SATURDAY 15 APRIL 2023

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m001kxhm)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:30 Red Memory by Tania Branigan (m001kxcm)
5: Echoes of the Cultural Revolution

A hauntingly powerful exploration of China's Cultural Revolution through the stories of those who lived through Mao's decade of madness.

Mao's 1966 Cultural Revolution heralded a decade of hysteria, violence and relentless persecution. Teenagers were turned against adults, even parents. Party officials, artists, teachers and intellectuals were publicly humiliated, beaten and even murdered after vicious 'struggle sessions'.

Yet China's bloodiest decade is now barely mentioned, and both victims and perpetrators still live with this unspoken trauma. Now, after forty years of silence, Tania Branigan hears their stories.

In today's final episode: Mao impersonators, kitsch Cultural Revolution restaurants and student 'struggle sessions', as China struggles to make sense of its traumatic past...

Writer: Tania Branigan is the Guardian's foreign leader writer, and was the Guardian's China correspondent for seven years.
Reader: Chipo Chung
Producer: Justiine Willett
Abridger: Katrin Williams


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001kxhv)
The latest shipping forecast


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001kxj1)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001kxj5)
The latest shipping forecast


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m001kxjc)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001kxjj)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Jonathan Rea.


SAT 05:45 Please Protect Abraham (m001fw35)
3. Testify

As Abraham makes a decision about whether to stand and give evidence, journalist Sam Holder examines how the court process works for those who feel threatened. Where could Abraham have turned to for support? What makes someone a vulnerable witness - and what can be done to keep them safe?

And are there wider concerns about how the justice system operates?

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

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

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m001l1vf)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m001kx76)
Lost Norfolk

Norfolk has around two hundred abandoned villages and more ruined churches than any other county. In this programme, Lawrence D'Silva explores some of them and finds out why there are so many in Norfolk's rural landscapes. He wanders through the grassy outlines of the streets which once made up the medieval village of Godwick, imagines what used to exist in its ghostly outlines, and learns what led to its decline. He finds out how some deserted landscapes are now havens for wildlife, and experiences thousands of rooks and crows coming down to roost at dusk in Buckenham. At East Somerton he finds a ruined church almost swallowed up by the surrounding woodland and hears about the legend of the tree now growing right in the middle of what was once the church's nave. There's even a ruined church which is now part of a private garden. Lawrence meets its owners and finds out how part of Norfolk's history has become part of their everyday lives.

Produced by Emma Campbell


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m001l1vh)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside


SAT 06:57 Weather (m001l1vk)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m001l1vm)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m001l1vp)
Cath Kidston, Stig Abell, Kylie Grimes, Rufus Wainwright

The designer and business-woman Cath Kidston reveals the person beyond the patterns - and explains how she's moved away from drawing flowers to drawing on the natural properties of them for her new business venture.

Stig Abell's career spans from running the Press Complaints commission, managing editor of The Sun and Times Radio breakfast show presenter. But, he can now add crime fiction novelist to his extensive CV with the publication of Death Under a Little Sky.

Wheelchair rugby star and Olympic gold medallist Kylie Grimes discusses the sport's expansion and champions getting more women into sport of all kinds.

Musician Rufus Wainwright, who is at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival on April 29th, shares his inheritance tracks.


SAT 10:00 Your Place or Mine with Shaun Keaveny (m001l1vr)
Fatiha El-Ghorri: Larache, Morocco

Comedian Fatiha El-Ghorri paints an evocative picture of her family's home town, the fishing port of Larache in Morocco. But will she persuade Shaun to brave the hungry mosquitoes?

Your Place Or Mine is the travel podcast that isn’t going anywhere. Join Shaun as his guests try to convince him that it’s worth getting up off the sofa and seeing the world, giving us a personal guide to their favourite place on the planet. With resident geographer, historian and comedian Iszi Lawrence on hand to share facts, each week a familiar face will try to persuade Shaun that jetting off to their favourite destination is worth the hassle.

Your Place or Mine is a BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producers: Becca Bryers & Hannah Hufford


SAT 10:30 You're Dead To Me (p0b4zmkz)
Mary Wollstonecraft

Greg Jenner and his guests Dr Corin Throsby and comic Cariad Lloyd discuss the life and legacy of Mary Wollstonecraft. As a successful ghostwriter, an advocate of human rights and witty book critic, we look into how Mary Wollstonecraft navigated a tumultuous 'Reign of Terror' in France, A treasure hunt, and multiple heartbreaks to be recognised as the 'Mother of Feminism' in part to her book 'The Vindication of the Rights of Woman'.

Research: Chris Wakefield and Rosanna Evans
Script: Emma Nagouse, Chris Wakefield and Greg Jenner
Project Manager: Siefe Miyo
Edit Producer: Cornelius Mendez


SAT 11:00 Soul Music (m0011rkf)
Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific

Ezio Pinza was the first person to sing Some Enchanted Evening when South Pacific opened on Broadway in 1949. His granddaughter, Sarah Goodyear, recounts his extraordinary life story: from international opera singer, to political prisoner, then a star of musical theatre.

Perhaps best known for its 1958 film version, South Pacific famously starred Rossano Brazzi as Emile de Becque. However his singing voice was provided by opera star, Giorgio Tozzi. His son, Eric Tozzi, recalls hearing his father practice Some Enchanted Evening in their California beach-side home.

Canan Maxton runs the charity, Talent Unlimited, which supports student musicians. Some Enchanted Evening was the signature tune to her own love story, which inspired her to launch that organisation.

Alan Titchmarsh is best known as a TV gardener, but he has a surprisingly good voice. Some Enchanted Evening is a childhood favourite which reminds him of his parents, but he couldn't have foreseen the day when he would sing it live at the London Palladium for an ITV audience (credit to ITV All Star Musicals, produced by Multistory Media for the extract used).

Daniel Evans is the Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre. He staged a well-reviewed production of South Pacific, one which explores the racist theme Rodgers and Hammerstein originally sought to address in their Broadway production. He explains the role Some Enchanted Evening plays in the storyline of the show.

Julian Ovenden played Emile de Becque in the Chichester production. He describes what it's like to perform this very famous and much anticipated song.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by: Karen Gregor


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m001l1vv)
Mexico's Clergy and the Cartels

Young Mexicans preparing to join the priesthood don't only have to struggle with matters of mortal sin or individual guilt. They are also often sent to serve communities where the country's drug-trafficking networks are highly active - and extremely violent. Will Grant spoke to some of the men who must run the deadly risks of ministering in 'cartel land'.

The regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran has driven events across the Middle East in recent decades - with the two powers backing opposing sides in the conflicts in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Recently, Riyadh and Tehran agreed to re-establish diplomatic ties, but as Sebastian Usher explains, even as some red lines shift, the limits on public debate at home are still very much in force.

The Chaco region of Paraguay was once called 'the green hell' for its spiky, almost impenetrable scrubland. It's now opening up to the outside world, thanks to a new highway called the Bi-oceanic Corridor. Some communities living in the Chaco - like the Mennonite groups whose dairy farms now dot the landscape, and the Ayoreo indigenous people of the area - welcome the new opportunities for their produce, but worry about whether newcomers will change their way of life. Jane Chambers heard their concerns.

Deal or no deal? Not a game-show question, but a repetitive refrain in the long saga of diplomacy in the Balkans. The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borell recently trumpeted 'we have a deal' after a round of talks between Serbia and Kosovo. Guy De Launey found the devil lay in the detail... or, rather, the lack of it.

And on the beaches of Jersey, Christine Finn recently received some lessons in frugality - including advice on the best uses for foraged seaweed, and how to benefit from a cut-price, one-clawed lobster.

Presenter: Kate Adie
Producer: Polly Hope
Production coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m001l1vx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m001l1vz)
Healthy Start and Digital Memories

It's estimated that more than 200 thousand low income parents --in England, Wales and Northern Ireland -- are missing out on government assistance to help them buy food for their children. The Healthy Start Scheme offers money for milk, fruit and vegetables - but uptake is well below the government's target. In response Department of Health says uptake is increasing and it's committed to promoting a healthy diet for children.

The high-cost lender Amigo has said it will halt all lending and wind down its business after failing to raise extra funds from investors. What does this mean for thousands of who’ve applied for compensation believing they were mis-sold loans?

State benefits and pensions paid to tens of millions of people went up this week by 10.1% - almost the current rate of inflation. When can you expect your increased payment?

And what you should do to protect your digital memories after you’ve died?

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Sarah Rogers
Researcher: Sandra Hardial
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast, 12pm Saturday 15th April, 2023)


SAT 12:30 The Now Show (m001kyms)
Series 62

Episode 5

Steve Punt presents the week via topical stand-up and sketches. He's joined by Ahir Shah talking about the junior doctor strike, Alex Kealy exploring the French pension reforms & Rachel Parris singing about being stuck in the Dover queues over the Easter weekend.

The show is written by the cast with additional material from Hugh Dennis, Laura Major, Mike Shephard, David Duncan & Kate Dehnert.

Voice actors: Luke Kempner & Chiara Goldsmith

Sound: Gary Newman & John Boland
Editor: Marc Willcox
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Producer: Sasha Bobak
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls

A BBC Studios Production


SAT 12:57 Weather (m001l1w1)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m001l1w3)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m001kxgv)
Dame Margaret Beckett MP, Adrian Ramsay, Tim Stanley, Lord Willetts

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire, with a panel made up of Labour MP and former Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, co-leader of the Green party in England and Wales Adrian Ramsay, historian, broadcaster and Daily Telegraph columnist Tim Stanley, and Conservative peer and President of the Resolution Foundation Lord Willetts.
Producer: Emma Campbell
Lead broadcast engineer: John Cole


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m001l1w5)
Topical discussion posing questions to a panel of political and media personalities


SAT 14:45 Drama (m001kpvv)
Word Scrubs

Mitch and Meg, siblings in their 30s, are the great great nephew and niece, and literary executors, of Peggy Stanhope (1889-1959), a prolific and profitable writer of books for children and young adults from a very different era.

Beloved by generations of children around the world, White Star (1943), winner of the Carnegie Medal, is the story of a snowy horse, owned by a young woman, who frightens away the evil stallion Black Boy from a village. Because of its time of publication, White Star was seen by some teachers and preachers as a patriotic allegory of Allied superiority to the Nazis, although Stanhope, denied this.

In 2023, a Hollywood streamer wants to adapt the book as movie, but, as a condition, wishes to change the title and some of the plot and language.

The meetings between the siblings and the publishers are intercut with Home Service readings from Stanhope’s work, and interviews with their author on Desert Island Discs, in a drama that takes its inspiration from the current debate over whether classic texts should be rewritten for contemporary re-publication.

Written by Mark Lawson

CAST
DAME JESS ELLIOTT - Jane Slavin
MITCH - Damian Lynch
MEG - Tracy-Anne Green
PEGGY STANHOPE - Barbara Flynn
SKIPPY LEAVESDEN-SMART - Tom Glenister
LORD JUSTICE SHARP - Clive Hayward

Producer/Director: Eoin O'Callaghan
A Big Fish Radio production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 15:30 All the Names You've Ever Called Me (m001k7wt)
This started as a love story, but something clicked: this is not love. A poetic insight into a coercive relationship, adapted from real-life experiences, performed by Kate Dickie.

"It was like carbon monoxide poisoning. You can’t tell it’s happening until it’s too late."

Coercive control can be very hard to recognise if you're up close. Recognised as a criminal offence in the UK since 2015, coercive control is widespread and devastating. In the year ending March 2022, 41,626 cases were recorded in England and Wales. There are familiar hallmarks of coercive behaviour - love bombing, gaslighting, isolation from friends and family, monitoring every movement, control of finances, diminishing self-worth and name calling. Calling you every name but your own.

'All the Names You've Ever Called Me' is a poetic, fictionalised account of a coercive relationship, directly inspired by a number of first-person experiences.

Producer: Victoria McArthur
Writer: Christine Entwisle
Narrator: Kate Dickie
Studio manager: Gav Murchie
Sound mix: Joel Cox
Researcher: Anna Miles

Produced in collaboration with Refuge, Women and Children First (Refrewshire) and Kairos Women+


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m001l1w7)
Hadley Freeman, Baroness Warsi, Derry Girls' actors Siobhan McSweeney and Louisa Harland on the London stage, AI, Emma Booth

The writer Hadley Freeman stopped eating when she was 14, and spent the next three years in and out of hospital, battling with anorexia. Now in her mid-forties, she says she didn’t completely close the door on the disease until relatively recently. In Good Girls – A Story and Study of Anorexia, she gives an unflinching account of what happened to her and looks at what happens to girls who become anorexic now; what we know and what we don’t about the mental illness.

Brian Friel’s classic play Dancing at Lughnasa has opened at the National Theatre. Telling the story of the five Mundy sisters, two of the actors, more recently on our screens in Derry Girls - Siobhan McSweeney and Louisa Harland - discuss their new roles.

Emma Booth is on the Woman's Hour Power List, this year focussed on women in sport. Emma impressed the judges as she took a public stand against major golf brand TaylorMade and their lack of female imagery and golf products for women. She reflects on speaking out against such a well-known company and how it is to be a woman in golf.

The conservative peer Baroness Sayeeda Warsi has criticised the home secretary Suella Braverman for using "racist rhetoric". She says her recent comments on small boats and grooming gangs have "emboldened racists". We ask her why she's decided to speak out.

Have you ever heard an interview with a robot on the radio? We speak to the world’s first ultra-realistic artist robot, Ai-Da, and her creator, Aidan Meller.

What’s it like to become a pop star at almost 46? Twenty years ago Alexis Strum had a record deal and achieved her dream to make an album, but then it was pulled. She walked away from music – until now. She shares her story with Nuala.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Lucy Wai
Editor: Louise Corley


SAT 17:00 PM (m001l1w9)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Sliced Bread Presents (m001kymr)
Toast - Olestra

While Sliced Bread takes a break we serve up… Toast. A study of the spectacular failures of wonder products and businesses which had promised so much to consumers.

In each episode the presenter and BBC business journalist, Sean Farrington, examines one big idea. What did it promise? Why did people back it? Why did they get burnt?

Some of the world’s most successful businesses have also brought us some of the world’s most remarkable failures. So, what led them to be toast? And what can we learn from their stories today?

Sean unpicks all the early optimism, hype and ambition. He speaks to expert commentators and to people involved with doomed wonder products to discover how they view things now and what, if anything, could have been done differently.

Along the way he discovers charming and surprising stories from people who took to these products but lived to regret it and, with the help of self-made millionaire and serial entrepreneur Sam White, tries to work out where they went wrong.

This week, Sean and Sam look into a fat substitute called Olestra which promised to make savoury snacks healthier.

With none of the fat and far fewer calories, Olestra sounded like a dieter's dream..... but it didn't turn out that way.

Toast is a spin-off from Sliced Bread, the series in which Greg Foot investigates the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread.

Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in May. In the meantime, Toast is available only in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds.

Toast is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001l1wc)
The latest shipping forecast


SAT 17:57 Weather (m001l1wf)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001l1wh)
Grand National is won by the favourite after start is delayed by protestors on the track


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m001l1wk)
John Cooper Clarke, Harry Hill, Monica Ali, Suhani Shah, Supalung, Sam Brookes, George Egg, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and George Egg are joined by John Cooper Clarke, Harry Hill, Monica Ali and Suhini Shah for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Supalung and Sam Brookes.


SAT 19:00 Profile (m001l1wm)
Dr Nicola Fox

Physicist Dr Nicola Fox, who grew up in Hertfordshire, is the new head of science at the US space agency NASA. Only the second woman to hold the post, Dr Fox is a world-renowned expert on the Sun, who'd previously overseen one of the most important missions to study its scientific mysteries.

In her new role, Nicola Fox will be responsible for hundreds of NASA projects, including returning humans to the Moon and exploring Mars. Outside of work, she enjoys karaoke... and fashion with a space theme.

Mark Coles speaks to Nicola Fox’s friends, family and fellow scientists about how she landed ‘the best job on the planet’.

Presenter: Mark Coles
Production team: Diane Richardson and Georgia Coan
Editor: Simon Watts
Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m001l1wp)
Linton Kwesi Johnson

Reggae poet Linton Kwesi Johnson reveals the influences and experiences that inspired his own creativity. Born in Jamaica, he moved to south London in 1963 at the age of eleven. He made his name as a performance poet, reciting politically motivated verse to a dub-reggae backbeat, and becoming a powerful voice of resistance and protest in response to racism on the streets of Britain in the 1970s. He became the first black poet to be published in the Penguin Modern Classics series, was awarded the PEN Pinter Prize in 2020, and recently published a collection of prose under the title Time Come. On stage and on record, he is renowned for angry and uncompromising works such as Five Nights Of Bleeding, Sonny’s Lettah, and Iglan Is a Bitch.

For This Cultural Life, Linton Kwesi Johnson recalls growing up in poverty in rural Jamaica, where his grandmother told him ghost stories and read The Bible. Appalled at the racism he experienced, he joined the Black Panthers whilst still at school and became a political activist. He began to write and perform poetry, set to music and delivered in Jamaican patois, after being inspired by reggae artists such as Prince Buster and U-Roy, and the American group The Last Poets. Johnson also talks about the tragic fire that killed 13 young partygoers in New Cross, south London in 1981, an event that he commemorated in one of his best known works, New Craas Massahkah.

Producer: Edwina Pitman


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001l1ws)
The Other F Word

Fascist. Fascism. By one measure, a very specific, historical movement. But also a word that is wholly of the now, used - or thrown around - daily and with ever-greater frequency.

A warning from history, few words have such power. But has that power been eroded over the decades, twisted by propagandists, rendered meaningless by over-use?

Jonathan Freedland considers the past and present of the f-word, spooling through the BBC archives from Benito Mussolini's March on Rome a century ago, to contemporary talk of body fascism and eco-fascism.

Who or what in today's world could be described as fascist? Why does the word exert such continued power? And is it appropriate to compare the politics or language of the 1930s with that of today?

Dr Selena Daly, Professor Gary Gerstle and Professor Kerry Brown join Jonathan to hear and discuss Mussolini and Mosley, Putin and Xi Jinping, Trump rallies and Gary Lineker's tweets.

Jonathan also talks to Karen Pollock of the Holocaust Educational Trust and hears from Peter Pomerantsev, author of Nothing is True and Everything is Possible, and Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House.

Producer: Julia Johnson
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 GF Newman's The Corrupted (b0b7hlsq)
Series 4

Episode 5

It's the 1980s and Brian Oldman is back in jail for a crime he didn't commit. He suspects, but cannot prove, that Joseph Oldman, now Joseph Olinska MP, was the perpetrator.

GF Newman's The Corrupted weaves fiction with real characters from history, following the fortunes of the Oldman family - from small-time business and opportunistic petty crime, through gang rivalries, to their entanglement in the highest echelons of society. It's a tale revealing the nexus of crime, business and politics woven through the fabric of 20th century greed as even those with hitherto good intentions are sucked into a web of corruption.

Joey Oldman, an uneducated Jewish child immigrant from Russia, has a natural instinct for business and a love of money - coupled with a knack for acquiring it. His wife Cath is as ruthless in both the pursuit of money and the protection of her son, Brian. Joey built his empire with the help of a corrupt bank manager in the 1950s, starting with small greengrocer shops before moving into tertiary banking and property development, dealing with many corrupt policemen on the way - and befriending both Lord Goodman and Margaret Thatcher.

The characters are based on GF Newman's novels.

Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 21:45 Short Works (m001kxfm)
Where Life Starts by David Park

An original short story commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from the author David Park. Read by Maggie Cronin.

David Park is one of Northern Ireland's most acclaimed writers. His first novel 'The Healing' won the Authors’ Club First Novel Award. 'The Truth Commissioner' was awarded the Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize and adapted for film; 'The Light of Amsterdam' was shortlisted for the IMPAC Prize; 'The Poets’ Wives' was Belfast’s One City One Book and 'Travelling in a Strange Land' won the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award. He has received a Major Artist Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the American Ireland Fund Literary Award. His latest novel 'Spies in Canaan' was published in 2022.

Writer: David Park
Reader: Maggie Cronin
Producer: Michael Shannon
Executive Editor: Andy Martin

A BBC Northern Ireland production.


SAT 22:00 News (m001l1wz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 Screenshot (m001kxgn)
Jeanne Dielman and the art of slow cinema

Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones take the scenic route through slow cinema - a genre of film that might challenge your attention span, but is almost guaranteed to change the way you watch.

There is one particular film that’s inspired this week’s show, Chantal Akerman’s 3-and-a-half hour, slow moving masterpiece from 1975 - Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080, Brussels

In December 2022, Jeanne Dielman topped Sight and Sound magazine’s Greatest Film of All Time poll. That caused quite a fuss because, for the last few decades, the poll has been dominated by Citizen Kane and Vertigo.

Ellen speaks with critic Wendy Ide and film academic Dr Tiago de Luca to get deeper into the genre of slow cinema and explore this sea change in critics' tastes.

One reason for Jeanne Dielman’s new found popularity is down to access. A film that was once almost impossible to see is now enjoying sell out runs in art house cinemas. In an extended interview, Mark talks with writer and filmmaker Adam Roberts who, along with director Joanna Hogg, has long been at the centre of the quest to take Chantal Akerman’s filmography from the underground into the spotlight. They discuss Akerman’s life, work and her unique creative vision.

And in this week’s Viewing Note, friend of the show and director of the Cornish folk horror Enys Men, Mark Jenkin, shares his slow cinema recommendations.

Producer: Freya Hellier
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:00 Round Britain Quiz (m001kwwd)
Programme 1, 2023

(1/12)
Kirsty Lang is in the chair for a new season of the cult cryptic quiz, with defending champions the South of England taking on the Midlands in the opening contest.

The South of England is represented by Marcus Berkmann and Paul Sinha, while playing opposite them are Frankie Fanko and Stephen Maddock for the Midlands. Both sides have been multiple series winners in the recent past, so all the panellists are sure to be on their mettle.

As always there are six points for a perfectly-answered question, with Kirsty deducting points the more hints and nudges she has to provide along the way towards the solution. How many clear sixes will be scored today?

Producer: Paul Bajoria


SAT 23:30 Uncanny (m001l1x4)
S2. Case 2: My Family's Poltergeist

James moves with his parents to a new house, but the family are swiftly plunged into a maelstrom of terrifying, violent poltergeist activity which will tear the family apart. Could this be the scariest Uncanny episode yet?

Written and presented by Danny Robins
Editor and Sound Designer: Charlie Brandon-King
Music: Evelyn Sykes
Theme Music by Lanterns on the Lake
Script assistant: Leo Dunlop
Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard

A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4

SUNDAY 16 APRIL 2023

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m001l1x8)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 A Society of Recordists (m001692r)
For over half a century, the Wildlife Sound Recording Society has been active in encouraging amateur recordists to develop their skills and increase their understanding of the natural world, in the UK and around the globe. In this impressionistic sonic portrait, we join society members on a group field-recording trip to Caerlaverock Wetland Centre in Dumfriesshire, to share in reflections and reminiscences about encounters with nature and the art of audio recording.

The sound of thousands of barnacle geese in flight; the wingbeat of a whooper swan; the ambience of a lake at night - our recordists have different sounds they wish to capture during the trip, and a variety of techniques, equipment rigs and field craft know-how at their disposal. Some want the ultimate sense of a location in stunning stereo, while others want to document specific species with as little other "pollution" as possible. What makes a good recording? And what drives them to keep heading out at dawn and dusk alone with their microphones?

Featured Field Recordings:

David M. - A flock takes to the air at Caerlaverock
Richard Youell - Overhead Whooper Swan
Johannes van den Burg - Black-backed Jackal calling at the Waterhole
Anna Sulley - Bird song: Wren, Curlew, Jackdaw
Robert Malpas - Inner Farne: Terns with People
Johannes van der Burg - Life In The River Eye
Derek McGinn - Snow Bunting
Richard Youell - Geese over Caerlaverock

With thanks to the Wildlife Sound Recording Society and to the British Library for permission to share extracts from the Charles and Heather Myers collection.

Photo credit: Richard Youell

Producers; Peregrine Andrews and Phil Smith

A Far Shoreline production for BBC Radio 3.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001l1xd)
The latest shipping forecast


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001l1xj)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001l1xn)
The latest shipping forecast


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m001l1xs)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m001l1xx)
All Saints Church in Wilbarston, Northamptonshire

Bells on Sunday comes from All Saints Church in Wilbarston, Northamptonshire. The original building dates back to the 12th century with significant additions and alterations over the following centuries. In 1884 the church was restored and its four un-ringable bells were recast and augmented to make a ring of five bells. These needed significant repair following the church spire being struck by lightning in 1982. In 2018 the bells were rehung and augmented to a ring of six bells with a tenor weighing seven and a half hundredweight and tuned to the note of A flat by John Taylor of Loughborough. We hear them ringing Delight Minor.


SUN 05:45 Profile (m001l1wm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m001l1y2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b0bgp7hv)
Call and Response

Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand examines the phenomenon of call and response, one of the most primal human interactions.

She explains that, "whether we’re calling our mother on the phone or crying out to God, when we call we hope for a response. That’s because we are social creatures, yearning for connection, so responding to a call seems to be hard-wired into us."

Shoshana leads us into deep space, tuning in to the Arecibo Message, humanity's first attempt to call out to unseen alien races. The irony is that, if aliens respond we may not even be able to understand them. Shoshana admits that, despite all her prayers, she's never heard the voice of God herself, and wonders if she would understand if a divine response was to arrive.

Drawing upon musical examples ranging from Count Basie and Bach to Simon and Garfunkel, Shoshana reveals that the call and response form has long fascinated singers and composers. She explains she has always been amazed at Bach's ability to write music for the piano that lets the left and right hand enter a dialogue, communicating back and forth through melody.

The communal Jewish prayer of the Kaddish, the electric energy between Baptist pastor and congregation and the beauty of the Islamic call to prayer are all explored as Shoshana considers the interpersonal bonding that call and response facilitates.

She concludes that faith itself can be defined as the ever-present hope that, when we call out from the depths, we will receive a response. It may not always be the response that we were expecting. It may even be silence. But, fundamentally, we call out and hope for an answer as a reminder that we are not alone.

Presenter: Shoshana Boyd Gelfand
Producer: Max O'Brien
A TBI production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m001l1y6)
Shingle Spit Sheep

Anna Louise Claydon explores the historic farmland surrounding the world-famous archaeological site of Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. She joins National Trust shepherd Andy Capell as he rounds up sheep ready to travel by ferry to what rangers call "the island" - ten miles of unique marshland, the largest vegetated shingle spit in Europe. She travels with the flock of 100 sheep, who spend the rest of the year helping to improve the habitat for the endangered wading birds which live on the spit at Orford Ness.

She meets the rare breed Herdwicks, Manx Loaghtan and Whitefaced Woodland sheep as they embark on their journey over to the island, and hears how their grazing has been boosting the breeding grounds of birds such as redshanks, avocets and the red-listed lapwings. She finds out how the birds and sheep are mutually beneficial, with the grazing done by the flock providing different grass lengths for the ground-nesting birds. The sheep are in need of support too, as there are only currently 900 registered Whitefaced Woodland females left.

Anna Louise finds out about the working life of a shepherd on the island: she learns how he's had to master life on the water, negotiate boats to commute to and tend his sheep every day, and create emergency evacuation plans in order to keep his flock safe on the intriguing, unusual and unpredictable terrain of the shingle spit.

Presented and produced by Anna Louise Claydon


SUN 06:57 Weather (m001l1yb)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m001l1yg)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m001l1yl)
In the lead up to Eid-al-Fitr Muslims are not eating or drinking water during daylight hours. There are some Muslims who feel they cannot break the fast with their family this Ramadan - many of those identify as LGBTQ+. Some charities and organisations have been holding events to make sure they can share an Iftar with others. We hear from the events' organisers.

UN Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, speaks about what its like for ethnic and religious minorities in the country and what plans are to protect people.

It's Easter in the Orthodox tradition and people of Russian and Ukrainian heritage will be standing side by side in worship in churches across the UK. The Russian Orthodox Church has allied itself with President Vladimir Putin, echoing Kremlin rhetoric in defending the invasion of Ukraine. However, Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe says that: 'warfare is always a sign of man’s degradation'.

BBC Two's Pilgrimage is back on screens. The religious reality TV series sees celebrities take on a spiritual journey through Portugal. One of the contributors is actor Su Pollard, who was raised in the Church of England and will be telling Edward Stourton about the journey.

There are renewed tensions in Iran as the government has stepped up its crackdown on women not wearing the hijab. The law is being widely flouted, but in the last week it emerged that surveillance cameras are being used to identify unveiled women. Last year there were nationwide protests after the death in custody of 22 year old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for not wearing her hijab properly. It is now understood that a fresh wave of demonstrations is planned. As well as the hijab issue, there is also growing discontent over levels of poverty in the country. We hear the latest news from Iran and some expert analysis.

Jurors who take a religious oath themselves are more likely to find a defendant who doesn't swear by almighty God guilty of an offence, according to a recent study published by Royal Holloway University of London. Should that mean swearing religious oaths in court be abolished or replaced completely with something more secular? There is a discussion with the study's author and an Anglican vicar who has a legal background.

Presenter: Edward Stourton
Producers: Katy Booth and Catherine Murray
Studio Managers: Amy Brennan and Jonathan Esp
Production co-ordinator: David Baguley
Editor: Tim Pemberton


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m001l1yq)
The Citizens Foundation

Reporter and presenter Saima Mohsin makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of The Citizens Foundation.

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 ‘The Citizens Foundation UK'.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘The Citizens Foundation UK’.
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: 1087864


SUN 07:57 Weather (m001l1yv)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m001l1yz)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m001l1z3)
New life, new hope, a new future

Live from the chapel of Rugby School. The preacher is the Chaplain, the Revd Richard Horner, and the service is led by the Assistant Chaplain, Lisa Greatwood. The Rugby School Choir, where Young Chorister of the Year Naomi is a member, will sing Crown him with many crowns; Be thou my Vision (Chilcott); Ave Maria (Jimmy Scanlon); Mary did you know? (Lowry/Greene); This Joyful Eastertide (Owens); Te Deum in B flat (Stanford). The choir is directed by Richard Tanner and the organ is played by Ian Wicks.

Readings: Hebrews 9:1-3, 6-14; Mark 16:1-8

Producer: Alexa Good


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m001kxgz)
In Praise of Satire

Living in New York during lockdown, Adam Gopnik spent his time enjoying the escapism of foreign TV shows - like the BBC's W1A and 2012.

While these shows were unapologetically British, chock-full of alien cultural references to Frankie Howerd and Dad's Army, Adam says these shows helped him appreciate the universal language of satire.

'I'd say we enjoy satire more when we don't know the things being satirized' he writes, 'and so cannot protest their portrayal'.

He says we 'depend on the satirist for all our information, both for the ground and for the graffiti he scrawls upon it.'

Producer: Sheila Cook
Sound Engineer: Peter Bosher
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b03x45s5)
Black Redstart

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

Bill Oddie presents the black redstart. It was the German Luftwaffe which enabled black redstarts to gain a real foothold here. The air-raids of the Blitz created bombsites which mimicked their rocky homes and the weeds that grew there attracted insects. In 1942 there over twenty singing males in London alone and now they're being encouraged by the creation of ‘green roof’ habitats, rich in flowers and insects.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m001l1z7)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.

Includes a clip from Groundhog Day (1993), directed by Harold Ramis and produced by Columbia Pictures.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m001l1zc)
Writer, Nick Warburton
Director, Marina Caldarone
Editor, Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Natasha Archer ….. Mali Harries
Pat Archer ….. Patricia Gallimore
Tom Archer ….. William Troughton
Tony Archer ….. David Troughton
Lee Bryce ….. Ryan Early
Harrison Burns ….. James Cartwright
Alice Carter ….. Hollie Chapman
Chris Carter ….. Wilf Scolding
Ian Craig ….. Stephen Kennedy
Justin Elliot ….. Simon Williams
George Grundy ….. Angus Stobie
Mia Grundy ….. Molly Pipe
Brad Horrobin ….. Taylor Uttley
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Adam Macy ….. Andrew Wincott
Adil Shah ….. Ronny Jhutti
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane


SUN 11:15 The Reunion (m001l1zh)
Sharpe

It was a Napoleonic war drama to be shot in the Crimean Peninsula. But little did the producers know that they would be sending the cast and crew to film in a rapidly disintegrating Soviet Union.

Once in Crimea, the whole production faced near-starvation and danger around every corner as they set about creating one of Britain’s most successful and critically acclaimed 90s television programmes, Sharpe.

It was to go down in television folklore for its unique tales of mishaps and hardship. Renowned actor Paul McGann was originally cast to play the lead character, Sharpe. But only six weeks into filming he picked up a serious injury and had to pull out.

It left the production in chaos and saw one of the highest-ever insurance pay-outs for a television series.

Everyone packed up back to the UK with the future of the series left in suspense. That was until a relatively unknown actor called Sean Bean took on the part and the show was back on the road. The cast and crew headed back to Simferopol in Crimea (later to be nicknamed “simplyawful”) and filming resumed.

Sharpe became a six series hit across nearly 15 years, with viewing figures topping 10 million.

Our panel includes Sharpe’s author Bernard Cornwell, then-assistant producer Stuart Sutherland, one of the “chosen men” Jason Salkey who played one of Sean Bean’s right hand men, Michael Cochrane who played Colonel Sir Henry Simmerson across the entire series, and Diana Perez who played Ramona.

Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Howard Shannon
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m001l244)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (m001kwxv)
Series 91

2. Tutankhamun, Haggling, and Canadian Cuisine

Sue Perkins challenges Paul Merton, Shaparak Khorsandi, Daliso Chaponda and Heidi Regan 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 Tutankhamun to Canadian Cuisine.

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

A BBC Studios Production


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m001l1zr)
Weight-loss drugs

Is hacking our biology the only solution left to an unhealthy food system and bad food culture?

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m001l1zw)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m001l200)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world


SUN 13:30 Behind the Crime (m001l204)
David

Criminal behaviour costs the country around £60 billion every year, according to Home Office research.
Is it possible to prevent crime by understanding the root causes of offending behaviour?
Sally Tilt and Dr Kerensa Hocken are forensic psychologists who work in prisons.
Their role is to help people in prison to look at the harm they’ve caused to other people, understand why it happened and work out how to make changes to prevent further harm after they’ve been released.
In Behind the Crime, they take the time to understand the life of someone whose crimes have led to harm and, in some cases, imprisonment.
In this final episode they talk to David who served a prison sentence for fraud.
This is the story of a man working in a ‘fake it til you make it’ environment, and who slipped into unethical, and then criminal behaviour almost without realising.
Through this extraordinary conversation, we see how David’s habit of lying formed in his childhood, and why that deeply-rooted pattern of behaviour led to both success in business, and then to a humiliating downfall.
The job of the forensic psychologists is to dig deep into David’s story, to understand the sequence of external influences that led him to prison.
In prison, David saw a side of life he had never experienced before, and he shares his unique perspective on the criminal justice system that we, as a society, pay for.
For details of organisations that can provide help and support, visit bbc.co.uk/actionline

Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Editor: Clare Fordham
Behind the Crime is a co-production between BBC Long Form Audio and the Prison Radio Association.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001kxff)
Earlsdon

What’s the best way to grow swedes? Why doesn’t my hydrangea come to flower? Are artificial plants acceptable or downright outrageous?

This week, the GQT panellists are in Earlsdon to answer these questions and more in front of a live audience. Ready to share their insightful advice on all your plant predicaments are plant pathologist Pippa Greenwood, grow-your-own guru Bob Flowerdew, and conversant horticulturist Anne Swithinbank.

Alongside the questions, regular panellist Matthew Wilson visits GQT Producer, Dan Cocker to dig up all there is to know about weeds.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m001l208)
Borstal Boy

Somewhere between autobiography, memoir and novel, the Irish writer and poet Brendan Behan’s Borstal Boy was published in 1958. It’s the story of the teenaged Behan’s three years in an English Borstal – the youth detention centres of their day.

As an Irish Republican, Behan’s views of the English are challenged, relationships are formed, and his journey to becoming one of the most celebrated writers of his generation begins.

Hearing from the bestselling Irish novelist Colm Tóibín, John Yorke explains the delight of this tender, funny, sometimes sad, sometimes violent book, and unpicks Behan’s ability to capture detail and dialogue in rich, yet somehow sparse descriptions of life in Borstal.

John shares a lifetime of experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the secrets behind the books, plays and stories that are being dramatized in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. He has been working in television and radio for nearly 30 years.

From East Enders to the Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book ‘Into the Woods’. As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world’s most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful BBC Writers Academy John has trained a generation of screenwriters.

Contributors:
Colm Tóibín, bestselling writer of novels such as Nora Webster and The Blackwater Lightship. His book Brooklyn was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film starring Saoirse Ronan, and his writing has been translated into over 30 languages.

Credits:
Borstal Boy by Brendan Behan, 1958.

Excerpts from a 1971 BBC Television adaption of Borstal Boy, featuring Donal Neligan as Brendan Behan, Sheila Fay as the landlady, Wilfred Carter as the sergeant, Gavin Morrrison as Vereker. Omnibus, 1971.

Brendan Behan interviewed by Derek Hart, Tonight, BBC Television, 1959.

CA Joyce, governor of the Borstal, interviewed for BBC Television in 1971.

Researcher: Nina Semple
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Producer: Jack Soper
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Production Manager: Sarah Wright

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Love Stories (m001l20b)
Borstal Boy

Brendan Behan is often remembered as the hard-drinking, wise-cracking and outspoken Irish writer who turned up roaring drunk for interviews and cared little for authority.

In this honest and tender memoir from 1958, Brendan Behan upends that public image. Without shying away from the harsh realities of life in prison, Behan tells the story of a stammering IRA rebel who, despite everything, finds true friends, and love, in an English borstal.

2023 marks 100 years since Brendan Behan’s birth. This is Martin McNamara’s fresh take on the acclaimed writer’s memoir.

CAST
Brendan Behan ….. Brendan Coyle
Young Brendan Behan ….. Jonny Holden
Charlie ….. Joseph Ayre
Rae Jeffs …. Leah Marks
Governor Joyce …. Ewan Bailey
Jock ….. Connor Curren
The Sergeant ….. Samuel James
The Priest ….. Gerard McDermott

Dramatist ….. Martin McNamara
Director ….. Anne Isger
Production Co-ordinator ….. Jonathan Powell
Sound ….. Anne Bunting, Jenni Burnett, Ali Craig, Cal Knightley

A BBC Audio Production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 16:00 Open Book (m001l20d)
Best of Young British Novelists 2023

Publisher and Editor Sigrid Rausing gives an insight into chairing the judges panel for Granta's widely-discussed, once-in-a-decade list of new writing talent, which has previously helped establish the likes of Ian McEwan, Zadie Smith and Salman Rushdie.

Alex Clark and Max Liu interrogate what the purpose of the list serves at a time when 'Young', 'British' and 'Novelist' are increasingly slippery terms, as well as giving some of their recommendations.

And Sophie Macintosh, one of the most widely praised writers included on it, talks about her new novel Cursed Bread.

Presenter: Octavia Bright
Producer: Ciaran Bermingham

Granta 163: Best of Young British Novelists 5 (forthcoming)
Dolores by Lauren Aimee Curtis
Chrysalis by Anna Metcalfe (forthcoming)
The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams
Assembly by Natasha Brown
Send Nudes by Saba Sams
We Don't Know What We're Doing by Thomas Morris
In Our Mad and Furious City by Guy Gunaratne
little scratch by Rebecca Watson
Mrs S. by K Patrick
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh
Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh
Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh


SUN 16:30 Where Once Were Farms (m001l20g)
Ian and Rhiannon O'Connor hoped to buy their first farm in the Welsh village of Cwrt-y-Cadno, to put down roots where they lived and to grow their family. But at the last minute, they were unexpectedly outbid by a London-based investment company who purchased the land to plant trees in order to generate and market carbon credits.

Poet Casi Wyn meets those living in the valley today to hear their concerns about the future and to consider the links to previous events in the history of Wales. She is reminded of those places in Wales that are already lost to external forces: Tryweryn and Llanwddyn - drowned to create reservoirs for English cities - and Mynydd Epynt, eradicated by the Ministry of Defence to become a military training ground. As Casi travels through the valley we hear the poetry of Welsh bards such as Myrddin ap Dafydd, Gwenallt Jones and Gerallt Lloyd Owen, writers whose work tells similar stories of historical loss in Wales.

“Conifers where once was community,
Forest in place of farms . . .”

As a cultural figure, the bard is central to Welsh cultural identity, standing witness to such events, capturing the spirit of each struggle and reminding Wales of all that they have to lose. It’s a mantle that Casi takes up in her role as current Bardd Plant Cymru, the Children and Youth Poet Laureate for Wales. At the local primary school, Ysgol Carreg Hirfaen, she conducts a poetry workshop with the children whose collaborative poem calls forth the “sunlight of belonging.”

Presented by Casi Wyn
Produced by Jude Shapiro, with additional research by Casi Wyn

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m001kxb3)
Police Complaints: A Crisis of Confidence

Britain’s biggest police force says there are hundreds of rogue officers amongst its ranks. It’s now The Met’s job to root them out, with dozens of staff diverted away from organised crime and counter-terrorism units to work in its professional standards department. But can the police be trusted to investigate themselves?

File on 4 can reveal how an officer working for a force outside of London, who had multiple rape allegations against him, was given a job in the professional standards department, investigating complaints made against colleagues. We’ve discovered how complaints to police forces across England and Wales are being regularly dismissed, with many people resorting to legal action to get accountability and winning damages from the police in court.

File on 4 also reveals how recent reforms to the complaints process have done little to improve accountability and restore public confidence.

Reporter: Hayley Mortimer
Producer: Tom Wall
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Carl Johnston


SUN 17:40 Profile (m001l1wm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001l20j)
The latest shipping forecast


SUN 17:57 Weather (m001l20l)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001l20n)
The Royal College of Nursing is demanding an improved pay offer from the government


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m001l20q)
Linton Stephens

Musician and broadcaster Linton Stephens with his personal selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio. We strap on our walking boots and go on an audio hiking adventure through some of the best landmarks on the radio this week. We’ll stop by Wild Isles to visit Tom Service and a Safe Space to pick up Ellie Taylor along the way. Michael Rosen says Word of Mouth is the best way to learn about the good spots. So pack in some high energy Toast as Sean Farrington recommends, and it’ll only take Just a Minute for Sue Perkins to be ready.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m001l20s)
Tony’s learned from Lilian that Justin’s stopped volunteering the shop, and withdrew from the Business Angel awards. Jim suggests Justin might shed some light. When Tony confirms he’s leaning towards favouring the charging station, disappointed Jim suggests he take a leaflet. Jim runs through with Jazzer his somewhat regimented plan to recce local pubs for the stag night. He thinks scorecards on quality and ambience might be more efficient than trying to remember each one through a fug of beer. Jazzer’s not looking forward to seeing Ed after recent events. He pronounces George a jail sentence waiting to happen, as opposed to upset Brad who’s very quiet but has been painted a liar. Jim doesn’t want to see groom and best man at odds. He suggests Jazzer leave it to him – he guarantees Jazzer and Ed will be the best of friends by the end of tomorrow.
Tony and Pat visit Helen and Lee at home for her birthday. Helen entreats Pat to stop worrying about Rob – he will go home as soon as he’s attended his mother’s funeral, they have to believe that. They’ve done all they can to protect their family. But Pat panics when she can’t find Jack. Later he’s found safe in the garden, but Pat suggests the family moves into Bridge Farm. Helen refuses. She wants normality, for everyone’s sake. Tony’s unhappy too – it’s not Pat’s decision to make. As Pat’s anxiety whips up, Tony and Lee stop her. A row ensues and Tony takes upset Pat home. Distressed Helen declares she wishes she’d never met Rob.


SUN 19:15 Angela Barnes: You Can't Take It With You (m000219n)
Series 2

Passions

Award-winning comedian and super-sharp everywoman Angela Barnes tackles life and love and, with the help of the audience, packs herself a fantasy coffin.

In part tribute to Angela's beloved late father - a larger than life gregarious character, he was a sex shop manager, naturist, and a big fan of caravans and pranks - Angela celebrates his carpe diem approach to life, and his motto "You Can't Take It With You".

When her father died very suddenly in 2008, Angela and her family proved him wrong and stuffed his coffin with sentimental keepsakes for his final journey. Angela now does the very same thing, nominating objects that she would choose to send on with her as mementoes of her life, and asking the audience to share items they would take with them, all acting as prompts for contemplative, heart-warming and captivating comedy.

Angela Barnes is a vivacious, critically acclaimed stand-up comic from Maidstone, Kent. After a career in health and social care, at the age of 33, she decided to pursue a long-held ambition and give comedy a go. Within a couple of years, Angela and her witty worldview had won the 2011 BBC New Comedy Award by a public vote, secured a weekly star slot in Channel 4's Stand Up For The Week and appeared on numerous radio and television shows including Loose Ends, The Now Show, The News Quiz (BBC Radio 4), Russell Howard's Good News (BBC 3), and Mock The Week and Live at the Apollo (BBC 2). She has been the host of BBC Radio 4 Extra's Newsjack for the last two series.

An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 The Chronicles of Burke Street (m001l20v)
More Chronicles of Burke Street

3: Bob Marley's Story

We return to Burke Street, Port of Spain, in another brilliantly funny short story series by the Costa Award-winning author, Ingrid Persaud.

Set on a seemingly everyday street in Trinidad, 'More Chronicles of Burke Street' follows the lives and loves of its unconventional residents. Burke Street might seem ordinary, but behind its closed doors lurk secrets, superstitions and barely concealed lies.

Today, in 'Bob Marley's Story', a fluffy white dog sparks a tug of love between two Burke Street residents...

Writer: Ingrid Persaud is the winner of the 2018 BBC National Short Story Award, and her novel Love After Love won the 2020 Costa First Novel Award.
Reader: Martina Laird
Producer: Justine Willett


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m001kxfx)
The chilling investigative BBC podcast A Very British Cult is top of the podcast charts for the second week running, Andrea Catherwood is joined by presenter Catrin Nye to explore its success and and we hear what listeners have to say.

Glaswegian Bhangra aficionados Hardeep Singh and Bobby B pay homage to Archive on 4’s The British Bhangra Explosion in the Vox Box.

And BBC Ireland correspondent Chris Page discusses reporting from his home turf in a week when Northern Ireland has been in the news with the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and the visit of President Joe Biden.

A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m001kxfs)
Ben Ferencz, Seymour Fortescue, Valerie Elliott, Rachel Pollack

Matthew Bannister on Ben Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. He devoted his life to campaigning for an international system of justice for the victims of such crimes.

Seymour Fortescue, the banker who pioneered the credit and debit card revolution.

Valerie Elliott, the respected journalist who reported on politics and then rural affairs.

Rachel Pollack, the author and trans activist best known for her award-winning novel Unquenchable Fire and for creating the first mainstream transgender superhero. Her friend Neil Gaiman pays tribute.

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Interviewee: Don Ferencz
Interviewee: Neil Gaiman
Interviewee: Andrea Gittleman
Interviewee: Alisa Kwitney
Interviewee: Rick Kelsey
Interviewee: Jennie Fortescue
Interviewee: Tony Harrop-Griffiths

Archive used:
British Pathe, The Nuremberg Trials (1945), VS Court Assembling, YouTube, uploaded 13/04/2014; Ben Ferencz interview, BBC News, HardTalk, 22/07/2017; Rachel Pollack interview on The Tarot of Perfection, YouTube uploaded 14/07/2010; Rachel Pollack discussing her inspirations, Fortress Comics, YouTube uploaded 04/05/2022; Valerie Elliott, Genethod Gwent, Come Down to Earth Boy, YouTube, uploaded 18/12/2018;


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m001l1vz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m001l1yq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 The Girls in the Pictures: Joan Eardley and the Samson Children (m001kx8y)
As the 50s turned to the 60s, a family of twelve brothers and sisters became the subject of portraits by the painter Joan Eardley. The Samson family lived in poverty in a crumbling part of Glasgow called Rottenrow where tenements were marked for demolition. Their faces and features held idiosyncrasies – squints, buck teeth, missing teeth, fiery red hair - that captivated Eardley. Drawn by the warmth of the stove and the promise of thruppence, the children had the run of her studio.

Ann and Pat Samson are two of the children captured in time in Eardley's emblematic paintings. Back then they were painted side by side. They remain so to this day, sitting talking with Audrey Gillan who grew up with their images. The hand-to-mouth existence that underlined their childhood is still not far away, as they reflect on their lives then and now.

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


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m001l20x)
Nick Watt's guests are the Conservative MP, Laura Farris; Shadow International Trade Secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds; and the academic Jon Tonge - Professor of British and Irish Politics at Liverpool University. They discuss the strikes in the NHS; the current political scene in the build-up to the local elections in England; and the political future for Northern Ireland. Journalist John Stevens - political editor of the Daily Mirror - brings his insights and analysis too.


SUN 23:00 Loose Ends (m001l1wk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b0bgp7hv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]

MONDAY 17 APRIL 2023

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m001l210)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m001kxgh)
Elite Universities - Working Class Students

CLASS AND EDUCATION
Laurie Taylor talks to Kalwant Bhopal, Professor of Education and Social Justice at the University of Birmingham, about her research into the inner workings of elite universities and the making of privilege.

They're joined by Iona Burnell Reilly, Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Education at the University of East London, whose latest study presents a collection of autoethnographies, written by working class academics in higher education, and considers how have they become who they are in an industry steeped in elitism.

Producer: Jayne Egerton


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m001l1xx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001l212)
The latest shipping forecast


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001l214)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001l216)
The latest shipping forecast


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m001l218)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001l21b)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Jonathan Rea.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m001l21d)
17/04/23 New name for national park; rural planning; fishing in Scotland.

Brecon Beacons national park is to be known as Bannau Brycheiniog national park. The switch to the Welsh language name takes effect on its 66th anniversary. Park bosses say the name change will help celebrate and promote the area's culture and heritage. It's part of a wider overhaul of how the park is managed, to try and address serious environmental challenges.

Planning is a subject which farmers talk about a lot at the moment: some say while the government in England is encouraging them to diversify their businesses, planning rules and local councils are making that difficult, if not impossible. The Country Land and Business Association or CLA says a survey of 600 members reveals that what it calls 'outdated and under resourced planning procedures' are costing them money, and three quarters say they've been forced to abandon investment plans. We speak to a family run commercial nursery in Surrey, trying to build a new house on land that's being planted as the business is expanding. We also hear from the think tank, the Local Government Information Service.

Campaigners in Scotland are calling for special 'go-fish zones' to be introduced. Conservationists from "Open Seas" say the areas could form part of plans by the Scottish Government to designate a tenth of seas as highly-protected, where no commercial activity would be allowed. Some fishermen say they fear going out of business with the continuing squeeze being placed on them.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


MON 05:56 Weather (m001l21g)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09sn7yh)
Helen Moncrieff on the Northern Wheatear

Known locally as Sten-shakker or Chek after their alarm call, Northern Wheatears never cease to delight Helen Moncrieff, Shetland Manager for RSPB Scotland when they return to Shetland for the breeding season.

Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Sonia Johnson.


MON 06:00 Today (m001l23b)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m001l23j)
A place called home

Why is it so difficult to find a place to call home? By the age of twenty five the journalist Kieran Yates had lived in twenty different houses, from council estates in London to a car showroom in rural Wales. In All The Houses I’ve Ever Lived In she reveals the reality of Britain’s housing crisis, the state’s neglect, and the toll it takes on those forced to move from place to place.

In her memoir Undercurrent the writer and poet Natasha Carthew compares the picture-postcard view of her native Cornwall with the reality of growing up there. She explores the impact of rural poverty, political neglect, and the dominance of second-home owners, but also the sheer beauty of the landscape she calls home.

Christine Whitehead OBE is a specialist in housing economics and evaluates government policies on home ownership and housing supply. She looks at the unintended consequences of implementing policies, like rent caps and controls on buying housing stock in rural areas, and the impact of Covid on the rental market.

The architect Alice Brownfield, Director at Peter Barber Architects, advocates for high density, mixed-use residential schemes for local councils and housing associations. Her practice has been recognised for its work in developing social housing, often on small plots of land, that centres on fostering a sense of community.

Producer: Katy Hickman

Image: Kiln Place, by Peter Barber Architects just after completion. Image credit: Morley von Sternberg


MON 09:45 Woke: The Journey of a Word (m001jc1k)
1. The Scottsboro Boys

Matthew Syed traces the origins and evolution of the word 'woke', a term that's become synonymous with our era of angry debate.

Once a watchword for African Americans in the early 1900s, 'woke' is now used as an insult across the political spectrum. As the word has spread, what people actually mean by it has become less clear than ever. In this series, Matthew follows the evolution of 'woke' through five key stories.

He begins with the first ever use of 'woke', appearing on a 1938 recording by the musician Lead Belly. The track, entitled 'Scottsboro Boys', describes the plight of nine young Black men wrongly accused of rape in Alabama in 1931. Matthew hears the story of the Scottsboro Boys, discovering how their case became became international symbol of race-based injustice and a nucleus of the US Civil Rights Movement. He looks into the extraordinary life of Lead Belly and uncovers what the singer meant when he instructed people to "stay woke, keep their eyes open.” What relationship do these words have to the way 'woke' is used today?

Featuring Peggy Parks Miller, niece of the Scottsboro Boy Clarence Norris, and Kip Lornell, Professor of Music, History & Culture at George Washington University and co-author of 'The Life and Legend of Leadbelly'

Presented by Matthew Syed
Produced by Sam Peach


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001l241)
Lolita Chakrabarti, Ian Paterson investigations, Therapy speak, Child sexual abuse in Uganda, Girl’s World

Ian Paterson, who became known as the butchering breast surgeon, is currently serving a 20-year jail term after being convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent and 3 counts of unlawful wounding. Now the Sunday Times has revealed that 27 inquests have been opened as a result of investigating the deaths of 650 of his patients. Nuala speaks to campaigner Debbie Douglas, who was one of Mr Paterson’s patients, and the Sunday Times Health Editor Shaun Lintern.

Is 'therapy speak' making us selfish? The prescriptive language of the therapist’s couch has slowly seeped into everyday life, particularly online where words like ‘boundaries’, ‘self-care’ and ‘narcissist’ are increasingly common. But when it comes to friendships, is the idea of self-care making us give up on them too easily? Sociologist and writer Amy Charlotte Kean talks to Nuala about how our relationships are being affected.

In the next in the Woman’s Hour Girl’s World series, Ena Miller has been talking to three girls in Glasgow, Saskia, Francesca and Olivia all of whom are 13 and 14 years of age. We often talk about girls and their lives on Woman’s Hour but we rarely talk to them, so Ena asks them - do they feel listened to?

Award-winning playwright and actor Lolita Chakrabarti joins Nuala in the Woman's Hour studio to talk about the new play 'Hamnet'. Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel of the same name tells the story of the death of Shakespeare’s 11 year old son as she would have us believe it happened. Having sold more than 1.5m copies the story has now moved from paper to stage at the RSC in Stratford Upon Avon thanks to an adaptation by Lolita. She'll tell us why she was so drawn to telling the story of the people around Shakespeare.

A new BBC Africa Eye documentary, Uganda’s Stolen Innocence, investigates the increasing levels of sexual violence and incest in Uganda, particularly in the North. Documentary producer Nicola Milne and Ugandan lawyer Eunice Lakaraber Latim join Nuala to talk about the lack of faith in the justice system and how the legacy of the insurgency led by Joseph Kony fuelled this issue further.


MON 11:00 Science Stories (m000c4y0)
Mary Somerville, pioneer of popular science writing

Mary Somerville was a self-taught genius who wrote best-selling books translating, explaining and drawing together different scientific fields and who was named the nineteenth century’s “queen of science”. Born Mary Fairfax in 1780, she was an unlikely scientific hero. Her parents and her first husband did not support her scientific pursuits and it was only when she became a widow at 28 with two small children that she began to do novel mathematics. With her second husband, William Somerville, she entered the intellectual life of the times in Edinburgh and London and met all the great scientific thinkers.

Naomi Alderman tells the story of Mary Somerville's long life - she lived till she was 92. She discusses how Mary came to be a writer about science with her biographer, Professor Kathryn Neeley of the University of Virginia, and the state of popular science writing books with writer Jon Turney.


MON 11:30 Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley (p0f7q2dg)
15. Women's Bodies. Women's Rights

In this episode of Lady Killers, Lucy Worsley, Professor Rosalind Crone and broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika discuss the first four cases - brothel-keeper Mary McKinnon, chocolate-cream killer Christiana Edmonds, enslaved woman Margaret Garner and abortionist Elizabeth Taylor. They examine legal prejudice, frustrated sexual desire, illegal abortion, and slavery.

They explore women’s rights over their own bodies, and dig a little deeper into the parallels between women in the 19th century and women in contemporary society. Together they consider the extent to which progress can be taken for granted, and ask whether anything might have been better for women in the past than today.

Producer: Emily Hughes
Sound Design: Chris Maclean
Series Producer: Julia Hayball

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4


MON 12:00 News Summary (m001l24c)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m001l24h)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m001l24m)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m001l24r)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


MON 13:45 Seriously... (m001l24w)
The Beauty Queen Riots - 1. A Protest Ignites

In October 2005, rumours about a rape in a shop filled the pirate radio airwaves. The allegation was that South Asian shopkeepers had assaulted a schoolgirl of Jamaican heritage. The story struck a nerve and soon people were protesting outside the shop - a hair and beauty supply shop named Beauty Queen.

Over the subsequent days, the protests would morph into something else entirely, a riot which brought hundreds to the streets and left two people dead.

Beauty Queen Riots is a five-part series looking at the Lozells and Handsworth riots of 2005 in Birmingham. It’s a story that takes us into the conflicting and sometimes uncomfortable world of interethnic conflict in modern Britain.

Journalist Amardeep Bassey returns to investigate a story he first covered 18 years ago. What happened and what did we miss back then which might have explained why people took to the streets with such force? And what lessons can be learned 20 years on?


Producer: Ben Tulloh
Executive Editor: Bridget Harney
Music and Mix: Alex Portfelix

A Burning Bright production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:00 The Archers (m001l20s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 This Cultural Life (m001l1wp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 on Saturday]


MON 15:00 Round Britain Quiz (m001l253)
Programme 2, 2023

(2/12)
It's the turn of the North of England and Scotland to face off in the cryptic quiz for the first time this season. Kirsty Lang has the fiendish questions and will be deducting points every time she has to help them towards the correct solutions.

Stuart Maconie and Adele Geras play for the North of England, against Val McDermid and Alan McCredie for Scotland. Kirsty will also have the answer to the question she left tantalisingly at the end of the previous edition.

You can submit question ideas for the show at any time to rbq@bbc.co.uk

Producer: Paul Bajoria


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m001l1zr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 The Invention of... (m001hf16)
Russia

Catherine the Great and the question of Europe

The extraordinary tale of how a small fortressed city became the centre of the largest contiguous landmass in the world, presented by Misha Glenny. It was Peter the Great who created a new capital on the Baltic, and Catherine the Great who extended Russian influence south and west.
Sweden, Poland, and the Ottomans all feel the expansion of Russia's empire in a century of geopolitical drama. This is the build up to today's war in Ukraine.
With contributions from Virginia Rounding, biographer of Catherine the Great; Professor Simon Dixon of UCL; Professor Robert Service, author of The Last Tsar; and Dr Sarah Young of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m001l25d)
Without Child

It is estimated that 1 in 7 UK couples struggle to conceive but what impact do religious beliefs and cultural practices have on those who can not or choose not to have children.

Aleem Maqbool speaks to Lizzie Lowrie about her experience of baby loss and miscarriage and how her faith and church community brought both challenges and support.

Her story sparks a discussion on what it means to live without children in different belief systems and how the faith community responds. Aleem discusses different approaches to childlessness with:

Vik Singh, who, with his wife, Sarina, set up The Himmat Collective to support Punjabi Communities struggling with fertility issues, after their own difficulties starting a family, Dr Dawn Llewellyn, Associate Professor in Religion and Gender at the University of Chester and Farah Dualeh author of Taking Control: A Muslim Woman's Guide to Surviving Infertility.

Producer: Katharine Longworth
Assistant Producer: Dave James


MON 17:00 PM (m001l25k)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001l25p)
A 25-year prison term has been handed to a Russian critic of the war in Ukraine


MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m001l25t)
Series 91

3. King Kong, Harry Houdini and Snake Charming

Sue Perkins challenges Paul Merton, Jennifer Saunders, Julian Clary and Lucy Porter 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 Harry Houdini to Snake Charming.

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

A BBC Studios Production


MON 19:00 The Archers (m001l25z)
Jim gets Ed and Jazzer on board with his stag pub scoring system, though the atmosphere is frosty. Jim gets the two men reminiscing about past japes and a thaw begins but then stalls. Jazzer gets chatting to Dennis, who’s keen to join their group. Jim’s taken Ed aside for a chat, drawing a parallel between his and Jazzer’s colourful pasts and current events between George and Brad. Ed sees that the situation shouldn’t get in the way of his friendship with Jazzer. With that Jazzer introduces them to Dennis, who recommends another pub. Jazzer agrees to meet him there on Thursday to check it out.
Ian tells Lee about Adam’s search for his birth father Paddy. He’s going to be talking to someone tomorrow who claims she knows Paddy. Lee asks Ian to tell him more about Rob – he feels like he’s running to catch up and wants to understand the situation better. Ian explains how Rob’s charm made it hard to spot his controlling side at first, and gives some examples. He recalls how everyone lost Helen for a while. Lee wishes he could have been there, but Ian reckons Lee’s doing a great job now. Lee thinks it’s not surprising Pat and Tony still feel afraid to this day. Ian comments that the one thing to fear is that Jack is Rob’s son. Lee admits this is how Pat made Helen feel yesterday, and he was angry. Ian thinks Helen is in a good place now and has moved on. Lee hopes he’s right.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m001l263)
Colin Currie performs live, author Catherine Lacey, the influence of Noel Coward

Percussionist Colin Currie performs live in the Front Row studio. He discusses his new interpretation of one of minimalist composer Steve Reich’s best known works, Music for 18 Musicians.

50 years on from the death of playwright Noel Coward, biographer Oliver Soden and theatre director Michael Longhurst look at his legacy and ask what he means to theatre audiences today, as a new production of Coward’s Private Lives opens.

Author Catherine Lacey on Biography of X, her genre redefining new novel about a mysterious artist, which includes fictionalised footnotes and references.

Presenter: Shahidha Bari
Producer: Julian May


MON 20:00 Trapped in the System (m001l267)
Since his brother received an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence, Roddy Russell has experienced, first-hand, the devastating effect that these indeterminate sentences have upon those serving them.

Roddy's brother, Robert, was sentenced to an IPP, with a two and a half year tariff, for making a threat to kill in 2009. He remains in prison 14 years later, his mental health diminished, trapped in the system with no end in sight.

In this very personal documentary, Roddy shares his brother's story, which is typical of so many others still serving IPP sentences and he provides a deep insight into the many barriers and pitfalls he's had to navigate as an unwitting campaigner, as he shines a light on the countless dark corners of the IPP saga.

For Roddy, a 55-year-old RAF veteran, living in Stafford and working as a fuel tanker driver, the fight for his brother's release is all encompassing. Roddy has joined other families in similar circumstances to support one another and to meet and lobby politicians. Via intimate, heartfelt accounts, Roddy shares his own experiences, as well as some of the many stories of fellow family members, who have come together to put an end to a situation that has been described as ‘Kafkaesque’.

There’s currently no release date on the horizon for his brother, and Roddy is also dealing with inheritance and probate issues following the death of their mother in July last year. Robert's current situation is causing issues for this to be progressed, adding to the stress and strain they're both under.

In October 2022, the Justice Committee's report into IPPs found these sentences to be ‘irredeemably flawed’ and called on the government to re-sentence all people in prison who are subject to IPPs. However, in March 2023 the Justice Secretary Dominic Raab rejected this recommendation. So, for now, Roddy’s nightmare continues.

Contributors in order of appearance:

Neil 'Sam' Samworth
Clara White
Cherrie Nichol
James Daly MP
Lord Moylan
Lord Blunkett
Sir Bob Neill
Donna Mooney

Producers: Melissa FitzGerald and Steve Langridge.
Consultant: Hank Rossi

A Zinc Audio production for BBC Radio 4


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m001kx65)
Gran Chaco - Paraguay’s vanishing forest

The Gran Chaco Forest is Latin America’s second largest ecosystem. It is a mix of hot and arid scrublands, forests and wetlands, part of the River Plata basin, so large it extends into Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia. Large parts of the forests have already been cleared to make way for farms. Now a new highway being driven through it is heralding further change. The so called Bi-oceanic Corridor will transport the produce of cattle ranchers and soya-bean farmers in Brazil and Paraguay across to ports on the west coast. Members of some indigenous communities like the Ayoreo see it as a further threat to their way of life.

The new road is being cautiously welcomed by some members of the Mennonite Community, a Christian religious group who came to the Gran Chaco 100 years ago via Prussia, Russia and Canada and bought land from the government to farm. Will the impact of the road on the indigenous and Mennonite communities - and the environment - be worth the economic benefits? Jane Chambers travels across the Gran Chaco.

Produced by Bob Howard. The Paraguay producer was Santi Carneri.


MON 21:00 Gamification (m001kx8v)
Jolyon Jenkins looks at how the techniques of gaming have been co-opted to coerce, cajole and control us, using our inherently playful nature to make us act in ways that may not be in our own best interests.

Welcome to gamification. Points, badges, and leaderboards are creeping into every aspect of modern life. Businesses, governments and schools use games and gamification as tools for profit and control.

Amazon workers pack boxes while a virtual car races across their screen. The faster they pack, the faster the car - and if they beat their co-workers, they rise to the top of the leaderboard. Truck drivers are measured for compliance with company driving standards, and can see in real time how they are performing against colleagues.

But is any of this actually fun? And who said work was supposed to be fun anyway?

Producer/Presenter: Jolyon Jenkins
An Off Beat Media production for BBC Radio 4


MON 21:30 Start the Week (m001l23j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m001l26h)
Sudan rocked by fighting

The UN has called for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan - where two generals are battling for power. We hear from one civilian caught in the middle of the fighting, and from Africa Minister Andrew Mitchell.

The world's oldest vehicle suspension bridge - linking Scotland and England over the River Tweed - has been re-opened after a massive overhaul. We speak to one of the engineers.

And a Quiche fit for a King? We get a verdict on the official 'Coronation Quiche' from the nation's taster-in-chief.


MON 22:45 The Young Accomplice by Benjamin Wood (m001l26r)
Episode 1

It's 1952 and an architect and his wife take a chance on two siblings, recently released from Borstal.

But what starts out as a seemingly straightforward story of good intentions and opportunity rapidly turns into a darker story full of secrets and lies.

And yet through tragedy come lessons learnt and a determination to hold on to one’s dreams.

Benjamin Wood’s first novel was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Book Prize, and won Le Prix du Roman Fnac.

He was a finalist for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award.

Reader: Rupert Evans
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Celia de Wolff
Sound Design: Essential Music
Production Manager: Sarah Wright

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (m001kx9l)
Psychiatrist and Patient

Neuropsychiatrist Anthony David talks to Michael about the dialogue that takes place between him and his patients.

Producer Sally Heaven


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001l277)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

TUESDAY 18 APRIL 2023

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m001l27g)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 00:30 Woke: The Journey of a Word (m001jc1k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001l27r)
The latest shipping forecast


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001l282)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001l28f)
The latest shipping forecast


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m001l28w)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001l298)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Jonathan Rea.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m001l29n)
18/04/23 Tree deaths; waste-eating larvae; chickens allowed out; natural capital in Scotland

As the UK aims to meet its target of becoming net zero on carbon by 2050, millions of trees are being planted, but will all these new trees survive? According to the Forestry Commission, on average 30% of newly planted trees in towns and cities in the UK will not survive more than 12 months and a long term programme of planting trees along the A14 has been badly hit: the Highways Agency told us since 2018 around 40% of newly planted trees along the road had died. Since then, with the very hot summer last year, they are expecting that number to rise. We speak to the Woodland Trust.

After months of being kept indoors to prevent the spread of Avian Flu, free range poultry is being allowed outdoors. DEFRA's latest figures show Avian Flu outbreaks have been the worst recorded this winter, with more than 330 outbreaks confirmed across the country since late October 2021. Enhanced biosecurity requirements that were brought in as part of the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone will remain in force as infection may still be circulating for several more weeks.

A business start-up is producing soldier larvae to feed to chickens. It uses surplus fruit and veg from supermarkets to grow maggots. The company is now working with several egg farms in Wales, who are installing converted containers next to their hen houses, so the live grubs can be fed to the chickens.

Estate owners in Scotland are tapping into the growing carbon market to make money from "natural capital" such as peat and woodland restoration. One landowner rejects the term "green laird" and insists he's interested in looking after the land for the long term.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b01sby0q)
Garden Warbler

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. David Attenborough presents the Garden Warbler. Garden warblers aren't very well named .these are birds which like overgrown thickets of shrubs and small trees and so you're more likely to find them in woodland clearings especially in newly- coppiced areas.


TUE 06:00 Today (m001l26q)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The New Gurus (m001g9sv)
3. Fitter, Happier, More Productive

As an author, broadcaster and journalist, Helen Lewis is drowning in deadlines. Join her race against the clock to see if productivity gurus can help her optimise her workflow, change her habits, and consume entire books in 15 minutes.

That is, if she can stop checking her phone long enough to pay attention.

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

Written and presented by Helen Lewis

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

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


TUE 09:30 Magic Consultants (m001l271)
Affairs of State

What is the relationship between governments and consultants?

Adam Shaw continues his recce behind the curtain of the billion dollar management consultancy industry. In this episode he finds out when consultants and the state started working so closely together, and asks if that partnership has become a little too tight.

Be it getting man to the moon or rolling out the Covid vaccine, consultants have worked closely and successfully together. Bringing in expertise at the right time can be vital and cost effective. But how justified is the criticism that consultants are hollowing out the civil service, are they worth the billions we spend on them and are they ever conflicts of interest?

Adam sees a revolving door of consultants, business and government spin before his eyes; he traces the fine line between implementing policy and shaping it and asks if we are living in a consultantocracy, at risk of the industry undermining our democracy.

With contributions from: Tamzen Isacsson, CEO of the Management Consultancies Association, Matthias Kipping, Professor of Policy at the Schulich School of Business, Andrew Sturdy, Professor in Management at The University of Bristol, Chris McKenna, Reader in Business History and Strategy at the Said Business School, historian Antonio Weiss and authors Rosie Collington and Eric Edstrom.

Producer: Sarah Bowen


TUE 09:45 Woke: The Journey of a Word (m001jc52)
2. If You're Woke You Dig It

Matthew Syed traces the origins and evolution of the word 'woke', a term that's become synonymous with our era of angry debate.

Once a watchword for African Americans in the early 1900s, 'woke' is now used as an insult across the political spectrum. As the word has spread, what people actually mean by it has become less clear than ever. In this series, Matthew follows the evolution of 'woke' through five key stories.

In Episode 2 Matthew explores one of the first ever uses of 'woke' in print, by the young author William Melvin Kelley in 1962. Kelley wrote an article for the New York Times entitled 'If You're Woke You Dig It', observing the appropriation of Black idiom by Beatnik poets and artists. The satirical essay charts the progress of black slang into white communities, and proved prophetic on the destiny of the word 'woke' itself today.

Matthew hears from William's daughter Jesi Kelley about her father's life, his mission to illuminate the white world to Black readers and his rediscovery as a 'lost giant of American literature'. The episode considers the idea of 'waking up' as a central metaphor for the movement for racial equality in the United States and its place in the last sermon Martin Luther King ever gave.

Presented by Matthew Syed and Produced by Sam Peach
Readings by Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong
Excerpts from 'If You're Woke You Dig It' (New York Times, 1962) and 'Dunfords Travels Everywheres' by William Melvin Kelley


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001l27m)
Disparities in maternal deaths, Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial, Ellie Downie, Emergency Alert System, Small Pipes

A new report from the women’s and equalities committee is calling on the government to eliminate what it calls ‘appalling disparities in maternal deaths between black and white women’. Black women are 3.7 times more likely to die in pregnancy, childbirth or six weeks afterwards than white women. Nuala discusses the issues with MP Caroline Nokes, who chairs the committee, and Sandra Igwe, who founded the Motherhood Group to support black women.

As the government prepares to launch the first nationwide test of a new emergency alert system on our smartphones this Sunday afternoon at 3pm, domestic abuse charities are concerned about the potential risk to domestic abuse survivors. Nuala speaks to Ellie Butt, Head of policy, publc affairs and research at the charity Refuge.

Last year the libel trial between feuding footballers' wives, Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy, gripped the nation. Now, the legal tussle has moved from the Royal Courts of Justice to London's West End stage in a show called Vardy V Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial. Nuala talks to the director, Lisa Spirling, and adapter, Liv Hennessy, to find out how they turned seven days of court transcripts into a play.

The former European Champion gymnast Ellie Downie is No 4 on our Woman’s Hour Power List. In 2020 Ellie spoke out about systemic abuse in the world of gymnastics – contributing to a major independent review into the sport. She retired from gymnastics in January this year – in order to protect her own mental health. She joins to discuss what impact she thinks her honesty about her own experiences has had long term.

Multi-award-winning Scottish smallpiper Brighde Chaimbeul is a BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award winner, and is performing at King's Place this weekend in a concert that showcases the Scottish smallpipes.

Presented by Nuala McGovern
Producer: Louise Corley
Editor: Karen Dalziel


TUE 11:00 Supersenses (m001l27y)
Seeing More

We've been building computers to think like us for years, but our ability to replicate human senses has been impossible. Until now. This technological revolution is starting to profoundly change not only how we interact with the world around us, but is allowing us to see, hear, smell, taste and even touch things we never imagined possible before.

An Artificial Intelligence revolution is super-charging sensing technology, promising us eyes with laser precision, ears that can distinguish every sound in a mile's radius and noses than can sniff out the early signs of forest fires before the first flame forms.

Evolutionary biologist and broadcaster Prof. Ben Garrod, is off to meet some of these sensory innovators and technological pioneers. The archaeologists, ecologists and medics, who are turning our world upside down and inside out.

In episode one, Ben tries seeing further. The visible world to us is tiny, and we are able to detect just a fraction of the light spectrum that is out there. But new technology is pushing the boundary of what is visible. Ground penetrating LIDAR arrays are helping us to peel back the layers of planet Earth, and see the remains of ancient civilisations, previously invisible to us. The same technology is being used on the moons of Jupiter to provide 3D maps of the craters of faraway worlds. In the forests of west Africa, we meet the psychologists using infrared to monitor the stress levels of silverback gorillas being returned to the wild. And in a lab in central London, we meet the extraordinary animals that see hidden patterns in the natural world and perhaps even fields that are entirely invisible to us.

Could these new technologies be redefining what it is to see, hear, smell, and feel? Ben takes us through the amazing adaptations and development under the bonnet, and speculates where else these all seeing eyes may yet gaze.

Produced by Robbie Wojciechowski
Presented by Professor Ben Garrod


TUE 11:30 Hear My Voice (m001l28j)
Hannah Conway is an award-winning composer who has turned her energies towards giving a platform to people who have lost their voice. In some cases the loss is dramatic, from the necessary removal of their larynx, and in others gradual through illnesses like Parkinson's or Motor Neurone Disease. Hannah talks about how she and her collaborators who have a lived experience of voice loss, come together to create songs and installations which allow the rest of us to understand why the voice matters so much, how it defines our personality, and how even without it, musical expression is both possible and powerful.
In the course of the programme we meet Tanja Bage, who had her voice box removed within a week of being diagnosed with throat cancer, and Paul Jameson whose voice deteriorated more gradually as a result of his MND (Motor Neurone Disease). Both Paul and Tanja worked with Hannah and her colleague Hazel Gould to come up with lyrics and music that combined their voices with those of trained singers. The resulting duets, with the relationship between the two voices and the words garnered from several hours of conversation, make for intensely intimate chamber songs.

Hannah has also worked her music into installations, with a new project to have them running in four hospitals across the UK. The Willow Tree project will continue another element of the SoundVoice project, and that is the way the medical professionals involved in voice and automated voice recovery have been closely involved with both patients and artists. The result, as explained by Martin Birchall, Professor of laryngology at UCL, is that research into improvements in voice technology has been given a powerful insight into what it is that those with voice loss want and need most from whatever speech capacity is available to them.

Producer: Tom Alban


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m001l28y)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m001l29c)
Call You and Yours: What's the impact of second homes in your area?

On today's Call You and Yours, we're asking - what's the impact of second homes in your area?
The Government is thinking of making second home-owners apply for planning permission if they want to convert their properties into holiday lets.
Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, says it'll help people avoid being pushed out of their areas by short-term holiday lets.
We'd like to know how second home ownership is affecting where you live. Are you finding it hard to rent or to buy? Are you worried about what will happen when your children have to move out of home? Maybe you run a business in a place where there are a lot of second homes?
If you own a second home or run a holiday let, would you be willing to pay more in council tax or other charges to help find the right balance for both local people and tourism to the area?
Call us now on 03700 100 444. Lines are open at 11 am on Tuesday April 18th. You can also email us youandyours@bbc.co.uk.
Don't forget to include a phone number so we can call you back.

Presenter: Shari Vahl
Producer: Tara Holmes


TUE 12:57 Weather (m001l29s)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m001l2b4)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


TUE 13:45 Seriously... (m001l2bj)
The Beauty Queen Riots - 2. Refuge in the Church

In October 2005, rumours about a rape in a shop filled the pirate radio airwaves. The allegation was that South Asian shopkeepers had assaulted a schoolgirl of Jamaican heritage. The story struck a nerve and soon people were protesting outside the shop - a hair and beauty supply shop named Beauty Queen.

Over the subsequent days, the protests would morph into something else entirely, a riot which brought hundreds to the streets and left two people dead.

Beauty Queen Riots is a five-part series looking at the Lozells and Handsworth riots of 2005 in Birmingham. It’s a story that takes us into the conflicting and sometimes uncomfortable world of interethnic conflict in modern Britain.

Journalist Amardeep Bassey returns to investigate a story he first covered 18 years ago. What happened and what did we miss back then which might have explained why people took to the streets with such force? And what lessons can be learned 20 years on?


Producer: Ben Tulloh
Executive Editor: Bridget Harney
Music and Mix: Alex Portfelix

A Burning Bright production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m001l25z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (m001l2bz)
We Should Definitely Have More Dancing

We Should Definitely Have More Dancing by Clara Darcy and Ian Kershaw

Clara Darcy is a healthy young actor. She’s also (almost) care-free, (kind of) happily single and joyously dancing through life. But, little does she know her world is about to be turned upside down thanks to the arrival of a tumour, like a big fist - slap-bang in the middle of her head. Set in a radio studio in Manchester, Clara tells her astonishing real-life story. A poignant, yet life-affirming postcard from the edge.

Clara ..... Clara Darcy
Mum ..... Suzanna Hamilton
Laura ..... Shamia Chalabi
Omar .....Esh Alladi
Oncologist ..... Rupert Hill
Kersh ..... Ian Kershaw
Gary ..... Gary Brown
Sue ..... Sue Stonestreet

Production Co-ordinators - Vicky Moseley & Lorna Newman
Studio Manager - Simon Highfield
Sound Design - Sue Stonestreet
Director/Producer - Gary Brown

The stage version of this drama was presented at the famous and much missed Oldham Coliseum.


TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m001l2cf)
Series 34

Fugitive

From pirate radio to queering futures, Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures exploring fugitive acts of resistance.

Radio Free Dixie by Weyland McKenzie-Witter
Produced by Weyland McKenzie-Witter
Featuring Teishan Latner (Assistant professor of history at Thomas Jefferson University and author of Cuban Revolution in America: Havana and the Making of a United States Left, 1968-1992 (UNC Press, 2018).
Claude Marks is the co-director of the Freedom Archive in Berkeley California
2023 A2 History class from BSix College in Hackney

WHITE NOISE
Produced by Axel Kacoutié

A Symphony of Quiet
Produced by Tej Adeleye
Featuring Professor Kevin Quashie, Mabel, Bridget, Flo and Idris from Out & Proud African LGBTI (OPAL) and Petals

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


TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (m001l4tw)
Losing Our History

When castles collapse into the sea or ancient burial places succumb to floodwaters we lose a slice of our shared culture. Qasa Alom reports from the Norfolk coast on the threats to our heritage and asks if we all need to prepare for the emotional impact of climate change.

Researchers from around the world are taking a global look at personal and community responses to climate change, and they're finding that we react in much the same way whether our homes are falling from crumbling Norfolk cliffs, our shrines are swallowed by Bangladeshi floods or the road to market is blocked by expanding Sahara sands.

Archaeologists from the University of East Anglia and Museum of London Archaeology discuss the emotional impact of losses already suffered and offer lessons from historic changes in climate, whilst researchers from the University of Ghana explain the cultural price being paid on the crumbling coastline of West Africa.

Producer: Alasdair Cross


TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (m001l2cw)
A Load of Nonsense

Michael Rosen talks nonsense with literary scholar Noreen Masud. From the nonsense language of Shakespeare's fools, to the nonsense lyrics of The Beatles, via the limericks of Edward Lear, the portmanteaus of Lewis Carroll, and the made-up words of three year olds.

A BBC Audio Bristol production. Produced by Becky Ripley.


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m001l2br)
Matthew Henson, Arctic explorer and pioneer

Matthew Henson was working in a shop when he met naval officer Robert Peary. Peary was so impressed with Henson that he invited him to accompany him on his expeditions to Central America. The two men formed a strong bond and over the course of two decades made multiple trips further and further North in a bid to reach the Pole. On April 6th 1909 Peary announced that they had reached the Pole but many believe that it was actually Henson who got there first, and on returning to the USA it was Peary who received the credit whilst Henson lived out his life in relative obscurity. His part in this expedition was overlooked for years, due in no small part to his skin colour.

Dwayne Fields was born in Jamaica but grew up in East London. After having a gun pulled on him he decided he needed to do something bold and life-affirming, and in 2010 Dwayne joined an expedition to walk to the North Pole. He became the first Black Briton to do so. Whilst researching his trip he read about Matthew Henson, and seeing a face that looked like his and knowing what Henson overcame helped inspire him. Dwayne and presenter Matthew Parris are joined by the writer Catherine Johnson who was written two children's books about Henson citing Henson's relationship with the Inuit people as something that set him apart from many other explorers of the time.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Toby Field


TUE 17:00 PM (m001l2dc)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001l2dn)
The Scottish National Party's treasurer, Colin Beattie, has been arrested by police investigating its finances.


TUE 18:30 You Heard It Here First (m001l2f0)
Series 1

Episode 4

Chris McCausland asks a panel of comedians to live in an audio only world, deciphering brainteaser sound cues for points and pride whilst trying not to muck about too much along the way.

In this episode, contestants try to figure out what on earth is being advertised on the TV, guess what famous objects or locations children are trying to describe, and even work out what names of popular Radio 4 shows Chris is yelling underwater.

The competing comedians are Phil Wang and Nina Wadia, taking on Kerry Godliman and Stuart Mitchell.

Producer: Sasha Bobak
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Co-ordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound editor: Jerry Peal

Theme music ‘Colour me Groovy’ by The Rich Morton Sound

Recorded at the Backyard Comedy Club, Bethnal Green


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m001l28c)
Sykesy and Ben enjoy some banter at The Laurels. Sykesy’s pretty miserable as usual. He perks up when he discovers Ben’s bringing Bess in to the residents’ lounge later. He’s enchanted with Bess, commenting he’s worked with sheepdogs in the past. He loves that dogs don’t judge. It’s meant the world seeing Bess today – though it’s no good getting emotional about such things. Ben impulsively asks if Sykesy would like to see Brookfield. Sykesy admits he would, but it would remind him of what he’s lost. He hates being dependent on other people. Ben’s persuasive, and Sykesy finally agrees.
Pat hopes Helen isn’t avoiding her. Tony advises letting things lie for a while. Pat’s impatient for the police to question Rob. She wonders if she should put her head in the dairy, but Tony says she shouldn’t if she’s going to talk about Rob. Pat doesn’t like how Lee spoke to her on Sunday. Tony tells her she has to allow Helen and Lee to not agree with her point of view. Later Pat relents. She realises she’s just pushing everyone further apart. She understands, and will apologise to Helen.
Adam’s nervous about speaking to Erin, the connection he’s found with his father Paddy, but equally curious to hear what she has to say. Ian reckons it’ll be fine and wishes him luck. When she calls, Erin’s announces herself as Adam’s half-sister. She works in retail and is envious of Adam’s farming life. Heartbreakingly Adam discovers his father Paddy died just two weeks ago. Adam’s just missed him.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m001l2f9)
Jazz singer Georgia Cecile, the controversy surrounding Barcelona’s La Sagrada Família

Plans to finish Barcelona’s famous church, La Sagrada Família, have been causing controversy as they involve demolishing apartment blocks to make way for the new entrance. Journalist Guy Hedgecoe, who reports on Spain for the BBC, and the Twentieth Century Society’s director, Catherine Croft, discuss the issues raised as the completion of the emblematic building draws near.

Singer Georgia Cecile topped the Jazz charts with her latest album, Sure of You. She joins Samira Ahmed to perform live in the Front Row studio and discuss the resurgence of Jazz.

The Northumbrian police and crime commissioner has redirected some of the proceeds of crime into the arts. Bex Lindsey reports on how Tyneside based theatre company Workie Ticket are using the funding from “Operation Payback” to create productions with social impact.

And Front Row remembers the actor and director Murray Melvin, best known for his role in Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey, who has died aged 90.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Paul Waters


TUE 20:00 The Reinvention of Germany (m001l2fj)
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent Germany, Europe’s strong, steady, dominant power, into convulsions. The physical war may be hundreds of miles away but its impact is omnipresent, not just in defence and foreign policy, but in politics, energy, the economy and the lives of people up and down the country.

Anne McElvoy of Politico has been reporting on Germany since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. In this programme, she goes on a road trip in the North and East to explore why the Ukraine war of 2022 triggered a 'Zeitenwende' or turning point in Germany, how people feel about it, and where they see their country going next.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m001l2fr)
TV Advertising; Commercial Usage of Artificial Intelligence

We investigate why there are so many TV advertisements not verbally announcing who the brand or product is anywhere in the advert. This was pointed out by Nathan Tree, who has grown frustrated by the lack of inclusion and consumer choice. We put the question to Zoë Waller, who is an Executive Producer for the video production company, Studio Yes and to Malcom Phillips from the body that regulates advertising; the Advertising Standards Authority; Malcolm is their regulatory policy manager.

Beauty company Estee Lauder have recently released a new app that uses artificial intelligence to help visually impaired people apply make up. It is called the Voice-Enabled Makeup Assistant and can be used on iPhones (Androids within the year). Our reporter Fern Lulham tests it out, alongside make-up and fashion blogger Emily Davison.

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


TUE 21:00 Troubled Water (m001kgs7)
Are We Running Out of Water? Episode 3

What’s it like when water no longer flows out of your tap? In this episode presenter James Gallagher visits Cheltenham in Gloucestershire where huge floods in 2007 engulfed a water works which left the town without running water for two weeks. He talks to people who lived through it, and finds out what scientists are doing to help prevent a similar flood happening in the future. And a water sommelier explains exactly why the taste of water changes in different parts of the country.

Presenter: James Gallagher

Producer: Alun Beach

Executive Producer: Martin Smith


TUE 21:30 The New Gurus (m001g9sv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m001l2g0)
Is the SNP in meltdown?

After another dramatic day for the SNP, we ask whether the party can free itself from the current turbulence.

Fox News has paid the voting machine manufacturer Dominion nearly $800m (£640m) to settle their high profile libel case. We get the details.

And the wife of the jailed Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza on the British authorities' response to his case.


TUE 22:45 The Young Accomplice by Benjamin Wood (m001l2g7)
Episode 2

It's 1952 and idealistic architects Arthur and Florence Mayhood have taken on ex-Borstal inmates Joyce and Charlie Savigear as apprentices at their practice on their farm in Surrey, Leventree.

But what starts out as a seemingly straightforward story of good intentions and opportunity rapidly turns into a darker story full of secrets and lies.

And yet through tragedy come lessons learnt and a determination to hold on to one’s dreams.

Benjamin Wood’s first novel was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Book Prize, and won Le Prix du Roman Fnac.

He was a finalist for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award.

Reader: Rupert Evans
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Celia de Wolff
Sound Design: Essential Music
Production Manager: Sarah Wright

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:00 The Confessional (m0010g03)
Series 2

The Confession of Olivia Williams

Following the success of its inaugural series earlier this year and by popular demand, Stephen Mangan is back with the comedy chat show about shame and guilt.

Each week Stephen Mangan invites a different eminent guest into his virtual confessional box to make three 'confessions' to him. This is a cue for some rich and varied storytelling, and surprising insights as their confessions are put under the microscope.

We’re used to hearing celebrity interviews, where stars are persuaded to show off about their achievements and talk about their proudest moments. Stephen is not interested in that. He doesn’t want to know what his guests are proud of, he wants to know what they’re ashamed of. That’s surely the way to find out what really makes a person tick. Settle back for a stimulating journey through the realms of shame, regret, guilt and toe-curling embarrassment.

This week Stephen meets British and Hollywood screen actor Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense, The Crown)

Other guest in the series: Anthony Horowitz, Ed Byrne, Shaparak Khorsandi, Konnie Huq and David Quantick.
Written and presented by Stephen Mangan
With extra material by Nick Doody
Produced by Frank Stirling
A 7digital production


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001l2gg)
Sean Curran reports as ministers welcome new rules on the forced installation of energy prepayment meters, but Labour say they don't go far enough.

WEDNESDAY 19 APRIL 2023

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m001l2gq)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


WED 00:30 Woke: The Journey of a Word (m001jc52)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001l2h0)
The latest shipping forecast


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001l2h4)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001l2h8)
The latest shipping forecast


WED 05:30 News Briefing (m001l2hf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001l2hk)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Jonathan Rea.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m001l2hp)
19/04/23 Restocking chickens after avian flu; Dartmoor independent review; community land ownership.

Despite the joy at seeing free-range poultry allowed back outdoors again, the country's leading free-range chicken producer has told Farming Today that he is unable to re-stock any of the thousands of sheds which had been infected, because there is no agreement on a disinfection protocol, six months after the disease swept through the free-range poultry industry. Millions of free-range poultry are now allowed out once more after an unprecedented lock-down because of avian flu. We speak to Mark Gorton from Traditional Norfolk Poultry, which produces free-range and organic chicken and turkeys on more than fifty farm sites.

The Government has agreed to set up an independent review into the management of Dartmoor.  It follows pressure from a group of MPs representing areas of Dartmoor alarmed at recent proposals from Natural England to significantly reduce grazing levels on the moor. 

All week we're looking at land ownership, the idea of community land has taken root in Scotland, with more than 500,000 acres of the country now owned by local community groups, and a Scottish Government fund of ten million pounds a year has been made available for community land buyouts. The majority of the community-owned land is in the Outer Hebrides, with 70 per cent of the people there now participating.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09sqvxm)
Helen Moncrieff on the Shag

Ever since her first encounter with a Scarf as they are known locally when she was a child and her Mum rescued a casualty of an oil spill, Helen Moncrieff, Shetland Manager for RSPB Scotland has had a particular fondness for these birds seeking them out in in the darkness of sea caves where they nest on ledges and fill the air with their strange sounds.

Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Paul Lee.


WED 06:00 Today (m001l25s)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Life Changing (m001l262)
The box under the bed

Growing up Joe Jaquest Oteng knew very little about his Dad; they struggled to find much common ground. Joe’s Dad, Peter, was guarded about his early life in Ghana and the family he had left behind when he emigrated to the UK in the 1960s. When Peter died Joe was left to sort through his belongings. He discovered bundles of documents, letters and photos which revealed new and shocking information which didn’t match the life story Joe had been told.

Dr Sian Williams hears how Joe set out to find the truth about Peter and how along the way made some joyful discoveries for himself.


WED 09:30 Please Protect Abraham (m001fwgd)
4. Escape

After digital threats seem to manifest into physical ones for Abraham, he maps out his own route to safety. It’s a decision that results in him leaving everything he knew behind.

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

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

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 09:45 Woke: The Journey of a Word (m001jc86)
3. #StayWoke

Matthew Syed traces the origins and evolution of the word 'woke', a term that's become synonymous with our era of angry debate.

Once a watchword for African Americans in the early 1900s, 'woke' is now used as an insult across the political spectrum. As the word has spread, what people actually mean by it has become less clear than ever. In this series, Matthew follows the evolution of 'woke' through five key stories.

In this episode, how the use of 'woke' online exploded in 2014, following the shooting of the black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was killed by a white police officer and his death sparked weeks of unrest, drawing worldwide attention to racial injustice in the United States. Much of the activity took place online and on Twitter #staywoke became recognised around the globe and galvanised the Black Lives Matter movement. The words urged citizens to remain aware of the threat of systemic racism.

Matthew speaks to Johnetta Elzie, whose live-tweeting of the activity in Ferguson shot her to unexpected fame and made her a leader among the activists. He learns how her use of platform shaped Twitter's development, and considers its significance in the era of Elon Musk's ownership.

Featuring Johnetta Elzie and Nicole Holliday, Asst. Professor Linguistics, Pomona College.

Presented by Matthew Syed and Produced by Sam Peach


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001l26c)
Kristine Kujath Thorp

Kristine Kujath Thorp is the star of new ‘unromantic comedy’ Sick of Myself. The film follows the unhealthy and competitive relationship between bored waitress Signe and her boyfriend Thomas; both self-proclaimed narcissists obsessed with attention. When Thomas suddenly breaks through as a contemporary artist, Signe decides to do something drastic to attract sympathy and go viral. Kristine joins Nuala to talk about playing a true anti-hero.

We talk to BBC presenter Yalda Hakim about how the UN might take the "heartbreaking" decision to pull out of Afghanistan if it cannot persuade the Taliban to let local women work for the organisation.

In January the government announced that it would amend the Victims Bill currently going through parliament so that children born as a result of rape in England and Wales will be officially recognised as victims of crime. In a powerful new BBC documentary ‘Out of the Shadows: Born from Rape’, Sammy Woodhouse, the campaigner, and victim of the Rotherham grooming scandal, who was just 15 when she became pregnant hears for the first time from mothers as well as children born from rape, and she tells us why she is calling for more support for those affected. Sammy is joined by ‘Eva’, who tells her story.

Have you been watching Race Across The World? The BBC 1 programme where travellers can choose any route they like - but no flights or phones are allowed. Now in it's third series those involved are travelling from West to East Canada - the second biggest country in the world. The partnerships that you see between the pairs taking part are just as compelling as the wonderful Canadian landscapes on display. Nuala talks to the only all female team taking part Cathie Rowe and Tricia Sail - two best friends, both in their late 40's who set out on a journey of a lifetime.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood


WED 11:00 Trapped in the System (m001l267)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]


WED 11:30 A Very British Cult (m001l26k)
3. The Life Coach

Catrin is quite cynical about the concept of life coaching. She’s now spent months speaking with people who signed up to it and ended up in a cult. So, she has a session with one of Ireland’s most in-demand coaches to see if he can change her mind.

Then Catrin meets Anthony, who found Lighthouse during a very dark time in his life. She’s shocked by what she hears about his mentor’s approach to Anthony’s mental health issues.

What happens when a life coach takes over your life? Catrin Nye and her team expose control, intimidation and fear at a sinister life coaching company.

Reporter: Catrin Nye
Written by: Jamie Bartlett and Catrin Nye
Producers: Osman Iqbal, Natalie Truswell, Ed Main & Jo Adnitt
Researcher: Aisha Doherty
Executive Producer: Ravin Sampat
Sound Mixing: James Bradshaw
Original Music by: Phil Channell
Commissioner: Rhian Roberts


WED 12:00 News Summary (m001l287)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m001l273)
Esport Gambling, Buy-to-let Landords Selling Up and Shoplifting

The first wave of buy-to-let landlords are now selling up - what does this mean for rentals? As football retreats from betting, is a 'younger' sport being lined up to replace it?


WED 12:57 Weather (m001l27d)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m001l27n)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


WED 13:45 Seriously... (m001l27z)
The Beauty Queen Riots - 3. A Riot Rages

Amardeep Bassey speaks to eye-witnesses who describe the scale of violence that took place that evening. And we hear of the heartbreak of one family. Isaiah Young-Sam’s cousin remembers the moment he heard how Isaiah was stabbed and killed while trying to make his way home that night. He was an innocent young man trying to avoid the anger and the rage. In the aftermath of the violence, a mediation team attempts to calm the situation down.

Beauty Queen Riots is a five-part series looking at the Lozells and Handsworth riots of 2005 in Birmingham. It’s a story that takes us into the conflicting and sometimes uncomfortable world of interethnic conflict in modern Britain.

Journalist Amardeep Bassey returns to investigate a story he first covered 18 years ago. What happened and what did we miss back then which might have explained why people took to the streets with such force? And what lessons can be learned 20 years on?


Producer: Ben Tulloh
Executive Editor: Bridget Harney
Music and Mix: Alex Portfelix

A Burning Bright production for BBC Radio 4


WED 14:00 The Archers (m001l28c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 This Thing of Darkness (m000fpn9)
Series 1

Part 1

Written by Lucia Haynes with monologues by Eileen Horne.

Dr Alex Bridges is an expert forensic psychiatrist, assessing and treating perpetrators of the most unthinkable crimes.

In this compelling drama, Alex charts the psychological impact of the murder of a young man on his family.

A week after 19 year-old Jamie’s murder, Dr Alex Bridges interviews the members of his family.

Cast:
Alex … Lolita Chakrabarti
Hannah … Jessica Hardwick
David … Robin Laing
Laura… Shauna Macdonald

Series created by Audrey Gillan, Lucia Haynes, Eileen Horne, Gaynor Macfarlane, Anita Vettesse and Kirsty Williams.
Series consultant: Dr Gwen Adshead
Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane and Kirsty Williams

A BBC Scotland Production directed by Gaynor Macfarlane and Kirsty Williams


WED 15:00 Money Box (m001l28s)
Money Box Live: Babies and Toddlers

Raising children is expensive. It’s estimated that it costs over £200,000 to raise a child from birth to 18 in the UK.

In this podcast we hear from parents about how they're managing these costs from new-born baby necessities to nursery fees.

The experts on the panel are, Anna Stevenson, Senior Welfare Benefits Specialist at the Charity Turn2Us, and Tara Spence, the CEO of Homestart Suffolk, a community network of trained volunteers that helps families with young children.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Amber Mehmood
Researcher: Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast, 3pm Wednesday 19th April, 2023)


WED 15:30 Troubled Water (m001kgs7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m001l294)
Poverty

Poverty in the UK & US: Laurie Taylor talks to Matthew Desmond, Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology at Princeton University, whose latest study asks why the richest country on earth has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Also Elizabeth Jane Richards, Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences at Edge Hill University, explores the way in which understandings of poverty have changed over time.

Producer: Jayne Egerton


WED 16:30 The Media Show (m001l29j)
Hunting the Pentagon leaker

Jack Teixeira is the 21 year old US airman charged with leaking confidential intelligence and defence documents. They appeared on the gaming platform Discord and revealed US assessments of the war in Ukraine as well as sensitive secrets about American allies. The New York Times managed to identify Teixeira as the suspect before the FBI arrested him. Also in the programme, a new BBC podcast that investigates the cold case of a boy from London who went missing over 40 years ago, and what next for Murdoch after the Fox News defamation lawsuit pay-out.

Guests: Aric Toler, Director of Training and Research, Bellingcat; Haley Willis, Video Journalist, The New York Times; Colin Campbell, investigative reporter, "Vishal" podcast on BBC Sounds, Shaun Keep, retired police detective, and Clare Malone, staff writer, The New Yorker.

Presenter: Katie Razzall

Producer: Simon Richardson


WED 17:00 PM (m001l29w)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001l2bd)
Soaring food prices have kept inflation above 10 percent.


WED 18:30 Ellie Taylor's Safe Space (m001l2bw)
Series 3

4: Billionaires

Ellie Taylor welcomes you to "Safe Space", a place where anyone can offload their controversial opinions without fear of judgment.

She talks to members of the public about their gripes and dislikes. In the final episode of this series, she tries to convince her audience that billionaires are actually a good thing. They're high achievers and set us an example of something to aim for, plus without billionaire Jeff Bezos we wouldn't be able to order Amazon Prime next day delivery.

Joining Ellie to prove her point is regular sidekick Robin Morgan.

With special guest: Journalist and curator of The Sunday Times Rich List, Robert Watts. He chats to Ellie about how people actually become billionaires, why there are more male billionaires in the world and if he thinks they can be useful for society.

Written by and starring Ellie Taylor and Robin Morgan.

Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Production Co-ordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios production for Radio 4


WED 19:00 The Archers (m001l2cc)
Adam’s sanguine about the fact he was too late to meet Paddy, and is pleased he’s spoken to his half-sister Erin. He’s looking forward to getting to know her. Ian reports relations between Helen and Pat seem improved since their argument. Adam’s pleased they’ve made up.
Buoyant Ben asks Ruth and David if Sykesy can visit Brookfield sometime for a look round, before heading off to replenish stocks for the B&B. David reckons they might just have got the old Ben back.
Freddie’s anxious to know what decision will be reached by the trustees on the controversial painting. They’re meeting today. He’s hoping they’ll recommend selling it; he’s ashamed every time he sees it. But the decision doesn’t go his way. The trustees want to keep the painting. Elizabeth isn’t prepared to erase part of their family history either, though she’s happy to keep the explanatory text panel in place. She suggests Freddie trains the guides to talk about it. Freddie’s bitterly disappointed and struggles to make Elizabeth understand his frustration. Later at Elizabeth’s birthday dinner with the family, Freddie can’t let it go, and leaves for some air. David goes after him. He suggests to Freddie that his mum must really believe her stance on the painting is right. Freddie appreciates all his mum’s done for him, but insists this time she’s wrong. He draws parallels between the painting and the modern slavery which caused the Grey Gables explosion, something of which he has first-hand experience. Having to see the picture every day is completely unbearable. David says he’ll speak to Elizabeth.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m001l2ct)
Opera composer Jeanine Tesori, Margaret MacMillan on Paris 1919, new ideas in architecture

Composer Jeanine Tesori's Blue for the ENO; Baillie Gifford winner of winners for non-fiction shortlist - Margaret MacMillan; new ideas in architecture discussed

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Jerome Weatherald


WED 20:00 Behind the Crime (m001l204)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


WED 20:30 Leading Scotland Where? (m001l4tt)
BBC chief political correspondent Nick Eardley explores the future of the Scottish National Party and the Scottish independence movement following the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the SNP and Scottish First Minister.

Nick canvasses the views of MP Mhairi Black, the SNP's deputy leader at Westminster, MSP Kate Forbes who challenged for the leadership of the party, and Ian Blackford a close ally and political friend of Nicola Sturgeon.

He also hears from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and from Michael Gove, Whitehall's minister responsible for its relationship with Holyrood.

Presenter: Nick Eardley, BBC chief political correspondent
Producers: Pauline Moore and David Holmes
Researcher: Georgina Davies
Mixed by: Kris McConnachie

Audio Credits:
Clips of Kate Forbes and Humza Yousaf - Scotland's Next First Minister: The Leader's Debate, STV 7 March 2023


WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (m001l4tw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 The Media Show (m001l29j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m001l2d7)
New Sudan ceasefire agreement in doubt

Also:

UK Inflation eases slightly – but food inflation still surging.

And

Russian ships accused of sabotage in the North Sea.


WED 22:45 The Young Accomplice by Benjamin Wood (m001l2dk)
Episode 3

It's 1952 and idealistic architects Arthur and Florence Mayhood have taken on ex-Borstal inmates Joyce and Charlie Savigear as apprentices at their practice on their farm in Surrey, Leventree, inspired by the principles of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

But what starts out as a seemingly straightforward story of good intentions and opportunity rapidly turns into a darker story full of secrets and lies. And yet through tragedy come lessons learnt and a determination to hold on to one’s dreams.

Benjamin Wood’s first novel was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Book Prize, and won Le Prix du Roman Fnac.

He was a finalist for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award.

Reader: Rupert Evans
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Celia de Wolff
Sound Design: Essential Music
Production Manager: Sarah Wright

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:00 Jessica Fostekew: Sturdy Girl Club (m001l2dv)
Episode 4: Bodybuilding

In the final episode of Jessica Fostekew's stand up series about big strong girls, we arrive at the most aesthetic and least functional of all the strength sports - Bodybuilding.

The Schwarznegger in swimwear one.

It's an area in which Jess is way out of her depth, having flirted with the weightlifting movements by accident over the years but never daring to face the gruelling diet.

Luckily she's got two brilliant interviewees on hand to help her get deep into the nitty gritty of things - champion bodybuilder Frances Amies-Winter and actor and former bodybuilder Megan Prescott. We also find out about the history of the sport as part of circus tradition, and Jess goes to Fran's gym to train with her on leg day.

Yes. She can just about still walk now.

Written and Performed by Jessica Fostekew
Producer: Lyndsay Fenner
Executive Producer: Victoria Lloyd
Sound Recordist: David Thomas

A Mighty Bunny production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:15 Nurse (m00013w3)
Series 3

Episode 3

Bittersweet comedy drama about a community mental health nurse.

Cat Lady April builds a shrine to David Bowie though her cats cut up rough if they have to hear any of Bowie’s Eighties output. Ray despairs of pharmaceuticals and Graham adjusts to life without his mum.

Starring Paul Whitehouse and Esther Coles, with Rosie Cavaliero and Cecilia Noble.

Produced by Paul Whitehouse and David Cummings
Associate Producer Tom Jenkins.
A Down The Line production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001l2f6)
All the news from Westminster with Susan Hulme, including highlights from Prime Minister's Questions.

THURSDAY 20 APRIL 2023

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m001l2fg)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


THU 00:30 Woke: The Journey of a Word (m001jc86)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001l2fp)
The latest shipping forecast


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001l2fx)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001l2g5)
The latest shipping forecast


THU 05:30 News Briefing (m001l2gd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001l2gn)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Jonathan Rea.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m001l2gx)
20/04/23 - Tree-planting delays; tax and land values; insects and waste

Forestry contractors say delays to paperwork are holding up tree planting. One forester says the waiting nearly cost him his business, and he feared he'd go bust. He also says delays in the system mean the government won't meet its ambitious tree-planting targets.

We are looking into landownership all this week - and the value of arable land in England is currently at an all time high. There are many reasons and tax has its part to pay too, both inheritance tax and capital gains tax. We speak to an accountant about how tax affects the price of land.

We've often talked about the future potential of insects both for feeding livestock and feeding us. At the moment insects can legally only be fed on vegetable matter, but a new research project being carried out for the Food Standards Agency is looking at the feasibility of using other types of food waste. It’s being run by Fera Science Ltd, alongside the University of Surrey.

Presenter: Caz Graham
Producer: Rebecca Rooney


THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tvys6)
Osprey

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

Steve Backshall presents the osprey. Ospreys are fish-eaters and the sight of one of these majestic birds plunging feet first to catch its prey is a sight to cherish. The return of the ospreys is one of the great UK conservation stories. After extinction through egg-collecting and shooting in the 19th and early 20th centuries, birds returned in the 1950s and have responded well to protection.


THU 06:00 Today (m001l288)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m001l291)
Linnaeus

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life, ideas and legacy of the pioneering Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778). The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau once wrote: "Tell him I know no greater man on earth".

The son of a parson, Linnaeus grew up in an impoverished part of Sweden but managed to gain a place at university. He went on to transform biology by making two major innovations. He devised a simpler method of naming species and he developed a new system for classifying plants and animals, a system that became known as the Linnaean hierarchy. He was also one of the first people to grow a banana in Europe.

With

Staffan Muller-Wille
University Lecturer in History of Life, Human and Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge

Stella Sandford
Professor of Modern European Philosophy at Kingston University, London

and

Steve Jones
Senior Research Fellow in Genetics at University College, London

Producer Luke Mulhall


THU 09:45 Woke: The Journey of a Word (m001jc8d)
4. The Women's March

Matthew Syed traces the origins and evolution of the word 'woke', a term that's become synonymous with our era of angry debate.

Once a watchword for African Americans in the early 1900s, 'woke' is now used as an insult across the political spectrum. As the word has spread, what people actually mean by it has become less clear than ever. In this series, Matthew follows the evolution of 'woke' through five key stories.

In this episode, Matthew looks into how the the adoption of 'woke' at the 2017 Women's March aided the term's movement away from black communities and into the mainstream.

The day after the inauguration of Donald Trump, millions took to streets around the world to protest against the President's positions on the rights of women and other minorities. One photo became iconic from the march, a toddler with a banner round his neck reading 'I Love Naps, But I Stay Woke'. Matthew hears from Prisca Kim, the boy's mother, about the meaning behind the sign . Prisca tells Matthew how the image went viral and within days was being sold on t shirts and posters across the globe. He considers how the image formed part of a wider movement of 'woke' away from it's African American roots, asking how that impacted the word's meaning.

Featuring Prisca Kim and Aja Romano, Culture Writer for Vox.com

Presented by Matthew Syed and Produced by Sam Peach


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001l29t)
Cost of living, Lynn Nottage, Gel manicures, 'Rosewater' by Liv Little

Published in 2001, ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ was a New York Times bestseller for more than 125 weeks and was made into an award-winning film starring Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys in 2008. Now the book has been adapted by Lynn Nottage, a playwright and screenwriter, for the stage. It is on at the Almeida Theatre in London and Anita Rani talks to Lynn Nottage, the only woman to have won the Pulitzer prize for drama twice, about her adaptation.

New research by the pensions and investment company, Royal London, shows that women are being hit harder by the rising cost of living than men and are facing higher monthly costs on a lower average income. Women are more likely to have made cutbacks in day-to-day spending to cope and around one in three say they could only afford an unexpected bill of up to £500 from either their income or savings. Anita Rani is joined by Clare Moffat, a Finance Expert, to go through the figures and Amber Proctor, youth and community worker at Hexham Youth Initative in Northumberland.

A rise in popularity of gel nail products is leading to increasing numbers of people developing allergies that can affect their future healthcare options, according to dermatologists. Some imported products are thought to contain high levels of chemicals known as acrylates, which can be harmful in liquid form. The allergies can prevent people having medical procedures such as joint replacement and cataract surgeries. Dr. Emma Wedgeworth, Consultant Dermatologist and Lucy Tucker, a nail technician working in the film industry discuss the issues.

Author, Liv Little, founder and former editor of gal-dem, the award-winning online and print magazine for women of colour, publishes her debut novel today. Called Rosewater it introduces us to Elsie; a sexy, funny and fiercely independent 28-year old poet living in South London. Liv joins Anita in the Woman’s Hour studio.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Rebecca Myatt
Studio manager: Bob Nettles


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m001l2b8)
Leaving Sri Lanka

Record numbers are fleeing the island in the wake of a brutal economic crisis – perhaps one in twenty five Sri Lankans left last year alone. Some 300,000 went for contracted positions, mostly in the Gulf. But hundreds of thousands of others took less official routes. Many of them get scammed, some even lose their lives, as illegal migrants in what looks like a web of corruption and organised crime.

Ed Butler speaks to some of those who are involved in this industry, who’ve taken this perilous option, and asks why aren’t more Sri Lankans, and even the government, speaking out more loudly about what some see as a national tragedy?

Produced and presented by Ed Butler
Production coordinator Helena Warwick Cross
Series editor Penny Murphy


THU 11:30 Great Lives (m001l2br)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


THU 12:00 News Summary (m001l2gs)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 You and Yours (m001l2cr)
Gap Finders - Roger Saul

Roger Saul founded Mulberry with the £500 he got for his 21st Birthday in 1971. He spotted a gap for a luxury British accessories brand and over three decades, grew it into a global success. But in 2003 he was ousted from his own company in a takeover which left him devastated.

Not knowing what to do next, when the farm next to his home in Somerset went up for sale, he bought it and threw himself into farming. He spotted a gap in the market for the ancient grain of Spelt and his farm, Sharpham Park, is a key producer of organic Spelt based products, selling in supermarkets such as Waitrose and Sainsburys.

Now in his early seventies, and showing no signs of slowing down, Roger Saul talks to Shari Vahl about his career, from fashion to farming in this edition of Gap Finders.

PRESENTER: SHARI VAHL
PRODUCER: CATHERINE EARLAM


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread Presents (m001l3hr)
Toast - Blockbuster

While Sliced Bread takes a break we serve up… Toast. A study of the spectacular failures of wonder products and businesses which had promised so much to consumers.

In each episode the presenter and BBC business journalist, Sean Farrington, examines one big idea. What did it promise? Why did people back it? Why did they get burnt?

Some of the world’s most successful businesses have also brought us some of the world’s most remarkable failures. So, what led them to be toast? And what can we learn from their stories today?

Sean unpicks all the early optimism, hype and ambition. He speaks to expert commentators and to people involved with doomed wonder products to discover how they view things now and what, if anything, could have been done differently.

Along the way he discovers charming and surprising stories from people who took to these products but lived to regret it and, with the help of self-made millionaire and serial entrepreneur Sam White, tries to work out where they went wrong.

This week, Sean and Sam examine the game and movie rental chain, Blockbuster.

Its first store opened in 1985 in Dallas, Texas. At its peak in 2004, it had around 9,000 stores globally, was earning nearly $5.9 billion in revenue and employed over 84,000 people worldwide.

How did it lose its way? Spoiler alert - it wasn't just down to the rise of streaming services like Netflix.

Toast is a spin-off from Sliced Bread, the series in which Greg Foot investigates the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread.

Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in May. In the meantime, Toast is available only in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds.

Toast is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:57 Weather (m001l2d5)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m001l2dj)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


THU 13:45 Seriously... (m001l2dw)
The Beauty Queen Riots - 4. The Layers of Resentment

Amardeep Bassey digs deeper into the history of the area to try to understand the friction that brought people to the streets. How does a place that rubs along peacefully for the majority of the time suddenly explode into violence?

Beauty Queen Riots is a five-part series looking at the Lozells and Handsworth riots of 2005 in Birmingham. It’s a story that takes us into the conflicting and sometimes uncomfortable world of interethnic conflict in modern Britain.

Journalist Amardeep Bassey returns to investigate a story he first covered 18 years ago. What happened and what did we miss back then which might have explained why people took to the streets with such force? And what lessons can be learned 20 years on?


Producer: Ben Tulloh
Executive Editor: Bridget Harney
Music and Mix: Alex Portfelix

A Burning Bright production for BBC Radio 4


THU 14:00 The Archers (m001l2cc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 This Thing of Darkness (m000fwch)
Series 1

Part 2

Written by Lucia Haynes with monologues by Eileen Horne.

Dr Alex Bridges is an expert forensic psychiatrist, assessing and treating perpetrators of the most unthinkable crimes.
In this compelling psychological drama, Alex charts the impact of murder on the victim's family and explores the long shadow cast by homicide - via a therapy group for those who have committed murder.

Whilst continuing to assess David’s state of mind, Alex introduces us to another aspect of her working life: group therapy for murderers.

Cast:
Alex … Lolita Chakrabarti
Dougie … Simon Donaldson
Hannah … Jessica Hardwick
Kyle/Tyler … Reuben Joseph
David … Robin Laing
Laura… Shauna Macdonald
Frankie … Brian Vernel

Series created by Audrey Gillan, Lucia Haynes, Eileen Horne, Gaynor Macfarlane, Anita Vettesse and Kirsty Williams.
Series consultant: Dr Gwen Adshead
Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane and Kirsty Williams
A BBC Scotland Production directed by Gaynor Macfarlane


THU 15:00 Open Country (m001l2f7)
Herefordshire's Golden Valley

Ian Marchant is time-travelling through Herefordshire’s Golden Valley in springtime. He learns about "the wine of the west" in cider-maker Denis Gwatkin’s orchards, discovers Herefordshire’s lost castle at Snodhill, and visits an Elizabethan watermeadow system in Turnastone. Ian finds out why modern-day pilgrims are walking through the Golden Valley. High above it, he visits ancient Arthur’s Stone which captured the imagination of CS Lewis. Win Scutt from English Heritage tells Ian of exciting archaeological discoveries about the dolmen, built by Neolithic cattle herders.

Producer: Sarah Swading


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m001l1yq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Open Book (m001l20d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:00 Princess (m001l2fd)
Amrit Kaur

Presenter Anita Anand joins artist Edmund de Waal and author Livia Manera to uncover the mysterious story of an Indian princess who went from living a luxurious Parisian life as the daughter of a Maharajah, to being captured by the Nazi’s and perhaps even plotting against them.

We trace the twists of her incredible story to find out what really happened.

Producer: Rufaro Faith Mazarura
Editor: Ailsa Rochester
Sound Design: Craig Edmondson

An Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m001l2fl)
Rocket Launch Pollution

Whilst the globe struggles to shift to green sustainable energy sources, one industry has its sights set solely on the stars. Space X just launched the biggest rocket the world’s ever seen, and it won’t be their last even if it did end its test flight with a bang. As we enter a new golden age of space travel, Vic asks Associate Professor in Physical Geography Dr Eloise Marais if we are paying enough attention to the environmental impacts posed by a rapidly growing space industry.

Have viruses, bacteria, and microorganisms influenced humanity more than we know? Author of new book, Pathogenesis: How Germs Made History, Dr Jonathan Kennedy discusses how germs and disease have shaped human evolution, history and culture and what we can learn from the COVID pandemic.

And from unconventional life in space to psychoactive spinning apes, Vic and BBC Climate Reporter Georgina Rannard bring you the best scientific stories from the past couple of weeks.

Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producer: Harrison Lewis
Content Producer: Ella Hubber
BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.


THU 17:00 PM (m001l2fv)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001l2g9)
The Prime Minister is deciding Dominic Rabb's future after a probe into bullying claims.


THU 18:30 Susan Calman Makes Me Happy (m000bxjz)
Episode 3

Taking part in Strictly Come Dancing made Susan Calman happy. Completely, totally happy. And having lived with anxiety for so long, it was something of a surprise to discover something new that gave her feelings of joy. So, in Susan Calman Makes Me Happy, she explores and explains the other things in life that bring her happiness.

This week, aided and abetted by her studio audience and her wife Lee, Susan investigates food and drink, looking at its emotional importance above and beyond mere sustenance and pondering why a bad meal can ruin an entire day.

Produced by Lyndsay Fenner
Written by Susan Calman and Jon Hunter

Production Co-ordinator: Tamara Shilham

A Somethin’ Else production for BBC Radio 4


THU 19:00 The Archers (m001l2gk)
Pat’s brought biscuits to Helen and Lee’s. She’s still apologetic for her outburst on Sunday – she can’t believe how badly she got it wrong. Helen reassures her. They all have good reason to fear Rob and his control. She’s determined he’ll never get back into their lives. Pat wonders if Ursula’s funeral’s happened yet. Helen doesn’t care. It means a lot to her that Lee and her boys are getting on happily – and Lee faces it all with his own quiet courage. Pat observes Helen has courage, too.
Tracy’s impressed with the pub Jazzer’s new mate has recommended – until she discovers the mate is Den, her ex. Both of them are shocked to see each other. For Tracy it’s too weird, and she drags Jazzer away. Back at home Jazzer apologises to Tracy – he never equated the name Dennis with Den and it didn’t occur to him it was the same bloke. Tracy reckons you couldn’t make it up. She gets a message from Den. He’s outside and wants to talk. Jazzer offers to accompany her but Tracy’s fine on her own. Den insists he didn’t want to mess with her and Jazzer. His fiftieth has encouraged him to make a new start. He feels he hasn’t done right by Chelsea and Brad and he wants to make it up to them. Tracy remarks he’s ten years too late, but Den pleads for one more chance. Tracy promises to talk to them and let Den know how it goes.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m001l2gt)
Everything But the Girl, French film Pacifiction and TV drama The Diplomat reviewed

Tom Sutcliffe meets Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt of Everything But the Girl as they release Fuse, their eleventh studio album and their first in almost 24 years following 1999’s Temperamental.

Today's critics are Briony Hanson, Director of Film at the British Council and Carne Ross, former British diplomat and writer. They'll be talking about The Diplomat on Netflix which follows the story of the newly appointed US Ambassador to the UK.

Briony and Carne will also review French film Pacifiction, which taps into the world of the high commissioner in French Polynesia.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Sarah Johnson


THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m001l2h1)
Does Rishi Sunak's maths calculation add up?

Rishi Sunak says the UK has an 'anti maths mindset' and that low levels of numeracy are damaging the economy. Will studying maths until the age of 18 solve the problem?

David Aaronovitch talks to:

Branwen Jeffreys, the BBC's Education Editor
Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills
Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies
Emma Lark, Associate Dean Ambition Institute leading the Master's in Expert Teaching
Rob Eastaway, author and director of Maths Inspiration

Produced by: Kirsteen Knight, Claire Bowes and Ben Carter
Edited by: Richard Vadon
Sound engineer: Graham Puddifoot
Production co-ordinator: Siobhan Reed and Sophie Hill


THU 20:30 Fallout: Living in the Shadow of the Bomb (m001ddwg)
Episode 3: Secrets of Maralinga

The atomic weapons tests that took place in Maralinga, South Australia between 1956 and 1963 included two major series, Operation Buffalo and Operation Antler which forged the way to Britain's first hydrogen bomb, later detonated off Kiritimati - Christmas Island - in the South Pacific.

Hundreds of so-called Minor or Safety Trials also took place in Australia, contaminating the environment with plutonium and other radioactive debris - the true extent of which was only uncovered much later on.

As well as the lasting impact on both Australian and British service personnel (including presenter Steve Purse's own father), these trials also caused immeasurable cultural damage to the Maralinga Tjarutja and other first nations groups, many of whom were forcibly removed from their traditional lands.

With Brian Tomlinson, a former 'sapper' who was stationed at Maralinga during operation Antler; former RAAF-serviceman and whistle blower, Avon Hudson; and Karina Lester, the daughter of the late aboriginal campaigner, Yami Lester.

Presented by Steve Purse
Produced by Hannah Dean
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m001l2fl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


THU 21:30 In Our Time (m001l291)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m001l2h7)
Tunisia's main opposition leader jailed

Also:

US military preparing for possible evacuation of US embassy staff from Sudan.

and

First ever feature film shot in space is released in Russian cinemas.


THU 22:45 The Young Accomplice by Benjamin Wood (m001l2hd)
Episode 4

It's 1952 and ex-Borstal teenagers Joyce and Charlie have been taken on as architectural apprentices by the Mayhoods at their farm in Surrey. When old Mr Hollis, the farm manager, disappears, Joyce’s fears her past is about to catch up with her.

What starts out as a seemingly straightforward story of good intentions and opportunity rapidly turns into a darker story full of secrets and lies.

And yet through tragedy come lessons learnt and a determination to hold on to one’s dreams.

Benjamin Wood’s first novel was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Book Prize, and won Le Prix du Roman Fnac.

He was a finalist for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award.

Reader: Rupert Evans
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Celia de Wolff
Sound Design: Essential Music
Production Manager: Sarah Wright

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


THU 23:00 My Teenage Diary (m000zmlj)
Series 10

Sofie Hagen

Rufus Hound's guest is comedian, writer and campaigner Sofie Hagen, whose teenage diaries are full of Westlife, dodgy poetry and finding out about boys.

A Talkback production for BBC Radio 4


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001l2hj)
Sean Curran reports as MPs question ministers about the scrapping of new smart motorways.

FRIDAY 21 APRIL 2023

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m001l2hn)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 00:30 Woke: The Journey of a Word (m001jc8d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001l2hr)
The latest shipping forecast


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001l2ht)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001l2hw)
The latest shipping forecast


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m001l2hy)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001l2j0)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Jonathan Rea.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m001l2j3)
21/04/23 Fishermen's health checks; Welsh shellfish industry; River pollution; company rewilding project

From November all fishermen will have to get a medical fitness certificate to continue fishing, even those on boats that are under 10 metres long. The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations says livelihoods will be lost and that fishermen will have to prove a higher standard of fitness than ambulance and HGV drivers. The government says the certificates are required by international law and aim to save lives.

The West Wales coastline has been well known for its shellfish and traditional fishing pots since the 19th century, and many boats have been passed down through families, but there now seems to be a shortage of the next generation of shell fishers. We visit Solva in Pembrokeshire to find out more.

A Herefordshire farmer has been sentenced to a year in prison for what the judge described as ‘ecological vandalism on an industrial scale’ of the River Lugg. The river, a site of special scientific interest, was dredged, woodland cut down and the banks flattened destroying otter, kingsfisher and salmon habitats. Natural England and the Enviroment Agency welcomed the sentence and said the damage was the worst case of riverside destruction they’d ever seen. John Price admitted seven charges of damaging a stretch of the River Lugg in Herefordshire, including failing to stop pollution entering the water.

All this week we're talking about our land - who owns it, what they're doing with it, and how that's changing. One idea that's taken hold is for polluting companies to pay for trees to be planted in their name - to 'offset' their carbon footprint. One Somerset removals company has gone a step further: they've bought land which they're rewilding with native trees.

Presenter = Caz Graham
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b01s8vcs)
Nightingale Part 1

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. David Attenborough presents the nightingale. (Part 1 of 2) A bird whose song of rich crescendos of pure whistles and breathless phrases is hailed as one of the most complex and beautiful in the bird world and quite different to its plain brown appearance.


FRI 06:00 Today (m001l2j5)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 The Reunion (m001l1zh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Woke: The Journey of a Word (m001jccv)
5. Where Woke Goes to Die

Matthew Syed traces the origins and evolution of a term that's become synonymous with our era of angry debate.

Once a watchword for African Americans in the early 1900s, 'woke' is now used as an insult across the political spectrum. As the word has spread, what people actually mean by it has become less clear than ever. In this series, Matthew follows the evolution of 'woke' through five key stories.

In this final episode, Matthew looks into the actions of Governor Ron DeSantis, tipped by some to be the next President of the United States. The politician has labelled his state of Florida as 'Where Woke Goes To Die', introducing a 'Stop W.O.K.E.' bill aimed at reducing the spread of identity politics in education and the workplace. Matthew hears from Sam Rechek, the student who has successfully challenged the bill in the courts over its restriction to free speech. DeSantis is just one example of the embrace of 'woke' by the political right. As the word appears commonly in the media today, Matthew considers its multiple meanings, including whether it corresponds to a new set of ideas on the rise in society.

Contributors: Nicole Holliday, linguist at Pomona College, writer James O'Malley, Prof Matthew Goodwin, University of Kent, Women of Keele Educate.

Presented by Matthew Syed
Produced by Sam Peach


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001l2j9)
Rachel Weisz, Lewes FC, Adele Roberts Marathon Challenge

Academy award-winner Rachel Weisz joins Anita Rani to talk about her new series Dead Ringers, a psycho-sexual thriller about identical twins who are gynaecologists and obstetricians. It is a new adaptation of the 1988 film starring Jeremy Irons, in which Rachel plays twins Elliot and Beverly Mantle. She explains why it was important to her to adapt the story with female leads, and the technical process in performing both characters and what it felt like to watch someone giving birth.

Anita is joined by Maggie Murphy, the CEO of Lewes Football Club. Maggie featured on our Power List highlighting 30 women working in sport in the UK. Maggie discusses why the club is so unique and how women’s football should grow.

The US Supreme Court has delayed its decision on the abortion pill Mifepristone - until midnight Friday. Allowing access to the drug which is used for more that half of all U.S. abortions. The Supreme Court was asked to look into the matter at the request of President Joe Biden’s Administration after two federal judges issued opposing rulings on its use. This is the most significant case since the Supreme Court ended the nationwide right to abortion last year, by over turning the landmark 1973 Roe V Wade. But how much can we read into this delay? We ask associate Professor of American Literature and Politics at University of East Anglia Emma Long.

The Radio 1 DJ and presenter Adele Roberts joins Anita ahead of the London Marathon on Sunday. This is Adele's third marathon but her first since she was diagnosed with bowel cancer and she’s trying to break a World Record in the process!

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Emma Pearce


FRI 11:00 The Briefing Room (m001l2h1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Thursday]


FRI 11:30 Ability (m001l2jc)
Series 4

Till Death Do Us Part

Matt (played by Lee Ridley, aka Lost Voice Guy) is 28. He has cerebral palsy and can only speak via an app on his iPad. Everyone who cares about Matt knows that this isn't the defining thing about him. Matt is funny and clever and "up for stuff".

Matt shares a flat with his best mate, Jess (Sammy Dobson). He has a rubbish carer, Bob (Jason Lewis). And finally, last year, in series 3 Matt met Anna (Lisa Hammond). They have loads in common and she is even a wheelchair user so they can share their annoyance and grief and same sense of humour at people's crazy attitudes to disabilities.

Now in series 4 of this award nominated comedy, Matt has been with Anna for six months. But Matt has been worried that the lines were getting blurred between girl-friend and carer and had set out to um-blur them. But when Anna had discovered him doing a pros and cons list, with disability on the cons list, she was not pleased. Now Matt is worried he has lost her - can he get her back?

Ability is the semi-autobiographical co-creation of Lee Ridley, who, like Matt, has Cerebral Palsy and uses his iPad to speak. Producer Jane Berthoud started developing this sitcom with Lee after he won the BBC New Comedy Awards in 2014. Lee later went on the win Britain's Got Talent in 2018.

The series is set in Newcastle.

Written by Lee Ridley, Kat Butterfield and Daniel Audritt
A Funnybones production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m001l2jg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 Archive on 4 (m001l1ws)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


FRI 12:57 Weather (m001l2jn)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m001l2jv)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Jonny Dymond.


FRI 13:45 Seriously... (m001l2jz)
The Beauty Queen Riots - 5. Healing the Wounds

In the final episode, Amardeep hears how the community has been working to prevent a major public disturbance like the riots of 2005 spilling out onto the streets ever again.

Beauty Queen Riots is a five-part series looking at the Lozells and Handsworth riots of 2005 in Birmingham. It’s a story that takes us into the conflicting and sometimes uncomfortable world of interethnic conflict in modern Britain.

Journalist Amardeep Bassey returns to investigate a story he first covered 18 years ago. What happened and what did we miss back then which might have explained why people took to the streets with such force? And what lessons can be learned 20 years on?

Producer: Ben Tulloh
Executive Editor: Bridget Harney
Music and Mix: Alex Portfelix

A Burning Bright production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m001l2gk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (p0fbjc55)
Who Killed Aldrich Kemp?

Who Killed Aldrich Kemp? - Chapter Five: Bogata

The team is in a race against time for answers, but the route proves circuitous.

Chapter Five – the quest ends?

Cast:

Clara Page - Phoebe Fox
Aldrich Kemp – Ferdinand Kingsley
Mrs Boone – Nicola Walker
Sebastian Harcourt – Kyle Soller
Nakesha Kemp – Karla Crome
Aunt Lily – Susan Jameson
Forsaken McTeague and the Underwood Sisters – Jana Carpenter.
Sabine Seah – Rebecca Boey
Remington Schofield– Barnaby Kay
Miss Lotte Amutenya – Cherrelle Skeete
Mrs Bartholomew – Kate Isitt
Dr Hazlitt - Ben Crowe
Co Pilot – James Joyce.
Created and written by Julian Simpson

Recorded on location in Hove.

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

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:45 Understand: The Economy (m001hx44)
Series 1

The Economy: 14. Bankruptcy and insolvency

The cost of living crisis is putting more pressure on more people - but what happens when that pressure becomes too much, and is bankruptcy always a bad thing? Professor Diane Coyle explains the processes and wider economic impact of bankruptcy, and Dr Victoria Bateman takes us back to the very beginning of the idea in the time of Henry VIII.

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 such as Inflation, GDP, National Debt, energy markets and more. 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.

Guest: Professor Diane Coyle, the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge.
Producer: Louise Clarke-Rowbotham
Researcher: Beth Ashmead-Latham
Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards
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 (m001l2k2)
Coventry

How do I avoid slugs getting on my dahlias? How can I prevent problems in the polytunnel? Can I stop my bay tree getting bigger?

This week the GQT team answer all these questions and more from Coventry. Ready to rid you of all your weed-induced woes are plant pathologist Pippa Greenwood, grow-you-own guru Bob Flowerdew, and proud plants woman,Anne Swithinbank.

Alongside the questions, GQT producer Daniel Cocker discusses the connection between Coventry Cathedral, a handful of acorns and a...Beatle.

Assistant Producer: Dulcie Whadcock
Producer: Dan Cocker
Executive Producer: Hannah Newton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 From Fact to Fiction (m001l2k4)
The Computer Who Failed at Maths by Tim X Atack

An Artificial Intelligence designed as a maths genius flunks its numbers and has to search for meaning elsewhere.

Fiction inspired by this week's news, in which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak considers making maths compulsory to age eighteen and the TUC holds a conference to explore the meaning of AI in the workplace.

Tim X Atack is a writer, composer and sound designer working in stage, screen, audio, prose fiction and XR. His work includes the multi-award winning eco sci-fi thriller FOREST 404 for BBC Sounds; HEARTWORM, winner of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2017; THE MORPETH CAROL, THE STROMA SESSIONS and THE BEARD among others for BBC Radio; and the love triangle drama BABEL'S CUPID to be produced at Bristol Old Vic in 2024. He's a co-founder of Sleepdogs with director Tanuja Amarasuriya, a regular writer for the Big Finish range of DOCTOR WHO audio adventures, and a resident at Pervasive Media Studio, Watershed, Bristol.

Reader...Amanda Lawrence


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m001l2k6)
Anne Perry, Dame Mary Quant, Jean Argles, Ahmad Jamal

Matthew Bannister on

Anne Perry, the best-selling crime novelist who committed a murder when she was a teenager.

Dame Mary Quant, the influential fashion designer at the heart of the swinging 60s. Pattie Boyd recalls the coat Mary designed for her wedding to George Harrison.

Jean Argles, who – with her sister - served as a codebreaker during the second world war.

Ahmad Jamal, the jazz pianist and composer whose restrained but intense style inspired Miles Davis. Joe Stilgoe pays tribute.

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Interviewee: Joanne Drayton
Interviewee: Jenny Lister
Interviewee: Pattie Boyd
Interviewee: Tessa Dunlop
Interviewee: Joe Stilgoe

Archive used:
Carnaby Street, British Pathe News, 1969; Mary Quant interview with ITN about the ideas that guided her innovative designs, ITN Archive, YouTube uploaded 13/04/2023; Mary Quant interview, Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4 , 16/02/2012; Anne Perry: The Making of a Writer, Open Road Media, YouTube uploaded 21/03/2010; Ian Rankin interview with Anne Perry, YouTube uploaded 18/08/2007; Heavenly Creatures film promo, YouTube uploaded 22/07/2014; Jean Argles interview, Legasee, The Veterans Video Archive, recording date unknown, source: legasee.org.uk;


FRI 16:30 Feedback (m001l2k8)
Andrea Catherwood is joined by Julia McKenzie, Radio 4 Commissioner for Comedy and Entertainment. Julia lifts the lid on how she commissions comedy, reveals new shows coming up on Radio 4 and responds to listeners' comments.

Also listeners give their views on the BBC's coverage of the monarchy in the lead up to the coronation of King Charles III.

Presented by Andrea Catherwood

Produced by Gill Davies

A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 17:00 PM (m001l2kb)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001l2kd)
The early evening national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:30 The Now Show (m001l2kg)
Series 62

Episode 6

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis present the week via topical stand-up and sketches. They're joined by Andrew Doyle exploring the personalities of politicians today, Laura Smyth explaining how she is personally navigating all of the strikes & Jazz Emu who is auditioning to be the in-flight entertainment on Elon Musk's 'SpaceX'.

The show was written by the cast with additional material from Alex Garrick-Wright, Zoe Tomalin, Chris Douch & Cody Dahler.

Voice actors: Daniel Barker & Chiara Goldsmith

Sound: Marc Willcox & Gary Newman
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Producer: Sasha Bobak
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls

A BBC Studios Production


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m001l2kj)
Writer, Paul Brodrick
Director, Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe

David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Ben Archer ….. Ben Norris
Pat Archer ….. Patricia Gallimore
Tony Archer ….. David Troughton
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Lee Bryce ….. Ryan Early
Ian Craig ….. Stephen Kennedy
Ed Grundy ….. Barry Farrimond
Brad Horrobin ….. Taylor Uttley
Chelsea Horrobin ….. Madeleine Leslay
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Adam Macy ….. Andrew Wincott
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Elizabeth Pargetter ….. Alison Dowling
Freddie Pargetter ….. Toby Laurence
Sykesy ….. Jasper Carrott
Den ….. Laurence Saunders
Erin ….. Amy McAllister


FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m001l2kl)
Restaurants

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode discuss how restaurants are portrayed throughout cinema and the small screen, from Big Night to Ratatouille.

Mark is joined by film and TV journalist Roxana Hadadi to discuss an overview of the best depictions of restaurants on the silver screen and to define which ingredients make for a good restaurant movie.

And Ellen talks to Philip Barantini, the director of one-take restaurant film Boiling Point, about how his experience as a head chef has made him the director he is today. Ellen also speaks to restaurant critic Jimi Famurewa about how and why restaurants are the perfect setting for TV and film.

This week’s viewing note is courtesy of food critic and broadcaster Jay Rayner.

Producer: Hester Cant
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m001l2kn)
Alex Burghart MP, Professor Matthew Goodwin, Peter Kyle MP, Sarah Olney MP

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Thaxted Parish Church, Essex, with a panel including Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office Alex Burghart MP, Professor Matthew Goodwin from the University of Kent, Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Kyle MP, and the Liberal Democrat Treasury and Business spokesperson Sarah Olney MP.

Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton
Editor: Colin Paterson
Lead broadcast engineer: Rob Dyball


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m001l2kq)
Abide with Yourself

The philosopher Michel de Certeau characterised space as ‘the practice of place’,

Will Self argues that, in order to appreciate the places we inhabit, we have to indulge in 'that most unfashionable and unproductive of things: abide".

'To be in a place', he writes, 'is not to be distracted by the possibility of other places, but absorbed by the particularity of the one you're in.'

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


FRI 21:00 National Health Stories (b0b91t05)
The New Plague

At the start of the 1980s a mysterious disease, AIDS, appeared in gay men. There was fear that it would become a new plague. Sally Sheard tells the story of how activists, doctors and politicians worked together to stop the disease spreading.

Apart from a handful of individual doctors who saw gay men with Kaposi's sarcoma and a pneumocystis pneumonia,, there was no reaction from the government in the early years of the AIDS epidemic. The gay community took matters into their own hands and in 1982 the Terrence Higgins Trust was set up, named after one of the first men to die from AIDS, to give advice. By the mid 1980s Donald Acheson, the Chief Medical Officer, realised he had to find a policy to tackle the new disease that would be accepted by the medical profession, the gay community and government. One of Donald Acheson's great achievements was persuading Health Minister Norman Fowler that AIDS needed serious attention. This approach culminated in the famous tombstones advert voiced by John Hurt that proclaimed "don't die of ignorance".


FRI 21:15 National Health Stories (b0b92qsq)
Policing the Bugs

During the 1980s and 1990s, patients contracting infections in hospital, that antibiotics could no longer treat, dominated the headlines.

The strict hygienic regimes, so beloved by matrons since the Nightingale era, had been undermined by a reliance on antibiotics. When one bacterium became resistant to an antibiotic, there was always another to fall back on.

But when patients became infected with a bacterium which had become resistant to Methicillin, a crucial antibiotic in the health service's armoury, the defence against the bugs began to crumble. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA, thrived in NHS hospitals and began to spread, largely unchecked, from patient to patient.

As the numbers of patients contracting MRSA spiralled, the cleanliness of NHS hospitals, and their poor infection control, came under close scrutiny. Clostridium Difficile also emerged, alongside MRSA, as a source of public anxiety.

It was time for the NHS to clean up its act and tackle the spread of antibiotic resistance head-on, with the infection control nurse leading the fight.

Producer: Beth Eastwood.


FRI 21:30 National Health Stories (b0b92ysx)
Too Much Medicine

Screening the British public for the presence of disease, took the health service in a radically new direction.

It was no longer just about symptoms. Certain diseases could be detected before a person even knew anything was wrong.

Screening, however, has been fraught with controversy and, over the past three decades, breast cancer has often made the headlines.

The arrival of Britain's breast screening programme with mammography, in 1988, was welcomed. As it became established, however, some experts highlighted problems with the programme and began to question its value.

Fewer women were being saved than first predicted, they claimed, and some women were being unnecessarily diagnosed and treated for cancers, detected through screening, that were not life threatening - what's called over-diagnosis and over-treatment.

Today, over-diagnosis & over-treatment is generally accepted and information on over-treatment is available so that women can make an informed choice.

Producer: Beth Eastwood.


FRI 21:45 National Health Stories (b0b949sw)
Nurse!

For many, the typical image of the British nurse includes their earthy sense of humour and resilience. They've been trained to conform to hospital rules and hierarchies, yet always find ways to cope with the pressures of this demanding career. But in recent years, this image has been shadowed by darker tales of nurses' lack of compassion. Sally Sheard explores the changing roles of nurses in the NHS: now they are all graduates and are likely to be found diagnosing broken bones in an A and E department leaving the caring side of the job to healthcare assistants.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m001l2ks)
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 The Young Accomplice by Benjamin Wood (m001l2kv)
Episode 5

It's 1952. Ex-Borstal teenagers Joyce and Charlie have been taken on as architectural apprentices by the Mayhoods at their farm in Surrey. But a figure from Joyce’s past has come back into her life, and she’s found she can’t escape his dangerous plans for her.

What starts out as a seemingly straightforward story of good intentions and opportunity rapidly turns into a darker story full of secrets and lies. And yet through tragedy come lessons learnt and a determination to hold on to one’s dreams.

Benjamin Wood’s first novel was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Book Prize, and won Le Prix du Roman Fnac.

He was a finalist for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award.

Reader: Rupert Evans
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Celia de Wolff
Sound Design: Essential Music
Production Manager: Sarah Wright

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 23:00 Americast (m001l2kx)
The Americast News Feed

Scrolling through the biggest stories in America right now. With Fox News forced to defend its editorial standards, Donald Trump attacking “pudding fingers” Ron DeSantis and a conservative beer boycott spilling over, the Americast team take a few of this week’s most talked about topics and explain the context behind the clickbait.

What’s been happening? Why does it matter? And why are we seeing so much of it all on social media?

We also talk about the spate of shootings of people for tragically turning up in the wrong place and the effect of “stand your ground” laws on how gun owners view self-defence.

HOSTS:
• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
• Sarah Smith, North America editor
• Marianna Spring, disinformation and social media correspondent
• Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent

GET IN TOUCH:
• Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480
• Email Americast@bbc.co.uk
• Or use #Americast

Find out more about our award winning "undercover voters" here: bbc.in/3lFddSF.

This episode was made by Daniel Wittenberg with Alix Pickles, Ivana Davidovic and Isobel Gough. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001l2kz)
Mark D'Arcy reports on Dominic Raab's resignation and supporting ex-offenders.