TUESDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2015

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b0532fd1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b0536jp8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b0532fd3)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b0532fd5)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b0532fd7)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b0532fd9)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b054h5kc)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Reverend Dr Janet Wootton.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b05373qf)
Potatoes, Pesticide Amnesty, Food Self-Sustainability, Rare Breeds

The Potato council are warning farmers to grow only what they can sell. It comes as production increases but consumers are buying less. Anna Hill visits Potato farmer Tim Briscoe who tells her that they will have to consider how much they plant this year. NFU Scotland are having a pesticide amnesty, their chief executive Scott Walker says it is to help cut down on the amount of dangerous substances which could be detrimental to wildlife, and thinks the rest of the UK should adopt their approach. The NFU is concerned that Britain will only be able to produce around half of its own food in the next 25 years. Andrew Clarke is the NFU head of policy claims it will have serious implications for the British economy, food security and employment. Presented by Anna Hill. Produced in Bristol by Ruth Sanderson.


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03k5c26)
Ptarmigan

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

David Attenborough presents the ptarmigan. Few birds are tough enough to brave winter on the highest of Scottish mountains but Ptarmigan are well adapted to extreme conditions. They're the only British bird that turns white in winter and Ptarmigan have feathers that cover their toes, feet and nostrils to minimise heat loss.


TUE 06:00 Today (b05373s4)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Long View (b0537490)
The 1929 General Election and the Art of Political Persuasion

Jonathan Freedland focuses on the art of political persuasion, through the prism of the 1929 general election, when the Conservative Party employed the UK's top advertising agency.

Producer Mohini Patel.


TUE 09:30 One to One (b0537492)
John Harris Talks to Penny Andrews about Autism

John Harris, of the Guardian, talks to Penny Andrews, a university researcher, who, after a difficult childhood and adolescence was finally diagnosed as autistic in her early thirties.
John is known for having two consuming passions music, and politics - and luckily he's developed a career that revolves around both. But around five years ago, he acquired a third area of expertise and curiosity: autism.

His son James was born in 2006 and, when he was 3, it was discovered he was autistic. For John and his partner, the next two or three years passed in a blur of educational therapy, tussles with officialdom, James's successful entry to a mainstream school, and reading: lots and lots of it.

In his first edition of One to One, John talked to Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at Cambridge University and Director of the University's Autism Research Centre.

Today he talks to Penny about how the condition has affected her life and how she has learnt to live with it, holding down an intellectually challenging job and married life.

They discuss how schools and employers can help those on the autistic spectrum make the most of the gifts and talents they have and understand better the more challenging aspects of the condition.

Producer: Lucy Lunt.


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b0537494)
Mary Portas - Shop Girl

Episode 2

Mary Portas reads her moving and hilarious memoir of her early years.

It's 1974 and the world is changing. Glam-rock boys who look like girls are wearing silk and glitter on Top of the Pops, and even in Watford chicken chow mein is all the rage and Oxford bags are making an appearance on the market stalls.

For the young Mary Portas, life is full of opportunity which she'll seize as soon as she's old enough for a Saturday job. She's never happier than when she's singing along to David Bowie songs with her brothers and sister, with backcombed hair and fuchsia eye shadow.

Her mum, a stickler for the rules when it comes to school and church, is happy to encourage her children's self-expression. But this world of chaotic creativity is blown apart when Mary's mother is taken seriously ill.

Read by the author
Abridged by Jo Coombs

Produced by Hannah Marshall
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b0537496)
Cerys Matthews on Carole King; Immigration; Joanna Jepson

As a new musical about Carole King opens, Cerys Matthews assesses where she fits in among the top female singer-songwriters.
Joanna Jepson talks about her faith, life in the Church of England today - and why she spoke out about abortion ten years ago.
Immigration was identified as the fourth biggest concern for women in polling done for Woman's Hour by TNS. What do they think and feel about the issue and how are the political parties addressing it?
And, We hear about the young women contemplating a double mastectomy.

Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Ruth Watts.


TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b0537498)
The Henry Experiment

Episode 2

A mother (Emma Fielding) fears that a child parenting expert (Matthew Marsh) is endangering his own seven year old son Henry by testing out his theories of early independence on him.

When Anna discovered that famous parenting expert Professor Horace Henderson had left his 7 year old son alone on Hampstead Heath, she reported him to to police. She now feels that she must start following Henry to keep an eye on him.

A thriller which asks whether our society bubble wraps children, whether we have the right to interfere in other people's children's lives and how we become parents with the spectres of our own childhoods still looming over our shoulders.

Based on a novel by the journalist Sophie Radice who contributes to The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent and many magazines. Adapted for radio by award winning writer Charlotte Jones who has written extensively for TV, theatre and radio. Her most celebrated play "Humble Boy has played all over the world, she wrote the book for Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical of "The Woman in White" and most recently ITV aired her three part thriller "Without you".

Anna ... Emma Fielding
Henderson ... Matthew Marsh
Henry ... Finn Monteath
David ... Ian Conningham
Policeman ... Monty d'Inverno

Producer ... Liz Webb

First broadcast on Radio 4 in 2015.


TUE 11:00 Ebola Junction (b053749b)
Dr Wright is one of the 30 NHS volunteers who set off for Sierra Leone in November. His took the decision to volunteer in the fight against Ebola after the United Nations warned that the world has just 60 days to get the virus under control or face an "unprecedented situation for which we don't have a plan" The report, issued by the organisation's health arm, said the virus was "running faster than us and it is winning the race."

The UN identified the opening of Ebola Treatment Centres and more effective community containment as key to success and in Bradford where Dr Wright is director of the Institute for Health Research, it was a rallying call that saw him immediately volunteer. He worked in southern Africa in the early 1990's, when HIV was endemic and has continued to visit. He's in charge of opening the Moyamba treatment centre: a million pound British Government funded hospital built by the Royal Engineers in just six weeks.

In this second programme in the series his recordings start at the December opening of the hospital. On day one three patients arrive: two of them exposed during a funeral. The young man, Ibrahim, seems the strongest and the team prepare to use the training they received in the York military barracks. His audio recordings take listeners onto the wards and through the last moments as Ibrahim loses his fight against the terrible disease. There's no time to take stock before more patients are arriving and throughout Christmas Dr Wright records what happens.

Working in the community is a key element of the job, with a major push to reinforce messages about safe burials and hand washing:
"One of the concerns with all of this is that we have this European army of clinicians going out all dressed up in scary protective equipment and it could be very alienating."

Professor Wright and the team get word that in a nearby area unsafe burials are still taking place: they travel there with the army and explain the dangers to local chiefs. On Christmas Eve the chiefs send him and the medical team a pig, which they can kill and feast on. But soon after this Dr Wright develops a temperature and is quickly on the other side of the "scary" bio hazard suits, where he remains in isolation awaiting the results of his own test for Ebola.


TUE 11:30 Tales from the Stave (b053749d)
Series 11

Der Rosenkavalier

When Der Rosenkavalier made its British premier in 1913 there was heated debate about the appearance of the on-stage bed in the first scene, not to mention the hot-blooded music that accompanied the antics thereupon! However the manuscript of Richard Strauss' most popular opera is more about extraordinary precision and detail than passionate abandon.
The huge volumes held by the Austrian National Library were actually a part payment for a Viennese house Strauss was in the process of acquiring but their appeal to one of the world's leading Strauss conductors, Simone Young is the discipline and imagination of the score's contents. Also joining Frances Fyfield to see this huge work is the Viennese Baritone Clemens Unterreiner who, as the elderly Faninal finds himself performing the part of a character who comes from the same area of the city has he does.
The opera is perhaps most famous for its three central female characters, the Marschallin, her lover Octavian, usually sung by a Mezzo-soprano, and Sophie who eventually tears Octavian away from his initial relationship. Simone's Young's insights into this triangle and how Strauss evokes it in the score in some of the most visceral romantic music of the 20th century is a highlight of this quintessentially Viennese edition of Tales from the Stave.

Producer: Tom Alban.


TUE 12:00 News Summary (b0532fdc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 Home Front (b05374w9)
24 February 1915 - Phyllis Marshall

Phyllis readies herself for a particularly difficult meeting.

Written by Melissa Murray
Directed and produced by Lucy Collingwood
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.


TUE 12:15 You and Yours (b05375kv)
Call You and Yours: What Have the Arts Done for You?

The BBC's "Get Creative" campaign is encouraging us to get involved in art. But where does the money come from for such creativity? Its hard to argue with the benefits of things like singing, dancing or painting, but what benefits have you actually seen?

And what about when it comes to funding the arts, should the money be ring-fenced, or are there better places to put it such as elder care, children's services or youth clubs? And if you do withdraw public money for the arts, does that mean some artists will fall by the wayside? And how bad a thing would that be?

Tell us what you think. Email us at youandyours@bbc.co.uk or call us Tuesday after 11,
03700 100 444.


TUE 12:57 Weather (b0532fdf)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (b05375kx)
Analysis of current affairs reports, presented by Martha Kearney.


TUE 13:45 A History of Britain in Numbers (b05375kz)
Series 2

Debt

Andrew Dilnot, chair of the UK Statistics Authority (2012-2017), brings to life the numbers conveying the big trends that have transformed the shape and scope of the British state.

He looks at what governments through the centuries have spent, borrowed, taxed, regulated and built; and he considers how we came to organise a national life that reaches into every corner of private life, from the delivery of pensions and healthcare to the surveillance of emails or rules about the temperature of a hot cup of tea.

By one measure, the modern British state is roughly 7,000 times bigger than the Tudor state. How and why did that happen?

The story of the state unfolds through muddy fields, smugglers coves and a Victorian village lock-up. Numbers become sound as we hear the dramatic scale of change that has occurred over the centuries.

The evolution of the state may be driven less by party politics than party politicians might like us to think. Although the state's size and functions are a natural subject of fierce political argument, the impetus for the biggest changes has often come from another source - such as war, economic growth, and the power that arises from knowledge.

In programme seven, Andrew analyses the numbers around debt.

Producer: Michael Blastland
A Whistledown production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2015.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (b05372ss)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b04bryz1)
I'm a Believer

Stephen Mangan stars in Jon Canter's irreverent comedy.

When Simon meets God in his dreams, he's happy to tell Him to His face that He doesn't exist. But that's before Simon meets Birth, Death and a woman who thinks he's a vicar... all on the same night.

Directed by Jonquil Panting

Jon Canter's deliciously dry dialogue, satirically self-conscious characters, and real moments of pathos, make his comedies as intelligent and sharp as they are gentle and ineffably English. His comic novels include 'Seeds of Greatness','A Short Gentleman' and 'Worth'. He wrote 'Afterliff' with John Lloyd, and helped Rev. Adam Smallbone edit 'The Rev Diaries'. He has written for Lenny Henry, Dawn French, Angus Deayton, Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, co-wrote 'Posh Nosh' with Arabella Weir, and 'Legal, Decent, Honest and Truthful' with Guy Jenkin. Other writing credits include 'The Two Ronnies', 'Not The Nine O Clock News', 'Mr Bean', 'Alas Smith & Jones', and 'Murder Most Horrid'. Hugh Bonneville starred in BBC Radio 4's dramatisation of 'A Short Gentleman' by Robin Brooks, Stephen Fry starred in 'I Love Stephen Fry', and 'Believe It!', starring Richard Wilson, won the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Scripted Comedy.


TUE 15:00 Making History (b05375l1)
18th-Century Flying Men

Helen Castor hosts the programme in which history and historians meet.

This week, Tom Holland is hot on the trail of missing frescoes which shed light on Birmingham's artistic heritage and its place at the centre of civic politics before the First World War, and Dr Sam Willis heads for Shrewsbury to explore the history of our 18th century flying men.

Producer: Nick Patrick
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (b05375l3)
Bristol: Green Capital?

Bristol has been named as Europe's Green Capital for 2015. Tom Heap finds out if local people will see real improvements in their city.

Trapeze artists and a high wire act on a bicycle, spanning two former warehouses, heralded the start of Bristol's Year as European Green Capital for 2015. The award is a few years old now and goes to a city with outstanding green credentials and ambitions.

So how is Bristol shaping up for it's year in the big green spotlight?

A year ago Costing The Earth asked what the award meant, and how it would impact and improve the lives of Bristolians along with those living around the city.

Now the award is here, so Tom Heap investigates whether there is substance beyond the stunts, gimmicks and planned festivals: are there radical plans afoot to put the environment in the forefront of Bristolians' minds?

Solar Panels are appearing on roofs of council buildings across the city, projects and grants encouraging residents to insulate their homes are in full swing. Wildlife corridors are springing up, provision and distribution of sustainable food is gathering pace. There's an education programme featuring Shaun The Sheep for school children, piloting in Bristol and available nationwide from September but the city cannot ignore it's major problem: the traffic.

Bristol has some of the worst congestion in the UK, and with that congestion comes poor air quality, and this ultimately costs lives.

Costing The Earth asks if Bristol's traffic conundrums are solveable and if, after being green capital for a year, the number of deaths in the city caused as a direct result of air pollution, will fall.

Presenter: Tom Heap
Producer: Martin Poyntz-Roberts.


TUE 16:00 Law in Action (b05375ly)
A Day in the Life of a Magistrate

As magistrate numbers continue to fall Joshua Rozenberg goes to Bradford to meet one of 300 who sit on the bench there. Would the system of lay magistrates - with no legal qualifications - be invented today? The answer is an intriguing one.

Also in the programme: do the police now need a code of conduct on ethics and social media? And the small square of land on the Arabian Peninsula where English common law holds sway.

Producer: Tim Mansel
Editor: Richard Knight.


TUE 16:30 A Good Read (b053761s)
Josie Long and Romesh Ranganathan

Harriett Gilbert discusses favourite books, including Yann Martel's Booker Prize winner Life of Pi, with Josie Long and Romesh Ranganathan.


TUE 17:00 PM (b053761v)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b0532fdh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 Trodd en Bratt Say 'Well Done You' (b0480352)
Series 1

Episode 3

Nominated for Best Comedy in the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2015, Trodd en Bratt Say 'Well Done You' is a comedy sketch show written and performed by Ruth Bratt and Lucy Trodd, stars of Radio 4's Showstoppers.

This week a pair of American tourists visit St Paul's cathedral to confess their sins; there's an unexpected rendezvous at the train station waiting for the 4:18 to Hatfield; and a student council meeting unearths some dark secrets.

Written and performed by Ruth Bratt and Lucy Trodd

Supporting cast: Adam Meggido and Oliver Senton

Script Editor: Jon Hunter

Composer: Duncan Walsh Atkins

Producer: Ben Worsfield

A Lucky Giant production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (b053761x)
Elizabeth shares with Shula her plans for a new promotional video for Lower Loxley. They discuss the poster for a Messiah from scratch, to be run by Darrington Choral Society. They might join in.

When David gives them his news about Brookfield, they're both surprised but very relieved he's not leaving. The financial implications for them aren't important; they won't be losing him after all. He makes them promise to say nothing until he's spoken to Kenton. He's decided not to do that until after Kenton and Jolene's return from Australia. When they ask about Ruth, David admits he's not sure whether she'll ever forgive him.

Mike finds Willow Farm, and Roy, in a state. He's very down, and Mike's worried. He suggests Roy calls Tom, and maybe cleans himself up a bit. Mike washes up while Roy obediently showers.

Phoebe calls round unexpectedly, wanting to hear about the divorce from Roy's side. Is there no way he and Hayley can be together? Roy doesn't think there is. Distraught Phoebe appeals to her granddad for help. She can't bear this. She just wants things to be the way they were. Mike comforts his granddaughter as she sobs.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (b053761z)
Jed Mercurio's Critical, Iain Banks's Poetry, James Bay, Sculpture Victorious

With John Wilson

Lennie James and Claire Skinner star in Critical, Sky 1's first medical drama from the creator of Line of Duty, Jed Mercurio. Set in a state-of-the-art Major Trauma Centre each episode unfolds in real-time and centres on the most life-threatening hour of their treatment - the golden hour. Kevin Fong, Consultant Anaesthetist & Lead for the Patient Emergency Response Team at University College London Hospital, reviews.

Author Iain Banks was best known for his novels The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road, and The Culture series of science fiction novels he wrote using the name Iain. M. Banks. Lesser known was the fact he also wrote poetry and was working on putting together a collection of his poems - alongside those of his school friend, and fellow science fiction author, Ken MacLeod - at the time of his death in 2013. Ken MacLeod talks to John about he and Iain's shared love of poetry.

Sculpture Victorious is the first major exhibition devoted to sculpture produced during Queen Victoria's reign (1837-1901). It shows how sculpture featured in all aspects of Victorian politics, empire and industry, and includes works by major Victorian sculptors like Francis Chantrey and Alfred Gilbert. Historian and Victorianist Kathryn Hughes reviews.

James Bay, the hotly tipped young singer/songwriter and winner of this year's Critics' Choice Brit Award, discusses his debut album Chaos and the Calm released next month.

Produced by Ella-mai Robey.


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b0537498)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b0537662)
Insurance and Child Abuse

With a growing number of compensation claims arising from cases of historic sexual abuse and more recent high profile cases of sexual grooming, Tim Whewell investigates the key role which insurance companies play. In representing the local authorities where scandals occurred, insurers naturally seek to limit liability but are they doing so at a cost to victims? Lawyers say they have to battle to get access to files and other information - causing further distress and delaying help for those damaged by abuse. Some say the fight is getting harder as insurance companies have toughened their approach in recent years. And, with a national inquiry into historic cases of child sex abuse, how much influence did insurance companies have on the way some past investigations were carried out? File on 4 talks to senior local authority insiders who say they were told to alter their approach to abuse investigations to protect the insurers' interests. But was that at the expense of children at risk?
Reporter: Tim Whewell Producer: Sally Chesworth.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (b0537664)
BBC Radio iPlayer; Audio in Films; 'Visual Tinnitus'

Over the past couple of weeks, listeners have been reporting that some equipment they use to access the BBC Radio iPlayer is no longer working. Dr Mike Townsend from the British Computer Association of the Blind, puts member's concerns to Andrew Scott, General Manager for BBC iPlayer.

A research study at Anglia-Ruskin University in Cambridge, has looked at the way film-makers can enhance the audio soundtrack to create a more immersive experience for visually impaired people. Reporter Johny Cassidy speaks the leader of the study, Mariana Lopez, and listens to her audio enhanced piece of film.

Damon Rose lost his sight 31 years ago, and yet he still experiences what he calls "visual tinnitus" - constant movement and flashing behind his eyes. In his listener column, he tells us why, as a blind man, he longs for darkness.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Lee Kumutat
Editor: Karen Dalziel.


TUE 21:00 Inside Health (b0537666)
Drug Driving; End of Life Care; Smart Drugs

New drug-driving legislation which comes into force next week applies to some medicines too. Particularly morphine based painkillers taken by hundreds of thousands of people in the UK, many of whom could inadvertently find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

And planning for a good death - an Inside Health listener says he believes it's better to die earlier from heart disease than go on to develop cancer later in life. Is he right?

Plus as many as 1 in 10 university students in the UK are now thought to be dabbling with smart drugs to help them revise and boost exam performance. Inside Health talks to leading experts about cognitive enhancers.


TUE 21:30 The Long View (b0537490)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 21:58 Weather (b0532fdk)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b05372sz)
Sir Malcolm Rifkind resigns as MP and chair of Intelligence and Security Committee.

Will the 'cash for access' scandal alienate voters?


TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b0537668)
In Certain Circles

"No one knows me"

While Anna remains defiantly single, Zoe regrets her own defiance in marrying Stephen.

Internationally acclaimed Australian author Elizabeth Harrower's novel was written in 1971 and was finally published in 2015.

This tale of love, class and freedom is set among the grand houses and lush gardens of Sydney Harbour just after the Second World War, following the lives of Zoe and Russell Howard.

Charismatic and confident, the children of affluent and loving parents, they welcome into their circle two orphans, Stephen and Anna. It's a meeting that will resonate for decades.

Reader: Penny Downie

Abridger: Sally Marmion

Producer: Justine Willett

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2015.


TUE 23:00 The Infinite Monkey Cage (b053721m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Monday]


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b053766b)
Sean Curran hears David Cameron promise military personnel for Ukraine. Peers line up to debate 'three parent babies'. There's doubts about press regulation. And what's to be done for children's teeth?

Editor: Peter Mulligan.