Out of the thousands of letters Moomin creator Tove Jansson wrote, a cache remains that she addressed to her family, her dearest confidantes, and her lovers, both male and female.
Into these, she spilled her innermost thoughts, defended her ideals and revealed her heart. To read these letters is both an act of startling intimacy and a rare privilege.
Penned with grace and humour, Letters from Tove offers an almost seamless commentary on Tove Jansson's life as it unfolds within Helsinki's bohemian circles and her island home. Spanning fifty years between her art studies and the height of Moomin fame, we hear the bleakness of war, the hopes for love that were dashed and renewed, and her determined attempts to establish herself as an artist.
“And all creation’s straining on tip-toe just to see, The sons of God, come into their own.” The next few days are a time of great anticipation, as that line from the Christian music group Fisherfolk recalls.
How often do we see children straining on tip-toe to get the best view? To see the Christmas lights hanging across the high street or Father Christmas as they approach his grotto. Adults, so often loose that sense of anticipation and wonder seen in children at Christmas as they wait.
We don’t like to wait and maybe that is why we have lost that sense of anticipation. We are so used to shortening our waiting because we see so little value in it.
However, waiting is not a passive act. During pregnancy waiting is anything but inactive, it is nurturing; it is full of hope and has value in its own right.
As we wait to celebrate again Emmanuel - God with us - we wait for that day when we will see his kingdom come, in full hope, breaking into the present.
We see the face of hope in the work of those who will be running food banks and soup kitchens, not just at Christmas but throughout the year. We see hope in those providing shelter and housing not just at Christmas but all year round. We see hope in those who are welcoming refugees, not just in this season but throughout the year.
I invite you to pray with me that we will see the signs of hope in our midst as we ‘strain on tip-toe just to see, the sons of God, come into their own’.
Winnie M Li talks about her traumatic experience as a survivor of sexual violence, describing its lasting impact. She also charts her recovery through writing and activism.
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
Jasmine Ketibuah-Foley examines how the transatlantic slave trade has shaped Bristol and meets some of the historians, artists and cultural figures who are redressing how the legacy of slavery is presented and how the city's story is told.
Jasmine speaks to Olivette Otele, the newly appointed Professor of the History of Slavery at the University of Bristol about why the University has decided to examine its past and what this might mean for the city's wider approach to its colonial history.
Jasmine meets Stacey Olika, Donnell Asare and Ade Sowemimo who are working on a project at Bristol Museum to tell the story behind how some of the objects on display which they hope will present a clearer and more honest narrative about the cultural significance of the objects and the legacy of Britain's colonial past.
Historian Madge Dresser has been talking about Bristol's relationship with the slave trade for some time and she tells Jasmine that after one of her talks in the late 1990's someone defaced the city's statue of Edward Colston.
Lynn Mareno talks about how when she was growing-up in Bristol in the 1960s she was regularly subjected to racism, and how Bristol needs to deal with its past in order to move forwards..
Edson Burton is an writer, performer and historian and he tells Jasmine that whilst this work has been going on for years there have been significant steps forward in recent years, but he cautions against presenting these issue as the opinion of one united voice.
Jasmine ends the programme in Henbury at the grave of Scipio Africanus, one of the few recorded enslaved people who lived in Bristol.
The use of data is already changing the way we farm - from selecting animals to breed from, to deciding how much fertiliser to use where. But what will the future bring?
Charlotte Smith visits Agrimetrics in Reading to speak to data experts about the opportunities and the challenges.
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Aasmah Mir and Suzy Klein are joined by Ruth Jones, who co-wrote and starred in one of our most loved TV comedies: Gavin and Stacey, which seemingly ended after 3 successful series, almost ten years ago. However, in May her co-writer & co-star James Corden announced they’d be back this year for a Christmas Special, and there are only 4 more days to wait as it airs on Christmas Day.
Gloria Stewart will be here - the Yorkshirewoman organises a huge dinner every year for those lonely at Christmas.
Also with us is William Hartston, mathematician, sloth enthusiast, chess player, Goggleboxer and puzzler, who will be setting some challenges on the programme.
And Kieran Sandwell set off three years ago with a new heart to walk around Britain - 5,000 miles later, he's done it.
We have the Inheritance Tracks of pianist Stephen Hough who chooses Chopin Etudes opus 25 no 1 in A flat major and A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten
Recent events in Hong Kong have made many people in Taiwan jumpy. Duncan Hewitt talks to a hacker and activist turned government minister in Taiwan who is full of ideas about how to improve life on the island. He finds an increasingly pluralistic and confident society, now more inclined to stand up to China.
Our main focus this week is on the natural world and we begin at the South Pole where Justin Rowlatt is holed up in a research station eating chips and patiently waiting for a change in the weather.
At the opposite end of the earth, we go trekking around Greenland. Rich in rare earth metals some are calling this Artic country the Saudi Arabia of the Green future. Horatio Clare fears for the future of one of the most pristine environments left on the planet.
There are fears of plunder too in the Cayman Islands where the tourism industry is threatening to rip up great swathes of coral for the convenience of cruise ship passengers.
Climate change may soon make it even harder to find black truffles in France - Heidi Fuller Love joins a treasure hunt with Magda the pig.
The latest news from the world of personal finance plus advice for those trying to make the most of their money.
With the nation still coming to grips with the election results, the team bring you in-depth analysis, the political comment and a joke about Christmas.
Staring Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis McLeod, Duncan Wisbey, Deborah Stevenson.
The writing team for the series: Tom Jamieson & Nev Fountain, Laurence Howarth, Sarah Campbell, Ed Amsden & Tom Coles, James Bugg, Max Davis, Sara Gibbs, Simon Alcock, Alex Hardy and others.
Dame Margaret Beckett MP, Professor Matthew Goodwin, Kirsten Oswald MP, Nadhim Zahawi MP
Julian Worricker presents political debate from Wac Arts in Belsize Park London with the Labour grandee and former Foreign Secretary Dame Margaret Beckett MP, Professor of Politics at Kent University Matthew Goodwin, SNP Business Convener Kirsten Oswald MP and the Minister for Business and Industry Nadhim Zahawi MP.
Three Sisters Rewired, written and directed by established team Polly Thomas and Jenny Sealey, is a radical reworking of Chekhov.
This is not a faithful modernisation of the Russian original – it is a complete overhaul exploring how, even in the modern world, isolation and stagnation are the daily lot of many women still. Set in 21st century Yorkshire, Moscow becomes London. On an isolated farm, three sisters - Olivia, Maisie and Iris – struggle to survive on a financially draining farm, with intermittent internet, and a pervading sense of dislocation from the real world.
Jenny Sealey, artistic director of Graeae Theatre, has always wanted to tackle Three Sisters through the prism of Deafness. She was struck by Chekov's characters being metaphorically deaf (as Michael Frayn points out in his foreword) and how little the three sisters actually talk in the play. This forms the basis this new take by giving a voice to three sisters and making them literally Deaf.
Jenny says, "Deaf people do arguably exist within their own monologue, unhindered by outside distraction of sound, but in order to communicate, they have to look intently so as not to miss any information. Their varying degrees of Deafness also can underpin the hierarchy between them – who is more Deaf, who heard what, who is the best lipreader?
"The sisters’ frustration with the world is not because they are Deaf, but because they are bored. Their longing for London is paramount, to get away from the dullness of their existence, but naturally their Deafness unconsciously informs everything. Three Sisters Rewired is about how we listen or don’t listen, how whether we are deaf or not, we all have selective communication, closing our ears and eyes to the world around us."
As in previous productions for Radio 4 by Graeae Theatre and Naked Productions, the cast is a mix of Deaf, disabled and non-disabled actors. The flute is played by Deaf flautist, Ruth Montgomery, who taught herself to play through the vibrations of the instrument.
Another year on – New Year’s Eve. There has been a flood in the town and the sisters are trying to offer shelter to those flooded out. Angus has gambled more than ever. Natalie is ruling the house and angling to get rid of Anna, because Anna knows too much. Tensions the house are higher than ever. Six months later, the battalion is leaving, Iris is marrying Tyrone and moving to London, Olivia has a new job in Scotland and Maisie is tempted to leave to follow Victoria to London. Angus is left to manage the farm, unhappily as his wife openly conducts her affair with the Mayor. But will those who escape actually make it?
Written and directed by Polly Thomas and Jenny Sealey, inspired by Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters
What do we really understand about the stuff we own, what does it mean to us and what would the world look like if everybody started to buy less and make more?
Writer and occasional knife-maker Tim Hayward meets the crafts people and repairers who are challenging themselves and others to think harder about the things they buy, use and throw away. How has consumerism warped our relationship with the objects we use everyday and how would our lives be different if we understood how stuff was made?
Barnaby Carder, aka Barn the Spoon, is a green woodworker and “spoon tramp” working out of his Hackney shop while, over in Herefordshire, Joel Black and Holland Otik run a community pottery and blacksmith's forge. Other contributors include Laura James who co-founded the Cambridge Make Space, Clarry Elliot who helped set up the Leeds Repair Café, and designer and Cabinet Maker Poppy Booth.
A homemade world might seem like a sweet, nostalgic place, but the contemporary rise of making is having complex and unpredictable results.
We find out about the so-called Merry Widows of Champagne as well as the women making champagne today. Francoise Peretti, Director of Champagne Bureau UK and Joanna Simon, drinks journalist tell us more.
We hear about the difficulties of being autistic and pregnant from an anonymous listener and from Lana Grant a mother with Asperger’s who's the author of From Here to Maternity: Pregnancy and Motherhood on the Autism Spectrum.
Are beauty pageants still OK in 2019? To discuss is Salma Haidrani, a journalist who documented her experiences as a contestant in Miss England 2018s, Leanne Levers who's a political scientist and the journalist, Tanya Gold.
Parliament, registering their interest in standing as an MP. We discuss why with Lucrece Grehoua who's signed up herself and Frances Scott who set up
Single at Christmas? How do you feel about it? We talk about the benefits of the single life as well as festive dating trends with the journalist Lizzie Cernik and Rachael Floyd from eHarmony.
And the big Boxing Day film will be Little Women. We talk to its director Greta Gerwig.
Donald Trump is threatening to withdraw the US from NATO while the French President Emmanuel Macron has called it “brain dead”. Charmaine Cozier asks if the 70-year-alliance can survive?
• Jacob Heilbrunn from The National Interest think tank – a right of centre foreign policy think tank based in Washington.
• Fabrice Pothier - Senior Defence Consulting Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and former NATO policy planning director
• Sara Bjerg Moller - Assistant Professor of International Security at the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University in the US.
Petula Clark, Rick Stein, Jayde Adams, Shazia Mirza, Angus Munro, Chris Holland & Siobhan Parr, Arthur Smith, Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson and Arthur Smith are joined by Petula Clark, Rick Stein, Jayde Adams and Shazia Mirza for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Angus Munro and Chris Holland & Siobhan Parr.
Leopards, aliens and Songs of Praise. Mark Coles explores the life of actor John Boyega, whose talent and dedication brought him to the attention of Hollywood.
Sharp, critical discussion of the week's cultural events, with Tom Sutcliffe and guests
Current political and social divisions are bitter and seemingly intractable. But a look back over just fifty years reminds us of labour unrest in the 1970s that brought down a government, and the 1980s miners' strike that left communities and even families divided for a generation. Are we really more divided now than at any time in the last fifty years? And if so, what has really caused the deep fracture of British society and politics?
Using archive which conveys the powerful emotions of the time, including the music that expressed social and political passions, as well as news and interviews with those who played a significant part in divisive events or tried to bring warring sides together on common ground, Divided Nation examines social and political changes which have fed the sense of division in Britain.
Recent data suggests that one in five Leave voters and one in three Remain voters would not welcome a member of the other camp marrying into the family. This parallels data in the US showing that Republican and Democrat voters are less socially open to their opposite numbers than in the past.
Today's Brexit divide is often explained as reflecting deeper cultural differences, as well as different economic realities. Does this account for the description of unprecedented division? With the help of more contemporary archive, historians and sociologists, we will look for possible reasons for this feeling that we have never been more divided.
The Drowned Church: Humanity's ageless champion returns, this time to stop a sinister church congregation under the sea. Starring Paul Hilton.
The post-war novel that summed up middle-class white America and established John Updike as the major American author of his generation. Rabbit, Run is the first in a virtuoso Pullitzer Prize-wining quintet featuring hapless Harry Angstrom, whom we meet as a 26 year old former high school basketball star and suburban paragon in the midst of a personal crisis.
Ruth is furious when Harry learns that his wife Janice is in labour and rushes off, arriving at the hospital full of fear - only to fall head over heels for his new baby daughter.
Rabbit, Run established Updike as one of the major American novelists of his generation. In the New York Times he was praised for his "artful and supple" style in his "tender and discerning study of the desperate and the hungering in our midst's".
Radio 4 plans to broadcast all five novels in the series over the next few years.
From politics to economics, from tech to the study of how we live, things are changing fast. Old certainties have not been under such challenge for decades.
So each week, we give the whole programme over to a single in-depth, close-up interview with someone whose big idea is bidding to change our world.
Helen’s challenge is to make sense of their new idea, to find out more about the person behind it – and to test what it has to offer us against the failures of the past.
This week, Helen meets social entrepreneur Hilary Cottam, author of Radical Help, to find out why she thinks the welfare state needs a revolution, and how a new approach to human relationships can transform it.
Quote … Unquote, the popular celebrity quotations quiz, returns for its 55th series.
Join Nigel as he quizzes a host of celebrity guests on the origins of sayings and well-known quotes, and gets the famous panel to share their favourite anecdotes.
Across forty years, Nigel Rees has been joined by writers, actors, musicians, scientists and various comedy types. Kenneth Williams, Judi Dench, PD James, Sir Ian KcKellen and Peter Ustinov... have all graced the Quote... Unquote stage.
Kevin Crossley-Holland reflects on the magic and the menace of the Norfolk tides.
For centuries, North Norfolk lives have been shaped by the daily rhythm of the tides, creating a sense of wonder, as well as tragedy, with many stranded or lost at sea.
The shimmering creek is at low tide at Burnham Overy Staithe, the North Norfolk coastline a mesh of salt marshes, sand dunes, wild sea lavender and shingle ridges. But the whispering of the wind and the cawing of the gulls are deceptively tranquil. In a matter of hours, the furious gushing of the incoming North Sea tide signals the utter transformation of the staithe – and, in its wake, a new menace arrives. The coastline is in a constant state of flux, always shape shifting, beguiling and menacing.
For local fishermen and sailing enthusiasts, the Tide Tables are ignored at their peril; for others the rhythm of the tides provides solace and comfort. And for a local artist, the tides bring back reminders from the past, from the ancient forests of Doggerland.
With thanks to contributors Matt and Sky Falvey, Andy Frary, Mandy Humphries, Polly Ionides, Daniel Loose, Ashmole Ring, Robert Smith and Pat and Mike Thompson.
SUNDAY 22 DECEMBER 2019
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m000cktb)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:30 Short Works (m000c8rb)
Photos From Krakow
Written by Elizabeth J Kuti. Celine has planned a short break to Krakow with a friend. Before she leaves, she visits her ailing uncle, who asks her to bring something back.
Elizabeth J Kuti has written award-winning stage plays including The Sugar Wife and Treehouses. Her most recent radio work was Sea Longing, for Drama on 3. She is the Head of the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies at the University of Essex.
Writer: Elizabeth J Kuti
Reader: Monica Dolan
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000cktd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000cktg)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000cktj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m000cktl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m000cktn)
Bells on Sunday comes from Sheffield Cathedral
Bells on Sunday comes from Sheffield Cathedral. Formerly the parish church of St Peter, the tower had a ring of four bells as long ago as 1559. By 1745 it held eight, with the present ring of twelve being cast in 1970. Regarded as one of the finest products of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, the sound has been improved by the use of a wooden-shafted clapper in the thirty four hundredweight tenor. The method we hear now is Grandsire Cinques, by the Sheffield Cathedral Company of Ringers.
SUN 05:45 Profile (m000ckt2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News Headlines (m000clng)
The latest national and international news headlines.
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b08x4r9j)
Parochialism
Mark Tully explores the strengths and limitations of parochialism and the ease with which any label can become pejorative.
He puts forward a definition of parochialism as 'thinking you are living at the centre of the world', and addresses the perils of self-importance and condescension that being a 'big fish in a small pond' can lead to.
But he also considers two writers - the 18thC philosopher and composer Jean-Jacque Rousseau and the contemporary Indian poet Arvind Mehrotra - for whom the small town, rather than the big city, has been an impetus to their creativity.
Drawing on works from Trollop to Simon and Garfunkel, he compares arguments for living in both the town and city and suggests ultimately that it's not where you live that matters so much as who you are and how you live.
Producer: Adam Fowler
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 06:35 Living World (b01b8yxm)
Jackdaw Roost
For this week's Living World, Joanna Pinnock heads to a site in Cambridgeshire which is currently part of a long term study into jackdaw behaviour. Here she meets Dr Alex Thornton on a blustery morning before dawn. As first light begins to creep silently over the horizon the first chattering's of a jackdaw roost can be heard. With increasing light, this chatter becomes louder until at some given signal, the jackdaws simultaneously leave their night roost in a cacophony of sound. It is a winter spectacle often overlooked but rivalling any in the natural world. So what is actually going on here?
Some corvid roosts are recorded in the Domesday Book and throughout history they have associated themselves with humans, and even have a sinister reputation as robbers of rare and precious gems. Corvids are known for their intelligence, in fact some scientists refer to members of the crow family, as the Feathered Apes. Science understands the biology of these birds, they pair for life, and a strong social cohesion exists, but as Dr Thornton expands, these familiar birds are deeply mysterious. There is a lot more to jackdaws than meets the eye. In fact the jackdaw eye is unusual in the animal kingdom in that it is similar to a human eye and will gaze at an object inquisitively. As the birds head out into the fields to feed, Joanna herself goes in search of them, asking why jackdaws are often in mixed flocks with rooks.
All too soon the light begins to fade, and so the pair head back to find pre roost birds in trees around the village. As night gathers, jackdaws in their thousands provide an aerial dance over the Cambridgeshire countryside, before in a role reversal of the morning, a given signal returns them to the roost once more.
Producer Andrew Dawes
SUN 06:57 Weather (m000clnj)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m000clnl)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m000clnn)
Sunday morning religious news and current affairs programme.
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m000clnq)
Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust
Dame Ellen MacArthur makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Ellen MacArthur Cancer 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 ‘Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust’.
Registered Charity Number: 1096491 and in Scotland: SCO44013
SUN 07:57 Weather (m000clns)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m000clnv)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m000clnx)
Follow that star; Looking Ready
For the Fourth Sunday in Advent from Fisherwick Presbyterian Church Belfast with an introduction by The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby and music from the Chapel Choir of Methodist College.
Led by the College Chaplain, the Rev Emily Hyland. Preacher: The Rev Cheryl Meban.
The service takes as its theme the Church of England's Advent materials "Follow the Star."
Colossians
1.11-16,19-20
Luke
1.26-38
The Wexford Carol (Traditional Irish arr. M Wilberg)
While Shepherd’s watched their flocks (Winchester Old)
The Marvellous Birth (Chilcott)
Tomorrow shall be my dancing Day (Archer)
Mary’s Magnificat (Carter)
Silent Night (Gruber arr. Rose)
Rejoice and be merry (Rutter)
Director of Music: Ruth McCartney
Organist: Dr Joseph McKee
Producer: Bert Tosh
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m000c8rz)
The recurrent dream of an end-time
“Whatever humans do, the world is not going to end”, writes John Gray. “Humankind cannot destroy the planet any more than it can save it”.
John Gray ponders why the belief that the human world can be completely and suddenly transformed, never really goes away.
Producer: Adele Armstrong
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b09jf4qb)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 4 of 12
During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and for many a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song Twelve Days of Christmas.
As actress Alison Steadman discusses, on the fourth day of the song, a true love is sent four calling birds. Given that most birds call, which quartet of birds could be calling? Possibly the four calling birds could refer back to colly, a derivative of the older col, roughly translated as coal. In other words, birds as black as coal. But which black bird would capture a wooing heart?
Producer : Andrew Dawes
Photograph: John Quine.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m000clnz)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m000clp1)
Phoebe tries to make amends and the noose tightens on David.
Writer, Liz John
Director, Julie Beckett
Editor, Jeremy Howe
David Archer …..Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Tom Archer ….. William Troughton
Natasha Archer ….. Mali Harries
Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Phoebe Aldridge ….. Lucy Morris
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Harrison Burns ….. James Cartwright
Susan Carter ….. Charlotte Martin
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Clarrie Grundy ….. Heather Bell
Will Grundy ….. Philip Molloy
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O'Hanrahan
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Adam Macy ….. Andrew Wincott
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Robert Snell ….. Graham Blockey
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Philip Moss ….. Andy Hockley
Lee Bryce ….. Ryan Early
Roman Trench ….. Ewan Bailey
DC Tanners ….. Jane Slavin
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m000clp3)
Stephen Merchant, writer, comedian and actor
Stephen Merchant first came to fame with the TV sitcom The Office, which he co-wrote and co-directed with Ricky Gervais. He continued to work with Gervais on the series Extras, Life is Short and An Idiot Abroad. His comedy hero as a young man was John Cleese and as a fellow tall West Country boy, he felt he would try his hand at a comedy career.
As a teenager, he worked at Radio Bristol, was a wedding DJ and enjoyed drama at school. While at Warwick University, he created his own radio programme, The Steve Show. Those radio production skills encouraged him to send in his CV to a new London radio station, XFM, where the head of speech was Ricky Gervais. Following a successful interview – conducted in a pub – Stephen became Ricky’s assistant.
Stephen left XFM to join a BBC training scheme. It was the short film he made with Ricky as part of his course which would eventually lead to the creation of The Office.
Alongside his successful comedy partnership with Gervais, Stephen has pursued his acting and writing ambitions and this year wrote and directed his first film, Fighting with my Family, based on a family of wrestlers. His performance as a stand-up led to his HBO series Hello Ladies, and he starred in his first stage play, Richard Bean's The Mentalists, in London in 2015.
His work has earned him two Golden Globe Awards, three BAFTAs, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four British Comedy Awards.
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m000cm43)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m000c9mv)
Series 72
Episode 6
The 72nd series of the multi award-winning comedy panel game chaired by Jack Dee
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m000ckvt)
Michel Roux Jr: A Life Through Food
Sheila Dillon visits London restaurant Le Gavroche, to speak to renowned chef Michel Roux Jr about food, family and festive inspiration.
Michel Jr is the second generation of the Roux family to run the Mayfair restaurant, which was started by his father Albert and his uncle Michel. When he took over the kitchen nearly 30 years ago, he fought to put his own stamp on the style – and write the next chapter of the family’s food story.
Michel kicks off in the kitchen, cooking two dishes that have special importance to him: Soufflé Suissesse, his father’s decadent cheese soufflé creation that diners won’t allow to be taken off the menu; and roast quail with potato fondant and mushrooms, a dish that he loves and often cooks at home for the family.
Over the course of cooking and eating the meal, Sheila asks Michel about his life, his love of food, his inspirations and drive – as well as the pressure that come with being part of a dining dynasty. They also discuss how he’s dealt with the challenges in his life: from the pay scandal of 2016, when Gavroche employees were found to be earning below minimum wage – to his regret over never quite managing to achieve a work/life balance.
They’re later joined by Michel’s daughter Emily, who now has her own restaurant in London with her husband Diego Ferrari, and who has a fresh perspective on the industry and how her family have shaped her career.
The programme also hears from one half of the team who originated this dynasty: Albert Roux shares his take on his son’s success.
Presented by Sheila Dillon, produced by Lucy Taylor.
SUN 12:57 Weather (m000clp8)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m000clpb)
Global news and analysis, presented by Mark Mardell.
SUN 13:30 From Our Home Correspondent (m000clpd)
In the Christmas programme of the monthly series, Mishal Husain introduces seasonal dispatches from journalists and writers around the United Kingdom which reflect the nature and range of contemporary life.
Ian McMillan in Barnsley recalls being a - rather unexpected - wise man when a boy and ponders what that traumatic but ultimately uplifting experience has taught him which still matters today.
As excitement mounts, Jane Labous visits an improbable school for Father Christmases to discover the dos and don'ts of the job and why too much ho-ho-ho can be frowned upon.
Horatio Clare in South Wales reflects on the peculiar sense of loss which the bereaved feel during the festive season and considers how best it can be relieved for old and young alike.
Charmaine Cozier has actually done what many would like to do and volunteered during the festive season. She ponders the ups and downs of the experience as the best - and worst - aspects of humanity are put vividly on display.
And Travis Elborough, in the company of a Captain Nemo-like brewer, takes on the onerous task of sampling locally fermented Christmas ale in Sussex, and discovers the uplifting spiritual dimensions to the creation of a unique seasonal libation.
Producer Simon Coates
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000c8r8)
Levens Hall: Correspondence Edition
Kathy Clugston and the team are at Levens Hall in the Lake District for a correspondence edition. Matthew Wilson, James Wong and Christine Walkden are riffling through the GQT postbag and in box to answer questions sent in by listeners.
This week, the panellists discuss saving a Crown of Thorns, keeping an ornamental pear tree from overgrowing, and the best fruit trees for a Christmas present.
The team are joined by Head Gardener of Levens Hall, Chris Crowder, who shows them the impressive 300-year-old topiary.
Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Rosie Merotra
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (m000clpg)
Sunday Omnibus - Family, Friendship and Fitting in
Fi Glover presents the omnibus edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen with three conversations about family, friendship and fitting in.
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 Mr Pye (m000clpj)
Episode 1
When retired bank manager Harold Pye arrives on the island of Sark in the Channel Islands, he finds a society riven by feuds and squabbles –and he is delighted.
The small, round evangelist brings nothing but love to this microcosm of the wider world and seems determined to spread that love as far as is humanly possible. However, there are unearthly forces also approaching the island –f rom the divinity Pye talks to on the cliff tops to a an ominous shadow that one of the islanders has seen in the water.
Are battle lines being drawn for a momentous struggle between good and evil?
Artist poet and novelist Mervyn Peake, perhaps best known for his Gormenghast trilogy, wrote this darkly comic modern fable in the 1950s and set it on Sark, a place he knew well.
He peopled his island home with a regiment of eccentrics, angels and monsters – Miss Dredger, the redoubtable landlady who has never known love; the amoral Tanty who has known too much of it; the local painter Thorpe who has never sold a painting; and the monstrous busby-hatted Miss George.
This modern tale about an island divided against itself has been dramatised by New Generation poet and playwright, Glyn Maxwell (The Gambler, Cyrano de Bergerac, Shakespeare’s Fire).
Cast:
Adrian Scarborough........................Mr. Pye
Deborah Findlay..............................Miss Dredger
Christopher Harper.........................Thorpe/ Major Overshot
Emily Bowker...................................Tintagieu
Jane Whittenshaw............................Miss George
Emma Noakes...................................Kiki, Mrs. Porter
Alex Blake...........................................Pawgy
Thomas Delacourt..............................Pepe, Cragg, Outcrop
From the novel by Mervyn Peake dramatised by Glyn Maxwell
Directed by Frank Stirling
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 16:00 Open Book (m000clpm)
Highlights of 2019
Mariella Frostrup curates a special programme of highlights from Open Book 2019, a literary treat as we revisit just a few of the authors featured this year.
Ali Smith on Spring, the third installment of her quartet of novels written in response to current events, the Booker winning Bernadine Evaristo on bridging generational divides with her characters, Robert Harris took a look back at his career and revealed the first dizzying effects of moving from writing journalism to fiction. Candice Carty-Williams's Queenie was one of the breakthrough novels of the year, she told us why she didn't mind it being labelled a Black Bridget Jones, and an emotional Ocean Yuong describes his heartbreaking journey as child of an immigrant in his novel On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous.
Also featured are Max Porter, Kristen Roupenian, and the evergreen Ann Patchett on creating her first ever villain.
SUN 16:30 Four Seasons (m000clpp)
Midwinter
Poetry and music to see us through the shortest days of winter. With reflections on midwinter from writers Jay Griffiths (author of Wild: An Elemental Journey and Pip Pip: A Sideways Look at Time) and Lia Leendertz (the creator of the Almanac guides to the year in the British Isles), and astronomical insights into the winter solstice from cosmochemistry researcher Dr Tim Gregory.
With winter poems by Kathleen Jamie, Liz Lochhead, Ruth Fainlight, Gillian Clarke, Mark Doty, Kerry Hardie and Billy Collins. Read by Sinead MacInnes and Richard Harrington.
Producer: Mair Bosworth
SUN 17:00 The Misinformation Virus (m000c9sm)
In this online age, the internet is a global megaphone, billions of messages amplified and shared, even when they're false. Fake science spreads faster than the truth ever could, unhindered by national boundaries. Mainstream scientists are struggling to respond.
The science journalist and writer, Angela Saini, is fascinated by how bad ideas spread and in this programme she investigates the very real impact of online scientific misinformation. From the dangerous anti-vaccination campaigns to those who deny the reality of climate change, she assesses the scale and extent of the threat we face.
And she discovers the sinister world of deliberate disinformation where an army of bots and trolls work to sew dissent and confusion in the online space.
Producer: Fiona Hill
SUN 17:40 Profile (m000ckt2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000clpr)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 17:57 Weather (m000clpt)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000clpw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m000clpy)
Antonia Quirke
Antonia Quirke's seasonal picks include a global, jewel-box of Christmas voices. Light and darkness, Roald Dahl and Elvis. Swedish youth choirs, gentle Finnish trolls, and a glowering, patient Norwegian spirit. Russian candy-cane glimmers for a mouse king! A turtle dove promises warmer days ahead, and we sing a hymn to an Apple Tree.
Producer: Stephen Garner
Production Support: Kay Whyld
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m000ckvm)
Rex gets an answer and Kenton has another sleepless night.
SUN 19:15 The Shuttleworths (m000clq0)
Your Very Good Elf
John Shuttleworth’s wife, Mary, has cancelled Christmas because their children, Karen and Darren, have decided to spend Christmas Day elsewhere. So, instead of preparing for the big day, John finds himself taking down the Christmas tree and putting away the chocolate brazils.
He is naturally upset at this turn of events, so when Joan Chitty phones for help because her Christmas tree is broken, John happily offers to take the Shuttleworth tree around to Joan’s as a replacement.
John is happy that he is able to decorate a tree after all and has taken his spirit level to ensure the tree is straight. Once the fairy lights are switched on John is happy to enjoy a mince pie with Joan and have a sing-song. However, Joan, wearing a rather skimpy fairy outfit, gets a little too over excited during the music and falls over - breaking the tree!
John beats a hasty retreat to the garden centre where he is enjoying some solitude in one of the garden chalets when Ken Worthing turns up wearing an elf outfit. Apparently, there is chaos in the grotto and Santa has run away.
This could be the perfect chance for John to finally enjoy Christmas by playing the role of Santa – as long as Ken can secure his petrol money as a fee.
Written and performed by Graham Fellows
Produced by Dawn Ellis
A Chic Ken production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 19:45 A Run in the Park (m000clq2)
Episode 8
A group of strangers in Belfast have formed a running group, determined to go from absolute beginners to completing a 5K Parkrun in just nine weeks. As their shared runs get longer and tougher, friendships are forged and relationships challenged. But will any of them actually make it over the finish line?
Young couple Brendan and Angela are running from their doubts about their rapidly approaching wedding; librarian Cathy is in pursuit of a new life following a health scare; Syrian refugee Yana races from the trauma of her past; and recent retiree Maurice is determined to get fit for his family, step by painful step, even if he’s not actually part of their lives right now…
Author
David Park is one of Northern Ireland's most acclaimed writers. He is the author of nine novels and two collections of short stories. He has been awarded the Authors' Club First Novel Award, the Bass Ireland Arts Award for Literature, the Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize, the American Ireland Fund Literary Award and the University of Ulster's McCrea Literary Award, three times. He has also received a Major Individual Artist Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. His most recent novel ‘Travelling in A Strange Land’ won the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award and was a Radio 4 ‘Book at Bedtime’.
Writer ..... David Park
Reader ..... Lara Sawalha
Producer ..... Michael Shannon
SUN 20:00 Feedback (m000c8rg)
As the Government boycotts BBC Radio 4’s the Today programme, Roger Bolton asks the Editor, Sarah Sands, for her view and how she will respond.
Also on Feedback this week, two more listeners - a mother and daughter - are taken out of their comfort zones to listen to George the Poet, with surprising results.
Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Kate Dixon
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m000c8rd)
Kenny Lynch OBE, Chris Moncrieff CBE, Kate Figes, Branko Lustig
Pictured: Kenny Lynch OBE
Matthew Bannister on
Chris Moncrieff, the journalist who covered parliament for the Press Association for more than 50 years. He even has a bar named after him in the House of Commons.
Kate Figes, the writer who captured the nuances of human relationships in books like "Couples" and "Our Cheating Hearts".
Branko Lustig, the holocaust survivor who won an Oscar as the producer of the film Schindler's List.
Kenny Lynch, the singer from London's East End who described himself as a black cockney and had hits including "Up On The Roof".
Interviewed guest: Pete Clifton
Interviewed guest: Lennie Goodings
Contributor: Michael Goldfarb
Interviewed guest: Garth Cartwright
Producer: Neil George
Archive clips from: Labour Party Conference, BBC Sound Archive 01/10/1993; Loose Ends, Radio 4 20/09/2008; Thatcher Resigns as Prime Minister, The Telegraph Archive 08/04/2013; Backstage In Parliament, Radio 4 10/11/1985; Woman’s Hour, Radio 4 22/01/2013; Woman’s Hour, Radio 4 11/05/2013; Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, Dreamworks/Universal Pictures/Scott Free Productions 2000; Branko Lustig: Drawing Against Oblivion, Final Frame 22/03/2019; Schindler’s List, directed by Steven Spielberg, Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment 1993; Branko: Return to Auschwitz, The New York Times 15/04/2013; Jools Holland, Radio 2 28/10/2013.
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m000cks9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m000clnq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 In Business (m000cc27)
Belarus: Harvesting the whirlwind
The irradiated lands around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor were large, prosperous, and lively collective farms until the reactor exploded in 1986. Seventy percent of the toxic radiation fell in Belarus – a small, agrarian country in which most people lived on the land. Hundreds of villages were evacuated, but much of the population has since returned. A generation later In Business visits the Belarussian contamination zone and its hinterland to see how the local economy and way of life has adapted to a world turned upside down. We meet the beekeepers developing a honey farm in the depopulated part of the zone, visit an unexpected herd of horses and hear about the innovations in arable farming designed to resist radioactive toxins.
Produced and presented by Monica Whitlock
SUN 22:00 Meeting Myself Coming Back (b01k1ls1)
Series 4
Clive James
Another chance to hear the audio memories of the writer, critic, TV personality and poet Clive James who died in November. This programme was first broadcast in 2012.
Clive James was seldom off our television screens in the 80s and 90s. His shows like "Saturday Night Clive" and "Clive James on Television", featured clips of TV around the world and pioneered many techniques that we take for granted today.
But throughout this time, he was also writing memoirs, poems and critical essays. After leaving his native Australia, he began his career writing for literary magazines and later became the TV critic of "The Observer".
This more serious side has often been overlooked because of his TV fame. But, having left TV presenting behind and now having been diagnosed with leukaemia, Clive is re-assessing his life and legacy.
In "Meeting Myself Coming Back", Clive hears clips from moments in his life and discusses his reaction to them with John Wilson. We hear a recording from his student days in Cambridge performing a comic monologue at a college "Smoker" event. There are clips from early appearances on radio, in the company of the novelist Kingsley Amis and also his first attempts at writing and performing on television.
We also hear extracts from his TV shows of the 80s and 90s, when, in addition to his shows about television, he presented travel programmes and a series considering the nature and history of fame in the 20th century.
In an honest and penetrating look back at his life, Clive discusses his achievements, his past mistakes and his illness.
Producer: Emma Kingsley
SUN 23:00 The Moth Radio Hour (b09k9zzr)
Series 6
Live from the Cowboy Poetry Festival
True stories told live in the USA: Dame Wilburn from the annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko Nevada.
The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling based in the USA. Since 1997, it has celebrated both the raconteur and the storytelling novice, who has lived through something extraordinary and yearns to share it. Originally formed by the writer George Dawes Green as an intimate gathering of friends on a porch in Georgia (where moths would flutter in through a hole in the screen), and then recreated in a New York City living room, The Moth quickly grew to produce immensely popular events at theatres and clubs around New York City and later around the USA, the UK and other parts of the world.
The Moth has presented more than 15,000 stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. The Moth podcast is downloaded over 27 million times a year.
Featuring true stories told live on stage without scripts, from the humorous to the heart-breaking.
The Moth Radio Hour is produced by Jay Allison and Atlantic Public Media in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange.
First broadcast in the USA in 2017.
SUN 23:50 A Point of View (m000c8rz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:48 today]
MONDAY 23 DECEMBER 2019
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m000clq6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 Rewinder (m0005dvz)
Two: Peace, Love and Lancashire Cheese
Radio 1 Breakfast Show host and self-described 'radio nerd' Greg James rummages through the BBC's archives, taking some of this week's stories and themes as a jumping off point into the past.
This week Radio 1's Big Weekend launches the music festival season which sets Greg off on a hunt to find out how big pop events were reported back in the 1960s and 1970s. Beneath the flares and cheesecloth he uncovers some illuminating recordings - how a gang of Hells Angels caused a rumpus at the Weeley Festival and the clash between locals and festival goers in Bickershaw in 1972. There's also a painful interview with a young Bob Dylan.
As one high street bakery this week attributed rising profits to its vegan sausage roll, Greg also looks back at the way vegans and vegetarians were portrayed on radio and television, although Delia Smith was a trailblazer for the versatility of vegetables. Back in 1980 Delia interviewed a young Kate Bush about turning away from meat and, in a warm and revealing conversation, Kate shares her recipes and culinary tips.
Plus the early sounds of Victoria Wood, and the voices of Victorians - women in their 90s, filmed in 1970 remembering life in the 19th century.
Producer: Paula McGinley
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m000cktn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000clq8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000clqb)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000clqd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (m000clqg)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000clqj)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop Sarah Mullally
Good Morning,
A few years ago, I spent time with the Street Pastors in Exeter and I quickly realised how important it was that they knew by name those they met– especially those who were sleeping rough. Names are important. They are part of our identity, they give us value and meaning.
One of the first things we discover about the Son of God is the name he is to be given. Joseph was told by God that Mary was to have a child and he was to be called Jesus for he will save his people. We are told in the book of Isaiah that our names are engraved on the palms of God’s hands.
In using people’s names, we affirm and give value to them.
Each year St Martin in the Fields in Trafalgar Square holds a service in memory of the homeless men and women who have died during the past year. This year 550 people filled the church to remember 126 people who died homeless or in hostel accommodation in London. Hymns and prayers are interspersed with reading the names of those who have died.
Can I invite you to join with me in praying a prayer from one such service based on the text from the Old Testament? “God says, I have called you by your name, and you are mine”
God of love, call me by my name. pronounce its syllables with care. Speak my full name. The name the world knows me by. Speak my private names, Known only to my friends, my lovers, myself. You know me from my beginning to my end. Speak my name, and make me yours forever.
Amen
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m000clql)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
MON 05:56 Weather (m000clqn)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09jgnf4)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 5 of 12
During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and, for many, a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song the Twelve Days of Christmas.
As actress Alison Steadman outlines the refrain Five Gold Rings in the song is a recent thing, having emerged as an Edwardian addition to the song when Frederic Austen composed the music we know and love today. Yet in the century before that, a small colourful bird captivated Victorian society like no other. The goldfinch.
Producer : Andrew Dawes
Photograph: Janet Sharp.
MON 06:00 Today (m000cktq)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m000ckts)
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey has been a place of worship for more than a thousand years, and holds a unique place in British – and world – history. In a special edition of Start the Week, recorded in the Abbey, the historian David Cannadine tells Andrew Marr how the building has been at the centre of religious and political revolutions and has maintained a special relationship with the monarchy and the royal court since the Tudor times.
It was Henry VIII who converted the abbey into a cathedral, turning this Catholic monastery into a bastion of Anglicanism, before it became directly under the monarch’s control. The historian Lucy Worsley looks back to the 16th century to recreate how Christmas was celebrated during the age of Henry VIII. The Tudor Christmas pre-dates our traditional trees and stockings. But with its heady mix of revelry and religion she discovers the Tudor influences on the customs we still enjoy today.
The former Bishop of Oxford Richard Harries explores the impact and pull of religion on some of the greatest writers of the 20th century. In ‘Haunted by Christ’ he studies how writers, like TS Elliot, CS Lewis and Emily Dickinson struggled with their faith. He looks deeply into the spiritual dimension of their work.
Music:
Coventry Carol - Traditional melody (performed by Truro Cathedral Choir)
Pastyme with Good Companye - King Henry VIII (I Fagiolini)
Producer: Katy Hickman
MON 09:45 Last Christmas (m000ckwp)
Episode 1
Curated by Greg Wise and Emma Thompson this collection of personal writings reflects on the meaning of Christmas, drawing on the themes of kindness, acceptance and tolerance, taking us from Queensland to Pennsylvania to the Black Country and beyond. More sobering memories come froam a small village in Rwanda and London's inhospitable streets.
In today's episode we hear from Deborah Frances White, the stand up comedian and screenwriter on being adopted, and re-discovering Christmas in her 20s. Her essay is paired with Steve Ali's, a Syrian refugee who was taken in by Deborah and her husband when he arrived in England, after fleeing Syria and the Jungle refugee camp in Calais.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000cktx)
Women in Law. One hundred years of women being able to enter the legal profession.
We mark the centenary of women being able to enter the legal profession.
Cherie Booth QC, Dana Denis-Smith founder of the First 100 years, Abi Silver a former associate at a city law firm and now a legal consultant, Beth Collette who's a barrister in her second year of tenancy talk about what it's like for women in the profession now - how far we've come and what more needs to be done.
Mari Takayanagi a Senior Archivist at the Houses of Parliament tells us about the The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 and the changes it brought in and the pioneering women who worked so hard to open up the profession to women.
Plus we look at what it's like to be a female magistrate We hear from former magistrate Katherine McMahon and Jacqui MacDonald who's currently serving as a magistrate in the Central and North London area as well as being Trustee at Magistrates Association
Presenter Andrea Catherwood
Producer Beverley Purcell
Guest; Cherie Booth QC
Guest; Dana Denis-Smith
Guest; Abi Silver
Guest; Beth Collette
Guest; Mari Takayanagi
Guest; Katherine McMahon
Guest ; Jacqui MacDonald
MON 10:45 Kilvert's Diary (m000cktz)
Episode 1: Villaging
The daily life of a Victorian country curate.
Francis Kilvert was a young English clergyman and diarist, whose parish was the border country of England and Wales in the 1870s. During his time as curate in Clyro he kept a detailed diary of his daily life in the hope that it might be of interest "to those who come after me". Kilvert's love of nature, and compassion for his parishioners, shines from every page.
In this episode, he officiates at the wedding of a very reluctant bride, struggles to carve an enormous cow's tongue with a blunt knife at a tea party, and comes to regret agreeing to inspect a neighbour's bee hives.
Cast:
Francis Kilvert ..... Alastair James Murden
Richard Venables, Bellringer, Barber ..... Matthew Gravelle
Mrs Chaloner, Eliza Pring, Mrs Bridge ..... Eiry Thomas
Mrs Venables, Miss Llewelyn ..... Bethan Rose Young
Recorded on location at Rhosygilwen in Pembrokeshire.
All Things Bright And Beautiful sung by children from Ysgol Maenclochog. Other music by Crasdant.
Adapted and directed by Kate McAll
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
MON 11:00 The Untold (m000ckv2)
Voice of an Angel
This Christmas Eve, for the first time, Croydon Minster's midnight mass is being broadcast to millions. But when you're a choirboy whose voice is about to break, there's no guarantee you'll make it.
In the edition of The Untold, two boys are coming to the end of their time in Croydon Minster Boy's choir. They're desperate to hold on until Christmas Eve, when they will have the chance to sing for the nation at BBC One's Midnight Mass.
If they can hit the notes there's the chance of a solo, but with a voice deepening every day, only time will tell.
Produced by Sam Peach with Andy Fallon
MON 11:30 Loose Ends (m000ckt0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
MON 12:00 News Summary (m000clmp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 The Secret Commonwealth (m000ckv7)
Episode 1
Simon Russell Beale reads the second volume of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed The Book of Dust trilogy. A specially commissioned abridged reading for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.
It is twenty years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.
It is seven years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.
Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child...
The second volume of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her dæmon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. They must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost – a city haunted by dæmons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.
Reader,. Simon Russell Beale
Writer, Philip Pullman
Abridger, Doreen Estall
Producer, Michael Shannon
MON 12:18 You and Yours (m000ckvb)
Getting a Train; Getting Fit; Getting Some Greens On Your Plate
Northern Rail tell us about their plans to improve travel standards for commuters.
The fitness trends for 2020 - what's gong to get us hot under the collar?
The loophole that might stop a warranty pay-out on cladding.
Closing down for Christmas - why online gambling companies are facing pressure to turn off on Christmas Day
Working with a learning disability, how easy is it to get a job?
And trimming for Christmas....we meet the farmer putting sprouts on your plate.
PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: PETE WILSON
MON 12:57 Weather (m000ckvd)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m000ckvg)
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 In Their Element (m000ckvj)
Series 4
Silver
Andrea Sella, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at University College London, explores the art and science of silver. Nina Gilbey at the London Jewellery Workshop teaches him how to work the metal and make a silver ring, and at the Science Museum he admires the handiwork of silversmiths who fashioned an elaborate microscope for King George the Third.
Rupert Cole, Curator of Chemistry at the Science Museum, shows Andrea a silver thimble that was used (with some zinc and a few drops of an acid) to generate an electric current that was sent through a transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866. And Andrea finds out about silver's antibacterial properties from Jean-Yves Maillard, Professor of Pharmaceutical Microbiology at Cardiff University.
MON 14:00 The Archers (m000ckvm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Drama (m000ckvp)
Happiness!
David Threlfall stars as the madcap entertainer, Ken Dodd, in Ian Billing’s comedy drama about winning hearts and minds. It’s 1988 and the comedian faces charges of tax evasion. The drama imagines what it must have felt like for someone confronted with the prospect of being cut off from doing what they love most in the world. The story tracks the year-long battle with the tax-man including the 1989 trial where the entertainer is finally acquitted on all charges.
Ken Dodd/Dicky Mint ….. David Threlfall
George Carman QC ….. Clive Hayward
Bennett ….. Will Kirk
Mr Justice Waterhouse ….. Neil McCaul
Brian Leveson QC ….. Ian Conningham
Albert ….. Greg Jones
Eileen ….. Laura Christy
Croupier ….. Adam Courting
Mother ….. Heather Craney
Usher ….. Ikky Elyas
Music arranged and performed by Neil Brand
Directed by Gemma Jenkins
Ian Billings wrote the award-winning Spike and The Elfin Oak for Radio 4 about another comedy great, Spike Milligan, also starring David Threlfall (Shameless, Ripper Street). A children’s stand-up comic, author and poet, Ian’s written and performed in pantomimes and is the author of the Sam Hawkins, Pirate Detective series of novels and the co-author of Space Rocks.
MON 15:00 Quote... Unquote (m000ckvr)
Ken Cheng, Helen Lewis, Luke Jennings
Quote … Unquote, the popular celebrity quotations quiz, returns for its 55th series.
Join Nigel as he quizzes a host of celebrity guests on the origins of sayings and well-known quotes, and gets the famous panel to share their favourite anecdotes.
Across forty years, Nigel Rees has been joined by writers, actors, musicians, scientists and various comedy types. Kenneth Williams, Judi Dench, PD James, Sir Ian KcKellen and Peter Ustinov... have all graced the Quote...Unquote stage.
Episode 4
Stand up comedian Ken Cheng
Journalist and author Helen Lewis
Author and dance critic Luke Jennings
Quotes read by Sally Grace
Production Coordinator: Candace Wilson
Produced by Simon Nicholls
A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m000ckvt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics (m000ckvw)
Series 5
Aristotle
Natalie Haynes stands up for Greek philosopher-scientist Aristotle, with Dr Adam Rutherford and Professor Edith Hall.
This week Natalie explores why it's so easy to fall in love with Aristotle, have fun with his Nicomachean ethics and how we know he had
20:20 vision. It seems he hated being tutor to Alexander the Great, although he did manage to stay alive in the lethal court of Philip of Macedon, where the usual toll of suspicious deaths was fourteen a week. But how much did he really know about elephants tongues and bivalves on Lesbos? We love a bit of gossip from a couple of thousand years ago.
Natalie is a reformed comedian who is a little bit obsessive about Ancient Greece and Rome. Each week she takes a different figure from the ancient world and tells their story through a mix of stand-up comedy, extremely well-informed analysis, and conversation. The series is – in part - about how the modern world is more interesting when it's refracted through the prism of the ancient one. Natalie picks out hilarious details and universal truths, as well as finding parallels with modern life, or those parts of life which are still influenced by ancient thought.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery
MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m000ckvz)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Although it was written nearly seventy years ago, ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ still appears in the top ten favourite children’s books and has sold over 100 million copies in 47 different languages. It's set in the magical Land of Narnia where the White Witch has cast a spell to make sure that it is always winter and Christmas never comes. This changes when four siblings – Lucy, Peter, Susan and Edmund – stumble into Narnia through the back of a wardrobe and defeat the evil that has engulfed Narnia with the help of the mighty lion Aslan. For some readers, ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ is an allegory of the story of Jesus. Many others view it simply as a good yarn. To discuss the religious message behind the book – and whether or not it really matters – Ernie is joined by three authors: Lucy Mangan, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Francis Spufford. Extracts are read by Julie Hesmondhalgh.
Producer: Helen Lee
MON 17:00 PM (m000ckw1)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000ckw5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:15 The Museum of Curiosity (m000ckw7)
Christmas Special
The Museum of Curiosity is a Rose d’Or winning panel show in its fourteenth series hosted by John Lloyd (Blackadder, Spitting Image, Not The Nine O’Clock News, QI). Each series is ‘curated’ by a different comedian – the Museum’s current curator is Bridget Christie (A Bic For Her, Netflix's Stand Up for Her and the Rose d'Or winning Bridget Christie Minds The Gap).
Last Christmas the Museum reunited four of its previous curators (Sally Phillips, Lee Mack, Jimmy Carr and Jo Brand) for its first Christmas special. This year John and Bridget return with a special extended edition featuring music producer Glyn Johns, comedian Shazia Mirza and novelist JK Rowling.
Glyn Johns is a music producer who has worked with The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Eagles, Bob Dylan, Joan Armatrading and Eric Clapton to name but a few.
Shazia Mirza is a multi-award-winning comedian who is currently touring her latest show Coconut which talks about her experiences fending for herself (and her fellow islanders) on Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls. She won ‘Columnist of the Year’ for her writing in The New Statesman.
JK Rowling is the best selling author behind the Harry Potter phenomenon. The books have won multiple awards, sold over 500 million copies and been translated into over 80 languages. She also founded children’s charity Lumos, was made an OBE in 2001 and has a gold Blue Peter badge.
In each episode of The Museum of Curiosity the panel are asked to donate an exhibit to the Museum’s growing collection. In this special extended episode Glyn Johns choses a 3M M23 8 Track tape machine featuring a recording of Something by George Harrison. Shazia Mirza donates real eyebrows which she fears are going extinct and reveals her plans for ‘eyebrow donation cards’. JK Rowling donates inspiration as she often gets asked where she gets hers from and she suggests the Museum could sell it in the gift shop.
The Museum’s exhibits were catalogued by Mike Shephard, Mike Turner and Emily Jupitus of QI.
The Producers were Anne Miller and Victoria Lloyd.
MON 19:00 The Archers (m000ckw9)
It’s Jim’s big night and Jazzer comes to the rescue.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m000ckwc)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
MON 19:45 Kilvert's Diary (m000cktz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 Romania's Revolution 30 Years On (m000ckwf)
Thirty years after Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena were executed on Christmas Day, Tessa Dunlop looks back at the violent birth of post-Communist Romania and asks if it has shaken off the legacy of decades of ruthless totalitarianism.
The violence of the Romanian Revolution marked its difference from the other former Eastern European communist states which were swept away by largely peaceful pro-democracy movements born after the fall of the Berlin wall. In Romania, hundreds died in bloody protests as the regime’s grisly endgame was played out across the world’s media.
Now, three decades on, we revisit the hope and trauma behind the December Revolution. What has changed, and how well has Romania come to terms with its past?
Producer: Jim Frank
MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m000cc10)
Finland's Race to Go Carbon Neutral
How do you achieve net-zero carbon emissions in just fifteen years? In Finland, a fisherman-turned-climate scientist believes he has part of the answer: re-wilding the country’s peat fields. Gabriel Gatehouse travels to the country's frozen north to meet Tero Mustonen, as he battles lobbyists and vested interests in government and the peat industry, in a race to mitigate the consequences of climate change. Michael Gallagher producing.
Editor, Bridget Harney.
MON 21:00 What Has Sat-Nav Done to Our Brains? (m000c9rm)
Who uses paper maps to get around anymore? Smart phone apps have taken a lot of the stress out of navigation. But at what cost?
In a trip across London, Timandra Harkness teams ups with London cabby Robert Lorden to scrutinise a technology that we now take for granted. How is sat nav changing our brains? Does it affect the way we think?
London taxi drivers are excellent navigators, having to memorise thousands of street names and mentally visualise hundreds of journeys. This impressive cognitive map is evident on an MRI scan – an enlarged part of the brain called the hippocampus.
But for the rest of us, Timandra discovers, scientists are finding that an underactive hippocampus could have wider implications for our health and well-being - particularly in child development, mental health and dementia.
While taking turn-by-turn instructions from a GPS device, we could be losing a vital sixth sense that we do not, as yet, fully understand.
Contributors include Prof Hugo Spiers, director of the Spatial Cognition Laboratory at University College London; Maura O’Connor, author of Wayfinding: The Science and Mystery of How Humans Navigate the World; Prof Veronique Bohbot, cognitive neuroscientist at McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Producer: Dom Byrne
A Greenpoint production for BBC Radio 4
MON 21:30 Start the Week (m000ckts)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m000ckwj)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
MON 22:45 The Secret Commonwealth (m000ckv7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
MON 23:00 Have You Heard George's Podcast? (p07vsbfk)
Chapter 2
16. Loose Ends
George’s relationships continue to fall apart as his mind descends into a battlefield.
Written by George The Poet.
Produced by Benbrick & George The Poet.
Original music by Benbrick.
Featured songs: Empire Army by Vybz Kartel, Must Be by J Hus, No Manners by Teyana Taylor, Wishing On A Star by Rose Royce
Featured guests: Julie Adenuga as Dija, Lola, Jawad Ifraz, Andrew Bell, Chris Bernard, Stephen Boateng, Sir Martyn Lewis, Kenny Imafidon, Patrin, Tasneim Zyada, Aaron Daniels, Lams, Tyra Mai, and Vidhu Sharma
Have You Heard George’s Podcast? is a George the Poet production for BBC Sounds.
Commissioning Executive for BBC: Dylan Haskins
Commissioning Editor for BBC: Jason Phipps
MON 23:30 Matthew Herbert's World of Sound (m0003zbs)
The World Health Organisation has described noise pollution as an 'underestimated threat'. At the same time we are entering an exciting era where sound is being used to unlock new frontiers, from art and music to data services and medicine. In Matthew Herbert’s World of Sound, the pioneering composer and director of the New Radiophonic Workshop carves out a vertical slice of central London to explore the ethical, social, political, technical and creative implications of living with increasing varieties of sound, and to ask if the world is really getting noisier.
Starting with as close to sonic nothingness as possible, Matthew experiences an anechoic chamber at London’s South Bank University with studio designer Nick Whitaker. His journey then takes him from the lowest platform in Westminster Underground station, where he meets the station’s acoustic consultant Raj Patel, to Parliament Square with Gloria Elliott of the Noise Abatement Society and urban sound planner Francesco Aletta, and onto the roof terrace of the Houses of Parliament with journalist Ash Sarkar.
Matthew also meets technology entrepreneur Patrick Bergel amongst the noisy fridges and musak of a chain café, and hears from criminologist Emmeline Taylor about surveillance and the societal impact of new audio technologies. And throughout the programme, Matthew will reflect on a collection of specially recorded sounds from a Monday in February.
Photo credit: Manuel Vasquez
TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2019
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m000ckwm)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 00:15 TEZ Talks (m0001m8q)
Series 3
14. Make Christmas Great Again
Series 3. Episode 6. Make Christmas Great Again
Comedian Tez Ilyas returns for a third series of TEZ Talks.
In this episode Tez gives his thoughts on Christmas.
Written and performed by Tez Ilyas
Produced by Carl Cooper
A BBC Studios Production
TUE 00:30 Last Christmas (m000ckwp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000ckws)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000ckwv)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000ckwx)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m000ckwz)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000ckx1)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop Sarah Mullally
Good Morning,
The Campaign to End Loneliness suggests that almost a million older people say they feel lonelier at Christmas. Loneliness and isolation can lead to poor mental and physical wellbeing and has been associated with the same negative health effect as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
As both a nurse and priest, I’ve learnt that it’s often the small things which make an extra ordinary difference to the lives of others – acts of kindness.
In 2017 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Carnegie UK Trust published a report called ‘The Place of Kindness’. The report suggested that random acts of kindness have a significant impact on quality of life. Kindness reduces social isolation and improves wellbeing. It also provides a necessary ingredient of successful communities.
Kindness is one of the most underrated values in today's world. It isn't bland or soft or feeble or weak. Kindness comes when we dare to offer an opening to humanity and mercy, regardless of cost or reward. It is more than being nice and it can be very demanding. Kindness can start conversations; kindness is calling by someone you haven’t seen for some time or providing an invitation for a meal.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said: ‘Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world’
I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ would help us to live as lights to shine as lights in the world.
Amen.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m000ckx3)
The Young Tenant Farmer
Joe Rabicano is 18 years old and has no background in farming. But this year, he has been awarded a council tenancy on 42 acres of grade 1 land in West Norfolk.
Howard Shannon meets Joe, along with his farming mentor to hear about his plans for the land.
Presented and produced by Howard Shannon.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09jqxqp)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 6 of 12
During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and for many a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song the Twelve Days of Christmas.
As preparations for Christmas gather pace, what better for a true love than to supply a laying goose for the family table? Though six geese a-laying may be a gaggle too much in some households. As actress Alison Steadman discusses a strong contender for the goose-a-laying could well be the gregarious greylag goose, the wild ancestor of many a farmyard goose today.
Producer : Andrew Dawes
Photograph: John Dixon.
TUE 06:00 Today (m000cmr0)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Long View (m000cmr2)
Racism in sports crowds
The racist chanting and gestures of several members of the crowd at a recent England international match in Bulgaria was a stark reminder that Racism in sports crowds is still an issue that hasn't been driven from stadiums around the world. There have also been recent episodes in British domestic football, particularly in the Manchester derby in which one man in the crowd was given a lifetime ban for what the club believes was clear racist gestures towards two Man Utd players. But there was an ugly situation back in 1810 during a Boxing bout between Tom Cribb, the champion of England, and his African American former slave rival Tom Molyneux. In fact a number of the crowd which numbered thousands turned to violence against Molyneux when he appeared to have gained the upper hand in what was the most important sporting event in the country at the time. An invasion of the ring resulted in an injury to Molyneux's hand which made victory all but impossible.
What Molyneux did about it and how the Boxing authorities tried to quell the racial tensions is the story told by Historian Peter Radford, with contributions from Troy Townsend of the anti-racism movement Kick It Out and the former Manchester United and England player Paul Parker who has watched attitudes appear to change over his playing career only to see the ugliness return in the form of online abuse of players.
Producer: Tom Alban
TUE 09:30 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (m000cmr4)
Santa Claus
Consumerism and Christmas have gone hand in hand for a surprisingly long time. Santa Claus was an advertising icon in the 1840s, and Macy's department store in New York stayed open until midnight on Christmas Eve in 1867. In a seasonal edition of Fifty Things That Made The Modern Economy, Tim Harford explores the history of Christmas consumerism across the years and around the world.
Producer: Ben Crighton
Editor: Richard Vadon
TUE 09:45 Last Christmas (m000cl42)
Episode 2
Curated by Greg Wise and Emma Thompson, a collection of personal reflections on Christmas. In today's episode, we hear from them both as Greg recounts his less than happy childhood Christmas experiences. Then we discover how his wife, Emma Thompson, worked tirelessly to change his perspective in her funny and moving piece on the pitfalls of the festive season, particularly for Greg.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton.
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000cmr8)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
TUE 10:45 Kilvert's Diary (m000cmrb)
Episode 2: Meeting Daisy
The daily life of a Victorian country curate.
Francis Kilvert was a young English clergyman and diarist, whose parish was the border country of England and Wales in the 1870s. During his time as curate in Clyro he kept a detailed diary of his daily life in the hope that it might be of interest "to those who come after me". Kilvert's love of nature, and compassion for his parishioners, shines from every page.
In this episode, after a night of toothache and laudanum-induced dreams, Kilvert goes on his rounds visiting parishioners, including the Old Soldier who entertains him with tales from the Peninsula war. But the day takes an unexpected turn when he goes to a party in Clyro Court and instantly falls in love with Daisy Thomas, the youngest daughter of a local clergyman.
Cast:
Francis Kilvert ..... Alastair James Murden
Richard Venables, Mr Thomas, Old Soldier ..... Matthew Gravelle
Mrs Chaloner ..... Eiry Thomas
Mrs Venables, Daisy Thomas ..... Bethan Rose Young
Recorded on location at Rhosygilwen in Pembrokeshire.
All Things Bright And Beautiful sung by children from Ysgol Maenclochog. Other music by Crasdant.
Adapted and directed by Kate McAll
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 11:00 Dads and the Delivery Room (m000cmrd)
Sixty years ago, fewer than 15% of fathers were present at their child’s birth. Today 98% are there. It’s a cultural change that has been almost universally accepted. But the impact on dads has also gone largely un-examined.
Fi Glover meets dads who have experienced extremely different births. Most say that being there was the most momentous event of their lives. But, in private, some will also say the experience was one of the most bewildering and frightening.
Using special access to a maternity ward in London Fi Glover meets a father whose son was born prematurely at 27 weeks. He was offered support from the hospital’s counselling unit in the weeks afterwards. But it’s only in the last couple of years that perinatal counselling has become available to dads at all.
In Newcastle Dan Wilde recently found himself playing midwife when his partner Kate gave birth very quickly at home. His experience, backed recently by research from the Fatherhood Institute, shows how active participation during a birth can correlate with a lowering of anxiety. Theirs was a positive experience.
But what happens when fear and circumstance turn the dad into a spectator rather than a participant? Mark Williams, whose son was born via emergency caesarean section, was eventually diagnosed with PTSD related to birth trauma. He has become a campaigner for better awareness around paternal mental health and suggests that screening might have helped to protect him from an experience he was unable to cope with.
Produced by Sarah Cuddon
A Somethin’ Else Production for Radio 4
TUE 11:30 An Audience for the Queen (m0001qv6)
Professor Kate Williams chronicles the appearances of the Queen on stage and screen from the Coronation to the latest series of The Crown. In what way do these representations offer a guide to the Queen's popularity and public attitudes towards the monarchy?
Queen Elizabeth II is one of the most famous people in the land, but also one of the most the most private and unknowable. This combination is a challenge for writers wishing the dramatise the life and times of Her Majesty.
The programme is studded with archive - from the feature film of the Coronation , narrated with pomp and circumstance by Sir Laurence Olivier, through theatrical plays such as Handbagged and The Audience, to television dramas such as Walking the Dogs in which Emma Thompson played the Queen as she confronted an intruder into her bedroom in Buckingham Palace.
Naturally, we hear from Helen Mirren who has come to identify closely with the Queen ("When I see her picture, I think 'Oh, there I am' or There's my girl'") and Claire Foy who recently received a Golden Globe for her role in The Crown. And we go on set of The Crown to speak to William Conacher, dialect coach, who regularly trains actors in how to "speak Queen".
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m000cmtq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cmrj)
Episode 2
Simon Russell Beale reads the second volume of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed The Book of Dust trilogy. A specially commissioned abridged reading for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.
It is twenty years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.
It is seven years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.
Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child...
The second volume of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her dæmon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. They must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost – a city haunted by dæmons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.
Reader, Simon Russell Beale
Writer, Philip Pullman
Abridger, Doreen Estall
Producer, Michael Shannon
TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m000cmrl)
Call You and Yours
News and discussion of consumer affairs.
TUE 12:57 Weather (m000cmrn)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m000cmrq)
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 In Their Element (m000cmrs)
Series 4
Aluminium
At the time of Emperor Napoleon the Third aluminium was more valuable than gold and silver. The Emperor liked the metal so much he had his cutlery made out of it. But once a cheaper way was discovered to extract aluminium it began to be used for all kinds of objects, from aeroplanes to coffee pots. Andrea Sella, Professor Inorganic Chemistry, talks to Professor Mark Miodownik at the Institute of Making at UCL about why aluminium is such a useful material, from keeping crisps crisp to the tinsel on our Christmas trees. Andrea visits the Science Museum where he admires an aluminium plane of the class flown by Amelia Earhart. And he talks about the lightness of bicycles made from aluminium with Keith Noronha, of Reynolds Technology.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m000ckw9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (m000cmrv)
The Christmas Present
Everyone is excited about Christmas, except Stephen. When Stephen tells a man dressed in a Santa suit that he wishes his life could be simpler, he doesn’t expect to have to time travel to discover how.
Ben Crompton's feel-good, warm hearted drama full of Christmas spirit.
STEPHEN.....Ben Crompton
YOUNG STEPHEN.....Albie Crompton
HOLLY.....Christine Bottomley
IVY.....Poppy O’Brien
FATHER CHRISTMAS/ FRANK.....Stephen Marzella
PHIL/ GAVIN.....Graeme Hawley
RUDY/ MAX.....Chris Jack
All other parts played by the cast.
Directed by Nadia Molinari
TUE 15:00 A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (m000cmrx)
Christmas 2019
A live broadcast from the Chapel of King's College, Cambridge.
Once in royal David's city (descant Sir Stephen Cleobury)
Bidding Prayer read by the Dean
Sussex Carol (arr. Vaughan Williams)
First lesson: Genesis 3: vv 8-15, 17-19 read by a Chorister
The Truth from Above (Ralph Vaughan Williams/ arr. Christopher Robinson)
Second lesson: Genesis 22: vv 15-19 read by a Choral Scholar
Angels from the realms of glory (arr. Reginald Jaques)
Ding dong! merrily on high (arr. Sir David Willcocks)
Third lesson: Isaiah 9: vv 2, 6-7 read by a representative of the Cambridge churches
It came upon the midnight clear (descant John Scott)
O little town of Bethlehem (Sir Henry Walford Davies)
Fourth lesson: Isaiah 11: 1-4a, 6-9 read by the Chaplain
There is no rose (Dame Elizabeth Maconchy)
The Lamb (Sir John Tavener)
Fifth lesson: Luke 1: vv 26-35, 38 read by a member of College staff
The Angel Gabriel (2019 commission - Philip Moore)
Joys Seven (arr. Sir Stephen Cleobury)
Sixth lesson: Luke 2: vv 1-7 read by a representative of the City of Cambridge
Silent night (arr. Sir Stephen Cleobury)
Candlelight Carol (John Rutter)
Seventh lesson: Luke 2: vv 8-17 read by the Director of Music
While shepherds watched their flocks by night
Away in a manger (arr. Sir Stephen Cleobury)
Eighth lesson: Matthew 2: vv 1-12 read by the Vice-Provost
Coventry Carol (Kenneth Leighton)
Sir Christèmas (William Mathias)
Ninth lesson: John 1: vv 1-14 read by the Provost
O come, all ye faithful (descant Sir David Willcocks)
Collect and Blessing
Hark! The herald angels sing (descant Sir Philip Ledger)
Organ voluntaries:
In dulci jubilo (BWV 729) (Bach)
Final from Symphonie VI (Louis Vierne)
Director of Music - Daniel Hyde
Organ Scholar - Dónal McCann
Chaplain – The Revd Andrew Hammond
Dean – The Revd Stephen Cherry
For millions listening on radio and online around the world, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, live from the candlelit Chapel of King's College, Cambridge, marks the beginning of Christmas. It is based around nine Bible readings which tell the story of the loving purposes of God. They are interspersed with carols old and new, sung by the world-famous chapel choir who also lead the congregation in traditional Christmas hymns. This year the Festival is conducted by King's College's recently appointed Director of Music Daniel Hyde.
Fittingly, this year's service marks the musical contribution (through their arrangements and descants) of several former Directors of Music, including Sir David Willcocks (born a century ago in 1919), Sir Philip Ledger and Sir Stephen Cleobury, who passed away recently at the age of 70. Sir Stephen's contributions to the literature feature in several carols and in his descant to Once in Royal David's City. A descant by John Scott marks the work of Daniel Hyde's predecessor at his previous post as Director of Music at St Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York.
A new carol has been commissioned for the Christmas Eve service every year since 1983, a tradition begun by Sir Stephen Cleobury. The specially-composed carol for 2019, The Angel Gabriel, is by composer and former Organist and Master of the Music at York Minster, Philip Moore.
Significant twentieth century composer Dame Elizabeth Maconchy features in the service, as well as Reginald Jacques, who collaborated with Sir David Willcocks in the first volume of his famous Carols for Choirs. Jacques, alongside Kenneth Leighton and Sir Henry Walford Davies, all celebrate significant anniversaries in 2019.
Producer: Philip Billson
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m000cmrz)
Series 50
Novelist Enid Blyton
Janice Turner recently wrote a sweet, sensitive article about packing up the contents of her parent’s house. “The experience was almost unbearable,” she began. Among the items passed down from the attic, “my entire childhood,” were a heavy sledge, Twinkle and Jackie annuals, “and a heavy trunk of 60 Enid Blytons.”
60 Enid Blytons - imagine that!
Janice Turner aka @victoriapeckham and winner of press interviewer of the year, is nominating Enid Blyton in a programme filled scandal, racism and lovely archive. Blyton was rejected in 2019 from a commemorative coin because of the controversy that continues to swirl around her work .... which include The Famous Five, the Secret Seven, and 24 books about Noddy.
The programme includes the biographer Nadia Cohen, the presenter Matthew Parris, and the producer Miles Warde.
TUE 17:00 PM (m000cms1)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000cms5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:15 Christmas Compass (m000cms7)
Winter Journey
New Christmas stories from around the globe by Alexander McCall Smith
Kelly Macdonald reads a story about coincidence which begins when a letter sends Susan on a voyage of discovery.
Producer: Claire Simpson
A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 18:30 The Tim Vine Chat Show (m000cms9)
Christmas Special 2019
Christmas jokes and songs from the Punslinger extraordinaire as he invites the Great British Public to tell him some Christmas stories.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m000cl3w)
Tom gets suspicious and Joy makes a guest appearance.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m000cmsc)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
TUE 19:45 Kilvert's Diary (m000cmrb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 A Bright Yellow Light (m000cmsf)
Three years ago successful businessman Nadim Ednan-Laperouse was on a flight to a holiday destination with his daughter Natasha when she was taken ill. She had suffered a severe allergic reaction while eating a Pret a Manger sandwich and tragically died on the aeroplane floor in front of her father. The story of what happened has been widely reported and touched many people, as well as leading to the introduction of 'Natasha's Law' following a successful court ruling. Though a big news story at the time, Nadim has never told of the extraordinary religious experience that happened to him on the plane that day. Something very powerful took place which was to change his life and all those around him.
Producer: Amanda Hancox
Editor: Christine Morgan
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m000cmsh)
A very ‘music’ Christmas
A flautist, a singer, a composer and multi-instrumentalist swap stories about making it in their chosen profession. They discuss how they got into the industry, whether blindness gives them an advantage and they also share tips for success.
Guests: Liz Hargest, Shaun Hayward, Andre Louis, Anne Wilkins.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Lee Kumutat
TUE 21:00 All in the Mind (m000cl44)
The importance of play in childhood
Psychologists’ advice is that play is beneficial for children developmentally and socially. In this Christmas episode of All in the Mind, Claudia visits the Play Well exhibition at Wellcome Collection which looks at the significance of play in childhood and across society as a way of learning, expressing emotions and building empathy. Claudia’s joined at the exhibition by play experts Maia and Rachel.
Children in the UK have written letters to Father Christmas since Victorian times and Dr Sian Pooley at the University of Oxford shows how they reveal the history of play.
LEGO Professor of Play Paul Ramchandani at the University of Cambridge researches the developmental benefits for children and looks at how fathers play with their children.
And how do you get children off the computer and playing outside? Helen Dodd, Professor of Child Psychology at Reading and Dr Pete Etchells, Reader in Psychology and Science Communication at Bath Spa University look at the evidence and ask if a balance can be achieved.
TUE 21:30 The Long View (m000cmr2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m000cmsk)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
TUE 22:45 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cmrj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
TUE 23:00 Short Cuts (m000cmsm)
Series 21
Noel
Icelandic Christmas characters creep out of the darkness, Scottee tells the story of a loving gift that travelled across countries and generations and the festive season bursts into song. Josie Long presents short documentaries and adventures in sound for Christmas Eve.
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 23:30 Midnight Mass (m000cmsp)
The Archbishop of Southwark, the Most Revd John Wilson, is the celebrant and preacher at the Mass of the Nativity of the Lord, live from St George's Cathedral Southwark. Carols and anthems include seasonal favourites such as 'O come, all ye faithful' and 'Hark! the herald angels sing', with an atmospheric mass setting by Neil Cox. Director of Music: Jonathan Schranz, Organist Frederick Stocken. Producer: Andrew Earis.
WEDNESDAY 25 DECEMBER 2019
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000cmsr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000cmst)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000cmsw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m000cmsy)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000cmt0)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop Sarah Mullally
Good morning,
105 years ago, on Christmas morning the noise of gun fire fell silent along the western front during a spontaneous Christmas truce in the First World War.
Alfred Anderson who died aged 109 in 2014 was the last serving solider to have heard the silence and he recalled before his death how they had been standing up to their knees in slime and water and all he had heard for two months was the hissing and cracking and whining of bullets in flight and machine gun fire. Then silence fell and people climbed out of the trench singing carols and exchanging gifts – the gift of peace.
But even so peace isn’t something that can just materialize all at once out of nothing, just because people get tired of strife and violence. Peace is a process which takes place over time
Mahatma Ghandi wrote,
“Peace is not something that you wish for.
It is something that you make, something that you do,
something that you are, something that you give away.”
So instead of loving what we think is peace, let us love others and love God above all. And instead of hating people we think are war makers, let us hate the appetite and disorder in our own soul that are the causes of war. If we love peace, then let us hate in justice, hate tyranny, hate greed – but hate these things in ourselves, and not just in others.
Maybe the first step of peace is to find peace within oneself and with God which comes about from knowing his love for us.
My prayer therefore this Christmas is for peace,
For us to think peace
For us to speak peace
For us to act for peace.
Amen
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m000cmt2)
Mistletoe
Mistletoe is now one of the symbols of Christmas. It grows only in certain geographical locations of the UK, and is often found in apple orchards. In this programme, Emma Campbell visits a farm in Worcestershire where the farmer is cutting mistletoe from his cider apple trees, ready to take to auction. She also speaks to a historian and botanist who explains how mistletoe came to have the festive cultural connections we associate with it today, and visits one of the country's last surviving mistletoe auctions.
Produced and presented by Emma Campbell
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09jr9qj)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 7 of 12
During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and for many a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song the Twelve Days of Christmas.
The big day has arrived and with it seven swans a swimming. Though wrapping these may have been an issue. As actress Alison Steadman discusses deeply embedded in the British culture the mute swan, which for many is the perfect bird for the seventh day in the song. Although in winter two other contenders arrive on our shores, the Bewick swan from Siberia and the slightly more vocal Whooper swan from Iceland.
Producer : Andrew Dawes
Photograph: Kevin Neal.
WED 06:00 Neil Gaiman and the BBC Symphony Orchestra (m000cl2r)
Playing in the Dark (Part 1)
Neil Gaiman is one of the great storytellers of our time, his work loved by fans of all ages in books, films, on TV and in the theatre.
In this first part of a very special concert (the second part is broadcast on New Years's Day), he joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mihhail Gerts, for a walk on the dark side, reading from his best-selling books, weaving together his dystopian visions with music to thrill and excite the senses.
He is joined on stage by Amanda Palmer who reads Gaiman's poem The Mushroom Hunters and Simon Butteriss for a stunning rendition of The Nightmare Song from Iolanthe.
This is an edited version of the full concert, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 23 December 2019.
All written works: Neil Gaiman
BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mihhail Gerts
Producer for BBC Radio 4: Steve Doherty
Producer for BBC Symphony Orchestra: Ann McKay
General manager, BBC Symphony Orchestra: Paul Hughes
A Giddy Goat and BBC Symphony Orchestra production for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4
Music played in part one of the concert:
ARNOLD: Good Omens (Opening Titles)
GILBERT/SULLIVAN: The Nightmare Song from Iolanthe
BISCHOFF: Underscore to The Mushroom Hunters
SIBELIUS: Valse Triste
DUKAS: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
WED 07:00 The Listening Project (m000cl2v)
Christmas Special
Fi Glover presents the Christmas Special on the theme of triumph in the face of adversity - with the writer and podcaster Elizabeth Day, and Listening Project local producers Kerry Devine from Radio Cambridgeshire and Nathan Moore from Radio Yorkshire.
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
WED 08:00 With Great Pleasure (m000cl2x)
Clare Balding
Clare Balding shares her life told through books she loves with her readers Hugh Bonneville and Alice Arnold, and songs from the musicals Wicked and The Greatest Showman sung by West End star Kerry Ellis. A wonderfully funny piece by Bill Bryson, visionary landscape writing by Robert Macfarlane, a moving extract from War Horse by Michael Morpurgo, poems by Yeats and Emily Dickinson - all wrapped up in a gorgeous reading by Hugh of Village Christmas by Laurie Lee. Clare herself reads the epilogue from Roz Savage's Stop Drifting, Start Rowing, an account of one woman rowing across the Pacific alone. For Clare, it's been particularly influential in terms of decisions she's made in her life. A stirring new version of If performed by Deanna Rodger honours the wider achievements of women in sport. Kerry Ellis also sings In the Bleak Midwinter for Clare, and that bleakness is reflected in a deeply moving piece by Caitlin Moran, acknowledging that Christmas can be a time of loss and remembered happiness as well as a time of joy.
Producer Beth O'Dea
WED 09:00 Christmas Service: A Wintershall Nativity (m000cl2z)
A Nativity service from the Wintershall Estate near Guildford. Each December a large cast of players and animals bring alive the Christmas story, drawing huge crowds to the estate as they retell the story of the birth of Jesus. The Bishop of Dorking Jo Bailey Wells leads a congregation of friends of the estate and explores why people love the richness of this iconic story which is at once theological, mystical and magical. Baptist minister Richard Littledale explores the different levels of truth which it has for many. A festive treat of congregational Christmas hymns are led by the Wintershall choir, and Brandenburg Brass, directed by Stuart White. Producer: Andrew Earis.
WED 09:45 Last Christmas (m000cl31)
Episode 3
Curated by Greg Wise and Emma Thompson this collection of personal writings reflects on the meaning of Christmas, drawing on the themes of kindness, acceptance and tolerance. Today, we hear from Aimee Mullins, the American athlete, actress and speaker on childhood Christmases spent with her large family. Then it's the turn of Bill Scanlon, after a successful career, Bill fell on hard times, and we hear how things changed.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000cl33)
Making and Breaking Christmas Traditions
Christmas is steeped in all sorts of tradition – but it’s not just trees, tinsel and turkey. Many families have their own festive rituals and the mere idea of doing things differently would make it feel… well, just not like Christmas. But why do we get so hung up on doing Christmas a certain way - even if it doesn't make us happy? What is it about human psychology that makes tradition so attractive? And if your family festivities make you want to run away and hide, what’s the best way to break the cycle?
Jenni Murray talks to Dr Cristine Legare from the University of Texas at Austin about why rituals are an inevitable part of being human, and also to listeners about their stories of change at Christmas - including starting new traditions with a baby and the family forced to break tradition thanks to a kitchen fire and a large dog...
If there’s one thing that most people expect on Christmas Day, it’s a Christmas dinner. From turkey and pigs in blankets to brussels sprouts and bread sauce it's a meal that many cooks dread. But according to historian Dr Annie Gray, it doesn't have to be that way. She says that if you take the long view, the only common thread from pre-Christian winter festivals to today is ‘light fire, eat meat, get drunk.’ The actual food is completely negotiable. She also explains why we cram so much food into one day, and what social history reveals about why mum generally cooks while dad gets to carve the turkey.
To top off this festive feast, Jenni is joined by the Glasgow-based close harmony quartet The All Sorts with a pick-and-mix of songs both traditional - and a little bit different.
Presenter - Jenni Murray
Producer - Anna Lacey
Interviewed guest - Cristine Legare
Interviewed guest - Annie Gray
Interviewed guest - Sarah Shorter
Interviewed guest - Barbara Cole Walton
Interviewed guest - Amy Batalli
Interviewed guest - Adele Mitchinson
Interviewed guest - Louella Miles
WED 10:41 Kilvert's Diary (m000cl35)
Episode 3: Christmas Cheer
The daily life of a Victorian country curate.
Christmas Day, 1870. It's so cold that when Kilvert takes his customary bath in the morning, he has to break the ice before he can sit down in it. After a four-mile walk to Bettws Chapel for a christening, his beard is frozen firmly to his mackintosh. But life is even harder for one poor family in the parish who can't afford to buy a blanket, until the Curate comes to their aid.
Cast:
Francis Kilvert ..... Alastair James Murden
Richard Venables, Mr Evans ..... Matthew Gravelle
Mrs Chaloner, Mrs Watkins, Mrs Evans ..... Eiry Thomas
Mrs Venables, Miss Child ..... Bethan Rose Young
Recorded on location at Rhosygilwen in Pembrokeshire.
All Things Bright And Beautiful sung by children from Ysgol Maenclochog. Other music by Crasdant.
Adapted and directed by Kate McAll
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (m000cl37)
Steph and Caitlin - A Forever Family
Mother tells teenage daughter the story of how she came to be joyfully adopted. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
WED 11:00 Soul Music (m000cl39)
Series 28
Coventry Carol
Performed as part of the mystery plays, the 'Coventry Carol' is from the Pageant of the Shearman and Taylors and tells the story of the Slaughter of The Innocents. A copy of the manuscript survived a fire in Birmingham Library in 1879 by sheer chance. Musician Ian Pittaway describes seeing the play in the ruins of Coventry cathedral in the 1980s - the drama was so powerful it still moves him to tears. The carol was sung on Christmas Day in 1940 in a live broadcast to the Empire just six weeks after the bombing of Coventry that destroyed the city's cathedral. Journalist Donna Marmestein tells of how the carol transformed how she felt about loss in her family; composer and performer Tori Amos describes what inspired her cover version of the song and Amy Hanson from the Small Steps Charity talks about how much her mother loved the carol. The children from the school her charity supports in Kenya sing their version of the song. Roxanne Burroughs explains about how her daughter Kaitlyn came to have the carol sung at her funeral. The soloist is Samantha Lewis; early music is from The Night Watch; Reading Phoenix choir and Southern Voices sing the carol and the children's choir is from the Rehabilitation centre Immanuel Afrika in Nairobi, Kenya. Producer: Sara Conkey
WED 11:30 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! (m000cl3c)
Christmas Special 2019: Good King Senseless
Arthur sets about launching Malcom's singing career. Starting with some Christmas caroling, a bigger stage awaits as the much loved radio sitcom returns to Radio 4 on Christmas Day. The attempted musical festivities are served up by Count Arthur Strong's Radio Repertory Company and their host of regular characters.
Steve Delaney stars as Count Arthur, supported by Mel Giedroyc, Alastair Kerr, Dave Mounfield and Terry Kilkelly as Malcom.
Count Arthur Strong’s Radio Show! has comprised seven series and nine specials since first airing in December 2005. Highlights include winning the Sony Radio Award for Best Comedy in 2009 and being voted as the Best Radio Sitcom by the British Comedy Guide in 2016, and again in 2018. The long running radio series broadcast until 2012 when the character stepped on to BBC TV for three series of the BAFTA nominated and critically acclaimed TV sitcom Count Arthur Strong. Since then, Count Arthur has returned to BBC Radio 4 annually with his celebrated Christmas specials. In August 2019, Count Arthur Strong's TV sitcom featured in the top three of the Most Missed TV Shows of the 21st Century poll conducted in the Radio Times.
A Komedia 7 Digital production for BBC Radio 4
WED 12:00 News Summary (m000cnmh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cl3h)
Episode 3
Simon Russell Beale reads the second volume of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed The Book of Dust trilogy. A specially commissioned abridged reading for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.
It is twenty years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.
It is seven years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.
Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child...
The second volume of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her dæmon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. They must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost – a city haunted by dæmons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.
Reader, Simon Russell Beale
Writer, Philip Pullman
Abridger, Doreen Estall
Producer, Michael Shannon
WED 12:18 Pick of the Year (m000cl3k)
Pick of the Year 2019
Brexitcast presenters Katya Adler and Adam Fleming co-host a selection of BBC radio highlights from the past year.
With notable dramas, documentaries and memorable moments from 2019, including a journey into Forest 404; Pippa Evans hitting the high notes; and Today says farewell to John Humphrys.
Producer: Stephen Garner
Production Support: Kay Whyld
WED 13:00 News (m000cl3m)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 13:13 Weather (m000cl3p)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:15 Three Vicars Talking (m000cl3r)
Christmas
Three Vicars Talking is back for a Christmas Day special.
Reverends Richard Coles, Kate Bottley and Giles Fraser swap shop talk about one of the busiest times of the clerical year. As well as getting ready for Christmas like the rest of us, they also have to prepare for Advent, attend numerous school nativity plays, and officiate at Midnight Mass in front of their biggest congregations of the year.
Presenters: Rev. Richard Coles, Rev. Kate Bottley and Rev. Giles Fraser
Producer: Neil Morrow for BBC Radio 4
WED 13:45 In Their Element (m000cl3t)
Series 4
Gold
Human fascination with gold goes back a long way. For the Egyptians it was the ultimate symbol of wealth, power and eternal life. For this reason they buried their Pharaohs with extraordinary amounts of gold artifacts. It was craftsmanship beyond anything the world had seen before. As a noble metal, gold doesn’t tarnish which added to its status and association with the sun god Ra and the afterlife.
However, gold is not universally loved. Around the same time as the Egyptians were perfecting their goldsmithing skills, in China, the ruling class preferred jade. For a while, the native people in the Americas preferred other metals over gold, like brass. Ships would sail from Europe, across the Atlantic Ocean to deliver brass to Cuba and sail back with a hold full of gold.
The extraction of gold has an unpleasant past and continues in some areas of the world to be cloaked in controversy. Traditionally the method has been to dissolve gold in mercury. But mercury is poisonous to living things and its leakage into the environment is a cause for concern. Gold offers more than decoration – its excellent electrical conductivity and softness are needed for electrical connections. Scientists are inventing ways to recycle gold from our electronic waste using bacteria. The method offers a greener way to satisfy our lust for gold.
Presenter: Andrea Sella.
Producer: Louisa Field.
WED 14:00 The Archers (m000cl3w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (m000cl3y)
A Time to Dance
Dramatist Lucy Gannon invites us into her retelling of the Christmas tale, a story which surprised her in the writing. While she was expecting the gentle story we all know, she instead discovered something altogether different.
In ‘A Time to Dance’ we meet two helpless people facing an uncertain future… and an unexpected stranger - an elderly shepherd, who has carried guilt and grief for a lifetime.
Starring Nikesh Patel (Indian Summers; Four Weddings) as Joseph, and Karl Johnson (Mum; Hot Fuzz) as Isaac.
Lucy Gannon’s numerous credits range from Soldier, Soldier and Bramwell to Dad, Lewis, Frankie, The Best of Men and The Children, not to mention a host of theatre and radio credits. She was awarded the MBE for services to drama in 1996. Her R4 drama Fat Little Thing won the Writers’ Guild award for best radio drama in 2017.
Written by Lucy Gannon
Produced and Directed by Allegra McIlroy
Cast:
Isaac ….. Karl Johnson
Joseph ….. Nikesh Patel
Mary….. Scarlett Courtney
The Narrator - Jessica Turner
Heli ….. Clive Hayward
Ben ….. Will Kirk
Sam….. Greg Jones
Angel….. Shaun Mason
Innkeeper’s wife ….. Lucy Reynolds
Sound design ….. David Chilton
A Time to Dance is a BBC NI Production
WED 15:00 HM The Queen (m000cl40)
The Queen's Christmas message to the Commonwealth and the nation, followed by the national anthem.
WED 15:05 News Summary (m000cprw)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 15:15 Last Christmas (m000cl42)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 15:30 All in the Mind (m000cl44)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Drama (m000cl46)
Neil Gaiman's 'Chivalry'
This year’s Radio 4 Neil Gaiman Christmas special is the story of Mrs Whitaker, who finds the Holy Grail in a charity shop. Along the way, she meets her dear friend Mrs Greenberg for macaroons, and becomes the focal point of Sir Galaad’s most important quest.
It’s a delightfully quirky, funny, and sweet story, mixing the gentle normality of Mrs Whitaker’s chats with her best friend, discussing grandchildren over home-made macaroons, with the very lightly touched upon every day loneliness of bereavement, and a visit from a handsome young man who says he’s called Galaad. He comes asking for the Grail, and ends up helping out with the gardening and heavy lifting around the house.
Neil Gaiman created Mrs Whitaker in his late 20s, and she was very much inspired by his grandmothers.
Starring Glenda Jackson as the Narrator and Mrs Whitaker, and Kit Harington as Sir Galaad.
Written by Neil Gaiman
Produced and Directed by Allegra McIlroy
Cast:
Narrator ….. Glenda Jackson
Mrs Whitaker ….. Glenda Jackson
Sir Galaad ….. Kit Harington
Mrs Greenberg and the new woman on the till ….. Jessica Turner
Marie ….. Lucy Reynolds
Sound design: David Chilton
Neil Gaiman’s Chivalry is a BBC Northern Ireland Production
WED 16:30 A Very John Kearns Christmas (m000cl48)
Christmas might be the only time of year you set fire to your pudding - but isn’t it just another day?
A programme about home, memory and ritual. Two-time Edinburgh Comedy Award winner John Kearns pulls up his sleigh to share genuine audio recordings of his family’s Christmas dinners gone by. Listen as his family picks over the bones of Midnight Mass, dissects jokes with abandon, mourns the quality of fish and chips and pays its respects to discontinued bus routes.
The tapes are interspersed with Kearns’ singular stand up, running through the litany of his Christmas morning, pondering Gary Lineker signing a Christmas card to his wife, and marvelling at George Ridgeley writing Last Christmas in front of Match of the Day.
Light up the fire, extinguish the pudding, pop the kettle on and settle into a Very John Kearns Christmas.
Writer and Presenter: John Kearns
Produced by Novel for BBC Radio 4
WED 17:00 Loose Ends (m000cl4b)
Music from 10cc, Eddi Reader, Squeeze, Jorja Smith, Kiefer Sutherland and more
Clive Anderson with a choice selection of music performed live in the Loose Ends studio this year, including 10cc, Eddi Reader, Jorja Smith, Squeeze, Kiefer Sutherland, Marty Wilde and more - along with a Loose Ends signature tune from The Raconteurs.
Producer Sukey Firth
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000cl4g)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:15 Christmas Compass (m000cl4j)
In the DRC
New Christmas stories from around the globe by Alexander McCall Smith
An intrepid reporter in search of his next big scoop remembers the importance of kindness.
Reader: Thierry Mabonga
Producer: Claire Simpson
A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4
WED 18:30 The Missing Hancocks (m000cl4l)
Christmas at Aldershot
The Missing Hancocks recreates those episodes of the classic Hancock's Half Hour that have been wiped or lost from the archive.
The first modern sitcom, Hancock's Half Hour made stars of Tony Hancock, Sid James and Kenneth Williams, and launched Ray Galton and Alan Simpson as one of the most successful comedy-writing partnerships in history. But 20 episodes of the show were missing from the BBC archives. Now, after four highly successful series, the final batch of those episodes have been lovingly re-recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC Radio Theatre.
Tonight's episode: Hancock is looking forward to Christmas, but then his call-up papers arrive. And as if that wasn't bad enough, his commanding officer turns out to be one Sidney James.....
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and with the classic score re-recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, the show stars Kevin McNally, Kevin Eldon, Simon Greenall, Robin Sebastian and Margaret Cabourn-Smith. Christmas At Aldershot was first broadcast on the 21st December, 1954.
Produced by Neil Pearson & Hayley Sterling.
Written by Ray Galton & Simpson
Music recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Levon Parikian.
A BBC Studios Production.
WED 19:00 The Archers (m000cl4n)
It’s Christmas day at Bridge Farm and Tom puts his foot in it.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m000cl4q)
Motown legends Brian and Eddie Holland
Three names on the Motown label, Holland-Dozier-Holland, were behind a string of hits including 13 number 1s in a row. The songs they wrote included Reach Out (I'll Be There), Stop! in the Name of Love, Where Did Our Love Go? and Baby Love and the artists they composed for ranged from Martha and the Vandellas and Diana Ross and the Supremes to Marvin Gaye and The Four Tops. Now in the 60th anniversary year of Motown and as they publish their autobiography, Come and Get These Memories, the Holland Brothers, Eddie and Brian, join Front Row for an intimate chat by the piano, remembering the creation of some of their greatest hits
Presenter: John Wilson
Producer: Sarah Johnson
WED 19:45 Kilvert's Diary (m000cl35)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 The Museum of Curiosity (m000ckw7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Monday]
WED 20:45 Four Thought (m000cl4s)
The Romance of Train Travel
Monisha Rajesh says the romance of train travel is not dead. After exploring the railways of India, she travelled across continents to research her book "Around the World in 80 Trains", discovering that the romance, " Wasn't dead, just reincarnated, living on in the passengers who would always tell their story to strangers, offer advice, share their food, and give up their seats."
Recorded at Primadonna literature and arts festival.
Presenter: Farrah Jarral
Producer: Sheila Cook
WED 21:00 Science Stories (m000cl4v)
Isaac Newton and the story of the apple
The story of how Newton came up with his gravitational theory is one of the most familiar in the history of science. He was sitting in the orchard at Woolsthorpe, thinking deep thoughts, when an apple fell from a tree. And all at once, Newton realised that the force of gravity pulling the apple down to the ground must be the same as the force that holds the moon in orbit around the earth. But was that really how he came up with his great idea? These days, historians of science don’t fall for cosy eureka stories like this. Rather they say that new understanding comes slowly, through hard graft, false trails, and failed ideas.
Philip Ball tells the story of the life and ideas of Isaac Newton, who was born on Christmas Day in 1642. Philip discusses with historian of science Anna Marie Roos of the University of Lincoln, just 30 miles north of Woolsthorpe, how Newton developed his theory of gravity . And he talks to Tom McLeish of the University of York, the author of a book about creativity in science and art, about his observation that many scientists today do think they have had eureka moments.
WED 21:30 Soul Music (m000cl39)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 today]
WED 22:00 With Great Pleasure (m000cl2x)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
WED 22:45 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cl3h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
WED 23:00 Bunk Bed (m000cl4y)
Series 4
Episodes 5 & 6
Patrick Marber and Peter Curran talk in-depth nonsense late at night in a bunk bed.
WED 23:30 Conversations from a Long Marriage at Christmas (m0001qhh)
Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam play a couple who have been married ‘for ever’. Children of the Sixties, they’re still free spirits, drawn together by their passion for music and each other. A two-hander, we follow their dangling conversations, as they prepare for Christmas a deux, open their Christmas cards, dissect their neighbours' relationships – and Joanna reveals she’s planned some rather surprising activities for Christmas Day because ‘All I want for Christmas is you’ A late night phone call means that her Christmas wish may not be granted
Written for Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam, by award-winning comedy writer and journalist, Jan Etherington, who’s been married for 34 years to Gavin Petrie, with whom she has created many hit radio and TV series (Second Thoughts, Next of Kin, Faith in the Future, The Change), this Christmas episode follows her first solo-scripted, half hour Conversations From a Long Marriage, which was transmitted, to great acclaim, on New Year's Day 2018. Jan says: ‘Joanna and Roger together are funny, warm, strong and complement each other perfectly. Their ‘Conversations’ will resonate with couples of any age but especially those who are still dancing in the kitchen, singing in the car and trying to keep the passion alive. Conversations From A Long Marriage has just been nominated for this year’s Tinniswood Award, for original radio drama and a full series will be broadcast on Radio 4 next year.
Producer, Claire Jones
A BBC Studios Production
THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2019
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m000cl51)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 00:15 Christmas Meditation (m000cl53)
A reflection on the meaning of Christmas with actor and comedian Sally Phillips.
As Christmas Day draws to a close Sally Phillips explores making room for the new and protecting the vulnerable in ourselves and each other. St Francis of Assisi’s special devotion to the Child Jesus led to the first living Nativity Scene being created in 1223 – the image of which displays a child born into a world of poverty, humility and simplicity – Sally reflects on this and its meaning.
On Christmas Night, after all of the turkey, trimmings and potential tribulations are over, Sally questions love on the edges, the hopeful counter motion of love and the notion that where injustice occurs generosity and love rise up.
Producer: Alexa Good
THU 00:30 Last Christmas (m000cl31)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000cl55)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000cl57)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000cl59)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m000cl5c)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000cl5f)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop Sarah Mullally
Good morning,
Boxing Day comes as a bit of relief. Christmas is over. So much emotional effort goes into Christmas; months of buying gifts, wrapping and posting - then the opening of gifts, the food, the partying – it’s exhausting. Boxing Day is a time to have a break.
With one week to go until 2020 it’s the beginning of the end and the end of the beginning. New Year is full of the possibility of new beginnings. Many make New Year resolutions. The more cynical amongst us may have decided to give the whole idea away, having learned by bitter experience how hard it is to maintain them!
A prominent mental health charity agrees that resolutions for self-improvement are not always the best way to start the year. Some years ago, they said that resolutions which focus on issues such as the need to lose weight or job worries create a negative self-image. And if the plans fail to materialise, that could trigger feelings of failure and inadequacy.
Instead of making a New Year's resolution, they urged people to think more positively about the year to come and to take a few steps to improve all-round mental health, including being active, going green, learning something new and giving back something to the community.
Christians have just celebrated God’s great resolution. God resolved, in his infinite wisdom and love, to break into the world of human existence. God became uniquely connected with creation through the birth of Jesus Christ - God with us.
It’s from this foundation of love that I pray I’ll seek to be more active this year, improve my green credentials, learn something new and continue to serve people with joy.
Amen.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m000cl5h)
Farming the Lakes
Isaac and Kerrie Benson are third generation Lake District hill farmers. They breed prize winning Herdwick sheep; the Lake District’s native breed, once championed and loved by Beatrice Potter and now an iconic Lakeland image seen gazing out from countless Cumbrian art galleries and gift shops. But over the last ten years the Bensons have had to face the difficult truth that this traditional method of upland farming alone can’t provide a future for their family.
Passionate about the traditions of Lakeland hill farming and keen to show the public why it matters, they’ve built a visitor centre on their farm complete with daily Livestock Shows in a purpose built arena and offer a drystone walling experience and spinning workshops.
Caz Graham visits to find out how ‘Maestro’ - their one tonne bull - is coping with his new celebrity status, how the Bensons have adjusted from running a flock of Herdwicks to running a Lake District visitor attraction and why they’re so committed to telling tourists why they believe modern farms are key to the future and sustainability of England’s most visited National Park
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09jv7cv)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 8 of 12
During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and for many a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song the Twelve Days of Christmas.
As actress Alison Steadman reveals during the cold mid-winter as they went about their business, those eight maids a milking were probably not thinking of a familiar bird which also produces milk. The domestic pigeon.
Producer : Andrew Dawes
Photograph: David England.
THU 06:00 Archive on 4 (m000c2w6)
Peak Hype
Is it, the essential grease for the wheels of commerce, signifiers to the malaise of the modern age, or indispensable tool to make yourself heard? Hype or hyperbole is many things to many people and in one way or another it can be argued that it deeply affects us all.
It played havoc with presenter Murray Lachlan Young. Once hyped as the million-pound poet, it all got out of control and he ended up seeking refuge in a wood - for three years!
Murray has been interested in hype ever since. Where does it come from? Can it be controlled? Is it always bad, and what does it say about public discourse and ideas when, to be heard, it often seems you are compelled to shout loudest?
In Peak Hype he explores the archive, reaching back to the First World War and the man who evolved the techniques which were used by others to persuade people to do almost anything - from fun things like buying more stuff than you need, to acquiescing in the murder or imprisonment of their friends and neighbours.
Hype was at heart of governments' post-war reconstruction strategies and powered everything from Beatlemania, punk, the celebrity obsession and the sunny uplands of the consumer society, where brands nosily competed for our attention and our money.
It may have been loud but it wasn't 'peak'. It has taken the invention of the smart phone to put a hype superhighway in our pockets. In this programme, Murray speaks to PR stars Lynne Franks, Mark Borkowski and Simon Evans and cultural commentators Richard Wharton and Darla Jane Gilroy and asks have we reached 'peak hype' and what does that mean?
THU 07:00 Today (m000cng4)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m000cng6)
Tutankhamun
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the discovery in 1922 of Tutanhamun's 3000 year old tomb and its impact on the understanding of ancient Egypt, both academic and popular. The riches, such as the death mask above, were spectacular and made the reputation of Howard Carter who led the excavation. And if the astonishing contents of the tomb were not enough, the drama of the find and the control of how it was reported led to a craze for 'King Tut' that has rarely subsided and has enthused and sometimes confused people around the world, seeking to understand the reality of Tutanhamun's life and times.
With
Elizabeth Frood
Christina Riggs
And
John Taylor
Producer: Simon Tillotson
THU 09:45 Last Christmas (m000cnhn)
Episode 4
Curated by Greg Wise and Emma Thompson this collection of personal writings explores the meaning of Christmas, drawing on themes of kindness, acceptance and tolerance. Today, we hear from Meera Syal who reflects on belonging and the festive season, while cardiologist Malcolm Walker has gift giving on his mind.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000cngb)
Winning women - Edna O'Brien, Sinead Burke & Khadijah Mellah
This year saw an unprecedented number of women winning major awards and prizes. What does being a winner feel like, and is it always good to win? Jenni Murray hears from the writer Edna O'Brien who won the David Cohen Prize for Literature. The award celebrates a writer who has broken down social and sexual barriers for women in Ireland and beyond, and moved mountains both politically and lyrically through her writing. She also hears from Khadijah Mellah who won the Magnolia Cup at Goodwood, and is the Sunday Times Young Sportswoman of the Year; Natasha Benjamin who won the Lorraine Inspirational Woman of the Year Award for her work supporting children affected by domestic violence; the educator and disability activist Sinead Burke who has achondroplasia and is on the BBC 100 Women list as one of most inspiring and influential women in the world; and Laura Smith who won this year’s Funny Women Stage Award.
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Dianne McGregor
THU 10:45 Kilvert's Diary (m000cngd)
Episode 4: Spring Fever
The daily life of a Victorian country curate.
Francis Kilvert was a young English clergyman and diarist, whose parish was the border country of England and Wales in the 1870s. During his time as curate in Clyro he kept a detailed diary of his daily life in the hope that it might be of interest "to those who come after me". Kilvert's love of nature, and compassion for his parishioners, shines from every page.
In this episode, it's Spring and the young curate is restless. But this is no Spring fever. Kilvert is love-sick for Daisy Thomas and can wait no longer. He decides to ask Daisy's father for permission to marry. The conversation doesn't go exactly as he hoped.
Cast:
Francis Kilvert ..... Alastair James Murden
Richard Venables, Mr Pritchard, Mr Thomas ..... Matthew Gravelle
Mrs Chaloner, Anne Evans ..... Eiry Thomas
Mrs Venables ..... Bethan Rose Young
Recorded on location at Rhosygilwen in Pembrokeshire.
All Things Bright And Beautiful sung by children from Ysgol Maenclochog. Other music by Crasdant.
Adapted and directed by Kate McAll
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m000cn4y)
Iceland: The Great Thaw
Iceland's glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate, with scientists predicting that they could all be gone 200 years from now.
How is this affecting the lives of local people, and the identity of a nation that has ice in its name?
Maria Margaronis talks to Icelandic farmers and fishermen, scientists and environmental activists about their (sometimes surprising) responses to climate change, and asks why it’s so difficult even for those who see its effects from their windows every day to take in what it means.
Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith
Editor: Bridget Harney
THU 11:30 Swooshes, Seaboards, Synths and Spawn (m000cngg)
Singer, tech enthusiast and multi-instrumentalist Bishi explores how new technologies and artificial intelligence are shaping the future of music creation.
At the heart of the story, is the unlikely tale of London-based inventor Roland Lamb, superstar producer and recording artist Pharrell Williams and the creation of ROLI, a music tech company at the cutting-edge of expressive music creation.
How did an ex-Buddhist monk end up in business with one of the world's biggest music names? And what does this collaboration tell us about the shape of music-making to come?
We hear Bishi get her hands on some of ROLI's mould-breaking technology - including their tactile silicone Seaboards and modular rainbow synth Blocks. And across London, she's introduced to the extraordinary MI.MU glove, used by pioneering musician and multidisciplinary artist Lula Mehbrahtu, to play with sound, rhythm and voice by physically manipulating the space around her.
We'll find out how these innovations are not just making music more accessible, but transforming the way musicians - from professionals right the way down to total beginners - conceptualise musical creation.
It's not just a question of new toys. Composition and production is also being revolutionised by Artificial Intelligence, with neural networks that can analyse millions of bars of music and catalyse and compose new musical works and sounds at the touch of a button.
So are the machines taking over? Not quite. Vocalist and composer Jennifer Walshe discusses how, instead of replacing the human, these artificial musical brains can help catalyse new frontiers of composition in ways we might never have dreamed of. We also speak to musician Holly Herndon, who has built an AI "baby" - called Spawn - which mimics, interprets and develop Holly's musical ideas, often revealing new elements in her compositions.
Presenter: Bishi
Producer: Steven Rajam
A Boom Shakalaka production for BBC Radio 4
Photo credit: Zuzanna Blur
THU 12:00 News Summary (m000cpry)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cngl)
Episode 4
Simon Russell Beale reads the second volume of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed The Book of Dust trilogy. A specially commissioned abridged reading for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.
It is twenty years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.
It is seven years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.
Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child...
The second volume of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her dæmon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. They must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost – a city haunted by dæmons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.
Reader, Simon Russell Beale
Writer, Philip Pullman
Abridger, Doreen Estall
Producer, Michael Shannon
THU 12:18 You and Yours (m000cngn)
You and Yours: Sports Special
Shari Vahl looks at the range of sports we're taking part in across the UK.
Lisa O'Keefe from Sport England joins us to tell us which sports are proving more popular and which ones are seeing a decline in participation.
England cricket legend Ebony Rainford-Brent assesses the impact of World Cup winning performances from both the men and the women's teams in English cricket. Will that help boost participation at the sport's grass roots?
We find out why some golf clubs are shutting their doors for good.
The boss of David Lloyd Leisure talks about the growth in numbers of people hitting the gym while tennis is losing players.
Presenter: Shari Vahl.
Producer: Mike Young.
THU 12:57 Weather (m000cngq)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m000cngs)
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 In Their Element (m000cngv)
Series 4
Helium
Who doesn’t smile at the sight of a floating Father Christmas or a hovering happy birthday? Helium filled balloons are festive, but as the gas reserves run low – should we reconsider the balloons?
Helium is a finite resource here on Earth and many branches of science need it. Doctors need it to run MRI machines to diagnose tumours, engineers test rockets for leaks with it and deep sea divers use it to avoid the bends.
The story of helium starts with a solar eclipse in 1868. The event had many astronomers' eyes fixed on the sun. Two astronomers, nearly simultaneous and independently, made the same observation; a strange light with an unusual wavelength coming from the sun. It turned out to be the first sighting of extra-terrestrial helium. It would take decades for helium to be discovered on Earth and longer still for its worth to be recognised.
As its ability to make things float and inability to burn became apparent, the US military started hoarding it for their floating blimps. But they soon realised that it is very hard to store an element that is so light that it can escape the Earth's gravitational pull. As we empty our last reserves of the periodic table's most notorious escape artist – is the future of floating balloons up in the air?
THU 14:00 The Archers (m000cl4n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b09jrsfc)
Mr Betjeman's Class
By Jonathan Smith. First of two plays celebrating one of Britain's best-loved poets.
1928. John Betjeman, aged 23, has left Magdalen College - sent down without a degree. He's spent three years at Oxford being a class-conscious social climber, clowning his suburban way into the country house weekend set. With his ambitions in ruins, he's reduced to acting as cricket master in a prep school. He knows nothing of cricket.
Older Betjeman ..... Ben Whitrow
Younger Betjeman ..... Philippe Edwards
Bessie ..... Sophie Thompson
Ernest ..... Nicky Henson
Headmaster ..... Gerard McDermott
Boy 1 ..... Adam Thomas Wright
Boy 2 ..... Kedar Williams-Stirling
Boy 3 ..... Tom Cawte
Producer/director: Bruce Young
(Jonathan Smith's second play, Mr Betjeman Regrets, is at
2.15pm tomorrow.)
THU 15:00 Open Country (m000cngx)
In the Bleak Midwinter: Holst's Cotswolds
Helen Mark visits the Cotswold village of Cranham and its surroundings: countryside that was home to the composer Gustav Holst, and now features a walking trail named after him.
Holst grew up among these gently rolling hills, and created several of his works – including the Cotswolds Symphony and his classic arrangement of In The Bleak Midwinter – thanks to inspiration gleaned from his years in the area.
Exploring his old haunts, visiting the church where he had his first job as organist and treading the same hills where Holst used to practice his trombone, Helen discovers how the landscape influenced the composer; and how his own influence lingers on in the area today.
Produced in Bristol by Lucy Taylor.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m000clnq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (m000clpm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (m000cnct)
Frank Cottrell-Boyce on Local Hero
With Francine Stock.
In another edition of Moving Image, writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce reveals the huge impact that the film Local Hero had on his family and his life. And receives a surprise phone call from someone who was intimately involved in the production.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m000cngz)
The hidden history in our DNA - Part 1 - Sex and Disease
Our genomes are more than just an instruction manual for our bodies. They are maps, diaries, history books and medical records of our and our ancestors' lives.....if you know how to read them. In this programme and the next Adam Rutherford is joined by UCL geneticist Lucy van Dorp and other scientists who are cracking these genomic codes to tell the human story. This week they explore how sex and disease over the past few thousand years has left indelible marks on our DNA.
THU 17:00 PM (m000cnh1)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000cnh5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:15 Christmas Compass (m000cnh7)
The Primatologist
New Christmas stories from around the globe by Alexander McCall Smith.
Meera Syal reads a tale about a grieving woman who finds comfort and companionship in an unlikely setting.
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4
THU 18:30 Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice (m000cl9g)
Episode 4
A new series from Tom Allen, star of Mock The Week, Bake Off Extra Slice, The Apprentice: You're Fired and fresh from a sell out solo performance at The London Palladium.
Tom Allen is Actually Not Very Nice explores what happens when Tom's calm and collected exterior collapses. He used to be such a nice boy but what has happened to turn him naughty?
With help from the assembled studio audience, Tom works out how best to navigate some tricky social situations and how to keep a lid on his fury when confronted with life's small injustices.
Featuring Gabby Best.
Photo credit: Edward Moore @edshots
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production
THU 19:00 The Archers (m000cn09)
There's upheaval for The Bull and Kenton makes a mistake.
THU 19:15 Front Row (m000cnh9)
Candice Carty-Williams in conversation with Bernardine Evaristo
A sparkling and razor-sharp conversation marks the end of a remarkable year for two authors.
Queenie has been one of the breakthrough novels of the year, winning over readers with its compassionate and funny depiction of a young black woman whose life seems to be spinning out of control. Front Row asked its author, Candice Carty-Williams, to choose a cultural figure she’d like to talk to. She selected fellow novelist Bernardine Evaristo who this year became the first black woman to win the Booker Prize for Girl, Woman, Other, sharing it with Margaret Atwood. That shared win is part of their discussion as is how to be a literary Instagram influencer, how far the publishing industry is diversifying, and how listening to Beyoncé can ease the stresses of a book tour.
Interviewed guest: Candice Carty-Williams
Interviewed guest: Bernardine Evaristo
Producer: Dymphna Flynn
THU 19:45 Kilvert's Diary (m000cngd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 Feeding the Problem (m000cnhc)
Manchester’s Nick Buckley has a message which will seem to some - shocking.
The former homelessness street warden and member of Manchester’s Crime and Disorder team wants you to stop buying sandwiches and food for rough sleepers.
We know the arguments about not giving cash. That it can be spent on drugs, particularly when a hit of spice can cost 80 pence. But we like to think we are helping buy buying an extra sandwich, a coffee or a pastry and handing it to a person on the streets.
Now chief executive of the Charity Mancunian Way, Nick argues that your sandwich diverts people in crisis from safe, organised hot food points which signpost users to mental health professionals, medical care and temporary housing advice. In short – you are making rough sleeping a more viable option.
And Nick is not alone. Amanda Croome chief executive of one of Manchester’s key homelessness organisations, The Booth Centre, agrees, citing her own experience of homeless people who can only change their lives when they must engage with professionals – as opposed to the kindness of strangers.
Petra Salva, rough sleeping director of the charity St Mungo's, explains that Nick's argument holds up in London and the South East too, and describes an initiative which is an alternative to handing out ad hoc food - No Second Night Out.
Nick also meets volunteers who say they are fulfilling a vital service, and hears about practical ways to help, but the view supported by many experts is that a lot of are doing the wrong thing - for the right reason.
Presented by Nick Buckley
Produced by Kevin Core
THU 20:30 In Business (m000cncp)
The Business of Beethoven
"Beethoven's arms were bigger than the piano" says concert pianist Stephen Hough at his Steinway. "I sense him pushing at every moment - as if he's in a cage saying 'Let me out'".
To mark the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth in 2020, Clemmie Burton-Hill looks, not at Beethoven the composer, but at a little-known aspect of the composer's life, Beethoven the entrepreneur.
In the company of some of the foremost Beethoven proponents - pianist Stephen Hough, violinists Anne-Sophie Mutter and Daniel Hope and jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, Clemmie investigates how Beethoven pushed and cajoled music publishers, music printers and piano makers to turn convention on its head and create a music "industry".
Could he even have invented the gig economy?!
The programme was made in collaboration with the US radio stations WNYC and WQXR
Producer: Adele Armstrong
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m000cngz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (m000cng6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m000cnhg)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
THU 22:45 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cngl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
THU 23:00 Relativity (b0939f5v)
Series 1
Episode 2
Richard Herring's brand new comedy about four generations of a family. Starring Alison Steadman, Phil Davies and Richard Herring.
Relativity is a witty and loving portrait of family life, with affectionate observation of inter generational misunderstanding, sibling sparring and the ties that bind, that will resonate with anyone who has ever argued with their dad about how to pronounce crisp brand names.
Episode 2:
Margaret and Ken invite all the family round to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary, Jane plans the party surprise to end all surprises, and 17 year old Nick's joy is unbounded to discover Chloe has a bit part in the new Star Wars film. Grandma Doris' contribution to the festivities is somewhat uninhibited, and her Alzheimer's makes Ian and Jane to reflect on what really matters.
Written by Richard Herring and produced by Polly Thomas.
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Broadcast Assistants: Bella Lamplough Shields, Bryony Jarvis Taylor
Producer: Polly Thomas
Executive Producers: Jon Thoday and Richard Allen Turner
An Avalon Television production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:30 What Were They Thinking? (m000cnhj)
The passing years - and the political and social changes that take place within them - can have a profound effect on the way we view different cultural items, whether they be films, books TV shows or records. Some dismissed at the time can, with the benefit of hindsight, be seen as pioneering and revolutionary - meanwhile the most lauded works can sometimes feel dated or left behind by changing attitudes. In ‘What Were They Thinking?’ Mark Lawson invites his guests - Zoe Strimpel, Alan Johnson and Ayisha Malik - to take another look at four different cultural big-hitters from 1999 and see how they stack up. How does Oscar winner ‘American Beauty’ fare in the days of the #MeToo movement, and how useful was the twenty year old ‘Rough Guide to the Internet’ in identifying the future path of the net? Does ‘Walking With Dinosaurs’ keep pace with the best of today’s nature documentaries - and was Destiny’s Child’s breakthrough album destined for long-term glory? Mark and his guests unsettle the dust to show, through the course of the conversation, just how far each of the pieces up for discussion can be illuminated afresh through reappraisal twenty years down the road.
FRIDAY 27 DECEMBER 2019
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m000cnhl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 00:15 Living Memory (m0005t2c)
Like Children Fighting Over Toys
There's an estimated 15,000 people in Britain who have reached the age of 100 and received the famous telegram from the Queen. That's
0.02% of the overall population.
Over five programmes, we hear from some of them about the lives they've led, their experiences in the last 100 years, the lessons they've learned and how they view the future.
Bob Weighton is a supercentenarian. He's aged 111 and England's oldest man. In this episode, Bob, with remarkable eloquence and generosity, reflects on a full life spent in different parts of the globe. He looks around him at the world he now inhabits and considers what lies ahead for himself and the rest of us.
Produced by Alia Cassam and Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 00:30 Last Christmas (m000cnhn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000cnhq)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000cnhs)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000cnhv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m000cnhx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000cnhz)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop Sarah Mullally
Good Morning,
Soon after my mother’s death a few years ago I found myself looking out over the coast of North Devon. It was a cold and grey day with clouds over a dark threatening sea – it reflected how I felt. For many this Christmas will have been difficult. For some it will have been the first Christmas without the person they love, or maybe the holiday season brings back difficult family memories or perhaps you are concerned it will be your last. You are not alone.
Back in Devon as I looked out over the sea hues of sunshine began to break through and began to change the tones. As I have journeyed on those hues of light have broken into the seascape of grief.
In the bible light is used for the hope that we celebrate at Christmas. The Son of God, breaking into our reality, - a way to walk through the darkness without fear.
Real hope the hope which breaks in like shafts of sunlight - can only be conceived in that darkness if we leave a place for it. Leaving time for our eyes to adjust to the darkness that is the work of grief – waiting for the light to break through.
There’s a wonderful line in the carol ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’
“Yet in the dark streets shineth the everlasting light the Hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”
And how is this gift given – silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given.
I pray that you will know this Christmas time that into our darkness the light of life breaks in and the darkness will not overcome it.
Amen.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m000cnj1)
Plastic Forests
There are plans for millions of new trees to be planted across the UK in an effort to slow climate change. But millions of new trees also means forests of unsustainable single-use plastic tree guards. Some say they're ugly. Other say they can even prevent newly planted trees from thriving if they’re not maintained properly.
Caz Graham visits the Yorkshire Dales and Cumbria for a spot of tree guard wombling and hears why some woodland managers and landowners think it’s time to rethink the use of plastic tubes. She also sees how the forestry industry is developing new sustainable ways to protect saplings.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09jvlnh)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 9 of 12
During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and for many a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song the Twelve Days of Christmas.
As actress Alison Steadman recounts, there are many birds who could be thought of as the best dancers, but for me I'm sure the nine ladies dancing (and gentlemen) in the song would relish a chance to relax for a while and watch the dancing display of the great crested grebe. A sure sign that winter is nearly over.
Producer : Andrew Dawes
Photograph: Tim Donovan.
FRI 06:00 Today (m000cmyr)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m000clp3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Last Christmas (m000cn2h)
Episode 5
Curated by Greg Wise and Emma Thompson this collection of personal writings reflects on the meaning of Christmas, drawing on the themes of kindness, acceptance and tolerance. In today's episode, the BBC's chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, on how the Christmas message of hope, peace and community is universal. Refugee Tindyebwa Agaba follows, with his account of childhood Christmases in Rwanda, before the militia arrived.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000cmz0)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
FRI 10:45 Kilvert's Diary (m000cmz4)
Episode 5: Leaving Clyro
The daily life of a Victorian country curate.
Kilvert spends his last day as curate at Clyro saying goodbye to the parishioners. First he visits the Old Soldier to give him good news about his pension, then comforts Mrs Prosser, a young mother who is dying of consumption, and escorts the new curate on the four-mile walk to the Chapel. On the train journey from Hay he is mesmerised by a young Irish girl with dark eyes and a beautiful singing voice.
Cast:
Francis Kilvert ..... Alastair James Murden
Richard Venables, Mr Irvine ..... Matthew Gravelle
Mrs Chaloner ..... Eiry Thomas
Mrs Prosser, Irish girl ..... Bethan Rose Young
Recorded on location at Rhosygilwen in Pembrokeshire.
All Things Bright And Beautiful sung by children from Ysgol Maenclochog. Other music by Crasdant.
Adapted and directed by Kate McAll
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 11:00 No Triumph, No Tragedy (m000cmz8)
Haben Girma
In this edition of No Triumph No Tragedy, Peter White, himself blind since birth, meets Haben Girma, the first deaf blind graduate from Harvard law school who is now breaking barriers to tackle discrimination on a world wide scale.
Haben's father was from Ethiopia and her Mum from Eritrea: they were determined to not restrict her in any way and she grew up in a noisy rough and tumble home, staying in mainstream education and even helping build a school in Mali when she was just fifteen. She said that as a young child she didn't fully realise she was different: she thought everyone was deaf and blind!
This upbringing helped shape Haben's approach to life, including her stubborn refusal to accept any limits on what she can achieve. When her school cafeteria menus were unreadable to her, she threatened to take them to court! And this fierce campaigning streak got her into Harvard: the first deaf blind student to graduate from the law school.
She is now a human rights lawyer tackling access to the internet and therefore to most aspects of life for other disabled people. She is a firm believer that small changes by the big companies can have huge knock on benefits to people across the world and that they could do far more to help. It's a message she takes all over, using her brain machine and a typist manically transcribing the words of those around her in a system she helped to develop:
I want more companies to realise that people with disabilities are talented and an amazing market. We are one of the largest minority groups. There are over a billion disabled people across the world and so an organisation that invests in accessibility gets to tap into this huge market."
Produced by Sue Mitchell
FRI 11:30 Maureen & Friends (m000cmzd)
From pesky rodents to Jane Austen. The irrepressible Maureen Lipman performs her comic monologues in the BBC Radio Theatre.
Producer: David Hunter
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m000cnzn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cmzn)
Episode 5
Simon Russell Beale reads the second volume of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed The Book of Dust trilogy. A specially commissioned abridged reading for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.
It is twenty years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.
It is seven years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.
Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child...
The second volume of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her dæmon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. They must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost – a city haunted by dæmons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.
Reader, Simon Russell Beale
Writer, Philip Pullman
Abridger, Doreen Estall
Producer, Michael Shannon
FRI 12:18 You and Yours (m000cmzr)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.
FRI 12:57 Weather (m000cmzx)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m000cn01)
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 In Their Element (m000cn05)
Series 4
Strontium
Andrea Sella, Professor of Chemistry at UCL, celebrates five elements that enhance our lives. Today he admires how strontium gives us deep red fireworks and its many medical uses.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m000cn09)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b09jvfcr)
Mr Betjeman Regrets
By Jonathan Smith.
Towards the end of his career, Sir John Betjeman is a national treasure. He's become an immensely popular tv and radio performer, selling over two million copies of his Collected Poems in his lifetime. But he continues to worry about his chequered career and complex personal life. Stars Benjamin Whitrow who died shortly before he could finish recording this play. His role was completed by Robert Bathurst, a friend and fellow Betjeman enthusiast.
Betjeman ..... BENJAMIN WHITROW/ROBERT BATHURST
Lady Elizabeth ..... JOANNA DAVID
Lady Penelope ...... SARAH CROWDEN
Cornish Woman. ..... SANDRA DUNCAN
Young Paul ..... ADAM THOMAS WRIGHT
includes voices of Gerard McDermott, Isabella Inchbald and
Neil McCaul.
Producer/director: Bruce Young.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000cn0f)
Black Country Living Museum
Kathy Clugston and the panel visit the Black Country Living Museum. Matthew Pottage, Pippa Greenwood and Matthew Wilson answer the green-fingered audience's questions.
The panellists discuss how to prune a golden alder, give tips on encouraging a fig tree to produce fruit and offer recommendations for exotic plants with winter interest. They also consider what to do with a Christmas tree after the festivities and whether a poinsettia can be kept beyond the twelve days of Christmas.
Away from the questions, Pippa Greenwood explores the Museum to have a look round the gardens with researcher Nadia Awal and Pete Alexander.
Producer: Hannah Newton
Assistant Producer: Rosie Merotra
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m000cn0j)
Singular by Diana Evans
An original short story by writer Diana Evans about looking for love later on in life.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m000cn0n)
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently.
FRI 16:30 Feedback (m000cn0s)
Radio 3 had a much admired schedule, so why change it? That's one of the questions Roger Bolton puts to Radio 3's Controller of Radio 3, Alan Davey, in the last programme of the current series.
Also, two listener reviewers have some pungent comments to make about a popular history podcast and The Observer’s Miranda Sawyer gives Radio 4 some radical advice.
Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Kate Dixon
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (m000cn0x)
Layla and Keigan – Seeing you once a year isn't enough
Friends aged 11 and 8 talk about how close they are and how much they miss each other. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
FRI 17:00 PM (m000cn11)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000cn19)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:15 Christmas Compass (m000cn1f)
On The Island
New Christmas stories from around the globe by Alexander McCall Smith.
A detective makes a surprising connection when he retires to his hometown.
Reader: Adam Courting
Producer: Gaynor Macfarlane
A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 18:30 Dead Ringers (m000cmxr)
Christmas Specials 2019
Episode 3
A look back at all the achievements of Boris Johnson, which the team somehow manage to drag out for 11 minutes. The rest of the show will consist of soothing music.
Starring Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis McLeod, Duncan Wisbey, Deborah Stevenson.
The writing team for the series: Tom Jamieson & Nev Fountain, Laurence Howarth, Sarah Campbell, Ed Amsden & Tom Coles, James Bugg, Max Davis, Sara Gibbs, Simon Alcock, Alex Hardy and others.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m000cn1k)
Writer, Sarah McDonald-Hughes
Director, Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe
David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Josh Archer ….. Angus Imrie
Kenton Archer ….. Richard Attlee
Tony Archer ….. David Troughton
Pat Archer ….. Patricia Gallimore
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Tom Archer ….. William Troughton
Natasha Archer ….. Mali Harries
Phoebe Aldridge ….. Lucy Morris
Christine Barford ….. Lesley Saweard
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Rex Fairbrother ….. Nick Barber
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Clarrie Grundy ….. Heather Bell
Alistair Lloyd ….. Michael Lumsden
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Philip Moss ….. Andy Hockley
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane
Joy Horville ….. Jackie Lye
Lee Bryce ….. Ryan Early
Angus Shrimpton ….. Leo Wan
Gavin ….. Gareth Pierce
FRI 19:15 Front Row (m000cn1p)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
FRI 19:45 Kilvert's Diary (m000cmz4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Correspondents' Look Ahead (m000cn1t)
Looking Ahead to 2020
BBC correspondents forecast the leading news stories for the year ahead
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m000cn1y)
A weekly reflection on a topical issue.
FRI 21:00 Intrigue (m000cn22)
The Ratline (Part 1)
Philippe Sands investigates the mysterious disappearance of senior Nazi Otto Wachter in a story of love, denial and a curious death.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m000cn26)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
FRI 22:45 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cmzn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (m000cmrz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:25 James Veitch's Contractual Obligation (m0001gnx)
Episode 1: A Dark Web
Comedian James Veitch struggles to create a new challenge-based format for Radio 4.
In episode one he is tasked with examining the Dark Web but soon clashes with his producer.
In James' mind the BBC's rules are made to be broken. The BBC takes a very different view.
Instructed to create a challenge which will allow him to explore the Dark Web, James seems entirely bereft of ideas.... until an online shopping error results in the delivery of 22 packets of button mushrooms.
James Veitch's TED Talk - "This is what happens when you reply to spam email" - was a massive hit.
Producer: Laurence Grissell
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (m000cn2c)
Julie and Ann - I Shouldn't Be Telling You This
Half-sisters talk about how one of them came to know who her birth father was . Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
50 Things That Made the Modern Economy
09:30 TUE (m000cmr4)
A Bright Yellow Light
20:00 TUE (m000cmsf)
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
15:00 TUE (m000cmrx)
A Point of View
08:48 SUN (m000c8rz)
A Point of View
23:50 SUN (m000c8rz)
A Point of View
20:50 FRI (m000cn1y)
A Run in the Park
19:45 SUN (m000clq2)
A Very John Kearns Christmas
16:30 WED (m000cl48)
All in the Mind
21:00 TUE (m000cl44)
All in the Mind
15:30 WED (m000cl44)
An Audience for the Queen
11:30 TUE (m0001qv6)
Any Answers?
14:00 SAT (m000cksh)
Any Questions?
13:10 SAT (m000c8rx)
Archive on 4
20:00 SAT (m000ckt6)
Archive on 4
06:00 THU (m000c2w6)
Art of Now
23:30 SAT (m000cc4l)
BBC Inside Science
16:30 THU (m000cngz)
BBC Inside Science
21:00 THU (m000cngz)
Bells on Sunday
05:43 SUN (m000cktn)
Bells on Sunday
00:45 MON (m000cktn)
Beyond Belief
16:30 MON (m000ckvz)
Book at Bedtime
21:45 SAT (b08n2jb3)
Broadcasting House
09:00 SUN (m000clnz)
Bunk Bed
23:00 WED (m000cl4y)
Christmas Compass
18:15 TUE (m000cms7)
Christmas Compass
18:15 WED (m000cl4j)
Christmas Compass
18:15 THU (m000cnh7)
Christmas Compass
18:15 FRI (m000cn1f)
Christmas Meditation
00:15 THU (m000cl53)
Christmas Service: A Wintershall Nativity
09:00 WED (m000cl2z)
Conversations from a Long Marriage at Christmas
23:30 WED (m0001qhh)
Correspondents' Look Ahead
20:00 FRI (m000cn1t)
Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!
11:30 WED (m000cl3c)
Crossing Continents
20:30 MON (m000cc10)
Crossing Continents
11:00 THU (m000cn4y)
Dads and the Delivery Room
11:00 TUE (m000cmrd)
Dead Ringers
12:30 SAT (m000c8rq)
Dead Ringers
18:30 FRI (m000cmxr)
Desert Island Discs
11:15 SUN (m000clp3)
Desert Island Discs
09:00 FRI (m000clp3)
Drama
14:15 MON (m000ckvp)
Drama
14:15 TUE (m000cmrv)
Drama
14:15 WED (m000cl3y)
Drama
16:00 WED (m000cl46)
Drama
14:15 THU (b09jrsfc)
Drama
14:15 FRI (b09jvfcr)
Farming Today
06:30 SAT (m000ckrs)
Farming Today
05:45 MON (m000clql)
Farming Today
05:45 TUE (m000ckx3)
Farming Today
05:45 WED (m000cmt2)
Farming Today
05:45 THU (m000cl5h)
Farming Today
05:45 FRI (m000cnj1)
Feedback
20:00 SUN (m000c8rg)
Feedback
16:30 FRI (m000cn0s)
Feeding the Problem
20:00 THU (m000cnhc)
Four Seasons
16:30 SUN (m000clpp)
Four Thought
05:45 SAT (m000c8sm)
Four Thought
20:45 WED (m000cl4s)
From Our Home Correspondent
13:30 SUN (m000clpd)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:30 SAT (m000cks5)
Front Row
19:15 MON (m000ckwc)
Front Row
19:15 TUE (m000cmsc)
Front Row
19:15 WED (m000cl4q)
Front Row
19:15 THU (m000cnh9)
Front Row
19:15 FRI (m000cn1p)
Gardeners' Question Time
14:00 SUN (m000c8r8)
Gardeners' Question Time
15:00 FRI (m000cn0f)
Great Lives
16:30 TUE (m000cmrz)
Great Lives
23:00 FRI (m000cmrz)
HM The Queen
15:00 WED (m000cl40)
Have You Heard George's Podcast?
23:00 MON (p07vsbfk)
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
12:04 SUN (m000c9mv)
In Business
21:30 SUN (m000cc27)
In Business
20:30 THU (m000cncp)
In Our Time
09:00 THU (m000cng6)
In Our Time
21:30 THU (m000cng6)
In Their Element
13:45 MON (m000ckvj)
In Their Element
13:45 TUE (m000cmrs)
In Their Element
13:45 WED (m000cl3t)
In Their Element
13:45 THU (m000cngv)
In Their Element
13:45 FRI (m000cn05)
In Touch
20:40 TUE (m000cmsh)
Intrigue
21:00 FRI (m000cn22)
James Veitch's Contractual Obligation
10:30 SAT (m000cks1)
James Veitch's Contractual Obligation
23:25 FRI (m0001gnx)
Kilvert's Diary
10:45 MON (m000cktz)
Kilvert's Diary
19:45 MON (m000cktz)
Kilvert's Diary
10:45 TUE (m000cmrb)
Kilvert's Diary
19:45 TUE (m000cmrb)
Kilvert's Diary
10:41 WED (m000cl35)
Kilvert's Diary
19:45 WED (m000cl35)
Kilvert's Diary
10:45 THU (m000cngd)
Kilvert's Diary
19:45 THU (m000cngd)
Kilvert's Diary
10:45 FRI (m000cmz4)
Kilvert's Diary
19:45 FRI (m000cmz4)
Last Christmas
09:45 MON (m000ckwp)
Last Christmas
00:30 TUE (m000ckwp)
Last Christmas
09:45 TUE (m000cl42)
Last Christmas
09:45 WED (m000cl31)
Last Christmas
15:15 WED (m000cl42)
Last Christmas
00:30 THU (m000cl31)
Last Christmas
09:45 THU (m000cnhn)
Last Christmas
00:30 FRI (m000cnhn)
Last Christmas
09:45 FRI (m000cn2h)
Last Word
20:30 SUN (m000c8rd)
Last Word
16:00 FRI (m000cn0n)
Letters From Tove
00:30 SAT (m000c8qf)
Living Memory
00:15 FRI (m0005t2c)
Living World
06:35 SUN (b01b8yxm)
Loose Ends
18:15 SAT (m000ckt0)
Loose Ends
11:30 MON (m000ckt0)
Loose Ends
17:00 WED (m000cl4b)
Matthew Herbert's World of Sound
23:30 MON (m0003zbs)
Maureen & Friends
11:30 FRI (m000cmzd)
Meeting Myself Coming Back
22:00 SUN (b01k1ls1)
Midnight Mass
23:30 TUE (m000cmsp)
Midnight News
00:00 SAT (m000c8s7)
Midnight News
00:00 SUN (m000cktb)
Midnight News
00:00 MON (m000clq6)
Midnight News
00:00 TUE (m000ckwm)
Midnight News
00:00 THU (m000cl51)
Midnight News
00:00 FRI (m000cnhl)
Money Box
12:04 SAT (m000cks9)
Money Box
21:00 SUN (m000cks9)
Mr Pye
15:00 SUN (m000clpj)
Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics
16:00 MON (m000ckvw)
Neil Gaiman and the BBC Symphony Orchestra
06:00 WED (m000cl2r)
News Briefing
05:30 SAT (m000c8sh)
News Briefing
05:30 SUN (m000cktl)
News Briefing
05:30 MON (m000clqg)
News Briefing
05:30 TUE (m000ckwz)
News Briefing
05:30 WED (m000cmsy)
News Briefing
05:30 THU (m000cl5c)
News Briefing
05:30 FRI (m000cnhx)
News Headlines
06:00 SUN (m000clng)
News Summary
12:00 SAT (m000cks7)
News Summary
12:00 SUN (m000cm43)
News Summary
12:00 MON (m000clmp)
News Summary
12:00 TUE (m000cmtq)
News Summary
12:00 WED (m000cnmh)
News Summary
15:05 WED (m000cprw)
News Summary
12:00 THU (m000cpry)
News Summary
12:00 FRI (m000cnzn)
News and Papers
06:00 SAT (m000ckrq)
News and Papers
07:00 SUN (m000clnl)
News and Papers
08:00 SUN (m000clnv)
News and Weather
22:00 SAT (m000ckt8)
News
13:00 SAT (m000cksf)
News
13:00 WED (m000cl3m)
No Triumph, No Tragedy
11:00 FRI (m000cmz8)
Open Book
16:00 SUN (m000clpm)
Open Book
15:30 THU (m000clpm)
Open Country
06:07 SAT (m000cc1l)
Open Country
15:00 THU (m000cngx)
PM
17:00 SAT (m000cksp)
PM
17:00 MON (m000ckw1)
PM
17:00 TUE (m000cms1)
PM
17:00 THU (m000cnh1)
PM
17:00 FRI (m000cn11)
Pick of the Week
18:15 SUN (m000clpy)
Pick of the Year
12:18 WED (m000cl3k)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 SAT (m000c8sk)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 MON (m000clqj)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 TUE (m000ckx1)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 WED (m000cmt0)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 THU (m000cl5f)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 FRI (m000cnhz)
Profile
19:00 SAT (m000ckt2)
Profile
05:45 SUN (m000ckt2)
Profile
17:40 SUN (m000ckt2)
Quote... Unquote
23:00 SAT (m000c9md)
Quote... Unquote
15:00 MON (m000ckvr)
Radio 4 Appeal
07:54 SUN (m000clnq)
Radio 4 Appeal
21:25 SUN (m000clnq)
Radio 4 Appeal
15:27 THU (m000clnq)
Relativity
23:00 THU (b0939f5v)
Rewinder
00:15 MON (m0005dvz)
Romania's Revolution 30 Years On
20:00 MON (m000ckwf)
Saturday Live
09:00 SAT (m000ckrz)
Saturday Review
19:15 SAT (m000ckt4)
Science Stories
21:00 WED (m000cl4v)
Sebastian Baczkiewicz - Pilgrim
21:00 SAT (b019dmxg)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SAT (m000c8sc)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SUN (m000cktg)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 MON (m000clqb)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 TUE (m000ckwv)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 WED (m000cmst)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 THU (m000cl57)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 FRI (m000cnhs)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SAT (m000c8s9)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SAT (m000c8sf)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SAT (m000ckst)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SUN (m000cktd)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SUN (m000cktj)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SUN (m000clpr)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 MON (m000clq8)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 MON (m000clqd)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 TUE (m000ckws)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 TUE (m000ckwx)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 WED (m000cmsr)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 WED (m000cmsw)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 THU (m000cl55)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 THU (m000cl59)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 FRI (m000cnhq)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 FRI (m000cnhv)
Short Cuts
23:00 TUE (m000cmsm)
Short Works
00:30 SUN (m000c8rb)
Short Works
15:45 FRI (m000cn0j)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SAT (m000cksy)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SUN (m000clpw)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 MON (m000ckw5)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 TUE (m000cms5)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 WED (m000cl4g)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 THU (m000cnh5)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 FRI (m000cn19)
Something Understood
06:05 SUN (b08x4r9j)
Soul Music
11:00 WED (m000cl39)
Soul Music
21:30 WED (m000cl39)
Start the Week
09:00 MON (m000ckts)
Start the Week
21:30 MON (m000ckts)
Sunday Worship
08:10 SUN (m000clnx)
Sunday
07:10 SUN (m000clnn)
Swooshes, Seaboards, Synths and Spawn
11:30 THU (m000cngg)
TEZ Talks
00:15 TUE (m0001m8q)
The Archers Omnibus
10:00 SUN (m000clp1)
The Archers
19:00 SUN (m000ckvm)
The Archers
14:00 MON (m000ckvm)
The Archers
19:00 MON (m000ckw9)
The Archers
14:00 TUE (m000ckw9)
The Archers
19:00 TUE (m000cl3w)
The Archers
14:00 WED (m000cl3w)
The Archers
19:00 WED (m000cl4n)
The Archers
14:00 THU (m000cl4n)
The Archers
19:00 THU (m000cn09)
The Archers
14:00 FRI (m000cn09)
The Archers
19:00 FRI (m000cn1k)
The Film Programme
16:00 THU (m000cnct)
The Food Programme
12:32 SUN (m000ckvt)
The Food Programme
15:30 MON (m000ckvt)
The Inquiry
17:30 SAT (m000cksr)
The Listening Project
14:45 SUN (m000clpg)
The Listening Project
07:00 WED (m000cl2v)
The Listening Project
10:55 WED (m000cl37)
The Listening Project
16:55 FRI (m000cn0x)
The Listening Project
23:55 FRI (m000cn2c)
The Long View
09:00 TUE (m000cmr2)
The Long View
21:30 TUE (m000cmr2)
The Misinformation Virus
17:00 SUN (m000c9sm)
The Missing Hancocks
18:30 WED (m000cl4l)
The Moth Radio Hour
23:00 SUN (b09k9zzr)
The Museum of Curiosity
18:15 MON (m000ckw7)
The Museum of Curiosity
20:00 WED (m000ckw7)
The Secret Commonwealth
12:04 MON (m000ckv7)
The Secret Commonwealth
22:45 MON (m000ckv7)
The Secret Commonwealth
12:04 TUE (m000cmrj)
The Secret Commonwealth
22:45 TUE (m000cmrj)
The Secret Commonwealth
12:04 WED (m000cl3h)
The Secret Commonwealth
22:45 WED (m000cl3h)
The Secret Commonwealth
12:04 THU (m000cngl)
The Secret Commonwealth
22:45 THU (m000cngl)
The Secret Commonwealth
12:04 FRI (m000cmzn)
The Secret Commonwealth
22:45 FRI (m000cmzn)
The Shuttleworths
19:15 SUN (m000clq0)
The Spark
22:15 SAT (m000cc7m)
The Tim Vine Chat Show
18:30 TUE (m000cms9)
The Untold
11:00 MON (m000ckv2)
The Week in Westminster
11:00 SAT (m000cks3)
The World This Weekend
13:00 SUN (m000clpb)
The World Tonight
22:00 MON (m000ckwj)
The World Tonight
22:00 TUE (m000cmsk)
The World Tonight
22:00 THU (m000cnhg)
The World Tonight
22:00 FRI (m000cn26)
Three Sisters Rewired
14:30 SAT (m000cksk)
Three Vicars Talking
13:15 WED (m000cl3r)
Today
07:00 SAT (m000ckrx)
Today
06:00 MON (m000cktq)
Today
06:00 TUE (m000cmr0)
Today
07:00 THU (m000cng4)
Today
06:00 FRI (m000cmyr)
Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice
18:30 THU (m000cl9g)
Tweet of the Day
08:58 SUN (b09jf4qb)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 MON (b09jgnf4)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 TUE (b09jqxqp)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 WED (b09jr9qj)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 THU (b09jv7cv)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 FRI (b09jvlnh)
Weather
06:57 SAT (m000ckrv)
Weather
12:57 SAT (m000cksc)
Weather
17:57 SAT (m000cksw)
Weather
06:57 SUN (m000clnj)
Weather
07:57 SUN (m000clns)
Weather
12:57 SUN (m000clp8)
Weather
17:57 SUN (m000clpt)
Weather
05:56 MON (m000clqn)
Weather
12:57 MON (m000ckvd)
Weather
12:57 TUE (m000cmrn)
Weather
13:13 WED (m000cl3p)
Weather
12:57 THU (m000cngq)
Weather
12:57 FRI (m000cmzx)
What Has Sat-Nav Done to Our Brains?
21:00 MON (m000c9rm)
What If We Stopped Buying Stuff and Started Making It?
15:30 SAT (m000c9rp)
What Were They Thinking?
23:30 THU (m000cnhj)
With Great Pleasure
08:00 WED (m000cl2x)
With Great Pleasure
22:00 WED (m000cl2x)
Woman's Hour
16:00 SAT (m000cksm)
Woman's Hour
10:00 MON (m000cktx)
Woman's Hour
10:00 TUE (m000cmr8)
Woman's Hour
10:00 WED (m000cl33)
Woman's Hour
10:00 THU (m000cngb)
Woman's Hour
10:00 FRI (m000cmz0)
World at One
13:00 MON (m000ckvg)
World at One
13:00 TUE (m000cmrq)
World at One
13:00 THU (m000cngs)
World at One
13:00 FRI (m000cn01)
You and Yours
12:18 MON (m000ckvb)
You and Yours
12:18 TUE (m000cmrl)
You and Yours
12:18 THU (m000cngn)
You and Yours
12:18 FRI (m000cmzr)