The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

In these personal, entertaining and deeply thoughtful essays, Philip Pullman examines the art of storytelling.

Written over a period of 30 years, they reflect on a wide range of topics including the origins of his own stories, the practice of writing and the storytellers who have most inspired him.

In today's final essay, Philip recalls how, at the age of sixteen, he discovered visionary 18th century poet William Blake through the "hellish rapture" of beat poet Alan Ginsberg's Howl.

Adapted and produced by Kate McAll
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

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The latest shipping forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Dr Elaine Storkey, a philosopher, sociologist, and theologian.

A listener on what she can't tell her husband or her friends.

iPM is the news programme that starts with its listeners. Email ipm@bbc.co.uk. Twitter: @BBCiPM. Presented by Luke Jones and Eddie Mair. Produced by Emma Close.

The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.

How do you keep history alive? It's claimed the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh - fought in 1547 between the Scots and the English - has largely been forgotten despite being the largest Battle fought on Scottish soil. Helen Mark travels to Musselburgh in East Lothian to see re-enactors gather from across the UK to live as the forces did and fight to the (acted) death to remember the battle in front of an audience. The current Duke of Somerset - who descends from the leader of the English troops braves a return to Scotland to see the event. The areas on which the original battle was fought may not give many clues if it were not for the efforts of the Battlefield Group who fight to protect sites like this and mark their significance in our history.

Farming Today This Week is on a family fruit farm and Pick-Your-Own site nestled between the Malvern Hills and the River Severn in Worcestershire. David Gregory-Kumar visits Clive's Fruit Farm which is almost 100 years old and now into the fourth generation of farmers. The family have diversified into apple juice production and even run a children's nursery along with the PYO operation. There are also reports on harvesting walnuts, crab apples for gin making and one of the reporters follows a wild mushroom forager as he teaches novices the tricks of the trade.

Presented by David Gregory-Kumar
Produce by Alun Beach.

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News and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

Goldie, producer, DJ and artist; actor Tim Bentinck and model and campaigner Mary Russell join Aasmah Mir and the Reverend Richard Coles..

Born in Walsall and brought up in a series of children's homes, Goldie made his name as a graffiti artist before becoming a sought after producer and DJ. As an actor he appeared in the James Bond film the World is Not Enough and learned how to conduct an orchestra in the BBC series Maestro. His new book, All Things Remembered, written with Ben Thompson, looks back at his eventful life and reveals how hot yoga has helped him come to terms with his past. All Things Remembered is published by Faber and Faber.

Mary Russell is a model, disability rights campaigner and a television personality. Born with achondroplasia - a common cause of dwarfism - she also works for a range of charities which aim to educate people about disability. Mary has appeared in the television series the Undateables and more recently in the BBC series Without Limits in which a group of people with disabilities travelled to Vietnam.

Actor Tim Bentinck has played the role of David Archer in BBC Radio 4's soap opera The Archers for the past 35 years. In his memoir, Being David Archer, he recounts his varied life from being born in Tasmania to being the Earl of Portland (a title he inherited from a distant cousin) the voice of Mind the Gap on the Piccadilly Line, an HGV truck driver, an inventor and the voice of James Bond in the computer game The World is Not Enough. Being David Archer is published by Constable and Robinson.

Also on the programme is Eloise Sentito who left her job as an academic to drive around the country in a campervan which is now her home and where she weaves blankets and shawls inspired by the landscape around her.

JP Devlin visits Rosamund Young who runs a farm in the Cotswolds where she observes the mannerisms and relationships developed by her cattle - all the better to learn from their behaviour. The Secret Life of Cows is published by Faber and Faber.

And comedian Shazia Mirza reveals her inheritance tracks - Verdi's The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from the opera Nabucco and Heroes by David Bowie.

Producer: Paula McGinley.

Jay Rayner and the panel visit Ipswich. Zoe Laughlin, Jordan Bourke, Tim Anderson and Andi Oliver answer the questions.

This week the panellists discuss Halloween kitchen ideas, delve into Suffolk's rich Saxon culinary heritage, and track the migration to Ipswich of the Gressingham Duck.

They also give some savoury almond recipe ideas and suggestions for vegan broths.

Producer: Darby Dorras
Assistant Producer: Laurence Bassett

Food Consultant: Anna Colquhoun

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

Peter Oborne of the Daily Mail investigates the row over universal credit. He hears about life in the Commons when the government has no majority. There's an eye-witness account of the refugee camps outside Myanmar. And reflections on the letter which paved the way for the creation of the state of Israel, 100 years ago.

Editor: Peter Mulligan.

Reports from writers and journalists around the world. Presented by Kate Adie.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

The FCA has told BrightHouse to pay £14.8m in compensation and refunds to 249,000 customers. The action follows the financial regulator's findings that the rent-to-own household goods firm was "not a responsible lender" for failing to properly check whether people who took out agreements between 1 April 2014 and 30 September 2016 would be able to make the required payments. It also found it did not refund customers whose agreements were cancelled before the goods had been delivered but after first payments had been taken. Former BrightHouse branch manager Lois details her experiences of working for the company including how customers were persuaded to take on debt.

People with serious financial problems could get a legally protected six-week breathing space to get advice and repair their finances as part of a plan put out for consultation by the government this week. During that time they wouldn't have to pay other charges, interest on debts or be visited by bailiffs. A similar Debt Arrangement Scheme already operates in Scotland. Mike O'Connor, Chief Executive of the StepChange debt charity and Yvonne MacDermid, Chief Executive of Money Advice Scotland. discuss the practicalities .

As the government launches a review aimed at improving the process of buying a home to make it 'faster and less stressful' reporter Tony Bonsignore investigates the role of conveyancing solicitors. It's an area the review will look at to see what the industry could do to help consumers make more informed decisions when selecting one. Guest: Beth Rudolph from the Conveyancing Association

Presenter: Adam Shaw
Producer: Charmaine Cozier
Editor: Andrew Smith.

Miles Jupp is joined by Simon Evans, Angela Barnes, Hugo Rifkind & Zoe Lyons to hash out the week's news.

The teams discuss the China's leader Xi Jinping's political reshuffle, Lord Lawson's climate change denial on Radio 4's Today programme and Labour MP Jarad O'Hara's suspension from the party.

The chair's script is written by James Kettle, Benjamin Partridge and David Reed with additional material by Saskia Preston and Robin Morgan.
The producer is Joe Nunnery
A BBC Studios Production.

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Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate from Solomon Browne Hall in Mousehole in Cornwall with a panel including the Labour MP Dan Jarvis, Loveday Jenkin from the Cornish nationalist party Mebyon Kernow, the businessman Tim Martin and the Chair of the House of Commons Health Select Committee Sarah Wollaston MP.

Listeners have their say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?

Dracula travels to 1930's India in this celebrated unproduced Hammer Horror feature film script, part of the ongoing BBC Radio 4 Unmade Movies series and 2017's Fright Night. It's 1932 and Penny (Anna Madeley), a young British woman, travels secretly and alone by train through the heart of India, in search of her sister who has recently disappeared. In her first class carriage she meets Prem (Nikesh Patel) and Lakshmi (Ayesha Dharker), a brother and sister performing duo who have been hired for one night by a Maharajah. Babu (Kulvinder Ghir), who also shares the carriage, is horrified to learn that Penny is unaccompanied and insists that she stays with him and his wife near the caves she is visiting. Prem and Lakshmi are taken by chauffeur to the sinister residence of the Maharajah and his wife the Rani (Meera Syal) and asked to perform that night. The performance is not for the Maharajah though but his new guest, Count Dracula (Lewis MacLeod) . While Lakshmi, soon separated from her brother, finds herself in great danger as she begins to dance for Dracula, Penny makes her way into the hidden cavern beneath the Maharajah's Palace where she is shocked to discover Prem, desperately searching for his sister. As they descend a hidden stone staircase inhabited by poisonous snakes, they soon find themselves looking out on a huge underground chamber full of hundreds of the Rani's acolytes, all waiting for her next human sacrifice to satisfy their blood cult. Will it be Lakshmi? And has Penny's sister already met a similar fate? It's a race against time to get answers before all of them fall under the spell of the hypnotic Count.

Lola Olufemi talks about finding herself on the front page of a national newspaper as the face of a campaign to 'decolonise' the English Curriculum at Cambridge University. She is just one of many students backing the campaign and feels she has been scapegoated by the media.

Anne Marie Duff on her new role as Georgie a 42 year old woman from New Jersey who impulsively accosts Alex a solitary 75 year old butcher, a love story which incorporates the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

Yetunde, Luana and Ru, who are all 23, tell us about growing up in Islington. The borough came bottom of our research into the Best Place to be a woman.

We hear the reflections of Lord Steel of Aikwood, whose Private Members Bill led to the creation of the 1967 Abortion Act.

Emma Sewell and Harriet Wallace Jones are responsible for some of the seat fabric designs used on the tube and trains. They are celebrating 25 years together with a new exhibition. They talk about their stand out fabrics and being part of a successful partnership.

Is the Harvey Weinstein scandal changing men's attitudes towards women? Have the allegations around the powerful film producer made men reassess how they interact and even flirt with women? The columnist for The Times, David Aaronovitch, and the stand-up comedian Kae Kurd discuss.

And Dianna Gould tells us what it's like to be 105 years old and her tips for a long and healthy life.

Presented by Jenni Murray
Produce by Rabeka Nurmahomed
Edited by Jane Thurlow.

Full coverage of the day's news.

This week the programme looks at the business of agents. What exactly do they do and are they adding value to their clients' careers? Evan Davis discusses their role with three agents from the worlds of show business, football and books.

GUESTS

Professor Jonathan Shalit, Chairman, Roar Global

Anna Davis, Literary Agent. Founder and Creator of Curtis Brown Creative Writing course. Curtis Brown Group

James Featherstone, Founder and Owner, OmniSports

Producer: Julie Ball.

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The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Clive Anderson and Arthur Smith are joined by Sir David Jason, Rachel O'Riordan, Miranda Kaufmann and Nikki Amuka-Bird for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Weezer.

Producer: Sukey Firth.

Mark Coles profiles England's women's football team player - and whistleblower - Eniola Aluko.

Young Marx is the opening production at Nicholas Hytner's newest venture; the brand new Bridge Theatre in London. It stars Rory Kinnear as a youthful version of the writer of Das Kapital
Armie Hammer plays a visiting professor who is the object of a crush by a younger man in a new film Call me By Your Name.
The exhibition Age of Terror: Art since 9/11 has just opened at The Imperial War Museum in London, showing works by an international array of artists created in the wake of the events of that world-changing day
Susie Boyt's latest novel - Love and Fame - examines relations between siblings as well as a difficult marriage.
Alias Grace on Netflix is a new series dramatising Margaret Atwood's novel

Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Antonia Quirk, Ayesha Hazarika and Ryan Gilbey. the producer is Oliver Jones.

Filmmaker Mike Figgis explores the story of edited film, audio and culture, and how the simple process of cutting and splicing has changed the way people view the world.

We are living in an age of the edit.

From the jump-cuts of Eisenstein and Hitchcock, to the fractured narratives of Virginia Woolf and James Joyce, from the cut-and-paste sounds of musique concrete and hip-hop, to the sensibility of social media (to say nothing of the radio feature itself), it's the edit - the cut, the splice; montage and juxtaposition - that has ushered us into the present. To some, it's the stuff of life itself: chimps, for example, share 99% of our DNA; what matters is the sequencing, the edit.

There's a year zero to this story of the edit. From the moment we get up in the morning until we close our eyes at night, the visual reality we perceive is a continuous stream of apparently linked images. That's the way we experienced the world for millennia. Then suddenly, just over a century ago, human beings were confronted with something else: edited film.

But this isn't an exercise in cinema history. It's about our present culture. A culture in which the invisible mediating hand of the editor is ever-present. A culture of the 'creative commons' in which we can pull anything out of context and re-edit it (a gif, an internet meme, a mash-up, a parody of a political speech) and make the edit itself become an art form. Cutting, splicing, sampling -- it's all part of the way the world functions now. This is just the beginning.

With Vicki Bennett aka People Like Us, Margie Borschke, Walter Murch and Will Self.

Producer: Martin Williams.

In 1913, the Romanov dynasty celebrated three hundred years since they had claimed the Russian throne. Despite social unrest, public festivities
were enjoyed and Tsar Nikolai II believed he held the hearts of the people. But four years later, following disastrous military campaigns in the
First World War, and with a populace fired by revolutionary rhetoric, his grudging attempts to move with the times were not enough and he was
forced to abdicate. By Mike Walker.

Director Alison Hindell

For the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Radio 4's ambitious chronicle of Russian leaders reaches the present day.
Earlier series of TSAR have covered the reigns of Ivan IV (aka The Terrible), Boris Godunov, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Alexander I, and
Alexander II, the liberator of the serfs.

The final season takes in Nicholas II and the Revolution, Stalin and finally, Putin.

The dramas are produced by Alison Hindell and Sasha Yevtushenko.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.

Newly-released data obtained by the Labour MP David Lammy shows the dominance of the top two social classes at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Four-fifths of the students accepted between 2010 and 2015 were the offspring of barristers, doctors and chief executives - and the numbers are edging upwards. More offers were made to pupils in the London commuter-belt than in the whole of northern England. Most prime ministers, most judges and a large proportion of those who work in the media went to Oxbridge. It's a route to the top, but according to David Lammy it represents and perpetuates a ruling elite which is "fatally out of touch with the people it purports to serve." Some argue that the admissions bar should be lowered for socially-disadvantaged candidates - that a 'B' from a struggling comprehensive is worth an 'A' from Eton. Some of the top US colleges give weight to an applicant's class to ensure that talented students who have succeeded against the odds are recognised. Others argue that admissions should be based on academic considerations alone, and that the greatest barrier to disadvantaged students is not the entrance criteria of elite universities but the schools that have let them down. For many, social mobility is an intrinsic moral good; they want everyone to achieve their potential regardless of their postcode and they think universities should work towards that. It is, they say, part of their job. Others say their job is simply to be academically outstanding, and if universities mirror social and racial inequalities, that's just a symptom of a bigger problem. Witnesses are Dr Wanda Wyporska, Raph Mokades, Prof Tim Blackman and Prof Geoffrey Alderman.

Producer: Dan Tierney.

With more than the average quota of quotes, the quotations programme 'Quote ... Unquote' continues. Nigel Rees welcomes back the Author, Simon Brett, the Broadcaster Vanessa Feltz, Columnist, Michele Hanson and Poet and Writer Henry Normal.

For over forty years, Nigel Rees has been joined by writers, actors, musicians, scientists and various comedy types. Kenneth Williams, Judi Dench, PD James, Larry Adler, Ian KcKellen, Peter Cook, Kingsley Amis, Peter Ustinov... have all graced the Quote ... Unquote stage.

Join Nigel as he quizzes a host of guests on the origins of sayings and well-known quotes, and gets the panel to share their favourite anecdotes.

Episode 4 Guests:

Detective Fiction Author Simon Brett
Guardian Columnist Michele Hanson
Broadcaster Vanessa Feltz
Poet and writer Henry Normal

Presenter ... Nigel Rees
Reader ... Charlotte Green
Producer ... Katie Tyrrell
Production co-ordinator ... Beverly Tagg

This is a BBC Studios Production.

Anna Scott-Brown hears more stories from the people who stop to sit beside her on benches around the country.

In this edition, she sits on a bench in Inverleith Park in Edinburgh. Throughout the programme, a specially commissioned work by the Edinburgh-based poet Janette Ayachi draws on the voices of those passing their time in the park.

From the bench there is a panoramic view of both the medieval Old Town and the Georgian New Town. The layering of this strangely three dimensional city of roads and bridges, arches and spires is echoed in the layering of story. A schoolgirl practices her reading, while a man always ready to use his fists regrets a life dominated by drugs. Refugees from Syria are finding their feet as they learn to master the language, while one man connects to his homeland in Africa through song. A local churchman talks of pilgrimage and a museum curator of holding the past - present and future together - as one woman speaks of her fear of aging.

Hidden lives are revealed and common threads recur as Anna's gentle but insistent and sometimes extremely direct questions elicit poignant and profound responses from those sitting on the bench.

An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

An original short story for Radio 4 from the writer/performer Eva O'Connor. Eva's one woman show 'My Name is Saoirse' won the First Fortnight Award at the Dublin Fringe 2014 and the Argus Angel at the Brighton Fringe 2015. Eva's recent play 'Overshadowed', about a young girl's struggle with anorexia, won the 2015 Fishamble New Writing Award and has recently been adapted into a 8 x 10′ series for BBC3.

Writer ..... Eva O'Connor
Reader ..... Eva O'Connor
Producer ..... Michael Shannon.

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This week's Bells on Sunday, comes from All Saints Church in Marsworth, Buckinghamshire. There have been five bells at the Church since 1662. Four of the present ring date between 1662 and 1702. In 1995 the five old bells were retuned and a new treble cast by Taylors of Loughborough. All six now hang in a new - and locally constructed steel frame. We hear them ringing 'All Saints Place Doubles'.

The latest national and international news.

The poet Michael Symmons Roberts takes us on a journey to reveal our complex relationship with the car and how it means much more to us than simply getting from A to B.

"Cars have only been around for a century," he reminds us, "but in that short span of time they have not just become ubiquitous in our towns and cities, but a permanent fixture in our cultural and metaphorical landscape. Why has the car grown into such a potent symbol, and what does it point to in ourselves and in the world?"

In a search that includes fast cars, car crashes, sat navs and the car wash, Michael reveals that our vehicles have even entered our spiritual psyche - something he doesn't find that surprising. He explains, "It doesn't seem odd to me to find cars cropping up in mystical or religious stories or imaginings. There's something about the combination of the car as a sealed-off private space, like a monastic cell, and as a way of crossing great distances that lends itself to that treatment."

Illustrating his journey with the poetry of Colette Bryce, Les Murray and Seamus Heaney, along with the music of Schubert, Janis Joplin and Tracey Chapman, Michael celebrates the mystery and meditative quality of driving and wonders, with the help of playwright and screenwriter David Mamet, whether the second coming itself might be by means of a mid-sized sedan.

Presenter: Michael Symmons Roberts
Producer: Michael Wakelin
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4.

Thanks to the recent resurgence in craft beers, there's been renewed interest in British hops over the past decade - not only from brewers in the UK, but internationally as well.
This is welcome news for farmers such as Ali Capper, who grows hops and apples at Stocks Farm on the Herefordshire/Worcestershire border.
Charlotte Smith heads to the farm during harvest, when Ali and her pickers are battling the wet weather to gather the hops at just the right time - and finds out that despite the strengthening market, pressures including disease, competition and concerns over post-Brexit access to seasonal foreign labour are ensuring that Britain's hop farmers still have plenty on their plates.
Charlotte also speaks to Ben Adams from the hop merchant Charles Faram, to find out exactly what today's buyers are looking for from their hops; why the beer sector is seeing such growth; and whether you really can identify 'terroir' in beer as in wine...
There's also a chance to sample the end product: Stocks Farm is the only farm in Britain with a brewery on site. The Unity Brew House, run by Sarah Saleh, has been developing craft beers with local hops for just over a year, and the team are already earning accolades for their quirky British brews.
Presenter by Charlotte Smith; produced by Lucy Taylor.

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The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia said this week that he wants to return the country to 'moderate Islam'. Gulf analyst Bill Law tells Emily why he believes the Prince is pursuing this policy.

On Tuesday a service will be held to mark the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation in Europe. The Archbishop of Canterbury will present a text supporting an agreement to resolve the theological dispute that divided the churches. Professor Eamon Duffy and Rev Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch will debate if the divisions have been healed.

Martin Bashir meets one of the world's leading geneticists who says advances in foetal testing may lead to increased screening for minor abnormalities and non-medical traits - in addition to conditions like Down's Syndrome.

The Chief Rabbi has called on Jews around the country to celebrate an authentic Shabbat for ShabbatUK. Trevor Barnes talks to the Chief Rabbi and meets a family who are trying to manage without breaking the rules.

Sexual harassment allegations against the film producer Harvey Weinstein have led to a public discussion about how institutions and organisations deal with these serious issues. This week some women in the Church of England have written about their experiences. Emily speaks to The Rev Charlotte Bannister-Parker who says it can be difficult for women to speak out while the Revd Canon Dr Emma Percy says the Church has clear guidelines on dealing with serious complaints.

For the last ten years photographer Matt Writtle has been documenting how people spend their Sunday. With fewer people attending church he set out to discover what they are doing on the traditional day of rest.

Producers:
David Cook
Louise Clarke-Rowbotham

Series Producer:
Amanda Hancox

Photo: Matt Writtle.

Nicholas Farrell makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Myotubular Trust.

Registered Charity Number: 1137177
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That's the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope 'Myotubular Trust'.
- Cheques should be made payable to 'Myotubular Trust'.

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The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

Bishop Nick Baines in Wittenberg marks the 500th anniversary of the start of the Reformation.

On October 31st 1517 Martin Luther is said to have posted his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. It was the spark that lit the Reformation and
led to the transformation of Europe. It led to revolutions in theology, politics, education, language and music. It also led to bitter divisions in church and society and
to wounds which have yet to heal.
The Bishop of Leeds, Nick Baines, leads this act of worship from Wittenberg. He is joined by the well known German actor and singer Julian Sengelmann who is
seeking to engage young people in discussion about what Reformation might mean today. The leaders of both the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches offer
their perspectives and the sermon is preached by former Lutheran Bishop and Reformation Ambassador, Margot Kaessman. Music includes Luther's plaintiff setting of Psalm 130, Out of the depths I cry to thee O Lord and his most famous and confident hymn Ein fest Burg ist unser Gott. (A Mighty Stronghold is Our God.)

Producer: Rosie Dawson.

Will Self on why he loves space....

From childhood dreams of being "strapped into the command module of a Saturn 5 rocket about to blast off from Cape Kennedy" to contemplating 1000-million-star mega-clusters in the sky today, Will describes why space is - for him - "both sublime and restful".

Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Actor and keen birdwatcher Samuel West on hearing first the call of a dipper above the water of a fast flowing river.

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer: Tom Bonnett
Photo: Keith Docherty.

Sunday morning magazine programme with news and conversation about the big stories of the week. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.

Matt makes a new enemy, and Shula struggles to remain calm.

Kay Mellor, OBE, is an English screenwriter and director best known for TV drama series including Band of Gold, Playing the Field, Fat Friends and The Syndicate. She has won a Bafta award, along with numerous nominations, and she received a Royal Television Society Fellowship in 2016. She has also worked as an actress, and has written for the stage.

Kay was born in Leeds and has lived there all her life. It's also the home of her production company. Her highly successful career now seems worlds away from her early life, when she became pregnant and got married at the age of 16, curtailing her dreams of going to drama school. Later, whilst enjoying motherhood, she decided to return to education, studying for a degree in drama at Bretton Hall College.

Upon graduation, she worked in theatre, then at Granada TV as a scriptwriter on Coronation Street before embarking on her own prolific writing career for TV and theatre.

She celebrates her Golden Wedding anniversary later this year.

Presenter: Kirsty Young
Producer: Sarah Taylor.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.

Lloyd Langford, Henning When, Ellie Taylor and John Finnemore are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as boxing, snails, bras and parents.

Produced by Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.

Following years of reporting on UK chicken scandals, Dan Saladino looks at investigations now underway by The Food Standards Agency and MPs into practices at supplier 2 Sisters.

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Global news and analysis.

A monthly series in which broadcaster and acclaimed historical novelist Sarah Dunant delves into the past to help frame the present, bringing to life worlds that span the centuries. Taking modern day anxieties as its starting point, the programme considers how certain questions are constant, yet also change their shape over time.

This month, Sarah delves into history to find some answers to the age old question of old age. At a time when lengthening life-expectancy brings increasing pressure on our modern society and the older generation searches for a place within it, she looks at the different responses down the years to this most human of constants.

From the elder statesman of Republican Rome still striving for relevance to the story of how the discovery of Alzheimer's transformed modern America's attitude to growing old, When Greeks Flew Kites takes an honest look at the history of old age and some of the surprising lessons it can teach us today.

The guests are Professor Lyndal Roper from Oxford University, Professor Susannah Ottaway from Carleton College, Professor Jesse Ballenger from Drexel University, and Professor Mary Harlow from the University of Leicester.

Presenter: Sarah Dunant
Producers: Katherine Godfrey and Nathan Gower
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

Eric Robson and the panel pay a visit to Exeter. Bob Flowerdew, James Wong and Anne Swithinbank answer the audience's horticultural questions.

Produced by Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Laurence Bassett

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

Fi Glover introduces conversations between parents and children, and between children, covering a broad range of topics, providing some surprising insights. All in the Omnibus edition of 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.

In 1917, the Romanov dynasty came to an end and the Soviet era began. Lenin's first priority on returning from exile and joining the provisional
government was to get Russia out of the First World War, but not all of his fellow- revolutionaries agreed. And as the Duma wavered, the
Bolsheviks seized their opportunity for complete power.
By Mike Walker

Director Alison Hindell

For the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Radio 4's ambitious chronicle of Russian leaders reaches the present day.
Earlier series of TSAR have covered the reigns of Ivan IV (aka The Terrible), Boris Godunov, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Alexander I and
Alexander II, the liberator of the serfs.

The final season takes in Nicholas II and the Revolution, Stalin and finally, Putin.

The dramas are produced by Alison Hindell and Sasha Yevtushenko.

Graeme Macrae Burnet joins Alex Clark to discuss his novel The Accident on the A35, a new literary crime thriller. He describes the book as 'a fiction within a fiction', claiming to be not the author but the translator.

Also on the programme, the life and work of South African writer Olive Schreiner, literary news from Chile and Lucy Hughes-Hallett, one of this year's judges, discusses the Sunday Times/PFD Young Writer Award of the Year Award.

Anna Scott-Brown hears more stories from the people who stop to sit beside her on benches around the country.

In this edition, she sits on a bench in London's Chinatown. Throughout the programme a specially commissioned work by the poet Sarah Howe draws on the voices of those passing by - and sometimes pausing on - the bench outside a bubble tea shop in Gerrard Street.

These hidden stories are glimpsed through snatched moments and the painful and beautiful stories people tell Anna in this busy urban setting - the life on hold of an illegal immigrant, the gambler who has lost everything and found God but who is still fighting his addiction, the woman whose father committed suicide after the handover of Hong Kong to China, the political exile turned lawyer, the successful businessman, the artist and the chef.

Throughout it all, the importance of food and family emerges as people speak of where they find their roots - in Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, London's Chinatown itself - and compare the experiences of being a migrant to Britain with a British-born Chinese.

Hidden lives are revealed and common threads recur as Anna's gentle but insistent questions elicit poignant and profound responses from those sitting on the bench.

Producer Adam Fowler
An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4.

Drug dealers from big cities are exploiting thousands of teenagers to traffic Class A drugs to smaller rural towns in what's known as County Lines.

Children - some as young as 9 -are being used as runners to move drugs and cash from cities like London and Manchester hundreds of miles away to other areas of the UK.

It's a massive problem which until recently was being ignored.

File on 4 hears from some of the exploited young people who spent their teens travelling around the UK for months at a time living in drugs dens selling heroin and
crack cocaine.

They do this by taking over the homes of vulnerable people - drug users or the elderly - to sell drugs from and then refuse to leave -a practice called 'cuckooing' which can have tragic consequences.

These trafficked children often find themselves trapped by the gangs unable to escape because of the threat of violence or in order to pay back debts.

Are the authorities are doing enough to protect children from being exploited in this way? Or are they being let down by being viewed as criminals themselves rather
than the victims of organised crime?

Reporter: Simon Cox
Producer: Emma Forde
Editor: Gail Champion.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest weather forecast.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Can you remember the highlight of the last dinner party you went to? Was it all about the food and drink, or like BBC journalist and presenter Anna Foster do you revel in the heat and light of the conversation?

Pick of the Week is serving up all of those topics that we're warned to avoid in polite company. On the menu, politics, religion, sex, death... and Spam. Nothing's off the table as we sample the atmosphere of deep space, journey into the bowels of Parliament and digest the afterlife.

Presenter: Anna Foster
Producer: Stephen Garner
Production Support: Tim Fernley.

Matt plots his escape, and Justin is on the warpath.

Fearless adventurer Tony Law leads an intrepid team attempting to recover the Lost Girdle of the Amazons.

Tony Law is a celebrity explorer, in the mould of Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Several years ago, he wrote a book about his adventures which, combined with the proceeds from a handful of specially funded expeditions, has bankrolled his operation ever since. He's a big fan of razzle-dazzle and derring do, a man who wants to be perceived as a hero.

As a young man, Tony discovered the stories surrounding his great-grandfather, Anton Lawless, and his grandfather, Antonio Lawless. The Lawless family were renowned explorers, but Tony's accountant father was ashamed of the family's unorthodox past, changed the family name to Law (no-one wants an accountant called Lawless), moved to Canada and hid the family history from the young Tony.

Tony's discovery of his grandfather's past gave his life a sudden purpose and spurred him on to follow in Anton and Antonio's footsteps. and, if possible, outdo them. Tony both stars in and narrates the show, in which he is joined by a set of adventurers he has employed to help him on his various quests.

The team comprises Martha (Adjoa Andoh), a survival expert; Janet (Nina Wadia), the 40-something Botanist who's just got out of an awful marriage and finally decided to put her Open University Floral Biology degree to good use; Alan (John-Luke Roberts), the group's transport officer and an old-fashioned right-winger who is delighted to have a shot at (what he sees as) rebuilding the British Empire.

New sitcom written by Gareth Gwynn and John-Luke Roberts. Produced by Lyndsay Fenner.

The story of a disappearance - told backwards.

Joe Dempsie reads the sixth story in a gripping new series by the award-winning writer, John McGregor.

Thirteen-year-old Becky Shaw has gone missing on a return holiday to a Peak District village. Her shocking disappearance now sparks the memories of a local teenage boy, who is taken back to an unsettling day with her the previous summer...

The fifteen stories of The Reservoir Tapes each stand alone but together build a compelling portrait of a community rocked by tragedy, as they explore events that precede and follow the disappearance the teenage girl. A prequel to Jon McGregor's critically acclaimed Man Booker long-listed novel Reservoir 13, these stories and their different perspectives offer tantalizing glimpses as to might have happened to Becky.

Writer: Jon McGregor is an acclaimed British novelist who has been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize three times. His third novel, Even the Dogs, won the International Dublin Literary Award.
Reader: Joe Dempsie is a British actor known for his roles in Skins and Game of Thrones.
Producer: Justine Willett.

Roger Bolton with listener views on BBC radio.

The World at One has courted controversy by dedicating a whole show to the topic of abortion, marking 50 years since the passage of the 1967 Abortion Act. Some listeners found the coverage upsetting, while others were annoyed that one subject had been allowed to take over what they see as, first and foremost, a news programme. But some listeners say they found the focus both timely and touching. Roger hears views from all sides.

Neil MacGregor has a new 30-part series, Living with the Gods, following in the footsteps of his enormously popular previous programmes examining historical objects. But does the BBC spend too much time on religion? And is radio the right medium for a programme about objects you can't see? Neil addresses these questions and talks about his aims for the series.

Last week, Radio 4 Commissioning Editor for Drama Jeremy Howe appeared on Feedback answering concerns over his decision to air unsettling horror The Omen as the Book at Bedtime. This week, listeners give their verdict on both The Omen and the book which came next, Philip Pullman's La Belle Sauvage.

Finally, Feedback has been inviting listeners to share stories of how radio has changed their lives. This week, listener Lou Moore describes how a chance radio encounter with Desert Island Discs became a turning point in her life and career.

Producer: Nicola Kelly
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

Matthew Bannister on

The campaigning Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia who was killed by a car bomb after exposing corruption in politics and business.

Fats Domino - the rock and roll pioneer who was second only to Elvis in record sales.

Rodney Bickerstaffe, the trade union leader who campaigned for the minimum wage.

Geoffrey Schild, the virologist who laid the foundations for the creation of a universal flu vaccine.

And Rosemary Leach, the actress best known for roles in Jewel In The Crown on TV, A Room With A View on film and 84 Charing Cross Road on stage.

What does the dangerous state of the Houses of Parliament tell us about our politics? There are increasing fears of a catastrophic fire, asbestos leak or major systems failure in the famed buildings. But after years of warnings, MPs and Lords are still struggling to decide what to do. Some say Parliament must remain active in the buildings while urgent work is done. Others say they must be vacated for renovation - and that this is an opportunity for a complete rethink of how our parliamentary democracy functions.

Chris Bowlby visits the buildings' secret and hazardous corners and talks to key figures in the debate, discovering a story of costly but revealing political paralysis

Producer: Chris Bowlby
Editor: Hugh Levinson.

Weekly political discussion and analysis with MPs, experts and commentators.

Radiolab examines the chemical consequences of belief and imagination. With Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich.

Radiolab is a Peabody-award winning show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and the human experience.

First broadcast on public radio in the USA.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

Palliative medicine and care: Laurie Taylor talks to David Clarke, Professor of Medical Sociology at the University of Glasgow, about his social history of 'easeful death'. Also, daily life in an English Hospice. Danny Miller, Professor of Anthropology at UCL, explores kinship, loneliness and community amongst people suffering from terminal or long term illness.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Dr Elaine Storkey, a philosopher, sociologist, and theologian.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

The latest weather forecast for farmers.

On the eve of Halloween, the silence of a graveyard is broken by the raucous calls of an inky black Crow "Throwing her voice as if coughing up a bone" says Paul Evans in the first of four specially commissioned Halloween tales.

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Derek Wood.

News and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

Amol Rajan discusses the uneasy interaction between the animal kingdom and humans. The anthropologist Alice Roberts looks back to the moment hunter-gatherers changed their relationship with other species and began to tame them, paving the way for our civilisation. Gaia Vince visits the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica where local people have found a way to both exploit and protect a natural resource, the olive ridley sea turtle. Re-introducing native species can be fraught with difficulties: John Ewen was part of the team who successfully re-introduced the hihi bird to New Zealand, but can lessons learnt with songbirds help with schemes to bring back wolves, lynx and beavers? And resurrection science may be the stuff of films like Jurassic Park, but it is also an exciting - and potentially dangerous - new field of study. Britt Wray offers a warning about the risks of de-extinction.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

Neil MacGregor's series on the role and expression of beliefs continues with a reflection on our relationship with the dead.

In the British Museum, he focuses on mummy bundles from Peru, skeletons wrapped in textiles made of llama wool or cotton. For the living, these were ancestors with great wisdom and knowledge of the world, who could be called upon to help key decision-makers.

He also examines two Chinese 'ancestor portraits', and discovers how and why they were venerated by surviving family members.

Producer Paul Kobrak

The series is produced in partnership with the British Museum, with the assistance of Dr Christopher Harding, University of Edinburgh.
Photograph (c) The Trustees of the British Museum.

Four years ago Romanian photographer Mihaela Noroc resigned from her day job to go travelling. She took a camera and as she went from country to country, she started to photograph the women that she met, whatever they were doing. She realised that they all shared a natural attractiveness. She's compiled all the images in an 'Atlas of Beauty.' Jane talks to her about the project and her portraits of women.

Tomorrow families across the UK will march for better protections and support for working mothers. The demonstrations will take place in London, Manchester, Belfast, Cardiff, Newcastle and Glasgow. Joeli Brearley experienced discrimination when she was pregnant and set up the website Pregnant Then Screwed. She's organised the march and joins Jane to outline the demands they are presenting to MPs.

Many of you have been in touch about your sexual issues. So, all this week our reporter Abby Hollick will be talking to women about a wide range of the most common problems raised - today sex in long term relationships. Later in the week we'll cover mismatched libido and the impact having children can have on our sex life.

And, Una Marson is seen as the earliest first female poet of significance to emerge in West Indies literature. Her biographer, Dr Delia Jarrett-Macauley joins Jane to explain why Marson's work was considered ahead of her time and, politicised by her arrival in the UK, trailblazing in the ways we now address race politics, gender, Black identity and Black beauty standards.

Presenter; Jane Garvey
Producer; Beverley Purcell.

By A J Cronin. Dramatised by Christopher Reason
Episode 1
Andrew Manson, a newly trained doctor arrives in Drineffy, a South Wales mining town. He is to be an assistant to the elderly Dr Page. Manson
is idealistic and full of enthusiasm but this is soon tempered by reality when he meets the cynical Dr Denny another doctor in the town.
Set in the mid 1920s and based on A J Cronin's ground breaking novel, which partly inspired Nye Bevan to create the NHS.

Director - Gary Brown
Producers Gary Brown and Pauline Harris.

Most men will experience erection problems at some stage in their life but few will seek help because of shame and embarrassment. In this documentary, men speak openly to psychologist Dr Petra Boynton about their erection difficulties and how it's affected them and their relationships.

"You don't feel like a man. You can really kick yourself in the teeth. You can feel suicidal. You can feel the dark depressions of the ends of the earth. It's a terrible thing for a bloke."

Some men interviewed in the programme have erection problems because of surgery. Knowing the cause helped them find the right treatment but it didn't make erectile dysfunction any easier to accept. We speak to them, with their partners, about how they've come to terms with the changes and how, in some cases, managed to maintain a physical and intimate relationship.

For most men, the origin of erectile dysfunction is psychological with performance anxiety the main cause. A lack of sex education and an unrealistic expectation can add to the pressure men feel. We hear from one man who believes pornography and childhood trauma affected his ability to perform and another who used drink as a cover for his erection problems.

Erectile dysfunction can be an indicator of other health problems like heart disease or diabetes so it is important to seek help if the problem is long lasting.

But men still find it hard to talk.

In this frank and honest half-hour documentary, men do talk and share what erectile dysfunction is like, perhaps encouraging other men to do the same.

Producer: Henrietta Harrison
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.

Susan Calman is the least relaxed person she knows. She has no down time, no hobbies (unless you count dressing up your cats in silly outfits) and her idea of relaxation is to play Grand Theft Auto, an hour into which she is in a murderous rage with sky high blood pressure. Her wife had to threaten to divorce her to make her go on holiday last year. Her first for four years. But she's been told by the same long-suffering wife, that unless she finds a way to switch off, and soon, she's going to be unbearable.

So Susan is going to look at her options and try to immerse herself in the pursuits that her friends find relaxing, to find her inner zen and outer tranquillity. Each week she will ditch the old Susan Calman and attempt to find the new Susan Calm, in a typically British leisure pursuit; this week she visits the Scottish National Portrait Gallery with Phill Jupitus, and in other episodes goes hillwalking with Muriel Gray, watches a cricket match with Andy Zaltzman and takes a spontaneous holiday with John Finnemore.

Keep Calman Carry On is an audience stand up show in which Susan reports on how successful she's been - both at relaxing and at the pursuit itself - as well as playing in and discussing a handful of illustrative clips from her efforts. It's an attempt to find out how people find solace or sanctuary in these worlds and how Susan can negotiate her own place in them.

Produced by Lyndsay Fenner.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Wine has been made by most civilisations throughout history, and in every part of the world. It has inspired artists, thinkers, writers, theologians and poets through the ages, and is deeply connected with the story of recorded human history. In this series, five wine critics offer personal reflections on the personal, political, and historical stories of bygone bottles.

In the first episode, wine critic Jancis Robinson profiles Chateau Pavie 2003. Through this bottle, she tells the story of critic Robert Parker who set out to democratise wine criticism but ended up creating a new elitism based solely on his own palate. Parker shot to fame with his unalloyed approval of this vintage using his unique 100 point system, and his power grew rapidly during the 1980s as producers, importers and collectors all began to take note of his marks and opinions.

Soon the whole professional world of wine was desperate to know what he thought. His views could make or break reputations and wines were increasingly made to please him alone. Over time Parker became the only palate the producers at the top end were desperate to please, as every point of approval on his scale represented the difference of millions of dollars.

Jancis speaks to various critics, wine makers, and vineyard owners and hears how Parker fundamentally changed the way wine is made - riper, fleshier, richer - and also imposed a sense of certainty where none had existed before.

An SPG production for BBC Radio 4.

News and discussion of consumer affairs.

The latest weather forecast.

Analysis of news and current affairs.

Born in 1905 among a new and brilliant generation of writers, Anthony Powell was the literary genius who gave us A Dance to the Music of Time, an undisputed classic of English literature. Anthony Powell wrote his spectacular 12 volume sequence over a 25 year period. This comic masterpiece teems with idiosyncratic characters, capturing 20th century Britain through war and peace.

In this portrait of a literary master from one of our generation's greatest biographers, Hilary Spurling draws on Powell's letters and journals, and the memories of those who knew him.

Investigating the friends, relations, lovers, acquaintances, fools and geniuses who surrounded him, she reveals the comical and tragic events that inspired one of the greatest fictions of the age.

Written by Hilary Spurling
Abridged by Sara Davies
Read by Hattie Morahan
Directed by Lizzie Davies
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.

By Sebastian Baczkiewicz.

1 of 4

Pilgrim is called upon to help an old friend who is possessed by a deadly forest spirit . The first of four new dark fantasy adventures featuring the immortal William Palmer.

CAST
William Palmer ..... Paul Hilton
Tadek ..... Karl Johnson
Cecilia ..... Faye Castelow
Ewa ..... Susan Engel
Macadam ..... Dudley Sutton
Cripps ..... John Rowe
Henselow ..... Adam Billington
Grainger ..... Rikki Lawton

Directed by Marc Beeby

This is the third series of enormously popular adventures to feature cult hero William Palmer - the Pilgrim of the title.

In 1185, William Palmer was making pilgrimage to Canterbury. Unbeknownst to him his fellow pilgrim was the King of the Greyfolk. When William claimed that the Church would wipe out the belief in the Faerie world, he was cursed by the Faerie King and condemned forever to the walk between our world and theirs.

The plays in PILGRIM are thrilling, dark and contemporary. They're set in a very recognisable, very real present, but a present haunted by the folktales of these islands: forest spirits, changeling children, Merlin...

The popular perennial quotations programme 'Quote ... Unquote' continues a new series.

The quotations programme 'Quote ... Unquote' continues its new series. Nigel Rees welcomes back and quizzes Actor and Writer Joanna Scanlon, Gadget Guru Olly Mann, Playwright Julian Mitchell and Stand Up Poet Kate Fox.

For over forty years, Nigel Rees has been joined by writers, actors, musicians, scientists and various comedy types. Kenneth Williams, Judi Dench, PD James, Larry Adler, Ian KcKellen, Peter Cook, Kingsley Amis, Peter Ustinov... have all graced the Quote ... Unquote stage.

Join Nigel as he quizzes a host of guests on the origins of sayings and well-known quotes, and gets the panel to share their favourite anecdotes.

Episode 5 Guests:

Playwright and Screenwriter Julian Mitchell
Award Winning Podcaster and Gadget Guru Olly Mann
Actor and Writer Joanna Scanlan
Stand Up Poet Kate Fox

Presenter ... Nigel Rees
Reader ... Charlotte Green
Producer ... Katie Tyrrell
Production co-ordinator ... Beverly Tagg

This is a BBC Studios Production.

The Thornton Housing Estate is five minutes walk from Hull City Centre, but is isolated both physically - by the arterial roads around it - and socially, thanks to a long-standing reputation for anti-social behaviour. It's a reputation the residents feel is unjustified, and as part of the City Of Culture they have sent out a message to the rest of the city in the form of a lighting installation called 'I Wish To Communicate With You'. Modelled on maritime flags used by local mariners for centuries, the project has seen the white lights in the walkways and public areas of the tower blocks transformed into various colours through the use of simple plastic filters - but that simplicity belies the impressive overall impact of the hundreds of lights seen together. Kofi Smiles, the BBC's face of Hull 2017, follows the fortunes of the project from January through to the Autumn, and watches as it spreads into other locations across the city. He hears from residents about the impact of the project and the extent to which is has made them feel - unexpectedly - like a vital part of the year long artistic celebrations.

Presenter: Kofi Smiles
Producer: Geoff Bird

Photo Credit: (c) Sean Spencer.

For many of us the modern world is thankfully one of abundance, where we can indulge ourselves at every turn. But why is it so difficult to say when we've had enough; of foods we know aren't good for us, of TV programmes that play the next episode automatically, of the fleeting social connections we get through online platforms?

As advanced as our technological world has become our brains haven't evolved much since we lived on the African Savannah. And all the things that we sought out to survive there remain hardwired into us today. And its the consequences of that Aleks will explore.

Some of the tricks nature plays on us go even further back in evolution. Take the humble if duplicitous Cuckoo, laying eggs in another birds nest. When hatched the cuckoo chicks mouth is that bit wider, that bit redder than those its sharing the nest with (should any other chicks have survived). The result is the deceived parents will feed it preferentially as the best bet for survival. That extra redness and wider gape is an example of a phenomena in animal behaviour called super normal stimuli. We encounter something we like but with its attributes boosted and we go mad for it, there numerous examples across the animal kingdom.

The difference with humans is we've learnt to super-normally stimulate ourselves; with foods with more sugar and fat than occur in nature, with images of the opposite sex carefully manipulated to make them even more arousing. We've mastered how to push our buttons and we do it, or have it done to us repeatedly.

Aleks sees how this plays out across a range of experiences from the playing of slot machines to competitive eating, to learn the tricks being played on us and how we might outsmart the tricksters.

Producer: Peter McManus.

Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.

Mark Steel, Holly Walsh, Tony Hawks and Fred Macaulay are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as twins, Sean Connery, golf and photography.

Produced by Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.

The residents of Ambridge receive shocking news, and Noluthando makes a friend.

Arts news, interviews and reviews.

The meek may well inherit the earth, but right now that looks like it will be a long time coming. As things stand, it is those brash blusterers who strut and swagger their way around the political, social and business stages who seem to be in the ascendancy.
In this new three part series, Laura Barton sets out to examine the increasingly important part confidence appears to play in modern life, at the point when so many of us are beset by problems surrounding our own self-confidence. She speaks with the likes of Stuart Maconie, who argues that, "We've become obsessed with confidence and self-assertion.... it seems to be a new strain in our thinking. Isn't quiet modest competence a better thing?"
Over the course of the series Laura examines the key role of our background and education in determining our levels of confidence, teasing out the intricate interplay between aspects including class, gender, psychology and even architecture.
She hears how our inclination to follow those who seem most confident can lead us into dark waters, and looks at the complicated connections between confidence and creativity.
Laura also explores her own vexed relationship with this commodity that has so often proved elusive in her own life, seeking out an alternative to the brazen, pushy version of confidence that is currently so dominant.
In this first episode, Laura speaks with the likes of Marina Hyde, Susan Cain, Katty Kay and high-wire walker Chris Bullzini to look at how we have come to be so in thrall to confidence and those most assured of their own opinions. She heads into the workplace to look at the ways the loudest and the cockiest most often rule the roost, and attempts being made to give more space and weight to the voices of those given to quiet reflection in order to maximise their potential contribution.
Laura also hears from entrepreneur Luke Johnson who argues that we should embrace confidence as "an essential element of any free-market system," without which we would "probably still be living in caves."
Presenter: Laura Barton
Producer: Geoff Bird.

Edward Stourton asks how the European Union might change after Britain leaves. "The wind is back in Europe's sails", according to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. In September, in his annual address to the European Parliament, he set out a bold dream for the future. Soon afterwards it was echoed by another, this time from French President Emmanuel Macron who declared that "the only path that assures our future is the rebuilding of a Europe that is sovereign, united and democratic". Amongst the proposals that the two leaders put forward were a European budget run by a European finance minister, an enlargement of the Schengen passport-free travel zone, and much closer collaboration on tax, defence, and a host of other issues.

But at present, the European project faces huge challenges. Britain is about to leave the EU, whilst Catalonia's bid for independence is causing turmoil in Spain. In the face of such developments, how realistic are the grand visions that Europe's leaders have for the future of the continent?

Producer: Neil Koenig.

Brett Westwood meets a rhinoceros nose to nose and is blown away - by the sense of wonder engendered by this prehistoric-looking yet gentle and water-loving animal. Rhinos are now being wiped out at a frightening rate but when they first arrived in Europe they were hailed as the unicorn made manifest. With the help of zoologist Mark Carwardine, author of The Pope's Rhinoceros Lawrence Norfolk, rhino historian Kelly Enright and poet Kate Sutherland Brett traces the strange history of the relationship between rhinoceros and man.
With readings by Lia Williams of extracts from Rhinoceros Odyssey from How to Draw A Rhinoceros by Kate Sutherland, and Rhinoceros by Adrian Stoutenburg.

Producer Beth O'Dea.

In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

The Book of Dust, Part One: La Belle Sauvage

Twenty two years after the publication of Philip Pullman's NORTHERN LIGHTS, the author returns to the world of HIS DARK MATERIALS with a brand new trilogy.

LA BELLE SAUVAGE, read by Simon Russell Beale, is the first volume of THE BOOK OF DUST. Set ten years before the events of HIS DARK MATERIALS, this novel explores the origins of that story.

We open in Oxford, at The Trout Inn, with a pot boy named Malcolm Polstead, and the whisper of a mysterious baby girl, hidden at the local convent, in the care of the nuns...

From The Red Lion to the Bucket of Blood, how did your local get its name? Michael Rosen asks Word of Mouth's resident linguist Dr Laura Wright about her research into pub names. And guest Eddie Gershon explains how the JD Wetherspoon pub chain goes about naming new pubs.

Produced by Mair Bosworth.

Susan Hulme reports from Westminster.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Dr Elaine Storkey, a philosopher, sociologist, and theologian.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

It's Halloween and Tweet of the Day has descended into the darkness - artist Jeremy Deller describes the stench and force of a flight of Mexican free-tailed bats streaming out of a Texan cave.

Producer: Eliza Lomas
Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters.

News and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

As a young man Adrian Thomas took to the skies in order to better understand the mechanics of flight. He's a paragliding champion and a Professor of Zoology who specialises in the dynamics of insect flight. On a typical day, he can be found inside a wind tunnel that's been custom-made to study insects instead of jumbo jets. Using lines of smoke and high speed video cameras, he measures exactly how different insects flap their wings. When he's not writing academic papers, he's inventing clever machines based on his insights into how nature achieves certain results. His latest project is a drone that's inspired by a dragonfly. This nimble robot can accelerate rapidly in any direction and, having flexible wings rather than rotary blades, it glides when the battery dies rather than dropping dangerously to the ground. He's also working on a wheelchair modelled on a spider and a boat with a fin rather than a propeller.
Producer: Anna Buckley.

Broadcaster Peter Curran talks to guests about the Northern Ireland they left behind - they grew up there but then came over to mainland UK. With them he explores how they perceive the people and the politics, now that they don't live there, and how their childhood affected their own world view.

Neil MacGregor continues his series on the expression of shared beliefs in communities around the world and across time.

He focuses on how societies and communities seek to protect the newly-born and their mothers, including the role of St Margaret of Antioch, patron saint of childbirth, and the use of protective omamori in Japan.

Producer Paul Kobrak

Produced in partnership with the British Museum
Photograph (c) The Trustees of the British Museum.

Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

By A J Cronin. Dramatised by Christopher Reason.
Episode 2
Manson and Denny deal with an outbreak of typhoid in the town. Denny is convinced he knows the cause of it and is determined to do something about it.

Director - Gary Brown
Producers - Pauline Harris and Gary Brown.

Beavers are back in the UK, hundreds of years since they last lived among us. Brett Westwood asks if we can recover our cultural links with these architectural animals, as well as remember how to live with the changes they bring to the landscape. Nature writer Jim Crumley talks about their green engineering skills and writer Rachel Poliquin brings the Canadian perspective on what she calls the four great human romances with the beaver: with its castoreum, its musk, its architectural skills and its ecological abilities. With readings by Lia Williams of extracts from Castorologia and Winter by Geoffrey Ursell, and The Beaver by Vernon Watkins.
Producer Beth O'Dea.

"3 May. Bistritz. Left Munich at 8:35 P. M, on 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late."

The first line of Bram Stoker's Dracula makes it clear what the novel will be about: trains. As the book begins, the English solicitor Jonathan Harker is travelling across Europe by train, en route to meet his mysterious new Transylvanian client, complaining all the way about the late running of the service. "It seems to me that the further East you go the more unpunctual are the trains. What ought they to be in China?"

In the Trainspotter's Guide to Dracula, Miles Jupp uses Bram Stoker's novel as it has never been used before, as a train timetable, following its references to plot a route across Europe by rail to Dracula's castle in Transylvania.

Will Miles be able to reach Dracula's castle more quickly than Harker did, or will his journey be dogged by discontinued services, closed lines and delays?

Produced by David Stenhouse.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Wine has been made by most civilisations throughout history, and in every part of the world. It has inspired artists, thinkers, writers, theologians and poets through the ages, and is deeply connected with the story of recorded human history. In this series, five wine critics offer personal reflections on the personal, political, and historical stories of bygone bottles.

In today's episode, the world's best-selling wine writer Hugh Johnson profiles a 1540 Steinwein. Hugh was one of a tiny group of people who gathered in 1961 to share the oldest bottle of wine to have ever been drunk. The wine itself was produced while Michelangelo was still at work in Rome, King Henry VIII had just married his fifth wife, and before Shakespeare had even been born.

Hugh will discover that there are several reasons why the world's oldest bottle of wine is German - the main one being that the early 16th centuries saw a brief interlude in a mini ice age that would cool European climates until the mid 19th century.

Alongside the bottle's natural and social history, he delves into the taste of the wine, saying, "Nothing has ever demonstrated to me so clearly that wine is indeed a living organism, and that this brown, Madeira-liked fluid still held the active principles of the life that had been conceived in it by the sun of that distant summer."

An SPG production for BBC Radio 4.

Consumer phone-in.

The latest weather forecast.

Analysis of news and current affairs.

Born in 1905 among a new and brilliant generation of writers, Anthony Powell was the literary genius who gave us A Dance to the Music of Time, an undisputed classic of English literature. Anthony Powell wrote his spectacular 12 volume sequence over a 25 year period. This comic masterpiece teems with idiosyncratic characters, capturing 20th century Britain through war and peace.

In this portrait of a literary master from one of our generation's greatest biographers, Hilary Spurling draws on Powell's letters and journals, and the memories of those who knew him.

Investigating the friends, relations, lovers, acquaintances, fools and geniuses who surrounded him, she reveals the comical and tragic events that inspired one of the greatest fictions of the age.

Written by Hilary Spurling
Abridged by Sara Davies
Read by Hattie Morahan
Directed by Lizzie Davies
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.

By Sebastian Baczkiewicz.

2 of 4

When Pilgrim investigates a story about a man being turned into a hare, he meets a dangerous new enemy. The second in a new series of dark fantasy adventures.

CAST

William Palmer ..... Paul Hilton
Colonel Coburn ..... Ralph Ineson
Birdie ..... Kate Fleetwood
Barry ..... Carl Prekopp
Nathan ..... Gerard McDermott
Mary ..... Alex Tregear
Dale ..... Simon Bubb

Directed by Marc Beeby.

When Anna Jones was growing up, the air was clean and the grass was lush. She lived on a farm in Shropshire, and phrases such as 'greenhouse gas emissions' and carbon footprints were associated with towns and cities - factories, cars and aerosols. Not anymore. We now know that 10% of the UK's greenhouse emissions come from farms, and there is a concerted effort to encourage farmers to reduce their carbon footprint. But in a world where the idea of stewardship has only recently taken hold, how do you communicate the importance of carbon emissions to a farmer? Anna starts with her father, Tony, first.
The programme also features contributions from two other farmers - Ian Pigott and Rob Richmond, one arable, one dairy - who have both changed their ways; and Becky Willson, project officer with the Farm Carbon Cutting Toolkit, travels to Tony Jones' Shropshire farm to measure his carbon footprint.

Producer: Miles Warde.

Legal magazine programme presented by Joshua Rozenberg.

Author Jenny Colgan & writer/performer Steven Camden (Polarbear) talk about brilliant books with Harriett Gilbert. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is about a doomed attempt to climb Everest but will grip those with no interest in at all in mountaineering. The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll meant a lot to Steven when he was young - but how does he feel reading it again now? Harriett rounds things off with The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
Producer Beth O'Dea.

Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Episode 2: Diabetes Day

As the new columnist for 'Your Motorhome' magazine, Ed is enjoying a comfortable life on the open road searching out top tips for mobile homeowners. He's finding inspiration at every turn and, in particular, at car parks - namely the hospital car park where he has to attend his diabetes clinic, and subsequently the swimming pool car park to resume a swim regime when challenged about his health by the hospital. Will his tip of letting down one's tyres to get under car park height barriers prove a hit with the readers?

Written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas
Produced by Dawn Ellis
BBC Studios Production.

Alice puts her foot in it, and Robert calls a truce.

Arts news, interviews and reviews.

There a risk we won't get new nuclear hooked up to the grid in time to back up renewable energy like wind power.

There's an aim to generate 16GWe of new nuclear power by 2030.

But experts doubt that's a realistic prospect, with Hinkley Point C years late, and questions over whether investors will risk capital on proposed plants in Cumbria and North Wales. And as plans for the future of nuclear power evolve, the legacy of the past also needs to be dealt with.

The government's served notice on a £6billion contract to make safe a dozen of the UK's first nuclear sites, dating back to the 1950s.

It was the most valuable piece of work ever put out to tender by the government.

But the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority gave the job to the wrong consortium. The high court ordered a payout to the rightful winners of £97.3 million in damages.
The National Audit Office says the total cost to the taxpayer is upwards of £122 million.

The government also has to find someone else to clean up the old Magnox power stations and nuclear research sites. The current contractor, Cavendish Fluor Partnership and the NDA agree the job is far bigger than was made clear, and CFP will down tools nine years early.

File on 4 looks at the delays and spiralling costs in decommissioning old power station sites.

So just how well is our nuclear industry being managed?

Producer: Rob Cave
Reporter: Jane Deith
Editor: Gail Champion.

Jackie Brown wants better access to domestic white goods, which don't require sighted help to set up. Robin Christopherson from AbilityNet, suggests smart options
which use apps, speech and wifi to enable a blind person to take control of their domestic appliances. Jackie is concerned however, that not everyone is comfortable
using smartphone technology and the demise of the button and tactile switches will leave some people behind.
Tom Walker reports from Worcester New College on a new innovation hub which aims to give students and the public better access to assistive technology.

As many as one in twenty people will experience the strange phenomenon of sleep paralysis. While falling asleep or waking up they are completely unable to move or
speak while often having vivid hallucinations of being crushed or sensing the presence of an intruder at the same time. Despite being relatively common this sleep anomaly is little understood. Even less well known or understood is the frightening experience of 'Exploding Head Syndrome' where someone perceives abrupt loud noises when going to sleep or waking up.

Claudia Hammond talks to Professor Chris French from Goldsmiths University about the neuropsychological causes of these sleep disruptions and different strategies to help cope with them.

In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

The Book of Dust, Part One: La Belle Sauvage

Twenty two years after the publication of Philip Pullman's NORTHERN LIGHTS, the author returns to the world of HIS DARK MATERIALS with a brand new trilogy.

LA BELLE SAUVAGE, read by Simon Russell Beale, is the first volume of THE BOOK OF DUST. Set ten years before the events of HIS DARK MATERIALS, this novel explores the origins of that story.

We open in Oxford, at The Trout Inn, with a pot boy named Malcolm Polstead, and the whisper of a mysterious baby girl, hidden at the local convent, in the care of the nuns...

Fred MacAulay introduces some of the funniest comedians in the UK doing what they do best - pure stand-up comedy. Recorded at The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh.

This week, Zoe Lyons shares her insights into Buddhism, newcomer Wayne Mazadza integrates into British life, Rosie Jones doesn't let being northern hold her back, and Mark Nelson lovingly overcomes the worst for his favourite child.

Produced by Richard Melvin
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4.

Sean Curran reports from Westminster.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Dr Elaine Storkey, a philosopher, sociologist, and theologian.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

In a house on the marsh which has been abandoned for forty years, Paul Evans disturbs a Barn owl and the ghosts of a tragic past as he recalls in this specially commissioned Halloween tale.

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Joshua Myers.

Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

Noma Dumezweni narrates a series about risk and creativity, this week featuring performance artists Bryony Kimmings and Scottee, and the French artist Sophie Calle, talking about the art of self-revelation.

Bryony Kimmings begins work on a new show exploring personal trauma and the vulnerability of opening up about your own life. Writer and artist Scottee revisits his life as a gay teenager in Kentish Town in a new staged memoir. And - blurring the boundary between art and life - the artist Sophie Calle talks about recording her own mother's death.

Producer: Jo Wheeler
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

Neil MacGregor continues his series on the expression of shared beliefs in communities around the world and across time.

He focuses on rites of passage, marking the transition from childhood to adulthood, including a lock of bound hair, from the collections of the British Museum, which reveals an important ritual for teenage boys on the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu.

Producer Paul Kobrak

Produced in partnership with the British Museum
Photograph (c) The Trustees of the British Museum.

Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

By A J Cronin. Dramatised by Christopher Reason.
Episode 3

Denny tries to persuade Manson to go along with his plans to rid the town of the source of the typhoid epidemic.

Director - Gary Brown
Producers - Gary Brown and Pauline Harris.

Friends since primary school have ended up living near each other, having followed very different paths to arrive there. Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

Mae Martin is kicking the habit.

Award-winning stand-up and Edinburgh comedy award nominee 2017 Mae Martin presents a brand new series for Radio 4.

Mae's exploring how we as a society think about addiction, and on a personal level, trying to understand who she is now she's no longer addicted to anything. Through the lens of her own experience, Mae Martin's Guide to 21st Century Addiction follows Mae chronologically through a lifetime of obsessive behaviour and addiction with all her characteristic wit and levity.

Episode 1 - What makes a habit an addiction?
As a young child, Mae may not have been addicted yet, but she was certainly OBSESSED. She's never just "liked" things, she's always loved them. Mae is finally drawing connections between her obsessive, all-consuming patterns of behaviour, and examining why they might occur.

Written by and starring Mae Martin
With Dr Gabor Mate and Carolyn Taylor

Producer Alexandra Smith
Production Coordinator Beverley Tagg

A BBC Studios Production.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Wine has been made by most civilisations throughout history, and in every part of the world. It has inspired artists, thinkers, writers, theologians and poets through the ages, and is deeply connected with the story of recorded human history. In this series, five wine critics offer personal reflections on the personal, political, and historical stories of bygone bottles.

In the third episode, Master of Wine Rebecca Gibb travels to the Tuscan coast to the birthplace of Sassicaia, a wine that started out as an experiment and became Italy's Wine of the 20th Century. Created by a family that trained Gold Cup and Arc de Triomphe-winning horses in the 1940s, the Tenuta San Guido estate is still home to race horses, but the demise of Italian racing and the runaway success of this Italian red means that Sassicaia is now the thoroughbred of this stable.

The story of Sassicaia is also the story of the transformation of the Italian wine scene. Sassicaia and a group of other nonconformist wineries nicknamed Super Tuscans shunned the traditional grape of Tuscany - Sangiovese - in favour of Bordeaux-style blends. Operating outside of the local rules meant that some of the finest wines in Italy were labelled as simple table wines. Rebecca visits this famous family to hear their story of fast horses and fine wine, and meet those who have witnessed Sassicaia's rise from homemade wine to Italy's most revered red.

An SPG production for BBC Radio 4.

Consumer affairs programme.

The latest weather forecast.

Analysis of news and current affairs.

Born in 1905 among a new and brilliant generation of writers, Anthony Powell was the literary genius who gave us A Dance to the Music of Time, an undisputed classic of English literature. Anthony Powell wrote his spectacular 12 volume sequence over a 25 year period. This comic masterpiece teems with idiosyncratic characters, capturing 20th century Britain through war and peace.

In this portrait of a literary master from one of our generation's greatest biographers, Hilary Spurling draws on Powell's letters and journals, and the memories of those who knew him.

Investigating the friends, relations, lovers, acquaintances, fools and geniuses who surrounded him, she reveals the comical and tragic events that inspired one of the greatest fictions of the age.

Written by Hilary Spurling
Abridged by Sara Davies
Read by Hattie Morahan
Directed by Lizzie Davies
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.

By Sebastian Baczkiewicz.

3 of 4: Following the mysterious absence of a local girl, Pilgrim is drawn into the strange world of the lanes, and the immortal children who live there.

William Palmer ..... Paul Hilton
Lily ..... Victoria Inez-Hardy
Mr Hendrickson ..... James Lailey
George ..... Kasper Hilton-Hille
Effie ..... Nishi Malde
Cecilia ..... Faye Castelow
Audrey ..... Lizzy Watts
Everett ..... Simon Bubb
Conor ..... Adam Billington

Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.

Financial phone-in.

Sociological discussion programme, presented by Laurie Taylor.