaid, Gracey, who has illegally secreted her into the hut in the garden where she lives. The two children are swimming together when Kate tells Beauty she has made the water dirty because she is black. The altercation between the two children escalates and the horrific scene becomes a metaphor for the apartheid era as Kate plays out what she has observed of the treatment of black people by white people, making her drink the dog's water from a bowl on the floor. Gracey discovers them and unleashes the untold anger of her life upon Kate. Kate retaliates by revealing the secret of Beauty's presence in the hut to her Godparents, resulting in Gracey and her daughter being banished.
This haunts Kate as an adult but when she finally confronts her past, events unfold which threaten her life, as the play reveals the brutality of the legacy left by apartheid.
Directed by Annie Castledine
Produced by Catherine Bailey
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00vkyz9)
Sussex U3A Regional Association
Eric Robson and the panel are guests of the Sussex U3A Regional Association. The panel this week: Christine Walkden, Matthew Biggs and Pippa Greenwood.
We return to Brighton to visit the rooftop allotmenteers taking part in our Listeners' Gardens series. How can they maximise their allotments over the winter?
Jeremy Scott was recently crowned the 'champion of champions' in Thive and the RNIB's Blind Gardener of the Year awards. Christine Walkden visits him in his garden in Uckfield.
Produced by Howard Shannon
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Escape to the Country (b00skxgk)
Villadom in the Cotswolds
How the idea of escaping to the countryside, seen as a modern symbol of city dweller angst, is as old as the Romans.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b00vkyzc)
On Last Word this week:
"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." The man who put those words in John F Kennedy's mouth - his speechwriter Ted Sorensen.
Also the principal trumpeter of the London Symphony Orchestra Maurice Murphy, whose talents were showcased in movie soundtracks like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Braveheart
Sheik Saqr bin Mohammed al Qasimi - the world's longest serving ruler - who led the emirate of Ras al Khaimah for 62 years.
The astronomer Professor John Huchra who developed a revolutionary map of the universe
And the Blackburn Rovers and England footballer Ronnie Clayton - who was a hero to the fans and earned £20 a week.
FRI 16:30 The Film Programme (b00vkz0b)
In an extended interview, Francine Stock talks to Mike Leigh about his latest drama, Another Year
Actress Phyllida Law remembers the work of her husband Eric Thompson and the Magic Roundabout spin-off movie, Dougal And The Blue Cat, which is released on DVD for the very first time
Director Matt Reeves discusses his reasons for making an American version of the critically acclaimed Swedish vampire film Let The Right One In.
FRI 17:00 The Music Group (b00s2xhh)
Series 4
Episode 3
Comedian Milton Jones joins editor of 'The Lady' Rachel Johnson and Wilf Lunn - best known for his satirical inventions on Vision ON - to explain why they've brought a pop-punk record, a Californian country ballad and a Swedish harmonica epic to this week's show.
Milton makes public his desire to be Billy Idol. Rachel reveals what happened when her Sixties liberal dad caught her with a Mohican-wearing boyfriend and Wilf explains how he got sacked from his job as a projectionist - for not playing Larry Adler. And in one surreal episode, a guest muddles up a 'rubbery egg' with a well known lyric. It all makes for some bizarre conversation.
Hosted by Dr Phil Hammond.
The music choices are:
Swedish Rhapsody by Larry Adler
Rebel Yell by Billy Idol
Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin
Producer: Tamsin Hughes. A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 17:30 The Museum of Curiosity (b008z6d5)
Series 1
Episode 1
John Lloyd and Bill Bailey host a panel show in which guests donate fascinating exhibits to a vast imaginary museum. With Sean Lock, Brian Blessed and Richard Fortey.
FRI 18:00 News (b00w8j9y)
The latest news from around the UK and around the world.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (b00vkz0d)
Series 72
Episode 7
Sandi Toksvig presents another episode of the ever-popular topical panel show. Guests this week are Jeremy Hardy, Fred Macaulay and Andy Hamilton.
Produced by Sam Bryant.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b00vkz0g)
Jolene has agreed that the Bull will supply glasses and drinks for the race night. Alan has asked Caroline to give Jolene a gentle nudge, as they really need to know about prices. Jolene's sorry that she hasn't had chance to look at this yet but will do it over the weekend.
The bonfire goes well but Fallon notices Jolene is feeling out of sorts, so sends her for a break. Kenton tries to talk to Jamie but Jamie's not very receptive, and is glad of the opportunity to escape when his mates turn up.
Caroline tells Kathy that she saw Helen, swimming away like a professional. They agree she's looking well.
Kenton's concerned for Jolene, and wants to know how she really is. She admits it's hard facing all these "firsts" without Sid. Kenton admits that since splitting with Kathy, Jamie is his biggest regret. He's worried Jamie doesn't want to know, but he won't give up on him. Jolene reassures him, remembering how Sid won Fallon over. Kenton thanks Jolene for the encouragement, but points out that he was supposed to be making her feel better. Jolene's sure he'll have plenty of opportunities to pay her back.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b00t6s8y)
Mark Lawson reports from the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. His guests include Jeffery Deaver, who has just been commissioned to write a new James Bond book and Jeff Lindsay, the creator of the serial killer Dexter.
Mark also discusses stalkers, title changes and creating an internationally successful series with American Karin Slaughter, Australian Michael Robotham, Scot and Festival Chair Stuart MacBride and Londoner Christopher Fowler.
And he tracks down clues for new authors hoping for a life of successful crime fiction, listening in to the creative writing day at the start of the Festival.
Producer Robyn Read (repeat).
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00vkyyx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b00vkz3b)
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the topical discussion from St Bryce Kirk in Kirkcaldy, Fife, with questions for the panel including the novelist Ian Rankin, Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence Jim Murphy and the Scottish Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham.
Producer: Victoria Wakely.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b00vl4ns)
Traces of the Past
Sarah Dunant reflects on the removing of most of the railings around Kensington Palace and sees the balance between preservation and destruction as illuminating the constant tension between past history and future landscape.
Correction: In the piece there is an incorrect reference to St. James's Park. This should refer to Kensington Gardens.
Producer: Sheila Cook.
FRI 21:00 A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus (b00vpdxw)
First Global Economy (AD 1450-1600)
Another chance to hear Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum in London, continue his global history as told through objects from the Museum's collection.
In this episode he focuses on Europe's expanding maritime empire which created the world's first global economy. Spanish pieces of eight were used as currency from the new world of the Americas to Japan. The Dutch East India Company was a multinational conglomeration transporting goods from the Far East to a European market. Different cultures were brought into contract for the first time with varying results. When Spanish explorers arrived in Mexico it led to the destruction of the Aztec Empire. In contrast, the relationship between the Portuguese and the kingdom of Benin was mutually beneficial, with Portuguese sailors providing much-desired brass in exchange for ivory and palm oil.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b00vhjw0)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b00vl4nv)
Immigration special
Robin Lustig chairs a special debate from the leading think-tank, Chatham House, on British immigration policy.
Immigration is one of the most sensitive issues in British politics with opinion polls suggesting there is widespread public concern. So what are the economic, social and cultural costs and benefits of immigration; and what should the government do about it?
On the panel
Trevor Phillips, Equality and Human Rights Commission
David Frost, British Chambers of Commerce
Baroness Shreela Flather, House of Lords
Douglas Murray, Centre for Social cohesion.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00vkz3d)
Crimson China
Episode 10
By Betsy Tobin. Wen escapes from the Snakeheads but knows he must make reparation if he is to have any chance of survival.
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Read by Penny Downie and Elizabeth Tan
Produced by Clive Brill
A Pacificus Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:00 A Good Read (b00vhgjr)
Judith Kerr and Matthew Kneale
Judith Kerr was known to generations of young readers for her celebrated series of Mogg books and her semi-autobiographical novel, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, a child's view of the rise of Nazism in pre-war Germany. Judith chose a powerful graphic novel, Maus by Art Spiegelman, which describes his father's wartime experiences as a Holocaust survivor.
Alongside Judith is her son Matthew Kneale, whose novel English Passengers won the Whitbread Book of the Year Prize in 2000. Matthew chooses Ryszard Kapuscinski's account of the fall of the Ethiopian dictator, Haile Selassie. They also discuss Sue MacGregor's choice, Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.
The Complete MAUS by Art Spiegelman
Publ. Penguin
The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat by Ryszard Kapuscinski
Publ. Penguin Classics
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Publ. Penguin Modern Classics
Producer Mark Smalley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2010.
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00vkz3g)
Mark D'arcy presents a round up of the week's parliamentary news.
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 MON (b00vkpkb)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 MON (b00vkpkb)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 TUE (b00vkws1)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 TUE (b00vkws1)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 WED (b00vkxp4)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 WED (b00vkxp4)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 THU (b00vky4v)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 THU (b00vky4v)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 FRI (b00vkyyx)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 FRI (b00vkyyx)
A Charles Paris Mystery
23:00 THU (b00qld0x)
A Good Read
16:30 TUE (b00vkxhc)
A Good Read
23:00 FRI (b00vhgjr)
A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus
21:00 FRI (b00vpdxw)
A Point of View
08:50 SUN (b00vhf4j)
A Point of View
20:50 FRI (b00vl4ns)
Africa at 50: Wind of Change
09:30 TUE (b00vkwrv)
Africa at 50: Wind of Change
13:15 FRI (b00v71qp)
Afternoon Reading
15:30 TUE (b00vkxh7)
Afternoon Reading
15:30 WED (b00vkxr0)
Afternoon Reading
15:30 THU (b00vky9y)
All in the Mind
21:00 TUE (b00vkxm2)
All in the Mind
16:30 WED (b00vkxm2)
America Votes
00:30 WED (b00vkxn3)
Americana
19:15 SUN (b00vkp6k)
Analysis
21:30 SUN (b00vhfl2)
Analysis
20:30 MON (b00vkwk8)
Any Answers?
14:00 SAT (b00vklnd)
Any Questions?
13:10 SAT (b00vhf4g)
Any Questions?
20:00 FRI (b00vkz3b)
Archive on 4
20:00 SAT (b00vkmt0)
Archive on 4
15:00 MON (b00vkmt0)
Beat It: The World of The Modern Drummer
13:30 TUE (b00vkwvc)
Beautiful Dreamers
23:00 TUE (b00vkxm8)
Bells on Sunday
05:43 SUN (b00vkn6p)
Bells on Sunday
00:45 MON (b00vkn6p)
Bespoken Word
23:00 WED (b00vkxy4)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 MON (b00vkwm1)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 TUE (b00vkxm6)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 WED (b00vkxy2)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 THU (b00vkyjk)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 FRI (b00vkz3d)
Book of the Week
00:30 SAT (b00vh958)
Book of the Week
09:45 MON (b00vkpk6)
Book of the Week
00:30 TUE (b00vkpk6)
Book of the Week
09:45 TUE (b00vkwrx)
Book of the Week
09:45 WED (b00vkxn5)
Book of the Week
00:30 THU (b00vkxn5)
Book of the Week
09:45 THU (b00vky4q)
Book of the Week
00:30 FRI (b00vky4q)
Book of the Week
09:45 FRI (b00vkyyv)
Brain of Britain
23:00 SAT (b00vhf7m)
Brain of Britain
13:30 MON (b00vkwcq)
Broadcasting House
09:00 SUN (b00vknq1)
Classic Serial
21:00 SAT (b00vhdrp)
Classic Serial
15:00 SUN (b00vkp4q)
Click On
16:30 MON (b00vkwdp)
Come Away, Come Away!
19:45 SUN (b00s6t4p)
Craig Brown's Lost Diaries
11:30 MON (b00vkw57)
Desert Island Discs
11:15 SUN (b00vknrn)
Desert Island Discs
09:00 FRI (b00vknrn)
Doc Martens at 50
11:00 WED (b00vkxqw)
Drama
14:15 MON (b00vkwcs)
Drama
14:15 TUE (b00vkwvf)
Drama
14:15 WED (b00j751w)
Drama
14:15 THU (b008dqgt)
Drama
14:15 FRI (b00vkyz7)
Excess Baggage
10:00 SAT (b00vkl0g)
Farming Today
06:30 SAT (b00vkkx9)
Farming Today
05:45 MON (b00vkpbx)
Farming Today
05:45 TUE (b00vkwrn)
Farming Today
05:45 WED (b00vl2gg)
Farming Today
05:45 THU (b00vky4j)
Farming Today
05:45 FRI (b00vkyys)
Feedback
20:00 SUN (b00vh9hf)
Feedback
13:30 FRI (b00vkyz5)
File on 4
17:00 SUN (b00vhgpl)
File on 4
20:00 TUE (b00vkxkc)
From Fact to Fiction
19:00 SAT (b00vklsd)
From Fact to Fiction
17:40 SUN (b00vklsd)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:30 SAT (b00vkl5q)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:00 THU (b00vky73)
Front Row
19:15 MON (b00vkwhl)
Front Row
19:15 TUE (b00vkxjx)
Front Row
19:15 WED (b00vkxxt)
Front Row
19:15 THU (b00vkycn)
Front Row
19:15 FRI (b00t6s8y)
Frontiers
21:00 WED (b00vkxy0)
Gardeners' Question Time
14:00 SUN (b00vh9jp)
Gardeners' Question Time
15:00 FRI (b00vkyz9)
Grayson on His Bike
11:00 MON (b00vkw55)
Great Lives
07:30 FRI (b00tpsvk)
He Belonged to Glasgow - The Will Fyffe Story
11:30 THU (b00vky75)
Home Planet
15:00 TUE (b00vkxh5)
How The Mighty Have Fallen
14:45 SUN (b00tj826)
I've Never Seen Star Wars
08:30 FRI (b00hkprc)
In Our Time
09:00 THU (b00vky4n)
In Our Time
21:30 THU (b00vky4n)
In Touch
20:40 TUE (b00vkxkf)
Inside the Elephant Mind
11:00 FRI (b00qxgzw)
Last Word
20:30 SUN (b00vh9kb)
Last Word
16:00 FRI (b00vkyzc)
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Escape to the Country
15:45 MON (b00s8djt)
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Escape to the Country
15:45 TUE (b00sbcdh)
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Escape to the Country
15:45 WED (b00sf8ky)
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Escape to the Country
15:45 THU (b00shgb5)
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Escape to the Country
15:45 FRI (b00skxgk)
Law in Action
16:00 TUE (b00vkxh9)
Law in Action
20:00 THU (b00vkxh9)
Loose Ends
18:15 SAT (b00vklr1)
Lord Kitchener's Image
06:00 FRI (b0088l43)
Lost and Found
00:30 SUN (b00kdvmb)
Material World
21:00 MON (b00vhg9y)
Material World
16:30 THU (b00vkybc)
Midnight News
00:00 SAT (b00vhhq2)
Midnight News
00:00 SUN (b00vhjrg)
Midnight News
00:00 MON (b00vhjsp)
Midnight News
00:00 TUE (b00vrv3z)
Midnight News
00:00 WED (b00vl259)
Midnight News
00:00 THU (b00vl3zh)
Midnight News
00:00 FRI (b00vl4m7)
Midweek
09:00 WED (b00vl2gl)
Midweek
21:30 WED (b00vl2gl)
Money Box Live
15:00 WED (b00vl3xk)
Money Box
12:00 SAT (b00vklh3)
Money Box
21:00 SUN (b00vklh3)
Moral Maze
22:15 SAT (b00vhhn4)
Moral Maze
20:00 WED (b00vkxxw)
News Briefing
05:30 SAT (b00vhhqb)
News Briefing
05:30 SUN (b00vhjrq)
News Briefing
05:30 MON (b00vhjsy)
News Briefing
05:30 TUE (b00vhjtg)
News Briefing
05:30 WED (b00vhjtx)
News Briefing
05:30 THU (b00vhjvc)
News Bulletin
07:00 FRI (b00w8779)
News Bulletin
08:00 FRI (b00w877c)
News Headlines
06:00 SUN (b00vhjrs)
News and Papers
06:00 SAT (b00vhhqd)
News and Papers
07:00 SUN (b00vhjrx)
News and Papers
08:00 SUN (b00vhjs1)
News and Weather
22:00 SAT (b00vhhqx)
News
13:00 SAT (b00vhhqn)
News
13:00 FRI (b00w8j7j)
News
18:00 FRI (b00w8j9y)
Off the Page
13:30 THU (b00vky79)
Off the Page
06:30 FRI (b00vky79)
Oktoberfest!
10:30 SAT (b00vkl0j)
On Your Farm
06:35 SUN (b00vknmf)
Open Book
16:00 SUN (b00vkp4s)
Open Book
16:00 THU (b00vkp4s)
Open Country
06:07 SAT (b00vkjf9)
Open Country
15:00 THU (b00vkjf9)
PM
17:00 SAT (b00vklqg)
PM
17:00 MON (b00vkwf0)
PM
17:00 TUE (b00vkxj2)
PM
17:00 WED (b00vl3ys)
PM
17:00 THU (b00vkycg)
Pick of the Week
18:15 SUN (b00vkp4x)
Poetry Please
23:30 SAT (b00vhdrt)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 SAT (b00vjkdh)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 MON (b00vkpbv)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 TUE (b00vkwrl)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 WED (b00vl2gd)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 THU (b00vl3zm)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 FRI (b00vl4mh)
Radio 4 Appeal
07:55 SUN (b00vknmk)
Radio 4 Appeal
21:26 SUN (b00vknmk)
Radio 4 Appeal
15:27 THU (b00vknmk)
Richard Herring's Objective
18:30 THU (b00vkycj)
Rosa and Leos
15:30 SAT (b00vhg35)
Sack 'Em
20:00 MON (b00vkwk6)
Safety Catch
11:30 FRI (b00vkyz1)
Saturday Drama
14:30 SAT (b00vklng)
Saturday Live
09:00 SAT (b00vkkzt)
Saturday Review
19:15 SAT (b00vklsp)
Saving Species
11:00 TUE (b00vkws3)
Saving Species
21:00 THU (b00vkws3)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SAT (b00vhhq6)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SUN (b00vhjrl)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 MON (b00vhjst)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 TUE (b00vhjtb)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
05:00 WED (b00vv7z6)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 THU (b00vhjv7)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 FRI (b00vhjvr)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SAT (b00vhhq4)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SAT (b00vhhq8)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SAT (b00vhhqq)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SUN (b00vhjrj)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SUN (b00vhjrn)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SUN (b00vhjs5)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 MON (b00vhjsr)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 MON (b00vhjsw)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 TUE (b00vhjt8)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 TUE (b00vhjtd)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 WED (b00vhjtv)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 THU (b00vhjv5)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 THU (b00vhjv9)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 FRI (b00vhjvp)
Shipping Forecast
05:30 FRI (b00vhjvt)
Should We Listen to Philosophers?
05:45 SUN (b00vhhn6)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SAT (b00vhhqv)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SUN (b00vhjs9)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 MON (b00vhjt4)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 TUE (b00vhjtl)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 WED (b00vhjv1)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 THU (b00vhjvh)
Something Understood
06:05 SUN (b00vknht)
Something Understood
23:30 SUN (b00vknht)
Start the Week
09:00 MON (b00vkpk4)
Start the Week
21:30 MON (b00vkpk4)
Sunday Worship
08:10 SUN (b00vknpy)
Sunday
07:10 SUN (b00vknmh)
The A-Z of Dr Johnson: Words, Words, Words
23:00 MON (b00mkgn1)
The AA Bible
20:45 WED (b00vr78f)
The Archers Omnibus
10:00 SUN (b00vknq3)
The Archers
19:00 SUN (b00vkp5h)
The Archers
14:00 MON (b00vkp5h)
The Archers
19:00 MON (b00vkwgc)
The Archers
14:00 TUE (b00vkwgc)
The Archers
19:00 TUE (b00vkxjv)
The Archers
14:00 WED (b00vkxjv)
The Archers
19:00 WED (b00vkxt0)
The Archers
14:00 THU (b00vkxt0)
The Archers
19:00 THU (b00vkycl)
The Archers
14:00 FRI (b00vkycl)
The Archers
19:00 FRI (b00vkz0g)
The Bottom Line
17:30 SAT (b00vhgfr)
The Bottom Line
20:30 THU (b00vkyjh)
The Cornwell Estate
23:15 WED (b00vkxy6)
The Electric Polyolbion
16:30 SUN (b00vkp4v)
The Estuary
07:15 FRI (b008kf0n)
The Estuary
08:15 FRI (b008khxv)
The Film Programme
23:00 SUN (b00vhdr1)
The Film Programme
16:30 FRI (b00vkz0b)
The Food Programme
12:32 SUN (b00vkns1)
The Food Programme
16:00 MON (b00vkns1)
The Gorbals Vampire
13:30 SUN (b00rmt00)
The Long View
09:00 TUE (b00vkwrs)
The Long View
21:30 TUE (b00vkwrs)
The Media Show
13:30 WED (b00vl3ws)
The Museum of Curiosity
17:30 FRI (b008z6d5)
The Music Group
17:00 FRI (b00s2xhh)
The News Quiz
12:30 SAT (b00vhf48)
The News Quiz
18:30 FRI (b00vkz0d)
The Secret World
11:30 WED (b012rf47)
The Unbelievable Truth
12:00 SUN (b00vhfb8)
The Unbelievable Truth
18:30 MON (b00vkwg9)
The Week in Westminster
11:00 SAT (b00vkl40)
The World This Weekend
13:00 SUN (b00vkns7)
The World Tonight
22:00 MON (b00vkwlz)
The World Tonight
22:00 TUE (b00vkxm4)
The World Tonight
22:00 WED (b00vl3yv)
The World Tonight
22:00 THU (b00w57nh)
The World Tonight
22:00 FRI (b00vl4nv)
The Write Stuff
18:30 TUE (b00vkxj4)
Thinking Allowed
00:15 MON (b00vhhjm)
Thinking Allowed
16:00 WED (b00vkxr2)
Today in Parliament
23:30 MON (b00vkwm3)
Today in Parliament
23:30 TUE (b00vkxmb)
Today in Parliament
23:30 WED (b00vkxy8)
Today in Parliament
23:30 THU (b00vkyjm)
Today in Parliament
23:30 FRI (b00vkz3g)
Today
07:00 SAT (b00vkkyz)
Today
06:00 MON (b00vkpk2)
Today
06:00 TUE (b00vkwrq)
Today
06:00 WED (b00vl2gj)
Today
06:00 THU (b00vky4l)
Tom, Michael And George
11:30 TUE (b00vkws5)
Weather
06:04 SAT (b00vhhqg)
Weather
06:57 SAT (b00vhhqj)
Weather
12:57 SAT (b00vhhql)
Weather
17:57 SAT (b00vhhqs)
Weather
06:57 SUN (b00vhjrv)
Weather
07:58 SUN (b00vhjrz)
Weather
12:57 SUN (b00vhjs3)
Weather
17:57 SUN (b00vhjs7)
Weather
21:58 SUN (b00vhjsc)
Weather
05:57 MON (b00vhjt0)
Weather
12:57 MON (b00vhjt2)
Weather
21:58 MON (b00vhjt6)
Weather
12:57 TUE (b00vhjtj)
Weather
21:58 TUE (b00vhjtn)
Weather
12:57 WED (b00vhjtz)
Weather
21:58 WED (b00vhjv3)
Weather
12:57 THU (b00vhjvf)
Weather
21:58 THU (b00vhjvk)
Weather
12:57 FRI (b00vhjvy)
Weather
21:58 FRI (b00vhjw0)
Westminster Hour
22:00 SUN (b00vw0w3)
What Went Wrong with the Olympics?
18:30 WED (b00vkxsy)
What the Papers Say
22:45 SUN (b00vkp7y)
Woman's Hour
16:00 SAT (b00vklpt)
Woman's Hour
10:00 MON (b00vkpk8)
Woman's Hour
10:00 TUE (b00vkwrz)
Woman's Hour
10:00 WED (b00vkxp2)
Woman's Hour
10:00 THU (b00vky4s)
Woman's Hour
10:00 FRI (b00vl4n6)
World at One
13:00 MON (b00vkw5m)
World at One
13:00 TUE (b00vkwtb)
World at One
13:00 WED (b00vl3tz)
World at One
13:00 THU (b00vl4lv)
You and Yours
12:00 MON (b00vkw59)
You and Yours
12:00 TUE (b00vkwsw)
You and Yours
12:00 WED (b00vkxqy)
You and Yours
12:00 THU (b00vky77)
You and Yours
12:00 FRI (b00v1nhd)
iPM
05:45 SAT (b00vjkdk)