The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Settled in a local Italian restaurant that has become a home from home, much-loved children's author and illustrator, Judith Kerr reminisces with Nina Myskow about the food that brings back memories of her peripatetic childhood.
Known to generations of children as the author of the Mog picture books and The Tiger Who Came To Tea, Judith was born in Berlin but was forced to flee Hitler's Germany with her parents and brother in 1933. She recalls the cherry soup made by their German housekeeper and explains that the food in Paris, where they were briefly exiled, was a revelation. She loved the garlic, snails and mussels and remembers that she and her brother drank wine, because nobody trusted the drinking water.
As a refugee in London, she could barely afford the price of a cup of tea and a bath bun but during the war, she visited Claridges with her employer. She got a little tipsy but felt that she didn't really belong there. It was only after she met her late husband, Tom, whom she recalls with fondness, that she feels she really fitted in.
Amongst the warm descriptions of family mealtimes and disastrous dinner parties, Judith also reveals the favourite treat of her cat Katinka. And despite the loss of her husband and, increasingly, her appetite, Nina discovers, Judith continues to work constantly and is appreciative of both the world around her and her wonderfully rich life.
Winter is the busiest time for Wyevale Transplants, which grows millions of native trees and shrubs every year. Sarah Swadling visits as the harvest, grading, and despatch of plants is in full swing. They'll be sent to customers as diverse as farmers restoring hedgerows and developers building roads. Wyevale's director, Steve Ashworth, tells Sarah that the emergence of Ash Dieback has cost the business more than £100,000 in stock which can't be sold. On the upside, though, he says the disease has given customers a new interest in the provenance of British grown plants.
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
David Attenborough presents the Tawny Owl. Tawny owls are our most urban owls, often living close to the centre of towns and cities, so long as there are hollow trees or old buildings in which they can nest.
Egyptian author Tarek Osman uncovers the history of the modern Arab world by tracing some of the great political dreams that have shaped it, from the nineteenth century to the Arab Spring.
Throughout the series, he focuses on two countries that are currently high on the news agenda: Egypt and Syria. As Tarek discovers, these are also the states from which many of the crucial characters and ideas in this story emerged.
In this final programme, he examines the build up to the Arab Spring as two worlds collide. As the previous experiments with liberalism, nationalism and islamism founder the region's presidential hard men seek to consolidate their power by passing it onto their sons. At the same time, riding the wave of a population explosion which leaves two thirds of the Arab world under 25 years old, a new generation frustrated by the lack of jobs or political freedoms rises up to challenge the old order.
As a bookish child with a posh accent, growing up on Merseyside in the 1980s, Matthew Baylis identified with the much-mocked Prince Philip as a fellow outsider. He even had a poster of him on his bedroom wall.
Years later, as an anthropology student , Baylis learned of the existence of a Philip cult on the South Sea island of Tanna. Why was it there? Nobody had a convincing answer. Nobody even seemed to want to find one.
His curiosity fatally piqued, he travelled over 10,000 miles to find a society both remote and slap-bang in the shipping-lanes of history. It's a place where US airmen, Lithuanian libertarians, and Graeco-Danish Princes have had as much impact as the missionaries and the slave-traders. On the rumbling slopes of this remarkable volcanic island, banjaxed by frequent doses of the local narcotic, suffering from a relentless diet of yams and regularly accused of being a divine emissary of the Duke, Baylis attempted to get to the bottom of this bizarre cult. In doing so he draws some ironic lessons about our own island 'myths' and comes to respect the pragmatic realpolitik of his South Seas hosts.
Episode 2: On the island of Tanna, Chief Jack makes vague promises but gives little away.
From the campaign to get Jane Austen on our bank notes to getting girls off Page 3, feminism has taken centre stage in 2013. But as it becomes more mainstream what difficulties has that highlighted and how can those be resolved in the coming year. How can the momentum of the last twelve months be maintained and what campaigns lie ahead.
If you are planning to see in the New Year with a few drinks tonight, then tomorrow could start with some of us at least feeling a bit the worse for wear. So how do you clear away those cobwebs and not least that banging head that accompanies the morning after. The chef Allegra McEvedy has the perfect food for hangovers.
Opposites attract (or so the age-old saying goes) but differing expectations during social occasions can be an issue of contention. If you're a gregarious extrovert that thrives on champagne and small-talk and your partner is a pensive introvert who'd rather snuggle up in front of the fire, how will you navigate the festivities together?
This week's 15 minute drama Hester, is based on the novel by Margaret Oliphant, better known as Mrs Oliphant. She published nearly a hundred novels and her portrayals of provincial life have been compared to the likes of George Eliot. This new dramatisation brings to life the remarkable women portrayed in her novel Hester, first published in 1883.
Produced by Steven Williams.
Penelope Wilton and Lyndsey Marshal star in this high Victorian tale of a woman who runs her own bank.
Sometimes called 'the feminist Trollope', Margaret Oliphant is an unjustly-neglected British writer of the nineteenth century, famed for her perceptive, ironic psychology, and her strong female characters. And Hester has a striking premise: a young woman in a nineteenth-century Cheshire town, having been snubbed and discarded in marriage, does something truly radical. When the family bank is in danger of a run, she pledges her whole private fortune to save it. But instead of merely underwriting it, in return she insists on running the bank herself, as a single woman, in defiance of all convention.
Using Oliphant's deliciously witty and sardonic narration, allied to a radical dramatisation by Kate Clanchy and Zena Forster, 'Hester' reveals a flawed and fascinating heroine, reborn for radio.
When Hester is offered a merger to cancel all her debts, she finds a neat, but risky, solution.
Producer/Director ..... Jonquil Panting.
"Do we care too much about nature?" This is the question we will be asking in a special edition of Shared Planet recorded with a live audience in the Great Hall at the University of Bristol. Together with questions asked by Shared Planet listeners and members of the public in the audience Monty Don hosts two guests John Burton, Chief Executive Officer of The World Land Trust and Hannah Stoddart, Head of the Economic Justice and Policy team at Oxfam GB. And of course Shared Planet correspondent Kelvin Boot will make an appearance.
From a solo boy chorister singing "Once in Royal David's City" at King's College, Cambridge on Christmas Eve to Aled Jones hitting the Top 10 with "Walking in the Air", the voice of the boy treble has long held a fascination for composers and audiences. But why? Is it because of its impermanence or what it implies about our notions of boyhood? Or is it just the sheer soaring quality?
Christopher Gabbitas knows about being a treble because, as a child, he was a chorister at Rochester Cathedral. He's now a baritone with the world famous a cappella group "The King's Singers", but he remembers his treble days and the repertoire he sang, with great affection. In this programme he asks what it is about the singing voice of a boy which can inspire a range of reactions. And he finds out how different composers through the centuries have used- and continue to gain inspiration from - the treble voice.
Among the people he talks to are his King's Singer colleague, Paul Phoenix, who became famous in the 1970s as the treble soloist for the theme music to the BBC's drama series "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy".
Christopher also meets academic Martin Ashley to hear how the sound of boys' voices has changed over the decades.
And he eavesdrops on a singing lesson to hear what makes a successful treble sound.
We also hear about the way in which composers in opera have used boy's voices from Handel to Britten and into the present day.
And there's an interview with the film composer Elliot Goldenthal who's used treble voices in his scores for "Alien 3" and "Interview with the Vampire".
Consumer affairs call-in. Peter White talks about what makes us happy. Do those Christmas presents bring us happiness, or do we need something deeper?
National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
Dominic Lawson conducts a series of interviews over a game of chess. In this episode he interviews shadow cabinet minister and former junior chess champion Rachel Reeves. She has just become a mother. But she explains why she would never allow her daughter to beat her at the game.
2. Four Sons
It's 1914, and Clara Tully, a Leeds baker's wife and the proud mother of four beautiful boys, knows the war won't be over by Christmas. And she knows a much darker secret besides.
Clara …. Michelle Terry
Eloise …. Georgie Fuller
Charlie …. Harry Jardine
Robin …. Joel MacCormick
George …. John Norton
Customer …. Priyanga Burford
Customer …. Sabina Arthur
Customer …. Carolyn Pickle
Lloyd George …. Sean Murray
Finley …. Will Featherstone
Joe …. Will Howard
Helen Castor is joined by Carenza Lewis from the University of Cambridge and Professor Emma Griffin from the University of East Anglia in the first of a new series of the programme in which listeners join with some of the world's leading researchers to discuss the latest work that is Making History.
Over the next five weeks, historians and archaeologists will be helping us to understand more about the origins of the Welsh language, find out how French royalty escaped revolutionary persecution in Aylesbury, discover why the gloves are off in the nation's archives, and hear how some of our leading early socialists thought that the unemployed could do with a spell in a labour camp.
Today, it's science versus history. Tom Holland is on the Wirral to hear a debate that's been rekindled by historian Michael Wood - where is Brunanburh, the site of the Great War of 937? Is it Bromborough near Birkenhead as place-name and DNA evidence might suggest or should we, as Wood argues, trust the historical sources and look across to the Humber and South Yorkshire?
Maritime historian Sam Willis is in Devon to find out how an eighteenth century inventor from Ipswich turned to gambling to finance one of the world's first submarine journeys - to the bottom of Plymouth Sound.
And we look ahead to a remarkable parliamentary anniversary, the Addled Parliament of 1614 - the only English parliament in which nothing got done.
More shared experiences discussed in a lively intimate way with host Fi Glover. This week four pest control share their passion for the job controlling bedbugs, rats, maggots and creatures many of us find repellent.
Michael Rosen looks at language and communication. This week we're talking baby talk, or 'Infant Directed Speech'. He asks if the cooing parentese is a natural phenomenon or is it simply a culturally learnt trait. Does it benefit or hinder language development, and do animals use it? Michael also discovers some interesting examples of baby talk in letters that Jonathan Swift wrote to two lady friends.
Pioneer of Modern architecture, Le Corbusier, chosen by award winning architect Sir David Chipperfield.
Le Corbusier aimed to build a better world through radical buildings and the controversial reshaping of whole cities. Flora Samuel, Professor of Architecture at the University of Sheffield, joins Matthew Parris to unpick the life of a man who considered himself a herioc figure, fighting battles to improve the world.
Presenter: Matthew Parris. Producer: Melvin Rickarby
In true West End style, artistic licence is well and truly taken and stretched, as easily identifiable public figures are dressed up, gilded, fabricated and placed against a random musical backdrop for sugar coated consumption. The stories are simple and engaging but with an edge - allowing the audience to enjoy all the conventions of a musical (huge production numbers, tender ballads and emotional reprises) whilst we completely re-interpret events in major celebrities' lives.
Beautifully crafted with astronomically high production values 15 Minute Musical does for your ears what chocolate does for your taste buds. All in fifteen minutes!
Winner of the Writers Guild of Great Britain Radio Comedy Award this series provides an energy boost and a seasonal treat at 1815 over the Christmas week.
Simon Cowell contemplates ending his career until his guardian angel Susan Boyle appears to show him life without Cowell - It's A Wonderful Life.
With Annette Crosbie as Edith, Robert Duncan as Scumspawn, Jimmy Mulville as Thomas.
Keen to put his plan for a reconciliation into action, Eddie tries to coax Darrell out of the cider shed and into the Bull for a New Year's Eve drink. But he can only get him as far as Keeper's Cottage, where Darrell agrees to a bath and a change of clothes.
Eventually Eddie tricks Darrell into going to the Bull. Darrell finds it excruciating, and when he glimpses Rosa he's rooted to the spot. When at last he screws up his courage to speak to her, his fears melt away as they fall upon one another in relief and love.
Joyous Eddie declares he now knows how Father Christmas feels on Christmas morning. Happy Rosa concedes they've still got a lot of sorting out to do, but she's glad she's talking to her dad again.
As midnight approaches, Helen makes a sharp exit, and then receives a text. It's Rob. A tryst ensues, with each lamenting how awful it's been. They can't bear to be without one another. Rob entreats Helen to come back to his place... to come back to him. They embrace to the sound of fireworks and the New Year bells.
Adil Ray, Helen Lederer, Jackie Clune and Mark Billingham compete in the Front Row Quiz
Mark Lawson turns Quizmaster to test the cultural knowledge of two teams in the Front Row Quiz of the Year.
Singer and performer Jackie Clune and playwright Mark Ravenhill are led by writer and Booker judge Natalie Haynes. They are competing against actress and writer Helen Lederer and Citizen Khan creator and star Adil Ray, under the captaincy of crime writer Mark Billingham.
Questions cover a wide range of the year's events, including Doctor Who's 50th birthday; best-selling autobiographies, with extracts disguised by actor in residence Ewan Bailey; and a mathematical puzzle based around the compositions of Wagner, Britten and Verdi.
Simon Cox charts the sometimes the painful challenges of recovery through the struggles of three organisations; a school, a company and a football team, as they fight back and try to haul themselves away from the bottom. What's it like working on a day-to-day basis at the bottom of the league amid increasing pressure to improve performance? How do they do it? The programme highlights the fight and attempts to overcome difficult circumstances and paints a vivid picture those who work in these organisations.
It hears from staff, pupils and Governors at Llanwern High School, until recently, branded as the worst performing school in Wales. What effect do bad results have on the morale of pupils, parents and staff? It charts the struggle of those who are putting everything into keeping an old family department store afloat. Will a major shop re-fit and Christmas sales save Wildings? Or is it past it's sell by date? And the programme follows the ups and downs of Newport County as it begins life back in the professional football league after 25 years.
Fi Glover introduces conversations about sex education and death, transgender life, pantomime camels, having an ex-priest and nun as parents, and running away to the circus, proving it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
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. Most of the unedited 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
Claudia Hammond finds out why your exercise regime could be hindered if you have been taxing your brain too much. She talks to Professor Samuele Marcora from the University of Kent about his research on why the chemical by products of being mentally exhausted can actually make physical exercise much harder. He discusses his new research with the Ministry of Defence where he is finding that soldiers can be trained to resist the overwhelming effects of cognitive fatigue. Also in the programme the moral distress experienced by nurses and more results from the BBC Stress test and what it reveals about mental well-being.
A picaresque tale of a centenarian, police and thieves, and moments in world history. As his mother put it, "Things are what they are, and whatever will be will be."
At 100 years-old, Allan Karlsson is a reluctant birthday boy. In the old people's home they've prepared a party for him. The Mayor and the local press will be there. But this party never gets started. Still in his bedroom slippers, Allan makes his getaway through the window and begins an unlikely adventure.
Allan is no stranger to adventure, as the stories of his earlier life reveal - a life in which he dined with world leaders such as Franco, Truman and Stalin and found himself behind the scenes during major events of the twentieth century.
Jonas Jonasson was born in 1961 in Vaxjö, Sweden. After starting up and then running the successful media company OTW for twenty years, he sold the business and moved to Switzerland. There he completed The Hundred-year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared. Jonas lives on the island of Gotland in Sweden.
Having dealt with another Never Again member, Allan and his friends must flee from Lake Farm.
A new panel game show that pits two British comedians against a team of comics from overseas to find out which side is superior.
Joining the British captain, Hal Cruttenden, is the Welsh comedian Lloyd Langford while the captain of the Rest of the World - Henning Wehn - is teamed with Canadian stand-up Katherine Ryan. The contest is overseen by Irishman Ed Byrne who does his very best to stay impartial.
Comedian Alex Horne is joined by his 5 piece band to kick off the New Year's Eve celebrations with comedy and original live music.
His guests are comedian Milton Jones, vocal gymnast Beardyman and singer and comedian Jenny Bede.
WEDNESDAY 01 JANUARY 2014
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b03mg0j0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:15 Food for Thought (b018gylx)
Series 2
Carlos Acosta
In a rehearsal studio at the Royal Opera House, over an impromptu picnic of tostones (fried plantains) and moros y cristianos (rice with black beans), dancer Carlos Acosta recalls a lifetime of counting the carbs, and his blessings, during a successful career in ballet.
From the food ration in his native Cuba, to the abundance of sugar on the island that left him with an explicably sweet tooth, Carlos tells Nina about stealing mangoes as a boy to fund trips to the cinema. He also explains how, arriving in Europe as a teenager, he had to adapt his tastes, his attitudes and his body. He eats a steak before each performance and avoids carbohydrates after six o'clock, despite the fact that he dances for over eight hours almost every day of the week.
Eating well is crucial to Carlos' livelihood and eating badly could end his career but the Royal Ballet's principal guest artist still chows down on ice cream, chicken korma and gets drunk, occasionally. He also tells Nina where you can get the perfect mojito.
Producer: Tamsin Hughes
A Wise Buddah production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b03mjkw0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03mg0j2)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03mg0j5)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03mg0j7)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b03mg0jb)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b03mzvyt)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Leslie Griffiths.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b03mg1d9)
Remember the glorious summer of 2013? Leave January behind and join Anna Jones for a midsummer hike in the Radnorshire hills. She meets landscape historian Stuart Fry who leads 'Walking Through History' courses, teaching people how to spot layers of tangible history in the mid-Wales countryside. Iron Age hill forts, Roman roads and Medieval droving enclosures are all plain to see...if you know what to look out for.
Anna also hears how history can be a profitable diversification for farmers. Margot Porter has opened up Ty Gwyn Farm near Llandrindod Wells to history-loving ramblers, and throws in a picnic too.
Presented and produced by Anna Jones.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03mg1dc)
Song Thrush (Winter)
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
David Attenborough presents the story of the song thrush and reads a passage from Thomas Hardy's poem, The Darkling Thrush.
Written at the end of the 19th century, this poem is about the hope that birdsong can bring at the bleakest time of the year. This episode examines how often song thrushes sing in winter.
WED 06:00 Today (b03mg1dg)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b03mg868)
Jo Brand, Henry Winkler, Clive Rowe, Richard Mawbey
Libby Purves goes to the panto in a special programme recorded in the BBC Radio Theatre. She is joined by actor Clive Rowe; comedian Jo Brand; actor and writer Henry Winkler and wig designer Richard Mawbey.
Clive Rowe is an actor who has played the pantomime dame at the Hackney Empire on many occasions. In 2010 he appeared as Dame Daisy in Jack and the Beanstalk. In 1997 he won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for Guys and Dolls. He is playing King Darius in The Light Princess at The National Theatre.
Jo Brand is a BAFTA-winning comedian, actor and writer. She is appearing in her first pantomime as the Genie of the Ring in Aladdin. A former psychiatric nurse, she made her name as a stand-up comic and is a regular panel member on QI and occasional presenter of Have I Got News for You. Aladdin is at New Wimbledon Theatre.
Henry Winkler OBE is an American actor, director and children's author, best known for playing The Fonz in the television series Happy Days. He is currently reprising his role as Captain Hook in Peter Pan at Richmond Theatre. His Hank Zipzer stories focus on a 10-year-old boy with dyslexia and are based on his own experiences. Peter Pan is at Richmond Theatre.
Richard Mawbey is a wig designer who produces a wide range of work for pantomime, theatre, television and film. His commissions range from Lily Savage as Widow Twankey to the cast of From Here to Eternity. He spent 10 years on the road with the legendary Danny La Rue as his hairdresser and wig designer. Richard has just produced 35 wigs for a production of White Christmas at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b03mjkzm)
Man Belong Mrs Queen
Episode 3
As a bookish child with a posh accent, growing up on Merseyside in the 1980s, Matthew Baylis identified with the much-mocked Prince Philip as a fellow outsider. He even had a poster of him on his bedroom wall.
Years later, as an anthropology student, Baylis learned of the existence of a Philip cult on the South Sea island of Tanna. Why was it there? Nobody had a convincing answer. Nobody even seemed to want to find one.
His curiosity fatally piqued, he travelled over 10,000 miles to find a society both remote and slap-bang in the shipping-lanes of history. It's a place where US airmen, Lithuanian libertarians, and Graeco-Danish Princes have had as much impact as the missionaries and the slave-traders. On the rumbling slopes of this remarkable volcanic island, banjaxed by frequent doses of the local narcotic, suffering from a relentless diet of yams and regularly accused of being a divine emissary of the Duke, Baylis attempted to get to the bottom of this bizarre cult. In doing so he draws some ironic lessons about our own island 'myths' and comes to respect the pragmatic realpolitik of his South Seas hosts.
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company Production for BBC Radio 4
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b03mg86v)
Jessie J, Cher, Stevie Nicks
Jenni Murray introduces interviews with some of the best Woman's Hour music guests from 2013 - including Cher, Stevie Nicks and Jessie J. We hear from Kanya King about running the MOBO Awards and there's music from Meklit Hadero and violinist Midori. Also playing for us in the studio - one of the young artists on the BBC Sound of 2014 longlist - Chloe Howl.
WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b03mg871)
Margaret Oliphant - Hester
Episode 3
Penelope Wilton and Lyndsey Marshal star in this high Victorian tale of a woman who runs her own bank.
Sometimes called 'the feminist Trollope', Margaret Oliphant is an unjustly-neglected British writer of the nineteenth century, famed for her perceptive, ironic psychology, and her strong female characters. And Hester has a striking premise: a young woman in a nineteenth-century Cheshire town, having been snubbed and discarded in marriage, does something truly radical. When the family bank is in danger of a run, she pledges her whole private fortune to save it. But instead of merely underwriting it, in return she insists on running the bank herself, as a single woman, in defiance of all convention.
Using Oliphant's deliciously perceptive and sardonic narration, allied to a radical dramatisation by Kate Clanchy and Zena Forster, 'Hester' reveals a flawed and fascinating heroine, reborn for radio.
3/5
By Margaret Oliphant
Dramatised by Kate Clanchy and Zena Forster
When Hester takes her wayward cousin Edward back into the Vernon family bank, she reckons without the influence of his vapid wife Ellen.
Producer/Director ..... Jonquil Panting.
WED 11:00 Lives in a Landscape (b03mg873)
Series 15
Sirens of Yorkshire - Community First Responders
It's Friday night in Hornsea, a small village in East Yorkshire; the air is cold and the stars seem to go on forever.
Just off the High Street, a small accountancy firm is closing up; Andy, a man who loves the challenges of VAT, has finished the filing, and is having a cup of tea, chatting on the phone to a friend about the plan to save the Floral Hall.
Suddenly a siren blasts out.
It's coming from a mobile phone, connected directly to the ambulance service.
Andy is not a paramedic, but he is a Community First Responder - someone trained in life saving techniques, who has volunteered to drop everything to go and be the first on the scene in an emergency.
The actions he takes over the next few minutes could mean the difference between life and death. Within seconds he's donned a high-vis jacket and, weighed down with a rucksack of life saving equipment, is running for his car. By the time the ambulance services arrives from the nearest hospital he may have been at the scene for some time - administering life-saving first aid.
First Responders come from every walk of life, and are all highly trained volunteers. But it's a huge commitment, and responsibility, and over Christmas and New Year, a busy one. So what motivates someone to take on such a role? Good Samaritans on the surface, but is it the adrenalin rush many say they feel that makes them addicted to saving lives?
Julie Gatenby meets the Community First Responders of East Yorkshire.
Producer: Sara Jane Hall.
WED 11:30 Believe It! (b03mg87c)
Series 2
Episode 4
Jon Canter's "radiography" of Richard Wilson returns for a second series.
Celebrity autobiographies are everywhere. Richard Wilson has always said he'd never write one. Based on glimmers of truth, Believe It is the hilarious, bizarre, revealing (and, most importantly, untrue) celebrity autobiography of Richard Wilson.
He narrates the series with his characteristic dead-pan delivery, weaving in and out of dramatised scenes from his fictional life-story. He plays a heavily exaggerated version of himself: a Scots actor and national treasure, unmarried, private, passionate about politics, theatre and Manchester United (all true), who's a confidant of the powerful and has survived childhood poverty, a drunken father, years of fruitless grind, too much success, monstrosity, addiction, charity work and fierce rivalry with Sean Connery and Ian McKellan (not true).
The title - in case you hadn't spotted - is an unashamed reference his famous catchphrase.
Written by Jon Canter
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:00 News (b03myjvd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:10 Drama (b03mg87l)
Hair of the Dog
A witty and poignant ensemble drama following different characters in the pub on New Years Day.
Hair of the Dog is recorded 'as live', in a single take, on location in a London pub.
The resolutions aren't going so well - but what does the year hold for the relationships and the dreams for the future? We move through the bar, between characters and stories, between an old way of life and a new one. This is truly a New Years Day, with all its humour and it's sadness, its desire and its frustration - and the anticipation for a good year to come.
Sound by Alisdair McGregor
Written by Katie Hims
Produced and Directed by Boz Temple-Morris
A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 13:00 World at One (b03mg88q)
National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
WED 13:45 Across the Board (b03mjl5j)
Series 1
Lennox Lewis
Dominic Lawson conducts a series of interviews over a game of chess. In this episode he plays the greatest ever British born boxer and former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. Lewis believes that chess and boxing have much in common - and that his love of chess has helped him both in and outside the ring.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b03mfxmp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Katie Hims - Listening to the Dead (b03mg88s)
3. The Great Pretender
Ralf Little stars as a small-time 1950s psychic, who hungers for fame, despite his inability to read the thoughts of anyone, let alone the woman he works with.
Frank …. Ralf Little
TV presenter …. Arthur Hughes
Eloise …. Carolyn Pickles
Girl …. Carys Eleri
Betty …. Harry Jardine
Betty …. Joanna Monro
Peggy …. Lizzy Watts
Joe …. Sean Murray
by Katie Hims.
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
WED 15:00 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b03mg0cs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:30 on Tuesday]
WED 15:45 15 by 15 (b037v4ft)
Series 2
Clog
Hardeep Singh Kohli chooses a word and sets off on an exploration into its origins, meeting people for whom it has different associations. He hopes to learn 15 things along the way.
Today's word is 'clog', and etymologist Susie Dent is on hand to explain the origin of the word as a block of wood, which came to mean the footwear as well as the notion of clogging or blocking anything from arteries to drains.
Hardeep meets Phil Howard, one of the few remaining clog-makers in Great Britain, and hears tales of three clog-busters who deal with obstructions of all kinds, in drains and down manholes.
He also talks to Kate Tattersall who runs the Camden Clog, a group of dancers who trace their dances back to the Lancashire cotton mills, where the millworkers tapped their clogs in time to the machines - a moment of history restaged by Sarah Angliss and Caroline Radcliffe.
Producer: Richard Bannerman
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b03mg95w)
Love
A Thinking Allowed special on 'love'. What are the origins of our notions of high romantic love? Was the post war period a 'golden age' for lifelong love? Has marriage for love now failed? Laurie Taylor hopes to finds some answers with the help of the social historian, Claire Langhamer, the philosopher, Pascal Bruckner, and the sociologist, Professor Mary Evans.Revised repeat.
Producer: Jayne Egerton
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b03mhvq9)
TV presenter chemistry
It's an all-important catchword in TV circles - "chemistry". Get the mix right between presenters, and the audience will welcome them in. Get it wrong, and shows can easily flop. But how do TV executives decide whether a combination will work? Is it pure chance, or are there ways to determine whether sparks will fly for the camera? In this special programme, Steve Hewlett talks to agent Michael Foster, TV executive Lorraine Heggesey, TV critic Kevin O'Sullivan, and famous successful duo Richard and Judy about how to create that very special something between hosts.
Producer: Katy Takatsuki
Editor: Andrew Smith.
WED 17:00 PM (b03mhvqc)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news. Including Weather at
5.57pm.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03mg0jr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:15 15 Minute Musical (b01pg54q)
Series 7
Brian Elliott
A series of satirical, barbed, bittersweet fifteen-minute comedy musicals.
Episode Two: Brian Elliott
Brian Cox in Brian Elliott about a boy who D-reams of being a Scientist.
Starring: Richie Webb, Dave Lamb and Pippa Evans
Written by: Richie Webb, Dave Cohen and David Quantick
Music by: Richie Webb
Music Production: Matt Katz
Producer: Katie Tyrrell
Beautifully crafted with astronomically high production values 15 Minute Musical does for your ears what chocolate does for your taste buds.
All in fifteen minutes!
The fun-size yet satisfying musicals take an easily identifiable public figure and give them a West End Musical make-over. The fabricated, sugar-coated story is told in an original, never heard before, musical.
Delicious musical delicacies that melt in your ear not in your hand.
So, enjoy a West End Musical experience for a fraction of the cost - well, actually for no cost at all.
With over thirty musicals selling out in the West End night after night - the British public (and the Radio 4 audience) cannot get enough of them, therefore ...
In true West End style artistic licence is well and truly taken and stretched ridiculously as easily identifiable public figures are dressed up, gilded, fabricated and placed against the backdrop of a random period of history for sugar coated consumption. The stories are simple and engaging but the writing is razor-sharp allowing the audience to enjoy all the conventions of a musical (huge production numbers, tender ballads and emotional reprises) whilst we completely re-interpret events in major celebrities' lives. With over thirty musicals selling out in the West End night after night - the British public (and the Radio 4 audience) cannot get enough of them, therefore ...
WED 18:30 What Does the K Stand For? (b03mhvqf)
Series 1
Tell Them About the Dream, Martin
Young Stephen looks for a hero that he can tell his class about.
Stephen K Amos's sitcom about his teenage years, growing up black, gay and funny in 1980s South London.
Written by Jonathan Harvey with Stephen K Amos.
Stephen K Amos ... Stephen K Amos
Young Stephen ... Shaquille Ali-Yebuah
Stephanie Amos ... Fatou Sohna
Virginia Amos ... Ellen Thomas
Vincent Amos ... Don Gilet
Miss Collins ... Gemma Whelan
Jayson ... Frankie Wilson
Random Bloke ... Harry Jardine
Producer: Colin Anderson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b03mhvqh)
Hungover Lilian can't believe the bell peal is three hours long. She tells Jolene she can't understand why people do these things.
Jolene can't get over the idea of Lilian becoming a grandma. Lilian says ruefully she was just coming round to it when Lynda started trumpeting on about Oscar. Jolene entreats Lilian not to worry. No-one does fun like she does, and that's all kids really want. Plenty of time to educate them when they're older.
As Jennifer feeds the guns, she blithely chats to Rob about Jess, unaware of the situation between them. Helen invites herself to the shoot lunch so that she can surprise Rob, and they kiss passionately in the coat closet. He assures her he wants the hole and corner stuff to stop as soon as possible. He wants everyone to know they're together.
Jennifer's talk of duck bigarade for the shoot lunch reminds Peggy she made that for Jack once. They'd shared a joke about it at the time. Remembering can still make her smile. Although she's already seen Jack, Peggy insists on being taken back to The Laurels. She spends the afternoon with him, turning the pages of their wedding album and reminiscing. As he dozes off, she decides to stay a little longer and hold his hand.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b03mfp0w)
Binge TV Special
With Kirsty Lang.
As more and more of us are bingeing on box-sets and stream programmes via our laptops, Kirsty asks whether we're witnessing the death of the cliff-hanger and water-cooler TV, as predicted by Kevin Spacey in this year's MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. Spacey was the star of The House Of Cards, the first series made by the subscription service Netflix and the first drama ever to be nominated for an Emmy that wasn't show on television. This year also saw the end of Breaking Bad, a word-of-mouth hit that was only available on-line or as a box-set in this country, and further evidence that we may be turning away from traditional television and watching programmes at our own leisure.
Producer: Stephen Hughes.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b03mg871)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
WED 20:00 Immigration: Good for Whom? (b03nbsgd)
Experts debate the issue of immigration with residents of Birmingham. Ritula Shah is in the chair.
As levels of immigration have risen to historically high levels so too has public concern about the issue: a series of opinion polls indicate that UK voters rank its importance as second only to the economy.
In the past year, two leading liberal thinkers have published controversial books warning against the dangers of excessive levels of immigration.
Prof Paul Collier, a development economist from Oxford University, and David Goodhart, director of the think tank Demos, both argue that if mass immigration is not properly controlled it has the potential to undermine trust and a sense of mutual obligation.
In front of an audience hosted by Birmingham City University, the two men debate their ideas with Nazek Ramadan of Migrant Voice and Susie Symes, Chair of the Museum of Immigration and Diversity.
The event was recorded as part of Birmingham City University's City Talks series on Tuesday 17th December 2013.
Presenter: Ritula Shah
Producers: Hannah Barnes and Jane Beresford
Researcher: Nayha Kalia.
WED 20:45 Pop-Up Ideas (b03mhvqm)
Series 2
Simon Garfield: Maps and Mistakes
"How boring would the world be," asks Simon Garfield, "if we knew precisely where everything was?"
Simon reflects on the many mistakes and deceptions in some of our best-loved maps. He begins with the map of the London Underground where lines on the map bears little resemblance to reality but is "informationally brilliant".
He talks about California, the subject of a "sustained cartographic foul-up": for 200 years it appeared on maps as an island, and it continued to do so even after navigators had tried to sail all the way round it - and failed.
And then there's "one of the great phantoms in the history of cartography" - the Mountains of Kong. They were apparently a wide central mountain belt that in the eighteenth-century appeared to stretch across thousands of miles of West Africa. Despite being repeated on map after map for almost a century, however, they were a pure figment of imagination.
Simon celebrates these mistakes, describing them as the "accidental discovery...of searching souls".
In these days of digital maps, he hopes that we can still find "strange and charming and wonderful things - mountains that don't exist and islands of the imagination".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.
WED 21:00 Show Me the Way to Go Home (b03mhw27)
Gardening grandmother Ruth Brooks, also known as 'the snail lady', was chosen as the BBC's Amateur Scientist of the Year in 2010.
She noticed that despite repeatedly throwing her snails over the garden fence, her gastropods would unfailing return home to decimate her petunias. From her Radio 4 experiments, designed by mentor Dr Dave Hodgson from the University of Exeter, they showed that snails do have a homing instinct, returning from distances of over 10 m.
In this documentary, Ruth sets out to investigate how different animals navigate, from smell maps for cats to astronomy for dung beetles. She travels to Portsmouth to meet some speedy pigeons and visits an MRI laboratory where neuroscientists are hunting for the source of their mysterious magnetic sense.
But do we humans have a homing instinct, and can we improve our sense of direction?
Producer: Michelle Martin.
WED 21:30 Midweek (b03mg868)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b03mg0jk)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b03mhw8f)
2013 was a year when immigration was in the headlines. Here in the UK, there is a particular focus on the possibility of thousands of EU citizens from Bulgaria and Romania arriving. Across the European Union, there's concern not just about internal movements, but the large numbers arriving from outside --- as poverty and political turmoil in the Middle East and Africa drive many migrants to travel here illegally, either searching for a better future or desperate for asylum.
Many Africans who move to Europe have valuable skills needed at home so how can African migration be reduced?
A special edition of the programme presented by Philippa Thomas.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b03mhw8h)
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared
Episode 8
A picaresque tale of a centenarian, police and thieves, and moments in world history. As his mother put it, "Things are what they are, and whatever will be will be."
At 100 years-old, Allan Karlsson is a reluctant birthday boy. In the old people's home they've prepared a party for him. The Mayor and the local press will be there. But this party never gets started. Still in his bedroom slippers, Allan makes his getaway through the window and begins an unlikely adventure.
Allan is no stranger to adventure, as the stories of his earlier life reveal - a life in which he dined with world leaders such as Franco, Truman and Stalin and found himself behind the scenes during major events of the twentieth century.
Jonas Jonasson was born in 1961 in Vaxjö, Sweden. After starting up and then running the successful media company OTW for twenty years, he sold the business and moved to Switzerland. There he completed The Hundred-year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared. Jonas lives on the island of Gotland in Sweden.
Translated by Rod Bradbury.
Episode 8:
Benny's brother Bosse has given shelter to Allan and friends. But in the yellow bus outside, someone is waking up. Also, we learn how Allan was recruited by the Soviet Union in the 1950s.
Reader: Martin Jarvis
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Rosalynd Ward
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:00 Political Animals (b03mhwd5)
Series 2
Rex and Ron
Ronald Reagan's dog, Rex, reveals that he shared his master's passion for acting.
Another unreliable dog's eye view of the trials and tribulations of Washington living in the White House.
Rex ...... Michael Bertenshaw
West Wing Guy ...... David Seddon
Written by Tony Bagley.
Director: Marc Beeby.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.
WED 23:15 Bird Island (b01kbjdg)
Series 1
Episode 4
On one hand, Ben is on the trip of a lifetime to Sub-Antartica. On the other, he's trapped in an icy hell with one other person, a dodgy internet connection and a dictaphone. Loneliness is something of a problem. His fellow travelling scientist Graham should alleviate this, but the tragi-comic fact is, they are nerdy blokes, so they can only stumble through yet another awkward exchange. Ben experiences all the highs and lows that this beautiful, but lonely place has to offer but fails miserably to communicate this to Graham. So, Ben shares his thoughts with us in the form of an audio 'log'.
Apart from his research studying the Albatross on the Island, Ben attempts to continue normal life with an earnestness and enthusiasm which is ultimately very endearing. We're with him as chats awkwardly with Graham, telephones his mother and as he tries to form a long distance relationship with a woman through Chemistry.com. In fact, we follow Ben as everything occurs to him. We also hear the pings and whirrs of machinery, the Squawks and screeches of the birds and the vast expanse outside. Oh, and ice. Lots of ice.
EPISDE FOUR:
Bird Island is the story of Ben, a young scientist working in Antarctica, trying to socially adapt to the loneliness by keeping a cheery audio diary on his Dictaphone. An atmospheric 15 minute non audience comedy.
In this final episode Graham gives the shock news that a new member of the team is joining them.
Written by ..... Katy Wix
Produced by ..... Tilusha Ghelani.
WED 23:30 Frost on 4 (b03mjlk1)
Over a period of more than forty years, David Frost moved from the forefront of the 60s satire boom, to make his mark as one of the UK's most prominent journalists, and latterly became the politicians' favourite interviewer.
In recent years Frost celebrated his long career on BBC Radio 4 in three series where many wise and respected guests joined him to reflect on his memorable interviews.
In this special tribute to the veteran broadcaster we feature selected highlights from these remarkable programmes exploring the symbiotic worlds of comedy, journalism, religion and politics with lively discussions and fascinating archive.
Frost's career spanned journalism, comedy writing and daytime television presenting, including That Was The Week That Was, The Frost Report and Frost On Sunday. Since the mid-1960s, he has interviewed almost every prominent statesman, leader, dictator, entertainer and otherwise influential figure. He was perhaps the first interviewer of the television age to become as famous as the people he interviewed. His series of filmed encounters with former President Richard Nixon, over twelve days in 1977, made worldwide news; they, and the events leading up to them, have recently been the subject of the Hollywood movie Frost/Nixon.
As Frost and guests discuss favourite moments from television interviews from the past forty years we reveal many other moments just as compelling as Nixon in the dozens of other interviews in his canon of work.
Producer: Stephen Garner
THURSDAY 02 JANUARY 2014
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b03mg0lq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:15 Food for Thought (b0368rdg)
Series 3
James Cracknell
4/5 James Cracknell
Rower, adventurer and endurance athlete James Cracknell shares his secrets for fuelling a body capable of winning two Olympic Gold medals. He describes nutrient-dense carbs and how he has had to balance his calorie intake with the energy he burns in extreme conditions, from the Sahara to the South Pole.
James discusses how his food habits have changed since losing his sense of taste and smell following brain damage sustained in a serious bike accident. Does a restaurant supper still hold any attraction for him or is he focused on the nutritional value of food now more than ever?
He describes his increased sensitivity to texture and introduces Nina to the hot sauces that he uses to stimulate his taste buds. Over carrots in chilli sauce Nina offers James some sweet treats, as James describes the impact losing his sense of taste has had on his life.
Producer: Rebecca Maxted
A Wise Buddah production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b03mjkzm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03mg0ls)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03mg0lw)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03mg0ly)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b03mg0m0)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b03mzvyw)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Leslie Griffiths.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b03mhyzc)
Every bat used in first class cricket begins its life as a willow tree in a wet English field. Cricket Bat Willows are planted between December and March, and Sarah Swadling visits the largest supplier in the world, JS Wright in Essex, which will plant 20,000 new trees this season. They're planning to increase plantings to keep up with burgeoning demand in India and Pakistan. Sarah finds out how the way the willow is grown affects the playing quality of the bat, at manufacturers Gunn and Moore in Nottingham.
Produced and presented by Sarah Swadling.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03mhyzf)
Raven
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
David Attenborough presents the story of the raven. Ravens are one of the most widely distributed birds in the world and can survive Arctic winters and scorching deserts. In the UK, Ravens were once widespread, even in cities but persecution drove them back into the wilder parts of our islands. Now they're re-colonising the lowlands and are even turning up on the outskirts of London where, since Victorian times, the only ravens were the ones kept at the Tower.
THU 06:00 Today (b03mhyzh)
Musician PJ Harvey guest-edits the programme.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b03mhyzk)
Plato's Symposium
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Plato's Symposium, one of the Greek philosopher's most celebrated works. Written in the 4th century BC, it is a dialogue set at a dinner party attended by a number of prominent ancient Athenians, including the philosopher Socrates and the playwright Aristophanes. Each of the guests speaks of Eros, or erotic love. This fictional discussion of the nature of love, how and why it arises and what it means to be in love, has had a significant influence on later thinkers, and is the origin of the modern notion of Platonic love.
With:
Angie Hobbs
Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield
Richard Hunter
Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge
Frisbee Sheffield
Director of Studies in Philosophy at Christ's College, University of Cambridge.
Producer: Thomas Morris.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b03mjlzn)
Man Belong Mrs Queen
Episode 4
As a bookish child with a posh accent, growing up on Merseyside in the 1980s, Matthew Baylis identified with the much-mocked Prince Philip as a fellow outsider. He even had a poster of him on his bedroom wall.
Years later, as an anthropology student, Baylis learned of the existence of a Philip cult on the South Sea island of Tanna. Why was it there? Nobody had a convincing answer. Nobody even seemed to want to find one.
His curiosity fatally piqued, he travelled over 10,000 miles to find a society both remote and slap-bang in the shipping-lanes of history. It's a place where US airmen, Lithuanian libertarians, and Graeco-Danish Princes have had as much impact as the missionaries and the slave-traders. On the rumbling slopes of this remarkable volcanic island, banjaxed by frequent doses of the local narcotic, suffering from a relentless diet of yams and regularly accused of being a divine emissary of the Duke, Baylis attempted to get to the bottom of this bizarre cult. In doing so he draws some ironic lessons about our own island 'myths' and comes to respect the pragmatic realpolitik of his South Seas hosts.
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company Production for BBC Radio 4
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b03mhz28)
Divorce phone-in
Jenni Murray presents a phone-in discussing how to be happy after divorce or separation. Listeners share their experiences of successful and painful separation, whether on good terms with a former-partner or not.
January is a month which sees more couples decide to break up than any other - how can you minimise the hurt and damage to children and other family members, and negotiate shared friendship groups and social life?
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Lucinda Montefiore
Output Editor: Jane Thurlow.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b03mj1xt)
Margaret Oliphant - Hester
Episode 4
Penelope Wilton and Lyndsey Marshal star in this high Victorian tale of a woman who runs her own bank.
Sometimes called 'the feminist Trollope', Margaret Oliphant is an unjustly-neglected British writer of the nineteenth century, famed for her perceptive, ironic psychology, and her strong female characters. And Hester has a striking premise: a young woman in a nineteenth-century Cheshire town, having been snubbed and discarded in marriage, does something truly radical. When the family bank is in danger of a run, she pledges her whole private fortune to save it. But instead of merely underwriting it, in return she insists on running the bank herself, as a single woman, in defiance of all convention.
Using Oliphant's deliciously perceptive and sardonic narration, allied to a radical dramatisation by Kate Clanchy and Zena Forster, 'Hester' reveals a flawed and fascinating heroine, reborn for radio.
4/5
By Margaret Oliphant
Dramatised by Kate Clanchy and Zena Forster
Hester doesn't want to see it. But here it is, swinging round slowly. The reverse of the medal - the other side of Edward's picture.
Producer/Director ..... Jonquil Panting.
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b03mj1xw)
Greenland: To dig or not to dig?
Could Greenland become the world's next resource hotspot? The government there hopes so - they've been travelling the world touting the country's vast reserves of oil and gas, and huge deposits of iron ore, gold and rare-earth elements. As melting icecaps make all these resources more accessible, mining promises riches for Greenland and the ultimate prize of full independence from Denmark. But there's a catch - many of the rare earth minerals are surrounded by uranium, pitching Greenland into the world of nuclear politics and environmental hazard. Nowhere is this clearer than in the small town of Narsaq in the country's south. Two proposed rare-earth mines could reverse the town's economic decline, but one just miles away will mine uranium too. James Fletcher travels to Narsaq to ask whether mining will be a blessing or a curse.
THU 11:30 Beyond Bollywood (b03mj1xy)
Journalist Sarfraz Manzoor visits India to meet a new generation of musicians and singers performing Indie, Reggae, Ska and Rap, and examines whether this western influenced scene can seriously rival the trademark sounds of Bollywood and Bangra.
Although Bollywood music is still the mass market choice on Indian stereos the alternative scene continues to grow and find its voice. Recently there's been a notable rise in the number of rock music festivals, dance nights and music events attracting aspiring young Indians.
To discover the impact this alternative music scene is having on India, Sarfraz Manzoor journeys to Delhi and visits Hauz Khas village often cited as the catalyst for introducing a wave of new bands and fresh musical genres into the market.
Hauz Khas is home to the offices of the Indian version of The New Musical Express and Manzoor speaks with its Editor Sam Lal and learns how the Village and the internet has been pivotal in the advancement and popularity of artists such as the Ska Vengers and Rapper Prozpekt who produce socially relevant music.
Exploring India's first alternative radio station, Radio 79, Manzoor meets with Raghav Dang who broadcasts Pressure Drop and is a founder member of the band The Reggae Rajas. Meeting female artists Talia Bentson and Ritika Singh he also discovers why women are very happy to pursue a singing career in the East.
As India's alternative music scene continues to develop Manzoor will explore the challenges ahead and learn whether these new songs provide a greater sense of identity for young people.
Producer: Stephen Garner
THU 12:00 You and Yours (b03mj1y0)
The rise of online gambling
Peter White presents the first of a two part investigation into gambling in modern Britain and the price some people pay for it. We explore the different ways you can sell your house if you want to save on fees and we're in Demark to see what the country can teach the UK about energy policy.
THU 12:57 Weather (b03mg0m4)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b03mg0m7)
National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
THU 13:45 Across the Board (b03mjlzq)
Series 1
Hou Yifan
Dominic Lawson conducts a series of interviews over a game of chess. In this episode he interviews the women's world champion, Hou Yifan. Still only 19, she's one of only a handful of women to have become an elite grandmaster. And she comes from a country with no strong link to chess, China.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b03mhvqh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Katie Hims - Listening to the Dead (b03mj1y2)
4. Ruby's Shoes
Ruby Tully grows up unaware of her clairvoyant heritage, and finds that her gift is a curse in an age of experimental psychology.
by Katie Hims,
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.
THU 15:00 Open Country (b03mj1y4)
The Legacy of Flodden Field
The Battle of Flodden was a turning point in the history of the UK, setting the stage for the subsequent Union of the Crowns between Scotland and England in 1603.
The border village of Branxton lays claim to having the "smallest visitor centre in the world". Housed in a converted telephone box, this unique project - dedicated to the Battle of Flodden - is the brain child of Clive Hallam-Baker a battle expert who lives just opposite. Flodden was the largest battle fought between England and Scotland. However today, Clive reflects on the joy of being a 'borderer' - living happily across the land of two countries.
Lord Joicey owns much of the land that bore witness to the Battle of Flodden. His estate is located in England but in working the land itself he shares the same issues as his neighbour just a mile away in Scotland. He values his cross border friendships and discusses the geographical quirks of this border that lead to his wife coming 'up' from Scotland to marry him in England.
Archaeologist Chris Burgess has been working with groups from both sides of the borders to understand more fully the landscape where the Battle of Flodden took place. Volunteers have come to commemorate their past and to enjoy each other's company in the present.
Just a few miles from the battle ground is the border village of Crookham. Here, the United Reformed Church has created a peace garden and centre for reconciliation. Designed by Dougie James, Rev Dave Herbert and Rev Mary Taylor explain how this is a truly cross-borders initiative which they hope will provide a quiet and peaceful place for people to relax, reflect and perhaps find closure.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b03mckqg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (b03mcl9d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b03mj1y6)
Idris Elba on Mandela; Films for 2014; Newcastle Film Club
Francine Stock talks to Idris Elba about playing Mandela in a new film Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom directed by Justin Chadwick. Elba has recently appeared in Thor: The Dark World, Pacific Rim and BBC TV detective series Luther.
Analyst Charles Gant and independent cinema owner Kevin Markwick look back at the box office highs and lows of 2013 before turning their attention to the most anticipated films of 2014 and the awards season.
Daniel Bruhl tell all about his big filmic break.
And the award-winning film club in Newcastle, County Down in Northern Ireland.
Producer: Ruth Sanderson.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b03mj1y8)
Ancient Human Occupation of Britain
The ancient inhabitants of Britain; when did they get here? Who were they? And how do we know? Alice Roberts meets some of the AHOB team, who have been literally digging for answers.
The Natural History Museum's Chris Stringer, is the Director of AHOB, the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain, a project which, over the past 12 years, has brought together a large team of palaeontologists, archaeologists, geologists and geographers, to pool their expertise in order to unpick British History.
Nick Ashton from the British Museum has been in charge of the north Norfolk site of Happisburgh, where the crumbling coast line has revealed the oldest examples of human life in Britain, 400,000 years earlier than previous findings of human habitation, in Boxgrove in Sussex.
The ancient landscape had its share of exotic animals. Hippos have been dug up from Trafalgar Square, mammoths have been excavated from Fleet Street. Professor Danielle Schreve is an expert in ancient mammal fossils, and tells us what these bones reveal about the ancient climate. Less glamorous than the big fossils, the humble vole is so useful and accurate as a dating tool that it has been nicknamed "the Vole Clock."
Carbon dating has improved vastly in the past few years. Rob Dinnis, from Edinburgh University, explains why the AHOB team has been returning to old collections and redating them.
THU 17:00 PM (b03mj1yb)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03mg0mc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 The Secret World (b03mj1yd)
Series 4
Episode 6
Peter Sallis lays down a track for Lady Gaga's new album.
Chancellor Merkel plays 'snog marry avoid' and Ed Miliband learns to boogie.
It can only be the strange goings on in the show that shines a light on the private lives of public people.
With:
Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Jon Culshaw
Julian Dutton
Lewis MacLeod
Jess Robinson
Duncan Wisbey
Written by Bill Dare, Julian Dutton and Duncan Wisbey.
Produced and created by: Bill Dare.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b03mj1yg)
Rob and Helen decide it's time to make their relationship public. Helen resolves to tell her parents after Henry's birthday party, paving the way for Rob's arrival around four o'clock. Helen and Pat set about icing Henry's dinosaur cake. When Tom arrives, Helen announces tentatively that she has some news to impart later.
As she feeds the cats, Peggy receives a phone call telling her that Jack has died. He'd slipped away very peacefully in the night. Sympathetic Lilian agrees to take her to see him one last time. She observes gently that it shows Peggy's instinct to go back yesterday was exactly right. Peggy agrees. She's sure Jack knew for a brief moment who she was. They agree not to tell everyone immediately, but to wait until after Henry's party.
On the way back from The Laurels they call at Bridge Farm and break the news, putting paid to Helen's well-laid plans.
Oblivious Rob arrives at the allotted time. Appraised of the situation, he offers to leave the present he brought for Henry, and makes to depart. Helen follows him, and they quietly agree that, agonising though it will be, they'll delay their news until after the funeral.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b03mj1yj)
Last Vegas; Jarvis Cocker and Martin Wallace; Tom Price
With John Wilson.
Last Vegas stars Hollywood heavyweights Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro and Kevin Kilne as a group of sixty and seventy somethings throwing a stag do for their old friend Billy, played by Michael Douglas. The film, which has been described as The Hangover for the older generation, explores issues of retirement and bereavement against the backdrop of the excesses of Las Vegas. Antonia Quirke reviews.
The novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard, known for her best-selling series about the lives of the Cazalet family, has died at the age of 90. In interviews previously recorded for Radio 4, we hear from Elizabeth Jane Howard and her step-son, Martin Amis.
Sculptor Tom Price talks about a new exhibition of his work at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. His bronze sculptures of contemporary figures were initially inspired by the expressions on people's faces as they watched a performance piece by Price in which he spent a week licking a gallery wall. Tom Price discusses the legacy of the YBAs and using dentists' tools to create the fine detail on his sculptures.
Jarvis Cocker and Martin Wallace talk about their film The Big Melt which was commissioned to celebrate the centenary of stainless steel production in Sheffield. Created from archive from the British Film Institute and set to a score composed by Cocker and performed by Sheffield musicians, the film tells the story of steel and of Sheffield's past.
Front Row looks ahead to what 2014 may have in store in the world of pop music. Music journalist Kitty Empire discusses the musicians that are likely to dominate the next twelve months and which artists are likely to release new albums.
Producer: Olivia Skinner.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b03mj1xt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Report (b03mj1yl)
Miners' Strike Miscarriages?
With cabinet papers relating to the 1984 miners' strike due to be published tomorrow, Jenny Chryss examines growing calls for a public inquiry into allegations of widespread falsification of evidence by the police against some of the miners who ended up facing charges.
On June 18 1984, scores of pickets and police officers were injured during one of the bloodiest events of the year long strike. Protesters at Orgreave were trying to stop coke from the plant being transported to the British Steel mill at Scunthorpe. Ninety three people were arrested that day with some charged with riot, which carries a potential life sentence. However, nearly four months into the trial of fifteen of the accused pickets the case against them collapsed.
Thirty years on, it's alleged that some police officers manipulated the evidence given in court and colluded over their statement writing or were told what to write. But no officer has ever been charged.
And allegations about police malpractice spread beyond Orgreave. The programme hears from one former miner who says he was beaten almost unconscious during a picket at Frickley Colliery in West Yorkshire and then charged with a public order offence on the basis of falsified evidence. The case against him was later dropped.
Campaigners and some MPs are now calling for a public inquiry and are drawing parallels between these allegations and similar revelations about the manipulation of evidence after the Hillsborough football disaster five years later. The Hillsborough Independent Panel revealed that more than a hundred and sixty South Yorkshire police statements had been altered after the disaster in which ninety six Liverpool fans died in April 1989.
Producer: Sally Chesworth.
THU 20:30 In Business (b03mj272)
The Music Industry
It has been long established that the music industry has changed irrevocably over the past decade, with the internet disrupting the status quo as it has many other sectors. But the story has moved on from an industry dying from dwindling record sales.
The traditional way of releasing your record has changed thanks to new publishing companies, companies that gather music statistics and the streaming services such as Spotify and Deezer. Now these companies are disrupting the industry once again. Peter Day speaks with the key businesses involved such as Spotify and Musicmetric and the traditional, established players such as Sony Music.
Yet streaming services have also caused controversy because their payments to musicians are seemingly minuscule. Radiohead's lead singer Thom Yorke has battled against Spotify, calling it the 'last fart of a dying corpse' ; how can musicians make money now? Peter hears from a band just starting out, Yossarian, to Moby who has sold millions of records and singer songwriter Billy Bragg. We compare how much musicians receive from different sources of revenue.
But others see the streaming services as saviours and the future of the music industry. Is the problem of small returns from songs streamed actually a clash between a new way of listening to music and the traditional way the industry has been run? Sony Music explain how they are writing their record deals with musicians and that they are thinking about changing this for the new digital age.
Producer: Charlotte Pritchard.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b03mj1y8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b03mhyzk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b03mg0mj)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b03mj29y)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b03mj3hm)
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared
Episode 9
A picaresque tale of a centenarian, police and thieves, and moments in world history. As his mother put it, "Things are what they are, and whatever will be will be."
At 100 years-old, Allan Karlsson is a reluctant birthday boy. In the old people's home they've prepared a party for him. The Mayor and the local press will be there. But this party never gets started. Still in his bedroom slippers, Allan makes his getaway through the window and begins an unlikely adventure.
Allan is no stranger to adventure, as the stories of his earlier life reveal - a life in which he dined with world leaders such as Franco, Truman and Stalin and found himself behind the scenes during major events of the twentieth century.
Jonas Jonasson was born in 1961 in Vaxjö, Sweden. After starting up and then running the successful media company OTW for twenty years, he sold the business and moved to Switzerland. There he completed The Hundred-year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared. Jonas lives on the island of Gotland in Sweden.
Translated by Rod Bradbury.
Episode 9:
After painstaking detective work, Chief Inspector Aronsson makes his way to Bosse's farm. And we learn how Allan once found himself in a room with Kim Il Sung and Mao Tse-Tung.
Reader: Martin Jarvis
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Rosalynd Ward
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:00 Alice's Wunderland (b03mj3hp)
Series 2
Unclear War
A trip to Wunderland, the Poundland of magical realms. In this last episode of the series, Wunderland is under threat frpm an Unclear War.
Sketch show by Alice Lowe.
Also starring Richard Glover, Simon Greenall, Rachel Stubbings, Clare Thompson and Marcia Warren.
Produced by Lyndsay Fenner.
THU 23:30 Bingo, Barbie and Barthes: 50 Years of Cultural Studies (b03c2zw4)
Episode 1
Fifty years after Richard Hoggart established Cultural Studies with the founding of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies in Birmingham, Laurie Taylor takes a personal look at what this new discipline has given us -- taking cultural studies out of the academy to ask: has it really narrowed the separation between high and low culture, or just been an excuse for soap fans to write dissertations on Coronation Street?
Founded with money donated by Penguin following the Lady Chatterley trial, the idea of the CCCS was to move away from traditional cultural thinking, which emphasized the importance of "high culture," toward a focus on contemporary "lived experience" and popular culture. So out went a preoccupation with the Great Tradition, and in came a theory-infused approach to pop music and soap operas.
Society was changing. There needed to be a response to the explosion in leisure and popular culture in the post-war period and it took outsiders -- Richard Hoggart, Raymond Williams and the slightly younger Stuart Hall -- to identify what these new appetites could tell us about changes in the wider society.
The aim in refocusing on mass media and popular song was to develop a critical language that would spread throughout society. It was of absolute importance that people were able to arm themselves against peddlers of rubbish. It mattered to those founders that people be able to look at a magazine or a soap and work out whether it had been produced out of sincere enthusiasm or cynicism.
In the intervening years, culture has been radically democratised -- via tabloids, TV and the internet -- and it's cultural studies that provided the critical tools to understand that. But has it really made us any more savvy about what's being sold to us, culturally?
Featuring: Christopher Frayling, Paul Gilroy, Stuart Hall, Lynsey Hanley, Matthew Hilton, Owen Jones, Caspar Melville, Angela McRobbie and Paul Willis.
Producer: Martin Williams.
FRIDAY 03 JANUARY 2014
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b03mg0pb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b03mjlzn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03mg0pd)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03mg0ph)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03mg0pk)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b03mg0pn)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b03mzvyy)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Leslie Griffiths.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b03mj8ll)
The Environment Agency has issued flood warnings and alerts across Britain, following weeks of heavy rain, and the bad weather shows no signs of stopping. For many farmers, the conditions are becoming very tough, with ditches overflowing and grassland churned into mud, whilst animals grazing outdoors are being moved to higher ground. Caz Graham hears from two farmers who've been affected.
As the Duke of Cambridge prepares to embark upon a ten week course in agricultural management, we ask what he should be learning, both inside and outside the classroom.
And Beatrice Fenton is in the Cotswolds, finding out about a project to boost the numbers of farmland birds with swathes of winter birdseed crops.
Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Jules Benham.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03mj8ln)
Magpie
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
David Attenborough presents the magpie. Magpies have always had a rascally streetwise image. They featured in anti-theft campaigns on television in the 1980s, and long before that, their kleptomaniac tendencies were celebrated by Rossini in his opera, 'The Thieving Magpie'. Their pied plumage isn't just black and white, but gleams with iridescent greens, blues and purples.
FRI 06:00 Today (b03mj8lq)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs: Longplay (b03mckqs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b03mj8ls)
Man Belong Mrs Queen
Episode 5
As a bookish child with a posh accent, growing up on Merseyside in the 1980s, Matthew Baylis identified with the much-mocked Prince Philip as a fellow outsider. He even had a poster of him on his bedroom wall.
Years later, as an anthropology student, Baylis learned of the existence of a Philip cult on the South Sea island of Tanna. Why was it there? Nobody had a convincing answer. Nobody even seemed to want to find one.
His curiosity fatally piqued, he travelled over 10,000 miles to find a society both remote and slap-bang in the shipping-lanes of history. It's a place where US airmen, Lithuanian libertarians, and Graeco-Danish Princes have had as much impact as the missionaries and the slave-traders. On the rumbling slopes of this remarkable volcanic island, banjaxed by frequent doses of the local narcotic, suffering from a relentless diet of yams and regularly accused of being a divine emissary of the Duke, Baylis attempted to get to the bottom of this bizarre cult. In doing so he draws some ironic lessons about our own island 'myths' and comes to respect the pragmatic realpolitik of his South Seas hosts.
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company Production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b03mj8lv)
Men and anti-sexism campaigns; reasons to enjoy January; Romany version of Carmen
We look at men who want to join in the struggle with women against sexism. How easy is it for them to get involved? Are they reluctant or embarrassed to make their voices heard? Do women need to be more welcoming of them?
Carmen, the beautiful, passionate Spanish gypsy woman is probably best known from the Opera by Bizet. BBC Radio Drama North have produced a new version by Romany writer, Dan Allum staring Candis Nergaard as Carmen. They talk about the new production which will be the Woman's Hour drama starting on Monday 6th January.
Most of us probably need little convincing that January deserves its thoroughly maligned reputation but is it actually as bad as we like to make out ? In a spirit of open mindedness to kick off the new year, we reconsider possible reasons for enjoying January and the season of midwinter with novelists M J Hyland and Victoria Hislop.
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Bernadette McConnell.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b03mj8lx)
Margaret Oliphant - Hester
Episode 5
Penelope Wilton and Lyndsey Marshal star in this high Victorian tale of a woman who runs her own bank.
Sometimes called 'the feminist Trollope', Margaret Oliphant is an unjustly-neglected British writer of the nineteenth century, famed for her perceptive, ironic psychology, and her strong female characters. And Hester has a striking premise: a young woman in a nineteenth-century Cheshire town, having been snubbed and discarded in marriage, does something truly radical. When the family bank is in danger of a run, she pledges her whole private fortune to save it. But instead of merely underwriting it, in return she insists on running the bank herself, as a single woman, in defiance of all convention.
Using Oliphant's deliciously perceptive and sardonic narration, allied to a radical dramatisation by Kate Clanchy and Zena Forster, 'Hester' reveals a flawed and fascinating heroine, reborn for radio.
5/5
By Margaret Oliphant
Dramatised by Kate Clanchy and Zena Forster
This life is full of repetitions. Once again Mr Rule is facing a run on the bank which could close Vernon's forever.
Producer/Director ..... Jonquil Panting.
FRI 11:00 UK Confidential (b03mj8lz)
1984
Martha Kearney uncovers the secrets within the Government files of 1984.
Margaret Thatcher's government faced some formidable adversaries. The long-anticipated battle with the National Union of Mineworkers and its leader, Arthur Scargill, finally erupted, dominating the political scene well into 1985. The charismatic Ken Livingstone, leader of the Greater London Council, was winning the costly PR war against abolition of the GLC. And terror hit home with the shooting of policewoman Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan Embassy and the IRA bombing of the Conservative Party Conference in Brighton.
On the world stage, the Cold War reached a crucial turning point. The cost of the nuclear arms race was rocketing and the world needed a new approach to East-West relations. Rising star of the Soviet Politburo, Mikhail Gorbachev, was invited to Britain and spent five hours at Chequers in a now famous meeting with the Prime Minister.
As the official Cabinet papers of 1984 are opened to the public for the first time, Martha Kearney discovers how these events were viewed in Government. With access to the Prime Minister's personal correspondence, minutes of top secret meetings and telephone calls, and confidential policy advice, Martha can now offer fresh insights into history.
Former Ministers and other key insiders from the time join Martha in the studio to help her interpret the papers and give their own impressions of the revelations within them.
Producer: Deborah Dudgeon
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b03mj8m3)
Online gambling
In a second special report, Peter White investigates the politics and protection for users of gambling websites.
One in five of every new bike sold in the Netherlands is electric, but despite the advantages of 'assisted cycling' in countries with hills and inclines, they're yet to take off in the UK to the same degree.
And the Energy Ombudsman says account switching has led to a sharp rise in complaints.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Joel Moors.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b03mg0pr)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b03mg0pv)
National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
FRI 13:45 Across the Board (b03mj945)
Series 1
Natan Sharansky
Dominic Lawson conducts a series of interviews over a game of chess. In this episode he plays the former Soviet dissident and Israeli politician Natan Sharansky.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b03mj1yg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Katie Hims - Listening to the Dead (b03mjcb9)
5. Tuesday's Child
Tuesday grows up assuming her mother abandoned her, despite the voices in her dreams that try to tell her otherwise
Tuesday ..... Jeany Spark
Tuesday 11 ..... Rose Hilton Hille
Tuesday 3 ..... Rosa Yevtushenko
Frank ..... David Seddon
Peggy ..... Lisa Stevenson
Maggie ..... Carolyn Pickles
Ruby ..... Ami Metcalf
Nish ..... Paul Bazely
Oliver 20 ..... Joel MacCormack
Oliver 55 ..... Michael Bertenshaw
Dan ..... Harry Jardine
Melinda ..... Georgie Fuller
Boss ..... Sean Murray
by Katie Hims,
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b03mjcbc)
Shropshire
Peter Gibbs presents the horticultural panel show from Shropshire. Answering questions from the local audience are Chris Beardshaw, Bob Flowerdew and Anne Swithinbank.
Chris explores the pioneering history of the Shropshire Horticultural Society and the early days of the longest running flower show. Anne Swithinbank visits The Quarry in Shrewsbury to share her passion for one of the stars of the winter garden.
Producer: Howard Shannon.
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
This week's questions:
Q. Does the panel have any suggestions for a temporary screen to hide an unsightly area of my garden? It needs to be 4-5ft(1.5m) high by August next year.
A. Michaelmas Daisies would provide a good cover. Give them a chop in May so that they become bushy rather than too tall. Try the small perennial Rudbeckias, the upright grass Calamagrostis, or even Popping Corn with its vibrant red cobs.
Q. Could the panel tell me what would happen if I pollarded a Silver Birch to about 8ft (2.4m)?
A. Pollarding would ruin the appearance of such a tree. The best way to reduce the size of a Birch tree is to coppice it. Coppicing is rejuvenating from ground level whereas pollarding is cutting the head off.
As this is a single stem specimen and the bark is fully developed, coppicing may not be effective and it may remain as a stump. Wait until spring and cut into the bark with a pruning saw, penetrating only a few millimetres. Imagine it as a clock face, cutting from the twelve point around to two. This generates dormant buds from below the cut and throws up a new shoot. The following year do it on the opposite side a little further up, forming a second shoot. Let these shoots mature to about a thumb-size in thickness and then cut off the tree head. Go into a 5-8 to eight year rotation, taking out any old wood.
Q. What would the panel suggest using to underplant a traditional laid hedge?
A. If it is a naturalistic setting, you can't beat Sweet Cicely. It is a Cow Parsley-like plant with a ferny leaf and white flowers. Mix in early flowering specimens such as Trachystemon Orientalis. It is a member of the Borage family with blue flowers and broad, bristly foliage. Also try adding Lamiums, such as the Florentinum with its yellow flowers.
Q. What could I plant into a south-facing window box for a splash of colour this spring? Incidentally, I usually forget to water anything I plant!
A. The best survivors are Pinks. You could add Rosemary and Sage in-between. Try adding structure with some small Euonymus such as the Emerald 'n' Gold or Emerald Gaiety. Add spring flowering plants and bulbs that can be taken out and added to the garden.
Q. How can I control the rampaging Nasturtium that is taking over my allotment?
A. You can eat all parts of the annual form of Nasturtium. It will prolifically produce seeds in hot, impoverished soil. It is best to dig it in a good 30cm (11inches), burying the seeds too deep to allow them back through. When you see the seeds germinating, pluck them out and eat them in a salad.
Q. Does the panel have any suggestions for low growing planting to stabilize a steep, 8ft high riverbank? It is prone to flooding but is well drained the rest of the time.
A. Iris Pseudacorus or Yellow Flag is robust and could be planted in clumps during spring. Once it has developed you could add some smaller boggy plants. You might need to introduce some mechanical stability, such as gabions, to support the bank and allow you to place plants behind the barrier. Another structural solution is to take staffs of alder and willow. Trim out sections of the fresh wood and knock them into the ground. Place these at regular intervals with the willow weaved in between. You will end up with living verticals, connected by a basket-like structure where sediment collects. The plants will root into the ground and can be pruned over winter.
FRI 15:45 First for Radio (b03mjcbf)
Series 2
Finding Your Voice
This returning series features three emerging novelists who have been well praised and won prizes but haven't until now written short stories for radio. Ned Beauman (author of Boxer, Beetle and The Teleportation Accident), Jenn Ashworth (Cold Light and The Friday Gospels) and Alis Shaw (The Man Who Rained, The Girl with Glass Feet) make their story debuts for Radio 4.
1. Finding Your Voice
In Ned Beauman's tale, an actor with a beautiful voice has to act ruthlessly after a strange trip to Bulgaria..
Reader Nicholas Boulton
Producer Duncan Minshull.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b03mjcbh)
Elizabeth Jane Howard, John Fortune, Vera Houghton, Sir Christopher Curwen, Harold Camping
Julian Worricker on
The award-winning novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard. Hilary Mantel reflects on the writer who she says helped us to do the necessary thing - open our eyes and our hearts.
Also the comedian and satirist John Fortune who found fame through his TV collaborations with John Bird and Rory Bremner.
Vera Houghton, a pioneer in the fields of abortion law reform and free birth control.
Sir Christopher Curwen, who was head of the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, when Oleg Gordievsky - Britain's star source inside the KGB - was successfully exfiltrated from Moscow.
And the American radio evangelist, Harold Camping, who was the first major end-of-the-world forecaster of the internet age.
Producer: Neil George.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (b03mjcbk)
The Power of Pension Fees
When the government announced that fees charged by pension providers could be capped, many listeners were sceptical that the benefits could be as great as was being claimed. Money Box presenter Paul Lewis explains why the numbers do add up. And Tim Harford interviews Dr Matt Levy of UCL about the power of compound charges, and why people often find it so hard a mathematical concept to understand.
Are Christians "by far the most persecuted religious body on the planet"? It's claimed that an average of 100,000 have died as martyrs every year for the past decade. The Vatican's called it a credible number. But is it? Ruth Alexander and Tim Harford fact-check the widely-quoted statistic.
Plus, the logic of imperial measures, as explored by Number Hub presenter Matt Parker; and is Britain's railway really Europe's 'most improved'?
Also, six cyclists were killed in just two weeks in London at the end of 2013. Does this statistic show dangers have increased for cyclists? Tim interviews Jody Aberdein, who has crunched the numbers for Significance Magazine (You can find the article Jody co-wrote with Professor David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/
10.1111/j.1740-97
13.2013.00715.x/pdf).
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Ruth Alexander.
FRI 17:00 PM (b03mjcbm)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03mg0py)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 Chain Reaction (b03mjcbp)
Series 9
Kevin Bridges talks to Frankie Boyle
Razor sharp Scottish comedian Kevin Bridges talks to his comedy mentor, Frankie Boyle.
Chain Reaction is the long running host-less chat show where last week's interviewee becomes this week's interviewer.
Producer: Carl Cooper
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b03mjcbr)
Joe visits Peggy to pay his respects, and they discuss Jack's legacy in the village. Peggy's glad to hear Darrell and Rosa are back on speaking terms.
Driving back in the trap, Joe fills Eddie in on what a hard life Peggy's had. Eddie demurs, but tells Joe not to go on about it. He's trying to keep Darrell on the up. He's just telling Joe he'd like convert Fat Paul's old truck for Darrell, when they're nearly run off the road by Jill in her car.
Ruth lets David know he'll be doing the milking next Thursday. She's taking Jill to the hairdresser. Anything's better than Jill driving herself. But Ruth notices a diary clash later. They're just trying to sort out Jill's transport when, right on cue, Eddie arrives demanding they stop Jill from driving.
Jill recovers at Peggy's with a restorative cup of sweet tea. She's definitely not getting behind the wheel again! Peggy suggests she doesn't do anything hasty. A simple operation could solve the problem, couldn't it? They share memories of Jack over family photos, before Kenton arrives to collect Jill.
Alone at last, Peggy says her goodbyes to Jack to the strains of Love Is The Sweetest Thing.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b03mjcbt)
Naomie Harris; Nigella Lawson in The Taste; Mahan Esfahani; 2014 in books and art
With John Wilson.
Naomie Harris talks about playing Winnie Mandela in the biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Harris discusses taking on the part without realising the crucial role that Winnie Mandela played in forming the modern South Africa, researching her life and relationships and meeting Winnie Mandela herself.
Nigella Lawson is one of three judges in new cookery show The Taste. Part Masterchef, part The Voice, the programme, which has already been a hit in America, involves judges eating just one anonymous spoonful of each dish, and judging on taste alone. Boyd Hilton discusses the increasing number of fusion TV formats.
John talks to the Iranian-American harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, who in 2011 gave the first solo harpsichord recital at the BBC Proms, and who is now releasing his debut CD featuring sonatas by CPE Bach, son of JS Bach.
Front Row looks ahead to what 2014 may have in store in literature and art. Alex Clark discusses the books that are likely to make an impact this year and Rachel Campbell-Johnston previews the exhibitions to look forward to.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b03mj8lx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Correspondents' Look Ahead (b03mjcbw)
2014
Owen Bennett-Jones is joined by four of the BBC's top foreign and economic correspondents who give their predictions about what is likely to shape our world in 2014. James Robbins draws on more than ten years experience as the BBC's diplomatic correspondent, while North America Editor Mark Mardell provides his view from Washington. Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet takes a short break from reporting across the world while Chief Business correspondent Linda Yueh gives her view of the global economic outlook. Where is our attention most likely to be focused? And what will be the consequences for the United Kingdom and the rest of the world?
Produced by Mark Savage.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b03mjcby)
The Perils of Belief
John Gray reflects on the damage that can be caused by evangelical belief in a religion or in a political idea. "Whether they are religious or political, evangelists seem to me a blight on civilisation. For them as for those they persecute or bully, belief is an obstacle to a fulfilling life."
Producer: Sheila Cook.
FRI 21:00 Saturday Drama (b01pnfjp)
White Snow
Faced with an upstart stepdaughter and lied to by her King about the real object of his affection, his unnaturally perfect daughter, the Queen is forced into decisive and deadly action. In this re-imagining of the Grimm brother's fairy-tale, we find ourselves at one with a fun loving and light hearted Queen, who having been wooed by an emotionally arrested king, soon finds that her main rival is his somewhat spooky and unhealthily translucent daughter, Snow White. It isn't clear what hold this eerily passive child has over the King but the implication is that the trauma of being cuckolded by his first wife, has been transformed into the myth of a flawless child - a child who keenly aware of her power over him, determines that nothing, especially not a mere stepmother is going to come between them. By any reasonable assessment of the situation, Snow White has to die...but will she?
Dramatised by Frances Byrnes
Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b03mg0q2)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b03mjcc0)
With Carolyn Quinn.
The UK's flooded coastlines; we hear from Wales and Cornwall.
The US role in South Sudan and diplomatic hopes.
Energy security and costs in the UK - the political debate continues.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b03mjcc2)
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared
Episode 10
A picaresque tale of a centenarian, police and thieves, and moments in world history. As his mother put it, "Things are what they are, and whatever will be will be."
At 100 years-old, Allan Karlsson is a reluctant birthday boy. In the old people's home they've prepared a party for him. The Mayor and the local press will be there. But this party never gets started. Still in his bedroom slippers, Allan makes his getaway through the window and begins an unlikely adventure.
Allan is no stranger to adventure, as the stories of his earlier life reveal - a life in which he dined with world leaders such as Franco, Truman and Stalin and found himself behind the scenes during major events of the twentieth century.
Jonas Jonasson was born in 1961 in Vaxjö, Sweden. After starting up and then running the successful media company OTW for twenty years, he sold the business and moved to Switzerland. There he completed The Hundred-year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared. Jonas lives on the island of Gotland in Sweden.
Translated by Rod Bradbury.
Episode 10:
At Bosse's farm, Allan and his friends are apparently under arrest. And in 1968, Allan becomes a CIA agent in Moscow.
Reader: Martin Jarvis
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Rosalynd Ward
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b03mfwk1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Bingo, Barbie and Barthes: 50 Years of Cultural Studies (b03cf03d)
Episode 2
It's fifty years since Richard Hoggart established Cultural Studies with the founding of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies in Birmingham, and in this second programme looking at the discipline, Laurie Taylor looks at the ways in which cultural studies has reached beyond academia and into everyday life.
Featuring: Sir Christopher Frayling, Paul Gilroy, Stuart Hall, Lynsey Hanley, Matthew Hilton, Caspar Melville, Suzanne Moore and Joe Moran.
Producer: Martin Williams.
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 (b03mcmx3)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 MON (b03mcmx3)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 TUE (b03mfvl7)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 TUE (b03mfvl7)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 WED (b03mg871)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 WED (b03mg871)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 THU (b03mj1xt)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 THU (b03mj1xt)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 FRI (b03mj8lx)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 FRI (b03mj8lx)
15 Minute Musical
18:15 MON (b03mfns4)
15 Minute Musical
18:15 TUE (b03mfxmm)
15 Minute Musical
18:15 WED (b01pg54q)
15 by 15
15:45 WED (b037v4ft)
A Point of View
08:48 SUN (b03mckql)
A Point of View
20:50 FRI (b03mjcby)
About the Boys
11:30 TUE (b03mfvlc)
Across the Board
13:45 MON (b03mfn09)
Across the Board
13:45 TUE (b03mjkw2)
Across the Board
13:45 WED (b03mjl5j)
Across the Board
13:45 THU (b03mjlzq)
Across the Board
13:45 FRI (b03mj945)
Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section
23:30 TUE (b03mg0cs)
Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section
15:00 WED (b03mg0cs)
Alice's Wunderland
23:00 THU (b03mj3hp)
All in the Mind
21:00 TUE (b03mfxym)
Archive on 4
20:00 SAT (b03mcklz)
BBC Inside Science
16:30 THU (b03mj1y8)
BBC Inside Science
21:00 THU (b03mj1y8)
Believe It!
11:30 WED (b03mg87c)
Bells on Sunday
05:43 SUN (b03mckq6)
Bells on Sunday
00:45 MON (b03mckq6)
Beyond Bollywood
11:30 THU (b03mj1xy)
Bingo, Barbie and Barthes: 50 Years of Cultural Studies
23:30 THU (b03c2zw4)
Bingo, Barbie and Barthes: 50 Years of Cultural Studies
23:30 FRI (b03cf03d)
Bird Island
23:15 WED (b01kbjdg)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 MON (b03mfq18)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 TUE (b03mfyls)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 WED (b03mhw8h)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 THU (b03mj3hm)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 FRI (b03mjcc2)
Book of the Week
00:30 SAT (b03m80qr)
Book of the Week
09:45 MON (b03mcmwz)
Book of the Week
00:30 TUE (b03mcmwz)
Book of the Week
09:45 TUE (b03mjkw0)
Book of the Week
00:30 WED (b03mjkw0)
Book of the Week
09:45 WED (b03mjkzm)
Book of the Week
00:30 THU (b03mjkzm)
Book of the Week
09:45 THU (b03mjlzn)
Book of the Week
00:30 FRI (b03mjlzn)
Book of the Week
09:45 FRI (b03mj8ls)
Brain of Britain
23:00 SAT (b03m43fs)
Brain of Britain
15:00 MON (b03mfn0f)
Bringing up the Grandkids
11:00 MON (b03mfltf)
Britain Versus the World
23:00 TUE (b03mg0cq)
Broadcasting House
09:00 SUN (b03mckqn)
Chain Reaction
12:30 SAT (b03m81pm)
Chain Reaction
18:30 FRI (b03mjcbp)
Classic Serial
15:00 SUN (b03mcl9b)
Correspondents' Look Ahead
20:00 FRI (b03mjcbw)
Crossing Continents
20:30 MON (b03m7z0g)
Crossing Continents
11:00 THU (b03mj1xw)
Desert Island Discs: Longplay
11:15 SUN (b03mckqs)
Desert Island Discs: Longplay
09:00 FRI (b03mckqs)
Drama
12:10 WED (b03mg87l)
Farming Today
06:30 SAT (b03myh6x)
Farming Today
05:45 MON (b03mcmws)
Farming Today
05:45 TUE (b03mfvkz)
Farming Today
05:45 WED (b03mg1d9)
Farming Today
05:45 THU (b03mhyzc)
Farming Today
05:45 FRI (b03mj8ll)
First for Radio
15:45 FRI (b03mjcbf)
Food for Thought
00:15 SAT (b018gqzk)
Food for Thought
00:15 TUE (b018grvm)
Food for Thought
00:15 WED (b018gylx)
Food for Thought
00:15 THU (b0368rdg)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:30 SAT (b03m8614)
Front Row
19:15 MON (b03mhvqk)
Front Row
19:15 TUE (b03mfxyf)
Front Row
19:15 WED (b03mfp0w)
Front Row
19:15 THU (b03mj1yj)
Front Row
19:15 FRI (b03mjcbt)
Frost on 4
23:30 WED (b03mjlk1)
Gardeners' Question Time
14:00 SUN (b03m81b1)
Gardeners' Question Time
15:00 FRI (b03mjcbc)
Great Lives
16:30 TUE (b03mfwk1)
Great Lives
23:00 FRI (b03mfwk1)
Gypsy Pride and Prejudice
20:00 MON (b03mfp0y)
Hardeep's Sunday Lunch
13:30 SUN (b03mcl96)
Immigration: Good for Whom?
20:00 WED (b03nbsgd)
In Business
21:30 SUN (b03m7zmv)
In Business
20:30 THU (b03mj272)
In Our Time
09:00 THU (b03mhyzk)
In Our Time
21:30 THU (b03mhyzk)
Just a Minute
12:00 SUN (b03m43g1)
Katie Hims - Listening to the Dead
14:15 MON (b03mfn0c)
Katie Hims - Listening to the Dead
14:15 TUE (b03mfwjs)
Katie Hims - Listening to the Dead
14:15 WED (b03mg88s)
Katie Hims - Listening to the Dead
14:15 THU (b03mj1y2)
Katie Hims - Listening to the Dead
14:15 FRI (b03mjcb9)
Ko Un: The People's Poet of Korea
16:30 SUN (b03mcl9g)
Last Word
16:00 FRI (b03mjcbh)
Lives in a Landscape
11:00 WED (b03mg873)
Loose Ends
18:15 SAT (b03mckkx)
Making History
15:00 TUE (b03mfwjv)
Meet David Sedaris
19:15 SUN (b03mclqh)
Midnight News
00:00 SAT (b03m83qn)
Midnight News
00:00 SUN (b03m83sx)
Midnight News
00:00 MON (b03mclt5)
Midnight News
00:00 TUE (b03mfry8)
Midnight News
00:00 WED (b03mg0j0)
Midnight News
00:00 THU (b03mg0lq)
Midnight News
00:00 FRI (b03mg0pb)
Midweek
09:00 WED (b03mg868)
Midweek
21:30 WED (b03mg868)
Modern Welsh Voices
19:45 SUN (b03mclqk)
Money Box
12:00 SAT (b03m8616)
Money Box
21:00 SUN (b03m8616)
More or Less
20:00 SUN (b03m81b7)
More or Less
16:30 FRI (b03mjcbk)
Mr Capra Goes to Hollywood
00:15 SUN (b01rw2zj)
Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere
23:30 SAT (b01rbwlv)
Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere
23:30 SUN (b01rcky1)
Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere
23:30 MON (b01rcwkv)
News Briefing
05:30 SAT (b03m83qx)
News Briefing
05:30 SUN (b03m83t5)
News Briefing
05:30 MON (b03mcltf)
News Briefing
05:30 TUE (b03mfryj)
News Briefing
05:30 WED (b03mg0jb)
News Briefing
05:30 THU (b03mg0m0)
News Briefing
05:30 FRI (b03mg0pn)
News Headlines
06:00 SUN (b03m83t7)
News Review of the Year
22:00 SUN (b03mclqm)
News and Papers
06:00 SAT (b03m83qz)
News and Papers
07:00 SUN (b03m83tc)
News and Papers
08:00 SUN (b03m83th)
News and Weather
22:00 SAT (b03m83rh)
News
13:00 SAT (b03m83r7)
News
12:00 WED (b03myjvd)
North by Northamptonshire
11:30 MON (b03mflth)
Old Harry's Game
18:30 TUE (b00wr9vv)
On Your Farm
06:35 SUN (b03mckqb)
Open Book
16:00 SUN (b03mcl9d)
Open Book
15:30 THU (b03mcl9d)
Open Country
06:07 SAT (b03m7z9z)
Open Country
15:00 THU (b03mj1y4)
PM
17:00 SAT (b03mckkv)
PM
17:00 MON (b03mfndg)
PM
17:00 TUE (b03mfwk3)
PM
17:00 WED (b03mhvqc)
PM
17:00 THU (b03mj1yb)
PM
17:00 FRI (b03mjcbm)
Pick of the Week
18:15 SUN (b03mclqc)
Pick of the Year
13:15 SAT (b03m7plm)
Political Animals
23:00 WED (b03mhwd5)
Pop-Up Ideas
20:45 WED (b03mhvqm)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 SAT (b03m84wt)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 MON (b03mzvz6)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 TUE (b03mzvyr)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 WED (b03mzvyt)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 THU (b03mzvyw)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 FRI (b03mzvyy)
Profile
19:00 SAT (b03mckkz)
Profile
05:45 SUN (b03mckkz)
Profile
17:40 SUN (b03mckkz)
Radio 4 Appeal
07:55 SUN (b03mckqg)
Radio 4 Appeal
21:26 SUN (b03mckqg)
Radio 4 Appeal
15:27 THU (b03mckqg)
Roddy Doyle on Radio 4
21:00 SAT (b03m3nhw)
Saturday Drama
14:00 SAT (b01dtd5q)
Saturday Drama
21:00 FRI (b01pnfjp)
Saturday Live
09:00 SAT (b03m860y)
Saturday Review
19:15 SAT (b03mckl1)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SAT (b03m83qs)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SUN (b03m83t1)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 MON (b03mclt9)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 TUE (b03mfryd)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 WED (b03mg0j5)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 THU (b03mg0lw)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 FRI (b03mg0ph)
Shared Experience
15:30 TUE (b03mfn0h)
Shared Planet
21:00 MON (b03m79cn)
Shared Planet
11:00 TUE (b03mfvl9)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SAT (b03m83qq)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SAT (b03m83qv)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SAT (b03m83r9)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SUN (b03m83sz)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SUN (b03m83t3)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SUN (b03m83tm)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 MON (b03mclt7)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 MON (b03mcltc)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 TUE (b03mfryb)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 TUE (b03mfryg)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 WED (b03mg0j2)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 WED (b03mg0j7)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 THU (b03mg0ls)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 THU (b03mg0ly)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 FRI (b03mg0pd)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 FRI (b03mg0pk)
Show Me the Way to Go Home
21:00 WED (b03mhw27)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SAT (b03m83rf)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SUN (b03m83tr)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 MON (b03mcltt)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 TUE (b03mfrys)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 WED (b03mg0jr)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 THU (b03mg0mc)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 FRI (b03mg0py)
Something Understood
06:05 SUN (b03mckq8)
Something Understood
00:15 MON (b03mckq8)
Soul Music
15:30 SAT (b03m79cq)
Start the Week
09:00 MON (b03mcmwx)
Start the Week
21:30 MON (b03mcmwx)
Stig at Fifty
22:30 SAT (b03m7mdc)
Sunday Worship
08:10 SUN (b03mckqj)
Sunday
07:10 SUN (b03mckqd)
The Archers Omnibus
10:00 SUN (b03mckqq)
The Archers
19:00 SUN (b03mclqf)
The Archers
14:00 MON (b03mclqf)
The Archers
19:00 MON (b03mfp0t)
The Archers
14:00 TUE (b03mfp0t)
The Archers
19:00 TUE (b03mfxmp)
The Archers
14:00 WED (b03mfxmp)
The Archers
19:00 WED (b03mhvqh)
The Archers
14:00 THU (b03mhvqh)
The Archers
19:00 THU (b03mj1yg)
The Archers
14:00 FRI (b03mj1yg)
The Archers
19:00 FRI (b03mjcbr)
The Film Programme
23:00 SUN (b03m7zb1)
The Film Programme
16:00 THU (b03mj1y6)
The Food Programme
12:32 SUN (b03mckr3)
The Food Programme
15:30 MON (b03mckr3)
The Forum
11:00 SAT (b03m8612)
The Inheritance Collection 2013
20:30 SUN (b03nh34g)
The Island at the End of the World
22:15 SAT (b03mtkbm)
The Listening Project
14:45 SUN (b03mcl98)
The Listening Project
20:40 TUE (b03nhfcm)
The Living Mountain
16:00 MON (b03mfndd)
The Making of the Modern Arab World
09:00 TUE (b03mfvl3)
The Making of the Modern Arab World
21:30 TUE (b03mfvl3)
The Man Who Fell to Earth
17:00 SUN (b03mclq9)
The Media Show
16:30 WED (b03mhvq9)
The Only Way Is Up
20:00 TUE (b03mfxyh)
The Playlist Series
10:30 SAT (b03m8610)
The Report
20:00 THU (b03mj1yl)
The Secret World
18:30 THU (b03mj1yd)
The Slow Coach
16:30 MON (b0383k2h)
The Unbelievable Truth
18:30 MON (b03mfp0r)
The World This Weekend
13:00 SUN (b03mcl94)
The World Tonight
22:00 MON (b03mfq16)
The World Tonight
22:00 TUE (b03mfylq)
The World Tonight
22:00 WED (b03mhw8f)
The World Tonight
22:00 THU (b03mj29y)
The World Tonight
22:00 FRI (b03mjcc0)
Thinking Allowed
16:00 WED (b03mg95w)
Today
07:00 SAT (b03m860w)
Today
06:00 MON (b03mcmwv)
Today
06:00 TUE (b03mfvl1)
Today
06:00 WED (b03mg1dg)
Today
06:00 THU (b03mhyzh)
Today
06:00 FRI (b03mj8lq)
Tweet of the Day
08:58 SUN (b03k5cbg)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 MON (b03k72zr)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 TUE (b03k7330)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 WED (b03mg1dc)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 THU (b03mhyzf)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 FRI (b03mj8ln)
UK Confidential
11:00 FRI (b03mj8lz)
Weather
06:04 SAT (b03m83r1)
Weather
06:57 SAT (b03m83r3)
Weather
12:57 SAT (b03m83r5)
Weather
17:57 SAT (b03m83rc)
Weather
06:57 SUN (b03m83t9)
Weather
07:57 SUN (b03m83tf)
Weather
12:57 SUN (b03m83tk)
Weather
17:57 SUN (b03m83tp)
Weather
05:56 MON (b03mcltj)
Weather
12:57 MON (b03mcltp)
Weather
21:58 MON (b03mcltw)
Weather
12:57 TUE (b03mfryl)
Weather
17:57 TUE (b03mfryq)
Weather
21:58 TUE (b03mfryv)
Weather
21:58 WED (b03mg0jk)
Weather
12:57 THU (b03mg0m4)
Weather
21:58 THU (b03mg0mj)
Weather
12:57 FRI (b03mg0pr)
Weather
21:58 FRI (b03mg0q2)
What Does the K Stand For?
18:30 WED (b03mhvqf)
Woman's Hour
16:00 SAT (b03mckks)
Woman's Hour
10:00 MON (b03mcmx1)
Woman's Hour
10:00 TUE (b03mfvl5)
Woman's Hour
10:00 WED (b03mg86v)
Woman's Hour
10:00 THU (b03mhz28)
Woman's Hour
10:00 FRI (b03mj8lv)
Word of Mouth
23:00 MON (b03mfqm5)
Word of Mouth
16:00 TUE (b03mfwjz)
World at One
13:00 MON (b03mcltr)
World at One
13:00 TUE (b03mfryn)
World at One
13:00 WED (b03mg88q)
World at One
13:00 THU (b03mg0m7)
World at One
13:00 FRI (b03mg0pv)
You and Yours
12:00 MON (b03mfltk)
You and Yours
12:00 TUE (b03mfvlf)
You and Yours
12:00 THU (b03mj1y0)
You and Yours
12:00 FRI (b03mj8m3)
iPM
05:45 SAT (b03m84ww)
iPM
17:30 SAT (b03m84ww)