SATURDAY 09 OCTOBER 2021

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m00106m1)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:30 George III by Andrew Roberts (m00106m5)
5: France Declares War

Long portrayed by historians and writers across the centuries as one of England’s most disastrous of kings, Andrew Roberts’ new meticulously researched biography presents quite another view. Here is a monarch of intelligence, benevolence, devoted to his country and his family, a great patron of the arts and science who helped steer the country through domestic political and global storms.

Professor Andrew Roberts is one of Britain’s best-selling historians and his multi-award-winning works include studies of Churchill, Napoleon, and former Prime Minister the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury. Following the publication in 2007 of A History of the English Speaking Peoples Since 1900, he was invited to deliver the highly prestigious White House Lecture. Andrew Roberts is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Historical Society and has held many academic chairs and fellowships. He is currently Visiting Professor Department of War Studies King’s College London, and the Roger and Martha Mertz Visiting Research Fellow, The Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He is an accomplished broadcaster, in particular as a television commentator for major royal and state occasions.

Ben Miller is an actor, comedian and best-selling children’s author. Having abandoned his PhD in Quantum Physics, his comedy partnership with Alexander Armstrong landed him series on BBC Radio 4 and Channel 4. He is now very well known as a screen actor including, on television, lead roles in Professor T (ITV), Bridgerton (Netflix) and Death in Paradise (BBC). On the big screen he starred in the Johnny English series.

Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Read by Ben Miller
Produced by Caroline Raphael
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00106m8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00106md)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00106mj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m00106mn)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00106mt)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Venerable Dr Rosemarie Mallettt

Good morning,

Autumn is truly upon us, not only as the colours of the leaves, trees and bushes change, but also in the diminution of birdlife, and the darker, cooler, and wetter days. I love these changes as they sharpen my focus on the world around me, and on the seasonality of living fully in the moment.

These changes also remind me of the huge diversity of our world. Often these days when we use the word ‘diversity’, we tend to be speaking about people and communities, but in the Old Testament, in the book of Genesis, before people were created, diverse natural elements of the world order were put together, and the Bible tells us they were good.

Sadly, so much of our natural world is now not so good, and the relationship between the natural order and humanity has been breached. There are resounding protests all around the world - from the earth and the sky itself, and from people - and there is an urgent need for humanity not only to repent of all that we have done wrong but to repair the damage.

As we head towards COP26, it would be so wonderful if our focus could be both on the changes that need to be made to make our world fairer and better. Not only for humanity but for our flora and fauna, our lands and seas, the heart and light that warms, the air we breathe and the water we drink.

Loving God, we thank you for the world and all that is in it. Help us to play our part, to rise to the moment and work to repair the breach between nature and humanity, and so make our world a better place for all.

Amen


SAT 05:45 Four Thought (m00106mx)
The Power of Doubt

Nicola Reindorp, who once doubted her own abilities to be a CEO, says we should rehabilitate doubt as a strength rather than a weakness in leaders. "I'd seen my own doubts as negative, disqualifying me from leadership. I had seen others believe the same. But, I asked myself, aren't the best leaders not the ones that say they have all the answers, but those who know they don't? Not those who say they see it all, but those who ask whose perspective is missing? Rather than a deficiency to be hidden, maybe doubt should be seen as a power to be harnessed?"
Nicola Reindorp is CEO of Crisis Action
Presenter: Olly Mann
Producer: Sheila Cook


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m0010fjv)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m00108hv)
The Slate Island of Seil

Clare crosses the famous ‘Bridge over the Atlantic’ for a ramble on the island of Seil. Her guide is the writer, educator, and director of the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics, Norrie Bissell. Geopoetics is described as “creatively expressing the earth” and is critical of the western way of thinking which separates humans from the rest of the natural world. Norrie has also published a novel, ‘Barnhill’, about George Orwell’s final years on the relatively nearby Island of Jura where he wrote 1984.

Approximately twelve miles south of Oban, Seil is a small island separated from the mainland by the narrowest of sea channels. It became known as one of the ‘slate islands’ thanks to its slate rock deposits which were quarried and used to ‘roof the world’. Norrie and Clare begin their walk on the mainland side of the bridge, at Grid Ref NM 785 196.

Please scroll down to the 'related links' box on the Ramblings webpage for more info.

Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol: Karen Gregor


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m0010fjx)
09/10/21 - Farming Today This Week: The future of the pig industry and UK wine production

The culling of pigs on farms has started and farmers say it will be extended. Charlotte Smith asks what this means for the future of the UK pig sector.

A shortage of butchers at abattoirs means that, for a few months now, they’ve reduced the number of animals they take by about a quarter. That's created a backlog of more than 100,000 pigs stuck on farms. Already, hundreds of healthy piglets have been killed to prevent too many animals building up, and the industry is warning that, if nothing changes, thousands of pigs will have to be culled on farm, simply because there isn’t enough space for them. Those animals can’t go into the food chain so they’ll be incinerated.

And wine is a growing part of UK agriculture and a real success story. What was once dismissed as a bit of a joke is now producing award winning English and Welsh wine. We visit a new wine innovation centre and learn how wine makers are future-proofing their businesses.

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons


SAT 06:57 Weather (m0010fjz)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m0010fk1)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m0010fk3)
Lenny Henry

Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles are joined by Sir Lenny Henry: comedian, actor, writer, fund raiser, he’s graced our stage and screen for almost 50 years and now he’s put his talents to writing for the next generation.
Arthur Timothy is an architect turned artist whose work is inspired by photographs from the past and his own memories. He describes his paintings as love letters to his family. He joins us.
We have Paula Sutton who worked in fashion magazines for years before she decided to showcase her own distinctive style online in her instagram account, Hill House Vintage, which soon became her full time job.
and Simon Thomas, who had a successful career first as a Blue Peter presenter then fronting Sky Sport’s Premier League football coverage. Then, in 2017, his wife died suddenly from acute myeloid leukaemia. Simon retired to care for their son, and 4 years later is reflecting on the evolution of his grief and return to work.
We also have Bernadine Evaristo's Inheritance Tracks and your Thank you.

Producer: Corinna Jones


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m0010fk5)
Series 34

Home Economics: Episode 41

Jay Rayner hosts the culinary panel show packed full of tasty titbits. Joining him this week are Tim Anderson, Sue Lawrence, Shelina Permalloo and Professor Barry Smith to help answer questions from hungry listeners.

This week in a scientific special, the panel are quizzed on their favourite kitchen gadgets, as well as going through nearly every possible configuration of tofu imaginable.

They are joined by food science expert and author Harold McGee, who uncovers the chemistry of cooking. Sensory expert Professor Barry Smith leads us in a tantalising tastebud experiment - if you’d like to join in at home, you’ll need some Szechuan peppercorns handy (and not be averse to eating them raw…)

Producer: Daniel Cocker
Assistant Producer: Bethany Hocken

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Briefing Room (m00108jb)
Britain's Dirty Rivers

According to campaigners, Britain has some of the dirtiest rivers in Europe. Sewage, slurry from farms and chemicals are all a problem, too often ending up in our rivers. The parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee estimates that the discharge of raw sewage accounts for 55% of rivers in England and Wales failing to reach good ecological status. Not one river has good chemical status. So what's going wrong and what can be done to fix it?
Joining David Aaronovitch in the Briefing Room are:

Olivia Rudgard, Environment Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph
Peter Hammond, retired Professor of Computational Biology at University College London
Rachel Salvidge, Deputy Editor of ENDS Report
Steve Ormerod, Professor of Ecology and Co-Director of the Water Research Institute, Cardiff University

Producers: John Murphy, Kirsteen Knight, Soila Apparicio
Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill
Editor: Jasper Corbett

Photo: Chemical Pollution from Industrial Outfall Pouring into River Mersey UK. Credit: Avalon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0010fk7)
Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m0010fs3)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m0010fkc)
The latest news from the world of personal finance.


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m00106l7)
Series 106

Episode 6

Kerry Godliman, Anand Menon, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Ola Labib join host Andy Zaltzman to pore over the week's news. This week, they get their teeth into the Tory party conference, the scrapping of the Universal credit uplift in the week it was announced fuel prices could go up by 30%, Facebook's 6hr lost weekend and the Nobel Prizes.

The chair's script is written by Andy Zaltzman, with additional material by Alice Fraser, Heidi Regan, Suchandrika Chakrabarti and Tasha Dhanraj.

Producer: Gwyn Rhys Davies
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Baum
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Production.


SAT 12:57 Weather (m0010fkf)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m0010fkh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m00106ld)
Jess Barnard, Lord Clarke, Caroline Flint, Professor Matthew Goodwin

Chris Mason presents political debate and discussion from Nottingham Playhouse with the Chair of Young Labour Jess Barnard, the Conservative peer and former Chancellor Lord Clarke of Nottingham, the former Labour MP Caroline Flint, the Professor of Politics at the University of Kent Matthew Goodwin.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Lead broadcast engineer: Carwyn Griffith


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m0010fkk)
Have your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m00107bq)
Sing

Ever noticed how good singing makes you feel? In this episode, Michael is joined by comedian Sindhu Vee to embrace the joys - and health benefits - of singing on the top of your voice. He finds out all about its unique mood-lifting ability and how singing can produce similar effects to cannabis. He speaks to Dr Daisy Fancourt to find out about her research on revealing how singing can boost your immune system and how it could help treat chronic pain.


SAT 15:00 Blood, Sex and Money by Emile Zola (b07zv3gp)
Season 3 - Money

1. Crash

The first drama of in the Emile Zola: Money season, inspired by literature’s greatest ever whistle-blower and his epic saga of the Rougon Macquart families.

Adelaide Fouque (Dide) is 104 years old, trapped in her small room in the local asylum, but omniscient as she broods over her extended family. As a young woman, she gave birth to two dynasties that exemplified French society - one legitimate, rich, powerful, obsessive and corrupt; the other illegitimate, poor, vulnerable, weak and depraved. France is on the brink of a new Empire. Her family is a turbulent mix of the good, the bad and the misguided.

Damaged by a lifetime of seizures and her mind scarred by trauma but Dide cannot forget her family. "What did I bring into this world? Wolves... I have raised a family of Wolves... I have watched their years. I will tell their story. Crime by crime. Blood by blood."

The Rougon-Macquart saga, themed around Blood, Sex and Money, is a mash-up of Zola's 20 novels, drawing us into 19th century France and the tragic, farcical reign of Napoleon III, as it marches forward towards a modern, industrialised society.

In this final season, Dide engages in a desperate bid to stop daughter-in-law Félicité Rougon’s unscrupulous plans to make the family the ultimate in wealth and politics in all of France.

Crash follows the meteoric rise and spectacular fall of Aristide Rougon, whose wild money making speculations in 19th century France are almost an exact mirror of the money markets of today. As he struggles with Bourse, Dide starts to hatch a plan to get out and reveal the truth about the Rougon Macquart evil deeds to the world.

Dan Rebellato is a Sony nominated writer and Professor of Theatre at Royal Holloway.

Cast:
Dide....................Glenda Jackson
Aristide................Samuel West
Caroline...............Frances Grey
Félicité.................Fenella Woolgar
Sigismond............Guy Rhys
Daigremont..........David Carr
Mrs Mechain /
Mrs Bouchard........Bettrys Jones
Gundermann /
Mr Bouchard.........Khalid Abdalla

Dramatised by Dan Rebellato

Sound Designer: Eloise Whitmore
Series Producer: Susan Roberts
Executive Producer: Melanie Harris

Produced and Directed by Polly Thomas
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m0010fkm)
Weekend Woman's Hour: 75th Birthday, Mina Smallman, Celibacy, Professor Anita Hill

Baroness Brenda Hale is a former judge who served as the first female president of the Supreme Court. She has written a book, Spider Woman, that spans her life and work.

We hear from Professor Anita Hill who thirty years ago faced an all-male, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee—led by the then, Senator Joe Biden—to testify that her boss, Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas, had sexually harassed her. It was a landmark moment for these issues and inspired countless women to come forward with their stories, to file complaints, and even to run for office; creating an unintentional trail blazer.

Abi Sampa describes herself as a "weird warbling electric Veena player". She trained as a dentist and then appeared on The Voice in 2013, where she wowed the judges with her unique style of as a fusion of western pop and Indian classical music.

Over the last few years, the figures around celibacy have generally been on the rise - particular amongst young women. What’s to be gained from making this life choice? Anita speaks to sex therapist Danielle Bennett, and two women who have experience with celibacy. Laura Kennedy is in her 30’s and was celibate for six years. Shirley Yanez is in her 60's and became celibate as part of a conscious change in lifestyle.

Mina Smallman, the mother of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, the sisters who were murdered in a North London park last year, speaks to us about her grief and women's safety.

Joan Diana Gayford nee Wilson joined the BBC as a talks producer shortly after the Second World War. Not long after a new programme hit the airwaves. 75 years later, you can hear Emma talking to Diana Gayford who was working on Woman’s Hour when it first came to air at 2pm on 7th October 1946.


SAT 17:00 PM (m0010fkp)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 The Bottom Line (m00108jd)
Labour shortages and the new model economy

Labour shortages, particularly in the hospitality and HGV sector have dominated the headlines from petrol shortages, to worries about Christmas dinner being off the menu. And its not just the logistics sector at risk - hospitality, agriculture and the care sector have all reported labour problems in post-pandemic, post-Brexit Britain. So what exactly is the solution? Do we bring in more labour from abroad? Do we invest in training and developing British workers? Or are companies going to have to pay better wages and improve working conditions? Join us on this week's The Bottom line to find out...

GUESTS

Rain Newton Smith, Chief Economist, CBI
Alan Manning, Economist, London School of Economics
Kaan Hendekli, JJ Food Services


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0010fks)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 17:57 Weather (m0010fkv)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0010fkx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m0010fkz)
Miriam Margolyes, Stevie Van Zandt, Dino Fetscher, Billy Bragg, MF Robots, Arthur Smith, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Arthur Smith are joined by Miriam Margolyes, Stevie Van Zandt and Dino Fetscher an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Billy Bragg and MF Robots.


SAT 19:00 Profile (m0010fl1)
Cush Jumbo

British actress Cush Jumbo is best known for her starring role in US TV dramas The Good Wife and spin-off The Good Fight. Now she’s aiming to set the London theatre scene alight, playing ‘a new kind of Hamlet’ at the Young Vic. Only a handful of women have ever taken on the role before, and Jumbo is the first woman of colour to play the troubled Danish prince in a major production in Britain.

It hasn’t been plain sailing for Cush Jumbo, who worked a long list of jobs – including door to door sales and waitressing in a strip bar – to support herself as an aspiring actress, and came close to quitting altogether. But, as Mark Coles hears, she wrote her way out of the doldrums and became a star on both sides of the Atlantic.

Celebrity mates Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) and Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) help tell her story, and spill some great anecdotes along the way.

Presenter: Mark Coles
Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton
Researchers: Zoe Gelber, Soila Apparicio, Bethan Head
Production Coordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Penny Murphy
Mix: Neil Churchill


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m0010fl3)
Kenneth Branagh

Actor and film-maker Sir Kenneth Branagh talks to John Wilson for the first of a new series of interviews in which the world’s leading cultural figures discuss their key influences and inspirations. In a wide-ranging conversation, Branagh reveals some of his most formative artistic experiences and his creative process.

He remembers his working class upbringing in late 60s Northern Ireland at the start of The Troubles, as explored in his most personal film to date, Belfast. Branagh also traces the beginnings of his love for Shakespeare back to the discovery of LP recordings of Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud, and reveals his admiration for Thomas Hardy and the Alan Bleasdale's 1980s television series The Boys from the Blackstuff.

Producer: Edwina Pitman


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m0010fl6)
The Men in the White Coats

Prof Andrea Sella on the shifting image of the scientist in popular culture, from Victor Frankenstein to Iron Man via victorious post-war boffinry and megalomanical Bond villainry.

The monster unleashed by Mary Shelley in her 1818 tale of gruesome gothic horror was in many senses not the creature itself, but the image of its careless creator. The recklessness of the lone scientist whose blind ambition fails to foresee the societal and practical consequences of his discovery or invention.

Throughout the last 150 years, the scientists in our science fictions have embodied the contemporary societal attitudes to science itself, sometimes in celebration, but often as a cartoon of our fears. At the same time professional scientists and science communicators have tried to share their work with wider audiences in an effort to democratize and enliven the endeavour.

These two approaches haven't always been in synchrony.

Presented by Prof Andrea Sella

Produced by Alex Mansfield


SAT 21:00 GF Newman's The Corrupted (b03f92q3)
Series 1

Episode 6

A new long-running drama series from G F Newman based on the characters from the multi-award winning writer's best-selling crime novel. Spanning six decades, it plots the course of one family against the backdrop of a revolution in crime as the underworld extends its influence to the very heart of the establishment, in an uncomfortable relationship of shared values.

Joey Oldman is a Russian Jew, who arrived in Britain before the war with only two words of English and married Cathy Braden. They had a son, Brian, and a daughter, Rose. Cathy's widowed mother, Gracie, takes up with a famous and glamorous gangster, Billy Hill, while her brother Jack wants to become World Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Both the army and the Kray twins interfere with this ambition. Jack is left feeling bitter and angry and plunges headlong into crime, running protection rackets and claiming a piece of other criminals' sometimes infamous pies. His actions become ever more savage and bizarre and harder to reconcile.

Haunted by the murder of his grandfather which he witnessed when he was six, Brian Oldman holds a terrible secret that he must keep for fear of his life as he falls deeper under his mother's spell. But there is a more disturbing secret he has yet to discover - one that will threaten his very existence. All the while he becomes a willing participant in the criminal underworld in the 1950s, where gangs such as the Krays and the Richardson are emerging to challenge the old guard in savage battles for territory.

Cast:
Joey Oldman..........Toby Jones
Cath Oldman..........Denise Gough
Brian Oldman.........Joe Armstrong
Ruth Sutton............Kellie Shirley
Jack Braden............Tom Weston-Jones
D I Drury /
Rikki The Malt.........Matthew Marsh
Win Booker.............Lotte Rice
Sammy Cohen /
Spotty.....................Jonathan Tafler
Ronnie Kray /
Basil Jones..............Lewis Mcleod
John Bindon............Charles Davies
Dealer.....................Oliver Mawdsley

With Ross Kemp as Narrator.

Written by G F Newman
Produced and directed by Clive Brill

A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:45 The Poet and the Echo (b08b3kd4)
Series 1

Ozymandias

5 writers choose 5 poems as inspiration for new stories.

Episode 1/5

Looking

An unwelcome visitor inspires a meditation on permanence.

A powerful story inspired by Shelley's poem 'Ozymandias', by the Booker long-listed author James Robertson.

Credits

Writer ..... James Robertson
Reader ..... Andy Clark
Producer ..... Eilidh McCreadie

A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 22:00 News (m0010fl8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 Bringing Up Britain (m00108bx)
Series 14

Bad Romance

What do you do if your teenage daughter is sending nudes to her untrustworthy and coercive boyfriend?

Anjula Mutanda asks how we can help the young negotiate the complexities of romantic and sexual relationships.

Eleanor's first boyfriend said he had deleted the nude photographs he had persuaded her to send. She was slut shamed and traumatised at school, withdrawing from lessons and self-harming. She moved schools but he sent them to her new classmates; she was blackmailed by strangers and didn't know where to turn for help.

Anjula asks to what extent these toxic relationships are now normalised amongst teens. It is rare to find a girl who hasn't been asked for nude photos or sent dick pics. Possessiveness is now framed as romantic, and in a recent Safe Lives survey, 70% of teenagers said they had seen behaviour that worried them in their friends' relationships.

Exploring how to spot unhealthy behaviour, how to talk to the young about nudes, sex and consent and the surprisingly positive role of the media, Anjula is joined by Founder of Big Talk Education, Lynette Smith; Susie Hay, psychotherapist and Safe Lives' Head of Research, Evaluation and Analysis; Kaitlynn Mendes, Associate Professor Of Sociology at Western University; Tanya Horeck, Associate Professor in Film, Media and Culture at Anglia Ruskin University and the team from the arts charity Tender.

Producer: Sarah Bowen

Organisations offering information and support:

ChildLine is a free, 24-hour confidential helpline for children and young people who need to talk
Phone: 0800 1111 https://www.childline.org.uk/

NSPCC provides help, advice and support to adults worried about a child
Phone: 0808 800 5000 (24/7) https://www.nspcc.org.uk/

Pace (Parents against child exploitation) works alongside parents and carers of children who are – or are at risk of being – sexually exploited
Phone: 0113 240 5226 https://paceuk.info/

Family Lives provides help and support in all aspects of family life, including bullying
Phone: 0808 800 2222 www.familylives.org.uk

Please visit the action lines dedicated information and support pages for:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support-sexual-abuse-and-violence

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2MfW34HqH7tTCtnmx7LVfzp/information-and-support-victims-of-crime

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1NGvFrTqWChr03LrYlw2Hkk/information-and-support-mental-health-self-harm


SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (m00106bc)
Heat 12, 2021

(12/17)
Which comedy film was set in a fictional town called Rock Ridge? And which writer boasted shortly before his death that he'd just had eighteen straight whiskies? You might be able to answer these questions, but more crucially, can the contestants in the last of the Brain of Britain 2021 heats? A place in the semi-finals is at stake, as competitors from London, Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Cambridgeshire take to the stage.

Russell Davies asks the questions, and there'll also be a chance for a Brain of Britain listener to challenge the contenders with questions specially devised to try and Beat the Brains. The programme was recorded under socially distanced conditions without a studio audience.

Today's competitors are
Nicola Baker, a retired communications manager from North London
Graeme Johnston, a semi-retired accountant from Chackmore in Buckinghamshire
Brenda Mortimer, a retired solicitor from Camberley in Surrey
Liz Walliker, an exam invigilator from Ely in Cambridgeshire.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria


SAT 23:30 The Ballad of the Bet (m000zmct)
In the small hours of the night, we are up in our thousands watching a wheel spin on our phones - a roulette wheel. It may be virtual, yet for many of us it has a power beyond the real. Gambling has been spun inside down and inside out by the internet age, never more so than under lockdown. With the Gambling Act currently under review, Amy Acre brings the experience of betting alive through poetry, music and oral histories, tracing the social history of gambling over three generations.

Image of Amy Acre by Jamie Cameron
Sound design and original music by Jon Nicholls
Vocals by Steph MacGaraidh
Producer Monica Whitlock
Production Coordinator Janet Staples
Editor Hugh Levinson