The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Collingwood Ingram, known as 'Cherry' after his defining life's work, was born in 1880 and lived to a hundred years old, witnessing a fraught century of conflict and change.
Ingram's interest was piqued by visits to Japan in 1902 and 1907, and further when he moved to The Grange in Benenden, Kent in 1919 and discovered two magnificent cherry trees in the neglected garden of his new family home. They reminded him of his Japanese trips and he fell in love with cherry blossoms - or sakura - dedicating much of his life to their cultivation and preservation.
On a further visit to Japan in 1926, to find new specimens and meet other experts, Ingram was shocked to see the loss of local cherry diversity - a consequence of industrialisation and modernisation driven by the need to rebuild after a devastating earthquake which destroyed vast areas of traditional housing. There was also an unsettling political undercurrent and pernicious ideology at work. A cloned cherry, the Somei-yoshino, was taking over the landscape and becoming the symbol of Japan's expansionist ambitions.
For Ingram, the most striking absence from the Japanese cherry scene was that of Taihaku, a brilliant ‘great white’ cherry tree. A proud example of this tree grew in his English garden and he swore to return it to its native home. Multiple attempts to send Taihaku scions back to Japan ended in failure, but Ingram persisted. Over decades, he became one of the world’s leading cherry experts and shared the joy of sakura both nationally and internationally. Every spring we enjoy his legacy.
‘Cherry’ Ingram is a portrait of this little-known Englishman, a story of Britain and Japan in the twentieth century and an exploration of the delicate blossoms whose beauty is admired around the world.
In Episode 5, 'Cherry' Ingram continues to study cherries until his death at 100 years old. His lasting legacy can be seen in the flowering cherries of Japan and the British Isles today.
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with Church of Scotland minister the Rev Lezley Stewart.
The first of two programmes from Islay, after iPM listener Chris suggested the Hebredian island for an outside broadcast.
Who lives there? What makes them tick? And how do they keep local traditions alive? We also hear from Ileachs - the residents there - about the booming whiskey industry, the impact its growth is having on Islay's infrastructure and how it attracts huge numbers of tourists to the island each year.
Presented by Luke Jones. Produced by Cat Farnsworth.
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
Clare Balding is taking a poem for a walk on today’s Ramblings. Joining her is Jean Atkin, the newly appointed Troubadour of the Malvern Hills. Jean takes Clare, stanza by stanza, to each of the locations featured in one of her poems. Joining them is Peter Sutton who has translated into modern English the famous mediaeval poem ‘Piers Plowman’ which starts with the poet asleep on the Malvern Hills. Also walking is David Armitage who works for the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; he discusses the similarities he sees between the Malverns and some African landscapes, and shows Clare a field packed with the most extraordinary amount of ant hills.
The Troubadour of the Hills is a project devised by the Ledbury Poetry Festival and the Malvern Hills AONB. If you're reading this on the Radio 4 website, please scroll down for some photos from the walk and some related links which you can follow to find out more.
Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir are joined by the milliner Stephen Jones whose passion for hats has led him from the catwalks of Dior to the Brighton Pavillion, the adventurer and extreme sleeper Phoebe Smith who sends people to sleep with her travel stories, historian David Olusoga whose TV programme explores the lives of all the people who lived in one house in Newcastle and Saturday Live listener, the crochetdermist Shauna Richardson whose creations include animal versions of Boris Johnson and Prince Harry and whose worked graced the 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
We also have the Inheritance Tracks of comedian Gina Yashere who chooses Dancing Queen by Abba and Back to Life by Soul II Soul
Comedian James Veitch gets a challenge from his Radio 4 producer when caught playing Sonic the Hedgehog.
In need of a task for this episode and riled by his producer's dismissal of gaming, James Veitch sets out on a mission to design him a game that's artistically credible and intellectually compelling.
His challenge will send him to leading industry analysts, trailblazing designers and into the scrutinous gaze of a roomful of teenagers.
James Veitch's TED Talk - "This is what happens when you reply to spam email" - was a massive hit.
The voice of The Producer is Laurence Grissell. The actual Producer is Sam Peach.
George Parker of the Financial Times reviews the political week.
Correspondents around the world tell their stories and examine news developments in their region
Over 13 million smart meters have been installed in the UK. By the end of December next year gas and electricity suppliers will be expected to have taken "all reasonable steps" to roll them out to domestic and small business customers. One of those steps involves offering cheaper tariffs to customers - but only if they agree to have a smart meter installed. There's no legal requirement to have one so is it an unreasonable step too far? Guests: Lawrence Slade, Chief Executive at Energy UK and Joe Malinowski, founder of energyscanner.com
To what extent does the way we bank affect the way we spend, or don’t spend, our money? Guest: Abi Adams, Behavioural Economist at the University of Oxford.
The Serious Fraud Office has opened an investigation into individuals linked to London Capital & Finance. The failed high-risk mini-bond provider entered administration in January, but not before over 11,000 people had trusted it with £236m of their cash to invest in what they were told were fixed-rate ISAs. They now stand to get 20% of their money back at best.
Annuities are a retirement income product bought with some or all of your pension pot. The insurance and pension provider Prudential is currently transferring around 400,000 policy holders to Rothesay Life following the sale of its portfolio to the annuities specialist. Guest: Billy Burrows, Retirement Director at specialist pensions adviser Better Retirement who explains the underlying security behind annuities and how they are protected if the provider changes.
Written by the cast with additional material from Laura Major, Ian Smith, Catherine Brinkworth, Kat Sadler and Jeffrey Aidoo.
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate from St Peter's School in Bournemouth with a panel including Shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbott MP, the Leader of the Scottish National Party at Westminster Ian Blackford MP, junior Foreign Office Minister Vicky Ford MP and the historian and commentator Charles Moore.
The Prime Minister’s Brexit deal has so far been rejected twice in parliament. It comes before MP’s again this week. What's your view on the latest Brexit twists and turns? What do you want to happen now?
Thousands of school pupils across the country went on strike on Friday - they were protesting against climate change and the lack of action. Is this the right way to deal with the issue?
Inspired by the novels of Arnold Bennett, an epic tale of money, passion and defiance set in the Staffordshire potteries. Dramatised for radio by Shaun McKenna and Lin Coghlan
It’s 1903 and change is coming to the Five Towns. Refusing to let old age hold him back, Ephraim Tellwright embarks on a campaign to persuade a divided community to embrace Federation. There are no signs that his ongoing feud with his daughters is coming to an end.
Ephraim Tellwright . . . Neil Dudgeon
Sophia . . . Imogen Stubbs
Constance . . . Emma Cunniffe
Edwin . . . Nick Underwood
Anna . . . Kate O’Flynn
Grace . . . Kate Donnachie
Dr Stirling . . . Sam Dale
Mr Boldero . . . Tony Turner
The Waiter . . . Lewis Bray
The Clerk . . . Joseph Ayre
Incidental music arranged by Colin Guthrie and performed by Colin Guthrie, Peter Ringrose and Ian Conningham.
Cathy FitzGerald invites you to discover new details in old masterpieces, using your phone, tablet or computer.
Each thirty-minute episode of Moving Pictures is devoted to a single artwork - and you're invited to look as well as listen, by following a link (below) to a high-resolution image made by Google Arts & Culture. Zoom in and you can see the pores of the canvas, the sweep of individual brushstrokes - or in this case, the pull and pucker of every stitch.
In the last programme of the series, we pay a visit to Japan's floating world. The collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum contains a very unusual uchikake, or outer kimono, which features embroidered scenes from a kabuki play. The design includes stunning golden shishi (mythical lions), vibrant peonies and characterful figures with glass eyes and actual hair, taken from an animal.
But the robe is something of a mystery. Was it made for an actor? Or a courtesan, perhaps? Either way, it belongs to the floating world - a fantasy land of ritualised pleasure and entertainment which had a much darker, seedier side.
It's hard to buy anything these days without being asked to rate or review it. Evan Davis and guests look at how have businesses such as Tripadvisor, Feefo and Checkatrade have altered the relationship between companies and consumers? Do you trust the wisdom of crowds more than an expert's view?
Caroline Wiertz, Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean for Entrepreneurship at the Cass Business School in LOndon
Bonnie Tyler, Angellica Bell, Mark Benton, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Yamato, Nikki Bedi, Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson and Nikki Bedi are joined by Bonnie Tyler, Angellica Bell, Mark Benton and Paul Mayhew-Archer for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Yamato and Bonnie Tyler.
An insight into the character of an influential person making the news headlines
Jordan Peele’s debut feature film, Get Out, won him an Oscar for best original screenplay. His new film Us is also a horror film, features a score by Michael Abels and stars Lupita Nyong'o as Adelaide Wilson whose childhood obsession with the Hands Across America commercial reverberates through the film.
American tv drama Pose on BBC 2 features the largest transgender cast of any commercial, scripted TV show and trans writers Janet Mock and Our Lady J worked on the script alongside the show’s creators, Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals. Ryan Murphy’s previous TV credits include Glee, Nip/Tuck and American Horror Story. Pose is set in 1987–88 and looks at the juxtaposition of several segments of life and society in New York: the African-American and Latino ball culture world, the downtown social and literary scene, and the rise of the yuppie Trump milieu.
Dave Eggers is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He has written 14 books, including A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, What Is the What, The Circle and Heroes of the Frontier. His new novel The Parade tell the story of two foreign contracters who are sent to finish a highway in an unnamed country which is emerging from decades of war into a fragile peace.
Jews, Money, Myth at the Jewish Museum in London is a major exhibition exploring the role of money in Jewish life. Art work included Rembrandt's first masterpiece Returning the Thirty Pieces of Silver and new commissions by Jeremy Deller and Doug Fishbone.
American choreographer Mark Morris's Pepperland premiered at Liverpool’s Sgt Pepper at 50 festival in 2017 and is a collaboration between Morris and composer Ethan Iverson inspired by the Beatles iconic album. It is described as an "exuberant new dance work, visually on the cusp of Carnaby Street and Woodstock, it teases out the album’s colourfully avant-garde heart and eccentric charm, and resounds with all the ingenuity, musicality and wit for which the Mark Morris Dance Group is known.” Ethan Iverson composes a score featuring six idiosyncratic, jazzy reinventions of the original Beatle songs, including A Day in the Life, When I’m Sixty-Four, Penny Lane (originally meant to be on album, With a Little Help From My Friends and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club, and is performed live by a seven-piece band.
Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Kate Bassett, Kit Davis and Don Guttenplan . The producer is Hilary Dunn
On the 14th floor of Grenfell Tower, firefighters moved eight residents into flat 113. Only four would survive. Using evidence from stage 1 of the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry, Katie Razzall pieces together what went wrong that night in flat 113. The answer reveals a catalogue of errors which may help to explain the wider disaster.
2 / 2. In Ian Rankin's crime thriller, Rebus and Clarke close in on a people-trafficking gang, investigate the murder of a convicted rapist, and unravel the mystery of two skeletons in an Edinburgh pub cellar. Dramatised by Chris Dolan.
Caro …….………….. Karen Bartke
Bullen…………..….. Simon Donaldson
Ishbel …….………. Hannah Jarrett-Scott
Brexit is only days away and we still don’t have a plan. This is enraging for many, perplexing for most, and amusing for those who like their humour black. As one current slogan observes, “even Baldrick had a plan”. Some argue we are locked in a crisis of leadership. The major parties are fragmenting, collective cabinet responsibility has been trashed and the political atmosphere in parts of Britain is toxic. Have the two main party leaders ever been as weak? Many voters can’t understand how Parliament has so dismally failed to follow a simple instruction, and why the political class has flunked collective moral leadership. Kinder observers point out that the task facing MPs was anything but simple, and explain that while politics is working exactly as it should, the chaos in Parliament reflects an electorate with a split personality. So, with all this in mind, what sort of commanders-in-chief do we need now, in politics and beyond? Visionaries? Listeners? Pragmatists? Power-watchers have reported a sea change in recent years: many leaders now spend more time trying to please their rank and file, they say, and less time actually leading. There was a time when leaders were prepared to defy their supporters for “the greater good of all”. That sounds persuasive unless you think it was the top-down, managerial style of leadership that contributed to people’s sense of political alienation in the first place. Do leaders like Churchill, Thatcher, Blair and May define their eras or do the events of different eras determine the leaders? Do we always get the leaders we deserve?
Tom Sutcliffe is in the chair as Northern Ireland take on the South of England in the final clash of the 2019 series. As usual they'll be required to dredge their memory banks for forgotten details of geography, politics, sport, high and low culture, in answering the cryptic questions. This week all of the questions in the show are devised by Round Britain Quiz listeners, and they include such convoluted gems as:
Which energetic prankster drummer, former UN diplomat and Mighty comic character might fear drowning in a dystopian author's favourite watering-hole?
Only after today's result will Tom be able to announce who has won the greatest number of victories in the 2019 series, and thus earned the title of Round Britain Quiz champions.
Salena Godden talks to Roger McGough about her favourite poetry, with a selection including Dorothy Parker, Joelle Taylor and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Producer Sally Heaven.
SUNDAY 24 MARCH 2019
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m0003knd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
SUN 00:30 From Fact to Fiction (m0003d8t)
So...
In a week where New Zealand has suffered its worst terrorist attack, many people across the globe have stood in solidarity with its victims; and images of individuals and groups reaching out to the broader Muslim community with symbols of kindness, compassion and support have gone viral.
A.L. Kennedy responds with a witty and uplifting story about a Scottish pensioner who is inspired to make a positive difference to her community in the darkest of times.
Writer ….. A.L. Kennedy
Reader ….. Maureen Beattie
Producer ….. Kirsty Williams
A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0003kng)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0003knj)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0003knl)
The latest shipping forecast
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m0003knn)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m0003jr8)
Bells on Sunday from the Parish Church of St. Peter, Tiverton in Devon
Time now for Bells on Sunday, which comes from the Parish Church of St. Peter, Tiverton in Devon. Only a doorway remains of the original Norman stone church; the tower and much of the chancel date from the 15th century when the Earls of Devon ruled Tiverton from the Castle nearby. All but two of the ring of eight bells date back to 1737 with a tenor weighing twenty five and a half hundredweight tuned to D. We hear them ringing ‘Grandsire Triples’
SUN 05:45 Lent Talks (m0003d9l)
The Uncertainty of Peter
"Presenting a photoshopped view of ourselves on Social Media is far closer to Peter’s lies than we might think." Psychologist Dr Sandi Mann, explores the parallels between Peter’s denial of Jesus and the lies we tell each other every day.
Producer: Dan Tierney
SUN 06:00 News Headlines (m0003jmx)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (m0003jmz)
The Stars
In the second of his two programmes looking at the skies, the poet Michael Symmons Roberts examines the stars and how they influence our poetry, faith and even our lives.
In contrast to the moon, covered in last week’s programme, the stars have a very different image. Michael explains, “For a start, the temperature is different. If the moon is often characterised as cold, mysterious but ultimately dispassionate, untroubled by the vicissitudes of life on earth, then the stars have come to symbolise something like the opposite - they signal aspiration and hope, they shine, they bring you luck. They look down on you with promise, even with care. And they can guide you too.”
Although science has taught us so much more about the stars, they are still a great mystery. For Michael, “our knowledge of the sheer distance between us and the stars, the time it takes for their light to reach us, makes them unimaginably other, in both time and space. And it makes their light itself, the fact that we can see them at all, a relic and a mystery”.
Michael reflects on a visit to the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank and reminds us that we are all aliens - made of stardust. With the poetry of Alice Oswald and RS Thomas and the music of Moby and Messiaen, he takes us on a journey through the heavens.
Presenter: Michael Symmons Roberts
Producer: Michael Wakelin
A TBI production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:35 Living World (m0003jn1)
The Brown Hare
We all know about the myth of the Mad March Hare, but what is the background to it? Is there any biological reason for the name? Lionel Kelleway meets Gill Turner, who has observed the behaviour of brown hares since the late 1990's to explore this question. Together, they marvel at the antics of the brown hare - one of the first signs of spring - on a very special farm in Hertfordshire.
In the years since the programme was first broadcast, the situation of brown hares has changed considerably. Wildlife presenter Lindsey Chapman revisits this Living World from 2011 before bringing the story gently up to date for today's listener.
Producer Andrew Dawes
SUN 06:57 Weather (m0003jn3)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m0003jn5)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m0003jn7)
Sunday morning religious news and current affairs programme, presented by Edward Stourton
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m0003jn9)
Koestler Trust
Jeremy Deller makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Koestler Trust.
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 ‘Koestler Trust’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Koestler Trust’.
Registered Charity Number: 1105759
SUN 07:57 Weather (m0003jnc)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m0003jnf)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m0003jnh)
Invitation to Hope
During an epidemic of loneliness hospitality is our deepest need. Live from Kerith Community Church, Bracknell as Radio 4's worship services continue their journey through Lent. In an increasingly divided society the bible calls individuals, churches and communities to build bridges between loneliness and belonging - this week, through the invitation to Hope. Reading: Luke
23.39–43. Senior Pastor: Simon Benham; Preacher: the Revd Paul Cowley MBE of Alpha Prisons; Worship team leader: Shari Barrett; Producer: Philip Billson. A link to resources for individuals and groups can be downloaded from the Sunday Worship web pages.
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m0003db7)
Where there's muck there's art
Sarah Dunant looks at the queasy relationship between art, finance and corruption.
Recent protests by the photographer Nan Goldin and others over "dirty money" have hit the headlines.
But Sarah argues that without some of this rather dubious funding, the art world would look very different.
"What do you want", she asks. "A clean church and white walls? Because there's no doubt that without all of this lamentable corruption we would not have many of the greatest works of art the world has ever seen."
Producer: Adele Armstrong
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m0003jnk)
Satish Kumar on the Blackbird
Peace & environment activist, Satish Kumar has lived in Devon for many years. In his garden he loves hearing the sweet melodious calls from a blackbird singing on a stone wall.
You can hear more from Satish in the two Tweet of the Week Omnibus editions available on the Radio 4 website. Including how he met Martin Luther King in America during Satish's 8000 mile walk across the World as a young man, plus from his book Elegant Simplicity on how his and our connection to nature should be a simple one.
Producer : Andrew Dawes
Picture : Copyright Gregg Dalgllish / Resurgence Magazin
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m0003jnm)
News with Paddy O'Connell including a Brexit briefing, Air Commodore Charles Clarke remembers the real Great Escape from Stalag Luft III and sailor Tracy Edwards warns of the growing threat from rogue waves. Reviewing the Sunday news coverage - theatre director Karena Johnson, columnist Peter Hitchens and food writer Xanthe Clay.
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m0003jnp)
Helen's lies catch up with her and there's an awkward encounter for Alan.
Writer ….. Naylah Ahmed
Director ….. Julie Beckett
Editor ….. Jeremy Howe
Jill Archer .... Patricia Greene
David Archer ..... Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ..... Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ..... Daisy Badger
Kenton Archer ….. Richard Attlee
Jolene Archer ….. Buffy Davis
Pat Archer .... Patricia Gallimore
Helen Archer.... Louiza Patikas
Tom Archer ….. William Troughton
Alice Carter ..... Hollie Chapman
Toby Fairbrother .... Rhys Bevan
Alan Franks .... John Telfer
Eddie Grundy .... Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy .... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Alistair Lloyd ..... Michael Lumsden
Kate Madikane .... Perdita Avery
Elizabeth Pargetter .... Alison Dowling
Lily Pargetter .... Katie Redford
Johnny Philips .... Tom Gibbons
Peggy Wooley .... June Spencer
Natasha .... Mali Harries
Russ ..... Andonis James Anthony
Leonard Berry .... Paul Copley
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m0003jnr)
Jacqueline de Rojas, President of techUK
Lauren Laverne’s castaway this week is Jacqueline de Rojas, the President of techUK, the body that represents 900 companies in the technology sector. She is Chair of the Board of Digital Leaders, co-Chair of the Institute of Coding and sits on the government’s Digital Economy Council.
She was born Jacqueline Yu in Kent to a Chinese father and British mother, and moved to Swindon when her mother left the marriage. Jacqueline did well at school, particularly in languages, and went on to take a degree in European Business Studies, spending the first year of her course in Southern Germany. She is fluent in German and French.
She married after university and, despite dreams of becoming a BBC newsreader, she went to work for a tech recruitment company. After two years she moved to work for her largest client, the software company, Synon, using her German to manage the company’s distribution in Germany. She has stayed in the tech industry ever since, primarily working for blue chip software companies. She became Managing Director of Informix in 1999, and her last managing director role was a seven month stint at Sage in 2016.
In 2013 Jacqueline joined the board of techUK, , becoming its President in 2015. A key focus of her tenure has been to make the case for greater diversity in an industry struggling fill the roles that it is creating, particularly in appointing women. She also works as a mentor for a number of organisations and has been an advisor to the Girl Guides since 2016, assisting them in helping to attract girls into STEM subjects.
She was appointed a CBE in 2018 for services to international trade in the technology industry.
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m0003jnt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (m0003cvq)
Series 83
Episode 7
Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Lee Mack and Zoe Lyons join Nicholas Parsons for the panel game where the challenge is to speak without hesitation, repetition or deviation.
Produced by Matt Stronge.
A BBC Studios Production.
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m0003jnw)
Would you let a robot cook you dinner?
Robots are building burgers, stretching dough in pizzerias and cooking up a media storm. Soon, they could deliver our groceries, invent recipes using machine learning and cook in our homes with arms dangling down either side of our stoves. But should they and what will this mean for the future of everyone that works in the food industry? Sheila Dillon talks to the inventor of the Moley Robotic Kitchen and the chef who taught it to cook crab bisque, MasterChef winner Tim Anderson. Find out how Tim felt being immortalised in cyber cooking history, how IBM and McCormick Flavour Solutions could be concocting a recipe for your next meal and hear whether The Guardian journalist John Harris and restaurant workers' rights activist Saru Jayaraman think robots are ushering the end of work for millions of us or could be liberating us to a life of more fulfilling careers. Producer: Tom Bonnett
SUN 12:57 Weather (m0003jny)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m0003jp1)
Global news and analysis; presented by Mark Mardell
SUN 13:30 From Our Home Correspondent (m0003jp5)
Mishal Husain presents the monthly collection of journalistic pieces reflecting life across the UK today.
John Forsyth in Glasgow learns about the realities of rehabilitating convicted knife criminals on a visit to the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit which many experts regard as a model for other UK cities - notably London - to emulate in the fight against the explosion in incidents of violent street crime.
The BBC's Ireland Correspondent, Chris Page, considers Irish unity on the sporting field plus the contests with Britain - and especially England - and their likely implications politically and culturally on both sides of the border.
Stephanie Power on Merseyside, a self-described "Catholic atheist", confronts her preconceptions and prejudices about evangelical builders as the major refurbishment of her south Liverpool home proceeds - and has a moment of revelation as she wonders why the firm doing the work is called JCIL.
Gabriel Gatehouse, recently on shared parental leave, attempts to understand the world through the eyes of his seven month-old daughter and ponders how this may affect his daily work as a correspondent.
And Jordan Dunbar takes us to Co. Antrim's dark hedges as the final season of "Game of Thrones" is set to hit television screens worldwide and he reflects on the impact of the HBO series, many scenes of which have been shot in Northern Ireland, economically and socially.
Producer Simon Coates
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0003d8p)
Gower Peninsula
Eric Robson and his panel pay a visit to the Gower Peninsula. Christine Walkden, Bob Flowerdew and Anne Swithinbank answer this week's questions from the audience.
The panellists discuss grow lights, good climbers for pergolas and Magnolia stellata propagation. They also suggest ways to eradicate wild garlic, offer advice for mossy lawns, and suggest ways to get a Rosa banksiae ‘Alba Plena’ to flower.
Away from the questions, Matt Biggs is at Kew, in the Marianne North gallery, speaking to the galleries and exhibition leader Maria Devaney about Marianne North, the botanical artist.
Produced by Laurence Bassett
Assistant Producer: Hester Cant
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (m0003jp8)
Sunday Omnibus: Bullying, Gender and Identity
Three conversations about finding ways to deal with bullying; trying to find yourself as a young gay man; and coping with being born the wrong gender. Fi Glover presents 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: Mohini Patel
SUN 15:00 Drama (b09lvwj4)
Memento Mori
Adapted by Robin Brooks
Muriel Spark's gloriously dark comedy about death.
Set among a group of elderly people, the story begins with what appears to be an ordinary crime and ends up as a metaphysical mystery.
An anonymous caller repeatedly disturbs the elderly men and women with the message: "Remember you must die."
Dame Lettie Colston ..... PATRICIA HODGE
Godfrey Colston ..... JIM NORTON
Charmian Colston ..... COLETTE O’NEIL
Mabel Pettigrew ..... MONICA DOLAN
Alec Warner ..... WILLIAM GAMINARA
Mrs Anthony/Emmeline Mortimer ..... KATH WEARE
Jean Taylor............................... ELLIE DARVILL
Henry Mortimer/Burglar’s Mate ..... NEIL MCCAUL
Olive Mannering ..... ISABELLA INCHBALD
Muriel ..... GEORGIE GLEN
Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane.
SUN 16:00 Open Book (m0003jpd)
Siri Hustvedt, Witches in Fiction, British Library's Erotica Collection
Booker nominated author Siri Hustvedt discusses Memories of the Future, a new novel disguised as a memoir by a writer called SH.
Why are witches casting a spell over contemporary fiction? Stacey Halls, author of the best-selling The Familiars and Marion Gibson of Exeter University discuss.
As The British Library digitises its Private Case Collection of sexually explicit material, writer Saskia Vogel and curator Maddy Smith join Mariella to take a look at some of the highlights.
SUN 16:30 Four Seasons (m0003jpj)
Spring
Actors Siobhan Redmond, Adjoa Andoh, Simon Russell Beale, Juliet Stevenson, Anton Lesser, Pippa Haywood and Paul McGann read poetry on the theme of Spring to celebrate the Vernal Equinox. There are live appearances from poets Christine de Luca on Woman's Hour and Caleb Femi with a specially composed Spring poem on Front Row
Producer: Maggie Ayre
SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m0003d0m)
The Crossing
In the autumn of 2016 the authorities in France closed down a large migrant camp in Calais known as The Jungle.
At its height more than 9,000 people from around the world lived in the camp while attempting to make it across to the UK, often hiding in the back of lorries or packed into small boats. It was hoped the camp's closure would stem the number of people risking their lives to try to get to Britain. But more than two years on has it worked?
Over Christmas the Home Secretary Sajid Javid declared the number of migrants attempting to cross in boats a 'major incident' and since then more than 100 people have been picked up in 2019.
File in 4 investigates the British gangs making thousands of pounds and risking migrants' lives smuggling them across the Channel and reports on the attempts to break up their networks.
In France, concerted efforts have been made to stop another large camp being established in Calais and File on 4 asks whether the policy is succeeding in deterring migrants from travelling to the French coast, or whether it is simply driving people to take ever greater risks?
Reporter: Paul Kenyon
Producer: Ben Robinson
Editor: Gail Champion
Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images.
SUN 17:40 Profile (m0003jpn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0003jps)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 17:57 Weather (m0003jpx)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0003jq1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m0003jq6)
Simon Parkes
Separation, borders and attempting to cross them in states of flux seems to loom large in this edition of Pick of the Week. Oh! We're nothing if not topical.
There's the sea between Ulster and Scotland, a refugee boat trip between Calais and Dover and a mountain path from China into Tibet. They bring hardship, but they also bring radio riches.
Presenter: Simon Parkes
Producer: Stephen Garner
Production support: Vanessa Ford & Helen Surtees
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m0003jqd)
Lily fears for the future and Shula continues her quest to fill the void
SUN 19:15 Where's the F in News (m0003cpg)
Series 2
Episode 3
An energetic, intelligent female-anchored show with a female panel - using the events, trends and talking points they think should really be top of the news agenda in a series of fresh and funny challenges.
Host Jo Bunting is joined by a panel of women including comedians Jo Brand, Sara Barron and Lauren Pattison and broadcaster Samira Ahmed.
Jo Bunting is a producer and writer of topical comedy and satire, with credits including Have I Got News For You, the Great British Bake Off spin off show An Extra Slice with Jo Brand, and the successful topical chat show That Sunday Night Show presented by Adrian Chiles on ITV. Jo was a guest interviewer on Loose Ends for several years and a panellist on Loose Women.
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 19:45 Blood, Sweat and Tears (b05s3pcl)
Like A Glass Jaw
Mark Billingham writes the second episode in a new series of specially commissioned short stories by three of Britain's top crime writers. ‘Like A Glass Jaw’ is the story of an ex-boxer who finds himself caught up in an emotional situation that leads to him realise old habits die hard.
Mark is best known for his series of novels featuring Detective Tom Thorne, as well as being an accomplished actor and stand up comedian.
These stories were recorded in front of an audience in the MCT theatre, Alleyn's School, Dulwich.
Read by Robert Glenister
Producer: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 20:00 Feedback (m0003d92)
Should the BBC have called the Christchurch shooting a 'terror attack'?
Roger Bolton asks the BBC News Editorial Director if the BBC should have termed events in Christchurch "terrorism", PM editor Owenna Griffiths discusses coverage of Brexit, and listeners give their views on cuts to Radio 3's Late Junction.
Recent BBC coverage of the Christchurch attack in New Zealand has sparked criticism from some listeners who take issue with the language used to describe the events. Others were frustrated by what they saw as disproportionate coverage and still more were annoyed when the BBC chose to name the alleged shooter in news bulletins. Roger puts these comments to the BBC News Editorial Director, Kamal Ahmed, and asks whether the BBC should have termed the atrocity a "terrorist attack".
For 20 years, Late Junction has been the home for experimental music on Radio 3. However, it's being reduced from three nights a week to one extended show on Friday nights. Late Junction listeners call on Radio 3's Controller to reverse the decision.
And, has Brexit begun to exhaust journalists and audiences alike? Owenna Griffiths, Editor of Radio 4's PM, tells Roger what she thinks she could be doing better and explains what she sees as her programme's unique role in approaching the story.
Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Robert Nicholson
Executive Producer: Will Yates
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m0003d8y)
Gillian Freeman, Sir Peter Hutchison, Sister Dorothy Bell, Dick Dale
Pictured: Dick Dale
Matthew Bannister on
Gillian Freeman, the novelist and screenwriter whose books include The Leather Boys, a story of a gay love affair between two working class men in the 1960s.
Sir Peter Hutchison who travelled to remote parts of the world to collect rare plants.
Sister Dorothy Bell, the nun who after a career devoted to education, turned her attention to AIDS awareness.
And the King of the Surf Guitar Dick Dale.
Interviewed guest: Michael Arditti
Interviewed guest: Edward Thorpe
Reader: Mathilda Thorpe
Reader: Harriet Thorpe
Interviewed guest: James Hutchison
Interviewed guest: Simon Milne
Interviewed guest: Sister Dr Bernadette Porter
Interviewed guest: Emma Cole
Producer: Neil George
Archive clips from: Woman's Hour, Radio 4 22/03/1978; In Search Of The Golden Pleione, Radio 4 30/04/1982; Losing the Habit, Radio 4 29/04/2009.
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m0003jqp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m0003jn9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 Analysis (m0003cvz)
Are we heading for a mass extinction?
Will human actions result in the demise of huge numbers of other species - in a mass die-off, comparable to the end of the era of the dinosaurs? Neal Razzell assesses the evidence that species are dying off at a rapid rate, and looks at some of the surprising things we might do to slow or reverse this process.
Producers: Beth Sagar-Fenton and Josephine Casserley
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m0003jqw)
Preview of the week's politics with politicians, pundits and experts.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (m0003cn5)
Ralph Fiennes, Patricia Clarkson
With Antonia Quirke
Ralph Fiennes and producer Gaby Tana discuss The White Crow, their drama about Rudolf Nureyev's defection to the West. Ralph explains why so much of the film is in Russian and why he believes that if Schindler's List was made now it would not feature British actors doing German accents.
Patricia Clarkson discusses her role as a cop in philosophical crime drama Out Of Blue and why people still come up to her and say "brush my hair".
Writer and broadcaster Carl Anka tells us why Bugs Bunny is really black.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (m0003jmz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 25 MARCH 2019
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m0003jr2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m0003d8l)
Debt
Debt: we live in a culture of credit with a dramatic surge in private borrowing due to wage stagnation over several decades. Many people will now be indebted until death. Johnna Montgomerie,Reader in International Political Economy King's College London, tells Laurie Taylor why she proposes the abolition of household debt in the context of a chronically dysfunctional situation, both individually and collectively. Also, the story of the National Debt. Martin Slater, Emeritus Fellow in Economics at the University of Oxford, explores its changing fortunes and role in shaping the course of British history. How has Britain been moulded by attempts to break fee of the debt, from post war Keynesian economics to today's austerity?
Producer: Jayne Egerton
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m0003jr8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0003jrg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0003jrn)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0003jrv)
The latest shipping forecast
MON 05:30 News Briefing (m0003js1)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0003js7)
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with Church of Scotland minister the Rev Lezley Stewart.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m0003jsg)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside
MON 05:56 Weather (m0003jsn)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04mlphz)
Common Indian Cuckoo
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Chris Packham presents the Indian cuckoo found across much of South East Asia. A bird singing "crossword puzzle" - "crossword puzzle" over the woods is an Indian Cuckoo, a shy and slender bird, grey above and barred black and white below. These features are similar to those of a small hawk and when a cuckoo flies across a woodland glade, it's often mobbed by other birds. They're right to sense danger. Indian cuckoos are brood parasites and the females lay their eggs in the nests of other species including drongos, magpies and shrikes. The Indian cuckoo's song is well-known in the Indian sub-Continent and has been interpreted in different ways. As well as "crossword puzzle " some think it's saying "one more bottle" or "orange pekoe". And in the Kangra valley in northern India, the call is said to be the soul of a dead shepherd asking "... where is my sheep? Where is my sheep?".
MON 06:00 Today (m0003jq8)
Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme; including Thought for the Day
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m0003jqg)
Art for all
The prize-winning author Karl Ove Knausgaard explores the life and work of a fellow Norwegian artist, Expressionist Edvard Munch. He tells Tom Sutcliffe that Munch’s work extends far beyond his iconic painting The Scream. Knausgaard brings together art history, biography and personal memoir to reflect on what it means to be an artist.
Munch is known as a painter of the inner life and even his landscapes are infused with personal reflection. But at the turn of the twentieth century, while he was looking inward, art schools across Europe were forging new philosophies and were engaging with the wider world. In Germany the Bauhaus movement, founded by Walter Gropius, stood for experiment and creative freedom. Fiona MacCarthy’s new biography of Gropius re-evaluates his intellectual and emotional life. She depicts him at the heights of Bauhaus fame and through his post-war years in London to his architectural successes in America.
Back in the UK, Charles Rennie Mackintosh was at the centre of a movement based at the Glasgow School of Art. Curator Alison Brown explains how that city became the birthplace of the only Art Nouveau ‘movement’ in the UK. The style and influence of Mackintosh and his disciples has since spread throughout the world.
Both Bauhaus and Art Nouveau designs became commercially successful and mass produced. But the earlier Arts and Craft Movement of William Morris championed the principle of handmade production. In an extraordinary find, the social historian Tamsin Wimhurst, came across a terraced house in Cambridge owned by a working-class Victorian decorative artist who reproduced the work of Morris for his own pleasure at home. The David Parr House is opened to the public later this year.
Producer: Katy Hickman
MON 09:45 Book of the Week (m0003jvb)
The Pianist of Yarmouk
Episode 1
Ammar Haj Ahmad reads Aeham Ahmad’s dramatic account of how he risked his life under siege in Damascus by defying the Syrian regime with his music.
Newly married with a young baby, living in a comfortable Damascus suburb and working as a music teacher, Aeham’s life is turned upside down by the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2012.
When they are bombed out of their apartment, Aeham and his family take refuge in their music shop in the ramshackle district of Yarmouk. But soon the rebel Free Syrian Army takes control of Yarmouk and President Assad’s forces are determined to bomb, shoot and starve them out, regardless of the plight of the ordinary residents.
"Overnight, the checkpoints were closed. No one got out. Nothing got in. No rice, no oil, no milk powder, no sugar. The siege began. The electricity was turned off. Food prices exploded. Soon, people started dying of hunger. Every day, we could hear artillery fire and rifle salvos. Yarmouk was descending into darkness and silence.
"Without electricity, we had to improvise. I put baby Ahmad’s dirty nappies in a large metal tub, put on some rubber boots and waded around in the water. When we ran out of washing up liquid, we began cleaning our plates with ash. We had hardly any soap, so we washed our hands only once a day. We almost never had milk, so we gave the baby water with sugar. There was no more tobacco, so I used dried mint to make cigarettes for my father."
Over five episodes, Aeham tells how he fought to keep his family alive and how, in his anger and frustration, he eventually pushed his piano onto the streets and brought music to the desperate people of Yarmouk.
But when ISIS take over he has to make the agonising choice between staying in Syria and waiting to be killed or making the perilous journey to Europe alone and abandoning his family.
The Pianist of Yarmouk is read by Ammar Haj Ahmad, who trained as an actor before fleeing the conflict in Syria. He recently starred in the critically acclaimed play The Jungle, set in the notorious Calais refugee camp, in London and New York.
Written by Aeham Ahmad
Read by Ammar Haj Ahmad
Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0003jqv)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
MON 10:45 Annika Stranded (b0bfxl56)
Series 4
Beginnings
Eight new cases to challenge the detective wit of Annika Strandhed, queen of the Oslo Police boat patrol.
Since we last met her, Annika has been promoted to Chief Inspector. Her first act was - apart from choosing a new speedboat - to co-opt Mikel, her forensic photographer of choice, to accompany her. Her son Tor is about to start school.
Being Chief Inspector means a bigger case-load. What follows will test her physically and emotionally as never before.
Episode 1: Beginnings
On Tor's first day at school, Annika has to investigate the death of his class teacher.
Nick Walker is the author of two critically-acclaimed novels, Blackbox and Helloland. His plays and short stories have often featured on BBC Radio 4, including the First King of Mars stories (2007 - 2010) and the plays Life Coach (2010) and Stormchasers (2012). The previous series of Annika Stranded were broadcast in 2013, 2014 and 2016.
Writer: Nick Walker
Reader: Nicola Walker
Sound Design: Jon Calver
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 11:00 Spain's Lost Generations (m0003jr1)
The Missing Children
Lucas Laursen investigates Spain’s missing children from the Franco era and decades after.
He meets several families looking for children that hospital officials told them had died - but who may have been actually taken and given or sold to other families. There are thousands of such claims currently wending through Spanish court but, on their own, almost none have enough detail to understand what really happened.
Lucas examines whether the theft of babies was a series of isolated cases or whether, as some maintain, these were crimes against humanity - systematic and targeted against a particular group.
A government forensic toxicologist says there is no evidence for a trafficking plot, pointing to over one hundred court ordered exhumations and a report before the European Parliament. But Lucas moves from doubt about the so-called stolen babies scandal to a conviction that many of Spain’s institutions - including hospitals, the Catholic Church and the government - failed thousands of newborns and their families.
He talks to renowned former judge Balthazar Garzon, who argues for the implementation of a bill which would commit Spain to helping families find missing loved ones. This bill is now in jeopardy, since Spain’s government called elections during the recording of this programme.
He analyses the ways in which the Amnesty Law – which offered immunity from crimes committed during the Civil War and the dictatorship of Francisco Franco – slowed the fight against baby trafficking in Spain. He looks at the ideologies of the dictatorship that first legalised taking babies from their parents for political, religious and gender-related reasons, and which may have contributed to illegal trafficking for decades after.
Producer Anna Scott-Brown
An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4
MON 11:30 Alexei Sayle's The Absence of Normal (m0003ctx)
The Last Woman Killed In The War
Episode 4: The Last Woman Killed in the War
Alexei Sayle’s The Absence of Normal is a series of dark comic plays narrated by Alexei Sayle and adapted for radio from his original short stories.
In 1960’s Liverpool, Mary’s parents whisk her away from their working class community to hide her illegitimate pregnancy. Returning 40 years later to confront them, she discovers that attitudes have shifted somewhat.
Starring:
Adi Alfa
Katy Carmichael
Shaun Mason
Jan Ravens
Paislie Reid
Written and narrated by Alexei Sayle. Adapted for Radio by Graham Duff.
Produced by Joe Nunnery
A BBC Studios Production
MON 12:00 News Summary (m0003kg0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 The Wall (m0003jrf)
Episode One
The Wall is the new novel from John Lanchester, author of Capital and The Debt to Pleasure.
Ravaged by the Change, an island nation has built the Wall, a high concrete barrier around its entire coastline. Joseph Kavanagh, a new Defender, has one task: to protect his section of the Wall from the Others, the desperate souls who are trapped on the rising seas beyond the Wall and are trying to get in. Failure will result in death or a fate perhaps worse: being put to sea and made an Other himself. In Episode One, Kavanagh begins his life patrolling the Wall. If he’s lucky, if nothing goes wrong, he only has two years of this: 729 more nights.
John Lanchester is a contributing editor to the London Review of Books and a regular contributor to the New Yorker. He has written four novels, The Debt to Pleasure, Mr Phillips, Fragrant Harbour and Capital, and three works of non-fiction: Family Romance, a memoir; and Whoops!: Why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay, about the global financial crisis and How to Speak Money, a primer in popular economics. His books have won the Hawthornden Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Prize, the E.M Forster Award and the Premi Llibreter, been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and been translated into twenty-five languages.
Produced by Mair Bosworth
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Read by Ben Norris
MON 12:18 You and Yours (m0003jrm)
Radio 4's consumer affairs programme.
MON 12:57 Weather (m0003jrt)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 13:00 World at One (m0003js0)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
MON 13:45 The Puppet Master (m0003js6)
1. Snipers
This is the story of the most powerful man you’ve never heard of. He can spot an ex-spy with presidential potential and help turn him into a world leader. He creates opposition movements out of thin air. He’s got a nation’s news directors on speed dial. Billionaires seek his advice. He’s even got his own little war. He’s at the heart of the standoff between East and West. Some even credit him with pioneering the concept of post-truth politics. Yet few even know his name.
He is Vladislav Surkov. His background is in theatre and PR. He has a taste for Beat poetry, American rap and postmodern theory. But his politics are 100% Russian, and they’re spreading. Surkov invented Russia’s ‘managed democracy’ – where authorities arrange not only elections, but the results as well. He guided Vladimir Putin to his current unassailable position atop Russian politics. Now, Surkov is focussed on Ukraine, where the separatist movement he helped create continues its bitter war on Europe’s eastern flank.
The Puppet Master is a series that gets to the bewildering heart of contemporary Russia by exploring the fortunes of this secretive, complicated and controversial man. Reporter Gabriel Gatehouse speaks fluent Russian and has access to a vast cache of leaked emails from Surkov’s Kremlin office. Using these, plus archive and sources gained over a decade of covering Russia and its wars, Gatehouse goes in search of the man pulling the strings. The journey is by turns dramatic, surprising and surreal, ranging from the battlefield to the theatre and the Kremlin itself. The destination? The post-truth world we inhabit today.
MON 14:00 The Archers (m0003jqd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Tumanbay (m0003jsd)
Series 3
The Coming
The eighth and final episode of series three. Matilla, having murdered her abusive husband returns with Frog to her family home to try to rescue her brother and escape the city.
Meanwhile the treacherous Cadali (Matthew Marsh), now a captive of the priest-like Balarac, is returned to Tumanbay as a gift. As the city welcomes the Balarac in, a new uncomfortable alliance seems to be forming. Or is it a deadly game of deception?
Cast:
Fatima........Tara Fitzgerald
Gregor........Rufus Wright
Grand Master, Amalric........ Anton Lesser
Manel........Aiysha Hart
Cadali........Matthew Marsh
Bavand........Peter Polycarpou
Heaven........Olivia Popica
General Qulan........Christopher Fulford
Frog........Finn Elliot
Matilla........Humera Syed
Alkin........Nathalie Armin
Tumanbay is created by John Scott Dryden and Mike Walker and inspired by the Mamluk slave rulers of Egypt.
Original Music by Sacha Puttnam
Sound Design by Eloise Whitmore
Sound Recording by Joe Richardson
Additional Music by Jon Ouin
Produced by Emma Hearn, Nadir Khan and John Scott Dryden
Written by Mac Rogers and Directed by John Scott Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4
MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (m0003jsl)
Heat 1, 2019
(1/17)
What shape are the twelve identical faces of a dodecahedron? What was the name of the politician played by Paul Eddington in Yes, Minister? What type of establishment was founded by the Scottish emigre Allan Pinkerton in Chicago in 1850?
Russell Davies is back for the 2019 season of Brain of Britain, putting these and many other general knowledge questions to the first batch of contenders. Across the next few months 48 competitors will face heats and semi-final knockout stages, before the 2019 title is decided at the Final in July. The competitors come from all corners of the UK and have already made it through a rigorous audition process to win their places in the series.
Each week there'll be a chance for a listener to win a prize in the Beat the Brains challenge, in which the competitors pool their knowledge to tackle the listeners' questions.
Taking part in the opening contest are:
Gareth Aubrey, a solicitor from Cardiff
David Croly, a library assistant from Kidbrooke in London
Daniel Isenberg, a barrister from London
Caroline Latham, a semi-retired teacher from Romford in Essex.
Producer: Paul Bajoria
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m0003jnw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Pursuit of Beauty (m00014k4)
In Stitches
Embroidery is experiencing a boom and with that an astonishing image overhaul. Traditionally viewed as a simple domestic task or maligned as a humdrum craft, a new generation of embroiderers are challenging this with complex, political, dynamic artwork that renews a desire for a lost haptic touch.
Many are drawn to stitch for its tactile nature, hypnotic sound and its ability to convey profound ideas. One artist sews into the sole of her own foot, another embroiders photographs of war time gay erotica. But this new generation of artists are also struggling to be exhibited or seen on the same platform as artists making painting and sculpture.
Dress historian, Amber Butchart, talks to some of these leading contemporary embroidery artists who are liberating embroidery from its past, helping it flourish into a remarkable and radical form of progressive art.
For much of the British medieval and early modern periods, embroideries and tapestries were the most valued form of artistic expression. Embroidered clothing denoted power and status, and it was men who were part of embroiderers guilds.
But the practice lost its prestige and became more associated with women’s domestic work in the last few centuries. This, combined with the transition of embroidery being considered more of a craft than a fine art, also dogs the medium.
As textile artist Raisa Kabir explains, the artworks are a “living archive of histories that have not been noted”. Embroidery is a perfect medium to tell untold stories. Kabir uses complicated weaving and embroidery techniques as well as performance and sound pieces to comment on race, gender, labour and colonial histories.
Hand embroiderer Hannah Hill uses Instagram to share her punchy embroidery about everything from sexual identity to grime music, while Richard McVetis’ intricate graphic embroideries represent abstract mappings of time – with sewing being a form of therapy to him, “an antidote to the busy world we live in".
Presenter: Amber Butchart
Producers: Louise Morris and Andrew McGibbon
A Curtains For Radio production for BBC Radio 4
MON 16:30 The Digital Human (m0003jst)
Series 16
Haven
Aleks Krotoski features the powerful story Mats Steen, a story of inner lives, overcoming adversity and prejudice and finding and building a haven.
MON 17:00 PM (m0003jsy)
PM at
5pm: interviews, context and analysis.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0003jt2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m0003jt6)
Series 83
Episode 8
Paul Merton, Jenny Eclair, Fern Britton and Gyles Brandreth join Nicholas Parsons for the panel game where the challenge is to speak without hesitation, repetition or deviation.
Produced by Matt Stronge
A BBC Studios Production
MON 19:00 The Archers (m0003jtb)
Tom discovers a surprising truth and Pip has reservations
MON 19:15 Front Row (m0003jtf)
Live daily magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b09fxxkv)
The Pillow Book
20/11/2017
Lady Shonagon and Lieutenant Yukinari return for a new series of the popular mystery, The Pillow Book, set in 10th-century Japan.
Following the Empress Teishi's father's death, a new Chancellor holds power in the Palace. He has ensured his daughter now occupies the throne, as Empress and First
Consort to the Emperor.
Summoned to a meeting with the new Empress, Shonagon is visited by a disturbing vision.
The Pillow Book is inspired by the writings of Sei Shonagon, a poet and lady-in-waiting to the Empress of the 10th-century Japanese court.
Written by Robert Forrest.
Directed by Lu Kemp.
A BBC Scotland Production for Radio 4.
MON 20:00 The Brexit Prime Minister (m0003jtk)
Episode 3
The political commentator Steve Richards talks to key insiders about the prime minister's decisions, leadership and diplomacy through the turbulent years since the EU referendum. What does Theresa May think about Brexit? How did she arrive at key decisions? What do those decisions tell us about her personality and style of leadership? How has she run Downing Street and what are her relations with the rest of government, Whitehall, parliament and the EU?
The third part updates the story from the summer of 2018, recalling the dramatic events of the prime minister's Chequers deal and its turbulent aftermath.
Producer: Leala Padmanabhan
MON 20:30 Analysis (m0003jtp)
Will China and America go to war?
Will the growing competition between China and the United States inevitably lead to military conflict? One leading American academic created huge attention when in 2017 he posed the idea of what he called a "Thucydides Trap". Drawing on the work of the ancient Greek historian, he warned that when a rising power (Sparta) threatens an existing power (Athens) they are destined to clash, unless both countries change their policies. He warned that the same pattern could play out with the US and China. Since then, President Trump has engaged in combative rhetoric over trade, while China has fast been modernising and upgrading its military. BBC Diplomatic Correspondent Jonathan Marcus considers whether Washington and Beijing can escape the trap - or whether the growing economic, strategic and technological rivalry between the two nations will inevitably end in conflict.
Producer: Stuart Hughes
MON 21:00 No Triumph, No Tragedy (m0003jtt)
Peter White meets Samantha Renke, the Lancashire born actress whose rare brittle bone disease, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, has resulted in her sustaining 200 fractures in her lifetime. As a child she had to be carried around on a pillow to reduce the risk of broken bones, but she hates being called an 'inspiration' as it suggests her life with a disability is a 'worst possible scenario'.
She believes that constantly referring to the disabled as 'inspiring' for their ability to cope encourages others to regard them with pity, instead of seeing them as people who are happily living their lives. Samantha found fame in a ground-breaking series of ads for Maltesers which confronted public perception of disability and won best actress at the LA Diversity Film Festival.
In an amusing and thought provoking interview Peter challenges Samantha about how far she is willing to go to make fun of her disability. The advert sees her recounting a story to friends about how she crushed a bride's foot at a wedding with the wheel of her chair. Using a Malteser to demonstrate the scene ends with her admitting that she still managed to leave with the best man’s number!
She is a passionate campaigner who often raises uncomfortable issues about how the disabled are seen and in this interview she talks about the impact of pity which she was aware of even from a young age: “you never forget the first time someone comes and crouches next to your wheelchair and tells you that if they were like me they couldn't cope – or even worse they wouldn't want to live. “
Samantha is a supporter of the disability charity Scope and patron of Head2Head Theatre Company – a self-proclaimed fashionista who loves searching for bargains in London’s markets: “The main struggle I've faced throughout my life has been maintaining my independence. Whether that is within work, in my social life or my home life.”
This involves her in campaigns for accessible homes for those with a disability, something she is passionate about: “I believe if you give people the tools they will be integral to society and not a burden. Provide more accessible homes and people with disabilities can live, work, socialize and become valued members of society! Without my home I no doubt wouldn't be doing the work I am now and I would not be the happy optimistic person I am today.”
MON 21:30 Start the Week (m0003jqg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m0003jv0)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
MON 22:45 The Wall (m0003jrf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
MON 23:00 The Walk: Across the Water (m0003jv3)
Dover
In this two-part series, writer Cole Moreton explores what life is like beyond the headlines in Dover and Calais – two ports that are often half-forgotten but that have a front seat view of history. He asks what the people are like, what they have in common and what keeps them apart beside the sea.
In this episode, Cole arrives in Dover and speaks to fishermen who have rescued migrants from the Channel, a teenage Afghan who made the crossing in a chip lorry, and a yacht commodore who joined the French Foreign Legion.
Presenter: Cole Moreton
Producer: Jonathan Mayo
A TBI production for BBC Radio 4
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0003jv6)
All the news from today's sitting at Westminster.
TUESDAY 26 MARCH 2019
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m0003jv8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (m0003jvb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0003jvd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0003jvg)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0003jvj)
The latest shipping forecast
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m0003jvl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0003jvn)
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with Church of Scotland minister the Rev Lezley Stewart.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m0003jvq)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03zr0ly)
Grasshopper Warbler
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Kate Humble presents the grasshopper warbler. The reeling song of the grasshopper warbler sounds more like an insect than a bird. Like the paying out of an angler's line from a reel, the grasshopper warbler's song spills out from the bush or bramble clump in which he sits. You'll hear it most often at dawn or dusk in overgrown scrubby or marshy areas.
TUE 06:00 Today (m0003ks2)
Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme; including Thought for the Day
TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m0003ks6)
Paul Davies on the origin of life and the evolution of cancer
Physicist, Paul Davies is interested in some of the biggest questions that we can ask. What is life? How did the universe begin? How will it end? And are we alone? His research has been broad and far-reaching, covering quantum mechanics, cosmology and black holes. In the 1980s he described the so-called Bunch-Davies vacuum - the quantum vacuum that existed just fractions of a second after the big bang - when particles were popping in and out of existence and nothing was stable.
As the chair of SETI (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) Post Detection Task Group, he’s the person responsible for announcing to the world when we make contact with aliens. He’s now Regents Professor of Physics at Arizona State University in the American south west where he runs research groups studying the evolution of cancer and the origins of life.
Paul Davies talks to Jim al-Khalili about how he applies the principles of physics to these big questions and about how he has worked closely with religious thinkers.
Producer: Anna Buckley
TUE 09:30 One to One (m0003ks9)
Mourning – traditions in Hinduism
Euella Jackson meets Dr Girdari Bhan who is actively involved in the Interfaith Network for the UK and past President of the World Hindu Council UK, to hear about the structured approach to death and mourning practised in Hinduism. Having a Jamaican heritage, and a traditional way of mourning called Nine Nights, Euella is keen to find out what we can learn from other cultures and faiths to help us through the grieving process. Producer Sarah Bunt
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (m0003kv6)
The Pianist of Yarmouk
Episode 2
Ammar Haj Ahmad reads Aeham Ahmad’s dramatic account of how he risked his life under siege in Damascus, defying the Syrian regime with his music.
It’s the summer of 2013 and the armies of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have cut the Damascus suburb of Yarmouk off from the world in an attempt to starve out the rebel Free Syrian Army. Aehem, formerly a prosperous music teacher, is trapped there with his family and is selling falafal made from pigeon food to keep them alive.
"Being hungry makes you moody. The starving people of Yarmouk shuffled morosely through the deserted, bombed out streets, or huddled around campfires, burning clothes and plastic bottles. No matter where you went, you could never escape the terrible stench of burning plastic bottles.
"People were aging in fast-motion. Before the siege, my mother had still seemed young, but now she was grey and haggard, her face lined with deep wrinkles. She had lost a lot of weight — 'And all without a diet or gym,' she said sarcastically. From time to time I would weigh myself. Before, I had weighed over ten stone, now I wasn’t much more than seven. I could see my ribcage under my skin."
But in the midst of starvation and misery, Aeham pushes his piano into the ruined streets and starts a choir to lift the spirits of the residents of Yarmouk. A friend videos his protest songs and soon Aeham is getting tens of thousands of hits on the internet. But he’s taking a huge risk.
The Pianist of Yarmouk is read by Ammar Haj Ahmad, who trained as an actor before fleeing the conflict in Syria. He recently starred in the critically acclaimed play The Jungle, set in the notorious Calais refugee camp, in London and New York.
Written by Aeham Ahmad
Read by Ammar Haj Ahmad
Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0003ksk)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
TUE 10:45 Annika Stranded (b0bgw9wh)
Series 4
Eight Bells
Eight new cases to challenge the detective wit of Annika Strandhed, queen of the Oslo Police boat patrol.
Since we last met her, Annika has been promoted to Chief Inspector. Her first act was - apart from choosing a new speedboat - to co-opt Mikel, her forensic photographer of choice, to accompany her. Her son Tor is about to start school.
Being Chief Inspector means a bigger case-load. What follows will test her physically and emotionally as never before.
Episode 4: Eight Bells
Annika is sent to Sandefjord where a body has been found at the harbour front.
Nick Walker is the author of two critically-acclaimed novels, Blackbox and Helloland. His plays and short stories have often featured on BBC Radio 4, including the First King of Mars stories (2007 - 2010) and the plays Life Coach (2010) and Stormchasers (2012). The previous series of Annika Stranded were broadcast in 2013, 2014 and 2016.
Writer: Nick Walker
Reader: Nicola Walker
Sound Design: Jon Calver
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 11:00 Don't Log Off (m0003ksp)
Series 9
Utopia/Dystopia
Some locations - the beaches of California, the South American rain-forest, the majestic scenery and slow pace of Christchurch, New Zealand - may seem like Paradise - but reality, in the form of nature, climate change, industrialisation, or terrorism, can often creep in, even in these beautiful places.
What about if you live there?
Alan Dein talks to three strangers from across the globe, finding out the threats to Paradise, and how those who have chosen to make their lives there cope.
Jefferson grew up in Malibu, one of the most desirable places on earth - surfing, hiking, living the outdoor life. Once in a decade a fire would come and change all that... but in recent years the fires have become more regular and more devastating. How did Jefferson get through the devastating experience of losing his home to fire? .
Alan also gets a glimpse of life in the rain forest, speaking to Fernando who is lying in a hammock on the Pacific Coast of Colombia - describing the whales that come each year to visit the sea just off the beach. But he fears a giant new maritime port will destroy the community, the forest and the land he has learnt to love.
Alan also speaks twice to Julie from Christchurch, New Zealand, who vividly recalls the way her city crumbled to dust in front of her eyes in the devastating earthquake of 2011 - before changing for the better, with a stronger community spirit, during the city's recontruction.
But then she calls again - just a couple of days after the devastating terrorist attack on two Christchurch mosques - giving Alan the chance to ask 'how does the city feel after this new tragedy'?
Producer: Sara Jane Hall
TUE 11:30 Pursuit of Beauty (m00017qy)
Dead Rats and Meat Cleavers
The sounds of casting, chiming, singing and clanging are fused together to make a magical sound track to the story of how meat cleavers have been used as musical instruments for over 300 years..
Growing up in Suffolk, Nathaniel Mann, heard stories passed down by his grandma about a tradition of the village Rough Band, made up of pots and pans, iron and metal implements, including meat cleavers - delivering a sort of sonic warning to anyone stepping out of line, committing adultery or behaving in way considered unacceptable.
As part of the Avant-Folk trio 'Dead Rat Orchestra', Mann, a singer and composer, has long been playing music with strange percussive instruments.
Coming across an old meat cleaver in his dad's garage he was inspired to make a set of cleavers to play music on - so turned to a bronze bladesmith to help turn meat cleavers into musical gold.
In a chance discovery, he discovered the idea wasn't new - and so he sought out Jeremy Barlow, author of “The Enraged Musician”, to find out the coded messages of Hogarth’s musical prints, including marrow bones and meat cleavers.
He also visits BathIRON 2018, as a new bandstand is being cast for the city of Bath, and gets the chance to conduct and sing with an orchestra of master smiths.
The freshly cast meat cleaver is finally used in one of the Nest Collective's Campfire Concerts, where the Dead Rat Orchestra join a trio of female folk musicians from Poland - Sutari - who have developed their own parallel world of Rough Music.
A joyful celebration, some nail biting forging, and some entrancing music. You've never heard cleavers like this before....
Producer: Sara Jane Hall
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m0003kzk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 The Wall (m0003ksy)
Episode Two
The Wall is the new novel from John Lanchester, author of Capital and The Debt to Pleasure.
Ravaged by the Change, an island nation has built the Wall, a high concrete barrier around its entire coastline. Joseph Kavanagh, a new Defender, has one task: to protect his section of the Wall from the Others, the desperate souls who are trapped on the rising seas beyond the Wall and are trying to get in. Failure will result in death or a fate perhaps worse: being put to sea and made an Other himself.
John Lanchester was born in Hamburg in 1962. He has worked as a football reporter, obituary writer, book editor, restaurant critic, and deputy editor of the London Review of Books, where he is a contributing editor. He is a regular contributor to the New Yorker. He has written four novels, The Debt to Pleasure, Mr Phillips and Fragrant Harbour, and Capital, and two works of non-fiction: Family Romance, a memoir; and Whoops!: Why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay, about the global financial crisis. His books have won the Hawthornden Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Prize, E.M Forster Award, and the Premi Llibreter, been longlisted for the Booker Prize, and been translated into twenty-five languages.
Produced by Mair Bosworth
Abridged for radio by Eileen Horne
Read by Ben Norris
TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m0003kt2)
Radio 4's consumer affairs programme.
TUE 12:57 Weather (m0003kt6)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (m0003kt9)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
TUE 13:45 The Puppet Master (m0003ktc)
Episode 2
The man who made the post-truth world.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m0003jtb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (m0003ktf)
The Cairn
By Donna Franceschild.
Sometimes scattering ashes stirs up more than just grief.
A witty and moving drama set on the Kintyre Peninsula by Donna Franceschild.
Cast:
Agim …Nebli Basani
Eilidh …Fiona MacNeil
Arlene … Olivia Morgan
Isla ... Rosie Smith
Wilma … Gerda Stevenson
Alex …Paul Young
Directed by Kirsty Williams
TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m0003kth)
Series 18
Early Spring
As the days lengthen and a new season approaches, Josie Long presents short documentaries and adventures in sound inspired by the Rilke poem Early Spring.
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (m0003jj9)
Fast Fashion Slow Down
Fast fashion is responsible for more emissions than shipping and aviation combined and by 2050 could account for a quarter of the world’s carbon budget. Consumers have been informed about the ethical alternatives but whilst sales of more sustainably sourced clothes are increasing, the biggest success of 2018 was a fast fashion brand which often sells dresses for less than the cost of their postage.
After grilling the fashion industry, the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has recommended action to curb throwaway culture at an industry level. But can regulation really change a nation of shopaholics who buy more clothes than the people of any other country in Europe? Lucy Siegle finds out how social media has fuelled a huge increase in consumption and how regulation, industry leaders and new generations of consumers and campaigners may finally force the industry to curb its excess.
Producer: Helen Lennard
TUE 16:00 In the Right (m0003twc)
Investigative journalist Lara Whyte reports on the rise of a new wave of female hardline right wing activists. While this end of the political spectrum has been commonly associated with angry men - often skinheads, wearing braces and steel-toed boots - Lara investigates the young women who are bringing fresh ideas and fresher faces to the movement.
Anti-extremism expert Julia Ebner, who has infiltrated multiple far-right groups, reveals that many of these organisations have begun actively recruiting young women in the hopes of softening their public image and potentially increasing their mainstream appeal.
We hear from Lucy Brown who underwent a political transformation that saw her quit Black Lives Matter and end up working alongside Tommy Robinson, the former head of the English Defence League. Lara also speaks to Canadian YouTube "star" Lauren Southern who was banned from entering the UK in 2018 following a protest that caused great offence.
Many of the women Lara speaks to are outspoken critics of Islam and enraged by the grooming gang scandals for which they blame Muslim culture. We hear from a member of 120 Decibels, a campaign group founded in Germany with the aim of combatting what they call "imported sexual violence" towards women committed by illegal immigrants.
Lara explains that most of the young women in this political movement reject the label far-right, despite getting routinely labelled as such in the media and by anti-extremist think tanks. Lara admits that it's a complicated issue but concludes that it's hard not to think of them as far right when you hear their views.
Presenter: Lara Whyte
Producer: Max O'Brien
A TBI production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 16:30 A Good Read (m0003ktk)
Nicola Walker & Sarah Ann Kennedy
Nicola Walker and Sarah Ann Kennedy discuss their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Nicola chooses Animals Strike Curious Poses by Elena Passarello, Sarah Ann chooses Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, and Harriett’s favourite is Boys in the Trees by Carly Simon. How does playing detectives affect how Nicola reads crime fiction? Can spiders weave webs in space, and what did Carly Simon wear when she confronted her husband's mistress? Producer Sally Heaven
TUE 17:00 PM (m0003ktm)
PM at
5pm: interviews, context and analysis.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0003ktp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 My Teenage Diary (b07cvltx)
Series 7
Robert Peston
Journalist and broadcaster Robert Peston reads from his 1974 diaries, and is interviewed by Rufus Hound about his formative years. We find out about his childhood in bohemian North London, his love for prog rock and loon pants, and the reason for the way he speaks.
Producer: Harriet Jaine
Executive Producer: Aled Evans
A Talkback production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m0003jhj)
A business meeting ends badly for Pat and Leonard doesn’t think he's up to scratch
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m0003ktr)
Live daily magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b09fy56c)
The Pillow Book
21/11/2017
Lady Shonagon and Lieutenant Yukinari return for a new series of the popular mystery, The Pillow Book, set in 10th-century Japan.
Having fainted in her first meeting with the new young Empress Shoshi, Lady Shonagon is humiliated and disgraced - and now, she finds herself investigated.
The Pillow Book is inspired by the writings of Sei Shonagon, a poet and lady-in-waiting to the Empress of the 10th-century Japanese court.
Written by Robert Forrest.
Directed by Lu Kemp.
A BBC Scotland Production for Radio 4.
TUE 20:00 Going to Town (m0003d71)
In politics and in the national psyche, towns have long been sidelined by cities. Many feel that towns have been disproportionately affected by austerity, due to an urban-centric model that guides policy and the negative repercussions of globalisation and technological change.
But almost half of the UK's population lives in towns and, as the Brexit referendum revealed, towns have the power to shape the country's future.
Wigan has many markers of struggle — post-industrial decline, poverty, an ageing population — but it is upending the narrative of despair that often surrounds towns. When austerity cuts were implemented nearly a decade ago, Wigan council was among the worst hit and it had no choice but to do things differently and shift power into the hands of the community. In the years since, the town has seen improved health and economic indicators, and a more engaged citizenry.
Professor of Politics Anand Menon asks if Wigan offers a way forward for towns across the UK. And is it time to pay attention to towns as distinct types of places - both as sweet spots for understanding political change, and as laboratories for social policy?
Producer: Meara Sharma
Executive Producer: Peggy Sutton
A Somethin’ Else production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m0003ktw)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (m0003jhq)
Dr Mark Porter goes on a weekly quest to demystify the health issues that perplex us.
TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (m0003ks6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m0003kty)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
TUE 22:45 The Wall (m0003ksy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
TUE 23:00 Date Night (m0003kv0)
Episode 4
Semi-improvised comedy show written and performed by Marc Wootton with Catherine Tate, Monica Dolan, Katherine Parkinson, Hammed Animashaun, Ellie White and Jamie Demetriou. Together they portray a series of couples all embracing the modern phenomenon of date night.
DATE NIGHT, noun: A pre-arranged occasion when a couple who have been together for a long time commit to a regular night out in order to keep their relationship alive.
The series follows a collection of couples who are desperately trying to keep their relationship functioning by creating a weekly date night intervention. For some, the relationship is already broken, for others it's their pre-emptive strike in the hope of new-found longevity. More often than not, the stakes are high, involving children, careers and homes.
Date Night is written and created by Marc Wootton whose previous credits include High & Dry (Ch4), La La Land (Showtime), Shirley Ghostman (BBC) and My New Best Friend (Ch4).
Cast:
Fiona/Patrick/Barry/Richard/Rob/Terry ….. Marc Wootton
Jamali ….. Hammed Animashaun
Carol ….. Monica Dolan
Rita ….. Ellie White
Maddy ….. Katherine Parkinson
Gary ….. Jamie Demetriou
Terri ….. Catherine Tate
Narrator ...... Fi Glover
Sound Designers: David Chilton and Lucinda Mason Brown
Assistant Producer: James Peak
Producer: Anna Madley
A Black Hat production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0003kv2)
All the news from today's sitting at Westminster.
WEDNESDAY 27 MARCH 2019
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m0003kv4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (m0003kv6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0003kv8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0003kvb)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0003kvd)
The latest shipping forecast
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m0003kvg)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0003kvj)
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with Church of Scotland minister the Rev Lezley Stewart.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m0003kvl)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b0423j3r)
Pied Flycatcher
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
David Attenborough presents the story of the pied flycatcher. The pied flycatcher is the voice of western woods, as much a part of the scenery as lichen-covered branches, mossy boulders and tumbling streams. When they arrive here in spring from Africa the black and white males, which are slightly smaller than a house sparrow, take up territories in the woodland and sing their lilting arpeggios from the tree canopy.
WED 06:00 Today (m0003jgk)
Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme; including Thought for the Day
WED 09:00 Black Music in Europe: A Hidden History (m0003jgm)
Series 2
Before the War
Drawing on rare archive recordings, Clarke Peters' new three-part series explores the hidden history of black music across Europe, from the late 1920s through the war years and beyond.
Black music in Europe doesn’t begin with the arrival of the Empire Windrush at Tilbury. There is a long, rich history preserved on shellac discs that shows how diverse sounds enthralled the continent long before 1948.
Throughout the series, we hear from a huge array of different performers - including classical composers, jazz stars, calypso legends and more - as well as commentators and historians, to get to the heart of early black music in Europe.
Episode 1 – Before the War
Clarke examines the variety of black music recorded in Europe from the late 1920s onwards - hot jazz in Weimar Berlin, calypso in Cardiff Bay and the sounds of the Beguine in Paris. He also investigates the Degenerate Music exhibition held in Dusseldorf in 1938, and hears how the rise of Hitler affected the lives of musicians like trumpeter Arthur Briggs.
Presented by Clarke Peters
Produced by Tom Woolfenden
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
WED 09:30 Hotspot (b0bh2bkh)
Buddhism
Brighton has the most internet searches for the word lonely. Plymouth is top for debt problems. Aldershot has the most Buddhists. Jenny Kleeman explores locations at the extremes of UK society, uncovering the stories behind a revealing statistic.
The Office for National Statistics gathers data on everything - the economy, employment, even our wellbeing. We have more data available than ever before, including from search engines, and increasingly the government and big businesses are making crucial judgments based on these statistics. But these numbers can’t tell us everything. In this series, Jenny explores the true stories behind the figures.
Episode 5: Buddhism
What brought the Dalai Lama to the grounds of Aldershot FC in Hampshire in both 2012 and 2015? The 2011 Census shows that Aldershot has the greatest population of Buddhists in the UK. Jenny spends a day at the Buddhist Community Centre and finds out how the Gurkha Justice Campaign, supported by Joanna Lumley, has transformed the town in the past decade.
Produced by Paul Smith
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (m0003jgq)
The Pianist of Yarmouk
Episode 3
Ammar Haj Ahmad reads Aeham Ahmad’s dramatic account of how he risked his life under siege in Damascus, defying the Syrian regime with his music.
It’s early 2014, seven months into President Assad’s siege of the Damascus suburb of Yarmouk. Starving and desperate in the ruins and rubble, Aeham has started a children’s choir and dragged his piano into the street. But the joy his music brings to the residents of Yarmouk is about to be shattered by a sniper’s bullet.
And news that in normal times would be a cause for celebration, adds another layer of anxiety to Aeham’s life:
"One day, Tahani had to sit down suddenly. She was feeling dizzy. She told me she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was pregnant. She went to see a midwife, who confirmed it. Tahani was overjoyed. And I was, too. But my doubts grew. We were starving. How could a baby grow on our diet of lentils, boiled clover and the odd glass of powdered milk?"
Aeham and Tahani’s first child had been born by Caesarian Section and they knew this baby would have to be delivered the same way.
"With each passing day, one particular question became ever more pressing: Where could she go for her delivery? We asked at the makeshift field hospital in al-Hajar al-Aswad. They had no antibiotics or anaesthetic. The regime hadn’t just cut off our food supply, but our medical supply as well."
The Pianist of Yarmouk is read by Ammar Haj Ahmad, who trained as an actor before fleeing the conflict in Syria. He recently starred in the critically acclaimed play The Jungle, set in the notorious Calais refugee camp, in London and New York.
Written by Aeham Ahmad
Read by Ammar Haj Ahmad
Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0003jgt)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
WED 10:41 Annika Stranded (b0bkqdqg)
Series 4
The Behaviour of Sharks
Eight new cases to challenge the detective wit of Annika Strandhed, queen of the Oslo Police boat patrol.
Since we last met her, Annika has been promoted to Chief Inspector. Her first act was - apart from choosing a new speedboat - to co-opt Mikel, her forensic photographer of choice, to accompany her. Her son Tor is about to start school.
Being Chief Inspector means a bigger case-load. What follows will test her physically and emotionally as never before.
Episode 6: The Behaviour of Sharks
Investigating a murder on a cruiser, Annika finds herself adrift at sea.
Nick Walker is the author of two critically-acclaimed novels, Blackbox and Helloland. His plays and short stories have often featured on BBC Radio 4, including the First King of Mars stories (2007 - 2010) and the plays Life Coach (2010) and Stormchasers (2012). The previous series of Annika Stranded were broadcast in 2013, 2014 and 2016.
Writer: Nick Walker
Reader: Nicola Walker
Sound Design: Jon Calver
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (m0003jgw)
Robert and Niall: The Godfather
Two friends who were at college together talk about how their lives diverged in adulthood. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
WED 11:00 The Monster Downstairs (m0003jgy)
Life for the child of an alcoholic can be lonely. Locked inside a house of secrets. A code of silence. Journalist Camilla Tominey, whose mother was an alcoholic, hears their stories.
Cut through this documentary will be presenter Camilla Tominey's own experience. Since having her own children, she's longed to travel back in time and ask her, mother to mother: "What made you start drinking before noon?"
Camilla explores the inner lives of people growing up with alcoholic parents - how have they been changed by the experience and what has helped them to make it through? We'll hear the intimate, wrenching stories - of young people and adults - as they talk about an unpredictable existence.
Producer: Caitlin Smith
WED 11:30 A Charles Paris Mystery (m0003jh0)
Star Trap
Episode 4
by Jeremy Front
based on the novel by Simon Brett.
Winnie The Musical has been beset by a suspicious number of accidents, and now a cast member has died, Charles can't resist doing some detective work to find out what's going on. Meanwhile he's regretting having agreed to partner Frances in her dance competition.
Charles Paris ..... Bill Nighy
Frances ..... Suzanne Burden
Maurice ..... Jon Glover
Chris Watt/Winston ..... Nigel Lindsay
Nina Lamb ..... Clare Corbett
Ged ..... Ronny Jhutti
Kay Walbrook ..... Carolyn Pickles
Abbie ..... Sarah Ovens
Waitress ..... Franchi Webb
Bar Staff ..... Joseph Ayre
Man ..... Don Gilet
Director ..... Mary Peate
Producer ..... Sally Avens
WED 12:00 News Summary (m0003jh2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 The Wall (m0003jh4)
Episode Three
The Wall is the new novel from John Lanchester, author of Capital and The Debt to Pleasure.
Ravaged by the Change, an island nation has built the Wall, a high concrete barrier around its entire coastline. Joseph Kavanagh, a new Defender, has one task: to protect his section of the Wall from the Others, the desperate souls who are trapped on the rising seas beyond the Wall and are trying to get in. Failure will result in death or a fate perhaps worse: being put to sea and made an Other himself.
John Lanchester was born in Hamburg in 1962. He has worked as a football reporter, obituary writer, book editor, restaurant critic, and deputy editor of the London Review of Books, where he is a contributing editor. He is a regular contributor to the New Yorker. He has written four novels, The Debt to Pleasure, Mr Phillips and Fragrant Harbour, and Capital, and two works of non-fiction: Family Romance, a memoir; and Whoops!: Why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay, about the global financial crisis. His books have won the Hawthornden Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Prize, E.M Forster Award, and the Premi Llibreter, been longlisted for the Booker Prize, and been translated into twenty-five languages.
Produced by Mair Bosworth
Abridged for radio by Eileen Horne
Read by Ben Norris
WED 12:18 You and Yours (m0003jh7)
Radio 4's consumer affairs programme.
WED 12:57 Weather (m0003jh9)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (m0003jhc)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
WED 13:45 The Puppet Master (m0003jhf)
Episode 3
The man who made the post-truth world.
WED 14:00 The Archers (m0003jhj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (m0003jhl)
The Listening Room
What happens when perpetrators and victims of violent crimes come face to face?
The Listening Room is a unique collaboration between the theatre company Crowded Room, the Prison Radio Association charity and BBC Radio 4. On the day of broadcast, The Listening Room is also being broadcast into the cells of 80,000 prisoners across England and Wales via National Prison Radio, the radio station for prisoners that aims to reduce reoffending.
The play tells, in their own words, the true stories of five people whose lives have been turned upside-down through violent crimes.
Playwright Harriet Madeley conducted original interviews with three victims and two perpetrators of serious violent offences - including murder, manslaughter and violent assault.
In each case, the victims and perpetrators describe not only the crimes themselves, but also what happened in the aftermath. Following trial and punishment, each was given the chance to meet the person on the other side in a process called Restorative Justice.
Their words have been turned into a script, and actors recite, word-for-word, their testimonies. During the recording, the actors listened to the original interviews through headphones as they spoke the words.
Each story is shocking in its own way, but all have one thing in common - the remarkable way both victims and perpetrators have shown a determination to move on from the crimes, in order that no further lives should be destroyed as a result of one disastrous decision.
Cast:
Mark Knightley - Ray
Cathy Tyson - Vi
Ryan Gerald - Jacob
Neran Persaud - Khamran
Leo Wan - Tim
Music: Jethro Cooke
Writer: Harriet Madeley (Crowded Room)
Producer: Andrew Wilkie (Prison Radio Association)
Producer: Mel Harris
A PRA production for BBC Radio 4
WED 15:00 Money Box (m0003jhn)
Paul Lewis and a panel of guests answer calls on personal finance.
WED 15:30 Inside Health (m0003jhq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m0003jhs)
Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (m0003jhv)
A topical programme about the fast-changing media world.
WED 17:00 PM (m0003jhx)
PM at
5pm: interviews, context and analysis.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0003jhz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Fags, Mags and Bags (b092cnps)
Series 7
Burger, Burger, Burger, Burger, Burger
The hit series returns for a seventh series with more shop based shenanigans and over the counter philosophy, courtesy of Ramesh Mahju and his trusty sidekick Dave. Written by and starring Donald Mcleary and Sanjeev Kohli.
Set in a Scots-Asian corner shop, the award winning Fags, Mags & Bags sees a return of all the shop regular characters, and some guest appearances along the way, from the likes of Sean Biggerstaff, Mina Anwar, Greg McHugh and Simon Greenall.
In this opening episode, we pick up on Dave's relationship with his best friend Lesley (Simon Greenall). Does Dave see a future in the friendship, and what does Lenzie think of his blossoming bromance?
Join the staff of Fags, Mags and Bags in their tireless quest to bring nice-price custard creams and cans of coke with Arabic writing on them to an ungrateful nation. Ramesh Mahju has built it up over the course of over 30 years and is a firmly entrenched, friendly presence in the local area. He is joined by his shop sidekick, Dave.
Then of course there are Ramesh's sons Sanjay and Alok, both surly and not particularly keen on the old school approach to shopkeeping, but natural successors to the business. Ramesh is keen to pass all his worldly wisdom onto them - whether they like it or not!
Producer: Gus Beattie for Gusman Productions
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 19:00 The Archers (m0003jj1)
It’s all change for Alistair and Ed feels suffocated
WED 19:15 Front Row (m0003jj3)
Live daily magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b09fy6g1)
The Pillow Book
22/11/2017
Lady Shonagon and Lieutenant Yukinari return! Robert Forrest's popular thriller set in 10th-century Japan.
Shonagon begins to connect the visitations by her Empress Teishi with a story she was once told by a drunken, but earnest, Lord - about a living ghost.
The Pillow Book is inspired by the writings of Sei Shonagon, a poet and lady-in-waiting to the Empress of the 10th-century Japanese court.
Written by Robert Forrest.
Directed by Lu Kemp.
A BBC Scotland Production for Radio 4.
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m0003jj5)
Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk. With Michael Portillo, Melanie Philips, Claire Fox and Giles Fraser.
WED 20:45 Lent Talks (m0003jj7)
The Uncertainty of Jesus
"Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me." Author Dr Bex Lewis draws on Jesus’ Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane as she describes her experience of being diagnosed with cancer.
Producer: Dan Tierney
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (m0003jj9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Black Music in Europe: A Hidden History (m0003jgm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m0003jjc)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
WED 22:45 The Wall (m0003jh4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
WED 23:00 Bunk Bed (m0003jjf)
Series 6
Episode 2
Everyone craves a place where their mind and body are not applied to a particular task. The nearest faraway place. Somewhere for drifting and lighting upon strange thoughts which don't have to be shooed into context, but which can be followed like balloons escaping onto the air.
Late at night, in the dark and in a bunk bed, your tired mind can wander.
This is the nearest faraway place for Patrick Marber and Peter Curran. Here they endeavour to get the heart of things in an entertainingly vague and indirect way. This is not the place for typical male banter.
From under the bed clothes, they wrestle life's challenges. This week, they discuss the ideal position for human genitals and if evolution should ever get a move on.
Produced by Peter Curran
A Foghorn production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:15 Tom Parry's Fancy Dressed Life (b08mqtpz)
Series 1
Scary
Episode 3: Scary. It's Halloween, the Christmas of Fancy Dress and Tom's friend Ben is having a party. The curse of the dreaded "internet orderers" and some traumatic memories of cub camp conspire to temporarily undermine Tom's status as local Fancy Dress Hero.
Tom Parry is an award winning comedian, writer and actor whose credits include Miranda, Phone Shop and Drunk History among many others. As a stand up, he most recently gained critical acclaim and an Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nomination for his debut hour 'Yellow T-Shirt'. For more than a decade he has been part of the multi-award winning sketch team Pappy's. Together they have performed 6 sell out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, completed 4 national tours, gigged all over the world, and created, written and starred in the sitcom 'Badults' for BBC3.
Cast: Tom Parry, Ben Clarke, Celeste Dring, Gareth Pierce
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0003jjh)
All the news from today's sitting at Westminster.
THURSDAY 28 MARCH 2019
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m0003jjk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (m0003jgq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0003jjm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0003jjp)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0003jjr)
The latest shipping forecast
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m0003jjt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0003jjw)
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with Church of Scotland minister the Rev Lezley Stewart.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m0003jjy)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02twpwl)
Kingfisher
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the kingfisher.
The Ancient Greeks knew the kingfisher as Halcyon and believed that the female built her nest on the waves calming the seas while she brooded her eggs: hence the expression, Halcyon days which we use now for periods of tranquillity.
Kingfishers can bring in over 100 fish a day to their large broods and the resulting collection of bones and offal produces a stench that doesn't match the bird's attractive appearance.
THU 06:00 Today (m0003jp2)
Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme; including Thought for the Day
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m0003jp7)
The Danelaw
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the effective partition of England in the 880s after a century of Viking raids, invasions and settlements. Alfred of Wessex, the surviving Anglo-Saxon king and Guthrum, a Danish ruler, had fought each other to a stalemate and came to terms, with Guthrum controlling the land to the east (once he had agreed to convert to Christianity). The key strategic advantage the invaders had was the Viking ships which were far superior and enabled them to raid from the sea and up rivers very rapidly. Their Great Army had arrived in the 870s, conquering the kingdom of Northumbria and occupying York. They defeated the king of Mercia and seized part of his land. They killed the Anglo-Saxon king of East Anglia and gained control of his territory. It was once a smaller force failed to defeat Wessex that the Danelaw came into being, leaving a lasting impact on the people and customs of that area.
With
Judith Jesch
John Hines
And
Jane Kershaw
Producer: Simon Tillotson
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (m0003jpc)
The Pianist of Yarmouk
Episode 4
Ammar Haj Ahmad reads Aeham Ahmad’s dramatic account of how he risked his life playing music under siege in Damascus.
It’s November 2014 and the Damascus suburb of Yarmouk has been starved of food and medicine by President Assad’s forces for two years. Then, the worst happens and ISIS fighters take over. Music is forbidden under their severe Islamic code and Aeham’s attempt to smuggle his beloved piano out of Yarmouk goes badly wrong:
"Suddenly it all happened very fast. The ISIS guys went into a nearby shed and came back with two plastic bottles. They were filled with a brown liquid. I slowly backed away from the checkpoint. The men started pouring the liquid over our pushcart. Then, one of the men flicked open his lighter. I saw a flame shooting out. I turned and ran."
"Very quickly the news about ISIS burning my piano had gone around the world. Eyewitnesses had posted about it on Facebook. Media across the world, from Los Angeles to Tokyo, reported it. Even CNN aired a segment about it. If these ISIS guys saw any of this, they’d kill me."
Aeham has no choice – he has to escape from Yarmouk and get out of Syria. But should he risk the lives of his wife and two small children by taking them with him?
The Pianist of Yarmouk is read by Ammar Haj Ahmad, who trained as an actor before fleeing the conflict in Syria. He recently starred in the critically acclaimed play The Jungle, set in the notorious Calais refugee camp, in London and New York.
Written by Aeham Ahmad
Read by Ammar Haj Ahmad
Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0003jph)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
THU 10:45 Annika Stranded (b0blhh76)
Series 4
Last Call
Eight new cases to challenge the detective wit of Annika Strandhed, queen of the Oslo Police boat patrol.
Since we last met her, Annika has been promoted to Chief Inspector. Her first act was - apart from choosing a new speedboat - to co-opt Mikel, her forensic photographer of choice, to accompany her. Her son Tor is about to start school.
Being Chief Inspector means a bigger case-load. What follows will test her physically and emotionally as never before.
Episode 7: Last Call
Annika gets an unpleasant surprise when she investigates a death in the ski resort at Lillehammer.
Nick Walker is the author of two critically-acclaimed novels, Blackbox and Helloland. His plays and short stories have often featured on BBC Radio 4, including the First King of Mars stories (2007 - 2010) and the plays Life Coach (2010) and Stormchasers (2012). The previous series of Annika Stranded were broadcast in 2013, 2014 and 2016.
Writer: Nick Walker
Reader: Nicola Walker
Sound Design: Jon Calver
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m0003jpm)
Unrest in Ukraine’s Little Hungary
Eastern Ukraine has been under assault from Russian backed rebel forces for the past five years, but few have heard of a smaller conflict, which could be brewing in the west of the country, between Ukraine and Hungary. Some have accused the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban of trying to create a breakaway state in impoverished Transcarpathia, once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Ukraine and Hungary both expelled diplomats from each other’s nations, following a row over passports and a Hungarian cultural centre has been repeatedly firebombed. Lucy Ash meets people in the Ukrainian border town of Berehove and investigates whether deepening tensions could destabilise the region and further dash Ukraine’s hopes of being a unified country inside NATO and the EU.
Producer: Josephine Casserly
(Image: Pupil at a Hungarian-language secondary school in Berehove in Western Ukraine walks down a corridor bearing a portrait of Lajos Kossuth, the 19th Century political reformer after whom the school is named. Credit: Balint Bardi)
THU 11:30 Making Art with Frances Morris: Sophie Calle (m0003jpr)
Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern, meets French artist Sophie Calle in her studio in south west Paris.
The studio is a cabinet of curiosities, with an incredible array of intriguing objects including stuffed animals, one of which, the head and shoulders of a giraffe, represents the artist's mother - while a tiger is her father and the zebra, her cat Souris.
Sophie Calle is a visual artist, who recently produced an album of songs by 40 international musicians, in memory of her dead cat Souris. There’s Jarvis Cocker, Juliette Armanet, Bono, Michael Stipe to name a few. She’s made work out of her mother dying or her boyfriend ditching her. She’s had a job as a stripper, made a crazy road movie called No Sex Last Night. She's contacted everyone in a lost address book she found on the street. She’s asked people to describe their most exquisite pain, invited strangers to attend the funeral of their secrets. She’s asked museum staff to remember stolen paintings, blind people to describe the most beautiful thing they’ve seen. And although the work seems apparently dry - images and texts, books - it's deeply personal for those involved, and for us - the viewer.
Sophie works with real life experiences we can all relate to – the death of a parent, the end of a relationship. Her work resonates with her preoccupations - death, absence, the mourning of the passing of life. "Growth is a series of mournings."
Frances Morris is fascinated to enter the inner sanctum of this avid artist who is famously controlling and who devises and implements "rules of the game". "Who will be interviewing who?" she asks en route to Paris.
Produced by Kate Bland
A Cast Iron Radio production for BBC Radio 4
THU 12:00 News Summary (m0003jpw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 The Wall (m0003jq0)
Episode Four
The Wall is the new novel from John Lanchester, author of Capital and The Debt to Pleasure.
Ravaged by the Change, an island nation has built the Wall, a high concrete barrier around its entire coastline. Joseph Kavanagh, a new Defender, has one task: to protect his section of the Wall from the Others, the desperate souls who are trapped on the rising seas beyond the Wall and are trying to get in. Failure will result in death or a fate perhaps worse: being put to sea and made an Other himself.
John Lanchester was born in Hamburg in 1962. He has worked as a football reporter, obituary writer, book editor, restaurant critic, and deputy editor of the London Review of Books, where he is a contributing editor. He is a regular contributor to the New Yorker. He has written four novels, The Debt to Pleasure, Mr Phillips and Fragrant Harbour, and Capital, and two works of non-fiction: Family Romance, a memoir; and Whoops!: Why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay, about the global financial crisis. His books have won the Hawthornden Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Prize, E.M Forster Award, and the Premi Llibreter, been longlisted for the Booker Prize, and been translated into twenty-five languages.
Produced by Mair Bosworth
Abridged for radio by Eileen Horne
Read by Ben Norris
THU 12:18 You and Yours (m0003jq4)
Radio 4's consumer affairs programme.
THU 12:57 Weather (m0003jqb)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (m0003jqj)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
THU 13:45 The Puppet Master (m0003jqq)
Episode 4
The man who made the post-truth world.
THU 14:00 The Archers (m0003jj1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Dangerous Visions (b07c2svl)
News from Nowhere
News from Nowhere is a classic piece of futuristic writing, first published in 1890 by artist, designer and socialist William Morris. Its central tenet - that society should refind the value of work and thrive on beauty, rather than consumerism - is timely. This updated drama revisits Morris' vision of a new society for now.
Our Will Guest is a modern day, 21st Century man, travelling from 2016 to a future Utopia. The word utopia comes from the Greek ou-topos, meaning 'no-place' or 'nowhere'. There is uneasy antagonism between Will's 21st Century values and those of 'Nowhere'. But there is also love......Will goes on a time travelling voyage of discovery, finding a new love for society, as well as a woman.
Part of the Dangerous Visions BBC Radio 4 season.
Cast
Will Guest.......................Ron Cook
Ellen...............................Catrin Stewart
Dick.................................Keiron Self
Clara...............................Claire Cage
Old Hammond.................Richard Nichols
Grumbler.........................Roger Evans
The girl...........................Kristy Phillipps
Chinese worker.............Crystal Yu
Dramatist Sarah Woods
Producer Polly Thomas
Sound design Nigel Lewis
Production co ordination Lindsay Rees
A BBC Cymru/Wales production for BBC Radio 4
THU 15:00 Ramblings (m0003jqx)
Series 41
To the Lighthouse!
Clare is walking to a land-based lighthouse on today’s Ramblings. Smeaton’s Tower was originally on the Eddystone Reef, twelve miles out to sea on Plymouth Sound but when it was replaced by a new structure in 1882, the Tower was moved onshore and now stands on Plymouth Hoe. Tom Nancollas is Clare’s guide. He has written a book - Seashaken Houses - which tells of his passion for lighthouses and their many extraordinary stories. Also joining them on the walk is Tom’s friend Michael O’Mahony. He joined Tom on two of his research trips to lighthouses, which, as he recalls, ended in an undignified fashion!
On their walk, Tom discusses his fascination for lighthouses and a strange family coincidence that emerged unexpectedly during his research: he discovered an ancestor had visited Smeaton’s Tower before him – as part of the team who dismantled the tower and moved it to the mainland.
They start their walk by the Devonport Column, take in interesting parts of Plymouth and its coastline and end at the distinctive red and white 'winning post' of Smeaton's Tower itself.
If you're reading this on the Radio 4 webpage, you can scroll down to the 'related links' section to find out more, including about Tom's book.
Producer: Karen Gregor
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m0003jn9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (m0003jpd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (m0003jr3)
Film programme looking at the latest cinema releases, DVDs and films on TV
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m0003jr9)
Adam Rutherford investigates the news in science and science in the news.
THU 17:00 PM (m0003jrh)
PM at
5pm: interviews, context and analysis.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0003jrp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off (m0003jrw)
Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off... Article 50
He’s back! Marcus Brigstocke stars as Budleigh Salterton’s biggest idiot, come to help us over the cliff-edge in a show that - in a tribute to Brexit – will still be being put together right up to the last minute.
It's misery chez the Wemmbley Hogg household. Since Giles's mother - Mums - and his father - Peter Wemmbley Hogg, same spelling - voted on opposite sides of the Brexit coin, nobody is speaking to each other anymore and Giles isn't even allowed to use the word "chez”.
So, if - like Giles - you're confused, miserable and torn between the Remoaners and the Brexiteers, then this is the show for you as, in one glorious half-hour special, Giles decides that for the sake of his family - and probably Britain - he's going to ruddy well SORT IT OUT.
Cast:
Giles Wemmbley Hogg................Marcus Brigstocke
Sir Michael.........................................Alexander Armstrong
Lina.......................................................Katy Wix
Charlotte Wemmbley Hogg.......Catherine Shepherd
Mr Figgis.............................................Mike Grady
Oskar....................................................Dan Tetsell
Written by Marcus Brigstocke and Jeremy Salsby with additional material by Nick Doody and Katie Storey
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4
THU 19:00 The Archers (m0003js2)
Natasha is put on the spot and Will offers a solution
THU 19:15 Front Row (m0003js8)
Live daily magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b09fzmjp)
The Pillow Book
23/11/2017
Lady Shonagon and Lieutenant Yukinari return! Robert Forrest's popular thriller set in 10th-century Japan.
Exhausted by the interviews with Yukinari, Lady Shonagon attempts to find some peace within the palace grounds, but the visions will not let her rest - and rage like the coming storm.
The Pillow Book is inspired by the writings of Sei Shonagon, a poet and lady-in-waiting to the Empress of the 10th-century Japanese court.
Written by Robert Forrest.
Directed by Lu Kemp.
A BBC Scotland Production for Radio 4.
THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m0003jsf)
Combining original insights into major news stories with topical investigations.
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (m0003jsm)
Planning for uncertainty
Evan Davis chairs a round table discussion providing insight into business from the people at the top.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m0003jr9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (m0003jp7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m0003jsv)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
THU 22:45 The Wall (m0003jq0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
THU 23:00 Where's the F in News (m0003jsz)
Series 2
Episode 4
An energetic, intelligent female-anchored show with a female panel - using the events, trends and talking points they think should really be top of the news agenda in a series of fresh and funny challenges.
Host Jo Bunting is joined by a panel of women including Cariad Lloyd, Emily Dean, Rosemary Shrager and Fi Glover.
Jo Bunting is a producer and writer of topical comedy and satire, with credits including Have I Got News For You, the Great British Bake Off spin off show An Extra Slice with Jo Brand, and the successful topical chat show That Sunday Night Show presented by Adrian Chiles on ITV. Jo was a guest interviewer on Loose Ends for several years and a panellist on Loose Women.
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0003jt3)
All the news from today's sitting at Westminster.
FRIDAY 29 MARCH 2019
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m0003jt7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (m0003jpc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0003jtd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0003jtj)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0003jtn)
The latest shipping forecast
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m0003jts)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0003jtx)
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with Church of Scotland minister the Rev Lezley Stewart.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m0003jv1)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0vfj)
Northern Cardinal
Michael Palin presents the northern cardinal from a New York's Central Park. Northern Cardinals are finch-like birds and make British robins look positively anaemic. They are common residents in the south and east of North America where they live in woods, parks and gardens. Your first sighting of these vermilion birds with their black masks and outrageous crests comes as a shock. They seem too tropically colourful to brave the dull North American winter.
Only the male Cardinals are bright red. Females are browner with flashes of red on their wings and red bills. Both sexes obtain their red colours from seeds and other foods which contain carotenoid pigments.
Their familiarity and eye-catching colours have endeared cardinals to North Americans. No fewer than seven states, including Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio have adopted cardinals as their state bird and it's also the mascot of many famous sports clubs including the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.
FRI 06:00 Today (m0003jvs)
Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme; including Thought for the Day
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m0003jnr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (m0003jxj)
The Pianist of Yarmouk
Episode 5
Ammar Haj Ahmad reads Aeham Ahmad’s dramatic account of how he risked his life playing music under siege in Damascus.
After being caught by President Assad’s forces trying to flee Syria with his wife and two small children, Aeham and his family have miraculously been freed from prison. But then he has to make an agonising choice:
"It was heartbreaking, but my decision was made: I had to leave Syria, I was too well known to the authorities to survive if I stayed. But I couldn’t take my wife and kids on such a hellish journey. If I made it to Europe in one piece, I’d do everything in my power to have them join me. But if something happened to me – well, at least my family would live."
In his desperation, Aeham employs a people smuggler to get him out of Syria and across the border into Turkey.
"Suddenly, we see a group of maybe 20 people dashing out of the woods and breaking into a sprint. Four men are carrying an old woman on a stretcher. The soldiers notice them and start yelling at them to stop. They get stuck in the ditch. It’s impossible to keep going, not with the old lady. The soldiers open fire. Two men are shot in the leg. We start running as well. And in all the turmoil, we manage to get across the border."
But that’s not the most dangerous part of his journey – he still has to face the crossing from Izmir to Lesbos in a flimsy, overcrowded dinghy.
The Pianist of Yarmouk is read by Ammar Haj Ahmad, who trained as an actor before fleeing the conflict in Syria. He recently starred in the critically acclaimed play The Jungle, set in the notorious Calais refugee camp, in London and New York.
Written by Aeham Ahmad
Read by Ammar Haj Ahmad
Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0003jvz)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
FRI 10:45 Annika Stranded (m0000n9t)
Series 4
Beginnings Two
Eight new cases to challenge the detective wit of Annika Strandhed, queen of the Oslo Police boat patrol.
Since we last met her, Annika has been promoted to Chief Inspector. Her first act was - apart from choosing a new speedboat - to co-opt Mikel, her forensic photographer of choice, to accompany her. Her son Tor is about to start school.
Being Chief Inspector means a bigger case-load. What follows will test her physically and emotionally as never before.
Episode 8: Beginnings Two
Annika is struggling and in therapy, but still has to solve the murder of an industrialist at the Oslo theatre.
Nick Walker is the author of two critically-acclaimed novels, Blackbox and Helloland. His plays and short stories have often featured on BBC Radio 4, including the First King of Mars stories (2007 - 2010) and the plays Life Coach (2010) and Stormchasers (2012). The previous series of Annika Stranded were broadcast in 2013, 2014 and 2016.
Writer: Nick Walker
Reader: Nicola Walker
Sound Design: Jon Calver
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 11:00 The University Time Bomb (m0003jw1)
Universities in England are steeling themselves for a big hit on their finances. A recent ruling on how the government records student loans is set to add £12 billion to the deficit - and a wholesale rethink of how we finance over 18s education is needed to help balance the books.
In this two-part series, the BBC's Education Editor, Branwen Jeffreys, investigates what this will mean for the future of Higher and Further Education in England.
Have we reached "peak university"? Are caps on student numbers inevitable? And could any tightening of the purse strings mean some colleges and universities will go bust?
Presenter: Branwen Jeffreys
Producer: Will Yates
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 11:30 Reluctant Persuaders (b08kxzvv)
Series 2
Live Young
Starring Nigel Havers, Mathew Baynton and Josie Lawrence. Welcome back to Hardacre's, the worst advertising agency in London, for the second series of Edward Rowett's award-winning sitcom.
This series finds the team a little higher up the proverbial ladder. No longer fighting to stay afloat, but now fighting to get ahead, this week the team are confronted with an unexpected challenge - a can of water.
Tasked by accounts manager Amanda (Josie Lawrence) with creating a campaign to sell water to impoverished millennials, copy-writer Joe (Mathew Baynton) and art director Teddy (Kieran Hodgson) face an unsettling question - can you convince people with no money to buy something they could have for free? And even if you can - should you?
As ever, they are alternately assisted and obstructed by their washed up creative director and self-professed advertising god, Rupert Hardacre (Nigel Havers) and disinterested receptionist Laura (Olivia Nixon).
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m0003l6h)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 The Wall (m0003jw5)
Episode Five
The Wall is the new novel from John Lanchester, author of Capital and The Debt to Pleasure.
Ravaged by the Change, an island nation has built the Wall, a high concrete barrier around its entire coastline. Joseph Kavanagh, a new Defender, has one task: to protect his section of the Wall from the Others, the desperate souls who are trapped on the rising seas beyond the Wall and are trying to get in. Failure will result in death or a fate perhaps worse: being put to sea and made an Other himself.
John Lanchester was born in Hamburg in 1962. He has worked as a football reporter, obituary writer, book editor, restaurant critic, and deputy editor of the London Review of Books, where he is a contributing editor. He is a regular contributor to the New Yorker. He has written four novels, The Debt to Pleasure, Mr Phillips and Fragrant Harbour, and Capital, and two works of non-fiction: Family Romance, a memoir; and Whoops!: Why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay, about the global financial crisis. His books have won the Hawthornden Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Prize, E.M Forster Award, and the Premi Llibreter, been longlisted for the Booker Prize, and been translated into twenty-five languages.
Produced by Mair Bosworth
Abridged for radio by Eileen Horne
Read by Ben Norris
FRI 12:18 You and Yours (m0003jw7)
Radio 4's consumer affairs programme.
FRI 12:57 Weather (m0003jw9)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (m0003jwc)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
FRI 13:45 The Puppet Master (m0003jwf)
Episode 5
The man who made the post-truth world.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m0003js2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b076mptb)
Pandora
By Caroline Horton
Things are fine. Pandora is young, living in Paris, she's got a nice boyfriend and a job that pays the bills. So why did she try to kill herself? While her boyfriend Tom wrestles with this question, Pandora gets drunk with her Danish friend Bert. But she can't hide from her problems forever.
An intimate journey through the no-man's land of a suicide survival, written by and starring Caroline Horton. Caroline is an exciting writer/performer from Birmingham. Her 2010 stage play You're Not Like The Other Girls Chrissy won her Best Solo Performer at The Stage Awards 2010 and was nominated for an Olivier Award. Her second, Mess, won Best Ensemble at The Stage Awards 2012. Her first radio drama - Paris, Nana & Me was shortlisted for the Imison Award in 2014.
Pandora.... Caroline Horton
Tom.... Martin Bonger
Bert.... Troels Hagen Findsen
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0003jwh)
East Meon
Eric Robson and his panel of experts are in East Meon, Hampshire. Chris Beardshaw, Pippa Greenwood and Bob Flowerdew answer the horticultural questions.
Produced by Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Hester Cant
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m0003jwk)
The Cousin Clairvoyant
An original short story specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 by the Northern Irish writer Colin Carberry. As read by Aaron McCusker (Bohemian Rhapsody, Women On The Verge.)
Colin Carberry is a writer of screenplays and fiction from Belfast. With Glenn Patterson, he co-wrote the film 'Good Vibrations' for which the pair won Best Script at the 2013 Irish Writers Guild Awards and were nominated for Outstanding Debut at the 2014 BAFTA Film awards. His previous writing for Radio 4 includes the stories 'If I Only Had The Nerve' and 'Second Class, Signed For.'
Writer ….. Colin Carberry
Reader ….. Aaron McCusker
Producer ….. Michael Shannon
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m0003jwm)
Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to unsung but significant.
FRI 16:30 Feedback (m0003jwp)
Radio 4's forum for comments, queries, criticisms and congratulations
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (m0003jwr)
Shane and Liam: Finding the Words to Talk
Friends talk how the changing political landscape affects their lives -specifically about losing a baby which was due on the day Britain is scheduled to Brexit. Fi Glover presents another 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
FRI 17:00 PM (m0003jwt)
PM at
5pm: interviews, context and analysis.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0003jww)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The Now Show (m0003jwy)
Series 54
Episode 6
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis present the week via topical stand-up and sketches
Featuring Zoe Lyons, Lucy Porter, Rachel Parris and Luke Kempner.
Producer: Adnan Ahmed
BBC Studios Production
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m0003jx0)
Writer ….. Caroline Harrington
Director ….. Marina Caldarone
Editor ….. Jeremy Howe
Jill Archer .... Patricia Greene
Josh Archer ..... Angus Imrie
Jolene Archer ..... Buffy Davis
Tony Archer .... David Troughton
Pat Archer .... Patricia Gallimore
Tom Archer .... William Troughton
Toby Fairbrother .... Rhys Bevan
Alan Franks .... John Telfer
Clarrie Grundy .... Heather Bell
Will Grundy .... Philip Molloy
Emma Grundy .... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Ed Grundy .... Barry Farrimond
Shula Hebden Lloyd .... Judy Bennett
Alistair Lloyd ..... Michael Lumsden
Adam Macy .... Andrew Wincott
Elizabeth Pargetter .... Alison Dowling
Freddie Pargetter .... Toby Laurence
Lily Pargetter .... Katie Redford
Natasha .... Mali Harries
Russ ..... Andonis James Anthony
Tim Oatey .... Carl Prekopp
Leonard Berry .... Paul Copley
Doug .... David Seddon
FRI 19:15 Front Row (m0003jx2)
Live daily magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b09fzt7d)
The Pillow Book
24/11/2017
Lady Shonagon and Lieutenant Yukinari return! Robert Forrest's popular thriller set in 10th-century Japan.
The storm is passing, Lady Shonagon decides to revist a game of her youth and wander the palace corridors at night. She intends to wander alone, but that is not to be...
The Pillow Book is inspired by the writings of Sei Shonagon, a poet and lady-in-waiting to the Empress of the 10th-century Japanese court.
Written by Robert Forrest.
Directed by Lu Kemp.
A BBC Scotland Production for Radio 4.
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m0003jx4)
Lord Hennessy
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate from Dover Castle Keep with a panel including the constitutional expert and crossbench peer Lord Hennessy.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m0003jx6)
Weekly reflections on topical issues from a range of contributors.
FRI 21:00 Archive on 4 (b08rp0gv)
Femmes Fatales
Recorded on location in Manhattan, screen siren Kathleen Turner celebrates the enduring mystique of the femme fatale.
Turner, who famously played the husky-voiced femme fatale Matty walker in the steamy thriller Body Heat, traces the history of the Femme Fatale in cinema and in film noir where she was so often a central character.
Film noir always come to the fore during moments of deep cultural anxiety. And the character of the femme fatale shines a revealing light on the role of women in society and the relationship between the sexes.
It was towards the end of the Second World War that noir first emerged as a style of filmmaking. These were gritty thrillers that exposed the dark underbelly of the American Dream. In films such as Double Indemnity, Out Of The Past and The Postman Always Rings Twice, the femme fatale was the intelligent but heartless seductress who entrapped the male protagonist, for her own murderous and financial gain.
In the late 70s and early 80s, America experienced another moment of deep cynicism following the Vietnam war and filmmakers returned to film noir, with Kathleen Turner's Matty Walker as the ultimate neo noir femme fatale character in Body Heat. These films, not content with the racy innuendo of 1940s noir, shocked and thrilled audiences with explicit sex scenes. But through her typical tough dame talk, Matty Walker also draws attention to the underestimation of women by men.
With contributions from Eddie Muller (President of the Film Noir Foundation), Professor Ellis Cashmore and Nick James (Editor of the BFI's Sight and Sound magazine), Kathleen introduces standout performances from Lauren Bacall, Barbara Stanwyck, Rita Hayworth, Joan Crawford and Lana Turner.
The film noir femme fatale was a wonderfully meaty role for an up-and-coming Hollywood actress, such as British star Peggy Cummins. Now 91, she reflects on her role as the femme fatale in Joseph H. Lewis' Gun Crazy about an ambitious fairground sharp-shooter who goes on a bank robbing spree with her trigger-happy husband.
Julie Grossman (author of Rethinking The Femme Fatale in Film Noir) argues that we make blithe and easy reference to femmes fatales without considering their social and psychological context. Many 1940s femmes fatales in film noir were deeply interesting characters who felt trapped, bored or led deeply unfulfilling lives.
Kathleen argues that, despite great advances in gender equality since the 1940s, the femme fatale will always be relevant "because men will always be terrified of women."
Producer: Victoria Ferran
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m0003jx8)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
FRI 22:45 The Wall (m0003jw5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
FRI 23:00 A Good Read (m0003ktk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0003jxb)
All the news from today's sitting at Westminster.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (m0003jxd)
Shamila and Malcolm: Daughters Getting Married
Friends talk about wedding plans and engagements in the family and about learning to let go. Fi Glover presents another 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
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
19:45 MON (b09fxxkv)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 TUE (b09fy56c)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 WED (b09fy6g1)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 THU (b09fzmjp)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 FRI (b09fzt7d)
A Charles Paris Mystery
11:30 WED (m0003jh0)
A Good Read
16:30 TUE (m0003ktk)
A Good Read
23:00 FRI (m0003ktk)
A Point of View
08:48 SUN (m0003db7)
A Point of View
20:50 FRI (m0003jx6)
Alexei Sayle's The Absence of Normal
11:30 MON (m0003ctx)
Analysis
21:30 SUN (m0003cvz)
Analysis
20:30 MON (m0003jtp)
Annika Stranded
10:45 MON (b0bfxl56)
Annika Stranded
10:45 TUE (b0bgw9wh)
Annika Stranded
10:41 WED (b0bkqdqg)
Annika Stranded
10:45 THU (b0blhh76)
Annika Stranded
10:45 FRI (m0000n9t)
Any Answers?
14:00 SAT (m0003kmn)
Any Questions?
13:10 SAT (m0003db2)
Any Questions?
20:00 FRI (m0003jx4)
Archive on 4
20:00 SAT (m0003kn8)
Archive on 4
21:00 FRI (b08rp0gv)
BBC Inside Science
16:30 THU (m0003jr9)
BBC Inside Science
21:00 THU (m0003jr9)
Bells on Sunday
05:43 SUN (m0003jr8)
Bells on Sunday
00:45 MON (m0003jr8)
Black Music in Europe: A Hidden History
09:00 WED (m0003jgm)
Black Music in Europe: A Hidden History
21:30 WED (m0003jgm)
Blood, Sweat and Tears
19:45 SUN (b05s3pcl)
Book of the Week
00:30 SAT (m0003d78)
Book of the Week
09:45 MON (m0003jvb)
Book of the Week
00:30 TUE (m0003jvb)
Book of the Week
09:45 TUE (m0003kv6)
Book of the Week
00:30 WED (m0003kv6)
Book of the Week
09:45 WED (m0003jgq)
Book of the Week
00:30 THU (m0003jgq)
Book of the Week
09:45 THU (m0003jpc)
Book of the Week
00:30 FRI (m0003jpc)
Book of the Week
09:45 FRI (m0003jxj)
Brain of Britain
15:00 MON (m0003jsl)
Broadcasting House
09:00 SUN (m0003jnm)
Bunk Bed
23:00 WED (m0003jjf)
Costing the Earth
15:30 TUE (m0003jj9)
Costing the Earth
21:00 WED (m0003jj9)
Crossing Continents
11:00 THU (m0003jpm)
Dangerous Visions
14:15 THU (b07c2svl)
Date Night
23:00 TUE (m0003kv0)
Desert Island Discs
11:15 SUN (m0003jnr)
Desert Island Discs
09:00 FRI (m0003jnr)
Don't Log Off
11:00 TUE (m0003ksp)
Drama
14:30 SAT (m0003kmq)
Drama
21:00 SAT (b098bpyq)
Drama
15:00 SUN (b09lvwj4)
Drama
14:15 TUE (m0003ktf)
Drama
14:15 WED (m0003jhl)
Drama
14:15 FRI (b076mptb)
Fags, Mags and Bags
18:30 WED (b092cnps)
Farming Today
06:30 SAT (m0003km0)
Farming Today
05:45 MON (m0003jsg)
Farming Today
05:45 TUE (m0003jvq)
Farming Today
05:45 WED (m0003kvl)
Farming Today
05:45 THU (m0003jjy)
Farming Today
05:45 FRI (m0003jv1)
Feedback
20:00 SUN (m0003d92)
Feedback
16:30 FRI (m0003jwp)
File on 4
17:00 SUN (m0003d0m)
Four Seasons
16:30 SUN (m0003jpj)
From Fact to Fiction
00:30 SUN (m0003d8t)
From Our Home Correspondent
13:30 SUN (m0003jp5)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:30 SAT (m0003kmd)
Front Row
19:15 MON (m0003jtf)
Front Row
19:15 TUE (m0003ktr)
Front Row
19:15 WED (m0003jj3)
Front Row
19:15 THU (m0003js8)
Front Row
19:15 FRI (m0003jx2)
Gardeners' Question Time
14:00 SUN (m0003d8p)
Gardeners' Question Time
15:00 FRI (m0003jwh)
Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off
18:30 THU (m0003jrw)
Going to Town
20:00 TUE (m0003d71)
Hotspot
09:30 WED (b0bh2bkh)
In Our Time
09:00 THU (m0003jp7)
In Our Time
21:30 THU (m0003jp7)
In Touch
20:40 TUE (m0003ktw)
In the Right
16:00 TUE (m0003twc)
Inside Health
21:00 TUE (m0003jhq)
Inside Health
15:30 WED (m0003jhq)
James Veitch's Contractual Obligation
10:30 SAT (m0003km8)
Just a Minute
12:04 SUN (m0003cvq)
Just a Minute
18:30 MON (m0003jt6)
Last Word
20:30 SUN (m0003d8y)
Last Word
16:00 FRI (m0003jwm)
Lent Talks
05:45 SUN (m0003d9l)
Lent Talks
20:45 WED (m0003jj7)
Living World
06:35 SUN (m0003jn1)
Loose Ends
18:15 SAT (m0003kn4)
Making Art with Frances Morris: Sophie Calle
11:30 THU (m0003jpr)
Midnight News
00:00 SAT (m0003dc6)
Midnight News
00:00 SUN (m0003knd)
Midnight News
00:00 MON (m0003jr2)
Midnight News
00:00 TUE (m0003jv8)
Midnight News
00:00 WED (m0003kv4)
Midnight News
00:00 THU (m0003jjk)
Midnight News
00:00 FRI (m0003jt7)
Money Box
12:04 SAT (m0003jqp)
Money Box
21:00 SUN (m0003jqp)
Money Box
15:00 WED (m0003jhn)
Moral Maze
22:15 SAT (m0003d9d)
Moral Maze
20:00 WED (m0003jj5)
Moving Pictures
15:30 SAT (m0003cyv)
My Teenage Diary
18:30 TUE (b07cvltx)
News Briefing
05:30 SAT (m0003dcw)
News Briefing
05:30 SUN (m0003knn)
News Briefing
05:30 MON (m0003js1)
News Briefing
05:30 TUE (m0003jvl)
News Briefing
05:30 WED (m0003kvg)
News Briefing
05:30 THU (m0003jjt)
News Briefing
05:30 FRI (m0003jts)
News Headlines
06:00 SUN (m0003jmx)
News Summary
12:00 SAT (m0003kmg)
News Summary
12:00 SUN (m0003jnt)
News Summary
12:00 MON (m0003kg0)
News Summary
12:00 TUE (m0003kzk)
News Summary
12:00 WED (m0003jh2)
News Summary
12:00 THU (m0003jpw)
News Summary
12:00 FRI (m0003l6h)
News and Papers
06:00 SAT (m0003kly)
News and Papers
07:00 SUN (m0003jn5)
News and Papers
08:00 SUN (m0003jnf)
News and Weather
22:00 SAT (m0003knb)
News
13:00 SAT (m0003kml)
No Triumph, No Tragedy
21:00 MON (m0003jtt)
One to One
09:30 TUE (m0003ks9)
Open Book
16:00 SUN (m0003jpd)
Open Book
15:30 THU (m0003jpd)
PM
17:00 SAT (m0003kmv)
PM
17:00 MON (m0003jsy)
PM
17:00 TUE (m0003ktm)
PM
17:00 WED (m0003jhx)
PM
17:00 THU (m0003jrh)
PM
17:00 FRI (m0003jwt)
Pick of the Week
18:15 SUN (m0003jq6)
Poetry Please
23:30 SAT (m0003crf)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 SAT (m0003dd0)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 MON (m0003js7)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 TUE (m0003jvn)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 WED (m0003kvj)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 THU (m0003jjw)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 FRI (m0003jtx)
Profile
19:00 SAT (m0003jpn)
Profile
17:40 SUN (m0003jpn)
Pursuit of Beauty
16:00 MON (m00014k4)
Pursuit of Beauty
11:30 TUE (m00017qy)
Radio 4 Appeal
07:54 SUN (m0003jn9)
Radio 4 Appeal
21:25 SUN (m0003jn9)
Radio 4 Appeal
15:27 THU (m0003jn9)
Ramblings
06:07 SAT (m0003cmy)
Ramblings
15:00 THU (m0003jqx)
Reluctant Persuaders
11:30 FRI (b08kxzvv)
Round Britain Quiz
23:00 SAT (m0003cvf)
Saturday Live
09:00 SAT (m0003km6)
Saturday Review
19:15 SAT (m0003kn6)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SAT (m0003dcm)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SUN (m0003knj)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 MON (m0003jrn)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 TUE (m0003jvg)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 WED (m0003kvb)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 THU (m0003jjp)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 FRI (m0003jtj)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SAT (m0003dcf)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SAT (m0003dcr)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SAT (m0003kmy)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SUN (m0003kng)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SUN (m0003knl)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SUN (m0003jps)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 MON (m0003jrg)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 MON (m0003jrv)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 TUE (m0003jvd)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 TUE (m0003jvj)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 WED (m0003kv8)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 WED (m0003kvd)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 THU (m0003jjm)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 THU (m0003jjr)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 FRI (m0003jtd)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 FRI (m0003jtn)
Short Cuts
15:00 TUE (m0003kth)
Short Works
15:45 FRI (m0003jwk)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SAT (m0003kn2)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SUN (m0003jq1)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 MON (m0003jt2)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 TUE (m0003ktp)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 WED (m0003jhz)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 THU (m0003jrp)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 FRI (m0003jww)
Something Understood
06:05 SUN (m0003jmz)
Something Understood
23:30 SUN (m0003jmz)
Spain's Lost Generations
11:00 MON (m0003jr1)
Start the Week
09:00 MON (m0003jqg)
Start the Week
21:30 MON (m0003jqg)
Sunday Worship
08:10 SUN (m0003jnh)
Sunday
07:10 SUN (m0003jn7)
The Archers Omnibus
10:00 SUN (m0003jnp)
The Archers
19:00 SUN (m0003jqd)
The Archers
14:00 MON (m0003jqd)
The Archers
19:00 MON (m0003jtb)
The Archers
14:00 TUE (m0003jtb)
The Archers
19:00 TUE (m0003jhj)
The Archers
14:00 WED (m0003jhj)
The Archers
19:00 WED (m0003jj1)
The Archers
14:00 THU (m0003jj1)
The Archers
19:00 THU (m0003js2)
The Archers
14:00 FRI (m0003js2)
The Archers
19:00 FRI (m0003jx0)
The Bottom Line
17:30 SAT (m0003cp5)
The Bottom Line
20:30 THU (m0003jsm)
The Brexit Prime Minister
20:00 MON (m0003jtk)
The Briefing Room
20:00 THU (m0003jsf)
The Digital Human
16:30 MON (m0003jst)
The Film Programme
23:00 SUN (m0003cn5)
The Film Programme
16:00 THU (m0003jr3)
The Food Programme
12:32 SUN (m0003jnw)
The Food Programme
15:30 MON (m0003jnw)
The Life Scientific
09:00 TUE (m0003ks6)
The Life Scientific
21:30 TUE (m0003ks6)
The Listening Project
14:45 SUN (m0003jp8)
The Listening Project
10:55 WED (m0003jgw)
The Listening Project
16:55 FRI (m0003jwr)
The Listening Project
23:55 FRI (m0003jxd)
The Media Show
16:30 WED (m0003jhv)
The Monster Downstairs
11:00 WED (m0003jgy)
The Now Show
12:30 SAT (m0003d9p)
The Now Show
18:30 FRI (m0003jwy)
The Puppet Master
13:45 MON (m0003js6)
The Puppet Master
13:45 TUE (m0003ktc)
The Puppet Master
13:45 WED (m0003jhf)
The Puppet Master
13:45 THU (m0003jqq)
The Puppet Master
13:45 FRI (m0003jwf)
The University Time Bomb
11:00 FRI (m0003jw1)
The Walk: Across the Water
23:00 MON (m0003jv3)
The Wall
12:04 MON (m0003jrf)
The Wall
22:45 MON (m0003jrf)
The Wall
12:04 TUE (m0003ksy)
The Wall
22:45 TUE (m0003ksy)
The Wall
12:04 WED (m0003jh4)
The Wall
22:45 WED (m0003jh4)
The Wall
12:04 THU (m0003jq0)
The Wall
22:45 THU (m0003jq0)
The Wall
12:04 FRI (m0003jw5)
The Wall
22:45 FRI (m0003jw5)
The Week in Westminster
11:00 SAT (m0003kmb)
The World This Weekend
13:00 SUN (m0003jp1)
The World Tonight
22:00 MON (m0003jv0)
The World Tonight
22:00 TUE (m0003kty)
The World Tonight
22:00 WED (m0003jjc)
The World Tonight
22:00 THU (m0003jsv)
The World Tonight
22:00 FRI (m0003jx8)
Thinking Allowed
00:15 MON (m0003d8l)
Thinking Allowed
16:00 WED (m0003jhs)
Today in Parliament
23:30 MON (m0003jv6)
Today in Parliament
23:30 TUE (m0003kv2)
Today in Parliament
23:30 WED (m0003jjh)
Today in Parliament
23:30 THU (m0003jt3)
Today in Parliament
23:30 FRI (m0003jxb)
Today
07:00 SAT (m0003km4)
Today
06:00 MON (m0003jq8)
Today
06:00 TUE (m0003ks2)
Today
06:00 WED (m0003jgk)
Today
06:00 THU (m0003jp2)
Today
06:00 FRI (m0003jvs)
Tom Parry's Fancy Dressed Life
23:15 WED (b08mqtpz)
Tumanbay
14:15 MON (m0003jsd)
Tweet of the Day
08:58 SUN (m0003jnk)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 MON (b04mlphz)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 TUE (b03zr0ly)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 WED (b0423j3r)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 THU (b02twpwl)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 FRI (b04t0vfj)
Weather
06:57 SAT (m0003km2)
Weather
12:57 SAT (m0003kmj)
Weather
17:57 SAT (m0003kn0)
Weather
06:57 SUN (m0003jn3)
Weather
07:57 SUN (m0003jnc)
Weather
12:57 SUN (m0003jny)
Weather
17:57 SUN (m0003jpx)
Weather
05:56 MON (m0003jsn)
Weather
12:57 MON (m0003jrt)
Weather
12:57 TUE (m0003kt6)
Weather
12:57 WED (m0003jh9)
Weather
12:57 THU (m0003jqb)
Weather
12:57 FRI (m0003jw9)
Westminster Hour
22:00 SUN (m0003jqw)
Where's the F in News
19:15 SUN (m0003cpg)
Where's the F in News
23:00 THU (m0003jsz)
Woman's Hour
16:00 SAT (m0003kms)
Woman's Hour
10:00 MON (m0003jqv)
Woman's Hour
10:00 TUE (m0003ksk)
Woman's Hour
10:00 WED (m0003jgt)
Woman's Hour
10:00 THU (m0003jph)
Woman's Hour
10:00 FRI (m0003jvz)
World at One
13:00 MON (m0003js0)
World at One
13:00 TUE (m0003kt9)
World at One
13:00 WED (m0003jhc)
World at One
13:00 THU (m0003jqj)
World at One
13:00 FRI (m0003jwc)
You and Yours
12:18 MON (m0003jrm)
You and Yours
12:18 TUE (m0003kt2)
You and Yours
12:18 WED (m0003jh7)
You and Yours
12:18 THU (m0003jq4)
You and Yours
12:18 FRI (m0003jw7)
iPM
05:45 SAT (m0003dd2)