A vivid and enlightening account of one of the 20th century's greatest poets. From rural childhood in County Derry to global prominence and a Nobel prize, Seamus Heaney’s work is placed in the context of his life, country and beyond.
In the wake of his award come international fame and increased demands on Heaney's time.
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Fr Dermot Preston, part of the Jesuit Mission to St Dominic's Roman Catholic Church, Newcastle
It was cheaper to go via Germany and thence to Memphis, before heading down to Orlando, so he left Manchester and headed to the US via Frankfurt.
In Germany some people disembarked, and some came on for the flight across the Atlantic.
The seat next to my cousin was empty until a shadow loomed. He looked up. it was Elvis! Well, not quite: an Elvis impersonator! Indeed, a GERMAN Elvis impersonator – and he was going to Gracelands, Gracelands Memphis, Tennessee.
Now, he might have sung like a duck, but he looked the part - the sequinned jump-suit, the white boots, the sun glasses, the raven black-hair with the matching side-burns. And he would only address the stewardess in Elvis-speak.
All the way over to the States, Elvis was sitting next to my cousin… and my cousin was deeply embarrassed, presuming that people might think they were travelling together.
The Christmas story is full of characters – the Wise Men, the Shepherds, Angels, Mary & Joseph, Herod, and the Baby Jesus. We react to them in complex different ways – be it reverence or scepticism, with fear, incomprehension, delight, indifference, dread or joy.
But these characters are offered to us by the Gospel writers to point out the meaning of the God-Child. They are our fellow travellers at Christmas – and although, like my cousin with Herr Elvis, we might be uncomfortable to journey with them, by the grace of God each really does shines a light for our path if we choose to look.
Lord, open our eyes to the different perspectives of those who we read about in the Christmas story, and help us to see you afresh.
Tara Munroe reveals what she learned when she rescued some badly damaged paintings which were due to be thrown out.
Tara is an arts curator and researcher. Ten years ago she found a pile of paintings marked with the words 'for disposal'. She was immediately intrigued, and as she began to research them, she became more and more drawn into their story, and how it connected with her own history. Now, a decade on, she is hoping to return them to the gallery walls, where they belong.
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
In AD122 following the orders of the Emperor Hadrian, work began to protect the north-west frontier of the Roman Empire. Hadrian’s Wall was more than just a barricade. Stretching almost 80 miles from coast to coast and featuring mile castles, barracks, forts, ramparts and settlements it is testimony to the vision and skill of the Roman Empire. As the wall approaches its 1900 Anniversary in 2022, Open Country heads to Northumberland to explore our relationship with walls and their importance with an archaeologist, artist, naturalist and drystone waller.
Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.
In 1942, Benjamin Britten boarded the M.S. Axel Johnson, a Swedish cargo vessel, to make the journey home to England after three years in America. During the voyage, the ship stopped at Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Britten came across a poetry anthology in a bookshop - The English Galaxy of Shorter Poems. In his cabin, he began work on setting some of these poems for voices and harp. Originally conceived as a series of unrelated songs, the piece developed into an extended choral composition for Christmas.
There are some pieces of music we return to at special moments and, for many, Britten's A Ceremony of Carols is a beloved winter piece - "Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a performance of it" says harpist Sally Pryce, who recalls performing the piece in deepest winter, desperately trying to keep her fingers warm as she prepared to play the first harp notes. Music writer Gavin Plumley tells the story of Britten's wartime voyage home and reflects on Christmases past and present. Matt Peacock remembers a very special performance of the work bringing together professional musicians, choristers and people experiencing homelessness in an Oxford college chapel. Dr Imani Mosley reflects on how the piece has helped her create a winter ritual in sunny Florida and how its meaning has changed since losing her partner. Conductor and composer Graham Ross is Director of Music at Clare College, Cambridge; he takes us deep into Britten's sound world and reflects on the genius of his approach to setting texts and the mastery of his writing for harp and voices. And Johanna Rehbaum remembers the joy of singing the work with the women of her choir, days before giving birth to her son.
Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world.
Money Box listener Rebecca found herself caught between two of the UK’s biggest energy firms. After moving to a new home in the summer she changed the supplier from British Gas to EDF. Then a few weeks ago she received bills from both companies meaning she'd have to pay twice for the gas she’d used once. Rebecca tried to resolve the situation in between her long shifts on an A&E ward but both firms insisted she owed the money and she received a legal threat. Then Money Box stepped in……
This week interest rates rose for the first time in more than three years. What might the increase from 0.1% to
If you’re planning on buying gift cards for Christmas - spare us a minute of your time first.
The Bank of England says it wants to scrap a mortgage affordability rule that aims to prevent people getting into financial difficulty. It’s the one where applicants need to prove they could still make monthly payments if their mortgage interest rate rose to 3% above the lenders’ standard variable rate. A consultation on the change is due to start early next year.
For the first time broadcast live, from the Radio Theatre, London with look at the big issues, from political sleaze to the feeling of not having bought enough potatoes.
Written by: Nev Fountain & Tom Jamieson, Laurence Howarth, Ed Amsden & Tom Coles, Edward Tew, Sophie Dickson, Rob Darke, Cody Dahler and Rachel Ethorn.
Chris Mason presents political debate and discussion from St Luke's School, Redbourn with a panel which includes the Minister at the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice Tom Pursglove MP, The Telegraph's Parliamentary Sketchwriter Tim Stanley, the Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry MP and the Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP.
The one thing that really cheers up the aging Carys (Barbara Flynn) and makes her feel like her “old self” is watching Christmas movies, and it certainly makes life easier for her daughter Meg (Melody Grove). But by the time you have watched Elf four times in a month you start to question your sanity.
Indeed the whole Christmas business makes Carys’ other daughter Sarah (Jane Slavin) despair, and only serves to underline her belief that Carys would be better served by professional care in a home.
But how are they going to pay for it without cashing in the one asset Sarah and Meg had been relying on to dig them out of their deepening debt crises.
As part of Radio 4’s ongoing From fact to Fiction series, in which writers create a fictional response to topical events, Viv Groskop draws inspiration from the recent Social Care Bill and imagines its effects on a typical British family.
As the scandal surrounding the racist dressing room environment exposed by Azeem Rafiq continues, cricket writer and senior medic Kamran Abbasi considers the roots of Yorkshire County Cricket Club's problems with racism.
Kamran grew up playing cricket in Rotherham, and has first-hand experience of racism in Yorkshire cricket. He was a very good club player but, like many other Asian players, was side-lined by the club system. “We were cricketers of the shadows,” he says.
In this programme, he goes back to Yorkshire to better understand why the sport has failed to diversify at the elite level. How far is the club to blame? Or the sport? How far is cricket just playing out the prejudices that still run deep in British society?
Kamran traces the key moments in Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s history where opportunities to reform have been lost and explores the roots of this unwillingness to change.
He speaks to British Asian players who have felt alienated by the game they love, going back to the 1980s. Until 1992, the “born in Yorkshire rule” excluded many gifted players from migrant backgrounds. And it led to a segregated system where Black and Asian cricketers were ghettoised in their own leagues.
"Growing up in Yorkshire in the 1970s and 1980s was a unique cricketing experience for a migrant. You wouldn't think about playing for a non-Asian team, and the other teams wouldn't try to recruit you however good you were," says Kamran.
When Indian test legend Sachin Tendulkar joined Yorkshire as its first overseas player in 1992, many saw it as a huge moment and an opportunity to open up the club to South Asian players - but, almost 30 years on, many continue to feel unwelcome.
According to an ECB report, 30% of recreational cricket players across England and Wales have South Asian backgrounds, yet just 4% of professional cricketers are British Asian. Yorkshire Cricket Club has only had four non-white Yorkshire-born players in its history.
Why, when cricket could have helped ethnic minority communities integrate in the UK, has it failed to do so?
Kamran is executive editor of the British Medical Journal and was the first British Asian columnist for Wisden cricket monthly. He is the author of Englistan: An Immigrant's Journey on the Turbulent Winds of Pakistan Cricket.
Statistics provided by Paul Dyson, The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
Academic Ash Sarkar and Professor Heidi Safia Mirza discuss the legacy and significance of the late American author bell hooks.
Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth - the new national police co-ordinator for violence against women and girls - unveils her new strategy.
In November 2020 a family court found that the conservative MP Kate Griffiths' then husband, Andrew Griffiths (also a former conservative MP for the same Staffordshire seat and former Conservative minister) raped her in her sleep, abused & coercively controlled her. These were civil proceedings, so the finding was based on the balance of probabilities, rather than the criminal standard of probable doubt. As is the norm in family cases, this information was private and not made public. But following a successful application by journalists, supported by Kate Griffiths - the details of this case, with both parties' names attached, were published last Friday. In the recent judgement, judges from the Court of Appeal referred to the ‘mother's right to tell her story.’ Andrew Griffiths has denied allegations made by his ex-wife and ‘adamantly denied’ rape. Dr Charlotte Proudman is the barrister who represented Kate Griffiths.
The company SAGA has decided to give employees who've just become grandparents some special leave. They say it's about helping new grandparents celebrate but also it's to highlight how important older workers are, not just to the company but to families and wider society. So if you're a grandparent providing childcare for your kids, what's the cost? What does it take out of you, time-wise and energy wise? How much are you saving your kids? And do you see it as a precious thing you’ll never have the chance to do again, or after a while is it too much pressure? We hear from one of our listeners, Linda, who looks after two of her grandchildren.
During a recent Business Questions in parliament Jacob Rees Mogg took a moment to mark the feast of St Æthelgifu, and called the medieval abbess one of Britain’s leading saints. But was she? What do we really know about Æthelgifu and the other leading medieval women at this time? We talk to Florence Scott, a historian of early medieval England.
Nick Robinson talks to the Chair of the Social Mobility Commission Katherine Birbalsingh about education and social mobility.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mackenzie Crook, Elvis McGonagall, The Tiger Lillies, Steven Bamidele, Arthur Smith, Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson and Arthur Smith are joined by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mackenzie Crook and Elvis McGonagall for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from The Tiger Lillies and Steven Bamidele.
An insight into the character of an influential person making the news headlines.
Víkingur Ólafsson tells John Wilson about the experiences and influences that have had a major impact on his life as one of the world’s foremost classical pianists. Víkingur traces his characteristically gentle style of playing right back to his earliest childhood lessons on his parents’ grand piano, and remembers angry struggles to learn a Mozart sonata. He explains why the Icelandic banking crash of 2008 had a huge impact on his work, and how the opening of the Harpa Concert Hall in 2011 helped launch his international career. Víkingur also reveals how a recent meeting with 95 year old Hungarian composer Gyorgy Kurtág made him reassess his cultural life.
Piers Plowright described himself as a 'radio man'. He'd grown up in a home where the wireless was moved into the living room of an evening for family listening.
Others have called Piers, who died in July 2021, the Godfather of the British Radio Feature.
His thirty-year BBC career began in 1968 as a trainee in English By Radio, after which he migrated via drama to documentaries. There, his programmes received radio's highest accolade, the Prix Italia, on three occasions. Yet he remained always modest, a practised listener, a supporter of colleagues, a composer of sound, silence and word, and - for all his erudition and love of culture - a mischievous spirit.
All of this is felt in his many programmes (see below). In a medium described as having no memory, the quality and distinctiveness of Piers' radio programmes - and the grace of the man - are long remembered.
You are invited to lend your ears to some of his work in this tribute from colleagues and admirers:
Marta Medvešek, the young Croatian recipient of the 2021 Prix Europa for radio documentary
Matt Thompson, a younger colleague who fell under Piers' spell in the BBC documentaries department
Julie Shapiro, formerly Artistic Director of the Third Coast Festival in Chicago, which awarded Piers the Audio Luminary Award in 2006
Including interview excerpts with Piers from Roger Kneebone's Countercurrent podcast and Victor Hall's Pocketsize Studio
Brief Lives by Tom Fry and Sharon Kelly. Ep 6.
Last in the current series about the Manchester paralegals. Frank and Cheryl prepare to leave. But can they both leave their pasts behind?
The Bard of Salford performs a mixture of classic and previously unheard poems, recorded at the BBC's Radio Theatre in London.
The Number 10 ‘party’ scandal has prompted questions not only about whether the Prime Minister is still an electoral asset but whether he and his government have the moral authority to lead us through the lingering pandemic. According to a recent YouGov poll, the level of trust in UK politicians has fallen to an historic low. Despite the scathing attacks from across the political spectrum, are today’s political leaders any morally worse than in previous generations? Some see morality as having been vacuumed out of politics over recent decades; where once politicians had principles, character and a sense of public service, there are now too many who are primarily seeking to boost their own status. Others point out, however, that we’ve always felt this way about our leaders, from whom we demand the impossible, failing to remember that they are imperfect human beings like the rest of us. Morality in politics is about more than parliamentary standards and the ethical conduct of individuals. Some blame the antics of politicians on the political and democratic system that underpins them; an electoral cycle which does not suit long-term visions for society and a disempowering voting system. Others argue that it’s not the system which is broken, but a polarised political culture which focuses too much on image-crafting, cult of personality and superficial soundbites, encouraged by both traditional and social media. Do we get the politicians we deserve?
The celebrity panel game about quotations, hosted by Nigel Rees, returns with a series celebrating its 500th programme.
- Nick Robinson, host of the Today programme and former political editor of BBC News and ITV News
Journalist Hannah Betts recounts the terrifying ghost story of her family home – a haunted house filled with paranormal activity seemingly linked to a murder that happened there in Victorian times.
Can a house really record the tragic events that took place and replay them, as this house seems to every night? Are the ghosts real or the product of tensions within Hannah’s large family?
When a chilling message is revealed to Hannah and her siblings, the haunting gets shockingly close to home.
SUNDAY 19 DECEMBER 2021
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m0012pcd)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:15 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
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0012pcg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0012pcj)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0012pcl)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m0012pcn)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m0012pcq)
All Saints Church, Harpole in Northamptonshire
This week's Bells on Sunday comes from All Saints Church, Harpole in Northamptonshire. The church of All Saints has a ring of six bells, the back five of which were cast in 1930 by John Taylor of Loughborough to replace the original five bells with a new Treble added in 1995. The Tenor weighs twelve and a quarter hundredweight and is tuned to F Sharp. We hear them ringing Beverley Surprise Minor.
SUN 05:45 Profile (m0012pc2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News Summary (m0012qn3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b06rl6ft)
The Myth of Christmas
In the season of Advent, Mark Tully asks what we can learn from the stories of Christmas as we prepare for an increasingly secular holiday.
Many of those who will crowd into Churches for Midnight Mass or other services at Christmas will find it difficult to believe the gospel stories literally or to accept the traditional view of Jesus as God come down to earth. But they might well be so moved by the liturgy, the carols, their memories of Christmas past, the sense that this is one day when the world does stop that they wish they could find some meaning in the Christmas story. Mark Tully explores the idea that regarding the story as myth can give meaning to Christmas without belief in the traditional Christology.
A Unique Broadcasting Company production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:35 Natural Histories (b08vy0yb)
Tardigrade
When Brett Westwood heard he was going to encounter arguably 'the world's toughest animal' he didn't expect to find it on a garage roof in County Durham - but all became clear when he came face to face with the Tardigrade. First described in 1773 and so named because they resemble slow-moving bears, these microscopic animals are probably the closest thing to an alien we are likely to encounter. Capable of living without water and then being revived after 30 years, the Tardigrade or moss-piglet as they are also called, challenge our ideas about what defines life. And as if that wasn't enough, they are probably the cutest little creature you could hope to meet! From 2017
Original Producer in longer form programme : Sarah Blunt.
Reversion archive producer for BBC Audio in Bristol : Andrew Dawes
SUN 06:57 Weather (m0012qn6)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m0012qn8)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m0012qnb)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m0012pkc)
mothers2mothers
HIV activist Nozi Samela makes the BBC Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity mothers2mothers.
To Give:
- UK Freephone 0800 404 8144
-You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
- 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 ‘mothers2mothers’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘mothers2mothers’.
Please note that Freephone and online donations for this charity close at
23.59 on the Saturday after the Appeal is first broadcast. However the Freepost option can be used at any time.
Registered Charity Number: 1119721
SUN 07:57 Weather (m0012qnd)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m0012qng)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m0012qnj)
Forgiveness and the Incarnation
Forgiveness and the Incarnation. Forgiveness is a central tenet of the Christian faith. Yet it is often talked about glibly without a proper realisation that it is a costly business. Rev Dr Janet Unsworth reflects on the connection between the birth of Jesus and forgiveness.
Led by the Rev Emily Hyland.
With the Chapel Choir of Methodist College, Belfast, directed by Ruth McCartney. The organist is Dr Joe McKee.
St Matthew
18.21-35
O little one sweet (JS Bach)
Sussex Carol (arr. Philip Ledger)
Baby in an Ox’s stall (Thomas Hewitt Jones)
In the Bleak mid-winter (Philip Stopford)
Away in a manger (Kirkpatrick arr. Willcocks)
Lullaby (Dan Forrest)
O little town of Bethlehem (arr. R. Vaughan Williams)
Producer: Bert Tosh
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m0012fxj)
A Sense of Home
Will Self reflects on his B&B renaissance.
From early memories of B&Bs with his parents...to the anonymous isolation of corporate hotels...to the 'pseudo-hygge' of Airbnbs, Will looks at our changing relationship with property.
Producer: Adele Armstrong
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b09rz2hf)
David Rothenberg on the Robin
David Rothenberg on the jazz artist of the bird world - the humble robin. David explains what the song of the robin has in common with experimental free form jazz, not dissimilar to the sound of saxophonist Eric Dolphy who spent a long time listening to birds.
Producer: Tim Dee
Photograph: Christine Sweet.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m0012qnl)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m0012qnn)
Writer, Katie Hims
Director, Dave Payne
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Ruth Archer ..... Felicity Finch
Pat Archer ..... Patricia Gallimore
Tony Archer ..... David Troughton
Tom Archer ..... William Troughton
Natasha Archer ..... Mali Harries
Harrison Burns ..... James Cartwright
Martyn Gibson ..... Jon Glover
Will Grundy ..... Philip Molloy
Mia Grundy ..... Molly Pipe
Tracy Horrobin ..... Susie Riddell
Chelsea Horrobin ..... Madeleine Leslay
Jazzer McCreary ..... Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller ..... Annabelle Dowler
Lynda Snell MBE ..... Carole Boyd
Blake Goddard..... Luke MacGregor
Stella ..... Lucy Speed
SUN 11:00 Desert Island Discs (m0012qnq)
Dame Prue Leith, writer and broadcaster
Dame Prue Leith is a broadcaster, writer, former restaurateur and a judge on the television show the Great British Bake Off.
Prue was born in Cape Town, South Africa, during the era of Apartheid. After leaving school she moved to Paris to study at the Sorbonne, but decided that her future lay in food, and took a Cordon Bleu cookery course in London. She set up her own catering business from her bedsit, where space was so tight that she washed lettuces in the bath.
In 1969 she opened Leith’s, her own fine dining restaurant, in Notting Hill in west London. Leith’s was awarded a Michelin star in the 1980s. She went on to write columns and cookbooks and became a regular broadcaster about food, on shows including the Great British Menu. In 1975 she opened Leith’s School of Food and Wine which trains professional chefs and amateur cooks.
Prue replaced Mary Berry as a judge on the Great British Bake Off in 2017. She has written eight novels and lives with her husband in Gloucestershire.
Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley
SUN 11:45 Some Hay in a Manger (b085tn6g)
Episode 1
The recently-discovered correspondence between Sandy, an upbeat but ever so slightly dim camel carrying a king and some myrrh through the desert, and Martha, a thoughtful but rather sarcastic donkey taking a heavily pregnant lady to Bethlehem.
In this episode Sandy offers Martha some tactless advice about how to get comfortable in the desert by closing her nostrils, unaware that that only works for camels, and Martha worries about going back to Bethlehem because her mother is bound to wonder why she is still single. Meanwhile we learn that Sandy's rider is becoming concerned that myrrh might not be a very good gift for a baby, and Joseph is not dealing well with the pressure of being a father to be. Plus the roads are absolutely packed with over-excited sheep who seem to have got hold of the wrong end of the stick about what species the Lamb of God is going to be.
Written by Robert Hudson and Marie Phillips, authors of Radio 4's previous epistolary animal comedy Warhorses of Letters.
Starring Tamsin Greig as Martha
Joel Fry as Sandy
Introduced by Stephen Fry
Produced by Gareth Edwards
A BBC Studios Production
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m0012qnt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 12:04 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m0012g7c)
Series 76
Episode 3
The godfather of all panel shows pays a visit to Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre. Marcus Brigstocke and Rory Bremner are pitched against Pippa Evans and Andy Hamilton with Jack Dee in the umpire’s chair. Colin Sell accompanies on the piano. Producer - Jon Naismith. It is a BBC Studios production.
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m0012pjl)
A Christmas Feast Special.
Some of the biggest names in the food world join Dan and Sheila with their favourite Christmas dishes, including Claudia Roden, Jeremy Lee and Paula McIntyre. Noble Rot's Dan Keeling selects the wine.
Presented by Dan Saladino and Sheila Dillon.
Produced by Dan Saladino.
SUN 12:57 Weather (m0012pjn)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m0012pjq)
Radio 4’s look at the week’s big stories from both home and around the world.
SUN 13:30 The Listening Project (m0012pjs)
Who Cares?
Fi Glover presents three conversations between strangers.
This week: Countryside forager Robin meets urban skip diver Chantelle; Scott and Chris share their passion for playing Santa; and single-Mum Lisa talks to Natalie about the financial hardship she's facing this Christmas and beyond as a result of the pandemic..
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. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation lasts up to an hour and is then edited to extract the key moments 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 this decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Mohini Patel
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0012fww)
Herstmonceux Castle: Postbag Edition
Peter Gibbs and the team are at Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex. Juliet Sargeant, Matt Biggs and Matthew Pottage are this weeks' panellists, ready to answer your gardening questions.
Led by Herstmonceux's head gardener Guy Lucas, the team explores the castle grounds and learns about the sustainable gardening practices adopted in recent years.
The panellists also tackle questions from listeners, including suggestions for what to plant around a thatched cottage, and when to prune plants that are still in flower in the winter.
Producer - Jemima Rathbone
Assistant Producer - Aniya Das
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 A Home of Our Own (m0010gxz)
Clough Close, Middlesbrough
Lynsey Hanley tells the story of 35 year old electrician Steve whose one bedroom flat has plummeted in value.
Every home has a story to tell about the UK's housing crisis. When Steve first bought his one bedroom flat in Middlesbrough he saw it as a huge achievement. He had grown up in a council house and was delighted to be a home owner.
14 years on, the flat has declined in value by tens of thousands of pounds. Lynsey Hanley explores why.
House historian Melanie Backe-Hansen looks at the history of the land that Clough Close was built on, and Professor Paul Cheshire examines the reasons why Steve's flat has proved such a poor investment.
Producer: Laurence Grissell
SUN 15:00 Drama (m0012pjv)
Starship Titanic
Michael Palin stars in an exclusive adaptation of Terry Jones's comic novel. A tale of interstellar skulduggery, romance and unhinged robots based in Douglas Adams's universe.
Far off in the centre of one of the less well-chartered quadrants of the universe, a vast civilisation is preparing to launch the most technologically advanced starship ever - Starship Titanic While the galaxy's media looks on, it unfortunately undergoes SMEF (Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure) and disappears. Leovinus, the designer of the ship, uncovers shoddy workmanship, poor cybernetics and a series of increasingly eccentric robots. The owners, Scraliontis and Brobostigan, were intent on destroying the ship and claiming the insurance.
Meanwhile in Oxfordshire, four humans are inspecting a property they intend buying, only to see it crushed under the re-materialising Starship. This disaster is swiftly followed by an invitation from an over-attentive robot to come aboard, and Lucy, Dan and Nettie are catapulted into a series of increasingly bizarre encounters.
Stylistically emulating the work of the great Douglas Adams in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the late Terry Jones weaves a fabulously mad and comic tale, adapted by Ian Billings and directed by Dirk Maggs, who also directed the last four editions of the Hitchhiker's sagas.
Cast: Tom Alexander, Ian Billings, Nicholas Boulton, Rupert Degas, Philip Pope, Alana Ramsey, Rebecca Yeo. With a special guest appearance by Simon Jones, who played Arthur Dent in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.
Music by Philip Pope.
SUN 16:00 Open Book (m0012pjx)
Laura Barnett, Moscow Postcard, Non- Fiction 2021
Johny Pitts talks to Laura Barnett, whose previous books include The Versions of Us and Greatest Hits, about her seasonal novel Gifts. Inspired by The Twelve Days of Christmas, Gifts weaves a festive paper chain of stories, as twelve interconnected characters in a small Kent village search to give a perfect gift.
From neuro science to nature writing to literary biography and memoir; Johny discusses some of the best non-fiction titles of the year with writers Sathnam Sanghera, Kate Summerscale, and environmentalist Anita Roy.
Yana Vagner’s debut book ‘To the Lake’ tells the story of a deadly flu epidemic sweeping through Moscow. Yana sends a literary postcard from her home city, taking us back to childhood memories of her favourite bookshop.
SUN 16:30 Leaving the Family Home (m0012ftm)
Following on from 'Packing Up The Family Home' in which Geoff Bird and his siblings cleared and sold their parents' house, he now sets out to chart the emotional rupture that comes when your own children grow up and leave.
When Geoff and his wife Sarah's eldest daughter left, they were in part unprepared for the extent of the impact it would have, blind-sided by the excitement of her heading off to fulfil her potential and begin her new life.
Now their next daughter Tilly is on her way too, Geoff speaks with friends and family about their own experience of flying the nest to try and unpick this complicated and profound rite of passage. He argues that the reason it is given relatively little attention speaks to the way we continue to undervalue the domestic space, and hears from Frank Cottrell Boyce and his mum as they share recollections of the time Frank left for Oxford University - "You'll hear songs about heartbreak but there's nothing about when your kids go. You have these massive aspirations for them - and what is aspiration but pushing someone away, beyond you, and that feeling they won't come back."
Produced by Geoff Bird
SUN 17:00 The Great Pyramids of Albania (m0012ftf)
Throughout 1996, Albanians sold their houses and their livestock to buy into pyramid schemes that were doomed to fail. By the year’s end, this new kind of financial product had swallowed up almost 50 per cent of the country’s annual income, and touched nearly every adult’s life.
How did an entire country fall victim to scammers? Gavin Haynes explores the psychology of one of history’s great mass delusions, 25 years on.
He heads to Albania to hear how, in something like a fable, Europe’s most repressive Communist state was suddenly turned loose into a capitalist Wild West it was ill-prepared for. And how the knock-on effects of financial meltdown pushed the country to the brink of total anarchy.
At the heart of his journey is an ongoing mystery - what became of the life’s savings of so many ordinary people?
With:
Prof. Dr. ARBEN MALAJ, President of the Institute of Public Policy and Good Governance, MP for Vlore
LAZER SOKOLI, Lawyer and former prosecutor
ETLEVA DEMOLLARI, Director of the House of Leaves Museum of Secret Surveillance, Tirana
REMZI LANI, Executive Director of the Albanian Media Institute
Dr ARTAN HOXHA, Chief Executive Officer Tirana Business School
GJERGJI and MARIETA SPIRI – musician and violinist in Gjirokastre and their daughter STEFANIE; GEZIM ZILJA – former Mayor of Vlore
GENC DEMIRAJ – theatre technician in Vlore and former video journalist/camera person
Dr. JONILA GODOLE, Executive Director of the Institute for Democracy Media and Culture, Tirana
ERION VILIAJ – Mayor of Tirana
Presenter: Gavin Haynes
Producer: Caroline Finnigan
Executive Producer: Katherine Godfrey
Fixer: Edit Pula
Engineer: David Smith
Music Sound Engineer: Martin Appleby
Actor readings by Orli Shuka
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 17:40 Profile (m0012pc2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0012pjz)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 17:57 Weather (m0012pk1)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0012pk3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m0012pk5)
Nicola Beckford
Join us on the last Pick of the Week before Christmas as we reflect on the theme of family. We meet the hottest artists of 60s America on a family road trip, parental ties are cut as a teenager leaves home and there’s the curious case of an alleged poisoning. Oh and there’s what is seen by many as one of the biggest upsets in recent electoral history.
Presenter: Nicola Beckford
Producer: John Offord
Production Coordinator: Elodie Chatelain
Studio Manager: Owain Williams
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m0012pk7)
Lynda seeks divine justice while Usha’s not feeling the Christmas vibe.
SUN 19:15 Love in Recovery (b06s9szk)
Christmas Eve
Heart-warming comedy drama set in Alcoholics Anonymous on Christmas Eve, written by Pete Jackson and inspired by his own road to recovery. Starring Sue Johnston, John Hannah, Eddie Marsan, Rebecca Front, Paul Kaye and Julia Deakin.
It's Christmas Eve and the church hall is empty – except for self-appointed group leader Andy, who's waiting for the rest of his Alcoholics Anonymous group to turn up. Just in case anyone needs him. After all, Christmas can be a difficult time for recovering alcoholics – especially when your support group is this load of idiots.
But nothing proves more difficult than this particular Christmas Eve as, one by one, the members arrive, each with a different reason for seeking out the meeting hall. But whatever their troubles, one thing is clear - no one is there for a meeting.
Writer Pete Jackson is a recovering alcoholic and has spent time in Alcoholics Anonymous. It was there he found, as most people do, support from the unlikeliest group of disparate souls, all banded together due to one common bond. As well as offering the support he needed throughout a difficult time, AA also offered a weekly, sometimes daily, dose of hilarity, upset, heartbreak and friendship.
There are many different kinds of AA meetings. Love in Recovery is about meetings where people tell their stories. There are funny stories, sad stories, stories of small victories and milestones, stories of loss, stories of hope, and those stories that you really shouldn't laugh at - but still do, along with the storyteller.
A second series of Love in Recovery will return to Radio 4 next year.
Cast:
Marion........Julia Deakin
Fiona..........Rebecca Front
Simon.........John Hannah
Julie............Sue Johnston
Danno.........Paul Kaye
Andy............Eddie Marsan
Written and created by Pete Jackson
Producer/Director: Ben Worsfield
A Lucky Giant production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 19:45 Gambits (m0012pk9)
8: The Queen
Tracy-Ann Oberman continues Eley Williams' short story series, set in what might seem like and ordinary Essex village, but is anything but. Today, in 'The Queen', the mother of the local chess prodigy has some startling revelations of her own...
Reader: Tracy-Ann Oberman
Writer: Eley Williams is the author of Attrib. and Other Stories, and a debut novel, The Liar's Dictionary.
Producer: Justine Willett
SUN 20:00 Feedback (m0012fx2)
One of Radio 4’s Factual Commissioning Editors Dan Clarke explains his decision to axe the Film Programme and discusses its replacement Screenshot.
He also talks about the new music series Add to Playlist, and why it is broadcast on Radio 4 when so many other BBC networks are devoted to music.
And two listeners give their views on another of his commissions Jon Ronson’s Things Fell Apart.
Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Kate Dixon
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m0012fx0)
Mary Maher, Robbie Shakespeare (pictured), Anwar Ditta, Anne Rice
Matthew Bannister on
The journalist and feminist Mary Maher. She edited the women’s page of the Irish Times and was a prime mover in campaigns for equal rights.
The bass player Robbie Shakespeare. With his partner Sly Dunbar he formed a powerful rhythm section in demand by artists from Peter Tosh and Black Uhuru to Grace Jones, Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan.
Anwar Ditta, the British Asian mother who fought for five years to be allowed to bring her three children from Pakistan to the UK.
Anne Rice the best-selling author of the Vampire Chronicles series of books.
Producer: Neil George
Interviewed guest: Rosita Sweetman
Interviewed guest: Michael Foley
Interviewed guest: Don Chandler
Interviewed guest: David Katz
Interviewed guest: Tariq Mehmood
Interviewed guest: Ruth Bundey
Interviewed guest: Dr Samantha George
Archive clips used: RTE, Bowman - Tribute to Mary Maher 12/12/2021; GRANADA TV, World in Action: These Children Are Mine 16/03/1981; Oxford Television Production/BBC FOUR, Cover Stories - Anne Rice 25/06/2002; BBC Radio 4, Front Row - Tribute to Anne Rice 13/12/2021; Geffen Pictures, Interview With The Vampire (1994); Anne Rice YouTube Channel, Returning to Christianity 07/05/2010.
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m0012pbc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m0012pkc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 Rutherford and Fry on Living with AI (m0012glp)
AI in the Economy
The refrain ‘robots will take your job’ is one heard with increased frequency, but how quickly is automation of the labour force really happening and would it really be such a bad thing if many jobs were powered by artificial intelligence?
In this third episode, inspired by this year’s BBC Reith lectures from AI expert Stuart Russell, Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry - together with expert guests - imagine what the future of work might look like. Will the move towards increased use of artificial intelligence in areas like healthcare, customer service and manufacturing see jobs disappear or will it simply create new ones we cannot yet imagine?
Economists are divided on what the effects of machines doing our jobs will be. Some argue it could lead to wide scale unemployment, or skilled workers being forced in into lower skilled jobs. Others believe this might be an opportunity to reshape our socio-economic systems to one where workers are freed from tedious repetitive jobs and instead have more leisure time to pursue their own interests and find meaning outside of work. Will we all one day receive a universal basic income and stop asking each other what we do for work when we meet someone new?
Producer - Melanie Brown
Assistant Producer - Ilan Goodman
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m0012pkf)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.
SUN 23:00 Think with Pinker (m0012fm1)
You Can’t Think That!
Are some thoughts too evil to think? Sometimes we avoid seemingly rational lines of reasoning, not because of logic, innumeracy or ignorance, but for morality. In his guide to thinking better, Professor Steven Pinker explores the trade-offs between taboos and our ability to reason clearly.
Steven’s joined by Philip Tetlock, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, author of ‘Super Forecasting’ and the psychologist who originated the modern study of taboo. And by Sally Satel, a psychiatrist and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. When she needed a kidney transplant, and then another, should she have been able to simply buy one online?
Producers: Imogen Walford and Joe Kent
Editor: Emma Rippon
Think with Pinker is produced in partnership with The Open University.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b06rl6ft)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 20 DECEMBER 2021
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m0012pkh)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 Sideways (m0012fp4)
Oostvaardersplassen: A Wild Idea
Flevoland, the Netherlands, 1968. A new patch of land is being carved out of the sea. Destined initially for agriculture or industry, when nature begins to take over, authorities decide to protect the new Earth as a nature reserve - the Oostvaardersplassen.
In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed uses the story of this pioneering nature reserve to reveal our conceptions, and misconceptions of the wild.
Rich with reedbeds, the oostvaardersplassen soon becomes a haven for rare birds. But Dutch ecologist Frans Vera wants to take the oostvaardersplassen further. He wants to test the theory that Europe wasn’t covered with forest before humans arrived, but instead had vast grassy plains, much like the savannas of Africa. And so begins the introduction of herds of cattle, horses and deer to the reserve - a pioneering environmental effort which pre-dates the now familiar idea of rewilding.
But when the project stumbles into controversy, it tests our understanding of the wild and how we look after it. And as opposition to the Oostvaardersplassen begins to shape its future, the heady dream of a self-sufficient Dutch serengeti is abandoned. With the urgency of restoring the earth’s natural spaces, Matthew questions whether our scientific failures can still lead to progress.
With journalist and environmental campaigner George Monbiot, cultural geographer Dr Clemens Driessen and environmental philosopher Dr Andrea Gammon along with Frans Vera and campaigner Betty Den Engelsman.
Producer: Pippa Smith
Researcher: Nadia Mehdi
Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Music, Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight
Sideways theme by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m0012pcq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0012pkk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0012pkm)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
MON 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m0012qnw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0012qp1)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Fr Dermot Preston, part of the Jesuit Mission to St Dominic's Roman Catholic Church, Newcastle
Good morning.
It was a wintry rush-hour.
My friend was in the flow of commuters at the end of the day.
Ahead of her she saw an old man standing in the middle of the pavement He stood swaying slightly, with his cupped-hand raised, outstretched for help from the flow of commuters. People wove past him, professionally avoiding eye-contact.
By accident or design, my friend ended up in front of the swaying beggar. He d held his cupped-hand out in front of her. In it was a coin.
In the midst of the throng of people flowing around them, he quietly explained that he was wanting to make a phone-call from the cash call-box just to the side of the pavement. But his hands were too cold to push the coin into the slot for the money – would she help him to push the coin into the slot?
Although the Old Testament praises the virtues of the Shepherd – indeed King David himself had started as a shepherd outside Bethlehem – by that first Christmas, shepherds lived on the edge of an urban society ignored and shunned by the town. The religious authorities looked down upon them because being out in the fields they were unable to keep clean for the sacred rituals.
But it was to the shepherds, not the rulers, priests or princes that the angels in the field proclaimed;;
“I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
Lord, thank you that you do not exclude anyone, everyone is seen and valued by you and your good news is for all. Help us to see those otherwise shunned and ignored and to show them your love.
Amen
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m0012qp5)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
MON 05:56 Weather (m0012qpb)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08r1vz9)
Ruth Cromie on the Eider
Ruth Cromie of the Slimbridge Wetland Centre proclaims her love for the eider duck, both rock hard and extremely soft.
Producer Miles Warde.
MON 06:00 Today (m0012pkw)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m0012pky)
A musical journey – from the mountains to the multi-storey
The internationally renowned cellist Steven Isserlis talks to Andrew Marr about his companion guide to The Bach Cello Suites. Isserlis explores why Bach’s Six Suites have become some of the most cherished music, and how Bach takes the audience on a spiritual journey, from joy, through tragedy, to jubilation.
Schubert’s heart-breaking song-cycle Winterreise tells of a young man’s desperate wanderings: the music and the poems creating images of fire and snow, of scalding and frozen tears. The baritone Benjamin Appl, accompanied by James Baillieu, stars in a new BBC film, Winter Journey, filmed in a tower on the snow-covered summit of the Julierpass in south-east Switzerland. An album of the music will be released in February.
The composer and pianist Kate Whitley is also interested in the importance of place in music. But she has taken a different tack, eschewing the often rarefied atmosphere of concert halls, for the concrete heart of city centres. She runs The Multi-Storey Orchestra which performs in car parks around the UK.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Photo copyright: Satoshi Aoyagi
MON 09:45 Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (m0012pl0)
Episode 1
Award-winning actor, director and gourmand Stanley Tucci shares his intimate memoir of a life with food at its heart.
The son of Calabrian immigrants to America, Tucci grows up in a home where eating well is valued and a trip to explore his family’s Italian roots only strengthens an interest in his culinary heritage.
Written and read by Stanley Tucci
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0012pl3)
Claire Foy as the Duchess of Argyll, Janey Godley, Karen Teasdale-Robson, Edwina Paisley
Emma Barnett talks to the award winning actor Claire Foy about playing the Duchess of Argyll in the BBC One TV series A Very British Sacandal this Christmas. Margaret Argyll was branded a nymphomaniac by her husband the 11th Duke of Argyll in their explosive 1963 divorce hearing and he was granted a divorce on the grounds of his wife’s adultery.
The Scottish comedian Janey Godley tells us about her recent diagnosis of ovarian cancer. The sixty year old is best known for her parody voiceovers of Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of her daily press briefings made during lockdown. Just a month ago Janey Godley was forced to cut short her UK tour when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
The father-daughter bond can for some be a difficult one - but for others, a joy. Karen Teasdale-Robson from Blaydon, near Newcastle has gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure her father, Bryan isn't forgotten when he dies. Her dad for the majority of his life was a poet and a songwriter but an assault ten years ago left him with a brain injury. Care workers told Karen to prepare for the worst earlier this year, which led her to release a recording of lullaby he had written her almost 60 years ago, to ask for the public's help in re-recording it
And Edwina Paisley on her work as the Director of Space Programmes at the satellite communications company Inmarsat.
Presenter: Emma Barnett
Produer: Lisa Jenkinson
Studio Manager: Bob Nettles
MON 11:00 Sending Mum Abroad (m0012pl5)
Comedian and writer David Baddiel explores why some people are choosing to send their elderly relatives abroad for 24 hour dementia care.
From soaring costs to reports of staff under pressure, covid concerns and neglect in some homes, deciding where in the UK to house loved ones who need intense support poses a huge dilemma for relatives.
David Baddiel, whose father suffers with dementia, hears how some people from Britain and Europe are choosing to send their mums, dads and partners as far away as Thailand for dedicated round the clock support.
Peter Brown runs a care resort in Chiang Mai - the mountainous north of the country. His 31 dementia patients are referred to as ‘guests’ with care tailored to the individual. Meanwhile Martin Woodtli runs a nearby ‘village’ where 14 people live in Villas with round the clock personal carers. He set things up after struggling to find care for his mother in his native Switzerland.
David hears from relatives who are attracted by both the type and the cost of care in Thailand. One of them, Michael Williams from Bristol, talks about the pain he felt leaving his mum to be cared for thousands of miles away for the first time. Meanwhile, another relative reveals how he’s seriously considering joining his wife to live in one of the villas she's just moved into in the Chiang Mai care ‘village’.
At the moment, there’s a quiet revolution around catering for foreign nationals with dementia in Thailand, but its not the only place. It’s also happening in Mexico, where people have begun moving their loved ones because they couldn’t find suitable or affordable care in the United States.
David asks if the phenomenon will catch on, and whether more people will be attracted in the long term to the option of sending mum or dad to live out their days abroad.
A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 11:30 Loose Ends (m0012pc0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
MON 12:00 News Summary (m0012pl8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 12:04 Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley (m0012plb)
1. Annunciations
Anyone who’s heard the story knows the name – Joseph. He’s there, somewhere, in every nativity play; pictures of him and his family drop daily through the letter box every December.
For many, Joseph is simply a character who lives in the margins of the Christmas story. But this re-telling is a bit different. Here Alex Jennings, in the character of a surprisingly witty and guileful angel Gabriel, tells the story from Joseph’s angle.
In this first episode, Nazareth carpenter Joseph, having had an initial ‘dreamlike’ encounter with Gabriel and received some astonishing instructions, has to put up with small town tittle-tattle when his fiancée Mary becomes pregnant. It can’t be so. They ignore the gossip and get married anyway. But Gabriel and co have further plans for them.
Written by Brian Sibley
Reader: Alex Jennings
Director: Martin Jarvis
A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4
MON 12:18 You and Yours (m0012plf)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
MON 12:57 Weather (m0012plh)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m0012plk)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
MON 13:45 The Hackers (m0012plm)
Series 1
For the Lulz
Biella and technology journalist Frank Bajak discuss how two teenage hackers, calling themselves Lulzsec Peru, managed to expose corruption and shook the Peruvian government to the core with a massive leak of documents - and in doing so become some of the most impactful hacktivists of the early 2000s.
MON 14:00 The Archers (m0012pk7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Solomon Browne (m0012plp)
40 years on, the dramatic story of the Penlee lifeboat disaster.
Mousehole, 19th December 1981. The famous Christmas harbour lights illuminate the fishing village in this quiet corner of Cornwall. But a storm is coming and the events of this night will leave a mark on the community that will never fade.
40 years after the Penlee lifeboat disaster, Solomon Browne is a poetic, drama-documentary, weaving together monologue, recorded testimonies and the genuine radio communications from the disaster. Written by Newlyn resident Callum Mitchell, the programme was made in Cornwall, with the help of some of the family members of the men lost.
The result is both a celebration and memorial to the men of the lifeboat – Solomon Browne: Trevelyan Richards, Stephen Madron, Nigel Brockman, John Blewett, Charles Greenhaugh, Kevin Smith, Barrie Torrie and Gary Wallis.
Helping us tell their story are:
Neil Brockman, son of Nigel Brockman. Neil was 17 at the time and also a member the lifeboat crew, alongside his dad. Jane Torrie is the sister of Barrie Torrie. The night of the disaster she was busy babysitting her brother’s two children, as he set out into the storm. Jo Payne, is the daughter of Charlie Greenhaugh, member of the lifeboat crew and also landlord of the Ship Inn that overlooks Mousehole’s harbour. And Baden Madron, brother of Stephen Madron.
The Penlee lifeboat disaster was a tragedy that tore the village of Mousehole apart, days before Christmas, but through the darkness of the storm, shines the light of a coastal community intent on remembering the bravery of its lost neighbours.
Callum Mitchell is a writer from West Cornwall. He was Assistant Director on Mark Jenkin’s BAFTA-winning film Bait (Early Day Films/BFI), as well as the forthcoming Enys Men (Bosena/Film 4). Callum is an Associate Artist at Hall For Cornwall and was the recipient of the Nick Darke Talent Award 2020. He has spent the past year on attachment as part of the BBC Writersroom Cornish Voices programme. Solomon Browne is his first work for radio.
Solomon Browne by Callum Mitchell
The Voices: Jo Payne, Baden Madron, Jane Torrie and Neil Brockman
The Narrator: Callum Mitchell
Music by Edward Norris
Sound design by Nigel Lewis
Calm is the Sea performed by Mousehole Male Voice Choir
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
Directed by James Robinson
MON 15:00 Quote... Unquote (m0012plr)
Georgie Morrell, Lissa Evans, Daliso Chaponda
The celebrity panel game about quotations, hosted by Nigel Rees, returns with a series celebrating its 500th programme.
This episode features:
- Georgie Morrell, stand-up comedian, actor, and writer
- Lissa Evans, former producer of Quote...Unquote who went on to produce Father Ted and become a highly successful novelist
- Daliso Chaponda, critically acclaimed stand-up comedian and multi-disciplinary author
Reader of the Quotations: Charlotte Green
Production Co-Ordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Producer: Ella Watts
Executive Producer: James Robinson
This programme is a BBC Studios Audio production.
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m0012pjl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Faith in Music (m0012flf)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Scottish, Catholic composer Sir James MacMillan considers the faith lives of three very different composers.
Over the centuries, composers have created musical masterpieces that many listeners have come to regard as spiritual touchstones. For example, Mozart’s Requiem, Mahler’s 2nd Symphony, Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. But what did these composers actually believe about God, faith, judgement, an afterlife and redemption? And do we need to share these beliefs in any way, in order to have a spiritual experience as listeners to their music? Answers to these questions are complex, fascinating and challenging.
Brought up in a Catholic household, feisty and free-thinking Mozart was sacked by a Catholic archbishop, then (like his contemporary William Blake) went on to embrace Freemasonry. He continued to attend church throughout his short life but lived under the rule of Emperor Joseph II who banned a great deal of church music in Austria at the time.
Mozart’s operas are full of characters with ambiguous morals and the plots can be seen as suffused with myths of Eden and Christian promises of forgiveness and redemption. Maybe listeners turn to Mozart for spiritual consolation not because (as depicted in Amadeus) he was the voice of God, but because he is supremely human.
James MacMillan talks with Mozart scholars Professor Cliff Eisen from King's College London, Professor Nicholas Till from Sussex University and Dr George Corbett from the School of Divinity at St Andrews University.
Produced by Rosie Boulton
A Must Try Softer production for BBC Radio 4
Mozart music played:
Clarinet Quintet in A K.581
Sabine Meyer, Bruno Schneider, Wiener Streichsextett
Label: Warner Classics
'Gente, gente, all’armi, all’armi' from The Marriage of Figaro
Performers: John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists
CD Title: Le Nozze Di Figaro
Label: Archiv
'Don Giovanni, a cenar teco' from Don Giovanni
Performers: George Solti, London Philharmonic Orchestra
CD title: Don Giovanni
Label: Decca
Ave Verum Corpus
Performers: Vienna Boys Choir
CD title: Requiem; Ave Verum; Bruckner Motetten
Label: Capriccio
Exsultate Jubilate
Performers: Emma Kirkby, The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood
CD title: Mozart: Exsultate Jubilate; Motets
Label: Oiseau Lyre
'Kyrie' from Requiem in D minor, K.626
The Academy of Ancient Music, Choir of Westminster Cathedral, Christopher Hogwood
Label: Decca
MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m0012plv)
Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols
In the spring of 1942, Benjamin Britten and his partner Peter Pears left the United States on board a Swedish cargo ship to cross the perilous waters of the North Atlantic. On a stopover in Nova Scotia, Britten picked up a book of medieval poems and whilst the ship navigated ferocious winds and dodged U boats, he used some of them in the first draft of what was to become 'A Ceremony of Carols'. From the confines of a miserable and airless cabin he created a work of such joy and energy that it has become a Christmas staple for the high clear voices of boy trebles - or women’s choir - and harp.
To discuss the enduring appeal of the music and the spiritual meaning of 'A Ceremony of Carols', Ernie Rea is joined by a distinguished trio of musicians. Michael Berkeley is a composer, broadcaster, and crossbench peer. Benjamin Britten was his godfather. Anna Lapwood is a conductor, organist and Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge. She was a professional harp player. And the Rev Lucy Winkett is Rector of St James Piccadilly in the centre of London. Before becoming a priest, she trained as a singer at the Royal College of Music.
Producer: Helen Lee
MON 17:00 PM (m0012plx)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0012plz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m0012ny7)
Series 76
Episode 4
Back for a second week at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre, Marcus Brigstocke and Rory Bremner are joined on the panel by Pippa Evans and Andy Hamilton, with Jack Dee the unimpressed umpire. Piano accompaniment is provided by Colin Sell. Producer - Jon Naismith. It is a BBC Studios production.
MON 19:00 The Archers (m0012pm1)
Susan’s got the green eye and Amy recounts some home truths.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m0012pm3)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
MON 20:00 Look At What You Could Have Won (m0012pm5)
Bullseye, the darts-based TV quiz show which started in 1981, regularly attracted 20 million Sunday teatime viewers.
Watching re-runs today – as many thousands still do – some may groan at the host Jim Bowen’s jokes, and chuckle as contestants gamble for the Star Prize, which might be a speedboat, a kitchen or a caravan “hiding behind Bully”, the show’s cartoon mascot. Those who lost were famously invited to “look at what you could have won”.
But for the writer and journalist James McMahon, who grew up watching Bullseye, the show has come to represent empathy, community, and kindness. Despite having had nothing to do with it, the connection he feels is deeply personal.
James looks back at those original episodes with people who went on it, people behind the scenes, people who loved it, and people who’ve never seen it.
What can Bullseye tell us about what we’ve lost, and what we’ve become? Do we laugh at who we were - or reflect on what we could have been?
Photo; Steve Urquhart
Archive courtesy of ITV
Presenter: James McMahon
Producer: Steve Urquhart
A Far Shoreline production for BBC Radio 4
MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m0012flc)
Denmark's Red Van
Every weekend night in Copenhagen's red light district of Vesterbro, a group of volunteers pull up and park a red van. This is no ordinary vehicle. The interior is lit with fairy lights. There is a bed – and a ready supply of condoms. The Red Van constitutes a harm reduction strategy like no other. It is designed for use by women selling sex on the streets – somewhere they can bring their clients. Just as health workers might argue addicts should have a safe place where they can take their drugs to prevent overdoses, the Red Van NGO’s volunteers believe they are creating a more secure environment for Copenhagen’s sex workers or prostitutes.
For Crossing Continents, Linda Pressly reports from Copenhagen.
Series editor: Bridget Harney
MON 21:00 Wild Inside (m0012gym)
The Burmese Python
Ben Garrod and Jess French delve deep inside the predatory Burmese python to examine its extraordinary body plan that enables it to catch, constrict and consume huge prey whole.
Producer Adrian Washbourne
MON 21:30 Start the Week (m0012pky)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m0012pm8)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
MON 22:45 Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley (m0012plb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
MON 23:00 Setting Sail (m0012pmb)
An exploration of the funeral and the grave, with fascinating and moving contributions from undertakers, gravediggers, and others. Presented by Francis Watson and first broadcast in 1985.
This documentary was produced by Malcolm Clarke and the acclaimed radio producer Piers Plowright, who died earlier this year, and is being repeated on Radio 4 to commemorate his life and work in radio. The programme is a fine example of Piers Plowright’s craft – and remains an intimate and perceptive exploration of the process of dying, told from an array of perspectives.
Piers Plowright described himself as a 'radio man'. He had grown up in a home where the wireless was moved into the living room of an evening for family listening. Others have called Piers the Godfather of the British Radio Feature. In a 30-year BBC career, which began in 1968 as a trainee in English By Radio, after which he migrated via drama to documentaries, his programmes received radio's highest accolade, the Prix Italia, on three occasions. Yet he remained always modest, a practised listener, a supporter of colleagues, a composer of sound, silence and word, and - for all his erudition and love of culture - a mischievous spirit.
The guide in Highgate Cemetery was Francis Watson
Alison Waley remembered the death of her husband Arthur
Jill Tweedie considered the problem and Ivor Leverton and John Fry the business of dealing with death
The Coffin Maker was Sean Casey
The Embalmer Len Clarke
The Driver John Tyrrell
The Gravedigger Ray Rossen
The boat was rowed by Frank Sugg
The organ was played by Michael Jack
The recordings were made by Julian Walther
Setting Sail was compiled and produced by Malcolm Clarke and Piers Plowright in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
(Photo credit: Lucy Tizard)
MON 23:30 100 Years of Exile (m00107vz)
Who is a refugee?
It is 100 years since a civil war caused a refugee crisis on Europe's borders and the appointment of the first High Commissioner for refugees. Today, as a series of refugee crises roils European politics, Katy Long presents a series examining what the century in between has taught us all about how to deal with a refugee crisis.
Across three episodes, Katy will examine how refugee crises start, what it is like to be a refugee, how the business of supporting refugees has changed (and grown), and how refugee crises end. She speaks to refugees and former refugees, to those who work with them and to the politicians who decide what will become of them.
In this first episode, about how refugee crises start, Katy will examine how the definition of a refugee has changed. Covering Russia, Rwanda and Syria, she'll consider how international agreements, legal texts and political pressures have shaped public and political understanding of who refugees are, and what they are owed.
Producer: Giles Edwards
Assistant Producer: George Dabby.
Extract from 'Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea', by Teffi, and translated by Robert Chandler.
TUESDAY 21 DECEMBER 2021
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m0012pmd)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 00:30 Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (m0012pl0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0012pmg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0012pmj)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m0012pml)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0012pmq)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Fr Dermot Preston, part of the Jesuit Mission to St Dominic's Roman Catholic Church, Newcastle
Good morning.
Queen Cleopatra once tried to seduce King Herod. That might sound like a scene from ‘Carry on Cleo’, but it actually happened.
She was in her late 20’s and he was younger and penniless and on the run through Egypt, escaping Parthian forces which had invaded Judaea. Herod knew that Cleopatra had bewitched his friend, Marc Antony, and wanted nothing to do with her schemes. Instead he blagged his way onto a ship to Rome and within a week, his fortunes reversed, he was on his way back to Palestine with an army and the blessing of the Romans.
The problem with Herod and the Christmas story is that people regard him as something of a Pantomime villain. Few know Herod’s back story – how he was brave, generous and resourceful rightly earning the nickname, ‘Herod the Great’.
The Herod we meet in the Christmas story is the later Herod, when ruthlessness and cruelty had come to the fore. The later Herod lived in FEAR and his decisions were dominated not by his hopes, but by worries and anxieties He saw intrigue in everything, slaughtering family and friends at whim and his people trembled. In the gospel of Matthew we hear that the threat he perceives from the birth of Jesus leads to his order to slaughter all the boys in Bethlehem under 2 years of age.
The Letter of John tells us that ‘There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear’.
Lord, we thank you that you offer a way of life not governed by fear, and we know that you encounter us in the places, situations, and relationships that threaten peace. I pray that my decisions today might not be driven by my fears.
Amen
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m0012pms)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09byxlf)
Paul Evans on the Barn Owl
In a house on the marsh which has been abandoned for forty years, Paul Evans disturbs a Barn owl and the ghosts of a tragic past as he recalls in this specially commissioned Halloween tale.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Joshua Myers.
TUE 06:00 Today (m0012qxb)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 Things Fell Apart (m0012qxd)
7. A Secret Room Behind a Fake Wall
It’s 2017. Late one night after a party a Hollywood actor plays a prank on a friend. But the prank backfires terribly and the ripples are seismic - taking us inside Donald Trump’s White House and the Capitol insurrection of January 2021.
Written and presented by Jon Ronson
Produced by Sam Peach
Original music by Phil Channell
Archive with credit to:
Videos discussing Isaac Kappy: Lisa Crapella.– Youtube , The Truth Blog Part 2 – Youtube , Miss M – Youtube , Truth Crossing - Youtube
Clip from the movie THOR (2011) – Produced by Marvel Studios, distributed by Paramount Pictures and Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Coverage of 2016 Democratic National Convention from ABC News
Coverage of Pizzagate and Isaac Kappy interview from Infowars
Coverage of Edgar Welch's arrest from ANV News
Coverage of Nicholas Sandmann incident from MSNBC, CNN and Fox News
Interview with Lin Wood from Fox News
Clip of Lin Wood’s speech from Ronnie N – Youtube
Coverage of 2021 US Capitol Attack from CNN
TUE 09:30 Four Thought (m0012qxg)
Brain Matters
Beth Stevens talks about the brain cells most people have never heard of, and suggests what they might have to teach us.
Beth is a neuroscientist and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, who in 2015 was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship - the so-called 'genius grant' - for her work on microglial cells. In this talk she describes the connections between her research and her own family history, and explains why these cells - for so long overlooked in favour of neurons - may be the key to understanding much about the brain we don't yet know.
Producer: Giles Edwards
TUE 09:45 Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (m0012qyz)
Episode 2
Award-winning actor, director and gourmand Stanley Tucci shares his intimate memoir of a life with food at its heart.
Even as a struggling young actor in NYC, Stanley knew the importance of tradition when pairing pasta with sauce. The culinary rules from childhood would stay with him after marriage, on the set of 'Big Night' and through many a Christmas Day feast.
Written and read by Stanley Tucci
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0012qxl)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
TUE 11:00 Wild Inside (m0012qxn)
The Ocean Sunfish
Ben Garrod and Jess French get under the skin of Mola mola the world's largest bony fish to unravel this bizarrely shaped predator's ability to swim to a huge range of depths.
Producer Adrian Washbourne
TUE 11:30 Moving Pictures (m0012qxq)
Mystic Nativity by Sandro Botticelli
Cathy FitzGerald invites you to discover new details in old masterpieces, using your phone, tablet or computer.
Each 30-minute episode of Moving Pictures is devoted to a single artwork - and you're invited to look as well as listen, by following a link to a high-resolution image made by Google Arts & Culture. Zoom in and you can see the pores of the canvas, the sweep of individual brushstrokes, the shimmer of pointillist dots.
Botticelli's 'Mystic Nativity' is a Christmas card favourite... which is strange, because it's a painting about the end of the world. In the 1490s, Florence was in the grip of the puritanical preacher Girolamo Savonarola, who called on its citizens to throw their 'decadent' belongings on the Bonfire of the Vanities. Botticelli may well have seen his own paintings burn. Yet this cryptic Renaissance masterpiece contains clues that suggest the artist found hope in the friar's apocalyptic visions. A closer look at one of the most beautiful and deeply mysterious paintings in the National Gallery's collection.
To see the high-resolution image, visit www.bbc.co.uk/movingpictures and follow the link to explore 'Mystic Nativity'.
Interviewees: Jennifer Sliwka, Caroline Campbell, Leslie Primo and Jonathan Nelson.
Producer and presenter: Cathy FitzGerald
Art history consultant: Leah Kharibian
Executive producer: Sarah Cuddon
Engineer: Mike Woolley
A White Stiletto production for BBC Radio 4.
Picture credit: NG1034: Sandro Botticelli, Mystic Nativity, about 1445–1510 (detail). © The National Gallery, London.
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m0012r0d)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 12:04 Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley (m0012qxv)
2. Nativity
Martin Jarvis directs Alex Jennings as the cool and colloquial angel Gabriel, who tells the story.
Poor Joseph! Some men might have resented being in this situation - asked ‘Why me?’ But Joseph isn’t some men. Mary gives birth to Jesus in a stable in overcrowded Bethlehem. Like any new mother she is totally absorbed in the baby. Joseph tries to feel how he imagines he ought to feel, how to love this little bundle as if it were his own. Then some bizarre visitors start arriving.
Written by Brian Sibley
Reader: Alex Jennings
Director: Martin Jarvis
A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m0012qxx)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
TUE 12:57 Weather (m0012qxz)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m0012qy1)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
TUE 13:45 The Hackers (m0012qy3)
Series 1
Sharing
One of the core beliefs in the many subsets of hacker culture is that information should be freely accessible and shared. But there are two distinct ways of achieving this freedom of information - Piracy, and The Open Source.
Biella talks to Peter Sunde, co-founder of the Pirate bay, and Karen Sandler of the Software Freedom Conservancy, to discover how both movements have become entwined with the hacker community over the years, and which has the most potential to disrupt the increasingly monopolised world of tech development.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m0012pm1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (m0012qy5)
Song of the Reed
Eel
Ian (played by Mark Rylance) has gone to work for neighbouring landowner Theo Buckhurst as Liv (Sophie Okonedo) prepares to sell up to Wildscapes – but nature, as ever, has a different plan, and a major flood event is forecast to engulf Fleggwick.
The third in the series of Steve Waters’ seasonal dramas follows the life of a fictional wetlands nature reserve, over the period of one year.
Storm clouds are well and truly established over the nature reserve Liv has inherited from her father. The oncoming flood will bring a pulse of salt water into the Fen, threatening countless fresh water species. And with plans to sell Fleggwick also complete, the future looks decidedly insecure in this otherwise beautiful corner of Norfolk.
Song of the Reed is recorded on location at RSPB’s Strumpshaw Fen. The story is informed by the sounds of the reserve as well as the real work and science of conservation taking place in the face of rapid environmental change in the wetlands of Norfolk, and everywhere.
Cast:
Liv - Sophie Okonedo
Ian - Mark Rylance
Tam - Ella Dorman Gajic
Kay - Molly Naylor
Theo - Tom Goodman-Hill
Nikki - Karen Hill
Charlie - Jimmy Rutherford
Voice of the Reed - Christine Kavanagh
Other parts played by staff and volunteers at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen
Written by Steve Waters
Music by Michael Somerset Ward with Rebecca Hearne
Sound design by Alisdair McGregor
Produced and Directed by Boz Temple-Morris
A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m0012qy7)
The Night Before Christmas
Josie Long presents short festive documentaries about the night before Christmas.
A joyful Christmas scene discovered on an old tape, a poet holds the beauty and melancholy of a trip home on Christmas Eve, and Albert Woodfox reflects on 40 years of enforced isolation and the illumination and comfort offered by a group of schoolchildren in Liverpool.
Forwards and Backwards
Featuring The Djursland Fiddlers recorded by Torben Harbo in the 1970s.
Produced by Rikke Houd
Christmas Eve
Written and read by Liz Berry
Produced by Alia Cassam
Albert
Featuring Albert Woodfox and David Moorhead
Produced by Sarah Cuddon
Curated by Alia Cassam and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
Executive Producer: Axel Kacoutié
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 15:30 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
TUE 16:00 Consumed by Desire (m0012qy9)
Episode 1
New documentary series from BBC Radio 4
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m0012q74)
Jeanne Baret, first woman to sail round the globe
It all began with a small portrait in the Greenwich museum - of a sexless looking character in wide stripey trousers. Actor Nina Sosanya says she was immediately intrigued. Who was this? Why was she here? And did she really sail round the world dressed as a man?
She discovered that Jeanne Baret was a poor but ingenious French woman who joined Louis Antoine de Bougainville's circumnavigation in 1763. She was dressed as a man because women were not allowed on board. But this was only the beginning of a crazy, often terrifying ordeal.
Joining Nina Sosanya is Glynis Ridley, author of the Discovery of Jeanne Baret. Together they piece together this adventurer's life, from her birth in rural France to her passage round the globe, abandoned on Mauritius and getting back home seven years after everyone else.
Nina Sosanya has starred in Staged, Killing Eve and W1A, often playing extremely likable characters who keep their head while everyone else goes down in flames.
The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde
TUE 17:00 PM (m0012qyd)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0012qyj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 The Missing Hancocks (m0012p1b)
Series 4
The Christmas Eve Party
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: When Hancock throws a noisy party his neighbours, full of the Christmas spirit, take him to court.
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. The Christmas Eve Party was first broadcast on the 28th December, 1954.
Produced by Neil Pearson & Paul Sheehan.
Written by Ray Galton & Alan Simpson
Music recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Levon Parikian.
A BBC Studios Production.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m0012q2p)
Oliver offers words of wisdom and Clarrie’s not got time to talk.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m0012qyl)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
TUE 20:00 A Family of Strangers (m0012qyn)
The scarcely believable story of a family with perhaps a thousand siblings - the result of early unregulated fertility treatment in the UK. Journalist David Reid meets some of the many biological offspring of Bertold Wiesner, the scientist husband of Dr. Mary Barton, who operated a fashionable Harley Street clinic for childless couples in the 1950s and 1960s. Her husband donated sperm which led to hundreds of conceptions. Wiesner's children are still finding out about their own origins - and they provide insight into how this family of strangers forges their friendships to help each other through the emotional upheaval of something only they can understand.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m0012qyq)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted
TUE 21:00 All in the Mind (m0012q2v)
Programme exploring the limits and potential of the human mind. Producer: Deborah Cohen.
TUE 21:30 Things Fell Apart (m0012qxd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m0012qys)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
TUE 22:45 Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley (m0012qxv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
TUE 23:00 Mr Fletcher, the Poet (m0012qyv)
In 1951, a Leicestershire builder, J.P. Fletcher, born into a mining community in 1907, won a Commonwealth Poetry Prize for his long poem, “Tally 300”, about mining life. In this programme Mr Fletcher remembers and revisits scenes from his childhood and adult life, including an extraordinarily vivid account of the slaughter of a pig.
This documentary was made by the acclaimed radio producer Piers Plowright, who died earlier this year, and is being repeated on Radio 4 to commemorate his life and work in radio. First broadcast in 1986, the programme is a remarkable first person account of life in a mining community in the first half of the 20th century, and a fine example of the craft of Piers Plowright.
Piers Plowright described himself as a 'radio man'. He had grown up in a home where the wireless was moved into the living room of an evening for family listening. Others have called Piers the Godfather of the British Radio Feature. In a 30-year BBC career, which began in 1968 as a trainee in English By Radio, after which he migrated via drama to documentaries, his programmes received radio's highest accolade, the Prix Italia, on three occasions. Yet he remained always modest, a practised listener, a supporter of colleagues, a composer of sound, silence and word, and - for all his erudition and love of culture - a mischievous spirit.
Research: Valery Hovenden
Location Recording: Ray Bravo
Producer: Piers Plowright
(Photo credit: Lucy Tizard)
TUE 23:30 100 Years of Exile (m0010gk3)
What do we owe refugees?
Katy Long examines what the century of refugee politics has taught us about how to deal with a refugee crisis.
100 years on from a refugee crisis on Europe's borders which lead to the first High Commissioner for Refugees, Katy is examining how refugee crises start, what it is like to be a refugee, how the business of supporting refugees has changed (and grown), and how refugee crises end. She's speaking to refugees and former refugees, to those who work with them and to the politicians who decide what will become of them.
In this second episode, about the human experience of being a refugee, and working with them, Katy will examine how the refugee camp has come to be symbolic of the refugee experience. She'll examine the refugee business and the explosive growth of organisations supporting refugees. And as she speaks to refugees, and hears the hopes and dreams of those who live in refugee camps, she'll consider what the future might hold for them.
Producer: Giles Edwards
Assistant Producers: George Dabby and Ignatius Bahizi.
WEDNESDAY 22 DECEMBER 2021
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m0012qyx)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
WED 00:30 Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (m0012qyz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0012qz1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0012qz3)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0012qz5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m0012qz7)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0012qz9)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Fr Dermot Preston, part of the Jesuit Mission to St Dominic's Roman Catholic Church, Newcastle
Good Morning.
The Wise Men are buried in Germany.
You don’t believe me?
Well, in the year 328, the Empress Helena toured the Holy Land and was convinced that mummified remains presented to her were genuine relics of The Wise Men. She dispatched the precious objects to her son in Byzantium, the Emperor Constantine, who in turn sent them to a basilica in Milan where they were venerated for 800 years until when they were looted by Barbarossa who gave them as a gift to the Archbishop of Cologne in 1164.
So above-&-behind the high altar in Cologne Cathedral today, you will find the Shrine containing those very same relics from Empress Helena.
If the relics are those of The Wise Men it is fitting they journeyed afar after their deaths, as they are the premier travellers of the Christmas story.
As Matthew tells us…
“In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ ”
Matthew uses the Greek word ‘Magi’, which is sometimes translated as ‘Kings’ or ‘Wise Men’, but it derives from Persian and is best translated here as astrologers or astronomers. We get the English word ‘Magic’ from the same occult language roots.
Matthew contrasts these open-hearted foreigners with the closed religious authorities in Jerusalem. The Magi were humble enough to recognise their knowledge was incomplete and, with eyes still open, they saw changes in the heavens and set out in search of truth – and were overwhelmed with joy when they found it.
Lord: grant me humility and an open heart as I journey with you and search for truth.
Amen
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m0012qzc)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08q5x8w)
Dara McAnulty on the whooper swan
Since he was a small boy, Fermanagh based bird blogger Dara McAnulty has been enthralled by birds. For this Tweet of the Day Dara draws a comparison with seeing whooper swans near to his home in Northern Ireland with the swans from Irish mythology, the Children of Lir. Dara, who has Aspergers Syndrome, blogs as Young Fermanagh Naturalist to convey his love of nature and wildlife through the written word.
Producer Maggie Ayre.
WED 06:00 Today (m0012q1z)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 The Reith Lectures (m0012q21)
Stuart Russell - Living With Artificial Intelligence
AI: A Future for Humans
Stuart Russell suggests a way forward for human control over super-powerful Artificial Intelligence. He argues for the abandonment of the current “standard model” of AI, proposing instead a new model based on three principles - chief among them the idea that machines should know that they don’t know what humans’ true objectives are.
Echoes of the new model are already found in phenomena as diverse as menus, market research, and democracy. Machines designed according to the new model would be, Russell suggests, deferential to humans, cautious and minimally invasive in their behaviour and, crucially, willing to be switched off. He will conclude by exploring further the consequences of success in AI for our future as a species.
Stuart Russell is Professor of Computer Science and founder of the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence at the University of California, Berkeley.
The programme and question-and-answer session was recorded at the National Innovation Centre for Data in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
Presenter: Anita Anand
Producer: Jim Frank
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Editor: Hugh Levinson.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0012q25)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
WED 11:00 Rutherford and Fry on Living with AI (m0012q27)
AI: A Future for Humans?
Science sleuths Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry unwrap some of the biggest ideas presented by AI visionary Stuart Russell in this year's BBC Reith Lectures.
WED 11:30 Maureen & Friends (m000clcm)
More Maureen & Friends
From Balkan windscreen washers to a cock-eyed look at the spirit of Christmas. More comic monologues, musings and anecdotes from the irrepressible Maureen Lipman.
There will be a new series of Maureen and Friends beginning on the 16th March.
Producer: David Hunter
WED 12:00 News Summary (m0012qqr)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 12:04 Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley (m0012q2c)
3. The First Gift
The family have to travel five miles to Jerusalem to fulfill a religious ritual. It’s here in the temple that Joseph starts to feel a further disconnection with these weird events.
An old fellow called Simeon and an ancient woman, Anna, seem to know things about the family’s future. It’s all very worrying. Mary and Joseph decide to hand over the first of the gifts.
Written by Brian Sibley
Reader: Alex Jennings
Director: Martin Jarvis
A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4
WED 12:18 You and Yours (m0012q2f)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
WED 12:57 Weather (m0012q2h)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m0012q2k)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
WED 13:45 The Hackers (m0012q2m)
Series 1
End User
In the past, state sponsored hacking focused on espionage, stealing sensitive information and disrupting technological system. Nowadays, the focus has shifted. Rather than hacking technology, state sponsored hackers are targeting people. Biella speaks with Darren Linvill about a new kind of malevolent hacking, and how by playing to the algorithms on various social networks, these professional agents can sow chaos, and rope lay users into spreading rage and misinformation across societies.
WED 14:00 The Archers (m0012q2p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 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
WED 15:00 Money Box (m0012q2r)
Tracing Lost and Forgotten financial asserts
Louise Cooper and guests explore how you trace lost and forgotten financial asserts.
WED 15:30 All in the Mind (m0012q2v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Sideways (m0012q30)
Matthew Syed explores ideas that shape our lives, making us see the world differently.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (m0012q34)
Social media, anti-social media, breaking news, faking news: this is the programme about a revolution in media.
WED 17:00 PM (m0012q38)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0012q3d)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Conversations from a Long Marriage (m0012nt8)
Conversations from a Long Marriage at Christmas again
Once more, we are party to Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam’s Christmas plans, in Jan Etherington’s award-winning, two-hander comedy, produced by Claire Jones.
We join them as Joanna breathily compliments Roger - ‘How do you get it so perfect every time?’ His reply ‘Hot goose fat and regular tossing’ reveals that they are enjoying his signature roast potatoes. They’re spending a quiet Christmas with Peter and Sally but this snowballs into an extravagant houseparty when Peter is offered a rich friend’s country pile and invites other couples.
Their recently widowed friend, Marian, is anticipating her pregnant daughter, Rosie’s, arrival but as Rosie cancels and Peter changes the arrangements yet again, Joanna picks up a flyer which offers her and Roger ‘a kind and important Christmas, rather than a glitzy gorgefest’. Can they get back to a Christmas they actually want?
Starring Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam. Written by Jan Etherington. Production co-ordinator Beverly Tagg. Produced and directed by Claire Jones. A BBC Studios Production.
WED 19:00 The Archers (m0012q3g)
Jazzer’s got stage fright and Susan’s kindness knows no bounds.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m0012q3j)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m0012q3l)
Live debate examining the moral issues behind one of the week's news stories. #moralmaze
WED 20:45 Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (m0012q3n)
Episode 3
Award-winning actor, director and gourmand Stanley Tucci shares his intimate memoir of a life with food at its heart.
Paying tribute to the two television cooks who inspired him, Stanley looks back on a life spent sharing his appetite with an audience.
Written and read by Stanley Tucci
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
WED 21:00 The Young Farmers (m0010nsw)
Harvest
The last of a three-part series giving voice to the experiences of young farmers.
Alice Dyer, a farmer in Warwickshire, presents a programme centred on the idea of harvest.
Featuring Kit Franklin, Darjus Gerasimovic and Freya Robinson.
Thanks to James Bailey and Joanna Blundell.
Producer: Martin Williams
WED 21:30 The Media Show (m0012q34)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m0012q3q)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
WED 22:45 Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley (m0012q2c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
WED 23:00 Ruby Wax Talking Human (m0012q3s)
Episode 2
Ruby is joined by neuroscientist Ash Ranpura and Buddhist monk Gelong Thubten to talk honestly and swap experience, with insight and humour, about being happy and being human.
Ruby has done two very funny and wise shows for Radio 4, combining stand up with a conversation about mental health. Now she’s back with her friends Ash and Thubten for four engaging, entertaining, informative and intimate late night conversations about how the mind works, happiness, compassion, self-compassion and how to be human (there's no manual!).
The rollercoaster of the last two years has created soaring stress levels, confronted us with the big realities, including uncertainty and loneliness, redefined our relationship with technology and shown us the value of compassion.
Over four weeks, Ruby, Ash and Thubten discuss all of the above, what they mean for the mind and for us as humans and what their coping strategies have been.
They're all experts in their field. Ruby has a masters in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and a glittering comedy career, Thubten has taught mindfulness all over the world from Google to the UN, and Ash is a neuroscientist and clinical neurologist.
Host: Ruby Wax
Guests: Ash Ranpura and Gelong Thubten
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:15 Sophie Willan's Guide to Normality (b09w13sg)
Series 1
Be a Parent
Break out comedy star Sophie Willan is coming to Radio 4 with an exciting new stand-up series looking at what it is to be 'normal'. Sophie grew up in and out of the Care System and had an unconventional childhood. In her debut series she will get to grips with - and often challenge - our perception of 'the perfect normal life', shining a light on the reality of the British experience.
In episode one, Sophie looks at what it is to be a 'normal' parent.
WED 23:30 100 Years of Exile (m0010pvs)
How do refugee crises end?
Katy Long concludes her history of 100 years of refugee politics, as she examines how to 'solve' a refugee crisis.
A century on from a refugee crisis on Europe's borders which lead to the first High Commissioner for Refugees being appointed, Katy is examining how refugee crises start, what it is like to be a refugee, how the business of supporting refugees has changed (and grown), and how refugee crises end. She's speaking to refugees and former refugees, to those who work with them and to the politicians who decide what will become of them.
In this third and final episode Katy will examine how refugee crises end - how they might be solved. Hearing stories from Paraguay to Israel and Rwanda to the United States, Katy will examine return and resettlement, but in the end she asks who are these solutions really for.
Producer: Giles Edwards
Assistant Producer: George Dabby.
THURSDAY 23 DECEMBER 2021
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m0012q3v)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
THU 00:30 Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (m0012q3n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0012q3x)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0012q3z)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0012q41)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m0012q43)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0012q45)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Fr Dermot Preston, part of the Jesuit Mission to St Dominic's Roman Catholic Church, Newcastle
Good morning.
Butch Cassidy’s grandma was born in my home town of Burnley.
She - Ann Hartley – married Robert Parker in 1843, having worked together in a Burnley Mill. In 1856, they emigrated to America, travelling to Salt Lake City and became farmers. Butch was born in 1866, he became an outlaw and died in a shoot-out in Bolivia in 1908. Butch is a cultural icon (Paul Newman played him in the Oscar-laden film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) but nothing would have marked-out Ann and Robert Parker in a crowd. Famous offspring, but obscure roots.
Mary and Joseph were not famous. Externally they would have blended-in with the mass of humanity in 1st Century Palestine – making their way through life, earning enough to put food on the table at the end of the day. Joseph we are told was a carpenter. He was betrothed to Mary, and their lives together probably had a trajectory into dignified obscurity.
But unlike Butch’s Burnley relatives (who, as good Mormons, likely despaired for their wayward grandchild) the Gospels tell us that, at a crucial point in their lives, Mary and Joseph became active and essential co-conspirators in the alarming plan that God had for a Messiah.
Mary’s willingness to become pregnant through the agency of the Holy Spirit, and Joseph’s quiet resistance to the social-&-religious pressure to divorce his beloved set them together on a dangerous path into the unknown. Their willingness to throw their hats in the ring, to give what little they had to the cause allowed the divine plan to unfold.
God’s best plans often don’t come about through the great-&-the-good, but because each day ordinary people are quietly willing to commit their integrity to do what is right.
Lord, help me to do what is right today.
Amen.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m0012q47)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04mlpfd)
Wild Turkey
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Chris Packham presents the wild turkey of North American woodlands. We are so used to seeing mass-produced captive turkeys (the centrepiece for many a Thanksgiving meal in the United States and Canada) that the sight and sound of a displaying male wild turkey is a real surprise. With his tail fanned and red wattles a-quiver; he struts-his-stuff in a woodland clearing to win the favours of the less flamboyant hens. There are now around 7 million wild turkeys in the USA. But it wasn't always so. Wild turkeys were nearly wiped out in many states by over-shooting and woodland clearance. Their numbers fell from tens of millions in pre-Columbus days, to about thirty thousand by the last Century. Land which had been previously cleared for farming was allowed to return to woodland. Wild turkeys were released back into areas where they'd been wiped out. This along with hunting controls and behavioural research allowed their numbers to increase and their spectacular displays are once again a common sight in many areas of the USA.
THU 06:00 Today (m0012q5l)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m0012q5n)
The Hittites
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the empire that flourished in the Late Bronze Age in what is now Turkey, and which, like others at that time, mysteriously collapsed. For the next three thousand years these people of the Land of Hatti, as they called themselves, were known only by small references to their Iron Age descendants in the Old Testament and by unexplained remains in their former territory. Discoveries in their capital of Hattusa just over a century ago brought them back to prominence, including cuneiform tablets such as one (pictured above) which relates to an agreement with their rivals, the Egyptians. This agreement has since become popularly known as the Treaty of Kadesh and described as the oldest recorded peace treaty that survives to this day, said to have followed a great chariot battle with Egypt in 1274 BC near the Orontes River in northern Syria.
With
Claudia Glatz
Professor of Archaeology at the University of Glasgow
Ilgi Gercek
Assistant Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Languages and History at Bilkent University
And
Christoph Bachhuber
Lecturer in Archaeology at St John’s College, University of Oxford
Producer: Simon Tillotson
THU 09:45 Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (m0012q78)
Episode 4
Award-winning actor, director and gourmand Stanley Tucci shares his intimate memoir of a life with food at its heart.
Stanley is navigating life as a widower when an encounter at a friend's wedding changes everything.
Written and read by the author
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0012q5s)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m0012q5v)
The Runaway Maids of Oman
Tricked, abused and trapped in a foreign land. Who will rescue the African maids of Oman? Hundreds of young women from Sierra Leone, west Africa, have been trapped in the Arabian sultanate of Oman, desperate to get home. Promised work in shops and restaurants, they say they were into tricked becoming housemaids, working up to 18 hours a day, often without pay, and sometimes abused by their employers. Some ran away, to live a dangerous underground existence at the mercy of the authorities – but now they’re being rescued and repatriated, and some are empowering themselves as independent farmers back home. Tim Whewell tells their story.
THU 11:30 Faith in Music (m0012q5x)
Gustav Mahler
Scottish, Catholic composer Sir James MacMillan considers the faith lives of three very different composers. In this programme, he considers Gustav Mahler’s complex faith life at a time of anti-Semitism and great personal tragedy.
Over the centuries, composers have created musical masterpieces that many listeners have come to regard as spiritual touchstones. For example, Mozart’s Requiem, Mahler’s 2nd Symphony, Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. But what did these composers actually believe about God, faith, judgement, an afterlife and redemption? And do we need to share these beliefs in any way in order to have a spiritual experience as listeners to their music? Answers to these questions are complex, fascinating and challenging.
In order to take up the directorship of the Vienna State Opera, Gustav Mahler was required to convert from Judaism to Christianity. Was this a purely pragmatic conversion or was there more to this life-changing decision than meets the eye? His Symphonies catalogue his faith journey from some fairly widely accepted Christian views contained in the earlier works through to Buddhist influences and a possible view of reincarnation in his last works. The conductor Bruno Walter said, "Bruckner found his God, but Mahler was always looking"
James MacMillan talks with Mahler scholars - composer David Matthews, writer and musicologist Stephen Johnson and Professor Marilyn McCoy.
Produced by Rosie Boulton
A Must Try Softer production for BBC Radio 4
Mahler Music played:
Mahler 1st Symphony, 1st Movement
Performers: Claudio Abbado / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
CD title: Mahler 1st Symphony
Deutsche Grammophon
Mahler 2nd Symphony, last movement
Performers: Rattle / CBSO
EMI
Mahler 3rd Symphony
Performers: Claudio Abbado / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Deutsche Grammophon
Mahler 9th Symphony, 4th Movement
Performers: Claudio Abbado / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
CD title: Mahler 9th Symphony
Deutsche Grammophon
Mahler 10th Symphony, 1st Movement
Performers: Simon Rattle / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
CD: Mahler Symphonie 10
Label: EMI
Mahler 10th Symphony, 5th Movement
Performers: Simon Rattle / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
CD: Mahler Symphonie 10
Label: EMI
Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder Op.44 - Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen
Performers: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau /Berliner Philharmoniker / Karl Böhm
CD title: Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen; Kindertotenlieder; 4 Rückert-Lieder
Deutsche Grammophon
THU 12:00 News Summary (m0012qzz)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 12:04 Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley (m0012q61)
4. The Second Gift
Carpenter Joseph, his foster-son Jesus now growing up, is unprepared for the confusion of the past to come crashing into his and Mary’s life. But Joseph now knows what he must do with that second precious gift.
Written by Brian Sibley
Reader: Alex Jennings
Director: Martin Jarvis
A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4
THU 12:18 You and Yours (m0012q63)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
THU 12:57 Weather (m0012q65)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m0012q67)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
THU 13:45 The Hackers (m0012q69)
Series 1
Wetware
Biella explores biohacking - the hacking of the human body - and the different reasons why people are becoming cyborgs.
She speaks with artist Moon Ribas about how tech can be used to push the boundaries of creative expression while putting humans in touch with the earth, and even the cosmos, and Winter Mraz an engineer who in the aftermath of a horrific car crash, used various implants to improve her body, and hack her way to an easier way to live with mental and physical disabilities.
THU 14:00 The Archers (m0012q3g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 This Thing of Darkness (p0b24zkm)
Series 2
Part 7
The winner of the British Podcast Award for Best Fiction 2021 returns with a gripping drama about trauma, obsession and why we harm the things we love.
Part 7 of 7
Written by Lucia Haynes and Anita Vettesse with monologues by Eileen Horne.
Dr Alex Bridges is an expert forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, assessing and treating perpetrators of violent crime.
Desperation for answers, fear and love lead Ros, Paul and Sarah to a place where the truth will be revealed. Sometimes love is traumatic. Sometimes it’s fatal.
Alex … Lolita Chakrabarti
Sarah ….. Melody Grove
Ros ….. Lois Chimimba
Paul ….. Robert Jack
Kelly ….. Veronica Leer
Malcolm ….. Michael Nardone
Rowena ….. Wendy Seager
Series created by Lucia Haynes, Eileen Horne, Gaynor Macfarlane, Anita Vettesse and Kirsty Williams.
Series consultant: Dr Gwen Adshead
Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane and Kirsty Williams
A BBC Scotland Production directed by Gaynor Macfarlane
THU 15:00 Open Country (m0012q6d)
Bright lights and bees at Blenheim
In this edition of Open Country, Helen Mark explores the landscape at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. The 2000 acres of parkland were landscaped by Capability Brown, and are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The grounds are also home to a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and earlier this year a colony of rare bees was discovered in its ancient woodland - surviving descendants of indigenous honeybees which were previously thought to have been wiped out. There are also 12,000 acres of farmland, where a new project is underway to try and make the estate carbon neutral. As dusk falls, Helen winds her way though Blenheim's illuminated trail, where more than a million sparkling lights and lasers light up the winter landscape.
Produced by Emma Campbell
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m0012pkc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (m0012pjx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 Think with Pinker (m0012q6g)
Future You
Should we eat, drink and be merry or make sacrifices now to benefit our future selves? In his guide to thinking better, Professor Steven Pinker explores what's called 'future discounting' in decision making.
He's joined by...
Dr Maria Kournikova, psychologist, poker champion and author of ‘The Biggest Bluff; How I leaned to pay attention, master myself and win’ and
Bina Venkataraman an editor at The Boston Globe, former senior advisor in the Obama administration, and the author of ‘The Optimists’ Telescope; Thinking ahead in a reckless age.’
Producers: Imogen Walford and Joe Kent
Editor: Emma Rippon
Think with Pinker is produced in partnership with The Open University.
ARCHIVE
The Simpsons: "Days of Future Future"
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m0012q6j)
A weekly programme that illuminates the mysteries and challenges the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.
THU 17:00 PM (m0012q6l)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0012q6q)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 The Tim Vine Chat Show (m0012q6s)
Christmas Special 2021
Tim pulls a cracker with the Great British Public and delivers a sleigh full of Christmas one-liners in this, the festive radio treat that features interviews with the audience as well as Tim’s world famous one-liners and songs.
Featuring guests with fascinating Christmas stories like Terry the wood-seller as well as some musical Yuletide advice about Christmas dinner. Tim also sets a fiendish challenge to see how many dressing gowns you can remember.
Producer: Richard Morris
Production co-ordinator: Sarah Nicholls
A BBC Studios Production
THU 19:00 The Archers (m0012q6v)
Writer, Naylah Ahmed
Director, Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Jennifer Aldridge ….. Angela Piper
Alice Carter ….. Hollie Chapman
Chris Carter ….. Wilf Scolding
Susan Carter ….. Charlotte Martin
Alan Franks ….. John Telfer
Usha Franks ….. Souad Faress
Amy Franks ….. Jennifer Daley
Clarrie Grundy ….. Heather Bell
Kirsty Miller ….. Anabelle Dowler
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Lily Pargetter ….. Katie Redford
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane
THU 19:15 Front Row (m0012q6x)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m0012q6z)
David Aaronovitch presents in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.
THU 20:30 The Spark (m0012fwc)
Carole Hooven and testosterone
Helen Lewis talks to Harvard evolutionary biologist Carole Hooven about what recent research reveals of how testosterone shapes all our lives, from social divisions, to politics, to culture.
Producer: Phil Tinline
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m0012q6j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (m0012q5n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m0012q72)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
THU 22:45 Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley (m0012q61)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
THU 23:00 Great Lives (m0012q74)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
THU 23:30 Tim Key's Christmas Poetry Programme (b06sddm9)
Tim Key has pulled out all the stops for his Christmas special – he's hired a stable, a cow and a set of sleigh bells for his long suffering musician, Tom Basden. He also has a fist-full of festive poems ready for recital. But no amount of yuletide joy can hide Tom's despair at having to work on Christmas day.
Written by Tim Key
Tim.... Tim Key
Lord.... Tom Basden
Megan.... Katy Wix
Finnegan.... Liam Williams
Janet.... Felictiy Montagu
Produced by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER 2021
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m0012q76)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 00:30 Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (m0012q78)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0012q7b)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0012q7d)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0012q7g)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m0012q7j)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0012q7l)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Fr Dermot Preston, part of the Jesuit Mission to St Dominic's Roman Catholic Church, Newcastle
Good morning.
It was early on a wet-&-stormy central Johannesburg morning and I was responding to a hospital call. I was driving around the empty car parks, window wipers working overtime. The message passed through to me had been garbled and each of the hospital units I had called at were nonplussed. Nothing here, they said. I was annoyed.
I was on the point of giving up when, on whim, I illogically rearranged all the given building-&-ward numbers and headed for the last combo – and it was correct. The Nurse walked me through the quiet corridors until we got to a small alcove in the maternity ward. There sat a couple – stunned and ashen.
They roused when they saw me and led me to an incubator.
My annoyance evaporated.
Their child, gently lit and quiet, was on the edge of life. He had been born the previous evening. Joy had turned to grief when the doctors realised that the baby wasn’t able to draw breath and had partial and undeveloped lungs. He was on life-support and the parents had asked for a priest before the machines were switched off. Using an eye-dropper I allowed the waters of baptism to flow over his tiny head – a fleeting visitor into this world on his way back to God.
When we encounter vulnerability it affects us in different ways. Some are left cold, others reach out to help, and some prey on vulnerability. The Christ-child was vulnerable and provoked such a spectrum of reactions: some were indifferent, others fell on their knees to worship, some actively sought his death, while others, by the grace of God, gave all to protect his fragile life.
Lord, in the spirit of Christmas, let me seek to protect the vulnerable today. Soften my heart so that I may love like you.
Amen.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m0012q7n)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03k21n6)
Blackbird
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs
Chris Packham presents the blackbird. Resident blackbirds are on the alert just now because their territories are under siege. Large numbers of Continental blackbirds pour in to the UK each winter to escape even colder conditions elsewhere.
FRI 06:00 Today (m0012r6n)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m0012qnq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (m0012r8c)
Episode 5
Award-winning actor, director and gourmand Stanley Tucci shares his intimate memoir of a life with food at its heart.
When cancer treatment is followed by the logistical nightmare of feeding multiple generations through lockdown, Stanley delights in reconnecting with his sense of taste.
Written and read by Stanley Tucci
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0012r6t)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
FRI 11:00 Look At What You Could Have Won (m0012pm5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
FRI 11:30 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! (m0012r6w)
Away in a Mangle!
How long will Arthur last in the role of Father Christmas this year? His annual attempt to spread festive cheer in a department store falls short - but will he be a great redeemer in the Christmas Special of the much-loved family sitcom?
Count Arthur Strong returns with his stumblings through life in this 2021 Christmas Special, recorded in front of a live audience at the Exeter Barnfield Theatre. Count Arthur creator Steve Delaney is ably assisted by his radio repertory company - Alastair Kerr, Mel Giedroyc and Terry Kilkelly, with Paul Putner being invited into the cast along with Dorothy Daws and Alfie Delaney.
The show first became a feature on BBC Radio 4 in 2005 and, since then, has notched up eight series and nine specials, while winning the Sony Award for Best Comedy in 2009 and the British Comedy Guide Best Radio Sitcom in 2016, 2018 and 2019. The critically acclaimed show also featured in the Radio Times' Top 20 radio comedies of all time in 2020.
A Komedia Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m0012r8f)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 12:04 Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley (m0012r70)
5. The Third Gift
Joseph tumbles in and out of sleep. Waking, his eyes drift to the window. It’s dark. His body aches. Silence. Where is Mary? How long has she been gone? When she returns he sees her blood-stained hands.
He knows. And what to do with the third gift. Of myrrh. Which is for burial.
Written by Brian Sibley
Reader: Alex Jennings
Specially Composed Music: A-Mnemonic
Director: Martin Jarvis
A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 12:18 You and Yours (m0012r72)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
FRI 12:57 Weather (m0012r74)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m0012r76)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Jonny Dymond.
FRI 13:45 The Hackers (m0012r78)
Series 1
Broken
In the past, it was natural to open your phone and pop in a new battery. Today, to do that you may have to be a hacker. Biella speaks to representatives from the EU Right to Repair Movement, and farmers Nebraska to talk about this new, and unexpected frontier in hacker culture we may all soon belong to - the Right to Repair Movement.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m0012q6v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Pilgrim by Sebastian Baczkiewicz (m0001hwk)
The Winter Queen
Episode 2
Pilgrim searches for the mysterious Mrs Bronson as a blizzard and a malevolent enchantment threaten to overcome the inhabitants of the town of Melcombe.
Pilgrim ….. Paul Hilton
Mrs Bronson ….. Fenella Woolgar
Roxanna ….. Carolyn Pickles
Sam Notice ….. Tony Turner
Donny ….. Tayla Kovacevic Ebong
Jack Sweet ….. Don Gilet
Matt ….. Cameron Percival
Klara ….. Jeanette Percival
Lloyd ..... Lewis Bray
Jonas ..... Michael Bertenshaw
Taylor ..... Alexandra Constantinidi
The Girl ..... Agnes Bateman
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole and Marc Beeby
FRI 15:00 A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (m0012r7b)
Christmas 2021
A service of carols, hymns, and readings live from the candlelit Chapel of King's College, Cambridge.
Once in royal David's City (Irby, arr. Willcocks)
Bidding Prayer (read by the Dean)
In dulci jubilo (Old German melody, arr. Pearsall, Daniel Hyde)
First lesson: Genesis 3 vv. 8-19 (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)
The Holly and the Ivy (Trad. French, arr. June Nixon)
Third lesson: Isaiah 9 vv. 2, 6-7 (read by a representative of Eton)
Sussex Carol (Trad. English, arr. Willcocks)
O Little town of Bethlehem (Forest Green)
Fourth lesson: Isaiah 11 vv. 1-9 (read by a Fellow)
In the stillness (Sally Beamish)
Gabriel’s message (Basque Carol, arr. Willcocks)
Fifth lesson: Luke 1 vv. 26-38 (read by a member of College staff)
Make ye merry for him that is come (Imogen Holst)
There is no rose (Cecilia McDowall) – 2021 Commission
Sixth lesson: Luke 2 vv. 1-7 (read by a representative of the City of Cambridge)
Angels from the realms of glory (Old French Tune, arr. Jacques)
Wexford Carol (Trad. Irish, arr. John Rutter)
Seventh lesson: Luke 2 vv. 8-20 (read by the Director of Music)
Silent night (Grüber, arr. John Rutter)
While shepherds watched their flocks by night (Este’s Psalter, arr. Nicholas Marston)
Eighth lesson: Matthew 2 vv. 1-12 (read by the Vice-Provost)
Thou who wast rich (Old French carol, arr. Kitson, Daniel Hyde)
I saw three ships (Trad. English, arr. Simon Preston)
Ninth lesson: John 1 vv. 1-14 (read by the Provost)
O come, all ye faithful (Adeste Fideles, arr. Willcocks, Christopher Robinson, David Hill)
Collect and Blessing
Hark! the herald angels sing (Mendelssohn, arr. Willcocks)
Organ voluntaries:
In dulci jubilo, BWV 729 (Bach)
Carillon-Sortie (Mulet)
Daniel Hyde (Director of Music)
Paul Greally (Organ Scholar)
The Revd Dr Stephen Cherry (Dean)
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.
A new work has been commissioned for the Christmas Eve service every year since 1983; a tradition begun by Sir Stephen Cleobury. For 2021, Cecilia McDowall has chosen to set the text of the famous fifteenth century carol ‘There is no rose of such virtue’ in order to provide a moment of quiet contemplation and stillness in the service.
A number of pieces by significant twentieth century composers such as Sally Beamish and Imogen Holst, sit alongside traditional carols in arrangements by Sir David Willcocks, Christopher Robinson, June Nixon, John Rutter, Simon Preston, and Daniel Hyde.
Producer: Ben Collingwood
FRI 16:30 Last Word (m0012r7d)
Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to unsung but significant.
FRI 17:00 PM (m0012r7g)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0012r7l)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:15 Dead Ringers (m0012nyr)
Christmas Specials 2021
Episode 3
The BBC is required to cover news from a range of sources, and that includes other universes. Nick Robinson and Martha Kearny look back at the weird and wonderful events that have taken place in other worlds. Who knows what has happened in other universes in 1921? Perhaps Manflu is a deadly epidemic? Perhaps Britain becomes the 51st state? Or maybe Greta Thunberg opens a coal mine? All will be revealed in this pan-universal episode.
With Jon Culshaw, Lewis Macleod, Jan Ravens, Debra Stephenson and Duncan Wisbey.
Written by: Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain, Ed Amsden and Tom Coles, Laurence Howarth, Edward Tew, Jane McUtcheon and Vivienne Riddoch, Sophie Dickinson, Athena Kugblenu, Cody Daher, Kat Butterfield and Dan Audritt
Producer: Bill Dare
Production Coordinator: Sarah Sharpe
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4
FRI 19:00 Lemn Sissay's Poetry Rebels (m0012r7n)
The Establishment Poets
The poetry establishment belittled and dismissed performance poetry right from the start. But as audiences swelled in the 1990s, spoken word poets became impossible to ignore.
Lemn Sissay returns to his first ever paid gig, and charts how voices outside the mainstream made themselves heard. Joelle Taylor recalls the rising tide of live poetry, while Simon Armitage explains how it became possible to straddle the divide between stage and page.
Written and presented by Lemn Sissay
Sound design by Charlie Brandon-King
Produced by Richard Lea and Joe Hallam
A Bafflegab production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m0012r7q)
Christmas
Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore festive screen favourites for Christmas Eve.
It’s the 75th anniversary of a beloved film that has come to dominate our screens over the holiday period - director Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life.
Like James Stewart’s George Bailey, who is shown what the world would look like without him by guardian angel Clarence, Ellen learns what subsequent screen culture would look like without It’s A Wonderful Life. Cultural historian and fellow fan Christopher Frayling - who is the same age as the film - takes the role of a cinematic Clarence, guiding her through It's A Wonderful Life’s lasting impact on movies and TV.
Meanwhile, Mark talks to Olivier award-winning playwright turned filmmaker debbie tucker green about her haunting alternative nativity story, 2014’s Second Coming starring Nadine Marshall and Idris Elba.
And throughout the show, Ellen and Mark are joined by guests, including Gillian Anderson and Greg Proops, who share their all-time favourite Christmas movies and TV.
Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide to the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.
Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 20:00 Loose Ends (m0012r7s)
Loose Ends Lounge: Fryars, Joy Crookes, Damon Albarn, Kathryn Williams, Jackson Browne, Kitti, Glenn Tilbrook and more..
Clive Anderson with the first of two programmes showcasing some of the best music performances on Loose Ends this year, including Joy Crookes, Damon Albarn, Kathryn Williams, Glenn Tilbrook, Kitti and Sleaford Mods.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m0012r7v)
Weekly reflections on topical issues from a range of contributors.
FRI 21:00 With Great Pleasure (m0012r7x)
With Great Pleasure at Christmas
It's not often a library is filled with laughter but this is no ordinary library as we discover when we visit Barry Humphries in his favourite room at home. He’s joined by two very good friends, Miriam Margolyes and Rob Brydon who also share Barry’s love of poetry and prose. From childhood favourites to more recent discoveries, the threesome reminisce, recall encounters with writers and poets and read extracts from amongst others Charles Dickens, Edith Nesbit and Stephen Spender. A surprise guest joins them on the telephone adding their very own splash of Christmas magic. There’s also a tale about a dahlia, a word or two from Jeeves and Wooster and a festive burst of carol singing.
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sarah Blunt
FRI 22:00 The Reunion (m0012qfq)
Love Actually
Love Actually was the 2003 romantic comedy film, written and directed by Richard Curtis, which has grown in popularity over the years to become a Christmas classic.
It featured a stellar cast, but also many supporting actors who have gone on to have successful film careers. With multiple overlapping storylines, the film drew inspiration from Robert Altman’s Short Cuts and Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, and features numerous memorable scenes and one-liners. It was a box-office smash, grossing $246 million worldwide and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture (Comedy).
Kirsty Wark brings together stars from the film including Bill Nighy who became a household name after playing ageing rocker Billy Mack.
After a difficult few years in the media spotlight, EastEnders actress and pop singer Martine McCutcheon reveals how she was set to give up on showbusiness - until she got a call inviting her to play opposite Hugh Grant in Curtis's new film.
Child actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster played Sam, who learned to play the drums to catch the eye of his school crush. Thomas explains why he was reluctant to even come to the audition.
Olivia Olson was the 10-year-old who played Sam's love interest. She tells Kirsty how she had to record her scene-stealing song again - because it was too good the first time.
Lucia Moniz, was better known as a pop star in her native Portugal when she was cast to play Colin Firth's housekeeper, but only after her audition where she had to swim in thin air!
And producer Duncan Kenworthy, long-time collaborator of Curtis, explains how he encouraged him to change the storyline between Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman to make it sad.
Producer: Karen Pirie
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 22:45 Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley (m0012r70)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
FRI 23:00 Soul Music (b09jdxzf)
Series 25
O Holy Night
"O' Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining..." and so begins the gentle carol of reflection that has touched the lives of listeners around the world.
For The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, it's the carol that lifted his spirits as he lay in a London hospital battling pneumonia. It is also the hymn that inspired a fellow patient to find faith. In Philadelphia it is the song that outreach worker Asteria Vives sang when she took Christmas to the homeless, whilst for singer and songwriter Katie Melua it's the carol that awoke her love of music as an 8 year old child in Belfast. And for Tymara Walker it's the Christmas family favourite which went viral when she sang it on a Washington subway, eventually reaching a worldwide audience of over 5 million.
Featuring choral conductor and composer Bob Chilcott.
Producer: Nicola Humphries.
FRI 23:30 Midnight Mass (m0012r7z)
Live from the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist, Salford - A Midnight Mass for Christmas Eve. Celebrant and Preacher: The Right Reverend John Arnold, Bishop of Salford. After the blessing of the crib, the choir and congregation sings the opening hymn: O Come, all ye faithful. Other music includes the popular Christmas carols: It came upon the midnight clear, and Hark! the herald angels sing;
Psalm 95: 1-3,11-13. The Choir sings the Gloria based on a French traditional melody arranged by Thomas Niel (1872-1958); Sanctus and Agnus Dei: ‘Missa de Angelis.’
Readings: Isaiah 9: 1-7, Titus
2:11-14, Luke 2: 1-14.
The Choir of Salford Cathedral is conducted by the Cathedral Director of Music, Alex Patterson. Organist: Anthony Hunt; Producer: Philip Billson
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
100 Years of Exile
23:30 MON (m00107vz)
100 Years of Exile
23:30 TUE (m0010gk3)
100 Years of Exile
23:30 WED (m0010pvs)
A Family of Strangers
20:00 TUE (m0012qyn)
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
15:00 FRI (m0012r7b)
A Home of Our Own
14:45 SUN (m0010gxz)
A Point of View
08:48 SUN (m0012fxj)
A Point of View
20:50 FRI (m0012r7v)
A Very John Kearns Christmas
00:15 SUN (m000cl48)
All in the Mind
21:00 TUE (m0012q2v)
All in the Mind
15:30 WED (m0012q2v)
Any Answers?
14:00 SAT (m0012pbk)
Any Questions?
13:10 SAT (m0012fxg)
Archive on 4
20:00 SAT (m0012pc6)
BBC Inside Science
16:30 THU (m0012q6j)
BBC Inside Science
21:00 THU (m0012q6j)
Bells on Sunday
05:43 SUN (m0012pcq)
Bells on Sunday
00:45 MON (m0012pcq)
Beyond Belief
16:30 MON (m0012plv)
Brief Lives
21:00 SAT (b04gyq38)
Broadcasting House
09:00 SUN (m0012qnl)
Consumed by Desire
16:00 TUE (m0012qy9)
Conversations from a Long Marriage
18:30 WED (m0012nt8)
Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!
11:30 FRI (m0012r6w)
Crossing Continents
20:30 MON (m0012flc)
Crossing Continents
11:00 THU (m0012q5v)
Dead Ringers
12:30 SAT (m0012fx8)
Dead Ringers
18:15 FRI (m0012nyr)
Desert Island Discs
11:00 SUN (m0012qnq)
Desert Island Discs
09:00 FRI (m0012qnq)
Dr John Cooper Clarke at the BBC
21:45 SAT (b09jvn0h)
Drama
15:00 SUN (m0012pjv)
Drama
14:15 TUE (m0012qy5)
Drama
14:15 WED (m000cmrv)
Faith in Music
16:00 MON (m0012flf)
Faith in Music
11:30 THU (m0012q5x)
Farming Today
06:30 SAT (m0012p9v)
Farming Today
05:45 MON (m0012qp5)
Farming Today
05:45 TUE (m0012pms)
Farming Today
05:45 WED (m0012qzc)
Farming Today
05:45 THU (m0012q47)
Farming Today
05:45 FRI (m0012q7n)
Feedback
20:00 SUN (m0012fx2)
Four Thought
05:45 SAT (m0012fsb)
Four Thought
09:30 TUE (m0012qxg)
From Fact to Fiction
14:45 SAT (m001287c)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:30 SAT (m0012pb7)
Front Row
19:15 MON (m0012pm3)
Front Row
19:15 TUE (m0012qyl)
Front Row
19:15 WED (m0012q3j)
Front Row
19:15 THU (m0012q6x)
Gambits
19:45 SUN (m0012pk9)
Gardeners' Question Time
14:00 SUN (m0012fww)
Great Lives
16:30 TUE (m0012q74)
Great Lives
23:00 THU (m0012q74)
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
12:04 SUN (m0012g7c)
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
18:30 MON (m0012ny7)
In Our Time
09:00 THU (m0012q5n)
In Our Time
21:30 THU (m0012q5n)
In Touch
20:40 TUE (m0012qyq)
Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley
12:04 MON (m0012plb)
Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley
22:45 MON (m0012plb)
Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley
12:04 TUE (m0012qxv)
Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley
22:45 TUE (m0012qxv)
Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley
12:04 WED (m0012q2c)
Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley
22:45 WED (m0012q2c)
Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley
12:04 THU (m0012q61)
Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley
22:45 THU (m0012q61)
Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley
12:04 FRI (m0012r70)
Joseph and the Three Gifts - An Angel's Story by Brian Sibley
22:45 FRI (m0012r70)
Last Word
20:30 SUN (m0012fx0)
Last Word
16:30 FRI (m0012r7d)
Leaving the Family Home
16:30 SUN (m0012ftm)
Lemn Sissay's Poetry Rebels
19:00 FRI (m0012r7n)
Look At What You Could Have Won
20:00 MON (m0012pm5)
Look At What You Could Have Won
11:00 FRI (m0012pm5)
Loose Ends
18:15 SAT (m0012pc0)
Loose Ends
11:30 MON (m0012pc0)
Loose Ends
20:00 FRI (m0012r7s)
Love in Recovery
19:15 SUN (b06s9szk)
Maureen & Friends
11:30 WED (m000clcm)
Midnight Mass
23:30 FRI (m0012r7z)
Midnight News
00:00 SAT (m0012fxs)
Midnight News
00:00 SUN (m0012pcd)
Midnight News
00:00 MON (m0012pkh)
Midnight News
00:00 TUE (m0012pmd)
Midnight News
00:00 WED (m0012qyx)
Midnight News
00:00 THU (m0012q3v)
Midnight News
00:00 FRI (m0012q76)
Money Box
12:04 SAT (m0012pbc)
Money Box
21:00 SUN (m0012pbc)
Money Box
15:00 WED (m0012q2r)
Moral Maze
22:15 SAT (m0012fpg)
Moral Maze
20:00 WED (m0012q3l)
Moving Pictures
11:30 TUE (m0012qxq)
Mr Fletcher, the Poet
23:00 TUE (m0012qyv)
Natural Histories
06:35 SUN (b08vy0yb)
News Briefing
05:30 SAT (m0012fy1)
News Briefing
05:30 SUN (m0012pcn)
News Briefing
05:30 WED (m0012qz7)
News Briefing
05:30 THU (m0012q43)
News Briefing
05:30 FRI (m0012q7j)
News Summary
12:00 SAT (m0012pb9)
News Summary
06:00 SUN (m0012qn3)
News Summary
12:00 SUN (m0012qnt)
News Summary
12:00 MON (m0012pl8)
News Summary
12:00 TUE (m0012r0d)
News Summary
12:00 WED (m0012qqr)
News Summary
12:00 THU (m0012qzz)
News Summary
12:00 FRI (m0012r8f)
News and Papers
06:00 SAT (m0012p9s)
News and Papers
07:00 SUN (m0012qn8)
News and Papers
08:00 SUN (m0012qng)
News and Weather
13:00 SAT (m0012pbh)
News
22:00 SAT (m0012pc8)
On Seamus Heaney by Roy Foster
00:30 SAT (m0012fw7)
Open Book
16:00 SUN (m0012pjx)
Open Book
15:30 THU (m0012pjx)
Open Country
06:07 SAT (m0012flz)
Open Country
15:00 THU (m0012q6d)
PM
17:00 SAT (m0012pbp)
PM
17:00 MON (m0012plx)
PM
17:00 TUE (m0012qyd)
PM
17:00 WED (m0012q38)
PM
17:00 THU (m0012q6l)
PM
17:00 FRI (m0012r7g)
Pick of the Week
18:15 SUN (m0012pk5)
Pilgrim by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
14:15 FRI (m0001hwk)
Political Thinking with Nick Robinson
17:30 SAT (m0012pbr)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 SAT (m0012fy3)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 MON (m0012qp1)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 TUE (m0012pmq)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 WED (m0012qz9)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 THU (m0012q45)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 FRI (m0012q7l)
Profile
19:00 SAT (m0012pc2)
Profile
05:45 SUN (m0012pc2)
Profile
17:40 SUN (m0012pc2)
Quote... Unquote
23:00 SAT (m0012fjp)
Quote... Unquote
15:00 MON (m0012plr)
Radio 4 Appeal
07:54 SUN (m0012pkc)
Radio 4 Appeal
21:25 SUN (m0012pkc)
Radio 4 Appeal
15:27 THU (m0012pkc)
Ruby Wax Talking Human
23:00 WED (m0012q3s)
Rutherford and Fry on Living with AI
21:30 SUN (m0012glp)
Rutherford and Fry on Living with AI
11:00 WED (m0012q27)
Saturday Live
09:00 SAT (m0012pb1)
Screenshot
19:15 FRI (m0012r7q)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SAT (m0012fxx)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SUN (m0012pcj)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 MON (m0012pkm)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 TUE (m0012pmj)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 WED (m0012qz3)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 THU (m0012q3z)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 FRI (m0012q7d)
Sending Mum Abroad
11:00 MON (m0012pl5)
Setting Sail
23:00 MON (m0012pmb)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SAT (m0012fxv)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SAT (m0012fxz)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SAT (m0012pbt)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SUN (m0012pcg)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SUN (m0012pcl)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SUN (m0012pjz)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 MON (m0012pkk)
Shipping Forecast
05:33 MON (m0012qnw)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 TUE (m0012pmg)
Shipping Forecast
05:33 TUE (m0012pml)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 WED (m0012qz1)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 WED (m0012qz5)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 THU (m0012q3x)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 THU (m0012q41)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 FRI (m0012q7b)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 FRI (m0012q7g)
Short Cuts
15:00 TUE (m0012qy7)
Sideways
00:15 MON (m0012fp4)
Sideways
16:00 WED (m0012q30)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SAT (m0012pby)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SUN (m0012pk3)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 MON (m0012plz)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 TUE (m0012qyj)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 WED (m0012q3d)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 THU (m0012q6q)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 FRI (m0012r7l)
Solomon Browne
14:15 MON (m0012plp)
Some Hay in a Manger
11:45 SUN (b085tn6g)
Something Understood
06:05 SUN (b06rl6ft)
Something Understood
23:30 SUN (b06rl6ft)
Sophie Willan's Guide to Normality
23:15 WED (b09w13sg)
Soul Music
10:30 SAT (m0012pb3)
Soul Music
23:00 FRI (b09jdxzf)
Start the Week
09:00 MON (m0012pky)
Start the Week
21:30 MON (m0012pky)
Sunday Worship
08:10 SUN (m0012qnj)
Sunday
07:10 SUN (m0012qnb)
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
09:45 MON (m0012pl0)
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
00:30 TUE (m0012pl0)
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
09:45 TUE (m0012qyz)
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
00:30 WED (m0012qyz)
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
20:45 WED (m0012q3n)
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
00:30 THU (m0012q3n)
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
09:45 THU (m0012q78)
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
00:30 FRI (m0012q78)
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
09:45 FRI (m0012r8c)
The Archers Omnibus
10:00 SUN (m0012qnn)
The Archers
19:00 SUN (m0012pk7)
The Archers
14:00 MON (m0012pk7)
The Archers
19:00 MON (m0012pm1)
The Archers
14:00 TUE (m0012pm1)
The Archers
19:00 TUE (m0012q2p)
The Archers
14:00 WED (m0012q2p)
The Archers
19:00 WED (m0012q3g)
The Archers
14:00 THU (m0012q3g)
The Archers
19:00 THU (m0012q6v)
The Archers
14:00 FRI (m0012q6v)
The Briefing Room
20:00 THU (m0012q6z)
The Food Programme
12:32 SUN (m0012pjl)
The Food Programme
15:30 MON (m0012pjl)
The Great Pyramids of Albania
17:00 SUN (m0012ftf)
The Hackers
13:45 MON (m0012plm)
The Hackers
13:45 TUE (m0012qy3)
The Hackers
13:45 WED (m0012q2m)
The Hackers
13:45 THU (m0012q69)
The Hackers
13:45 FRI (m0012r78)
The Listening Project
13:30 SUN (m0012pjs)
The Media Show
16:30 WED (m0012q34)
The Media Show
21:30 WED (m0012q34)
The Missing Hancocks
18:30 TUE (m0012p1b)
The Reith Lectures
09:00 WED (m0012q21)
The Reunion
22:00 FRI (m0012qfq)
The Spark
20:30 THU (m0012fwc)
The Tim Vine Chat Show
18:30 THU (m0012q6s)
The Week in Westminster
11:00 SAT (m0012pb5)
The World This Weekend
13:00 SUN (m0012pjq)
The World Tonight
22:00 MON (m0012pm8)
The World Tonight
22:00 TUE (m0012qys)
The World Tonight
22:00 WED (m0012q3q)
The World Tonight
22:00 THU (m0012q72)
The Young Farmers
21:00 WED (m0010nsw)
Things Fell Apart
09:00 TUE (m0012qxd)
Things Fell Apart
21:30 TUE (m0012qxd)
Think with Pinker
23:00 SUN (m0012fm1)
Think with Pinker
16:00 THU (m0012q6g)
This Cultural Life
19:15 SAT (m0012pc4)
This Thing of Darkness
14:15 THU (p0b24zkm)
Three Vicars Talking
15:30 TUE (m000cl3r)
Tim Key's Christmas Poetry Programme
23:30 THU (b06sddm9)
Today
07:00 SAT (m0012p9z)
Today
06:00 MON (m0012pkw)
Today
06:00 TUE (m0012qxb)
Today
06:00 WED (m0012q1z)
Today
06:00 THU (m0012q5l)
Today
06:00 FRI (m0012r6n)
Tweet of the Day
08:58 SUN (b09rz2hf)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 MON (b08r1vz9)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 TUE (b09byxlf)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 WED (b08q5x8w)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 THU (b04mlpfd)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 FRI (b03k21n6)
Uncanny
23:30 SAT (m0012pcb)
Weather
06:57 SAT (m0012p9x)
Weather
12:57 SAT (m0012pbf)
Weather
17:57 SAT (m0012pbw)
Weather
06:57 SUN (m0012qn6)
Weather
07:57 SUN (m0012qnd)
Weather
12:57 SUN (m0012pjn)
Weather
17:57 SUN (m0012pk1)
Weather
05:56 MON (m0012qpb)
Weather
12:57 MON (m0012plh)
Weather
12:57 TUE (m0012qxz)
Weather
12:57 WED (m0012q2h)
Weather
12:57 THU (m0012q65)
Weather
12:57 FRI (m0012r74)
Westminster Hour
22:00 SUN (m0012pkf)
Wild Inside
21:00 MON (m0012gym)
Wild Inside
11:00 TUE (m0012qxn)
With Great Pleasure
21:00 FRI (m0012r7x)
Woman's Hour
16:00 SAT (m0012pbm)
Woman's Hour
10:00 MON (m0012pl3)
Woman's Hour
10:00 TUE (m0012qxl)
Woman's Hour
10:00 WED (m0012q25)
Woman's Hour
10:00 THU (m0012q5s)
Woman's Hour
10:00 FRI (m0012r6t)
World at One
13:00 MON (m0012plk)
World at One
13:00 TUE (m0012qy1)
World at One
13:00 WED (m0012q2k)
World at One
13:00 THU (m0012q67)
World at One
13:00 FRI (m0012r76)
Yorkshire's Cricket Test
15:30 SAT (m0012tln)
You and Yours
12:18 MON (m0012plf)
You and Yours
12:18 TUE (m0012qxx)
You and Yours
12:18 WED (m0012q2f)
You and Yours
12:18 THU (m0012q63)
You and Yours
12:18 FRI (m0012r72)