SUNDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2012

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b01nwh5m)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SUN 00:30 Vasily Grossman from the Frontline (b0144ybv)
Through Chekhov's Eyes

Elliot Levey reads Vasily Grossman's front line despatches from the battle of Stalingrad 1:Through Chekhov's Eyes. In the war of the rats snipers like Anatoly Chekhov reigned. Translated by Jim Riordan.

Vasily Grossman, author of Life and Fate, was transformed by his experiences as a front line war correspondent. Following the shock invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Grossman volunteered for front line duty. Declared unfit for active service he was assigned to Red Star newspaper as a special correspondent. His editor David Ortenberg noted that Grossman, despite no combat experience, knew about 'people's souls' .

1: Through Chekhov's Eyes. Red Star 20th November 1942.
'I wanted to become the sort of man who destroys the enemy with his own hands'. The cult of the sniper emerged spontaneously during the Stalingrad conflict. The 'Stalingrad Academy of street fighting' became a new kind of war where every floor, every building, every block became its own front line. Here a sniper could extract a terrible and personal vengeance upon the German invaders who had forced the Soviets to the very banks of the river Volga. Encouraged by their commanders, lionized by journalists like Grossman, the sniper became a heroic symbol of steely determination. Here Grossman delivers a portrait both intimate and heroic of a young man transformed by war amidst the ruined city.

Chekhov, along with Vasili Zaitsev, was already a star with 35 kills in the heaviest fighting of October. According to Grossman's editor, General Ortenberg, the writer spent many hours with Chekov in his firing post by a wrecked wall. Chekhov would later be credited with 256 'sticks' or enemy soldiers.

Reader Elliot Levey
Translator Jim Riordan
Producer Mark Burman.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01nwh5p)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01nwh5r)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01nwh5t)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b01nwh5w)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b01nx324)
The bells of St Mary Magdalene, Chewton Mendip, Somerset.


SUN 05:45 Profile (b01nwp31)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b01nwh5y)
The latest national and international news.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b01nx326)
In the Fullness of Time and At the End of the Day

Irma Kurtz considers the origins and uses of clichés.

She finds that, although many of our most often used clichés originated with Shakespeare, newly minted clichés appear every day. She reflects that clichés can be convenient truisms that keep us linked to our heritage and community - but also potentially dangerous generalisations.

To help explain her thesis we hear readings from the works of Shakespeare, Bernard Levin and Daisy Ashford, and music from Ravel, Cole Porter and Frank Loesser.

The readers are Liza Sadovy and Col Farrell.
The producer is Ronni Davis.
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 06:35 Living World (b01nx328)
Centipedes and Millipedes

We are all familiar with these long cylindrical animals running across the soil in our gardens when we disturb a pot or some vegetation; their many segmented legs carrying them swiftly to safety. But how many of us really know what a centipede or a millipede actually is? Superficially they may look like the same species, but there are many differences. For this Living World, Chris Sperring heads off into the Oxfordshire countryside with Myriapod specialist Steve Gregory on a personal quest to find out more.

On suitably damp and overcast autumnal day Chris discovers there are remarkable differences in the ecology of the predatory centipede and the unrelated dead wood specialist the millipede. It turns out that centipedes and millipedes are as distantly related from its other as they are from spiders or flies. Learning that the easiest way to tell them apart is that centipedes are fast moving and have one pair of legs per body segment, Steve then reveals that Millipedes have two pair of legs on each body segment and are much slower when disturbed, often rolling up into coil or ball.

Distantly related land dwellers of lobsters and crayfish centipedes and millipedes have evolved to a life on the land, one of the oldest terrestrial fossil is a millipede, but they are more at home in moist leaf litter or behind rotting bark where they can hide away from predators during the day, coming out at night to feed. Autumn is a perfect time to look for these cylindrical species so beginning in a beech woodland the programme moves to an ancient wood near the banks of the River Thames where Steve reveals how well adapted these two species are to this moist habitat and how important they are in the life cycle and health of our woodland and garden ecology.


SUN 06:57 Weather (b01nwh60)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b01nwh62)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (b01nx32b)
As workers across Europe protested about austerity measures this week, the far right Golden Dawn party in Greece continues to grow and even has support from some parts of the Greek Orthodox Church. Edward speaks to Greek journalist Theopi Skarlotis.

Abu Qatada was released from prison this week instead of being extradited to Jordan as the government wished. But how is he viewed in the wider Muslim community? Edward speaks to Mohammad Safiq of the Ramadan foundation.

Seven years ago Dorian Jones filed a report for us on the return of Suriyani Christians to southeast Turkey. Now he returns to the region to report on the new challenges they face.

The Anglican Church around the world is digesting the news of Justin Welby's appointment as the new Archbishop of Canterbury. Our World Affairs correspondent Mike Wooldridge is currently travelling with Daniel Deng, the Archbishop of Sudan, and asked him for his views.

The Church of England General Synod meets next week and may finally vote to approve women Bishops. Edward talks to The Times Religion Correspondent Ruth Gledhill.

Is it acceptable for football supporters to chant Yid Army? Trevor Barnes examines whether the phrase is offensive to Jews and if action needs to be taken.

The diocese of Chichester has once more been the centre of Anglican child abuse allegations this week. Edward discusses the effectiveness of current safeguarding policies within the church in light of these developments with Bishop Paul Butler and Barrister Ann Lawrence.

Tensions continue to rise in the Middle East as Israel calls up thousands of reservists and considers a ground offensive into Gaza. Edward talks to Oliver McTernan from Forward Thinking who works extensively in the region and has just returned from Gaza.


SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b01nx32d)
Children in Need

Sir Terry Wogan appeals on behalf of Children in Need.
Donations: Please call 0345 7 33 22 33 (Calls to 03 numbers are charged at standard geographic rates). You can give online at bbc.co.uk/Pudsey or send cheques to BBC Children in Need Appeal, PO Box 1000, London W12 7WJ.


SUN 07:57 Weather (b01nwh64)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b01nwh66)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b01nx32g)
I am not the same. Prisons Sunday is marked with a service from the church of St Peter de Merton and St Cuthbert in Bedford. The church stands in the shadow of Bedford Prison and the congregation is building links with the prison chaplaincy there. The RSCM Millennium Youth Choir leads the music and the service is led by the Co-ordinating Chaplain of Bedford Prison, the Revd Sharon Grenham-Toze.
Director of Music: David Ogden
Organist: Daniel Moult
Producer: Clair Jaquiss.


SUN 08:50 A Point of View (b01ntm31)
Mary Beard: Age of Consent

Producer: Adele Armstrong.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b01nx32j)
News and conversation about the big stories of the week with Paddy O'Connell.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b01nx32l)
For detailed synopses, see daily episodes

Writer ..... Tim Stimpson
Director ..... Julie Beckett
Editor ..... Vanessa Whitburn

Kenton Archer..... Richard Attlee
Shula Hebden Lloyd..... Judy Bennett
Daniel Hebden Lloyd..... Louis Hamblett
David Archer..... Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer..... Felicity Finch
Josh Archer..... Cian Cheesbrough
Elizabeth Pargetter..... Alison Dowling
Tom Archer..... Tom Graham
Brian Aldridge..... Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge..... Angela Piper
Matt Crawford..... Kim Durham
Lilian Bellamy..... Sunny Ormonde
Peggy Woolley ..... June Spencer
Jolene Perks..... Buffy Davis
Fallon Rogers..... Joanna Van Kampen
Jamie Perks..... Dan Ciotkowski
Joe Grundy..... Edward Kelsey
Emma Grundy..... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Edward Grundy..... Barry Farrimond
Neil Carter..... Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter..... Charlotte Martin
Brenda Tucker..... Amy Shindler
Lynda Snell..... Carole Boyd
Lewis Carmichael..... Robert Lister
Jim Lloyd..... John Rowe
Paul Morgan..... Michael Fenton Stevens
James Bellamy..... Roger May
Leonie Snell..... Jasmine Hyde
Rhys Williams..... Scott Arthur
Volunteer..... Janice McKenzie.


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b01nx32n)
John Lloyd

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the director, producer and writer, John Lloyd.

His work has been making us laugh for over thirty years: Spitting Image, Not The Nine o'Clock News, Blackadder and QI are just a handful of the programmes he's helped to create. If the comedy work ever dries up he could open a shop selling second hand Baftas - he's won a stack of them and a Grammy and an Emmy.

Which isn't to say it's been an easy ride - fall outs, multiple sackings and missed opportunities have peppered his stellar career in comedy. He says,

"I like starting things ... there are starters and finishers in life, that's the great divide ... I like the fight and the passion and the difficulty - well I don't like it, but it's what I do".

Producer: Cathy Drysdale.


SUN 12:00 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (b01nt3y6)
Series 58

Episode 1

The 58th series of Radio 4's multi award-winning 'antidote to panel games' promises yet more quality, desk-based entertainment for all the family. The series starts its run at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable, where regulars Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined on the panel by Tony Hawks, with Jack Dee as the programme's reluctant chairman. Regular listeners will know to expect inspired nonsense, pointless revelry and Colin Sell at the piano. Producer - Jon Naismith.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b01nx3pc)
Rethinking the hot dog

Originally the street food of German immigrants to the United States, the hot dog was the original artisan sausage in the late nineteenth century before going 'downscale' and becoming the cheap food for the masses. Now not just a watery, synthetic thing from a can, a new breed of pedigree frankfurter is on the rise. Tom Parker Bowles reports.

Producer: Maggie Ayre.


SUN 12:57 Weather (b01nwh6b)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b01nx3pf)
The latest national and international news with Norman Smith, including an in-depth look at events around the world. Email: wato@bbc.co.uk; twitter: #theworldthisweekend.


SUN 13:30 The Invention of... (b01ns477)
Spain

Episode 3

On February 15 1898, an American warship blew up suddenly and sank. The USS Maine had been moored in Havana harbour, sent by President McKinley from Key West to protect American interests in Cuba. It's still unclear if Spanish colonial forces were in anyway responsible for the sinking of the USS Maine. What we know for certain is that the brief, bloody war that followed completely changed the world.

In the third and final programme of The Invention of Spain, Misha Glenny charts imperial decline, from the early independence of Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico, up to the 1898 war that saw Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines all break free. With contributrions from Cayetana Alvarez de Toledo, Sir John Elliott, and Samuel Moncada, historian and Venezuelan ambassador to London. "The point is why do they (the colonies) follow Spain so long ? That is the miracle, not independence."

Misha Glenny is a Sony award winning broadcaster. His previous collaborations with producer Miles Warde include The Invention of Germany,.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b01ntlsf)
Bishop's Castle, Shropshire

The GQT team is in Bishops Castle, Shropshire, for this week's programme. Eric Robson is joined by Chris Beardshaw, Pippa Greenwood and Matthew Wilson, plus special guest Nicholas Parsons as Gardeners' Question Time meets Just A Minute in aid of BBC Children in Need.

Produced by Howard Shannon
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

This week's questions:

Q. Would it be possible to keep a tender Jasmine outside over the winter, if it was covered in fleece?

A. It will die if left outside, so it would be better to prune the jasmine down to a suitable size to be brought inside. If you want it to flower next year, you will need to leave some of this year's growth on the plant.

Q. Could the panel advise on growing damsons, plums and apples on our smallholding? It is1250ft above sea level and with strong prevailing winds.

A. Plant other species such as Euonymus, Birch or Willow, which could help create a shelterbelt. In addition, grow on very dwarf rootstocks and grow against the sides of any buildings or sheltered areas. Join your local fruit group, who will have a repository of knowledge of varieties that grow well locally.

Q. What treatment can be used to prevent the gall midge ruining my Hemerocallis lilies?

A. Promptly remove affected buds on a very regular basis.

Q. Can the panel suggest some evergreen plants that will grow to about 3ft (though they can be clipped) and be happy living in pots at 600ft altitude and with a southwesterly aspect?

A. With shelter, you could grow Artemisia Arborescens which has a distinctive smell, as do Helichrysum and Rosemary. Buxus Sempervirens and Buxus Rotundifolia (the cultivar 'Pylewell' is resistant to Box Blight) can be kept low, as can Taxus or other small topiarised Yews. The small-leaved forms of Ilex, such as Ilex Crenata, could be used. Japonicus Aureopictus is also suggested.

Q. Why can I not grow miniature cucumbers in large pots in an unheated greenhouse? The initial crop is prolific, but subsequent baby cucumbers turn yellow.

A. Try not to let temperatures fluctuate too much. Also, a small cucumber will need at least 2 litres of water a day in full growth.

Q. I would like to move my 12-year-old, 3ft tall monkey puzzle tree. Would it be OK to do this?

A. At this size and age there should be no problem, but remember to give it plenty of space, as they will get very big. Move it with as much of a root ball as possible - a foot or so either side of the trunk - and replant and water straight away.

Gardeners' Question Time Meets Just A Minute

For plenty more hesitation, deviation or repetition, you can listen to an extended version of the GQT recording with Nicholas Parsons from Just A Minute, all in aid of BBC Children in Need, on the programme page here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ntlsf

There are lots of ways to donate to BBC Children in Need, details of which can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008dk4b/features/cin-donate

Ash Dieback Disease

Ash dieback is a serious disease caused by a fungus called Chalara fraxinea. The disease causes leaf loss and crown dieback in affected trees and can lead to tree death. Chalara Fraxinia is considered to be so serious a threat that the government's COBRA emergencies committee met to discuss it.

The Forestry Commission would like the public to help spot affected ash trees and to report them. The Commission's website has useful photos and a video guide on how to spot the symptoms and how to report suspected cases.

You can find this here: www.forestry.gov.uk/chalara

There is also a smart-phone app that has been developed by the University of East Anglia that shows symptoms and allows suspected cases to be reported. More information on this app can be found at: http://ashtag.org/

Affected trees can be reported using the following contacts:
In England and Wales, on the Chalara helpline: 08459 33 55 77 or email: plant.health@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

In Scotland, to Forestry Commission Scotland: 0131 314 6156 or email: fcscotlandenquiries@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

The Forestry Commission are appealing for everyone to think about bio security - in other words the possibility that fungus could be spread on footwear, clothing, gardening tools, even our pets - and, if out and about in gardens, parklands or countryside, to think about the need to clean anything that might have come in contact with the ground or the trees themselves before venturing out again.


SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (b01nx3pk)
Sunday Edition

Fi Glover hears about lives that have been improved by Children in Need grants to charities ranging from theatre groups to those offering support for victims of domestic violence.

In Scotland nine year old Matthew attends the theatre-based project Arts in Merkinch, while Stephanie has been helped to come to terms with her mother's death her counsellor at the Bridges Project in East Lothian. And from Stoke on Trent comes a conversation between Sarah and her 11-year-old daughter Maria (not their real names), who fled an abusive home five years ago and have been helped by Voices of Experience to create some of the happy memories that are the right of any child.

The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Many of the long conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can upload your own conversations or just learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Marya Burgess.


SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b01nx3pm)
Rebus: The Black Book

Episode 2

2/2. As Rebus investigates an unsolved murder someone kidnaps and suspends his brother over the Forth Bridge. Ian Rankin's novel is dramatised by Chris Dolan.

When DS Brian Holmes is left in a coma after being severely beaten, Rebus discovers his colleague's black notebook contains coded clues on a case involving arson and murder. Five years before, a mysterious fire burned down Edinburgh's seedy Central Hotel. All the staff and customers were accounted for but an unidentified body was found in the rubble. The post mortem revealed the victim had died from a bullet through the heart before the fire broke out.

The attack on his brother can only mean that Rebus is close to deciphering the secrets of the black book - but can he track down those responsible for the Central Hotel murder before they decide that it will take more than a warning to stop his investigation?

Other parts played by the cast.
Producer/director: Bruce Young.


SUN 16:00 Open Book (b01nx3rm)
Rachel Johnson on her latest book Winter Games

Mariella Frostrup talks to Rachel Johnson about Winter Games, her book set across two time zones - the 1936 Winter Olympic Games in Bavaria and pre-credit crunch 2006 London, in which a granddaughter seeks to understand her grandmother's exploits in Nazi Germany.

How many times have you never wanted the book you're reading to end or felt so involved in a character's life that you want to keep their company for longer than the final chapter allows. Or perhaps you're left on a cliff edge, desperately wanting to know why a character has acted in a particular way but left by the writer without closure. Mariella discusses the world of prequels and sequels with Ronald Frame, who has written Havisham, a prequel of Dickens' famous jilted bride in Great Expectations and Geraldine McCaughrean, who wrote the authorised sequel to JM Barrie's children's favourite Peter Pan.

Despite only writing five novels, in the late 1920s and early 30s, Dashiell Hammett re-defined the genre of detective fiction with his dark, hard boiled , gritty thrillers set on the mean streets of the United States.
Hammett's book The Maltese Falcon was famously made into a noir film with Humphrey Bogart playing his tough talking detective Sam Spade and his last novel The Thin Man not only spawned a popular film but also 5 sequels for a cinema going audience who couldn't get enough of the retired private investigator Nick Charles and his heiress wife Nora, along with their dog Asta
As two sequel novellas, which he used as an outline for those films are published under the title The Return to the Thin Man, Hammett fan Michael Carlson examines the man, his novels and his influence.

Producer: Andrea Kidd.


SUN 16:30 Poetry Workshop (b01nx3rp)
Series 2

Episode 3

Ruth Padel works with a group of poets who meet at Stalybridge Station buffet bar in Manchester. Testing their poems as they go, in a spirit of supportive criticism; tough love for poems.
Poetry Workshops are gathering all over the country. In the back rooms of pubs like this one, and in libraries and in front rooms, poets meet to sharpen their verse.
Ruth and the group work on three very different poems on the theme of 'journeys' - both symbolic and actual. One poem takes us to Zante via Watford Gap, one considers perspective and scale from on high, whilst another has a much darker tone. The group will pay particular attention this week to metaphor.
The group consider the use of metaphor in their poems that are touching, funny and perceptive. Ruthless support is applied as they chuck out each other's words and test and prune as they go.
They discuss the techniques, inspiration, wordplay and imagination that make poetry so enjoyable and rewarding. As well as working on their own poems, they also consider a poem by Carol Ann Duffy called Close.
Producer: Sarah Langan.


SUN 17:00 File on 4 (b01ntfwh)
The Zombie Effect

It's estimated there are up to 150,000 so called zombie companies in the UK. They are often defined as businesses which are only able to pay off the interest on their debts and have little prospect of growing without restructuring or an injection of cash.

The BBC's Chief Economics correspondent, Hugh Pym, examines businesses caught in this situation and looks at what effect they are having on the UK economy. He hears from business experts who say these companies are partly responsible for the poor levels of growth. They say banks have huge amounts of capital tied up in businesses which are currently going nowhere and that means they have less money available to invest in more dynamic operations which have the ability to grow and create jobs. They say the banks are also unwilling to lend because they need to build up reserves to absorb losses if these businesses eventually fail.

Private equity investors such as Jon Moulton say in some cases the companies should be allowed to fail in order to let new businesses come through. But Hugh speaks to the head of a major bank's restructuring unit which is responsible for managing companies in distress who argues these companies can be nursed back to health and it is better to keep them alive and save jobs.

This decision often involves what is known as forbearance by the banks - where they ease or modify the terms of the loan to give a company breathing space. This is happening not only in business, but in the mortgage market too where billions of pounds of loans have been converted from repayment to interest only.

Some economists warn many of these debts will never be repaid and this means the banks aren't admitting to the true level of losses they are facing. Even the governor of the Bank of England is now warning of the dangers of forbearance and says banks should ensure they have enough funds to be able to draw a line under their losses.
Presenter: Hugh Pym
Producer: Paul Grant.


SUN 17:40 Profile (b01nwp31)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b01nwh6d)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (b01nwh6g)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01nwh6j)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b01nx4hz)
What a week it's been, full of anniversaries and swansongs. Some people have had to step aside and get a grip - notably an intrepid reporter and conservationist monitoring grey seal pups on the Orkney island of Copinsay. Then there's the recently unearthed speech of Dr Martin Luther King accepting an honorary doctorate - from Newcastle University of all places. Plus, we've a Norwegian who carved a drum out of a block of ice... in an overheated BBC recording studio. And managed to play it before it melted. It promises to be a packed programme so join me, Simon Parkes...for Pick of the Week

Charlie and Alfie's Breakfast Show - Radio Newcastle
Radio United - All BBC Radio Networks
90 x 90: The Pips - R4xtra
Alice's Restaurant - Radio 4
The Naughty Picture Committee - Radio 4
Regulating the Press - Radio 4
Enquirer - Radio 4
In Tune: The Ice Drum - Radio 3
90 x 90: Arthur Mullard - R4xtra
The Evening Programme - Radio Orkney
Tim Key & Gogol's Overcoat - Radio 4
Malala's Diary - Radio 4
Swansong - Radio 4.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (b01nx4j1)
Ruth and David are checking the cows for signs of bulling. Ruth's excited about introducing the new paddock system and she's pleased that Neil has got the permit for Josh to do paid work with the Willow Farm hens. David gets a letter from their insurers, giving the go ahead to rebuild the barn.
Although touched, that Phoebe is spending a lot of time with Vicky, he hopes she isn't wearing Vicky out. Hayley is worried about Duncan Simpson's report on Lower Loxley and whether it will affect her. He's recommended branching out to adult education, in which she has no experience. She's grateful when Roy offers to have a subtle word with Elizabeth to see what her thoughts are. Jim pops round for Hayley's advice on children's activities for Tree Dressing Day. She gives him a few good suggestions.
At Jaxx, Jim tells Fallon about Daniel's lavish 18th birthday party, and how Lynda tried to enlist him into her Elizabethan Christmas. Rhys turns up for a drink on his night off from The Bull. He chats to Fallon about her plans to try to bring more customers into Jaxx. Eventually, Rhys picks up the courage to ask her on a date. She's happy to accept.


SUN 19:15 The Golden Age (b01nx4j3)
Saturday Sports Parade

Tharb and Lord Reith have to help the King overcome a bizarre speech impediment, with the dubious aid of tempestuous children's presenter, Lancelot Wyndham.

Meanwhile, Mabel tries to revamp the BBC's flagship sports show, "Saturday Sports Parade".

Set in the BBC's Broadcasting House in London during the 1930s, this series follows head of programmes, John Tharb and his assistant, Mabel Hopcraft as they struggle to deal with the foibles and fragile egos of radio's biggest stars.

These include the perpetually drunk band-leader, Ronaldo and the most boring man in radio, Mallard Tofts. Tharb's task is not made any easier by having to constantly defer to the whims and wishes of his irascible boss, Lord Reith.

Robert Bathurst stars in the first radio sitcom to be written by Channel 4's Father Ted writer, Arthur Mathews.

Robert Bathurst.....John Tharb
Vicky McClure.....Mabel Hopcraft
Ford Kiernan.....Lord Reith
Peter Egan.....Lancelot Wyndham
Pippa Evans.....The Queen Consort
Kevin Bishop.....The King / Edward Fellowes
Ewan Bailey.....Gerald Merry

Producer: Simon Mayhew-Archer.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2012.


SUN 19:45 Astray (b01nx4y3)
Episode 1

Four short stories from Emma Donoghue's new collection Astray. These fact-inspired fictions, about travels to, in and from North America, focus on emigrants, runaways or drifters all gone astray for love or money, under duress or incognito. Emma's compassionate imagination crosses borders of race, law, sex, and sanity bringing the reader through a scattered scrap-book of history.

Man and Boy, read by Richard Lumsden, is a love story between two lifelong companions facing involuntary emigration in 1882 London. Two mutually devoted mammals who find their only lasting sense of home in each other.

Dublin born Emma Donoghue is an emigrant twice over; she spent eight years in Cambridge doing a PHD before moving to southwest Ontario where she now lives. Emma is probably best known for her international bestseller Room, winner of the Roger's Writers' Trust Fiction prize and the Hughes & Hughes Irish novel of the year and a finalist for the Man Booker. Emma has also written The Sealed Letter, Landing, Life Mask alongside many short story collections, most recently Three and a Half Deaths. Emma has also written drama for radio, theatre and screen.

Man and Boy was abridged by Doreen Estall and produced by Laura Conway.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (b01ntlsp)
Radio 4's forum for comments, queries, criticisms and congratulations. Presented by Roger Bolton, this is the place to air your views on the things you hear on BBC Radio.

In a week when the BBC's own troubles have filled the schedules, what do you think of the way the Corporation has covered its crisis? Have programmes like Today, Call You and Yours and the Media Show restored your faith in the BBC's journalism or indulged in pointless navel-gazing?

Also, Feedback goes to the Radio Festival in Salford to participate in a session about the relationship between programme makers and their audience. The Festival was packed with industry types - but light on listeners. So we decided to take three listeners along to hear their views on the matter.

And as the BBC marks its 90th anniversary, the Radio 4 comedy The Golden Age satirises the early days of broadcasting. But some listeners felt that the comedy missed the mark and was inappropriate given the BBC's recent troubles.

Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Kate Taylor
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 20:30 Last Word (b01ntlsm)
Sir Rex Hunt, Valerie Eliot, Duke Vin, Susan Jeffers, Joe Melia

Matthew Bannister on

Sir Rex Hunt who was the Governor of the Falkland Islands when the Argentinians invaded. We have eyewitness accounts from Major Mike Norman who commanded the marines and Patrick Watts of the island's radio station.

Also Valerie Eliot who married the poet TS Eliot when he was 68 and she was 30. After his death, she became the gatekeeper of his literary legacy.

Duke Vin who introduced the first Jamaican style sound system to the UK after stowing away on the Empire Windrush.

The psychologist Susan Jeffers, who wrote the best selling book "Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway"

And the actor Joe Melia - playwright Peter Nichols pays tribute.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (b01nwp2q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 on Saturday]


SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b01nx32d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 today]


SUN 21:30 Analysis (b01nt3yg)
Green Shoots from the Arab Spring

With the downfall of the former Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, political change has already happened in Egypt. But how has such a revolution affected the mindset of ordinary people in the region?

In this edition of Analysis, the writer, Christopher de Bellaigue, considers the consequences for Arab society of a new culture in which ordinary people openly question those in authority - not just in the political sphere but within the family and religious realm too.

The programme explores a number of examples: From an apparent new determination to resist paying bribes to public officials, through a greater desire to see active debate rather than passive obedience in the classroom, to the growth of salafists - conservative Muslims who advocate a return to the core texts of Islam and a less deferential attitude towards the traditional scholars.

Though not all these phenomena were unknown before the Arab Spring, the political revolution does seem to have fuelled their growth: Key to many appears to be the disappearance of personal fear - one unmistakable consequence of the demise of the Mubarak regime. Today, despite often remaining wary of the future, Egyptians are, it seems, fearlessly asserting their own views as never before, without seeking external validation.

Questions, however, remain: If a new, more assertive mentality is indeed emerging, who shares it - and crucially, who does not? Would such an increased personal conviction necessarily result in more pluralism, as is sometimes assumed in the west, or give greater voice to Egypt's innate social and religious conservatism? And what are the chances that it could survive the country's overwhelming economic and political problems?

Producer: Michael Gallagher.


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b01nx4y5)
Preview of the week's political agenda at Westminster with MPs, experts and commentators. Discussion of the issues politicians are grappling with in the corridors of power.


SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b01nx4y7)
George Parker of The Financial Times analyses how the newspapers are covering the biggest stories in Westminster and beyond.


SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b01ntjpx)
Francine Stock and guests look at Michael Haneke's latest, Amour, starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva who face the end together in their Paris apartment. Is Haneke the greatest living European filmmaker? Dr Catherine Wheatley and critic Jonathan Romney consider.

Bradley Cooper discusses his dance around disruptive personality disorders in the romcom Silver Linings Playbook.

Fashion journalist Chris Laverty pulls apart Ben Affleck's garb in Argo.

And from 1970, there's romance - with more than a dash of satirical comedy - across the racial divide in a New York suburb on the verge of gentrification in Hal Ashby's The Landlord. We talk to its star, Beau Bridges.

Producer: Craig Smith.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b01nx326)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]