The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
The author Gideon Lewis-Kraus describes leaving America for life in Berlin, to ease the sadness after his father abandoned the family home. But Berlin isn't enough and only embarking on a series of world-wide pilgrimages will help him. The journeys turn out both amusing and moving, and are abridged in five episodes by Katrin Williams..
5. It's to Uman in Ukraine to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with the Rev Dr Gordon Gray.
'Do you really want to see someone losing their life?' - A listener who spent his career watching unedited news footage talks about the effect of watching violent images. Presented by Jennifer Tracey and Eddie Mair. iPM@bbc.co.uk.
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
In this series of Ramblings, Clare Balding revisits some of her favourite walks and walkers. After thirteen years she returns to the Isle of Wight to meet Elizabeth Hutchings who introduced her to the Tennyson Trail.
Elizabeth's late husband, Richard, was the founder of the Farringford Tennyson Society, so it was only fitting that he should have a bench, placed in his memory, under the poet's monument on top of the Down. But when Clare last visited this National Trust site, it was their policy not to have memorial plaques on benches, a disappointment to Elizabeth. But thanks to the likes of Head Ranger Robin Lang, they have reversed their position and now the bench has an inscription, to Richard, carved into the wood.
Although now in her mid eighties and unable to make the steep climb onto the Down, with the help of Robin's four by four, Elizabeth and Clare once again visit the monument , the Down and Richard's seat and discuss the role walking has played in Elizabeth's long and eventful life.
For many a livestock market doubles up as a place to buy and sell and as a social club. Over recent years the number of markets has declined. There are nearly 200 left in the UK. Charlotte Smith gets to the heart of Thame Farmers Mart in Oxfordshire, from eating a bacon sandwich in the cafe before the auction starts to speaking with potential purchasers in the sales ring.
And with almost two-billion pounds changing hands at livestock markets each year in the UK, we look at what the future holds for the insitutions, from online sales to trainee auctioneers.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Thought for the Day and Weather.
Richard Coles and Suzy Klein are joined by tv presenter Kate Humble, Mark Boyle who lived without money for 3 years, and Philip Geddes who brought a stuffed penguin from Antarctica to Hampshire. Pop Idol judge Nicki Chapman shares her love of dressage, John McCarthy takes a dip in the baths of Budapest and Desmond Morris shares his Inheritance Tracks.
While high culture wrestled with the clash of German Kultur and the civilisation of the west, popular culture had no such concern for nuance in the early months of war. In this programme Francine Stock explores the way the music industry, and by 1914 it was a thriving performing and publishing industry in Britain, responded to war. Recruitment songs, patriotic sheet music and poems by the thousand were everywhere. But it was short lived. Once the zeal for righteous war was replaced with the mundane business of fighting, the music makers returned to the escapism their audiences sought.
In France the authorities took complete control of popular culture from the outset and with immediate conscription there was no need for recruitment song. Instead they turned to an established supply of heroic French song driven by the smart of defeat in 1871 at the hands of the Prussians.
In Germany the 'spirit of September' echoed through the Biergarten in the form of the Prussian, now German, anthem, 'Heil! dir im Siegerkranz' (to the tune of our own national anthem) as well as 'Wacht am Rhein'. But as the initial war fever settled Germans turned to Operetta for their entertainment with the British Foreign Secretary Grey and the French Prime minister Poincare the butt of jokes in pieces like 'Immer Feste Druff' by Walter Kollo.
And finally, Imperial Russia saw a flurry of vivid Posters (Lubok) and increasingly postcards extolling the virtues of the Cossack Warrior, while popular singers like Nadezhda Plevitskaia sang emotive songs of pride in the Tsar and Russia in the folk style that spoke to the heart of both her city and rural audiences. But it was an image of an injured soldier by Leonid Pasternak, father of Boris, which captured the popular imagination from the outset. Hated by the Tsar it first appeared in 1914, long before it became a powerful image for the Bolshevik uprisings later in the war.
Gordon Brown re-entered the political atmosphere this week in the Scottish referendum NO campaign, on the same side of the argument as David Cameron who made his case at the Scottish Conservative Party conference on Friday. What effect will they each have on the No Campaign?
Plus Labour's strategy on an EU referendum and the art of the political interview.
Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. This week Mark Lowen is reminded of his days in the Balkans as he talks about history to people in Crimea; three years after the start of the uprising in Syria, Lina Sinjab catches up with those who once had so much hope; Sue Lloyd Roberts hears how a religious sect that believes in Aliens and the pursuit of pleasure is trying to help victims of female genital mutilation in Burkina Faso; In Serbia, Guy de Launey tells us how a political double-act could be replaced by Superman; and Tara Isabella Burton explains why chickens should avoid the Wing Bowl in Philadelphia.
Are holiday firms breaking the law if they demand the full cost of a holiday when you cancel within a few days of travelling? One Money Box listener was so convinced they were he challenged Thomson Holidays when it kept the whole cost of a cruise after he was forced to cancel because of his wife's illness. He went to court and a judge accepted his arguments in full and ordered Thomson to refund the full £2256 plus court costs. Can others follow his lead?
People who join the Experian 'credit expert' service to get unlimited free access to their credit reports and scores are also insured willy-nilly against ID theft. The cost of the package is £180 a year of which the unasked for insurance accounts for £77. It is sold online so no suitability test is done. Among other things the £77 a year policy will refund the cost of letters and phone calls needed to sort out an ID theft problem.
We will also be talking to the FCA about its latest report that says pre-ticked boxes to accept 'add-on' insurance "lead to poor consumer outcomes. Consumers can be significantly overpaying when they buy products as add-ons." Who'd a thought it?
If the Scottish electorate votes for independence on 14 September how will the interlocked finances of England and Scotland be teased apart? In particular what will happen to pensions - at work or personal - where the individual lives in one country but the funds are invested in the other?
The Chancellor's annual Budget used to tell us what taxes we would pay from the start of the tax year a few days later. No longer. Although the Budget is next Wednesday (19th) We already know all the basic tax rates and allowances that start on 6 April and most of the other changes to pension contributions and National Insurance. Our pre-Budget round up looks at what we already know about 2014/15.
A satirical review of the week's news, chaired by Sandi Toksvig, with regular panellist Jeremy Hardy and guest panellists Miles Jupp, Holly Walsh and Hugo Rifkind.
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from Musselburgh, East Lothian, with Labour peer and lawyer Baroness Kennedy, former leader of the Scottish Conservatives Baroness Goldie, Youth Employment Minister Angela Constance MSP and the writer and historian Michael Fry.
MPs have suggested that paying for sex becomes illegal rather than criminalising prostitutes who may have been forced into selling their bodies. It's a well-rehearsed argument amongst women's groups but is it, as Helena Kennedy suggests, time more men joined in the debate?
And Scotland.... How can you maintain currency union whilst also aiming for political and fiscal disunion? Also, it has different systems of law, education, and social care but does that imply the Scots have different values to the rest of the UK?
Anita Anand hears your reaction to these subjects as discussed in Any Questions? by Helena Kennedy, Labour Peer and Barrister; Angela Constance Minister for Youth Employment in the Scottish Government; Annabel Goldie, Former Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party; and Historian and writer, Michael Fry.
You can have your say on any of the subjects discussed on Any Answers? just after the news at
on Saturday. Call 03700 100 444 from
Presenter: Anita Anand.
4 Extra Debut. Politician David Davis gives a personal exploration of Tony Benn's life and ideas through his many radio appearances. From March 2014.
In spring 1974, alongside the established kiddie-pop of Mud, Slade and the Wombles, a new act sidled onto Top Of The Pops who generated more playground chatter the following morning than any of the above. Brothers Ron and Russell Mael had formed Sparks three years earlier, but their breakthrough came with the hit song 'This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us' - three minutes of staccato glam-pop that was over almost as soon as it began, with near-indecipherable lyrics and gunshot sound effects throughout.
Even more intriguing than the song was the brothers' appearance - corkscrew-haired Russell bouncing around the stage singing falsetto, while Ron stood virtually motionless at a piano in the background with a Hitler moustache and pursed lips, his eyes moving from side to side.
No one would even have guessed that they were brothers, but the Maels' chalk-and-cheese stage personae created a visual image which won them many more Top Of The Pops appearances and many more hits. Moreover, their image came to set the tone for a generation of electro-pop bands such as Soft Cell and the Pet Shop Boys - who followed the template of a charismatic frontman with a virtually motionless keyboard-playing wonk in the background, both of whose contributions were vital to the act.
In this programme the Mael brothers talk to Stuart Maconie about the relationship that led them into the music business and has seen them through a career of startling longevity, defying those who dismissed them as just another novelty act. Forty years on, Sparks are working on their 22nd studio album and still have music critics eating out of their hands. Always Anglophile by instinct, they have consistently enjoyed more success here than in their native USA - though they have played a long game, content to issue music sporadically and on their own terms rather than always to pursue the next hit. Their quirky creativity and refusal to play industry games have won them many prominent admirers among writers and musicians, notably Morrissey, Julie Burchill and Björk.
Should paying for sex be criminalised? There are proposals to change the laws on prostitution for the first time in twenty years. We hear from a former prostitute in favour of fining or jailing people who buy sex and from sex workers who argue that making it an criminal offence won't stop prostitution, but will make it more dangerous for the people involved.
As we begin the search for the ten women who should be on this year's Woman's Hour Power List 2014 Game Changers, we ask; how do you recognise a Game Changer, how do they operate and what are they like to manage?
Flora Thompson's Lark Rise to Candleford is one of the defining accounts of country life during the Victorian era, not to mention the inspiration for a hit television series. But why do we know so little about her?
What's it like to look for work in this competitive job market when you're a woman of a certain age?
Plus a team of girls in North London have become champions in robotics - what impact has it had on their ambitions?
And as the weather turns warmer what colour coats should we be wearing for Spring.
Corporate turnaround and transformational tales. Evan Davis and guests discuss how companies fail, struggle and find their way again.
John Lloyd, Jenna Russell, Bobby Crush, Marc Abrahams, Scottee, Joan As Police Woman
'Whatever Happened To Spitting Image?' Clive talks to TV producer John Lloyd; one of the many contributors who address the question in BBC Four Arena's 30th anniversary programme. Spanning the early years of Margaret Thatcher's government to the end of John Major's, Spitting Image puppets became almost as famous as the politicians they lampooned.
In a city of the future that has been inflicted with a terrible drought, business tycoon Caldwell B. Cladwell has made his fortune through bribery and the monopolisation of all public toilets. It's not a place to get caught short! Clive talks to Olivier award winner Jenna Russell, who stars in the UK premiere of 'Urinetown, The Musical.'
"He twinkles and sparkles and boy, can he play!" As Bobby Crush hits 60, Scottee invites him to tickle the ivories with a rendition of 'Nicholas Parsons' on the Loose Ends Steinway and asks the astonishing pianist about his 40 years in showbusiness, reaching right back to his debut on TV's "Opportunity Knocks" in 1972.
Clive talks to the creator of the Ig Nobel Prizes about his second book of truly improbable research. It's another addictive, wryly funny expose of odd, imaginative, and amazingly improbable research from around the globe, such as the use of Prozac for the treatment of stereotypical pacing behaviour in a captive polar bear!
With more music from Joan As Police Woman who performs 'Holy City' from her album 'The Classic'.
Ahead of the budget Mary Ann Sieghart profiles Rupert Harrison. He's the top economic adviser to George Osborne, and the man some call the 'real Chancellor' and 'the most important man you've never heard of'. Those who know him well and have seen his influence grow describe his career and characteristics.
Under The Skin is the new film from Jonathan "Sexy Beast" Glazer. Starring Scarlett Johansson, it's the story of an alien on earth and her encounters with humans. It's been booed and cheered at film festivals around the world, what do our humanoid reviewers make of this unconventional almost- psychedelic spacey work?
Henry Pearlaman was an American cold storage magnate and a collector of impressionist and post-impressionist art. A selection from his collection has come to the UK for the first time - and it includes some stunning works. How does Oxford's Ashmolean Museum present such a sumptuous array of riches?
The Olympic-themed sitcom Twenty Twelve was a rip-roaring award-winning success, and the BBC's follow up is set in The Corporation's HQ; New Broadcasting House. Is it full of self-indulgent in-jokes funny only to those "who work in the media" or do the bizarre machinations of any big organisation lend themselves to rib-tickling comedy?
Urinetown is the uninvitingly named new musical that has just opened. Set in a town where one man controls the public lavatories, and his attempt to quell the opposition who want to "pee for free". It originated on Broadway and was garlanded with awards, it subverts conventional expectations of what musicals should be. But does it do so in a way that will beguile our reviewers and British audiences more generally?
"Arguably the most successful author in China today", Mai Jia has sold more than 5 million copies. His espionage novels are a hit in the most populous nation on earth, but can they break out to the wider world? We look at his latest - Decoded -which deals with cryptographers in a top secret government department.
It's often said these days that the interviewers have stolen the show - interviews are no longer read for their subject, but for the interviewer's personal ruminations, reflections, opinions and even judgements on the person in question.
Lynn is probably one of the worst offenders. Known as Demon Barber for thirty years, she doesn't repent. The move of the interviewer from the wings to centre stage has happened in her lifetime and with her eager connivance.
In this programme, she argues how her medium is all the better for the interviewers taking charge. When she started her career in the late 60s, there were no regular celebrity interviews in the newspapers. As a young writer she worked as Literary Editor on Penthouse Magazine and Bob Guccione, who founded the magazine, wanted to launch an American edition which meant she had to familiarise herself with American culture, spelling and interests. So she subscribed to all the great American magazines - Playboy, Esquire, The New Yorker, Andy Warhol's Interview Magazine and Rolling Stone - with writing from Lillian Ross, Norman Mailer, Tom Wolfe, Gay Talese, and Joan Didion.
This writing became known as the New Journalism and included great interviews and profiles which, as she reveals, are great works of literature - brilliant studies of the writer's celebrity subject. They have defined how she and others approach their interviewing today.
Elizabeth has misjudged Wickham's character and he is about to bring further shame on her family. Can she hope to ever see Mr Darcy again after rejecting his offer of marriage?
Elizabeth has rejected Darcy's offer of marriage but is beginning to reappraise her judgement of his character after she learns of how Wickham attempted to seduce Darcy's sister. Darcy may have put his proposal badly, pointing out their differences in birth and the behaviour of her family. He may also have attempted to separate her sister Jane from Mr Bingley But it appears he believed that Jane did not love Bingley. And Elizabeth knows that her mother and younger sisters do not always behave with the decorum that might be expected of them and her father is too lazy to correct them. Perhaps the fault is not entirely on Darcy's side.
Published just over 200 years ago Pride and Prejudice remains one of the Nation's favourite novels; with its intellect and wit it appeals to a broad range of readers. It stands the test of time by dealing with the timeless issues of love, social class, money and mistaken judgements and by having a witty and clever though flawed heroine at its heart. Elizabeth Bennet is a thorough radical for her time and perhaps the first heroine to ask is it possible to have it all?
Pippa Nixon takes on the role of Elizabeth; she received rave reviews for her Rosalind in 'As You Like It' ' a rising young star'.
Jamie Parker (Darcy) has played Henry V at the National and is shortly to portray Hamlet on Radio 4.
Double Olivier Award winner Samantha Spiro takes on Mrs Bennet and Toby Jones Mr Collins.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.
There are few more emotive subjects than assisted dying. It captures both the hopes and the fears of the age in which we live. Advances in medical technology have been a triumph, extending our life expectancy almost exponentially. 33% of babies born today can expect to live to 100. 80 years ago the figure would have been less than 4%. But along with the undreamt of levels of longevity have come the nightmares of a lingering death; robbed of our humanity by the indignity and pain of diseases. The government has just announced that it will give MP's a free vote on the latest legislative attempt to allow people to get help to die and campaigners believe that decision will give the bill a strong chance of becoming law. It will allow adults to ask a doctor to help them die if they've been given no more than six months to live. But it won't go as far as some campaigners would like. Why is it morally acceptable to help someone to kill themselves if they're already close to death, but not to help someone who might have many years of pain and suffering ahead of them? And if it's right to allow adults assisted suicide, why not children? After all is it moral to expect them to endure the suffering we would not? At the heart of this issue is personal choice and moral agency - it's my life and my death. But is the brutal truth that in almost every circumstance we already have that choice, it's just that we want someone else to administer the coup de gras? Or is that point? Assisted dying - a very compassionate and humane answer to help people when they are at their most desperate or a law that will in reality help only a small number, but put many more vulnerable people at risk? Chaired by Michael Buerk with Claire Fox, Anne McElvoy, Matthew Taylor, Giles Fraser.
Witnesses are Graham Winyard, Colin Harte, Gerlant van Berlaer and Ruth Dudley Edwards.
Competitors from Portsmouth, Bolton, Ormskirk and Leeds face Russell Davies' questions, in the second semi-final of radio's most venerable general knowledge quiz. They have all won their respective heats, or been among the top-scoring runners-up, and now stand a real chance of a place in the 2014 Final.
Can they identify the New York jazz club whose address in its heyday was 1678 Broadway? Or the name given to the constant expressing the quantity of electric charge carried by a mole of electrons?
They'll also be called upon to pool their knowledge and see if they can deal with the listener's cunning questions chosen this week to 'Beat the Brains'.
Roger McGough presents a selection of poems by Czeslaw Milosz and Emily Dickinson read by Peter Marinker and Eleanor Tremain. A Polish veteran of many of the upheavals of the middle of the Twentieth Century and a Nineteenth Century New Englander who kept to her house and communicated with the world by post: perhaps not much connects these poets and yet their poems speak to one another across the years. Producer: Tim Dee.
SUNDAY 16 MARCH 2014
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b03xztlk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
SUN 00:30 After Wonderland (b03xzvn0)
Alice after Wonderland
The first of three dramatic monologues by Sheila Yeger imagining the adult lives of characters from children's literature.
Decades after her adventures with the Red Queen and the White Rabbit Alice lives alone with her cat and her memories.
Alice is played by Marlene Sidaway; the producer is James Cook.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03xztlm)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03xztlp)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at
5.20am.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03xztlr)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b03xztlt)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b03xzvn2)
Winchester Cathedral
The bells of Winchester Cathedral.
SUN 05:45 Lent Talks (b03xhfds)
Bonnie Greer
The American writer Bonnie Greer begins this year's series of Lent Talks, where six prominent writers reflect on the Christian season of Lent and how the story of Christ's passion continues to impact on contemporary society.
This year's theme is looks at power and the way the story of the Passion reflects the ways in which power is exercised in today's world. Power can be used for good or bad, to build or destroy, to give or take, to serve or to lead.
In this talk Bonnie Greer reflects on the power of names. Slaves and the descendants of slaves must use the names they were given. Power has the ability to alter other people's reality. It also has the ability to answer, the ability to define yourself. When Pontius Pilate asked Jesus his name, Jesus did not reply.
Producer: Peter Everett.
SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b03xztlw)
The latest national and international news.
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b03xzwgb)
Gifts
John McCarthy considers the complexities in giving and receiving gifts.
As he shops for a present for a relation he hasn't seen for a while, John reflects on the dance of gifting. He explores ways in which gifts can create unanticipated jealousies. They can so often reflect the taste of the giver rather than the recipient and sometimes giving can be manipulative.
The shopping trip brings back memories of a surprise gift John's father once brought home from a business trip, and he remembers his nephew's intense disappointment at not getting the present he wished for from his grandmother. All of which raises the knotty subject of how to receive a gift graciously.
The programme includes readings from works by EM Forster, Eva Ibbotson, Kim Addonizio and Brian Patten. And there's music by Wagner, Chris Wood, Jim Croce and Cesar Franck.
Readers: Rachel Atkins and Fraser James
Produced by Rosie Boulton
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b03xzx5p)
Peter Kendall
Peter Kendall was elected president of the National Farmers' Union in 2006. Since then, he has had to get used to spending more time in a boardroom and a suit than he does on a tractor. During his leadership, farming has been through foot and mouth, Schmallenberg, bird flu, horsemeat, CAP reform, the badger cull, and flooding. Eight years on, he's just stepped down.
Charlotte Smith travels to the Kendall family farm in Eyeworth in Bedfordshire, to see how both Peter and his family view the prospect of his return to a more hands-on life on the farm. She meets his brother Richard, who's been running the farm, and his wife and children - the youngest of whom was only a baby when he was first elected president.
Peter reflects on the challenges of his time at the top, and speculates on what may lie ahead for the farming industry.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Emma Campbell.
SUN 06:57 Weather (b03xztly)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b03xztm0)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (b03xzx5r)
Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby; PM's Jewish Roots; Tony Benn
Religious education can reduce religious misunderstanding and conflict according to a new report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on RE. Edward Stourton talks to Stephen Lloyd MP and former counter terrorism minister Hazel Blears.
Matt Wells reports from the grassroots of American Catholicism on reaction to Pope Francis' first year in office.
Following David Cameron's comments about his Jewish ancestry while in Israel this week, Edward Stourton talks to Jewish historian Dr Yaakov Wise who has researched the PM's Jewish roots. Yaakov Wise also comments on the news that Israel has passed a law conscripting ultra-orthodox Jews into military service for the first time.
Methodist minister, Lord Griffiths, discusses the non-conformist religious influences on Tony Benn and his political ideals.
Edward Stourton talks to the 2014 Templeton Prize winner Tomas Halik, a Czech priest and philosopher who established an underground university under the Soviet Union.
One year on from the appointment a new Pope and Archbishop of Canterbury we explore what the past 12 months tell us about the direction both are taking their churches - Edward is joined by Paul Handley of the Church Times, Madeline Teahan of the Catholic Herald and the BBC's Religious Affairs Correspondent Robert Pigott.
Producers:
Catherine Earlam and Annabel Deas
Series Producer: Amanda Hancox
Contributors:
Stephen Lloyd MP
Hazel Blears MP
Dr Yaakov Wise
Lesley Griffiths
Tomas Halik
Paul Handley
Madeline Teahan
Robert Pigott.
SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b03xzx5t)
Target Ovarian Cancer
Andy Hamilton presents the Radio 4 Appeal for Target Ovarian Cancer.
Reg Charity: 1125038
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal, mark the back of the envelope 'T O C'.
SUN 07:57 Weather (b03xztm2)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b03xztm4)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b03xzx5w)
Inside Doubt
'Inside Doubt'
From Fortwilliam Presbyterian Church Belfast.
In the second of Radio 4's series 'Inside Lent', the Rev Dr Lesley Carroll explores how and why we doubt.
Doubt is often seen as the enemy of faith; the New Testament teaches that the enemy is, in fact, fear.
Leader: Jonathan McCormick
With the Choir of Carrickfergus Grammar School.
Conductor: Edward Craig
Organist: Stephen Hamill
Producer: The Revd Dr Robert Tosh.
Through programmes on Radio 4, local radio and online resources for individuals and groups, BBC Religion & Ethics 'Inside Lent', devised by Bishop Stephen Oliver, invites listeners to join a journey of discovery through this Christian season by reflecting on the nature of a number of very human feelings. bbc.co.uk/religion
Lent: Inside temptation (9th March)
Lent: Inside doubt (16th March)
Lent: Inside anger (23rd March)
Lent: Inside love (30th March)
Lent: Inside fear (6th April)
Lent: Inside hope (13th April)
Easter Day - Inside joy (20th April).
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (b03xgtsd)
The Time Warp
Sarah Dunant reflects that today's harsher judgement of some of the sexual behaviour prevalent in the 1970s springs in part from the freedom forged in that decade. "Without the seventies, we would never have had the debate, the public awareness, the sense of outrage or even the occasionally blunt tool of the law to judge the present and the past."
Producer: Sheila Cook.
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b03x46sm)
Treecreeper
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Bill Oddie presents the treecreeper. Treecreepers are common woodland birds but because their high-pitched almost whispering song, is often drowned out by the dawn chorus, they're often overlooked. The first glimpse may be a silhouette, its belly close to the bark, braced by stiff tail feathers. It has a curved, tweezer-like bill with with which it delicately probes for hidden insects and spiders deep in the crevices of the bark.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b03xzx5y)
Sunday morning magazine programme with news and conversation about the big stories of the week. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b03xzx60)
Neil offers some unsolicited advice, and tensions rise at Blossom Hill Cottage.
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b03xzx62)
Murray Walker
Kirsty Young's castaway is the broadcaster Murray Walker
His commentating career began in 1948 and he finally hung the lip mic at the end of 2001. His trousers-on-fire style of delivery brought excitement, emotion and fanatical obsession to Formula 1 - for many motor racing fans he was motorsport.
He was a petrol-head before the term had even been coined; his father, one of the top motorbike racing champions of his day, ignited his son's life-long love of big noisy engines.
He's talked British fans through so many of the sport's greatest victories - Damon Hill crossing the finish line to win the World Title brought an audible lump to his throat. But also, inevitably, there have been great tragedies too - his live commentary on Ayrton Senna's fatal crash in 1994 was possibly his most professionally demanding.
He says, "I have always believed that Formula One, with its highs and lows, is the ultimate distillation of life."
Producer: Cathy Drysdale.
SUN 12:00 Just a Minute (b03xdk8s)
Series 68
Episode 5
Just how hard can it be to talk for 60 seconds with no hesitation, repetition & deviation? Fi Glover joins regulars Gyles Brandreth, Tony Hawks and Paul Merton as Nicholas Parsons adjudicates. Subjects include 'Ten Things to Do during a Powercut'.
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b03xzyy1)
Hospital Food
Sheila Dillon investigates the government's latest plans to improve food in the NHS. The government is introducing a new incentive to encourage hospitals to invest in food. Will this succeed where other initiatives fail?
Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced in Bristol by Emma Weatherill.
SUN 12:57 Weather (b03xztm6)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b03xzyy3)
The latest national and international news, including an in-depth look at events around the world. Email: wato@bbc.co.uk; twitter: #theworldthisweekend.
SUN 13:30 Crypto Wars (b03xzyy5)
The revelations from Edward Snowden that British and American spies have been working to break encryption have generated fierce debate. Privacy advocates argue that the NSA and GCHQ have undermined the internet by weakening the security on which we rely to keep our communications and transactions secure. At issue is whether people should be able to encrypt their messages so that they are entirely private - which would mean that governments wouldn't be able to read them. But this latest fight is just the latest chapter in a battle going back decades.
In the 1970s, a group of academics and scientists in America came up with a means of providing encryption for the masses. The NSA, the US spy agency, went into battle with them - doing its best to suppress and control the emerging technology of public encryption. It even tried to prosecute some of the proponents. At its heart is a culture clash between two sides: libertarian techies on the West Coast and East Coast government spies. BBC Security Correspondent Gordon Corera meets the engaging characters from both sides of the divide and finds out what it means for us today.
Producer: Mark Savage.
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b03xgsm0)
Cheltenham
Eric Robson hosts the horticultural panel programme from Cheltenham. Chris Beardshaw, Pippa Greenwood and Anne Swithinbank take questions from local gardeners.
Also in this episode, Chris explores a villa in Gloucestershire to unearth a Roman horticultural legacy, and Matthew Wilson traces the close relationship between gardening and fashion as he visits the Garden Museum in Lambeth, London.
Assistant Producer: Darby Dorras
Produced by Howard Shannon
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
This week's questions:
Q. I have Clematis growing across my porch. On a Friday it had produced two flowers but by the Saturday they were dead. What am I doing wrong?
A. Clematis is often affected by a disease called 'wilt' and no one is completely sure what causes it. They are often attacked by slugs and the damage can have the appearance of Clematis wilt. It would be best to put down some slug deterrent. Make sure you are planting deep enough so that if the top is damaged then the buds under the ground can sprout. A rose fertilizer will help it on its way.
Q. I planted some young Pac Choi plants last November. They were supposed to be ready after six weeks but they have just gone to seed. Could the panel explain what has gone wrong?
A. Usually they go to seed when things get a little bit too tough and the main cause is often dryness. However, that may not have been the case this year. It is usually a good idea to start from seeds because the transporting process can be too much of a shock for small plants. Sew the seeds in cells and plant them out when they are a maximum of one inch (2-3cm). They may have been over pampered before you bought them, so try hardening young plants before planting them out proper.
Q. Could the panel suggest some plants for a summer container? It will be positioned in a sunny spot and can only be watered a couple of times a week.
A. Pelargoniums are quite low maintenance and can survive drying out. Try anything from the classic Pelargonium to some of the more unusual varieties such as Angel. They have a slightly succulent stem which helps. For true succulents you could try Portulaca, which is a pretty, trailing plant and produces needle-like foliage and flowers like Rock Roses. If you want good trailing foliage, use the classic Helichrysum Petiolare. It has long, draping stems with round, silver leaves. Make sure that you choose big containers and line them with bubble wrap to decrease the rate at which they dry out. Layering your plants provides you with insurance if something fails. Start with something architectural, for example a Phormium. Then add Aeonium Zwartkop for its wonderful rosettes of near black foliage and elegant stems. Use Golden Oregano for a blast of colour. Throw in some Mesembryanthemums for added seasonality.
Q. I have a leafless Poinsettia left over from Christmas. What shall I do with it so that I can use it next Christmas?
A. They go into a resting phase, so it is a good time to prune. Once it has started to show new growth, repot it and water it. Give it a liquid feed every week. Then you have the challenge of bringing it into bract. They won't come into colour unless they receive the right amount of light. They will remain green if you keep them in a room with artificial lighting. Be aware that they are very prone to red spider mite and this can cause defoliation.
Q. My mature Euphorbia characias wulfenii has been battered to the ground by wind and rain. Would it hurt to tidy it up at this point in the year?
A. Late summer or early winter is usually recommended to prevent them from flailing around in the bad weather. You may find that you get a lot of sappy growth but pruning now is fine. The sooner you do it the better and it will rejuvenate from right down in the base.
SUN 14:45 Witness (b03xzzc4)
Taiwan - The 228 Incident
In early 1947, Chinese nationalist forces, led by Chiang Kai-Shek, killed an estimated twenty thousand Taiwanese islanders after protests in Taipei. The Chinese had taken control of the island at the end of WW2 after more than 50 years of Japanese rule. Dr Chau Wu was a young boy at the time of the killings.
SUN 15:00 Saturday Drama (b01rv0lm)
Great Escape: The Justice
In the spring of 1943, a group of Air Force officers began work on an ambitious plan to tunnel their way out of a German POW camp called Stalag Luft Three. A year later the tunnel was ready and seventy-six made their escape. All but three were recaptured, but fifty were then systematically executed on orders from German High Command. This much was made internationally famous by Hollywood in the film The Great Escape, which mixes a meticulous depiction of the tunnelling plan with highly fictionalised American characters on motorbikes.
But there is a stranger part of the story which starts where the film leaves off, and reveals the real history behind the nation-building legend. The British Government vowed to avenge the murders, and within weeks of the war's end, sent RAF investigators into the ruins of Germany, with orders to track down the killers, and bring them to exemplary justice.
Award-winning dramatist Robin Brooks and internationally best-selling novelist Robert Radcliffe tell the extraordinary story of the escape, the murders, and the postwar manhunt in the chaos of divided Germany, through the eyes of one of the senior investigating officers: a straightforward by-the-book detective from Blackpool CID.
Producer/Director ..... Jonquil Panting.
SUN 16:00 Open Book (b03xzzc6)
Mary Lawson; Iranian literature; AS Byatt and Cecil Day Lewis
Acclaimed Canadian author Mary Lawson talks to Mariella Frostrup about her latest novel Road Ends, set once again in the harsh and isolated landscape of Northern Ontario, where a suicide has an unexpected effect on an already unravelling family.
35 years ago Iran was declared an Islamic Republic following the exile of the Shah and the return of Ayatollah Khomeini. Known as Persia before 1935, it had one of the greatest empires of the ancient world, and has maintained a distinct cultural identity within the Islamic world especially retaining its own language, Farsi. Writer and broadcaster Ali May and one of the country's most important contemporary writers Amir Cheheltan discuss the state of modern Iranian literature
In the early 1960s an aspiring young writer sent her manuscript on spec to the publisher Chatto and Windus. The author was AS Byatt, her editor Cecil Day Lewis, and that debut novel, The Shadow of the Sun, was published, after much editorial discussion between the two, 50 years ago in 1964. This early correspondence offers an unique window into the writing process and highlights the blossoming relationship between these two giants of the literary world.
Producer: Andrea Kidd.
SUN 16:30 Poetry Please (b03xzzc8)
Edward Thomas, Charlotte Mew, Walter de la Mare
Roger McGough introduces a selection of requested poetry from three poets who were active one hundred years ago: Edward Thomas, Charlotte Mew and Walter de la Mare. In 1914, Charlotte Mew, who had one of the saddest lives in all poetry, was cautiously assembling poems for her first collection, The Farmer's Bride. Walter de la Mare had just published Peacock Pie, a book of his children's poems, which has remained immensely popular, with many reprints ever since. And the brief poetic career of Edward Thomas was just getting underway after he met the American poet Robert Frost and began turning his prose writing into poems. The readers are Eleanor Tremain, Peter Marinker and Anton Lesser. Producer: Tim Dee.
SUN 17:00 File on 4 (b03xf0gt)
Election Fraud
With local authority elections due in May, Allan Urry investigates claims of organised vote rigging.
Earlier this year, the Electoral Commission identified 16 areas in England with wards that are at particular risk of electoral fraud.
File on 4 visits some of those towns and cities and hears first hand evidence of intimidation and the widespread abuse of postal votes - including allegations that some people are being pressured into handing over their vote to party activists.
A candidate who successfully took a court case against his opponent after narrowly losing an election, says some campaigners have lost sight of what is right and wrong.
And a judge who sits in election fraud cases attacks the system as "shambolic" and "wide open to abuse".
So is our voting system too vulnerable to fraud? Are the authorities doing all they can to root out corruptions? And is it time to end postal voting on demand?
Producers: Emma Forde and Sally Chesworth.
SUN 17:40 Profile (b03xzsnz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b03xztm8)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 17:57 Weather (b03xztmb)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03xztmd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b03y00qr)
*Correction: Dividing the Union was written by James Graham*
Writer and broadcaster John Waite presents the best of BBC Radio this week.
Be warned - there's a lot of rudeness in Pick of the Week this Sunday. As John Waite discovers, it's open season on being rude about famous people in the newspapers these days. Radio 4 has also just started being rude about architects, too. There's a rather rude joke about Bruce Forsythe, and a rather rude noise from a two hundred year old tortoise.
So join John for his Pick of the Week - surely it'd be rude not to.
Produced by the polite Stephen Garner.
Today (Radio 4,
6am Friday 14th March)
Archive on 4: The Interviewer Stole the Show (Radio 4,
8pm Saturday 15th March)
Nature: The Midland Brown Snake - Dead or Alive (Radio 4,
9pm Monday 10th March)
From Our Own Correspondent (World Service,
8.50pm Thursday 13th March)
Afternoon Drama: Dividing the Union (Radio 4,
2.15pm Friday 14th March)
Moira Stuart (Radio 2,
11pm Sunday 9th March)
Thanks A Lot, Milton Jones! (Radio 4,
6.30pm Wednesday 12th March)
The Life Scientific (Radio 4,
9am Tuesday 11th March)
Venus in View (Radio 4,
11.30am Thursday 13th March)
Book of the Week: A Sense of Direction (Radio 4,
9.45am All-week)
Publishing Lives (Radio 4,
1.45pm All-week)
A Shower of Sparks (Radio 4,
3.30pm Saturday 15th March)
5 Live Breakfast (5 Live,
6am Wednesday 12th March).
SUN 19:00 The Archers (b03y00qt)
Tom and Kirsty start training in preparation for the Rough and Tumble challenge on Friday. Kirsty hopes her dress will look all right at the fitting later on.
The whole village seems to be gearing up for the challenge, and some of the inter-couple competitions look to be intense. Lynda is interested in reports of a celebrity appearance but Fallon tells her she'll have to come along on Friday to find out who it is.
Lynda is keen to offer Fallon help with the organisation, given her wealth of experience. But Fallon thinks she has it under control. Fallon is shocked to hear that Lynda is intending to take part in the event.
At the fitting, Helen thinks Kirsty looks stunning but Kirsty is underwhelmed. Unable to afford her dream dress, she accepts she'll have to buy this one.
At a meeting for the Rough and Tumble challenge, plans are quickly coming together. Lynda suggests organising a splinter 'Smooth and Steady' event for the more mature villager. Everyone is keen on the idea.
Ruth admits she's been unable to concentrate since Jill suggested she might be pregnant. She takes a test and it's positive. Ruth is shocked. What is David going to think?
SUN 19:15 Jeeves - Live! (b03y00qw)
Series 2
Jeeves Takes Charge
Martin Jarvis performs the second of two of two celebrated P.G. Wodehouse stories, starring Bertie Wooster and his urbane valet Jeeves.
Recorded before a live audience, the performance was a highlight of the 2013 Cheltenham Festival of Literature.
This is Bertie's account of how he hired Jeeves as his 'gentleman's personal' gentleman. Jeeves's first task is to assist Bertie in spiriting away a scandalous family memoir, before publication. And more crucially, extricating the young master from the clutches of Florence.
It's a one-man tour de force - as well as Jeeves and Wooster, Jarvis also portrays Bertie's fiendish fiancée Florence Craye. In reviews for his previous one-man Radio 4 Wodehouse performance, The Times said, "Outshining all was Martin Jarvis in the funniest performance of the year...Jarvis switched unerringly from one character to the next."
Martin Jarvis received a Theatre World Award for his performance as Jeeves in 'By Jeeves' on Broadway.
Directed by Rosalind Ayres
A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 19:45 The Showman's Parson: Tales from the Memoirs of the Rev Thomas Horne (b03y00qy)
The Mummer
Thomas Horne was born in 1849 in a caravan at Nottingham Goose Fair. He spent the first part of his life as a working showman - dressing up as a performing bear, running a Penny Bazaar around the Lancashire Wakes, working as a doorman in Mrs Williams' Waxwork, and finally becoming an actor in a Mumming Booth and a partner in an Illusion Show. Latterly, he joined a missionary brotherhood in Oxford, and was ordained as a priest in Leeds in 1885.
Until his death in 1918, Thomas Horne was a vigorous campaigner for the rights of travelling people. With his education, training as a priest, and family association with the fairground, he was their ideal representative. He travelled throughout the country, preaching to showfolk and, in one year alone, he travelled over 12,000 miles, visiting fairs as far apart as Penzance in Cornwall to Ayr in Scotland.
The stories in this series are taken from his memoirs held in the National Fairground Archive in Sheffield.
Today's story concerns the actor, Hervey Hoyne and the terrible events surrounding a fire in the Mumming Booth at Rotherham Statutes Fair.
Read by Tony Lidington
Producer: David Blount
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 20:00 Feedback (b03xgswb)
Is anyone at the BBC listening? This week we'll be talking to John Humphrys about whether liberal bias at the BBC has put it out of step with public opinion, and whether anything is changing. And there's a tale of sabotage and sacrilege in a Lincolnshire abbey.
In an interview with this week's Radio Times, John Humphrys admitted the BBC had, in the past, been wrong in its coverage of immigration and Europe. "We weren't sufficiently sceptical - that's the most accurate phrase - of the pro-European case. We bought into the European ideal". And he went on to say that the BBC has been "grotesquely over-managed". Roger Bolton asks John what has changed and whether BBC presenters should criticise their employer.
Roger's also been brushing up his Welsh this week to speak to the Editor of Programmes for BBC Radio Cymru, Betsan Powys. Following a dispute with Welsh musicians and a fall in listener figures, BBC Radio Cymru, the only national Welsh language radio station, decided it needed to start listening to its audience. After months of conversations with listeners, Radio Cymru has re-launched with a dramatic shake-up to its schedules. Will it work? And will they still be listening now they've made the changes?
And our quest to find the very first bells broadcast on the BBC takes us to a small town in the Midlands to hear a listeners' fascinating tale of a nefarious plot to foil the broadcasters.
Producer: Will Yates
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 20:30 Last Word (b03xgsw8)
Tony Benn, James Ellis, Peter Rona, Marion Thorpe, Bob Crow
On Last Word with Julian Worricker:
Two prominent figures of the political left, Tony Benn and Bob Crow. Ruth Winstone, who edited Tony Benn's diaries for publication, pays tribute to the former Cabinet minister and Labour MP. And you'll hear from a close colleague of the general secretary of the RMT union and from a man who was critical of him in print but who says privately you couldn't meet a nicer and more sincere bloke.
The actor, James Ellis, who portrayed Bert Lynch in 'Z Cars' for sixteen years. Sir Kenneth Branagh recalls how James helped launch his career.
The oceanographer, Doctor Peter Rona, who helped to pioneer the scientific exploration of the deep-sea floor.
And the pianist, Marion Thorpe, who co-founded the Leeds International Piano Competition.
SUN 21:00 Money Box (b03xzs1l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:00 on Saturday]
SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b03xzx5t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 today]
SUN 21:30 Analysis (b03y02c5)
The Jihadi Spring
Owen Bennett-Jones asks if the real beneficiaries of the multiple failures of the Arab revolutions are the Islamist militants both of al-Qaeda and its increasingly violent allies. Does the West's tacit support for the reassertion of military control in Egypt send a powerful message to would-be Islamists - that they will never be allowed to achieve power through the ballot box?
Producer: Leo Hornak.
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b03y00r1)
Weekly political discussion and analysis with MPs, experts and commentators.
SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b03y00r3)
Mary Riddell of the Telegraph looks at how papers covered the week's big stories.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b03xgl48)
Jonathan Glazer on Under The Skin; Spinal Tap 30 years on; SXSW highlights; Rome on film
Francine Stock talks to writer and director Jonathan Glazer about Under the Skin, an unsettling sci fi film starring Scarlett Johansson. His previous work includes Birth and Sexy Beast. He explores the challenges of seeing the world through alien eyes.
Spinal Tap, the rock mock doc, is 30 years old and Scott Jordan Harris and Sophie Monks Kaufman debate whether it still works for a new generation.
The South By South West Festival, or SXSW, is underway in Austin Texas, covering film, music and interactive. Henry Barnes from The Guardian brings us his highlights from the festival including The Possibilities Are Endless, a documentary about the musician Edwyn Collins and his recovery from a stroke.
And Pasquale Iannone of Edinburgh University takes us on a tour of Rome on film from Fellini to Sorrentino.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b03xzwgb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 17 MARCH 2014
MON 00:00 Midnight News (b03y02hz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b03xf1f2)
Post-Katrina New Orleans; The Capitalist Personality
Post-Katrina New Orleans: how disaster recovery became a lucrative business. Laurie Taylor talks to Vincanne Adams, US Professor of Medical Anthropology, about her account of market failure after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She discovered private companies profiting from the misery they sought to ameliorate and a second order disaster that intensified inequalities based on race and class. Why were residents left to re-build their lives and homes almost entirely on their own, save for the contribution of churches and charities? Phil O'Keefe, Professor of Economic Development, joins the discussion.
Also, 'The Capitalist Personality' - Laurie Taylor explores interpersonal bonds in the post communist world. Christopher Swader, Assistant Professor of Sociology in Moscow, argues that successful people in countries as diverse as China and Russia adjust to the market economy at a social cost, compromising moral values in pursuit of material gain. Is anti social behaviour in new capitalist economies a by-product of their communist pasts or does the individual ambition released by economic development also have a part to play in threatening human relationships?
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b03xzvn2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03y02j1)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03y02j3)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03y02j5)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (b03y02j7)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b03y0dzs)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with the Rev Dr Gordon Gray.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (b03y0dzv)
Scotland, Sheep-worrying, Hill farming
Would Scottish farmers be better off in the UK or out of it? With six months to go before the country decides whether to become independent or remain in the union, we ask two farmers who will be speaking at an NFU Scotland debate this evening. Jim Fairlie farms in the Uplands north of Perth. He represents the pro-independence group Farming for Yes. Jim tells Farming Today that independence wouldn't disadvantage Scotland's ability to sell farm produce to England. Peter Chapman from the pro-union group Rural Better Together runs a mixed farm in Aberdeenshire. He says that remaining in the union would guarantee farm subsidies from Europe.
Following a rise in reports of sheep-worrying, the National Sheep Association has launched a survey to help investigate and address the problem.
And as a new BBC programme about hill farmers is about to hit our TV screens this week, we ask how they are keeping their way of farming alive in a changing landscape.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Jules Benham.
MON 05:56 Weather (b03y02j9)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03x457w)
Grey Partridge
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Bill Oddie presents the Grey partridge. The grey partridge, a plump game bird, is now a rarity across most of the UK. Found on farmland, a partridge pair will often hold territory in a few fields beyond which they seldom stray during their whole lives. They should be doing well but increasing field sizes, which reduce nesting cover and the use of pesticides, which kill off vital insects, have taken their toll.
MON 06:00 Today (b03y0dzy)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (b03y0f00)
Decision-making with Daniel Kahneman and Michael Ignatieff
Tom Sutcliffe discusses how we make decisions with the Nobel prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman. Moral choices in politics can be a complicated business, according to the academic and former politician Michael Ignatieff, who explores whether the age of international intervention is over. Doctors work under the oath 'do no harm', but the neurosurgeon Henry Marsh says the decision whether to operate on a brain is rarely that simple. High emotion can cloud your judgement and the writer Lisa Appignanesi looks back at sensational crimes of passion to ask how far the perpetrators were responsible for their actions.
Producer: Katy Hickman.
MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b03zrcfv)
Free at Last - The Benn Diaries 1991 to 2001
Episode 1
In a change to the schedule, another chance to hear Tony Benn in his own words, reading extracts from his famous diaries, which were first broadcast in 2003.
"Free at Last" charts the final ten years that Tony Benn served as an MP - from the bombing of Baghdad, through the changes to Labour leadership and approach and the coming of New Labour to his decision to resign from Westminster. But the series is not all about politics. With insight and humour Benn reveals his cack-handed fascination with gadgetry of all kinds and his growing realisation that his family means everything to him.
Reader Tony Benn
Producer Jane Ray.
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b03y0f04)
Men who pay for sex; Food writer Diana Henry; MEP Nikki Sinclaire; Music in offices
Woman's Hour has been examining the case for and against the 'Nordic model' in a bid to change the laws on prostitution; on this programme we hear from three men who talk about why they pay for sex; Food writer Diana Henry has a new book, A Change of Appetite: Where Healthy Meets Delicious. For Cook the Perfect, she creates a feta and orange salad which is not just delicious but also 'accidentally healthy'; Tessa Marchington founded Music in Offices, the company that goes into the workplace and offers musical lessons and trains choirs amongst employees. She talks to Jane about what inspired her to set up the business; Nikki Sinclaire is an MEP in the West Midlands and the UK's first openly transsexual parliamentarian. Her book, Never Give Ups, charts her journey to becoming the woman she knew she always wanted to be.
MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b03y0f06)
Charlotte Bronte - Shirley
The Valley of the Shadow of Death
Rachel Joyce's dramatisation of Charlotte Bronte's tale of love, longing and loss.
Robert has suddenly left Yorkshire, unaware that Caroline has fallen into a deep sickness.
Directed by Tracey Neale.
MON 11:00 The Regimental Future (b03y0l8w)
From the Life Guards to the Parachute Regiment, the British Army's regiments are rich in culture and steeped in tradition, but how long will they last, and how long will they remain useful?
Will Robson assesses the role and relevance of the regiments in modern warfare and at a time when defence budgets are being cut.
To the soldiers that serve in them, the regiment is the all-important military family that provides accommodation, welfare and a fierce identity, bonding soldiers together in training and in battle.
The regimental system, with its own esoteric structures, names, class divides and hierarchies, has endured for many years - yet is unique among the modern militaries.
Could Government plans to downsize and force the British army to restructure lead to amalgamations chipping away at a structure that remains key to the army's success. The Royal Fusiliers are fighting the planned disbandment of their second Battalion, a move which will leave them with one battalion and an uncertain future.
On the other hand, restructuring may also lead to larger and stronger regiments which amalgamate the traditions of individual units, creating a shared and strengthened regimental ethos. For example, the Rifles Regiment's original Light Infantry and Royal Green Jacket battalions have been boosted by former heavy infantry regiments such as the Devon and Dorsets and the Gloucesters.
We hear from serving soldiers and officers, as well as veterans of all ranks.
Producer: Harry Graham
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 11:30 Agatha Christie - Ordeal by Innocence (b03y0l8y)
Episode 1
Doctor Calgary comes to visit the Argyle family with good news. He tells the family he is there to clear the name of Jacko, who was convicted of the murder of his mother. But his information is not greeted with the enthusiasm he expects.
Along with Crooked House, Ordeal by Innocence was Agatha Christie's favourite of her own works. It is easy to see why. Eschewing the traditional detective format, it takes an original idea - how the innocent suffer more than the guilty when a crime goes unsolved - and explores it to the full within a family where everyone has a motive and means to have done it.
MON 12:00 You and Yours (b03y0l90)
Dangerous Mail
Royal Mail tells us about its new dangerous mail policy and why it decided to destroy a Swedish bicycle helmet.
In April the NHS will start paying some people to arrange their own care. We find out why, and how it will work.
Reporter Samantha Fenwick experiences a day on the buses that charge themselves. Milton Keynes is the first place in Europe to get them.
And credit ratings. How a long forgotten fraud came back to haunt a listener who urgently needs to renew his mortgage deal.
Presented by Winifred Robinson.
Produced by Natalie Donovan.
MON 12:57 Weather (b03y02jc)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 13:00 World at One (b03y02jf)
Ukraine's Foreign Minister tells Martha Kearney his country will use force to defend itself from Russian incursion. We hear why Kosovo is no example for Crimean independence. Labour moves to support HS2 after its boss offers a new faster plan. Could cyber piracy be behind the disappearance of flight MH370 ? And a tribute to Clarissa Dickson-Wright from a friend and fellow spirit.
MON 13:45 Russia: The Wild East (b010dp11)
Series 1
A Church for the State
The first of these selected episodes from Martin Sixsmith's history of Russia reflects on the earliest times, in the 10th century, when Kiev was the capital of all the Russian states. It was a period called Kievan Rus and, among the legacies it left through the centuries and up to the present day, were the choice of religion and the Cyrillic language.
Producers: Adam Fowler and Anna Scott-Brown
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 14:00 The Archers (b03y00qt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Drama (b03y0l94)
A Kidnapping
Episode 1
Daniel Ryan and Jade Matthew (who won the 2015 BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Debut Performance for her role in A KIDNAPPING) play two British teachers at an international school in Manila who attempt to kidnap the 10-year-old son of a prominent Filipino politician. It's a simple get-rich quick plan that turns out not to be quite as straightforward as they had hoped.
A fast-paced thriller and a grand, comic morality tale set and recorded in the Philippines.
Featuring students of the British School, Manila
Original Music: Sacha Putnam
Sound Design: Steve Bond
Producer: Nadir Khan
Writer: Andy Mulligan
Director: John Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (b03y0l96)
(15/17)
The third semi-final of the nationwide general knowledge quiz comes from the Radio Theatre in London, with Russell Davies in the chair. The competitors have all either won their heats or been among the top-scoring runners-up in this year's series. Today's winner will go through to the grand Final, and into the home straight in the race for the title of 61st Brain of Britain.
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (b03xzyy1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 The Great Estate (b03y0lcj)
Writer Suzi Feay explores the power and influence of the literary estate on our cultural and intellectual life - its control over what appears in print, what is revealed and what remains concealed from public view - including letters, journals, unpublished works.
Talking to a number of writers, biographers, critics, novelists and publishers, as well as literary executors, Suzi asks why it is a family's private concerns, often the self appointed 'keepers of the flame' should outweigh questions of the cultural good, open access, scholarly research and even critical honesty.
A stash of old letters is found that reveals a cherished author to be far less than perfect - is it right that they are embargoed for a hundred years? Do great writers, in the years after their death, belong first to their families or to the wider world? Is privacy sacred or does the reading public have a right to know?
The programme looks at a number of case histories of great literary estates - from Joyce to Ian Fleming, Henry James and Eliot to Larkin and Kafka - including the censorious and the bizarre, and exploring changing ideas of posterity, copyright, biography and the onset of literary celebrity.
Lucrative modern estates are often run ruthlessly, represented by powerful literary agencies. But beyond issues of copyright, questions remain about what parts of a writer's work and life exist in the public realm, what comes to light only under pressure and what may never see the light of day - all bound to the power of the literary estate. In an era where public censorship of literary work is consigned to memories of the Lady Chatterley trial, is private censorship alive and well?
Producer: Simon Hollis
A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b03y0lcl)
Stonehenge
The Spring equinox falls on 20th March. A few dozen pagans and Druids will mark it with ceremonies inside the famous circle at Stonehenge. The summer solstice in June, on the other hand, will see thousands of people converge on the site. Why do they come? To connect with the ancestors? Celebrate nature? Rave? Does what they do bear any relationship to what happened at Stonehenge thousands of years ago, and can we ever know?
Ernie Rea is joined by Ronald Hutton, Professor of History at the University of Bristol, Julian Thomas,. Professor of archaeology at Manchester University and Frank Somers from the Amesbury and Stonehenge Druids.
MON 17:00 PM (b03y0lcn)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03y02jh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (b03y0n88)
Series 68
Episode 6
Radio 4's classic panel game continues its run.
Sheila Hancock, Richard herring, Paul Merton and Josie Lawrence attempt to talk for 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition & deviation under the watchful eye of Nicholas Parsons.
Subjects include 'Unanswerable Questions' and 'The Very First Telephone'.
Producer: Tilusha Ghelani.
MON 19:00 The Archers (b03y0n8b)
Jennifer has had the estimate through for her new 'Albion' kitchen. Alice is staggered and suggests she pick the moment carefully to tell Brian. Kirsty arrives and Jennifer tells her she's helping with Lynda's Smooth and Steady event. Discussing the wedding, but with her kitchen in mind, Jennifer advises Kirsty not to compromise on anything.
David feels that Ruth is keeping something from him. No matter how serious it is, he wants to know. She confesses that she's pregnant. David is shocked. He feels they should go for a meal to mark the occasion but Ruth doesn't feel up to it.
In town, Kirsty stops as they pass Isobel Jennings' shop. She can see her dream dress through the window. Alice suggests she try it on again. In the shop, Kirsty is emotional. She feels like a true bride in the dress.
Later Kirsty, Alice and Helen meet up. Kirsty tells Helen that she bought the Isobel Jennings dress. She knows it was the right thing to do and now everything will fall into place.
Jennifer pops into Brookfield. They discuss how nice it is that everyone in the village is coming together for Sports Relief. Jennifer and David agree that if you see something you want, there's nothing wrong with striving for it.
MON 19:15 Front Row (b03y0n8d)
Harry Hill on I Can't Sing; George Michael's Symphonica album; A Long Way Down
I Can't Sing is a new musical based on the ITV talent show, The X -Factor, starring Nigel Harman as the Simon Cowell character. Comedian Harry Hill, who wrote the musical, and its director Sean Foley discuss bringing the talent show format from the TV screen to the stage.
George Michael has released his sixth studio album Symphonica, recorded during his 2011-12 tour. The last work of legendary producer Phil Ramone, it features orchestral versions of songs by George Michael, Sting, Rufus Wainwright and Nina Simone.
Nick Hornby's novel A Long Way Down has been made into a film starring Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul, Toni Collette, Pierce Brosnan and Imogen Poots. Set on New Year's Eve, the story focuses on four people brought together as they face a difficult crossroad in their lives. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews.
Plus Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy on composing a piece for the Royal Festival Hall's newly renovated organ. Called To Our Fathers in Distress, the work is inspired by Hannoh's childhood as the son of a Church of Ireland Bishop.
Produced by Claire Bartleet.
MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b03y0f06)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 The Roots of Extremism (b03y0n8g)
What drives people to exterminate others? The historian Daniel Pick reveals the story of an extraordinary project which aimed to unearth persecution's roots, from witch-hunts to the Holocaust and beyond.
In 1961, Adolf Eichmann, one of the chief organisers of the Holocaust, was tried in Jerusalem. Among those deeply troubled by his apparent ordinariness was David Astor, the editor of the Observer .
Astor was also an enthusiastic champion of psychoanalysis, and made a speech declaring that the 'political psychopathology' of Nazism - and other examples of persecution and extermination - should be investigated. And he had the money to make this happen.
The historian Norman Cohn contacted Astor and offered to help. Cohn was the author of The Pursuit of the Millennium, a pioneering study of the ways medieval utopian visions led to 'purifying' massacres.
With Astor's support, Cohn set up the Columbus Centre, a team of historians, sociologists and other scholars who set about investigating the psychological roots of the Nazi mass killings of Jews and Gypsies, and much earlier examples such as the witch-hunts across Europe in the Middle Ages.
One member of the team, psychiatrist Dr Henry Dicks, even visited West German prisons to interview convicted SS killers and concentration camp guards face to face.
In this programme, Daniel Pick investigates the story of the Columbus Centre, drawing on exclusive access to private recordings of the Centre's meetings.
And he explores the impact of the project today, from terrorism studies to the Tribunal that tried the perpetrators of the Rwanda genocide.
With: Jeremy Lewis, Lucy Astor, Adrian Dicks, Marina Voikhanskaya, Steven Reicher, John Horgan, Frank Chalk, Albie Sachs.
Producer: Phil Tinline.
MON 20:30 Analysis (b03y0n8j)
Eldar Shafir: Scarcity
(Image credit: Jerry Nelson)
Jo Fidgen interviews Eldar Shafir, professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University, and co-author of Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much in front of an audience at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University. Jo will explore the book's key idea: that not having enough money or time, shapes all of our reactions, and ultimately our lives and society.
Producer: Ruth Alexander.
MON 21:00 Nature (b03xf0fz)
Series 8
The Midland Brown Snake - Dead or Alive
The Midland Brown Snake found in the eastern United States, like many snake species migrates between winter hibernation areas and summer habitat in the Spring and Autumn. In many areas, even including the wilder or more rural areas and within State Parks where it is found, this means having to cross roads. To this small harmless snake the length of a pencil, a tarmacadamed road surface which holds the heat seems the ideal spot to pause to raise the body temperature on that journey but is also the cause of its demise. Its size and colouration means it is effectively invisible to passing traffic. While the Midland Brown Snake is not under conservation concern, the number of snakes being killed each year is high and some populations are endemic to specific areas. Howard Stableford joins a research team in an Eastern Illinois state park to find out how they are monitoring this beautiful snake, whether dead or alive, and how the information they are gathering may help other populations of this snake or other reptiles at threat from roads.
Produced by Sheena Duncan.
MON 21:30 Start the Week (b03y0f00)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:58 Weather (b03y02jm)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b03y0n8l)
EU and US impose sanctions on selected Russian and Crimeans.
What happened after the Big Bang?
Latest on the missing Malaysian plane.
With Ritula Shah.
MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b03y0n8n)
Gabrielle Zevin - The Collected Works of AJ Fikry
Love and Loss
Beguiling, funny and poignant, The Collected Works of A.J. Fikry is largely set in Island Books, a failing independent bookshop in the middle of an island community off the American coast. A. J.Fikry, the shop's owner, is struggling to come to terms with a devastating loss, Amelia, a sales rep for a small publisher can't find the right man, and Maya, the baby found abandoned beside the piles of books, with a note, all gravitate to its teetering stackes. Island Books brings them together and offers life lessons gleaned from reading which are passed on and shared.
Gabrielle Zevin is an award winning American novelist, writing for adults and young adults. She is also a screenwriter; her first screenplay was 'Conversations with Other Women' which starred Helena Bonham Carter and Aaron Eckhart.
Madeleine Potter has appeared in numerous films, television series, and theatre productions. She is well known to Radio 4 audiences for We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Great Swim and Where'd You Go, Bernadette.
Hari Dhillon reads from A.J. Fikry's journal. Hari has read for Book of the Week and Book at Bedtime and starred in Holby City.
The abridger is Sally Marmion and the producer is Elizabeth Allard.
MON 23:00 Short Cuts (b03cn0r8)
Series 4
Growing Pains
Josie Long explores the painful process of growing up in a sequence of mini documentaries.
From first steps to last love, we hear tales of controversial haircuts, the search for independence and the need to let go of the past.
The items featured in the programme are:
Singing Boys
Prod. Rikke Houd
Like Rude Boys
Feat. voices recorded at the creative arts organisation Only Connect
Prod. Steve Urquhart
Dark Eyes
Prod. Natalie Kestecher
Originally broadcast on ABC Radio National
Scared
Prod. John Biewen
The Man in the Picture
Prod. Sara Parker
Danny and Annie
Prod. StoryCorps
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree Production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b03y0nwx)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster.
TUESDAY 18 MARCH 2014
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b03y02kj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b03zrcfv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03y02kl)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03y02kn)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03y02kq)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b03y02ks)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b03y0qck)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with the Rev Dr Gordon Gray.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b03y0qcm)
TB testing, Phosphorus, Micro-dairy
Expensive and time-consuming TB tests are part of life for dairy and beef farmers. Now, researchers at Nottingham Trent University have produced a testing kit which could be used by farmers to get immediate results from blood tests on their herd - using software and a mobile phone.
Phosphorus is an element mined from rock, and mainly used in fertiliser. Are we running out it? Some academics think so.
And Anna Hill meets the owner of a Suffolk micro-dairy, with just eleven cows, which turned to asking its supporters for money, to finance a move to new premises.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Emma Campbell.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03x458y)
Great Crested Grebe
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Bill Oddie presents the great crested grebe. In Spring, great crested grebes perform a high ritualized mating display. This includes head shaking and a spectacular performance during which both male and female birds gather bunches of waterweed and as they swim towards each other, before rising vertically in the water, chest to chest, and paddling furiously to keep themselves upright.
TUE 06:00 Today (b03y0qcp)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (b03y0qcr)
Anne Glover
Anne Glover is currently one of the most influential scientists in Europe. She advises the President of the European Commission on the research behind issues ranging from nuclear power to genetically modified foods. She talks to Jim al-Khalili about how she makes an impact working across the many countries in Europe with different ideas about science. For example, Germany and France have very different attitudes to nuclear power.
Anne Glover is also a Professor at Aberdeen University where she uses glow in the dark microbes to solve problems such as polluted land. It's a technique she developed after seeing minute glowing creatures while swimming at night in the Algarve.
She tells Jim about her life in the lab, setting up a company to exploit her bioluminescent microbes and how she gets on in the world of politics.
TUE 09:30 One to One (b03y0qct)
David Loyn talks to Soraya Pakzat
As western forces prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan, and the country faces elections, the BBC's Kabul correspondent David Loyn talks to Soraya Pakzat, a woman's rights campaigner. She tells him of how she has rescued young girls sold in marriage, of the extraordinary Afghan crime of "running away", and of her fears for the future of women in the country.
Producer: Jolyon Jenkins.
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b03zrdkx)
Free at Last - The Benn Diaries 1991 to 2001
Episode 2
In a change to our schedule, another chance to hear Tony Benn in his own words, reading part two of "Free at Last - Diaries 1991 - 2001", first broadcast in 2003.
Today the diaries bring us to the aftermath of the 1992 General Election and the various leadership battles that ensue. Benn charts what he sees as the demise of Parliamentary Democracy and the rise of Autocue Politics and the wearing of 'stacked heels'. He's clearly enjoying a reputation for being a scurrilous orator of the left but has a defeat of his own to deal with as well as his sorrow at the death of John Smith.
Reader Tony Benn
Producer Jane Ray.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b03y0qjp)
Marlene Dietrich; Sex lives in the Arab world; Prostitution - the political debate
Marlene Dietrich's life and legacy - as personal artefacts of the film icon go on sale in London, we talk to curator Megan Mulrooney. Plus sex lives in the Arab world - writer and academic Shereen El Feki on the disaffected wives, single mothers, sex workers, agony aunts, Koranic scholars, and infertility specialists she spoke to in the region, and what this tells us about Arab society. Plus prostitution: the politics - we debate the issues with Fiona MacTaggart MP from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Prostitution, who published their report on the laws on prostitution, and with Jean Urquhart MSP, who voted against the criminalisation of paying for sex in the Scottish parliament. And Clarissa Dickson Wright remembered: the life of the TV chef, and one half of culinary duo Two Fat Ladies - her friend, the Times food writer Lindsay Bareham, and the creator of Two Fat Ladies, TV producer Patricia Llewellyn, share their memories.
Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Laura Northedge.
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b03y0qkz)
Charlotte Bronte - Shirley
The First Blue Stocking
Shirley is horrified when she discovers her uncle is determined to find her a husband of his choosing. How can a man who scorns art and literature ever be able to find the perfect partner for her?
Directed by Tracey Neale.
TUE 11:00 Nature (b03y0qkl)
Series 8
Bigfoot: Not a Bear
A "Nature" with a bit of a difference. Instead of looking at rare species and conservation measures, this week's programme focuses on perhaps the most elusive (if not non-existent) creature of all - Bigfoot, the supposed ape like or hominid creature that people believe lives in the North West of the United States. With reports of sightings of strange man-like beasts that go back as far as 1920 if not stretching back into the 18th century, and the 1967 famous, if not infamous, film shot at Bluff Creek in California, there's as much interest in finding evidence of Bigfoot today as there's ever been amongst those convinced of its existence. But rebuffs of misidentification, assumption and hoaxes abound.
Invited to the annual Beachfoot Camp 2013, BBC journalist Matthew Hill hears of Bigfoot encounters from people who've had experiences across decades and heads out with Bigfoot researchers with all the latest technology in their quest to be the ones to capture that one piece of vital indisputable evidence. He also has a confounding experience that leaves him unsure what to think and tries to understand what it is in the human psyche that needs to hold to the belief that these man-like monsters exist.
Produced by Sheena Duncan.
TUE 11:30 Rejection Notes: The Movie Scores That Never Were (b03y10gs)
The movie world has a hidden story of musical carnage that every composer has come to experience and dread! Ever since the end of the studio system the film score, an essential part of the film making process, has been subject to the vagaries of the volatile world of film making. The very last chance to make or break a movie is beset with pitfalls, no one is safe and many composers refuse to talk about this bitter but brutal reality of composing for film- your score is ultimately their score to be subject to all the vagaries of film making. Scores by legendary composers as varied as Elmer Bernstein, Bernard Hermann, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner and William Walton have been abandoned. Directorial disagreements, the much loathed temp track, studio interference, last minute meltdowns and other, even more unlikely, factors have led to hundreds of scores being discarded. Every year, if you look hard enough, you can find another trail of wrecked notes.
Take just two films only a year apart: Kubrick's legendary 2001: A Space Odyssey seems impossible now without its Strauss and Ligeti but despite Stanley Kubrick knowing he was in thrall to the past masters he allowed the brilliant Alex North to feverishly compose an original score for it that became a sacrificial cause celebre. In 1969 one of Britain's finest, William Walton, scored The Battle of Britain only to find himself unceremoniously replaced by the more hummable Ron Goodwin. He never forgot the slight.
Some scores get unlikely resurrections. Original sessions kept by canny recordists can resurface decades later but some remain forever silent. Christopher Cook hears from acclaimed composer Howard Blake who has experienced just about everything the world of film music can throw at a film composer whilst editor Terry Rawlings reveals what it took to make Alien sound even more terrifying at the expense of upsetting Jerry Goldsmith who had just composed one of his most imaginative scores.
Producer Mark Burman.
TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b03y10gv)
Call You and Yours: Help to Buy. Any help?
The Help to Buy scheme has been extended for an extra four years. Another £6 million in loans will be available to those buying a new home, but will it work for you?
TUE 12:57 Weather (b03y02kv)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b03y02kx)
National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
TUE 13:45 Russia: The Wild East (b010dq7b)
Series 1
Prince Igor and the Polovtsians
The second of these selected episodes from Martin Sixsmith's history of Russia continues the earliest story of Russia's relationship with Ukraine.
From the 10th to the mid-13th centuries, Kiev is the centre of power and the culture and politics of Kievan Rus has brought stability to the emerging nation. But internal squabbles among the princes of different states, and warring tribes on the borders, threaten to destroy what has been achieved.
Even so, these smaller battles were about to be dwarfed by a far bigger threat, which would eventuall bring down Kiev and move the capital to Moscow.
Producers: Adam Fowler and Anna Scott-Brown
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b03y0n8b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b03y10gx)
A Kidnapping
Episode 2
Daniel Ryan and Jade Matthew (who won the 2015 BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Debut Performance for her role in A KIDNAPPING), play two British teachers at an international school in Manila who have kidnapped a 10-year-old child.
With local taxi driver Rami (Art Acuna) they attempt to extract a ransom from the boy's father, a prominent, corrupt and vengeful politician. But when the boy discovers the identity of one of his captors, their simple get-rich-quick plan begins to unravel.
A fast-paced thriller and a grand, comic morality tale set and recorded in the Philippines.
Featuing students of the British School, Manila
Original Music: Sacha Putnam
Sound Design: Steve Bond
Producer: Nadir Khan
Writer: Andy Mulligan
Director: John Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (b03y10gz)
Series 6
Lewes
Jay Rayner and the team are in Lewes for this episode of the culinary panel programme.
Taking questions from a local audience are Masterchef winner Tim Anderson, food scientist Peter Barham, restaurateur Henry Dimbleby and chef Sophie Wright.
The menu this week features spinach, kohlrabi, Japanese vegetables and beer, as well as tips for quick and easy lunches if you're working from home.
Food Consultant: Anna Colquhoun.
Produced by Peggy Sutton.
Assistant Producer: Darby Dorras.
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (b03y10h1)
Feeding the Crops of the Future
Tom Heap looks at whether we're running out of phosphorus. It's an essential element in fertiliser and all life on earth depends on it. Nowadays we get it from mining phosphate rock, which is a finite resource. Some scientists have predicted that we could run out within decades.
Britain has no phosphate rock reserves of its own, and with 80 per cent of known rock under the control of one country, Morocco, should we be taking future supplies more seriously, as a matter of national security?
Tom investigates whether there are alternatives to phosphate rock, such as extracting phosphorus from sewage. He learns about a nineteenth century gold rush in East Anglia, where fortunes were made from extracting phosphate from fossilised dinosaur bones and droppings. In an emergency, could we go back to this old method?
Producer: Jolyon Jenkins.
TUE 16:00 Law in Action (b03y10h3)
Cameras in Court
Televising the appeal courts of England and Wales was supposed to increase transparency and improve public understanding of the courts. So, has it? BBC deputy director of news and current affairs Fran Unsworth has worked with the judiciary on the court broadcasting project and tells how she thinks it's going.
Also on the programme, presenter Joshua Rozenberg visits a homeowner who was shocked to discover that someone else owns the rights to the land beneath her home. It's all because of an obscure remnant of feudal law called manorial rights.
With six months to go until Scotland votes on independence, we examine some of the major differences between Scots and English law.
And what does a judge's clerk do? A glimpse into the working life of a little-known legal figure who makes the courts run on time.
TUE 16:30 A Good Read (b03y10h5)
Julie Burchill and Fred MacAulay
Writer Julie Burchill and broadcaster Fred MacAulay argue about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Fred loves The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, but Julie, who used to love it, feels very differently about it on re-reading it now. Her recommendation is Alys, Always by Harriet Lane, which she says is the scariest book you will ever read. And Harriett introduces them both to Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard and waits to see what they make of it..
Producer Beth O'Dea.
TUE 17:00 PM (b03y10h7)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03y02kz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Down the Line (b00zf1zy)
Series 4
Episode 1
The return of the ground-breaking, Radio 4 show, hosted by the legendary Gary Bellamy; brought to you by the creators of The Fast Show.
Down The Line stars Rhys Thomas as Gary Bellamy, with Amelia Bullmore, Simon Day, Felix Dexter, Charlie Higson, Lucy Montgomery, and Paul Whitehouse,
Special guests are Rosie Cavaliero, Robert Popper and Adil Ray.
Producers: Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson
A Down The Line production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b03y10h9)
Adam and Ian put the final touches to the hurdles in Heydon Brook. Ian is determined to give Rob a run for his money at the Rough and Tumble challenge.
Brian is outraged when Jennifer shows him the quote for the new kitchen. Brian insists they will not be getting any of the 'weird contraptions' suggested. He can't understand why they don't just get a kitchen from a flat pack place. Jenny is adamant she will get her kitchen.
Ian and Rob meet up for training. Rob is worried about pushing Ian too hard, but Ian is relishing the challenge. However, afterwards Ian is completely worn out. Later, Ian is still cynical about Rob's intentions but Adam thinks they should give him a chance.
Jennifer stages a mutiny and refuses to cook in the kitchen any longer. Brian doesn't believe in giving in to terrorists and won't budge.
However, by the end of the day Brian is ravenous and there's nothing in the freezer. He leaves Jenny a voicemail but she returns some time later having been out for dinner. Appalled Brian says he knows what she's doing. She claims not to have a clue what he's talking about.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b03y10j7)
Veronese at the National Gallery; John Morton on W1A; Labor Day reviewed
With Kirsty Lang.
A new exhibition at the National Gallery Veronese: Magnificence in Renaissance Venice brings together masterpieces by Veronese from around the world, some of which have not been united since they were painted in Veronese's studio in the 16th century. Sarah Dunant reviews.
Following the success of Twenty Twelve, the comedy series which revolved around preparations for the London Olympics, writer John Morton now turns his attention to the BBC. In W1A, Hugh Bonneville's Ian Fletcher has been head-hunted for the role of the BBC's Head Of Values. John talks to Kirsty about the series, and about the art of accurately catching the tone of the worlds he portrays.
Labor Day stars Kate Winslet as the mother of a young boy who falls for an escaped convict, played by Josh Brolin, over the course of a Labor Day weekend. The film was adapted for the screen by the writer/director Jason Reitman from a novel by Joyce Maynard. Kate Muir reviews.
Violinist and conductor Sigiswald Kuijken gives Kirsty a studio demonstration of an "extinct" instrument: the violoncello da spalla or "shoulder cello". It went out of fashion in the middle of the 18th century, and Sigiswald explains his theory that many of Bach's works, including the Brandenburg concertos and cello suites, may have been originally written not for the cello, but for the violoncello da spalla.
Producer: Olivia Skinner.
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b03y0qkz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 Gay Rights: Tying the Knot? (b03yggdf)
The first same-sex weddings in England and Wales take place on 29th March - yet marriage was the last thing on the minds of pioneering gay rights crusaders in the 60s and 70s. Reverend Richard Coles looks at how gay marriage became the defining issue of recent years - and asks whether it represents the last crusade of the campaign for gay rights.
He speaks to senior Stonewall figures Ben Summerskill, Michael Cashman and Angela Mason. He also hears from Peter Tatchell, the Conservative Party's first openly gay MP Alan Duncan and former Prime Minister Tony Blair who introduced Civil Partnerships.
Richard discovers that for many early activists, marriage was not only a far off prospect, it wasn't a very desirable one either, as many gay men and women sought the downfall of traditional institutions.
So where along the line did the idea of gay marriage become the number one campaigning issue? And with this last major legislative milestone passed, is it time for gay rights campaigners to pack up and go home?
Producer: Laurence Grissell.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b03y10tb)
Winter Paralympian Jade Etherington; TFL's new scheme
Four-time medal winner Jade Etherington, and head coach Tony McAllister, talk about the games in Sochi, what it was like being there and just how the team achieved its record breaking medal haul.
Transport for London has unveiled a new "Turn Up And Go" initiative for its Overground rail network. They say passengers will no longer have to book assistance in advance. Director of Strategy and Development for Transport for London, Gareth Powell, tells us how the new system will be implemented.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Lee Kumutat
Editor: Andrew Smith.
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (b03y10td)
Cancer of the cervix & HPV; Oral cancer & HPV; Eating late; Feedback on Sugar, Thrush, Cataracts; Scarfree operations
A committee advising the Food and Drug Administration in the US has voted to change the way it tests women for cervical cancer by solely using a test that detects Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) rather than also using a standard smear test which looks for abnormal cell changes. The test is likely to become more widely used in the NHS than it is now. What advantages does it offer over smear tests and what difference will it make for women? Dr Mark Porter talks to Jack Cuzick, director of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine and GP Dr Margaret McCartney about the pros and cons.
The HPV virus is responsible for a big increase in the number of oral cancers. Some researchers have even gone so far as to call it an epidemic. Mark talks to head and neck cancer surgeon Andrew Schache from the University of Liverpool to find out more about the reason for the rise in numbers.
Also in the programme. You are when you eat. According to some diets, not eating in the evening can help you lose weight. But does the timing of when you eat really make a difference? Susan Jebb, professor of diet and population health at the University of Oxford, explains why the time you eat doesn't make a difference to whether you put on weight.
Scar free surgery. Mark talks to Mikael Sodergren from Imperial College London, about the latest surgical innovation - natural orifice surgery. Surgery via natural orifices like the stomach and vagina can dramatically improve people's recovery after an operation reducing their pain and time in hospital. Currently only used in women, in the future it could be available for everyone with a robotic surgical device going in through the mouth and then being used to perform operations like an appendectomy via the stomach.
TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (b03y0qcr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b03y10tg)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b03y10tj)
Gabrielle Zevin - The Collected Works of AJ Fikry
A Discovery
Enchanting, funny and poignant, The Collected Works of A.J. Fikry is largely set in Island Books, a struggling independent bookshop in the middle of an island community off the American coast. In today's episode, an unlikely discovery in the children's section of the bookshop presents A.J. with a dilemma. Madeleine Potter is the narrator, and Hari Dhillon reads from A.J. Fikry's journal.
The abridger is Sally Marmion and the producer is Elizabeth Allard.
TUE 23:00 Turf Wars (b00zm084)
How's Your Mother?
Michael Maloney stars in Simon Brett's short play for this comedy drama series: 'Turf Wars'.
Epidsode 4: How's Your Mother
In a gossipy village Humphrey Partridge is reckoned to be anti-social, indeed stand-offish. But he always has an excuse - namely that he has to look after his ailing elderly mother. It raises eyebrows at work. For example when Humphrey's boss needs him to stand in for a colleague at a conference abroad, Humphrey point blank refuses to go. The boss ends up going himself. No-one has ever met the legendary matriarch. Not even nosy Raj the local postman. But then one morning when Humphrey is at work, Raj notices a fire in Humphrey's house, breaks in to put it out and makes an extraordinary discovery. Soon police are digging in Humphrey's garden. But just what is Humphrey's dark secret?
Written by Simon Brett
Directed by Peter Kavanagh.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b03y10vj)
Susan Hulme reports from Westminster.
WEDNESDAY 19 MARCH 2014
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b03y02mc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b03zrdkx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03y02mg)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03y02mk)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03y02mm)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b03y02mp)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b03y10xf)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with the Rev Dr Gordon Gray.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b03y13z8)
Pig Disease, Sugar Beet, Upland Farming
It's estimated that more than four million pigs have died from a virulent disease spreading across America. Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea virus has been found on nearly 4,500 farms in 27 states. It was first confirmed in the US last May. It's particularly deadly for piglets with around a 100% mortality rate. With Iowa being one of states affected by the virus, Farming Today hears from Dr James McKean from the Iowa Pork Industry Council. The British pig industry is now on guard, in a bid to prevent it from entering the UK.
As Farming Today continues to look at hill farming, Caz Graham has been to see how the gap is bridged between the farmers and the decision makers. The Foundation for Common Land run training courses to promote understanding between different groups who work in the uplands.
And the warm winter has meant that this year's sugar beet harvest ended on a sweet note for farmers who lifted their beet late. The sugar content rose significantly in the last week of the campaign. Anna Hill has been to meet farmer George Harcourt on the North Norfolk coast to find out how he fared this year.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Lucy Bickerton.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03x45bg)
Sand Martin
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Bill Oddie presents the sand martin. The flickering shapes of sand martins over a lake or reservoir are a welcome sign of spring. After winging their way across the Sahara Desert, the first birds usually arrive in the UK in March. They're smaller than house martins or swallows, and they're brown above and white below with a brown band across their chest. Often you can hear their dry buzzing calls overhead before you see them.
WED 06:00 Today (b03y13zb)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b03y13zd)
Professor John Carey, Benny Lewis, Eduardo Niebla, Lynn Ruth Miller
Libby Purves meets language enthusiast Benny Lewis; literary critic Professor John Carey; flamenco guitarist Eduardo Niebla and comedian Lynn Ruth Miller.
Benny Lewis speaks over ten languages including Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, French, German, Portuguese, and Hungarian. As a child he struggled to learn languages at school but in his book, Fluent In 3 Months, he explains how he conquered his lack of skill by mastering a range of learning techniques. His book, Fluent in 3 Months, is published by Collins.
John Carey is emeritus Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford. He is also a book reviewer, commentator on cultural issues and a beekeeper. In his memoir, The Unexpected Professor, he reflects on his life in literature, growing up in wartime and his progression from the family home to Oxford and the heart of academia. The Unexpected Professor - An Oxford Life in Books is published by Faber.
Eduardo Niebla is a Spanish flamenco jazz guitarist and composer based in Yorkshire. Born in Morocco, he was brought up in Spain and at eight was playing his guitar on the radio with his sister. He formed his band Atila - regarded by many as one of Spain's great symphonic rock bands - in 1973 before moving to London where he performed with Mother Gong and appeared at the fledgling Glastonbury Festival. He is currently touring the UK.
Lynn Ruth Miller, 80, is a comedian who started performing stand-up when she was 71. Born in Ohio, she is a television presenter in San Francisco as well as a teacher, painter and author. Her first book Starving Hearts is an autobiographical novel about her struggle with bulimia and an overwhelming mother. Her new show, Granny's Gone Wild, is at the Soho Theatre.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b03zrdlg)
Free at Last - The Benn Diaries 1991 to 2001
Episode 3
Tony Benn reads from the third part of "Free at Last- Diaries 1991 - 2001", first broadcast in 2003.
In this episode Tony Benn's diaries cover the period leading up to the 1997 General Election. The battle over Clause 4 and a mysterious letter from Canada forcing Benn to realise that he has more time for John Major than for his own leader, Tony Blair. But politics are overshadowed by the news that his beloved wife Caroline has developed cancer of the spine.
Reader Tony Benn
Producer Jane Ray.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b03y13zg)
Fashion game changer Mary Quant
Mary Quant is the ultimate fashion game changer. Not only did she pioneer off the peg fashion in the 1960s, but her use of mini-skirts, hot pants and her casual, unrestrictive clothing defined fashion for a generation she continues to influence us today. So what was it like when she burst on to the scene and who, if anyone, can claim to have that kind of influence today?
The government's announced yesterday that 1.9 million working families could benefit from a tax free childcare allowance worth up to £2,000 per child . The online scheme affected children up to the age of 12 will come in from September next year and it'll l be open to working parents who have a joint income of up to £300,000. We look at the background to the decision and find out what stay at home parents think of the move.
It's Shakespeare Week, a new, national, annual celebration to inspire children to love the bard. The RSC has their First Encounters programme - stripped down, fast-moving productions aimed at 8-13 year-olds - with a chance to discuss the show with the actors afterwards. They are currently touring schools with the Taming of the Shrew - a new version of the play where the main gender roles are swapped.
Women take more time off sick than men according to the latest research from the Office for National Statistics. They say women are 42% more likely to take a sick day in comparison to men. What's behind the high level of time off and what can employers do to tackle the problem.
Presented by Jenni Murray
Edited and Produced by Beverley Purcell.
WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b03y13zj)
Charlotte Bronte - Shirley
News
Something is very wrong with Shirley but she refuses to tell anybody what ails her. Can Louis finally persuade her to confide in him? And everyone, especially Caroline, is anxious for news of Robert.
Directed by Tracey Neale.
WED 11:00 Robert Peston's Family Business Therapy (b03y13zl)
Why do family businesses succeed, and fail? The BBC's business editor Robert Peston explores the pains and pleasures of working alongside family members. From the East End Funeral Directors who have built a four generation empire to the hardware store locked in intergenerational conflict, Peston explores the flashpoints and finest hours caused by working in the family way.
WED 11:30 HR (b03y13zn)
Series 5
Peter and Sam and Ed and Kate
Nigel Williams' comedy. Peter is jealous of Sam's new partner Ed. He hatches an elaborate plan to make them break up. But will he succeed?
Directed by Peter Kavanagh.
WED 12:00 Budget 2014 (b03y146d)
Live coverage of the chancellor's Budget speech presented by Martha Kearney and Winifred Robinson with analysis and reaction.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b03y10h9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b03y14n7)
A Kidnapping
Episode 3
Daniel Ryan and Jade Matthew (who won the 2015 BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Debut Performance for her role in A KIDNAPPING) play two British teachers who have kidnapped a 10-year-old child.
Having successfully extracted a ransom from the boy's father, a powerful Filipino politician, getting the money and themselves out of the country is proving more difficult than they had anticipated. On the run in Manila with the authorities closing in, they are haunted by one small detail about the politician - he keeps a pet tiger in his basement.
A fast-paced thriller and a grand, comic morality tale set and recorded in the Philippines.
Original Music: Sacha Putnam
Sound Design: Steve Bond
Producer: Nadir Khan
Writer: Andy Mulligan
Director: John Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b03y152f)
Saving and Investing
Wondering where to put your money? Talk to Paul Lewis and guests about the best home for your savings and investments. Call 03700 100 444 from
1pm to
3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk
ISA providers are launching new accounts for the 2014/15 tax year, so who is offering the best cash ISA rate?
If you already have a cash ISA and the interest rate has dwindled away, where can you move it to?
Anna Bowes from Savings Champion will be in the studio with advice.
If you have an appetite for risk and want to consider a stocks and share ISA, tracker or fund where do you start?
What's the cheapest way to invest in equities and how do you find out about the funds on offer?
Put your question to Carolyn Black, Investment Manager at Stockbrokers Redmayne-Bentley and Independent Financial Adviser Brian Dennehy of Dennehy Weller and Co.
Call 03700 100 444 between
1pm and
3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk now. Standard geographic charges apply.
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Producer: Diane Richardson.
WED 15:30 One to One (b03y0qct)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 15:45 Russia: The Wild East (b010t6jm)
Series 1
Defeat and Disaffection
Martin Sixsmith charts the tensions that have often surfaced between Russia and its southern states.
In this episode, chosen from his 2011 series on the history of Russia, Martin shows how successive rulers have battled to keep Georgia, Ukraine, Chechnya and the Caucasus under their control.
The confrontation became international in the mid-19th century when France and Britain decided they needed to restrain Russia's naval expansion into the Mediterranean at Sebastopol, and launched the Crimean War.
Producers: Adam Fowler and Anna Scott-Brown
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b03y152h)
Race in Police Disciplinaries; Protestant Fishermen in Scotland
Race in police 'misconduct' proceedings - Laurie Taylor considers new research exploring the perception that ethnic minority police officers are disproportionally subjected to such investigations. Graham Smith, Senior Lecturer at University of Manchester School of Law, looked at data provided by 3 English police services over a 4 year period between 2008 and 2011.
Also, Evangelical Fishermen - the lives and beliefs of fundamentalist Christians living in a remote Scottish fishing village. Joseph Webster, Lecturer in Anthropology, Queen's University Belfast, discusses his study of an austere community of Protestant Brethren struggling with the crisis of the contemporary fishing industry whilst also focusing on the 'End of Days'. How does this most demanding form of religious faith survive in the midst of the tough and perilous work at sea?
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b03y152k)
Lenny Henry at the Baftas; Decriminalizing licence fee evasion; L'Wren Scott coverage
Following his BAFTA speech on Monday, Lenny Henry talks to Steve about why there is not enough ethnic diversity in broadcasting and what can be done to improve this.
Andrew Bridgen MP explains why he wants non-payment of the licence fee to be decriminalised - an idea that, according to reports, interests David Cameron.
And, has the coverage of L'Wren Scott's death breached editors' guidelines on handling private grief? Joan Smith picked up on the early online and front page reporting on Monday and Tuesday and tells Steve "it's as if Leveson never happened".
Presenter: Steve Hewlett
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
WED 17:00 PM (b03y152m)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news. Including Weather at
5.57pm.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03y02my)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (b03y152p)
Series 1
Big Farmer
Mention Milton Jones to most people and the first thing they think is 'Help!'.
King of the one-liners, Milton Jones returns BBC to Radio 4 for an amazing 10th series in a new format where he has decided to set himself up as a man who can help anyone anywhere - whether they need it or not. Because, in his own words, "No problem too problemy".
But each week, Milton and his trusty assistant Anton set out to help people and soon find they're embroiled in a new adventure. So when you're close to the edge, then Milton can give you a push.
This week, Milton Jones is asked for help because there are ugly rumours about the local farm going too far with its GM crops. At least, that's what the vegetables are saying.
Written by Milton with James Cary ("Bluestone 42", "Miranda") and Dan Evans (who co-wrote Milton's Channel 4 show "House Of Rooms") the man they call "Britain's funniest Milton," returns to the radio with a fully-working cast and a shipload of new jokes.
The cast includes regulars Tom Goodman-Hill ("Spamalot", "Mr. Selfridge") as the ever-faithful Anton, and Dan Tetsell ("Newsjack"), and features the one and only Josie Lawrence working with Milton for the first time.
Producer David Tyler's radio credits include Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive, Cabin Pressure, Bigipedia, Another Case Of Milton Jones, Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation, The Brig Society, Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off, The 99p Challenge, The Castle, The 3rd Degree and even, going back a bit, Radio Active.
Produced and Directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b03y154q)
Pat tells Tom that one of Tony's cows died in the night. Shocked Tom worries that it might be something that could spread to his pigs. Tom is furious with Tony for not telling him and questions Tony's ability to look after his herd. Tony retorts that it's likely just a one-off. There's no need to jump to conclusions.
David thinks Ruth is putting too much pressure on herself. Ruth claims that she's fine and wants to carry on as normal. David insists things aren't normal any more. She has to calm down. Later Ruth confides in David that she's worried the farm is becoming a strain. They aren't getting any younger and Ruth wonders how they'll cope with a baby to look after too. David doesn't have answers but he admits he's excited. He sees it as a blessing.
Kirsty is really impressed with a show home they are viewing but Tom is distracted. He's still thinking about the cow and can't believe Tony's incompetence. Kirsty reassures him and Tom is grateful for her support.
Kirsty loves the house and doesn't think they'll find anything better. Although the deposit is large, Tom agrees. They are both delighted. It's Tom and Kirsty against the world.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b03y15hw)
Kylie Minogue; V&A: William Kent; Jack O'Connell on Starred Up
With John Wilson.
Kylie Minogue has achieved record sales of around 70 million, and received multiple awards including a Grammy. She discusses 26 years in the music industry, her new album Kiss Me Once - which features collaborations with artists including Pharrell Williams, and the possibility of Kylie The Musical.
William Kent was an 18th century polymath, an architect, designer, sculptor, artist and landscape gardener. In the years after the act of union with Scotland (1707) and the accession of the Hanoverian Royal Family (1714) Britain redefined itself as a new nation - and Kent played a dominant role in the aesthetic of the Georgian era. A new exhibition at the V&A examines Kent's life and works, demonstrating his transformative effect on the nation's taste - from Whitehall (he designed Horse Guards and the Treasury), to grand country estates, fashion and furniture. Amanda Vickery reviews.
"Starred up" is the process by which difficult young offenders are moved early to adult prisons. Writer and former prison counsellor Jonathan Asser, and actor Jack O'Connell, talk to John about the film, Starred Up - which Jonathan has written and which stars Jack as Eric, a troubled young prisoner who finds himself moved into the same prison as his own father.
When the old Parliament building burned down in 1834, JMW Turner was one of those who went to watch. He produced two oil paintings and a series of watercolour sketches - or so everyone thought. However, new research has revealed that the watercolour sketches are actually of a fire at the Tower Of London, instead. John visits Tate Britain, where David Brown, Turner Curator, explains how this news will change things.
Producer: Claire Bartleet.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b03y13zj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b03y15hy)
Victimless Crime
Is there such a thing as a victimless crime? This issue is at the heart of two campaigns that have been attracting a lot of coverage recently. At the moment the sale and purchase of sex is legal in Britain, but there's a growing demand to criminalise those who pay for sexual services. We are also seeing around the world calls to legalise the use of cannabis for personal use. The definition of a "victim" in both cases is complex and contested, but how should we use the law in these circumstances when there's a conflict between individual liberty and the policing of social norms and harms? Since 1960 laws criminalising homosexuality, suicide and blasphemy have all been consigned to history. Is that the way it should be In a liberal progressive society? Or should we and the state take a much more robust view of harm and listen more to the voices of victims, extending principles like "hate crimes" in the law?
Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk with Claire Fox, Michael Portillo, Giles Fraser, Anne McElvoy.
Witnesses are Ian Driver, Sean Gabb, Kathy Gyngell and Finn Mackay.
Produced by Phil Pegum.
WED 20:45 Lent Talks (b03y15j0)
Catherine Fox
The novelist Catherine Fox looks at this year's theme of The Power and the Passion by reflecting on the power of Christ's submission. How can you rally to the cause of a man who won't fight, forbids you to defend him and lets himself be killed? After all, we've learned to dislike 'victim mentality', haven't we?
Producer: Peter Everett.
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b03y10h1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Midweek (b03y13zd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b03y02n5)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b03y15j2)
Budget day analysis, latest from Ukraine and Singapore's compassion deficit. Presented by Ritula Shah.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b03y15j4)
Gabrielle Zevin - The Collected Works of AJ Fikry
Episode 3
Beguiling, funny and poignant, The Collected Works of A.J. Fikry is largely set in Island Books, a struggling independent bookshop at the heart of an island community off the American coast. Today, A.J. Fikry acts out of love when he makes an extraordinary commitment. Madeleine Potter and Hari Dhillon read.
The abridger is Sally Marmion and the producer is Elizabeth Allard.
WED 23:00 Comic Fringes (b0144v1t)
Comic Fringes: Series 7
Spooky and the Van
By Joe Lycett.
Seventeen year old Julian is writing a blog. He's currently experiencing the weird limbo that lies between finishing school and starting university. As well as musing upon how his life might change, Julian's neighbour, nicknamed Spooky, is providing plenty of writing material and mystery...
Part of a series of short stories written and performed by comedians; recorded in front of an audience at the BBC's own venue at Potterrow, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2011.
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
WED 23:15 Nurse (b03y15jr)
Series 1
Episode 5
A brand new series starring Paul Whitehouse and Esther Coles, with Rosie Cavaliero, Simon Day, Cecilia Noble and Marcia Warren.
The series follows Elizabeth, a Community Psychiatric Nurse in her forties, into the homes of her patients (or Service Users in today's jargon). It recounts their humorous, sad and often bewildering daily interactions with the nurse, whose job is to assess their progress, dispense their medication and offer comfort and support.
Compassionate and caring, Elizabeth is aware that she cannot cure her patients, only help them manage their various conditions. She visits the following characters throughout the series:
Lorrie and Maurice: Lorrie, in her fifties, is of Caribbean descent and has schizophrenia. Lorrie's life is made tolerable by her unshakeable faith in Jesus, and Maurice, who has a crush on her and wants to do all he can to help. So much so that he ends up getting on everyone's nerves.
Billy: Billy feels safer in jail than outside, a state of affairs the nurse is trying to rectify. She is hampered by the ubiquitous presence of Billy's mate, Tony.
Graham: in his forties, is morbidly obese due to an eating disorder. Matters aren't helped by his mum 'treating' him to sugary and fatty snacks at all times.
Ray: is bipolar and a rock and roll survivor from the Sixties. It is not clear how much of his 'fame' is simply a product of his imagination.
Phyllis: in her seventies, has Alzheimer's. She is sweet, charming and exasperating. Her son Gary does his best but if he has to hear 'I danced for the Queen Mum once' one more time he will explode.
Herbert is an old school gentleman in his late Seventies. Herbert corresponds with many great literary figures unconcerned that they are, for the most part, dead.
Nurse is written by Paul Whitehouse and David Cummings, who have collaborated many time in the past, including on The Fast Show, Down the Line and Happiness.
Written by Paul Whitehouse and David Cummings with additional material from Esther Coles
Producers: Paul Whitehouse and Tilusha Ghelani
A Down the Line production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b03y15jt)
The Chancellor unveils Budget measures to boost the income of pensioners and savers hit by low interest rates.
George Osborne also increases the amount people can earn before tax, freezes petrol duty and cuts bingo tax and beer duty.
Labour leader Ed Miliband maintains that "working people" remain worse off, with living standards down.
David Cameron says the G7 countries should consider expelling Russia in response to the crisis over Crimea.
And peers challenge ministers over a jobs website said to be "bedevilled with fraud".
Sean Curran and team report on today's events in Parliament.
THURSDAY 20 MARCH 2014
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b03y02r2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b03zrdlg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03y02r4)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03y02r6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03y02r8)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b03y02rb)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b03y36vk)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with the Rev Dr Gordon Gray.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b03y36vm)
Meat fraud, budget and pollinators
Turkey curry masquerading as lamb curry, chicken in beef sausages and a chicken samosa made of lamb - mass mislabelling of meat is discovered by Trading Standards in Leicester. Testing began in May last year, several months after the horsemeat scandal broke. Of 105 meat items, 47 of them contained undeclared meat. Anna Hill discusses the findings with Chris Elliott, professor of Food Safety at Queen's University Belfast, who's been tasked by the Government to review the food system following Horsegate.
A Cambridgeshire agronomy company is showing farmers how to encourage more pollinators onto their land during crucial times of the year, and as a result, increase the yield from their fields. Anna Hill dons a beekeeper's suit and finds out why some farms don't have enough blossom and flowering plants at the right time of year.
We have a quick round-up of the Chancellor's Budget with accountant Ryan Conlon on how it will help or hinder farmers. In a nutshell - less cash on the renewable energy front, but increased support for exports and more tax incentives for investment on farms.
And we look at how reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy will affect hill farmers. Even up on the highest peaks, in the most remote corners of Britain, farmers can't escape the bureaucracy of Brussels and changes are afoot. Entry Level Stewardship, the most basic environmental scheme, is being scrapped and the plan now is to compensate for that loss by shifting money 'up hill' under Pillar One, that's the direct payment. Julia Aglionby, director of the National Centre for the Uplands, goes over the details.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced in Bristol by Anna Jones.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03x45jq)
Goldeneye
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Bill Oddie presents the goldeneye. Although they’re a common winter visitor, you’ll need to travel to Speyside in the Scottish Highlands to see goldeneyes in their breeding season where, since 1970, a small population has bred there. Unlike dabbling ducks, such as mallard and teal, they don’t need muddy shorelines and lots of vegetation. Goldeneyes are diving ducks that feed mainly on shellfish and crustaceans.
THU 06:00 Today (b03y36vp)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b03y36vr)
Bishop Berkeley
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the work of George Berkeley, an Anglican bishop who was one of the most important philosophers of the eighteenth century. Bishop Berkeley believed that objects only truly exist in the mind of somebody who perceives them - an idea he called immaterialism. His interests and writing ranged widely, from the science of optics to religion and the medicinal benefits of tar water. His work on the nature of perception was a spur to many later thinkers, including David Hume and Immanuel Kant. The clarity of Berkeley's writing, and his ability to pose a profound problem in an easily understood form, has made him one of the most admired early modern thinkers.
With:
Peter Millican
Gilbert Ryle Fellow and Professor of Philosophy at Hertford College, Oxford
Tom Stoneham
Professor of Philosophy at the University of York
Michela Massimi
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Science at the University of Edinburgh.
Producer: Thomas Morris.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b03zrdn1)
Free at Last - The Benn Diaries 1991 to 2001
Episode 4
Tony Benn continues to read from "Free at Last- Diaries 1991 - 2001", first broadcast in 2003.
In today's episode it is 1997 and Labour is in power for the first time in 18 years but Benn is anxious about the compromises he feels have been made. He fears that he might be mistaken "for a kindly old gentleman" and throws himself into a rebellion over lone parent benefits. Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden and Ali G all feature vividly in today's episode although Benn admits, Ali G has him fooled.
Read by Tony Benn
Produced by Jane Ray.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b03y36vw)
Grace Dent, Michaela Coel, Peter Lawrence on missing daughter Claudia
Jenni Murray speaks to Peter Lawrence on the fifth anniversary of his daughter Claudia's disappearance, as police reveal new clues and appeal for anyone with information to contact them.
We hear from Grace Dent about her Guide to Growing Up a Girl and from Michaela Coel about playing a fifteen-year-old in Chewing Gum Dreams at the National Theatre.
We learn about the alternative remedies for the common cold that can be found among the plants at Kew Gardens.
And the latest in our series of neglected women from history: Juliet Gardiner talks to us about Dr Innes Pearse and her pioneering work into preventative healthcare in Peckham in the 1930s.
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Ruth Watts.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b03y36vy)
Charlotte Bronte - Shirley
Confessions
As Shirley and Caroline stay awake all night, waiting to hear whether Robert will pull through, Shirley agrees to tell her friend why she has been so secretive.
Directed by Tracey Neale.
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b03y36w0)
Forensics and Scrummaging
Correspondents' stories from around the world, introduced by Kate Adie. Today: Will Grant meets El Salvador's only forensic archaeologist, with the unenviable task of unearthing and identifying murder victims; Emma Jane Kirby is in a French border town, discovering why the Front National is gaining support; Karen Allen visits the former Taleban capital of Kandahar where businessmen are in desperate need of more power; Alex Preston, in Sri Lanka, finds out why rugby is becoming so popular; and Susannah Knights is with the musicians and performers of Tunisia who are poor but flourishing in their new found freedom.
Producer: John Murphy.
THU 11:30 The Art of Home (b03y36w2)
How does an artist's sense of home shape and direct their work? Do they need to be rooted in a familiar place where ideas and have personally been shaped? Or can being cast far from home galvanise an artist's work, giving them a fresh perspective?
Author Rosie Dastgir explores the importance of roots and home on the work of an artist in this authored programme. She meets different artists from diverse places across Britain.
Clio Barnard is one of Britain's rising filmmakers and her work made Rosie wonder about her roots and sense of place. Much of Barnard's film work is centred in Yorkshire and her movies The Arbour and the latest, BAFTA nominated The Selfish Giant reflect a social realism that could only come from an intimate knowledge of the area.
Going home to Wolverhampton, was something that Sathnam Sanghera felt compelled to do to write his funny and moving memoir The Boy with the Top Knot - as he had learnt his father was a schizophrenic, explaining some of his family's strange behaviour while he was growing up. The memoir takes him on an extraordinary journey from his father's harsh life in rural Punjab to the steps of the Wolverhampton Tourist Office.
Simon Stevens is an award-winning playwright. His writing is characterised as part of a new generation of gritty realism and is widely performed, not only in the UK but also throughout Europe. His work and writing grapple with his past of growing up on the streets of Stockport. The playwright believes that writers and artist invariably reflect back on their past, hoping to resolve conflict, upheaval and other events - a futile endeavour but, as we hear, an exercise that has resulted in some wonderful creative energy.
Producer: John Sugar
A Sugar production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2014.
THU 12:00 You and Yours (b03y36w4)
Co-Operative Funeralcare apologises for failing to embalm bodies
More than one and a half thousand families have received letters from the Co-Operative Funeralcare offering them a refund because embalming services they paid for their relatives weren't carried out. We find out why. The story of one of the growing number of people who are divorcing their spouses online. Plus, we examine new software which means shops can send offers to your smartphone as your walk in the door and why some people with disabilities get hit with a double bill on a theatre visit.
THU 12:57 Weather (b03y02rd)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b03y02rg)
National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
THU 13:45 Russia: The Wild East (b012l0r4)
Series 2
Collectivisation
Stalin's five year plan was to bring disaster to the farming communities and peasants in the Soviet Union in the 1930's.
In this episode from his history of Russia, Martin Sixsmith shows how collectivisation produced famine on an unimaginable scale. Millions of people starved to death - the majority of them in Ukraine.
Producer: Anna Scott-Brown and Adam Fowler
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b03y154q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Rumpole (b03y38kc)
Rumpole and the Old Boy Net
We rejoin Rumpole and Hilda in 1964. Hilda is worried about the choice of school for their son, Nicholas. Hilda wants Rumpole to become a Q.C. in order to afford a decent education for Nicholas. Claude Erskine-Brown is also trying to take silk but he's distracted by the arrival in chambers of Rumpole's new pupil, Miss Phillida Trant.
Phillida assists Rumpole in the defence of Mr Napier Lee, who's charged with running a disorderly house near Victoria Station, and with the more serious accusation of blackmail. Mr Lee admits his customers all went to public school. And the alleged victim of the blackmail was at Lawnhurst College with Mr Lee, which is why Lee won't break the unwritten law and sneak on his old school chum.
Erskine-Brown is prosecuting at the Old Bailey, where Phillida recognises a familiar face in the press box. Isobel Vincent was at Bennenden with Phillida, and now works for the Evening Standard. With help from Phillida, Isobel publishes the name of the alleged victim. This public identification leads to Rumpole's successful defence on the charge of blackmail, but also puts Phillida in danger of prosecution for contempt of court.
Phillida works hard to get out of trouble with the law but, instead, finds herself drawn towards Rumpole - and into trouble of a more personal kind.
Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Rumpole in a story written by John Mortimer and adapted by Richard Stoneman.
Directed by Marilyn Imrie.
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 15:00 Ramblings (b03y38kf)
Series 26
Over the Hill walkers, Windsor Great Park
This series is themed 'Ramblings Revisited' as Clare Balding walks again with some of her favourite and most memorable guests.
In the spring of 2006, Clare went rambling with a female hockey team who had been walking together for 15 years. In this time they'd developed enduring friendships on as well as off the pitch.
Now, eight years on - and with most of the original walkers now retired - Clare is going back to catch up with the 'Over the Hill' club. The group started-up after an advertisement was placed on the hockey club wall; it stipulated that the requirements of those attending were 'A sense of humour, walking boots or strong shoes, haversack, waterproof clothing and approximately £65 plus beer and lunch money'.
The group walk in a different location each time they gather, this week they'll be in Windsor Great Park.
Producer: Karen Gregor.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b03xzx5t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (b03xzzc6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b03y38kh)
Starred Up; Mica Levi; The future of film; Emergency cinema from Syria
Francine Stock talks to the Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn about British prison drama Starred Up which co-stars Jack O'Connell. He explains how he finds virtue in the most unlikely characters, from Pope in Animal Kingdom to Russell in Killing Them Softly.
The musician and composer Mica Levi on her first film sound track working with Jonathan Glazer on sci fi Under the Skin, with Scarlett Johansson. We visit her in the studio where she dissects the alien soundscape she created for the film.
Producer Jeremy Thomas looks back on his career, the subject of a season at the BFI in London, Made In Britain. He has worked with directors from David Cronenberg to Wim Wenders and Bernardo Bertolucci. He recalls his earliest memories as a child hanging out in Pinewood studios and looks forward to the industry's future.
As the conflict in Syria continues, two film makers reflect on their contrasting responses to the situation - Charif Kiwan of the Abounaddara collective which makes films of a few minutes duration focussing on real lives and avoiding the gory blood on the streets approach of the news channels and Orwa Nyrabia, producer of The Return to Homs, a documentary following young men who become radicalised by the destruction of their neighbourhood.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b03y38kk)
Cosmic inflation; LISA; Photonic radar; Bird stress camera; Water research; Taxidermy
Cosmic Inflation and Gravity waves
Scientists in the BICEP 2 Group say they've found the earliest rumbles of the Big Bang. Theory predicts how the universe first expanded. Now we have the first observation of the phenomenon behind it. The universe was kick-started by a so called 'inflation' - vigorous growth within a fraction of a second of the Big Bang going bang. To confirm inflation you need to detect ripples in the fabric of space called gravitational waves. And to find those, you need to look for twists and kinks in this stuff. The BICEP 2 radio telescope, at the South Pole, has been measuring the direction of twists of light from the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation - which is a form of primordial light, a remnant of the Big Bang. The signals have been released that show distortions in that light that can only have been caused by gravitational waves. They could only be there if there was inflation. In other words, these observations have shored up one of the most important theories in cosmology. Gareth Mitchell discusses what this means with BBC Science Correspondent Jonathan Amos and Astronomer at UCL Dr. Hiranya Peiris.
Photonic Radar
As the search closes in on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370, radar technology has been in the spotlight. At the same time, new research published in this week's Nature journal reports on field trials of the next generation of radars - photonics based. Lead-author Paolo Ghelfi, from the National Laboratory of Photonics networks in Pisa, Italy explains their methods. Professor David Stupples, a radar expert from City University, London, explain that this cheaper, more accurate technology could end up in your car.
Show Us Your Instrument - Infrared camera
Infrared cameras detect heat, and process this as a colourful image. Dominic McCafferty, from Glasgow University, uses this kit to study stress levels in birds. When an animal is stressed, blood is drawn away from its skin and routed to the essential organs. This 'fight or flight' reflex means the temperature of certain parts of the animal drops. The infrared camera measures this, providing a non-invasive way of testing an animal's stress level. Current projects include one to test chickens, aiming to improve their welfare.
Water research
When listener Dave Conway emailed in to ask about what research is being done on water, if any - we went straight to materials scientist Professor Mark Miodownik at UCL to find out.
Taxidermy
Is taxidermy a dying art? Not for the chattering classes of New York apparently. There's been a rise in demand for people to attend classes where they learn to stuff and mount animals, and often dress them up in costumes. But what is the value of the stuffed animals in museums? In the multimedia age of interactive displays, 3D printing and computer models - do we still need the stuffed and stitched creatures in glass cases?
Producer: Fiona Roberts.
THU 17:00 PM (b03y38km)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03y02rs)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Jason Cook's School of Hard Knocks (b03y38kp)
Funerals and Sex Education
Jason Cook helps make life more lovely for listeners, with more life lessons.
This time Jason looks at the peculiar pressures of fitting in at funerals as well as how to tackle the tricky task of explaining the bird n' the bees.
With Zoe Harrison and Neil Grainger.
Producer: Sam Michell.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2014.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b03y38kr)
Brian is hungry and miserable thanks to Jennifer's protest. She is preoccupied and takes pleasure in leaving for a breakfast meeting about the Smooth and Steady event.
Tom and Kirsty tell Pat about their new home. Pat is surprised, and feels reserving the plot for £2,000 is a lot of money to lose if something happened. The deposit on an unbuilt house concerns her too. Tom retorts that getting to choose the interiors is the attraction. Tom is disappointed by Pat's reaction but he finally feels that he's doing the right thing with the right person.
Brian confesses to Adam that he's famished. Adam offers him a chocolate bar which he gratefully receives. Knowing Jenny, this could go on for a while.
Lynda bumps into Adam during her training. She isn't holding out much hope for the mystery celebrity, assuming Fallon can't have many contacts outside Borsetshire.
Starving Brian finally gives into Jennifer and agrees to the 'Albion' kitchen. Jennifer is delighted.
Lynda bumps into Tom and Kirsty celebrating their house at The Bull. She confides that following an overheard conversation, she has deduced that the celebrity will be a northern woman. Competition is infectious, and Lynda had no idea Ian was so focussed on beating Rob.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b03y38kt)
Kings of the Dance; John Banville; Yves Saint Laurent biopic
With John Wilson.
Five of the world's greatest ballet stars are together on stage this week in Kings Of The Dance at The London Coliseum. John talks to principal dancers Roberto Bolle and Marcelo Gomes.
John Banville, the Man Booker Prize winning author of The Sea, also writes crime fiction under the pen name Benjamin Black. Now Banville, writing as Black, has taken on the legacy of Raymond Chandler and penned a hardboiled detective novel. John Banville discusses Chandler's iconic private eye, Phillip Marlowe, and the re-creation of Chandler's literary style.
The life of French designer Yves Saint Laurent is the subject of two films this year. The first biopic looks at his taking over Christian Dior's fashion house at the age of 21, and finding creative success whilst battling with personal demons. Linda Grant, Orange Prize winner and author of The Thoughtful Dresses, reviews.
Director Nicholas Hytner discusses his plans for the National Theatre in the year ahead. It's the last year Hytner will be responsible for the theatre, before Rufus Norris takes over the role. The season is dominated by new works from David Hare, Polly Stenham and Tom Stoppard.
Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b03y36vy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 Law in Action (b03y10h3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Tuesday]
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (b03yqktw)
Energy Upstarts
Turning up the heat: the new energy companies breaking into a market dominated by big established firms. Evan Davis meets two small entrants to the sector to find out how they're gaining market share. Is the strategy to compete on price, customer service or green credentials? He'll discuss the role of the price comparison websites in encouraging customers to switch providers and hear how some smaller companies are cutting gas and electricity bills when their bigger rivals aren't.
Guests:
Dale Vince, Founder and CEO, Ecotricity
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Founder and Managing Director, Ovo Energy
Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com
Producer: Sally Abrahams.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b03y38kk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b03y36vr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b03y02s5)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b03y38l0)
Tit for tat sanctions between Russia and the US.
Search for missing Malaysian plane continues.
Pop songs are no longer about love according to new research.
With David Eades.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b03y38l2)
Gabrielle Zevin - The Collected Works of AJ Fikry
Chance and Possibility
The Collected Works of A.J. Fikry is the enchanting, funny and touching novel by Gabrielle Zevin. Set in Island Books, a struggling independent bookshop at the heart of an island community off the American coast, it is the place where life lessons gleaned from reading are passed on. Today, Maya and A.J. open a book each, and what they find inside leads to delight and opportunity. Madeleine Potter and Hari Dhillon read.
Abridged by Sally Marmion and produced by Elizabeth Allard.
THU 23:00 So Wrong It's Right (b00zm31y)
Series 2
Episode 3
Charlie Brooker hosts the new comedy panel show that revels in glorious failure. He is joined by comedians Lee Mack, Shappi Khorsandi and David Schneider in a comedy contest to give the wrongest answer to each of Charlie's challenges.
Amongst the questions Charlie throws at his guests in this episode is 'what's the worst thing you've done in the pursuit of romance'. The panel's pitches - Lee Mack's first kiss whilst playing 'spin the bottle', Shappi's ill-fated attempts to impress a boy by showing how fast she can walk, and David's unfortunate heroics at the local swimming pool - are all subjected to Charlie's unique comic interrogation.
Added to this are the panel's hilariously terrible ideas for a new museum and their nominations for the worst irritants of modern life...
The host of So Wrong It's Right, Charlie Brooker, also presents BBC4's award-winning series Newswipe and You Have Been Watching on Channel 4 - plus writing for The Guardian. He won Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards 2009 and Columnist of the Year at the 2009 British Press Awards for his column.
Produced by Aled Evans
A Zeppotron Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b03y38l4)
Alicia McCarthy reports from Westminster.
FRIDAY 21 MARCH 2014
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b03y02tl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b03zrdn1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03y02tn)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03y02tq)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03y02ts)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b03y02tv)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b03y3g8m)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with the Rev Dr Gordon Gray.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b03y3g8p)
Return to the Levels, Upland grazing, New dairy at Newton Rigg, All's fair off the Faroes
Charlotte Smith discusses whether hill farmers are striking the right balance between food production and wildlife, with the RSPB. As the flood waters begin to subside on the Somerset Levels Charlotte revisits the Winslade family whose house and barns were, at one point, under several feet of water. Meanwhile, in Cumbria, Newton Rigg College is opening a new dairy unit to train the farmers of the future. Thirteen years ago the college's herd was wiped out by Foot and Mouth Disease, and the new unit's being seen as a sign of growing confidence in dairy farming.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Sarah Swadling.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03x45lf)
Snow Goose
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Bill Oddie presents the snow goose. Snow geese breed in the Canadian Arctic and fly south in autumn to feed. Their migrations are eagerly awaited and the arrival of thousands of these white geese with black-wingtips is one of the world’s great wildlife spectacles. Here, on the opposite side of the Atlantic, snow geese are seen every year, often with flocks of other species such as white-fronted geese. Snow geese are commonly kept in captivity in the UK, and escaped birds can and do breed in the wild. So, when a white shape turns up amongst a flock of wild grey geese, its origins are always under scrutiny.
FRI 06:00 Today (b03y3g8r)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b03xzx62)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b03zrdtd)
Free at Last - The Benn Diaries 1991 to 2001
Episode 5
Tony Benn reads the final extracts from "Free at Last- Diaries 1991 - 2001", first broadcast in 2003.
Today's episode is profoundly personal as it recounts the final illness of his beloved wife Caroline. Yet this intensely moving account of their 51-year marriage as it is transformed by the imminence of death is not all sadness. There is much joy, humour to be shared ... and even a little bit of political gossip.
Read by Tony Benn
Produced by Jane Ray.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b03y3kgg)
Why it's important to bond with your baby
Bonding with your baby. A new report says 4 in ten of all children are not forming the right attachments with their parents which means these children are more at risk of doing less well at school and are less likely to be successful in life.
The biggest study ever done into the psychology of music has found women have a lower beat perception than men. So if men can feel the beat more, why are they so reluctant on the dance floor and why women are more likely to be attracted to a good dancer?
We hear from Dr Julie Gottlieb about the feminine side of shuttle diplomacy by remembering the visit of Gertrud Scholtz-Klink,the leader of the National Socialist Women's League, to London 75 years ago in the run up to war. Hitler said Gertrud was his idea of the 'perfect woman.' We discuss why women have been left out of the appeasement story.
And we speak to the man who has made a programme for the BBC's World Service documenting the many social and cultural reasons why gender inequality exists in countries where the law and education treats both sexes equally. Ros Atkins spoke to teenage girls in London, Lesotho, Jordan and Iceland about their experiences.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b03y3kgj)
Charlotte Bronte - Shirley
The Winding Up
It is a time of change and decisions need to be made.
Directed by Tracey Neale.
FRI 11:00 Three Pounds in My Pocket (b03y3kgl)
Series 1
Episode 3
Men and women arriving from the Indian subcontinent in the 1950s and 1960s with as little as three pounds in their pockets recall their first impressions of Britain. In this final programme in the series, Kavita Puri talks to this pioneer generation who have spent most of their lives in Britain. Where is home now, she asks them, and how do you hold onto your own culture?
FRI 11:30 The Architects (b03y3kgn)
Series 1
Fracking Hell
Potentially lucrative contracts involving nuclear power plants, military drone manufacturers and a fracking company leave Matt and his principles in potential meltdown.
Sitcom set in a struggling architectural practice by Jim Poyser and Neil Griffiths.
Matt ...... Dominic Coleman
Sarah ...... Ingrid Oliver
Sir Lucien ...... Geoffrey Whitehead
Tim ...... Alex Carter
Hayley ...... Aisling Bea
Amanda ...... Carolyn Pickles
Snadaker ..... Stephen Critchlow
Gentle Energy MD ...... Steve Toussaint
Director: Toby Swift
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2014.
FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b03y3kgq)
Coeliac Disease
Consumer news with Peter White.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b03y02tx)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b03y02tz)
The EU seals a deal with Ukraine while President Putin puts his signature on the transfer of Crimea. Finland's Europe Minister defends the limited scale of sanctions by Europe but Lord Oakeshott tells Shaun Ley , we need to get tougher to impress Russia.
The DPP discusses Britain's first prosecution for Female Genital Mutilation.
The Department of Health changes its mind over mass Meningitis B inoculation.
Turkey's Twitterati cry foul over a national ban on social media.
And how crime can pay , if you prefer to stay behind bars.
FRI 13:45 Russia: The Wild East (b01322df)
Series 2
The Moscow Coup
In the final selection from his history of Russia, Martin Sixsmith describes the tumultuous events that took place in Moscow in 1991.
He was there as a BBC correspondent as Communist plotters tried to save the Soviet Union. They imprisoned President Gorbachev at his holiday villa and announced that they were saving the country from further reform and openness. They hadn't reckoned with Yeltsin, who climbed on top of a tank stationed outside the Moscow white house and, almost singlehandedly, won back the army and forced the plotters to back down.
This was the end of the USSR. The former republics, Ukraine among them, were free to take their own steps towards a new democratic constitution. But these were steps which would do nothing to alter the tension between Russia and Ukraine that had existed throughout their history.
Producers: Adam Fowler and Anna Scott-Brown
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b03y38kr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Rumpole (b03y3kgs)
Rumpole and the Sleeping Partners
After a legal ball in the Savoy Hotel, Rumpole and Hilda argue about Rumpole's drunken behaviour in front of Mr Justice Gwent-Evans. Rumpole can take no more of his wife and jumps out of their taxi. He intends to spend the night in chambers but finds Erskine-Brown in Equity Court, with Phillida Trant, "working late". Rumpole asks Phillida to help him with the defence of Hugo Lutterworth, who's accused of trying to kill the husband of his lover.
Phillida goes home with Erskine-Brown, leaving Rumpole to sleep on his sofa - strictly against the rules of chambers. And this is pointed out to him by Erskine-Brown when he arrives early next morning with Phillida. Did they spend the night together? Rumpole's feelings for his pupil are confusing, so he concentrates on his client.
Rumpole discusses the case again with Phillida, who seems out of sorts. She tells Rumpole to go home to Hilda but he ignores her advice and is caught having supper at his desk by Erskine-Brown, who accidentally invites Rumpole to stay at his flat - which does not go well.
Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Rumpole in a story written by John Mortimer and adapted by Richard Stoneman.
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b03y3lk8)
Correspondence at Sparsholt
Eric Robson hosts from the GQT potting shed at Sparsholt College as Bob Flowerdew, Anne Swithinbank, Christine Walkden and Rosie Yeomans tackle listeners' questions sent in by post, email and social media.
Produced by Howard Shannon.
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
This week's questions:
Q. I am providing posies for a wedding in August. I have chosen Sweet Peas but was wondering when to get them germinating (in our airing cupboard) so they will be ready in time?
A. Ideally they would have been sown last month because they can be quite slow. The other issue is that they may have stopped flowering by August, so keep cutting every bloom off until about two weeks before the occasion and then let it flower freely. Make sure you keep them watered and well fed. The airing cupboard may be too dark and warm, and they may shoot up very quickly and create a spindly plant. A windowsill would probably be better. Some varieties require the seeds to be soaked first.
Q. I recently found a packet of apple seeds dated 1991. Is there a chance that they are still viable and how would I go about germinating them?
A. Divide them into several lots and try out different conditions. Plant one lot in well-drained seed compost and only cover it by its own size. Try some others in normal greenhouse temperatures. Thirdly, try another pot out in the cold frame. Beware that they will probably have gone off unless they have remained cool and sealed. If you are successful, grow it in a pot, buy a tree and try approach grafting. The graft takes place while the plant is still potted and you remove the pot at a later date.
Q. I have a large garden that is becoming infested with Cuckoo Pint. I have dug it out where I can but it is multiplying. How can I control it?
A. Often you only remove the leaf and stem, and the tuber remains. Even if you do remove the tuber, little bits get left behind. You can use weed killers but you will have to physically remove it if it is amongst other plants. It thrives in shady, damp gardens, so perhaps it is time to have the hedges and trees pruned. If you repeatedly hoe them off then you will eventually weaken the bulb.
Q. I will soon be leaving the UK and there will be no family left here to look after my parents' gravesite. I have thought of bulbs and herbs but would like some advice for this clay spot.
A. As long as the clay-soil is well drained, then stick to Alpines and short varieties like Houseleeks. In shadier spots try something like Primula Marginata. Alpines are self-cleaning, have a long flowering season and remain prostrate. You could go for a mixture of bulbs because they will endure almost longer than anything else.
Q. I am holding a party at the beginning of November this year. Could the panel suggest plants that could be used for cut flower arrangements or in pots. I'm looking for white flowers, and scent would be great.
A. Try the beautiful Schizostylis Coccinea 'Alba' with its pure white flower or the white Cyclamen Hederifolium. There is always the option of sowing annuals but don't sow them until June. Something such as Gypsophila sown late could work. Chrysanthemums are ideal for that time of year. White Dahlias might also work if given some protection.
Q. We run an allotment in old bathtubs. We grow vegetables to make "audience soup" for the community theatre. This year we are expanding our allotment to include a small mobile orchard. We intend to plant apple and pear trees in large containers, which would then be carefully moved around to areas for outdoor performances. Could the panel recommend varieties that will stand up to these unusual circumstances?
A. Discovery is the best early apple. Many of the apples don't keep long after being picked from the tree. You could try cherries, such as the Morello. Make sure they are well fed and watered. Ashmead's Kernel or Crispin will provide apples later in the season.
FRI 15:45 New Irish Writing (b03y3lkb)
Serenity
A series of new readings by some of Ireland's most exciting and talented writers. Clare Dwyer-Hogg, Michèle Forbes, Paul McVeigh and Martin Meenan bring us a range of stories where human emotions are tested, and memories are forged, forgotten or found, all the while taking a humorous and poignant look at how people withdraw, connect and reconnect with one another throughout the course of their lives.
A coffee shop owner who portraits the epitome of calm and sophistication spectacularly lets her guard down in "Serenity" by Claire Dywer-Hogg. Read by Hattie Morahan. Produced by Morag Keating.
Music, Letters by Little Bear.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b03y3lkd)
Clarissa Dickson Wright, Lord Ballyedmond, L'Wren Scott, Mohammed Fahim, Peter Callander
On Last Word with Julian Worricker:
Clarissa Dickson Wright, one half of the forthright on-screen duo, 'Two Fat Ladies'. Former BBC2 controller, Jane Root, pays tribute to a woman described by many as 'utterly non-PC'.
Lord Ballyedmond, who became one of Northern Ireland's richest men, and was a politician at Westminster and in Dublin.
Peter Callander who wrote hits for the likes of Cliff Richard, Cilla Black and Dusty Springfield.
Mohammed Qasim Fahim, one of Afghanistan's two vice-presidents. The BBC's chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, reflects on his role.
And the model who became a stylist and then an acclaimed fashion designer, L'Wren Scott.
FRI 16:30 Feedback (b03y3lkg)
How does Radio 4 decide when to change the schedule? The death of Tony Benn last week disrupted some listeners when an Inspector Rebus drama was cancelled in favour of a documentary about the Labour grandee. Then, on Monday morning, the advertised Book of the Week was removed to make way for a re-run of Benn's diaries. Listeners have complained in the past about similar changes to scheduled programmes when Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela died. Roger Bolton asks the Head of Planning and Scheduling, Tony Pilgrim, why Radio 4 does it.
Roger will also be getting lost in the issue of the week at the Moral Maze with presenter Michael Buerk, producer Phil Pegum, and panellists Claire Fox, Giles Fraser, Anne McElvoy, and Michael Portillo.
When Radio 4 announced that one of its most popular comedies, Cabin Pressure, would take to the air no more, many listeners wanted to know why. The dream cast of Benedict Cumberbatch , Stephanie Cole, Roger Allam and John Finnemore have just recorded their final episode - and 23,000 people applied for tickets. We'll be asking writer John Finnemore if he has any regrets about ending the series.
And the BBC Director General, Tony Hall, wants fifty percent of all BBC local radio breakfast shows to have at least one woman presenter - either solo or as co-host - by the end of 2014. Roger speaks to the man who has to instigate those changes David Holdsworth, the Controller of English Regions.
Producer: Will Yates
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 17:00 PM (b03y3lkj)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news. Including Weather at
5.57pm.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03y02v1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (b03y3lkl)
Series 83
Episode 6
A satirical review of the week's news, chaired by Sandi Toksvig, with regular panellist Jeremy Hardy and guest panellists Mark Steel, Elis James and David Mitchell.
Produced by Lyndsay Fenner.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b03y3lkn)
It's the day of the Sports Relief challenges and everyone's excited. Rob asks Ian why he's been so prickly, claiming he was just trying to help. Ian blurts out his feelings about Rob's relationship with Helen and his comments about The Lodge.
David tells Jill he's really pleased about the baby. Ruth seems less enthusiastic but Jill thinks it'll just take time. While watching David compete, Ruth's hit by how lucky she is.
Everyone's thrilled to see the special celebrity guest... Sir Bradley Wiggins. None more so that Lynda, who tumbles from her bike as she realises who it is.
In the Rough and Tumble, Ian's doing better than Rob expected. Rob gives Ian a 'professional nudge'. They climb on to their bikes and Ian crosses the line first. Rob claims he slowed to look at The Lodge - he'll be moving in one day after all. Ian's livid at Rob's arrogance and punches him in front of Sir Bradley. Ian's star-struck when he sees his hero, Wiggo.
At the end of a successful and eventful competition, the two overall winners are announced - Dan and Lynda!
At the Bull, Rob tries to clear the air but Ian's having none of it - Rob's a bully.
Ruth's feeling happy. Having had time to adjust, she can honestly say she wants the baby more than anything.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b03y3lkq)
Kristin Davis; Errol Morris; Mammon; Kate Bush
Kirsty Lang talks to Kristin Davis, best known for playing Charlotte in Sex and the City, as she makes her West End debut in Fatal Attraction, directed by Trevor Nunn.
The latest Nordic Noir to arrive on British TV screens is Mammon, a Norwegian thriller about a newspaper journalist. Crime writer Dreda Say Mitchell reviews.
Documentary maker Errol Morris (The Fog of War) on his latest film The Unknown Known, which profiles former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld from his early days as a congressman to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
In August Kate Bush will play her first live concerts in 35 years. She recently talked to John Wilson about her fears of performing live.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b03y3kgj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b03y3lks)
Sajid Javid MP, Andy Street, Frances O'Grady, Rachel Reeves MP
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from Birmingham City University with Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Sajid Javid MP; Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary, Rachel Reeves MP; Managing Director of John Lewis, Andy Street; and General Secretary of the TUC, Frances O'Grady.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b03y3lkv)
Heavy Weather
Sarah Dunant compares our reaction today to climate change with responses in the seventeenth century to extreme weather.
Producer: Sheila Cook.
FRI 21:00 Friday Drama (b01k2f8y)
Four Trees down from Ponte Sisto
Twenty five years ago in Rome, an American student named Geoffrey Charde fell to his death from a wall above the river Tiber, late at night and with no witnesses, four trees down from Ponte Sisto.
Since then, his mother, the poet Sharon Charde has been writing her way through all the dimensions of her son's death; writing her way back to life through a series of poems that combine her fearless examination of specific details and events with deep philosophical insights into the close proximity of death within every aspect of life.
Adapted and composed for radio by Gregory Whitehead. Performed by Anne Undeland.
Producer Jeremy Mortimer.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b03y02v3)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b03y3lkx)
Government figures suggest nearly half student loans will not be paid back. We speak to Select Committee chairman Adrian Bailey and universities minister David Willetts.
Putin completes Russia's annexation of Crimea, despite imposition of further EU sanctions. Stephen Dalziel discusses their impact; Lord Williams and former US ambassador James Collins debate the performance of diplomacy in the crisis.
Many Turks defy PM Erdogan's attempt to shut down Twitter. We get reaction from former foreign minister Yasar Yakis, Erdogan ally Shaban Dishli, and internet expert Karl Kathuria.
And Robert Pigott reports on the problem of vacant parishes in the North of England.
Presented by David Eades.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b03y3lkz)
Gabrielle Zevin - The Collected Works of AJ Fikry
A Trip to Providence
Beguiling, funny and poignant, The Collected Works of A.J. Fikry is largely set in Island Books, a struggling independent bookshop at the heart of an island community off the American coast. Today, Amelia's favourite book finds A.J planning a trip to Providence with Maya and his trusted friend, Lambiase. Madeleine Potter & Hari Dhillon read.
Abridged by Sally Marmion and produced by Elizabeth Allard.
FRI 23:00 A Good Read (b03y10h5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b03y3ll1)
Mark D'Arcy reports from Westminster.
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 (b03y0f06)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 MON (b03y0f06)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 TUE (b03y0qkz)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 TUE (b03y0qkz)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 WED (b03y13zj)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 WED (b03y13zj)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 THU (b03y36vy)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 THU (b03y36vy)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 FRI (b03y3kgj)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 FRI (b03y3kgj)
A Good Read
16:30 TUE (b03y10h5)
A Good Read
23:00 FRI (b03y10h5)
A Point of View
08:48 SUN (b03xgtsd)
A Point of View
20:50 FRI (b03y3lkv)
A Shower of Sparks
15:30 SAT (b03xf0g1)
After Wonderland
00:30 SUN (b03xzvn0)
Agatha Christie - Ordeal by Innocence
11:30 MON (b03y0l8y)
Analysis
21:30 SUN (b03y02c5)
Analysis
20:30 MON (b03y0n8j)
Any Answers?
14:00 SAT (b03xzsnn)
Any Questions?
13:10 SAT (b03xgswl)
Any Questions?
20:00 FRI (b03y3lks)
Archive on 4
20:00 SAT (b03xzsp3)
BBC Inside Science
16:30 THU (b03y38kk)
BBC Inside Science
21:00 THU (b03y38kk)
Bells on Sunday
05:43 SUN (b03xzvn2)
Bells on Sunday
00:45 MON (b03xzvn2)
Beyond Belief
16:30 MON (b03y0lcl)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 MON (b03y0n8n)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 TUE (b03y10tj)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 WED (b03y15j4)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 THU (b03y38l2)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 FRI (b03y3lkz)
Book of the Week
00:30 SAT (b03xgslh)
Book of the Week
09:45 MON (b03zrcfv)
Book of the Week
00:30 TUE (b03zrcfv)
Book of the Week
09:45 TUE (b03zrdkx)
Book of the Week
00:30 WED (b03zrdkx)
Book of the Week
09:45 WED (b03zrdlg)
Book of the Week
00:30 THU (b03zrdlg)
Book of the Week
09:45 THU (b03zrdn1)
Book of the Week
00:30 FRI (b03zrdn1)
Book of the Week
09:45 FRI (b03zrdtd)
Brain of Britain
23:00 SAT (b03xdk8l)
Brain of Britain
15:00 MON (b03y0l96)
Broadcasting House
09:00 SUN (b03xzx5y)
Budget 2014
12:00 WED (b03y146d)
Classic Serial
21:00 SAT (b03xcxdx)
Comic Fringes
23:00 WED (b0144v1t)
Costing the Earth
15:30 TUE (b03y10h1)
Costing the Earth
21:00 WED (b03y10h1)
Crypto Wars
13:30 SUN (b03xzyy5)
Desert Island Discs
11:15 SUN (b03xzx62)
Desert Island Discs
09:00 FRI (b03xzx62)
Down the Line
18:30 TUE (b00zf1zy)
Drama
14:15 MON (b03y0l94)
Drama
14:15 TUE (b03y10gx)
Drama
14:15 WED (b03y14n7)
Farming Today
06:30 SAT (b03xzs0z)
Farming Today
05:45 MON (b03y0dzv)
Farming Today
05:45 TUE (b03y0qcm)
Farming Today
05:45 WED (b03y13z8)
Farming Today
05:45 THU (b03y36vm)
Farming Today
05:45 FRI (b03y3g8p)
Feedback
20:00 SUN (b03xgswb)
Feedback
16:30 FRI (b03y3lkg)
File on 4
17:00 SUN (b03xf0gt)
Friday Drama
21:00 FRI (b01k2f8y)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:30 SAT (b03xzs1j)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:00 THU (b03y36w0)
Front Row
19:15 MON (b03y0n8d)
Front Row
19:15 TUE (b03y10j7)
Front Row
19:15 WED (b03y15hw)
Front Row
19:15 THU (b03y38kt)
Front Row
19:15 FRI (b03y3lkq)
Gardeners' Question Time
14:00 SUN (b03xgsm0)
Gardeners' Question Time
15:00 FRI (b03y3lk8)
Gay Rights: Tying the Knot?
20:00 TUE (b03yggdf)
HR
11:30 WED (b03y13zn)
In Our Time
09:00 THU (b03y36vr)
In Our Time
21:30 THU (b03y36vr)
In Touch
20:40 TUE (b03y10tb)
Inside Health
21:00 TUE (b03y10td)
Jason Cook's School of Hard Knocks
18:30 THU (b03y38kp)
Jeeves - Live!
19:15 SUN (b03y00qw)
Just a Minute
12:00 SUN (b03xdk8s)
Just a Minute
18:30 MON (b03y0n88)
Last Word
20:30 SUN (b03xgsw8)
Last Word
16:00 FRI (b03y3lkd)
Law in Action
16:00 TUE (b03y10h3)
Law in Action
20:00 THU (b03y10h3)
Lent Talks
05:45 SUN (b03xhfds)
Lent Talks
20:45 WED (b03y15j0)
Loose Ends
18:15 SAT (b03xzsnx)
Midnight News
00:00 SAT (b03xgvg1)
Midnight News
00:00 SUN (b03xztlk)
Midnight News
00:00 MON (b03y02hz)
Midnight News
00:00 TUE (b03y02kj)
Midnight News
00:00 WED (b03y02mc)
Midnight News
00:00 THU (b03y02r2)
Midnight News
00:00 FRI (b03y02tl)
Midweek
09:00 WED (b03y13zd)
Midweek
21:30 WED (b03y13zd)
Money Box Live
15:00 WED (b03y152f)
Money Box
12:00 SAT (b03xzs1l)
Money Box
21:00 SUN (b03xzs1l)
Moral Maze
22:15 SAT (b03xf1fg)
Moral Maze
20:00 WED (b03y15hy)
Nature
21:00 MON (b03xf0fz)
Nature
11:00 TUE (b03y0qkl)
New Irish Writing
15:45 FRI (b03y3lkb)
News Briefing
05:30 SAT (b03xgvg9)
News Briefing
05:30 SUN (b03xztlt)
News Briefing
05:30 MON (b03y02j7)
News Briefing
05:30 TUE (b03y02ks)
News Briefing
05:30 WED (b03y02mp)
News Briefing
05:30 THU (b03y02rb)
News Briefing
05:30 FRI (b03y02tv)
News Headlines
06:00 SUN (b03xztlw)
News and Papers
06:00 SAT (b03xgvgc)
News and Papers
07:00 SUN (b03xztm0)
News and Papers
08:00 SUN (b03xztm4)
News and Weather
22:00 SAT (b03xgvgy)
News
13:00 SAT (b03xgvgp)
Nurse
23:15 WED (b03y15jr)
On Your Farm
06:35 SUN (b03xzx5p)
One to One
09:30 TUE (b03y0qct)
One to One
15:30 WED (b03y0qct)
Open Book
16:00 SUN (b03xzzc6)
Open Book
15:30 THU (b03xzzc6)
PM
17:00 SAT (b03xzsnv)
PM
17:00 MON (b03y0lcn)
PM
17:00 TUE (b03y10h7)
PM
17:00 WED (b03y152m)
PM
17:00 THU (b03y38km)
PM
17:00 FRI (b03y3lkj)
Pick of the Week
18:15 SUN (b03y00qr)
Poetry Please
23:30 SAT (b03xcxf1)
Poetry Please
16:30 SUN (b03xzzc8)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 SAT (b03xgvr7)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 MON (b03y0dzs)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 TUE (b03y0qck)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 WED (b03y10xf)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 THU (b03y36vk)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 FRI (b03y3g8m)
Profile
19:00 SAT (b03xzsnz)
Profile
17:40 SUN (b03xzsnz)
Radio 4 Appeal
07:55 SUN (b03xzx5t)
Radio 4 Appeal
21:26 SUN (b03xzx5t)
Radio 4 Appeal
15:27 THU (b03xzx5t)
Ramblings
06:07 SAT (b03xgl46)
Ramblings
15:00 THU (b03y38kf)
Rejection Notes: The Movie Scores That Never Were
11:30 TUE (b03y10gs)
Robert Peston's Family Business Therapy
11:00 WED (b03y13zl)
Rumpole
14:15 THU (b03y38kc)
Rumpole
14:15 FRI (b03y3kgs)
Russia: The Wild East
13:45 MON (b010dp11)
Russia: The Wild East
13:45 TUE (b010dq7b)
Russia: The Wild East
15:45 WED (b010t6jm)
Russia: The Wild East
13:45 THU (b012l0r4)
Russia: The Wild East
13:45 FRI (b01322df)
Saturday Drama
15:00 SUN (b01rv0lm)
Saturday Live
09:00 SAT (b03xzs15)
Saturday Review
19:15 SAT (b03xzsp1)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SAT (b03xgvg5)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SUN (b03xztlp)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 MON (b03y02j3)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 TUE (b03y02kn)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 WED (b03y02mk)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 THU (b03y02r6)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 FRI (b03y02tq)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SAT (b03xgvg3)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SAT (b03xgvg7)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SAT (b03xgvgr)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SUN (b03xztlm)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SUN (b03xztlr)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SUN (b03xztm8)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 MON (b03y02j1)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 MON (b03y02j5)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 TUE (b03y02kl)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 TUE (b03y02kq)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 WED (b03y02mg)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 WED (b03y02mm)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 THU (b03y02r4)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 THU (b03y02r8)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 FRI (b03y02tn)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 FRI (b03y02ts)
Short Cuts
23:00 MON (b03cn0r8)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SAT (b03xgvgw)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SUN (b03xztmd)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 MON (b03y02jh)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 TUE (b03y02kz)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 WED (b03y02my)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 THU (b03y02rs)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 FRI (b03y02v1)
So Wrong It's Right
23:00 THU (b00zm31y)
Something Understood
06:05 SUN (b03xzwgb)
Something Understood
23:30 SUN (b03xzwgb)
Start the Week
09:00 MON (b03y0f00)
Start the Week
21:30 MON (b03y0f00)
Sunday Worship
08:10 SUN (b03xzx5w)
Sunday
07:10 SUN (b03xzx5r)
Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones!
18:30 WED (b03y152p)
The Archers Omnibus
10:00 SUN (b03xzx60)
The Archers
19:00 SUN (b03y00qt)
The Archers
14:00 MON (b03y00qt)
The Archers
19:00 MON (b03y0n8b)
The Archers
14:00 TUE (b03y0n8b)
The Archers
19:00 TUE (b03y10h9)
The Archers
14:00 WED (b03y10h9)
The Archers
19:00 WED (b03y154q)
The Archers
14:00 THU (b03y154q)
The Archers
19:00 THU (b03y38kr)
The Archers
14:00 FRI (b03y38kr)
The Archers
19:00 FRI (b03y3lkn)
The Architects
11:30 FRI (b03y3kgn)
The Art of Home
11:30 THU (b03y36w2)
The Bottom Line
17:30 SAT (b03xglvt)
The Bottom Line
20:30 THU (b03yqktw)
The Film Programme
23:00 SUN (b03xgl48)
The Film Programme
16:00 THU (b03y38kh)
The Food Programme
12:32 SUN (b03xzyy1)
The Food Programme
15:30 MON (b03xzyy1)
The Great Estate
16:00 MON (b03y0lcj)
The Kitchen Cabinet
15:00 TUE (b03y10gz)
The Life Scientific
09:00 TUE (b03y0qcr)
The Life Scientific
21:30 TUE (b03y0qcr)
The Media Show
16:30 WED (b03y152k)
The News Quiz
12:30 SAT (b03xzs3b)
The News Quiz
18:30 FRI (b03y3lkl)
The Regimental Future
11:00 MON (b03y0l8w)
The Roots of Extremism
20:00 MON (b03y0n8g)
The Showman's Parson: Tales from the Memoirs of the Rev Thomas Horne
19:45 SUN (b03y00qy)
The Week in Westminster
11:00 SAT (b03xzs1c)
The World This Weekend
13:00 SUN (b03xzyy3)
The World Tonight
22:00 MON (b03y0n8l)
The World Tonight
22:00 TUE (b03y10tg)
The World Tonight
22:00 WED (b03y15j2)
The World Tonight
22:00 THU (b03y38l0)
The World Tonight
22:00 FRI (b03y3lkx)
Thinking Allowed
00:15 MON (b03xf1f2)
Thinking Allowed
16:00 WED (b03y152h)
Three Pounds in My Pocket
11:00 FRI (b03y3kgl)
Today in Parliament
23:30 MON (b03y0nwx)
Today in Parliament
23:30 TUE (b03y10vj)
Today in Parliament
23:30 WED (b03y15jt)
Today in Parliament
23:30 THU (b03y38l4)
Today in Parliament
23:30 FRI (b03y3ll1)
Today
07:00 SAT (b03xzs13)
Today
06:00 MON (b03y0dzy)
Today
06:00 TUE (b03y0qcp)
Today
06:00 WED (b03y13zb)
Today
06:00 THU (b03y36vp)
Today
06:00 FRI (b03y3g8r)
Tony Benn on the Radio
14:30 SAT (b03zqmw3)
Turf Wars
23:00 TUE (b00zm084)
Tweet of the Day
08:58 SUN (b03x46sm)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 MON (b03x457w)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 TUE (b03x458y)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 WED (b03x45bg)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 THU (b03x45jq)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 FRI (b03x45lf)
Weather
06:04 SAT (b03xgvgf)
Weather
06:57 SAT (b03xgvgh)
Weather
12:57 SAT (b03xgvgk)
Weather
17:57 SAT (b03xgvgt)
Weather
06:57 SUN (b03xztly)
Weather
07:57 SUN (b03xztm2)
Weather
12:57 SUN (b03xztm6)
Weather
17:57 SUN (b03xztmb)
Weather
05:56 MON (b03y02j9)
Weather
12:57 MON (b03y02jc)
Weather
21:58 MON (b03y02jm)
Weather
12:57 TUE (b03y02kv)
Weather
21:58 WED (b03y02n5)
Weather
12:57 THU (b03y02rd)
Weather
21:58 THU (b03y02s5)
Weather
12:57 FRI (b03y02tx)
Weather
21:58 FRI (b03y02v3)
Westminster Hour
22:00 SUN (b03y00r1)
What the Papers Say
22:45 SUN (b03y00r3)
Witness
14:45 SUN (b03xzzc4)
Woman's Hour
16:00 SAT (b03xzsnq)
Woman's Hour
10:00 MON (b03y0f04)
Woman's Hour
10:00 TUE (b03y0qjp)
Woman's Hour
10:00 WED (b03y13zg)
Woman's Hour
10:00 THU (b03y36vw)
Woman's Hour
10:00 FRI (b03y3kgg)
World War One: The Cultural Front
10:30 SAT (b03th7bz)
World at One
13:00 MON (b03y02jf)
World at One
13:00 TUE (b03y02kx)
World at One
13:00 THU (b03y02rg)
World at One
13:00 FRI (b03y02tz)
You and Yours
12:00 MON (b03y0l90)
You and Yours
12:00 TUE (b03y10gv)
You and Yours
12:00 THU (b03y36w4)
You and Yours
12:00 FRI (b03y3kgq)
iPM
05:45 SAT (b03xgvr9)