SATURDAY 10 DECEMBER 2022

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m001fwjt)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:30 Night Terrors by Alice Vernon (m001fw9k)
Episode 5

Alice Vernon often wakes up to find strangers in her bedroom.

Ever since she was a child, her nights have been haunted by nightmares of a figure from her adolescence, sinister hallucinations and episodes of sleepwalking. These are known as 'parasomnias' - and they're surprisingly common.

Now a lecturer in Creative Writing, Vernon set out to understand the history, science and culture of these strange and haunting experiences. Night Terrors examines the history of our relationship with bad dreams - how we've tried to make sense of and treat them, from some decidedly odd 'cures' like magical 'mare-stones', to research on how video games might help people rewrite their dreams. Along the way she explores the Salem Witch Trials and sleep paralysis, Victorian ghost stories, and soldiers' experiences of PTSD. By directly confronting her own strange and frightening nights for the first time, Alice Vernon encourages us to think about the way troubled sleep has impacted our imaginations.

Abridged by Polly Coles
Read by Emily Raymond
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001fwjy)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001fwk3)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001fwk7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m001fwkc)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001fwkh)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rt Revd Mary Stallard, Assistant Bishop in Bangor.

Good morning.

Sometimes children have a talent for asking questions that can make us think in new ways: “Where’s Jesus in your church? - I can’t see him anywhere” a little girl asked her grandmother recently while they were helping tidy up after a community event. The child spotted a picture of a baby surrounded by green, cut out, paper handprints and asked, “is that Jesus?” “No” came the answer “that’s Moses in the bulrushes, made by children from Junior Church”. The grandmother looked for a picture of Jesus; the stained-glass windows were all dark, because it was evening. She wondered about showing her a wooden carved pieta - depicting Mary cradling the crucified Christ but decided that might raise awkward questions. So, in the end she pointed to the small red candle that’s lit by the tabernacle where the Holy Communion’s kept, and she talked about a candle as a sign of Jesus, whom Christians call “the light of the world”.

The child’s question made me wonder about what it means to make our faith visible. Of course, it’s a key task of all Christians to model and represent the values and message of Christ. There’s a famous prayer that speaks of being Christ’s hands and feet today, calling believers to live out our faith each day. Maybe there’s a challenge here for all of us, whatever our beliefs about God, the world and one another. How clearly are our core values evident to others in our daily living, in the homes we make, in our relationships and in all our choices?

Gracious God, thank you for insights and perspectives of children. Help us to hear their questions and to learn new things. Gift us with imagination and integrity, so we might help and encourage others to discover hope and joy. Amen.


SAT 05:45 Four Thought (m001fw6l)
After a Parent Dies by Suicide

Anna Wardley argues that we should better support children whose parents kill themselves.

Beginning her talk in the dark waters of the English Channel as she attempts to swim non-stop around the Isle of Wight, Anna describes darkness of a different kind as she explains the need for children whose parents kill themselves to be better supported. And that should start with counting them.

Producer: Giles Edwards


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m001g2vh)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m001fwgn)
The Mendip Hills

The Mendip hills stretch across the landscape south of Bristol and Bath, running from Weston-super-Mare in the west to the Frome valley in the east, with views down across the Somerset Levels. More than seventy square miles are designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty, with ancient woodland rising above dramatic gorges. Beneath their beauty, the hills hide an intriguing wartime story. Black Down was one of the "starfish sites", where fires were lit at night as decoys to simulate burning cities and so trick the German planes into dropping their bombs on the countryside instead. Its physical remains can be seen in the landscape to this day.

Helen Mark explores the area and learns about its history - both ancient and more modern. Nearby Cheddar Gorge may be more famous, but Helen finds out that Burrington Combe has a fascinating past. It's home to what is believed to be the oldest cemetery in Britain, where human bones were excavated from a cave in the 19th century. Modern radiocarbon dating techniques have shown them to be more than 10,000 years old. The area is also an important haven for wildlife. Helen meets a ranger who is busy building a hibernaculum - an underground hiding place where adders and other creatures can spend the winter.

Presented by Helen Mark and produced by Emma Campbell


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m001g2vk)
10/12/22 Farming Today This Week; abattoirs and the challenges the sector faces.

All week on Farming Today we've been looking at the state of the UK's abattoirs - from animal welfare to the challenges of finding staff. There are about 245 abattoirs in the UK, slaughtering millions of animals. Government figures for October this year show 173,000 cattle, 1.1 million sheep and 926, 000 pigs. There used to be many more abattoirs, but tighter regulations and economies of scale have seen consolidation.

The future of small abattoirs has been a concern for many farmers for a number of years now. Farming Minister Mark Spencer has said he is actively looking at supporting smaller abattoirs, to keep them running. But it might not be in time to save some. We speak to a campaigner who's fighting to save the Tottingworth abattoir in Heathfield in East Sussex which is earmarked for closure in January.

The Food Standards Agency says it's doing all it can to support small abattoirs by cutting red tape and reducing costs, but the CEO Emily Miles said they can't have a separate regulatory system for small abattoirs, even though they are only selling meat locally, because some by-products do end up in produce destined for export, and would need to comply with those standards.

We visit a plant where Scottish salmon is slaughtered and processed, and speak to the Humane Slaughter Association about whether the stunning methods used in the slaughter of wild salmon, could be applied to fish caught at sea.


SAT 06:57 Weather (m001g2vm)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m001g2vp)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m001g2vr)
Pattie Boyd

Pattie Boyd joins Nikki Bedi and Danny Wallace. The model, muse and photographer talks about her life, the influence of her early years and how she dealt with many years in the public eye, where relationships with George Harrison and Eric Clapton inspired songs such as Harrison's Something and Clapton’s Layla and Wonderful Tonight.

When listener Andrew Lock heard our science lesson call in it prompted him to get in touch and tell us about his surprising career as an inventor on a TV show in the late 1990s, while he was still a student. Andrew joins us to talk about his ingenious inventions and his brief taste of life as a TV presenter.

Richie Barlow’s childhood was littered with abuse and chaos, as he struggled to find his place in the world. He spent most of his childhood in care, from the age of nine. Richie talks about turning his life around and running a successful business, the women who helped him, and how Star Trek taught Richie how to survive and forgive.

Howard Blake OBE is best known for composing the music for The Snowman, which is celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the film’s debut and 25 years as a stage play. Outside this festive staple, Blake has a hugely varied body of work which includes creating the music for The Avengers and a string of big commercials. He was also commissioned to write a new piece for Princess Diana’s thirtieth birthday.

Pattie Boyd: My Life In Pictures is out now.
Richie - Who Cares? by Richie Barlow – with Becky Bond is available online now. 
To celebrate the fortieth anniversary of ‘The Snowman’ Sony are releasing of a newly-remastered edition of the soundtrack. The Snowman stage show is running until 31 December at the Peacock Theatre in London.

Producer: Claire Bartleet


SAT 10:30 Soul Music (m001g2vt)
Killing Me Softly with His Song

"Strumming my pain with his fingers... Singing my life with his words..."

Killing Me Softly with His Song is a song about the pleasure and embarrassment of being seen. The feeling that someone has reached into your deepest, most private feelings, and laid them bare: "I felt he'd found my letters, and read each one out loud". It's a song about a singer, and about what music can do. And it's a love song that feels at once happy and sad.

The song was a huge hit in two different generations. It won Grammy Awards for The Fugees in 1997 and for Roberta Flack in 1974. Ray Padgett, author of Cover Me: The Stories Behind the Greatest Cover Songs of All Time, unfolds the layers of the song's history as a famous cover of a famous cover. The musicologist Nate Sloan explores what the song does harmonically, oscillating between major and minor chords to create a sense of uncertainty and longing. And Lori Lieberman tells the story of the Don McLean concert that inspired her lyrics for the song, that she was the first to record as a young singer-songwriter in 1972.

It's a song that transports Tiff Murray back to the hot New York summer of 1996, when the Fugees version blared from every car radio and shopfront. For her it was the soundtrack to falling in love while far from home. It's also a love song for Julie Daley, but now with a sharp edge. Dr Robin Boylorn listened to the Fugees version as a self-conscious teenager and felt a flush of recognition; Ben heard it the Christmas he first came to the UK from South Africa, played by a busker early one morning in Covent Garden as the first snow he'd ever seen began to fall; and Perminder Khatkar has treasured the song since it played in the delivery room during the birth of her first child.

Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio in Bristol


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m001g2vw)
The Guardian's Political Editor Pippa Crerar looks back on events in Westminster this week. She is joined by the former Cabinet Minister, Conservative MP Kit Malthouse, and the outgoing General Secretary of the TUC, Frances O'Grady, to discuss the Government's response to the increasing number of strikes from nurses and paramedics to the ongoing dispute on the railways. The SNP's Dr Philippa Whitford MP and David Clegg, editor of The Courier in Dundee, consider the new leader of the SNP group at Westminster, Stephen Flynn, and what impact he will have on the party's prospects.

A number of MPs and peers attempted SATs tests in Westminster this week. Among them were the Conservative chair of the Education Select Committee, Robin Walker MP, and Labour's Baroness Christine Blower, a former General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers. They discuss whether or not the tests are in need of reform. Finally, the Conservative MP Duncan Baker reflects on his family's experience in hosting a Ukrainian mother and son and whether the Homes for Ukraine scheme should continue.

Editor: Peter Snowdon


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m001g2vy)
'Everything that is good has been taken'

Kate Adie presents stories from Ukraine, Iran, Niger, Bhutan and Lithuania.

Russian troops captured Irpin, north-west of Kyiv, early on in the invasion. When the satellite town was liberated, the atrocities of Russian soldiers were laid bare. Nick Redmayne spoke to the residents who returned home about how they are trying to rebuild their lives.

Following the protests which began in mid-September, after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, news of the first public execution of a protestor in Iran drew international condemnation this week - though protests show no sign of abating. Azadeh Moaveni was in Tehran when the protests began and found the desire for change runs deep in Iranian society.

Michela Wrong visits a safe house in Niamey, Niger, where eight elderly Rwandan men are being detained, having been prosecuted for their role in the Rwandan genocide. Four have now been acquitted, and four have served their prison sentences. She hears what happened to them since their trial- and the challenges posed by their rehabilitation.

Last year, Bhutan decriminalised homosexuality. Michelle Jana Chan speaks to gay activists, including Miss Universe Bhutan, about how far the population in the Himalayan Kingdom, is keeping step with political change.

Lithuania was once the heart of a large empire in the Middle Ages, stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Hundreds of years ago, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania invited members of the Karaim community from Crimea to serve as guards and soldiers of an empire. Simon Broughton attended a festival celebrating their culture in Trakai.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Coordinator: Iona Hammond


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m001g2w0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m001g2w2)
Where to keep warm this winter

It's going to be the coldest weekend of the year so far. We already know that typical energy bills will be double what they were last winter. So everyone is looking for ways to use less electricity and gas at the same time as trying to stay warm. One solution is being offered by so-called 'warm banks' - places where people can go to keep warm if they're struggling to afford heating costs. The Warm Welcome campaign now has more than three thousand places open on its website and says last week alone 80 thousand people kept warm in one of them - up by more than a fifth on the previous week. We visit Widnes library and speak to the organisers of the campaign. If you’re looking for somewhere to go to keep warm the website is https://www.warmwelcome.uk/

Losing your spouse or civil partner is always a difficult time financially - the funeral, paying bills and losing a second income all add to the stress. There is money from the government to help - totalling more than £4,000 for those without children and nearly £10,000 for those with. This Bereavement Support Payment was introduced in April 2017 and is paid to surviving partners who are under the state pension age of 66. We discuss how to get it and how to avoid missing out.

A third of all bank and building society branches have closed in the last decade. One solution to this is a new expansion of banking hubs. Our reporter Clare Worden visits the opening of a new hub in East Yorkshire.

And how to make sure you don’t lose out on claiming a Cost of Living Payment to help with energy bills.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Clare Worden
Researchers: Sandra Hardial and Star McFarlane
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 10th December, 2022)


SAT 12:30 Dead Ringers (m001fwh2)
Christmas Specials 2022

Episode 1

BBC Radio 4 has a new owner, Woman’s Hour has a new host, and David Beckham gets an unusual new role. Find out what all this can be about on all new Dead Ringers.

Performed by Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis MacLeod, Duncan Wisbey, Naomi McDonald and Anil Desai.

Written by Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain, Laurence Howarth, Sarah Campbell, Tom Coles and Ed Amsden, James Bugg, Toussaint Douglass, Robert Darke, Sophie Dickson and Edward Tew.

Produced and created by Bill Dare.
Production Co-ordinator: Caroline Barlow


SAT 12:57 Weather (m001g2w4)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m001g2w6)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m001fwhv)
Baroness Chakrabarti, Lord Frost, Layla Moran MP, Sir John Timpson

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from St Mary's Church, Nantwich with the Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti, the Conservative peer Lord Frost, the Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran MP and owner and Chairman of Timpson Sir John Timpson.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Lead broadcast engineer: Owain Williams


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m001g2w8)
Have your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 39 Ways to Save the Planet (m0010q9n)
The Happiness Index

How well is your country doing? The GDP - gross domestic product - has long been a measure of growth and success but some argue judging purely on economics is too narrow-sighted.
Tom Heap meets 'chopsy' Sophie Howe, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales who will challenge if a decision being made will be detrimental for children and those yet to be born. If the cost and inheritance to them is high it risks getting kicked out. She takes him to the wetlands she helped save from a planned M4 development. Katherine Trebeck explains alternatives measures of national success, the factors they take in and why many feel happier about using them. Dr Tamsin Edwards assesses what an alternative viewpoint could do for carbon cutting.

Producer Anne-Marie Bullock
Researcher Sarah Goodman

Produced in association with the Royal Geographical Society. Special thanks for this episode to Dr Lukas Hardt from WEAll Scotland, to Dr Paul Brockway from the University of Leeds and to Dr Chris Hope from the University of Cambridge.


SAT 15:00 Oliver: Lagos to London (m000dzm9)
Episode 3

Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist is a powerful indictment of child poverty and exploitation, as relevant now as when it was written. A young orphan’s epic search for family and home lies at the heart of award-winning writer Ayeesha Menon’s radical updating of Dickens’ story to modern-day Nigeria and the refugee journey to Britain.

Directed by acclaimed theatre director Michael Buffong, this classic story is reimagined as a powerful and moving drama for today.

Episode 3:
Oli has become a hardened 20-year-old, who’s forgotten his best friend Mene and all their dreams. Saffron Hill is grooming Oli as the gang’s new leader, and persuades Bill to include him in a plan that will earn them a small fortune. But when they get to the rendezvous, Oli’s kind heart ruins the callous scheme and he pays a heavy price...

Is this the end of Oli’s last desperate hope of escape and the possibility of a new life?

Cast:
Oli - Idris Debrand
Babatunde - Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje 
Nancy - Tamara Lawrance
Bill - Fehinte Balogun
Dodger - Sylvester Akinrolabu
Miss Saffron Hill - Jocelyn Jee Esien
Blessing - Marlene Madenge
Inspector Ndbuisi - Kalungi Ssebandeke 
Charlie - Samuel Adebayo 
Auntie Rosie - Bisola Elizabeth Alabi 
Waitress - Fatima Adoum
Young Agi - Sariah Joye
Other parts played by Ali Zayn, Fabio Goutet, Ewens Abid, Makee Ogbon, Samantha Mandaza, Jayesh Fernando and Kairon Edwards

Adapted by Ayeesha Menon
Produced by Gill Parry
Directed by Michael Buffong

Music by Tunde Jegede
Sound design by David Thomas and Steve Bond
Photography by The Masons
Development concept written by Silas Parry
Cultural Advisor: Onassis Andem
Sound Interns: Makee Ogbon and Kairon Edwards
Production Interns: Samantha Mandaza and Jayesh Fernando
Production Manager: Sarah Tombling
Executive Producer: John Scott Dryden

A CONNECTfilm production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m001g2wb)
The Silent Twins, Beryl Cook, whistleblower Helen Evans, Kate Winslet and mothers and sons at Christmas.

Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrance star in the brand new film, ‘The Silent Twins’, which tells the story of June and Jennifer Gibbons, twin girls who only spoke to each other, and no one else. We hear the actors speaking about what it meant to them to play these remarkable twins. Also the former investigative journalist, Marjorie Wallace, who campaigned for the twins and wrote a book with them.

Hear from the daughter-in-law of the late artist Beryl Cook, alongside art critic Rachel Campbell-Johnston, as a new exhibition of Beryl’s work opens in New York. Emma Barnett talks to them about Beryl painting women enjoying themselves in pubs and clubs, as well as why her artwork means so much to people.

Anita Rani speaks to the Oxfam GB whistleblower Helen Evans, who features in a new documentary about female whistleblowers. She discusses not only the impact the decision had on her at the time, but the consequences to her life going forwards, and what happened afterwards.

Academy award-winning actor Kate Winslet joins Emma Barnett to speak about her newest project on Channel 4, ‘I am…Ruth’. In it, she acts alongside her real-life daughter in a story that tackles the mental health issues caused by smartphones and social media. Plus, hear why she thinks women in their 40s are going into the best time of life.

How do you decide which side of the family to spend Christmas with? Krupa Padhy speaks to one mother who feels like she’ll lose her sons once their wives or girlfriends take control of the festive season, as well as a relationship psychiatrist on how to avoid these kinds of tensions.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Lottie Garton


SAT 17:00 PM (m001g2wd)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Sliced Bread (m001fwfc)
Perfume

Smelling good can come with a hefty price tag with the price of perfumes often getting into the hundreds of pounds. But what if there was a cheaper alternative?

Listener Callum got in touch because his bottle of expensive perfume is about to run out. Presenter Greg Foot turns his nose to the task, testing so-called 'clone' perfumes which claim to get as close the originals as to be indistinguishable - but for a fraction of the cost. Speaking to an expert perfumer he finds out exactly how the clone houses copy the ingredients of designer perfumes and whether they last as long.

Do they pass the sniff test? Are they the best thing since sliced bread or just marketing BS?

This series, we’re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or fad and wonder if there’s any evidence to back up a claim, drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a voice note to our new WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.

PRESENTER: Greg Foot
PRODUCER: Simon Hoban


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001g2wg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 17:57 Weather (m001g2wj)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001g2wl)
Morocco become the first African nation to reach the World Cup semi-final - as England get set for their quarter-final game


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m001g2wn)
Martha Plimpton, Brian Bilston, Rachel Fairburn, Jimi Famurewa, The Hu, Lola Kirke, Andrew O' Neill, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Andrew O' Neill are joined by Martha Plimpton, Brian Bilston, Rachel Fairburn and Jimi Famurewa for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from The Hu and Lola Kirke.


SAT 19:00 Profile (m001g2wq)
Oliver Dowden

Oliver Dowden, the MP for Hertsmere, has worked closely with four Prime Ministers, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and now Rishi Sunak, one of his best friends in parliament. He's made his mark quietly, mainly behind the scenes - but as Culture Secretary during the pandemic, he managed to secure extra funding to support the arts.

As Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, some might argue Oliver Dowden is now the second most powerful person in government. He's been given the key job of organising the government response to the current wave of strike action.

Away from work, Dowden is a patriot, a monarchist and a man who enjoys pub lunches and walks in the countryside with his family and pet dog, Betsy.

Adrian Goldberg speaks to friends and colleagues who give us an insight into a man whose nicknames run from Olive to The Undertaker.

Contributors

George Osborne, Chair, British Museum; Former Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Sir John Hayes, MP for South Holland and The Deepings.
Annabelle Dickson, Political Correspondent, Politico.
Andrew Gimson, Biographer, Boris Johnson.
Sir Nicholas Coleridge, Chairman, Victoria and Albert Museum.
Sean Worth, Director, WPI Strategy, Communications Consultancy.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Presenter: Adrian Goldberg
Producers: Diane Richardson and Julie Ball
Editor: Simon Watts
Production Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross
Sound Production: Neil Churchill


SAT 19:15 The Infinite Monkey Cage (p0dcn52l)
Series 25

The Age of Conspiracy?

Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by comedian and author David Baddiel, psychologist Prof Karen Douglas, biologist Prof Matthew Cobb and philosopher Dr Timotheus Vermeulen to discover why conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorists seem to be booming. From flat earthers to moon hoaxers and holocaust deniers, is there something about society today that encourages beliefs that seem to go against all evidence and reason? Or are conspiracies just part of the human condition, and each to their own? Why do some of these alarming theories seem to hold more truth for many than overwhelming data and evidence to the contrary, and how far should we go in accommodating views that seem to have no basis in reality?

Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m0001pk3)
How Santa Claus Stole Christmas

Cultural historian and writer Christopher Frayling explores how Hollywood movies helped to create the modern global Christmas.

If Dickens' A Christmas Carol invented the Victorian Christmas of family, good works and good cheer, Hollywood has created its modern counterpoint - Santa Claus, elaborate presents, hummable tunes, consumer satisfaction and family tensions and reconciliations. 

From Holiday Inn and Miracle On 34th Street to It's A Wonderful Life and White Christmas, Christmas movies are designed to create a warm glow in the audience. They have helped turn Christmas into a global event, spread across cultures and religions, and rebranded for the age of mass consumption.

In the process, the meaning of Christmas has become comprehensively Americanised - complete with the ubiquitous iconography of Santa Claus, red-nosed reindeer, red costumes trimmed with white and shopping to the sound of piped seasonal muzak. A cultural critic said recently that Santa Claus is to American material faith what Jesus Christ is to the spiritual.

Christopher Frayling dives into the BBC archive to discover how this happened and why - with the help of filmmakers, advertisers and historians, as well as comedians, commentators and religious figures.

Interviewees:
Joe Dante, film director
Judith Flanders, historian and author
Sir John Hegarty, advertising executive
Karen Krizanovich, broadcaster and writer
Kim Newman, critic and horror writer

Producer: Jane Long

A Hidden Flack production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 No Place But the Water (m001bc1l)
The Library of Everything: Part 2

Final series of climate emergency drama set in a flooded future world written by Linda Marshall Griffiths

Birdie is having strange visions and Gil's arm is not healing - Birdie needs to find help before it's too late.
Meanwhile across the water, Caleb’s reunion with his dad has left him feeling uneasy and Jess is restless to find her mum - can they really stay in the Floating City much longer?

BIRDIE ..... Poppy O’Brien
JESSIE ..... Sade Malone
CALEB ..... Cel Spellman
GIL ..... Rupert Hill
ALEX…..William Ash
LEO.....Hamish Rush
LAURIE.....Jenny Platt
THE ANGEL.....Remmie Milner

Written by Linda Marshall Griffiths
Produced and Directed by Nadia Molinari
Sound Design by Sharon Hughes

Programme consultants: Dr James M. Lea; Dr Ian Dawson; Dr. Andrew F. Field.

A BBC Audio Drama North Production

The drama uses 3D spatial audio; please listen on headphones for a unique immersive experience.


SAT 21:45 Stories from Ukraine (m001cq8m)
How to Fall in Love with George Michael (Part 2)

Teenager and probably genius poet, Olesia has found herself in love with someone who looks nothing like George Michael and Olesia and must take drastic action to avoid becoming a social pariah.

Written by Natalka Sniadanko
Translated by Jenny Croft
Read by Vera Graziadei
Abridged and produced for radio by Naomi Walmsley

Taken from the anthology 'Love in Defiance in Pain: Ukrainian Stories'


SAT 22:00 News (m001g2wt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 Moral Maze (m001fw6b)
Can ethics survive the death of religion?

For the first time, fewer than half of people in England and Wales describe themselves as Christian. For centuries in the West, Judeo-Christian values have underpinned moral reasoning and grounded our ethics. While ticking “no religion” on the census doesn’t necessarily mean having no religious belief, should it concern us that this central story of our culture is fragmenting?

Implicit in utilitarianism is the idea that we can do ethics without metaphysics. The Enlightenment hailed the triumph of scientific rationality over sacred revelation. Whereas, the French sociologist Emile Durkheim argued that in any society in a state of ‘anomie’ – that is, lacking a shared moral code – there would be a rise in suicide.

Secularists argue that the greatest examples of social progress of the last century have come about as a result of a loss of deference to religious moral authority. Religious leaders believe that it is precisely this moral authority that makes a society cohesive. Others think it doesn’t matter where you get your moral guide from as long as you’re looking for it.

We live in an era of rapid social change, facing a new technological revolution, and all the ethical questions it poses. Does a religious-based ethics have the answers?

Can ethics survive the death of religion?

Producer: Dan Tierney.


SAT 23:00 Nature Table (m001fvzx)
Series 3

Episode 2

Join comedian, broadcaster and writer Sue Perkins as she hosts Nature Table: a comedy ‘Show & Tell’ series celebrating the natural world and all its funny eccentricities.

Nature Table has a simple clear brief: to positively celebrate and promote the importance of all our planet’s wonderfully wild flora and fauna in a fun and easily grasped way... whilst at the same time having a giggle.

Recorded at ZSL London Zoo, this week Sue Perkins is joined by special guests: Lucy Cooke (zoologist & author), Megan McCubbin (conservationist & zoologist) and comedian Felicity Ward.

Written by: Catherine Brinkworth, Jon Hunter, Jenny Laville and Nicky Roberts
Additional material by: Kat Sadler

Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Producer: Simon Nicholls
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Researcher: Catherine Beazley

Sound Recordist & Editor: Jerry Peal
Music by: Ben Mirin

A BBC Studios Production


SAT 23:30 The Poetry Detective (m001fvq1)
Poems for Turbulent Times

The Poetry Detective is a radio show about how poetry sits in people's everyday lives. Each week the writer Vanessa Kisuule speaks to people with a poem that has been meaningful to them. She finds out why the poem matters, and then unfolds the backstory of the poem itself - who wrote it, what was the context it came out of and how does it work on us? In this episode, Vanessa speaks to people who have lived through times of crisis - finding out about how poetry has helped them navigate a world that often feels unsurvivable.

Poetry doesn’t always need to be explicitly about war, conflict or turbulence to help us better understand such circumstances. Nor does it need to give a simple message of hope and perseverance. In our first story, we hear from someone who found his own experience reflected in a surprising source. Louis Yako is an anthropologist and writer. Today he lives in North Carolina, but he grew up in Iraq. Growing up, he has always had a huge passion for languages and books, and in the year 2000 he began studying English Literature at the University of Baghdad. The course was rigorous and traditional - the students read Dickens, Austen and the Romantic poets in great depth. Louis was in heaven.

In one fellow student he immediately recognised a kindred spirit. A young woman, kind and beautiful, who shared his love of poetry. The two became fast friends and talked for hours about the poems they loved. They exchanged long, handwritten letters to continue their conversations when they couldn't speak in person.

Then in 2003 came the US invasion, and Louis was forced to put his studies on hold. When he and his friend were eventually able to resume their studies there was one poem that resonated for them especially strongly - Lord Alfred Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott. The people of Iraq were suffering after years living under UN sanctions, the effects of the war, and the outbreak of Shia/Sunni violence. Like the Lady in her tower, forced to watch the world through a mirror, Louis explains that the people of Iraq felt they too were under a curse. They were "half sick of shadows", cut off from the world, having lived under Saddam Hussein's regime and its censorship of the media. Line by line, he and his friend related the poem to their lives in Iraq. Where was their Camelot and would they ever reach it? And what would become of them both as the violence escalated?

Vanessa also speaks to lisa luxx,, a writer, performer, essayist and activist of British and Syrian heritage who splits her time between the UK and Lebanon. lisa was working on her debut collection, when in August 2020 a huge blast ripped through Beirut port. The blast destroyed entire neighbourhoods of the city. More than 200 people were killed, more than 6,500 were injured, and around 300,000 people were displaced from their homes. lisa was out on the streets, distributing aid and supporting people living in extremely challenging conditions. People needed access to electricity and sanitation, help with medical bills, basics like water and a sack of rice. Delivering the manuscript for her debut collection felt to be very far down on the list of priorities. Poetry felt luxurious, superfluous; it would feel almost inhumane to sit and write a poem while people around her were suffering. "I told my editor I don’t believe in poetry any more."

She became close to one of the families she was supporting, and they invited her to eat with them. Sitting down around a large shared dish of rice, they asked her what she did and when they found out she was a poet, asked her for a poem. She felt embarrassed that she didn't have a poem to offer in that moment. A poem that could be as useful as rice. She speaks with Vanessa about what a "rice poem" might look like - a practical poem that could be offered in the moment it is needed.

Produced in Bristol by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio

SUNDAY 11 DECEMBER 2022

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m001g2ww)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Torn (m001bbth)
The stories behind the clothes we wear

Indian chintz dress

It's 1786 in Alexandria, Virginia. An argument breaks out at the market between a black woman enslaved on George Washington’s plantation and a white woman who believes she has stolen her dress made of fine Indian chintz fabric. What the encounter reveals is a complex pattern of hierarchy within fashion and stylistic expression in which black Americans have struggled to gain recognition for centuries.

In the second episode of Torn, Gus-Casely-Hayford explores letters and extracts from the diaries of George Washington to understand the interwoven histories of both slavery and textiles in America.

By the late 18th century, chintz patterns copied from a centuries old Indian tradition were firmly established as a signifier of high rank within white society. Guy goes in search of black Americans designers who have dared to express themselves in the predominantly white world of fashion. From the enslaved seamstress Elizabeth Keckly who bought her freedom with proceeds from her dress shop situated in the shadows of the White House, to Dapper Dan’s journey from a hustler in Harlem to a designer of some of the biggest stars in hip hop.


With art historian Jennifer Van Horn, curator Elizabeth Way and letters from Charles McIver to George Washington.

Presenter: Gus Casely-Hayford
Executive Producer: Rosie Collyer
Assistant Producer: Nadia Mehdi
Researcher: Zeyana Yussuf
Production Coordinator: Francesca Taylor
Sound Design: Rob Speight

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:30 Profile (m001fvhx)
Olena Zelenska

Olena Zelenska delivered a moving speech to MPs and peers this week, calling for military support for Ukraine by describing the terror of air raids and evoking memories of World War II.

The Ukrainian first lady has also addressed the US Congress and appeared on the cover of Vogue but stepping into the limelight has not been easy for the comedy writer, who is more comfortable behind the camera.

Adrian Goldberg profiles Olena Zelenska, speaking to some of the friends and colleagues who know her best.

Contributors
Irina Pikalova, 'Kvartal 95' executive producer.
Stylist Natalya Kamenska.
Rachel Donadio, Journalist, Vogue.
Iuliia Mendel, Author The Fight of Our Lives.
Ukrainian Chef, Levgen Klopotenko.

Presenter: Adrian Goldberg
Producers: Diane Richardson and Natasha Fernandes
Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele
Editor: Simon Watts
Studio Engineer: Rod Farquhar


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001g2wy)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001g2x0)
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 (m001g2x2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m001g2x4)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m001g2x6)
St Mary’s Church in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

Bells on Sunday comes from St Mary’s Church in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. Construction of the church started in 1140 taking forty years to complete. In the 14th century, a fine 130 foot lead spire was added. The tower houses a ring of eight bells cast by five different founders in 16th, 17th and 18th century with a tenor bell weighing nineteen and a quarter hundredweight and to the key of E. In 1951, all the bells were rehung and retuned by Gilllet and Johnston of London. We hear them ringing Stedman Triples.


SUN 05:45 Profile (m001g2wq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m001g2yv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b041v54s)
The Elephant

Mark Tully investigates the significance of the ancient cultural and spiritual connections between humans and elephants.

Demon, god, Lord of the Jungle, beast of war and of servitude, both temple and carnival attraction, the elephant inspires awe, affection and fear in equal measure. We worship elephants and enslave them, love them and kill them in their thousands.

In conversation with photographer, conservationists and founder of The World Wide Fund for Nature, Belinda Wright, he discusses the myriad qualities of the elephants of Asia and Africa.

The programme includes literature and music from Africa, India, Europe and America, with work by D.H Lawrence, Heathcote Williams, George Orwell, Jack Mapango, Claude Debussy, June Tabor and Henry Mancini.

The Readers are Adjoa Andoh, Michael Feast and Francis Cadder.

Producer: Frank Stirling
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:35 Natural Histories (b08slxy4)
Starling

Every Autumn vast numbers of continental starlings migrate here to take advantage of our milder winters. Huge flocks of up to a million birds or more swirl over their roost sites before settling down for the night. These impressive gatherings, called murmurations, are both remarkable and inspiring as Brett Westwood discovers as he visits a reed bed in Somerset with Tony Whitehead of the RSPB. Brett also gets to grips with the physics of how the birds avoid each other in flight and hears from a sound artist who uses the patterns of starlings on a wire as musical staves. Beethoven was impressed by the starlings ability to mimic his music, while Brett meets a man whose starlings accompany him on the piano.

First broadcast in a longer form on 6th June 2016
Original producer : Sarah Blunt
Archive producer : Andrew Dawes for BBC Audio in Bristol.


SUN 06:57 Weather (m001g2z3)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m001g2z9)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m001g2zh)
Warm spaces; Iranian protest; Christians in Qatar; Lords reform.

As the UK faces severe weather warnings, there are still predictions that one in four people will not be able to afford their heating bills this year. More than 4,500 religious and community organisations have signed up to the Warm Welcome campaign, offering free, safe, warm spaces for the public. Yesterday Edge Ministries, one of those organisations, held a free Christmas fair and we hear from the organisers.

In Iran, the first execution of a demonstrator has taken place. Mohsen Shekari was found guilty by a Revolutionary Court of "enmity against God", according to state media, and then hanged. Activists have described the proceedings as a "show trial without any due process". Protestors against the Iranian regime have been demonstrating since September after the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who was held in custody by morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab - or headscarf - "improperly". But there's also now uncertainty over the status of this force, which enforces its dress code, after a senior official suggested that it had been disbanded

If you've suffered a bereavement, Christmas can be a particularly difficult time of year. But a signposting charity is training hundreds of churches across the UK to offer support courses. AtaLoss, which was set up by Yvonne Tulloch when she lost her husband, has devised The Bereavement Journey course. We hear from Yvonne, and a trainer and a participant on a course in Southport in Merseyside, and get some advice on how to help the bereaved at this time of year.

And we're following our exploration of the emotional power of your favourite carols. You may think you know the carol "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night", but think again ! We explore the countless different versions with the folk singer Kate Rusby.

Presented by William Crawley.
Produced by Julia Paul and Louise Clarke-Rowbotham.
Editor: Helen Grady


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m001g2zp)
Revitalise

Actor and playwright Rory Kinnear makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity Revitalise Respite Holidays.

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 ‘Revitalise'.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Revitalise Respite Holidays’.
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: 295072


SUN 07:57 Weather (m001g2zx)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m001g301)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m001g308)
Gaudete Sunday

A service of prayer and reflection led by The Most Reverend Mark O’Toole, the Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff and Bishop of Menevia. This third Sunday of Advent is also known as ‘Gaudete Sunday’, or ‘Rejoicing Sunday’. From St David’s Metropolitan Cathedral in Cardiff, Archbishop Mark reflects on the anticipation of joy Christians experience at this particular point in Advent, as they look ahead to the birth of Christ and of God sharing in the ups and downs of our human condition.

Music will include some archive recordings from St David's Cathedral, Cardiff, including Exsultate Justi (Viadana), O admirabile commercium (Palestrina).


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m001fwj0)
Chastity Belt Politics

Zoe Strimpel reflects on the new sexual conservatives changing the face of feminism.

'The sexual revolution bequeathed us choice: to shag as voraciously as we wanted or to get married and have a baby at 30,' she writes.

But, she says, the landscape of sexual politics today has changed dramatically.

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Iona Hammond
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b03mg1dc)
Song Thrush (Winter)

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

David Attenborough presents the story of the song thrush and reads a passage from Thomas Hardy's poem, The Darkling Thrush.

Written at the end of the 19th century, this poem is about the hope that birdsong can bring at the bleakest time of the year. This episode examines how often song thrushes sing in winter.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m001g30h)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m001g30n)
Writer, Caroline Harrington
Director, Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe

Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Ben Archer ….. Ben Norris
Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Leonard Berry ….. Paul Copley
Rex Fairbrother ….. Nick Barber
Ed Grundy ….. Barry Farrimond
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O’Hanrahan
George Grundy ….. Angus Stobie
Brad Horrobin ….. Taylor Uttley
Chelsea Horrobin ….. Madeleine Leslay
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Joy Horville ….. Jackie Lye
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Fallon Rogers ….. Joanna Van Kampen
Mick ….. Martin Barrass


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m001g30v)
Cate Blanchett, actor

Cate Blanchett is arguably the most celebrated Australian actor ever, winning two Academy Awards, three BAFTAs, three Golden Globes and dozens of other honours around the world.

She grew up in Melbourne, and although she enjoyed music and drama at school, she initially had no plans to pursue a career as an actor. She started a degree course in economics and fine art, but dropped out after a year, and later won a place at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney.

She found international fame before she was 30, playing Elizabeth I in the highly-acclaimed film Elizabeth, winning an Oscar nomination and a BAFTA. Since then, she has appeared in more than 70 films and 20 stage productions. She won an Oscar and a BAFTA for playing Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator, directed by Martin Scorsese, and other notable roles include the elf leader Galadriel in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings series and a version of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. She won her second Oscar in 2014 for her performance in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine. Her TV work includes the acclaimed series Mrs America, where she played the conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, and she has recently taken on the role of an internationally famous composer and conductor in the film Tár, written and directed by Todd Field.

Cate has received the Australian Centenary medal and is a Companion of the Order of Australia. She is married to the director and playwright Andrew Upton.

DISC ONE: Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor – II composed by Gustav Mahler, performed by Berlin Philharmonic and conducted by Claudio Abbado
DISC TWO: Bésame Mucho by Trio Los Panchos
DISC THREE: Tannhäuser: Pilgrims' Chorus composed by Richard Wagner and performed by Norman Luboff Choir, New Symphony Orchestra of London, conducted by Leopold Stokowski
DISC FOUR: Go Tell the Women by Grinderman
DISC FIVE: Proof by I am Kloot
DISC SIX: Blow the Wind Southerly by Kathleen Ferrier
DISC SEVEN: The Little Weaver Bird by Molly Drake
DISC EIGHT: Lil' Darlin' by Count Basie And His Orchestra

BOOK CHOICE: Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
LUXURY ITEM: Time
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Tannhäuser: Pilgrims' Chorus composed by Richard Wagner and performed by Norman Luboff Choir, New Symphony Orchestra of London, conducted by Leopold Stokowski

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m001g311)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m001fw1d)
Series 78

Episode 4

The antidote to panel games pays a return visit to Croydon’s Fairfield Halls. Tony Hawks and Jo Brand take on Marcus Brigstocke and Graeme Garden with Jack Dee in the chair. Colin Sell attempts piano accompaniment.

Producer - Jon Naismith
A BBC Studios production


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m001g2y9)
The Food Books of 2022

Sheila Dillon and guests come together at Cherry Tree Library in Blackburn to discuss this year's best food books. From recipes and biographies, to food history and policy - there are choices for everyone to put on their Christmas lists, or.. check out from the library!

Cherry Tree in Blackburn like most libraries has a wealth of food books to delve into, but unlike most libraries it also has its own honey producing beehives. Local comedian and author Tez Ilyas pops in to see what books he might like to help on his next venture of learning how to cook.

While Jamie Oliver, Asma Khan, Tim Spector and many others who have featured during this year's programmes tell us what have been their food books of the year.

If you would like to recommend a food or drink book - join the conversation on social media. We are @BBCFoodProg on Instagram and Twitter. And a copy of all the books mentioned has been donated to the library in Cherry Tree.

Presented by Sheila Dillon
Produced in Bristol by Natalie Donovan


SUN 12:57 Weather (m001g31b)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m001g31j)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world


SUN 13:30 Faith in Music (m000qjz6)
Edward Elgar

Catholic composer Sir James MacMillan considers Sir Edward Elgar's complex life and religious faith as an English composer living through times of great distress and turmoil.

Following the somewhat disastrous premiere of his oratorio, The Dream of Gerontius, Elgar complained, "I always said God was against art and I still believe it. I have allowed my heart to open once - it is now shut against every religious feeling and every soft, gentle impulse forever."

James talks with Em Marshall-Luck, Stephen Johnson and Joanna Bullivant about Elgar's religious upbringing and the triumphs and tragedies of his life which were reflected in his attitude towards faith and religion.

Over the centuries, composers have created musical masterpieces which many listeners have come to regard as spiritual touchstones. For example, Tallis's motet Spem in alium, Wagner’s opera Parsifal, Elgar's oratorio The Dream of Gerontius, Bernstein's Mass. But what did these composers actually believe about God, faith, compassion, an afterlife and redemption? And do we need to share these beliefs in any way, to have a spiritual experience as listeners to their music?

Answers to these questions are complex, fascinating and challenging.

Produced by Rosie Boulton
A Must Try Softer production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001fwfj)
East Ruston Old Vicarage Garden: Postbag Edition

How quickly can you grow a Christmas tree from seed? When should you prune a fig tree? Why should you avoid putting mirrors in your garden? And what plants best protect your modesty when gardening in the nude?

Joining Kathy Clugston to help answer questions from the GQT inbox are garden designer Matthew Wilson, houseplant-lover Anne Swithinbank and grow-your-own expert Bob Flowerdew.

This week the team visits a 32 acre garden which was designed and built from scratch by two passionate horticulturalists -– it's the East Ruston Old Vicarage in Norfolk. They explore the vast gardens and greenhouses with co-founder and Head Gardener, Alan Gray.

Producer: Daniel Cocker
Assistant Producer: Bethany Hocken
Executive Producer: Louisa Field

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 One Dish (p0cs5m0f)
Stuffing with Jack Rooke

In the final episode of the first series of One Dish, comedian and writer Jack Rooke brings a lovely little ramekin of one of his favourite foods: stuffing. Intended to keep meat moist, and to eke out expensive cuts so they go further, they’re now an indispensable component of a special occasion meal for many people - including Jack. He shares some of his favourite stuffing memories, and admits that when it comes to the preparation he’s very much a sous chef and it’s his mum who’s in charge in the kitchen.

Andi and Jack learn about the long and varied history of stuffing in Britain; it’s had many guises over the years, from pudding to forcemeat to the ‘just add water’ type out of a box. They find out how the popularity of sage and onion is connected to commercial chicken farming, and Jack persuades Andi to cook one of the more outlandish historical stuffing recipes she’s discovered (although not quite as outlandish as stuffed porpoise). And Kimberley Wilson has some fascinating intel on the delicate art of cooking different cuts of meat and the scientific reason why it sometimes goes dry and tough.

Food Scientist: Kimberley Wilson
Food Historian: Neil Buttery
Producer: Lucy Dearlove
Exec Producer: Hannah Marshall
Sound Design: Charlie Brandon-King
Assistant Producer: Bukky Fadipe
Commissioning producer: Lynda Davies

A Storyglass production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Working Titles (m001g31s)
Convenience Store Woman

Keiko is 36 years old. She’s never had a boyfriend and has worked in the same Tokyo convenience store for 18 years.

Keiko’s family wishes she’d get a proper job. Her friends wonder why she won’t get married. But Keiko knows what makes her happy, and she won’t let anyone come between her and her convenience store.

Adapted by April De Angelis from the international bestseller by Sayaka Murata - one of the most celebrated of a new generation of Japanese writers, who spent 18 years working part-time in a convenience store.

The novel has been translated into over 30 languages with more than a million copies sold in Japanese alone, winning all of Japan’s major literary prizes.

An ode to non-conformity that subverts the status quo in modern work culture and parodies the plight of the 30-something single woman.

Cast:
Keiko ….. Yuriri Naka
Shiraha …..Will Howard
Manager ….. Luke Jerdy
Mrs Izumi ….. Clare Corbett
Sister ….. Lara Sawalha
Miho ….. Jeany Spark

Other voices played by the cast

Written by Sayaka Murata
Adapted for radio by April De Angelis from the translation by Ginny Tapley Takemori

Photocredit ….. Kentaro Takahashi

Sound Design ….. Adam Woodhams & Steve Bond
Producer ….. Sarah Tombling
Executive Producer ….. Sara Davies

Directed by Nicolas Jackson

An Afonica production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 16:00 Open Book (m001g31x)
Looking back at 2022 and (re)discovering Bruno Schulz

Chris Power discusses a year in books and gets some seasonal recommendations from Ellah Wakatama and Kate Mosse, as well as looking forward to new releases.

Emma Barnett, Paddy O'Connell and Ritula Shah - some favourite Radio 4 voices - share what they have been reading in 2022.

And shining a new light on Polish-Jewish writer Bruno Schulz with the translator behind a new edition of his short stories, Stanley Bill.

Reader: Tom Kiteley
Presenter: Chris Power
Producer: Ciaran Bermingham

Book List
This is Not A Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan
Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris
Colditz by Ben McIntyre
Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris
A Pelican at Blandings by P. G. Wodehouse
Putin's People by Catherine Belton
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey
Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens
The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid
Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World by Kate Mosse
The Night Ship by Jess Kidd
Desert Star by Michael Connelly
1989 by Val McDermid
The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna
Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi
The Birthday of the World and Other Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Cloisters by Katy Hays (forthcoming)
Victory City by Salman Rushdie (forthcoming)
Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson (forthcoming)
A Spell of Good Things by Ayobami Adebayo (forthcoming)
Nocturnal Apparitions by Bruno Schulz, translated by Stanley Bill


SUN 16:30 The Poetry Detective (m001g321)
Not in Love Poems

The Poetry Detective is a radio show about how poetry sits in peoples’ everyday lives. Each week, Vanessa Kisuule meets people with a story about a poem that’s important to them and then she goes digging for more information. Who wrote it and in what context, and how does it do what it does?

From weddings to Valentine’s Day cards, poetry and romance go hand-in-hand. We go to poetry to woo, to wed and to mark our love. We look to poetry not only for a reflection of how we feel but also to shape an ideal of what love could, or should be. But what about love thwarted and unrequited, love promised and never found? People living without romantic love, or finding love but struggling to accept it? Can poetry speak to the loveless as well as the lovers?

"What would it look like if we didn't place romantic love as the organising principle of our lives? Could life be good anyway?" Amy Key is the author of two poetry collections and her first non-fiction book, Arrangements in Blue: Notes on Love and Making a Life, will be published in Spring 2023. She talks to Vanessa about a treasured anthology of haiku by Japanese women. Can these tiny, potent poems - written between the 17th century and the present day - help us reckon with longing?

"I'm reading this poem, it's a sign". Audrey Lee tells Vanessa about falling for her friend as an undergraduate and yearning to be more than friends with him. She didn't want to mess up their friendship and swallowed her feelings for the duration of their time at college together. One day, she happened on a poem by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Frank Bidart that felt like a call to action. A poem of unspoken desire finally spoken. And she bit the bullet and sent it to her friend.

And Chlo Samuel talks about finding a lovely boyfriend, but then struggling to allow herself to be loved. After years of living with anorexia and life throwing its worst at her, she felt unworthy of happiness and security. She talks about a poem that came into her life at the exact moment she needed it. "It felt like permission to put the things that had happened to me in a basket, say "I'm not defined by these". I can start again,"

And we hear from Ellen Bass, the Santa Cruz-based author of that poem. She talks about the lines of Tolstoy that inspired the poem and how writing it was as transformative for her as reading it was for Chlo.

Produced in Bristol by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio


SUN 17:00 Paradise Lost: The Rise and Fall of the Eldonian Dream (m001fwc2)
A few hundred yards from the shiny new waterfront of the City Centre, you’ll find a unique urban oasis, carved out of the post-industrial dereliction of 80’s Liverpool.

The Eldonian Village, created a community the residents would be proud to call home, to cater for their lives from the cradle to the grave. Matt O'Donoghue speaks to some of the residents, many of whom have lived there since the 1980's, to find out what has happened since

CORRECTION: SECURITY AT THE HOUSING ASSOCIATION MEETING IN SEPTEMBER 2021 WAS BROUGHT IN BY THE ASSOCIATION AND NOT BY ANTHONY MCGANN AS STATED IN THIS PROGRAMME.

The Eldonian Dream - Paradise Lost, BBC Radio 4, Produced and Presented for BBC Audio North by Matt O'Donoghue


SUN 17:40 Profile (m001g2wq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001g325)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 17:57 Weather (m001g32c)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001g32h)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m001g32m)
Julie Hesmondhalgh

A selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m001g2y1)
A money saving measure by Martyn Gibson at Berrow has resulted in the wrong pig feed being ordered. Neil promises to speak to Martyn and get the order revised. Jazzer wishes Martyn would up his hours. They’re interrupted by a notification from Martyn announcing an emergency staff meeting. They discover it’s to update them on a member of staff leaving. They agree this makes the staffing crisis even more urgent. All Martyn seems bothered about is that they go to the works Christmas party in their festive jumpers. They pledge to attend, and raise the issue of staffing.
It’s all hands on deck at Brookfield preparing for an event in the Barn, with Ben out of action and Pip absent caring for a poorly Rosie. Stressed Ruth has to manage vehicle congestion in the yard as party preparations begin to take a fraught turn – she needs David back with the quad bike. However David gets stuck in some mud and has to call on Pip for help. As Toby steps in with Rosie, Pip explains to worried David that she’s drafted in Ben and Josh to assist Ruth. David’s concerned, but Pip assures him Ben was up for it and is enjoying himself. The barn event goes off without a hitch and David’s proud of frazzled Ruth. The family group photo from Jill’s birthday has finally arrived. As they look at it they acknowledge Ben’s difficulties were apparent in his expression even back then. Ruth reiterates the importance of supporting his progress now he’s turned a corner.


SUN 19:15 The Confessional (m001g1nn)
Series 3

The Confession of Jessie Cave

Stephen Mangan is back with another series of his comedy chat show about shame, guilt and occasional repentance.

Each week, Stephen invites a distinguished guest into his virtual confessional box to make three confessions to him. An antidote to conventional talk shows, their stories don't reflect their proudest moments. Stephen could not be less interested in those. He wants them to open up about their darker side. Settle back for stimulating journeys through shame, regret and toe curling embarrassment.

The series begins with Harry Potter actor, writer, podcaster, cartoonist and illustrator, Jessie Cave in the hot seat.

Presenter: Stephen Mangan
Additional material by Nick Doody
Producer: Frank Stirling
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Voices in the Valley (p0d8klvf)
7: The Haven

Ten chilling strange tales from the British folk-horror author Andrew Michael Hurley.

Barrowbeck, in the north of England, has a reputation for strangeness. It is a place that brings out the sin in people. But despite the dark, the cold, the isolation, people have managed to live there for centuries - until the river finally got the better of them. And now the past voices of Barrowbeck want to tell their tales...

In today's story, read by Toby Jones, it is 1899, and a traveller to Barrowbeck finds himself at the Haven Psychiatric Hospital at harvest time...

Writer: Andrew Michael Hurley
Reader: Toby Jones
Producer: Justine Willett


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m001fwg6)
Andrea Catherwood is joined by novelist Claire Allan who has been adding her voice to the protests about the proposed cuts to Radio Foyle in Northern Ireland.

And Three Counties Local Radio presenter Edward Adoo shares his concerns that the reorganisation of Local Radio in England is going to affect programmes aimed at African, Caribbean and Asian audiences.

As the competition in Qatar pushes towards a conclusion, football fan Rob Crossan tells us why the 5 Live radio commentary has been a winner for him at the World Cup.

We hear what listeners have to say about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Reith Lecture, the first in this year’s series.

And making an impact on our inbox this week was Justin Webb’s interview with RMT leader Mick Lynch on the Today programme. Andrea hears what listeners had to say.

Presented by Andrea Catherwood

Produced by Gill Davies

A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m001fwfw)
Christine McVie, Jiang Zemin, Derek Granger

Matthew Bannister on

Christine McVie who wrote some of Fleetwood Mac’s biggest hits and was a key player in the turbulent history of the band.

Jiang Zemin, who became Chinese President after the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square and presided over the opening up of the country’s economy.

Derek Granger, the TV and film producer best known for the acclaimed adaptation of Brideshead Revisited.

Producer: Neil George

Interviewed guest: Tim Sullivan
Interviewed guest: Isabel Hilton
Interviewed guest: Matt O’Casey
Interviewed guest: Anthony Andrews


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m001g2w2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m001g2zp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 Britain's Communist Thread (m001fd8w)
Mistakes Were Made

Historian Camilla Schofield explores a century-long thread of communism in Britain.

Like fascism, we often think of communism as alien – as an external threat – a threat to the British way of life. But what happens if we challenge that a little – and think about communism as a British story?

Today’s programme explores the crises within the communist movement in the wake of the revelations contained in Nikita Khrushchev’s ‘secret speech’ in February 1956.

Featuring:
David Aaronovitch, journalist and broadcaster, son of Sam and Lavender Aaronovitch
Lucy Gaster, former social researcher, daughter of Jack and Moira Gaster
Ben Harker, University of Manchester, author of The Chronology of Revolution
Kennetta Hammond Perry, Northwestern University, author of London is the Place for Me

Includes extracts from an interview with Eric Hobsbawm by Michael Ignatieff, first broadcast on The Late Show, 24th Oct 1994, BBC Two.

With grateful thanks to Geoff Andrews, Shirin Hirsch and Kevin Morgan.

Producer: Martin Williams


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m001g32t)
Ben Wright's guests are the Conservative former Cabinet minister, Damian Green; Labour frontbencher Fleur Anderson; and Victor Adebowale - Chair of the NHS Confederation and crossbench peer. They discuss the impact of forthcoming strikes, especially on the health service. They also discuss provision of housing, with the government accused of watering down home-building targets under pressure from backbenchers. Natasha Clarke - chief political correspondent at The Sun brings additional insight and analysis.


SUN 23:00 Loose Ends (m001g2wn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b041v54s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]

MONDAY 12 DECEMBER 2022

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m001g330)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Sideways (m001fw45)
37. My Last 5p

It’s December 2013 and Toni Osborne is struggling, emotionally and financially. She’s five pence short of keeping her electricity on over Christmas.

As she heads out into the night to ask her local shopkeeper for help, a homeless man appears and asks for some change. This is Jack Richardson, and when she bursts into tears, it prompts him to give Toni his last five pence. This simple act of giving would alter both their lives in profound ways.

In this episode, Matthew Syed explores how the effects of a seemingly small moment of generosity can ripple outwards, with significant consequences. He considers where this impulse to give to other people comes from and why we go out of our way to help others, sometimes at a cost to ourselves.

With Felix Warneken, Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan; Dr Michael Rees, kidney transplant surgeon and founder of the Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation; and psychologist Scott Kaufman.

Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Eliza Lomas
Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight
Theme music by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m001g2x6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001g334)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001g338)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001g33f)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m001g33k)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001g33p)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rt Revd Mary Stallard, Assistant Bishop in Bangor.

Good morning,
My parents named me Mary, but I sometimes wonder if I’m a bit more of a Martha. There’s that famous Gospel story of two sisters who welcome Jesus into their home: Martha’s stressed and irritable, juggling too many tasks that make her fretful and cross. By contrast, Mary sits serenely, listening to Jesus, giving him her complete and full attention. Jesus commends Mary above Martha for having made the better choice. Martha tends to be remembered as a restless activist in comparison with her contemplative sister. Like many, I hear that story and can recognise in myself a tendency to try and do too much, and Martha’s grumpiness certainly feels familiar!

This feels like quite a topical theme in this season with its many opportunities to be endlessly busy, but one of the gifts I find in scripture is that the characters are often vivid and complex. If we follow the whole Gospel story, we find that Martha and Mary appear again a few chapters later, at a time of grief. This time Martha shines in her relationship with Jesus, she expresses a unique understanding of who he is, and shows complete trust in him. This time we see her in a much better light; here it’s Martha who alerts Mary to Jesus’ presence.

The story of these women reminds me of the importance of not only recognising and learning to address our own flaws and failings, but also of making friends with our whole selves and learning to act from the best of our strengths and character.

Gracious God, you call each of us with all our gifts and weaknesses. Enable us to recognise our abilities and our vulnerabilities with gratitude and humility. Help us to offer the best of ourselves to you and to others. Amen


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m001g33t)
12/12/22 - Natural flood management, mounted police volunteers and cheese trading

More of the government’s £5.2 billion flood management budget is to be spent on nature-based methods of flood prevention. The Environment Agency has been trialing 60 Natural Flood Management projects over the last five years, they use techniques like targeted tree-planting and restoring wetlands to prevent flooding further downstream, and on the back of those pilot schemes Natural Flood Management is now to be more widely incorporated into flood defence strategy in years to come.

A mounted police ‘volunteer scheme’ is being trialed in Cumbria - with members of the public on horseback supporting the work of the county’s police officers. Cumbria Constabulary’s 'citizens in policing team' is working with riders in some rural parts of the county to help with crime prevention and building relationships within their communities.

And nearly a third of all the milk produced in the UK goes in to making cheese, 70 per cent cheddar. 130,000 tonnes of it is exported, worth more than half a billion pounds. But since Brexit, trade has been more complicated.

Presented by Caz Graham
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons


MON 05:56 Weather (m001g33y)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08r1x98)
Debbie Pain on the Marsh Harrier

Debbie Pain of the Slimbridge Wetland Centre explains her joy at the return of the marsh harrier to her local patch.

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

Producer Miles Warde.


MON 06:00 Today (m001g2xd)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m001g2xg)
Listening in the dark

Johan Eklöf is a Swedish bat scientist on a mission. In The Darkness Manifesto (translated by Elizabeth DeNoma) he warns how light pollution is threatening the ancient rhythms of life. Many creatures across the world come to life at night – with bats specially adapted to fly using echolocation. By keeping the lights on we are disrupting entire ecosystems.

But darkness can appear alien and frightening. The writer Kate Summerscale explores the phobias that haunt the imagination as the lights go off: nyctophobia, xylophobia and hypnophobia – intense and morbid fears of the dark, of forests and of falling asleep.

But why do bumps in the night sound so much more unnerving than during the day? The neuroscientist Professor Geraint Rees focuses his research on seeking to understand the neural basis of consciousness and he explores how our different senses are integral to the way we perceive and experience the world around us.

The forces of light and darkness are pitted against each other in the classic children’s story The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper, now adapted for BBC World Service radio, starting on Tuesday 20th December. Producer and co-adapter Simon McBurney creates a spine-tingling winter soundscape with the use of binaural sound, giving listeners using headphones a unique immersive experience.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney (m001g30c)
Episode 1

An intimate and unflinching account of the life and death of Rob Delaney’s young son Henry, told with honesty, humour and much, much love.

"When you’re a parent and your child gets hurt or sick, not only do you try to help them get better, but you’re also animated by the general belief that you can help them get better. That’s not always the case, though. Sometimes children die."

Written and read by Rob Delaney
Abridged by Clara Glynn
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie

Rob Delaney is an American comedian, actor and writer who co-created and co-starred in the BAFTA-winning comedy "Catastrophe".


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001g2xl)
Marina Litvinenko, Sexual Harassment, Medieval Woman

It’s been 16 years since the fatal poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, who had exposed corruption in Russia and died in a hospital in London after ingesting tea which contained a radioactive substance. His wife, Marina Litvinenko, brought the case to the European Court of Human Rights in 2021 which upheld that Mr Litvinenko had been the victim of a FSB assassination “probably” approved by Putin. Russia denies any involvement. Marina joins Emma to discuss the upcoming ITVX drama Litvinenko.

The government has announced that street harassment will be made a crime in England with jail sentences of up to two years. The Home Secretary Suella Braverman who has backed the move says ‘every woman should feel safe to walk our streets’. But what’s the reality? Reporter Ellie Flynn recently went undercover to highlight the experience of sexual harassment experienced by girls and women in the UK today. She joins Emma to talk about her new documentary.

The discovery of an ancient female burial site in Northamptonshire has been described as one of the most important finds ever discovered in Britain. This woman is thought to be a Christian leader of significant wealth and her jewellery is considered an outstanding example of craftsmanship for this early medieval period. Emma is joined by Lyn Blackmore, from the Museum of London and Irina Dumitrescu, Professor for Medieval English Literature at the University of Bonn.

It's been revealed that the author JK Rowling is founding and personally funding a new female only service for survivors of sexual violence in Edinburgh. We are joined by the BBC's David Wallace Lockhart and The Daily Telegraph's Suzanne Moore who broke the story.

Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Emma Pearce


MON 11:00 The Untold (m001g2xn)
Life After Long Covid

Zoe’s not entirely sure how to make sense of the last couple of years. But she’s going to give it a go.

This is her story of the good, the bad and the ugly everydayness of life with Long Covid. Via life-saving phone calls, cloud-gazing park walks, homeschooling squabbles, summer holidays that don't feel like summer holidays, and lots of lying in bed.

And now it's December 2022, over two and a half years after Zoe first got ill. Life is not all Christmas chocolate boxes and Ding Dong Merrily on High. It’s still really hard sometimes. But it is getting easier. There is singing and music-making again. There is hope.

Programme image by Zoe's daughter Clara, age 9.
Produced by Becky Ripley.


MON 11:30 Michael Morpurgo's Folk Journeys (m000p1v3)
Ten Thousand Miles

The author Michael Morpurgo (War Horse, Private Peaceful) explores the ways in which folk songs have reflected timeless human experiences, both in the past and today.

With help from singers, songwriters and other passionate experts, Michael admires the indelible stories within classic songs that deal with migration, war, protest and love.

Over the four themed episodes, Michael considers the locations and historical contexts that gave rise to much-loved traditional songs, and finds out how the same topics are inspiring new folk songs in the 2020s.

In the third episode, Michael considers a love song, Ten Thousand Miles.

With Ashley Hutchings, Nancy Kerr, Georgina Boyes, Blair Dunlop, Karine Polwart and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh.

A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4


MON 12:00 News Summary (m001g34f)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m001g2xs)
Women's Football Boots, Behavioural Optometrists and Pinterest Predictions

Are female footballers getting injured because they've no choice but to play in boots designed for men and the lifestyle platform Pinterest predicts what will be hot in 2023.


MON 12:57 Weather (m001g2xv)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m001g2xx)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


MON 13:45 Please Protect Abraham (m001g2xz)
6. The Parcel

Abraham returns to Hackney, but a series of events that begin with an innocuous delivery lead him to believe that his true identity has been revealed. The family are desperate to leave the area.

Presenter and Original Research: Sam Holder
Series Producer and sound design: Anishka Sharma
Story Consultant: Robert Awosusi
Additional Research: Christy Callaway-Gale

Theme music written and performed by Rebekah Reid and Tapp Collective.
Original music compositions by Femi Oriogun-Williams

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:00 The Archers (m001g2y1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Broken Colours (m001g2y3)
Series 2

Episode 1

At the end of Season 1 of Matthew Broughton’s thriller, young artist Jess rescued her boyfriend Dan from gang leader, Joe Magner. But in the process, she accidentally shot and killed Magner.

Dan wants to make a new start and move away from the corruption and violence of gang life. And Jess is trying to be supportive, but there’s something that keeps pulling her back to the criminal world.

As Jess learns how to tune into her synaesthesia – she sees sound as colour and pattern – it’s clear that there’s a widening perception gap between her and Dan. And no one’s talking about Ronnie Vaz. Who’s vanished from the face of the earth.

Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton, creator of podcast drama Tracks.

CAST

Jess…..Holli Dempsey
Dan…..Josef Altin
Molly…..Molly Pepper Tuer
Man…..Dean Rehman
Melissa…..Alexandria Riley

Directed by Emma Harding

Production co-ordinators Eleri McAuliffe and Lindsay Rees
Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis
Produced by John Norton, Philippa Swallow and Emma Harding for BBC Audio Drama Wales


MON 15:00 Nature Table (m001g2y7)
Series 3

Episode 3

Join comedian, broadcaster and writer Sue Perkins as she hosts Nature Table: a comedy ‘Show & Tell’ series celebrating the natural world and all its funny eccentricities.

Nature Table has a simple clear brief: to positively celebrate and promote the importance of all our planet’s wonderfully wild flora and fauna in a fun and easily grasped way... whilst at the same time having a giggle.

Recorded at ZSL London Zoo, this week Sue Perkins is joined by special guests: Yussef Rafik (Zoologist), Dr Karim Vahed (Entomologist & Conservation Biologist) and comedian Lucy Porter.

Written by: Catherine Brinkworth, Jon Hunter, Jenny Laville and Nicky Roberts
Additional material by: Kat Sadler

Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Producer: Simon Nicholls
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Researcher: Catherine Beazley

Sound Recordist & Editor: Jerry Peal
Music by: Ben Mirin
A BBC Studios Production


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m001g2y9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 Bells That Still Can Ring (m001fwcz)
John Taylor & Co in Loughborough is the only major bell foundry left in the UK. The bells it has produced ring at St Paul’s Cathedral and chime in clocks, bell towers, churches, universities, and public buildings in over 100 countries.

It is also a place full of history. The foundry moved to its current site in 1859 and, with its many Victorian workshops, is slightly reminiscent of Hogwarts. More large bells have been cast here than at any other bell foundry in Britain. And it still attracts engineers who are passionate about producing the perfect bell. In this programme, we hear from some of them, including foreman Anthony Stone and bell tuner Girdar Vadukar.

The largest church bell in Britain, Great Paul, which weighs in at nearly 17 tons, was cast at Loughborough in 1881. Three furnaces were needed to melt the metal, and the bell had to cool down in its pit for six days before they were able to lift it out and take the casings off. An agricultural steam engine then pulled the bell to London on a specially adapted cart. After adventurous months on the road, it was finally hung at St Paul’s Cathedral – and as the Surveyor of the Fabric, Oliver Caroe, explains, this took enormous ingenuity and a hefty dose of whale oil.

More recently, the bell used for the AC/DC track Hells Bells was cast at Loughborough. The band’s ambition was to take the bell with them on their Back in Black tour in 1980 - a logistical nightmare because of the bell’s great weight. At New York’s Nassau Coliseum, still in its wheeled packing case, the bell crashed straight through the stage. We hear from Tony Platt, recording engineer on the Back in Black album, who recorded the AC/DC bell using the ‘silver bullet’ mobile studio belonging to Ronnie Lane from the Faces, parked inside the bell foundry; and Gregg Praetorius, producer of the Nassau Coliseum show and author of Babysitting a Band On The Rocks.

At St Mary’s church in Putney in South West London, in 1973, a set of Loughborough bells alerted local residents to a fire set by arsonists when they “rang themselves down” as the fire burnt through the wooden stays holding them in place.

What resonates strongly is the enormous passion everyone in this programme has for bells – not just their sound, but the entire sensuous experience of producing and using them. And the fact that they are likely to outlast the people who made them, in many cases by hundreds of years.

Presenter: Andres Williams
Producers: Caroline Donne and Ewan Newbigging-Lister
Sound Designer Calum Perrin
Editor: Kristine Pommert
A CTVC production for BBC Radio 4


MON 16:30 Bad Blood: The Story of Eugenics (m001g2yc)
Rassenhygiene

In the name of eugenics, the Nazi state sterilised hundreds of thousands against their will, murdered disabled children and embarked on a programme of genocide.

Why?

We like to believe that Nazi atrocities were a unique aberration, a grotesque historical outlier. But it turns out that leading American eugenicists and lawmakers like Madison Grant and Harry Laughlin inspired many of the Nazi programmes, from the mass sterilisation of those deemed ‘unfit’ to the Nuremberg laws preventing the marriage of Jews and non-Jews. Indeed, before WW2, many eugenicists across the world regarded the Nazi regime with envious admiration.

The Nazis went further, faster than anyone before them. But ultimately, the story of Nazi eugenics is one of international connection and continuity.

Contributors: Professor Stefan Kühl from the University of Bielefield, Professor Amy Carney from Penn State Behrend, Dr Jonathan Spiro from Castleton University, Professor Sheila Weiss from Clarkson University and Dr Barbara Warnock from the Wiener Holocaust Library

Music and Sound Design by Jon Nicholls
Presented by Adam Rutherford
Produced by IIan Goodman


MON 17:00 PM (m001g2yf)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001g2yk)
Three boys have died after falling through ice into a lake. A fourth is critically ill. West Midlands Police have described desperate rescue attempts by officers.


MON 18:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m001g2ym)
Series 78

Episode 5

The godfather of all panel shows pays a visit to the Theatre Royal Newcastle. On the panel are John Finnemore, Pippa Evans, Fred Macaulay and Rory Bremner with Jack Dee in the umpire’s chair. Colin Sell accompanies on the piano.

Producer - Jon Naismith
It is a BBC Studios production


MON 19:00 The Archers (m001g2yp)
George calls on Fallon, seemingly keen to go through some singing exercises. But when Harrison appears at the door over Fallon’s shoulder, George’s enthusiasm wanes. Worse, once George is in the house, Harrison volunteers to join in the exercises with them. And when Fallon has to take a call, Harrison insists on taking over, giving horrified George facial muscle moves and tongue twisters to try. George maintains it’s pointless; he’ll be rubbish no matter how many exercises he does. Ignoring Harrison’s ‘fake it ’til you make it’ advice, George announces he has to go. Before he does, Harrison asks him to keep an eye out for any strange activities after recent incidents in the village. Uncomfortable George says he will. He refuses Harrison’s offer of a lift home, preferring to walk.
Meanwhile Emma and Ed are out sporting head torches as they embark on an illegal logging venture on rewilding land. Ed squares their crime by claiming they’re just tidying up. Nervous Emma reminds him to keep his gloves on at all times. As they roll the last of the heavy logs and congratulate themselves on progress, they have a break before moving on to the smaller ones. They chat and snuggle in the romantic evening moonlight. They begin to kiss and soon the logs are forgotten. Later as they stack the final logs they agree that they’d be happy to do this every night of the week.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m001g2yr)
Zadie Smith on The Wife of Willesden, David Tennant on Litvinenko and Rick Wakeman's stolen gear

Zadie Smith talks about her play The Wife of Willesden, a modern re-telling of Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath starring Clare Perkins in the title role at Kiln Theatre, London.

David Tennant discusses playing Russian Alexander Litvinenko in a new ITV drama based on the real life events of his shocking death.

Keyboard player Rick Wakeman discusses how he's having to adapt his UK tour after a load of his musical gear was stolen from his van last week.

And film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh expresses her frustration at the confusion surrounding current film releases since the start of the pandemic.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Jerome Weatherald

Image: Clare Perkins as Alvita in The Wife of Willesden by Zadie Smith at Kiln Theatre, London Photographer credit: Michael Wharley


MON 20:00 Putin (m001g2yw)
12. The Lightning Strike

On the 24th of February 2022, after months of military build-up and increasingly grave warnings, Vladimir Putin stepped over the brink and ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

In this episode, Jonny Dymond tells the story of the crucial first month of the war, as Putin’s ambitions first faltered and then collapsed in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance. By examining his speeches, public appearances and the political context, this programme chronicles Putin’s first weeks as a war leader.

To dispel the fog of war and understand Putin’s role at this dramatic time, Jonny Dymond is joined by:

Bridget Kendall - former BBC Moscow and Diplomatic Correspondent, now Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge.
Vitaliy Shevchenko - Russia Editor at BBC Monitoring and co-presenter of Ukrainecast
Owen Matthews - Journalist, historian and author of Overreach

Production coordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Siobhan Reed
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
Producers: Nathan Gower
Researcher: Octavia Woodward
Series Editor: Simon Watts


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m001fwck)
California's cannabis reparations

In California, cannabis is legal for recreational use and it’s created a multi-billion dollar industry. But who’s been reaping the rewards? For decades people from Black and Latino communities have been disproportionately arrested and imprisoned on cannabis drugs charges – and yet few appeared to benefit from the legal cannabis boom. So to make amends, California has been pioneering a policy to give those targeted in the war on drugs, a chance to share in the new cannabis industry. But is it working? Sharon Hemans has been to the city of Oakland to find out.

Presenter: Sharon Hemans
Producer: Alex Last
Studio engineer: Neil Churchill
Series editor: Penny Murphy
Production Co-ordinator: Iona Hammond


MON 21:00 Phantoms in the Brain (m001fw65)
'I am not mentally sick' – Hannah’s story

Every day, in every hospital, people are being admitted with neurological symptoms like seizures, paralysis, inability to speak or walk. Other patients suffer from psychiatric symptoms such as bizarre delusions or life-shattering hallucinations. Yet not all is as it first seems. Some of those with physical problems will not have identifiable physical causes, and some with apparent psychiatric disorders will have a specific and potentially treatable physical cause.

In this 4-part series, neurologist, Professor Guy Leschziner, explores the nature of the complex interactions between physical and mental health, and how the division between the two may ultimately make little sense.

We meet Hannah, a student, who's only 20 when her behaviour suddenly changes. Almost overnight, she goes from tidy to messy, becomes erratic, unable to hold a conversation; she seems lost in herself. Her family recognises she is having a mental breakdown and Hannah is admitted to a psychiatric ward. And yet, she is not just mentally ill. Her psychiatric symptoms are later found to have a very physical cause. She has encephalitis - her brain is ‘on fire’, attacked by an autoimmune disease. We follow Hannah’s progress through diagnosis to treatment and to a dramatic outcome that takes everyone by surprise.

We also hear from Kat, who’s in her twenties, with a high-powered job in the City. Out of the blue, she starts having seizures and episodes of déjà vu. Her memory, usually very sharp, is letting her down. And she is extremely anxious. At the same time, Kat’s sister is diagnosed with cancer and Kat spends every weekend caring for her young niece and nephew. Kat’s GP thinks it’s a classic case of stress and trauma and refers her to a psychologist and a psychiatrist. But, after months of talking therapy, Kat sees a neurologist who discovers that her anxiety and seizures are driven by antibodies attacking her brain. It is her body, as well as her mind, that is unwell.

We’ll hear from psychiatrists and neurologists about the challenges of diagnosing such rare autoimmune diseases and about the pioneering immunotherapy that’s helping Kat and other patients like her.

Presenter: Professor Guy Leschziner
Producer: Sally Abrahams
Sound: Neil Churchill

Production co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Clare Fordham

Image: Amy Hiley amyhileyart.com


MON 21:30 Start the Week (m001g2xg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m001g2z5)
Health Secretary meets RCN - but won't discuss pay

Also tonight:
Iran executes 2nd protester.
Lockerbie "bombmaker" appears in court.
Zimbabwe power outages.
and the next generation of weather satellites.


MON 22:45 A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson (m001g2zc)
Episode 1

The tenderness and tragedy of everyday lives in a backwater town in 1970s Ontario. Mary Lawson's book was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2021.

Clara's sister is missing. Angry, rebellious Rose, had a row with their mother, stormed out of the house and simply disappeared. Eight-year-old Clara, isolated by her distraught parents' efforts to protect her from the truth, is grief-stricken and bewildered.

Liam Kane, newly divorced, newly unemployed, newly arrived in this small northern town, moves into the house next door, a house left to him by an old woman he can barely remember and within hours gets a visit from the police. It seems he's suspected of a crime.

At the end of her life Elizabeth Orchard is thinking about a crime too, one committed 30 years ago that had tragic consequences for two families and in particular for one small child. She desperately wants to make amends before she dies.

Set in Northern Ontario in 1972, A Town Called Solace explores the relationships of these three people brought together by fate and the mistakes of the past. By turns gripping and darkly funny, it uncovers the layers of grief and remorse and love that connect us.

Read by
Genevieve Gaunt
Susan Brown and
Alec Newman

Abridged by Florence Bedell
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Lights Out (m001g2zn)
Series 5

Accounts and Accountability

Across the course of a single day, a documentary-maker hosts an open-call audition for subjects to star in her next project. Accounts and Accountability offers a dive into the ethics of buying and selling true stories.

With music composed by Eliza Niemi
Sound Recording by Fivel Rothberg
Assistant Producers: Kristine White, Kyle Damiao, Jose Salazar and Emma Rose Brown
Special thanks to Sean Hanley, David Pavlovsky, and Kelly Anderson

Produced by Jess Shane
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001g2zy)
Susan Hulme reports as MPs tackle the government about strikes within the NHS.

TUESDAY 13 DECEMBER 2022

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m001g306)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 00:30 A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney (m001g30c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001g30p)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001g30w)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001g313)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m001g318)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001g31g)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rt Revd Mary Stallard, Assistant Bishop in Bangor.

Good morning,

I’ll always remember a mesmerising sight at Liverpool Cathedral on this day some years ago. It seemed like a triumph of beauty over health and safety, when a young woman with long hair, wearing a crown of candles, led a procession by a Swedish choir honouring Saint Lucy, or Lucia of Syracuse.

The story of this saint, whose name means “light”, has a wonderful message for these darkest days of the year.

In the early centuries after Christ’s death, when it was dangerous to openly avow a Christian identity, Lucy was tortured and martyred for refusing to marry because she wanted to devote herself wholly to God and to serving those in need.

It’s said that she went to help fellow Christians hiding in the catacombs – in dark underground caves - and so that her hands could be free to carry gifts of food and provisions, she wore candles on her head to light her way. There are gruesome details in her story about her eyes being gouged out, and so she’s remembered also as a patron saint of the blind. But to me, the most compelling part of her story is about her bearing a light that enabled her to do good. This speaks to me both of the practical gift of imaginative resourcefulness that has the capacity to bring hope to others and also the inner grace of a faith and trustfulness that can overcome fear with a bright witness for the power of goodness and love.

God of grace, thank you for all light-bearers; for St Lucy, and all who inspire us and help us to find our way in life. Free up our hands today to do good. May the light of love burn brightly in our hearts that we might be re-energised as signs of hope for others. Amen.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m001g31n)
A new report by the The House of Lords Committee on Land Use is calling for a commission to be set up, to organise a framework around which all uses for land in the UK can be organised. The committee believes this would provide an overview to balance the varying pressures under which land is put: to produce food; space for homes; habitat for wildlife; and areas for green energy production. It would also provide information about how effectively land is being used, and whether some land can be used for multiple purposes.

The UK is suffering its worst ever outbreak of avian flu. Millions of commercial poultry including geese, ducks, chickens and turkeys have died or been put down and wild bird populations have been badly affected too. MPs on the Environment Food and Rural Affairs committee have backed calls by farmers to change the rules on compensation, to include birds which have died before vets are able to visit the infected farms. Turkey producers are struggling and fear there may be a shortage this Christmas.

The run-up to Christmas is a key time of year for cheese makers as sales of British cheese rise significantly - at home and abroad. It’s been a mixed year for dairy exports, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, but cheese exports have remained strong. Although the figures are below where they were before the pandemic, demand for cheddar cheese in particular is growing again.  We visit Wyke Farms in Somerset, large-scale producers of Cheddar, which export to 160 countries around the world.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b092f778)
Amy Liptrot on the Hooded Crow

Writer Amy Liptrot recalls seeing hooded crows while living in Berlin and reflects on their namesakes back at her childhood home in Orkney for Tweet of the Day.

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

Producer: Mark Ward
Photograph: Paul Smith.


TUE 06:00 Today (m001g34h)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 Room 5 (m001g34m)
Series 2, Episode 6: Tre

On his childhood nightmares and the diagnosis that explained them.

Tre’s lying in bed. He’s 10 years old and his heart’s racing. He’s just seen a strange figure in the corner of his bedroom, and it’s moving towards him. Tre has experiences like this all through his childhood. Nightmares. Hallucinations. Sleep paralysis. One afternoon, at school, his teacher pulls him aside. She’s spotted something in him that she recognises. And so it begins - tests, scans, until the clues come together and reveal a diagnosis that explains everything.

In Room 5, Helena Merriman shares stories of real-life medical mysteries, interviewing people who - like her - were changed by a diagnosis.

Written, presented and produced by Helena Merriman
Composer: Jeremy Warmsley
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore

Production Co-ordinator: Janet Staples
Producer: Claire Bowes
Editor: Emma Rippon

#Room5

End song: Miffed by Tom Rosenthal


TUE 09:30 Flight of the Ospreys (m001g34p)
On the Gambia River

Scotland's ospreys are on their epic autumn migration to West Africa. A team of conservationists headed up by biologist Sacha Dench is following them all the way, aiming to discover much more about the journey that the ospreys make and the challenges they face along the way. Climate change is making weather patterns less predictable, crucial wetlands on their route are being poisoned by pesticides and depleted by drought and the birds have the unfortunate habit of electrocuting themselves when they land on powerlines with freshly caught fish.

Today, the Conservation Without Borders team follow the birds through the Gambia where local birdwatchers are fighting to save prime bird habitat from tourism development.

Producers: Emily Knight and Alasdair Cross


TUE 09:45 A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney (m001g35p)
Episode 2

An intimate and unflinching account of the life and death of Rob Delaney’s young son Henry, told with honesty, humour and much, much love.

With the success of comedy series "Catastrophe", Rob’s decision to relocate his family from Los Angeles to London has paid off. But as work ramps up, the writer and comedian is about to be needed at home more than ever.

Written and read by Rob Delaney
Abridged by Clara Glynn
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie

Rob Delaney is an American comedian, actor and writer who co-created and co-starred in the BAFTA-winning comedy "Catastrophe".


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001g34t)
Hilary McGrady DG of the National Trust. RCN's Pat Cullen. Dance like no-one's watching

Hilary McGrady, the Director General of the National Trust, one of Britain's biggest heritage organisations and the custodian of hundreds of our finest castles, great houses and beaches and countryside. They’ll be discussing some of the recent controversies that’ve left to criticisms that it’s become too politicised in recent years. Critics say that in its pursuit of becoming more accessible to more people it’s fallen short of its original remit to acquire and preserve Britain’s heritage. After four years in the job, Emma Barnett speaks to Hilary about what she sees as her greatest achievements to date and her vision for the National Trust in the future.

Thursday will see the first ever national strike action in the Royal College of Nursing's 106-year-old history. This comes after talks between the nursing union and the government dramatically collapsed last night. We hear from Pat Cullen the General Secretary and Chief Executive of the RCN.

With Christmas party season in full swing for the first time in three years, many of us will be taking to the dancefloor. But how often do we truly get to dance like no one is watching? As we get older, do the opportunities become more scarce, and the internal shame more inhibiting? What are the songs - and who are the dance partners - which force us onto the floor? Emma Barnett is joined by the queen of the kitchen disco herself, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and comedian Ania Magliano to discuss the joy of losing yourself on the dancefloor.

Former F1 driver David Coulthard on why he's determined that women are not forgotten when it comes to Formula 1.

Presenter Emma Barnett
Producer Beverley Purcell
Photo Credit. John Millar. National Trust.


TUE 11:00 Phantoms in the Brain (m001g34w)
‘I'm tired of feeling a prisoner to my thoughts’ – Moksha’s story

In this episode, we meet Moksha, a doctor so debilitated by obsessive-compulsive disorder that he drives at least 50 miles home every day to avoid using the college toilets. He won’t eat or drink anything during weekend-long shifts, so he doesn’t have to use the hospital bathroom. He scrubs his skin with toxic cleaning products to try to rid himself of germs, sustaining chemical burns. Medication provides no relief, but cutting-edge technology - electrodes implanted deep within his brain to change electrical activity - successfully treats his condition, easing his symptoms.

We also hear from Matthew, whose many years of depression have been associated with feelings of inflammation or infection in his body; and we talk to neuroscientists leading research into how the immune system may influence brain functioning.

These cases cast light on the artificial distinctions between mental and physical health, and how psychological conditions have a basis in chemical or electrical changes in the brain.

Presenter: Professor Guy Leschziner
Producer: Sally Abrahams
Sound: Neil Churchill

Production co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Clare Fordham

Image: Amy Hiley amyhileyart.com


TUE 11:30 Laura Barton's Notes on Music (m001g34y)
Episode 1: The Baritone Voice

The music writer Laura Barton presents a series of meditations on different facets of the music we enjoy - starting with the baritone voice.

Celebrated British singer Roderick Williams has described his role as an operatic baritone as often arriving on stage "with a frown". He shares the characterisation of the baritone voice in opera and classical concert music with Laura, and also reflects, alongside Matt Berninger of the American indie rock band The National, on the wisdom, the masculinity, the melancholy often associated with it, while John Cale (formerly of the Velvet Underground) meditates on the timbre - the fundamentals and frequencies - of the baritone voice.

Music:
Bill Callahan – Riding the Feeling
Leonard Cohen – Chelsea Hotel
Beethoven – An die ferne Geliebte (Roderick Williams)
Verdi – Di provenza il mar (La Traviata) (Dmitri Hvorostovsky)
The National – Sorrow
Johnny Cash – I See a Darkness
Leonard Cohen – Everybody Knows
Smog – Let Me See the Colts
The National – Light Years
John Cale – You Know More Than I Know
Velvet Underground – Venus in Furs
Mark Lanegan – Judas Touch
Gerald Finzi – By Footpath and Stile (Roderick Williams)
The National – Pink Rabbits
Bill Callahan - Pigeons

Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m001g35v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m001g352)
Call You and Yours: How are the strikes and threatened strikes affecting you?

On today's Call You and Yours we're asking - how are the strikes and the threatened strikes affecting you?

Between now and the New Year, millions of workers are planning strikes in both the public and private sectors. This winter is seeing one of the highest levels of walkouts in recent memory as millions of workers are demanding higher pay rises to match the soaring cost of living.

Nurses, ambulance workers, rail workers, postal workers, baggage handlers, Border Force staff, driving examiners, teachers in Scotland, university lecturers and some bus drivers have all scheduled strikes.

How are strikes disrupting your life or business? If you're going on strike we'd like to hear from you too.

Call us on 03700 100 444. Lines open at 11 am on Tuesday December 13th. You can also email us now at youandyours@bbc.co.uk. Don't forget to leave a phone number so we can call you back.


Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Tara Holmes


TUE 12:57 Weather (m001g354)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m001g356)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


TUE 13:45 Please Protect Abraham (m001g358)
7. Just Pray

They remember it in vivid detail. The images have stayed in their minds for years. Abraham’s friends and family come together to retrace the events of a night that changed all of their lives.

Presenter and Original Research: Sam Holder
Series Producer and sound design: Anishka Sharma
Story Consultant: Robert Awosusi
Additional Research: Christy Callaway-Gale

Theme music written and performed by Rebekah Reid and Tapp Collective.
Original music compositions by Femi Oriogun-Williams

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m001g2yp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Broken Colours (m001g35b)
Series 2

Episode 2

Jess and Dan try to piece together what happened at the supermarket shooting. Cracks appear in the relationship and they don't see eye to eye. When an injured man appears at her door, Jess lets in more than she expected.

Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton, creator of podcast drama Tracks.

CAST

Jess…..Holli Dempsey
Dan…..Josef Altin
Gina.....Suzanne Packer
Anthony Wheeler.....Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong

Directed by John Norton

Production co-ordinators Eleri McAuliffe and Lindsay Rees
Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis
Produced by John Norton, Philippa Swallow and Emma Harding for BBC Audio Drama Wales


TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m001g35d)
Series 33

Expression

The secret language between partners, the melody of the voice, laughter from your belly and permission to scream - Josie long presents short visceral documentaries about how we express ourselves.

Belly Laugh
Featuring the voices of Jane Watson, Jean Mcglashen and Sue Relf with her husband Willy, and the laughter yoga session run by Brighton Laughter Club.
Produced by Jodie Taylor

AAAAH!
Produced by Jesse Lawson

Anatomy of a Voice
Produced by Ellie Lightfoot and Spencer Fox

Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:30 A Thorough Examination with Drs Chris and Xand (m001g339)
Series 2: Can I Change?

2. Does our birth order affect our personality?

Most of us would like something about ourselves or our lives to be different, but how easy is it to actually change?

Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken are looking at whether people can change and how they do it. Exactly how much of any aspect of personality is genetic destiny and how much are we shaped by the world around us?

Chris wants to be a better doctor, friend, husband and father. But most urgently he wants to be a better brother, and is determined to improve his relationship with Xand. They’re best friends and talk to each other every day, but they are also business partners who find it very hard to work together without having a visceral row.

Chris wants to change how he relates to his brother and believes it is possible, but Xand is less convinced that we can or that he needs to change. In this series, Chris confronts that pessimism.

In episode 2 - Does Our Birth Order Affect Our Personality? - the twins find out whether the order in which we’re born has any bearing on our personality. They call their little brother J who lives in New York and reminisce about their childhood. Chris’ wife Dinah and her older sisters debate whether showing off is the reserve of the youngest sibling. And psychologist Laura Botzet shares her findings from studies on the effect of birth order on personality. Does it have any credibility?

Presented by Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken
Produced by Hester Cant and Alexandra Quinn
Series Editor: Jo Rowntree
A Loftus Media and van Tulleken Brothers Ltd production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 16:00 Will Bird Flu Steal Christmas? (m001gmgw)
The UK is suffering its worst ever outbreak of avian flu. Wild birds are being badly hit and are spreading the virus to farmed poultry. Once bird flu gets on a farm, the entire flock must be culled. Turkey producers are struggling and fear there may be shortage at Christmas. The poultry industry is in crisis, with farmers going out of business. Charlotte Smith investigates why the outbreak has got so bad, why vaccines are not being used, and if bird flu will steal Christmas.

Produced by Beatrice Fenton.


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m001g35g)
Olivia Laing on Christopher Lloyd, Gardener and Writer

Known to his friends as Christo, Lloyd spent his whole life, from childhood until his death aged 85, at work in the same garden: Great Dixter in East Sussex. He wrote a weekly column for Country Life for 42 years and was the author of 25 books, including The Mixed Border in the Modern Garden (1957) and The Well Tempered Garden (1970).

Christo is the choice of the writer Olivia Laing, herself a passionate gardener. She and Matthew Parris go to Great Dixter to meet Head Gardener Fergus Garrett, who worked alongside Christo for many years and was one of his closest friends.

Olivia Laing is the author of five works of non-fiction and a novel. Her books include To the River (2011), The Trip to Echo Spring (2013) and The Lonely City (2016). Her books have been translated into 19 languages. She writes on art and culture for the Guardian, Financial Times and New York Times, among many other publications and a book of her collected essays on art, Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency, was published in 2020. Her most recent book is Everybody: A Book About Freedom (2021) and she is currently working on a book about gardens and paradise.

Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio

Photograph of Christopher Lloyd used by kind permission of Jonathan Buckley


TUE 17:00 PM (m001g35j)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001g35q)
It's hoped it could one day lead to a near-limitless source of clean power


TUE 18:30 Hennikay (m001g35x)
Series 1

Going Home

Bill Bailey stars as Guy Starling, a middle-aged man who, after 45 years, and for reasons quite unknown to him, is suddenly revisited by his imaginary childhood friend, Hennikay.

Things have come to a head for Guy. He has lost his job, he’s running out of money and, most worrying of all, his 11-year-old imaginary friend, Hennikay, is still a very permanent – and annoying – fixture in his life. No matter how hard he tries to persuade him that he doesn’t exist, he just can’t get him to leave.

And so in a last-ditch attempt to understand why his old friend has returned from his childhood and just what he wants, Guy decides to go back home to where it all started and see his Mum – who unfortunately for him, is not imaginary.

Over the years Guy has found that trips back to his boyhood home never go smoothly, but this one becomes spectacularly rocky. As mother and son share some uncomfortable home truths, family skeletons are dragged out of cupboards and Guy gets stuck in a bush.

As always, Hennikay is there to save the day and this time in the most unexpected way. Because, as he tells Guy, just because he’s imaginary, doesn’t mean he’s not real.

Cast:
Guy – Bill Bailey
Tony – Dave Lamb
Marika – Elizabeth Carling
Sheila - Miranda Richardson
Hennikay – Max Pattison

Written by David Spicer
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m001g316)
It’s the Berrow Christmas party and Neil admires Jazzer’s festive jumper. Martyn’s busy congratulating himself and the Board on what a great job they’re doing, sweeping Neil aside when he tries to pin him down on the staffing crisis. Jazzer gets more drinks in, hoping to ease the pain of the evening’s events. As they become tipsy they play a truth and lie parlour game, and well-oiled Martyn admits to having been on a TV dating show. Jazzer encourages him to tell all. Neil finds this all a distraction from his desire for a staffing chat – getting the boss drunk isn’t a great negotiating tactic. But Jazzer counsels Neil to wait and see.
Tracy delivers some wine to Brookfield for a barn event, and asks after Ben. Ruth’s evasive at first, but then admits she’s tired and the two of them sit down. Ruth fills Tracy in on Ben without going into details. Ruth feels she should have seen it coming, but Tracy sympathises. Kids aren’t always the best at sharing, especially when they’re caught up in their own emotions. Ruth’s finding it hard to be optimistic. It’s exhausting trying to prop up anxious David too, who seems to be overcompensating all the time. Tracy suggests Ruth doesn’t let herself get overwhelmed. She’s not Superwoman. Their kids aren’t perfect either, but they love them with everything they’ve got, and that has to count for something.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m001g360)
Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody; Qatar art, architecture & the World Cup; Hannah Khalil

Director Kasi Lemmons discusses her new film, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, a biopic of the performer Whitney Houston, whose unmatched vocal power saw her become one of the best-selling musical artists of all time. She talks about exploring the darker sides of Whitney’s life and working with British actor Naomi Ackie who stars in the title role.

Hannah Khalil, writer-in-residence at Shakespeare's Globe theatre, tells Luke about her retelling of the classic 1001 Nights story cycle - Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights, which reimagines Scheherazade's storytelling feat as a team writing effort.

Plus, in the final week of the World Cup in Qatar, we look at the new art and architecture in the country: the huge public art programme featuring the work of over 100 artists, including Jeff Koons, Louise Bourgeois, and Olafur Eliasson, plus new galleries, museums, and stadiums. To discuss Qatar’s cultural ambitions, and the question of culture washing in the face of rights concerns, Luke is joined by Hannah McGivern of The Art Newspaper, and Rowan Moore, architecture critic at The Observer.

Presenter: Luke Jones
Producer: Julian May


TUE 20:00 What’s a Tory? (m001g362)
In just three years since Boris Johnson’s landslide election victory in 2019, the Conservative party has descended into turmoil and division. After months of turbulence, the UK’s historically most successful party faces a challenging winter, with polls suggesting it’s headed for defeat at the next election. Lewis Goodall talks to insiders and party figures about the ideological tensions underlying the party’s struggles. Why has the party burned through so many prime minsters in 12 years? Why are Conservatives so divided about the post-Brexit future? Why are there such wrangles over issues like housing and planning?

What do Conservatives stand for and who are they for?

Guests include former Cabinet ministers William Waldegrave, David Gauke and David Frost, historians Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite and Robert Saunders and activists in key battleground seats.

Producer: Leala Padmanabhan


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m001g364)
The Eye Clinic Liaison Officer; Visually Impaired Netball

The Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO) has an important part to play when being diagnosed with an eye condition, during later prognosis and treatment. We invited Paula Thomas onto the program, who is visually impaired and is currently working as an ECLO at Great Ormond Street Hospital, to tell us more about what her role entails and the kinds of things ECLOs can offer help with.

We often report on In Touch about sports that have been adapted to be played by blind and partially sighted people... but never netball. That's because, for the first time, it is being adapted to be played by partially sighted people. We hear from Sam Bird, who is CEO of Netball Superleague club London Pulse, about their upcoming netball festival that is encouraging new visually impaired players to join in.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Paul Holloway

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.


TUE 21:00 All in the Mind (m001g31r)
The sudden rise in teenagers developing tics during the pandemic

A new study highlights the increase in the number of teenagers - especially girls - developing involuntary physical and vocal tics during the pandemic. Neurologist Professor Jon Stone from the University of Edinburgh explains how they differ from those seen in patients with Tourette's - which come on very gradually are most often seen in eight to ten year old boys. One of his patients Beth first had tics four years ago, starting with spasms in her abdomen which pulled her upper body forwards. Prof Stone says that functional tics are caused by the brain not working properly and that it's an oversimplification to say they are the result of young people watching too many Tiktok videos.

Professor Tamara Pringsheim is a neurologist in Calgary, Canada, who's just published a study showing how widespread they are across the world. She says that almost overnight her clinic was filled with teenage girls - after years of only seeing younger boys with Tourette's. She says the outlook for teenagers with tics is good - they usually get better, often within 6 months. Treatment can include cognitive behavioural therapy and it's also useful to involve the whole family - relatives should be discouraged from using humour to diffuse tension when a teenager tics, as it can make them last longer. Beth has just started university and is learning to live with her tics - and finds important social support from online communities of others who have tics.

Professor of health psychology at the University of Leeds, Daryl O'Connor shares Professor Stone's scepticism about the role of Tiktok in rise in the number of tics. He also explains how a study where girls were encouraged to pretend they were scientists resulted in them playing a science game for longer.

Dr Carolin Schuster from Leuphana University in Germany has published a study showing that encouraging messages to HR professionals can help to cut the gender pay gap - but it's yet to be seen if the intervention would work in real-life not just the lab.


TUE 21:30 Room 5 (m001g34m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m001g366)
Rishi Sunak sets out new plan to curb Channel migrants

Rishi Sunak has outlined measures aimed at deterring migrants from crossing the Channel in small boats - including plans to send back thousands of Albanians within months. We assess the proposals with a former Border Force official and a lawyer.

Scientists hail a major breakthrough in nuclear fusion - but what is it and how could it help our thirst for clean energy?

And we speak to a former member of Twitter's Trust and Safety Council about why Elon Musk disbanded it.


TUE 22:45 A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson (m001g368)
Episode 2

The tenderness and tragedy of everyday lives in a backwater town in 1970s Ontario. Mary Lawson's book was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2021.

Clara's sister is missing. Angry, rebellious Rose, had a row with their mother, stormed out of the house and simply disappeared. Eight-year-old Clara, isolated by her distraught parents' efforts to protect her from the truth, is grief-stricken and bewildered.

Liam Kane, newly divorced, newly unemployed, newly arrived in this small northern town, moves into the house next door, a house left to him by an old woman he can barely remember and within hours gets a visit from the police. It seems he's suspected of a crime.

At the end of her life Elizabeth Orchard is thinking about a crime too, one committed 30 years ago that had tragic consequences for two families and in particular for one small child. She desperately wants to make amends before she dies.

Set in Northern Ontario in 1972, A Town Called Solace explores the relationships of these three people brought together by fate and the mistakes of the past. By turns gripping and darkly funny, it uncovers the layers of grief and remorse and love that connect us.

Read by
Genevieve Gaunt
Susan Brown and
Alec Newman

Abridged by Florence Bedell
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:00 Rhys James (m000c4qk)
Rhys James Isn't...

Rhys James Isn’t… 'A'

In an attempt to become more politically engaged, comedian Rhys James tries on opinions like clothes to see how they fit. This week he’s putting his left leg in first.

Dressed as a wishy-washy liberal Rhys asks: why are we not doing more to save the planet… Why is it taking so long to teach LGBT+ issues in schools… Why doesn’t everywhere have gender-neutral toilets… And why are we letting Facebook spy on us?

This is what he thinks this week, but next week he’ll be a week older and more right wing…

Written and performed by – Rhys James
Produced by – Carl Cooper

Production Co-ordinator – Gwyn Rhys Davies

A BBC Studios production


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001g36b)
All the news from today's sitting at Westminster.