SATURDAY 24 DECEMBER 2022

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m001g9n4)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:30 Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley (m001g9kq)
5: Have a good time, darling

Lucy Worsley continues her biography of the extraordinary life of the 'Queen of Crime', Agatha Christie.

Born in 1890 into a world that had its own rules about what women could and couldn’t do, Agatha Christie became the most prolific detective novelist during the Golden Age of detective fiction, and went on to become the best-selling author of all time.

Here Worsley paints a picture not only of an unlikely heroine, a pioneering and thoroughly modern woman, whose dazzling career included some of the greatest works of crime fiction, but also of a woman whose life was marked by significant losses and reversals of fortune, not to mention dark secrets and uncomfortable truths. From her idyllic Victorian childhood, to her rocky marriage, to her great literary successes with Poirot and Marple, to her mysterious and infamous disappearance at Harrogate, Worsley presents a life fascinating for its mysteries and passions.

Today: after great fame, Agatha finds a certain kind of freedom as she hits her sixties...

Read and written by: Lucy Worsley
Producer: Justine Willett
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Photographer: Robert Shiret


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001g9n6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001g9n8)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001g9nb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m001g9nd)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001g9ng)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Bishop David Walker

Good Morning.

As a teenager, I often lay awake in bed at night, worrying about all the things that might possibly go wrong the next day. Rarely did any of them come to pass. Even when something bad did happen, my fretting did little to help me respond any better - it just meant I was more tired than I needed to be. When my faith came alive to me, in the months when I was preparing to go to university, I found that obsessive worrying fell away. Mostly, I slept peacefully, commending my cares to God, trusting he would be there with me, to face whatever the new dawn might bring.

Today, my thoughts, and those of many other Christians, will be on the parents of Jesus - Joseph, and the heavily pregnant Mary - as they made their way towards Bethlehem and the birth that would come, deep in the night. Did they panic over whether Mary would make it safely? Were they terrified of not being able to find suitable accommodation, at a time when many others were also travelling to ancestral homes? Were they tempted to turn back to the relative safety and certainly of Nazareth?

Such feelings are natural. But my guess is that their sense of God’s love and their place in his plan mitigated their fears, giving them courage to continue.

And so I pray:

Lord God, we hold before you our fears and worries, for ourselves, our loved ones, and for the society and world in which we live. Calm our troubled minds. Soothe us by the knowledge that, whatever we face, you are present with us. And may we, like Joseph and Mary, look beyond our troubles, to the gift of your son, born at Christmastime.

Amen.


SAT 05:45 Four Thought (m001g98r)
Moral Animals

Philosopher Virginie Simoneau-Gilbert describes a change in how philosophers are beginning to think about the moral capacity of animals, and asks us to think differently about our pets. Beginning with her own pet dog showing compassion for her when she is injured, Virginie explains why new research may fundamentally affect some of what we have long held to be true about animals.

Producer: Giles Edwards.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m001ghly)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m001g9gz)
St Just in Midwinter

Helen Mark tries to live in the moment at a deserted cliff edge chapel, hears carols that have deep ties to Cornwall's tin mining heritage, and comes face to face with hell's snarling jaws as she visits the town of St Just in Penwith.

In the heart of the town is the "plen-an-gwari", one of the last of the Cornish medieval amphitheatres built to host a sequence of religious mystery plays, the Ordinalia. Centuries after their suppression, the plays were revived in the 2000s as a community-wide venture that once again brought them, and the "plen", to the centre of community life. Helen meets Graham Jobbins, Mary Ann Bloomfield and Isobel Bloomfield, the family playing a central part in ensuring the tradition continues.

Out on the cliffs nearby, Kari Herbert leads Helen on a midwinter walk which uses the natural landscape of cliffs and sea to inspire a meditation on the turning of the year. And at the Miner's Chapel we hear how the tin mines which once dominated the area gave rise to a tradition of local carolling that survives to this day, with Alan Cargeeg and his fellow singers.

Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m001ghm0)
24/12/22 - Farming Today This Week: Fishing quotas, game birds and avian flu and soil sampling

Fish quotas were released this week, following negotiations between the UK and EU on what and how much can be caught where. The Government says the deal for 2023 will mean a further £282 million worth of fishing opportunities - an increase on 2022. But some marine conservation groups say scientific advice is being ignored and some fish stocks are still being over-fished.

We join a group of 100 volunteers as they prepare to start collecting soil samples from 700,000 fields across Northern Ireland. It's for the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme, which is being rolled out by the Department for Agriculture in Northern Ireland and the Agri Food and BioSciences Institute. It'll provide farmers with detailed information on the nutrient status of their soil.

And investigations are continuing after the mysterious death of 100 dairy cows on a farm in Jersey. A quarter of the herd of Jersey cows at Woodlands Farm have been lost, and scientists are analysing samples from the feed and the animals themselves to try and get to the bottom of what's happened.

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


SAT 06:57 Weather (m001ghm2)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m001ghm4)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m001ghm6)
Matt Goss

Matt Goss joins Nikki Bedi and Peter Curran. The singer-songwriter and actor will perform Santa Baby and talk about his life, career and what it means to be living back in the UK after over a decade in America. Matt first shot to international stardom as one half of 1980s band Bros but has carved out a successful solo career, his latest single is The Beautiful Unknown. He's touring next year with The Matt Goss Experience which starts in Croydon on the 27th February and finishes on the 16th April in Dublin.

Lucinda Hawksley is an author and art historian with a love of the environment: cetaceans are one of her passions. As a great-great-great granddaughter of Charles and Catherine Dickens, Lucinda has grown up with an interest in her family history. She's a patron of the Charles Dickens Museum in London and the Norwegian Pickwick Club.

Emma Smith will be offering top festive tips, using her own experiences which include running a nursey and cooking school. Now a mother of three, after her first child died aged 10 weeks Emma changed her life and now she's trying to make the most of everything and fill life with joy.

Tom Felton shares his Inheritance Tracks: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and All Things Must Pass by George Harrison. Tom's memoir Beyond the Wand is out now.

Darren Harriott grew up in the West Midlands and found drama and comedy after being beaten up by fellow gang members aged 15, and finding himself in hospital on New Year’s Eve. 2023 looks set to pose new challenges as Darren’s about to take part in ITVs Dancing on Ice and undertake his first UK tour ‘Roadman’, which starts on Wednesday 13th September at Glasgow’s Glee Club and culminates on 25th October at Salford’s Lowry.

Producer: Claire Bartleet


SAT 10:30 Soul Music (m00180hq)
I Believe in Father Christmas

Some people say it's a protest song about the commercialisation of Christmas. Others that it's anti-religious. I Believe In Father Christmas is about neither, although lyricist Peter Sinfield concedes that it does include a touch of cynicism but says ultimately it's a song of joy and hope. When Greg Lake co-wrote it in 1975 he had embarked on a solo career away from Emerson Lake & Palmer. Those around him at the time, including songwriter Peter Sinfield and broadcaster Bob Harris, recall how repeating a simple acoustic guitar exercise led Greg Lake to this giant of a song that includes a full choir, orchestra, and an extract from Prokofiev to create an enduring Christmas anthem. For many people it's a comforting song conjuring images of nostalgic picture postcard Christmases of a childhood spent in the ambience of Christmas tree lights and candles with 'eyes full of tinsel and fire'. For others it's a cautionary reminder of the need to look beyond the materialism and commercialism to a quieter, more spiritual time.

Producer: Maggie Ayre


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m001ghm8)
Top commentators review the political week


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m001ghmb)
Friendship, Fury and a French Suit

Kate Adie presents highlights from 2022, beginning in Moscow, where we hear the story of the friendship between BBC Russia editor Steve Rosenberg and Valentina, a vendor at a newspaper kiosk.

Earlier this year, Ryanair introduced a compulsory nationality test - in Afrikaans - for South African travellers coming into the UK. Audrey Brown describes what the language means to her as a Black South African and for so many others who grew up under apartheid.

Protesters took to the streets in Sri Lanka this year, as the country spiralled into an economic crisis which saw Sri Lankans facing shortages of fuel, food and medicine. Rajini Vaidyanathan was in Colombo.

And finally, Emmanuel Macron has been criticised for being out of touch with regular voters, so in the French elections this year he tried a more casual approach - in both manner and attire. Our Paris correspondent, Hugh Schofield, decided upon a makeover of his own, and went in search of a new suit - from the President's own tailor.

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


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m001gj6p)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m001ghmg)
Money Box Christmas

In a year when the cost of living has dominated so many of our programmes and of course your lives, we’ll return to some of the organisations and individuals helping families cope with rising energy prices, soaring food costs and prices that only go one way - up.

Paul Lewis is joined by a community interest company which focuses on fuel poverty - Warm Wales, Broke not Broken foodbank in Kinross and the South Manchester Credit Union.

We'll hear from just a few of the listeners who we've helped this year to keep more of their money.

We have Money Box's top five Christmas crackers – tips to save you money in 2023.

And the Maelgwn Male Voice Choir in Llandudno sings some carols.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Clare Worden
Researchers: Sandra Hardial and Star McFarlane
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 24th December, 2022)


SAT 12:30 Dead Ringers (m001g9mp)
Christmas Specials 2022

Episode 3

Could Theresa May make a comeback? Who could be Twitter’s new CEO? And what will King Charles say in his first Christmas message? All these questions are answered in the final Dead Ringers of the year.

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

Written by Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain, Laurence Howarth, Sarah Campbell, Tom Coles and Ed Amsden, Edward Tew, Cody Dahler, Robert Darke, Sophie Dickson, Katie Sayer.

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


SAT 12:57 Weather (m001ghmj)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m001ghmn)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 News Review of the Year (m001gc24)
2022

It's been a momentous year, with news that we had hoped to never hear again: war in Europe, double-digit inflation, a crash of the pound. There's been unprecedented political turmoil with three Prime Ministers: Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
And an era has come to an end: after celebrating a unique 70 years on the throne, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96, and was succeeded by her son, King Charles III.
There's been joy, too. England's Lionesses won the European football championships, putting an end to decades of wait and heartache. And while the men didn't "bring it home", both the England and Wales teams delighted their fans during the World Cup in Qatar.

Adam Fleming is joined by four senior BBC journalists to look back over an extraordinary year of news: Political Editor Chris Mason, Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet, Technology Editor Zoe Kleinman and Newsnight's Economics Editor Ben Chu.

Presenter: Adam Fleming
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Researcher: Matt Toulson
Production Coordinator: Janet Staples
Sound: Mike Regaard (recording) and Neil Churchill (mix)
Editor: Lizzi Watson


SAT 14:00 Drama (m000qm49)
Neil Gaiman's The Sleeper and the Spindle

Neil Gaiman’s perfect Christmas-time fairy tale, brought to life by award-winning dramatist Katie Hims. Starring Penelope Wilton, Gwendoline Christie and Ralph Ineson as well as Neil Gaiman himself.

The Sleeper and the Spindle is a new tale drawing on traditional folk stories, interweaving Snow White and Sleeping Beauty in an enchanting drama that puts the women firmly centre stage.

In her mountain kingdom, a soldier-Queen prepares for her wedding day. Three dwarves, guardians from her childhood, race towards her. They were coming for the celebration, but they also bring news of a sleeping sickness sweeping the land. As a girl she survived her own long, magical sleep, so she throws on her armour, straps on her sword and rides into the heart of this new plague to try to find its source and save her people. The magical sleep is spreading from a castle deep in the forest. There, our heroine discovers a beautiful sleeping girl, and a very, very old woman, forever awake…. But when the Queen wakes the princess in the traditional way, she discovers that all is not as it seems. Ultimately, she comes to understand that she really can make her own choices, and follow the path to her own happy ending.

Written by Neil Gaiman
Adapted by Katie Hims
Directed and Produced by Allegra McIlroy

Recorded remotely by Sharon Hughes and John Benton
Sound Design by Sharon Hughes

The Sleeper and the Spindle was a BBC Audio North Production

Cast
Dame Penelope Wilton ….. The Narrator/The Old Woman
Gwendoline Christie ….. The Queen
Neil Gaiman ….. The Home Secretary
Ralph Ineson ….. The First Dwarf
Stefan Adegbola ….. The Second Dwarf
Ian Dunnett Jnr ….. The Third Dwarf/The Prince/ The Tinker/The Woodcutter
Cecilia Appiah ….. The Pot Girl/ The Young Girl/ The Mother
Emma Handy ….. The Maid/The Other Woman/ The Stepmother
Roger Ringrose ….. The Father/The Innkeeper/ The Bandit
Milton Dighton ….. The Child


SAT 15:00 A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (m001g9pf)
Christmas 2022

A service of carols, hymns, and readings live from the candlelit Chapel of King's College, Cambridge.

Hymn: Once in royal David's City (Irby, arr. Willcocks)
Bidding Prayer (read by the Dean)
Carol: Up! Good Christen folk, and listen (Piae Cantiones, harm. Woodward)
First lesson: Genesis 3 vv. 8-19 (read by a Chorister)
Carol: The truth from above (Vaughan Williams, arr. Christopher Robinson)
Carol: Adam lay ybounden (Warlock)
Second lesson: Genesis 22 vv. 15-19 (read by a College student)
Carol: Illuminare Jerusalem (Judith Weir)
Third lesson: Isaiah 9 vv. 2, 6-7 (read by a member of College staff)
Carol: O Little town of Bethlehem (Walford Davies)
Hymn: It came upon the midnight clear (Noel, descant Scott)
Fourth lesson: Isaiah 11 vv. 1-9 (read by the Master over the Choristers)
Carol: Peace on Earth (Errollyn Wallen)
Carol: Sans Day Carol (Trad. Cornish, arr. John Rutter)
Fifth lesson: Luke 1 vv. 26-38 (read by a Fellow)
Carol: An old carol (Quilter)
Carol: Angelus ad Virginem (Matthew Martin) – 2022 Commission
Sixth lesson: Luke 2 vv. 1-7 (read by the Mayor of Cambridge)
Hymn: Unto us is born a Son (Puer nobis, arr. Willcocks)
Carol: In the bleak midwinter (Darke)
Seventh lesson: Luke 2 vv. 8-20 (read by the Director of Music)
Carol: The Shepherds’ Cradle Song (Leuner, arr. Macpherson)
Eighth lesson: Matthew 2 vv. 1-12 (read by the Vice-Provost)
Carol: O magnum mysterium (Victoria)
Carol: Tomorrow shall be my dancing day (Gardner)
Ninth lesson: John 1 vv. 1-14 (read by the Provost)
Hymn: O come, all ye faithful (Adeste Fideles, arr. Willcocks)
Collect and Blessing
Hymn: Hark! the herald angels sing (Mendelssohn, arr. Ledger)

Organ voluntaries:
In dulci jubilo, BWV 719 (Bach)
Prelude and Fugue in B major Op. 7 No. 1 (Dupré)

Daniel Hyde (Director of Music)
Paul Greally (Organ Scholar)
The Revd Dr Stephen Cherry (Dean)
The Revd Dr Mary Kells (Chaplain)

For millions listening on radio and online around the world, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, live from the candlelit Chapel of King's College, Cambridge, marks the beginning of Christmas. It is based around nine Bible readings which tell the story of the loving purposes of God. They are interspersed with carols old and new, sung by the world-famous Chapel choir who also lead the congregation in traditional Christmas hymns.

A new work has been commissioned for the Christmas Eve service every year since 1983; a tradition begun by Sir Stephen Cleobury. For 2022, Matthew Martin has chosen to set the text of the famous medieval carol ‘Angelus ad Virginem’.

A number of pieces by significant twentieth century composers such as Peter Warlock, Judith Weir, Errollyn Wallen, and Roger Quilter, sit alongside traditional carols in arrangements by Sir David Willcocks, Christopher Robinson, John Rutter, and Philip Ledger.

Producer: Ben Collingwood


SAT 16:30 You're Dead To Me (m001ghmv)
Christmas with Charles Dickens

Greg Jenner is joined by Dr Emily Bell and Mike Wozniak to find out what Christmas was like with Charles Dickens. We take a walk through the many Christmases of the renowned Victorian author.

From elephants walking on ice to the family Christmas punch recipe, we take a closer look at the factors that may have influenced some of his most famous works and unpick what the phrase Dickensian has come to mean over the years.

Written by Emma Nagouse and Greg Jenner
Produced by Emma Nagouse and Greg Jenner
Assistant Producer: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow
Researcher: Jessica White
Project Management: Isla Matthews
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey

The Athletic production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 17:00 PM (m001ghmz)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Now You're Asking with Marian Keyes and Tara Flynn (m001ghn3)
Christmas Special

The holiday season is not easy for everyone. Some people love it, some can’t stand it and others want to enjoy some downtime with the family - if only it wasn’t their family, in their house, at this time of the year.

Demanding guests arrive - but whose holiday traditions should you follow? A family member monopolises the season - should you head over to her house - again? And what are the ways of coping with the sadness this ‘happy’ time of year can bring? Marian and Tara take listeners’ Christmas questions in their stride.

Marian Keyes is a multi-award-winning writer, with a total of over 30 million books sold to date in 33 languages. Her close friend Tara Flynn is an actress, comedian and writer. Together, these two friends have been through a lot, and now want to use their considerable life experience to help solve the biggest - and smallest - of their listeners' problems

The popular advice podcast continues to be welcomed by listeners and critics. "Both are warm and kind enough to not only be funny but also offer genuinely thoughtful, if left-field, advice." (Miranda Sawyer, The Observer). "Keyes and Flynn are my new favourite double-act." (Jane Anderson - Radio Times). "I found their compassion endlessly soothing." (Rachel Cunliffe - The New Statesman)

Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001ghn7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 17:57 Weather (m001ghnc)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001ghnh)
The Taliban has banned women from working for aid agencies in Afghanistan. And Russian shelling has killed ten civilians in the frontline city of Kherson.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m001ghnm)
Includes Cerys Matthews, Brian Bilston, Imelda May, Luke Wright, Polarbear, Salena Godden, Judy Collins and John Shuttleworth

Clive Anderson's specially created box of delights full of Celebrations, heroes (and heroines), Quality Street preachers, poets and their poems… friends of the show giving us chapter and verse of their take on the festive season. Guests include Cerys Matthews and The Gwalia Male Choir, Judy Collins, Brian Bilston, Dean Atta, Imelda May, Salena Godden, Luke Wright, Polarbear, John Shuttleworth, Jade Anouka and Grace Savage.


SAT 19:00 Profile (m001ghnr)
Nigella Lawson

People across the country will be turning to TV chefs this week to help plan the festivities - and, arguably, nobody does Christmas better than Nigella.

Mark Coles takes a look at the life of Nigella Lawson, the daughter of a famous Chancellor of the Exchequer who became the Queen of Christmas cooking.

Friends recall their favourite memories, many of them culinary. And journalist Gilly Smith, author of Taste and the TV Chef, explains why Nigella has become a global food star.

Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Lucy Proctor and Matt Toulson
Editor: Simon Watts
Production Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross
Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar


SAT 19:15 The Infinite Monkey Cage (p0dcngq7)
Series 25

Why does wine taste good?

For this special Christmas episode, Brian Cox and Robin Ince visit the Australian Wine Research Institute in Adelaide to find out what science can teach us about wine. They are joined by stand-up comedian Tim Minchin, Nobel Prize winner and vineyard owner Brian Schmidt, flavour chemist Mango Parker and sensory and consumer scientist Patricia Williamson. The panel are put through their paces as they sample a variety of wines, learning the hard way that the majority of wine’s flavour isn’t down to molecular chemistry but instead the holistic experience of wine drinking: the perceived price, mood in the room and even the weight of the bottle.

Producer: Caroline Steel
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001ghny)
'Twas the Night Before Christmas: The poem that changed the world

It's thought the most popular American poem of all time isn't a protest poem, or a love poem, but is best known as 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' and officially called 'A Visit from St Nicholas'.

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;'

Now poet and balladeer Luke Wright wants to write a updated version of this iconic Christmas poem, one that will captivate us like this one did so successfully. To this end, he is turning the 1823 poem inside out to try to understand why it has reigned supreme for so long (launching countless festive songs about reindeer and Santa costumes) but he also wants the new poem to speak to our moment.

Along the way, the bell-bright, rosy cheeked and holly strewn archive will help Luke understand the different myths that have informed our idea of a mysterious figure who brings us presents in midwinter. The Christmas poetry of John Betjeman, Raymond Briggs' 'Father Christmas' and the imagination of J.R.R. Tolkien offer writerly inspiration.

Including the voices of John Cooper Clarke, J.R.R Tolkien, Raymond Briggs, John Betjeman.

References:
Letters from Father Christmas - J.R.R. Tolkien
A Few Late Chrysanthemums - John Betjeman
Father Christmas - Raymond Briggs

Produced by Faith Lawrence
Mixed by Sue Stonestreet


SAT 21:00 With Great Pleasure (m001ghp0)
With Great Pleasure at Christmas

Michael Rosen chooses poems and stories that have meant the most to him in his life, with guest readers Henry Goodman and Yasemin Özdemir and a special appearance by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, all recorded in the BBC Radio Theatre.

Michael chooses extracts from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Simon Armitage. With poems by Warsan Shire, Raymond Carver and James Berry. Many of Michael’s choices touch on ideas of home and heritage, or they remind him of stories handed down by family members, like ‘When Schlemiel came to Warsaw” by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Amazing live music from Shovel Dance Collective, a nine piece traditional folk band, who explore folk songs from a perspective that ‘isn’t imperial, white and male’. They include a new setting for ‘Full Fathom Five’ from Shakespeare’s Tempest.

Prepare for some unusual instruments and sounds and great stories by a master storyteller. Intensely festive with a tinge of melancholy, hilarious, sublime. The perfect way to start the festive season.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery


SAT 22:00 News (m001ghp2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 Hunting Ghosts with Gatiss and Coles (m001ghp4)
Mark Gatiss has spent his career writing about ghosts, but he's never actually seen one. Richard Coles though believes he's had his own real-life brushes with the supernatural.

Last year, the two met for the first time and Richard invited Mark to visit his former parish in Finedon, Northamptonshire, reputedly the most haunted in England.

Now the two of them - one believer, one atheist - are going ghost-hunting.

Presented by Mark Gatiss and Richard Coles
Produced by Gareth McLean and Simon Barnard
Sound design: Charlie Brandon-King
Music by Evelyn Sykes

A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:00 Nature Table (m001g924)
Series 3

Episode 4

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

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

Recorded at ZSL London Zoo, this week Sue Perkins is joined by special guests: Lucy Cooke (Zoologist), James Wong (Ethnobotanist) and comedian Felicity Ward.

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

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

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

A BBC Studios Production


SAT 23:30 Midnight Mass Live from Leeds Cathedral (m001ghp6)
The traditional Christmas Eve celebration of Midnight Mass comes live from Leeds Cathedral.

Christmas begins with a joyous celebration of the Mass of the Nativity of the Lord which begins with the blessing of the crib. Bishop of Leeds, Marcus Stock, leads the service and reflects on Christmas and what it means to our world today.

Haydn's St Nicholas Mass provides an appropriately festive setting, sung by the Cathedral Choir. They are joined by the congregation in singing favourite carols to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Introit hymn - O come all ye faithful
Gloria - Missa Sancti Nicolai, Haydn
Psalm - Today a saviour, Duffy
Offertory motet - Quem pastores, Praetorius
Offertory hymn - O little town of Bethlehem
Sanctus & Benedictus - Missa Sancti Nicolai, Haydn
Agnus Dei - Missa Sancti Nicolai, Haydn
Communion - Candlelight Carol, Rutter
Communion hymn - Silent night
Final hymn - Hark! the herald angels sing

Producer: Katharine Longworth

SUNDAY 25 DECEMBER 2022

SUN 00:45 Shipping Forecast (m001ghp8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001ghpb)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001ghpd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m001ghpg)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m001ghpj)
The Abbey Church, Waltham Abbey, Essex

Bells on Sunday comes from The Abbey Church, Waltham Abbey, Essex. There has been a church in Waltham since the early 7th century. In 1177, Henry ii re-founded Waltham Church as a Priory and then as an Abbey in penance for the murder of Thomas Beckett. The Abbey was subsequently dissolved during the reformation. The church tower houses a ring of twelve bells cast by John Taylor of Loughborough with a tenor weighing thirty seven and a quarter hundredweight and tuned to the note of C. We hear them ringing Stedman Cinques.


SUN 05:45 Profile (m001ghnr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m001ghv5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b085hrbr)
Good Will

According to the gospels, on the first Christmas Day, angels promised peace and good will on earth. The meaning of peace is clear, but what did they mean by good will and what do we understand it to mean today?

Mark Tully discusses the spiritual and religious idea of benevolence with academic, musician and priest June Boyce-Tillman and asks how we can show good will to those around us on a day which can be both joyful and stressful.

Derek Jacobi and Adjoa Andoh read from work by Archbishop Tutu and poets Mark Turbyfill and Karen Gershon, and there’s music from Tchaikovsky, Ella Fitzgerald and The Van Dykes. Albert Finney sings as well.

Readers: Derek Jacobi and Adjoa Andoh
Presented by Mark Tully
Produced by Frank Stirling
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:35 Natural Histories (b082ymp5)
Yew

Brett Westwood steps inside the trunk of an ancient yew tree in a churchyard in Bennington in Hertfordshire, with the writer and naturalist Richard Mabey. From their extraordinary vantage point, the two men begin to unravel the history of our relationship with this most ancient and fascinating of trees. Over the centuries, yews have inspired poets, writers, painters and topiarists - who have shaped them into everything from peacocks to police helmets. With the help of writer and botanist Paul Evans, we learn that the yew is a tree unlike any other: a long-lived, regenerating, poisonous, evergreen, revered, medicinal rule-breaker.

Originally broadcast in a longer form 22/11/2016
Original Producer: Sarah Blunt
Archive Producer Andrew Dawes for BBC Audio in Bristol


SUN 06:57 Weather (m001ghvc)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 Christmas Service: Hope for the Nations (m001ghvh)
Wonderful and uplifting singing bring 'Hope to the Nations' this Christmas morning. Bath Abbey is a house of prayer for all nations, visited by people from around the world. The service celebrates the joy of Christmas and explores the good news at its heart, with a sermon by the new Bishop of Bath and Wells, The Right Revd. Michael Beasley, asserting that, as Jesus came as God to be with us, God is himself with us and for us, in all the complexities of our humanity. The service also celebrates the Abbey's links to the late Queen Elizabeth II, and there are prayers for peace and justice following an interview with a refugee from Ukraine.

Hark how the bells (Leontovych arr Wilhousky, Ukraine); O come all ye faithful; Isaiah 9: 6-7; Christmas Bells (Longfellow); Suo gan (Welsh lullaby arr Guest); Luke 2v1-14; Joy to the world; Away in a manger (arr Williams); John 1:1-14; Mary Had a baby (Sargent); O little town of Bethlehem; I wonder as I wander (Rutti); Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
Leader: Rev Stephen Girling, Abbey Missioner; Huw Williams, Director of Music; Martin Baker (Organ) Producer: Philip Billson


SUN 07:56 Radio 4 Appeal (m001ghvm)
Dogs for Good

Broadcaster and dog lover Andrew Cotter makes the BBC Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity Dogs for Good.

To Give:
- UK Freephone 0800 404 8144
-You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That’s the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope 'Dogs for Good’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Dogs for Good’.
Please note that Freephone and online donations for this charity close at 23.59 on the Saturday after the Appeal is first broadcast. However the Freepost option can be used at any time.

Registered charity number: 1092960


SUN 08:00 Broadcasting House (m001ghvr)
Paddy’s Christmas Cracker

An extended Christmas special edition of Broadcasting House.

Enjoy Christmas morning with Paddy O'Connell and a host of cocktails, cooking tips and choirs.

Jay Rayner and Andi Oliver will be on hand to keep your Christmas dinner on track.

Richard E Grant and Michael Palin join a festive Christmas panel of Mary Beard, Lord Sentamu and Mishal Husain.


SUN 09:58 Tweet of the Day (b09jr9qj)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 7 of 12

During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and for many a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song the Twelve Days of Christmas.

The big day has arrived and with it seven swans a swimming. Though wrapping these may have been an issue. As actress Alison Steadman discusses deeply embedded in the British culture the mute swan, which for many is the perfect bird for the seventh day in the song. Although in winter two other contenders arrive on our shores, the Bewick swan from Siberia and the slightly more vocal Whooper swan from Iceland.

Producer : Andrew Dawes
Photograph: Kevin Neal.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m001ghvv)
As Ambridge prepares to face the music, will one villager reveal what they know?


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m001ghvx)
Kirsty Young, broadcaster

Kirsty Young was the award-winning presenter of Desert Island Discs between 2006 and 2018, interviewing 496 castaways. Her TV work includes BAFTA-winning coverage of events marking the centenary of World War One, and memorable live presentation from Windsor of the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II earlier this year.

Kirsty was born in East Kilbride in Scotland. After a chance meeting with a freelance TV cameraman, she became interested in a media career, and worked as a runner and then a researcher for an independent production company, before joining BBC Radio Scotland as a trainee news and continuity announcer, beating 700 other applicants.

She moved to Scottish Television in 1992, and five years later she was part of the launch of Channel 5, presenting its main news programme while famously perching on the studio desk rather than sitting behind it. She also presented the BBC’s Crimewatch for many years.

In 2018, Kirsty had to step back from broadcasting, to undergo treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. After four years away from the microphone, she returned to present coverage of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June this year.

She is married to Nick Jones, CEO of Soho House and they have four children.

DISC ONE: Cello Suite No.1 in G Major, BWV1007: I. Prelude by Steven Isserlis
DISC TWO: My Baby Just Cares for Me by Nina Simone
DISC THREE: Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell
DISC FOUR: Caledonia by Dougie MacLean
DISC FIVE: I Happen to Like New York by Bobby Short
DISC SIX: Songbird by Fleetwood Mac
DISC SEVEN: O Magnum Mysterium by The Voices of Ascension choir, directed by Dennis Keene
DISC EIGHT: Count Me Out by Kendrick Lamar

BOOK CHOICE: The Most of Nora Ephron by Nora Ephron
LUXURY ITEM: A cinema and film archive
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Cello Suite No.1 in G Major, BWV1007: I. Prelude by Steven Isserlis

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m001ghvz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m001g92h)
Series 78

Episode 6

Back for a second week at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle, panellists John Finnemore, Pippa Evans, Fred Macaulay and Rory Bremner compete amongst one another, with Jack Dee the unimpressed umpire. Piano accompaniment is provided by Colin Sell.

Producer - Jon Naismith
It is a BBC Studios production


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m001ghw1)
Food, Philosophy & Football: Christmas with Delia Smith

In food, there are household names. And then, there is Delia Smith.

So synonymous is she with cooking that her first name was included in the Collins English Dictionary in 2001. For four decades, her TV cookery programmes were primetime viewing, and when they ceased in 2013, she moved her cooking lessons online. She has sold more than 21 million copies of her recipe books. Her seasonal recipes were so popular that supermarkets would run out of ingredients when she cooked with them. - Notably cranberries in 1995. So influential were her books and broadcasts that Queen Elizabeth II made Delia Smith a Companion of Honour.

At Christmas, Sheila Dillon invites Delia, now 81, into her kitchen to reflect on her long career in food and cooking, but also to talk also about other passions. Her lifelong interest in spirituality and philosophy as reflected in her 2022 book, 'You Matter', politics, and football, and her dedicated work to make Norwich City Football Club a food destination.

Jamie Oliver and Angela Hartnett tell Sheila about the legacy Delia has left on their own careers in food. Cooking teacher Angela Holding bakes Delia's sticky toffee pudding and talks about the legacy Delia's books have had on aspiring cooks everywhere.

Presented by Sheila Dillon.
Produced by Clare Salisbury for BBC Audio West & Wales.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m001ghw3)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 News and Weather (m001ghw5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 13:15 The Infinite Monkey Cage (p0dcngq7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 on Saturday]


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001g9m0)
Norwich

Will dividing a large plant help bring it back to life? What’s the story behind the Norwegian spruce that each year adorns Trafalgar Square in London? And how do you encourage a cactus to flower?

Joining Kathy Clugston to solve your horticultural conundrums are grow-your-own expert Bob Flowerdew, designer Matthew Wilson and orchid enthusiast Anne Swithinbank.

Each year for 75 years the people of Norway have gifted the UK a large Christmas tree. Gardener Matt Biggs and GQT producer Dan Cocker head to Trafalgar Square to discover the origin story of this tradition. Sharing in the history are the UK Ambassador to Norway, Richard Wood, and Mayor of Oslo, Marianne Borgen. They also turn to expert Matthew Pottage for debunking what makes a “good tree”.

Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Aniya Das
Executive Producer: Louisa Field

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Just William - The Great Performer by Richmal Crompton (m0012scd)
William Joins the Carol Singers

Laughter on the air with Martin Jarvis. After last year's lockdown-episodes and Feedback's recent plea for more Just William exploits, here’s another escapist bunch of five.

Apart from our lateral-thinking hero, there are some wonderful guest-star characters in this newly recorded series of classics – including control-freak Violet Elizabeth Bott, who can ‘scweam an’ sweam ‘til she’s sick!’

In Episode 1, William believes he’s as good at ‘carol-singin' as anybody in the world - ‘when I start singin' you c'n hear me at the other end of the village.’ He and his Outlaws perform tunelessly, loudly, disgracefully. Ancient Aunt Jane thinks it's a pack of wolves. An exciting, ear-splitting evening. But this Christmas, William and chums have a secret plan. It’s to ‘torture’ their relations into providing acceptable Christmas presents. Timeless comic invention.

Written by Richmal Crompton.

Read by Martin Jarvis.
A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 HM The King (m001ghw7)
The King's Christmas message to the Commonwealth and the nation, followed by the national anthem.


SUN 15:05 News Summary (m001gzh8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 15:17 Drama (m001ghw9)
The Signalman

In Jonathan Holloway’s newly imagined adaptation of Dickens' popular short story, The Visitor on a recuperative walking holiday in the Sussex countryside happens upon a solitary signalman in a dank, icy cold railway cutting where the sun never shines, and unexpectedly finds himself part of a spooky tale of spectral, supernatural occurrences.

Charles Dickens wrote this much-loved ghost story in 1866 following his own experience of being involved in a train crash at Staplehurst in Kent when he was travelling with his mistress Ellen Ternan and her mother. He helped rescue fellow passengers and was deeply affected by the experience, possibly suffering from what we could now call PTSD, losing his voice for two weeks after the event and then becoming ever more frightened of railway travel.

He took a keen interest in railway safety and the lives of the railway workers. These themes have inspired this new adaptation in which Jonathan Holloway adds an additional, unexpected twist to this classic short story.

At the centre of it is the railway tunnel with its hellish mouth, humming telegraph wires infused with the voice of prehistoric evil, an environment full of dread in which it is difficult to tell night from day, a constantly startled railway signalman, and The Visitor who is driven to ask more and more questions - all of which receive alarming answers.

Cast:
The Signalman – Samuel West
The Visitor – James Purefoy
Mrs Carter – Sally Orrock
Train Driver – Nicholas Murchie

Music specially composed by Sarah Llewellyn
Strings, musical saw and waterphone performed by Francesca Simmons
Sound Design: David Thomas
Production Co-ordinators: Sarah Tombling and Sarah Wright
Director: Andy Jordan
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 16:15 Hunting Ghosts with Gatiss and Coles (m001ghp4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:15 on Saturday]


SUN 17:00 Christmas Recycled (m001ghwd)
Ever thought of renting a Christmas tree? Borrowing toys? Swapping party dresses? Drinking a Christmas tipple made from bread destined for landfill? Probably not, but as the climate emergency deepens, perhaps we need to add them to the festive traditions.
Food, packaging, decorations and gifts are all part of the festivities, but they’re also having a major impact on the health of the planet.
Each Christmas, we throw away 42 million plates of food with enough gravy to fill an Olympic pool. 114,000 tonnes of plastic packaging will be binned and not recycled and we use 227,000 miles of wrapping paper – at the expense of 50,000 trees.
Christmas really is the gift that keeps on taking. But there is hope. Rima Ahmed meets a group of dedicated Christmas-loving pioneers providing the answer to a question we’ve ignored for too long – Can we be sustainable at Christmas?


SUN 17:40 Profile (m001ghnr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001ghwg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 17:57 Weather (m001ghwj)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001ghwl)
The King has sympathised with people struggling to cope with the rising cost of living, and Merseyside Police begin a murder investigation after a woman was shot dead at a pub


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m001ghwn)
Simon Armitage

The Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, with a seasonal selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m001ghwq)
David turns down every offer of help with the cooking. He’s determined to do it by himself though fully expects Jill to take over when she arrives. David rushes round the kitchen finalising the dinner while Jill looks on and asks about when they’ll see Elizabeth and whether Vince will be there too. Jill is impressed with David’s bravery for taking on the Christmas meal single-handedly. After the meal, David admits he expected his mum to take charge. This prompts Jill to say that she’s realised that food isn’t the only way to show love. Davis reassures her that the family’s recent rifts are all healed. Jill is touched. David makes plans to move the rest of her stuff from The Bull – Jill’s coming home.
Brad and Chelsea pester Tracy about when she’s going to propose to Jazzer. Then, as they all unwrap the last of their presents, they wonder whether they should source free items every year. After a tough year they all enjoy themselves. Later, out of earshot from Jazzer, Tracy confirms to her children that she plans to propose to Jazzer on New Year’s Eve. Later, while Tracy naps, Jazzer asks Chelsea and Brad how they would feel if he proposed to their mum. Chelsea jumps in saying it’s a great idea but how it’s done needs thought. To their horror Jazzer reveals he’s planning to do it tomorrow.


SUN 19:15 The Confessional (m001ghws)
Series 3

The Confession of Sheila Hancock

The comic and intrusive chat show, in which Stephen Mangan interrogates celebrity penitents about their stories of shame, guilt and embarrassment.

Each week, Stephen entices a different eminent guest into his virtual confessional box to make three confessions of sins, peccadilloes, misdeeds and idiocies - anything really that will make us laugh, shudder, blush or cringe at their expense.

In this episode, Stephen's guest is reluctant national treasure Dame Sheila Hancock - actor, singer, director, novelist and writer. Together they discuss inappropriate behaviour, snobbery and flagrant rule-breaking.

Other guests in this series are Jessie Cave, Neil Dudgeon, Maisie Adam, Lady Antonia Fraser and Ben Bailey Smith aka Doc Brown.

Presented by Stephen Mangan
Additional material by Nick Doody
Produced by Frank Stirling
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Voices in the Valley (p0d8kms6)
9: A Celestial Event

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

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

In today's story, it is Christmastime in Barrowbeck, and a group of friends gather to support their friend whose wife has died in very strange circumstances....

Writer: Andrew Michael Hurley
Reader: David Hounslow
Producer: Justine Willett


SUN 20:00 Soul Music (m00180hq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


SUN 20:30 You're Dead To Me (m001ghmv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Saturday]


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m001ghmg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m001ghvm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:56 today]


SUN 21:30 Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (m001ghww)
A hundred years since he wrote it, the same basic truths still apply to the poem that Robert Frost knew almost immediately would be his ‘best bid for remembrance’.

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening is on one level immensely accessible, as welcoming and familiar as a Thomas Kinkade jigsaw puzzle. At the very same time, it is intensely strange and finally unfathomable, full of shadows and unanswered questions. Who owns these woods that are so lovely dark and deep? Why is the speaker making such an urgent journey on ‘the darkest evening of the year’, - and what exactly are the ‘promises’ the speaker has to keep?

In exploring these questions, Michael Symmons Roberts hopes to discover the ways and the reasons why a poem in which so little actually happens has lodged itself so firmly into the popular imagination. In his quest, he’ll be joined by poets Jen Hadfield and Carl Phillips, as well as ardent Frost fan, Frank Skinner.

Producer - Geoff Bird
Executive Producer - Eloise Whitmore
A Naked production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 22:00 Loose Ends (m001ghnm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


SUN 22:45 Excuse Me, Are You John Shuttleworth? (m000qjfp)
Episode 2

Radio 4 fans need no introduction to singer/organist John Shuttleworth, who has been a firm favourite on the station for some years now. But say the name Graham Fellows and many listeners won’t know who you’re talking about – including John Shuttleworth himself!

Graham Fellows is an actor, musician and character comedian who has been in showbusiness for 40 years and, after hiding behind the masks of made-up people, it’s time he revealed himself.

This two-part series is an honest account of Graham’s life to date - sometimes hilarious, sometimes moving and often disarmingly honest - which will give a real sense of the man behind the mask. Each show will be punctuated with witty and moving songs performed on pedal harmonium and Graham will share which songs he kept for himself and which he gave to his characters, and why.

There will, on occasion, be interjections from some of Graham’s characters, particularly John Shuttleworth, as these lives are so intertwined. In fact, John is such a well-developed character that he can interject when Graham least expects it!

Part Two finds Graham a bit depressed and ready to quit showbusiness. After some counselling, he decides that what he really wants to do with his life is become a milkman! But after three months with not a single glimpse of a housewife in a nightie, he’s offered an acting job in the Theatre. This renews his love of performing and he returns to John Shuttleworth, honing the character so that he’s shortlisted for the Perrier awards and has his first series on Radio 4.

Graham soon feels ready to create a new character, and rock musicologist Brian Appleton is born: “I've been dumped upon from a massive height by so many rock stars, even Morrissey ripped me off. I wrote a song called My Turn to be Poorly.”

John is ever present, and Graham reveals that such were the demands of Shuttleworth and the sheer quantity of songs the character needed for new tours and radio shows that he had to pass many of his own songs straight over to John, including She Lives in Hope and The Man who Lives on the M62. At which point, Ken Worthington appears and insists that John wrote all his own songs, unaided.

Graham reveals who voices the other characters in the Shuttleworth world before ending the show with a song that captures the truth of a simple event in HIS life – I Had an Egg with my Son.

A Chic Ken production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 23:00 Poetry Please (m001ghwy)
Christmas with Roger Robinson and Liz Lochhead

Roger Robinson and Liz Lochhead join Roger to share favourite seasonal poems, including wintry offerings from Emily Dickinson, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Jacob Polley.

Producer Sally Heaven


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b085hrbr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]

MONDAY 26 DECEMBER 2022

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m001ghx0)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Christmas Meditation (m001ghx2)
Where Are We Now?
After a year of upheaval and change at home and abroad, actor director Adjoa Andoh reflects on childhood Christmases past, and Christmases present as children grow and the world shifts. Weaving in Psalms, music and memories from her childhood Christmases such as the snow globes, the wooden nativity scene- the white plastic polar bear, and the sound of Harry Belfonte singing Marys Boy Child with her dad strumming along at home on the guitar. Join Adjoa in her hopeful quest for a good year ahead.

Producer: Carmel Lonergan
Editor: Tim Pemberton
Photo Credit: Suki Dhanda


MON 00:30 Short Works (m001g9m4)
The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke

In Susanna Clarke's specially commissioned wintry short story, the award-winning writer takes us back to the nineteenth century and introduces us to Merowdis who seeks answers when she enters hallowed woodland with her dearest friends. Sophie McShera reads.

Susanna Clarke won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2020 with her second novel, Piranesi. She is well known for her novel Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell which was adapted for BBC television in a major production, and her short story collection, The Ladies of Grace Adieu.

Produced by Elizabeth Allard


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m001ghpj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001ghx4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001ghx7)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001ghxb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m001ghxd)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001ghxg)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Bishop David Walker

Good Morning.

Along with cold turkey, a staple of my childhood Boxing Day routine was watching football in the afternoon. God and the weather willing, I’ll be doing that later today. Boxing Day games of old always had a special feel. Not only were the crowd imbued with Christmas spirit, many of the players, bound by less rigorous regimes than today, had also palpably enjoyed the food and drink of the previous 24 hours. Playing standards could be somewhat erratic, with as much to laugh at as to cheer. The results often failed to reflect the teams’ league positions.

I saw, and appreciated, in those games, that my sporting heroes were not simply men who could run fast and accurately kick a ball, they were husbands, fathers, sons and brothers. Nowadays they’d be sisters, wives, mums and daughters too. They had lives beyond the game, people who mattered to them more, even, than football. By contrast, the punishing schedules of training and fitness to which quite young girls and boys are often nowadays subjected, in the name of sporting excellence, deeply worry me, even if they are not accompanied by performance enhancing drugs. So my prayer this day is for all who aspire to make their living from professional sport.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the skills of foot, hand and eye, through which you endow your children with sporting prowess. We thank you for the enjoyment and inspiration their achievements can bring to the lives of so many. And so, we pray for all who have, or hope for, careers in sport. Protect them from demands that detract from their humanity, or regimes that abuse their minds and bodies. Help them to live well and fully, and to value their lives beyond the accumulation of trophies and medals.

Amen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m001ghxj)
26/12/22 - Kingdom Forge Blacksmiths & Brewery

Step into the Brundish countryside to explore the UK's only licensed forge with young entrepreneur and blacksmith Paul Stoddart. Kingdom Forge is a blacksmithing and engineering workshop. Paul and his team design and create high quality metalwork using a combination of traditional and modern techniques. They're regularly commissioned for film and TV; they run workshops to teach people of all ages & keep the traditional craft alive. Tread through orchards (once owned by Aspells) to find out how cyder making has helped expand and take their business in a new direction. Walk through the brewery and bar to find out how they grow, brew and serve their own cyder from within the forge. Hear how Paul teaches hundreds of blacksmithing students each year whilst creating a totally unique experience, never achieved before in the UK.

Presented and produced by Anna Louise Claydon


MON 05:56 Weather (m001ghxl)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09jv7cv)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 8 of 12

During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and for many a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song the Twelve Days of Christmas.

As actress Alison Steadman reveals during the cold mid-winter as they went about their business, those eight maids a milking were probably not thinking of a familiar bird which also produces milk. The domestic pigeon.

Producer : Andrew Dawes
Photograph: David England.


MON 06:00 Today (m001ghy1)
Today's programme is guest edited by Lord Botham, Ian 'Beefy' Botham, former England All rounder, Crossbench Peer and UK Trade Envoy to Australia.

His programme will look at the future of test cricket and will feature an interview with England Cricket Captain, Ben Stokes.

Lord Botham will also look at developments in the treatment of childhood leukaemia a cause he's been fundraising for since 1985.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m001ghy5)
Awesome

The award-winning social psychologist Dacher Keltner believes he’s found the answer to happiness: finding awe. In his new book, Awe: The Transformative Power of Everyday Wonder, he shows how this elusive, but powerful, emotion can have physical and psychological effects, impacting our bodies and brains.

Anna Lapwood is an organist and conductor, and currently the Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge. She is also a great believer in the transformative power of music. She regularly plays the Royal Albert Hall’s organ – described as ‘the voice of Jupiter’ – and believes listeners can feel the wonder vibrating through the music.

Looking up at the night sky and contemplating galaxies far away is often seen as a sure way to elicit wonder, but the physicist Felix Flicker argues that it can be found much smaller and much closer to home. In The Magick of Matter he shows how truly inspiring crystalline specks of dust can be, and when they're combined the sky’s the limit.

Producer: Katy Hickman

Image: Anna Lapwood - Leeds Town Hall (Credit Tom Arber)


MON 09:45 Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel (m001gj0t)
Episode 1

In her frank and unflinching portrait of her early years in Derbyshire, and later her adolescence and early 20s, Hilary Mantel moved from writing fiction to seize the copyright in her own narrative.

Charting a fractured and sometimes tense family life, the account moves on to her university years and the chronic and devastating pain of an undiagnosed illness.

Giving Up The Ghost is the much-loved and admired novelist's memoir, first published in 2003 and repeated here as a tribute to the author who died in September 2022.

'She is by turns facetious, matter-of-fact, visionary and comical but always totally riveting.' Daily Telegraph
'Simply astonishing - clear and true.' Guardian
‘What a remarkable writer she is. She is piercingly, even laceratingly observant … a very startling and daring memoir; the more I read it the more unsettling it becomes.’ Helen Dunmore

Read by Patience Tomlinson
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters

A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001ghy9)
Boxing Day on Rest

This is your time to rest.. you have permission. Lie on the floor, or sit on a chair, get yourself comfortable... close your eyes if you'd like... take a deep breath in... and exhale...

How much do you rest? Do you prioritise it? Maybe you feel you don't have time to rest! Or maybe you feel guilty for taking time out? Jessica Creighton discusses the theme of Rest with her guests.

The presenter and author of The Art of Rest Claudia Hammond defines what rest is - and isn’t; discusses some of the most restful activities, gives a ‘Prescription for Rest’ and explains why she has a box containing a crochet hook and some seeds.

The Reverend Lesley Jones, Rector at The Parish of Jarrow of Simonside, and Anna Katharina Schaffner, Professor of Cultural History at the University of Kent, discuss the day of rest and the ‘rest cure’ – which involved drinking four pints of milk and eating mutton chops!

The nature geek Melissa Harrison takes us on a country walk near her village and describes how nature rests in winter.

Composer Debbie Wiseman explains how music can promote a feeling of restfulness and demonstrates with some of her favourites from Beethoven to Brahms and her own composition Together.

British athletes discuss how they use rest to perform at the highest level. The Former athlete and Olympic medallist Anyika Onuora and sport climber and five times National Champion Molly Thompson-Smith share their stories of how necessary it was in aiding their recovery from illness and injury.

And a former magazine editor Marianne Jones commissioned hundreds of pieces about stress, but ignored her own potentially fatal burnout. She recalls the warning signs that led her to become a relaxed woman.

Presented by Jessica Creighton
Producer: Louise Corley


MON 11:00 With Great Pleasure (m001ghp0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Saturday]


MON 12:00 News Summary (m001ghyz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 The New Gurus (m001ghyf)
5. Gazing into the Abyss

In 2018, a New York Times article anointed a group of taboo-breaking intellectual provocateurs as the 'Intellectual Dark Web'. David Fuller was one of those who found this loose grouping of dissident gurus like Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan and Sam Harris intoxicating – enough to leave the mainstream media and start his own YouTube channel.

But, four years on, he is left wondering - where did it all go wrong?

The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.

Written and presented by Helen Lewis

Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith

A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds


MON 12:32 Sliced Bread (m001f4xg)
Wake Up Lights & SAD Lamps

With shorter days, longer nights, and bad weather leading to the winter blues for many, and for some the more severe Seasonal Affective Disorder, Sliced Bread investigates whether specially designed lights can really help improve how we feel.

Listener Ross got in touch on WhatsApp after he’d read claims Wake Up Lights and SAD Lamps can boost our mood, and wanted to know what “medically certified” means when accredited to them, and if it’s worth paying extra for it?

Greg Foot finds out by speaking to a leading expert in light therapy, as well as by visiting a manufacturer of these lights, to ask them to explain their claims, and whether they’re medically recognised in the UK.

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

PRESENTER: Greg Foot
PRODUCER: Kate Holdsworth


MON 12:57 Weather (m001ghyj)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m001ghyl)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


MON 13:45 Causing a Scene (m001ghyn)
Sliding Doors

Causing A Scene looks at the scenes in movies that seem to perfectly capture a universal experience, or feeling. And that have perhaps influenced not only the way we look at the world but the way we talk, dream and grieve.

In this first episode, Antonia Quirke reveals how the title of a 1998 movie with Gwyneth Paltrow gave the world the phrase "sliding doors". Producer Philippa Braithwaite explains how the film had its own sliding doors moment when it seemed like it was never going to be made. And the movie's production designer Maria Djurkovic tells Antonia how life imitated art when she met a man on a tube train, just like the plot of Sliding Doors. Antonia also looks at the classic sliding doors movie It's A Wonderful Life and talks to cinema owner Kevin Markwick about why he thinks of himself as George Bailey, the man with a plan to leave his small town, memorably played by James Stewart.


MON 14:00 The Archers (m001ghwq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 The Dark Is Rising (m001glm5)
Episode One: The Sign-Seeker

A boy’s 11th birthday and an unusual gift mark the beginning of a great test of character, as young Will Stanton is drawn into an ancient struggle between Light and Dark.
He is told his task: to find the six Signs of the Light before the Dark destroys them. Realising he has supernatural powers, Will learns he is an ‘Old One’, whose duty is to fight the rising strength of the Dark across the centuries.
#TheDarkIsRising

This four-part version, edited for BBC Radio 4, of the BBC World Service serialisation of Susan Cooper's classic, written and recorded to take place across the Christmas holidays.

Cast
Will Stanton ... Noah Alexander,
John Smith/ Paul Stanton ... Thomas Arnold
Jamaican Old One/ James Stanton ... Danny Bailey
Stephen Stanton ... Simon Bubb
Mrs Stanton ... Amanda Hadingue,
The Walker (Hawkin) ... Toby Jones
Narrator ... Simon McBurney
The Rider/Mr Stanton/Farmer Dawson ... Tim McMullen
Merriman ... Paul Rhys
Maggie Barnes/Mary Stanton ... Natasha Stone.
The Lady/Miss Greythorne ... Harriet Walter

Soundscape designed by Gareth Fry
Original songs are by Johnny Flynn, Luisa Gerstein and Heloise Tunstall-Behrens.
Music by Josh Sneesby

The book by Susan Cooper was adapted for audio by Robert Macfarlane and Simon McBurney.

Director: Simon McBurney
Producers: Catherine Bailey and Tim Bell.
A Complicité and Catherine Bailey Production for BBC World Service.


MON 15:00 Nature Table (m001ghys)
Series 3

Episode 5

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

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

Recorded at The Eden Project, this week Sue Perkins is joined by special guests: Jaclyn Pearson (Wildlife Conservationist), Marcus Rhodes (Lepidopterist) and comedian Edward Rowe.

Written by: Catherine Brinkworth, Jon Hunter, Jenny Laville and Nicky Roberts

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

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

A BBC Studios Production


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m001ghw1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (m001ghww)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Open Book (m001ghz2)
Agatha Christie at Christmas

Johny Pitts explores the Queen of Crime's connection to the festive season with Lucy Foley, Abir Mukherjee and historian Mark Aldridge.

Why does a snowy midwinter lend itself so well to mystery narratives? How do the books puncture the "cosiness" of Christmassy nostalgia? And what are Poirot's views on this time of the year and peculiarly "English" traditions? All these questions, and more, are investigated.

Plus Rian Johnson, director of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, on what made him fall in love with Christie's work and how it continues to inspire his Detective Benoit Blanc films.

Presenter: Johny Pitts
Reader: Joanna Monro
Producer: Ciaran Bermingham

Book List – Monday 26 December and Thursday 29 December
Marple: Twelve New Stories by Twelve Great Writers
The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley
Curtain by Agatha Christie
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie
Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie
Byomkesh Bakshi Stories by Saradindu Bandopadhyay. Translated by Monimala Dhar
A Christmas Party by Georgette Heyer
The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories by P D James
Christmas is Murder: A Chilling Short Story Collection by Val McDermid
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
The Shadows of Men by Abir Mukherjee
Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World by Mark Aldridge


MON 17:00 PM (m001ghz8)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001ghzj)
Police say the woman who died in a shooting at a Merseyside pub on Christmas Eve was Elle Edwards. Her family and friends have laid flowers at the scene of the attack.


MON 18:15 Just William - The Great Performer by Richmal Crompton (m0012s7j)
William - Only Just in Time

In this brilliant story, read by Martin Jarvis and featuring Violet Elizabeth Bott, William has the feeling he’s being ousted from his position as chief. But if he wants to make some money he’d better go along with Violet Elizabeth’s imaginative ideas.

Although there are difficulties along the way there’s an unexpected, rather pleasing denouement.

Written by Richmal Crompton

Read by Martin Jarvis.
A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4


MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m001ghzn)
Series 90

Boxing Day Sales, Snakes and Ladders, and Turkey Sandwiches

Sue Perkins challenges Paul Merton, Jennifer Saunders, Julian Clary and Anna Maxwell Martin to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation.

The long-running Radio 4 national treasure of a parlour game is back for a new series with subjects this week ranging from Snakes and Ladders to Turkey Sandwiches.

Production co-ordinator: Caroline Barlow
Sound editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Rajiv Karia

A BBC Studios Production


MON 19:00 The Archers (m001ghzv)
Jazzer lays out to Chelsea his plan to propose to Tracy at Lower Loxley this evening. Thinking on her feet, Chelsea says her mum has been called in last minute to work at The Bull. Brad helps her make the ruse convincing. Later, Brad wonders if they should just tell Tracy and Jazzer they’re both planning the same thing, but Chelsea doesn’t want to burst Tracy’s bubble. Brad worries that Jazzer won’t hold off his proposal plans until New Year’s Eve. They try to put Jazzer off the idea of proposing by imagining what could go wrong at the wedding and how marriage is boring anyhow. Nevertheless, Jazzer is determined to show his love for Tracy.
Lilian reports she and Justin saw James, Leonie and Mungo yesterday, while there was a big gang at Bridge farm including the twins and Lee’s daughters. Tony, Pat and Lilian acknowledge that the Aldridges’ gifts were particularly thoughtful this year. Lilian is looking forward to a trip away with Jennifer. With great anticipation, Lilian hands over her gift to Tony but he’s perplexed when he unwraps it. Lilian explains the discovery of the message in a bottle from his childhood. Pat tries to help Tony receive the instrument with good grace and Tony thanks Lilian for the effort she’s gone to. Later, Pat scolds Tony for being underwhelmed but Tony has no recollection of requesting a guitar as a child. Pat thinks it would be a shame for it to collect dust, so Tony reluctantly agrees to give it a go.


MON 19:15 Add to Playlist (m001cq8c)
Richard Stilgoe and Alina Bzhezhinska start a new playlist

This week, Radio 4 is revisiting four episodes of the most recent series of Add to Playlist, which has recently won two major awards: the Prix Italia for Best International Radio Music show, and the Prix Europa for the Best European one.

The episodes were first broadcast in October, and today, songwriter, lyricist and musician Richard Stilgoe and Ukrainian-born harpist Alina Bzhezhinska join Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye create the playlist of five tracks for the first episode.

With each track being chosen for its musical connections to the previous one, this week re-working earlier material emerges as a theme as we head from the Wild West to a Gestapo prison cell.

Presenters Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye
Producer Jerome Weatherald

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly by Ennio Morricone
Love Me Tender by Elvis Presley
Don't Tell Me by Madonna
First movement of Symphony No. 3 by Henryk Górecki, sung by Dawn Upshaw with the London Sinfonietta
Afro Blue by Melanie De Biasio

Other music in this episode:

Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf
Pastures of Plenty by Woody Guthrie
Pastures of Plenty by Peter Tevis
Aura Lee by Slim Whitman
Stop by Joe Henry
Second movement of Symphony No. 3 by Henryk Górecki
Afro Blue by Mongo Santamaria
Afro Blue by John Coltrane


MON 20:00 The Untold (m001gj00)
Imogen the Christmas Chef

Five year old Chef Imogen is well known in her local community of Pudsey, on the outskirts of Leeds. Soon after she was born, her parents, Danny and Mandy, were told that she was possibly autistic and she’s been diagnosed with global development delay. For a long time she didn't utter a word. It was during covid that the family noticed how animated and verbal she became when confronted with food and especially baking. Her love of cooking has brought great changes in her life, she now talks fluently about all manner of recipes and this Christmas she has planned a special celebration

In this edition of The Untold, Rob Lawrie, who lives close to the family and got to hear about what was happening, joins them as they unveil their plans: Chef Imogen will be selling cakes at Yorkshire food markets and using the money to buy presents for the residents of a local old peoples home. As Christmas Day draws near, Imogen worries that she might not meet her ambitious targets, but then a strange thing happens: word of the venture spreads and those Christmas pop-ups lead to some surprising development

Reporter: Rob Lawrie
Producer: Sue Mitchell


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m001g9f4)
Spain's Flamenco on the Edge

To many of us, the passionate music and dance known as flamenco is an important marker of Spanish identity, and perhaps even synonymous with it. So much so, that UNESCO has recognised the art form as part of the world’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. Yet its place within the country of its birth is both more complicated – and more precarious - than this might suggest.

During the Covid lockdowns, a third of all flamenco venues closed down, and with many yet to reopen, training opportunities for new artists remain in short supply. The pandemic has also exacerbated the struggle of many singers and dancers to make ends meet. Meanwhile, to the outrage of purists, other practitioners see a future in fusing traditional flamenco with new, more commercially viable genres, such as pop and hip-hop. Still others see flamenco as a stereotype, and unhelpful to their country’s modern image.

For Crossing Continents, the BBC’s Madrid correspondent Guy Hedgecoe takes us on a colourful journey, reflecting on flamenco’s intriguing origins among the downtrodden folk culture of southern Spain, its difficult present, and its possibly uncertain future.

Presenter: Guy Hedgecoe
Producer: Mike Gallagher
Studio mix by: Rod Farquhar
Production coordinator: Iona Hammond
Series editor: Penny Murphy


MON 21:00 Phantoms in the Brain (m001g8rm)
'My mind keeps saying to me I was dead' – Daljit’s story

In this episode, we meet Kirsty, a young, fit and healthy mum, who is suddenly paralysed and incontinent. Multiple tests are unable to find any obvious cause. She is eventually diagnosed with functional neurological disorder (FND) - where the structure of the brain is entirely normal, but the way it functions goes awry. Its origins are in her childhood and more recent psychological trauma.

We also hear from Callum, who, almost overnight, develops seizures and walking difficulties. Again, no clear neurological cause can be found. His symptoms have been triggered by a viral illness. We learn how FND is not always associated with stress or trauma, but can be related to physical illness.

And we speak to Daljit, whose memory issues, jerking and stuttering lead to his wife's discovery of his dark and traumatic past experiences.

We’ll hear from psychiatrists and neurologists about what we understand about the nature and origins of FND, and how these symptoms are not "psychosomatic" or "all in your head". And how early recognition and diagnosis can lead to full recovery.

Presenter: Professor Guy Leschziner
Producer: Sally Abrahams
Sound: Rod Farquhar

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

Image: Amy Hiley amyhileyart.com


MON 21:30 Start the Week (m001ghy5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m001gj08)
“Blizzard of the century”

Also tonight:

100 days of anti-government protests in Iran.
President Xi speaks for first time since Covid policy relaxed.


MON 22:45 Marple: Three New Stories (m001gj0d)
Miss Marple's Christmas by Ruth Ware

Miss Marple's Christmas (Part 3)

Agatha Christie’s iconic detective is reimagined for a new generation with a murder, a theft and a mystery where nothing is quite what it seems.

Miss Marple's Christmas by Ruth Ware
As the Bantry's guests at Gossington Hall await their sumptuous Christmas feast, a theft is discovered. Cook will not be amused when police interviews take precedence over turkey...

Read by Georgie Glen
Abridged and produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Marking 45 years since the publication of Agatha Christie's last Miss Marple novel, 'Marple: Twelve New Stories' is a collection of ingenious stories by acclaimed authors who also happen to be Christie devotees.


MON 23:00 Loose Ends (m001gj0j)
Janis Ian, Kae Tempest, Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler, Benjamin Clementine, Allison Russell, Sheku Kanneh Mason and more..

Clive Anderson with the first of two programmes showcasing some of the best music performances on Loose Ends this year, including Janis Ian, Kae Tempest, Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler, Benjamin Clementine, Allison Russell and Sheku Kanneh Mason.

TUESDAY 27 DECEMBER 2022

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m001gj0n)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 00:15 Wild Bond (m001d51t)
The Spy

The name's Bond. James Bond. Everyone's favourite spy has been serving up the guns, the glamour, the girls and the gadgets on the silver screen for 60 years, and we're celebrating... In a slightly unusual way. Emily Knight is taking the iconic characters from the Bond world and re-casting them, from the animal kingdom. Which of our animal cousins would make the best 007? Who do we cast as the Bond Girl? In nature, who comes equipped with the best gadgets? Who are villains, bent on world domination, and who are the henchmen, just following orders?

In this first episode, we're starting in the obvious place: James himself. His Majesty's lapdog. The fighter. The lover. The spy.

Animal espionage is all around us in nature: from experts in disguise, camouflaging themselves to avoid detection, to masters of mimicry, pretending to be something they're not. But true, deliberate deception - what biologists call 'tactical deception' - is surprisingly rare in the animal world. It requires high intelligence, social graces, and 'theory of mind' - an ability to conceive of yourself through the eyes of another. Emily learns about some sneaky birds, and some crafty capuchins, who might just have mastered it.

With Bond expert Ian Kinane from the University of Roehampton, and Evolutionary Anthropologist Brandon Wheeler from the University of Kent.

Presented and Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight


TUE 00:30 Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel (m001gj0t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001gj13)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001gj1b)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001gj1l)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m001gj1v)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001gj24)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Bishop David Walker

Good Morning.

In mid 2020, at the height of the Covid crisis, the books in my study became briefly famous. For hour after hour, meeting after meeting, the camera on top of my computer broadcast an image of my head surrounded by very full bookshelves. For variety, I changed the display every couple of weeks, choosing themes from theology to crime novels. Inevitably, the week when I found myself facing a round of TV interviews coincided with my backdrop being entirely the distinctive yellow spines of Wisden’s Cricketer’s Almanack. The image went viral.

I love books. And because I love books, I am deeply grateful for the gifts, skills and hard work of those who write them. Today the Western Christian tradition commemorates St John, one of the original twelve apostles, to whose pen are attributed five books of the Christian New Testament. Only St Paul has more to his name, but unlike Paul, John does not confine himself to a single literary genre. Alongside three letters, he authored both an account of the ministry of Jesus and a book of apocalyptic visions. Perhaps of all the New Testament writers, he recounts the most powerful dialogue.

And so today, a day when many of us might have time to watch a TV drama, enjoy the voices on our radio, or curl up with a novel, I want to pray for all who write, professionally or just for fun.

God, you are the author of creation. We thank you for those gifted in writing: for novelists, poets and playwrights; journalists, scriptwriters; and those who labour at factual and academic prose. May we who read, watch, or listen to their efforts, be blessed through their skills. May we be informed, educated and entertained, that our lives may be thereby enriched.

Amen.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m001gj2f)
27/12/22 - Forty Farms

Amy Bateman is a professional photographer and past winner of British Life Photographer of the Year. She also runs a sheep and beef farm along with her husband, so she's ideally placed to document the huge changes taking place in UK farming post Brexit. Over the last two years she's taken stunning photos and conducted frank interviews on 40 very different farms around her home county of Cumbria culminating in an exhibition and book that paint a fascinating portrait of a modern diverse industry. Caz Graham meets Amy to talk about the project, see the pictures and meet some of the farmers who are featured.

Presented and produced by Caz Graham


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09jvlnh)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 9 of 12

During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and for many a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song the Twelve Days of Christmas.

As actress Alison Steadman recounts, there are many birds who could be thought of as the best dancers, but for me I'm sure the nine ladies dancing (and gentlemen) in the song would relish a chance to relax for a while and watch the dancing display of the great crested grebe. A sure sign that winter is nearly over.

Producer : Andrew Dawes
Photograph: Tim Donovan.


TUE 06:00 Today (m001gj2v)
Our guest editor today is the chef and campaigner Jamie Oliver.

His programme will look at how to make lasting change in society; featuring interviews with former Labour prime minister Sir Tony Blair, former Conservative chancellor George Osborne, and the former governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney.

Jamie also cooks for the rapper Loyle Carner, as the pair talk about how they both struggled at school.


TUE 09:00 Room 5 (m001gj35)
Series 2, Ep 8: Hannah

On being one in a million.

Hannah’s aged five, playing with the toys in a hospital waiting room. She’s been here before, been in and out of hospital since she was a baby. But today, she’s about to discover what’s been going wrong with her body. A diagnosis that doctors will tell her makes her one in a million. Hannah’s life becomes one huge experiment, a constant weighing of odds. Until, in her early 20s, the odds change. And she takes part in a clinical trial that changes everything.

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

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

Production Co-ordinator: Janet Staples
Researcher: May Cameron
Editor: Emma Rippon

#Room5

End song: Miffed by Tom Rosenthal


TUE 09:30 Flight of the Ospreys (m001gj3j)
Coming in to Land

Scotland's ospreys have reached the end of their epic Autumn migration. A team of conservationists, led by biologist and adventurer Sacha Dench, has been following them on their 5000km odyssey. The mission has been to follow the birds, encounter the threats they face along the flyway, and meet the people on the ground fighting to give them a better chance.

Emily Knight checks in with Sacha about how the adventure played out, and meets people who've been inspired by the mission to get involved with some home-grown conservation work too.

Produced by Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight


TUE 09:45 Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel (m001gj69)
Episode 2

In her frank and unflinching portrait of her early years in Derbyshire, and later her adolescence and early 20s, Hilary Mantel moved from writing fiction to seize the copyright in her own narrative.

Charting a fractured and sometimes tense family life, the account moves on to her university years and the chronic and devastating pain of an undiagnosed illness.

Giving Up The Ghost is the much-loved and admired novelist's memoir, first published in 2003 and repeated here as a tribute to the author who died in September 2022.

'She is by turns facetious, matter-of-fact, visionary and comical but always totally riveting.' Daily Telegraph
'Simply astonishing - clear and true.' Guardian
‘What a remarkable writer she is. She is piercingly, even laceratingly observant … a very startling and daring memoir; the more I read it the more unsettling it becomes.’ Helen Dunmore

Read by Patience Tomlinson
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters

A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001gj41)
On Being Seen: Actor Constance Wu, Zara McDermott, Dr Jess Wade, filmmaker Gurinder Chadha & Bridgerton's Charithra Chandran

What does it mean when you are the first to 'be seen'? In 2018, Constance Wu received a Golden Globe Best Lead Actress nomination. She was the first Asian woman in 44 years to be named in the category for her historic role in Crazy Rich Asians, the first Hollywood film in 25 years to feature an all-Asian cast. After a tweet bemoaning the hit Chinese American sitcom Fresh Off The Boat, which launched her career, she was ‘cancelled’ by many from her own community. Wu talks to us about the pressures of representation and being seen.

What is our responsibility in what we show people? Zara McDermott, social media influencer, former Love Island reality TV star and now filmmaker, talks to us about the responsibility we have in reflecting a balanced and authentic image of ourselves online. In Zara’s recent BBC Three documentary, Disordered Eating, she questions her responsibilities as a social media influencer.

How can we help others be seen? Dr Jess Wade is a physicist from Imperial College London who creates wiki profiles for women in science. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read reference work in history, yet Jess says only 19 percent of profiles are of women. She tells us how and why she hopes to change that.

What if you see yourself in someone but choose the path not taken? Rotherham listeners, Becky and her mum Jackie, discuss how they do and don’t see themselves in each other.

If you met your hero, what would you say to them? An intergenerational conversation between two women who inspire each other: Gurinder Chadha is the Director of the landmark film Bend It Like Beckham which turned 20 this year, and Charitha Chandran plays Edwina Sharma in season two of the hit Netflix period drama Bridgerton.

Presenter: Jessica Creighton
Producer: Surya Elango


TUE 11:00 Phantoms in the Brain (m001gj46)
‘Is back pain a transmissible disease?' - Dan’s story

In this episode we explore the powerful interaction between our mind and our body.

Dan has always been very healthy and very active – enjoying running, basketball, ski-ing, golf. But one day, in his mid-twenties, he wakes up with agonising back pain, that lasts for nearly 20 years. He sees various doctors, tries all kinds of therapy, but nothing helps. An MRI scan reveals no physical damage. Dan’s resigned to a life of pain, until he spots an advert seeking recruits for a study to help chronic back pain. Dan feels he has nothing to lose. What happens next astonishes him – he undergoes a psychological treatment, called pain reprocessing therapy – where the brain is trained to unlearn the pain. The very real pain that Dan has experienced for so many years vanishes and his life is changed forever.

And we meet Dianne who has crippling stomach pains and inconsistent bowel movements from the age of seven. The constipation and diarrhoea get so bad, she limits her food intake and develops an eating disorder. At university, she sees a doctor for the first time and is diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Dianne takes part in a clinical trial, involving a behavioural therapy programme. She learns about the connection between the mind and the digestive system; and the role that stress plays in driving her symptoms. The psychological programme helps Dianne to rethink her mindset, replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. And it significantly reduces her IBS attacks.

These stories illustrate the close connection between our physical and mental health. And how treating the body and mind in isolation makes no sense if we want to give patients the best outcomes.

Presenter: Professor Guy Leschziner
Producer: Sally Abrahams
Sound: Graham Puddifoot

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

Image: Amy Hiley amyhileyart.com


TUE 11:30 Laura Barton's Notes on Music (m001gj4b)
Episode 3: Cars and Girls

The music writer presents a series of meditations on different aspects of music.

Today, Laura is drawn to examine the connection between cars and music, including Tift Merritt on how she's never grown tired of Traveling Alone, Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney on the car as cocoon, and Laura's own obsession with Jonathan Richman's Roadrunner.

Music:
Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers – Roadrunner (variously Once, Twice and Thrice)
The Replacements – Left of the Dial
Tom Petty – The Waiting
Iggy Pop – The Passenger
Tift Merritt – Traveling Alone
Chuck Berry – No Particular Place To Go
Sleater-Kinney – No Cities To Love
Tift Merritt – Wait For Me

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


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m001gjl7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 The New Gurus (m001gj4l)
6. Daygamers and Daydreamers

At Oxford University, fellow students remember Tom Ralis as a quiet, nerdy biology student who played percussion in the college orchestra. But even then, he had one ambition - to become a guru.

He reinvented himself as Tom Torero, a pick-up artist who approached women in the street for dates - a practice known as “daygame”. His transformation led to tragedy.

The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.

Written and presented by Helen Lewis

Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith

A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds


TUE 12:32 Sliced Bread (m001dxtx)
Portable Heaters

It's getting colder and with the cost of living rising, how best to heat our homes in the most efficient way possible has become a big question.

Listener Ken got in touch about a new kind of portable ceramic heater he's seen advertised, promising to heat your room using 30% less energy.

Greg Foot teams up with Octopus Energy to run it through the evidence mill and test it against three other types of portable heater: a convection heater, a fan heater and an oil-filled radiator to find out which gives the most heat for the lowest energy used. The aim is to find out which portable heater is best for heating you, and the room you're in. And how does all that compare to using gas central heating?

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

PRESENTER: GREG FOOT
PRODUCER: SIMON HOBAN


TUE 12:57 Weather (m001gj4p)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m001gj4r)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


TUE 13:45 Causing a Scene (m001gj4t)
Ghosts

With Antonia Quirke

Antonia talks to directors James Watkins and Mark Jenkin about a classic ghost scene, the appearance of a figure in the distance, never moving but always watching you. James used that moment to full effect in his ghoulish hit The Woman In Black, and the character also figures heavily in Mark's new movie, Enys Men, and they explain why that scene still gives us the shivers, even though we've seen it countless times before.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m001ghzv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 The Dark Is Rising (m001glmg)
Episode Two: The Book of Gramarye

Will tries out his new powers for the first time, but the Dark appears –– and strikes back at him.
When Will travels with Merriman to a different time – 1875 – he begins to understand how much is at stake in his quest for the Six Signs. Nowhere is safe, and his family is now in danger.

This four-part version, edited for BBC Radio 4, of the BBC World Service serialisation of Susan Cooper's classic, is written and recorded to take place across the Christmas holidays.

#TheDarkIsRising

Will Stanton ... Noah Alexander,
John Smith/ Paul Stanton ... Thomas Arnold
Jamaican Old One/ James Stanton/Bus Conductor ... Danny Bailey
Stephen Stanton ... Simon Bubb
Mrs Stanton ... Amanda Hadingue,
The Walker (Hawkin) ... Toby Jones
Narrator ... Simon McBurney
The Rider/Mr Mithothin/Mr Stanton/Farmer Dawson ... Tim McMullen
Merriman ... Paul Rhys
Maggie Barnes/Mary Stanton ... Natasha Stone.
The Lady/Miss Greythorne ... Harriet Walter
Chorister ... Vinay Singh

Soundscape designed by Gareth Fry
Original songs are by Johnny Flynn, Luisa Gerstein and Heloise Tunstall-Behrens.
Music by Josh Sneesby

The book by Susan Cooper was adapted for audio by Robert Macfarlane and Simon McBurney.

Director: Simon McBurney
Producers: Catherine Bailey and Tim Bell.
A Complicité and Catherine Bailey Production for BBC World Service.


TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m001gj4w)
Series 33

Time Stops

As time appears to fall still between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures that play with our temporal senses.

Blight
Created by Jocelyn Pook and John Smith
Originally created for the series Sound on Film in 1996
Released on Purge Records

Raven
Produced by Vaida Pilibaitytė

Time Stops
Produced by Jules Bradley

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


TUE 15:30 A Thorough Examination with Drs Chris and Xand (m001gj4y)
Series 2: Can I Change?

4. Does willpower even exist?

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

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

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

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

In episode 4 - Does Willpower Even Exist? - Chris examines the slippery concept of willpower. Is it something that we all need in order to make personal change and if so, can Chris harness it to encourage Xand to make changes in their relationship? Xand is preoccupied with his exercise bike which stands unused and dusty in his house, can he find the motivation to use it? The psychologist and psychoanalyst Dr Stephen Blumenthal explains willpower in the brain - when does and doesn’t it work?

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


TUE 16:00 Bad Blood: The Story of Eugenics (m001gj50)
Newgenics

Are we entering a ‘newgenic’ age - where cutting-edge technologies and the power of personal choice could achieve the kind of genetic perfection that 20th century eugenicists were after?

In 2018, a Chinese scientist illegally attempted to precision edit the genome of two embryos. It didn’t work as intended. Twin sisters - Lulu and Nana - were later born, but their identity, and the status of their health, is shrouded in secrecy. They were the first designer babies.

Other technological developments are also coming together in ways that could change reproduction: IVF can produce multiple viable embryos, and polygenic screening could be used to select between them.

Increased understanding and control of our genetics is seen as a threat by some - an inevitable force for division. But instead of allowing genetics to separate and rank people, perhaps there’s a way it can be used - actively - to promote equality. Professor Paige Harden shares her suggestion of an anti-eugenic politics which makes use of genetic information

Contributors: Dr Helen O'Neill, lecturer in Reproductive and Molecular Genetics at University College London, Dr Jamie Metzl, author of Hacking Darwin, Professor Kathryn Paige Harden from the University of Texas and author of The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality.

Music and Sound design: Jon Nicholls
Presenter: Adam Rutherford
Producer: Ilan Goodman

Clips: 28th Nov 2018 - BBC Newsday report, BBC Breakfast News / BBC Breakfast news report Chinese letter of condemnation / BBC Newsnight from 1988 on 10th anniversary of Louise Brown’s birth


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m001gj52)
Bob Harris on Sir Matt Busby, Manchester United manager

The voice behind The Old Grey Whistle Test and Radio 2’s country music show, Bob Harris, tells us why Manchester United Football Club manager Sir Matt Busby is his Great Life.

Bob and Matthew hear how Sir Matt led the club out of the ruins of World War Two, through the tragedy of the Munich Air Disaster and on to European glory in 1968. Joining them is genealogist, historian and lifelong Manchester United fan Dr Michala Hulme. And you’ll also hear legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson reflect on his own relationship with Sir Matt Busby in a specially recorded interview.

Produced by Caitlin Hobbs for BBC Audio, Bristol.


TUE 17:00 PM (m001gj54)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001gj58)
Rail delays and cancellations continue - despite RMT strike ending


TUE 18:15 Just William - The Great Performer by Richmal Crompton (m0012qfs)
William the Great Actor

A famous thespian, staying locally, is befriended by William. When the actor attends the village play, William naturally promotes himself from off-stage helper to star of the show.

Comic chaos and a surprising outcome.

Written by Richmal Crompton

Read by Martin Jarvis.
A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 18:30 The Cold Swedish Winter (m000qkn1)
Series 5

An American in Yxsjö

Danny Robins’ romantic Swedish comedy, partly recorded on location with a mainly Swedish cast, continues.

The little town of Yxsjö begins to come to terms with ‘the Covid’ and turns its attention to the local economy. British comedian Geoff is now a Swedish citizen and fully (as he thinks) accepted into the bosom of his growing Swedish family.

But a fly lands firmly in the ointment, when an email arrives from a rich American Andersson (Nic Sampson) who’s been tracing his genealogy and turns out to be a long lost cousin. The family Andersson fall in love with the go-getting cousin Wilb, especially when he offers to help out financially - but, of course, Geoff thinks he smells a rat.

Cast
Geoff: Adam Riches
Linda: Sissela Benn
Sten: Thomas Oredsson
Gunilla: Anna-Lena Bergelin
Wilbur: Nic Sampson
John: Harry Nicolaou
With Thomas Eriksson and Johanna Wagrell

Written by Danny Robins

Produced and directed by Frank Stirling
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m001gj5d)
Tony explains to David how Lilian came to give him a guitar for Christmas. David’s not sure he’s proficient enough to teach Tony. Tony explains he doesn’t want lessons – he wants David to have the guitar. David doesn’t think he’d use it enough and Tony is resigned to it going in the loft. As Leonard enters a gust of wind catches the door which bashes into the guitar. For Tony, his problem is solved! But apologetic Leonard insists on attempting a repair.
Ben tells his parents that he won’t be returning to his nursing course after the holidays. David’s shocked and put out when he learns that Ben and Ruth have already discussed the matter. Ben insists he’s not throwing it all away. He will return to it, once he’s strong enough. Later, Ruth struggles to understand David’s attitude to Ben. It wasn’t long ago that he was wrapping him up in cotton wool and now he’s eager for him to get on with life. David worries about the wider implications of Ben not returning to studying. Will he ever return? What about his student loan? Ruth says David’s missing the point: Ben is still fragile underneath and the last thing they should be doing is pressurising him.


TUE 19:15 Add to Playlist (m001cxsl)
From Jamaica to Westminster Abbey with Nicky Spence and Laura Jurd

This week, Radio 4 is revisiting four episodes of the award-winning music series Add to Playlist, first broadcast in October. Today, Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye are joined by trumpet player Laura Jurd and operatic tenor Nicky Spence.

Together, with the help of Dr Martin Neary - former Organist and Master of Choristers at Westminster Abbey - they add five more tracks to the playlist, taking them from Jamaica and an early sample in 1985 to a popular religious choral work via experimental indie rock from San Francisco.

Presenters Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye
Producer Jerome Weatherald

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Under Me Sleng Teng by Wayne Smith
À Chloris by Reynaldo Hahn, sung by Susan Graham
Whither the Invisible Birds? by Deerhoof
Miserere mei, Deus by Gregorio Allegri
Alfie by Cilla Black

Other music in this episode:

Hey, Mrs. Jones by Ramsey Lewis
Afro Blue by Melanie De Biasio
Air on the G String (Suite No. 3, BWV 1068) by J. S. Bach


TUE 20:00 Christmas Recycled (m001ghwd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m001gj5j)
The Entertainers

We speak to three visually impaired people working within the entertainment industry. Ellie Wallwork is an actor and writer. She has featured in some very high-profile TV programs: Doctor Who and Call the Midwife and she is currently co-writing an LGBTQ+ short film, released in the new year. Jake Sawyers is an actor, comedian, drag queen and all round entertainer. He has recently written and featured in a couple of TV pilots and is starring in a pantomime of Snow White over the festive period. And Eleanor Stollery is just 11 years old but has already played a big role in a Christmas Carol in the West End. She's also been the voice of a cartoon character in a children's TV program on Channel 5's Milkshake!

They join us to talk about their careers so far, their current and upcoming projects and what it's like to navigate such a competitive industry with a visual impairment.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
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.


TUE 21:00 All in the Mind (m001gj5n)
Can you knit away your worries?

Many people say that knitting or crochet helped ease their anxiety during the Covid-19 lockdowns - but what is it about these repetitive, absorbing and creative hobbies which soothe the mind? Claire Anketell set up free Yarn for Mental Health courses in Northern Ireland a year ago and Gemma was one of the first to attend. She says crochet has helped to reduce her stress levels and she's graduated onto making blankets.

Esther Rutter's book This Golden Fleece: A Journey through Britain's Knitted History aims to unpick what textiles mean to us - including how they became part of the treatment for mental health problems. Learning a skill by following a pattern, connecting with other people and being distracted from everyday worries tick some of the boxes which we associate with wellbeing. But it's hard to pin down exactly which elements can boost our mood. Dr Sarah McKay author of The Woman's Brain Book: the Neuroscience of Health, Hormones and Happiness assesses whether we need hard evidence to carry on casting on.

The charity Fine Cell Work has been teaching prisoners embroidery, needlepoint and quilting for 25 years. CEO Victoria Gillies says the idea is to rehabilitate prisoners and ex-prisoners as they sew high-quality elaborate cushions and footstools. We hear about the difference it's made to stitchers like Ben and how crafting can cut the reoffending rates of ex-prisoners who work in their Hub in London.


TUE 21:30 Room 5 (m001gj35)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m001gj5s)
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


TUE 22:45 Marple: Three New Stories (m001gj5x)
Miss Marple's Christmas by Ruth Ware

Miss Marple's Christmas (Part 4)

Agatha Christie’s iconic detective is reimagined for a new generation with a murder, a theft and a mystery where nothing is quite what it seems.

Miss Marple's Christmas by Ruth Ware
Christmas dinner might have been ruined after Miss Marple unmasked a jewel thief, but the guests at Gossington Hall are spellbound as the intrepid detective reveals her working.

Read by Georgie Glen
Abridged and produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Marking 45 years since the publication of Agatha Christie's last Miss Marple novel, 'Marple: Twelve New Stories' is a collection of ingenious stories by acclaimed authors who also happen to be Christie devotees.


TUE 23:00 Lights Out (m001gj61)
Series 5

Call Signs

A man, a Mouse and a morse key: the story of a radio amateur in Kyiv as the Russian invasion unfolds.

When his wife and two children flee Kyiv to escape the war, Volodymyr Gurtovy (call sign US7IGN) stays behind in their apartment with only his radios and the family hamster, Mouse, for company.

Before the war, he used to go deep into the pine forests, spinning intricate webs of treetop antennas using a fishing rod, catching signals from radio amateurs in distant countries.

Prohibited by martial law from sending messages, he becomes a listener, intercepting conversations of Russian pilots and warning his neighbours to hide in shelters well before the sirens sound. After three months of silence, he begins transmitting again. Switching his lawyer’s suit for a soldering iron, he runs a radio surgery for his friends and neighbours, dusting off old shortwave receivers and bringing them back to life.

During air raids, he hides behind the thickest wall in his apartment, close to his radios, their flickering amber lights opening a window to another world. A story of sending and receiving signals from within the darkness of the Kyiv blackout.

Music: Ollie Chubb (8ctavius)
Producer: Cicely Fell
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:30 Only After Dark (m001fwj7)
Night Ferry

The overnight ferry between Shetland and mainland Scotland is a lifeline service providing an essential link for people, freight and animals to the Northern Isles. Journeying through some of the roughest seas on the planet, these mighty ships are staffed by highly experienced crew who will do anything to make the crossings comfortable for passengers.

On a very wild afternoon in November 2022, Dan Richards boards the ferry in darkness in Lerwick, Shetland and braces himself for a night on the wild ocean, with interesting insights into the effects of motion sickness on the human mind and body.

Presented by Dan Richards
Produced in Aberdeen by Helen Needham
Mixed by Ron McCaskill
Original Music Composition by Anthony Cowie

WEDNESDAY 28 DECEMBER 2022

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m001gj65)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


WED 00:15 Wild Bond (m001d5gx)
The Femme Fatale

The name's Bond. James Bond. Everyone's favourite spy has been serving up the guns, the glamour, the girls and the gadgets on the silver screen for 60 years, and we're celebrating... In a slightly unusual way. Emily Knight is taking the iconic characters from the Bond world and re-casting them, from the animal kingdom. Which of our animal cousins would make the best 007? Who do we cast as the Bond Girl? In nature, who comes equipped with the best gadgets? Who are villains, bent on world domination, and who are the henchmen, just following orders?

In this episode, it's the Bond Girl. And not just any Bond Girl... the Femme Fatale. In the Bond world, sex and death are almost inextricably linked, and seduction often comes at a price. So too in the natural world, where feminine wiles are often used as a precursor for violence, trickery, or death. Emily meets a female spider, a mantis, some fireflies and a katydid who are all far 'deadlier than the male'.

With Bond expert Ian Kinane from the University of Roehampton, and biologist Dr Jennifer Verdolin.

Presented and Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight.


WED 00:30 Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel (m001gj69)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001gj6h)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001gj6r)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001gj6z)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (m001gj75)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001gj7c)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Bishop David Walker

Good Morning.

I chuckled at the magazine cartoon. It featured two men pushing supermarket trolleys, both piled high with beer, wine and spirits. The caption was one saying to the other, “We wouldn’t bother with Christmas if it wasn’t for the kids”. Today, children feature in the Christmas story for a very different reason. It’s the day on which churches remember the mass murder of all boys in Bethlehem below the age of two. A massacre ordered by King Herod, in his effort to eliminate Jesus before he could grow up to be a threat.

The suffering of children caught up in the concerns of adults is not simply a matter of history. We see it today, in the stick like limbs and distended stomachs of those starving because conflict bars their access to food. We see it in the small bodies washed ashore when an inflatable boat, on an unofficial migration route, capsizes in the middle of a dangerous sea. We see it in the mind-numbing stories of child abuse and neglect, inflicted in our own towns and communities. We see it in the adolescent girl sold into slavery and trafficked for prostitution.

The temptation at Christmas is that we romanticise childhood, with visions of happy families gathered around a bauble bedecked tree. But the story of Herod and the boys of Bethlehem paints a very different picture. And so I pray:

God, you are father all. Be today, a protecting father to the vulnerable, a loving father to the unloved, a rescuing father to the trapped, a healing father to the hurt. And may each of us learn to honour and respect children, for the sake of Jesus, who lived the life of a child among us.

Amen.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m001gj7j)
For most sheep farmers, wool doesn’t pay. Shepherds often shear their sheep for the animals’ welfare, but don’t make any money from the wool. More often than not, it actually costs them money. However, one couple in Somerset are reviving the textile tradition and making it pay. Andy Wear and Jennifer Hunter from Fernhill Farm have three thousand sheep. They graze the flock on a network of farms across the Mendips, following regenerative principles - boosting soil health by rotating the grazing, and cutting out herbicides and fertilisers. Jen is a Nuffield Scholar, she travelled the world researching sustainable wool production. The textiles business began as a means of earning money in winter, when the farm wasn’t making money from its holiday lets and events business. With selective breeding and marketing, wool now accounts for 40% of the income from their flock. Andy is a record-breaking shearer and he’s created a shearing barn where he runs courses. His purpose-built shearing stand, inspired by systems in New Zealand and Australia, doubles up as a stand for bands and festivals in the summer.


WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09jvsps)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 10 of 12

During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and for many a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song Twelve Tweets of Christmas.

As actress Alison Steadman recounts, while the original song called for ten Lords a Leaping, in the bird world a there are a number of species which could be thought of as able to leaping about. Choosing which birds come to mind from that list brings to mind the pied wagtail and the common crane.

Producer : Andrew Dawes.
Photograph: Deanne Wildsmith.


WED 06:00 Today (m001gjhw)
Our guest editor today is Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was detained arbitrarily for six years in Iran. The theme of her programme is freedom and finding freedom in difficult times.

Nazanin will be talking about imprisonment and solidarity. She has commissioned a report on the Iranian families desperately worried about relatives arrested in anti government protests.

The programme also features Yotam Ottolenghi, whose recipes Nazanin cooked in prison.


WED 09:00 The Reith Lectures (m001gjj2)
The Four Freedoms

The Four Freedoms discussion

The 2022 Reith Lecturers discuss what FDR's Four Freedoms mean now. Anita Anand is joined by the four lecturers: best-selling author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams: writer and campaigner Darren McGarvey: and foreign affairs expert Fiona Hill. Together they reflect on where the major themes of their lectures overlap and differ, amidst the threats to freedom in our contemporary world. The lecture series was inspired by Franklin D Roosevelt’s State of the Union speech of 1941 in which he outlined four freedoms which are vital to democracy - freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

Producer: Jim Frank
Sound: Neil Churchill
Production coordinator: Brenda Brown
Editor: Hugh Levinson


WED 09:45 Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel (m001gjks)
Episode 3

In her frank and unflinching portrait of her early years in Derbyshire, and later her adolescence and early 20s, Hilary Mantel moved from writing fiction to seize the copyright in her own narrative.

Charting a fractured and sometimes tense family life, the account moves on to her university years and the chronic and devastating pain of an undiagnosed illness.

Giving Up The Ghost is the much-loved and admired novelist's memoir, first published in 2003 and repeated here as a tribute to the author who died in September 2022.

'She is by turns facetious, matter-of-fact, visionary and comical but always totally riveting.' Daily Telegraph
'Simply astonishing - clear and true.' Guardian
‘What a remarkable writer she is. She is piercingly, even laceratingly observant … a very startling and daring memoir; the more I read it the more unsettling it becomes.’ Helen Dunmore

Read by Patience Tomlinson
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters

A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001gjjj)
Finding My Voice. Afghanistan. Do you live with a 'man child'? Colourism. The great Christmas Sandwich debate

When did you realise you you had something to say or something you want to stand up for. In the first in our series "Find My Voice"
Jessica talks to Milly Johnson the author of 20 novels which have sold over 3 million copies worldwide. She’s the winner of the Romantic Novelist Association's Outstanding Achievement Award, as well as Channel 4’s Come Dine With Me – Barnsley edition. But all that success seemed like a pipe dream, until she got her first book deal at the age of 40.

As the UN Security Council calls on the Taliban to revoke its ban on women in Afghanistan working for aid agencies - we look at the impact it will have on humanitarian operations in a country heavily dependent on aid.

When our reporter Ena Miller gave birth to her baby called Bonnie just over a year ago - she expected to receive the standard comments..."Oh she's so beautiful, aww look at her little nose, she's so cute, aww what a big baby..." she did get those but she also got negative remarks from friends and strangers about the colour of her baby's skin. Ena realised she was not alone and went to meet two other mothers Fariba and Wendy to talk about their experiences and ask for their advice.

Plus do you live with a ‘man-child’? Research shows that it’s a real phenomenon, and can damage the relationship dynamic between a man and a woman, typically meaning the woman is less sexually interested. Professor @SarivanAnders joins @JessCreighton1 to tell us more

And the Christmas Sandwich. Is it more popular than Christmas lunch? What should be in them? How important is the bread you choose? And can you ever add gravy? Nell Carter who reviews Christmas sandwiches is in the studio to tell us.

Presenter Jessica Creighton
Producer Beverley Purcell


WED 11:00 Room 5 (m001gjjn)
Series 2: Room 5 LIVE

Room 5 LIVE at Hay Festival with screenwriter Abi Morgan.

In this special episode of Room 5, recorded in front of a live audience at Hay Festival, Helena Merriman speaks to Abi Morgan - the BAFTA and Emmy-award winning playwright and screenwriter whose credits include The Iron Lady, Suffragette, Sex Traffic, The Hour, Brick Lane and Shame and The Split.

One June morning, Abi Morgan came home to find the man she loved lying on the bathroom floor. Rushed to hospital, he was put into a coma and it was clear that life as they knew it would never be the same again.

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

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

Production Co-ordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Emma Rippon

#Room5

End song: Miffed by Tom Rosenthal


WED 11:30 Oti Mabuse's Dancing Legends (m001gjjs)
Dougie Squires

Oti Mabuse reflects on the dancers and choreographers who have transformed the dancing landscape.

In today’s episode, Patti Boulaye OBE sits down with Oti to reflect on her 50 year career and pay homage to a legendary figure from the world of dance.
Patti shot to fame on the TV talent show New Faces and her stage credits include the musicals Carmen Jones and Jesus Christ Superstar.

Patti has worked with a variety of choreographers - but she says the one who has inspired her the most is Dougie Squires OBE.

Dougie Squires formed and choreographed the singing and dancing group The Young Generation, which performed on some of the biggest TV shows of the 1960s and 70s. Dougie’s own career spans seven decades and he is still working with dancers today.

Patti and Oti explore the wok of this acclaimed choreographer with archive clips and the expert help of dancer and presenter, Rosemarie Ford.

And then Oti heads to the dance studio to learn a dance routine inspired by Dougie Squires. She’s joined by Antony Johns who has worked with Dougie for over forty years. Antony tries to mould Oti into becoming an honorary Generation Dancer.

Presenter: Oti Mabuse
Producer: Candace Wilson
Editor: Chris Ledgard
A BBC Audio Bristol production for BBC Radio 4


WED 12:00 News Summary (m001gjn5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 The New Gurus (m001gjjx)
7. Bitcoin FC

When Peter McCormack made a fortune investing in Bitcoin, he knew exactly how to spend it - buying his local football team. Helen Lewis travels to the ground of Real Bedford FC, where you can buy a half-time bacon butty in Bitcoin, to hear whether McCormack’s faith has been shaken by the "crypto winter".

How are McCormack and other crypto gurus like Layah Heilpern keeping the faith as the price of Bitcoin tumbles?

The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.

Written and presented by Helen Lewis

Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith

A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds


WED 12:32 Sliced Bread (m0017k9b)
Electric Toothbrushes (& Water Flossers)

Take a look down the aisle of any high street chemist and the array of electric toothbrushes on offer is as dazzling as the teeth they promise to give you. You can pay upto £500 for the latest versions whiose myriad features include interactive apps that give you feedback on your brushing technique.

The market is dominated by two big brands, both promising a ‘professional’ clean: Oral B, whose iO brush has an oscillating action and Philips’ Sonicare, which uses tens of thousands of vibrations every minute to clean your teeth.

After having to pay a lot more for private treatment because she couldn’t find an NHS dentist in her area, listener Holly got in touch to ask whether getting an electric brush might save her trips to the dentist in future. And wouldcould a more expensive brush really clean her teeth better than a cheaper electric one? Or even the trusty traditional (and far cheaper) manual one she currently uses?!

Greg takes to the dentists chair to find out, testing both the Oral B and Philips brands as well as one of the latest trends – water flossing, which claim even better results than regular flossing with tape or interdental brushes. Is it the best thing since sliced bread? Or marketing BS?

Greg guests this episode include a dental expert who's been studying electric brushes since their inception and the consumer group Which? who ranked electric toothbrushes in a recent consumer test of their own.

This series, we’re testing your suggested wonder-products. Seen an ad, trend or fad and wonder if there's any evidence to back up the claim? Tell us! Drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk .

PRESENTER: Greg Foot
PRODUCER: Simon Hoban


WED 12:57 Weather (m001gjk0)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m001gjk2)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


WED 13:45 Causing a Scene (m001gjk4)
I Love You

Writers Hossein Amini and Rebecca Lenkiewicz tell Antonia Quirke why "I love you" can be the hardest thing to say in a script. And about all the alternatives they have tried instead, both in their movies and their personal lives. Antonia takes an affectionate look at classic declarations of love in films, such as Tom Cruise's much-imitated line "you complete me" and Renee Zellweger's equally famous riposte "you had me at hello."


WED 14:00 The Archers (m001gj5d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 The Dark Is Rising (m001glm9)
Episode Three: The Coming of the Cold

The Dark grips the country in an unnatural frost, as deepening snow traps people indoors. To break the spell, Will needs to fight back and find the Sign of Fire but the Dark lies in wait, ready to strike back. The Rider is abroad.

This four-part version, edited for BBC Radio 4, of the BBC World Service serialisation of Susan Cooper's classic, is written and recorded to take place across the Christmas holidays.

#TheDarkIsRising

Will Stanton ... Noah Alexander,
John Smith/ Paul Stanton/Mr Beaumont ... Thomas Arnold
Jamaican Old One/ James Stanton ... Danny Bailey
Stephen Stanton ... Simon Bubb
Mrs Stanton/Mrs Pettigrew/Dr Armstrong ... Amanda Hadingue,
The Walker (Hawkin) ... Toby Jones
Narrator ... Simon McBurney
The Rider/Mr Stanton/Farmer Dawson ... Tim McMullen
Merriman ... Paul Rhys
Maggie Barnes/Mary Stanton ... Natasha Stone.
The Lady/Miss Greythorne ... Harriet Walter
Chorister ... Vinay Singh

Soundscape designed by Gareth Fry
Original songs by Johnny Flynn, Luisa Gerstein and Heloise Tunstall-Behrens.
Music by Josh Sneesby

The book by Susan Cooper was adapted for audio by Robert Macfarlane and Simon McBurney.

Director: Simon McBurney
Producers: Catherine Bailey and Tim Bell.
A Complicité and Catherine Bailey production for BBC World Service


WED 15:00 Money Box (m001gjsx)
Heating the homes of the future

Money Box takes a look at three innovative energy projects changing the way people heat their homes to try to improve efficiency and reduce bills.

First up is the village of Swaffham Prior in Cambridgeshire where residents and the local council have backed a scheme using air source and ground source heat pumps to warm people's homes. A new, multi-million pound energy centre of the edge of the village provides the energy through a newly installed heat network for any residents of the village's 300 homes that want to join.

Secondly, Dan Whitworth visits the University of Salford and the researchers behind its 'Energy House 2' project - a scheme which has seen two, modern, full-size, detached homes built by developers Barrett and Bellway inside a science laboratory. This allows scientists to create climate conditions to put the homes to the limit to test how effective they are at being energy efficient.

Finally a visit to Gateshead examines a mine water scheme being run by the council which uses the warmed water of disused, flooded coal mines to help heat council buildings and homes. More than a dozen buildings run by the council, including the local college and Sage Gateshead are signed up to the scheme as well as hundreds of homes. We'll examine how practical is it and what kind of a difference the scheme makes to people's bills.

Talking us through each of these schemes are Dr Tina Fawcett from the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University and Ben Whittle from the Energy Saving Trust.

Presenter/Reporter/Producer: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Sandra Hardial & Star McFarlane
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 3pm, Wednesday 28th December, 2022)


WED 15:30 All in the Mind (m001gj5n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m001gjk6)
The football pools - mass investment

Betting and Investment: Laurie Taylor explores the connections and the differences between two apparently very different phenomena - the football pools and the stock market.

He's joined by Keith Laybourn, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Huddersfield, who charts the rise and fall of the football pools over the 20th century. In its heyday, millions of working class people hoped for a life-changing jackpot cheque presented by a sporting personality and stories of big wins punctuated the news. So what led to a flutter on the pools falling out of favour?

And Amy Edwards, lecturer of Modern British History at the University of Bristol, asks ‘are we rich yet?’ in a study which considers the way in which a growing number of British people engaged in stock market investment as financial markets became part of daily life from the 1980s following the privatisation of British Telecom. Did this development take investment away from the oak-panelled world of the City and give the wider public a genuine stake in popular capitalism?

Producer: Jayne Egerton


WED 16:30 The Media Show (m001gjk8)
The Magic of Natural History

The last five years have seen a surge in demand for natural history programmes. But as budgets get tighter and commissioners become more discerning how can those working in this genre continue to offer new stories about the natural world?

Guests: Vanessa Berlowitz, Co-Founder, Wildstar Films. Alastair Fothergill, Co-Founder, Silverback Films, and Rowan Crawford, Series Producer, Natural History Unit at BBC Studios

Presenter: Katie Razzall

Producer: Helen Fitzhenry


WED 17:00 PM (m001gjkb)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001gjkg)
The Met Office says 2022 will be the UK's warmest year on record


WED 18:15 Just William - The Great Performer by Richmal Crompton (m0012s96)
William's Midnight Adventure

The starchy spinster next door has made continual complaints about William, his whistling, his general scruffiness. She confiscates all of William’s things that have gradually come over the fence into her garden. Tennis balls. Bows and arrows. Even William’s beloved dog Jumble’s collar.

William takes a surprising, if rather exciting, revenge. But the embroidery of her imagination is no match for our hero's.

Written by Richmal Crompton

Read by Martin Jarvis
A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4


WED 18:30 BBC New Comedy Awards 2022 (m001dxvv)
The BBC New Comedy Awards has been running since 1995, and its winners have included comedians such as Marcus Brigstocke, Josie Long, Alan Carr, Rhod Gilbert, Angela Barnes, Lucy Beaumont and Lose Voice Guy.

This year, over a thousand new acts entered, being whittled down to 100 for the live heats, and then just 30 for the six regional finals. And now it's time for the the Grand Final, recorded at St David's Hall, in Cardiff.

Hosted by ... Kerry Godliman

First act ... Robbie McShane
Second act ... Omar Badawy
Third act ... Dee Allum
Fourth act ... Dan Tiernan
Fifth act ... Marjolein Robertson
Sixth act ... Joshua Bethania

Head judge ... Fern Brady
Judge ... Nabil Abdulrashid
Judge ... Rosie Jones

Producers ... Lindsay Jex and Ed Morrish
Assistant producer ... Nicola Clyde

Post-production ... Rich Evans at Syncbox Post

A Phil Mcintyre Television production for BBC Radio 4


WED 19:00 The Archers (m001gjdf)
While setting up lambing pens, Ed and Will attempt to talk to George about Fallon. Ed comes clean and says they know George has feelings for her. George strongly denies this and criticises Fallon for spreading rumours. Later George tells Fallon he’d never fancy her as he has tons of girls his own age chasing after him. Fallon apologises for any misunderstanding. George tries to cover his heartbreak when she adds that she’s sure one day he’ll make one of those girls very happy.
At the Christmas Chronicles evening, Will follows Pip in reading a personal Christmas tale. Will recounts receiving an impressive mountain bike from his Uncle Alf. Tracy heckles on the description of the bike and then claims that was her bike; it had been stolen. Things get heated between Will and Tracy while Lynda pleads with them to show some goodwill. At the end of the evening Tracy apologises for causing drama and Lynda is understanding.
Ben hears about the school project Rosie has to complete over the holidays. Later he discovers Rosie lost interest in it after ten minutes. He offers to take it on. By the end of the day Pip finds Ben’s created a work of art. Ben realises he’s going to have to deconstruct it a little to make it more in keeping with what Rosie could achieve. He opens up to Pip about things being tricky with their parents. He knows they’re arguing over what’s best for him, and it being all about him is exactly what he doesn’t want.


WED 19:15 Add to Playlist (m001d5rb)
Catrin Finch and Neil Brand on musical highs and lows

This week, Radio 4 is revisiting four episodes of the award-winning music series Add to Playlist, first broadcast in October. Today, Welsh harpist and composer Catrin Finch and composer and musician Neil Brand help Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye add the next five songs to the playlist. The adventure takes them from the highest of high notes to the deep bass of a Mozart opera.

Presenters Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye
Producer Jerome Weatherald

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Pájaro Campana by Alfredo Gryciuk, Marcelo Rojas, Ariel Burgos and Martin Portillo
Quietly Yours by Birdy
Love and Affection by Joan Armatrading
Ain’t Got No Home by Clarence Henry
O, wie will ich triumphieren by Mozart

Other music in this episode:

Overture from The Sound of Music by Rodgers & Hammerstein
Alfie by Cilla Black
Tuvan throat singing
Wand'rin' Star by Lee Marvin
You're the First, the Last, my Everything by Barry White


WED 20:00 First Contact (m001gjkj)
For thousands of years we have gazed up at the stars and wondered: is anybody out there? The idea of meeting aliens has been the inspiration for countless books and films; for art and music. But today, thinking about meeting life on, or from, other planets is no longer dismissed as pure make-believe – it’s the focus of political consideration and cutting-edge space science. Farrah Jarral presents the story of the fantasy and the reality of preparing for first contact with extra-terrestrials.


WED 20:45 One to One (m001brm9)
Gospel music in Cornwall: Gillian Burke and Ley Adewole

In 2014 the biologist and presenter Gillian Burke joined a community choir in Falmouth in a bid to strengthen her voice. Singing is Gillian's passion and it's her way of switching off from work and the pressures of life. Ley Adewole is the Director of the Falmouth Community Gospel Choir. Ley began singing in a Pentecostal church in Coventry; she joined various singing groups, got spotted and went on to do session work. She relocated to Falmouth and set-up a gospel music workshop to fill-in the winter months. The choir was born, welcoming in people of all faiths, and even those who can and can't sing.

Gillian quizzes Ley on singing with conviction and how the science of singing melds with the emotions of the music. They talk about the gospel music scene in Cornwall and how the Cornish accent influences how the choir sounds. They speak about an early choir performance when Ley was standing on fishing crates in her heels so she could be seen by the choir, and how the music transformed a sceptical audience into one full of men crying into their beer.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Toby Field


WED 21:00 A Thorough Examination with Drs Chris and Xand (m001gj4y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 The Media Show (m001gjk8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m001gjkl)
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


WED 22:45 Marple: Three New Stories (m001gjkn)
The Unravelling by Natalie Haynes

The Unravelling (Part 1)

Agatha Christie’s iconic detective is reimagined for a new generation with a murder, a theft and a mystery where nothing is quite what it seems.

The Unravelling by Natalie Haynes
When an itinerant farm hand is found dead outside Weaver’s Haberdashers it’s chalked up as a brawl gone tragically wrong - but Miss Marple refuses to accept this simple solution…

Read by Monica Dolan
Abridged and produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Marking 45 years since the publication of Agatha Christie's last Miss Marple novel, 'Marple: Twelve New Stories' is a collection of ingenious new stories by acclaimed authors and Christie devotees.


WED 23:00 Sandi Toksvig's Hygge (m000qknw)
Series 1

Prof Brian Cox and Zoe Lyons

‘Hygge’ (pronounced hoo-ga) along with ‘tak’ (the word for ‘thank you’ that we learnt from watching Borgen and other Scandi dramas) is one of the few Danish words to have become known to us in the UK.

It’s a word that means comfort, contentment and cherishing the simple pleasures in life. In lifestyle magazines it’s faux fur throws, cups of hot cocoa and scented candles; but to the Danish it has simpler and less commercial roots. As these cold Winter nights draw in after a difficult year of scant comfort, it feels like we all need some hygge and legendary Dane, Sandi Toksvig, will do her best to bring it to you.

Broadcasting from her wooden cabin near a lake deep in the Danish countryside Sandi will explore the concept of "hygge" with Professor Brian Cox who finds comfort in physics, piano playing and mulled wine and comedian Zoe Lyons who would like nothing more than to clear out ditches all day.

Guests for the series are Grayson Perry, Alan Davies, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Bridget Christie, Clive Myrie, Professor Brian Cox, Sindhu Vee, Zoe Lyons and presenters and podcasters Rose and Rosie . We look forward to you joining Sandi in her cabin (there will be mulled wine).

Host...Sandi Toksvig
Producer...Julia McKenzie
Material for Sandi's opening script... Charlie Dinkin and Simon Alcock
Production Coordinator...Carina Andrews
Sound Recordist and Editor...Rich Evans
A BBC Studios Production


WED 23:30 Only After Dark (m001g3bc)
On the Streets

The Borough of Westminster in London has the highest number of homeless people in the UK. The charity, St Mungo's, provides a nightly outreach service with teams walking the streets each night in search of rough sleepers in an attempt to offer help and support, with the ultimate aim of getting them off the streets. In October 2022, Dan Richards accompanied one such team in the north of Westminster on their nightly rounds as they searched the dark corners for people sleeping on the streets. What he discovered was a tragically vulnerable world which exists almost in full view within one of the wealthiest parts of the country.

Presented by Dan Richards
Produced in Aberdeen by Helen Needham
Mixed by Ron McCaskill
Original Music Composition by Anthony Cowie

THURSDAY 29 DECEMBER 2022

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m001gjkq)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


THU 00:15 Wild Bond (m001d5gt)
The Villain

The name's Bond. James Bond. Everyone's favourite spy has been serving up the guns, the glamour, the girls and the gadgets on the silver screen for 60 years, and we're celebrating... In a slightly unusual way. Emily Knight is taking the iconic characters from the Bond world and re-casting them, from the animal kingdom. Which of our animal cousins would make the best 007? Who do we cast as the Bond Girl? In nature, who comes equipped with the best gadgets? Who are villains, bent on world domination, and who are the henchmen, just following orders?

In this episode, come into the secret volcano lair, while we lay the most dastardly (and convoluted) of plans... it's the Bond Villain. Evil is pretty clear-cut in the Bond world: Look for obvious facial scars, a wicked-sharp dress sense and an unexplained yearning for world domination. But evil in the animal kingdom is a little harder to put your finger on. Plenty of animals have a violent, vicious and downright nasty ways of getting what they want, but they're only trying to live, after all; do animals have a sense of morality? Are there good-guys and bad-guys within animal societies? Can any of them be described as 'evil'?

With Bond expert Ian Kinane from the University of Roehampton, and Mark Rowlands from the University of Miami.

Presented and Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight


THU 00:30 Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel (m001gjks)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001gjkv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001gjkx)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001gjkz)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (m001gjl1)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001gjl3)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Bishop David Walker

Good Morning.

“Who will rid me of this turbulent priest” King Henry reputedly exclaimed, exasperated that Archbishop Thomas Becket would not fall in with his will. And so, on this day in the year 1170, four knights took the king’s cries as licence to murder, and Becket met his death, in Canterbury, in his cathedral. Words carry power, especially words that come from the mouths of people in important positions. Almost two years after the event, fierce debate continues in the USA as to whether the words of then President Trump, on the day when his election loss was to be ratified in Congress, amounted to a call for insurrection.

Yet words can also be a powerful tool for good. The words of Nelson Mandela, emerging after many years in prison, not to call for revenge but to lead his nation towards a future in which all might share, may well have prevented significant bloodshed. The words of astronaut Neil Armstrong that his moon-landing was “one giant leap for mankind” eschewed any note of American supremacy - a winning of the space race - in favour of an achievement in which citizens of many nations could take pride. At a far humbler level, the words each of us use, when we offer forgiveness, seek reconciliation, admit our faults, comfort the suffering, or encourage someone to achieve greater things, are words that change lives and change the world.

And so, Lord, I pray:

May the words I speak today, and every day, be words of kindness and encouragement. May they build up, not destroy. May they inspire only good and never evil. When I need to challenge or to criticise, may I do so with courage and respect; that those who hear my voice may catch the gentle murmur of yours.

Amen.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m001gjl5)
29/12/22 - Vital Roots Garden

Climate change could bring opportunities, as well as the well-documented downsides. One couple in Dorset have been looking at pushing the boundaries of what it's possible to grow organically in the UK, using the warmer weather to cultivate plants that would be familiar to people living in the Caribbean.

Katkin Tremayne and Ipar Davis-Hughes run Vital Roots Garden in Netherbury. It's a smallholding where aside from the classic British kitchen garden staples, the couple grow and sell subtropical vegetables including callaloo, chow chow and yams. All this is done outdoors, as they have no polytunnels. They put their success down to a combination of climate change, and giving the plants time to adapt to their new surroundings.

Presented and produced by Fiona Clampin


THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09jvxhk)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 11 of 12

During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and for many a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song Twelve days of Christmas.

As the song hints at, no festive party for a true love would be complete without eleven massed pipers piping. And possibly the best pipers of the British bird world can be found down on the coast. For actress Alison Steadman two species which come to mind are the redshank and the oystercatcher.

Producer : Andrew Dawes
Photograph: Tim Marlow.


THU 06:00 Today (m001gjck)
Our guest editor today is Sir Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ, the country's largest but least known intelligence agency.

The Government Communications HQ gathers intelligence, these days largely over the internet and mobile networks and works to protect the information and systems used by the government and the armed forces.

Sir Jeremy is the first serving intelligence chief to edit the Today programme.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m001gjcm)
The Great Stink

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the stench from the River Thames in the hot summer of 1858 and how it appalled and terrified Londoners living and working beside it, including those in the new Houses of Parliament which were still under construction. There had been an outbreak of cholera a few years before in which tens of thousands had died, and a popular theory held that foul smells were linked to diseases. The source of the problem was that London's sewage, once carted off to fertilise fields had recently, thanks to the modern flushing systems, started to flow into the river and, thanks to the ebb and flow of the tides, was staying there and warming in the summer sun. The engineer Joseph Bazalgette was given the task to build huge new sewers to intercept the waste, a vast network, so changing the look of London and helping ensure there were no further cholera outbreaks from contaminated water.

The image above is from Punch, July 10th 1858 and it has this caption: The 'Silent Highway'-Man. "Your Money or your Life!"

With

Rosemary Ashton
Emeritus Quain Professor of English Language and Literature at University College London

Stephen Halliday
Author of ‘The Great Stink of London: Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the Cleansing of the Victorian Metropolis’

And

Paul Dobraszczyk
Lecturer at the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London


THU 09:45 Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel (m001gjfy)
Episode 4

In her frank and unflinching portrait of her early years in Derbyshire, and later her adolescence and early 20s, Hilary Mantel moved from writing fiction to seize the copyright in her own narrative.

Charting a fractured and sometimes tense family life, the account moves on to her university years and the chronic and devastating pain of an undiagnosed illness.

Giving Up The Ghost is the much-loved and admired novelist's memoir, first published in 2003 and repeated here as a tribute to the author who died in September 2022.

'She is by turns facetious, matter-of-fact, visionary and comical but always totally riveting.' Daily Telegraph
'Simply astonishing - clear and true.' Guardian
‘What a remarkable writer she is. She is piercingly, even laceratingly observant … a very startling and daring memoir; the more I read it the more unsettling it becomes.’ Helen Dunmore

Read by Patience Tomlinson
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters

A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001gjcp)
Life beyond menopause, Maggie Blyth on needle spiking, Turning the Tide, Jealousy in friendships

If 2022 was the year of talking about menopause could 2023 be the year of looking at life beyond it? Joining Krupa to discuss the positive side of life after menopause is Caryn Franklin, fashion and identity commentator. Her latest audio book is SKEWED: Decoding Media Bias, which explores why women and girls are educated to fear ageing. And Supriya Nagarajan who made a life-changing decision during the menopause to focus on her first love - performing the traditional music of her south Asian roots.

According to the National Police Chiefs Council, nearly 5,000 cases of needle and drink spiking were recorded by forces across England and Wales between September 2021 and August 2022. There were more than 2500 cases of spiking by needle, with women accounting for three quarters of the victims. However, only three per cent of blood samples sent for analysis were found to “contain a controlled drug that supports a spiking incident”, so potential victims of spiking are being urged to report to the police and get tested quickly - as some substances can leave the body within 12 hours. Krupa is joined by Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, the National Police Chiefs Council lead on violence against women and girls.

A new film and exhibition called Turning the Tide looks at the role of women in the renewable energy sector through movement and dance. The short film features women in graceful action at landmarks such as the Humber Bridge, and at an offshore wind turbine blade factory in Hull. Created in partnership with the Women's Movement 100 project which is celebrating the 100 years of female suffrage, it's the brainchild of choreographer Freddie Garland, who has done similar projects recognising women in industry in Sheffield and Newcastle. She speaks to Krupa along with Louise Smith, one of the dancers in the film and director of the University of Hull's Aura Innovation Centre.

A new historical drama begins this evening on BBC Two, about the ill-fated French queen Marie Antoinette. The award-winning French costume designer Madeline Fontaine is the woman who was tasked with recreating the sumptuous and extravagant outfits that are paraded around Versailles on the show. She joins Krupa.

Is it OK to be jealous of your friends? With the festive period in full swing, it can be a time of feeling envious of people gathering and having a good time on social media – but how do we tame the green-eyed monster that can surface when we see that our friends are happy and doing well? Krupa is joined by female friendship coach Danielle Bayard Jackson and journalist and author Claire Cohen to discuss.


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m001gjcr)
Fighting 'fat-phobia' in Brazil

As in many countries, obesity in Brazil is a major issue with one in four Brazilians now classified as obese and more than half the population overweight. But rather than focusing just on trying to lower this rate by promoting exercise and healthier ways of eating, campaigners and some city councils are successfully implementing changes which accept that high rates of obesity are probably here to stay and society should adapt to this.

In a country famed for pressure to have the perfect beach body, these changes include schools buying bigger chairs and desks, hospitals buying bigger beds and MRI machines and theatres offering wider seats. Brazilian lawyers are starting to make legal challenges, particularly against discrimination in the workplace. Women are holding plus sized beauty contests to celebrate their larger bodies. Schools are hosting discussion clubs where they talk about how body shapes are perceived by their peers and wider society.

Even so, campaigners say there’s a long way to go for bigger bodies to be culturally accepted in Brazil and overcoming what is known as “gordofobia” – belittling or discriminating against people who are larger than average. Camilla Mota travels to the south eastern coastal city of Vitoria to meet a plus size influencer and a lawyer campaigning to stop discrimination and trying to make the city more tolerant. She then flies 1500 kilometres north to another port city, Recife, where some changes have now taken place. Is this transformation away from the stereo-typical “body beautiful” only skin deep or the shape of things to come across the western world?

Presenter: Camilla Mota
Produced by Bob Howard
Studio mix by James Beard
Production coordinator Iona Hammond
Series editor Penny Murphy


THU 11:30 Just William… and Richmal (m0016wx7)
Somewhere in a small English village, a boy with unkempt hair and dirty knees, falling-down socks and wild hair, is righting wrongs and causing havoc – and is forever 11.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication in May 1922 of the first collection of Just William stories by Richmal Crompton. Over the next 50 years, Crompton published 37 more books in which the world changed but William Brown never did.

Often thought of as children’s books, the Just William stories were originally written for adults, and have an overlooked comic legacy. Through the eyes of a small boy, Crompton satirised the absurdities and hypocrisies of adult life, with a flair and wit closer to PG Wodehouse than Enid Blyton, and an influence extending through work as disparate as The Likely Lads by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

Edward Rowett considers how and why these books continue to delight. Just William is a major comic influence on his own work and comedy ambitions – but he swears he has never painted a dog blue, blackmailed a sauce magnate, or accidentally abducted a Sunday school.

He discovers another possible source for the inspiration of William Brown and finds himself increasingly intrigued by Richmal Crompton herself.

He analyses Crompton’s prose and talks to fellow devotees Neil Gaiman, Caitlin Moran, Liam Williams and, of course, the voice of William for so many, Martin Jarvis. Dr Jane McVeigh author of a new literary biography of Richmal Crompton, Just William: A Literary Life, shows Edward around the Richmal Crompton archive.

Edward Rowett is a comedy writer and performer. Since 2015, he has written four series of the award winning comedy Reluctant Persuaders for BBC Radio 4.

The archive recording of Terry Pratchett was made by The Oxford Story Museum and is used with the kind permission of his Estate.
Just William Live was produced Roz Ayres for Jarvis & Ayres Productions for BBC Radio 4 and used with the kind permission of Jarvis & Ayres.
With thanks to Kornelia Cepok, Archivist, University of Roehampton Library.

Presenter: Edward Rowett
Reader: Janet Ellis
Producer: Caroline Raphael
Sound: Shane O’Byrne at The Soundhouse
Location Recording: Nick Manasseh

A Dora production for BBC Radio 4


THU 12:00 News Summary (m001gjct)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 The New Gurus (m001gjcw)
8. Prophets of Doom

Jessica Lanyadoo thinks civil war is coming — she has seen it in the stars. But it isn’t just astrologers who think we’re living through an age of upheaval. Peter Turchin, a Soviet-born professor who studies historical cycles, has already seen one political system collapse in his lifetime. He calls this decade the Turbulent Twenties.

Could our collective anxiety explain the rise of the new gurus?

The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.

Written and presented by Helen Lewis

Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith

A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m001dnn3)
Natural Deodorants

The Natural Deodorant market has recently expanded, with plenty of products out there promising to keep you fresh, and dry, without the use of traditional ingredients such as aluminium salts.

Listener PC Hollie got in touch on WhatsApp after she’d seen claims that regular deodorants and antiperspirants containing aluminium salts might be bad for our health, and wanted to know if natural deodorants are really better for us?

She also wanted to know why they’re more expensive, if it’s worth paying more, and if they can do the same job and keep her dry while she’s fighting crime.

Greg Foot finds out by speaking with a dermatologist Dr. Adil Sheraz, a chemist specialising in the makeup of natural products, Dr. Barbara Olioso, and by performing a “sweat test” where he convinced fellow gym goers to sniff his pits, and assess his sweat patches.

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

PRESENTER: Greg Foot
PRODUCER: Kate Holdsworth


THU 12:57 Weather (m001gjd1)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m001gjd5)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


THU 13:45 Causing a Scene (m001gjd9)
War

Antonia Quirke talks to Ukrainian cinema goers about the scenes that have resonated with them and that have reflected their present reality. The choices might surprise you, as not all of them are war films, but big budget Hollywood fantasy movies and science fiction. Antonia also talks to cinematographer Seamus McGarvey about filming the famous Dunkirk scene in Atonement, a five minute tracking shot that tries to get into the heads of war-wearied soldiers with PTSD.


THU 14:00 The Archers (m001gjdf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 The Dark Is Rising (m001glmj)
Episode Four: The Wild Hunt

Will is pursued by the tornado of the Dark and prepares for the final battle. Herne the Hunter, who rides for the first time in a thousand years, summons his ghostly hounds. The Old Ones gather from across the centuries as the ancient conflict between Light and Dark reaches its climax.

This four-part version, edited for BBC Radio 4, of the BBC World Service serialisation of Susan Cooper's classic, is written and recorded to take place across the Christmas holidays.

#TheDarkIsRising

Will Stanton ... Noah Alexander,
John Smith/ Paul Stanton/Mr Beaumont ... Thomas Arnold
Jamaican Old One/ James Stanton ... Danny Bailey
Stephen Stanton ... Simon Bubb
Mrs Stanton/Dr Armstrong ... Amanda Hadingue,
The Walker (Hawkin) ... Toby Jones
Narrator ... Simon McBurney
The Rider/Mr Stanton/Farmer Dawson ... Tim McMullen
Merriman ... Paul Rhys
Maggie Barnes/Mary Stanton ... Natasha Stone.
The Lady/Miss Greythorne ... Harriet Walter
Herne ... Miles Yekinni

Chorister ... Vinay Singh

Soundscape designed by Gareth Fry
Original songs by Johnny Flynn, Luisa Gerstein and Heloise Tunstall-Behrens.
Music by Josh Sneesby

The book by Susan Cooper was adapted for audio by Robert Macfarlane and Simon McBurney.

Director: Simon McBurney
Producers: Catherine Bailey and Tim Bell.
A Complicité and Catherine Bailey production for BBC World Service


THU 15:00 Open Country (m001gjdk)
Ulster Canal: the missing link?

The Ulster canal was built in in the mid 19th century across the north of Ireland, linking Lough Neagh in the east with Lough Erne in the west. Like most canals, it fell into decline with the arrival of the railways. Partition in 1922 was the final nail in its coffin, and all 46 miles closed completely in the 1930s. Now there are plans to re-open a cross-border section of the canal between County Armagh and County Monaghan - an idea which was mentioned specifically in the Good Friday Agreement.

In this programme Helen Mark retraces the ghost of the route of the old canal - easy to see in some places, hidden beneath decades of ivy and tangled undergrowth in others. In the village of Benburb, she meets author and enthusiast Brian Cassells, who tells her about the history of the canal and paints a picture of what restoring it could mean. On the other side of the border, she visits the Ulster Canal Stores at Clones, where canal restoration work has already started. Stores manager Hugh Tunney describes re-opening the canal as a "game changer". He's hoping it will bring much-needed infrastructure for boaters and paddleboarders, attracting tourists and generating more income for the area.

At Lough Neagh, Helen meets up with a group of canoeists, who tell her that reviving the Ulster canal would open up whole new possibilities of routes for them to use - linking this area of the island with other existing waterways. At the other end of the canal, she tries her hand at rowing a traditional Irish currach on Lough Erne, under the guidance of skipper Olivia Cosgrove. Could the Ulster canal be the missing link in the extensive network of waterways which criss-cross the island of Ireland?

Presented by Helen Mark and produced by Emma Campbell


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m001ghvm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:56 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Open Book (m001ghz2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Monday]


THU 16:00 Vic Oliver - The First Castaway Remembered (b01b1ljw)
Episode 1

As Desert Island Discs celebrates 80 years, David Baddiel explores the mercurial life of its very first castaway, entertainer Vic Oliver.

In the forties, as a comedian, musician, host and music hall act Oliver was a household name. He'd married Winston Churchill's daughter and found fame appearing on the wartime radio show "Hi Gang" while forging a successful stage career.

The programme explores the myths and contradictions concerning Oliver's personal life, with archive of the entertainer in conversation and performance, along with with contributions from Bill Pertwee, Writer Brad Ashton and trumpeter Joan Hinde.

Producer: Stephen Garner.


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m001gjdp)
Game changers

Nations are racing to protect 30% of the planet by 2030 in an attempt to halt biodiversity loss, but one novel approach may be able to safeguard species under threat of imminent extinction. Vic visited Nature’s Safe in May, a cryogenic biobank, storing the genetic information of at risk species in futuristic biological freezers. But will it serve as a viable tool to bring wildlife back from the brink if the ecosystems in which these animals reside are degraded beyond repair?

The Greenland ice sheet is melting, raising global sea level at an alarming rate. Marnie took to the ice with researcher Jason Box in September, and questions how current carbon emissions will influence melting in the future.

Gaia revisits UN talks from March that attempted to put in place regulations capable of protecting the marine biodiversity of the high seas. Negotiations were unsuccessful at the time, but further talks have been held since. How much progress has been made?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.


THU 17:00 PM (m001gjds)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001gjdx)
China has seen a surge in cases of the virus after abandoning its zero-Covid policy


THU 18:15 Just William - The Great Performer by Richmal Crompton (m0012sy2)
William Goes Shopping

William Brown, in the midst of doin' good and ritin' wrongs in the high street, is chased by an irate shopkeeper. Forced to hide, he becomes trapped in an outfitter's window. Nothing for it but to pretend to be a tailor's dummy.

Passers-by stop and look in. 'That one's gotter nugly face,' says a little girl. 'Well, they can't 'elp their faces,' says her mother. Never mind – this afternoon he has been taught by an old man how to make a whistle! A triumphant end to the series of five stories.

Written by Richmal Crompton

Read by Martin Jarvis.
A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4


THU 18:30 Fags, Mags and Bags (m0013zrx)
Series 10

1. Racismpallooza

The hit Radio 4 series Fags, Mags & Bags returns in a landmark tenth series with more shop based shenanigans and over the counter philosophy, courtesy of Ramesh Mahju and his trusty sidekick Dave.

Set in a Scots-Asian corner shop, and written by and starring Donald Mcleary and Sanjeev Kohli, the award winning Fags, Mags & Bags has proved a huge hit. This brand-new series sees a return of all the show’s regular characters, with some guest appearances along the way.

In this episode, Ramesh tries to help Mrs Birkett who is being pursued by the immigration services.

Cast:
Ramesh: Sanjeev Kohli
Dave: Donald Mcleary
Sanjay: Omar Raza
Alok: Susheel Kumar
Malcolm: Mina Anwar
Mrs Birkett: Stewart Cairns
Bishop Briggs: Michael Redmond
Mrs Begg: Marjory Hogarth

Producer: Gus Beattie for Gusman Productions
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4


THU 19:00 The Archers (m001gjf1)
Not everyone enjoys Will’s Christmas story, and Pip admires Rosie's handiwork.


THU 19:15 Add to Playlist (m001df0h)
From the Bald Mountain to Puerto Rico with Anne Dudley and Patrick Rimes

This week, Radio 4 is revisiting four episodes of the award-winning music series Add to Playlist, first broadcast in October. Today, Anne Dudley, composer and co-founder of The Art of Noise, and Welsh traditional musician Patrick Rimes join Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye as they add five more tracks to the playlist, including a tender but rather unlikely love affair and a New Orleans classic.

Presenters Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye
Producer Jerome Weatherald

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky
Hideaway by Jacob Collier
Un petit poisson, un petit oiseau by Juliette Gréco
When the Saints Go Marching In by Louis Armstrong
Ché Ché Colé by Héctor Lavoe and Willie Colón

Other music in this episode:

Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev
O, wie will ich triumphieren by Mozart
Night on Disco Mountain by David Shire
When All the Saints Come Marching In by Paramount Jubilee Singers


THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m001gjf5)
Our Ageing World

For years, the major problem of world demography was thought to be the risk of over-population. Now, it's the fact that the global population is ageing fast.

According to the United Nations, the number of people over 65 is set to double between now and 2050, to 1.6 billion people. And, at the same time, the birth rate in most of the world is falling, often sharply.
This demographic shift comes with huge social and economic implications. What are they, and what can we do to cope with them?

Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room are:

Stephanie Hegarty, BBC Global Population Correspondent
Marco Valerio Lo Prete, Economics Editor at Italian State Broadcaster RAI and author of “Italians: The Unhappy Few”
Robert Kelly., Professor of Political Science at Pusan National University, South Korea
Camilla Cavendish, Senior Fellow at Harvard University
Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalisation and Development at the Oxford Martin School

Producers: Simon Watts, Kirsteen Knight and Octavia Woodward
Editor: Richard Vadon
Studio manager: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed


THU 20:30 A Bad Guy with a Gun (m001g31w)
A bad guy with a gun.

At 09:30am on the 14th December 2012, the staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School locked the school's doors, a security precaution they took every day. At 09:35 a gunman shot his way through a glass panel and entered the school. By 09:40am twenty children and six adults were dead.

Surely something so horrific must be an isolated incident?

It wasn’t.

Since that day there have been active shooter incidents at almost 1000 schools and colleges across the US. In 2022 alone 47 people have been killed and 118 wounded by gunmen in American schools.

We’ve all seen the aftermath of the shootings, the grieving families, the marches, the vows of ‘never again’ yet it does happen, again and again.

America has a complicated relationship with guns, less than half of households claim to own one yet there are estimated to be 393 million firearms owned by American civilians. That’s a lot of guns.

So where did it all start and why does the threat of gun violence provoke some politicians to loosen gun restrictions rather than increase them?

It all starts and ends with a bad guy with a gun.

Producer: Lizzy McNeill
Narrator: Alison Shultes
Editor: Penny Murphy
Studio Manager: Rod Farquhar

Thanks to the follow for the use of their archive:

The Revolutionary Institute
The Nation Rifle Association
TED x Boulder, Aaron Stark.
Tiktok Cassie Walton


THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m001gjdp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


THU 21:30 In Our Time (m001gjcm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m001gjfc)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


THU 22:45 Marple: Three New Stories (m001gjfh)
The Unravelling by Natalie Haynes

The Unravelling (Part 2)

Agatha Christie’s iconic detective is reimagined for a new generation with a murder, a theft and a mystery where nothing is quite what it seems.

The Unravelling by Natalie Haynes
When an itinerant farm hand is found dead outside Weaver’s Haberdashers it’s chalked up as a brawl gone tragically wrong - until the body is moved and an arrow found lodged in his heart. The Weavers claim never to have met the man; Sergeant Dover has his doubts and, as usual, Jane Marple is three steps ahead of every one of them.

Read by Monica Dolan
Abridged and produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Marking 45 years since the publication of Agatha Christie's last Miss Marple novel, 'Marple: Twelve New Stories' is a collection of ingenious stories by acclaimed authors and Christie devotees.


THU 23:00 Michael Spicer: Before Next Door (m001gjfp)
Series 2

BetBoffin

Michael’s argument with his comedy hero from last week was filmed, went viral and won him even more fans and credibility. So Roberta can’t stop herself planning the live tour her husband has yet to agree to. She is now his manager in all but name and fields approaches from comedy promoters and brands with tonnes of cash.

But Michael can’t help but cling on to his office job because he is too fearful to take a leap into the showbiz unknown. And unfortunately for Michael, Roberta’s plans hit a bump in the road too.

His office junior, Liam, is in trouble for dismantling the divisive office dividing wall that came down at the Christmas party and Michael feels bad because it was partly - or mostly - his fault.

As a supportive gesture Michael books Liam’s carpet fitter brother, Craig, to lay a new carpet in his house. But their interactions are excruciatingly awkward, especially as he is contemplating doing an advert for a betting company but discovers Craig is a recovering gambling addict.

Cast: Michael Spicer with Ellie Taylor, Joanna Neary, Greig Johnson, Jason Forbes, Alison Ward, Jamie Borthwick and Peter Curran.

Writer: Michael Spicer
Producer: Matt Tiller

A Starstruck and Tillervision production for BBC Radio 4


THU 23:30 Only After Dark (m001g9k0)
At the Docks

The non stop 24/7 world of freight is an intrinsic part of our global economy with goods being moved around the world to satisfy the demands of the market place. At the Freightliner Terminal at Southampton Docks, the staff there work all through the night transferring shipping containers from huge ships onto trains which then take them to various parts of the UK. It's a strange and alien place poplulated by Sci-fi-esque machines, enormous cranes and powerful trains. But all operated by a loyal and committed group of people who take deep pride in the contribution they make to the smooth running of the daytime world. Dan Richards spends the night with the staff there and gets an insight into how our stuff gets to where it's meant to be.

Presented by Dan Richards
Produced in Aberdeen by Helen Needham
Mixed by Ron McCaskill
Original Music Composition by Anthony Cowie

FRIDAY 30 DECEMBER 2022

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m001gjft)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 00:15 Wild Bond (m001d58n)
The Henchmen

The name's Bond. James Bond. Everyone's favourite spy has been serving up the guns, the glamour, the girls and the gadgets on the silver screen for 60 years, and we're celebrating... In a slightly unusual way. Emily Knight is taking the iconic characters from the Bond world and re-casting them, from the animal kingdom. Which of our animal cousins would make the best 007? Who do we cast as the Bond Girl? In nature, who comes equipped with the best gadgets? Who are villains, bent on world domination, and who are the henchmen, just following orders?

In this episode, its the turn of those boiler-suited nobodies, the loyal drones staffing the evil lairs, who die by the hundred every time Bond rappels his way on the scene. The villain's seemingly endless supply of henchmen, ready and willing to die for the cause, however convoluted that cause may be. In the animal world, self-sacrifice is most common in the insect domain, where colony-dwelling creatures like wasps, bees and ants happily die for the greater good. Some in a more spectacular manner than others. Meanwhile in the mammal world, our altruism is a little more calculating. We don't like to give, unless there's some taking on the cards as well. But for chimpanzees, the safety and security of the troop is top priority, and they go to extraordinary lengths to make sure they're on the winning side. Often at their own expense.

With Bond expert Ian Kinane from the University of Roehampton, Professor of Apiculture at the University of Sussex Francis Ratnieks, and evolutionary biologist Kevin Langergraber from Arizona State University.

Presented and Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight.


FRI 00:30 Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel (m001gjfy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001gjg2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001gjg6)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001gjgb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m001gjgg)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001gjgl)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Bishop David Walker

Good Morning.

The week between Christmas and New Year is a strange one. Many people have worked through at least part of these last few days, ensuring essential services, from hospitals to helplines, remain functioning. Others have staggered back into work, enjoying only the briefest of breaks, to restore public transport, staff leisure facilities, and to throw open the doors of shops and stores for what now begins far too early to still be designated as “January Sales”. In most years, for people like me, whose working lives revolve around meetings, these days are blissfully devoid of diary dates. Yet for others, especially those forced to spend them away from friends and family, they can number among the loneliest days of the year.

This week highlights the very different pressures we face in our distinct walks of life. In so doing, it invites us to imagine ourselves in others’ shoes, to recognise that our experience of Christmas is only partial. It challenges us to find empathy with those who are unlike ourselves. It draws me to think of those serving overseas in military service, of prisoners, separated from their families, as penalty for their crimes, of patients too sick to be discharged from hospital, of refugees seeking sanctuary far from their native country, and of those who dwell in care and nursing homes.

And such empathy calls me to prayer.

Heavenly Father, I hold before you those whose last few days have been very different from mine. Those who will end this week tired after demanding work, or depressed by days of isolation. Those who long to see loved ones, and those separated by distance or duty. May your love reach out to embrace them, even where that love is not known or recognised.

Amen.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m001gjgq)
30/12/22 - Natural plant dyes

Before the advent of synthetic dyes, the place to turn for a bit of colour in your life was the natural world. Rachel Lovell heads to Devon to visit a grower offering an alternative to industrially-made dyes. Sophie Holt of Pigment Organic Dyes grows highly specialist crops for the textile dye market, and she has plenty of surprises in store.

Presented and produced by Rachel Lovell


FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09k0nw2)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 12 of 12

During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and for many a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Reaching the the final verse of the song brings a requirement for twelve drummers drumming. As actress Alison Steadman recalls, is that the sound of drumming a distant drum-roll I can hear? Or maybe just a male snipe on an amorous fly by?

Producer : Andrew Dawes
Photograph: Steve Waddingham.


FRI 06:00 Today (m001gjm3)
Our guest editor today is Björn Ulvaeus from ABBA, the Swedish supergroup who came to fame in the UK when they won the Eurovision song contest in Brighton in 1974. They have more recently found a whole new generation of fans after being recreated as avatars for ABBA Voyage.

Björn used his guest edit to talk about democracy, AI, streaming and music. His programme features interviews with the author Yuval Noah Harari, the head of Eurovision Martin Österdahl and Dave Stewart from Eurythmics.

Our guest editor was also keen to speak to one of the judges from the 1974 UK jury for the Eurovision song contest. The UK gave Sweden nul points. The Today programme team found a jury member for Björn to speak to.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m001ghvx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel (m001gjsr)
Episode 5

In her frank and unflinching portrait of her early years in Derbyshire, and later her adolescence and early 20s, Hilary Mantel moved from writing fiction to seize the copyright in her own narrative.

Charting a fractured and sometimes tense family life, the account moves on to her university years and the chronic and devastating pain of an undiagnosed illness.

Giving Up The Ghost is the much-loved and admired novelist's memoir, first published in 2003 and repeated here as a tribute to the author who died in September 2022.

'She is by turns facetious, matter-of-fact, visionary and comical but always totally riveting.' Daily Telegraph
'Simply astonishing - clear and true.' Guardian
‘What a remarkable writer she is. She is piercingly, even laceratingly observant … a very startling and daring memoir; the more I read it the more unsettling it becomes.’ Helen Dunmore

Read by Patience Tomlinson
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters

A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001gjmj)
Paulina Porizkova - former supermodel, Vivienne Westwood, Sally Wainwright, Servicewomen & sexual assault, Annus horribilis

Dame Vivienne Westwood died yesterday at the age of 81 but she has been called the ‘undisputed Queen of British Fashion’. She made her name with her controversial punk and new wave styles in the 1970s and went on to dress some of the biggest stars in fashion. She was well known for her androgynous designs, slogan T-shirts and irreverent attitude towards the establishment and would use her platform later to bring the causes she cared about like climate change to the forefront. Barjis Chohan is a fashion designer in London who got her first break fresh out of college working with Dame Vivienne Westwood

The multi Bafta-winning BBC drama Happy Valley returns to our screens on New Year’s Day. It’s a long awaited third series – the first came out in 2014, and the second in 2016. It centres on police Sergeant Catherine Cawood (pron. Kay-ward) - played by Sarah Lancashire - and her family in West Yorkshire and is the brainchild of writer and director Sally Wainwright, whose other TV credits include Last Tango in Halifax, Scott and Bailey and Gentleman Jack. Krupa speaks to Sally, who is considered to be one of our greatest television dramatists.

Hundreds of servicewomen have experienced sexual abuse during their training at The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, according to Salute Her UK. Their figures show that 177 women have sought help for cases spanning more than 20 years. Paula Edwards, CEO of Salute Her UK discusses the ‘toxic culture’ of sexual assault in the military. Salute Her UK is the sister charity of Forward Assist - which supports military veterans struggling to adjust to civilian life. It is the only UK gender-specific support service to offer therapy and interventions for survivors of in-service sexual abuse.

Even if you don’t know her name, you will almost certainly recognise her face. A former supermodel Czechoslovak-born Paulina Porizkova appeared on the covers of numerous top magazines around the world during the 1980s and 1990s, including Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour and Cosmopolitan. In 1988 she became one of the highest-paid models in the world as the face of Estee Lauder. She also acted in many movies and TV shows and was on the judging panel on cycle 10 of America’s Next Top Model. Her novel, A model Summer, was published in 2007. She has now written a memoir, No Filter: The Good, the Bad, and The beautiful.

2022 marks thirty years since Queen Elizabeth II used the term annus horribilis (worst year) in her Ruby Jubilee speech to describe a personal low point. As we approach the New Year, some of us may, instead of celebrating, be looking back at our own personal annus horribilis. But how do we cope when all the bad news seems to come at once? And after a worst year, how do we feel hopeful for a better one? Emily Dean is a radio host and author of Everybody Died So I Got A Dog. Ella Risbridger is a food writer whose books describe how she found solace from grief and mental illness through the comfort of cooking. They both join Krupa Padhy to discuss how we can cope with the lowest points in life.


Presenter: Krupa Padhy
Producer: Kirsty Starkey

Interviewed Guest: Barjis Chohan
Interviewed Guest: Sally Wainwright
Interviewed Guest: Paula Edwards
Interviewed Guest: Paulina Porizkova
Photographer: Jill Greenberg
Interviewed Guest: Ella Risbridger
Interviewed Guest: Emily Dean


FRI 11:00 The Truth about Jazz (w3ct43qr)
Jazz and protest

Clive Myrie concludes his series by examining jazz’s role in protest, politics and diplomacy away from America. He hears how it clashed with the Nazis in World War Two and how people used jazz to cope with life in the concentration camps. There's the story of John Coltrane's big composition in Japan and Clive remembers how jazz became a huge part of the fight to end apartheid in South Africa. There's recollections from Dave Brubeck's son Chris and Darius before the series heads back to where everything began - at the home of the ‘father of jazz’, Buddy Bolden, in New Orleans.

Producers: Ashley Byrne and Wayne Wright

The Truth About Jazz is a Made in Manchester Production originally produced for the BBC World Service


FRI 11:30 Ed Reardon's Week (b06spjqg)
Ed Reardon at Christmas

It’s time to celebrate the Christmas Week with Radio 4’s curmudgeonly author Ed Reardon, and his faithful companion Elgar. Or is it? As we meet Ed on Christmas Eve he seems to be abandoning his only friend at a cat refuge centre. It seems that Ed must spend his Christmas day alone with only a computer for company as he’s been commissioned to write the thirty thousand word long ‘Great British Bake Off’ novel and Elgar isn’t allowed in the agency office.

Still, all is not lost as he’s managed to scrape together the means to buy some liquid refreshment to keep him going. He also has the unexpected ‘pleasure’ of Jaz Milvain turning up on Christmas Day to do some preparation work for his New Years’ Day appearance as guest editor on something called the ‘Today Programme’. Ed will most surely give his old friend some helpful information...

Ed Reardon ..... Christopher Douglas
Jaz Milvain ..... Philip Jackson
Ping ..... Barunka O’Shaughnessy
Cat Woman ..... Nicola Sanderson
John Humphrys ..... Himself

Written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas
Produced by Dawn Ellis


FRI 11:45 Profile (m001fvhx)
Olena Zelenska

Olena Zelenska delivered a moving speech to MPs and peers recently, describing the terror of air raids, evoking memories of World War II and calling for further military support for her country.

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

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

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

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


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m001gjsz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 Pick of the Year (m001gjn0)
Pick of the Year 2022

The director Richard Curtis and the radio presenter Emma Freud pick out their favourite moments of BBC audio from 2022. From comedy to insightful documentaries, politics to poetry, the moving and fascinating clips they've chosen document the past twelve months. Programmes featured include Life Changing, Ukrainecast, Desert Islands Discs, Today and The Skewer.

Producer: Elizabeth Foster


FRI 12:57 Weather (m001gjn9)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m001gjnk)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


FRI 13:45 Causing a Scene (m001gjnr)
Dreams

Carol Morley, Asif Kapadia and Hossein Amini discuss the art of the dream sequence and why it might have gone to our heads. And Antonia asks them if they've ever dreamt up a scene for a movie they were writing, or whether a movie has ever entered their subconscious minds. And we reveal why nobody has ever had a dream like Gregory Peck in Hitchcock's classic Spellbound.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m001gjf1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (m001gjnx)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Firewall

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Firewall, Episode 5

By James Swallow
Dramatised by Sebastian Baczkiewicz

Episode 5

A thrilling landmark adaptation set in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell universe. Fourth Echelon agent Sam Fisher, and his daughter Sarah, are in a race against time to stop Brody Teague from executing his horrific plan to bring down two passenger aeroplanes. Will they succeed and save civilian lives?

Recorded in 3D binaural audio; please listen on headphones for a more immersive experience.

Sam Fisher ..... Andonis Anthony
Sarah Fisher ..... Daisy Head
Anna Grímsdóttir ..... Rosalie Craig
Charlie Cole ..... Sacha Dhawan
Brody Teague ..... Will Poulter
Samir Patel ..... Nikesh Patel
Stone ..... Mihai Arsene
Eighteen ..... Olga Fedori
Portuguese announcer ..... Charis Jardim-Hinds
Reporter ..... Roger Ringrose

Sound design by Sharon Hughes
Directed by Lorna Newman
Series Co-Produced by Jessica Mitic, Nadia Molinari, Lorna Newman

A BBC Audio Drama North Production


FRI 14:45 Why Do We Do That? (m001gjp3)
Why Do We Doomscroll?

Are you drawn to the endless news cycle? Do you keep going back for more? Do you feel a strange compulsion to absorb negative news that is weirdly soothing but makes you more stressed? These are signs you may be doomscrolling. But fear not, you’re not the only one. Stuart Soroka is a professor at UCLA who’s been looking at our draw towards negative information and found that people all over the world do it, regardless of culture. In 2020, our year of misery, the Oxford English Dictionary added doomscrolling and named it a word of the year. With the help of Stuart and Radio and TV presenter Clara Amfo, Ella gets to the bottom of whether we humans really are more biased towards negative information, and what we can do to resist it.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001gjp9)
Upwell

Is it a bad idea to sow flower bulbs in the dead of winter? Can you move a peony without harming it? And what is the secret to growing great courgettes?

Kathy Clugston and a panel of horticultural experts, Christine Walkden, Bunny Guinness and Matt Biggs, welcome in the new year and answer your questions in Upwell, Norfolk.

Also on the programme, GQT producer Dan Cocker heads to The Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, to speak to horticulturalist Joe Richomme about how to safely move peonies.

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

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m001gjph)
Lost and Found

Hogmanay, 1983, Aberdeen. After a difficult year, Davie is stewarding the fireworks and wondering where his dreams went when he encounters a lost child.

Read by Martin Donaghy
Written by Gillian Shearer
Produced by Naomi Walmsley

A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m001gjpq)
Terry Hall, Dame Beryl Grey, Heather Iandolo, Eric Allison

Matthew Bannister on

Terry Hall (pictured), the singer who captured the disillusionment of a generation with The Specials’ biggest hit “Ghost Town”.

Heather Iandolo, the daughter of the notorious Nazi propaganda broadcaster known as Lord Haw Haw.

Eric Allison, who turned his back on a life of crime to become the Guardian’s prisons correspondent.

Dame Beryl Grey, the acclaimed ballerina who went on to run the London Festival Ballet.

Producer: Tim Bano

Interviewed Guests: Professor Colin Holmes, Simon Hattenstone and Alastair Macaulay


FRI 16:30 Mastertapes (b01sm7hv)
Series 2

Wilko Johnson (the A-side)

John Wilson returns with the second series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.

Programme 1, A-side. "Down By The Jetty" with Wilko Johnson.

At the beginning of 2013 Wilko Johnson announced a series of farewell UK concerts in March. The guitarist and founding member of Dr. Feelgood has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and he has chosen not to undergo chemotherapy. But before these final live appearances and before going into the studio to complete a new album, he came to the BBC Maida Vale studios to discuss the making of his very first one: Dr. Feelgood's debut album, "Down By The Jetty".

Released in January 1975 and including 'Roxette', 'She Does It Right' and 'All Through the City', the album has been cited as a major influence by the likes of Paul Weller, the Clash, Blondie and the Ramones.

The B-side of the programme, where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions, can be heard tomorrow at 3.30pm

Other programmes in the series include Mike Scott talking about the Waterboys' album "Fisherman's Blues" and Richard Thompson revisiting his best selling solo album, "Rumor & Sigh".

Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed.

Producer: Paul Kobrak.


FRI 17:00 PM (m001gjq0)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001gjqr)
Passengers will need a negative test before travel after a surge in cases


FRI 18:15 The News Quiz (m001gjj7)
Series 110

Best of 2022

A look back on some of the best bits of News Quizzing from 2022.

In this compilation episode Andy Zaltzman casts his satirical eye over the highs and lows of the year, in which the UK has had two monarchs, three Prime Ministers and countless debates over whether a party can technically be called a party.

Hosted and written by Andy Zaltzman.

Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Co-ordinator: Ryan Walker-Edwards
Sound Editor: Jerry Peal

A BBC Studios Production


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m001gjr7)
Writer, Keri Davies
Director, Jess Bunch
Editor, Jeremy Howe

Jill Archer ….. Patricia Greene
David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Ben Archer ….. Ben Norris
Kenton Archer ….. Richard Attlee
Pat Archer ….. Patricia Gallimore
Tony Archer ….. David Troughton
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Leonard Berry ….. Paul Copley
Ed Grundy ….. Barry Farrimond
George Grundy ….. Angus Stobie
Will Grundy ….. Philip Molloy
Brad Horrobin ….. Taylor Uttley
Chelsea Horrobin ….. Madeleine Leslay
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Fallon Rogers ….. Joanna Van Kampen
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd


FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m001gjrk)
Rashomon

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the legacy of Rashomon, directed by Japanese cinematic master Akira Kurosawa.

Mark examines Kurosawa's enduring screen legacy and why he is one of the most influential directors in film history. He talks to director Asif Kapadia, who is co-programmer of the BFI's upcoming Kurosawa retrospective. They discuss Kurosawa's filmography and what makes him one of the greatest directors of all time as well as Kurosawa's influence on his own work. Mark then speaks to author Kazuo Ishiguro, screenwriter of the recent film, Living, a remake of Kurosawa's 1952 film, Ikiru. They discuss how Rashomon became one of Kurosawa's and Japan's most iconic films as well as debating how successful cinema is at depicting memory.

Ellen investigates the longlasting impact of Kurosawa's 1950 film on the small screen. The film inspired the term 'the Rashomon effect' which is used to describe a narrative technique where different characters offer differing opinions and perspectives on the same event. Ellen talks to TV and film critic Roxana Hadadi about how this has become a staple of television storytelling. She then speaks to Chris Lang, creator of the TV series Unforgotten, who explains how Rashomon has influenced his work and why exactly it's so well suited to the crime genre.

And director and Kurosawa super fan Alex Cox tells us his favourite Kurosawa film.

Producer: Tom Whalley
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 20:00 Correspondents' Look Ahead (m001gjtz)
Looking Ahead to 2023

Jonny Dymond asks some of the BBC's top journalists to gaze into their crystal balls and predict what 2022 might have in store. This time last year Russian troops were massing on the Ukrainian border but little did we know how quickly war would begin and how bravely the people of Ukraine would defend their country.

But how will the war play out in 2023? Can either side allow it to endlessly drag on?

Will 2023 be a more settled year in UK politics? With the ongoing cost of living crisis and little sign of a resolution to strike action, how will the government deal with those challenges next year? We'll also explore the political challenges facing leaders in China, Iran and Afghanistan.

So many big questions, but luckily we have some of the BBC's best minds on hand to provide plenty of answers.

Presenter: Jonny Dymond.
Panel: Alex Forsyth, Lyse Doucet, Simon Jack and Steve Rosenberg.
Producer: Ben Carter
Production Co-ordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Lizzi Watson


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m001gjrs)
Nature's Pantomime

Howard Jacobson reflects on why we look to comedy to see one year out and a new year in.

Reflecting on the misbehaviour of a mischievous Australian cockatoo and a 'great mocking Rigoletto chorus' of shearwaters in the Canary Islands, he considers whether he may himself have been a bird in an earlier life, as he celebrates the way animals rescue us from self-importance - and help us imagine a funnier, fairer world.

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


FRI 21:00 Neil Gaiman and the BBC Symphony Orchestra (m000cp2b)
Playing in the Dark (Part 2)

Neil Gaiman is one of the great storytellers of our time, his work loved by fans of all ages in books, films, on TV and in the theatre.

In this second part of a very special concert (the first part was broadcast on Christmas Day), he joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mihhail Gerts, for a walk on the dark side, reading from his best-selling books, weaving together his dystopian visions with music to thrill and excite the senses.

He is joined on stage by Amanda Palmer who sings A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square and David Tennant, reading from Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchett's work "Good Omens".

This is an edited version of the full concert, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 23 December 2019.

All written works: Neil Gaiman (with Sir Terry Pratchett for Good Omens)
BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mihhail Gerts
Producer for BBC Radio 4: Steve Doherty
Producer for BBC Symphony Orchestra: Ann McKay
General manager, BBC Symphony Orchestra: Paul Hughes

A Giddy Goat and BBC Symphony Orchestra production for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4

Music played in part two of the concert:
WAGNER: The Ride of the Valkyries
HERRMAN: Prelude from Fahrenheit 451
BRITTEN: Sinfonia da Requiem (2nd movement)
SHERWIN/MASCHWITZ: A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m001gjs1)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 Marple: Three New Stories (m001gjs8)
The Unravelling by Natalie Haynes

The Unravelling (Part 3)

Agatha Christie’s iconic detective is reimagined for a new generation with a murder, a theft and a mystery where nothing is quite what it seems.

The Unravelling by Natalie Haynes
When an itinerant farm hand is found dead outside Weaver’s Haberdashers it’s chalked up as a brawl gone tragically wrong - until the body is moved and an arrow found lodged in his heart. Mr Weaver has just been released thanks to a rock-solid alibi and Jane Marple is starting to wonder if she's been looking at this crime the wrong way round.

Read by Monica Dolan
Abridged and produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Marking 45 years since the publication of Agatha Christie's last Miss Marple novel, 'Marple: Twelve New Stories' is a collection of ingenious stories by acclaimed authors who also happen to be Christie devotees.


FRI 23:00 Uncanny (m001gjsg)
Uncanny Live with Mark Gatiss

Danny meets actor, writer and Uncanny fan Mark Gatiss, for this very special live episode, recorded at the London Podcast Festival 2022.

The pair discuss their mutual passion for ghosts, and investigate some new real-life stories of the paranormal.

Written and presented by Danny Robins
Editor and Sound Designer: Charlie Brandon-King
Music: Evelyn Sykes
Theme Music by Lanterns on the Lake
Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard

A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 23:30 Great Lives (m001gj52)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]