SATURDAY 31 DECEMBER 2022
SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m001gjsp)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 00:15 Wild Bond (m001d5pn)
The Gadgets
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, bring your razor-rimmed bowler-hat, your cigarette-torpedo, and all the explosives you can fit in a specially designed pen-lid, as we discuss the gadgets in the world of Bond. The Quartermaster, better known as 'Q', is the genius behind the gadgetry which seems to get 007 out of even the tightest of scrapes. He has a top secret M15 bunker to work in, testing beds, lab-coated staff, and a seemingly infinite budget. What has nature got that can compete with that? Well, only around 3.7 billion years of evolution. Animals have been waging war on one another from the moment the first proto-microbe decided to consume the second, and the weaponry has become increasingly sophisticated.
With Bond expert Ian Kinane from the University of Roehampton, and Marc-Olivier Coppens from UCL.
Presented and Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight
SAT 00:30 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
SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001gjsy)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001gjt9)
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 (m001gjtp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m001gjv0)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001gjvd)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rev Lucy Winkett
Good morning.
Whether you’re partying tonight, or going to bed before the bells ring, the turn of the year is a time for reflection and taking stock. Three years ago, at the turn of 2020, only a few knew for sure the sort of disruption and suffering that a global pandemic would bring that year. And every year since then has held both provocation and challenge as the multiple consequences of an air borne virus and the measures taken to combat it have wreaked havoc in our institutions and patterns of living. What is ahead this year is still unclear. The turning of a new year is in some ways of course the same as any other moment: calendars are just ways of organising time. But the rhythm of the earth’s rotation and our planet’s rotation around the sun mean that we move from Old to New Year tonight, with all the attendant reflection that this means. The 18th century preacher and founder of Methodism John Wesley wrote a particular prayer for use at this time of year. It’s incredibly moving, the Covenant Prayer, used in Methodist chapels and churches across the world.
I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will,
Put me to doing, put me to suffering;
Let me be employed for you
or laid aside for you,
exalted for you, or brought low for you;
Let me be full, let me be empty,
let me have all things, let me have nothing;
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal,
and now glorious and blessed God, you are mine and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
SAT 05:45 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
SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m001gjr6)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
SAT 06:07 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
SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m001gjrh)
31/12/22 - 100 Years of Farm Broadcasting
‘Farming Today’ and ‘On Your Farm’ are a long-established, well-loved part of the Radio 4 schedule. But how did agriculture on the air begin? A century ago radio was the wonder of the age with the newly-formed BBC offering an astounded public a nightly menu of news bulletins, chamber music and children’s stories. Farming broadcasts soon followed and were keeping listeners in touch with rural life long before the first radio drama, sports commentary or record programme had crackled in to the ether. In the century since, the strictly-scripted agricultural studio talk of the 1920s and ‘30s has evolved beyond recognition, and along the way brought fame and fan mail to the most unlikely of ‘stars’; a university farm manager, a Times newspaper correspondent and a Surrey horticulturalist. We look back at a hundred years of rural broadcasting, and the programmes that have been made for – and about – farmers. As we delve in to the archives, we’ll find out what’s changed over the last ten decades; what in the past is surprisingly familiar to us now; and discover how we’ve arrived where we are today.
Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced by Vernon Harwood
Picture: The BBC's head of agricultural programmes, John Green, at home on his Cotswold farm on 17th March 1945.
Interviewed guest: Jeannie Hamilton
Interviewed guest: Jim Heffer
Interviewed guest: Tom Hercock
Interviewed guest: Robin Hicks
Interviewed guest: Anna Hill
Interviewed guest: Felicity Peake
Interviewed guest: Rebecca Pow MP
Interviewed guest: Robert Seatter
Interviewed guest: Richard Willmott
Interviewed guest: Robert Young
Reader: David Wethey
Archive material used in this programme:
The End of Savoy Hill; National Programme, 14/05/1932
6BM Calling; BBC Radio 3, 31/03/2004
Today in the South & West; West of England Home Service, 18/11/1964
Auntie, Uncle and Mr Mike; BBC Radio 4, 01/01/1974
The Farming Week – 60th Anniversary Special; BBC Radio 4, 25/03/1989
Farming Today – Robin Hicks; BBC Radio 4, 25/05/1972
Dig for Victory – R.S. Hudson; BBC Home Service, 10/09/1940
In Your Garden – C.H. Middleton; BBC Home Service, 03/12/1944
Radio Allotment; BBC Home Service, 18/04/1942
Post War Careers – Irene Hilton; BBC Home Service, 07/06/1945
Farming Today – Hill flocks; BBC Home Service, 10/02/1944
Farming Today – Cattle at the Crossroads; BBC Home Service 11/11/1943
Farming Today – Pig farming; BBC Home Service, 09/03/1944
On Your Farm; BBC Radio 4, 29/01/1983
The Oral History of the BBC; John Green video interview, 19/11/1992
The Oral History of the BBC; John Green audio interview, 01/09/1989
The Farming Week – CLA Game Fair; BBC Radio 4, 01/08/1987
Pick of the Year; BBC Radio 4, 29/12/1989
Royal Welsh Show; BBC Wales, 21/07/1987
Plague ’67; BBC Radio 4, 06/12/1967
Six o’clock News; BBC Radio 4, 19/02/2001
Farming Today – EU referendum result; BBC Radio 4, 24/06/2016
Asian Club – Richard Dimbleby; BBC General Overseas Service, 27/04/1964
SAT 06:57 Weather (m001gjrr)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 07:00 Today (m001gjs0)
Our guest editor today is Anne-Marie Imafidon, technologist, CEO and author.
Anne-Marie first appeared on Today aged 11, when she spoke to the then reporter Edward Stourton, about taking her GCSEs early. The theme of her programme is opportunity. Opportunity to engage, explore and try. From funding a business, to exploring politics in a modern form to what you eat.
Her programme also includes an interview with Dr Gladys West. Dr West is one of the people whose work was instrumental in developing the mathematics behind GPS.
SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m001gjs7)
Julia Donaldson
Nikki Bedi and Adil Ray are joined by Julia Donaldson CBE, the children's writer who has written over 200 books, not least The Gruffulo, Stick Man, The Highway Rat and Room on the Broom to name a few. She is also a composer and ex children’s laureate and her repertoire includes books for school use to help children learning to read.
From running an Argos store and working as a stand up comedian, to being a parish priest in Burnley, Fr Alex Frost has become a campaigner against poverty and deprivation. He joins us.
Cat Turnbull is a search and rescue paramedic based in Portsmouth who was part of the all female final for SAS Who dares wins, the programme that puts contestants through a military training regime.
and Vikki Stone is an award-winning writer, composer, comedian and musician who has co-adapted children’s TV favourite Hey Duggee for a major live theatre tour.
Actor David Harewood chooses his inheritance tracks: Everything I Own by Ken Boothe and Stevie Wonder Living for the City and we have your Thank you.
Producer: Corinna Jones
SAT 10:30 You're Dead To Me (p09drjv7)
Prohibition in the USA
Greg Jenner is joined by historian Prof Sarah Churchwell and comedian Kemah Bob in 1920s USA to follow the implementation and after effects of Prohibition.
From Bootleggers, Wet’s and Dry’s, Speakeasy’s and Rum Rows, take a look at the origins of the Prohibition Laws and how a movement designed to encourage temperance backfired on the nation entirely.
Produced by Cornelius Mendez
Script by Greg Jenner and Emma Nagouse
Research by Tim Galsworthy
The Athletic production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 11:00 Mothers and Sons of Ukraine (m001g8sv)
Lyse Doucet, BBC Chief International Correspondent, introduces three Ukrainian mothers who found refuge in the UK as they make precious calls with their sons back home in Ukraine.
Recorded over two months at the end of 2022, the mums and sons let us in on conversations about their new realities.
Sons confide about the cold, the darkness, curfews, the grandparents they’re helping to look after – too old and frail to leave - and their determination that all will be well. Snow has already fallen and power outages are frequent.
The mums talk about their hosts’ kindness, the generosity of strangers, their worries for loved ones back home, their longing for the war to be over.
Across these divides and separation, the approaching winter and future uncertainty, their love crackles undimmed down the line.
Producers: Ruth Abrahams and Nina Bielova
Translator: Olga Gorval
Readers: Tania Kharchenko, Andriy Kravets, Nataliya Skofenko, Irena Taranyuk, Dzhafer Umerov, Gregory Zhygalov
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m001gjsf)
A Year in Ukraine
Kate Adie presents a selection of stories from correspondents who have covered the war, from the invasion of Kyiv to the present day.
Fergal Keane remembers the beekeepers of the Donbas who he met in 2014, following Russia's annexation of Crimea. As he witnessed the throngs of Ukrainians fleeing war in February of this year, he wonders if he will meet his friends again.
Quentin Sommerville reported close to Russian lines in Kharkiv as it came under attack. He reflects on the realities of war and the decision to show dead bodies in his television reporting - to not show them would be a lie, he says.
Yogita Limaye writes on the atrocities which emerged in Bucha after Russian forces withdrew, and her encounter with Irina - a woman trying to rebuild her life after she lost her home, and her husband.
In July, Orla Guerin reported on the effects of Russia's propaganda machine, and its influence within Russian-speaking communities in Ukraine. Suspicion and mistrust left some locals wondering on whose side their neighbours were on.
And acclaimed Ukrainian writer, Andrey Kurkov reflects on his return to Ukraine to celebrate Christmas after several months in Europe and the somewhat muted festivities as the unpredictability of the war continues.
Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Coordinator: Iona Hammond
SAT 12:00 News Summary (m001gjtb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 12:04 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)
SAT 12:30 Stand-Up Specials (m001cx2s)
Geoff Norcott: Geofferendum
As a believer in democracy – and as someone who was on the winning side of the Brexit referendum – Geoff Norcott generally believes that if we, the people, vote for something, that thing should happen. But are there limits to Geoff’s belief in populism, as this is now sometimes called?
For example, opinion polls suggest that if there were to be a referendum on the death penalty, it would be brought back, despite disputes over its effectiveness. In America the individual right to an abortion has been taken away from women “democratically” in some states, something Geoff views as abhorrent (not to mention unconservative). And there’s little doubt that if every new building had to be democratically approved, the United Kingdom may never build another house.
Geoff will see where his audience land on these issues, and work out if they – and he – actually have democratic principles at heart, or if they just want the world to be arranged the way they like it, no matter how inconsistent that might be.
Written and performed by Geoff Norcott
Produced by Ed Morrish
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael
Sound Engineer: David Thomas
Broadcast Assistant: Jacob Tombling
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 12:57 Weather (m001gjt7)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m001gjtm)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4
SAT 13:10 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 2023 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
SAT 14:00 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
SAT 14:45 39 Ways to Save the Planet (m0010wyn)
Windcatchers
Wind energy is vital in the battle against climate change, but can we make improvements to harness more from them?
Tom Heap visits Kelburn windfarm in North Ayrshire to discuss whether 'wakesteering' - reorientating the turbines could see them harness more power collectively. Meanwhile some potential sites are refused or restricted due to the damage caused to wildlife. Hubert Lagrange talks about his childhood obsession with bats which are often killed by the pressure around turbine blades.
He's worked to develop a system to sense bat and bird activity and allow the turbines to operate longer through a refined system.
Dr Tamsin Edwards discusses how much more potential there is and how much carbon this could save.
Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock
Researcher Sarah Goodman
Produced in association with the Royal Geographical Society. Special thanks for this episode to Asst Professor Michael Howland from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Professor Nick Jenkins from Cardiff University.
SAT 15:00 Drama (m001gjvc)
Bedroom Farce (Part 1)
Alan Ayckbourn’s award-winning comedy classic, with a glittering cast directed by Martin Jarvis. Written and set in 1975. Before mobile phones. Devastatingly funny - marriage, partnerships, differences.
Elderly Ernest and Delia in their bedroom. Worrying over son Trevor’s relationship with ‘complex’ wife Susannah. Fish on toast in bed is a comfort.
Nick and Jan’s bedroom. Jan was once ‘destroyer’ Trevor’s girlfriend.
Malcolm and Kate’s bedroom. Tonight it’s a cloakroom for their housewarming party. Trevor arrives. Then wife Susannah. Blazing row. Jan appears. Complications.
Nick and Jan’s. Back at home Jan tells jealous Nick she and Trevor had a mutual snog.
Ernest and Delia’s. Doorbell. It’s crazy daughter-in-law Susannah.
Nick and Jan’s. Trevor’s ringing their bell.
Kate and Malcolm’s. Awaiting Trevor’s return, to sleep over.
Anything but a typical bedroom farce - though we hear about a range of sexual troubles. Is marriage sustained more by habit than mutual excitement? Or is there a certain blessedness? Ayckbourn's play is moving, observant - and hugely funny.
Cast
Trevor ….. Stephen Mangan
Susannah ..… Susannah Fielding
Malcolm ..… George Blagden
Kate ..… Laura Pitt-Pulford
Jan ..… Lisa Dillon
Nick ..… Edward Bennett
Ernest ..… Martin Jarvis
Delia ..… Rosalind Ayres
Specially composed music: A-Mnemonic
Engineers: Charles Carroll, Marc McCouig, Tom Bullen
Directed by Martin Jarvis
A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m001gjvn)
Sally Wainwright, drink spiking, Gurinder Chadha and Debbie Wiseman
Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth joins Krupa Padhy to talk about the new figures released by the National Police Chiefs Council which say there were nearly five thousand cases of needle and drink spiking recorded by forces across England and Wales between September last year and August this year.
Do you remember the first time you really felt ‘seen’? For a special bank holiday programme, all about representation, hear a conversation between Bridgerton actress Charithra Chandran and her hero Gurinder Chadha, who directed the iconic film Bend It Like Beckham.
As part of a new series called Finding My Voice, Jessica Creighton speaks to the author Milly Johnson about the moment she realised her success lay in embracing and enhancing her Yorkshire voice, instead of trying to supress it.
The scientist Dr Jess Wade joins Jessica Creighton to talk about the representation of women in science, and how she’s trying to improve that by joining the Wikipedia community of volunteers and creating pages for women in science and all their achievements.
The writer and director Sally Wainwright joins Krupa Padhy ahead of the final series of Happy Valley to discuss how she created the iconic character of Catherine Cawood, and why Sarah Lancashire was perfect for the part – and her mum was her best script editor.
What’s the best way for you to feel rested? Does music come into it? Jessica Creighton speaks to the award-winning composer and conductor Debbie Wiseman OBE about the relaxing and restful impact the right music can have, not just on our mind, but on our body and our heartbeat too.
Presenter: Krupa Padhy
Producer: Lottie Garton
SAT 17:00 PM (m001gjvz)
Full coverage of the day's news
SAT 17:30 One Dish (m001gjwb)
Yotam Ottolenghi's Roasted Aubergine with Saffron Yoghurt
In the One Dish Christmas special, chef and author Yotam Ottolenghi cooks Andi Oliver one of his favourite festive feasting dishes - a stunning platter of roasted aubergine drizzled with sunshine yellow saffron-infused yoghurt and jewel-like pomegranate seeds. It’s technically a side dish, yes. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be a stand-alone thing of beauty.
How does it fit in alongside the traditional Christmas bird with all the trimmings that his husband and kids adore, or a more vegetable-focused New Year’s Eve spread for friends and family? Yotam reveals all.
Andi and Yotam discuss how they approach catering their family Christmases and what the spice trade has to do with the Essex town of Saffron Walden, and Yotam reveals a game-changing tip for getting that perfect, melt-in-the-mouth texture and those caramelised edges when roasting aubergine.
Also, Kimberley Wilson explores the unexpected benefits of a Yuletide banquet - find out why attending the office Christmas lunch might actually be good for society as a whole.
Food Scientist: Kimberley Wilson
Food Historian: Neil Buttery
Producer: Lucy Dearlove
ExecutiveProducer: Hannah Marshall
Sound Design: Charlie Brandon-King
Assistant Producer: Bukky Fadipe
Commissioning Producer: Lynda Davies
A Storyglass production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001gjwp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 17:57 Weather (m001gjx1)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001gjxf)
Pope Francis has praised the legacy of his predecessor - Benedict XVI - after his death at the age of 95, describing him as a "gift to the Church and the World".
SAT 18:15 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
SAT 19:00 Profile (m001gjy1)
Sarah Lancashire
It's hard to remember that the actor who plays straight-talking cop Catherine Cawood in crime drama Happy Valley, set to return on New Year's Day, was once ditzy barmaid Raquel in Coronation Street.
From musicals to soaps to hit drama series, Sarah Lancashire has had a long and varied career on her way to becoming one of the Britain's best loved actors.
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 This Cultural Life (m001gjyd)
Sam Mendes
Theatre and film director Sam Mendes first made his mark when he launched London’s Donmar Warehouse theatre in the early 90s. He has won Olivier and Tony Awards for numerous productions including Cabaret, The Ferryman and most recently, The Lehman Trilogy. He made his cinematic debut directing American Beauty in 1999, and won the first of two Oscars - the second was for the war film 1917. He also directed the two James Bond movies Skyfall and Spectre, and was knighted in 2020.
Sam tells John Wilson about his earliest memories of feeling the thrill of live performance, at the London production of Godspell in 1971. Later, how the work of Shakespeare came alive for him while watching productions at the RSC, and in particular, a memorable performance of Antony and Cleopatra starring Michael Gambon and Helen Mirren. He reveals how his directorship of the Donmar Warehouse, which established his reputation as a ground-breaking theatre director, all began with a chance late night stroll around Covent Garden.
Seeing Wim Wenders' 1984 film Paris, Texas was to be a formative influence on Sam when he eventually came to direct his debut feature American Beauty and later films including Jarhead and Revolutionary Road. Casting the actor Daniel Craig in his second film Road to Perdition, despite a poor audition was to have a significant impact on both their careers. Sam also talks about moving into writing and making more personal films including 1917 based on the war stories of his grandfather, and Empire of Light, partly inspired by his childhood experiences of witnessing his own mother's struggles with her mental health.
Producer: Edwina Pitman
SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001gjyp)
#TheQueue
If there was ever a written constitution of Britishness then ‘queueing’ would have its own chapter titled #TheQueue with an image of humble mourners lining the streets of London to see Queen Elizabeth II lying-in-state. As Mark Thomas reveals through the archive though, the ‘humble queue’ may in fact be nothing of the sort. Instead, it’s a microcosmic minidrama - a place of shifting alliances, shame, anger and sometimes love and reconciliation - that speaks volumes about who we are and who we think we are.
Mark talks to Angie Hobbs, Professor of The Public Understanding of Philosophy at Sheffield University, who suggests that the queue for the Queen was the queue Britain had been training for all its life. Our queuing prowess is all part of our self-mythology, she suggests. We really aren’t the only nation who can queue.
Archive reveals queuing to be a bit like a classroom for grown-ups. Adults take on improvised roles: the queue joker, the queue grumbler, the passive-aggressive queuer. Mark finds that in truth the Brits are the most grumbling of all the nation’s queuers because they expect things to be done more efficiently than they are. He recalls the ‘passive competitiveness’ in his favourite Eddie Izzard sketch - ‘The Supermarket Queue’.
Mark talks to Stephen Reicher, Professor of Psychology at St Andrews University, who describes a rehashing of tropes from the war-years and how queueing became a shortcut to “Britishness”. He points to the way in which patience in queuing can be seen to be a bit like the Blitz spirit, fair play, stoicism - employed when a country needs to affirm a sense of national identity during national crisis.
Mark joins David Lammy MP during his constituency surgery to discuss how he observes the queues in his constituency in Tottenham North London. What’s poignant is the reality that queueing often means things aren’t working properly.
The real question Mark asks is not why we queue, but why we think we’re so good at it?
Produced by Sarah Cuddon
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio Four.
SAT 21:00 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
SAT 21:30 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
SAT 22:00 News (m001gjyy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:15 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.
SAT 23:00 Loose Ends (m001gjz5)
Elaine C. Smith, Janey Godley, Ricky Ross, Courtney Stoddart, Larry Dean, Brooke Combe, Michelle McManus, Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson and Michelle McManus are joined by Elaine C. Smith, Janey Godley, Ricky Ross, Courtney Stoddart and Larry Dean for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Brooke Combe, Ricky Ross and Michelle McManus.
SUNDAY 01 JANUARY 2023
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m001gjzd)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:15 Torn (m001bbx2)
The stories behind the clothes we wear
Mauve Mania
It’s 1856 in London, and 18-year-old William Perkin is in the search for a cure to malaria when he stumbles upon something else. At the bottom of his test tube he sees a reddish lump. He dips cloth into it and discovers a purple dye. He becomes the first person to successfully market synthetic dyes.
Gus Casely-Hayford tells the story of the craze that follows, nicknamed “mauve mania”. It starts with a purple dress worn by Queen Victoria and filters down to the masses who, until this point, did not have access to rich coloured dyes. Before Perkin’s discovery led to an explosion of synthetic dyes, clothes were coloured with berries, with tree bark, ground up insects and other natural ingredients. These colours didn't bind well to the cloth and would often fade quickly.
The legacy of the synthetic dyes is that textile dyeing and finishing mills use about 200 tonnes of water for every one tonne of textiles produced. These dyes and their mix of pollutants are difficult to remove from the wastewater and they often enter sewers and rivers. A new generation of entrepreneurs are working to produce bacterial dyes that they hope will have less of a negative effect on the environment.
With author Kassia St Clair, entrepreneur Natsai Chieza and a historical letter sent to the inventor William Perkin.
Presenter: Gus Casely-Hayford
Executive Producer: Rosie Collyer
Producer - Tiffany Cassidy
Assistant Producer: Nadia Mehdi
Production Coordinator: Francesca Taylor
Sound Design: Rob Speight
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:30 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
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001gjzl)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001gjzt)
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 (m001gk00)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m001gk06)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m001gk0g)
Holy Trinity Church in Long Melford, Suffolk
Bells on Sunday, comes from Holy Trinity Church in Long Melford, Suffolk. The church was constructed in the late 15th century and is a noted example of a Suffolk medieval Wool Church, founded and financed by wealthy local wool merchants. There are eight bells representing 5 different bell founders from London and Loughborough. The Tenor weighs fifteen hundredweight and is tuned to the note of F. We hear the bells ringing Grandsire Triples. This is being rung by a band representing the Suffolk Guild of Ringers which this year celebrates the 100th anniversary of its foundation.
SUN 05:45 Profile (m001gjy1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News Summary (m001gk0v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b01rqgyn)
John McCarthy explores the significance of the Pietà in art and life. With Antony Gormley
John McCarthy discusses the significance of the Pietà in art and in life with sculptor Antony Gormley, and the act of carrying others in times of adversity.
Gormley's love of Pietàs begins with Michelangelo's work of the same name which can be seen in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City. But his real affection is for Michelangelo's last sculpture: The Rondanini Pieta, where the relationship between the figures of Mary and Christ is much more ambiguous.
Also in the programme, Paul and Ruth describe the way in which they've carried their daughter Maddie for many years due to her multiple disabilities. She's now a teenager and they regard the carrying of her as an on going act of their love for her.
The programme includes music by Vivaldi, Prophets of the Fall, Sarah McLachlan, The Hollies and Morten Lauridsen. And writing by Elizabeth Jennings, Tess Gallagher and Sebastian Faulks.
Produced by Rosie Boulton
Presented by John McCarthy
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:35 Natural Histories (b07x2zd0)
Chameleon
Brett Westwood spots a chameleon and investigates how this master of disguise has led us to ask big questions about how we adapt to the environments we find ourselves in. John Keats coined the term "the camelion poet" to describe a curiosity to explore situations and settings outside of usual experience, which may be at odds with expected morals and personality. He argued that to be chameleon was to take on poetic guises separate from the self. Meanwhile Shakespeare was said to embody his characters to the extent that it was hard to know his own personality. David Bowie was described as a "musical chameleon" but was frustrated at the description, while the poet Jack Mapanje embraced the chameleon's ability to camouflage itself and used it as a way of voicing his political views under a cloak of ambiguity in his collection 'Of Chameleons and Gods'. Brett talks to reptile expert Rob Pilley, poet Jack Mapanje, English lecturer Stacey McDowell, sociologist Eoin Devereux and folklore expert Marty Crump.
First broadcast in a longer form : 11th October 2016
Original Producer: Tom Bonnett
Archive Producer : Andrew Dawes for BBC Audio in Bristol
SUN 06:57 Weather (m001gk15)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m001gk1c)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m001gk1k)
Remembering Pope Benedict XVI
In a special programme to mark the death of Pope Benedict XVI, Edward Stourton and guests discuss the life and legacy of the gentle German academic who became the spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Catholics all over the world.
The 95-year-old Pope Emeritus, who stood down almost a decade ago due to his poor health, died at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery within the walls of the Vatican, where he had lived during his final years.
He led the Catholic Church for fewer than eight years but is considered by many to be one of the most influential religious leaders of modern times. He defended Catholic teaching fearlessly, speaking out against what he called "the dictatorship of relativism", and produced deeply moving spiritual writings.
In a special programme, Edward Stourton looks back at his life and pontificate and assesses the impact of his resignation in 2013 - the first by a Pope since Gregory XII in 1415 - and looks ahead to the impact his death will have on his successor Pope Francis.
Edward remembers Pope Benedict's UK visit with the screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce, who helped organise it, and one of the young Catholics who met the Pope when he came to Birmingham. And he assesses Benedict's lasting impact on the Catholic Church and the wider world with an expert panel of British Catholics and the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.
Presented by Edward Stourton.
Produced by Julia Paul and Katy Booth.
Editor: Helen Grady.
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m001gk1r)
Theirworld
Actor David Tennant makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the education charity Theirworld.
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 ‘Theirworld’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Theirworld’.
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: 1092312
SUN 07:57 Weather (m001gk1y)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m001gk23)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m001gk27)
Amazing Grace
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, preaches on the transforming power of grace and its abiding power in our world today, on the two-hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the first public appearance of John Newton’s hymn Amazing Grace.
The service is led by Canon Rachel Mann who explores John Newton’s encounter with God’s grace and his transition from slave trader to abolitionist that followed.
Featuring a broad variety of arrangements of the famous hymn and reflections from those who’ve performed or adapted it, including Bob Chilcott, Karen Gibson, John Rutter and Will Todd.
The Readings are: 2 Peter 1: 3– 11 and John 1. 9-18
Producer: Alexa Good
SUN 08:48 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
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0v50)
Scarlet Macaw
Michael Palin presents the scarlet macaw from Costa Rica. The Scarlet Macaw is a carnival of a bird, eye-catching, noisy and vibrant, with a colour-scheme verging on bad taste. Its brilliant red feathers clash magnificently with the bright yellow patches on its wings, and contrast with its brilliant blue back and very long red tail. It has a white face and a massive hooked bill and it produces ear-splitting squawks. Subtlety is not in its vocabulary.
Scarlet macaws breed in forests from Mexico south through Central America to Bolivia, Peru and Brazil. They use their formidable beaks not only to break into nuts and fruit, but also as pick-axes.
Colourful and charismatic birds usually attract attention and in some areas where the Scarlet Macaws have been collected for the bird trade, numbers have declined. In south-east Mexico where they are very rare, a reintroduction programme is underway to restore these gaudy giants to their ancestral forests.
Producer Andrew Dawes.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m001gk2d)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m001gk2k)
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
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m001f5dv)
Professor Jean Golding, epidemiologist
Professor Jean Golding is an epidemiologist who is best known for founding the Children of the Nineties study - more formally known as the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. The most detailed project of its kind anywhere in the world, it has followed the lives of children who were born in Avon during 1991 and 1992 and helped scientists make important discoveries about everything from peanut allergy to the effects of long Covid.
Jean was born in Cornwall in 1939. As a toddler she suffered two bouts of tuberculosis and spent several weeks in hospital. Then at 13 she contracted polio, leading to a three-month hospital stay. After graduating in mathematics from Oxford University, her first job involved completing calculations for the 1958 perinatal mortality survey, set up to collect information about the social and obstetric factors associated with stillbirth and death in early infancy.
By the time she started designing the Children of the Nineties study, Jean was well used to working with large data-sets, but the new project was bigger than ever. It collected more than 1.5m biological samples including blood, placenta, hair, nails and teeth along with thousands of questionnaires. As well as expanding medical knowledge, the study has influenced government policy.
Jean retired from the study in 2005. She was awarded an OBE for services to medical science in 2012 and today is Emeritus Professor of Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology at the University of Bristol.
DISC ONE: The ‘Trelawny’ National Anthem by The Fisherman’s Friends
DISC TWO: Under Milk Wood (Part 1) read by Richard Burton
DISC THREE: Bad Penny Blues by Humphrey Lyttelton
DISC FOUR: Dawn Chorus by BBC Sound Effects
DISC FIVE: The Hippopotamus Song by Flanders & Swann
DISC SIX: A Hymn to Him by Rex Harrison
DISC SEVEN: Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. Posth. 114, D. 667 "The Trout": I. Allegro vivace by Melos Ensemble
DISC EIGHT: Bring Me Sunshine by Morecambe and Wise
BOOK CHOICE: The Oxford Book of Twentieth-century English Verse
LUXURY ITEM: A mobility power chair
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Dawn Chorus by BBC Sound Effects
Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m001gk38)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 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
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m001gk2y)
Hangovers: a guide to the morning after
For many, drinking is part of our national identity but the immediate after effects of alcohol, it turns out, are an under investigated part of the experience. This week Jaega Wise looks hangovers from all angles. from science, history and culture.
She talks to Dr Sally Adams Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Birmingham about what a hangover does to our bodies and minds. Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall is a writer who for his book Hungover: A History of the Morning After and One Man's Quest for a Cure subjected himself to serious self-experiment in search of a cure. Jaega talks to him about his decade of drinking and investigation into the history of the hangover. She also meets Prof David Nutt for a drink. Previously the Government’s chief drug advisor, he is now trying to create a replacement to alcohol that will create a pleasant effect without issues the next day.
There are also suggestions for hangover cures from:
Sam Evans, Wynne Evans, Noddy Holder, Ash Sarkar, Fred Sirieix, Michel Roux Jr., Russell Kane, Maisie Adam, Ania Magliano, Marlon Davis, Adam Flemming
SUN 12:57 Weather (m001gk34)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m001gk3g)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world
SUN 13:30 The Exploding Library (m001fcjy)
The Unconsoled, by Kazuo Ishiguro
Comedy writer and performer Natasha Hodgson gets entangled in the slippery world of Ishiguro's The Unconsoled - a novel about human connection, the purpose of art, memory and dreams. So what's she meant to be doing again?
Warped literature series The Exploding Library returns for a new run, as another trio of comedians explode and unravel their most cherished cult books, paying homage to the tone and style of the original text - and blurring and warping the lines between fact and fiction.
As our hosts shine the spotlight on strange, funny and sometimes disturbing novels by Kazuo Ishiguro, Rosemary Tonks and David Foster Wallace, listeners are invited to inhabit their eccentric worlds - gaining a deeper understanding of their workings and the unique literary minds that created them.
Featuring the comedic voices of Natasha Hodgson, Athena Kugblenu and John-Luke Roberts, and created by award-winning producers Steven Rajam (Tim Key and Gogol’s Overcoat) and Benjamin Partridge (Beef and Dairy Network), this is an arts documentary series like no other.
Presenter: Natasha Hodgson
Readings: David Elms
Doctor/Hotel Staff/Swimming Pool Attendant/Mr Hilton: Mike Wozniak
Producer: Benjamin Partridge
Series Producer: Steven Rajam
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:00 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
SUN 14:45 Property of the BBC (m001f4v3)
Three Microphones
In a week of programmes for the BBC centenary, historian Robert Seatter selects three objects from the BBC’s archive store and tells the stories behind their creation - what they tell us about the changing history of the organisation, about expansion of the media and the nation at large. Robert’s choices are unexpected, revelatory and sometimes, with the cruel benefit of hindsight, funny. In today's episode, Robert focuses on three early microphones developed by BBC engineers.
i) The Meatsafe Microphone - first used at the BBC’s Savoy Hill studios in 1923, it had a microphone stand which resembled a domestic meat storage container, hence the nickname.
ii) The Edward VIII abdication microphone - a special microphone, used only once on that momentous occasion.
iii) And the Lip Mic - a clever piece of kit that solved a very real technical problem- how to deliver commentary in a noisy environment.
Robert explores themes of innovation, intimacy of the medium, the BBC voice and the nation, With special guest sound artist Nick Ryan.
Producer: Mohini Patel
SUN 15:00 Drama (m001gk3p)
Bedroom Farce (Part 2)
Alan Ayckbourn’s award-winning comedy classic, continues with a stellar cast directed by Martin Jarvis. Written and set in 1975. Before mobile phones. Devastatingly funny - marriage, partnerships, differences.
In Ernest and Delia’s bedroom, ‘neurotic’ Susannah seeks late-night advice.
In Nick and Jan’s bedroom, Trevor confesses all to Nick, who’s immobile from a bad back.
Desperate phone calls. Next morning Susannah locates Trevor. At Jan's. Oh dear.
Malcolm and Kate’s bedroom. Trevor returns to them to apologise. Is he in danger of destroying Malcolm’s surprise gift to Kate? Could the entire thing drop to pieces? Can things be rebuilt? In bedrooms? Or beyond?
Cast
Trevor ….. Stephen Mangan
Susannah ..… Susannah Fielding
Malcolm ..… George Blagden
Kate ..… Laura Pitt-Pulford
Jan ..… Lisa Dillon
Nick ..… Edward Bennett
Ernest ..… Martin Jarvis
Delia ..… Rosalind Ayres
Specially composed music: A-Mnemonic
Engineers: Charles Carroll, Marc McCouig, Tom Bullen
Directed by Martin Jarvis
A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 16:00 Bookclub (m001gk3w)
Ross King: Brunelleschi's Dome
Historian Ross King answers listener questions about his book Brunelleschi's Dome. An incredible story of one man's determination to build an apparently impossible structure, it's a tale of ingenuity, artistic rivalries, and single-minded obsession. Although building had started on Florence's Santa Maria del Fiore in the late thirteenth century, it wasn't until 1418 that local goldsmith Filippo Brunelleschi came up with an audacious way of constructing the magnificent dome, which still dominates the Florence skyline today. But as Brunelleschi's Dome reveals, the architect faced huge obstacles and opposition along the way.
Our next Bookclub recordings:
18/01/23: Cal Flyn will be talking about her book, Islands of Abandonment. 1300 at BBC Broadcasting House, London.
16/02/23: Nadifa Mohamed on The Fortune Men. 1830 at BBC Broadcasting House, London
Email bookclub@bbc.co.uk to send in a question, or come along.
SUN 16:30 Poetry Please (m001gk44)
Nikita Gill
Nikita Gill chooses poems of renewal from the listener requests. Including work by Ada Limon and Patience Agbabi.
Producer Sally Heaven
SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m001g8tz)
Cost of Living Forcing Children into Care
The cost of living crisis is placing huge pressure on families across the country, many of whom were already living in poverty and struggling to make ends meet.
Now social services say the pressure on parents is causing a significant increase in family breakdowns and the number of children being taken into care.
Reporter Paul Connolly speaks to parents who fear the cost of living crisis could see them lose their children and investigates whether enough is being done to prevent families breaking down.
File on 4 hears from social workers on the frontline who say more and more children are falling into extreme poverty and face a daily battle to help their parents keep them safe.
The programme uncovers new data which reveals the increasing pressure the cost of living crisis is placing on children's social care and asks what the future holds for a service already struggling to meet demand.
Reporter: Paul Connolly
Producer: Ben Robinson
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Carl Johnston
SUN 17:40 Profile (m001gjy1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001gk4d)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 17:57 Weather (m001gk4l)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001gk4s)
Russia starts New Year with more drone attacks on Ukranian cities. Brazil swears in President Lula
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m001gk4x)
Pick of the Podcasts 2022 with Danny Robins
Writer and podcast host Danny Robins presents his pick of the brilliant and fascinating shows that have come out in 2022.
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m001gk52)
Tracy and Jazzer share a moment as a heaving Bull crowd cheers in the new year. Jazzer’s looking forward to a cracker of a year, while Tracy would be happy if it was calm and uneventful. Elizabeth’s impressed that Chelsea and Brad have come out with Tracy and Jazzer; her two have gone to Felpersham.
Elizabeth explains to Kenton why she hasn’t split from Vince. His Christmas present to her reminded her how sweet and thoughtful he can be. She knows her association with him is making things frosty between her and David and Ruth. Kenton advises that Vince needs to extend any olive branch he’s offered Elizabeth to David and Ruth. Kenton asks what Lily and Freddie make of Vince, before the conversation turns to the anniversary of Nigel’s death – 12 years this year.
Despite other offers, Chelsea’s chosen to spend New Year’s Eve in Ambridge with her family who got her through the last year. After teasing her, Brad says that means a lot. As they watch the fireworks, Chelsea feels bad that they’ve ruined the prospect of a proposal between Tracy and Jazzer. She can see how much they love one another and wonders what she can do to get things back on track.
Chelsea commandeers the microphone, and with Brad’s help asks Jazzer if he will marry Tracy. Everyone turns to look at Tracy and Jazzer. Tracy’s stunned and thinks Jazzer set it all up. They express their love for one another and announce they’re getting married, sealing their declaration with a kiss.
SUN 19:15 The Confessional (m001gjj4)
Series 3
The Confession of Maisie Adam
Each week Stephen Mangan invites another distinguished guest into his virtual confessional box to make three ‘confessions’ to him. An antidote to conventional talk shows, their stories do not reflect their proudest moments. Stephen could not be less interested in those. He wants them to open up about their darker side. Settle back for stimulating journeys through shame, regret and toe-curling embarrassment.
This time the penitent taking the hot seat is comedian Maisie Adam. The 'So You Think You're Funny?' winner discusses a new-found tendency to lie, nefarious uses for soggy paper and whether she has the makings of a psychopath.
Presenter: Stephen Mangan
Additional material: Nick Doody
Producer: Frank Stirling
a 7digital production
SUN 19:45 Voices in the Valley (p0d8kn2p)
10: The God Stone
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 2031, and two newcomers to the village of Barrowbeck struggle to make sense of its strange rituals...
Writer: Andrew Michael Hurley
Reader: Jessica Raine
Producer: Justine Willett
SUN 20:00 Lights Out (m001gk5g)
Series 5
The Night Sky
Having devoted decades of their lives to fighting for a better world, three activists in their 70s reflect on keeping going, hope and despair as the year turns - while a retired clergyman and his wife explore what’s drawn them to activism in their 60s.
Featuring Leila Hassan Howe, Angie Zelter, Linda Clair and Bill and Rosemary White, alongside radio clips from BBC news programmes, Outlook and Mattie's Broadcast (produced by Veronica Simmonds).
With music by Lucinda Chua
Featuring the tracks Semitones (written and engineered by Lucinda Chua, produced by Lucinda Chua and Adam Wiltzie, mixed by Adam Wiltzie and Francesco Donadello and mastered by Nathan Boddy) and An Avalanche (written, engineered and produced by Lucinda Chua, mixed by Adam Wiltzie and Francesco Donadello and mastered by Nathan Boddy)
Development producer: Michael Segalov
Additional recording: Andrea Rangecroft
Produced by Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 20:30 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
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m001gjsx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m001gk1r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 Icon (m001byyp)
Episode 1: Image, Reflection, Shadow
In the summer of 1962, during a break in filming Cleopatra, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were caught in a series of candid photographs on a yacht in a compromising embrace. This image, it’s argued, marks the birth of modern celebrity – a new contract between those in the spotlight and those who are consumers of celebrity.
This series seeks a closer understanding of our relationship with fame through facets of one iconic screen goddess’s life - that of Elizabeth Taylor. With photojournalist Danny Hayward, sociologist Ellis Cashmore (author of Elizabeth Taylor: A Private Life for Public Consumption) and philosopher Professor Angie Hobbs.
With Louise Gallagher. And including sound from klankbeeld
Additional research by Hannah Dean.
Produced by Alan Hall with music by Jeremy Warmsley
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 22:00 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
SUN 23:00 Loose Ends (m001gk5q)
Amythyst Kiah, The Divine Comedy, Joss Stone, Vieux Farka Touré, Judi Jackson and more..
Clive Anderson with the final programme showcasing some of the best music performances on Loose Ends this year, including Joss Stone, The Divine Comedy, Judi Jackson, Vieux Farka Touré, Amythyst Kiah and The Dead South.
MONDAY 02 JANUARY 2023
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m001gk60)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 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
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m001gk0g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001gk69)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001gk6l)
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 (m001gk6w)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (m001gk74)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001gk7f)
A spiritual comment and prayer marking the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, with the Bishop of Salford, John Arnold.
Good morning. The sad news of the death of Pope Benedict XVI is cause for Catholics, and indeed Christians worldwide, to reflect on the enormity of his role as leader and guide of the Catholic Church.
Christians believe that life is a journey, where each one of us is learning about the person and ministry of Jesus who is for us, the Way, the Truth and the Life. All followers of Christ learn to be his ambassadors in the way we live our daily lives. In a global Church of an estimated 1.3 billion Catholics, that journey will have many different paths and turns for people living in such different contexts around the world. How different our lives: for people living in the prosperity of a secular world, others in developing countries in the global south, many living under political oppression and persecution or in poverty. For eight years, Pope Benedict led the global Church in its journey, helping and encouraging all its members to remain focussed on Christ, whoever and wherever we may be. His life was dedicated to encouraging us with his scholarship, holiness and prayer.
Loving Father, we ask you to welcome Pope Benedict into eternal life, rewarding him for his selfless devotion and service of your Church. May his example live on in our Church as we seek to be ambassadors in our daily living. As the family of the Church, we pray in communion that you will forgive any human frailty or transgression and bring him into the light of your presence where, one day, we may celebrate your infinite love and mercy together. May he rest in peace. Amen.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m001gk7r)
02/01/23 - Landscape Recovery Pilot
Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) are being introduced in England to replace the subsidies paid under the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. In this programme, we visit one of 22 pilot projects for the "Landscape Recovery" scheme. A group of 50 farmers and landowners in the north east Cotswolds are being paid to make changes across over 3,000 hectares along a river catchment with the aim of improving water quality, increasing biodiversity and contributing to the prevention of urban flooding downstream. Although the pilot is worth £500,000, the group are confident they will attract much more funding from private finance.
Presented and produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
MON 05:56 Weather (m001gk84)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0pjx)
Snow Petrel
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Liz Bonnin presents an Antarctic specialist, the delicate looking snow petrel. On a wind blasted Antarctic iceberg, small white hummocks sprout beaks to bicker and flirt with each other. These are snow petrels, one of the hardiest bird species in the world. Few bird species breed in the Antarctic and fewer still are so intimately bound to the landscape of snow and ice. But the near pure white snow petrel makes its home in places where temperatures can plummet to -40 Celsius and below. Returning to their breeding areas from October, the nest is a skimpy affair nothing more than a pebble-lined scrape in a hollow or rocky crevice where the parents rear their single chick on a diet of waxy stomach oil and carrion. But for a bird of such purity the snow petrel has a ghoulish diet, foraging at whale and seal carcasses along the shore. Although it breeds on islands such as South Georgia which are north of the summer pack ice, the snow petrel's true home is among snow and ice of its Antarctic home.
Producer Andrew Dawes
MON 06:00 Today (m001gk54)
Our guest editor today is Dame Sharon White, chairman of John Lewis. For her guest edit she wants to explore how we can support young people leaving the care system into employment.
Her programme also features interviews with Matthew Bourne and Maro Itoje.
MON 09:00 Rethink (m001gk5d)
Rethink Climate
Pledges and progress
In the first programme in this series Amol Rajan and guests examine the pledges that have been made on climate change and how far we have gone towards meeting them. What has worked to reduce greenhouse gasses and what’s not working, including the role of COP. Is the commitment to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees the right one?
Graihagh Jackson, presenter of the BBC podcast ‘The Climate Question’ is with Amol, alongside guests Professor Saleemul Huq, Mikaela Loach, Emeritus Professor Bill McGuire and Sarah Bell
Producers Nick Holland & Marianna Brain
Sound design Graham Puddifoot
Editor Lizzi Watson
Production Coordinators Siobhan Reed, Helena Warwick-Cross and Sophie Hill
MON 09:45 The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (m001gkdy)
Episode 1 - The Power of Small
Michelle Obama shares her insights and strategies for living boldly in an uncertain world by drawing on her experiences as a mother, daughter, spouse, friend, and First Lady offering inspiration to us all.
The Light We Carry follows on from her critically acclaimed and global best-selling memoir, Becoming. Here she draws on her life experiences to illustrate how she has overcome obstacles in her personal and professional life. She looks at how she has embraced fear of the unknown to fuel accomplishment and success; how friendship and family continue to be bedrocks in remaining grounded and overcoming adversity, and the power she has found in small acts in the face of doubt. She is frank when she explores issues linked to race, gender and visibility. She also lays out the meaning behind 'going high'.
Michelle Obama served as First Lady of the United States from 2009-2017. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Mrs Obama started her career as an attorney at a Chicago law firm where she met her husband, Barack Obama. She founded the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an organisation that prepares young people for careers in public service. She is an advocate for voting rights, girls' education, and children's health. She has two daughters and lives with her husband in Washington, D.C.
Abridged by Katrin Williams
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001gk5w)
Turning your passion into a business with Deborah Meaden and Lynne Franks
Are you harbouring a dream of turning your passion into a business? Today we hear from women already doing it and find out what support's out there for women taking up the challenge. Deborah Meaden, Dragons Den investor, entrepreneur and host of the Big Green Money Show joins Krupa Padhy to discuss #Passionintobusiness
Sam Jackman is the creator and founder of a post-mastectomy breast form. She developed it after her mum complained about her discomfort with the traditional silicone gel prosthesis she was using following breast cancer treatment. Sharon McBean from Birmingham wanted a music box with a young Black ballerina twirling around for her daughter (so it looked like her). She couldn't find one anywhere so started to manufacture and sell her own. And Joan D’Arcy in North West Scotland tells us about her non-profit business looking for local solutions to stop plastic pollution generated at sea.
We also hear from social entrepreneur and founder of the SEED Women’s Enterprise Network, Lynne Franks. She started her own PR consultancy back in 1975 and now supports and mentors women running or hoping to run their own business. Plus Sarah Ronan, board member of Parental Pay Equality and part of the Women’s Budget Group unpicks the latest statistics around self-employment and women in the UK and Yvonne Sampson, Head of enterprise at GC Business Growth Hub in Manchester, explains what support they offer to women with their business ideas.
Presenter: Krupa Padhy
Producer: Kirsty Starkey
Interviewed Guest: Deborah Meaden
Interviewed Guest: Sam Jackman
Interviewed Guest: Sarah Ronan
Interviewed Guest: Yvonne Sampson
Interviewed Guest: Lynne Franks
Interviewed Guest: Sharon McBean
Interviewed Guest: Joan D'Arcy
MON 11:00 Song for Belper (m001gk63)
Britain has a revered canon of Great Music inspired by particular places and composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams, William Walton, Arnold Bax and others. Music performed live across the centuries and evoking parts of the British Isles in the imagination of millions around the world through recordings.
Then there’s the pop records released in the 1970s and 80s that were commissioned by town councils around Britain to promote the joys of the place and its people.
These are the small songs about places that were not created by great artists in the bliss of inspiration - but by the offer of hard cash, as an answer to critics, or as social engineering by a local council.
Bafta-winning writer and musician Jason Hazeley (Ladybird Books, Portishead) and producer Peter Curran enlist the help of legendary DJ Tony Blackburn, Emmy-winning James Bond and Sherlock composer David Arnold and contemporary architecture and social historian, John Grindrod. They are joined by town planner John Frankland and songwriters Tracey Wilkinson from the Rough Truffles Community Choir and The Rt Hon Sir Gregory Knight MP, composer of It’s a Leicester Fiesta.
A Foghorn Company production for BBC Radio 4
MON 11:30 Made of Stronger Stuff (p0blh5cr)
Fat
Psychologist Kimberley Wilson and Dr Xand van Tulleken take a journey around the human body, to find out what it can tell us about our innate capacity for change. In this episode, Kimberley and Xand head up the rebranding of an organ with terrible PR - fat.
They hear why fat is intrinsically linked with being human, how it's doing a lot more for us than just sitting there, and why having a bit more fat can help us take the plunge.
Producer: Georgia Mills
Researcher: Leonie Thomas
Executive Producer: Robert Nicholson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
MON 12:00 News Summary (m001gkm0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 You and Yours (m001gk6p)
Student Editors Special
To start off 2023 we've asked the new generation of consumers to tell us what concerns them when it comes to their money - and their parents' spending.
Our special panel picked their topics and asked for personal spending advice from the government, looked at fast-fashion by asking both BooHoo and Shein what they were doing to keep prices low but products sustainable - and then looked at how electric cars are evolving to meet their transport demands.
PRESENTER: SHARI VAHL
PRODUCER: LINDA WALKER
MON 12:57 Weather (m001gk6y)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m001gk77)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
MON 13:45 The Crowning of Everest (m001gk7h)
A Nation Waits
In 1953 Queen Elizabeth II is crowned. It's also the year that the British expedition makes an attempt to climb to the summit of the highest mountain in the world.
The story of Mount Everest spans the life of the new Queen and beyond, from the height of the British Empire to the rebirth of Britain as a nation.
In this episode, Wade Davis, explorer and anthropologist, looks at events taking place in Britain in 1953 and how the nation was poised for news of an Everest success as it planned for the coronation of a new monarch.
Presenter: Wade Davis
Series producer: Louise Clarke-Rowbotham
Sound design: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Tara McDermott
Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross
MON 14:00 The Archers (m001gk52)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 This Cultural Life (m001gjyd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:15 on Saturday]
MON 15:00 Nature Table (m001gk81)
Series 3
Episode 6
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: Jessica Jones (Lead Keeper at ZSL London Zoo), Lee Davies (Fungarium Curator at Kew Gardens) and comedian Shaparak Khorsandi.
Written by: Catherine Brinkworth, Jon Hunter, Jenny Laville and Nicky Roberts
Additional material by: Kat Sadler
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Producer: Simon Nicholls
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Researcher: Catherine Beazley
Sound Recordist & Editor: Jerry Peal
Music by: Ben Mirin
A BBC Studios Production
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m001gk2y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Soul Music (m000y6n2)
The Parting Glass
"So fill to me the parting glass...
Goodnight and joy be to you all."
A popular toast at the end of an evening or a heartfelt farewell to a departed or deceased person? The Parting Glass has become synonymous with leaving. It was written in Scotland and has criss crossed the Irish Sea becoming a popular song among Celtic peoples around the world.
Folk singer Karine Polwart talks of its fragile beauty as a song that can be a rousing drinking song at the end of the night but equally a poignant farewell at a funeral.
For Alaskan Fire Chief Benjamin Fleagle there was no more fitting song to honour his mentor and colleague at his Fire Department when he passed away over a decade ago. The song still brings out raw emotion in him.
Alissa McCulloch 'clung' to the song when she heard the Irish singer Hozier sing a version of it at the start of the pandemic in March 2020. At the time Alissa was seriously mentally unwell at home in Australia and was admitted to hospital where she listened to the song over and over finding comfort in its timeless beauty.
After Canada's worst mass shooting in its history Pete MacDonald and his sisters recorded an acapella version of the song as a musical tribute to those who lost their lives. It's a tradition in Novia Scotia to sing in the kitchen at parties, wakes and celebrations and they wanted to pay their respects to the dead.
The Irish singer Finbar Furey has performed the song with his band the Fureys and talks about its appeal not only in Scotland and Ireland but throughout the Scots-Irish diaspora.
"But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise
And you should not
I'll gently rise and softly call
Goodnight and joy be to you all"
Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol: Maggie Ayre
Song versions:
Karine Polwart
Hozier
Finbar Furey
The High Kings
The MacDonalds
MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m001gk8n)
Out of the Habit?
"I put my pants and toothbrush in a bag, and I never went back."
On a wet and windy November night a Carmelite nun, Lisa, leaves the convent, her home for 24 years, after a monk asks her to marry him.
With so few people now living in religious communities, what's the future for Britain's monks, nuns, friars and sisters?
Aleem Maqbool brings together three people who have experienced life in a religious order to hear Lisa's story and discuss this question. Father Luigi Gioia is a former Benedictine monk, turned Anglican Priest and scholar. Sister Gabriel Davison is a nun with the Poor Clares in Arundel, West Sussex, a centuries-old Catholic order which had a recent surprise hit in the classical charts with an album of their singing. And Berwyn Watson is the new Abbott at the Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in Northumberland.
The panel discuss what first attracted them to religious life and the benefits and challenges to life as a monk or nun. What is the purpose of monastic life, both for individuals, but also for the wider religious community and society? And what's the place of these centuries-old institutions in modern Britain?
Plus, what happened next for Lisa, and the monk, Robert?
Producer: Rebecca Maxted
Assistant Producer: Josie Le Vay
Editor: Tim Pemberton
MON 17:00 PM (m001gk8x)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001gk9n)
Russia has said 63 soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian rocket attack on New Year's Eve.
MON 18:15 New Storytellers (m0019yzr)
The Sound Collector
Sara Parker introduces the Gold Winner of the Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Audio Feature 2023.
Rummaging around in a lifetime's possessions, two sisters discover an exercise book. As they open it up and sift through the pages, a poem unearths buried memories.
Producer Talia Augustidis, a recent graduate of University College London, discovers the moving writings of her older sister Thea, along with a poem, The Sound Collector. It brings them back to a moment in their childhood, when familiar sounds and voices suddenly disappeared overnight.
New Storytellers presents the work of new radio and audio producers, and Talia’s feature won the top Gold Award of the Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Radio Feature in 2022. The award is presented every year in memory of the pioneering radio producer Charles Parker who produced the ground-breaking Radio Ballads featuring voices of communities unheard at the time, with musical narratives by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger.
The judges of the prize, made up of producers, critics and commissioners, praised Talia's Gold Prize winning work as "such a layered piece; intelligent, probing, sensitive. A piece to make us think and feel."
Poet: Roger McGough
Producer: Talia Augustidis
A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m001gkb4)
Series 90
Peanut Butter, Westminster Abbey and Alan Shearer
Sue Perkins challenges Paul Merton, Desiree Burch, Tony Hawks and Jan Ravens 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 Alan Shearer to Westminster Abbey.
Production co-ordinator: Caroline Barlow
Sound editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Rajiv Karia
A BBC Studios Production
MON 19:00 The Archers (m001gkbk)
Stella’s keen for Brian to look over the report she’s preparing for a BL Board meeting later this week. She mentions she’s going to a farm technology show next week, this ruffles Brian and stunned Stella reminds him as farm manager these decisions are hers to make. Brian puts his foot down saying he’d prefer to be consulted on plans such as these. Later, Stella seeks advice from Ruth about Brian’s unreasonable behaviour. Ruth has little in the way of comfort for Stella. Later, when Brian asks for things like this to be run past him first, Stella refuses. Their conversation is interrupted when Brian takes a call from Jennifer and has to leave.
In the shop, Ruth realises she’s put her foot in it when she shares the news of Tracy and Jazzer’s engagement with Susan. Tracy bounds in and describes how the proposal happened and shows some photos from the night. The only comment Susan can make is that it would have been in very poor taste if Will had been there, as New Year’s Day is his and Nic’s wedding anniversary.
Tracy seeks out Susan to ask why she hasn’t shown happiness at the news of her engagement. At first Susan says that Tracy and Jazzer need to be sure this is the right thing for them, and then reveals that she didn’t like not being the first to know. Tracy apologises for Susan missing the moment and tries to persuade her to toast the news with her. When Susan refuses, Tracy gets cross and departs.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m001gkc0)
Leeds 2023 Year of Culture
Front Row visits Leeds as the city prepares to celebrate culture throughout 2023.
Following Brexit, Leeds’ bid for European Capital of Culture was ruled ineligible. Sharon Watson, Principal of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, reflects on the initial disappointment and the decision to press ahead anyway, and creating a new dance work for The Awakening - the opening event of Leeds 2023 Year of Culture.
The Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage joins his LYR bandmates, singer-songwriter Richard Walters and instrumentalist Patrick Pearson, to perform two songs ahead of headlining at The Awakening.
Kully Thiarai, Creative Director of Leeds 2023, explains why she thinks the city’s decision to press ahead with a year-long celebration of culture even after Brussels said no, has been transformative.
Theatre maker Alan Lyddiard is gathering 1001 stories from those aged 60 and over for a takeover event at Leeds Playhouse this spring. He reveals why he feels Leeds was the perfect city for this project.
The poet Khadijah Ibrahiim will be performing at The Awakening but for her 2023 is not just about Leeds’ cultural celebrations, it also marks the 20th anniversary of the creative writing organisation for teenagers, Leeds Young Authors, that she founded in 2003. She concludes tonight’s programme, with her poem, Roots Runnin II.
Presenter: Nick Ahad
Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Image credit (c) Lorne Campbell, Guzelian for LEEDS 2023
MON 20:00 The Untold (m0018nnz)
Unlikely Strippers
Rob Lawrie follows the unlikely strippers as they prepare to do a full Monty in front of a huge live audience. They are nervous, but not half as nervous as their wives, who’ve had to live with the preparations for weeks now. The event is being staged to raise money for a local disabled boy who has a better chance of life if his family can relocate to a warmer climate.
Hudson Binks is four years old and has brittle bone disease. His parents, Claire and Ben, fear that their new six-month-old baby, Benny-Ivar, might also have the same condition. Their doctor has told them that a warmed climate might help as Hudson prepares for school and they want the money to help them move from Wakefield. Their friends have rallied round in a fund raising effort and that's how the idea of performing a strip show was born.
Preparations for the full Monty have been going on for weeks, coordinated by Phil Hoban, who also heads a Leeds based online predator hunter group. Rob Lawrie met him a couple of years ago when he recorded an Untold on the group’s activities. With the strip act in go mode, Rob joins ‘Big Phil’ and the others taking to the stage, ‘Little Phil,’ ‘Karl,’ ‘Barman Matty, and Hudson’s Dad, Ben.
Their act is being choregraphed by 53 year old Portia, who says the men are going to need a lot more practise if they’ve any hope of succeeding: “They look like a bunch of street alley cats fighting when we first started and controlling their egos has been the hardest part of my job so far!”
Presented by Rob Lawrie
Produced by Sue Mitchell
MON 20:30 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
MON 21:00 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
MON 21:30 Rethink (m001gk5d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m001gkcd)
Dozens of Russian soldiers killed in missile attack
Also tonight:
People file past Pele’s coffin ahead of funeral.
And
What can we expect from 2023 ?
MON 22:45 Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (m001gkcs)
1: 'Didn't you see the signs?'
Bonnie Garmus' comic bestseller featuring the gloriously idiosyncratic feminist icon, Elizabeth Zott.
It's the early 1960s and Zott's all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans, the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with - of all things - her mind. True chemistry results.
Like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later, Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show, Supper at Six. Elizabeth's unusual approach to cooking proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn't just teaching women to cook, she's daring them to change the status quo.
Today: Elizabeth Zott meets Calvin Evans, and there are sparks...
Writer: Bonnie Garmus - this is Garmus' debut novel.
Reader: Julianna Jennings
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett
MON 23:00 Lights Out (m001gkdb)
Series 5
County Lines
Four people recount their involvement with “county lines” - gangs that exploit children and vulnerable adults to sell drugs around the UK.
Underneath their stories lies a series of unspoken, unanswered questions. Who gets to decide the boundary between criminal and victim? Why do we view 'county lines' through the lens of crime and punishment? And how well does the system support individuals and families devastated by the impact of 'county lines'?
With thanks to St Giles Trust SOS Project, Not In Our Community, Escape Line and Eski Media
Produced by Phoebe McIndoe and Redzi Bernard
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio Four
MON 23:30 Are You Alright in There? (b09jgzh1)
Jason 'Ladybird' Hazeley and Joel 'Ladybird' Morris present a history of the Xmas loo book. With contributions from Ben 'Miscellany' Schott, John 'Not The Nine O’Clock News' Lloyd, Andy 'Bunny Suicides' Riley and him off The Viz, Simon Donald - as well as a sprinkling of QI Elves. Extracts are lovingly read by Eleanor Bron.
Toilet books. No, not books about toilets. The funny or fascinating books that have pride of place on any home’s most exclusive shelf - the safe space, the lock-in.
The ones you buy at Christmas - 101 Uses For A Dead Cat, The Meaning Of Liff, Schott’s Miscellanies, The Far Side compilations, the Viz annual, Bunny Suicides, countless TV tie-ins from Monty Python to Mrs Brown – maybe even The Ladybird Books For Grown-Ups. These are the books that everyone giggles at and passes round when the family gets together at Christmas - the sociable books that bind a nation together once a year over the pickled walnuts.
Written and presented by Joel Morris and Jason Hazeley, two of Britain’s busiest comedy writers. They created legendary news spoof The Framley Examiner and have produced countless newspaper and ad parodies for Viz magazine. They are regular collaborators with Charlie Brooker, worked on the screenplay for Paddington with Paul King, and have just joined the writing team for Have I Got News For You.
In addition to two book adaptations of The Framley Examiner for Penguin Books, they co-authored a pair of guides to Britain's more peculiar tourist attractions, Bollocks to Alton Towers (Sunday Times number 1 best-selling travel book of the year) and Far from the Sodding Crowd ('one of the best guide books ever written’ -The Guardian).
They divide their time between London and the pub.
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4
TUESDAY 03 JANUARY 2023
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m001gkdn)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 00:15 Profile (m001gjy1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
TUE 00:30 The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (m001gkdy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001gkfb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001gkfl)
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 (m001gkfv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m001gkg4)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001gkg9)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rev Lucy Winkett
Good morning.
When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flocks, the work of Christmas begins: to find all those who are lost, to heal the ones who are broken, to feed those who are hungry, to release the prisoners, to rebuild the nations to bring peace among the people, to make music in the heart.
For most people in the UK today, Christmas begins sometime in October and ends on 25th December. There’s a slow crescendo happening all through December, party venues and concert venues are booked up every night ages in advance. Now, we’re contemplating dry January, new fitness regimes, new low carb low fat diets and a renewed resolution to count our steps.
But in church, exactly the opposite has been happening. Christians have been fasting all December, wearing purple, listening to the prophets who expose and criticise the inequalities and injustices of society.
And now, in these days, the season of Christmas means the church is in full party mode – we have our celebration clothes on – our language and songs at church are full of praise - and we are about to embark on the season of Epiphany – the season of miracles and wonderment at the astonishing gift of life itself. For Christians, January is anything but dry.
God of new truth and insight. As this New Year gets under way, we thank you for the astonishing gift of life itself. Give us energy and grace to take these days as they come, and to know that we are loved, forgiven and free.
Amen.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m001gkgh)
03/01/23 A new Common Agricultural Policy, farmers' discussion group, Lord Plumb on Great Lives.
A new Common Agricultural Policy for the EU and farmers talking farming.
Minette Batters choses former president of the National Farmers' Union, Lord Henry Plumb, for Great Lives with Matthew Parris.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0mqf)
White Tern
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the widespread marine species, the white tern. Also known as fairy terns or angel terns, these are very slender, long-winged birds, brilliant white except for a black, slightly-upturned bill, dark eyes and very short blue-grey legs. In flight, their wings appear almost translucent. For such a delicate-looking bird, they have rather harsh calls. Unusually they lay their eggs on a bare branch. The female tern selects a small groove in the bark or on the leaf-stalks of palms where her single egg will be most secure. Here, on its tropical tightrope, the egg is safer from ground predators like rats and because there's no nesting material, there's less chance of parasites.
Producer : Andrew Dawes
TUE 06:00 Today (m001gkq3)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 Rethink (m001gkq8)
Rethink Climate
Behaviour and communication
What personal lifestyle habits are we prepared to give up to stop global warming and who bears responsibility for changing our behaviour? Is it the state or the individual? Amol Rajan discusses why we continue to live the way we do, despite knowing the planet is heating up. Is it ignorance or denial? Perhaps the problems is with the way we talk about climate change. If so, then how does the discourse need to change?
Graihagh Jackson, presenter of the BBC podcast ‘The Climate Question’ is with Amol Rajan alongside guests Tom Bailey, Meghan Kennedy-Woodard and George Marshall.
Producers Nick Holland and Marianna Brain
Sound design Graham Puddifoot
Editor Lizzi Watson
Production Coordinators Siobhan Reed, Sophie Hill, Helena Warwick-Cross
TUE 09:45 The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (m001gktb)
Episode 2 - Decoding Fear
Michelle Obama shares her insights and experiences of overcoming fear and using it to fuel success when life's challenges feel insurmountable and overwhelming.
The Light We Carry follows on from her critically acclaimed and global best-selling memoir, Becoming. Here she draws on her life experiences to illustrate how she has overcome obstacles in her personal and professional life. She looks at how she has embraced fear of the unknown to fuel accomplishment and success; how friendship and family continue to be bedrocks in remaining grounded and overcoming adversity, and the power she has found in small acts in the face of doubt. She is frank when she explores issues linked to race, gender, and visibility. She also lays out the meaning behind 'going high'.
Michelle Obama served as First Lady of the United States from 2009-2017. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Mrs Obama started her career as an attorney at a Chicago law firm where she met her husband, Barack Obama. She founded the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an organisation that prepares young people for careers in public service. She is an advocate for voting rights, girls' education, and children's health. She has two daughters and lives with her husband in Washington, D.C.
Abridged by Katrin Williams
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001gkqw)
Harriet Walker, Elika Ashoori, Dr Henrietta Hughes, Sarah Graham, Neil Leitch, Adam Hawksbee
There’s a growing trend in women not wearing bras. To talk about this Nuala McGovern is joined by the Fashion Editor of The Times, Harriet Walker. She’ll talk about bra trends up to now, and why this might not be the best of them.
According to reports in the Telegraph, Rishi Sunak has shelved plans to reform childcare services put forward by his predecessor, Liz Truss. The plans were looking at increasing free childcare support and changing the staff-child ratio. Nuala McGovern will be looking at what the postponing of these reforms means for parents who need childcare, as well as those working in the industry, speaking to the CEO of the Early Years Alliance Neil Leitch and the Deputy Director of UK Onward, Adam Hawksbee.
In our series Finding My Voice we’re talking to women about the moment they realised they had something to say or stand up for. Elika Ashoori was an actor and baker who rarely kept up with politics. That is, until 2017 when her father, Anoosheh, was detained by the Iranian authorities while visiting his mother. Over the next 5 years, she and her family fought for his release and she was forced to go through what she calls a ‘crash course’ in human rights campaigning.
We look at the "gender health gap" with the Patient Safety Commissioner for England - Dr Henrietta Hughes. . A GP by training and previously a medical director at NHS England she was appointed in July and took up the post in September. She'll be joined by the health journalist Sarah Graham who has a new book out, Rebel Bodies: A guide to the gender health gap revolution
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Studio Manager: Bob Nettles.
TUE 11:00 Science Stories (m0007wf5)
Series 9
Ignaz Semmelweiss: The Hand Washer
Lindsey Fitzharris tells the story of Ignaz Semmelweiss, the hand washer. In a world that had no understanding of germs, he tried to apply science to halt the spread of infection. Ignaz Semmelweis observed that many young medical students at his hospital in Vienna went directly from an autopsy, still covered in contaminated dead flesh, to attend pregnant women. Could this be the reason for such high maternal mortality rates from conditions like puerperal fever? Believing that the disease was caused by “infective material” from a dead body, Semmelweiss set up a basin filled with chlorinated lime solution in his hospital and began saving women’s lives with three simple words: ‘wash your hands’. He was demonised by his colleagues for his efforts, but today, he is known as the “Saviour of Mothers.”
Lindsey Fitzharris discusses some of the common myths surrounding the story of Semmelweiss with Dr Barron H. Lerner of New York University Langone School of Medicine. And she talks to Professor Val Curtis, Director of the Environmental Health Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who has studied the amount of hand washing by medical staff in hospitals today.
Main Image: Lindsey Fitzharris Credit: T. K. Smith
TUE 11:30 Out of the Ordinary (m000tcqv)
Series 8
Holy relics
Ever since the middle ages, pieces of the True Cross, and other relics such as saints' bones, have been sold to the gullible. But now the trade in bogus relics has moved online, to the fury of traditional Catholics. They are even more alarmed at the sale of "genuine" relics, which is also picking up pace as monasteries and convents close and their treasures come on the market. In theory selling a relic is an offence under Church law, warranting immediate excommunication. But what is a genuine relic, and how its provenance proved? Jolyon Jenkins goes on a deep dive into a world where faith, science and archaeology collide.
Producer/Presenter: Jolyon Jenkins, BBC Audio in Bristol
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m001gkts)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m001gkrv)
Call You and Yours: Are you going to try to cut down on alcohol this year?
On today's Call You and Yours we're asking - are you going to try to cut down on alcohol this year?
A third of adults say they feel pressure to drink alcohol while socialising and that's stopping them from cutting down. If you're planning to drink less, we'd like to hear how you're going to do it and why. Research from the charity Drinkaware and market research companies like Mintel show we’re drinking less and the proportion of people who don’t drink at all has risen. The figures show that fifteen percent don’t drink alcohol now and that’s gone up from five years ago when thirteen percent of people weren't drinking.
Call us on 03700 100 444. Lines open at 11 am on Tuesday January 3rd. You can also email us now at youandyours@bbc.co.uk
Don't forget to include your number so we can call you back.
Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Tara Holmes
TUE 12:57 Weather (m001gks6)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m001gksg)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
TUE 13:45 The Crowning of Everest (m001gksr)
The Allure of Everest
Britain has tried and failed to reach the top of Everest for decades.
George Mallory and Sandy Irvine disappeared on the mountain in 1924.
There were various British expeditions during the 1930s - all unmitigated failures.
The Second World War interrupted the race to conquer Everest. But by 1951, with Tibet closed by communist China, a new unexplored route through Nepal was available.
The Swiss expedition had nearly succeeded in 1952. The French are scheduled to climb in 1954. For John Hunt's British team in 1953 the pressure is on. It is now or never.
Meanwhile, back in London, a different race begins. If the British get to the top it's the scoop of the century for whichever newspaper can report the story first. The Times pays £10,000 to have its reporter James Morris, later Jan Morris, embedded with the expedition.
Presenter: Wade Davis
Series producer: Louise Clarke-Rowbotham
Sound design: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Tara McDermott
Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m001gkbk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (m000qy45)
Release
By Matt Hartley.
Aimee's dad has been in prison since she was 8. For murder. Now she is 17. He's been released.
She has grown up with her aunt, believing that her father is a monster who killed her mother. Slowly, she discovers her dad was innocent, of the murder at least. Can they rescue something from the devastation?
Aimee - Saran Morgan
Olly - Richard Harrington
Sian - Siwan Morris
Kyle - Kyle Lima
Directed by John Norton
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m001gkt4)
Series 33
The River
Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures on the flow of water. A stream of voices from around the world speak of the myths and legends born from water. The author Damian Le Bas follows the ripples left by a tragedy on the River Medway in the 1850s. And at the confluence of two rivers, the writer Laura Barton looks to the poet Raymond Carver for guidance on her last decade.
Other Water
Written and read by Laura Barton
In Fresh Water
Featuring Ed Granston, Stephen Mallett and Damian Le Bas
Produced by Damian Le Bas and Andrea Rangecroft
A River of Voices
Featuring Devi Lockwood, Jo Darrington, Zella Downing, Iain Wilson, Mark Binder, Ole Øvretveit, Lupita Pocket, Leszek Daworski, Ateli Nasoru, Steve Maina, Ryan Burns and 3 anonymous women in Mississippi.
Produced by Samia Bouzid and Devi Lockwood
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 15:30 A Thorough Examination with Drs Chris and Xand (m001gkf7)
Series 2: Can I Change?
5. Learning to listen
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 5 - Learning To Listen - Chris considers the triggers for his many arguments with Xand and wonders if it might be because he’s not being a good listener. The psychotherapist Erene Hadjiioannou offers Chris some advice on how to react in the heat of an argument. Xand meanwhile is cocooned in his pottery shed contemplating Chris’ complete disinterest in his hobby. He wonders why everyone else in the family shows some enthusiasm, except his twin.
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 In the Name Of (m001gktn)
Sarah, Della, Nikita, Helen, Harper, Seni. These names, and many others, are linked - united in quests to find a meaningful legacy for their loved ones' lives, Gail Hadfield Grainger meets those campaigning to change the law
Justice campaigner Gail meets two women, Aji Lewis and Della Wright at various stages in their campaigns, discovering their stories and what motivates them to keep fighting. How do they maintain their fight, what drives them on when there are so many obstacles in their paths?
These aren't new laws, they just strengthen existing legislation that hasn't been properly enforced, but Gail ask whether good laws can come out of emotional reactions to these horrendous events?
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m001gkv2)
Minette Batters on Henry Plumb
"I was born an Englishman but I'll die a European." Those are the words of Henry Plumb, Lord Plumb, a farmer who was President of the National Farmers Union in the 1970s and who became the first British person to be elected President of the European Parliament.
Championing his life is the farmer and current President of the National Farmers Union, Minette Batters. She says that Henry supported her from the outset and that he would offer advice and support wherever it was needed. Minette is joined by Richard Inglewood, Lord Inglewood, who knew Lord Plumb well. They explore Lord Plumb's early life as a farmer in Coleshill, his views on membership of the European Union, and his electoral success as a Member and then President of the European Parliament, which included such perks as involvement in the European Song Contest. Matthew Parris asks Minette about the challenges of balancing her work with the day-to-day demands of farming, and what impact Lord Plumb made on British life.
Produced in Bristol by Toby Field.
Image credit: John Cottle/NFU
TUE 17:00 PM (m001gkvc)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001gkvx)
Tens of thousands of members of the RMT union have walked out for 48 hours, as part a long-running dispute about pay and working conditions.
TUE 18:30 The Cold Swedish Winter (m000qlzr)
Series 5
Crayfish Require These Drinks
Danny Robins’ romantic Swedish comedy, partly recorded on location with a mainly Swedish cast, prepares for summer as the pandemic recedes.
The little town of Yxsjö turns its mind to partying with the traditional celebrations for crayfish season. Despite now being a fully paid up Swede, Geoff (Adam Riches) has still to be inaugurated into the mysteries of fishing for crayfish. Meanwhile, his brother-in-law Anders (Fredrik Andersson) claims to have a girlfriend, though there are rumours that she doesn’t exist. Will she make it to the party?
Cast
Geoff: Adam Riches
Linda: Sissela Benn
Sten: Thomas Oredsson
Gunilla: Anna-Lena Bergelin
Anders: Fredrik Andersson
Maria: Johanna Wagrell
John: Harry Nicolaou
Written by Danny Robins
Produced and directed by Frank Stirling
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m001gk8w)
Lottie and Pip share New Year’s resolutions over burgers and craft beers. Lottie clocks that Pip hasn’t got any goals that are solely for herself. Pip imagines Lottie’s work life is more glamorous than hers but Lottie assures her that farming is a lot more exciting than being an insurance broker. Lottie and Pip agree to fit more fun into their lives. Pip mentions they’re starting up a B&B at Brookfield and suggests Lottie tests it out.
Back home, Pip reports to Ben that she feels like she’s been on holiday after her lunch out. Ben has also had a good time doing the milking. In more good news, Rosie’s had praise for the school project that Ben helped to create. Ben brings up the family’s conversation with Elena tomorrow. It’s been set up after Ben told Elena his parents were finding it hard. They share a laugh when Ben says he’s enjoyed doing normal, useful stuff again while Pip’s been told to do less of that and have more fun.
Susan opens up to Neil about not feeling happy at the news of Tracy and Jazzer’s engagement. As the big sister she can’t help worrying – she’s the one who’s looked out for Tracy ever since their mother died. Neil reassures Susan that Tracy and Jazzer are a good match, and takes her to the Bull so she can apologise to Tracy. Tracy rejects Susan’s attempts to make amends. Susan persists but even with assistance from Neil, Tracy won’t listen to Susan’s explanations.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m001gkw4)
Tom Hanks On A Man Called Otto, Author Deepti Kapoor, The London Ticket Bank
Tom Hanks talks about playing a curmudgeonly older man whose life changes when a young family moves in next door in his latest film, A Man Called Otto.
Author Deepti Kapoor on her new novel, Age of Vice, which explores crime and corruption in the world of New Delhi’s elites.
The London Ticket Bank – promising tens of thousands of theatre and music tickets across the capital to those most impacted by the cost-of-living crisis. Samira is joined by Co-Founder Chris Sonnex to explain the new initiative from the Cultural Philanthropy Foundation and Cardboard Citizens, in partnership with The Barbican, Roundhouse, and The National, Almeida, Bush, Gate, and Tara Theatres.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Tim Prosser
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m001gkwd)
How did my child die? The crisis in paediatric pathology
The death of a child causes parents’ unimaginable grief, but this is being exacerbated by long delays to post mortem reports due to a shortage of pathologists in the UK.
The number of paediatric pathologists means that children and babies are having to be moved around to other parts of the country in order for post mortems to be undertaken, causing even further distress for families.
When a child dies suddenly, sometimes post-mortems may need the input of specialist pathologists. But these even fewer in number meaning bereaved parents are waiting months, sometimes years to discover why their child died.
But these shortages can have even more devastating consequences.
File on 4 has uncovered cases where parents suspected of harming their child have waited months for post-mortem reports to be completed, only to be exonerated of any wrongdoing once the findings are back. During which they’ve had other children taken into care and faced months under wrongful suspicion.
The head of the family courts in England and Wales says long waits for post-mortem reports in suspected child homicides cases is “unacceptable”. But it’s not just the courts raising concerns. Senior police chiefs say a shortage of specialists is also causing delays to police investigations and the criminal process.
Adrian Goldberg investigates the crisis which has been years in the making, with The Royal College of Pathologists warning that the situation is “critical”.
Reporter: Adrian Goldberg
Producer: Emma Forde
Technical Producer: Mitch Goodall
Editor: Carl Johnston
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Production Manager: Sarah Payton
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m001gkwn)
20 Year Reunion
Over the years, In Touch has been keeping up with five visually impaired people. They all first appeared on the program as children in the 1990's, then as young adults in 2003 and now, twenty years on, we've invited them back for a reunion and to hear how their lives panned out.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Idea Concept: Hetal Bapodra
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 Inside Health (m001gk9l)
Lazy Guide to Exercise
It’s January. Christmas is a distant memory and nobody feels much like getting off the sofa, but luckily this episode can help. James Gallagher is on a mission to find out what is the least amount of exercise you can do to still stay healthy. James goes on a Ramblers wellbeing walk, uses a treadmill for the first time and takes a hot bath all to find out how lazy he can be. His guide Dr Zoe Saynor at University of Portsmouth explains this is the question everyone asks and offers simple tips about how little you can do.
Presenter: James Gallagher
Producers: Gerry Holt and Erika Wright
TUE 21:30 Rethink (m001gkq8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m001gkx1)
Republicans fail to elect new Speaker
Also:
Far-right Israeli minister makes controversial visit to contested site.
And Ronaldo lands in Riyadh
TUE 22:45 Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (m001gkxb)
2: 'I want to be Elizabeth Zott.'
Bonnie Garmus' comic bestseller featuring the gloriously idiosyncratic feminist icon, Elizabeth Zott.
It's the early 1960s and Zott's all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans, the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with - of all things - her mind. True chemistry results.
Like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later, Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show, Supper at Six. Elizabeth's unusual approach to cooking proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn't just teaching women to cook, she's daring them to change the status quo.
Today: Although their perfect relationship, based on a meeting of brilliant minds, is making their colleagues sick, Elizabeth and Calvin share everything -except their difficult pasts....
Writer: Bonnie Garmus
Reader: Julianna Jennings
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett
TUE 23:00 Small Scenes (m0002gr9)
Series 4
Episode 1
Award-winning sketch series starring Daniel Rigby, Mike Wozniak, Cariad Lloyd, Henry Paker and Freya Parker. Featuring more overblown, melodramatic scenes from modern life, including a visit to the first ever Crufts for Cats and a terrifying reminder as to why you should never try and cancel your membership of The National Trust.
Producer...Simon Mayhew-Archer
A BBC Studios production
TUE 23:30 Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme (b09rycmw)
Series 4
Continuity
By Tim Key
In the first of a new series, misunderstandings, Siberian waitresses and a surprising new love interest come thick and fast as Tim Key takes a comic look at the concept of the unobtainable. With musical support from Tom Basden.
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
The Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning comedian returns for a fourth series of his Late Night Poetry Programme. Currently performing his latest critically acclaimed solo show 'Megadate', Tim Key is never far from stage and screen - from Peep Show to Alpha Papa. But now he's back on late night Radio 4 doing what he does best - attempting to recite poetry whilst tormenting his friend and musician, the equally brilliant Tom Basden.
Praise for Tim Key
"...You never know when Key will suddenly toss you a fantastic joke or startlingly well-constructed line." Radio Times
"The show... has a kind of artistry and strange beauty that makes it unlike any other hour of stand-up you are likely to see." The Observer
"In any other sphere apart from comedy, we'd probably class this way of looking at the world as certifiable. Here it feels like genius." The Telegraph.
WEDNESDAY 04 JANUARY 2023
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m001gkxl)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
WED 00:30 The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (m001gktb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001gkxr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001gkxy)
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 (m001gky2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m001gky6)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001gkyc)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rev Lucy Winkett
Good morning.
Today is the birthday of Louis Braille, who, in his father’s leather working shop, when he was three, became permanently blind in an accident. Born in 1809, he invented a language based on touch that enabled people who were visually impaired to read. Louis Braille himself died without knowing that his new language would have such an amazing effect, but after his death, it was adopted around the world, and enables visually impaired people the same access to books as sighted people. In 1918, it was the United Nations who highlighted this day, his birth day, as a day to commemorate and celebrate this achievement. For many, sighted or not, reading is a lifeline and a window onto other worlds. We read to know we are not alone, others’ thoughts and feelings become accessible to us, and different societies, different ways of living, unimagined aspirations and better futures become part of our own imagination and inner world.
The invention of Braille and its use today wasn’t just to help people with visual impairments communicate, it was an invitation to read, and by reading, enter into these other worlds that had been there for sighted people since the invention of the printing press. One detail that moves me about the story of Louis Braille. It was an accident with a sharp awl in his father’s saddle-making shop that blinded him. Later, he used that same sharp instrument to make holes and dots in paper, liberating others by the same tool that had harmed him.
O God who is the eternal Word, we thank you for the gift of words we can read, stories we can tell, books we can learn from. We thank you for the gift of imagination and for authors everywhere, that for all your people, words can become life giving and life long.
Amen.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m001gkyh)
Hundreds of farmers are gathering in Oxford this week for two major conferences - the Oxford Farming Conference and the Oxford Real Farming Conference. The first was set up in 1936 to exchange ideas among farmers. The second, was founded some 15 years ago as an 'antidote' with more of a focus on organic and re-generative practices.
The Oxford Farming Conference has published a report calling for the whole food supply chain to share the higher costs of food production, and for a stronger commitment by all those involved to work together to cut energy use and become more efficient. We speak to people from both conferences about some of the report's recommendations. It wants more secure contracts for farmers; co-ordinated action from wholesalers, distributors and supermarkets to cut carbon emissions; and more joined-up policy thinking across government, to enable better efficiency in food supplies from farm to fork, across the country.
With the cost of living crisis upon us all, community spaces have opened up to let people spend a few hours away from home to stay warm without the heating bills. In one Devon village, they’ve gone a step further, and the village hall is serving a free lunch as well. It’s been running since the end of July, and the volunteer organisers say people have found many more benefits than simply saving money.
Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b095sy8g)
Melissa Harrison on the Kingfisher
Nature writer Melissa Harrison braves a dip in a Dorset river and hears the high 'pip' of a kingfisher. She realises she must be sharing with the water with one of her favourite birds.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. In this latest series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.
Producer: Tom Bonnett
Picture: Lynn [Mrs Birds].
WED 06:00 Today (m001gk5x)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Rethink (m001gk65)
Rethink Climate
Green economy, money and prosperity
Amol Rajan explores what switching to a green economy may mean for the way we live and work and whether it's compatible with financial growth. If, for the sake of the planet we need to cut production, consumption and perhaps profit, then how will we pay for the essential services we need in the future? There are some difficult choices to make that sound particularly tough amid a cost-of-living crisis. However, despite all the difficulties, there are those who foresee a cleaner, fairer and more enriching world.
Graihagh Jackson, presenter of the BBC podcast ‘The Climate Question’ is with Amol Rajan alongside guests Professor Tim Jackson, Bernice Lee, Najma Mohamed and Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas
Producers Nick Holland and Marianna Brain
Sound design Graham Puddifoot
Editor Lizzi Watson
Production co-ordinators Siobhan Reed, Sophie Hill, Helena Warwick-Cross
WED 09:45 The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (m001gkgc)
Episode 3 - Am I Seen?
Michelle Obama reads from her book about overcoming feeling different, and her father's invaluable life lessons on building confidence and a powerful sense of self.
The Light We Carry follows on from her critically acclaimed and global best-selling memoir, Becoming. Here she draws on her life experiences to illustrate how she has overcome obstacles in her personal and professional life. She looks at how she has embraced fear of the unknown to fuel accomplishment and success; how friendship and family continue to be bedrocks in remaining grounded and overcoming adversity, and the power she has found in small acts in the face of doubt. She is frank when she explores issues linked to race, gender, and visibility. She also lays out the meaning behind 'going high'.
Michelle Obama served as First Lady of the United States from 2009-2017. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Mrs Obama started her career as an attorney at a Chicago law firm where she met her husband, Barack Obama. She founded the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an organisation that prepares young people for careers in public service. She is an advocate for voting rights, girls' education, and children's health. She has two daughters and lives with her husband in Washington, D.C.
Abridged by Katrin Williams
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001gk6n)
The only woman in a group of men, Children conceived by donors, Finding My Voice, Face masks
What is it like to be the only woman in a group of men? Is it isolating? Intimidating? Or, can there be a certain, maybe shameful, thrill of being included as ‘one of the lads’? To discuss, Nuala speaks to Immy Humes, a documentary filmmaker who has spent years gathering archive images of all-male groups including exactly one woman, which she published as a collection in her book ‘The Only Woman’. They are also joined by Emma John, a sports journalist and author of ‘Self Contained’, her memoir of single life. She’s spent her career covering cricket and rugby, often as ‘the only woman’ surrounded by male friends and colleagues.
This year in the UK children conceived by sperm, egg or embryo donation who turn 18 will be able to request information that identifies their donor. This includes the donor’s name, birth name, date of birth and address, as long as the information is on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s register. It’s a result of a change in the law in April 2005 meaning that the first of those children conceived after the law changed will have their 18th birthdays this year. Nuala discusses the implications for donors, children conceived by donor as well as their families, with Clare Ettinghausen, Director of Strategy & Corporate Affairs at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the UK’s Fertility Regulator. And Nina Barnsley Director of the Donor Conception Network which is a UK based charity supporting donor conception families.
Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that 1 in 45 people in England have covid – and the UK Health Security Agency are now advising people to wear face masks if they are ill and need to leave the house, and to keep ill children home from school. So what does this mean? Are we going to get back to wearing face masks everywhere? Nuala McGovern speaks to the Times Science Editor Tom Whipple to get the latest on the situation, and government covid advisor Professor Susan Michie to hear how we should be changing our behaviour.
In our series Finding My Voice we’re talking to women about the moment they realised they had something to say or stand up for. Nuala speaks to Shekeila Scarlet. She was excluded from school when she was just 12 years old. After an appeal process that eventually reversed the decision, she was reinstated at the school. But seeing her case debated by a board of governors made her realise the importance of having young people involved in school governance. At 26, she’s now the Chair of Governors at Stoke Newington School in Hackney, making her one of the youngest chairs of a school governing board in the UK.
Presented by Nuala McGovern
Producer : Louise Corley
Editor: Beverley Purcell
WED 11:00 The Untold (m0018nnz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
WED 11:30 Oti Mabuse's Dancing Legends (m001gk6z)
Cyd Charisse
Oti Mabuse pays homage to the dancers and choreographers who have revolutionised the dancing world.
In today’s episode, the choreographer and creative director, Jason Gilkison, reminisces about key moments in his dancing career and celebrates a legendary dancer who inspired him.
Jason is the director of the hit dance stage show Burn The Floor and is creative director on Strictly Come Dancing. He has found inspiration in many places when devising routines, but there’s one dancer he urges everyone to watch - the Hollywood legend Cyd Charisse.
Cyd Charisse is known as one of the greatest Hollywood dancers of her time and has scene-stealing roles in Singing In The Rain and Silk Stockings. She danced alongside other legendary dancers including Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly and was nominated for a Golden Globe award. She has also been honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Jason and Oti explore the career of this dazzling dancer with archive clips and the expert help of entertainment historian, John Kenrick.
Oti then heads to the dance studio to learn a dance routine inspired by Cyd Charisse. Ballet dancer Mlindi Kulashe puts Oti through her paces.
Presenter: Oti Mabuse
Producer: Candace Wilson
Editor: Chris Ledgard
A BBC Audio Bristol production for BBC Radio 4
WED 12:00 News Summary (m001gkzy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 You and Yours (m001gk7g)
Housing Market, Funerals and UK Perfume Market
Hunting for a home to rent or buy is getting harder - what's in store for 2023? And why are many people now opting for direct cremation instead of burial?
WED 12:57 Weather (m001gk7t)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m001gk86)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
WED 13:45 The Crowning of Everest (m001gk8m)
The Summit
In 1953 the 9th British expedition to the top of Mount Everest finally reaches the summit.
In the final team was a New Zealander and a Nepalese Sherpa. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay come down the mountain to a blaze of publicity. They were soon to become the most famous men in the world. To the team involved and the wider world the expedition was a British one, but Britain, New Zealand, Nepal and even India would lay claim to its success.
Just as Britain was preparing Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation, the world would learn that Everest itself had been crowned.
Presenter: Wade Davis
Series producer: Louise Clarke-Rowbotham
Sound design: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Tara McDermott
Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross
WED 14:00 The Archers (m001gk8w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (m000xz3s)
The Lemonade Lads
By Faebian Averies
Ted struggles to find contentment, until he meets Brian and together they discover the powers of lemonade. A comedy drama about the pursuit of happiness, starring Matthew Aubrey and Steffan Rhodri.
Faebian Averies is an actor/writer and the current Writer in Residence for BBC Wales and National Theatre Wales.
Ted…. Matthew Aubrey
Brian…. Steffan Rhodri
Gemma…. Faebian Averies
Simon….. Connor Allen
BBC Action Line
If you are experiencing emotional stress, help and support is available here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4WLs5NlwrySXJR2n8Snszdg/emotional-distress-information-and-support2
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
WED 15:00 Money Box (m001gk96)
Money Box Live: Happiness and Money
As the calendar page turns, so many of us also think of turning over new leaves, re-assessing what we're doing and how we are doing it.
In this podcast, we are looking at the finances of happiness, in particular, whether there are lessons about the way we manage our money which can make us happier and improve our mental well-being.
On the panel of experts are, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science at the University of Oxford, and Mark Williamson, Director at the charity Action for Happiness.
Presenter: Adam Shaw
Producer: Amber Mehmood
Editor: Jess Quayle
(First broadcast
3pm Wednesday 4th January, 2023)
WED 15:30 Inside Health (m001gk9l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m001gkb1)
Self-improvement
SELF IMPROVEMENT: Laurie Taylor explores the 'wellness' and 'confidence' cultures that injunct us to be better versions of ourselves. He talks to Shani Orgad, a Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the LSE and co-author of a new study arguing that imperatives directed at women to “love your body” and “believe in yourself” imply that psychological blocks rather than entrenched social injustices hold women back. Why is there now such an emphasis on confidence in contemporary discourse about body image, workplace, relationships, motherhood, and even international development? They’re joined by Stephanie Alice Baker, a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at City, University of London, whose latest work traces the emergence of 'wellness culture' from a fringe countercultural pursuit to a trillion-dollar industry. Wellness has become synonymous with yoga, meditation, and other forms of self-care and is no longer simply an alternative to mainstream medicine. As it's coalesced with consumer culture, it's become synonymous with an industry of exclusive products and services. In addition, in the Covid moment, it's become associated with harmful conspiracy theories. So is 'wellness' culture delivering on its myriad promises, or does it have a darker side?
Producer: Jayne Egerton
WED 16:30 The Media Show (m001gkbj)
Staying loyal to The Traitors
As The Traitors prepares to launch in the US, the producer behind the series discusses why it was a hit in the UK. Also in the programme, what the Christmas period revealed about advertising – from how companies are spending their ad budgets – to the ads which are working the best.
Guests: Stephen Lambert, CEO, Studio Lambert, Sophie Lewis, Chief Strategy Officer, M&C Saatchi, Dino Myers-Lamptey, Founder, The Barber Shop, Benjamin Cohen, CEO, PinkNews, and Chris Curtis, Editor in chief, Broadcast magazine
Presenter: Ros Atkins
WED 17:00 PM (m001gkby)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
Clips heard on the film classification story:
Gone With the Wind, directed by Victor Fleming, made by Selznick International Pictures.
The Angels' Share, directed by Ken Loach, made by Sixteen Films, Why Not Productions, and Wild Bunch.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001gkcp)
Rishi Sunak has promised to tackle the crises affecting the economy and the NHS, making five key pledges to voters.
WED 18:30 Conversations from a Long Marriage (m000qm0q)
Series 2
Just the Way You Are
Conversations from a Long Marriage is a two-hander comedy, starring Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam, as a long-married couple who met in the Summer of Love and are still passionate about life, music and each other. We listen to – and empathise with - their dangling ‘conversations’ covering everything from health scares, jealousy and confessions, to TV incompatibility and sourdough bread.
In episode one, Roger gives Joanna a masterclass in dishwasher stacking while Joanna instructs him on how to wave goodbye to departing guests. As the turbulent year turns, Joanna makes some New Year Resolutions - for Roger - and suggests their marriage needs a re-boot’ . ‘Out the door?’ is his response.
Written by Jan Etherington. Produced and directed by Claire Jones.
A BBC Studios Production.
Series 1 received excellent reviews including:
‘Sublimely funny, touching series. Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam have had illustrious acting careers but can they ever have done anything better than Jan Etherington’s two hander? This is a work of supreme craftsmanship.’ Simon O’Hagan. RADIO TIMES
Conversations…. Is the delicious fruit of Jan Etherington’s experience of writing lots of TV and radio comedy (previously with husband Gavin Petrie), blessed by being acted by Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam. They are lifelike and likeable. Comedies about likeable people are not common. Treasure this one, produced by Claire Jones.’ Gillian Reynolds. SUNDAY TIMES
WED 19:00 The Archers (m001gkd2)
Pip tells her parents to stop squabbling as they all try to plan their days around the meeting with Ben’s support worker. Ruth isn’t pleased to hear how much Ben helped out yesterday so that Pip could go out with Lottie. Riled Pip makes a sarcastic reply.
Elizabeth and Vince meet and Vince wonders if this is when Elizabeth ends their relationship. But Elizabeth tells him that she’s missed him. Vince is desperate for Elizabeth to forgive him, and she wants to get back to how they were but first he needs to make peace with David and Ruth.
The Brookfield Archers gather to talk to Elena about what Ben’s been going through and his recovery. Ruth and David quickly clash over Ben’s decision to delay returning to his nursing course. Elena steps in and asks Ruth how she feels. Ruth admits she’s worried all the time. Elena helps her feel more positive by explaining how complicated it can be to manage Ben’s mental illness and her own experience of it. They move on to the fear of Ben returning to a dark place. Elena reassures them that they’ll now be able to spot early warning signs. Ben’s medication is also helping him and Elena thinks he can manage that himself.
Later, Ruth apologises to Pip for snapping at her and Pip’s impressed that Ruth and David are now being nice to each other. Ruth announces that Vince has invited her and David out for a meal. Pip wishes Ruth luck breaking that to David.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m001gkdc)
Vocal ensemble Stile Antico, Fay Weldon obituary, director John Strickland
The English composer William Byrd died 400 years ago. To mark this the acclaimed vocal ensemble Stile Antico is about to release an album of his music. Five of the twelve members of the ensemble come to the Front Row studio to sing and talk about Byrd's extraordinary and moving music.
The author and founder of the Women's Prize for Fiction Kate Mosse and actor Julie T Wallace, who played Ruth in the BBC TV production of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, join Front Row to mark the work of writer Fay Weldon, whose death was announced today.
Veteran director John Strickland talks about filming The Rig, a new 6-part big budget Amazon Prime eco-thriller set on an oil rig cut off from all communication in the North Sea. An ensemble cast of familiar faces from Line of Duty, Game of Thrones and Schitt's Creek contend with a mysterious deep-sea entity.
And Zaffar Kunial reads his poem Brontë Taxis from his TS Eliot Prize-nominated collection England's Green.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Sarah Johnson
Photograph of Stile Antico credit: Kaupo Kikkas
WED 20:00 How Things Are Done in Odesa (m001gkdp)
Odesa, legendary Black Sea port city and vital geo-strategic nexus of global trade, is living through Russia's war against Ukraine. Always fiercely independent, both from Moscow and Kiev, its legendary past of rogues & schnorrers has given Odesa a world reputation as a city of possibility and promise. Monica Whitlock tells its story.
Founded in 1794 by Catherine the Great as part of her expanding empire of Novo Rossiya, Odesa began as a dusty boom town of enormous opportunity & possibility connecting the chill of Imperial Russia to the warmth of the wider world.. A port city possessed of eternal optimism & a wicked sense of humour, it's confines brimmed with violinists, poets, writers and a gallery of rogues- real and imagined.
Its most beloved literary son is Isaac Babel. Raised in the Moldavanka- still a place of liminal existence, Babel's Odessa Tales of gangster anti-heroes like Benya Krik are forever interwoven with how Odesites and the wider world imagine the city - beautiful and bad! It is of course only partially true. Filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin forever fixed the city and its majestic steps on the cultural world map.
From its foundational boom town days onwards its streets and people could make you rich or ruin you. In the crumbling days of the Soviet empire it was a place to dream of escape to a world beyond. Musician Alec Koypt, who grew up in the rugged streets of Molodvanka, shipping proprietor Roman Morgenshtern, Anna Misyuk of the city's literary museum, historians Jarod Tanny & Steven Zipperstein along with Babel translator & Odessite Boris Dralyuk are our guides.
Producer Mark Burman
WED 20:45 Four Thought (m001gkdz)
I love gaming, but gaming doesn't always love me
Meg Sunshine, a 21 year old professional gamer is dedicated to becoming one of the best in the industry. Gaming is her life. But her journey has not been an easy one. She’s experienced threats of sexual violence from male gamers and has frequently felt unsafe online. She’s determined to bring about change however. In this episode she argues gaming needs to tackle its toxic culture, encourage a more diverse range of players and keep girls gaming.
WED 21:00 A Thorough Examination with Drs Chris and Xand (m001gkf7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Rethink (m001gk65)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m001gkfn)
Groundhog day in Congress
Also tonight:
Sunak echoes Blair with 5 pledges
And the stars of 1968 film "Romeo and Juliet" sue Paramount Pictures
WED 22:45 Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (m001gkfy)
Episode 3: 'You're just not smart enough.'
Bonnie Garmus' comic bestseller featuring the gloriously idiosyncratic feminist icon, Elizabeth Zott.
It's the early 1960s and Zott's all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans, the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with - of all things - her mind. True chemistry results.
Like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later, Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show, Supper at Six. Elizabeth's unusual approach to cooking proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn't just teaching women to cook, she's daring them to change the status quo.
Today: despite her male colleagues dismissing or even stealing her work, the indefatigable Elizabeth Zott refuses to be sidelined…
Writer: Bonnie Garmus
Reader: Julianna Jennings
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett
WED 23:00 What's the Story, Ashley Storrie? (m001gz68)
How My Dad Met My Mother, or Revenge of the Toxic Swamp Boys
Growing up surrounded by gangsters and a dysfunctional family, this is the story of Ashley - a tall comedian who loves William Shatner and hates textured fabrics.
Glasgow's nightlife in the early 1980s was still flying the flag for disco, bell bottoms and oversized lapels, and it was outside the local club in Shettleston where Ashley's parents met for the first time, starting the story that led to an unexpected marriage and a family feud that was never resolved.
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4
Written by Ashley Storrie
Produced by Julia Sutherland
WED 23:15 Darren Harriott: Black Label (m0006lsw)
Family
Radio 4 showcases fast-rising comedy star Darren Harriott in his debut stand-up series.
Recorded in Darren's hometown of Birmingham, Black Label explores the different labels and roles he's been assigned throughout his life - Brummie, gang member, brother and son, bouncer and now comic. Each episode of Black Label consists of incredibly open-hearted stories from the front line of Darren's life - challenging, enlightening and properly funny comedy.
In Episode 1 Darren examines his family history - looking at his nan's emigration to the UK in the 1960's and exploring his relationship with his dad.
Written and Performed by Darren Harriott
Photo by Freddie Claire
Produced by Adnan Ahmed
BBC Studios Production
WED 23:30 Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme (b09snj9j)
Series 4
Cuisine
By Tim Key
Tim Key takes a comic look at the concept of cuisine, while indulging in a tasting menu at the top of the Shard in London. Tom Basden has the night off, so Tim is dining with a very special guest.
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
The Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning comedian returns for a fourth series of his Late Night Poetry Programme. Currently performing his latest critically acclaimed solo show 'Megadate', Tim Key is never far from stage and screen - from Peep Show to Alpha Papa. But now he's back on late night Radio 4 doing what he does best - attempting to recite poetry whilst tormenting his friend and musician, the equally brilliant Tom Basden.
Praise for Tim Key
"...You never know when Key will suddenly toss you a fantastic joke or startlingly well-constructed line." Radio Times
"The show... has a kind of artistry and strange beauty that makes it unlike any other hour of stand-up you are likely to see." The Observer
"In any other sphere apart from comedy, we'd probably class this way of looking at the world as certifiable. Here it feels like genius." The Telegraph.
THURSDAY 05 JANUARY 2023
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m001gkg5)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
THU 00:30 The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (m001gkgc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001gkgk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001gkgp)
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 (m001gkgt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m001gkgy)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001gkh0)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rev Lucy Winkett
Good morning.
On a social media platform towards the end of last year, a short video was inexplicably gaining millions of views. It was a video that asked the question ‘what is going to happen on 5th January’. Which is today. It’s never wise or, actually possible of course, to predict the future with any certainty. And there is much wisdom in the spiritual teaching common to many religious traditions, that the past and the future are to be left to themselves because the only reality we know fully is now, today. But it is a helpful thought to remind ourselves that we are living today the future that someone else imagined. Our life as actually lived today is inextricably linked with the day that others imagined, or hoped this to be. In that sense, whatever happens today, is a gift of time that others in the past perhaps wished they could have. It’s an illusion to think that our lives are simply ours to possess, and our time is somehow earned by us to spend how we want. We live in each other’s lives, not only in the present but linked with the hopes of the past and the unknown happenings of the future.
And this shared life, human community, has meaning beyond the day to day conversations or transactions we find ourselves in. We live interdependent not only with each other as people in the past, present and future, but with all that lives in creation on the planet we share.
God of heaven and earth; Help us know deep within our souls that we are not alone, that we are connected with all who live and have lived. Help us to listen to the voices of Creation who surround us without and within, and give us peace as we make our way through these winter days.
Amen.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m001gkh2)
05/01/23 - The Oxford Farming Conferences
As hundreds of farmers gather together in Oxford, we report from the two farming conferences. From the progress of the agroecological movement to revolution in global food chains - the conferences will tackle some big topics. We hear from farmers and focus on the idea of green finance - is it a great business opportunity or a risky gold rush?
Presented by Anna Hill
Produced for BBC Audio by Heather Simons
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b098j5l1)
YOLOBirder on the Waxwing
Birdwatching's irreverent commentator YOLOBirder on his love of the hipster-goatee beard and slick back quiff of the brightly-coloured waxwing, a bird so vibrant and uplifting he has come up with a special collective noun for them.
Producer: Andrew Dawes
Photograph: Richard Johnson.
THU 06:00 Today (m001gl5h)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 Rethink (m001gl5k)
Rethink Climate
Green technology and innovation
Will technology and innovation slow down or even reverse climate change? Amol Rajan looks at some of the existing innovations that could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and also at some of those still being developed. He asks whether we're relying too much on the promise of technology that either isn’t ready yet or can’t work at scale.
Graihagh Jackson, presenter of the BBC podcast ‘The Climate Question’ is with Amol alongside guests the former President of Kiribati Anote Tong, James Arbib, Aoife O’Leary and Dr Jan Rosenow.
Producers Nick Holland and Marianna Brain
Sound design Graham Puddifoot
Editor Lizzi Watson
Production coordinators Siobhan Reed, Helena Warwick-Cross and Sophie Hill
THU 09:45 The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (m001gl5p)
Episode 4 - Friendship
Michelle Obama reads from her book about the power of friendship. For her, friends are a bedrock in uncertain times and they are always there to make the good times fun and memorable.
The Light We Carry follows on from her critically acclaimed and global best-selling memoir, Becoming. Here she draws on her life experiences to illustrate how she has overcome obstacles in her personal and professional life. She looks at how she has embraced fear of the unknown to fuel accomplishment and success; how friendship and family continue to be bedrocks in remaining grounded and overcoming adversity, and the power she has found in small acts in the face of doubt. She is frank when she explores issues linked to race, gender, and visibility. She also lays out the meaning behind 'going high'.
Michelle Obama served as First Lady of the United States from 2009-2017. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Mrs Obama started her career as an attorney at a Chicago law firm where she met her husband, Barack Obama. She founded the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an organisation that prepares young people for careers in public service. She is an advocate for voting rights, girls' education, and children's health. She has two daughters and lives with her husband in Washington, D.C.
Abridged by Katrin Williams
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001gl5t)
Ecofeminist Vandana Shiva, how to quit well, Fay Weldon
The author and environmental activist Vandana Shiva has released a new book, Terra Viva to coincide with her 70th birthday. She joins Anita Rani to discuss her life campaigning for climate justice and equality.
Eleanor Williams, a 22 year old woman from Barrow-in-Furness, who claimed she had been trafficked by an Asian grooming gang has been convicted of perverting the course of justice. Her false Facebook post about being trafficked and beaten was shared more than 100,000 times and led to protests in the local area. The North of England Editor for the Guardian Helen Pidd has been following the story and has interviewed some of her victims, Helen joins Anita to discuss the case.
New year, new job? Today we discuss the art of quitting well. Anita is joined by Mandy Dennison Director of Engagement from the International Federation of Coaching UK, and Karen Danker from Women Returners, which helps women returning to the work place after an extended break.
In our series Finding My Voice we’re talking to women about the moment they realised they had something to say or stand up for. Moud Goba fled her home country of Zimbabwe at the age of 20 due to harassment she faced over her sexuality. She is now the Chair of the Board of Trustees for UK Black Pride and has spent over a decade helping other LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers to integrate into their new communities. She joins Anita Rani to discuss how she found her voice as an activist once she was finally able to express her sexuality freely.
We hear the Woman's Hour archive from 2015 following the death of novelist Fay Weldon.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Emma Pearce
Photo credit: Kartikey Shiva
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m001gl5y)
South Korea - a room with a view
“It’s like living in a cemetery.” Jung Seongno lives in a banjiha, or semi-basement apartment in the South Korean capital Seoul. Last August parts of Seoul experienced major flooding. As a result several people, including a family of three, drowned in their banjiha. Seongno dreams of having a place where the sunlight and the wind can come in.
These subterranean dwellings are just one example of a growing wealth divide in Asia’s fourth largest economy. With almost half of the country’s population living in Greater Seoul, the struggle to find affordable housing has become a major political issue. It also contributes to Korea’s worryingly low birth rate. The inability of young people to afford a home of their own means they are not starting families. Many have given up on relationships altogether.
John Murphy reports from Seoul, where owning a home of your own is so important and yet increasingly unattainable.
Produced and presented by John Murphy
Producer in Seoul: Keith Keunhyung Park
Studio mix: Rod Farquhar
Production coordinator: Iona Hammond
Series editor: Penny Murphy
THU 11:30 Warsan Shire on a Nation of Poets (m001gl62)
Imagine a place where poets lead armies into battle and strike fear into politicians, where poems accompany birth and marriage, work and worship, where the greatest poets write lyrics to pop songs and are treated like celebrities.
For Somalis, in the Somali territories and beyond, this is a cultural reality - a world were the rhythms and images of poetry are built into everyday speech and learnt from birth, where poetry is simply the natural language.
Acclaimed British Somali poet Warsan Shire explores what it means to be part of a culture which puts poetry at its centre, a “nation of poets”, and asks where this thriving tradition is going next. As a new Somali generation comes of age in a diaspora spread across the world, how are traditions adapting to new contexts and how is technology helping poetry thrive in a hyper-connected community?
Sharing their insights, memories and poetry with Warsan are British Somali poets Momtaza Mehri and Samatar Elmi, academics Dr Christina Woolner and Dr Martin Orwin and famous Somali poet Xasan Daahir Ismaaciil known to his many fans and followers as 'Weedhsame’.
Presented by Warsan Shire
Produced by Michael Umney
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4
Picture credit: Leyle Jeyte
THU 12:00 News Summary (m001gl66)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 You and Yours (m001gl6b)
Gap Finders: Specsavers founders Doug and Mary Perkins
In our Gap Finder interview today, Winifred Robinson speaks to Doug and Mary Perkins, the founders of Specsavers.
It all started nearly 40 years ago, working on a table tennis table at their home in Guernsey - when a change in the law allowed opticians to advertise.
Working in partnership with their store owners, the husband and wife team have gone on to build a market-leading company which now has 2,500 business across 11 countries.
Doug and Mary tell us about the early challenges they faced as they tried to shake up the industry, how they managed to break into new markets at home and abroad - and what the future holds for one of the UK's best-known brands.
PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY
THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m001gl6g)
Cold Defence Nasal Sprays
With over 100 viruses causing the common cold, there isn’t yet a known cure. But are nasal sprays that claim to reduce the severity and shorten the duration of symptoms the next best thing? The market is dominated by two products, Vicks ‘First Defence’ and Boots ‘Dual Defence’, which work in different ways to attack the cold virus,
Listener Leah got in touch because she catches lots of colds from her young son and wants to know if they can help her get over them more quickly. She also wants to know if they’re safe to use regularly and how long you should take them for.
Presenter Greg Foot sniffs out the evidence and talks to a leading expert who’s dedicated most of his career to investigating cold remedies.
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
THU 12:57 Weather (m001gl6l)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m001gl6q)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
THU 13:45 The Crowning of Everest (m001gl6v)
Scoop of the Century
The world is waiting for news of success from the British expedition on Mount Everest.
James Morris, later to become Jan Morris, is a reporter from The Times newspaper embedded with the team on the mountain. When news arrives that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay have reached the summit, he must find a way to get the news to London without it leaking to other journalists waiting in Kathmandu.
Morris delivers the news via a secret code.
As the climbing team make their way down the mountain crowds gather to greet the heroes.
Presenter: Wade Davis
Series producer: Louise Clarke-Rowbotham
Sound design: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Tara McDermott
Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross
THU 14:00 The Archers (m001gkd2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (m000q9g0)
Dot and the Russian Dossier
By Ed Harris
May, 1941. The future of the war hangs in the balance, and Dot has been selected for a most perilous mission. Ed Harris' witty wartime comedy sees Dot casting off the shackles of her desk job in the personnel department in Whitehall's War Rooms and entering the field of conflict. Disguise, deception and dastardly doings await.
Dot . . . . . Fenella Woolgar
Myrtle . . . . . Kate O'Flynn
Peabody . . . . . David Acton
Archie . . . . . Carl Prekopp
Sister Frances . . . . . Clare Corbett
Editing . . . . . Peter Ringrose
Director . . . . . Sasha Yevtushenko
THU 15:00 Open Country (m001gl6x)
Folk on the Hills
Folk musician Johnny Campbell is recording an album of songs from the summits and industrial hotspots of northern England. Jez Lowe joins him at Kinder Scout in Derbyshire to celebrate ninety years since the ‘Right to Roam’ movement began and explore the traditional songs of the Peak District. Jez meets local singer Bella Hardy to hear how her home in Edale has inspired and influenced her work, and writer Roly Smith who can explain the history of Kinder and the 1932 mass trespass. It may be ninety years ago, but for young global folk stars Kate Griffin and Ford Collier of Mishra, the call for a right to roam is still relevant. They have recorded a version of Ewan MacColl’s ‘Manchester Rambler’, a song inspired by the Kinder trespass. Jez meets Kate, Ford, Johnny and Bella to hear how a new generation of musicians are continuing MacColl’s legacy of folk singers fighting for our rights in the countryside.
Produced by Helen Lennard
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m001gk1r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Bookclub (m001gk3w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 Science Stories (m0007wf5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Tuesday]
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m001gl6z)
The UK's first satellite launch
The UK's first satellite launch faced several delays in 2022, but Virgin Orbit's Cosmic Girl is prepped for imminent take off. BBC science correspondent Jonathan Amos has been following the activity in Newquay and, alongside Melissa Thorpe head of Spaceport Cornwall, describes the potential this launch has to promote and bolster the UK's space industry.
Is laziness a particularly human trait? Apparently not according to Dr Daniella Rabaiotti from the Zoological Society of London. Her research shows many animals engage in behaviour akin to laziness even within groups where others might be very active. There’s evidence for this from animals as diverse as wolves, frogs and pheasants. Dani says it’s a factor worth considering in animal behaviour studies, simply are we biased towards the more active and outgoing animals as they are the ones we tend to see?
Victoria Gill speaks to the founder and CEO of Nature Metrics Dr Cat Bruce and Katie Critchlow about the tools they use to help companies measure biodiversity at their worksites. From taking water or soil samples it’s possible to detect the DNA of a multitude of organisms from large animals down to microbes. The technique should help map the biodiversity of a given area and inform decisions on development and conservation.
BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University
THU 17:00 PM (m001gl71)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001gl73)
Prince Harry has alleged that he was attacked by his brother during a row in 2019
THU 18:30 Fags, Mags and Bags (m00146hf)
Series 10
2. Jeff Capes Five Egger
Fags, Mags & Bags returns 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 tenth series sees a return of all the show’s regular characters, and some guest appearances along the way.
In this episode, Dave tries to make friends with Pummie, his food delivery driver - but has he crossed the customer/delivery driver friend line?
Cast:
Ramesh: Sanjeev Kohli
Dave: Donald Mcleary
Sanjay: Omar Raza
Alok: Susheel Kumar
Malcolm: Mina Anwar
Bishop Briggs: Michael Redmond
Mrs Begg: Marjory Hogarth
Pummie: Manjot Sumal
Producer: Gus Beattie for Gusman Productions
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4
THU 19:00 The Archers (m001gl75)
Jazzer supports Neil in persuading Tracy to agree to go for a meal at Ambridge View, even though he’s not looking forward to the icy atmosphere between Tracy and Susan. When they arrive, they are both surprised at Neil’s polite chit-chat. When Susan appears, Jazzer compliments her, but Tracy won’t join in. After they’ve eaten, Susan is determined to explain herself; she thinks Jazzer is a very lucky man to be marrying her sister. She adds she can’t think of better news than Tracy and Jazzer’s engagement.
Brian looks over a report Stella has prepared for a meeting with the BL Board. He’s still not keen on Stella going to an upcoming farm tech show, but she is adamant she’ll be there. After the meeting, Brian congratulates Stella on staying in control in front of a jittery BL Board. He then apologises for not being supportive of the farm tech show. Stella is clear she’s worked too hard to not be trusted or respected.
Susan and Tracy go for a walk and Tracy thanks her sister for a lovely evening. Susan repeats that she’s really sorry for her initial reaction to Tracy and Jazzer’s engagement. Tracy says it’s forgotten and they move on to wedding preparations – the hen do, the best man, the dress. Tracy says she’d be happy to be married in a bin bag as long as everyone she loves is there. Susan’s certain that Tracy and Jazzer will be very happy together.
THU 19:15 Front Row (m001gl77)
Two of the year's major films, Till and Empire of Light, reviewed and John Preston on his TV drama Stonehouse.
John Preston, the Costa Award-winning biographer of media tycoon Robert Maxwell, makes his screenwriting debut with a drama about another infamous figure of the 1970s, the MP John Stonehouse. He joins Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the line between fact and fiction in dramatising the story of the MP who faked his own death.
Reviewers Amon Warmann and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh give their verdicts on two major films out this week: Till, the story of Emmett Till’s mother Mamie’s fight for justice after her son was lynched in 1955, featuring a powerful performance by Danielle Deadwyler; and Empire of Light, written and directed by Sam Mendes. Set in a seaside town cinema in the 70s it stars Olivia Colman and Micheal Ward, and is inspired in part by Mendes’ mother’s experiences.
And James Conor Patterson reads his poem “london mixtape” from his debut collection “bandit country”, which has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Poetry Prize. Front Row is featuring each of the 10 poets shortlisted and we’ll hear from the winner when they’re announced on Tuesday 17th January.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Paul Waters
(Till picture credit: Lynsey Weatherspoon / Orion Pictures)
THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m001gl7b)
Ukraine: How will the war evolve in 2023?
David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts evaluate the current situation in Ukraine and explore how the war might evolve in the remaining winter months and into the Spring.
Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room are:
Michael Clarke, Professor of Defence studies and Specialist Advisor to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy
Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London
Samantha de Bendern, Associate Fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House
Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor of The Economist
Producers: Ben Carter, Dan Gordon and Kirsteen Knight
Editor: Richard Vadon
Studio manager: James Beard
Production co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross, Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed
THU 20:30 In the Name Of (m001gktn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Tuesday]
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m001gl6z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 Rethink (m001gl5k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m001gl7h)
Leaked extracts from Prince Harry's new book
Also tonight:
Putin orders 36 hour ceasefire in Ukraine.
2022 was the UK's hottest year on record.
And former Pope Benedict laid to rest.
THU 22:45 Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (m001gl7m)
4: Unwed and pregnant?
Bonnie Garmus' comic bestseller featuring the gloriously idiosyncratic feminist icon, Elizabeth Zott.
It's the early 1960s and Zott's all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans, the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with - of all things - her mind. True chemistry results.
Like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later, Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show, Supper at Six. Elizabeth's unusual approach to cooking proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn't just teaching women to cook, she's daring them to change the status quo.
Today: After Calvin’s death, Elizabeth finds herself heartbroken - and pregnant. She decides to focus on work, but management at Hastings Research Institute have other ideas...
Writer: Bonnie Garmus
Reader: Julianna Jennings
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett
THU 23:00 Michael Spicer: Before Next Door (m001gl7r)
Series 2
Two Lines in Mason Square
Michael’s sold out live show is approaching but Roberta’s secret plans for a tour have backfired. The comedy promoters announced the dates without telling her and now Michael’s bosses are furious. The company is also facing a takeover by a corporate sleaze ball.
On the plus side, Michael is cast in a big Netflix period drama. It’s only two lines but he gets to sport a significant moustache and work with stars like Blake Brooks (Mathew Horne).
With the spotlight on him, Michael is asked to do a ludicrous social media challenge for charity, making him question whether he is suited to a life of frivolousness and insincerity.
As the stress of the live show churns Michael’s stomach, Blake Brooks goes all ‘ghost of Christmas past, present and future’ diverting him from Roberta’s grand plan for comedy superstardom. Will Michael succumb to office life forever or will he see that going on a live tour in 2020 is the best way to end the series?
Performers: Michael Spicer with Ellie Taylor, Joanna Neary, Greig Johnson, Jason Forbes, Alison Ward, Peter Curran and Mathew Horne.
Writer: Michael Spicer
Producer: Matt Tiller
A Starstruck and Tillervision production for BBC Radio 4
THU 23:30 Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme (b09v3ff8)
Series 4
Cars
By Tim Key
Comic poet Tim Key is broadcasting from a car, as he drives his friend and musician, Tom Basden, to meet his wife for a romantic getaway. But when they pick up a mysterious hitchhiker the plans begin to unravel.
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
The Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning comedian returns for a fourth series of his Late Night Poetry Programme. Currently performing his latest critically acclaimed solo show 'Megadate', Tim Key is never far from stage and screen - from Peep Show to Alpha Papa. But now he's back on late night Radio 4 doing what he does best - attempting to recite poetry whilst tormenting his friend and musician, the equally brilliant Tom Basden.
Praise for Tim Key
"...You never know when Key will suddenly toss you a fantastic joke or startlingly well-constructed line." Radio Times
"The show... has a kind of artistry and strange beauty that makes it unlike any other hour of stand-up you are likely to see." The Observer
"In any other sphere apart from comedy, we'd probably class this way of looking at the world as certifiable. Here it feels like genius." The Telegraph.
FRIDAY 06 JANUARY 2023
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m001gl7v)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 00:30 The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (m001gl5p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001gl7z)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001gl83)
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 (m001gl87)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m001gl8c)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001gl8h)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rev Lucy Winkett
Good morning.
Today is the Christian feast day called The Epiphany. It starts a season of feasting and celebration that lasts all though January. The epiphany is the day when mysterious visitors from the East came to Bethlehem and gave Christ gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. It’s a beautiful, shimmering addition to the Christmas story which has been up to now, about working shepherds, a feeding trough in a borrowed stable, and the chaos of a crowded town full up to the brim because of a census. Until now, the circumstances surrounding the birth of Christ have been somewhat precarious, humble, ordinary. It’s not for nothing that today, T shirts are sold saying Jesus was a refugee.
There wasn’t anything grand or even secure about his birth. But today, mysterious star gazers arrive with presents for him that signify who he is and who he will become. Gold for a king, frankincense to signify he is holy, myrrh to prepare him for the suffering ahead. The season is called Epiphany because that word just means ‘uncovering’. During this coming month, Christians look to see the extraordinary in the ordinary every day. Look beneath the surface of every day events, to notice the small miracles that make up life in the world. And to know that even in the hardest of circumstances, just as in that first epiphany at Bethlehem, the presence of God reveals to us that life is precious, mysterious, and that even when we are suffering, God is with us.
Holy and eternal God; we pray today in thankfulness for the astonishing gift of living. Give us the eyes of faith that we might see the extraordinary gifts in the ordinary events of today.
Amen.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m001gl8l)
06/01/23 - The Oxford Farming Conferences: the Politics Sessions
Food and agriculture policy is devolved - at the Oxford Real Farming Conference, Charlotte Smith hears how the approach to farming is evolving differently across the UK.
Meanwhile down the road at the Oxford Farming Conference, Anna Hill grills the Farming Minister, Mark Spencer, and hears response from farmers.
Presented by Anna Hill and Charlotte Smith
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Beatrice Fenton and Heather Simons
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09hrkw1)
Fyfe Dangerfield on the Grey Heron
Musician Fyfe Dangerfield loves being in places which feel removed from modern life where the prehistoric looking grey heron can be a great leveller.
Producer: Mark Ward
Photograph: Alan Matthew.
FRI 06:00 Today (m001glbq)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Rethink (m001glbs)
Rethink Climate
Leadership
What type of leadership does the world need to tackle global warming? Amol Rajan discusses whether people with power are doing enough to solve the climate crisis. Are politicians just too focused on the ballot box to take long term decisions? What about the role of celebrities and business leaders?
Graihagh Jackson, presenter of the BBC podcast ‘The Climate Question’ is with Amol alongside guests Lord Deben, Greg Jackson, Monika Langthaler and Professor Daniel Schrag.
Producers Nick Holland and Marianna Brain
Sound design Graham Puddifoot
Editor Lizzi Watson
Production coordinators Sophie Hill, Helena Warwick-Cross and Siobhan Reed
FRI 09:45 The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (m001glbv)
Episode 5 - Going High
Michelle Obama reads from her book about her strategies for living boldly in uncertain times. Today, she tells us how Going High became a guiding principle for her and her family.
The Light We Carry follows on from her critically acclaimed and global best-selling memoir, Becoming. Here she draws on her life experiences to illustrate how she has overcome obstacles in her personal and professional life. She looks at how she has embraced fear of the unknown to fuel accomplishment and success; how friendship and family continue to be bedrocks in remaining grounded and overcoming adversity, and the power she has found in small acts in the face of doubt. She is frank when she explores issues linked to race, gender and visibility. She also lays out the meaning behind 'going high'.
Michelle Obama served as First Lady of the United States from 2009-2017. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Mrs Obama started her career as an attorney at a Chicago law firm where she met her husband, Barack Obama. She founded the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an organisation that prepares young people for careers in public service. She is an advocate for voting rights, girls' education, and children's health. She has two daughters and lives with her husband in Washington, D.C.
Abridged by Katrin Williams
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001glbx)
Financial planning, Susan Cronin, Friends forever - Christina, Finding my voice - Liz Roberts
You might have spent this first week of January planning where you want to go, what you want to do and who you want to be in 2023 But have you made any financial new year’s resolutions. Statistics show that more than a third of us will make a financial new year’s resolution this year. Will you be ‘manifesting’ money in the year ahead? Anita Rani is joined by the consumer editor of the Financial Times and presenter of the FT's Money Clinic podcast, Claer Barrett as well as the budget savvy mum, Gemma Bird also known as @MoneyMumOfficial on social media.
A new ITV documentary, A Murder in the Family, re-lives three shocking murders in the UK as told by the family members closest to the events. One of those is Jennifer Cronin, who was 72 when she was killed by her daughter’s ex-husband, Kieren Lynch. In March 2018, Kieren went to Jennifer’s house and set himself and Jennifer on fire, resulting in both of them dying from their injuries. Jennifer’s daughter Susan witnessed the incident and speaks to Anita Rani.
Over the last few months we have been exploring the joys and difficulties of female friendship. When a friendship goes wrong can you fix it and should you try? A listener we are calling Christina contacted us to say she has lost three long-standing friendships in the last four years. This is her side of the story, she acknowledges that, but she is asking herself some big questions. Jo Morris went to meet her.
In our series Finding My Voice we’re talking to women about the moment they realised they had something to say or stand up for. In 2020, Liz Roberts chose to report the sexual assault she suffered at the hands of her brother 50 years previously, when she was just 8 years old. During the legal proceedings, she chose to waive her right to anonymity – a right which is automatically granted to victims of sexual offences in the UK. She joins Anita Rani to discuss the choice to use her name and why, since her brother’s sentencing, she’s continued to speak publicly about her story.
FRI 11:00 Is Eating Plants Wrong? (b0b1r1d4)
Are plants rather cleverer than once thought? Scientists from around the world are claiming that plants cannot just sense, but communicate, learn and remember. In an experiment in Australia, plants appeared to learn to associate a sound with a food source, just as Pavlov's dogs linked the sound of a bell with dinner. In Israel they've found that plants communicated a message from one to another, and that the information was then used to survive drought. In British Columbia and the UK researchers have shown that trees pass information and nutrients to each other through an underground fungal network. This even happens more with closely related trees or seedlings than with strangers. And in California it turns out that sagebrush shrubs have "regional dialects"! Botanist James Wong explores these findings and asks whether, if plants can do all these things, and if, as one scientist says, they are a "who" and not a "what", then is it wrong to eat them?
Producer Arlene Gregorius
Contributors:
Prof. Richard Karban
Dr Monica Galiano
Prof. Ariel Novoplansky
Prof Suzanne Simard
Dr Brian Pickles
Prof Michael Marder
FRI 11:30 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (b0b0pwgn)
Series 3
The University of Milton
Trigger warning! This week Milton gets to the bottom of things by founding a seat of learning.
Mention Milton Jones to most people and the first thing they think is "Help!". Because each week, Milton and his trusty assistant Anton set out to help people and soon find they're embroiled in a new adventure. Because, when you're close to the edge, then Milton can give you a push.
"Milton Jones is one of Britain's best gagsmiths with a flair for creating daft yet perfect one-liners" - The Guardian.
"King of the surreal one-liners" - The Times
"If you haven't caught up with Jones yet - do so!" - The Daily Mail
Written by Milton with James Cary (Bluestone 42, Miranda) and Dan Evans (who co-wrote Milton's Channel 4 show House Of Rooms), the man they call "Britain's funniest Milton" returns to the radio with a fully-working cast and a shipload of new jokes.
The cast includes regulars Tom Goodman-Hill ( Spamalot, Mr. Selfridge) as the ever-faithful Anton, Josie Lawrence and Dan Tetsell (Newsjack)
With music by Guy Jackson
Produced and directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m001glbz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Archive on 4 (m001gjyp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Saturday]
FRI 12:57 Weather (m001glc2)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m001glc4)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
FRI 13:45 The Crowning of Everest (m001glc6)
The Crowning Glory
2 June 1953. As the crowds line the streets to see their new Queen crowned, the news that Everest has been conquered is relayed over loudspeaker and adds to the excitement of the day. The Times prints its headline - the scoop delivered in secret code from the mountain.
Edmund Hillary is knighted while the press clamour to know who was first to the summit.
No better news could have reached Britain on the day of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. It was a magical day that brought together a young Queen, her Commonwealth and her people in celebration.
Presenter: Wade Davis
Series producer: Louise Clarke-Rowbotham
Sound design: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Tara McDermott
Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m001gl75)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Limelight (m001glc8)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Firewall
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Firewall, Episode 6
Based on the novel by James Swallow
Dramatised by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Episode 6
A thrilling landmark adaptation set in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell universe. Fourth Echelon agent Sam Fisher, and his daughter Sarah regroup on the Paladin, where they strong-arm Kobin into giving up more information. Meanwhile, Stone is sent to terminate any suspicions on the T-Tech Oil Rig.
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
Andriy Kobin ..... Riad Richie
Eighteen ..... Olga Fedori
Bray ..... Roger Ringrose
LeBeau ..... David Hounslow
Sound design by Sharon Hughes
Directed by Jessica Mitic
Series Co-Produced by Nadia Molinari, Lorna Newman, Jessica Mitic
A BBC Audio Drama North Production
FRI 14:45 Understand: The Economy (m001dwr0)
Series 1
The Economy: 1. Inflation
What is inflation, why does it matter, and is someone to blame if it goes up? Understanding inflation will help you understand why your shopping is getting more and more expensive and why prices rarely seem to come down. Tim Harford explains why the inflation figure you see on the TV might not reflect the price rises you’re experiencing and economic historian Victoria Bateman tells us why having a boat load of silver coins isn’t always a good thing.
Everything you need to know about the economy and what it means for you. This podcast will cut through the jargon to bring you clarity and ensure you finally understand all those complicated terms and phrases you hear on the news. Inflation, GDP, Interest rates, and bonds, Tim Harford and friends explain them all. We’ll ensure you understand what’s going on today, why your shopping is getting more expensive or why your pay doesn’t cover your bills. We’ll also bring you surprising histories, from the war-hungry kings who have shaped how things are counted today to the greedy merchants flooding Spain with silver coins. So if your eyes usually glaze over when someone says ‘cutting taxes stimulates growth’, fear no more, we’ve got you covered.
Guest: Richard Davies, Professor of Economics at Bristol University
Producer: Phoebe Keane
Researchers: Drew Hyndman and Marianna Brain
Editor: Clare Fordham
Theme music: Don’t Fret, Beats Fresh Music
A BBC Long Form Audio Production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001glcb)
Norfolk Broads
What's the best way to grow great swedes? What are green manure crops? And have you ever returned a dead plant to the shop you bought it from?
Joining Kathy Clugston to answer these questions in front of a live audience in the Norfolk Broads are horticulturalist Anne Swithinbank, garden designer Matthew Wilson and 'grow your own' expert Bob Flowerdew.
Also on the programme, Pippa Greenwood and Matthew Pottage head to RHS Garden Wisley to check out a new feature that both looks nice and harvests rainwater in times where many gardeners are worried about drought.
Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Aniya Das
Executive Producer: Louisa Field
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m001glcd)
After the Romans
Award winning short story writer Jo Lloyd transports us to South Wales circa 500 CE, where we meet Iltut and his travel companion Acorn the Stag. A light hearted fabular vision of the dark ages.
Reader - Jacob Ifan
Directed by John Norton
Sound by Catherine Robinson
A BBC Audio Drama Wales production
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m001glcg)
Pope Benedict XVI, Dame Vivienne Westwood, James Caan, Georgia Holt
Matthew Bannister on
Pope Benedict XVI, the religious conservative who was the first Pontiff to resign from the job in almost 600 years.
Dame Vivienne Westwood (pictured), punk pioneer, high fashion designer and eco warrior.
James Caan, the American actor best known for playing Sonny Corleone in The Godfather.
Georgia Holt, the singer who enjoyed success late in life thanks to her daughter Cher.
Producer: Tim Bano
Interviewed guest: Catherine Pepinster
Interviewed guest: Ian Kelly
Interviewed guest: Laird Borelli-Persson
Interviewed guest: David Thomson
Interviewed guest: P David Ebersole
Archive clips used: YouTube/ Rome Reports.com, Habemus Papam - Uploaded 2012; BBC Radio 4 News 19/04/2005; YouTube, The Regensburg Speech 12/09/2006; BBC Radio 4, Thought for the Day 24/12/2010; BBC News Archive, Pope Benedict XVI announces resignation 11/02/2013; Netflix/ Rideback, The Two Popes (2019); BBC One, The British Fashion Awards 15/10/1991; BBC Radio 4, Desert Island Discs - Vivienne Westwood 28/06/1992; BBC Four, Vivenne Westwood Talks To Kirsty Wark 13/04/2004; BBC One, Wogan with Sue Lawley 11/03/1988; Finished Films, Westwood - Punk, Icon, Activist (2018); BBC One, Wogan In Hollywood - James Caan interview 02/01/1991; Paramount Pictures/ Albert S. Ruddy Productions/ Alfran Productions, The Godfather (1972); Castle Rock Entertainment/ Nelson Entertainment, Misery (1990); Broadway Video/ Conaco/ NBC Studios, Late Night with Conan O'Brien 31/10/2003; New Line Cinema/ Guy Walks into A Bar Productions/ Gold/Miller Productions, Elf (2003); Mann/Caan Productions, Thief (1981); WJZ-TV13 Baltimore 1979; Westinghouse Broadcasting Company/ Mike Douglas Entertainments, Mike Douglas Show 1979; Paramount Domestic TV, Entertainment Tonight 1988.
FRI 16:30 Song for Belper (m001gk63)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Monday]
FRI 17:00 PM (m001glcj)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001glcl)
More than a quarter of ambulances were forced to wait more than a hour last week before handing over patients to A&E.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m001glcn)
Series 110
Episode 2
It’s 2023 and Andy Zaltzman is back with a brand-new series of The News Quiz to start the year.
This week Andy is joined by Lucy Porter, Chris McCausland, Samira Ahmed and Scott Bennett. They discuss Rishi Sunak’s newly released ‘five-point plan’, Keir Starmer’s pledge not to open the ‘big government chequebook’ and the surprise appearance of a walrus in Scarborough.
Hosted and written by Andy Zaltzman with additional material from Alice Fraser, Mike Shephard, James Farmer, Jennifer Walker and Jade Gebbie.
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Production Co-ordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
A BBC Studios Production
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m001glcq)
Vince is wearing his lucky tie for dinner with Elizabeth, Ruth and David. He really wants it to go well. Elizabeth warns him that flashing the cash won’t fix things; he needs to show David he’s repentant. Meanwhile, as David and Ruth prepare to leave for the restaurant they find Pip’s friend Lottie on the doorstep. Lottie’s expecting to stay to test out their B&B but Ruth and David know nothing about it. They leave Pip to sort the confusion. Lottie laughs at the awkwardness of it all.
Pip invents a fun dinner time for Maddie and Rosie and Lottie asks how she’s doing with her New Year’s resolution to have fun. Pip shares her idea to celebrate her birthday. Realising the time Lottie gets ready to go and offers to have Rosie over for a sleepover at hers.
At the restaurant Vince tries to make small talk with David while Ruth and Elizabeth go over to wish Jennifer a happy birthday – she’s there with Brian and Kate. Vince apologises to David and Ruth but there is no goodwill in return. Elizabeth explains she thought talking things through was worth a try. But Ruth is still furious about Vince’s attack on Ben and its consequences. Vince tries to defend his actions but David and Ruth walk out. As they head home, Elizabeth reflects that it wasn’t the right time to seek forgiveness from David and Ruth. She admires Vince for sticking to his side of the deal. He done everything she’s asked. They share a kiss.
FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m001glcs)
Folk Horror
Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore folk horror on screen. The genre is commonly associated with British film from the 70s, but Ellen and Mark investigate how it resonates across the globe and its resurgence over the last decade..
Ellen speaks to the author and director of the folk horror documentary, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, Kier-La Janisse about the first folk horror films, the hallmarks of the genre and folk horror's depiction of pastoral and urban settings.
Ellen then talks to director Nikyatu Jusu about her recent film Nanny which won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance last year. They discuss how she uses West African folklore in the film and why she thinks folk horror is culturally specific.
Mark talks to director Mark Jenkin about his upcoming film, Enys Men. They consider the film's relationship to Cornish identity and the landscape as well as why he prefers to call Enys Men a folk film rather than a folk horror film.
And the director of some modern takes on folk horror such as The Witch and The Northman, Robert Eggers, recommends a couple of underseen folk horror gems.
Producer: Freya Hellier
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m001glcv)
Nadra Ahmed, Dame Meg Hillier MP, Andrew Mitchell MP, Lionel Shriver
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Sarratt Village Hall in Hertfordshire with the Chairman of the National Care Association Nadra Ahmed, the Labour MP and Chair of the Public Accounts Committee Dame Meg Hillier, the Conservative MP and Minister of State for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell and the author and journalist Lionel Shriver.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Lead broadcast engineer: Ian Deeley
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m001glcx)
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Tom Shakespeare looks to some DVD classics and the Japanese concept of ikigai to provide some light relief from the doom and gloom of January.
'The definitive guide to ikigai,' Tom writes, 'says ikigai is what allows you to look forward to the future, even if you're miserable right now.'
And yes, Morrissey makes an appearance too!
Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Penny Murphy
FRI 21:00 The Reith Lectures (m001fmtz)
The Four Freedoms
1. Freedom of Speech
Best-selling Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gives the first of four 2022 Reith Lectures, discussing freedom of speech. She argues that it feels like freedom of speech is under attack. Cancel culture, arguments about “wokeness" and the assault on Salman Rushdie have produced a febrile atmosphere. Meanwhile autocrats and populists have undermined the very notion of an accepted fact-based truth which lives above politics. So how do we calibrate freedom in this context? If we have the freedom to offend, where do we draw the line? This lecture and question-and-answer session is recorded in London in front of an audience and presented by Anita Anand.
The year's series was inspired by President Franklin D Roosevelt's four freedoms speech of 1941 and asks what this terrain means now?
It features four different lecturers. In addition to Chimamanda, they are:
Freedom of Worship by Rowan Williams
Freedom from Want by Darren McGarvey
Freedom from Fear by Fiona Hill
Producer: Jim Frank
Sound Engineers: Rod Farquhar and Neil Churchill
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Editor: Hugh Levinson
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m001glcz)
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
FRI 22:45 Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (m001gld1)
5: 'Cooking is science.'
Bonnie Garmus' comic bestseller featuring the gloriously idiosyncratic feminist icon, Elizabeth Zott.
It's the early 1960s and Zott's all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans, the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with - of all things - her mind. True chemistry results.
Like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later, Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show, Supper at Six. Elizabeth's unusual approach to cooking proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn't just teaching women to cook, she's daring them to change the status quo.
Today: Trying to pursue her research in her home lab, with a baby and dog in tow, isn’t paying Elizabeth Zott’s bills. She finds herself taking drastic action…
Writer: Bonnie Garmus
Reader: Julianna Jennings
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (m001gkv2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme (b09v3ff8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:30 on Thursday]