The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rev Neil Gardner of Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh.
Is farming entrepreneurial enough? Flooding in Lancashire, Cutting greenhouse gas emissions
Farming is less entrepreneurial than many other industries according to a new report, commissioned for the Oxford Farming Conference.
The Government has extended the Farming Recovery Fund for flood hit areas beyond Cumbria, to Yorkshire and Lancashire. We hear how farmers in the crop growing lowlands of West Lancashire have lost fields of high value vegetables in the deluge.
Scientists suggest one way farming could cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% on 1990 levels before 2050 could be to cover 30% of the UK in forest and restore 700,000 hectares of peat bog. Other options include increasing the efficiency of livestock production and eating less meat.
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Chris Packham presents the Atlantic canary singing in the Tenerife treetops. The ancestor of our cage-bird canaries is the Island or Atlantic Canary, a finch which is native to the Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands which include Tenerife. The Canary Islands were named by early travellers "the islands of dogs from 'canis', the Latin for dogs, because of the many large dogs reputedly found there. And so the common and popular song-bird which is now a symbol of the islands became known as the canary. Unlike their domestic siblings, wild Island canaries are streaky, greenish yellow finches: males have golden- yellow foreheads, females a head of more subtle ash-grey tone. But it's the song, a pulsating series of vibrant whistles, trills and tinkling sounds; that has made the canary so popular. They were almost compulsory in Victorian and Edwardian parlours; a far cry from the sunny palm -fringed beaches of the Atlantic islands.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
David Mitchell continues his inquiry into modern behaviour, exploring what we mean by 'civility' and good manners in public places. He meets the vicar of the churches of Blyth, Scrooby and Ranskill, the Reverend Kate Bottley (aka the 'Gogglebox vicar'), and Tony Blair's former head of policy, Geoff Mulgan. Why are people still pinching vicars' bottoms, and what can the state do to improve standards of public behaviour? And, David asks, how is the digital age changing our sense of public space?
In 1957 the singer, actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson in 1957 performed a concert to an audience sitting in St Pancras Town Hall in London. Astonishingly, Paul Robeson was in New York at the time, and he was performing live over a transatlantic phone line.
Robeson was an outspoken critic of lynching laws and anti-fascism. Because of his support of these causes, he was a victim of early attempts by the US FBI to quash civil rights activism, and was blacklisted by the State Department. His passport was cancelled so he could not leave the US.
But Robeson was also an innovator, who used the latest tools to go around the restrictions that were imposed upon him. When the authorities increasingly tried to silence him, he used technology to make his voice heard.
Aleks Krotoski tells the story of how Paul Robeson came to perform for his British fans using the new transatlantic telephone cable, called TAT-1, It was laid between 1955 and 1956, and it linked Newfoundland, Canada and Oban on the West Coast of Scotland.
TAT-1 is one of the objects on display in the Information Age Gallery at the Science Museum in London. This new gallery features the evolution in how we communicate with one another. The objects in the gallery represent cultural moments from the last 200 years, not just technological innovations.
Orson Welles, the defining wunderkind of modern entertainment, gets his due in a new biography of his early years - including his first forays in theatre and radio before his groundbreaking move to Hollywood.
This year Britain could face a referendum on its membership of the European Union. The Government has promised voters will get to decide if Britain leaves or remains in the EU by the end of 2017. The campaigns on either side have launched, so what do women voters think about the referendum and are the politicians listening to them? Jane talks to pollster Deborah Mattinson who has contributed to a new report from British Future.
We look at the podcasts to listen out for in 2016 with Miranda Sawyer presenter of 'In Pod We Trust' and podcaster Helen Zaltzman.
What's the impact of moving to the UK as a young woman? What are the challenges, lessons learned, and all that comes with adapting to a new culture? Jane talks to Carolin, born in Estonia, Mish, of Israeli descent who grew up in Holland, and Vikki, born in Kenya.
Do we need to change the way we talk about break-ups? All the words we have - split, finished, dumped - suggest clean and sudden separations, rather than the long, often complicated, and drawn out experiences many of us have. Comedian Rosie Wilby thinks we need a more compassionate way of thinking and talking about the end of relationships and psychotherapist Susanna Abse considers the importance of letting go.
Toni Morrison's seminal 1987 novel about a haunted house in the era that followed the abolition of slavery in the United States is adapted for radio for the first time. Toni Morrison's masterpiece melds horror and poetry as it tells the story of Sethe, a woman who escaped slavery by crossing the Ohio river, but who, eighteen years later, is still not free.
124 Bluestone Road, the house Sethe has lived in with her daughter Denver since she escaped slavery, has long been haunted by a baby ghost. For years, both mother and daughter have tried to discover what it wants.
The recent Public Health England report on sugar reduction recommended that we slash the amount of sugar we eat to just seven teaspoons a day.
Diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity have all been linked to high sugar intake. Treating obesity and its consequences alone costs the NHS ÂŁ5.1m per year.
Jim Al-Khalili invites three scientific experts from different disciplines into the studio to present the evidence behind their strategy to reduce our sugar intake:
- Dr Peter Scarborough, a mathematician from the Nuffield Department of Public Health at Oxford has been analysing sugar taxes
- Prof Theresa Marteau, a behavioural psychologist from the University of Cambridge, studies the effects of portion sizes
- Jenny Arthur, Director of Innovation and Nutrition at Leatherhead Food Research is experimenting with the microscopic structure of sugar particles
Ghazal, the love song of Indian Classical music, has its roots in 7th century Arabic poetry. It carried to the Medieval courts of Persia and later to the palaces of the Mughal Emperors of India, was adopted by Sufi mystics along the way, and came to be seen as the highest form of expression of love, for subjects both divine and earthly.
In its latest incarnation, Ghazal has met and been enmeshed with a seemingly alien tradition - the anonymous 'hen benillion' or old verses of rural Wales. While the poets of Ghazal used only to be heard by Indian high society, the Welsh poems, some of which also date back to Medieval times, are nuggets of wisdom handed down by ordinary men and women. But both deal in themes of longing and impossible love. The project 'Ghazalaw', a collaboration between Indian and Welsh musicians, searches for affinities between these centuries-old poetic and musical forms, connects the languages of Urdu and Welsh (which both have their roots in Sanskrit), and attempts to bring communities together. Ghazal still holds to the tenets of Sufism, calling for acceptance, tolerance, and forgiveness - the call of the hour, as the singer and composer Tauseef Akhtar points out: the message is love.
On this day, parliament had its first reading of the Compulsory Military Service Bill, and Adeline brings her son home.
This week England's chief medical officer will issue new advice on healthy drinking limits. Dame Sally Davies is expected to recommend abstaining from alcohol for at least two days a week. And the daily maximum intake for men could also be cut to the same as for women.
and the number to call us is 03700 100 444. Email youandyours@bbc.co.uk.
David Cameron to allow Cabinet ministers to campaign for either side in the EU referendum - we hear from former minister Ken Clarke and Chairman of 1922 comm Graham Brady. Latest details on Labour reshuffle. And Andrew Lloyd Webber pays tribute to music and film producer Robert Stigwood who's died at the age of 81.
The mark of a civilised country is to know what it is to be civil. But what if you don't know? Across the ages, social commentators have written guide books to tell the uninitiated how to do the right thing at the right time in the right way.
And it's not just snobs that have published guides - the great Renaissance theologian Erasmus took time out from arguing with Luther to instruct children how to behave in company.
Nor is it yet another invention of Victorian England. Five thousand years ago, Ptah-Hotep set down on papyrus the rules of behaviour that all wise men should convey to their sons.
Fabritio Caroso's Nobilita di Dame (1600) tells us all we need to know about to how behave at court. Caroso writes about the right way for gentlemen to approach the King or how a lady should greet a superior.
4/ 4. Victorian detective drama starring Brian Cox and Siobhan Redmond.
McLevy keeps a young woman in hiding while the Rev Gideon searches anxiously for her.
Jean Brash's life lies in the balance when she is poisoned by a mystery assailant.
Other parts played by the cast.
John Wilson continues with his fifth series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios.
Programme 6 (B-side): Having discussed the making of 'Handsworth Revolution' (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 4th January and available online), David Hind and Selwyn Brown respond to questions from the audience and perform exclusive live acoustic versions of some of the key tracks from the album.
Opera singer Andrea Baker explores the impact of Frederick Douglass and the time he spent in Scotland, the country which she's made her home. As the great-granddaughter of slaves, she's always been inspired by Douglass, who escaped slavery to become an abolitionist and social reformer but, until now, was unaware of the impact he'd had on Scotland and vice versa.
In this feature, which features Parker Sawyers as the voice of Frederick Douglass, she discovers how Scotland got deep into the veins of Frederick Douglass. When he visited in 1846, he found an expression of freedom denied him in the United States: "in (no) class of society, have I found any curled lip of scorn ... on account of my complexion; not once". He famously stated: "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong." Is it any wonder then, that he felt a connection with the country that produced the immortal poem 'A Man's a Man for A' That'? Indeed, addressing a white audience at a Burns Supper two years after his visit, Douglass said "if any think me out of my place on this occasion (pointing at the picture of Burns), I beg that the blame may be laid at the door of him who taught me that 'a man's a man for a' that."
It could be said that Douglass' influence on Scotland was equally dramatic. He spearheaded the 'Send Back the Money' campaign - what we'd now call a boycott movement aimed at cutting respectable ties with the American South. The idea was to shame the Free Church of Scotland into giving back Southern donations that came from the blood of slaves. Douglass lectured across Scotland - putting fire in the belly of the Scottish anti-slavery movement at a time when the cause was wilting elsewhere in Britain. Andrea Baker investigates if the money was ever sent back.
What was it about Scotland which so 'freed' Douglass? And did the anti-racist sentiment he espoused seed later Scottish campaigns against slavery and apartheid.
In this episode, you might not know the name of the Great Life but you have probably walked past his work. At London's Hyde Park Corner - the 'Royal Artillery Memorial' stands – a huge stone monument.
Charles Sargeant Jagger was arguably the first British sculptor to try to capture the horror of war. A full-sized gun – a 9.2 howitzer protrudes from the top; four masculine soldiers surround the base – one a corpse.
Martin Jennings also a British sculptor, nominates Jagger as his Great Life. Along with the expert, art historian Ann Compton, they tell Matthew Parris how the First World War shaped and made Jagger. The producer is Perminder Khatkar.
David Cameron says ministers will be able to campaign for either side in EU referendum
When Milton finally decides to empty his bins he accidentally makes both a delicious sparkling wine and a deadly enemy.
Mention Milton Jones to most people and the first thing they think is 'Help!'. Because each week, Milton, and his trusty assistant Anton (played by Milton regular, Tom Goodman-Hill) set out to help people and soon find they're embroiled in a new adventure. Because when you're close to the edge, then Milton can give you a push.
"Milton Jones is one of Britain's best gagsmiths with a flair for creating daft yet perfect one-liners." - The Guardian.
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, Josie Lawrence and Ben Willbond (Horrible Histories).
Helen tries, meekly, to talk to Rob about their finances - they seem to have been overspending. But Rob's preoccupied with the hunt meet - chuffed to still fit into the outfit he wore as a younger man. Rob surprises and impresses Shula by restraining a horse, and modestly calls himself a secret horse whisperer. Shula seems to see Rob in a new light - quite the knight in shining armour.
Meanwhile, Tom deals with stray pigs at Bridge Farm. In other news, Kenton's doing a 'Twelfth Night' karaoke at the Bull.
Ruth's keen to get Alistair in to check the cows are clear of TB before they can proceed further with the new farming venture at Brookfield. David tries to help out with jobs, feeling like a twit with his busted arm.
Helen tries to phone Ian but gets no response and leaves a message, imploring Ian to meet her for coffee and a chat. Helen brings up the subject of money with Rob, suggesting that he shouldn't spend money on expensive gifts, like her lovely necklace. Rob points out that he wants to treat Helen like a queen and look after her - and she's throwing it back in his face. Rob presses Helen on asking Ian about being godfather to their baby. When Helen reveals that she has not heard from Ian, Rob's exasperated. Helen apologises, upset.
David Bowie's new jazz-influenced album Blackstar will be released on Friday to coincide with the singer's 69th birthday. Critic Kate Mossman gives her response to Bowie's 25th studio album, produced by long-term collaborator Tony Visconti, which has been described as 'the most extreme album of his career'.
Emma Rice, the incoming Artistic Director of Shakespeare's Globe in London, discusses plans for her 'wonder season' of plays the theatre will be staging from this summer.
Front Row's interviews with the winners of the Costa Book Awards continue with Don Paterson, whose collection, 40 Sonnets, has won the Poetry prize.
ITV's new historical drama Jericho, set in a Yorkshire mining town in the 1870s, is reviewed by critic Rachel Cooke.
Netflix's Making A Murderer is the latest true-crime documentary to hit the headlines. Seasoned documentary filmmaker Roger Graef considers the appeal of stories of possible miscarriages of justice.
Carolyn Quinn explores the practical process by which Britain would exit the EU if UK voters opt to leave, and looks at the experience of Greenland, which quit the EEC in 1985.
She meets Greenlandic politicians involved in the 'Out' campaign there, and considers the lessons which can be applied to the much more complex task of unravelling the web of trade, treaties, regulations and directives that bind the UK to Brussels and its institutions. The programme includes contributions from the former Cabinet Secretary, Lord O'Donnell, the economist Ruth Lea, as well as constitutional and legal experts Martin Howe QC, Jean-Claude Piris and Daniel Greenberg. Carolyn also travels to the European Parliament to meet British MEPs contemplating redundancy, and canvasses the views of European think tanks.
Peter White talks about body language with 3 guests, all of them blind or partially sighted. They talk about how to manage in professional and social situations when you can't read other people's non-verbal signs. They also talk about their OWN body language, and what it may be telling others.
A Musician, a Poet and a Quaker share their listening experiences; discuss the difference between hearing and listening and reveal how listening is more than just an aural experience; it's something much deeper motivating their work and their lives. The musician is Dame Evelyn Glennie, whose vision is to teach the world to listen by encouraging everyone to discover new ways of listening. As a result of hearing problems when she was a child, Evelyn learned to 'feel ' sounds, not just hear them. Using different instruments she demonstrates how sounds and reverberations can affect us; emotionally and physically. Katrina Porteous's earliest memory is the sound of a blackbird singing whilst she was in her pram. Since then listening has had a huge influence on her work as a poet; much of her work is about the fishing communities and landscape of County Durham and Northumberland. Like Evelyn, Katrina feels sounds; they are "the heartbeat of a place". On the written page, there is silence between the words of a poem. "If we get it right we can find silence where we can really listen" says Hermione Legg, who has been a Quaker since she was child and regularly attends meetings which are opportunities for a community to come together in worship. There is no creed and much of the meeting is silent. The silence offers an opportunity to listen. Listening is also about communication. "If I'm listened to, I feel I have worth" says Hermione "Why speak if no one's going to listen ... Life would have no meaning without us listening." Producer Sarah Blunt.
Former Tory cabinet minister Liam Fox says the decision will not divide the party; we hear a view from Texas on president Obama's checks on gun laws and after a cricketer propositions a female sports reporter, live on air, we ask if 'boys will be boys'.
Our first Book of Bedtime of 2016 celebrates twenty years since the publication of Alex Garland's cult novel, The Beach. Joe Dempsie reads this thrilling tale of paradise sought and lost.
Jaded young backpacker Richard is in Thailand looking for a place unspoilt by tourism. An encounter with a dead man leaves him with a map for 'the beach', a select traveller community cut off from the degradations of vacationing westerners. He joins the commune, but his breadcrumb trail, fantasies of Vietnam War films, and very real armed drug guards risks turning Eden into hell on earth.
'Lord of the Flies' meets 'Heart of Darkness' among the beautiful, young drop-outs, dreamers and drug-takers of the mid-1990s.
Abridged by ..... Sara Davies
Produced by ..... Jenny Thompson
Read by ..... Joe Dempsie
Music ..... Narayan by The Prodigy.
Comedy show hosted by Alex Horne and his five piece band and specially written, original music.
This episode explores the theme of love including songs on chat up lines and romance in Bognor as well as a foray into drum and bass and a look at the history of the flute.
Trumpet/banjo .... Joe Auckland
Double Bass/Bass .... Will Collier
Drums and Percussion .... Ben Reynolds
Piano/keyboard .... Ed Sheldrake
TIP: David Cameron confirms ministers can campaign on either side in the forthcoming in/out EU referendum. The Environment Secretary reports to the Commons on the recent flooding. And the Home Secretary updates MPs on the case of a British terror suspect who left the UK whilst on bail and is now thought to be in an IS propaganda video. Susan Hulme reports from Westminster.
WEDNESDAY 06 JANUARY 2016
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b06tl7xc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b06vhpqt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b06tl7xq)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b06tl7xv)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b06tl7y2)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b06tl7y9)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06v9yt4)
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rev Neil Gardner of Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b06ts2d2)
Flood protection, Outsourcing food production, Mob grazing, OFC look-ahead
The Environment Agency's chairman will face questions from MPs on flooding today. Plus, we hear from a Yorkshire farmer whose land has been inundated 8 times since 2000.
Two farmers have each been jailed for 3 years after more than a hundred stolen sheep were found on their land.
Are we outsourcing the environmental impact of the food we eat to developing countries? A new study is published today.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Sarah Swadling.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04sxv25)
Red-necked Nightjar
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Chris Packham presents the nocturnal red-necked nightjar of the Spanish countryside. Like others in the family, red-necked nightjars are nocturnal birds which feed on large insects, snapping them up with huge bristle-lined mouths. A summer migrant, the red-necked nightjar breeds mainly in Spain, Portugal and North Africa. It is closely related to the common European nightjar, but it sounds very different. By day they hide on the ground among scrub where their cryptic patterns provide excellent camouflage. They're the colour of mottled bark and as you'd expect from their name, have a rusty-red collar. As the sun sets, they emerge from their hiding places to glide and turn on slender wings through scrub and pinewoods, occasionally warning rivals by clapping their wings together over their backs with a sound like a pistol-shot. Between bouts of moth-chasing, they settle on a pine branch and pour forth their repetitive, but atmospheric song.
WED 06:00 Today (b06ts2gj)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Behaving Ourselves: Mitchell on Manners (b06ts3xr)
Looking at Your Phone
David Mitchell says sorry when other people bump into him. He doesn't like inconveniencing anyone. And he hates rows. So, in part three of his inquiry into the state of modern manners, he goes to an assertiveness class to explore his own behaviour. Is it wrong? And he talks to Professor Sherry Turkle about the dying art of conversation.
Producer: Chris Ledgard.
WED 09:30 Hidden Histories of the Information Age (b04m3gc6)
Our World
On June 25th 1967, 400 million people across the globe watched a ground-breaking TV show. It was called, in English, OUR WORLD and it was a feat beyond technological imagination: it was the first programme that linked up countries live by satellite. So everyone was watching what was happening on the other side of the world - or possibly next door - at the exact moment in time when it was actually happening.
In our modern, 24-hour news world, it's hard to understand just how monumental this was, both technologically and politically. It was the golden age of television. Youth culture had a voice that was about to get much louder. International diplomacy was stretched to breaking point. And our world was rapidly shrinking.
Aleks Krotoski tells the story of how the programme came about. She talks to curators from the Science Museum.
The yellowing pages of Our World's original script is one of the exhibits in the new Information Age gallery at the Science Museum. It tells the story of the evolution in how we communicate with one another. The objects in the exhibition represent cultural moments from the last 200 years - not just technological innovations.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b06vhv6t)
Young Orson
Episode 3
Orson Welles, the defining wunderkind of modern entertainment, gets his due in a new biography of his early years - including his first forays in theatre and radio before his groundbreaking move to Hollywood.
Episode 3:
A 20 year old white actor from the Midwest is the surprise appointment to direct Macbeth for the Negro Unit.
Written by Patrick McGilligan
Read by Jack Klaff
Abridged and produced by Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b06ts3xt)
Toni Morrison's Beloved; Loneliness
Loneliness- who suffers and what can be done; with Sue Bourne whose new documentary, The Age of Loneliness, is on BBC One on Thursday evening; Kylie Taylor, a young woman who is lonely despite a busy job surrounded by people and Isabella Goldie of the Mental Health Foundation.
The 15 minute Drama this week is Beloved by Toni Morrison. To discuss Morrison's work and the new writers following in her footsteps we are joined by Patricia Cumper who adapted the book for radio, Dr Tessa Roynon - Teaching and Research Fellow, University of Oxford and writer and journalist, Irenosen Okojie whose debut novel Butterfly Fish was published in 2015.
Each year BBC Radio 1's Sound Of poll invites over 100 music industry experts to vote for their favourite emerging artists who they think should be the ones to watch for the new year. The top five names of the Sound Of 2016 poll are being announced on Radio 1 each day this week, and today they named number three: NAO - a 28 year old East London singer-songwriter and producer. She sings 'it's You' live on the programme.
As Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet is unveiled, we look at who's in and who's out and what it means for the women in the Labour Party with Ayesha Hazarika, former special advisor to Harriet Harman.
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Eleanor Garland.
WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b06ts3xw)
Toni Morrison - Beloved
Episode 3
By Toni Morrison
Adapted by Patricia Cumper
Toni Morrison's seminal 1987 novel about a haunted house in the era that followed the abolition of slavery in the United States is adapted for radio for the first time. Toni Morrison's masterpiece melds horror and poetry as it tells the story of Sethe, a woman who escaped slavery by crossing the Ohio river, but who, eighteen years later, is still not free.
Paul D's arrival at 124 Bluestone Road had the effect of ridding the house of the ghost that had haunted it for years. But he's about to discover that any sense of victory he might have, will be short-lived.
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Sound design by Caleb Knightley
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b06d9rlv)
David and Mairead – A Pregnant Pause
Fi Glover introduces a first for the Project, a conversation about the forthcoming birth between the prospective parents, recorded when the Booth was in Suffolk, only hours before their baby arrived... Another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess
WED 11:00 Road Stories (b06ts5l9)
Stonehenge
"People talk about the power of the internet, the information super-highway; but sometimes a highway is all you need."
Miles Warde sets off on three eye-opening journeys, on foot, by bus and all other means to discover the importance of the highway to everyday life. In Nepal he travels north to south, from Tibet to India, across the mighty Himalaya. Here he meets people for whom a blacktopped highway is a source of astonishment. Fifty years ago there were only footpaths in these high mountains, but as the Chinese say, "To get rich quick first you build a road."
In Kenya a newly upgraded route from Nairobi through the badlands to Ethiopia promises to transform a region of tribal fighting and banditry. This is the road of 'terror and death', so Miles takes local reporter Michael Koloki along for the ride. Together they meet nomadic people who say Kenya starts at the road; and you'll hear perhaps the first ever recording of a border crossing intimate search.
And closer to home in Wiltshire, the Prime Minister's promise of a new tunnel past Stonehenge kicks up a hornet's nest of local and international uproar.
Miles Warde is the producer of The Invention of ... Germany, Brazil, Italy and France; and winner of the Royal Mail International travel writer award.
WED 11:30 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b06shzjj)
Series 7
The Pool
Set on one of Scotland's most famous salmon fishing rivers, we meet two old men with a shared love of the art of fishing and a shared past which haunts them both.
Geoffrey Palmer joins Stanley Baxter on the edge of a famous salmon pool in Scotland, on a cold wintry day.
Series of comic plays starring Stanley Baxter.
Tam ...... Stanley Baxter
Jolyon ...... Geoffrey Palmer
Written by Michael Chaplin
Director: Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in January 2016.
WED 12:00 News Summary (b06tl7z2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 Home Front (b06kvf7r)
6 January 1916 - Hilary Pearce
On this day, General Aylmer led the first relief attempt in the Siege of Kut, and Hilary is caught up in the arrangements for celebrating the Derby Scheme.
Written by Mike Walker
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
WED 12:15 You and Yours (b06ts76s)
Disability aids, 4K television, Fishing quotas
Winifred Robinson investigates whether some disabled people who use aids in their homes, to help them to live independently, are getting too much in state benefits. The government has launched a consultation on how aids like walking sticks, wheelchairs and bathroom adaptations affect how much people are paid in benefits. They have suggested that aids like these are mainly a one-off cost and should not necessarily mean that disabled people should qualify for full-blown continuing Personal Independence Payments.
European fishing quotas for plaice, haddock and cod have been increased. This sounds like good news for the fishing industry, but will it also mean lower prices at the supermarket fish counter?
It's the latest thing in TV, but just how good is 4K television and is it worth the money?
Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Presenter: Winifred Robinson.
WED 12:57 Weather (b06tl7zd)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b06ts76v)
Three shadow ministers have resigned from Labour's frontbench in response to Jeremy Corby's reshuffle. We speak to two of them.
North Korea has said it's successfully carried out a H-bomb test. We get reaction from a Japanese diplomat and the North Korea expert Paul French
Reports from Syria say up to forty thousand civilians are starving to death in the besieged town of Madaya. We speak to a Syrian-American doctor who has family in the area.
WED 13:45 Etiquette Guide (b06vhv6y)
The Middling Classes
The mark of a civilised country is to know what it is to be civil. But what if you don't know? Across the ages, social commentators have written guide books to tell the uninitiated how to do the right thing at the right time in the right way.
And it's not just snobs that have published guides - the great Renaissance theologian Erasmus took time out from arguing with Luther to instruct children how to behave in company.
Nor is it yet another invention of Victorian England. Five thousand years ago, Ptah-Hotep set down on papyrus the rules of behaviour that all wise men should convey to their sons.
Episode 3: The Middling Classes
During the 18th century the growing middle classes needed a guide to behaviour. The Rudiments of Genteel Behaviour defined much of our modern understanding of politeness including maintaining restraint around overt opulence.
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b06ts1w8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Tumanbay (b06ts76x)
Series 1
In The Beginning
In the sixth episode of this epic saga inspired by the Mamluk slave-dynasty of Egypt, Tumanbay is in chaos after the murder of a highly placed individual. Heaven and her slave companion find themselves prisoners of a nomadic tribe in the desert. Having failed in his duty of keeping the Palace safe, Gregor attempts to unlock the secret of the missing reliquary and find out why it is worth killing for.
Tumanbay, the beating heart of a vast empire, is threatened by a rebellion in a far-off province and a mysterious force devouring the city from within. Gregor (Rufus Wright), Master of the Palace Guard, is charged by Sultan Al-Ghuri (Raad Rawi) with the task of rooting out this insurgence and crushing it.
Cast:
Gregor......................Rufus Wright
Heaven.....................Olivia Popica
Wolf..........................Alexander Siddig
Cadali.......................Matthew Marsh
Ibn............................Nabil Elouahabi
Maya's Envoy............Nadir Khan
Madu.........................Danny Ashok
Daniel........................Gareth Kennerley
Slave.........................Akin Gazi
Boy............................Darwin Brokenbro
Al-Ghuri......................Raad Rawi
General Qulan............Christopher Fulford
The Hafiz....................Antony Bunsee
Bello...........................Albert Welling
Boy.............................Darwin Brokenbro
Manel.........................Aiysha Hart
Shamsi, Maid, Sabira.......Laure Stockley
Rajik...........................Akbar Kurtha
Pamira........................Nathalie Armin
Music - Sacha Puttnam
Sound Design - Steve Bond, Jon Ouin
Editors - Ania Przygoda, James Morgan
Producers - Emma Hearn, Nadir Khan, John Dryden
Written by Mike Walker
Directed by John Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4
WED 15:00 Money Box (b06ts7jq)
Money Box Live: Tax and Self-Assessment
Lesley Curwen and guests answer calls on tax and self-assessment.
Have you got questions about the January 31st online filing and payment deadline? Or how the new digital tax accounts will work?
Other issues you may want advice on: the tax changes for buy to let landlords announced last year. Or the tax-free Personal Savings Allowance of ÂŁ1,000 (or ÂŁ500 for higher rate taxpayers) on the interest that you earn on your savings which starts in April 2016.
On the panel:
Anita Monteith, Tax Faculty, The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
Elaine Clark, Managing Director, Chartered Accountant, Cheap Accounting
Nimesh Shah, Partner, Blick Rothenberg.
Call 03700 100 444 from
1pm to
3.30pm on Wednesday 6th January or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk now. Standard geographic charges from landlines and mobiles will apply.
WED 15:30 The Listeners (b06t0rnl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b06tvbpj)
The end of 'careers', Humour at work
Identity and work: Laurie Taylor explores selfhood in an era in which our working lives are becoming increasingly uncertain. He talks to Jesse Potter, lecturer in Sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University and author of a new study which interviewed people who'd undergone profound work-life changes. How do individuals achieve meaning and fulfilment when their productive lives fail to satisfy? Also, Paula Jarzabkowski, Professor of Strategic Management at City University London considers how employees use humour to cope with paradox and change.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b06tvbpl)
Scotland culture minister Fiona Hyslop, Children's social media, Walter Presents
Scotland's Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop says the BBC is not spending enough of the licence fee cash raised north of the border in Scotland.
Journalists are accused of unfairly harvesting information for stories from children's social media accounts. Is this legitimate use of information that has been put into the public arena? Or should anything posted online by a child always be off-limits to the media no matter what?
Channel Four launches a new foreign language drama on demand service called Walter Presents. We hear from Walter.
WED 17:00 PM (b06twbz8)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b06tl7zx)
Labour reshuffle leads to resignations.
Labour reshuffle leads to resignations. UK calls for more sanctions against North Korea.
WED 18:30 It's Jocelyn (b06tvbz1)
Series 1
Episode 2
A raft of fresh new characters from Jocelyn including a terrible shop assistant, a pair of terrible bedroom DJ's and an old lady obsessed with dying.
Jocelyn vents her frustration at the world around her through sketches and stand-up. From pedantic dinner dates to coping with annoying friends, Jocelyn's life provides a rich seam of humour.
Jocelyn Jee Esien is delighted to be joined in the cast by Curtis Walker, Ninia Benjamin and Kevin J.
Producer: John Pocock
A BBC Radio Comedy production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2016.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b06tvbz3)
Over coffee, Helen finally gets Ian to talk to her, but he's reticent and unresponsive to small talk. Helen points out that her baby will need male guidance and he is the very man she'd like to offer that. But Ian is angry that Helen betrayed him by not mentioning Adam and Charlie's kiss. Ian doesn't want to be her friend - and certainly not her baby's godfather.
Later at the shop, Helen starts to cry in front of Clarrie and Susan and puts it down to hormones - Clarrie can remember this well herself. Helen insists she's fine, honestly. Susan thinks Helen is looking a bit peaky, though.
Phoebe's letter from Oxford arrives, but she can't bring herself to read it and keeps it from Jennifer. Phoebe leaves messages for boyfriend Alex, anxious for him to come and open it with her for moral support, but gets no response.
Phoebe confides in Jennifer that she feels Alex doesn't want her to go to Oxford so is avoiding her, but Jennifer assures Phoebe he loves her. Phoebe admits that she has been lying - she has heard from Oxford. She asks Jennifer to open the letter. Granny Jennifer obliges, but stops short of revealing the contents - Phoebe really needs to read this herself...
WED 19:15 Front Row (b06vhvsq)
Pierre Boulez obituary, Costa Biography winner, Tracy Ullman review; Bolshoi Babylon
The death of one of the 20th century's most important composers and conductors, Pierre Boulez, was announced today. Sir Nicholas Kenyon, MD of The Barbican and former Radio 3 Controller, and composer George Benjamin who worked with Boulez, discuss this hugely influential figure.
Throughout this week we’re hearing from each of the category winners in the 2015 Costa Book Awards, which were announced on Front Row on Monday. Today we hear from Andrea Wulf, winner of the Biography category for her historical book The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander von Humbolt, The Lost Hero of Science, who lived from 1769-1859.
Stand-up and writer Meryl O’Rourke reviews Tracey Ullman’s Show which brings the comedian back to British TV screens for the first time in 30 years.
A new film documentary Bolshoi Babylon gives us unprecedented access to the power struggles behind the scenes at Russia’s most famous theatre, including the widely-reported acid attack in 2013 on the Bolshoi’s former lead dancer and artistic director Sergei Filin that left him almost blind. The film’s two co-directors Nick Read and Mark Franchetti discuss the challenges of dealing with the Kremlin-sponsored elites, the political divisions and the professional jealousies among the dancers and the management.
Presenter: John Wilson
Producer: Rebecca Armstrong
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b06ts3xw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 Leader Conference (b06tvbz5)
Series 5
06/01/2016
In the first of a new series of Leader Conference, Andrew Rawnsley is joined by Mary Riddell of the Daily Telegraph, Bronwen Maddox of Prospect; Hugh Muir of the Guardian; Kevin Maguire of the Daily Mirror; and Caroline Wheeler of the Sunday Express.
Three subjects in the news are chosen for the three "leaders". Two of these reflect current events at home and abroad - and prompt lively and provocative discussion. The third subject is in a lighter vein.
Contributions from listeners are also encouraged throughout the programme via e-mail, using the address leaderconference@bbc.co.uk and on Twitter using the hashtag #r4leader.
Following the discussion of each of the three subjects, Andrew invites one of his guests to draw up on air the "leader" for that subject setting out its main points. This important component of the programme helps ensure that resolution of the debate is achieved for listeners and that the full range of views expressed is reflected.
The leaders are posted online at the Radio 4 website the day after the programme is broadcast.
Producer Simon Coates.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (b06vhvss)
A Boat of One's Own
Michelle Madsen makes the case for the life of a continuous cruiser on Britain's rivers and canals. Michelle is a poet and journalist who has spent the last two years living aboard a boat, and discusses how it has affected her poetry, her prose, her friendships and her life.
Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.
WED 21:00 Science Stories (b06tvc2f)
Series 2
Submarine for a Stuart King
Philip Ball dives into the magical world of Cornelis Drebbel , inventor of the world's first submarine in 1621.
How did the crew of this remarkable vessel manage to breathe underwater, completely cut off from the surface, 150 years before oxygen was officially discovered?
King James I of England and thousands of his subjects lined the banks of the River Thames in London to watch the first demonstration. The strangest boat they had ever seen sank beneath the waves and stayed there for three hours.
Did Drebbel know how to make oxygen? Historian Andrew Szydlow reveals that Drebbel did have secret knowledge of how to keep the air fresh.
In his day, Drebbel was a pioneer of exploring uninhabitable places. Today's equivalent is to make oxygen on the Moon and as scientists grapple with this ultimate challenge, Monica Grady explains their work is being used under the waves where Drebbel began.
Producer: Erika Wright.
WED 21:30 Behaving Ourselves: Mitchell on Manners (b06ts3xr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b06vhw1l)
Siege warfare - are civilians being starved to death in Syria?
Siege warfare: are people being starved to death in Syria? Are race relations worsening in Germany? We discuss the attacks in Cologne. And humanist chaplains in hospitals.
Picture: Syria - AFP PHOTO / KARAM AL-MASRIKARAM AL-MASRI/AFP/Getty Images -.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b06tvc2k)
The Beach
Episode 3
Our first Book of Bedtime of 2016 celebrates twenty years since the publication of Alex Garland's cult novel, The Beach. Joe Dempsie reads this thrilling tale of paradise sought and lost.
Jaded young backpacker Richard is in Thailand looking for a place unspoilt by tourism. An encounter with a dead man leaves him with a map for 'the beach', a select traveller community cut off from the degradations of vacationing westerners. He joins the commune, but his breadcrumb trail, fantasies of Vietnam War films, and very real armed drug guards risks turning Eden into hell on earth.
'Lord of the Flies' meets 'Heart of Darkness' among the beautiful, young drop-outs, dreamers and drug-takers of the mid-1990s.
Abridged by ..... Sara Davies
Produced by ..... Jenny Thompson
Read by ..... Joe Dempsie
Music ..... Narayan by The Prodigy.
WED 23:00 Don't Start (b06tvc3t)
Series 3
The Bath
Cardamon scented candles, kumquats and a debate over the virtues of shared bathing compared to shared showering occupy Neil and Kim.
Frank Skinner's sharp comedy starring Frank and Katherine Parkinson.
What do long term partners really argue about?
Don't Start is a scripted comedy with a deceptively simple premise - an argument. Our couple fall out over another apparently trivial flashpoint and the stakes mount as Neil and Kim battle with words. But these are no ordinary arguments. The two outdo each other with increasingly absurd images, unexpected literary references and razor sharp analysis of their beloved's weaknesses. Underneath the cutting wit, however, there is an unmistakable tenderness.
The first two series of Don't Start met with instant critical acclaim:
"That he can deliver such a heavy premise for a series with such a lightness of touch is testament to his skills as a writer and, given that the protagonists are both bookworms, he's also permitted to use a flourish of fine words that would be lost in his stand-up routines." Jane Anderson, Radio Times
"Frank Skinner gives full rein to his sharp but splenetic comedy. He and his co-star Katherine Parkinson play a bickering couple exchanging acerbic ripostes in a cruelly precise dissection of a relationship." Daily Mail
"...a lesson in relationship ping-pong..." Miranda Sawyer, The Observer
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in January 2016.
WED 23:15 Before They Were Famous (b03h429n)
Series 2
Episode 5
Even the most successful of writers have, at some point, had to take day jobs to pay the bills.
Ian Leslie presents the second series of this Radio 4 spoof documentary, which sheds light on the often surprising jobs done by the world's best known writers in the days before they were able to make a living from their art.
In a project of literary archaeology, Leslie unearths archive examples of early work by great writers, including Fortune Cookie messages written by Germaine Greer, a political manifesto by the young JK Rowling, and a car manual written by Dan Brown. In newspaper articles, advertising copy, and company correspondence, we get a fascinating glimpse into the embryonic development of our best-loved literary voices.
We may know them today for their novels, plays or poems but, once upon a time, they were just people with a dream - and a rent bill looming at the end of the month.
Producers: Anna Silver and Claire Broughton
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b06tvcm0)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster on the first PMQs of 2016, including questions on floods and Shakespeare.
THURSDAY 07 JANUARY 2016
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b06tl85c)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b06vhv6t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b06tl85h)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b06tl85k)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b06tl85m)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b06tl85p)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06vrsbk)
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rev Neil Gardner of Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b06tvgnq)
Oxford Farming Conference
Farming Today is at the Oxford Farming Conference, where around 450 delegates are discussing issues ranging from farm subsidies to ways of feeding a world population which is projected to reach nine billion. We hear from the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Liz Truss, and from her Labour shadow, Kerry McCarthy. We also catch up with news from the alternative event - the Oxford Real Farming Conference.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Emma Campbell.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04sy3qh)
Brown Thrasher
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Chris Packham presents the brown thrasher, usually seen in North America. Brown thrashers are related to mockingbirds which breed across most of eastern and central North America. They're famous for their vast repertoire which can include over 1000 song types. They spend much of their time skulking in dense shrubs at woodland edges and in parks and gardens. They're russet on top, white below and heavily streaked like a large thrush but with much longer tails and stout curved bills. Their name comes from the noisy thrashing sound they make as they search the leaf litter for food. Normally, brown thrashers are short distance migrants within North America but in 1966, in November of that year, in Dorset, birdwatchers almost dropped their binoculars in disbelief when they heard the call of a brown thrasher coming from a coastal thicket. It remained here until February 1967 and is the only British record.
THU 06:00 Today (b06tvgns)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 Behaving Ourselves: Mitchell on Manners (b06tvgnv)
The Golf Club
David Mitchell ends his look at the state of modern manners in the bar at Chipping Sodbury golf club. The older members reflect ruefully on the demise of the jacket and tie. It is, they argue, all about standards - and they're falling. So has everything really gone wrong with our manners? David returns to Henry Hitchings, Kate Bottley, Steven Pinker and some of his other series' guests and gets an altogether more optimistic view.
Producer: Chris Ledgard.
THU 09:30 Hidden Histories of the Information Age (b04m3ftg)
Leo Computer
The company that brought computers into business was Lyons, known for its cakes and teashops. Aleks Krotoski tells the story of how this technology transformed office work.
One element of the first Lyons Electronic Office, or LEO, computer is on display in the 'Information Age' gallery at the Science Museum in London. This new gallery tells the story of the evolution in how we communicate with with each other. The objects in the exhibition represent cultural moments from the last 200 years - not just technological innovations.
Aleks Krotoski talks to Dr Tilly Blyth and Jessica Bradford of the Science Museum about how Lyons brought computers to its business and hears from one of the first programmers. A tea shop manager recalls how LEO changed her working life.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b06vj05s)
Young Orson
Episode 4
Orson Welles, the defining wunderkind of modern entertainment, gets his due in a new biography of his early years - including his first forays in theatre and radio before his groundbreaking move to Hollywood.
Episode 4:
Until Orson, no one wanted to produce Marc Bernstein's pro-labour opera The Cradle Will Rock, with its clear left-wing union sympathies. Enthralled with Bernstein, Orson with his partner John Houseman, commit to a Broadway run. But as the hot subject of unionisation rages across the nation, the Federal Theatre Project is made to take drastic action.
Written by Patrick McGilligan
Read by Jack Klaff
Abridged and produced by Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b06vj05v)
Jessica Raine
Actor Jessica Raine, perhaps best known for her lead role as Jenny Lee in Call the Midwife, will be talking about her new role in ITV's new period drama "Jericho".
Who are the women to watch in 2016? Political journalist Anne McElvoy and the Economist Bronwyn Curtis discuss the women poised to impact global events over the next twelve months. Plus apart from friends or family where do you turn for help as a parent? Do Internet forums and message boards help answer your questions or just end up confusing you more? The blogger Unmumsy Mum, otherwise known as Sarah Turner, and Mumsnet Editor Sarah Crown talk about pros and cons of parenting advice in the digital age. Plus we talk to 19 year old, Canadian, R&B pop singer-songwriter, Alessia Cara who's just been unveiled as Number Two in this year's BBC Radio 1 Sound Of 2016 poll.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b06tvgnx)
Toni Morrison - Beloved
Episode 4
By Toni Morrison
Adapted by Patricia Cumper
Toni Morrison's seminal 1987 novel about a haunted house in the era that followed the abolition of slavery in the United States is adapted for radio for the first time. Toni Morrison's masterpiece melds horror and poetry as it tells the story of Sethe, a woman who escaped slavery by crossing the Ohio river, but who, eighteen years later, is still not free.
The residents of 124 Bluestone Road return from a day trip to the Cincinnati fair to discover a young woman collapsed outside their home. They feed her and allow her to convalesce and yet the mysterious visitor reveals very little about herself, other than her name, Beloved.
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Sound design by Caleb Knightley
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b06tvgnz)
Brazil Versus Sleaze
Brazil is in crisis. Confronted with a massive downturn in the economy, its currency has crashed, while its political class sinks in a quagmire of corruption allegations linked to the state oil company, Petrobras. In the northern state of Maranhao - dominated for decades by the powerful Sarney family - a new governor from the Communist Party of Brazil is attempting to bring a fresh broom to one of the country's most undeveloped states. Already he claims to have cut expenses by millions of Reals just by removing seafood and champagne from state banquet menus. But the malaise runs deep in Maranhao. In the small community of Bom Jardim, a 25-year-old mayor is under house arrest accused of skimming the education budget and running council business remotely using WhatsApp. And with the cancelling of a project to build a huge Petrobras refinery, Maranhao is feeling the economic pressure. Linda Pressly reports from one of Brazil's least known regions.
THU 11:30 Compression versus Art (b06tvgp1)
Trevor Cox asks whether compression can detract from our enjoyment of recorded music - does it matter that what we hear may not be the same as what the musicians heard in the studio? How important is high quality reproduction? He looks at attempts to make music recordings sound louder and louder (the so-called Loudness War) and asks whether anything is lost in the process. And he considers whether making audio file sizes smaller, so that they take up less space on portable devices, means that some of the musical detail is lost. He talks to record producer Steve Levine (who produced Culture Club among many others) mastering engineer Ian Shepherd, the musician Steven Wilson, members of the BBC Philharmonic, and Dr Bruno Fazenda, Senior Lecturer in Audio Technology.
THU 12:00 News Summary (b06tl864)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 Home Front (b06kvfjt)
7 January 1916 - Victor Lumley
On this day, Lord Selbourne made an appeal for more game to be donated to hospitals, before the end of the shooting season, and Victor feels more hunted than hunter.
Written by Mike Walker
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
THU 12:15 You and Yours (b06vj05z)
High street christmas results, Child maintenance service, Wearable tech
Marks and Spencer posts results today that will tell us how their shops performed over the festive period. It follows announcements from John Lewis, Next and other big retailers earlier this week. We examine what they're getting right and wrong, and try to build a fictional 'perfect' department store, with all the best bits of the high street in one place.
The Child Maintenance Service, set up in 2012, has now allowed more than 35 million pounds of arrears to accrue. The government said that the CMS would find solutions to the problems experienced by the old Child Support Agency. But one listener says that while CMS staff are friendly, they seem "shackled by their IT system" and are unable to help with his two cases. We ask how well the CMS is performing and compare it with similar systems abroad.
Sales of wearables - things like wristbands and smart watches - are on the up. But other than technology enthusiasts, who is buying them? Lots of smart watches ended up in the November Black Friday sales, suggesting retailers were desperate to get rid of them. Will wearable technology ever achieve the wide popularity that analysts predicted a year ago, or will it only ever appeal to so-called 'early adopters'?
Producer: Alex Burton
Presenter: Winifred Robinson.
THU 12:57 Weather (b06tl86f)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b06vj063)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Martha Kearney.
THU 13:45 Etiquette Guide (b06vj065)
The Americans
The mark of a civilised country is to know what it is to be civil. But what if you don't know? Across the ages, social commentators have written guide books to tell the uninitiated how to do the right thing at the right time in the right way.
And it's not just snobs that have published guides - the great Renaissance theologian Erasmus took time out from arguing with Luther to instruct children how to behave in company.
Nor is it yet another invention of Victorian England. Five thousand years ago, Ptah-Hotep set down on papyrus the rules of behaviour that all wise men should convey to their sons.
Episode 4: The Americans
Britain and America aren't just divided by a common language, but also by manners. In 1883, Walter R. Houghton published American Etiquette and Rules of Politeness, defining the way modern America behaves.
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b06tvbz3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b06tvhnj)
79 Birthdays
One of the first pieces of radio drama was broadcast in 1928 under the title 'Kaleidoscope'. It told the story of one 'ordinary' British man's life - then 70 years - in sound. No recording or script of that original broadcast now exists, but the idea has always intrigued poet Michael Symmons Roberts. Now, as the average male lifespan in Britain reaches 79, this drama takes up the challenge, telling the story of Jimmy through significant birthdays on the road to his 79th.
Jimmy loses his life before it begins when he's being born. A guardian angel, Leila is waiting for him. Jimmy is desperate to know what would have happened to him had he been born . After a lot of persuasion, Leila grants Jimmy his wish, showing him his life as he spools through his birthdays, playing out the key moments in full .
Produced in Salford by Susan Roberts.
THU 15:00 Open Country (b06tvm6t)
River Tay
The Tironesian monks of Lindores Abbey were forcibly removed by Protestant firebrand John Knox in 1559 but they've left an extraordinary legacy for Tayside. The orchards they planted with native French varieties of pear, plum and apple were subdivided as the nearby town of Newburgh took shape. Every autumn the locals set out their stalls and sell purple pyramids of unusual plums and cartloads of the apples that can ripen on the trees beyond Christmas.
The monks are also credited with the creation of the first Scotch Whisky. There's certainly documentary evidence of them supplying potent quantities of aquavitae to the Scottish Court in 1494.
Caz Graham follows the tracks of the Tayside monks and meets the local man aiming to create the first Lindores whisky for 500 years.
Further up the River Tay Caz explores Britain's biggest reed bed in search of the desperately shy Bearded Tit and meets the last of the salmon net fisherwomen. Now 80, Nan Jarvis spent decades dragging nets through the silvery Tay in search of the King of Fish.
photo courtesy of the RSPB.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b06tpxwp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Bookclub (b06tq9r6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b06tvm6x)
Eddie Redmayne
With Francine Stock.
Eddie Redmayne reveals the research he undertook for The Danish Girl, a new drama about transgender pioneer Lili Elbe, and what he observed about women's body language.
Celia Johnson's daughter Lucy Fleming talks about her coda to Brief Encounter, written exclusively for The Film Programme.
Borgen writer Tobias Lindholm discusses A War, his new thriller about Danish troops serving in Afghanistan, and why that conflict has defined his generation in Denmark.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b06tvm70)
El Nino Special
El Niño is releasing vast quantities of heat normally stored in the Pacific, causing floods, droughts and fires. Adam Rutherford discusses the latest with our El Niño expert Roland Pease.
This weather event arrives every 2-7 years but it's hard to work out how profound it will be. Back in May last year, the Met Office climate scientist Adam Scaife correctly predicted an El Niño. He returns to give an overview of this phenomenon.
How does an altered weather pattern in the Pacific end up altering the weather in Cumbria. Tim Stockdale at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and Richard Allan at Reading University explain the science behind the current events.
The rains are coming to drought-ridden California as a result of El Niño. Jack Stewart explains why this is not entirely a good thing.
Professor Sue Page from Leicester University and Professor Martin Wooster from KCL study the Indonesian fires exacerbated by an El Niño event. They describe the devastating effects of these fires. An estimated 15,000 death can be attributed to the previous El Niño burning and it has added 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
THU 17:00 PM (b06twhfq)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b06tl87c)
Chancellor warned of the "dangerous cocktail of economic risks" facing the UK. A man wearing a fake suicide vest has been shot dead by police officers in Paris.
THU 18:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b06tvm72)
Series 5
Episode 1
John Finnemore - writer and star of Cabin Pressure and John Finnemore's Double Acts, regular guest on The Now Show and The Unbelievable Truth - returns for a fifth series of his multi-award-winning sketch show, joined as ever by a cast of Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan.
This first episode sees an unlikely wager, a troubled bluesman, and, well - since you ask him for a rip-roaring adventure on the high seas...
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme won the BBC Audio Drama Award for 'Best Scripted Comedy with Live Audience' in 2015; and a Radio Academy Silver Award for Comedy in 2014.
"One of the most consistently funny sketch shows for quite some time" - The Guardian
"The best sketch show in years, on television or radio" - The Radio Times
"The inventive sketch show ... continues to deliver the goods" - The Daily Mail
"Superior comedy" - The Observer
Written by and starring ... John Finnemore
Ensemble ... Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Ensemble ... Simon Kane
Ensemble ... Lawry Lewin
Ensemble ... Carrie Quinlan
Original music composed by ... Susannah Pearse
Original music performed by ... Jason Hazeley
Producer: Ed Morrish
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme is a BBC Radio Comedy production.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b06tvm74)
Peggy relishes in Phoebe's success at getting a place at Oxford, and discusses with Christine their own education and aspirations. Christine talks proudly of getting into Grammar school. Peggy surprises Chris with her own sad tale of unrealised promise - she passed the exam herself for her local grammar school. but her father objected, so Peggy went to the Council school.
Peggy wishes Jennifer a happy birthday and she and Christine also relish in Tristram Hawkshaw's review of Calendar Girls, which should please Lynda as it also lambasts Felpersham's offering.
David and Ruth congratulate the Fairbrothers on their success with their geese. Toby chooses his moment to appeal to David to let them stay on and develop at Hollowtree, seeming to disregard Ruth who's no pushover. David defers to Ruth who explains that there are issues to be worked out and they need to be sure that any plans the boys have don't clash with the new direction of Brookfield - she will be in touch.
Ruth tells David that if he's not certain about their plans for Brookfield they shouldn't go ahead - they're a partnership and need to do be in this together.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b06vrs2p)
A War, Maigret, Guys and Dolls, Frances Hardinge, The missing Hong Kong booksellers
Colonel Tim Collins reviews the new Danish feature film A War which offers a foot soldiers' view of life on the frontline. Set in the recent military conflict in Afghanistan, the company commander makes a decision that has grave consequences for him and his family back home. Tobias Lindholm's film is Denmark's entry to the Best Foreign Language Film category at this year's Oscars.
2016 sees the return of Inspector Maigret, both on screen and in print. John Simenon, son of Maigret's creator Georges Simenon, and crime writer Natasha Cooper discuss the French detective's enduring appeal.
It's the musical that brought us Luck Be A Lady and Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat. David Benedict reviews Guys and Dolls, starring Sophie Thompson and David Haig, as the acclaimed Chichester Festival production opens in the West End before embarking on a UK tour.
In Hong Kong the whereabouts of five missing booksellers remains a mystery, although they are widely suspected to have been detained by the Chinese authorities. As one major bookshop chain stops selling politically sensitive books in Chinese, Professor Gregory Lee, a specialist in Chinese cultural and literary studies, assesses the implications.
Frances Hardinge, winner of the Costa Children's Book Award with The Lie Tree, discusses her tale of murder and deception set in Victorian England.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b06tvgnx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Report (b06tvm79)
Afghanistan: Time for Truth?
In 2014 the prime minister said that Afghan security forces were now ready to take over from NATO to secure Afghanistan. Yet 2015 was the most violent in the 14 year conflict with record numbers of civilian and Afghan security force casualties. With the official end of NATO led combat operations, the Taliban have resorted to a new tactic of mass attacks. A US Department of Defence report acknowledges that despite being less well armed or trained, the Taliban have outmanoeuvred the Afghan security forces, recapturing several districts in Helmand province once held by the British and Americans at such a high cost in blood and treasure. The Taliban even captured the country's fifth largest city, Kunduz, for a while last autumn. Meanwhile Al Qaeda re-established training camps, and ISIS now has a foothold in the country. Denying Afghanistan to jihadists targeting the West has always been the bottom line justification for expending so much blood and treasure. In The Report this week John Ware asks if Mr Cameron spoke too soon, and poses this question to Western leaders: are they still up for the wars of 9/11?
Reporter: John Ware
Producer: Tim Mansel
Researcher: Holly Topham.
THU 20:30 In Business (b06tvm7c)
The Business of Trust
The revelation that Volkswagen cheated emissions tests is the latest in a line of scandals that have dented the public's faith in business since 2008's financial crisis.
It was seen as a betrayal of trust. But just what is trust and how important is it in business? And, once it has been lost, can it ever be won back?
The editor of Management Today, Matthew Gwyther, interviews Rupert Stadler, the chairman of Audi - which is part of the VW group.
He also speaks to the chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, Charlie Mayfield, and former chief of Severn Trent Water and Jaguar, Sir John Egan.
The former EMEA head of public relations firm Edelman, Robert Phillips, explores PR's influence on trust and Nobel Prize winning economist and author Professor Robert Shiller gives his thoughts.
Amid all the negativity about business, Rachel Botsman - who is an expert on the collaborative economy - offers some hope.
Producer: Keith Moore.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b06tvm70)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 Behaving Ourselves: Mitchell on Manners (b06tvgnv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b06vrs2r)
Yemen's Forgotten War
Rare report from Yemen's second city; Are we still "Je Suis Charlie" ? ; Big Yin's tour
(photo shows fighters in Taiz loyal to Yemen's government. credit - REUTERS/Anees Mahyoub).
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b06tvm7g)
The Beach
Episode 4
Our first Book of Bedtime of 2016 celebrates twenty years since the publication of Alex Garland's cult novel, The Beach. Joe Dempsie reads this thrilling tale of paradise sought and lost.
Jaded young backpacker Richard is in Thailand looking for a place unspoilt by tourism. An encounter with a dead man leaves him with a map for 'the beach', a select traveller community cut off from the degradations of vacationing westerners. He joins the commune, but his breadcrumb trail, fantasies of Vietnam War films, and very real armed drug guards risks turning Eden into hell on earth.
'Lord of the Flies' meets 'Heart of Darkness' among the beautiful, young drop-outs, dreamers and drug-takers of the mid-1990s.
Abridged by ..... Sara Davies
Produced by ..... Jenny Thompson
Read by ..... Joe Dempsie
Music: Narayan by ..... The Prodigy.
THU 23:00 Mark Thomas: The Manifesto (b01bm0pr)
Series 4
Episode 1
Comedian-activist Mark Thomas and his studio audience consider policy proposals for a People's Manifesto.
This week's agenda:
1) Excluding Non-Doms from free access to the NHS
2) Every citizen to be given ÂŁ10,000 in quantitative easing vouchers, to be spent in the next 6 months
And
3) Proportional voting rights for MPs based on the size of their majorities
"Any Other Business" policies are also taken from the studio audience throughout the show.
Written and presented by Mark Thomas
Produced by Colin Anderson.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b06tvm7l)
Susan Hulme reports from Westminster where MPs argue over energy bills, the response to recent floods and the Government's decision to speed up the equalisation of the pension age.
FRIDAY 08 JANUARY 2016
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b06tl8g5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b06vj05s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b06tl8g7)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b06tl8g9)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b06tl8gc)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b06tl8gf)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06vb42q)
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rev Neil Gardner of Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b06tvswc)
Oxford Real Farming Conference
Anna Hill reports from the Oxford Real Farming Conference, set up seven years ago as an alternative to the more conventional Oxford Farming Conference. Here the talk is of sustainability and farming with a light touch on the environment.
We speak to delegates at both events and find out what they think will be the biggest issues in farming this year.
As the debate over a possible UK exit from the EU heats up, we hear thoughts for and against from former Conservative Environment Secretary Owen Paterson and the EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan.
And we speak to a soil expert from Natural England to understand why the bugs living in the soil play such an important part in flood management. The producer is Sally Challoner.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04sttd3)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Chris Packham presents the wedge-tailed shearwater of the Indian and Pacific oceans. Wedge-tailed shearwaters are large sepia brown seabirds with long wings and streamlined bodies. They feed mainly on fish and squid which they scoop from the surface or catch by diving. While the parents are careering over the open seas, their solitary chick squats alone in its island burrow. The return of the adults means a welcome feast for the chick. Its reward is a mouthful of warm and waxy stomach oil, the digested remains of the adults prey. It may sound revolting to us, but this oil is rich in energy and allows the chick to grow even bigger than its parents before losing weight again prior to its first flight, which happens a few weeks after the adult birds have abandoned it to its fate.
FRI 06:00 Today (b06twjtk)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b06tq3th)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b06vj1t0)
Young Orson
Episode 5
Orson Welles, the defining wunderkind of modern entertainment, gets his due in a new biography of his early years - including his first forays in theatre and radio before his groundbreaking move to Hollywood.
Episode 5:
Welles and Houseman agree on a Halloween Eve adaptation of The War Of The Worlds. What could possibly go wrong?
Written by Patrick McGilligan
Read by Jack Klaff
Abridged and produced by Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b06vj1t4)
Mhairi Black, Safe drinking, Amy Jackson, Shepherdess
When the new flat rate state pension starts in April 2016, thousands of women born in the 1950s won't be able to access the full amount. Mhairi Black, the youngest MP in 350 years has led a House of Commons backbench debate on the issue and joins Jenni to discuss her concerns.
There's no safe level of alcohol if you're pregnant according to new guidelines on drinking from Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies. Dr Sally Marlow, researcher in Addictions at King's College London and Linda Geddes, freelance science and medical journalist discuss the evidence and whether women will follow the advice.
Amy Jackson is Bollywood's unlikely superstar. Spotted aged sixteen, she's starred in a number of Indian films - but Amy is white and from Liverpool. She joins Jenni to discuss her remarkable career.
At the age of 23, Emma Gray broke up with her fiance and set off with her three dogs to become a sheep farmer in Northumberland. Reporter Sarah Falkingham went to meet her.
Presenter: Jenni Murray.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b06tvswh)
Toni Morrison - Beloved
Episode 5
By Toni Morrison
Adapted by Patricia Cumper
Toni Morrison's seminal 1987 novel about a haunted house in the era that followed the abolition of slavery in the United States is adapted for radio for the first time. Toni Morrison's masterpiece melds horror and poetry as it tells the story of Sethe, a woman who escaped slavery by crossing the Ohio river, but who, eighteen years later, is still not free.
A young woman calling herself Beloved has arrived and stayed at One Twenty-Four Bluestone Road, and her hold, on each of its residents, has strengthened day by day.
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Sound design by Caleb Knightley
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
FRI 11:00 The Best Exotic Etiquette Academy (b06tvswr)
Author, broadcaster and etiquette coach William Hanson explores why there's such a demand for British politesse around the world.
We join William at the Wasan Knowledge Hub in Mumbai where he teaches classes in business protocol and social etiquette. William asks Ekta Wasan why she set up the academy two years ago, and students explain why they have a desire to learn these very British skills.
William also speaks to Nisha JamVwal, a well known socialite and author who is married to a member of the Indian royal family. Yet, even with classes about tiaras and table manners, Nisha admits that few members of the Indian upper classes would enrol in such classes, and challenges the needs for British traditions in an age where the country is truly embracing its own cultural identity.
Then to Shanghai, another city where William's knowledge is craved. Three years ago, Chinese men and women had no idea what etiquette training was. So why the sudden demand?
Angelina Du talks openly about why she launched her exotic etiquette academy and we explore how the growth of high end goods has turned classes in British manners into a luxury commodity.
An Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 11:30 The Cold Swedish Winter (b06tvswt)
Series 2
Episode 2
Geoff is feeling threatened by the perfection of life in Sweden. Then an ex of Linda's shows up. How can he cope with the perfect Swedish man?
The second series Danny Robins' sitcom, set and recorded in Sweden.
Starring Edinburgh Comedy Award-winner Adam Riches, Danny Robins and a cast of Sweden's most popular TV comedy actors.
Geoff has moved to Yxsjö in northern Sweden, to start a new life with his girlfriend Linda in the (frequently frosty) bosom of her family.
This year, new dad Geoff has plenty of fresh experiences to contend with, including three varieties of pickled cabbage, sinister Christmas elves and an unpleasant visit from Sweden's answer to the BNP. It's all worth it though for Linda and baby John.
While Geoff and Linda now have their own place, he still has to deal with her disapproving Dad, Sten her alarmingly flirtatious mother Gunilla and her apparently suicidal, arsonist brother, Anders.
Geoff is determined to be more Swedish than the Swedes as he takes to his new country with renewed enthusiasm, and he has help, in the form of fellow expat, cynical Ian, an unending source of (slightly misleading) information, and Soran, a Danish Kurd with Swedophobia.
Geoff ...... Adam Riches
Sten ...... Thomas Oredsson
Linda ...... Sissela Benn
Gunilla ...... Anna-Lena Brundin
Johan ...... Andre Wickstrom
Ian ...... Danny Robins
Soran ...... Farshad Kohlgi
Female Steward ...... Shanthi Rydwall
Ice Hockey Announcer ...... Fredrik Andersson
Writer: Danny Robins
Additional Material by Ben Kersley
Director: Frank Stirling
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in January 2016. .
FRI 12:00 News Summary (b06tl8gh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Home Front (b06kvfmm)
8 January 1916 - Ruth Billings
This day marked the ending of the Dardanelles campaign, as the last troops evacuated Gallipoli, and finds Ruth Billings cold and hungry, and unsure how to survive.
Written by Mike Walker
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
SECRET SHAKESPEARE
A Shakespeare quote is hidden in each Home Front episode that is set in 1916. These were first broadcast in 2016, the 400th anniversary year of the playwright's death. Can you spot them all?
FRI 12:15 You and Yours (b06tvswy)
Doorstep selling, Smart meters, Alcohol limits
The first new alcohol guidelines in 20 years have been published. We ask what real people make of them, do they make people think twice about drinking and how we relate to official health guidance in general.
An energy industry insider has written to the Environment Minister to say the ÂŁ11 billion smart meter project is in "a mess". Smart meters are supposed to help us monitor our gas and electricity bills and so lower our bills. We ask Alex Henny who used to be a director of London Electricity and is a former government advisor why he thinks they're a waste of money and ask a representative of the smart meter manufacturing industry to respond.
We investigate a furniture company that was found guilty of aggressive sales tactics in a case taken by trading standards in Suffolk but seems to have gone on to do the same thing in another part of the country.
And the white goods delivery company that began with a one pound bet in the pub but went on to be valued at more than a billion on the stock market.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b06tvyxs)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b06tvsx0)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
FRI 13:45 Etiquette Guide (b06vj1tb)
Modern Manners
The mark of a civilised country is to know what it is to be civil. But what if you don't know? Across the ages, social commentators have written guide books to tell the uninitiated how to do the right thing at the right time in the right way.
And it's not just snobs that have published guides - the great Renaissance theologian Erasmus took time out from arguing with Luther to instruct children how to behave in company.
Nor is it yet another invention of Victorian England. Five thousand years ago, Ptah-Hotep set down on papyrus the rules of behaviour that all wise men should convey to their sons.
Episode 5: Modern Manners
The making of manners in cyberspace. How to respond to emails without causing offence, and what is acceptable on social media. In the world of "netiquette", we don't have facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice to help, so rules need to be applied.
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b06tvm74)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b03mtfrl)
Enid Bagnold - National Velvet
Episode 2
Fourteen year old Velvet is mad about horses. She knows 'there are pleasures earlier than love. Earlier than love, nearer heaven' in the form of horses.
When she wins a piebald horse in a raffle, she recognises he's something special. He can easily clear five-foot fences, and he'll do anything for her. Soon, she and butcher's assistant Mi have their sights set on the biggest race in England. But how can a girl in 1930s England get near Aintree?
Peter Flannery rescues National Velvet from Hollywood, returning 14 year old Velvet to her Sussex butcher's family in the 1930s. A welcome return for Enid Bagnold's strange, inventive fairytale about a young amateur girl rider who takes an untrained horse over the stiffest course in the world and wins.
Author: Enid Bagnold
Dramatised by Peter Flannery
Director/Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Polly Thomas
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b06tvwtz)
Monmouthshire
Eric Robson hosts the horticultural panel programme from Monmouthshire in Wales. Pippa Greenwood, Matthew Wilson, and Christine Walkden answer the questions from the audience.
This week the panel discuss what to do about moss in flowerbeds, how to deter animals from attacking your strawberries, and whether to plant wild garlic or Lily of the Valley in a shady bed.
Also, Matthew Wilson takes a tour round one of Monmouthshire's most successful vineyards.
Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Hannah Newton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 Shorts (b06tvwv1)
The Time Being
How To Conduct a Rishta Meeting by Nafisa Muhtadi
Season 8 of the showcase for previously un-broadcast writers.
A woman shares her considerable experience of Rishta meetings, having by now met one or two potential husbands too many.
Sohm Kapila reads Nafisa Muhtadi's short story.
Nafisa Muhtadi is a writer based in the Black Country. She is part of the current cohort of Writing West Midlands’ Room 204 Writers Development Scheme. She graduated with a Masters in Creative Writing (Distinction) at Birmingham City University.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in January 2016.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b06vb42x)
Robert Stigwood, Patricia Torrens, Pierre Boulez, Lord Ezra, Natalie Cole
Matthew Bannister on
Robert Stigwood, the impresario who managed Eric Clapton and The Bee Gees, produced Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita and the movies Saturday Night Fever and Grease.
Patricia Torrens the first adviser on diet to the Department of Health.
Pierre Boulez, the avant garde French composer and conductor who pioneered serialism and the use of electronics.
Lord Ezra who was chairman of the National Coal Board in the 1970s.
And Natalie Cole, the acclaimed singer who battled drug addiction and sang a posthumous duet with her father Nat King Cole.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (b06wbghr)
Flood Defence Spending
Tim Harford and the team take a look at some of the numbers in the news about flooding. What is a one hundred year flood? And is there really a north-south divide in the amount of money spent on flood defences in England?
What is the total number of possible tweets that could be created from 140 characters? In a recent programme Professor John Allen-Paulos told us that when you take into account all of the symbols available, the total number of possible tweets is Googol2.8 (which is a 1 followed by 280 zeros.) But has he missed some options?
One of our listener's questions whether Christmas Eve is really the busiest day on the roads. We take a look at the figures.
Plus - which is the bigger number? The total number of Storm Trooper toys ever made, or the number of real life soldiers serving in armies around the world?
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b06d9t3l)
Sophie and Monica - Leaving a Legacy
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between friends who have reached their 40s without having children, about how the outside world judges them. Recorded when the Booth was in Moseley Park in Birmingham, another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
FRI 17:00 PM (b06vyddj)
News interviews, context and analysis.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b06tl8gk)
R4 1800 08/01/2016
The private security company, G4S, has suspended seven members of staff from a secure facility for young offenders in Kent, after the BBC secretly filmed evidence of abuse.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (b06tvwv5)
Series 89
Episode 1
Series 89 of the satirical panel show. Miles Jupp is back in the chair, trying to keep order as an esteemed panel of guests take on the big (and not so big) news events of the week. For this, the first episode of the new series, Miles is joined by Francis Wheen, Susan Calman, Nish Kumar and Zoe Lyons.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Radio Comedy Production.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b06tvwv9)
Eddie and Ed are up in the middle of the night to attend to some business - Clarrie just hopes it's legal. Eddie collects some pigs and Clarrie feels bad for momentarily thinking he has stolen them from Bridge Farm. Eddie's keen to have cattle one day - Clarrie tells him to dream on.
Brian's keen to knock heads with Adam and come up with strategies for managing the Estate contract. Jennifer's a bit down, reflecting on her own life as she thinks of Phoebe's Oxford success. Brian offers his support, pointing out that Jennifer certainly hasn't waster her time.
David has thoroughly analysed the figures and agrees with Ruth that her grass-based farming plan is the way to go. Ruth can see that David is finally convinced, as he has already set things in motion with Alistair. David wants to leave Brookfield as a going concern to Pip and John - and maybe Ben too. After a horrible year they both feel so blessed. David admits he worried that Ruth wasn't going to come back from New Zealand. But they do love each other. As they reaffirm this, Ruth challenges David to a race up to the top of Lakey Hill.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b06vb42z)
Emma Donoghue on Room, Grey Gardens, Andrew Michael Hurley, Occupied
Emma Donoghue talks to Kirsty Lang about adapting her best-selling novel Room into a BAFTA nominated film, starring Brie Larson as a woman trapped in a shed with her child.
Matt Wolf reviews the European premiere of Grey Gardens, a musical based on the influential 1975 documentary of the same name, a riveting fly-on-the-wall account of an ageing mother and daughter living and together in squalor in a Long Island mansion.
Andrew Michael Hurley, winner of the Costa First Novel award for The Loney, discusses his unsettling tale set in 1976 on a wild section of the North West coast.
Diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall reviews Occupied, a new Norwegian drama series that imagines Russia has invaded Norway.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Timothy Prosser.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b06tvswh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b06tvwvc)
Heidi Alexander MP, Jeremy Banx, Penny Mordaunt MP, Fraser Nelson
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from St Mary's Church, Caterham in Surrey with the Shadow Health Secretary Heidi Alexander MP, Financial Times cartoonist Jeremy Banx, Armed Forces Minister Penny Mordaunt MP, and the Editor of the Spectator magazine Fraser Nelson.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b06tvwvg)
Peerless
Tom Shakespeare argues the House of Lords should be completely reformed and turned into a Senate of 300 members (down from over 800). He suggests they should consist of 100 politicians, selected in proportion to parties' showing in the previous general election, 100 cross-benchers, chosen for their expertise, and 100 members of the public, selected from the electoral roll like juries.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.
FRI 21:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b06kvlgq)
4-8 January 1916
In a week when compulsory Military service became almost inevitable, the Bevan hospital becomes a welcome alternative to home for Dorothea.
Written by Mike Walker
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Story-led by Shaun McKenna
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Composer: Matthew Strachan
Consultant Historian: Maggie Andrews.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b06tl8gp)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b06w29qd)
Saudi considers sale of state oil firm
Who will invest in Saudi oil; will new alcohol guidelines actually change our behaviour; and the Syrian rock band gigging in Europe.
Picture Credit: AFP.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b06tvyxv)
The Beach
Episode 5
Our first Book of Bedtime of 2016 celebrates twenty years since the publication of Alex Garland's cult novel, The Beach. Joe Dempsie reads this thrilling tale of paradise sought and lost.
Jaded young backpacker Richard is in Thailand looking for a place unspoilt by tourism. An encounter with a dead man leaves him with a map for 'the beach', a select traveller community cut off from the degradations of vacationing westerners. He joins the commune, but his breadcrumb trail, fantasies of Vietnam War films, and very real armed drug guards risks turning Eden into hell on earth.
'Lord of the Flies' meets 'Heart of Darkness' among the beautiful, young drop-outs, dreamers and drug-takers of the mid-1990s.
Abridged by ..... Sara Davies
Produced by ..... Jenny Thompson
Read by ..... Joe Dempsie
Music ..... Narayan by The Prodigy.
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b06ts10b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b06tvyxx)
Mark D'Arcy reports from Westminster.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b06d8h0l)
Alex and Josh – First Time Fathers
Fi Glover with a conversation between old school friends who are now facing fatherhood for the first time and share their hopes and fears, recorded in the Booth at the Hay Festival, another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess
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 (b06tr5t3)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 MON (b06tr5t3)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 TUE (b06trd1x)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 TUE (b06trd1x)
15 Minute Drama
10:41 WED (b06ts3xw)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 WED (b06ts3xw)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 THU (b06tvgnx)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 THU (b06tvgnx)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 FRI (b06tvswh)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 FRI (b06tvswh)
A Man's a Man for a' That: Frederick Douglass in Scotland
16:00 TUE (b06kb0g2)
A Point of View
08:48 SUN (b06spjqs)
A Point of View
20:50 FRI (b06tvwvg)
After Ebola
11:00 MON (b06tr5t5)
Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section
23:00 TUE (b01r51fb)
Any Questions?
20:00 FRI (b06tvwvc)
Archive on 4
20:00 SAT (b06tky20)
BBC Inside Science
16:30 THU (b06tvm70)
BBC Inside Science
21:00 THU (b06tvm70)
Before They Were Famous
23:15 WED (b03h429n)
Behaving Ourselves: Mitchell on Manners
09:00 MON (b06tqt1p)
Behaving Ourselves: Mitchell on Manners
21:30 MON (b06tqt1p)
Behaving Ourselves: Mitchell on Manners
09:00 TUE (b06trcg2)
Behaving Ourselves: Mitchell on Manners
21:30 TUE (b06trcg2)
Behaving Ourselves: Mitchell on Manners
09:00 WED (b06ts3xr)
Behaving Ourselves: Mitchell on Manners
21:30 WED (b06ts3xr)
Behaving Ourselves: Mitchell on Manners
09:00 THU (b06tvgnv)
Behaving Ourselves: Mitchell on Manners
21:30 THU (b06tvgnv)
Bells on Sunday
05:43 SUN (b06tpxw9)
Bells on Sunday
00:45 MON (b06tpxw9)
Beyond Belief
16:30 MON (b06tr5tp)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 MON (b06tr96h)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 TUE (b06ts24j)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 WED (b06tvc2k)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 THU (b06tvm7g)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 FRI (b06tvyxv)
Book of the Week
00:30 SAT (b06sp7mb)
Book of the Week
09:45 MON (b06tqsbz)
Book of the Week
00:30 TUE (b06tqsbz)
Book of the Week
09:45 TUE (b06vhpqt)
Book of the Week
00:30 WED (b06vhpqt)
Book of the Week
09:45 WED (b06vhv6t)
Book of the Week
00:30 THU (b06vhv6t)
Book of the Week
09:45 THU (b06vj05s)
Book of the Week
00:30 FRI (b06vj05s)
Book of the Week
09:45 FRI (b06vj1t0)
Bookclub
16:00 SUN (b06tq9r6)
Bookclub
15:30 THU (b06tq9r6)
Broadcasting House
09:00 SUN (b06tl77q)
Compression versus Art
11:30 THU (b06tvgp1)
Correspondents' Look Ahead
13:10 SAT (b06spjqp)
Crossing Continents
20:30 MON (b06sny8s)
Crossing Continents
11:00 THU (b06tvgnz)
Dead Ringers
12:30 SAT (b06spjqj)
Desert Island Discs
11:15 SUN (b06tq3th)
Desert Island Discs
09:00 FRI (b06tq3th)
Don't Start
23:00 WED (b06tvc3t)
Drama
14:30 SAT (b06tvzqr)
Drama
21:00 SAT (b06sfk94)
Drama
15:00 SUN (b06tq9r4)
Drama
14:15 THU (b06tvhnj)
Drama
14:15 FRI (b03mtfrl)
Etiquette Guide
13:45 MON (b06tr5tc)
Etiquette Guide
13:45 TUE (b06vhpr3)
Etiquette Guide
13:45 WED (b06vhv6y)
Etiquette Guide
13:45 THU (b06vj065)
Etiquette Guide
13:45 FRI (b06vj1tb)
Farming Today
06:30 SAT (b06tkv23)
Farming Today
05:45 MON (b06tqr28)
Farming Today
05:45 TUE (b06trbjy)
Farming Today
05:45 WED (b06ts2d2)
Farming Today
05:45 THU (b06tvgnq)
Farming Today
05:45 FRI (b06tvswc)
Four Thought
20:45 WED (b06vhvss)
From Mumbai to Machynlleth
11:30 TUE (b06trys2)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:30 SAT (b06sf2xw)
From the Vineyard
19:45 SUN (b06tq9rm)
Front Row
19:15 MON (b06tr6lj)
Front Row
19:15 TUE (b06ts1wb)
Front Row
19:15 WED (b06vhvsq)
Front Row
19:15 THU (b06vrs2p)
Front Row
19:15 FRI (b06vb42z)
Gardeners' Question Time
14:00 SUN (b06spdm3)
Gardeners' Question Time
15:00 FRI (b06tvwtz)
Great Lives
16:30 TUE (b06ts10b)
Great Lives
23:00 FRI (b06ts10b)
Hardeep's Sunday Lunch
13:30 SUN (b06p56yz)
Hidden Histories of the Information Age
09:30 MON (b04lpxx3)
Hidden Histories of the Information Age
09:30 TUE (b04m3bcc)
Hidden Histories of the Information Age
09:30 WED (b04m3gc6)
Hidden Histories of the Information Age
09:30 THU (b04m3ftg)
Home Front - Omnibus
21:00 FRI (b06kvlgq)
Home Front
12:04 MON (b06kvdtc)
Home Front
12:04 TUE (b06kvdwn)
Home Front
12:04 WED (b06kvf7r)
Home Front
12:04 THU (b06kvfjt)
Home Front
12:04 FRI (b06kvfmm)
How to Make a Brexit
20:00 TUE (b06r5d0c)
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
12:04 SUN (b06sgjr8)
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
18:30 MON (b06tr6ld)
In Business
21:30 SUN (b06sp2zt)
In Business
20:30 THU (b06tvm7c)
In Touch
20:40 TUE (b06tl7pf)
In the Moment
14:00 SAT (b061tfmw)
It's Jocelyn
18:30 WED (b06tvbz1)
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme
18:30 THU (b06tvm72)
June Whitfield: 90 Not Out
19:15 SUN (b06sfrks)
Last Word
20:30 SUN (b06spffh)
Last Word
16:00 FRI (b06vb42x)
Leader Conference
20:00 WED (b06tvbz5)
Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite... Laicite
20:00 MON (b06tr96c)
Loose Ends
18:15 SAT (b06tkxxh)
Mark Steel's in Town
11:30 MON (b01p0rpj)
Mark Thomas: The Manifesto
23:00 THU (b01bm0pr)
Mastertapes
23:00 MON (b06tr96k)
Mastertapes
15:30 TUE (b06ts0kv)
McLevy
14:15 TUE (b06ts0h0)
Midnight News
00:00 SAT (b06sf2wb)
Midnight News
00:00 SUN (b06tl726)
Midnight News
00:00 MON (b06tl7bx)
Midnight News
00:00 TUE (b06tl7m4)
Midnight News
00:00 WED (b06tl7xc)
Midnight News
00:00 THU (b06tl85c)
Midnight News
00:00 FRI (b06tl8g5)
Money Box
12:04 SAT (b06tkx5p)
Money Box
21:00 SUN (b06tkx5p)
Money Box
15:00 WED (b06ts7jq)
More or Less
20:00 SUN (b06spffr)
More or Less
16:30 FRI (b06wbghr)
News Briefing
05:30 SAT (b06sf2wl)
News Briefing
05:30 SUN (b06tl72m)
News Briefing
05:30 MON (b06tl7c5)
News Briefing
05:30 TUE (b06tl7my)
News Briefing
05:30 WED (b06tl7y9)
News Briefing
05:30 THU (b06tl85p)
News Briefing
05:30 FRI (b06tl8gf)
News Headlines
06:00 SUN (b06tl732)
News Summary
12:00 SAT (b06sf2y7)
News Summary
12:00 SUN (b06tl77s)
News Summary
12:00 MON (b06tl7cf)
News Summary
12:00 TUE (b06tl7ng)
News Summary
12:00 WED (b06tl7z2)
News Summary
12:00 THU (b06tl864)
News Summary
12:00 FRI (b06tl8gh)
News and Papers
06:00 SAT (b06sf2wq)
News and Papers
07:00 SUN (b06tl74b)
News and Papers
08:00 SUN (b06tl76r)
News and Weather
22:00 SAT (b06sf2z7)
News
13:00 SAT (b06sf2ys)
On Your Farm
06:35 SUN (b06tpxwh)
Open Country
06:07 SAT (b06sny9c)
Open Country
15:00 THU (b06tvm6t)
Orpheus Underground
23:30 MON (b06cw171)
PM
17:00 SAT (b06tkxn8)
PM
17:00 MON (b06tr5tr)
PM
17:00 TUE (b06ts10d)
PM
17:00 WED (b06twbz8)
PM
17:00 THU (b06twhfq)
PM
17:00 FRI (b06vyddj)
Penguin Post Office
00:15 SAT (b04g1b96)
Pick of the Week
18:15 SUN (b06tq9rc)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 SAT (b06spm7h)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 MON (b06v9yj4)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 TUE (b06v9ypx)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 WED (b06v9yt4)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 THU (b06vrsbk)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 FRI (b06vb42q)
Profile
19:00 SAT (b06tkxxl)
Profile
05:45 SUN (b06tkxxl)
Profile
17:40 SUN (b06tkxxl)
Putting Science to Work
21:00 MON (b06sgxjk)
Putting Science to Work
11:00 TUE (b06trd1z)
Radio 4 Appeal
07:54 SUN (b06tpxwp)
Radio 4 Appeal
21:26 SUN (b06tpxwp)
Radio 4 Appeal
15:27 THU (b06tpxwp)
Reflections with Peter Hennessy
22:15 SAT (b061q92b)
Road Stories
11:00 WED (b06ts5l9)
Round Britain Quiz
23:00 SAT (b06sggdr)
Round Britain Quiz
15:00 MON (b06tr5tk)
Saturday Live
09:00 SAT (b06tkx5f)
Saturday Review
19:15 SAT (b06tkxxn)
Science Stories
21:00 WED (b06tvc2f)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SAT (b06sf2wg)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SUN (b06tl72f)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 MON (b06tl7c1)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 TUE (b06tl7mk)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 WED (b06tl7xv)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 THU (b06tl85k)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 FRI (b06tl8g9)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SAT (b06sf2wd)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SAT (b06sf2wj)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SAT (b06sf2yx)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SUN (b06tl72c)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SUN (b06tl72h)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SUN (b06tl790)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 MON (b06tl7bz)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 MON (b06tl7c3)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 TUE (b06tl7md)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 TUE (b06tl7mr)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 WED (b06tl7xq)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 WED (b06tl7y2)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 THU (b06tl85h)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 THU (b06tl85m)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 FRI (b06tl8g7)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 FRI (b06tl8gc)
Shorts
15:45 FRI (b06tvwv1)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SAT (b06sf2z3)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SUN (b06tl79r)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 MON (b06tl7d1)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 TUE (b06tl7pc)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 WED (b06tl7zx)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 THU (b06tl87c)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 FRI (b06tl8gk)
Something Understood
06:05 SUN (b06tpxwc)
Something Understood
23:30 SUN (b06tpxwc)
Sunday Worship
08:10 SUN (b06tpxx4)
Sunday
07:10 SUN (b06tpxwk)
Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones!
18:30 TUE (b06ts1kz)
The Archers Omnibus
10:00 SUN (b06tq1sj)
The Archers
19:00 SUN (b06tq9rg)
The Archers
14:00 MON (b06tq9rg)
The Archers
19:00 MON (b06tr6lg)
The Archers
14:00 TUE (b06tr6lg)
The Archers
19:00 TUE (b06ts1w8)
The Archers
14:00 WED (b06ts1w8)
The Archers
19:00 WED (b06tvbz3)
The Archers
14:00 THU (b06tvbz3)
The Archers
19:00 THU (b06tvm74)
The Archers
14:00 FRI (b06tvm74)
The Archers
19:00 FRI (b06tvwv9)
The Best Exotic Etiquette Academy
11:00 FRI (b06tvswr)
The Boat Children
17:00 SUN (b06t42ff)
The Cold Swedish Winter
11:30 FRI (b06tvswt)
The Echo Chamber
23:30 SAT (b06sfk98)
The Echo Chamber
16:30 SUN (b06tq9r8)
The Film Programme
23:00 SUN (b06snz24)
The Film Programme
16:00 THU (b06tvm6x)
The Food Programme
12:32 SUN (b06tq3tk)
The Food Programme
15:30 MON (b06tq3tk)
The Forum
11:00 SAT (b06tkx5k)
The Kitchen Cabinet
10:30 SAT (b06tkx5h)
The Kitchen Cabinet
15:00 TUE (b06tkx5h)
The Listeners
21:00 TUE (b06t0rnl)
The Listeners
15:30 WED (b06t0rnl)
The Listening Project
14:45 SUN (b06tq9r0)
The Listening Project
10:55 WED (b06d9rlv)
The Listening Project
16:55 FRI (b06d9t3l)
The Listening Project
23:55 FRI (b06d8h0l)
The Media Show
16:30 WED (b06tvbpl)
The News Quiz
18:30 FRI (b06tvwv5)
The Report
20:00 THU (b06tvm79)
The Stanley Baxter Playhouse
11:30 WED (b06shzjj)
The World This Weekend
13:00 SUN (b06tq3tm)
The World Tonight
22:00 MON (b06tr96f)
The World Tonight
22:00 TUE (b06ts22f)
The World Tonight
22:00 WED (b06vhw1l)
The World Tonight
22:00 THU (b06vrs2r)
The World Tonight
22:00 FRI (b06w29qd)
Thinking Allowed
00:15 MON (b06sj050)
Thinking Allowed
16:00 WED (b06tvbpj)
Tiny Tinkles
15:30 SAT (b06sgxjp)
Today in Parliament
23:30 TUE (b06ts26n)
Today in Parliament
23:30 WED (b06tvcm0)
Today in Parliament
23:30 THU (b06tvm7l)
Today in Parliament
23:30 FRI (b06tvyxx)
Today
07:00 SAT (b06tkx5c)
Today
06:00 MON (b06tqsbx)
Today
06:00 TUE (b06trcg0)
Today
06:00 WED (b06ts2gj)
Today
06:00 THU (b06tvgns)
Today
06:00 FRI (b06twjtk)
Tumanbay
14:15 WED (b06ts76x)
Tweet of the Day
08:58 SUN (b04t0hjv)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 MON (b04sv1s1)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 TUE (b04svjxg)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 WED (b04sxv25)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 THU (b04sy3qh)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 FRI (b04sttd3)
Weather
06:04 SAT (b06sf2wt)
Weather
06:57 SAT (b06sf2x6)
Weather
12:57 SAT (b06sf2yl)
Weather
17:57 SAT (b06sf2yz)
Weather
06:57 SUN (b06tl73v)
Weather
07:57 SUN (b06tl76b)
Weather
12:57 SUN (b06tl787)
Weather
17:57 SUN (b06tl793)
Weather
05:56 MON (b06tl7c8)
Weather
12:57 MON (b06tl7cl)
Weather
21:58 MON (b06tl7dh)
Weather
12:57 TUE (b06tl7nn)
Weather
21:58 TUE (b06tl7ph)
Weather
12:57 WED (b06tl7zd)
Weather
12:57 THU (b06tl86f)
Weather
12:57 FRI (b06tvyxs)
Weather
21:58 FRI (b06tl8gp)
Westminster Hour
22:00 SUN (b06tq9rp)
What the Papers Say
22:45 SUN (b06tq9rt)
Where This Service Will...
14:15 MON (b06tr5tf)
With Great Pleasure
16:00 MON (b06vk6nf)
Woman's Hour
16:00 SAT (b06tkxn6)
Woman's Hour
10:00 MON (b06tqsc1)
Woman's Hour
10:00 TUE (b06trcg4)
Woman's Hour
10:00 WED (b06ts3xt)
Woman's Hour
10:00 THU (b06vj05v)
Woman's Hour
10:00 FRI (b06vj1t4)
World at One
13:00 MON (b06tr5t9)
World at One
13:00 TUE (b06ts0gy)
World at One
13:00 WED (b06ts76v)
World at One
13:00 THU (b06vj063)
World at One
13:00 FRI (b06tvsx0)
Writing a New Nigeria
00:15 SUN (b06qm3mk)
You and Yours
12:15 MON (b06tr5t7)
You and Yours
12:15 TUE (b06ts0gw)
You and Yours
12:15 WED (b06ts76s)
You and Yours
12:15 THU (b06vj05z)
You and Yours
12:15 FRI (b06tvswy)
iPM
05:45 SAT (b06spm7k)
iPM
17:30 SAT (b06spm7k)