SATURDAY 08 MARCH 2025

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m0028l3y)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 My Dear Kabul by Writers in the Paranda Group (m0028l2f)
Episode 5 - The Seasons Change

In the spring of 2022, the women writers share their dismay in their collective diary when a new dress code is decreed in Afghanistan. Read by Juliet Stevenson, Indira Varma, Chipo Chung and Shala Nyx.

My Dear Kabul is a collective diary kept by a group of women writers in Afghanistan after the Taliban's return to power in August 2021. That fateful summer, as the Taliban advance across Afghanistan intensified, the women, brought together by their writing, were about to publish their first short story collection. Almost immediately, they began keeping a record of their experiences on WhatsApp, telling the story of everyday life in their homeland as cities transform, families change, and freedoms disappear. Some were students, newly married, mothers, and grandmothers, and while some remained in their homeland, others were forced to flee where they had to contend with becoming refugees and asylum seekers in unwelcoming countries

My Dear Kabul is an Untold Narratives project. Untold Narratives works to develop and amplify the work of writers marginalised by community or conflict, and share their stories with readers, locally and globally.

The readers are Juliet Stevenson, Indira Varma, Chipo Chung and Shala Nyx who throughout their careers actively work to support children and women’s rights, and more broadly human rights in the UK and internationally.

Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Sound design by Peter Ringrose
Produced by Elizabeth Allard


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0028l40)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0028l42)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0028l44)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m0028l46)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0028l48)
Acceptance and the present moment

Good Morning.

Like many others, I’m the daughter of a parent with increasing dementia. When my Dad died unexpectedly a few years ago, he and my Mum had recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. I’d only ever known Mum as someone with an impressively diverse range of interests, and a diary to rival the hardest working member of the royal family. So I became confused as she became confused.

A taxi driver told me he’d been listening to a radio programme about dementia, which highlighted that the longer a couple are together, their brains will synchronise. So it could be the shock of losing her life partner contributed to a change in Mum’s cognitive functions. But whatever explanations there may be along the way, they aren’t necessarily the point.

Me and Mum’s loyal friends have sometimes felt frustrated, or lost for words, as we try to engage her in conversations, often hoping that our shared memories will bridge the connection.

Feeling deflated one day, the care home manager with a compassionate yet straightforward approach, said that in the case of dementia, friends and family need to let go of their attachment to the person they think someone is based on the history of the person they knew. We were told to accept that Mum isn’t the person we expect her to be; she is different and may be different each day. The manager’s advice was to simply be with Mum as we find her in the moment.

Dear God, I’d like to give thanks to my Mum, who continues to teach me even as she approaches 90, still supporting me to evolve and grow. May I take these lessons into everyday life, dropping my expectations of others and accepting everyone I encounter just as I find them, with a sense of wonder of who I may discover in the present moment.

Sat Naam.


SAT 05:45 Why Do We Do That? (m0028l2t)
Series 2

7. Why do we blush?

Paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi asks why we blush. Even Darwin was intrigued by blushing. He called it “the most peculiar and most human of all expression” but didn’t think it had a function. Dr Laith Al-Shawaf from the University of Colorado makes students do embarrassing things to understand why we blush and how blushing can make people like you more when you make a mistake.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m0028sjb)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 This Natural Life (m0028jvp)
James Dyson

Sir James Dyson is one of the UK’s best known inventors and businessmen. His Dyson vacuum cleaners, hair dryers and air purifiers have sold in their millions, both in the UK and around the world. In 2013, Sir James turned his attention to farming. He now runs the biggest farming business in the country, and owns 36,000 acres on which he produces potatoes, peas and strawberries. In this programme, Martha travels to his farm near Bath to find out more about his love for the natural world. She learns of how his early years growing up in Norfolk helped inspire him not just in business, but also in farming. He talks about the impact losing his father at a young age had on him, his experience of working on farms as a teenager and his hopes for the future of farming in the UK. Martha also gets to see the Dyson approach to farming, where robots are being taught how to identify and pick strawberries which are grown in one of the UK’s most technically advanced greenhouses.

Producer: Ed Prendeville


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m0028sjd)
08/03/25 Farming Today This Week: Impact of US tariffs on global agri-trade, Sir James Dyson, supply chains, cost of bird flu

The American President Donald Trump wants farmers in the US to produce more for the domestic market as the rows over import tariffs continue. So what might this all this mean for them, for us and for global trade?

For This Natural Life, this week on on BBC Radio 4, Martha Kearney visited Sir James Dyson on his farm in Somerset to hear what the natural world means to him, and how that is being reflected in his approach to farming.

Bird flu continues to hit poultry farms across the country. Last week we heard from Jerry Saunders, from Orchard Organic Farm in South Devon, about the emotional toll of having all 5000 of his birds culled after getting bird flu. We hear how the financial impact can be severe, too.

Broadband speeds in rural areas are 26% slower than they are in urban areas - that’s according to the Government, and there are still parts of the country that have no mobile phone access at all. We speak to Chris Bryant, the minister with responsibility for digital inclusion, about the Government's Digital Inclusion Action Plan.

New rules for the pig supply chain are due to be introduced this spring to help even up what Defra describes as a 'power imbalance' between farmers and processors.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


SAT 06:57 Weather (m0028sjg)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m0028sjj)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m0028sjl)
Lorraine Kelly, Sally Lindsay, Alice Watkins, Carrie Hope Fletcher

Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.


SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m0028sjn)
History of Coffee: from devil’s brew to our favourite beverage

Greg Jenner is joined by Professor Jonathan Morris and comedian Sophie Duker to learn all about the bittersweet history of coffee. Coffee is undoubtedly one of the most popular drinks worldwide, and we consume an estimated 95 millions cups of the stuff everyday in the UK alone. But where does coffee come from, and when did we start enjoying its caffeinated effects? From its origins in medieval Ethiopia and Yemen, through the coffeehouses of the Middle East and Europe, to its central importance to soldiers during the American Civil War, this episode traces the complex history of our favourite beverage. Along the way, it explores the uses people have had for coffee over the years, in religious rituals, as a stimulant to intellectual exchange, and even as a medicine. We also debunk some of the myths that have been brewed up about coffee’s history. Did the pope really call it ‘the devil’s brew’? Was it discovered by an Ethiopian goatherd? And did a Dutch man really have to smuggle coffee trees out of Yemen? Listen to find out!

If you’re a fan of delicious disputes over food, wild medical treatments from centuries past and murky historical myths, you’ll love our episode on the history of coffee.

If you want more from Sophie Duker, check out our episodes on Benedetta Carlini or the Chevalier de Saint-Georges. And for more on culinary creations of the past, listen to our episodes on the history of chocolate and ice cream.

You’re Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner
Research by: Matt Ryan
Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Production Coordinator: Ben Hollands
Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse
Executive Editor: James Cook


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m0028sjq)
Series 47

Episode 3

Investigating every aspect of the food we eat


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m0028sjs)
Radio 4's weekly assessment of developments at Westminster


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0028sjv)
Gaza's future

Kate Adie introduces dispatches from Egypt, Poland, the USA, Malaysia, and the Mekong River.

Arab leaders convened in Egypt this week to draw up a post-war plan for Gaza - and to counter Donald Trump's proposal to turn it into the 'riviera of the Middle East'. Lyse Doucet travelled to Cairo to report on the new Arab resolve, but found herself being pulled back into the city's own tumultuous history.

Increased uncertainty about the future of Ukraine is fuelling a sense of unease in neighbouring Poland. The question of 'how safe are we?' is a hot topic of discussion in the country's current presidential election campaign. Adam Easton reports from Warsaw.

In order to tackle the country's opioid crisis, some US states are focussing less on prosecution, and more on treatment. The first state to decriminalise the personal possession of hard drugs was Oregon back in 2020 – a decision it would come to reverse in 2024. Martin Vennard has been to the famously progressive state to find out what’s been happening.

Malaysia has become a global hub for recycling, importing an estimated five million tonnes of plastic each year - but does it really make a difference? Leanna Hosea went to find out what happens to the world's waste once it arrives.

Finally, we head to the banks of the Mekong River, where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet. Matthew Gwyther travelled through the region and reflects on how its past and present have being shaped by dominant powers.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison & Sophie Hill


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m0028sjx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m0028sjz)
ISAs Future and Later Life Mortgages

Over the past few weeks there's been speculation over the future of ISAs - Individual Savings Accounts. At the moment each saver can deposit up to £20,000 each tax year into an ISA tax-free, but there have been reports that the Treasury is considering making some changes. Things like lowering the limit to £4,000. In a statement to Money Box the Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that while it's important to support people to save, they want to get the balance right. She wants to create "more of a culture in the UK of retail investing." What does that mean and what might change?

Some listeners have been experiencing delays after trying to boost their state pension by filling old gaps in their National Insurance record. At the moment a window is open for people who have not yet reached pension age and those already on the new state pension to fill gaps in their record back as far as 2006. But in just a few weeks time that window will close. The government told us that it's processing payments as quickly as possible and that people who at least take the first step by 5 April will still be able to fill those gaps.

Are water companies banned from sending out bills for water used more than 12 months ago as energy suppliers are?

And more than 35,000 people who were aged 55 or over took out new mortgage loans in the last 3 months of 2024, up 30% on the year before, what's behind the rise?

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Eimear Devlin and Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 8th March 2025)


SAT 12:30 The Naked Week (m0028l36)
Series 2

Episode 1: Oval arguments, awful algorithms, and a game of Top (Donald) Trumps.

The Naked Week team are back to place satirical news-tariffs on current events with a mix of correspondents, guests and, occasionally, live animals. This week we fail to wear a suit, dance around the problems with Tik Tok like no-one's watching, and guest correspondent Rosie Holt radicalises some children.

From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes and host Andrew Hunter Murray comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.

With award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers a topical news-nude straight to your ears.

Written by:
Jon Holmes
Katie Sayer
Gareth Ceredig
Jason Hazeley
Sarah Dempster

Investigations Team:
Cat Neilan
Louis Mian
Freya Shaw
Matt Brown

Guests: Rosie Holt, Dr Nussaibah Younis, Laura Windsor.

Production Team: Katie Sayer, Laura Grimshaw, Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, Phoebe Butler.

Executive Producer: Philip Abrams
Produced and Directed by Jon Holmes

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4

This episode of The Naked Week is dedicated to our colleague and friend Bill Dare.


SAT 12:57 Weather (m0028sk1)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m0028sk3)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m0028l3f)
Matt Goodwin, Alison McGovern MP, Sir Jeremy Wright MP, Max Wilkinson MP

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from All Stretton Village Hall, Shropshire with the author and GB News Presenter Matt Goodwin; the Employment Minister Alison McGovern MP; Conservative MP and former Attorney General Sir Jeremy Wright; and Max Wilkinson MP the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Culture, Media and Sport.

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies
Lead broadcast engineer: Tim Allen


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m0028sk5)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week.


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m0028l39)
Writer: Naylah Ahmed
Director: Dave Payne & Jessica Bunch
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge…. Charles Collingwood
Natasha Archer…. Mali Harries
Pat Archer…. Patricia Gallimore
Tony Archer…. David Troughton
Lilian Bellamy…. Sunny Ormonde
Eddie Grundy…. Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O’Hanrahan
Brad Horrobin…. Taylor Uttley
Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell
Joy Horville…. Jackie Lye
Jim Lloyd…. John Rowe
Akram Malik…. Asif Khan
Azra Malik…. Yasmin Wilde
Khalil Malik…. Krish Bassi
Zainab Malik…. Priyasasha Kumari
Jazzer McCreary…. Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller…. Annabelle Dowler
Freddie Pargetter…. Toby Laurence
Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd


SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m000ldmy)
The English Lesson

Drama by Tamsin Oglesby. Farooq is a recent immigrant to the UK and an adept student of English. He becomes close friends with his teacher, Johnny, but a sharing of language is not the same as mutual cultural understanding. Danny Sapani, Ben Turner and Kate O'Flynn star.

Directed by Emma Harding

CAST

Johnny.....Danny Sapani
Farooq.....Ben Turner
Lola/ Student.....Kate O'Flynn
Dad.....Patrick Fitzsymons


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m0028sk7)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Twiggy, Misogyny and boys, Lucy Edwards, Segregation, Mhairi Black, Nieve Ella

Twiggy turned the modelling world upside down with her androgynous style, big round eyes, bold eyelashes, and pixie haircut, becoming a defining figure and fashion icon of the swinging 60s. Considered the world’s first supermodel, she went on to have a successful career in acting and singing, earning two Golden Globes and a Tony nomination, designed fashion ranges, appeared as a judge on America’s Next Top Model, and was awarded a damehood for services to the fashion, arts and charity. A new documentary, Twiggy, directed by Sadie Frost, is out in cinemas now. Twiggy joined Krupa Padhy to talk about her long career.

Kyle Clifford was found guilty of raping his ex-girlfriend in an attack in which he murdered her, her mother and her sister. Louise, Hannah and Carol Hunt were murdered two weeks after Louise ended her relationship with him. It has been revealed that prosecutors said "violent misogyny" promoted by social media influencer Andrew Tate "fuelled" his attacks. However, the defence argued this material had too vague a link and was far too prejudicial to be heard by the jury. As we hear this news, concerns rise again about the influence of people like self-described misogynist Andrew Tate, and there are calls for his content to be taken down. Anita was joined by Michael Conroy, founder of Men at Work, which works with teachers and boys in schools to challenge sexist and misogynistic content online and Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism project who campaigns for gender equality to discuss how we can protect our children from, especially boys, from this.

Journalist and disability activist Lucy Edwards has just published her debut fiction book, Ella Jones vs the Sun Stealer, a mystery aimed at younger readers. It tells the story of 12-year-old Ella Jones who has been blind for two years and is navigating her new world with the help of her guide dog Maisie, her sister Poppy and her best friend Finn. She joined Krupa to talk about the book and her experiences sharing her own story online.

We discuss the extraordinary story of how and why an autistic woman was locked up in a mental health hospital for 45 years. For 25 of those she was in long term segregation. Nuala McGovern talked to reporter Carolyn Atkinson about how the woman was eventually freed and to campaigner Alexis Quinn who is autistic and spent three years in a mental health hospital including time in segregation before she escaped. She now campaigns for the Restraint Reduction Network charity about the more than 2,000 other autistic people and or those with learning disabilities who are still in mental health hospitals, many of whom shouldn’t be.

In May 2015, 20 year-old Mhairi Black was the youngest person for more than a century to become a Member of Parliament – and she then remained a Westminster MP until standing down at the 2024 election. A new BBC documentary follows her last six months in that role and looks at what her future could hold in a new career as a stand-up comedian. Now 30, she joined Anita Rani to reflect on her years in Parliament and what she’d like to see change about the way it functions.

Nieve Ella is currently on tour, playing to packed venues and solidifying her place as a rising star in indie music. With a distinctive online presence and an ever-growing fanbase, she’s proving that Gen Z artists are reshaping the industry on their own terms. Nieve performed the track Sweet Nothings with Finn Marlow.

Presenter: Anita Rani


SAT 17:00 PM (m0028sk9)
Full coverage of the day's news.


SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m0028mq3)
The Rishi Sunak Lessons from Downing Street One

An exclsuive in-depth interview with the Rishi Sunak. In this first instalment, the former prime minister tells stories from behind the scenes on the world stage explains why he thinks we must now cut welfare spending to fund defence.

Sunak reflects on how a sense of duty - inspired by his Hindu faith - helped drive his political career, and reflects on how and why he ultimately led the Conservative Party to the worst electoral defeat in its history.

Producers: Daniel Kraemer and Joel Massey


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0028skd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m0028skg)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0028skj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m0027jyq)
Michael Ball, Hollie McNish, Pearl Mackie, Sam Lee, Pierre Novellie, Clive Anderson

Clive hosts Loose Ends with an audience in London this week with a set of guests with a serious work ethic and willingness to try new things in the name of entertainment. The chart topping superstar and award winning actor Michael Ball is now also a best selling novelist. Can life backstage really be as chaotic as this page-turner set in theatreland suggests? Hollie McNish is that rare thing, a best-selling poet who also likes to make people laugh. Fresh from entertaining Swiss school children with her work, she'll be discussing her latest collection Lobster (and other things I'm learning to Love), the follow up to Slug (and other things I've been told to hate). And Dr Who and Ballet Shoes actress Pearl Mackie on her new venture - a true crime podcast called Theatre of Crime, investigating famous murder mysteries with a touch of audio drama. Comedian Pierre Novellie also co-hosts podcasts, alongside names like Frank Skinner and Phil Wang. But he's going it alone in a new show - Must We? - a sell out Edinburgh Festival hit that makes comedy out of Cargo Cults, neurodiversity and quirky obsessions.
Plus, music from the English folk star Sam Lee, who is heading up a year of environment-themed events in the Earth Unwrapped festival.

Presented by Clive Anderson
Produced by Olive Clancy


SAT 19:00 Profile (m0028skl)
An insight into the character of an influential person making the news headlines


SAT 19:15 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m0028d2b)
Series 32

Adventures on Ice - Darren Harriott, Liz Morris, Christoph Salzmann and Felicity Aston

Robin Ince and Brian Cox venture into the captivating and surprisingly mysterious realm of ice. Joining them on this cool adventure are former ice dancer Darren Harriott, glaciologist Liz Morris, polar explorer Felicity Aston and ice chemist Christoph Salzmann.

From beautifully formed snowflakes to ice shelves in Antarctica, our guests discuss the fascinating science suspended in solid water and how much is still to be discovered. With the help of a gin and tonic they explore the properties of ice - like why it floats and how there are 20 phases of ice, three of which were accidentally discovered by our guest Christoph. Darren shares his respect and fear for ice having learnt to dance and ice-skate on it. Liz discusses how analysing deep ice can provide a window into our past climate whilst also helping us understand our present one and why penguins can be problematic. Polar explorer Felicity explains how being able to read the colours, shapes and sounds of the ice have helped to keep her alive as she's traversed the highly inhospitable (but also incredibly beautiful) polar regions.

Producer: Melanie Brown
Exec Producer: Alexandra Feachem
Assistant Producer: Olivia Jani


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m000h1gn)
Riot Remembered

The St Paul's Riot in Bristol in 1980 helped trigger subsequent serious unrest in Brixton and Toxteth. The riot was caused by a complex combination of racial tension, economic difficulty, class antagonism, and unwitting mistakes in local policing. Archive on Four recreates this overlooked moment in British history using the testimony of those who took part on all sides.


SAT 21:00 Moral Maze (m0028l07)
When should we be grateful?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed his "gratitude" for US military support. It comes after the heated exchange in the Oval Office, where President Trump and Vice-President Vance told Zelensky he was not thankful enough. Cicero referred to gratitude as "the parent of all virtues", but like all virtues, it plays a complex role in our moral life.

Ancient philosophers like the stoics and modern positive psychologists agree that recognising what we have rather than longing for what we don’t have can reduce anxiety and foster happiness. Expressing gratitude, they say, helps to build trust and deepens bonds between people, creating a sense of community and reciprocity. In difficult times, gratitude can provide perspective, allowing individuals to focus on what matters rather than being overwhelmed by hardship.

Gratitude sceptics, however, think that a perpetual state of thankfulness might not be that good for us. An over-emphasis on gratitude, they suggest, can make people passive and discourage ambition or protest in situations that demand change in our lives. The idea of a ‘thankless task’ implies that the absence of gratitude is sometimes necessary for virtue to exist. When gratitude is socially expected, it can damage relationships; it can feel transactional and forced rather than sincere, making it a tool for control and manipulation rather than authentic appreciation.

Whether expressing thanks is healthy or not depends on the circumstances, which requires discernment. So when should we be grateful?

Chair: Michael Buerk
Producer: Dan Tierney
Assistant producer: Peter Everett
Editor: Tim Pemberton

Panel:
Mona Siddiqui
Tim Stanley
Sonia Sodha
Anne McElvoy

Witnesses:
Annette Kellow
Mark Vernon
Susie Masterson
Julian Baggini


SAT 22:00 News (m0028skn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m0028l2c)
Communal Dining

Sheila Dillon joins diners eating together in Manchester and Copenhagen, and hears why some think we should be making more time in the UK for eating communally.

During World War II, British Restaurants provided nutritious, affordable meals across the UK. Endorsed by Winston Churchill, they ensured good food was accessible to all. Now, some believe this model should return.

Professor Bryce Evans from Liverpool Hope University explains why reviving communal dining could help tackle today’s cost-of-living crisis. In Manchester, we hear from "The Manc Kitchen" - a pilot inspired by MP Ian Byrne’s "Scouse Kitchen" and his "Right to Food" campaign. Similar initiatives are emerging across the UK.

Sheila Dillon travels to Copenhagen, "the capital of communal dining," to see how the Danes have embraced eating together. She visits Absalon, a repurposed church where 200 people dine each night, and Grønne Eng (Green Meadows), a co-housing community where 190 residents cook and share meals communally four times a week. Even in workplaces, communal dining is the norm—Sheila eats with a team of architects at a long table.

Food writer Heidi Svømmekjær explains how Denmark’s long, dark winters have shaped this culture, making shared meals a way to foster warmth and connection.

With food insecurity and loneliness on the rise, Sheila asks if communal restaurants be a solution?

Presented by Sheila Dillon
Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Natalie Donovan


SAT 23:00 Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar (m0028skq)
Series 5

2. What is this place you have brought me to Roger?

Stand-up, philosophy and memoir from the godfather of alternative comedy, Alexei Sayle.

In this episode, Alexei recalls his unorthodox upbringing in Liverpool, his subsequent move to London, and a woman called Mrs Cocker who said something that has stuck with him for ever.

Written and performed by Alexei Sayle.

The song was written and composed by Tim Sutton with:

Sophie Creaner - clarinet and sax
Tom Ellis - acoustic guitar
Matt Sharp - cello

Producer - Richard Morris
Production Co-ordinator - Jodie Charman

A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.


SAT 23:30 Counterpoint (m0028jhw)
Series 38

Semi-final 1, 2025

(10/13)
The first trio of heat winners take their place for the first of this year's semi-finals, with Paul Gambaccini putting them through their paces on a wide range of musical topics. Will they know which city provides the nickname of Shostakovich's seventh symphony, which Marvin Gaye song Jack Black sang in the film 'High Fidelity', or the original performer of 'Tainted Love'?

They will also be asked to choose a musical 'special subject' on which to answer individual questions, without any prior warning of what categories are going to be offered.

Appearing in today's contest are:
Gareth Aubrey from Beddau in South Wales
Jonathan Brick from Watford
Antony Cruddas from Gosport.

Counterpoint is a BBC Studios Audio production.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria

SUNDAY 09 MARCH 2025

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m0028sks)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Bookclub (m0028jhr)
Christopher Brookmyre

This month, Bookclub, presented by James Naughtie, speaks to the author Christopher Brookmyre, as he takes questions from a live BBC audience about his debut novel, Quite Ugly One Morning. The book is a pacey crime thriller, not so much a 'whodunnit', as a 'whydunnit', and it introduces us to the wily, wise-cracking journalist Jack Parlabane - a character Chris is still writing about some thirty years later. Published in 1996, Quite Ugly One Morning, was a best-seller at the time, and the actor David Tennant read the audiobook.

Producer: Dom Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan

This was a BBC AUDIO SCOTLAND PRODUCTION.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0028skv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0028skx)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0028skz)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m0028sl1)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m0028sl3)
The Minster Church of St Mary’s in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

Bells on Sunday comes from the Minster Church of St Mary’s in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. There are 12 bells which were cast by the John Taylor foundry of Loughborough in 2017. The Tenor bell weighs twenty one and a half hundredweight and is tuned to the note of E flat. We hear them being rung by an all-female band of ringers drawn from towers from across the country and abroad. They are ringing Yorkshire Surprise Maximus.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m0028jmm)
Blind Female CEOs

In a recent episode of In Touch, we interviewed Sandi Wassmer, who at the time, we believed to be the UK's only blind female CEO. Among the very positive responses we received were a couple pointing us in the direction of two other blind women in the top job, and who would make excellent guests.

Always keen to respond to listeners' suggestions, we were delighted when Agnes Lunny and Halima Begum, CEOs of Positive Futures and Oxfam GB respectively, agreed to join us. They tell us about their journey to the positions they hold today, the challenges they've faced and what could be done so that others can follow in their footsteps.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Fern Lulham
Production Coordinator: Liz Poole

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.’


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m0028tm3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Thinking Allowed (m0028jlg)
ECOLOGY

Laurie Taylor talks to Vron Ware, Visiting Professor at the Gender Institute of the LSE, about the reality of living next to a huge army community in the UK. Talking to both sides of the divide, she explores the impact of the sprawling military presence on Salisbury Plain, an area of British countryside which is home to rare plants and wildlife. Is military occupation a positive asset in terms of conservation and ecology? Also, Sunaura Taylor, Assistant Professor in the Division of Society and Environment at UC Berkeley, describes environmental damage below the ground in Tucson Arizona and its ripple effects through the largely Mexican American community living above.

Producer: Jayne Egerton


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m0028tm7)
A Eureka Moment on Eigg

It's not easy getting on and off the Hebridean Isle of Eigg. Although it's only 15 miles from the mainland, the ferry service is regularly interrupted by bad weather, technical difficulties and staffing issues. It's an inconvenience for visitors, but a major headache for the islanders.

For the farmers and crofters, getting feed supplies, transporting animals to and from market, arranging appointments with the vet, sorting out machinery repairs and equipment deliveries are all subject to the ferry timetables.

They are challenges which former music journalist turned hill farmer, Sarah Boden, has learned to live with. Her family moved away from Eigg when she was a child but she has a deep love of the island and decided to return fifteen years ago when she was offered redundancy from her job as a music critic on a London newspaper.

"I come from a farming background and I always loved being out on the hills," she says. "When the redundancy offer came up I saw it as an opportunity to come back."

Sarah joined her father, Alex, in the tenancy of a 2,500 acre farm, owned by the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust. Together they reared sheep and cattle and managed a number of bio-diversity schemes. Now Sarah is in charge has made a major decision about its future – a switch from sheep to cattle.

Presented by Kathleen Carragher
Produced by John Deering


SUN 06:57 Weather (m0028tmc)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m0028tmf)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m0028tmh)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m0028tmk)
Smart Works

Entrepreneur and ambassador for Smart Works Sara Davies makes the Radio 4 Appeal. The charity dresses and coaches unemployed women across the UK, to help them prepare for job interviews.

To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. That’s the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope. Mark the back of the envelope ‘Smart Works’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Smart Works charity’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4

Registered Charity Number: 1080609. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.smartworks.org.uk/
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites

Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m0028tmm)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m0028tmp)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m0028tmr)
The first Sunday in Lent

Marking the start of Lent live from Glasgow University Memorial Chapel with Rev Scott Blythe and Rev Roz Lawson of the Inter-faith Chaplaincy.
Chapel Choir directed by Katy Lavinia Cooper and accompanied on the organ by Kevin Bowyer.
Readings: Psalm 91; Luke 4: 1-13
Hymns:
We Sing The Praise Of Him Who Died (Tune: Walton (Fulda))
O Watcher In The Wilderness (Tune: Coe Fen)
The God Of Abraham Praise (Tune: Leoni)
Choral:
I Sat Under His Shadow (Bairstow)
God So Loved The World (Chilcott)
Sung Responses (Katy Lavinia Cooper)
Producer: Mo McCullough


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m0028l3h)
Leaning In to Social Media

Zoe Strimpel explains why she's decided to lean in to social media, and not worry about how much time she spends scrolling.

Despite ongoing concerns about its impact on our brains, Zoe says she's personally found the algorithm benign, offering her endless information about food and cooking.

"I have come to the conclusion that for a grown woman with many cares, it's mostly beneficial, interesting, soothing and yes, also sometimes even useful"

Producer: Sheila Cook
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production Co-ordinator: Liam Morrey
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m0028tmt)
Iolo Williams on the Hen Harrier

A new series of Tweet of the Day for Sunday morning revealing personal and fascinating stories from some fresh voices who have been inspired by birds, their calls and encounters.

As an eleven year old, on leaving home before dawn in June 1974, wildlife and Springwatch presenter Iolo Williams cycled the seven miles to a moorland. Finding a shady spot he waited for a while before spotting a male hen harrier drifting over the heather. As he watched a female hen harrier rose up to meet the male and they exchanged the vole he was carrying. Iolo had witnessed his first ever hen harrier food pass.

Producer : Andrew Dawes, BBC Audio, Bristol
Studio Engineer : Ilse Lademann


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m0028tmw)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m0028tmy)
Cyndi Lauper, singer-songwriter

Cyndi Lauper is a multi-award winning singer and songwriter. She has sold more than fifty million records, won an Emmy for acting and her musical Kinky Boots earned her a Tony and an Oliver award.

Born in 1953, Cyndi grew up in a blue collar neighbourhood in New York. Her mother loved music and art and took her children to free exhibitions in New York which inspired Cyndi. As a very young girl, Cyndi listened to her mother’s extensive record collection and mimicked the voices she heard from musicals and operas.

After a difficult family home life due to her mother’s turbulent marriages, Cyndi found solace in music and began writing songs when she was ten.

She left home at seventeen determined to make it in the music industry. She started out as a singer in bands, whilst supporting herself doing a series of jobs. Early in her career, she lost her voice for almost a year after trying to make herself heard over amps which were too loud. Success eventually came when she released her debut solo album She’s So Unusual in 1983 – the first album by a female artist to spawn four consecutive US Top 5 singles.

Cyndi lives in New York with her husband, David who is an actor. They met on a set of a film and rock legend Little Richard officiated their wedding.

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m0028tn0)
Writer: Naylah Ahmed
Director: Jessica Bunch & Dave Payne
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge…. Charles Collingwood
Natasha Archer…. Mali Harries
Pat Archer…. Patricia Gallimore
Tony Archer…. David Troughton
Lilian Bellamy…. Sunny Ormonde
Eddie Grundy…. Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O’Hanrahan
Brad Horrobin…. Taylor Uttley
Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell
Joy Horville…. Jackie Lye
Jim Lloyd…. John Rowe
Akram Malik…. Asif Khan
Azra Malik…. Yasmin Wilde
Khalil Malik…. Krish Bassi
Zainab Malik…. Priyasasha Kumari
Jazzer McCreary…. Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller…. Annabelle Dowler
Freddie Pargetter…. Toby Laurence
Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd


SUN 12:15 Profile (m0028skl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 One Person Found This Helpful (m0028jrc)
Series 2

1. Happy Sleepy Sauce

Frank & guests Laura Smyth, Sunil Patel, Simon Evans & Kyrah Gray discuss googling, goggling, groping, gropping and the correct way to punch yourself in the face.

This is the panel game based on what we all sit down and do at least once a day - shop online and leave a review, as an all-star panel celebrate the good, the bad & the baffling.

Everyone has an online life, and when the great British public put pen to keyboard to leave a review, they almost always write something hilarious. And our all-star panel have to work out just what they were reviewing – and maybe contribute a few reviews of their own... and more... So if you’re the person who went on Trip Advisor to review Ben Nevis as “Very steep and too high”, this show salutes you!


Written by Frank Skinner, Catherine Brinkworth, Sarah Dempster, Jason Hazeley, Rajiv Karia, Karl Minns, Katie Sayer & Peter Tellouche

Devised by Jason Hazeley and Simon Evans with the producer David Tyler

A Pozzitive Production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:57 Weather (m0028tn2)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m0028tn4)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world.


SUN 13:30 The Subsea War (m0028svl)
The 'accidental' severing of undersea cables or pipelines seems an almost daily occurrence these days. But how reliant are we on this infrastructure, how much of it is there, and what steps are being taken to protect it? Business and Economics editor Douglas Fraser investigates who might be behind these thinly veiled acts of sabotage and what their motivation might be.

The use of merchant vessels dragging anchors through subsea internet cables is part of a campaign of hybrid warfare, acts of aggression that are carefully calibrated to have just enough deniability so as to make a military response difficult. But those perpetrating these acts want there to be no doubt though over who is behind it and Russia is the prime suspect in almost every case.

With much of the activity happening in the North and Baltic seas, Douglas travels to Norway to see how the navy there have long anticipated this risk and have partnered with the oil and gas industry to create a 'total defence' concept that extends deep beneath the waves. He'll also explore whether technology is the answer by using AI enabled sensor nets to create a burglar alarm system for the sea floor.

Presenter Douglas Fraser
Producers: Peter McManus and Emily Esson
Researcher: Juliet Conway


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0028l2w)
Walsall Arboretum: Bonsai Trees, Shrub Roses & Favourite Plants

How do you keep a bonsai tree thriving? Should you risk moving a well-established shrub rose? And what’s the one plant you simply couldn’t live without?

Kathy Clugston and the GQT team are back in Walsall, ready to tackle your most pressing horticultural dilemmas. Joining her are garden designers Bunny Guinness, Matthew Wilson and Marcus Chilton-Jones.

Later in the programme, Marcus Chilton-Jones visits Walsall Arboretum's oldest and most remarkable hawthorn tree. Joined by Claire Turner and Josh Madders, he uncovers the fascinating history of this ancient survivor and the secrets behind its resilience.

Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Executive Producer: Carly Maile

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m0028tn6)
Brat Farrar

Patrick Ashby died nine years ago. Now, out of the blue, he returns home to claim his inheritance. Except, of course, it’s not Patrick but an imposter, Brat Farrar.

In this episode of Opening Lines John Yorke examines Josephine Tey’s classic 1949 novel that set the standard for so many crime writers to come. He examines the themes of the book and Tey’s life, itself a story of multiple identities and hidden lives. The programme features writer Nicola Upson, a member of the prestigious elite Detection Club, whose own crime novels feature Josephine Tey as detective.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy, he's trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative - including many podcasts for R4.

Interview with Val McDermid, BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, 20th August 2015

Producer: Caroline Raphael
Reader: Janet Ellis
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Production Hub Coordinator: Nina Semple
Sound: Sean Kerwin

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Brat Farrar (m0028tn8)
Episode 1

Claudine Toutoungi’s adaptation of Josephine Tey’s doppelganger thriller set in a post-war English landscape.

When a stranger arrives at the door of a wealthy family estate claiming to be the missing heir, Patrick Ashby, it’s inevitable that the truth about what really happened to Patrick 8 years ago comes out.

Brat Farrar ….. Levi Brown
Alec ….. Alex Macqueen
Simon Ashby ….. Louis Landau
Beatrice Ashby ….. Kate Fleetwood
Jane Ashby ….. Ava Talbot
Ruth Ashby ….. Grace Baker
Eleanor Ashby ….. Rose Basista
Nancy ….. Ruth Everett
Sandal ….. David Hounslow
Sheila Parslow ….. Andi Bickers
With Ian Dunnett Jnr and Samuel James

Piano performed by Peter Ringrose
Directed by Gemma Jenkins

Production Co-ordinator: Sara Benaim
Sound Designer: Andy Garratt

Claudine Toutoungi is an award-winning poet and playwright. Her latest play for radio The Voice in my Ear-starring Charlotte Riley (Observer Pick of the Week/Drama of the Week) is on BBC Sounds and her latest poetry collection is ‘Emotional Support Horse’.


SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m0028tnc)
Tash Aw

Presenter James Crawford speaks to twice-Booker-nominated Chinese-Malaysian author Tash Aw about his latest novel, The South, and the three works that helped shape its creation.

Set during a scorching summer on drought-stricken farmland in rural Malaysia, The South follows protagonist Jay in a coming-of-age story about a family navigating a period of profound change.

Tash Aw’s chosen influences were Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (1956), Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (1897), and The Sea Wall by Marguerite Duras (1952).

The supporting contributor was Dr Bea Hitchman, author, and lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Brighton.

Producer: Rachael O’Neill
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 16:30 Counterpoint (m0028tnf)
Series 38

Semi-final 2, 2025

(11/13)
The second semi-final in the 2025 series comes from Media City UK in Salford, with another three winners from the heats stage playing for a place in the Final. The competition hots up and the questions may well get tougher. How much do the contestants know about the plot of Tosca, the characters in Wicked, the jukebox musical written by Alicia Keys or the film soundtracks that feature a particular tango by Carlos Gardel?

The competitors are:
Diane Hallagan, from Leeds
Mohan Mudigonda, from Wolverhampton
Sarah Trevarthen, from Manchester.

Counterpoint is a BBC Studios Audio production.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct5yfs)
The launch of Windows 95

In August 1995, Microsoft released a new operating system - Windows 95 – following one of the computer industry’s biggest and most expensive marketing campaigns.

Queues formed outside shops at midnight as people around the world waited to be among the first to buy it.

The new software was designed to be more user friendly, easier to understand and aimed at ordinary people not professional programmers. Connecting to the internet was also more straightforward.

More than 40 million CD Rom copies were sold in the first year, introducing a boom in personal computers at home.

Sarah Leary who demonstrated the software on launch day – alongside Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and US talk show host Jay Leno – talks to Jane Wilkinson.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Windows 95. Credit: Bill Nation/Sygma via Getty Images)


SUN 17:10 The Body Politic (m00274s8)
Pre-natal screening

The politics of the human body is at the centre of intense debate in the UK and beyond. Thanks to science, technology and a fast-moving political landscape, humans are increasingly able to intervene in the natural processes of life – how we are conceived, how we are born and how and when we die. But what are the limits to this intervention, how should we decide and who should decide?

Broadcaster and columnist Sonia Sodha gets behind divides and polarisation to discover nuance, complexity and compelling stories around the beginning and the end of human life.

In this episode we explore the dilemmas facing women in pregnancy as advances in genetic screening and testing offer information about the foetuses they're carrying. We travel to Denmark where a national screening programme has led a to a big drop in the numbers of babies born with Down Syndrome. We talk to families with children with Down Syndrome, doctors and other experts about this controversial area of bio ethics and the societal consequences of individual choice.

Producer: Leala Padmanabhan
Sound design: Hal Haines


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0028tnj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m0028tnl)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0028tnn)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m0028tnq)
Sophia Smith Galer

A weekly selection of the best bits of audio across the BBC.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m0028svg)
The abattoir plays host, and Lily offers a suggestion.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m0028tns)
Night Bus

Ian Burke was not someone who grew up riding buses. His school was in walking distance, his parents had a car.

But one night in his 20s, he had a dream which began a love affair with bus travel.

Any spare moment is now spent exploring undiscovered routes or revisiting old favourites.

“It’s about the journey, the out-of-the-way, the overheard snippets of conversation, the weird and unfamiliar place names, the people you’re with, the unexpected,” says Ian.

He’s someone who can find beauty in an industrial estate or a gossip between pensioners.

But it’s time for a new adventure. In a bid to boost the local economy and provide safer travel for revellers and shift workers, Manchester is trialling new bus routes at night.

Alongside the drunken students dissecting their evening exploits and the night-time workers struggling to stay awake, we join Ian as he hops aboard the night bus to experience, for the first time, the darker side of both his home city and bus travel.


SUN 19:45 Lent Talks (m0028tnv)
The Creed: That God Is Almighty

2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed – the core profession of the Christian faith, which is spoken in churches across the world. This year’s Lent Talks offer personal insights of faith on six key lines from the Creed.

In this episode, the theologian Frances Young reflects on the opening line: “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty.”

Producer: Dan Tierney.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m0028jvr)
How boarding schools shaped Britain. The meeting in the oval office. BBC Sounds.

Women listeners are quick to pick up on the total absence of girls from How Boarding Schools Shaped Britain, a documentary series presented by Nicky Campbell. Executive Producer Clare Fordham explains why it focused exclusively on boys and gives an apology for not acknowledging the omission in the programme.

BBC Sounds will soon only be available in the UK. The announcement has prompted many shocked overseas listeners to express how much they value this connection to home. Andrea Catherwood talks through the changes with James Cridland, Editor of Podnews.

And listeners continue to react to coverage of global events, this week critiquing the language used by news presenters to describe the unforgettable meeting in the Oval Office.

Presenter: Andrea Catherwood
Producer: Pauline Moore
Executive Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown Scotland production for Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m0028l30)
Bill Dare, Clint Hill, Valérie André, Gene Hackman

Matthew Bannister on

Bill Dare, the writer and producer behind some of Radio 4’s best loved comedies, including “The Now Show” and “Dead Ringers”. Jan Ravens pays tribute.

Clint Hill, the American Secret Service agent who threw himself across President John F. Kennedy’s body after he was shot in Dallas.

Valérie André, the first woman General in the French military who was also a field surgeon and an accomplished helicopter rescue pilot.

And Gene Hackman, the Oscar winning actor best known for his roles in The French Connection and Unforgiven


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m0028sjz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m0028tmk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0028sjv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m0028tnx)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 In Our Time (m0028jtx)
Pollination

Since plants have to mate and produce offspring while rooted to the spot, they have to be pollinated – by wind, water, or animals – most commonly insects. They use a surprising array of tricks to attract pollinators: striking colours, iridescent light effects, and enticing scents, to name but a few.

Insects, on the other hand, do not seek to pollinate plants – they are looking for food; so plants make sure it’s worth their while. Insects are also remarkably sophisticated in their ability to find, recognise and find their way inside flowers.

So pollination has evolved as a complex dance between plants and pollinators that is essential for life on earth to continue.

With

Beverley Glover, Director of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden

Jane Memmott, Professor of Ecology at the University of Bristol

And

Lars Chittka, Professor of Sensory and Behavioural Ecology at Queen Mary, University of London.

Producer: Eliane Glaser

Reading list:

Stephen L Buchmann and Gary Paul Nabhan, The Forgotten Pollinators (Island Press, 1997)

Lars Chittka, The Mind of a Bee (Princeton University Press, 2023)

Steven Falk, Field Guide to the Bees of Britain and Ireland (British Wildlife Publishing, 2015)

Francis S. Gilbert (illustrated by Steven J. Falk), Hoverflies: Naturalists' Handbooks vol. 5 (Pelagic Publishing, 2015)

Dave Goulson, A Sting in the Tale: My Adventures with Bumblebees (Vintage, 2014)

Edwige Moyroud and Beverley J. Glover, ‘The evolution of diverse floral morphologies’ (Current Biology vol 11, 2017)

Jeff Ollerton, Birds and Flowers: An Intimate 50 Million Year Relationship (Pelagic Publishing, 2024)

Alan E. Stubbs and Steven J. Falk, British Hoverflies (‎British Entomological & Natural History Society, 2002)

Timothy Walker, Pollination: The Enduring Relationship Between Plant and Pollinator (Princeton University Press, 2020)

In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production


SUN 23:45 Short Works (m0028l2y)
Thirteen Toasters by Colin Bateman

An original short story specially commissioned by BBC Radio from novelist and screenwriter Colin Bateman. Read by Dan Gordon (‘Blue Lights, ‘Bloodlands’.)

The Writer
Colin Bateman worked as a journalist in Northern Ireland before becoming a full-time writer. He is the author of many critically acclaimed novels, including the long running Mystery Man series, children's books and films including ‘Divorcing Jack’, ‘The Journey’ and ‘Driven’. For television Colin created and wrote the long-running BBC crime series ‘Murphy’s Law’ starring James Nesbitt and the 2024 series ‘Dead and Buried’ starring Annabel Scholey and Colin Morgan. In 2010 Colin was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Ulster for his services to literature.

Writer: Colin Bateman
Reader: Dan Gordon
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.

MONDAY 10 MARCH 2025

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m0028tnz)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 The Battersea Poltergeist (p096k9kn)
Episode 5: Strange Bones

After the exorcism, Shirley’s fame increases, but as she’s drawn into a press expose by two journalists, the world wants to know – is this a haunting or a hoax?

At Number 63, the poltergeist activity seems to intensify, taking a terrifying new direction that puts the whole family in danger.

Written and presented by Danny Robins, starring Dafne Keen (His Dark Materials), Toby Jones (Detectorists), Burn Gorman (Torchwood) and Alice Lowe (Sightseers).

With original theme music by Mercury-nominated Nadine Shah and Ben Hillier, this gripping eight-part series interweaves a chilling supernatural thriller set in 50s London with a fascinating modern-day investigation into Britain’s strangest ever haunting – a mystery unsolved... until now.

Shirley Hitchings……..Dafne Keen
Harold Chibbett………Toby Jones
Wally Hitchings…… Burn Gorman
Kitty Hitchings……….Alice Lowe
Ethel Hitchings……….Sorcha Cusack
John Hitchings……..Calvin Demba
Lily Chibbett……..Kacey Ainsworth
Ronald Maxwell……….Rufus Wright
John Knight……..Dan Starkey
Consultant…….Stephen Critchlow

Written and presented by Danny Robins
Experts: Ciaran O’Keeffe and Evelyn Hollow
Sound Designer: Richard Fox
Music: Evelyn Sykes
Theme Music by Nadine Shah and Ben Hillier
Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard
Directed by Simon Barnard

Consultant: Alan Murdie
With thanks to James Clark, co-author of The Poltergeist Prince of London

A Bafflegab production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in April 2021.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m0028sl3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0028tp2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0028tp4)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0028tp6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m0028tp8)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0028tpb)
Science and Spirituality in Wholeness

Good Morning.

A relationship to the mystical wasn’t encouraged in my family home.

My Dad, a huge influence in my life, loved the sciences and was always readily available to help me with these topics. However he couldn’t relate to my longing and deeper questions about the nature of our existence, a sense of being more than this earthly body, and a dimension I wanted to understand. This manifested itself in my 30s as a kind of existential crisis, feeling lost and becoming depressed.

Then I joined a local yoga class, focusing on the breath and chanting sacred mantras, which led me to a Sikh prayer called Anand Sahib. “Anand” means “spiritual bliss” and "joyfulness”.

This one line brought a profound understanding I’d previously searched for:

“God placed the soul into the cave of the body and blew the breath of life into the musical instrument of the body.”

A few days ago, I was reminded of a wellbeing conference I’d forgotten I attended. The speakers were a mix of medical professionals and spiritual leaders. One GP shared an epiphany moment he’d had, while reflecting on patients continually returning to the surgery for help. He realised there was a missing ingredient in consultations, and while it wasn’t appropriate to use words like soul and God, he began asking patients about joy, what opened their heart and enriched their inner connection. In this way, he opened the door to the spiritual dimension. This changed the nature of his practice and the health of his patients.

Dear God, I pray that I can continue to remember that science and spirituality working together, rather than separately, means we may live in optimum health and wellbeing, and in the wholeness of a meaningful sense of existence.

Sat Naam.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m0028tpd)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside


MON 05:57 Weather (m0028tpg)
Weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m0028st8)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m0028stg)
How political ideology affects the brain

In The Ideological Brain Leor Zmigrod studies the impact of political ideology on the makeup and shape of the brain. She found that those on the political extremes, as well as those with the most dogmatic beliefs, display more cognitive rigidity.

The historian John Rees focuses on the small group of firebrand parliamentarians at the heart of the English Civil Wars. The Fiery Spirits describes how the radical republicans influenced more moderate MPs and led to the defeat, and execution, of Charles I.

2025 is the centenary of the birth of Margaret Thatcher and fifty years since she became the first woman to lead a major political party in the UK. The political commentator and broadcaster Iain Dale publishes a biography of her later this year, and questions the role of ideology within Thatcherism.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 Shadow World (m0025vvz)
The Willpower Detectives

4. Undue Influence

Pam and Sylvie ask for help finding their friend and warn of the pressure felt to sign Power of Attorney orders. Sue Mitchell helps them search and investigates what has happened.

The hidden scandal of Power of Attorney - concerned neighbours ask Sue for help.

Giving someone else control of your finances and decisions – through Lasting Power of Attorney – is meant to come with a guarantee that they always act in your best interest. In this series, BBC investigative reporter Sue Mitchell explores a widespread business practice where some people are moved out of their homes and left with no idea what is happening to their money.

This is an original investigation, with recordings in real time, exploring how power of attorney orders can be used for better or worse.

Shadow World: Gripping stories from the shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.

Presented by Sue Mitchell
Produced by Sue Mitchell, Joel Moors and Winifred Robinson


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0028stn)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


MON 11:00 Artworks (m0028stt)
Roleplay

Blanche DuBois

One big dramatic role. Actors tell us what the part means and what it means to them. This time: Blanche DuBois.

Cate Blanchett and Patsy Ferran describe what it's like to play Blanche - a captivating, so-called Southern Belle from the play, A Streetcar Named Desire. She's fragile, flirtatious, a lover of poetry. We first meet her when she comes to stay with her sister in New Orleans. Later in the play, she falls victim to sexual violence.

Cate and Patsy are joined by Kirsty Stuart, in the middle of rehearsals for the play, Marge Hendrick, who played Blanche in a ballet version, and Gwendolyn Foxworth, a community actor from New Orleans. Nancy Schoenberger explores the roots of the role.

Since her debut on Broadway in 1947, Blanche DuBois has captivated audiences. Cate Blanchett says playing the role changed the course of her life and her career. She sees Blanche as a symbol for big ideas - concepts of poetry and brutality - and reveals how much Blanche has stayed with her. Patsy Ferran won plaudits for her portrayal of the part on the West End stage in 2023 - she dives into key passages from the play.

Tennessee Williams set the play in New Orleans, near the French Quarter, an area that Gwendolyn Foxworth knows well. Marge Hendrick, who starred in Scottish Ballet's version of the play, explores the difficulty of playing some of Blanche's most painful scenes and we join Kirsty Stuart in the middle of rehearsals for Pitlochry Festival Theatre's adaptation. Nancy Schoenberger, author of Blanche: The Life and Times of Tennessee WIlliams' Blanche DuBois, examines Blanche's roots and Vivien Leigh's famous performance of the part.

Produced by Camellia Sinclair and Sam Grist for BBC Audio, Bristol
Edited by Emma Harding
Mixed by Suzy Robins


MON 11:30 Naturebang (m0021jj2)
Underground Fungi and the Market Economy

Becky Ripley and Emily Knight dig deep into the underground web of plant roots and mycorrhizal fungi networks. Here lies a 400 million year old market economy, founded on the trading of resources. Nutrients are traded for carbon. Carbon is traded for nutrients. And the exchange rate between the two is constantly in flux, to level supply with demand.

This highly-evolved symbiosis between plant and fungi is crucial to the survival of over 80% of all terrestrial plants. And it also acts as a colossal carbon store. A recent study found that 13 billion tons of CO2 are passed from plants to mycorrhizal fungi each year. It's one of the most effective and important market trading relationships in the world.

And it turns out, these belowground trade deals are not so different to the aboveground deals that play out within our own market trading economy. Both move and shake to the very same economic principles of supply and demand. Can our economic theories be applied back to the fungi-plant deals in order for the fungi to capture more carbon in the face of climate change? Or, flip-reverse it, can we apply some of their age-old trading strategies to our own economic models? They may not have a brain, but they have 400 million years of evolution under their belt, so their trade strategies may well be more streamlined and more symbiotic compared to ours.

Featuring Dr Bethan Manley, fungal geneticist and data scientist at The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks, and Dr Ted Loch-Temzelides, Professor of Sustainable Development at the Department of Economics at Rice University. Produced and presented by Emily Knight and Becky Ripley.


MON 11:45 Reading Journeys by A.L. Kennedy (m0028stz)
Adventuring Journeys

“It’s a miracle of a journey, a book: full of wonderful, impossible additions to the world.”

Writer A.L. Kennedy on the journey that awaits readers when they open the covers of a book. She begins with travels through Narnia and Middle Earth in the company of a fellowship of readers past, present and future.
Written and read by A.L. Kennedy
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie and Gaynor Macfarlane

A.L. Kennedy was born in Dundee and now stays in North Essex. She is an award-winning writer of novels, short stories, non-fiction and books for children. She also writes for the stage, screen, TV and radio, including documentaries, monologues, dramas and essays. She performs occasionally in one person shows and as a stand-up comic.


MON 12:00 News Summary (m0028sv3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m0028sv6)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m0028sv8)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m0028svb)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


MON 13:45 Assume Nothing (m0028svd)
Killer Dust

6. One Million Pages

Strange packages arriving from the US - and a terrible death prompts a woman to take action for her family.

In this series, casually scanning old newspaper archives, Ophelia Byrne comes across an odd headline: “Hush hush process in Ballyclare firm.”

The newspaper was printed in 1967. “Strictly no photographs” was the order issued at the opening of the new factory.

“90 guests steered clear of a top-secret process.” All workers “will have to sign an oath of secrecy.”

What, she wonders, is this factory making?

Ophelia doesn’t know it when she starts out, but her subsequent investigation into this company, Turner and Newall, will take her from a small town in Northern Ireland across the Irish Sea to places like Rochdale, Leeds and London.

It will bring her to one million documents released for a transatlantic trial – papers which show cover-ups and even corporate espionage.

The product, of course, is asbestos. You may think you know the story – it’s a dangerous substance.

But Ophelia marries previous journalistic investigations to new documents which reveal what government agencies knew about its risks, and when.

She combs through company correspondence which the manufacturers claimed did not exist, and clearly never imagined would become public.

This is the story of Killer Dust, from mountains of the material in mines still operating in countries today, to the skyscrapers of Manhattan, and the terraced streets of the north of England.

It is the story too of the people who fought and died for the truth to expose the reckless pursuit of profit in the making of one of the most dangerous building materials on the planet.

Presenter/ Producer: Ophelia Byrne
Studio Engineer: Gary Bawden
Executive Editor: Andy Martin


MON 14:00 The Archers (m0028svg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Conversations from a Long Marriage (m001jkvz)
Series 4

3. The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam return in the fourth series of Jan Etherington’s award-winning comedy, as a long-married couple in love with life and each other.

This week, Roger is invited to talk about his Fleet Street career, on a cruise ship. Initially scathing about ‘a floating tower block’, Joanna is won round by snake-hipped Carlos, in the salsa class. Roger, meanwhile, is attracting adoring fans to his lectures. Are troubled waters ahead?

Conversations from a Long Marriage won the Voice of the Listener & Viewer Award for Best Radio Comedy in 2020. Nominated for a Writers’ Guild Award in 2023.

Conversations from a Long Marriage is written by Jan Etherington and produced by Claire Jones. The production coordinator is Katie Baum, the studio engineer is Wilfredo Acosta and the sound design is by Jon Calver. It is a BBC Studios Production.

‘Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam have had illustrious acting careers but can they ever have done anything better than Jan Etherington’s two hander? This is a work of supreme craftsmanship.’ RADIO TIMES

‘Peppered with nostalgic 60s hits and especially written for the pair, it’s an endearing portrait of exasperation, laced with hard won tolerance – and something like love.’ THE GUARDIAN

‘The delicious fruit of the writer, Jan Etherington’s experience of writing lots of TV and radio, blessed by being acted by Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam. Treasure this one, produced by Claire Jones. Unlike many a current Radio 4 ‘comedy’, this series makes people laugh’ GILLIAN REYNOLDS. SUNDAY TIMES

‘You’ve been listening at my window, Jan’. JOANNA LUMLEY


MON 14:45 The Island (m00283zx)
Series 1

Episode 4: The Beastie

After Jools Holland tells of seeing a dangerous beastie, Stephen decides to investigate, but all is not what it seems..

From Bill Dare (Dead Ringers), Jon Holmes (The Skewer) and writers Tom Oxenham and Simon Alcock, actor Stephen Mangan washes up on the actual island from Desert Island Discs, only to discover that he is not alone.

Living among the palms and rocky outcrops and thousands of copies of the Bible lying in the sand is every former guest of the show - and it’s all gone a bit Lord of the Flies.

Through Stephen’s audio diary, we learn that all TV chef Nadiya Hussain wants to do is hunt, that Richard Madeley’s gone feral, and that Sandi Toksvig has the Conch. But there’s something lurking in the forest, and when Stephen suspects foul play in the power struggle to be chief, he soon finds himself making a dangerous enemy.

Can he win over his fellow islanders before it’s too late? What lengths will he go to to survive? And what the hell is he going to do with this useless coffee machine he chose as his luxury item?

Written by Tom Oxenham and Simon Alcock
Starring Stephen Mangan as himself

Sound Design: Tony Churnside
Executive Producer: Jon Holmes
Producer: Bill Dare

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


MON 15:00 A Good Read (m0028svj)
Oliver Burkeman and Sara Collins

MOON TIGER by Penelope Lively, chosen by Sara Collins
NUMBER GO UP: INSIDE CRYPTO'S WILD RISE AND STAGGERING FALL by Zeke Faux, chosen by Oliver Burkeman
LORD JIM AT HOME by Dinah Brooke, chosen by Harriett Gilbert

"I'm writing a history of the world" - so begins the choice of novelist and broadcaster Sara Collins: Penelope Lively's Booker Prize-winning novel Moon Tiger. Claudia Hampton, a famous writer and historian, lies dying in a hospital bed, her mind flitting across the years of her remarkable life and the people she's known. Sara Collins loves the book's romance, its jagged structure, and its unlikeable heroine. Do the others agree? Sara is the author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton, which won the Costa First Novel Award and was adapted for television in 2023. She was one of the hosts of the How to Write a Book Podcast and is a former judge of the Booker Prize.

As a newspaper columnist, for many years Oliver Burkeman wrote This Column Will Change Your Life in The Guardian. He is the bestselling author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals and, more recently, Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts. His choice is a non-fiction book by the investigative journalist Zeke Faux about the characters who have made and lost billions in the wild and volatile world of cryptocurrency.

And Harriett's choice is Lord Jim at Home, a novel by Dinah Brooke. Giles Trenchard is born into a life of privilege, but also into a world of hidden cruelty and emotional deprivation. Everyone agrees it's brilliantly written, but how do Harriett's guests feel about its dark content?

Producer: Mair Bosworth


MON 15:30 The Tremor (m0021j9y)
Surgery is a fast-paced, high stress job. Surgeons undergo years of meticulous training to do what they do, and the pressure can be intense. For some, this pressure can manifest in a tremor, a phenomenon about which there is still a huge amount of stigma.

Tremor is an unconscious, uncontrolled movement, often in the hands, which can affect the fine motor skills required to do the intricate work of surgery. The causes are multifactorial, and are not the same for everyone. One cause can be psychological, related to anxiety and compounded by stress.

But in the busy, competitive world of surgery, there is limited time or opportunity for optimising personal performance, and those who develop a tremor can feel isolated, and that they’re not performing to the best of their ability.

When surgeon Lilli Cooper developed a tremor herself she asked around for support, but guidance to manage it was scarce. In this programme, Lilli explores the tremor; where it comes from, what causes it, and what’s the best course of action.

Some surprising answers are to be found in the field of ‘performance science’. Tremor can be linked to performance anxiety, which is common in other fields with high pressure and high expectation; performing musicians and actors, sportsmen and women, even fighter pilots know the tell-tale signs well. But in fields like music and sports, the psychology is well understood, and the stigma has been broken down over many years. There is a deep understanding of the necessary rituals: the prep beforehand, careful management of focus during, and the post-performance wind-down.

In the operating ‘theatre’, could surgeons like Lilli take a lesson or two from the high-pressure world of performance?

Presented by Lilli Cooper
Produced by Emily Knight


MON 16:00 The Subsea War (m0028svl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m0028sjq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m0028svn)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0028svq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 18:30 One Person Found This Helpful (m0028svs)
Series 2

2. Detachable Yacht Stand

Frank & guests Angela Barnes, Finlay Christie, Catherine Bohart & Rajiv Karia discuss ball pits, the KGB and who hasn’t been to the dentist for forty years.

This is the panel game based on what we all sit down and do at least once a day – shop online and leave a review, as an all-star panel celebrate the good, the bad & the baffling.

Everyone has an online life, and when the great British public put pen to keyboard to leave a review, they almost always write something hilarious. And our all-star panel have to work out just what they were reviewing – and maybe contribute a few reviews of their own... and more... So if you’re the person who went on Trip Advisor to review Ben Nevis as, 'very steep and too high', this show salutes you!

Written by Frank Skinner, Catherine Brinkworth, Sarah Dempster, Jason Hazeley, Rajiv Karia, Karl Minns, Katie Sayer & Peter Tellouche.

Devised by Jason Hazeley and Simon Evans with the producer David Tyler.

A Pozzitive Production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 19:00 The Archers (m0028svv)
A sensitive issue is raised at Bridge Farm, and there’s optimism for the dairy.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m0028svx)
Jack Thorne and Philip Barantini on Adolescence, Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Ruth Watts


MON 20:00 The Briefing Room (m0028jvt)
Europe's defence dilemma

Donald Trump has only been US president for just over a month and yet the world order seems to be changing by the day. Ukraine has been cut adrift with the pausing of US military aid and intelligence following President Zelensky’s disastrous meeting in the Oval Office. And Europe has been left wondering what is coming next as President Macron of France warns that the continent is "at a turning point in history." Europe faces not only having to support Ukraine without the US but potentially having to defend itself against Russia with no help from America. So can it do that? And how quickly could it fill the gaps left by the US?

Guests:
Frank Gardner, BBC Security Correspondent
Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor, The Economist
Claudia Major, Director international security division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
Fenella McGerty Senior Fellow for Defence Economics, International Institute for Strategic Studies

Presenter David Aaronovitch
Producers: Kirsteen Knight, Beth Ashmead Latham, Caroline Bayley
Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Vadon

(Image: Soldiers in silhouette. Credit: Photo by Martin Divisek/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (m0028jvw)
Better Than Gold: Critical Minerals

Critical minerals have hit the headlines of almost every news outlet this week as US President Donald Trump made his desires to mine them in Ukraine clear.

These precious resources are a hot geopolitical bargaining chip thanks to our reliance on them in everything from mobile phones to wind turbines.

This week, Inside Science unearths everything you need to know about critical minerals; what they are, why they’re critical, and what we do when there’s no more left to mine.

Also this week, we come to the end of a laborious seven-year journey of collecting and identifying Scotland’s most valued Jurassic fossil. And Nature journalist Lizzie Gibney brings us her pick of the week’s science news, including moon landers and woolly mice.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Sophie Ormiston, Gerry Holt, Ella Hubber
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.


MON 21:00 Start the Week (m0028stg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 The Bottom Line (m00264b5)
The Decisions That Made Me

Decisions That Made Me: Elmarie Marais (GoCrisis, Founder)

What do you do when you’re unhappy at work? Maybe you’re burnt out from long hours? Or you see the way your employer does things and think to yourself “surely there’s a better way?” For many founders and CEO's, it's a familiar experience, and one that can spur them into the decision of starting their own business. Evan Davis talks to Elmarie Marais about her experience of crisis management, and how a crisis of her own led to the founding of her own company, GoCrisis.

Production team:
Producers: Simon Tulett and Drew Hyndman
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m0028svz)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


MON 22:45 The Jura Affair by William Boyd (m0028sw1)
6: The Ghost

A sparkling new literary whodunnit for Radio 4 from the acclaimed author William Boyd, set on the Isle of Jura.

When Orwell obsessive Bethany Mellmoth finds herself in possession of a rare copy of 1984, so begins a literary trail that will take her to the remote Scottish island where the book was written. On Jura Bethany, in the seemingly genteel company of an antiquarian bookseller, she takes on the role of amateur sleuth, as she faces skulduggery and scams, and even threats to her own life...

Today: After sabotage and some gruesome threats, Bethany is feeling decidedly unwelcome on Jura. But who wants her off the island?

Writer: William Boyd, is one of the UK's most acclaimed writers. He is the author of 17 novels, including A Good Man in Africa, winner of the Whitbread Literary Award and the Somerset Maugham Award; An Ice Cream War, winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and shortlisted for the Booker prize; Any Human Heart, winner of the Prix Jean Monnet; and Restless, winner of the Costa Novel of the Year.
Reader: Ruth Everett
Producer: Justine Willett


MON 23:00 Limelight (m0014gtt)
Who Is Aldrich Kemp?

Who is Aldrich Kemp? - Chapter One: Clara Page

With a stellar cast, headed by Phoebe Fox, alongside Nicola Walker, Tim McInnery, Ferdinand Kingsley and Kyle Soller, we are back in Julian Simpson's imagination - this time trying to find out just Who Is Aldrich Kemp? On a heightened and fun journey, which takes us to glamourous and sometimes improbable locations, we encounter Euro-villains and murderous housekeepers.

Chapter One: The washed-up body of a man presumed dead 7 years earlier marks the beginning of Clara Page's mission to find the elusive Aldrich Kemp.

Cast:
Clara Page .............................Phoebe Fox
Mister Bartholomew .........Tim McInnerny
Aldrich Kemp ...................... Ferdinand Kingsley
Mrs Boone..............................Nicola Walker
Sebastian Harcourt ............Kyle Soller
Nakesha Kemp ....................Karla Crome
Aunt Lily .................................Susan Jameson
Secretary ................................Louise Brealey
Howlett ..................................Ben Crowe
Tom .........................................James Joyce.

Created and written by Julian Simpson

Recorded on location in Hove, London and at The Royal Pavilion in Brighton.

Music composed by Tim Elsenburg.
Sound Design: David Thomas
Director: Julian Simpson
Producer: Sarah Tombling
Executive Producer: Karen Rose

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0028sw3)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

TUESDAY 11 MARCH 2025

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m0028sw5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Reading Journeys by A.L. Kennedy (m0028stz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0028sw7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0028sw9)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0028swc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m0028swf)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0028swh)
Hola Mohalla festival

Good Morning.

From the 14th to the 16th of March, there is a globally significant event for Sikhs called Hola Mohalla. It was established in 1701 by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last Sikh Guru in the lineage of spiritual teachers in the Sikh faith.

This 3 day festival has continued to take place in Punjab, India, as well as being replicated in gurdwaras, Sikh communities and school programmes around the world. Guru Gobind Singh was a revered warrior and originally created this festival for Nihang Sikhs, to demonstrate their martial skills in simulated battles. Alongside these impressive displays, the festival includes music and poetry, representing the saint aspect through devotion to God.

The concept of “Saint-Soldier” - relating to service, defending the weak, freedom from fear of death, readiness for taking action - is very much part of the Sikh identity, yet can be more widely relatable.

I’m always excited and moved by this event and feel deeply touched by learning more about the history and depth of meaning.

And while Sikhs aren’t called to the battlefield as they were in the Guru’s times, this festival contributes to creating uplifting community gatherings, economic input, it draws thousands of non-Sikhs to learn more about Sikh history.

Dear God, I give thanks to everyone who dedicates their time and effort to create these significant occasions, to making them widely accessible, in ways that bring people together from a diversity of cultures, to be inspired by examples of those who embody a warrior spirit and devotional heart. I pray we can keep exploring each other’s faiths and traditions, recognising their unique qualities, but also, importantly, the aspects that are universal and uniting.

Sat Naam.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m0028swk)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 06:00 Today (m0028swm)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m0028swp)
Jonathan Shepherd on a career as a crime-fighting surgeon

Surgeons often have to deal with the consequences of violent attacks - becoming all too familiar with patterns of public violence, and peaks around weekends, alcohol-infused events and occasions that bring together groups with conflicting ideals.

Professor Jonathan Shepherd not only recognised the link between public violence and emergency hospital admissions, he actually did something about it.

As a senior lecturer in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in the early 1980s, Jonathan started looking into this trend - and his research revealed that most violent assaults resulting in emergency hospital treatment are not reported to police.

As a result, he devised the ‘Cardiff Model for Violence Prevention’: a programme where hospitals share data about admissions relating to violent attacks with local authorities. He also went on to study various aspects of violent assault and deliver evidence-based solutions - from alcohol restrictions in hotspots, to less breakable beer glasses in pubs.

The impacts have been significant, delivering reductions in hospital admissions and in violent attacks recorded by police; not only in Cardiff, but in cities around the world where the model is used. Today, as an Emeritus Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Cardiff University - where he’s also Director of their Crime, Security and Intelligence Innovation Institute - Jonathan continues to bring together the medical sector with local authorities, finding practical ways to make cities and their residents safer.

But his career, straddling the worlds of practise, science and policy, is an unusual one; here he talks to Professor Jim Al-Khalili about what drove him to make a difference.

Presentedby Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor


TUE 09:30 Inside Health (m0028swr)
Series that demystifies health issues, bringing clarity to conflicting advice.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0028sww)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


TUE 11:00 Add to Playlist (m0028l3c)
Maya Youssef and Ben Gernon take us to Syria and Hamburg

British-Syrian Maya Youssef - virtuoso player of the Middle Eastern stringed instrument the qanun - and conductor Ben Gernon, join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add five more tracks to the playlist. Starting by the dock of the bay, they travel to Damascus, Hamburg and land on a 1950s familiar pop classic sung by a 14-year-old.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

(Sitting on) the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding
The Waves of the Sea by Lena Shamamyan
Mache dich auf! Werde Licht! (Arise! Let there be light!) by Felix Mendelssohn
Blank Space (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift
Why Do Fools Fall In Love by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers

Other music in this episode:

Parisienne Walkways by Gary Moore
Sweet Child O’Mine by Guns N’ Roses
Hard to Handle by Otis Redding
Blank Space by Taylor Swift


TUE 11:45 Reading Journeys by A.L. Kennedy (m0028sx0)
Reading and Travelling

“I had wasted my life by not seeing Sark.”

Writer A.L. Kennedy on the journeys that await readers when they open the covers of a book. The author’s fear of flying is forgotten when she sets sail for the island where Mervyn Peake set his bizarre, disturbing and delightful novel, ‘Mr Pye’.

Written and read by A.L. Kennedy
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie and Gaynor Macfarlane

A.L. Kennedy was born in Dundee and now stays in North Essex. She is an award-winning writer of novels, short stories, non-fiction and books for children. She also writes for the stage, screen, TV and radio, including documentaries, monologues, dramas and essays. She performs occasionally in one person shows and as a stand-up comic.


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m0028sx4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m0028sx8)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


TUE 12:57 Weather (m0028sxc)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m0028sxh)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


TUE 13:45 Assume Nothing (m0028sxm)
Killer Dust

7. Guilty Knowledge

The teams prepare for court battle but are finding it tough – until the phone rings.

In this series, casually scanning old newspaper archives, Ophelia Byrne comes across an odd headline: “Hush hush process in Ballyclare firm.”

The newspaper was printed in 1967. “Strictly no photographs” was the order issued at the opening of the new factory.

“90 guests steered clear of a top-secret process.” All workers “will have to sign an oath of secrecy.”

What, she wonders, is this factory making?

Ophelia doesn’t know it when she starts out, but her subsequent investigation into this company, Turner and Newall, will take her from a small town in Northern Ireland across the Irish Sea to places like Rochdale, Leeds and London.

It will bring her to one million documents released for a transatlantic trial – papers which show cover-ups and even corporate espionage.

The product, of course, is asbestos. You may think you know the story – it’s a dangerous substance.

But Ophelia marries previous journalistic investigations to new documents which reveal what government agencies knew about its risks, and when.

She combs through company correspondence which the manufacturers claimed did not exist, and clearly never imagined would become public.

This is the story of Killer Dust, from mountains of the material in mines still operating in countries today, to the skyscrapers of Manhattan, and the terraced streets of the north of England.

It is the story too of the people who fought and died for the truth to expose the reckless pursuit of profit in the making of one of the most dangerous building materials on the planet.

Presenter/ Producer: Ophelia Byrne
Studio Engineer: Gary Bawden
Executive Editor: Andy Martin


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m0028svv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Body Horror (m001qty5)
Episode 3

Caroline's new body is starting to shut down.

Her fate lies in the hands of the experts at the world's most advanced body exchange facility.

Conclusion of Lucy Catherine's three-part dystopian psychological thriller.

Developed through the Wellcome Trust Experimental stories scheme.

Caroline ..... Jill Halfpenny
Gloria ..... Shelley Conn
Anastasia ..... Samantha Dakin
Paulina ..... Chetna Pandya
Mel ..... Liza Sadovy
Trevor ..... Clive Hayward
Che ..... Ikky Elyas
Karina ..... Heather Craney
Stan ..... Neil McCaul
Car Salesman ..... Ian Conningham
Library Computer ..... Sinead MacInnes
BodyEx Computer ..... Scarlett Courtney
Hotel Computer ..... Laura Christy
Benefits Office Computer ..... Adam Courting

Director: Toby Swift

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2020.


TUE 15:00 History's Heroes (m0028sxr)
History's Secret Heroes: Series 3

Curt Bloch and the Underwater Cabaret

Hiding in an attic in the Netherlands, a German Jewish refugee risks his life to create The Underwater Cabaret, a secret, satirical magazine that seeks to ridicule the Nazis.

Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: James Shield
Assistant Producer: Rachel Oakes
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Written by Alex von Tunzelmann
Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts


TUE 15:30 Thinking Allowed (m0028sxw)
Dress Culture

Laurie Taylor talks to Fatima Rajina, Senior Legacy in Action Research Fellow at the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre, De Montfort University, Leicester, about changing perceptions of dress among British Bangladeshi Muslim men in London’s East End. How has experiencing behaviour which is anti-Muslim and political scrutiny impacted their choice of apparel? Also, Teleica Kirkland, Lecturer in the Cultural and Historical Studies Department at the London College of Fashion, explores the performative elegance of the Windrush generation, whose fashion could be a way of seeking dignity and respectability.

Producer: Jayne Egerton


TUE 16:00 Artworks (m0028stt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 on Monday]


TUE 16:30 When It Hits the Fan (m0028sy0)
Who's in the news for all the wrong reasons? With David Yelland and Simon Lewis.


TUE 17:00 PM (m0028sy4)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0028sy8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 18:30 Heresy (m0028syd)
Series 13

Episode 4

Victoria Coren Mitchell is joined by David Baddiel, Desiree Burch and Steph McGovern to discuss screen time, dry January and what life would be like as a cash-free society.

Written and presented by Victoria Coren Mitchell with additional material from Dan Gaster and Charlie Skelton
Produced by Victoria Coren Mitchell and Daisy Knight
Series created by David Baddiel

Sound Design - David Thomas
Broadcast Assistant - Jenny Recaldin

An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m0028sy5)
Tempers flare at the protest, and Pat considers her next move.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m0028syk)
The Leopard on Netflix

Presenter: Nick Ahad
Producer: Ekene Akalawu


TUE 20:00 Femicide (m0029395)
At least two women are murdered every week in the UK in a domestic abuse situation. Newspapers often call it a crime of passion. ‘He lost control’. But what if that’s not true? What if there was a blueprint that, if recognised, could save a woman’s life?

The Homicide Timeline contains eight stages that track the escalation of a controlling relationship from before a couple even meet right up to homicide. Families often say “I wish I’d known”. This programme will tell them the signs to look out for so that they do know, and can stop it.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m0028syp)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.


TUE 21:00 The Law Show (m0028kzx)
Expert witnesses in criminal trials

Lucy Letby is serving 15 whole-life sentences after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others at the Countess of Chester hospital - with two attempts on one of her victims - between June 2015 and June 2016.

But a campaign to clear her is being led by 14 medical experts who say there is no medical evidence for murders or attacks on those babies in her ward at the hospital.

The expert witness at her trial, Dr Dewi Evans, has consistently defended the evidence he provided to the court.

So what is an expert witness? When is their evidence required in court, what do they do, and who pays their fees?

Also on this week's programme:
Prince Harry wanted his day in court to face News Group Newspapers, but it never happened. Why did his case end so abruptly?
And marry in haste repent at leisure - or not. The "legal queen" Tracey Moloney on annulment, divorce and why you can't choose between them.

Presenter: Dr Joelle Grogan
Producers: Ravi Naik and Louise Clarke
Editor: Tara McDermott

Contributors:
Retired Crown Court Judge Nigel Lithman KC
Amel Alghrani Professor of Law at the University of Liverpool
Aejaz Mussa, Barrister, One Law Chambers


TUE 21:30 The Bottom Line (m0028jv7)
Running a Business: The Bottom Line Answers Your Questions

How would you invest £100k? Do entrepreneurs have super-human levels of optimism? How can you keep ownership of a great idea? In a first for The Bottom Line, Evan Davis puts questions like these - sent in by listeners - to a panel of business experts.

Evan is joined by:
Sir Kenneth Olisa - chairman, Restoration Partners, and formerly founder and CEO, Interregnum;
Richard Farleigh - angel investor and former Dragon's Den 'dragon';
Jessica Spungin - adjunct professor of strategy and entrepreneurship, London Business School.

Production team:
Producers: Simon Tulett and Eleanor Harrison-Dengate
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Production Coordinator: Katie Morrison
Editor: Matt Willis


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m0028syt)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


TUE 22:45 The Jura Affair by William Boyd (m0028syy)
7: Breaking and Entering

A sparkling new literary whodunnit for Radio 4 from the acclaimed author William Boyd, set on the Isle of Jura.

When Orwell obsessive Bethany Mellmoth finds herself in possession of a rare copy of 1984, so begins a literary trail that will take her to the remote Scottish island where the book was written. On Jura Bethany, in the seemingly genteel company of an antiquarian bookseller, she takes on the role of amateur sleuth, as she faces skulduggery and scams, and even threats to her own life...

Today: desperate to prove who is behind the literary scam on Jura, Bethany finds herself breaking into the antiquarian bookseller's...

Writer: William Boyd, is one of the UK's most acclaimed writers. He is the author of 17 novels, including A Good Man in Africa, winner of the Whitbread Literary Award and the Somerset Maugham Award; An Ice Cream War, winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and shortlisted for the Booker prize; Any Human Heart, winner of the Prix Jean Monnet; and Restless, winner of the Costa Novel of the Year.
Reader: Ruth Everett
Producer: Justine Willett


TUE 23:00 X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story (m000xstm)
4. Iron Man

In 2008 Tesla Motors launched its first car, the completely electric Roadster. Tesla was a great story - something genuinely new, an engineering marvel. Elon Musk as CEO was an even better story. He had already disrupted banking and aerospace. Now the automobile industry. That same year, the superhero film Iron Man was released, featuring Tony Stark, a billionaire arms dealer who believes everything is achievable through technology and private enterprise. Musk became a media darling, on the cover of countless magazines under headlines like ‘Elon Musk, AKA Tony Stark, Wants to Save the World’. Within the logic of Muskism, talking about averting human extinction was becoming a business strategy--and Silicon Valley CEOs the new superheroes.

Jill Lepore is the Kemper Professor of American History at Harvard University and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She’s also a staff writer at The New Yorker and an acclaimed author.

Series Producer: Viv Jones
Researchers: Simon Leek, Oliver Riskin-Kutz, Thomas Farmer
Editors: Richard Vadon, Hugh Levinson
Sound design and mix: James Beard, Graham Puddifoot
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Original music by Corntuth
Production Coordinators: Jack Young, Maria Ogundele

CREDITS
Comments by Stan Lee from "The Hero Initiative, Very Very Live: Marvel Then and Now: An Evening With Stan Lee and Joe Quesada Hosted by Kevin Smith", 2007
Musk interviewed on Wired Science, PBS, 2007


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0028sz2)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament