SATURDAY 26 AUGUST 2023

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m001ptp7)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:30 What We Fear Most: Reflections on a Life in Forensic Psychiatry by Dr Ben Cave (m001ptj4)
Book of the Week: Episode 5 - In praise of nurses

Dr Ben Cave's compassionate memoir about his career in forensic psychiatry concludes. Today, he reflects on the dedication of the nurses he has worked with over three decades, and recalls one nurse's bravery. He also reaches a turning point. Adrian Scarborough reads.

In What We Fear Most Dr Ben Cave reflects on his decades on the front line of forensic psychiatry where he has seen the extremes of mental illness. He tells the human stories behind the headlines and introduces us to some of the people he has treated. Fear, violence, and sadness but most of all humanity are the hallmarks of each. What emerges is compassion, understanding and for many of his patients, hope and the potential for a brighter future. We also discover how Cave has been shaped by all the many cases that have been his life's work.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001ptpc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001ptph)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001ptpm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m001ptpq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001ptpv)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Shaunaka Rishi Das

Good morning.

The Holiday weekend is in full swing, sun or not. Just a few months ago we were still chilling in winter's grip, and chilling to the thoughts of our heating bills. And then the unimaginable happens, as it mystically does every year, we’re relieved of all that cold stress. One day we can’t imagine not wearing a coat, and the next we’re in tee-shirts.

I was just savouring this as I strolled through our village, and a flashy car goes by, with its open roof, a couple in their sunglasses and white tooth smiles, elbows resting on the door, relaxed and jolly, and they throw a look at me and laugh to their private joke, as they fly past leaving me in the dust of their joy. I hate that.

I hate it because it reflects so badly on me. It exposes me to myself, and I don’t like what I see. I could demand that no one should have so much money, or waste that money, or disrespect elders, or be so needlessly happy. But that’s all so mean-minded.

On that day, I remembered a meditation, from an ancient Hindu text, the Bhagavat, which reassured me that I wasn’t the first small-minded person on the planet. It’s a positive, yet challenging conversation with a sage. It gave hope when I read it, and remembered it, and now as I translate it into a prayer.

Lord, when we see someone with more than us, may we be happy for them – not envious; with our peers may we be friendly – not in competition; and with juniors may we nurture them – not repress them. Let us live happily with that kindness.

Hare Krishna


SAT 05:45 Witness (b039p32z)
The Chile Coup

In September 1973 General Pinochet launched a military coup against the socialist government of Salvador Allende in Chile. The playwright Ariel Dorfman was a young assistant to President Allende. Hear his story of regret and exile.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m001q0hg)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m001ptdf)
Highlands with Horses

Mary-Ann Ochota joins a group of walkers, riders and horses as in the Scottish Highlands as they follow St Columba’s Way, a pilgrim route from St Andrew’s to Iona. Starting at the village of Killin, eleven people and four horses – Istia, Kirsty, Moy and Sasha - follow the old ways through Glen Lochay and Glen Lyon to the Bridge of Orchy. It's a trip organised by The Big Hoof, a group which promotes adventure and wellbeing through long journeys travelling with horses, on both new routes and ancient ones. Participants join the journey for as long as they want - on foot, horseback or bicycle. Mary-Ann meets the people who have decided to take part in this secular pilgrimage, discovers the healing power of walking with horses and strangers, learns why it’s not about simply riding horses but travelling with them as companions, and hears more about the Venture Trust, the charity the group is raising money for.

Produced and presented by Mary-Ann Ochota


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m001q0hj)
26/08/23 Farming Today This Week: The Countryside Code; sheep embryo exports; salads; bird species returns to Northern Ireland

As farmers share how their crops have been destroyed by dogs and walkers, and livestock have been scared by joggers, just how can the Countryside Code be better followed, publicised and communicated?

A consignment of British sheep embryos was shipped to the US this week - it’s the first time embryos have been allowed to be exported to the States, following the lifting of a 33-year-long embargo on lamb and embryos from countries where livestock has been affected by BSE.

We explore the world of growing salad, from vertical farming baby leaf salad in a giant warehouse to growing microgreens in a home office.

And an endangered bird species returns to Northern Ireland for the first time in years.

Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Rhiannon Fitz-Gerald.


SAT 06:57 Weather (m001q0hl)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m001q0hn)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m001q0hq)
Rory Cellan-Jones, Amanda Hone, Sam Talo (aka El Sam), Rose Matafeo, Bethany Handley...in nature

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


SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (p0fmp6w6)
Leonardo da Vinci (Live)

In this special episode of You’re Dead To Me, recorded in front of a live audience, Greg Jenner is joined by Professor Catherine Fletcher and comedian Dara Ó Briain to learn about Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo lived from 1452 to 1519 during an era of plague and warfare across Western Europe. It was also the height of the Italian Renaissance.

From mathematics to military maps, and some paintings which you may have heard of, Leonardo da Vinci did it all. But was he a generational genius or an "ideas man" who had a chronic inability to finish what he started?

Research by Anna Nadine-Pike
Written by Emma Nagouse and Greg Jenner
Produced by Emma Nagouse and Greg Jenner
Assistant Producer: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow
Project Management: Isla Matthews
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
The You're Dead To Me theme tune was performed by Charles Mutter and the BBC Concert Orchestra

The Athletic production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m001q0ht)
Series 41

Tunbridge Wells

Jay Rayner and his rabble of recipe experts head to Tunbridge Wells for this week’s episode.

Ready to join Jay from the wings of the Assembly Hall Theatre are materials expert Zoe Laughlin, restaurateur and Mauritian food expert Shelina Permalloo, food writer Jordan Bourke, and chef Paula McIntyre.

Whether it be assessing the size of the bubbles in sparkling water to the importance of ‘burping’ fermented foods, Jay and the panel of food fanatics discuss a range of culinary conundrums. From inventive ways to use up foraged berries, to alternative uses of sparkling water, the panel discusses a range of culinary debates.

And Zoe Laughlin gives us a run down on the varying types and tastes of French beans.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m001q0hw)
Drug cartel violence spreads through Ecuador

Kate Adie introduces stories from Ecuador, Italy, North Korea, Denmark and South Africa.

Ecuador was once seen as an oasis of calm in a violent region: despite lying between the drug producing hubs of Peru and Colombia, its society and politics had stayed largely free of drug cartel influence. But not any more. This year's presidential election campaign saw several targeted killings of politicians and the fear of violence is now ever-present on the streets. Katy Watson reports from Guayaquil.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni promised to get tough on migration - especially by cracking down on those who try to enter the EU waters after crossing the Mediterranean in boats organised by people smugglers. Yet the number of arrivals is still growing. What might they find in Italy? James Copnall visited two small communities in Calabria which showed different sides of the phenomenon.

There are reports of food shortages in North Korea so severe that people have died of starvation. Yet the regime in Pyongyang controls access and information so stringently that it's hard to verify the scale or intensity of the hunger across the country. Michael Bristow explains the obstacles to finding out the truth - and what CAN be gleaned from sources and observation from South Korea and from North Korean defectors.

Going carbon neutral is a challenge at any scale - local, national, international or just household-by-household. Graihagh Jackson travelled to a community which is trying to make it work, and which may even be ahead of schedule: the Danish island of Bornholm, in the Baltic Sea.

And after fifteen years based in the "rough and tumble" city of Johannesburg, Andrew Harding considers the time he's spent in South Africa - and where the country is heading.

Producer: Polly Hope
Edtor: Bridget Harney
Production Co-Ordinator: Gemma Ashman


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m001q0mm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m001q0j0)
Surviving to Thriving? The High Street

High streets have a double challenge; they need to cope with their own rising costs and keeping hard pressed customers spending. We hear how Barnsley’s sellers are adapting to tricky times. Is anyone able to see a path through to a thriving business?

Felicity Hannah meets traders in The Glassworks, home to the town’s new redeveloped undercover market. Here she’s made a special coffee by Dave in his new café which is thriving; Katy, who’s side hustle is making candle melts to sell at the young traders monthly market & David, a butcher who’s been selling meat here for over 30 years.

The programme also talks to Dr Jackie Mulligan founder & CEO, ShopAppy.com & a member of High Streets Task Force, who explains how high street businesses are fairing across the UK.

Series Producer Smita Patel
Editor Clare Fordham
Studio Engineer by Rod Farquhar


SAT 12:30 Catherine Bohart: TL;DR (m001ptnk)
The fifth of our satirical specials this summer. Columns. Analysis. The Guardian's Long Read. Who has time? Catherine Bohart, that's who, and she's going beyond the headlines to give you the lowdown on one of the biggest stories of the week, alongside writer performer Tom Neenan and roving correspondent Sunil Patel.

Catherine has fast become one of the most sought-after comedians in the UK and Ireland. She co-hosted the BBC Sounds Podcast and Radio 4 show You’ll Do and has appeared on multiple radio shows including The Now Show, The News Quiz, Museum of Curiosity and A Good Read.

The past twelve months have seen her record her debut special for Amazon Prime Video. She has also made multiple appearances on shows such Mock The Week, Late Night Mash and The News Quiz.

Catherine’s other broadcasting credits include Sky1’s A League Of Their Own, Channel 4’s 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Comedy Central UK’s Roast Battle, ITV2’s The Stand Up Sketch Show, Dave’s Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier and BBC2’s Richard Osman’s House Of Games. She was also a regular correspondent on BBC2’s The Mash Report and has written material for BBC Radio 4’s The Now Show and Frankie Boyle’s New World Order (BBC2).

Written by Madeleine Brettingham, Sarah Campbell, Emma Nagouse and Pravanya Pillay.

Produced by Victoria Lloyd.

A Mighty Bunny production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 12:57 Weather (m001q0j4)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m001q0j8)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m001ptnr)
Stephen Flynn MP, Rachael Hamilton MSP, Daniel Johnson MSP, Alex Salmond

Alex Forsyth presents political discussion from Peterhead Theatre in Aberdeenshire with the SNP Westminster Leader Stephen Flynn MP, Scottish Conservative spokesperson for Rural Affairs and Islands Rachael Hamilton MSP, Scottish Labour spokesperson for Business and Enterprise Daniel Johnson MSP and Leader of the Alba party and former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Lead broadcast engineer: Ken Garden


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m001q0jd)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week


SAT 14:45 The Museums That Make Us (m0016hf3)
The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Neil MacGregor presents a new series for BBC Radio Four celebrating the role and ambition of museums the length and breadth of the country, and in the process he'll be finding answers to the question ‘What are Museums For in 2022’.

In a week visiting the National Museums of the United Kingdom, Neil faces the challenge of finding a representative for England. In the event he plumps for the oldest of them all, the Ashmolean in Oxford. But rather than the Alfred Jewel, an item that seems to represent something essential in the English psyche, the museum have opted for a far older object from Northern Syria. Acquired by Oxford's own T.E.Lawrence, this small model clay wagon, possibly a child's toy, provides an opportunity to demonstrate how the museum can provide for a huge breadth of local people from all over the world.

Museums have always been telescopes trained on the past to help locate a sense of place in the present. Neil believes that role is an active one, responding to changes in the people museums serve and the shifting social and cultural landscape they inhabit. After spending much of his life at the centre of our national Museum life in London, Neil is taking to the road to discover more about the extraordinary work being done in Museums outside the capital, from Stornoway to Stowmarket, and Belfast to Birmingham.

In each episode he visits a single museum, inviting them to choose an object from their collections which they feel best illustrates their civic role, and the way they relate and want to relate to their local audience. Very rarely have they chosen a crown jewel from their often priceless collections. More often it's an object with a particular local resonance, or which helps tackle episodes from the past which are being viewed very differently by citizens in the 21st century.

He’ll be visiting the great national museums of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, as well as major city institutions in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and elsewhere. And in spite of the challenges of the last two years, everywhere he meets passionate teams who are dedicated to providing a unique experience for both local audiences and visitors from further afield.

Neil writes: “What’s going on in our museums is at once challenging and exciting and it can only really be understood by visiting as many as possible and finding out how they have approached what is a vital role in providing a sense of local, regional and national identity.”


SAT 15:00 Hardy's Women (m000sq65)
Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Episode 3

Dramatisation of Hardy's novel about beautiful, poor young Dorset woman Tess Durbeyfield. After her disastrous wedding night, Tess gets a job working on the land of a mean-spirited farmer.

Cast:
Tess ..... Faye Marsay
Angel ..... Matthew Tennyson
Alec ..... Robert Emms
Marian ..... Bettrys Jones
Izzy ..... Kathleen Cranham
Felix ..... Hasan Dixon
Cuthbert ..... Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Joan ..... Maggie Service
Jack ..... Roger Ringrose
Abraham ..... Aaron Gelkoff
Liza Lu ..... Ell Potter
Isaac ..... Noah Leggott
Lily ..... Tayla Hutchinson
Kingsbere Man ..... David Seddon
Farmer ..... John Lightbody
Labourer ..... Tony Turner
Driver ..... David Sturzaker
Neighbour ..... Jessica Turner
Mrs Brooks ..... Jane Slavin

Author, Thomas Hardy
Dramatist, Katie Hims
Director, Mary Peate


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m001q0jl)
Listener Week: Psychedelics, Strongwomen, Kleptomania, Living funerals, Being a refugee, Women in heavy metal

A Listener Week Weekend Woman’s Hour Special, where you – our listeners – decide what you want to hear on the programme.

Our listener Rachel asked us to explore the potential of using psychedelic drugs in medicine, and whether these drugs might affect women differently to men. Anita Rani is joined by Professor David Nutt, Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London; and Catherine Bird, Senior Clinical Trials Manager at the Centre for Affective Disorders at Kings College London.

Eric, a listener, suggested we find out more about Vulcana, the Victorian strongwoman known for her 'jaw-dropping feats of strength and her breath-taking beauty'. Author Rebecca F John and Sam Taylor, Britain’s Strongest Woman 2020, join Nuala McGovern to talk about strongwomen past and present.

A listener who we’re calling Jane tells Nuala about her addiction to shoplifting. She wanted to highlight her experience and her struggle to cope with her compulsion - and explains her anxiety about regularly breaking the law.

Listener Nelly has asked us to talk about living funerals. She was inspired by Kris Hallenga, the founder of the CoppaFeel breast cancer awareness charity, who has stage 4 breast cancer and who held a living funeral for herself. Nuala hears from Jenna, whose sister had a living funeral.

Franceska Murati is a 27-year-old businesswoman and this year’s Miss Central London. At four years old, she arrived in the UK having escaped war-torn Kosovo, smuggled in the back of a lorry. She shares her story.

And our listener Laura wanted us to look at heavy metal and the role women play in the scene. Nuala speaks to Lindsay Bishop, who conducted 10 years of field work for her PhD on the subject and Becky Baldwin, a bassist from the band Fury.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Lottie Garton


SAT 17:00 PM (m001q0jq)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 All Consuming (m001ptbs)
Cameras

With over 90% of our photos now captured on phones, Charlotte Stavrou and Amit Katwala go in search of what cameras mean today and how they have evolved since their origins in the 19th century.

Ruth Quinn, curator of photography and photographic technology at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, shines a light on how photographic cameras were born out of a Victorian fascination with chemistry and optics.

Long-time Kodak employee, Steve Sasson, reveals how a brief to play with a new bit of kit in the 1970s led to his invention of the digital camera.

Meanwhile, Dr Alix Barasch, Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Colorado, discusses the ways phone cameras and image-sharing apps are not only changing how we process our environment but also what we do.

And Charlotte takes a trip into the dark room with photographer Alia Romagnoli to develop a portrait taken on a film camera for a recent series on queer men and masculinity and discusses why these old manual devices are back in fashion with Gen Z.


Producer: Ruth Abrahams
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001q0jw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m001q0k0)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001q0k4)
The former Culture Secretary, Nadine Dorries, has resigned as the Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m001q0k8)
Eddi Reader, Sumayya Usmani, Kieran Hodgson, Ben Hart, Rachel Sermanni, Robin Ashcroft, Michelle McManus, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Michelle McManus are joined by Eddi Reader, Sumayya Usmani, Ben Hart and Kieran Hodgson for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.


SAT 19:00 Reith Revisited (b096g1lg)
Series 1

Grayson Perry on Nikolaus Pevsner

"The Englishness of English Art" was the theme of the 1955 BBC Reith lectures by art historian Nikolaus Pevsner. Sarah Montague discusses them with Grayson Perry. the artist who himself was a Reith Lecturer in 2013. In Reith Revisited, Radio 4 assesses the contributions of great minds of the past to public debate, in a dialogue across the decades with contemporary thinkers. In 1948, households across Britain gathered before the wireless as the pre-eminent public intellectual of the age, the philosopher Bertrand Russell delivered a set of lectures in honour of the BBC's founder, Lord Reith. Since then, the Reith Lectures on the Home Service and subsequently Radio 4 have become a major national occasion for intellectual debate. In this series Radio 4 revisits five of the speakers from the first ten years of the Reith Lectures.
Producer: Neil Koenig
Researcher: Josephine Casserley.


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m001q0kd)
Melvyn Bragg

Writer and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg is a prolific and bestselling author, having written 22 novels, many set in the Cumbrian communities in which he grew up. He has also written 18 works of historical non-fiction and biographies. As host and editor of ITV’s South Bank Show for nearly 35 years, presenter dozens of documentaries, and Radio 4 series including Start The Week and In Our Time he is synonymous with arts broadcasting in the UK. He was ennobled in 1998, taking his seat in the House of Lords as Baron Bragg of Wigton in Cumbria.

In conversation with John Wilson, Melvyn Bragg recalls his working class childhood and how the local library offered him access to literature at a young age. A voracious reader and talented student, Melvyn was inspired by two teachers at his grammar school, and won a scholarship to Oxford University. It was there that he met his first wife Lisa Roche, who he chooses as a major influence having encouraged Melvyn to pursue his creativity. He discusses the grief and depression he suffered after Lisa’s suicide ten years into their marriage. Winning a place on a BBC production trainee scheme in 1961 was another major turning point in his cultural life, working alongside writers including Irish poet Louis MacNeice at the very start of his six decade career in arts broadcasting.

Producer: Edwina Pitman


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001q0kj)
The Holy Blood

Two decades ago Da Vinci Code mania gripped the world.
But the story behind the theory that Jesus Christ had a secret bloodline is more surprising than any thriller.
Step aside Indiana Jones and Robert Langdon - BBC Paris Correspondent Hugh Schofield heads to the South of France to uncover a forgotten milestone of broadcasting which helped set the template for the modern conspiracy theory.
The Lost Treasure of Jerusalem was a 1972 episode of the BBC history series Chronicle. It sets out the unusual local mystery of Rennes-le-Château - and the charismatic parish priest who somehow funded a major church renovation. What treasure had he uncovered?
Written by and featuring the actor-turned writer Henry Lincoln, the programme was a phenomenon. The idea that the church was decorated with symbols and clues hinting at the origin of the unexplained wealth gripped viewers and led to two follow-up programmes.
But Lincoln's research for the programmes became the keystone of the book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail - popularising theories of Christ's marriage which went stratospheric with the 2003 release of The Da Vinci Code.
Intrepid Hugh reveals the forgotten global impact of the Chronicle series - speaking to The Damned drummer Rat Scabies who had a surprising ringside seat for much of the drama, and to Dame Marina Warner who was the star of a thrilling encounter with the three authors whose book was about to become a global best-seller.
We hear how this forgotten series popularised a spurious new approach to historical research and facts - one that reverberates through conspiracy theories today.

Presented by Hugh Schofield
Produced by Kevin Core


SAT 21:00 GF Newman's The Corrupted (m000hpdd)
Series 5

Episode 9

It's the 1990s and Brian Oldman is still in jail for a crime he didn't commit.

He found a man in jail able to prove his innocence - but that man was soon found dead in his cell. He suspects that Joseph Oldman, now Sir Joseph Olinska MP, organised the killing.

GF Newman's The Corrupted weaves fiction with real characters from history, following the fortunes of the Oldman/Olinska 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 a nexus of crime, business and politics that’s 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. Now ennobled and on the board of Lehman Brothers, Joseph intends to extend his business interests into Russia with the help of Boris Yeltsin and his cronies.

The characters are based on GF Newman's novels.

CAST
Joseph Olinska Toby Jones
Brian Oldman Joe Armstrong
Warder Peters/
Menachem Hayek Paul Kemp
Assistant Gov Christian Rodska
Tony Wednesday Alec Newman
Eddie Richardson/
Tim Listfield Charles Davies
Lord Carson Jamie Newall
Dac Henderson Nicholas Murchie
Chuck Haley Matt Rippy
Margaret Olinska Flora Montgomery
DCS Redvers Tom York
Sonia Hope/Audrey Sarah Lambie
Bob Reed Damian Lynch
Jack Braden John Hollingworth

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


SAT 21:45 Short Works (m001ptmv)
Madwoman's Milk by Louise Kennedy

An original short story commissioned for BBC Radio 4 from the award-winning author of Trespasses, set on the northwest coast of Ireland.

A gardener is faced with hostility and scorn from a new client, until a moment of shattering vulnerability brings understanding...

Reader: Liam O'Brien
Writer: Louise Kennedy is the award-winning author of Trespasses, her debut novel, as well as a collection of short stories, The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac. She grew up near Belfast but now lives in Sligo, Ireland, and worked as a chef for almost thirty years before becoming a writer.
Producer: Justine Willett


SAT 22:00 News (m001q0kn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 Screenshot (m001ptnp)
Brits Abroad

Ellen and Mark explore Brits abroad in the movies, taking a look at everything from 1972's Carry on Abroad to 2023's Cannes prize-winner How To Have Sex.

Mark talks to Steve Chibnall, Professor of British Cinema at De Montfort University, about some of the most notable examples of Brits on holiday in 20th century cinema. They discuss the mid-century travelogue trend, what British holiday films can tell us about national identity and class, and how 1989's Shirley Valentine stands apart from other films in the genre.

Ellen looks at two more recent examples of the British holiday film, speaking first to director Molly Manning Walker about her debut feature How To Have Sex. Molly reveals how the resort of Malia proved the perfect setting for the film, which follows three teenage girls navigating the complexities of sex and consent on a rite of passage clubbing holiday.

And Ellen then speaks to actor Samantha Morton about her starring role in director Lynne Ramsay's 2002 cult classic Morvern Callar. They discuss Samantha's own experiences as a Brit abroad, her close working relationship with Ramsay, and why Morvern Callar remains so influential two decades on from its first release.

Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (m001psqr)
Heat 2, 2023

2/17

Another four contenders join Russell Davies to launch their bids to become Brain of Britain 2023. Today's winner will go through to the semi-finals in the autumn.

Taking part in the second heat are Peter Almond from Bristol, Sue Brearley from London, Leigh Haggar from Hampshire and George Scratcherd from Essex.

The programme includes 'Beat the Brains', which gives a listener a chance to win a prize by stumping the Brains with questions of his or her own.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


SAT 23:30 Yeti (p0fxts4q)
9. Into the Yeti’s Lair

Andy and Richard finally reach Bhutan’s official yeti sanctuary in the far east of the country, where they speak to rangers and nomads about their yeti experiences.

Andy is told of the location of a yeti cave, where a yeti is supposed to have slept. He persuades Richard to investigate.

The pair hear stories of a royal yeti hunt before celebrating with nomads, with disastrous consequences.

In this 10-part documentary series, Andrew Benfield and Richard Horsey travel through India, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan in search of stories of yeti sightings and encounters. They hear from villagers, yak herders, sherpas and mountaineers, who give surprisingly consistent descriptions of a mysterious, large, hairy creature. This series takes us on a journey deep into Himalayan culture as the presenters grapple with their own inner demons to try to make sense of the yeti myth.

Producer: Joanna Jolly.
Executive Producer: Kirsten Lass.
Sound designers: Peregrine Andrews and Dan King.
Composer of original music: Marisa Cornford.
Assistant Producer Maia Miller- Lewis.
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4.

SUNDAY 27 AUGUST 2023

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m001q0kv)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Four Sides of Seamus Heaney (m001pt1n)
Seamus Heaney - Poet of Place

Seamus Heaney, Nobel Prize winner and one of the most famous, and finest, poets writing in English, died in August 2013. BBC Radio 4 is marking this with Four Sides of Seamus Heaney, four programmes, each focusing on a different aspect of his work, each with a different presenter with personal knowledge of the poet.

In the first programme John Kelly, poet and broadcaster with RTE, visits the village of Bellaghy in Country Derry, where Heaney was born, lived on a farm until he went to secondary school, and where he is buried. Though he spent most of his life in the Republic of Ireland, taught in America and travelled all over the world, much of Heaney's poetry is rooted in his homeplace, the landscape, its people and their work, and their language. One his earliest poems describes ploughing, one of his last a baler. "He never really left the parish," says Dan Heaney, one of Seamus's brothers.

Dan takes John to the sculpture of a turf digger and shares something few know about the genesis of the famous poem, 'Digging'. They go to the Strand at Lough Beg where in the poem of that name Seamus imagines meeting his cousin, murdered in the Troubles. And they visit the family's farmyard.

The old police station in Bellaghy is now the Seamus Heaney HomePlace, a library and performance space where the 'Word Hoard' displays the local vocabulary Heaney employs. Maura Johnston explains how its riches lie in Shakespeare's English, in Irish and Ulster Scots. She and Bernard O'Donoghue, specialist in Medieval Literature and Modern Irish Poetry, read closely, to reveal how Heaney asserts his Irish identity through English, subtly, inclusively decolonising the language.

And from the archive and recordings we hear Heaney reading his work.

Producer: Julian May


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001q0kz)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001q0l3)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001q0l7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m001q0lc)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m001q0lh)
St Vedast, Foster Lane in London

Bells on Sunday comes from St Vedast, Foster Lane in London. The tower, which was rebuilt in 1697 by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire, is one of the most graceful in London. In 1941 the church was gutted by fire following an air raid and its six bells dating from the 17th and 18th centuries were destroyed. In 1960 a new ring of six was cast by the Whitechapel of London foundry with a tenor weighing 16 and a half hundredweight and in the note of F. The bells are heard here ringing Cambridge Surprise Minor.


SUN 05:45 Reith Revisited (b096g1lg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m001q0j3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (m00027hl)
In the Name of the Mother

Journalist Remona Aly has long been intrigued by many aspects of motherhood. While not a mother herself, she relates to the lived experiences of women she knows and, in this programme, considers the symbolic, mythological and religious incarnations of mothers throughout history.

She details the more relatable elements of the Virgin Mary’s motherly experiences described in the Quran, such as her vulnerability when giving birth to Jesus alone, and the pain of labour which makes her wish for death. Remona also considers how places as well as people bear children and reminisces about her links to her own motherland, India.

Remona examines the sorrow and conflict that can come with motherhood. She describes the impact of not having children herself and the loss of a newborn, and revisits the Ancient Greek stories of Medea and Pandora, who bring death and destruction.

The wonders of motherhood are also explored, highlighted by neurological research which documents the re-wiring of women's brains during pregnancy, and the strong bonds between mothers and infants in the animal kingdom.

Throughout, Remona contemplates the notion of God in the maternal paradigm and concludes that the power of motherhood moves between beliefs, from the divine down to a human level. Free from years of patriarchal influence, Remona argues that it is time to reclaim the mother's position in society, and ponder prayers that begin 'In the name of the Mother...’.

Presenter: Remona Aly
Producer: Sera Baker
A TBI production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m001q0j7)
Beans, broadly speaking

Ruth Sanderson visits Bruce Farms in Perthshire, where half of the UK's commercial broad bean crop is grown. Farmer Geoff Bruce is on a mission to change attitudes to what he calls "Britain’s forgotten vegetable". Ruth discovers the intricate planning needed to get peas and beans from the field to the freezer, and learns why this part of Scotland is so well suited to growing them. She also discovers that this much overlooked vegetable could have a part to play in a more sustainable future.

Produced and presented by Ruth Sanderson


SUN 06:57 Weather (m001q0jc)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m001q0jh)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m001q0jm)
The spiritual life of JRR Tolkien

Two weeks on from the devastating wildfires in Hawaii, more than a thousand people are still unaccounted for. Local Catholic priest, Monsignor Terrence Watanabe, explains how churches are responding both practically and pastorally to help their traumatised community.

As the Edinburgh Fringe draws to a close, one show which has had rave reviews is a play called Dugsi Dayz. It centres on four British Somali Muslim girls, who find themselves stuck in detention at their Dugsi – the Somali word for Islamic school. The play’s award-winning writer Sabrina Ali reflects on the need for more authentic and nuanced depictions of Muslims on the stage and screen.

On the fiftieth anniversary of the death of JRR Tolkein, we hear from author Holly Ordway who has written the first book that exclusively explores the subject of his Catholicism and how it permeated his life and work.

Can a person really be evil? The former nurse, Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six other infants. She’s the most prolific child serial killer in modern British history and many have described her as “evil”. It’s a word often readily applied to the worst of all criminals, those found guilty of the most appalling crimes. But aside from fairy tales, are people ever really evil? We hear the views of Assistant Professor Carmody Grey, a Catholic theologian at the University of Durham, and Dr Stephen Blumenthal, a psychoanalyst who has worked clinically with violent criminals and psychopaths.


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m001q0jr)
On Call Africa

Louise Minchin makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of On Call Africa

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 ‘On Call Africa’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘On Call Africa’.
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: SC041546


SUN 07:57 Weather (m001q0jv)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m001q0jz)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m001q0k3)
Greenbelt 50

For the past fifty years, many thousands of people have gathered together for the annual Greenbelt Festival. Set in the picturesque grounds of the Boughton Estate near to Kettering, Greenbelt brings top Christian thinkers and musicians together with 20,000 festival goers to spend the August bank holiday weekend reflecting on faith, justice and culture. Molly Boot and Azariah France-Williams lead a service from the festival, with reflections from Martin Wroe, Eve Poole, Marika Rose, Cole Arthur Riley and Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, and featuring music recorded at this year’s festival with artists including The Spirituals, Lee Bains III, Siskin Green and Grace Notes, as well as music recorded at the Iona Community Big Sing,

Producer: Andrew Earis


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m001ptnt)
The Trad Wife

Megan Nolan explores the concept of the 'trad wife'. She argues that 'the failings of mainstream girl-boss feminism' are leading to a resurgence of the sort of women's lifestyle associated with the 1950s.

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Bridget Harney


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b04hkwkp)
Swainson's Hawk

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the North American Swainson's hawk. About the size of the European buzzard, Swainson's hawks are dark-brown birds, rusty brown on the chest and white on the belly, and a familiar sight across open farmland and prairies of western North America where they soar effortlessly in search of prey. Most winter in South America, this epic round-trip of around 20,000 kilometres is probably the longest regular migration made by any American bird of prey. When they reach their wintering grounds they switch diet. In North America they feed mainly on mammals, but in South America, they gather in flocks to hunt dragonflies and grasshoppers in the vast pampas plains.

Producer : Andrew Dawes


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m001q0k7)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m001q0kc)
Writer, Tim Stimpson
Director, Pip Swallow
Editor, Jeremy Howe

David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Natasha Archer ….. Mali Harries
Pat Archer ….. Patricia Gallimore
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Tom Archer ….. William Troughton
Susan Carter ….. Charlotte Martin
Rex Fairbrother ….. Nick Barber
Toby Fairbrother ….. Rhys Bevan
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O’Hanrahan
George Grundy ….. Angus Stobie
Will Grundy ….. Philip Molloy
Stella Pryor ….. Lucy Speed


SUN 11:15 The Reunion (m001q0kh)
The Final Years of John Major's Government

Bitter divisions over Europe, inflation, mad cow disease and sleaze – the final years of John Major’s government were one long disaster. Kirsty Wark reunites key figures who were in the thick of it to discuss what went wrong and whether Major could have done more to end the civil war within his party.

The man who had unexpectedly won the 1992 General Election spent much of the rest of that term trying to contain Eurosceptic antipathy, in and outside of the party. The largely loyal press had become increasingly hostile and exposes on the private lives of MPs and financial misdemeanours dominated the front pages.

By 1997, the Conservatives were a minority government and even the PM didn’t expect victory in the General Election, but the scale of their defeat by New Labour was crushing.

The guests include Kenneth Clarke, now Lord Clarke, who was made Chancellor of the Exchequer seven months after Black Wednesday and was the party’s most prominent Europhile. John Redwood, an arch Eurosceptic, says standing against John Major in the 1995 leadership contest saved the pound. Elinor Goodman was Channel 4's political editor and compares the troubled times of the late 1990s with today's Conservative Government. And Howell James was the Prime Minister’s Political Secretary, being called upon to write speeches and advise on crucial decisions. He remembers driving through London with John Major and his family on the night of the 1997 election with “Things Can Only Get Better”, Labour’s campaign anthem, ringing out across the River Thames.

Producer: Karen Pirie
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m001q0km)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (m001psrm)
Edinburgh Festival 2023

1. Brandreth, Godley, Smith and Ashfaq

In this the first of two specials recorded at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Sue Perkins challenges guests including Gyles Brandreth, Janey Godley, Ian Smith and Urooj Ashfaq to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation.

Production coordinator: Caroline Barlow
Producer: Rajiv Karia

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m001q0kr)
A Food Museum – can it make us care about food?

If food is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and also a lens through which we can interpret our history and how we live now, then surely it deserves a museum? The UK has only just got its first permanent Food Museum. It’s in Stowmarket in Suffolk, recently rebranded from The Museum of East Anglian Life. Sheila Dillon visits its beautiful 84 acres, with its historic buildings, crops, orchard, kitchen garden, water mill and animals to find out how the museum team are reinterpreting its collections to connect people to where our food comes from.

Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol


SUN 12:57 Weather (m001q0kw)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m001q0l0)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world


SUN 13:30 Seek the Light (m001q0l4)
I'm Not Who You Think

Singer, story teller and seven-times Radio 2 Folk Awards winner, Karine Polwart brings together her love of science, history and the natural world.

She begins the series with the story of the Sabal Bermudana. This rare palm tree was the pride of Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic gardens and the oldest specimen in their living collection. Sadly the plant’s own desire to seek the light sealed its fate, as its growth threatened to push through the dome of the garden’s iconic Victorian glass house. On the eve of its cutting down, Karine and fellow artist-in-residence Pippa Murphy, hosted a living wake: acknowledging the grief of the gardeners who tended the tree.
But it turns out the Sabal Bermudana had been carrying a secret for all of its 200 year plus life, one which speaks of colonialism’s history of plundering the natural botanical wealth of former colonies. It would seem the palm tree will have the last laugh over those who venerated its rarity. As Karine discovers, the natural world resists being forced into the boxes we try to create for it.

Through song and narration, Karine gives voice to the palm tree, charting its long history and relationship with those who’ve watered, fed and pruned it over the centuries. And she reveals its true identify.

Produced by Peter McManus
Written and presented by Karine Polwart
Music by Karine Polwart and Pippa Murphy

Vocals - Karine Polwart
Piano - Dave Milligan
Small pipes - Gary West
Additional recording - Mattie Foulds

With thanks to Simon Allen, Emma Nicholson, Amy Porteous, Alan Elliot, Shauna Hay, and Ian Edwards of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001ptml)
Matt Biggs' House

Is it a realistic goal to grow strawberries indoors? I never seem to have success growing beetroots or carrots. What should I do differently? Can you identify the grey caterpillars on my Solomon’s seal?

This week, Peter Gibbs and his team of horticultural experts pay a visit to GQT regular, Matt Biggs’ garden for a postbag edition of Gardeners’ Question Time. Joining Peter and Matt to offer all their tips and advice are pest and disease expert Pippa Greenwood, and plants woman, Christine Walkden. The panel offer their best horticultural advice on a variety of questions: - from watermelons and strawberries to methods of moving a plant - all the while having a wander around Matt Biggs' back garden.

Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Producer: Dan Cocker
Executive Producer: Hannah Newton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 14:45 The Museums That Make Us (m0016hh8)
What are museums for?

Neil MacGregor presents a new series for BBC Radio Four celebrating the role and ambition of museums the length and breadth of the country, and in the process he'll be finding answers to the question ‘What are Museums For in 2022’.

In this, the final programme in the series Neil looks for his own local museum, and finds himself beguiled by an extraordinary Tapestry that tells the story of his native Scotland, but told by a wonderfully democratic array of designers, stitchers and the historian Alistair Moffet. Neil joins Alistair in Galashiels to work the length of the Great Tapestry of Scotland and see his own life, and that of his nation mapped out with needle and thread wonderful artistry. And Neil also reaches conclusions about his travels through the series, and what they've demonstrated about museums, the people that run them and the visitors who are being inspired by them every day.

Museums have always been telescopes trained on the past to help locate a sense of place in the present. Neil believes that role is an active one, responding to changes in the people museums serve and the shifting social and cultural landscape they inhabit. After spending much of his life at the centre of our national Museum life in London, Neil is taking to the road to discover more about the extraordinary work being done in Museums outside the capital, from Stornoway to Stowmarket, and Belfast to Birmingham.

In each episode he visits a single museum, inviting them to choose an object from their collections which they feel best illustrates their civic role, and the way they relate and want to relate to their local audience. Very rarely have they chosen a crown jewel from their often priceless collections. More often it's an object with a particular local resonance, or which helps tackle episodes from the past which are being viewed very differently by citizens in the 21st century.

He’ll be visiting the great national museums of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, as well as major city institutions in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and elsewhere. And in spite of the challenges of the last two years, everywhere he meets passionate teams who are dedicated to providing a unique experience for both local audiences and visitors from further afield.

Neil writes: “What’s going on in our museums is at once challenging and exciting and it can only really be understood by visiting as many as possible and finding out how they have approached what is a vital role in providing a sense of local, regional and national identity.”

Produced by Tom Alban
Original Music By Phil Channell


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m001q0lb)
An African in Greenland

Tété-Michel Kpomassie, a teenager in 1950s Togo, is about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. After a heart-stopping encounter with a snake in a coconut tree, Tété-Michel happens upon a book in his local library. It shows him a land of ice and snow, 4000 miles from home. Immediately spellbound, he runs away from home and starts his intrepid journey to Greenland.

This is the story of Tété-Michel’s voyage of discovery, and his relationship to a country, and a people, that helped him find a new understanding of home.

CAST
Older Tété-Michel ….. Danny Sapani
Younger Tété-Michel ….. Tunji Kasim
Tété-Michel’s father….. Richard Pepple
Callaut/Knud ….. Ewan Bailey
Adam …. Salik Lennert
Paulina/ Kathrina ….. Dina Fisker Sandgreen
Lydia/Mrs. Steffensen ….. Kuluk Helms
Hans/Erik Steffensen Angunnguaq Larsen
Thue ….. Miki Petrussen
Robert Mattaq ….. Klaus Geisler

Dramatised by Rex Obano
Directed by Anne Isger

A BBC Audio Production

Dramatised from the Flammarion edition of An African In Greenland


SUN 16:00 Open Book (m001q0lg)
George Orwell Now

Eric Arthur Blair remains best known for his contrary and often contradictory writing persona George Orwell, an enduring and much mythologised figure known for penning searing satires, political commentary and dystopic visions of the future.

Chris Power talks to Anna Funder, Adam Biles and Sandra Newman, the authors of three recent books that reframe Orwell's life and work in ways that reflect an ever-relevant, and ever-evolving, engagement with his complex literary legacy.

Book List
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Lion and the Unicorn by George Orwell
Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
Coming Up for Air by George Orwell
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder
Julia by Sandra Newman
Beasts of England by Adam Biles

Producer: Ciaran Bermingham


SUN 16:30 Four Sides of Seamus Heaney (m001q0lk)
Seamus Heaney - Love Poet

Seamus Heaney, Nobel Prize winner and one of the best loved poets writing in English, died in August, 2013. BBC Radio 4 is marking this with Four Sides of Seamus Heaney, four programmes, each on a different aspect of his work, each with a different presenter with personal knowledge of the poet.

In the second programme Seamus Heaney's daughter, Catherine, explores love in her father's poems. 'And here is love/ like a tin smith's scoop/ sunk past its gleam/ in the meal-bin.' These are the concluding lines of a poem dedicated to his aunt, Mary Heaney, who is baking in the kitchen. In the kitchen of her childhood home in Dublin Catherine Heaney talks to her mother, Marie, who shows her the handwritten book of love poems Seamus gave her in 1983, in lieu of a Christmas present. One is about the morning of Catherine's birth. There were to be another three decades' worth of love poems.

In 1972 Heaney gave up the security of a job as a lecturer at Queen's University, and the insecurity of life in Belfast at the height of The Troubles, and moved to Glanmore, a cottage in rural Wicklow, to devote himself to writing. In the kitchen Catherine hears from her brothers Christopher and Michael about that time and the poems he wrote, including 'A Kite for Michael and Christopher', a poem of love - but a tough one.

Paula Meehan, a former Ireland Professor of Poetry, reveals how 'The Blackbird of Glanmore', a late poem, connects Heaney with the very beginnings of Irish poetry. Rosie Lavan, co-editor of the forthcoming Collected Poems of Seamus Heaney, looks to the early poems to show how for Heaney love is never simple.

In Dublin, and in Wicklow, Seamus Heaney's words are written on walls - because people love them.

Presenter: Catherine Heaney
Producer: Julian May


SUN 17:00 Today (m001ptcw)
The Today Debate: Are we ready to ditch our cars?

The Today Debate is about taking a subject and pulling it apart with more time than we could ever have in the morning.

The government is currently sticking to its plan, supported by Labour, to ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. Sales of hybrid cars will be stopped from 2035. This policy demanded by climate and clean air objectives is not just about drivers swapping to electric cars however, it is about us driving less or not at all in the future, less car ownership, less private vehicle traffic leading to better air and lower emissions.

Join Today presenter Mishal Husain for Today Debate where in front an audience in the BBC's Radio Theatre we ask a panel of guests whether we are ready to ditch our cars?

On the panel Dame Julia King, a member of the Committee on Climate Change; James May, co-host of The Grand Tour; Karl McCartney, Conservative MP for Lincoln and a member of the Transport Select Committee; Andy Palmer, former chief executive of Aston Martin, former chief operating officer of Nissan, and the current chairman of electric vehicle battery developer InoBat and Graeme Potts, CEO of Eden Motors.


SUN 17:40 Reith Revisited (b096g1lg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001q0lm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m001q0lp)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001q0lr)
The early evening national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m001q0lt)
Geeta Pendse

Fancy a trip to the moon with a good friend and a groundbreaking album? Maybe stopping off for some pearls of wisdom from an Archbishop and a comedy legend? Or learning how to slow down and dream of better days..? Well that’s exactly what we’ll be doing, as Geeta takes you on a journey through the week’s audio highlights.

Presenter: Geeta Pendse
Producer: Elizabeth Foster
Production Co-ordinator: Lydia Depledge-Miller


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m001q0lw)
Tracy’s helping Susan at a car boot sale. Susan asks if she’s ready for Wednesday, her ‘real’ marriage day. Tracy confirms she’s checked the Register Office booking so there’s not much else to do. Susan reckons there’ll still be a lot of organising. Who’s looking after the rings? And they’ll definitely need another cake. Tracy suggests a Tearoom leftover, and declares they can just wear the same clothes as last time. Susan thinks it's a shame Tracy doesn’t think she deserves nice things. Susan starts to pack up her stall – she wants to help Tracy sort things out.
Ruth and David are grateful for Pip’s help clearing up the barn after a wedding event. Ruth goes back to the house, and David notices Pip’s not herself. She snaps at him and he asks if everything’s ok. He wonders if Toby’s upset her, but she insists she’s fine. David persists, and Pip confesses she feels bad about leading Toby on. She has feelings for someone else and used him, and now she might have messed things up with both of them. She tells her dad the other person’s a woman. David can’t hide his surprise but is glad she’s told him. He suggests Pip lets the woman know that she’s got feelings for her. Later David updates Ruth on the situation with Toby, and Ruth squeezes out the rest of the detail from him. She’s glad Pip confided in him, and relieved that they know now what’s troubling her. It must be someone pretty great if Pip’s this mixed up about them.


SUN 19:15 Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Austen? (m0016381)
Series 1

Episode 1

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders star as respected novelist Florence and movie star Selina, in a sparkling comedy series about two sisters at war, by Veep writer David Quantick.

Florence (Dawn French) and Selina (Jennifer Saunders) are nominated for a writer’s prize and the contest becomes a battle between the two sisters. Florence is invited to the Hay Book Festival as she’s been nominated for the prestigious Bronte shield – but Florence’s joy and delight turn to anger and disappointment when Selina is also nominated, for her kiss and tell autobiography, Kiss And Tell. As every female author in Britain, and Lionel Shriver, drop out in protest, the contest for the award becomes a battle between the two sisters.

Critical reaction when the first episode in this series was originally broadcast in December 2020:
“The leads’ natural chemistry, plus David Quantick’s witty script… make for an enjoyable comedy with series potential” The Observer

“It’s as slick, dark and funny as one would expect – but surely this cannot be a one-off? The ending alone leaves us begging for a series” Radio Times

“French and Saunders sparkle with a magic that is so rarely heard in new radio comedies that I’d almost forgotten it was possible” Daily Telegraph
And now Dawn, Jennifer and David return with the rest of the series…

Cast:
Florence - Dawn French
Selina - Jennifer Saunders
Mrs Ragnarrok – Rebecca Front
Lucy - Lisa McGrillis
All the men - Alistair McGowan

Written by David Quantick
Producer: Liz Anstee

A CPL production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 19:45 Invasive Species (m001q0ly)
Episode 2

Helen McAlpine reads a speculative serial from Rachelle Atalla, set in a near future with uncomfortable parallels to our present.

As global warming simmers in the background, Fran's anxieties prove well-founded as knotweed spreads from her neighbours' gardens.

Producer: Eilidh McCreadie

Rachelle Atalla is an award-winning Scottish-Egyptian novelist, short story writer and screenwriter based in Glasgow. Her debut novel The Pharmacist was shortlisted for Best Fiction at the Scottish National Book Awards. In March, she published her climate-focused second novel Thirsty Animals. Her short stories have been published widely and she is the recipient of a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. In screenwriting, her first feature was developed with BBC Film and she is developing an adaption of The Pharmacist with Compact Pictures.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m001ptn9)
Call Jonathan Pie has been one of the most popular new BBC comedy podcasts, with over a million plays on BBC Sounds. It pulls no punches and next week makes its debut on Radio 4. Jonathan Pie creator, comedian Tom Walker, and Radio 4’s Comedy Commissioner Julia McKenzie join Andrea Catherwood to discuss the satirical phone-in show and respond to listeners’ comments.

Did BBC Audio play a blinder with their coverage of the Women's World Cup? Sports Reporter Heather Dewar joins Andrea to hear what you have to say.

And the Shiny Bob podcast from BBC Scotland/BBC Sounds explores a scandal that shook the Scottish legal establishment In the early 90s. Karin Goodwin, Investigative Journalist at The Ferret, and Andrew Tickell, Senior Law Lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University, give their evidence on the podcast in the Vox Box.

Presented by Andrea Catherwood
Produced by Gerry Cassidy
A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m001ptn3)
Michael Parkinson, Renata Scotto, John Brierly, Isobel Crook

John Wilson on:

The journalist and broadcaster who became synonymous with the British chat show, Sir Michael Parkinson.

Italian soprano Renata Scotto, one of the biggest stars of opera in the 1960s and 70s

John Brierly, the author of bestselling guidebooks to the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route

The teacher, anthropologist and communist Isobel Crook who lived and worked in China for most of her life.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

Archive used
Isabel Crook: We belonged and this is why we stayed, Youtube uploaded 18 Jul 2021; Isabel Crook My Hundred Years CCTV NEWS, Youtube uploaded 26 Jul 2016; Kate Adie – Tiananmen Square 1989, BBC News Archive; Parkinson Theme tune, BBC 1 19 June 1971 to 10 April 1982.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m001q0j0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m001q0jr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 Loose Ends (m001q0k8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m001q0m1)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 Life Changing (m001l98s)
From the rubble

It had been a beautiful day, Jessica Williams and her two young sons had been out in the local park enjoying the Welsh sunshine. By the time they got home they were happy but weary and looking forward to some cosy time on the sofa but as Jess opened the front door she noticed a strange smell. She put the boys in the sitting room and went into the kitchen to investigate — that was when the house exploded. Jessica tells Dr Sian Williams how the family, with the help of their village, began to rebuild their lives.


SUN 23:30 Beyond Belief (m001psr2)
Taking a Stand

Revd Hilary Bond is a priest in the Church of England in Wareham in Dorset. She's also bee arrested five times at climate change protests and now has two convictions to her name.

Aleem Maqbool speaks with Hilary about her choice to take a direct approach by blocking roads during climate change protests. They discuss her reasons, how she feels called to do this because of her faith and what her limits are.

Her reflections lead to a discussion on the place of protest and direct action for people of faith and faith leaders with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, senior rabbi in Masorti Judaism, Gavin Ashenden, Associate Editor of the Catholic Herald and writer and activist, Shaista Aziz.

Producers: Katharine Longworth and Linda Walker
Editor: Tim Pemberton

MONDAY 28 AUGUST 2023

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m001q0m3)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 The Boy in the Peking Hotel (m001mc2q)
When 8 year old Kim Gordon set off for China in 1965, it set in train a tale of passion, imagination and still unanswered questions. Kim’s parents were committed communists in the thick of Mao’s cultural revolution. Kim became a Red Guard, one of an army of children and teenagers marshalled in support of Mao and he had a ringside view of the vast rallies in Tiananmen Square. But when the political tide turned against foreigners, the family was imprisoned for two years in a tiny hotel room, Room 421.

The Gordon family had no contact with the outside world for two years and their families back in Britain had no idea where they were. With only a block of paper and a wild imagination for company Kim passed the time by writing letters that could never be sent, and thrilling plays which he’d act aloud playing all the parts himself. His story reveals much about families and loyalties; on the grip of ideology; and the ingenuity of a child shut in an empty room. A rich and strange reminiscence not just of China but of the human heart.

Charlie Brand plays young Kim in this dramatic, intimate documentary.

Producer: Monica Whitlock

Photo by Eric Gordon. 'Kim Gordon in Peking, 1966'


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m001q0lh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001q0m5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001q0m7)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001q0m9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m001q0mc)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001q0mf)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Shaunaka Rishi Das

Good morning.

My wife Keshava and I never had children. We planned for children. It was a natural desire for me, as I had six Aunts, three uncles, and dozens of cousins.

One day we both came home with a book in hand. We bought books for our future brood, and laughed. We were happily nesting. But it wasn’t to be – it wasn’t in the stars.

Thus, it was that, from time to time, we found ourselves entertaining other people’s children. Getting to know how little minds work. Well, remembering our own childhood, and our own little minds. Remember those minds? Simple in their transparent desires, with little guile, and full of potential, it’s always a pleasure being with children. But we grow up, and add a few layers of self-awareness – ironically not our best look.

One day my four-year old nephew was being difficult– because he could. He kept kicking off his shoes as I tried to tie them on, as Keshava laughed. But we had to get going, and I didn’t have time so eventually I found myself, in that age-old pose, with hands on hips, declaring, “you’re just looking for attention”, and Keshava laughed louder, saying, “aren’t we all.”

And it’s true, we are all looking for attention. We wear clothes that attract attention, and buy cars that gain praise, and welcome the honour of others. But like my nephew, who stopped his nonsense when I gave him a hug, we want a hug too. We want attention, to attract someone to love us.

We look to our Lord, who loves us, nonsense and all; who is more filled with kindness than we are full of ourselves, and can offer him our attention today – even for a minute – because we can.

Hare Krishna


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m001q0mh)
Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture

Sarah Swadling visits an organic farm in Dorset where the wildlife is under 24/7 surveillance by artificial intelligence and high tech monitoring equipment. The project is run by the farming innovative organisation Agri-EPI. It's investigating how technology could be used to help farmers get a clearer picture of the species on their land, and identify gaps in their conservation work.

Produced and presented by Sarah Swadling


MON 05:56 Weather (m001q0mk)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b038qkck)
Tawny Pipit

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

Brett Westwood presents the tawny pipit. Tawny pipits have never bred in the UK in real life but they have in fiction. Released in 1944 the film, 'The Tawny Pipit', featured a pair found in an English village. Their rarity causes the village to rally round to protect the birds when the field in which they are nesting is marked out for ploughing. The film leaves the audience with the message that nothing can change traditional village life.


MON 06:00 Today (m001q0mp)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Is Psychiatry Working? (m001hx72)
Medication

Although psychiatry helped writer Horatio Clare when he was in crisis, some people in difficulty, their families, clinicians, psychologists and psychiatrists themselves will tell you there are serious questions about the ways psychiatry understands and treats some people in trouble. And so this series asks a simple question: is psychiatry working? In the following series, accompanied by the psychiatrist Femi Oyebode, Horatio traces a journey through crisis, detention, diagnosis, therapy, and recovery. In this episode, with the help of patients and clinicians, they consider medication.

If you need support with mental health or feelings of despair, a list of organisations that can help is available at BBC Action Line support:

Mental health & self-harm: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1NGvFrTqWChr03LrYlw2Hkk/information-and-support-mental-health-self-harm
Suicide/Emotional distress: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4WLs5NlwrySXJR2n8Snszdg/information-and-support-suicide-emotional-distress

or you can call for free to hear recorded information on 0800 066 066.

Presenters: Horatio Clare and Femi Oyebode
Producer: Emma Close
Editor: Clare Fordham
Sound Mix: James Beard


MON 09:30 Shock and War: Iraq 20 Years On (m001k7m7)
8. The Retreat

The failures in post-war Iraq would have wider consequences for the Western desire to intervene in crises. As first Libya and then Syria slip into violence, how far did Iraq lead to a retreat and were the right lessons learned?

Presenter: Gordon Corera
Series Producer: John Murphy
Producers: Ellie House, Claire Bowes
Sound Designer: Eloise Whitmore, Naked Productions
Production coordinators: Janet Staples, Brenda Brown
Series Editor: Penny Murphy


MON 09:45 How to Build Impossible Things by Mark Ellison (m001q0p3)
I Am a Carpenter

Mark Ellison is regarded by many as the best carpenter in New York. A man with an affinity for challenging work, he has designed and constructed some of New York's most elaborate and expensive homes, and been profiled in the New Yorker.

Over the past 40 years, Mark has worked on some of the most beautiful homes you have never seen, specialising in rarefied and challenging projects with the most demanding of clients. He built a staircase a famed architect called a masterpiece. He worked on the iconic Sky House, which Interior Design named the best apartment of the decade. He has even worked on the homes of David Bowie, Robin Williams, and others whose names he cannot reveal.

But before he was any of that, Mark was just 'a serial dropout' who spent his young adult years taking work where he found it and sleeping on friends’ floors. As a native of the old steel town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his route into the building trade and the mastery of a craft was unexpected, moving from construction labourer to carpenter and finally to project manager extraordinaire.

Now, at the age of 60, he has written his first book. In How to Build Impossible Things, Mark Ellison tells the story of his unconventional education in the world of architecture and design, and how he learned the satisfaction and joy that comes from doing something well for a long time. He takes us on a tour through the lofts, penthouses, and townhouses of New York's elite which he has transformed over the years and offers a window into what he has learned about living meaningfully along the way. Mark exposes the messy wiring behind the pristine walls - and the mindset that any of us can develop to build our own impossible things.

In this first episode, Mark describes the chaos that ensues when a billionaire client wants to install a stream on his penthouse terrace, 30 stories above the city.

Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
Read by Demetri Goritsas
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001q0mt)
Lists: How and why we make them, The psychology behind list-making, Lists in the public domain, Music and lists

To discuss the how and why of lists, Nuala is joined by Joanna Nolan, author of the book, Listful, and Lucy Ireland Gray, who put together a collection of about 200 shopping lists that she found discarded over the course of nearly 20 years in and around Hertfordshire, where she lives.

We consider the psychology of lists - in particular why and whether lists are good or bad for our mental health and creativity. Artist Alice Instone, Joanna Nolan, author of Listful, and Madeleine Dore, the author of, I didn’t do the thing today: On letting go of productivity guilt, join Nuala.

Lists in the public domain - with Nuala to discuss the good and bad of lists historically and in contemporary times, are journalist and writer Helen Lewis, author of Difficult women: A history of feminism in eleven fights, and writer Anne Sebba, author of 10 non-fiction books. Her most recent book is Ethel Rosenberg: A Cold War Tragedy.

The place of lists in music - songs with lists, the charts, playlists and more. Nuala is joined by Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae, whose album, Black Rainbows, is out in September, and music journalist Jude Rogers, the author of The sound of being human: How music shapes our lives.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Lucinda Montefiore


MON 11:00 Black Music in Europe: A Hidden History (m000yslz)
Series 4

1989-2006

Clarke Peters' concluding three-part series reveals stories from the history of black music in Europe over the last four decades.

From the collapse of the Eastern Bloc to the rise of multiculturalism, this was a time that saw old walls come tumbling down, while new forms of technology and new styles of music were all emerging at a rapid pace.

In this programme, Clarke looks at the music of black Europe in the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall. We hear from Jeff Mills and Dimitri Hegemann on Detroit techno in Berlin, and electronic pioneers Shut Up and Dance on the rave era in London. Rita Maia and DJ Marfox talk about the Batida scene in Lisbon.

Produced by Tom Woolfenden
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


MON 11:30 Analysis (m001n2h0)
What’s changing about childbirth?

The past decade has seen important shifts in when women become mothers, with 31 years now being the average age for this to occur. This has implications for fertility, pregnancy and birth experiences. Maternal age is related to ‘medical risk’ and almost one in three births now involve a Caesarean section. But how well are maternity services in the UK keeping up with these changes?

Professor of Sociology, Tina Miller examines each stage of becoming a mother – from conception to antenatal preparation, labour and birth, and the postnatal period – to find out how maternity care and other services should respond to these changes.

Presenter: Tina Miller
Producer: Dan Hardoon
Editor: Clare Fordham
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Zeynep Gurtin, Lecturer in Women's Health at the Institute for Women's Health, UCL
Marcia Inhorn, Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs, Yale University
Noreen Hart, antenatal educator
Pat O'Brien, consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology, UCL
Katherine Hales, midwife
Eliane Glaser, author of "Motherhood: Feminism's Unfinished Business"


MON 12:00 News Summary (m001q0p6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m001q0my)
Fire Safety Forms, Perfume Dupes and Home Water Horror

We talk to flat owners trapped because block owners fail to produce the EWS1 fire safety certificate for external walls. Andy Neville has been trying to sell his flat in Dulwich for a year. He says two prospective buyers walked away after their mortgage company refused to loan them the money because of the lack of an EWS1.

Dupe perfumes are growing in popularity. These are scents that mimic famous fragrances but for a fraction of the cost. It is all legal because it is almost impossible to copyright an aroma. It may be legal but is it ethical or moral - and are the clones any good?

Pubs should have extra protection against demolition but dozens are knocked down every year by people ignoring the regulations. Should the law be tightened or are these extra protections archaic?

September is the busiest month of the year for new car insurance policies - prices have rocketed this year. Why is that?

The couple who were left high and dry after their flat was flooded by a water company who were trying to fit a water meter.

Banks are calling for tech platforms run by companies like Meta and Amazon to contribute to the rising bill for purchase fraud. That's when goods are paid for but not delivered.

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON

PRODUCER: KEVIN MOUSLEY


MON 12:57 Weather (m001q0n0)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m001q0n2)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


MON 13:45 Animal (m001q0n4)
Itsy Bitsy Spider

In this new series, writer and adventurer Blair Braverman presents stories exploring the curious and fascinating ways humans relate to other animals - from magpies to spiders to creatures of the deepest oceans. We begin with the story of a phobia - of night terrors, hypnosis and Carly Simon...

Why is it that so many people are deathly afraid of spiders? Especially in a place like the UK, where all our spiders are harmless. In this episode, Blair follows 29 year-old Elzo, as she attempts to cure her lifelong arachnophobia. Featuring night terrors on the west coast of Scotland, Carly Simon, and an experiment in hypnosis.

Producer and Sound Designer: Jesse Lawson
Co-Producer: Arlie Adlington
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam
Sound Mixing: Arlie Adlington
Series Art: Cameron Hay

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:00 The Archers (m001q0lw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 This Cultural Life (m001q0kd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 on Saturday]


MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (m001q0n7)
Heat 3, 2023

(3/17)
The 2023 season of the general knowledge tournament continues with a contest from London's Radio Theatre. Russell Davies asks the questions, which today range across topics as diverse as botany and chemistry, architecture and ska music. There'll also be a chance for a listener to outwit the Brains and win a prize with questions he or she has thought up.

Appearing today are:
Atalanta Beaumont from Surrey,
David Cowan from Swansea,
John Esling from Suffolk
Emma Goodridge-Hobson from Suffolk.

Today's winner will return for the semi-finals later in the series.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m001q0kr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 History's Secret Heroes (m001mljz)
2. Charity Adams and the 6888

Major Charity Adams, the first African American woman to be commissioned in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, arrives in Birmingham, England, to sort out an enormous problem.

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

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

Producers: Clem Hitchcock and Elaina Boateng
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Written by Alex von Tunzelmann


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m001q0nb)
Faith and Fortune

Daniel Ally is an influencer and author who has built an online coaching business, sharing tips on how to become wealthy. He’s also a committed Christian who credits the Bible for turning his life around. He speaks to Aleem Maqbool about how his beliefs inspire him to seek financial success.

This inspires a discussion on the interconnections between faith and finance, whether seeking earthly fortune is in conflict with spiritual beliefs and how different faiths approach the gap between rich and poor.

Aleem is joined by:

Dr Christopher Wadibia - Junior Research Fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford. Christopher’s doctoral research studied the politics underpinning one of Nigeria's most popular and influential Pentecostal churches and the investments they make in the social and economic development of Africa’s most populous nation.

Uneesa Zaman - a communications professional with 10+ years of experience managing global clients across financial services with a focus on financial inclusion. She runs Uneesa Finance - a platform dedicated to educating women about halal finance (with a pop culture twist!) and has helped over 10k women learn more about finance to date.

Prof Atul K Shah - creative pioneer in the fields of accounting, finance, leadership and diversity. He holds a doctorate from the London School of Economics and is author of ‘Jainism and Ethical Finance’ ‘Inclusive and Sustainable Finance - Leadership, Ethics and Culture’

Producer: Katharine Longworth
Presenter: Aleem Maqbool
Assistant Producers: Robert Guthrie and Ajai Singh


MON 17:00 PM (m001q0nd)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001q0nj)
Tens of thousands of passengers face delays despite the problem having now been fixed


MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m001q0nl)
Edinburgh Festival 2023

2. MacAulay, Brandreth, Parris and McCabe

In this the second of two specials recorded at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Sue Perkins challenges guests including Gyles Brandreth, Susie McCabe, Fred MacAulay and Rachel Parris to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation.

Production coordinator: Caroline Barlow
Producer: Rajiv Karia

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m001q0np)
Emma’s sorry she can’t make a cake for Tracy and Jazzer’s second wedding, but Tracy’s insists they’ve already had their wedding cake and can’t justify another one. They talk about the scene in the Tearoom between George and Helen; Emma maintains she’s given George what for over the video he made, but she’s not sure he’s hearing her. Tracy reckons she should stick with it. Emma thanks her. It’s been stressful minding the Tearoom while Fallon was away. Tracy suggests Emma applies for Head of Housekeeping at Grey Gables; it comes with a nice salary. Emma questions her own credentials, but Tracy convinces her she’s more than qualified. Emma approaches Adil, who directs her to the website where she can submit an application.

Hannah’s running out of options for accommodation. She might have to leave Berrow and move back home. Jazzer offers their sofa for as long as she needs it. Neil feels responsible; if he hadn’t sacked George, Hannah might not be being evicted. Hannah insists it’s not on Neil – she just needs to focus on finding somewhere to live. Later she thanks wrongfooted Tracy for being a life saver, offering their sofa, and shares the joke Jazzer made about giving Hannah his bed. Shocked Tracy confronts Jazzer. He clearly didn’t give any thought to his family when he offered Hannah free run of their house. In trying to smooth things over Jazzer ends up talking about his crush on Hannah years ago. This is the last straw for irate Tracy – it’s a good job they’re not married yet!


MON 19:15 Add to Playlist (m001jsww)
Julian Joseph and Amy Harman on the mastery of Miles

Jazz pianist Julian Joseph and bassoonist Amy Harman join Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye in a journey that takes them from Manchester, via a baggy-pants classic pop hit, to a celebrated track from the most popular jazz album of all time. Drummer Romarna Campbell is also on-hand to provide a drummer's perspective on the percussive elements.

This episode was first broadcast in March this year.

Producer Jerome Weatherald
Presented, with music direction, by Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Love Spreads by The Stone Roses
He Was Despised and Rejected of Men by Handel
U Can’t Touch This by MC Hammer
So What by Miles Davis
Makhloogh by Googoosh

Other music in this episode:

Cocktail de Medianoche by the Kevin Fingier Collective
Khnjooyki Yerk/ Hars Oo Pesa by String Harmonies
My Country 'tis of Thee, sung by Marian Anderson
Super Freak by Rick James
I Wish I Knew by Doris
We Gotta Get Out of This Place by The Animals
Jaws theme by John Williams


MON 20:00 Memorial No More? A History of Russian Forgetting (m001q0ns)
Historian Catherine Merridale witnessed the birth of Memorial in 1989 as the Soviet Union died. An organisation devoted to recovering the past of the Soviet Gulag and soon documenting the new transgressions of the Russian state and its imperial wars. Even as Russia wnet to war against Ukraine it sought to close Memorial down, silence its voice and reshape history. But months after the invasion Memorial shared in the Nobel Peace Prize, only adding to the Russian government's ire. It has closed its archives and offices and pursued leading figures in Russian Memorial through the courts, declaring them responsible for 'rehabilitating Nazism'. Merridale tells a personal story of the opening of history that Memorial was essential to and the tragedy of its closing and the closing of the past.

The Kremlin's current occupants are no more willing to consider the victims of state repression - largely Stalin's repression - than their Soviet predecessors were. The story of Memorial, the association, established in 1989, that set out to find, investigate and discuss the Soviet Union's record of political violence against its own citizens, is one of real heroism. From its initial aim of creating a physical memorial to Stalin's victims it became a focus for research and advocacy, a living witness to the intellectual freedom that comes after the past is faced. The state argues that what it does - harping on about Stalin's crimes - dilutes great Russian patriotism. Some of its critics have gone as far as to say that Memorial's work helps to justify Nazism. But branches of Memorial in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe do what they can to keep memory alive.

Producer: Mark Burman


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m001pt9h)
Belize's Blue Bond

In 2020 Belize was broke. Again. This small, climate-vulnerable, Central American nation is home to the western hemisphere’s longest barrier reef. And it was about to default on a debt of over half a billion dollars. Enter an American NGO... The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is the world’s largest conservation charity. TNC made an offer to the government of Belize: it would help restructure the debt, if Belize would channel the savings made into its precious coastal resources. In 2021, the deal became reality – creditors were paid off, and investors found for the new, so-called ‘blue bond.’ Belize’s debt shrank by 12% overnight. A win-win, right?

But as Linda Pressly finds on a trip to Belize, the ‘blue bond’ hasn’t been universally welcomed. There are concerns about an international NGO having influence in a poor nation, and arguments about which Belizean marine organisations have benefitted from the new investment. And there is one unresolved question: what does the ‘blue bond’ agreement mean for the potential future exploration of offshore oil in Belizean waters?

Presented and produced by Linda Pressly
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill
Series Editor: Penny Murphy


MON 21:00 The Archbishop Interviews (m001mm25)
John Cleese

In this series, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has conversations with public figures about their inner lives. What do they believe? How does that shape their values and actions?

This week's guest is the comedy writer and actor, John Cleese.

Producer: Dan Tierney.


MON 21:30 Is Psychiatry Working? (m001hx72)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m001q0nv)
Spanish women’s national football team refuse to play

Also in the programme: marking 65 years of the Carry On series; and creating affordable homes in Brazil's largest city.


MON 22:45 Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney (m001q0nx)
Episode 1

A new reading of the debut poetry collection by the Nobel Prize in Literature recipient Seamus Heaney, specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his death.

As read by Bríd Brennan, Adrian Dunbar and Stephen Rea.

Music composed and performed by Neil Martin.

Seamus Heaney was a poet, translator, teacher and critic. During a career spanning fifty years, he became one of the most celebrated poets of his generation. While often rooted in the landscape of his homeland, Heaney’s poetry has a universal appeal that was to find a worldwide readership. During his lifetime he was the recipient of many honours, including the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature, and his work has been translated into 27 languages. His legacy lives on, as readers continue to enjoy and engage with his poetry, prose, drama and translations.

Readers: Bríd Brennan, Adrian Dunbar and Stephen Rea.
Author: Seamus Heaney
Music: Neil Martin
Producer: Michael Shannon
Editor: Andy Martin

A BBC Northern Ireland production.


MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (m001ptbg)
Everyday Shakespeare

Michael Rosen talks to Ben and David Crystal about the Shakespeare quotes we use every day, without even realising.

We’ve all heard someone roll their eyes and say “the lady doth protest too much, me thinks” - or head back to their desk muttering “once more unto the breach!” Shakespeare had a way with words that makes his writing extremely relatable, even today. Ben and David Crystal tell Michael why so many of the bard’s sayings have slipped into our everyday chat.

Producer: Alice McKee, BBC Audio Bristol


MON 23:30 Don't Log Off (m001j3hh)
Iran Special

In this special edition, Alan talks to Asal and Sara, two women living in Iran about how they are navigating their lives when normality is imploding around them. What does the future hold for them?

He also talks to Iranians living in the diaspora – Hamid in Glasgow and Melika in Sierra Leone, about how they stay connected to family and friends, how they use their voice to promote change in their homeland and whether they will ever be able to return there.

And to second generation Iranian Setare growing up in Los Angeles, about the impact the current situation is having on her and her family.

Producer: Mohini Patel
Researcher: Shiler Mahmoudi

TUESDAY 29 AUGUST 2023

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m001q0p0)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 00:30 How to Build Impossible Things by Mark Ellison (m001q0p3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001q0p8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001q0pb)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001q0pd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m001q0pg)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001q0pk)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Shaunaka Rishi Das

Good morning.

Many years ago, the prince Arjuna stood in a chariot, and Arjuna was having a bad day. He was on a battlefield. His chariot driver was Lord Krishna, in the story, God himself. Arjuna was the leading warrior on one side of the field and stopped to consider how this coming war could be a good idea – and couldn’t see it. He was a nice chap.

Unfortunately, a bit of philosophy before a battle is like putting salt in your sweet rice. The mixture doesn’t work, and Arjuna lost the plot. He began to sweat, his hair fell loose from his oiled plaits, his muscles weakened, and he dropped his bow. He showed all the signs of a panic attack. Not a good scene, but surprisingly, the introduction to one of the most interesting conversations in world literature – encapsulated in the book, Bhagavad-gita, the song of God.

Among other things, it’s a counselling session, which begins when Arjuna asks Krishna to help him, and Krishna responds with respect for Arjuna and affection. Krishna then outlines all Arjuna’s options, material and spiritual, letting him know what he thought was best, and leaving the final choice to Arjuna. A masterclass in how to help others with kindness, detachment, and love.

We live in a complex world, faced with potential panic throughout our lives. We suffer a bit, enjoy a bit, and hope a lot. When hope is in question, when we are confused about who we are and what the point of life might be, we really need help. I am thankful to Arjuna for his example, and his honesty, in asking for help – which can be surprisingly difficult.

Pray, in the distress of mental anguish, and of pain, when I have difficulty thinking straight, let me remember Arjuna, and simply ask for help.

Hare Krishna


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m001q0pp)
29/08/23 Harvest 2023, grapes in Devon, peatland restoration

After the hottest June on record and weeks of wet weather afterwards, we ask how good will this year’s harvest be. It’s been like playing cat and mouse dodging the showers, and trying to get into the fields whenever the sun’s out long enough to dry the crop. Last year’s harvest was very good, 90% of it was in by now, and yields and prices were up too. This year is a different story.
Whereas wine growers across the south of England are expecting a bumper harvest this autumn. Expectations are high and some smaller producers may even need volunteers to help pick the grapes.
More than 80% of the UK’s peatlands are in poor condition. In England the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs has just given £16million worth of funding to 12 new landscape scale peatland restoration projects.

Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b038qk8r)
Thrush Nightingale

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

Brett Westwood presents the thrush nightingale. Even though there's no sign of the whistling crescendos that are a hallmark of its close relative, the Nightingale, the song of the thrush nightingale is an accomplished performance. They are summer visitors to Europe and prefer dense damp thickets from which they often sing.


TUE 06:00 Today (m001q0r5)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m001q0r7)
Sir Colin Humphreys on electron microscopes, and the thinnest material in the world

How much more of our world could we understand, if we could take stock of it, one atom at a time? If we could see the structure of individual molecules, understand the complex ways they interact with one another, and witness first-hand how they move?

These are questions for electron microscopy, and more broadly, for Materials Science.

Materials scientists peer into the atomic structure of the stuff that makes up our world, to figure out the relationships between the structure of a material, and its resulting properties. They study how to change materials at the molecular level, to improve the way they function in the real world. It’s an interdisciplinary field that spans the physics and chemistry of matter, engineering, and industrial manufacturing. It’s led to an enormous number of advances, from nanotechnology to aerospace engineering, pioneering medical innovations to quantum computing.

And SOME of these advances are thanks to the work of Professor Colin Humphreys.

As Professor of Materials Science at Queen Mary University of London, and Distinguished Research Fellow at the Department of Materials Science at the University of Cambridge, Colin works on materials with fascinating properties that would be hard to understand without delving into their atomic structure: semiconductors, superconductors, nanoparticles, and ultra-high temperature aerospace materials.

He’s also a committed student of Christianity and applies his scientific mind to questions of biblical scholarship: calculating the exact date of the crucifixion for example, or naturalistic explanations for miracles.

Produced by Emily Knight


TUE 09:30 One to One (m001q0r9)
Aleighcia Scott's Reggae Heroes: Chris 'Peckings' Price

In the 1960s George Price moved to London from Jamaica. George took his knowledge of Jamaican music and started importing records into the UK, becoming the only place to sell vinyl from famed record label Studio One. George sold these records to sound-systems and DJs and in doing so helped establish and grow Reggae music across the UK. He opened his shop Peckings Records in Shepherd's Bush in 1974 and its run today by his sons, Duke and Chris Price.

Reggae artist and Radio Wales presenter Aleighcia Scott speaks to George's son Chris about his father and how on Sundays legends like Lee 'Scratch' Perry and Prince Buster would pop round to the house. George started selling records out of a suitcase but people used to come to the house so often that his wife Gertrude insisted that he open a shop. They speak about the roots of Reggae music and why Aleighcia still sticks to those sounds when she performs with her live band. They discuss the enormous popularity of Reggae in countries like Japan, France and Brazil and why you can hear tracks by Rick Astley and Celine Dion dropped into dance hall sets in Jamaica.

Presenter: Aleighcia Scott
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Toby Field.


TUE 09:45 How to Build Impossible Things by Mark Ellison (m001q0rc)
High School Dropout

Mark Ellison is regarded by many as the best carpenter in New York. A man with an affinity for challenging work, he has designed and constructed some of New York's most elaborate and expensive homes, and been profiled in the New Yorker.

Over the past 40 years, Mark has worked on some of the most beautiful homes you have never seen, specialising in rarefied and challenging projects with the most demanding of clients. He built a staircase a famed architect called a masterpiece. He worked on the iconic Sky House, which Interior Design named the best apartment of the decade. He has even worked on the homes of David Bowie, Robin Williams, and others whose names he cannot reveal.

But before he was any of that, Mark was just 'a serial dropout' who spent his young adult years taking work where he found it and sleeping on friends’ floors. As a native of the old steel town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his route into the building trade and the mastery of a craft was unexpected, moving from construction labourer to carpenter and finally to project manager extraordinaire.

Now, at the age of 60, he has written his first book. In How to Build Impossible Things, Mark Ellison tells the story of his unconventional education in the world of architecture and design, and how he learned the satisfaction and joy that comes from doing something well for a long time. He takes us on a tour through the lofts, penthouses, and townhouses of New York's elite which he has transformed over the years and offers a window into what he has learned about living meaningfully along the way. Mark exposes the messy wiring behind the pristine walls - and the mindset that any of us can develop to build our own impossible things.

In this second episode, Mark describes dropping out of high school, starting work as a carpenter and his first encounter with a really difficult client.

Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
Read by Demetri Goritsas
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001q0rf)
Sarah Beeny, Rebekah Staton, Spanish football kiss update, Deborah Bonello on Narcas

The TV presenter Sarah Beeny has spent much of her life in the unpredictable world of property renovation. You'll find her in programmes such as Help! My House is Falling Down and Sarah Beeny’s New Life in the Country. Her latest book, The Simple Life - How I found Home, is about the many homes she's lived in and her latest move to a former dairy farm in Somerset. While she was writing it she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Sarah joins Nuala McGovern.

Nuala speaks to actor Rebekah Staton, who stars in the new BBC drama The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies. It follows two women who have nothing in common - except conman and celebrated so-called ecopreneur Rob. Staton plays Alice Newman, who had been trying to move on from Rob’s schemes that left her family penniless and his subsequent disappearance - until she sees him one day by chance.

The Spanish Football Federation's regional leaders have called on their president, Luis Rubiales, to resign. He faces widespread criticism for kissing footballer Jenni Hermoso on the lips at the World Cup ceremony in Sydney just over a week ago. Hermoso has said the kiss was not consensual. Now his mother has gone on hunger strike in protest against the treatment of her son. Nuala speaks to Semra Hunter, Spanish football journalist.

VICE Journalist Deborah Bonello has written about the hidden power women wield in Latin American drug cartels for her first book, Narcas. It is the first in-depth exploration of these women. She joins Nuala to discuss.

And the next in our series Women on Wheels - where we hear women speak about the cars that mean or meant a lot to them. Today, we hear from listener Rachel. Her choice of a Morris Minor bemused her friends and family but the adventures she had in it still make her smile.

00:00 OPENER
01:54 JENNI HERMOSO
13:57 SARAH BEENY
29:14 LAS NARCAS
41:58 WOMEN ON WHEELS
46:41 REBEKAH STATON


TUE 11:00 The Archbishop Interviews (m001mt03)
Shirine Khoury-Haq

In this series, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has conversations with public figures about their inner lives. What do they believe? How does that shape their values and actions?

This week's guest is the Chief Executive of the Co-op, Shirine Khoury-Haq.

Producer: Dan Tierney.


TUE 11:30 The Art of Relativity (m001q0rh)
Einstein's theory of relativity created a profound shift in human thought, overturning deeply held certainties about time and space, appearance and reality, stillness, movement and speed. It revolutionised physics, and its verification in 1919 by British astronomers established Einstein as the most famous scientist on the planet. But ideas as reality-bending as these couldn’t stay confined to one sphere for long. In this feature, writer Jerry Brotton explores how Einstein’s thought crossed over and transformed the arts – from fiction, poetry, painting and sculpture to classical music and jazz – a transformation that began in the early 1920s and still reverberating a century later.

Hearing from artists, musicians, physicists, historians and writers, Jerry uncovers the impact of the theory of relativity on authors such as Virginia Woolf and William Carlos Williams; on the visual arts, including Picasso’s cubist paintings, Alexander Calder’s incredible kinetic sculptures and contemporary artist Conrad Shawcross’s installations; on music, from Philip Glass’s opera Einstein on the Beach to John Coltrane’s study of relativity to transform the harmonic structures of jazz. Creative boundaries between science and art dissolved. Artists and writers became fluent in new ideas of space-time and explored how to represent them in print, on canvas and to the ear.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Einstein himself, who welcomed the exchange of ideas with artists and loved music, would sometimes consider his own thinking in aesthetic as well as scientific terms, quoting the poet Keats: 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty'.

Presenter: Jerry Brotton
Producer: Simon Hollis

A Brook Lapping Production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m001q0rk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m001q0rq)
Call You & Yours: How confident at recycling are you?

On today's Call You & Yours we want to know how confident you are at recycling?

It can be really tricky to know if what you're putting in your bins actually gets recycled, and what materials can and can't be recycled depending on where you live.

Do containers have to be perfectly clean? What about clingfilm and foil? And can vegware really go in the compost bin?

Expert guest Professor Rachael Rothman from the University of Sheffield will be with us to give you advice. We'll also ask whether recycling is the only answer - should we think about reusing more? Should packaging be standardised?

You can call our phone room at 03700 100 44 after 11am on Tuesday

Or email youandyours@bbc.co.uk

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: LYDIA THOMAS


TUE 12:57 Weather (m001q0rz)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m001q0s9)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


TUE 13:45 Animal (m001q0sk)
Shapeshifters

Writer and adventurer Blair Braverman dives deep under the surface of the ocean, in search of a more fluid, expansive and communal way to live. In short, she discovers that the ocean is queer.

In Animal, writer and adventurer Blair Braverman presents stories exploring the curious and fascinating ways humans relate to other animals - from magpies to spiders to creatures of the deepest oceans.

In this episode, Blair hears from Sabrina Imbler, author of the book How Far The Light Reaches. Sabrina takes us on a journey into the depths, where shapeshifters stretch the limits of our imaginations, tiny creatures teach us how to live in community, and where we can uncover new possibilities for how life can work on our planet.

Producer and Sound Designer: Arlie Adlington
Co-Producer: Jesse Lawson
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam
Sound Mixing: Arlie Adlington
Series Art: Cameron Hay

Featuring sound recordings by Tzu-Hao Harry Lin

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m001q0np)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 This Thing of Darkness (m0011s1x)
Series 2

Part 3

The winner of the British Podcast Award for Best Fiction 2021 returns with a gripping drama about trauma, obsession and why we harm the things we love.

Part 3 of 7
Written by Lucia Haynes with monologues by Eileen Horne.

Dr Alex Bridges is an expert forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, assessing and treating perpetrators of violent crime.

Sarah has made a new friend, which feels like good news to Dr Bridges. But what if we can’t recover from past trauma?

Alex … Lolita Chakrabarti
Sarah ….. Melody Grove
Paul ….. Robert Jack
Ros ….. Lois Chimimba
Kelly ….. Veronica Leer
Malcolm ….. Michael Nardone
Rowena ….. Wendy Seager

Series created by 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


TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m001q0ht)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 on Saturday]


TUE 15:30 A Very British Cult (p0fdl5nd)
8. The Showdown

It’s the final showdown. The BBC team finds out there’s been another investigation going on in parallel to their one. It’s by the Government, who want Lighthouse shut down.

Lighthouse International Group end up in court, and more than 20 team members crowd into the hearing room, squashed alongside the BBC as well as Jeff and Dawn. Catrin finally gets to put her questions to Lighthouse and their leader Paul Waugh, and a massive crowd piles down a central London street as she tries to get answers.

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


TUE 16:00 Moving Pictures (m001dn6v)
A Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Édouard Manet

Cathy FitzGerald invites you to discover new details in old masterpieces.

Each episode of Moving Pictures is devoted to a single artwork - and you're invited to look as well as listen, by following a link to a high-resolution image made by Google Arts & Culture. Zoom in and you can see the pores of the canvas, the sweep of individual brushstrokes, the shimmer of pointillist dots.

This episode takes us to Paris in the 1880s and a popular music hall, the Folies-Bergère. A barmaid stares out of the painting, surrounded by bottles of beer and champagne. Behind her, a fashionable crowd gossip and flirt.

It's easy to think we know her, given how often she pops up on biscuit tins, mouse-mats and mugs. But take a closer look.

Cathy FitzGerald and her guests discover the secrets and delights of Édouard Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, now held in the collection of The Courtauld, London.

To see the super high-resolution image of the work made by Google Arts & Culture, visit www.bbc.co.uk/movingpictures. Scroll down and follow the link to explore the high-resolution image of A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.

Interviewees: Karen Serres, Barnaby Wright, Leah Kharibian, Colin Jones and Emily Beeny.

Producer and Presenter: Cathy FitzGerald

Executive Producer: Sarah Cuddon
Mix engineer: Mike Woolley
Art History Consultant: Leah Kharibian

A White Stiletto production for BBC Radio 4

Picture credit: Édouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, 1882, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m001q0sr)
Ludwig Koch

The award-winning Sound Recordist and Musician, Chris Watson nominates his hero, Ludwig Koch.

In 1889, German-born Koch was the first person ever to record birdsong (at the age of 8) onto a wax cylinder recorder, given to him by his father as a toy.

Despite a promising baritone voice and being a very good violinist, the first world war put paid to Ludwig Koch's career as a musician and he began working for the German branch of EMI recording cityscapes, before going on to invent the ‘sound book', a nascent sort of multimedia that became very popular in Germany before the second world war.

As a Jew and an outspoken critic of the Nazi regime, Koch fled Germany in 1936 for England, sadly leaving his many recordings behind. But his theatrical delivery, unique voice and the fact that, as Chris Watson notes, "He was not shy about his achievements", soon made him a household name in broadcasting here in the UK.

Chris Watson is joined by emeritus professor Sean Street. Together and with the aid of archive, they marvel over the great lengths Koch went to to capture his 'performers'.

Produced in Bristol by Ellie Richold


TUE 17:00 PM (m001q0sy)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001q0t6)
National Air Traffic Services has apologised for disruption at UK's busiest airports


TUE 18:30 The Ultimate Choice (m001k78j)
Series 1

Episode 6: Churchill v Teletubby

Steph McGovern heads to Leeds to ask some seriously funny minds for their definitive answers to the great questions of our age. Or not. Welcome to the world's most devious game of Would You Rather? With guests Daliso Chaponda and Chris McCausland.

Host: Steph McGovern
Guests: Daliso Chaponda and Chris McCausland.
Devised and written by Jon Harvey & Joseph Morpurgo
With additional material from Laura Major
Researcher: Leah Marks
Recorded and mixed by David Thomas
Producer: Jon Harvey
Executive Producers: Ed Morrish and Polly Thomas

Photo: Carolyn Mendelsohn

A Naked Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m001q0th)
Adil and Oliver sift the applications for the Head of Housekeeping job at Grey Gables. Adil declares Emma doesn’t have what they’re looking for. Oliver argues she has potential, but Adil thinks it’s too risky. Emma would be suitable as a Domestic Services Assistant. Oliver breaks the news to Emma that she’s not shortlisted. He suggests the lesser qualified role, but Emma’s not interested in being a cleaner. Oliver apologises for his insensitivity, but Emma reckons he’s helped her. She’s decided to go back to college and improve her qualifications. Oliver thinks this is an excellent idea.
Brad finds himself stuck in the middle as he relays messages between feuding Jazzer and Tracy at breakfast. They move on to arguing directly with each other, and Brad implores them to give it a rest before leaving the table. Later Brad finds downcast Tracy engaged in displacement activity when she’s meant to be sorting stuff for tomorrow’s wedding. She apologises for fighting with Jazzer in front of him. Brad thinks it’s all nonsense – they love one another and Jazzer would never do anything to hurt Tracy. She’s just looking for holes where there are none. Tracy gets that, but is upset she doesn’t seem to know about everything in Jazzer’s past. Brad reassures her; Jazzer’s not like his dad. As if to reinforce this Jazzer returns from work with a fish supper for everyone. Tracy admits to behaving like a teenager, and Jazzer declares he’s made sure Hannah’s got other places to stay. They make up. Here’s to wedding number two.


TUE 19:15 Add to Playlist (m001k17h)
Anne Dudley and Ruairi Glasheen take us from Azerbaijan to Dover

Musician and composer Anne Dudley and percussionist Ruairi Glasheen embark on a musical journey across continents, centuries and styles as they add the next five tracks to the playlist.

Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye also find out from specialist Simon Heighes about the background to a popular work by Bach, famously used in those old cigar adverts.

This episode was first broadcast in March this year.

Producer Jerome Weatherald
Presented, with music direction, by Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Infinity by Imamyar Hasanov
Mehter Vuruyor by Mehter
She’s Gone by Darryl Hall & John Oates
Air from Orchestral Suite No 3 in D major by J S Bach
Many Rivers to Cross by Jimmy Cliff

Other music in this episode:

8 Dogs 8 Banjos by Old Crow Medicine Show
Makhloogh by Googoosh
7 Heures du Matin by Jacqueline Taïeb
A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum
Vietnam by Jimmy Cliff


TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m001q0tv)
A Different Class: Excluded kids lured into crime

After an inevitable decline during the pandemic, school exclusions are again on the increase. There are concerns that behaviour is worse because, post pandemic, children can’t regulate their behaviour in the classroom. So what happens to those who are kicked out? The Government says it has issued updated guidance on suspensions and permanent exclusions and is clear that initial intervention should be put in place where children are at risk of being permanently excluded and entering alternative provision. It says permanent exclusions should always be a last resort and shouldn’t mean exclusion from education. But File on 4 hears compelling evidence from pupils, parents and teachers to suggest hundreds - maybe thousands - are falling under the radar, targeted by criminal gangs, forced to sell drugs and lured into a life of crime.

Reporter: De-Graft Mensah
Producers: Shona Elliott and Tom Wall
Senior Digital Journalist: Melanie Stewart-Smith
Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley
Technical Producer: Gareth Jones
Editor: Carl Johnston


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m001q0v8)
The IBSA World Games

The International Blind Sports Federation has just concluded its first World Games in the UK, with most sports taking place across the University of Birmingham campus. Over a thousand athletes from 70 countries competed in various sports and for some, it was not just a medal on the cards, but also qualification points for the 2024 Paralympics. We attended the games and spoke to athletes, team officials and members of the public trying out visually impaired sports for the first time.

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 Political Animals (m0014qcw)
Mole-Rat Queens and Genital Power

Zoologist Lucy Cooke is on a mission: to break down the 'sexist stereotype' she believes has permeated our understanding of the natural world.

In Political Animals, she sets out to prove that females of the species can be just as fiesty, ardent, manipulative, aggressive, strategic, varied and political as males - questioning some of the theories laid out by the 'father of evolution', Charles Darwin, and hearing from pioneering scientists moving evolutionary biology beyond a male-centric narrative.

In this second instalment, Lucy explores ways in which female animals wield authority; with examples ranging from repressive mole-rat queens to ducks with deceptive vaginas, all proving that power can be about more than physical strength.

This involves a visit to the UK's only colony of naked mole-rats, overseen by Chris Faulkes at the University of London’s Queen Mary College; an introduction to the world of labyrinthine animal vaginas and their evolutionary benefits with Patricia Brennan from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts; and assisting with feeding time at Twycross Zoo's bonobo enclosure, as Amanda Addison and Becca Biddle explain the power of the ape sisterhood... Meanwhile Joe Cain from University College London sheds more light on Darwin’s attitude towards females.

Featuring excerpts from ‘The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex’ and personal notes written by Charles Darwin, read by Derek Frood.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Lucy Taylor.


TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (m001q0r7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m001q0vr)
Air traffic chaos blamed on 'technical issue'

Two days of flight chaos has left thousands of passengers stranded. We ask the head of the UK's National Air Traffic Service what went wrong

The leader of the Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin has been buried in St Petersburg - days after he was killed in a plane crash. We're live in the Russian city - and have a rare interview with a former Wagner fighter.

And as the rapper Eminem tells US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to stop performing his song - we look at the long battle between pop stars and politicians.


TUE 22:45 Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney (m001q0w2)
Episode 2

A new reading of the debut poetry collection by the Nobel Prize in Literature recipient Seamus Heaney, specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his death.

As read by Bríd Brennan, Adrian Dunbar and Stephen Rea.

Music composed and performed by Neil Martin.

Seamus Heaney was a poet, translator, teacher and critic. During a career spanning fifty years, he became one of the most celebrated poets of his generation. While often rooted in the landscape of his homeland, Heaney’s poetry has a universal appeal that was to find a worldwide readership. During his lifetime he was the recipient of many honours, including the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature, and his work has been translated into 27 languages. His legacy lives on, as readers continue to enjoy and engage with his poetry, prose, drama and translations.

Readers: Bríd Brennan, Adrian Dunbar and Stephen Rea.
Author: Seamus Heaney
Music: Neil Martin
Producer: Michael Shannon
Editor: Andy Martin

A BBC Northern Ireland production.


TUE 23:00 Call Jonathan Pie (m001q0wc)
Episode 1: The BBC

Jonathan Pie (Tom Walker) is roped in last minute to host BBC radio's most popular phone-in show. Basically there's no one else available. Out of his depth and up to his neck in it, Pie manages to just about hold it together. He muses on the state of the BBC and in one breath is singing its praises and in the next he tears into it with his usual gusto.

Jonathan Pie ..... Tom Walker
Jules ..... Lucy Pearman
Sam ..... Aqib Khan
Roger ..... Nick Revell
Agent ..... Daniel Abelson
Voiceovers ..... Bob Sinfield and Rob Curling
Callers ... .Daniel Abelson, Adam Byron, Bryony Corrigan.

Writer ..... Tom Walker
Script Editor ..... Nick Revell
Producers ..... Alison Vernon-Smith and Julian Mayers
Production Coordinator ..... Ellie Dobing
Original music composed by Jason Read
Additional music Leighton James House

A Yada-Yada Audio Production.


TUE 23:30 Call Jonathan Pie (m001q0wq)
Episode 2: Money

It’s Pie’s last night as guest host of the BBC’s flagship radio phone-in show. Pie is worried about money as he faces a moral and financial dilemma. He hijacks the show and uses the platform to air his frank views on the privately educated elite. He causes quite a stir, much to Roger’s (Pie’s boss’s) delight. Jules’s day however is about to get a lot worse.

Jonathan Pie ..... Tom Walker

Jules ..... Lucy Pearman

Sam ..... Aqib Khan

Roger ..... Nick Revell

Agent ..... Daniel Abelson

Voiceovers ..... Bob Sinfield and Rob Curling


Callers ... .Daniel Abelson, Adam Byron, Bryony Corrigan and Liz White


Writer ..... Tom Walker

Script Editor ..... Nick Revell

Producers ..... Alison Vernon-Smith
 and Julian Mayers

Production Coordinator ..... Ellie Dobing

Original music composed by Jason Read
Additional music Leighton James House




A Yada-Yada Audio Production.

WEDNESDAY 30 AUGUST 2023

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m001q0wz)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


WED 00:30 How to Build Impossible Things by Mark Ellison (m001q0rc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001q0x8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001q0xm)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001q0xt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 05:30 News Briefing (m001q0y0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001q0y6)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Shaunaka Rishi Das

Good morning.

My friend Rev Kenneth Cracknell died this year. Kenneth was one of the pioneers of interfaith in this country, encouraging people of different faiths to speak with each other. He wasn’t into shaky-handy-kissy-baby interfaith. It was people of strong faith meeting people of strong faith.

As a young Hare Krishna, Kenneth took me under his wing, at a time when Krishnas were considered a bit out there, and introduced me to a world of broadminded, open hearted respect and friendship across traditions. He was an advocate of understanding God’s love without borders. A real gentleman, and a good friend.

Once I arranged a visit of 19 Krishna priests to Cambridge for a seminar with Kenneth. He, and his wife Susan, insisted on cooking for us and asked for our dietary requirements to make sure they got it right. One of the restrictions was – no onions – don’t ask. On the day itself we had a great seminar and afterwards gathered around pots of steaming food with our plates. Kenneth asked us to serve ourselves as he retreated to the kitchen for something.

One of the priests, serving himself some vegetables said, “there are onions”. Silence. Then another said, “No, there are no onions”. “Yes, there are onions”, said the first. “No there are no onions,” said another emphatically – and he was at the back of the queue, and couldn’t see the pot. And then a chorus of, “there are no onions”, and 19 priests, some of whom hadn’t eaten an onion in their lives, agreed, and ate the dish – because it was offered with love.

Lord, my friends are sparks of your kindness. Like me, none are perfect but all are sincere. May I recognise their love and forgive their faults, as I hope they will do to me.

Hare Krishna


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m001q0yd)
30/08/23 Border controls; new tech for growing potatoes; tractor driving during harvest

After multiple delays, the UK government announces it will be bringing in new border controls for imported goods from the EU from 31st October 2023.

How new innovations and technology are helping the growth and storage of potatoes.

And as we continue to look at harvest this week, we take a look at the challenges farmers face when taking their tractors off the fields and on to public roads.

Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Rhiannon Fitz-Gerald.


WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04mj32d)
Toco Tucan

Chris Packham presents the South American toco tucan. Few of us are lucky enough to have seen or heard a Toco Toucan at home in its South American strongholds but its image will be familiar to drinkers of a certain age. Its pied plumage and sky-blue eye-rings are striking enough but it is the toco toucan's huge black-tipped orange bill that makes the bird instantly recognisable. Despite appearances this cumbersome-looking banana-shaped bill is really quite light. Under the colourful plates which cover the bill a matrix of horny fibres and air-pockets combines strength with lightness a formula which has caught the attention of light aircraft manufacturers . The bird's massive bills were prominent in advertisements for a well-known brand of Irish stout beer in the 1930s and 40s. In various poses, often with a pint pot perched precariously on its bill, toucan's, extolled the virtues of beer-drinking.

Producer : Andrew Dawes


WED 06:00 Today (m001q0rw)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 More or Less (m001q0s6)
HS2 and electric cars, UK vs China emissions & massive maths errors

Can you really buy an electric car for everybody in the UK for the cost of HS2? That claim was recently made on Radio 4's Broadcasting House programme. Also we look at a viral claim that 1 in 73 people who received the Covid vaccine in England was dead by May 2022. Plus we look at the size of the UK's carbon emissions when compared with China and talk about how a recent More or Less maths error pales in comparison to one in the Guardian.

Presenter: Tim Harford
Series Producer: Jon Bithrey
Reporters: Nathan Gower, Natasha Fernandes
Production Co-ordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Richard Vadon

00:45 HS2 and electric cars
06:37 Deaths and the vaccine
15:43 Massive maths errors
19:33 UK vs China emissions


WED 09:30 Life Support (m001j44t)
GP Practice Managers

Five episodes where two people at different stages of their careers, meet for the first time to share and contrast their experiences of working in the health service. Revealing and surprising insights emerge as the participants compare the pressures of the past with those we hear so much about today. In this episode we hear from GP practice managers. Retired manager Esther says she remembers when they used to be able to answer phone calls from patients within three rings and a time when everyone’s medical notes were written on card. It's all a far cry from recently appointed practice manager Tracey's experiences. The phone lines where she works regularly stack up with forty people calling for an appointment the moment the surgery opens. Despite having seven incoming lines and a team of thirteen administrative staff, Tracey fears it's still not enough to cope with patient demand. Despite the obvious contrasts it soon becomes clear that things weren't always plain sailing in the past.

Produced by Gill Kearsley and Nick Holland
Editor: Clare Fordham
Sound: Graham Puddifoot
Production Coordinators Sabine Schereck and Maria Ogundele


WED 09:45 How to Build Impossible Things by Mark Ellison (m001q0sh)
Speed

Mark Ellison is regarded by many as the best carpenter in New York. A man with an affinity for challenging work, he has designed and constructed some of New York's most elaborate and expensive homes, and been profiled in the New Yorker.

Over the past 40 years, Mark has worked on some of the most beautiful homes you have never seen, specialising in rarefied and challenging projects with the most demanding of clients. He built a staircase a famed architect called a masterpiece. He worked on the iconic Sky House, which Interior Design named the best apartment of the decade. He has even worked on the homes of David Bowie, Robin Williams, and others whose names he cannot reveal.

But before he was any of that, Mark was just 'a serial dropout' who spent his young adult years taking work where he found it and sleeping on friends’ floors. As a native of the old steel town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his route into the building trade and the mastery of a craft was unexpected, moving from construction labourer to carpenter and finally to project manager extraordinaire.

Now, at the age of 60, he has written his first book. In How to Build Impossible Things, Mark Ellison tells the story of his unconventional education in the world of architecture and design, and how he learned the satisfaction and joy that comes from doing something well for a long time. He takes us on a tour through the lofts, penthouses, and townhouses of New York's elite which he has transformed over the years and offers a window into what he has learned about living meaningfully along the way. Mark exposes the messy wiring behind the pristine walls - and the mindset that any of us can develop to build our own impossible things.

In this third episode, Mark describes the unbearable pressure of managing a five million dollar Central Park renovation project in searing heat with more than a hundred workmen and an impossible deadline.

Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
Read by Demetri Goritsas
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001q0sq)
Scottish rape survivors, Writer Natasha Walter, New research on the Y chromosome and male infertility

A group of women who were raped by the same man are now coming together to campaign for better treatment for survivors of rape in the Scottish justice system. After his sentencing, the women were photographed arm-in-arm outside the high court in Glasgow, having forged a close bond. Catriona Renton, reporter and presenter for BBC Scotland, joins Nuala.
Writer and activist Natasha Walter joins Nuala to discuss her new, very personal book, Before the Light Fades: a memoir of grief and resistance. One day in December 2017 Natasha's mother Ruth took her own life. Natasha overwhelmed, by grief and guilt starts to look back through Ruth's history, trying to understand how her life led to this death.
Last week scientists in America announced that they have taken an important step in understanding the human genome- our genetic blueprint- by decoding the Y chromosome which is passed from male parent to male offspring and determines biological sex and fertility. Professor Chris Barratt, head of Reproductive Medicine at Ninewells Hospital and the University of Dundee Medical School explains the implications of this research in relation to male infertility.
Next to Normal is a Pulitzer prize-winning production currently on stage at the Donmar Theatre in London. At its heart Diana Goodman is a suburban wife and mother living with bipolar and haunted by her past. We speak to actor Caissie Levy playing Diana and birder and environmentalist, Mya-Rose Craig whose recent book Birdgirl talked about the impact on her and her family of having a mother with the same diagnosis.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Lucinda Montefiore

Opener 00:00
Rape 01:20
Natasha Walter 10:32
Y Chromosome Breakthrough 22:23
Bipolar Mothers 30:19


WED 11:00 Memorial No More? A History of Russian Forgetting (m001q0ns)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]


WED 11:30 Director of Me (m001p706)
Faris

How do you manage your mental health when you cannot control the direction of your mind?

Director of Me follows three people with diagnosed mental health conditions through a month in their lives. Each episode pivots around self-recorded audio diaries as they reflect on what it is like to inhabit and manage their minds. .

Each programme incorporates specially composed music, worked up in collaboration with each person to illustrate how they experience their mental health conditions.

In this final episode, we meet Faris, who is in his mid 30s. He’s a make-up artist, musician and cat-parent; a friend and grandson and a refugee, having come to the UK as an unaccompanied child asylum seeker. Faris lives with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), generalised anxiety disorder and depression, alongside chronic physical pain. Faris discusses the childhood trauma that has led to his condition, and how it affects him now including the suicidal thoughts he copes with.

“When I was younger I wasn't a fan of being diagnosed, I didn't like labels. But as I grew older, I understood what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder means, and a lot of it made sense; and it’s undeniable the effect it has on you.”

This episode was recorded by Faris.

Producer: Catherine Carr
Assistant Producer and Composer: Maia Miller-Lewis.
Executive Producer: Jo Rowntree

With thanks to Mind for their support.

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


WED 12:00 News Summary (m001q0sw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m001q0t5)
BT Digital Voice, Minimalist Travel, Nights Out

We return once again to big technical problems BT customers have been experiencing with the switchover from old copper landlines to new internet based phones.
It's been more than a year now since BT told You and Yours it would be halting the rollout until it had found solutions to some of the technical problems that were affecting its Digital Voice customers. The drive to move people from the old copper network began in 2021. The idea was that every UK home would have their landline switched to digital by December 2025. BT restarted the rollout it in the Spring this year. Since then, listeners have come back to us, saying they're still having big problems. We speak to Andrew Ferguson, Editor of Think Broadband about why it's still going wrong for some customers.

We report on the latest travelling hack that's trending on social media - "Ryanair cabin bags". They're so-called because they match up exactly with the airline's stringent measurements which are the smallest amongst its UK competitors. Those who use the bags say they're minimalist and budget friendly with some selling for as little as £10. We speak to Chelsea Dickenson, founder of Cheap holiday expert dot com, to find out if they live up to the hype.

We hear how people are cutting back on nights out and how it's affecting the night time economy. The latest figures from the night life company, Rekom, show more than a third of people have been going out less since Autumn 2022 because of inflation. In the last month alone more than 100 bars in the UK have been forced to close in the last month alone. We speak to Sacha Lord, the Night Time Economy Advisor for Greater Manchester.

Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Tara Holmes


WED 12:57 Weather (m001q0td)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m001q0tq)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


WED 13:45 Animal (m001q0v4)
Swooping Season

Most Australians only notice magpies once a year, during ‘swooping season’. For a few weeks, local magpies appear to launch random attacks on passers-by. But maybe we’re only seeing one side of it.

In this episode - why humans should learn to listen better to these intelligent birds. Blair hears from Gisela Kaplan - a Professor of Animal Behaviour who’s spent over 25 years rehabilitating native birds at her home on the south eastern coast of Australia. Gisela introduces us to a different, unexpected side of the Australian magpie.

In Animal, writer and adventurer Blair Braverman presents stories exploring the curious and fascinating ways humans relate to other animals - from magpies to spiders to creatures of the deepest oceans.

Producer and Sound Designer: Arlie Adlington
Co-Producer: Jesse Lawson
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam
Sound Mixing: Arlie Adlington
Series Art: Cameron Hay

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


WED 14:00 The Archers (m001q0th)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama on 4 (b0bk1rz5)
The RemCo

Judith Clapham (Deborah Findlay) is an honourable woman at the rotten heart of the City, steering her RemCo as they vote on whether to award an £8 million pay award to charismatic CEO, Michael Melman (James Purefoy). Journalist and playwright Jonathan Maitland's new play looks at the controversial world of Remuneration Committees - the bodies that decide on executive pay and bonuses.

Maitland has talked to several members of RemCos and been granted access to confidential minutes. Before now, no writer has been allowed this level of access to what goes on in a RemCo. He has used the details to fashion this drama about a fictional RemCo.

RemCos are the key to understanding one of the most toxic issues of our age: the social and financial inequality caused by grossly excessive pay deals.

Directed by Emma Harding

Judith Clapham ..... Deborah Findlay
Camilla ..... Lucy Doyle
Michael Melman ..... James Purefoy
Brian Gould ..... Forbes Masson
David van der Berg ..... Tony Turner
Edgar Davidson ..... Lewis Bray
Lucy Argent ..... Jeanette Percival
Sir Tom McKelvey ..... Sean Murray
Fola Ogunyemi ..... Saffron Coomber
Leon ..... Cameron Percival
John Humphreys as himself


WED 15:00 Money Box (m001q0j0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


WED 15:30 Political Animals (m0014qcw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m001q0vv)
The Petite Bourgeoisie

The Petite Bourgeoisie - Laurie Taylor talks to Daniel Evans, Research Assistant at Cardiff University and author of a new study which explores the unstoppable rise of the lower middle class. Marx predicted that this insecure class, sandwiched between the working class and the bourgeoisie, would be absorbed into the proletariat as artisans died out during the industrial revolution. In fact, it has grown exponentially and is now a significant player within global politics, courted by the right and the left. Far from losing influence, the individualist values associated with it have been popularised by a society which some say fetishizes “aspiration” and entrepreneurship.

They're joined by Nicola Bishop, cultural historian and Senior Teaching Fellow at Loughborough University, whose latest book analyses white collar workers in British popular culture, from the novels of Charles Dickens to comedy TV sitcoms. Why have lower middle class, suburban values become such a staple of our cultural consumption and what can this tell us about national British identity?

Producer: Jayne Egerton


WED 16:30 The Media Show (m001q0w5)
Is AI now coming for your private data?

Ros Atkins and guests consider the dilemmas faced by streaming companies in the face of growing costs and competition, the changing face of sports broadcasting and concerns about AI trawling our private data.

Guests: Minal Modha, Consumer Lead, Ampere Analysis; Scott Bryan, TV Critic; Brian Merchant, Technology Columnist, LA Times; Eugene Kim, Chief Tech Correspondent, Insider Business.

Presenter: Ros Atkins
Producer: Simon Richardson


WED 17:00 PM (m001q0wg)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001q0wr)
The judge-led enquiry will be able to compel witnesses to give evidence


WED 18:30 Stand-Up Specials (m000xlkf)
Lucy Porter: Back in the Family Way

Following her previous, very popular In the Family Way shows, Radio 4 favourite Lucy returns with another examination of domestic life, covering everything from the dramatic to the dreary.

This time, Lucy looks at the effects of the pandemic on our relationships with family, friends and neighbours. The last year has been hard on people who were separated from their nearest and dearest, but it’s also been no picnic for those who were locked up with their loved ones.

Home schooling, working from the kitchen table, zoom quizzes with cousins, clapping with the neighbours - Lucy explores all the things that have brought us together, while also driving us apart. We look forward to the year 2041 and ponder what they’ll make of it in the future.

Talented comedian and impressionist Luke Kempner is on hand again to help Lucy bring her thoughts to life. As always, he displays his range of comic voices, including an impressive impersonation of Lucy’s next door neighbour Yvonne.

Back In The Family Way was recorded at Lucy’s local village hall, with a socially distanced audience of her family, friends and neighbours. Let’s see if any of them are still speaking to her after this show.

Written by Lucy Porter
Starring Lucy Porter and Luke Kempner
Additional Material: Gabby Hutchinson Crouch and Mike Shepherd
Production Manager: Sarah Tombling
Studio Engineer and Editor: Jerry Peal
Production Runners: Sahara Dennis, Kareem Elshehawy, Sakshi Gupta
Produced and Directed by Gordon Kennedy
Would not have been possible without Marilyn Imrie

Recorded Live at Pinner Village Hall

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4


WED 19:00 The Archers (m001q0x0)
Lynda finds Emma reading a book, and Emma shares her news that she’s going back to college to get her GCSE English Literature. Lynda’s delighted for her. They discuss the book Emma’s reading and it soon becomes apparent they’re at cross purposes. Emma recognises none of the aspects Lynda mentions, and panics that if she can’t spot what’s going on, she won’t do well on her course. Lynda confesses she hasn’t actually read the book but only seen the film adaptation. Relieved Emma promises not to tell anyone her secret.

Jazzer and Tracy can’t believe the registrar for their wedding has been called away to a family emergency. Tracy thinks it’s because she and Jazzer saw each other in the morning. They should have stayed apart. Superstitions aside, the fact remains they currently don’t have a wedding. Susan’s appalled, and directs Chelsea and Brad to sort it out. They take up the challenge. Meanwhile Susan attends to Jazzer’s outfit and Tracy’s make-up. Brad and Chelsea return with the news they’ve been successful. After a sit-in staged by Chelsea and some judicious time and distance calculations by Brad, they’ve secured a registrar from Felpersham. It will be late in the day but Susan pledges to stick around until they’re married, and orders everyone else to do the same. Nobody leaves until this wedding’s happened. Everyone’s buoyant after the event, though Tracy tries unsuccessfully to ban photographs in case their secret’s discovered. The day ends in a happy flurry of confetti.


WED 19:15 Add to Playlist (m001k84y)
John Lunn, Jess Gillam and Johnny Marr on the joys of the tremolo

Downton Abbey composer John Lunn and saxophonist Jess Gillam join Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye on a journey from the snowy landscape of northern Finland to the warmth of Ecuador as they add the next five tracks, exploring unusual instruments and effects, including the theremin and the tremolo.

Guitarist and songwriter Johnny Marr, formerly of The Smiths, talks us through one of the most ambitious uses of tremolo, and guitarist Adam Goldsmith demonstrates a few other tricks guitarists have up their sleeve.

This episode was first broadcast in March this year.

Producer Jerome Weatherald
Presented, with music direction, by Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Kilisee, Kilisee Kulkunen by Tapiola Choir
Snowflake by Kate Bush
How Soon is Now? by The Smiths
Clair de Lune, Arr. for Theremin and Voice by Carolina Eyck - by Claude Debussy
Huashca de Corales by Biluka y los Canibales

Other music in this episode:

(Love is Like a) Heatwave by Martha & the Vandellas
Many Rivers to Cross by Jimmy Cliff


WED 20:00 AntiSocial (m001ptkl)
Can white people be victims of racism?

The argument about prejudice, power, and the disputed idea of “reverse racism”.

A design guide from the Mayor of London’s office included a photo of a white family along with the caption “Doesn’t represent real Londoners”. A spokesman for Mayor Sadiq Khan said the text was “added by a staff member in error”, but some on social media said it showed City Hall was racist against white people. What was actually in the guide? Where does the concept of racism come from? And what does the law say about whether white people can be victims of racism?

Guests:
Rakib Ehsan, researcher, writer, and commentator specialising in immigration and integration
Jaya Gordon-Moore, teacher of A-level Criminology and rapper (JayaHadADream)
Mónica Moreno Figueroa, Professor of Sociology at the University of Cambridge
Mike Walters, Professor of Criminal Law and Criminology at the University of Sussex


WED 20:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m001hx33)
Put Your Phone Down

Most of us in the UK use our phones for over three hours/day! They are incredibly useful - but using them just a little bit less can have big benefits for your health and wellbeing. Studies have shown that reducing your phone use by one hour each day can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. It can also increase life satisfaction, reduce smoking and enhance physical activity levels. On top of that, limiting social media use to 30 minutes a day has been found to reduce feelings of loneliness. But if you can’t bear doing any of that, just putting your phone out of sight whilst you’re doing something can have significant benefits. Michael Mosley speaks to Dr Adrian Ward from the University of Texas at Austin who has found that just the sight of your phone can have a powerful impact on your cognition. He finds out about the alluring pull of our phones on our brains (which can attract our attention even when they’re off), and why multitasking is a myth!


WED 21:00 A Very British Cult (p0fdl5nd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 The Media Show (m001q0w5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m001q0xl)
Wave of drone attacks hits several Russian regions

Analysing the evolving use of drones in the Russia-Ukraine war

The proposed closure of railway ticket offices in England

Should we be rethinking how we define cancer?


WED 22:45 Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney (m001q0xs)
Episode 3

A new reading of the debut poetry collection by the Nobel Prize in Literature recipient Seamus Heaney, specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his death.

As read by Bríd Brennan, Adrian Dunbar and Stephen Rea.

Music composed and performed by Neil Martin.

Seamus Heaney was a poet, translator, teacher and critic. During a career spanning fifty years, he became one of the most celebrated poets of his generation. While often rooted in the landscape of his homeland, Heaney’s poetry has a universal appeal that was to find a worldwide readership. During his lifetime he was the recipient of many honours, including the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature, and his work has been translated into 27 languages. His legacy lives on, as readers continue to enjoy and engage with his poetry, prose, drama and translations.

Readers: Bríd Brennan, Adrian Dunbar and Stephen Rea.
Author: Seamus Heaney
Music: Neil Martin
Producer: Michael Shannon
Editor: Andy Martin

A BBC Northern Ireland production.


WED 23:00 Influencers (m001q0xz)
Series 1

Episode 1

Katy Brand and Katherine Parkinson write and star in a new comedy about the world of influencing, where they play Ruth and Carla – two wannabe stars of the online business world.

They are bound together by a carefully controlled image that can lead to lucrative product placements and well-paid endorsements - but only if the PR is played just right. And that’s a problem because, behind the scenes, things are not always as harmonious as they seem.

Episode 1: Gratitude
Ruth and Carla are worrying about company finances, plotting their next big move to give their shared business a boost and desperately thinking of things to add to their new Gratitude Diary.

Carla – Katy Brand
Ruth – Katherine Parkinson

Written by Katy Brand and Katherine Parkinson
Producer: Liz Anstee

A CPL production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:15 Sarah Keyworth - Are You a Boy or a Girl? (m001q0y8)
Series 2

3: 'Think of the women'

Just recently Sarah was out in town with two friends, both of whom present in a very similar way to them (short hair, fresh-faced, white t-shirt). When walking to the loo, a toilet attendant called Beatrice told them they were in the wrong bathroom. Sarah befriended Beatrice and, after spending £10 on a Chupa Chups lollipop, made her realise that they were all welcome in the ladies.

In this episode, Sarah talks about their experience on what it means to be considered a woman, whilst not particularly feeling like one.

Award-winning comedian Sarah Keyworth returns with their Radio 4 series Are You a Boy or a Girl?. Since the first series aired in 2020, the debate around gender has exploded and taken on a life of its own, all culminating with one question ‘should I be allowed to decide who I am?’. Sarah has recently come out as non-binary (a subtle soft-launch in The Guardian newspaper) and is ready to share some more of their own brand of mx-information. That’s gender non-conforming information, the cool non-binary cousin of misinformation.


Written by and starring Sarah Keyworth with additional material from Ruby Clyde.

Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Coordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound Engineer: Paul Brogden
Editor: Joshan Chana
Photo credit: Matt Crockett

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4


WED 23:30 Mark Watson Talks a Bit About Life (m000gbg8)
Series 3

Autumn

Multi-award winning comedian and author Mark Watson continues his examination of the four seasons of the year and the seasons of a human life, as Mark - at the halfway point of his expected lifespan - considers what might come next.

Mark and his guests take on Autumn - the season of falling leaves and (in some cases) falling expectations of life.

With the sardonic musical brilliance of Flo and Joan and special guest Jen Brister.

As always, there's a huge number of jokes, some songs, and an awful lot of other stuff crammed into each show as the much-loved comic and his guests make their way through life at dizzying speed.

Producer: Lianne Coop

An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2020.

THURSDAY 31 AUGUST 2023

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m001q0yg)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


THU 00:30 How to Build Impossible Things by Mark Ellison (m001q0sh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001q0yn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001q0yx)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001q0z2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 05:30 News Briefing (m001q0z8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001q0zg)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Shaunaka Rishi Das

Good morning.

A person once called me a ‘know-it’, a term I had never heard, but the meaning was clear. I thought I knew it all.

I was a young Hare Krishna student, shaven-headed and saffron robed, and full of the joy of having found the Truth. Now I wanted to share it all over everyone, whether they liked it or not. In reality I didn’t know much more than I was right.

Well, Old Mary put me wise. We called her Old Mary because she was old. She used to prowl O’Connell Street, in Dublin, preaching her brand of radical Catholicism, and she took every opportunity to harass us Krishnas as we prowled the same street. Her favoured form of harassment was to sprinkle holy water on us, invoking her Lord loudly, “In the name of the Lord, in the house of Juda, in the line of David…etc”.

One day, from behind, she poured water on me, not sprinkled. She had ambushed me, and I was drenched. She stood there with a broad smile and a twinkle in her eye, and somehow, I began to feel a bond with her. We were certainly the strangest people on the street. I asked her about herself and it turned out she was from my hometown, and was to be a nun but didn’t fit into the church. Much like my own story. I could relate to her commitment, her sincerity, and her surreal compassion in pouring her Truth all over me. Each of us well matched in our conviction that we had a monopoly on the truth.

Lord, none of us can see what you see, or can love as fully as you. We all have a grasp, an angle, but none of us have a monopoly on the Truth, except you. May I see you in everyone, and everywhere.

Hare Krishna


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m001q0zr)
31/08/23 Sustainable Farming Incentive delays; hare coursing; harvesting flax

Nearly 4,000 farmers who farm common land in England face delays to being able to apply for - and therefore receive payments from - the Sustainable Farming Incentive, the most basic element of the Environmental Land Management Scheme which is to replace the EU's Common Agricultural Policy.

A farm worker in Wiltshire shares his recent experience of what happened when he confronted hare coursers.

And why there's growing interest in using flax for sustainable fashion.

Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Rhiannon Fitz-Gerald.


THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03x46sm)
Treecreeper

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

Bill Oddie presents the treecreeper. Treecreepers are common woodland birds but because their high-pitched almost whispering song, is often drowned out by the dawn chorus, they're often overlooked. The first glimpse may be a silhouette, its belly close to the bark, braced by stiff tail feathers. It has a curved, tweezer-like bill with with which it delicately probes for hidden insects and spiders deep in the crevices of the bark.


THU 06:00 Today (m001q0vh)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 The Patch (m001q0vx)
Freiston, Boston

One random postcode and a story you probably haven't heard before.

PE22 0 takes producer Polly Weston to a landscape like no other... the flatlands east of the town of Boston. Among the fields and small villages, the most obvious landmark when she arrives is "The We'll Meet Again Museum". It turns out to be the life's work and personal collection of one couple, Linda and Paul. They chose this spot, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, because of the landscape's historical significance. At the back of the museum facing the sea are a line of well preserved WW2 pillboxes. Polly's guides are The Lincolnshire Poachers, a group of teenage WW2 reenactors dressed in full uniforms, who volunteer here every weekend - "We're not like all these other youngsters who are out in the streets causing havoc, we're here causing havoc”.

But there's another history to this landscape. In 1935 twelve teenage young offenders were marched from Stafford to this postcode, to set up camp. The teenagers began the process of reclaiming the land from the wash - they dug a bank by hand to hold the sea back, which in time formed the landscape you see today.

The camp the teenagers built eventually became the open prison, HMP North Sea Camp. Locals joke that it's a holiday camp today, with reports of people who have run away - but what's the truth?

Produced/Presented by Polly Weston
Editor: Chris Ledgard
Mixed by Michael Harrison


THU 09:30 Inside Pages (m001h6j6)
Hawick

Journalist Ian Wylie journeys to some of the hidden corners of Britain to view small towns through the lens of the people who don’t ignore them - their local reporters. Some of the towns are struggling, others are thriving. The one thing they have in common is they’re pretty much invisible in the eyes of the national media, even though they are home to tens of thousands of people. They don’t have football teams. They’re not pretty resorts that attract tourists. They can’t even claim to be a contested marginal seat that will determine the outcome of a general election. Our guides are the passionate people who remain committed to telling the stories of what’s happening in their small towns. Through their newspapers, websites and social media posts they refuse to turn the page on local news reporting - often at some personal cost.

In this episode, Ian’s in Hawick in the Scottish Borders, where he meets the editor of a new and thriving local newspaper.

Produced and presented by Ian Wylie
Executive producer: Ian Bent
Sound designer: John Scott
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4


THU 09:45 How to Build Impossible Things by Mark Ellison (m001q10m)
The Nightmare Client

Mark Ellison is regarded by many as the best carpenter in New York. A man with an affinity for challenging work, he has designed and constructed some of New York's most elaborate and expensive homes, and been profiled in the New Yorker.

Over the past 40 years, Mark has worked on some of the most beautiful homes you have never seen, specialising in rarefied and challenging projects with the most demanding of clients. He built a staircase a famed architect called a masterpiece. He worked on the iconic Sky House, which Interior Design named the best apartment of the decade. He has even worked on the homes of David Bowie, Robin Williams, and others whose names he cannot reveal.

But before he was any of that, Mark was just 'a serial dropout' who spent his young adult years taking work where he found it and sleeping on friends’ floors. As a native of the old steel town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his route into the building trade and the mastery of a craft was unexpected, moving from construction labourer to carpenter and finally to project manager extraordinaire.

Now, at the age of 60, he has written his first book. In How to Build Impossible Things, Mark Ellison tells the story of his unconventional education in the world of architecture and design, and how he learned the satisfaction and joy that comes from doing something well for a long time. He takes us on a tour through the lofts, penthouses, and townhouses of New York's elite which he has transformed over the years and offers a window into what he has learned about living meaningfully along the way. Mark exposes the messy wiring behind the pristine walls - and the mindset that any of us can develop to build our own impossible things.

In this fourth episode, Mark describes his worst ever client, a billionaire who thinks nothing of destroying months of exquisite craftsmanship with the wave of a hand.

Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
Read by Demetri Goritsas
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001q0wh)
Emma Hayes, manager of Chelsea FC Women, Karis Anderson on Tina Turner, Rose Matafeo and Emma Sidi on Starstruck

Emma Hayes has been manager of Chelsea Women football team for more than a decade, a reign made remarkable by six Women’s Super League titles, five FA Cups and two League Cups. Emma joins Hayley Hassall to discuss leadership in football and beyond, motherhood and women's health. Emma Hayes’ new audiobook, Kill the Unicorn, explores how her experience coaching elite female athletes has lessons for all of us.

On 24 May, the iconic singer Tina Turner died at the age of 83. For the last five years her life and music have been portrayed on stage in London’s West End to endless audiences keen to continue to enjoy her songs and watch the highs and lows, particularly of her early life, marriage to Ike Turner and then the revival of her career as a solo artist. Karis Anderson has recently taken on the role of Tina and joins Hayley in the Woman’s Hour studio.

Women in Afghanistan are turning to nursing as one of the few remaining professions they are permitted to do under the Taliban. But nursing itself is facing a crisis in the country. Former BBC Persia journalist Bahaar Joya is now a nurse in London. She describes the training she wants to provide for nurses in Afghanistan, and what the women there are telling her.

The hit BBC Three and HBO rom-com series Starstruck is back on our screens with its third season - following the main character Jessie and her best friend Kate through their late 20s and early 30s in London. Rose Matafeo has co-written the show and plays Jessie and Emma Sidi plays Kate. They join Hayley to discuss their characters and their friendship.

Presented by Hayley Hassall
Producer: Louise Corley
Studio Engineers: Andrew Garratt & Sue Maillot

00:00 OPENER
02:38 EMMA HAYES
23:52 TINA TURNER
36:45 AFGHAN NURSE
47:19 ROSE MATAFEO AND EMMA SIDI


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m001q0ws)
Singing Morocco's New Identity

Gnawa music is a Moroccan spiritual musical tradition developed by descendants of enslaved people from Sub-Saharan Africa. It combines ritual poetry with traditional music and dance, and is traditionally only performed by men. But one female Moroccan artist, Asmâa Hamzaoui, has broken the mould. She's become an international star, who has even performed for Madonna on her birthday. Reporter Myriam Francois travels to Casablanca to meet Asmaa and her family, and follows her to the Essaouira Festival, the annual celebration of Gnawa culture.

What does its ever-growing popularity tell us about the changing identity of a country that once saw itself primarily as part of the Arab world, but has now become more interested in its links to the rest of the African continent?

Presented by Myriam Francois
Produced by Tim Whewell
Series editor Penny Murphy


THU 11:30 Great Lives (m001q0sr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


THU 12:00 News Summary (m001q10t)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 You and Yours (m001q0xb)
Gap Finders: Phil Hutcheon from Dice

Many of us dream of quitting comfortable but unfulfilling jobs to pursue a life in music. Few actually take the plunge. Even fewer turn that dream into a multimillion pound international business.

At 16, Phil Hutcheon organised ticketed dance music parties for thousands of people. After leaving university he started working for a financial services firm designing pension apps. But the allure of the night club was too much to resist as he spent every weekend DJing across London.

When his boss sent him to New York to study an MBA, Phil saw his life flash before him and decided this wasn’t what he wanted. He left the firm there and then and got a job with a small record label.

It was there he saw a gap in the market. £20 gig tickets for the labels artists would sell to fans for £30 once extra fees were added. Once those sold out fans were forced to pay hundreds on the resale market. When Phil asked if things could be done differently those around him shrugged. “That’s just the way it is,” they said.

Phil wasn’t convinced. In 2014 launched a gig ticket app called Dice. Its main features are clear pricing - what you see at the start is what you pay at the end. Phil also designed it in such a way that tickets bought from it are incredibly difficult if not impossible to resell at inflated prices.
Starting in London where its been used over a million times, it’s now up and running in multiple UK cities and several countries around the world. We find out how he made it work, the challenges of getting investment in an industry dominated by a handful of big players and how his business survived more than one near death experience.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Julian Paszkiewicz


THU 12:32 All Consuming (m001q0xn)
Board Games

Charlotte Stavrou and Amit Katwala take a deep dive into the world of Board Games - from the Ancient Egyptian game of Senet to more recent classics like Monopoly and Catan.

Along the way, they talk history with Dan Jolin, the co-founder of the board game magazine Senet, meet the acknowledged master of the modern strategy game Reiner Knizia who has invented over 800 games, and learn the tricks of the trade from world Monopoly champion Nicolo Falcone who reveals why getting stuck in jail isn't always a bad thing.

Presented by Charlotte Stavrou and Amit Katwala
Produced by Carrie Morrison
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


THU 12:57 Weather (m001q0xv)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m001q0y1)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


THU 13:45 Animal (m001q0y7)
Jaws

You might think you know the story of Jaws. But dive a bit deeper - because there’s more swimming in these waters…

In Animal, writer and adventurer Blair Braverman presents stories exploring the curious and fascinating ways humans relate to other animals - from magpies to spiders to creatures of the deepest oceans.

In this episode, Blair speaks to Claire Parkinson, Co-Director of the Centre for Human Animal Studies at Edgehill University, and shark expert Melissa Cristina Márquez, about the legacies of Jaws - the book and movie that forever changed our capacity for a relaxing day at the beach.

Blair uncovers a story of planetary existential crisis, and a quest for redemption for author Peter Benchley.

Producer and Sound Designer: Jesse Lawson
Co-Producer: Arlie Adlington
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam
Sound Mixing: Arlie Adlington
Series Art: Cameron Hay

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


THU 14:00 The Archers (m001q0x0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m000x737)
Mr Waring of the BBC

A curated drama of archive documents and memoirs, by Freddie Phillips.

It's just after the Second World War and success beckons when a young entertainer with “a new line in comedy” lands the leading role in a BBC radio show. Freddie Fox and Robert Bathurst star in the true story of Peter Waring, whose desire for a better life brought him fame and infamy.

Mr Waring ….. Freddie Fox
Frank Muir ….. Robert Bathurst
Benny Hill/Booking Manager….. Clive Hayward
Redacted Letter Writer ….. Tony Turner
Charmian Innes ….. Elinor Coleman
Director of Variety ….. Simon Ludders
BBC Voice ….. Marilyn Nnadebe
LPR Roche ….. Stewart Campbell
Jack Fallon ….. Joshua Riley
Press Voice 1 ….. Jane Slavin

Pianist, Peter Ringrose
Directed by Gemma Jenkins
Photograph, The Magic Circle Archive


THU 15:00 Open Country (m001q0yf)
Stone Circles and Dark Skies in County Tyrone

As a child, Mary McKeown played hide and seek amongst the Beaghmore Stone Circles in her native County Tyrone. It's a mysterious, mystical site with seven circles, ten rows of stones and twelve cairns, all seemingly carefully aligned. They were found by turf cutters in the 1930s, excavated in the 1960s and carbon dated back to the early Bronze Age. There are many theories about what they were used for - perhaps a burial site, a place for harvest ceremonies, or some sort of lunar or solar calendar.

The belief that the stones were connected to celestial events prompted Mary, now working as a tourism officer, to bid for Dark Sky status for Davagh Forest, a short distance away. It's one of the few areas in Northern Ireland unaffected by light pollution. In Irish, 'davagh' means cauldron – the site sits in a natural bowl in the forest protecting it from artificial light from surrounding towns and villages. Davagh became the world's 77th Dark Sky park and the first in Northern Ireland.

Mary and her colleagues were also successful in getting funding to build an observatory. Resident astronomer, Barry Lynn, operates a telescope through a retractable roof and projects images of the skies on screens around the park. He says he was first attracted to the area by his interest in archaeoastronomy, the study of how past cultures viewed the skies. He says its fascinating to think that centuries ago, people watched the same moon, sun and stars as we do today.

Back at the Beaghmore Stones, Helen is persuaded to join Mary for a barefoot walk inside the circles. Some believe that the 'energy' of the landscape promotes a sense of mental well being. Helen remains unconvinced about this, but enjoys recapturing childhood memories.

Produced by Kathleen Carragher


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m001q0jr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Open Book (m001q0lg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:00 Walt Disney: A Life in Films (p0fxbvg3)
10. The Jungle Book & EPCOT

Through the stories of ten of his greatest works, Mel Giedroyc examines the life of Walt Disney, a much mythologised genius. A man to whom storytelling was an escape from an oppressive father and a respite from periods of depression.

His name is truly iconic, but how much do we really know about this titan of the entertainment industry? Who was the real Walt and why did a man who moulded Western pop culture in his image end up on his deathbed, afraid that he’d be forgotten?

In this final episode, Mel explores Walt’s final years. Despite chronic health problems, Walt was a whirlwind of activity. As he drew towards the end of his life he reflected on his legacy, “Fancy being remembered around the world for the invention of a mouse”, he once lamented. It turns out Walt had other ideas.

Not content with his domination of the entertainment industry, Walt decided he was going to take it upon himself to reimagine the modern American city. It would be the culmination of his entire life’s work.

The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow or EPCOT, was to be a truly utopian antidote to the trials and tribulations of modern urban living. Out of all his achievements, it was EPCOT Walt believed he would really be remembered for.

Alongside his audacious plans to revolutionise the city, Mel reveals that Walt also had time for one final film, his classic take on Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m001q0yr)
How will climate change affect where we can live?

Extreme weather is forcing communities to leave their homes and it's becoming a bigger and bigger issue. What can we do about it?

In this edition of BBC Inside Science, Gaia Vince and her guests discuss what climate displacement means for people all over the world. We hear from Diwigdi Valiente, a member of the Guna Yala people of the San Blas Islands in Panama, where whole communities have already begun to evacuate. Closer to home the experts consider the impact of rising sea levels on British coastal communities.

Guests are:

Richard Betts, head of climate impacts at the UK Met Office and a professor at the University of Exeter;

Lucy Easthope, professor in practice of risk and hazard at the University of Durham and a leading adviser on emergency planning and disaster recovery;

Professor Guillermo Rein, an expert in fire science at Imperial College London; and

Michael Szoenyi, head of flood resilience at Zurich Insurance. He explains why climate change has become such an important factor for business and individuals planning for the future – and why it’s essential we don’t leave big decisions about where we should live to the last minute.

Presenter: Gaia Vince
Producer: Clem Hitchcock
Content Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell
Editor: Richard Collings


THU 17:00 PM (m001q0yy)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001q0z9)
The Government issued the warning just days before the start of the new school year


THU 18:30 My Teenage Diary (m001q0zh)
Series 11

1: Ivo Graham

My Teenage Diary returns for a new series, with Rufus Hound meeting six more celebrities who will read from the diaries they kept during their formative years.

The series opens with Ivo Graham reading from the diary of his last year at university. And he's not your average student - he reads Martin Amis in an adult bar, he eats bruschetta for brunch and he takes up pipe smoking.

Host: Rufus Hound
Guest: Ivo Graham
Sound Production and Design: Jerry Peal
Producer: Harriet Jaine

A Talkback production for BBC Radio 4


THU 19:00 The Archers (m001q0zv)
Mia and Brad are pulling ragwort at the rewilding site. Brad relates the events of the wedding. He caught the bouquet. Mia declares she doesn’t believe in marriage. Brad hastily agrees with her. Later Rex reports he’s struggling to convince one of a group of boy scouts to say goodbye to the worms – he’s inspecting them and won’t leave. Brad observes being in a group can be hard sometimes. Mia suggests he has a go at encouraging the boy. Brad succeeds, and grateful Rex doesn’t know what they’d have done without him. Mia thinks Brad was brilliant. She suggests they do something together and they settle on watching a film. Mia wonders if things will be different once term starts – it's been a great summer. She tells Brad he’s special.
Pip reports to Rex that Rosie’s having a good time in Cornwall with Toby. Rex beats about the bush before telling Pip she needs to tread carefully with Toby. He’s all over the place at the moment and Rex doesn’t want to see his brother messed around. Pip makes it clear everything that needs to be said to Toby, has been.
Pip apologises to Stella for her recent behaviour and hopes they can be more than friends. Stella’s flattered, but asserts Pip needs to find someone else to explore things with. She’s been in this situation before and can’t do it again. Pip persists, and asks Stella on a date. Stella’s evasive, but surprises Pip later at Rickyard. Pip suggests she joins her for something to eat, and Stella accepts.


THU 19:15 Add to Playlist (m001kh5v)
Isobel Waller-Bridge and Roderick Williams round off the series

Composer Isobel Waller-Bridge and baritone Roderick Williams join Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye to add the final five tracks to the current series, bringing the playlist up to 40. And the joy of rounds, or canons, with singer, composer and producer Esbe, and one in particular that she sings which goes back to the 13th century.

From lovesick individuals to the arrival of spring and with a dramatic finale, the serendipity continues...

This episode was first broadcast in March this year. Add to Playlist returns to Radio 4 on 13th October

Producer Jerome Weatherald
Presented, with music direction, by Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Lovesick (ft ASAP Rocky) by Mura Masa
Zefiro torna e di soavi accenti by Claudio Monteverdi
Sumer Is Icumen In by Esbe
A Long Time Ago by David Byrne
Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf

Other music in this episode:

If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake by Ethel Merman and Ray Bolger
Huashca de Corales by Biluka y los Canibales
Hot Stuff by Donna Summer
Oye Cómo Va by Tito Puente


THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m001q104)
What's the problem with Airbnb?

The number of holiday lets in England rose by 40% between 2018 and 2021. There's been a similar boom across the UK and governments are at varying stages of legislation to regulate the industry and curb the problems associated with these kinds of rentals. Launching England's consultation earlier this year the Secretary of State for Leveling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, said too many people were being "pushed out of cherished towns, cities and villages". Meanwhile a second consultation's being led by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, to create a register of these types of property.

So can local tourism and local communities both benefit? And how is this different from second home ownership anywhere?

David Aaronovitch hears from:

Ffion Jon, Documentary maker
James Kinnersly, Sales Director and UK market expert at AirDNA
Vicky Spratt, Housing Correspondent at the i paper
Dr Nancy Holman, Associate Professor of Urban Planning at London School of Economics

Production: Alix Pickles and Kirsteen Knight
Production co-ordinator: Debbie Richford
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Editor: Richard Vadon


THU 20:30 Blood on the Dance Floor (p0fhqzt1)
4. The Enemy Within

The untold story of the murder of a gay police officer in Northern Ireland in 1997

Belfast 1997. But not just any part of Belfast, gay Belfast. A place you've probably never heard of before. Cigarette smoke, aftershave and expectation fill the air in the only gay bar in the country. Sat having a drink on a night out is Darren Bradshaw. He was just 24 years old when he was shot dead in front of hundreds of people. His brutal murder by terrorists sparked fears of a return to all out violence as the new Labour government under Tony Blair sought to bring peace to Northern Ireland - on the road to the Good Friday Agreement.

This is the untold story of his life and murder. A story of both love and eventually betrayal.

Presenter Jordan Dunbar grew up in the city, he was a comedian and drag performer on the Belfast scene and yet this murder and Darren's life was never talked about. As a child of the ceasefire, his knowledge of LGBT life in Northern Ireland all came after the Good Friday Agreement. His history was based on the Loyalist and Republican - the Orange or Green versions and the rainbow had never come up.

Following Darren's story brings to life the struggle of being gay in The Troubles, how Belfast got its first Pride parade only in 1991 and it's very first gay club in 1994 -The Parliament bar where Darren was tragically shot dead.

It's a community surviving as well as thriving against a backdrop of violence and discrimination. He meets the original drag queens, DJs and club pioneers determined to claim back the city centre from the terrorists and create a safe place of their own.

Determined to piece together for the first time how Darren was killed that night and why, Jordan uncovers stories of bigotry, bravery and betrayal.

Reporter: Jordan Dunbar
Series Producer: Paul Grant
Researcher: Patrick Kiteley
Technical Producer: Craig Boardman
Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna
Commissioning Editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins
Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston


THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m001q0yr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


THU 21:30 The Patch (m001q0vx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m001q10b)
Over 100 schools in England ordered to close over concrete risk

School safety worries: we hear from a school governor, a parent, and a structural engineer.
Also on the programme: Johannesburg fire, spinal cancer hope, Long Covid, and a classical music bust-up.

(Photo: An empty classroom in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, 2021. Credit: Reuters/Carl Recine)


THU 22:45 Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney (m001q10k)
Episode 4

A new reading of the debut poetry collection by the Nobel Prize in Literature recipient Seamus Heaney, specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his death.

As read by Bríd Brennan, Adrian Dunbar and Stephen Rea.

Music composed and performed by Neil Martin.

Seamus Heaney was a poet, translator, teacher and critic. During a career spanning fifty years, he became one of the most celebrated poets of his generation. While often rooted in the landscape of his homeland, Heaney’s poetry has a universal appeal that was to find a worldwide readership. During his lifetime he was the recipient of many honours, including the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature, and his work has been translated into 27 languages. His legacy lives on, as readers continue to enjoy and engage with his poetry, prose, drama and translations.

Readers: Bríd Brennan, Adrian Dunbar and Stephen Rea.
Author: Seamus Heaney
Music: Neil Martin
Producer: Michael Shannon
Editor: Andy Martin

A BBC Northern Ireland production.


THU 23:00 Amber Jolt: Truth Hunter (m001q10r)
Amazon: Prime or Prime-evil?

Nearly award-winning investigator Amber Jolt's latest investigative investigation spills the beans - and then looks through the beans - of the world’s biggest online retailer.

After nearly half a decade at the coal face of truth, Amber Jolt takes on one of the world’s biggest companies. Fearless, uncompromising and ruthless she’s often willing to work through lunch if it means uncovering the truth THEY don’t want you to hear.

In this episode she asks: is Alexa is spying on us? Does Amazon pay its fair share of tax? And does it have a soul? What she discovers will turn your view of Amazon on its head, inside out, the wrong way round, and quite possibly back to front. Or it also may not.

Starring Rosie Holt as Amber Jolt with the voices of Malcolm Atobrah and Jake Yapp.
With Simon Jack, Zoe Kleinman, Darren Westwood, Paul Monaghan.

Written by Bill Dare

Music composed by Bill Dare and produced by Iona C Vallance

Production co-ordinator: Laura Grimshaw
Technicals: Tony Churnside

Produced by Jon Holmes and Bill Dare.

Directed by Jon Holmes.

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


THU 23:30 Mark Watson Talks a Bit About Life (m000gmgh)
Series 3

Winter

Multi-award winning comedian and author Mark Watson continues his probably doomed quest to make sense of the human experience. He's aided by the sardonic musical brilliance of Flo and Joan, and by a different comedy friend in each programme. This time, it's Jess Fostekew.

This new series examines the four seasons of the year and the seasons of a human life, as Mark - at the halfway point of his expected lifespan - considers what might come next. In this final programme in the series, Mark and his guests look at the pros and cons of Winter.

Pros - Christmas.
Cons - the end of the year reminds us that all things must die.

As always, there's a huge number of jokes, some songs, and an awful lot of other stuff crammed into each show as the much-loved comic and his guests make their way through life at dizzying speed.

Produced by Lianne Coop.
An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4

FRIDAY 01 SEPTEMBER 2023

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m001q110)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 00:30 How to Build Impossible Things by Mark Ellison (m001q10m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001q114)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001q118)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001q11d)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m001q11j)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001q11r)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Shaunaka Rishi Das

Good morning.

In a beautiful Tuscan temple, a Hindu temple as it happens, my friend Mahaprabhu and I stood in prayer before the shrine. Mahaprabhu comes from a Jewish background and, like me, chose Vaishnava spirituality as his practice.

He was wearing a tweed cap and I playfully took it from his head and told him to have more respect in the house of God. He smiled and said that as an Irish catholic I would say that but as a Jew he would respectfully wear his cap, and, so he returned it to his head, and added that he was sure Krishna didn’t really mind either way.

Neither of us thought for a minute that God would mind, nor did we pause to take the cap, our cultural heritage, or indeed our different visions of the same God very seriously. On that day in the temple, we saw Krishna differently. Each from our own view. There were as many religions in the room as there were people – at least. And that’s the case in every place of worship. We all approach God as individuals, even when as close as a husband and wife. We all have our own mind, our own desires and our own religion.

I don’t know what people are thinking when they pray, whether it’s a petition for a bigger car, exam results, or for love of God and peace for all, and frankly it’s none of my business. That’s between my them and their Lord. Slap whatever religious name I like on it but their prayer could be my prayer. At least we can stand together before God, and that’s a start. A start to reaching beyond barriers.

May we learn to pray without borders, knowing our limits, accepting of others, and focused on you, because you have no prejudice, no barriers, and no limits. Hats off to you.

Hare Krishna


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m001q120)
01/09/23 Farming on sites of special scientific interest; steam weeding trials; harvesting blackcurrants

Farmers in West Penwith, Cornwall say Natural England's designation of 3,000 hectares as a site of special scientific interest in the county will put them out of business.

Steam weeding - an alternative form of weed control - is being trialled on an agricultural scale in Scotland.

And how the past year's changeable weather has affected the blackcurrant harvest.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Rhiannon Fitz-Gerald.


FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04hkym5)
Blue-Footed Booby

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the Galapagos Islands blue-footed booby. Far off the Ecuador coastline the Galapagos Archipelago is home to a strange courtship dance and display of the male blue-footed booby and his large bright blue webbed feet. The intensity of the male's blue feet is viewed by the female as a sign of fitness and so he holds them up for inspection as he struts in front of her. She joins in, shadowing his actions. As the pair raise and lower their feet with exaggerated slow movements, they point their bills sky-wards while spreading their wings, raising their tails and calling.

Producer : Andrew Dawes


FRI 06:00 Today (m001q0zt)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 The Reunion (m001q0kh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 How to Build Impossible Things by Mark Ellison (m001q100)
Workshop of Wonders

Mark Ellison is regarded by many as the best carpenter in New York. A man with an affinity for challenging work, he has designed and constructed some of New York's most elaborate and expensive homes, and been profiled in the New Yorker.

Over the past 40 years, Mark has worked on some of the most beautiful homes you have never seen, specialising in rarefied and challenging projects with the most demanding of clients. He built a staircase a famed architect called a masterpiece. He worked on the iconic Sky House, which Interior Design named the best apartment of the decade. He has even worked on the homes of David Bowie, Robin Williams, and others whose names he cannot reveal.

But before he was any of that, Mark was just 'a serial dropout' who spent his young adult years taking work where he found it and sleeping on friends’ floors. As a native of the old steel town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his route into the building trade and the mastery of a craft was unexpected, moving from construction labourer to carpenter and finally to project manager extraordinaire.

Now, at the age of 60, he has written his first book. In How to Build Impossible Things, Mark Ellison tells the story of his unconventional education in the world of architecture and design, and how he learned the satisfaction and joy that comes from doing something well for a long time. He takes us on a tour through the lofts, penthouses, and townhouses of New York's elite which he has transformed over the years and offers a window into what he has learned about living meaningfully along the way. Mark exposes the messy wiring behind the pristine walls - and the mindset that any of us can develop to build our own impossible things.

In this final episode, Mark reveals what he learned from working on the properties of some of New York’s biggest celebrities and describes the satisfaction he gets from building the most impossible things.

Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
Read by Demetri Goritsas
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001q106)
Radioactive chapatis, Hostage negotiation, Non-birth mothers, Japanese women in politics

In 1969, migration to the UK was increasing with Britain becoming home for thousands of foreign settlers. In Coventry, 21 women of Indian origin booked what were supposed to be routine appointments with their local GP. Little did they know that these appointments would result in them becoming subjects of a controversial medical experiment, in which they were given chapatis laced with radioactive components. Over the next 50 years, memories of the experiment have continued to resurface as campaigners, such as Labour MP Taiwo Owatemi, try to track down participants and their families whilst calling on Parliament to open an inquiry into the findings.

Nicky Perfect knows what it’s like to live much of her life on high alert. From joining the police at the age of 18, working in the Met Police Firearms unit to eventually joining the elite New Scotland Yard Hostage and Crisis Negotiation Unit. She’s brought people safely down from rooftop stand-offs, worked to resolve gang kidnappings and terrorist incidents. Now she’s written about her experiences in Crisis: True stories of my life as a hostage negotiator.

Listener Carla Mercer contacted Woman’s Hour asking for a discussion on parenting from the perspective of a non-birth mother in a single-sex relationship. She is the non-birth mother to her seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old twin boys. She is separated from her ex-partner who is the children’s birth mother. Author and journalist, Lotte Jeffs is the “other mother” to a four-year-old girl with her wife, who gave birth to their daughter. She is co-author of The Queer Parent: Everything You Need to Know From Gay to Ze.

Political parties in Japan are boosting their support to get more women into office. The country’s ruling party and opposition party are both offering financial incentives- pledging a million Japanese Yen, about £5400, in aid for each new female candidate. And many would say the country sorely needs more women in politics- with the World Economic Forum showing only 10% of the country’s parliamentary positions are held by women. Rei Murakami is the President of the Murakami Foundation, and has set up a politics training school with this goal in mind. Hanako Montgomery is a Tokyo-based journalist.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Kirsty Starkey


FRI 11:00 The Briefing Room (m001q104)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Thursday]


FRI 11:30 What's Funny About ... (m001q10d)
Series 3

1. Catastrophe

In this episode of What’s Funny About… Peter and Jon hear the inside story of how Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney created their BAFTA winning sitcom, Catastrophe.
They tell the very modern story of how they met and began working together – all thanks to Twitter – and how the BBC asked them to develop the series… before eventually turning it down!

They open up about how they developed the characters of Sharon and Rob, and how important it is that they make each other laugh, and that the world of Catastrophe never feels like “sitcom land”.

They talk with huge affection about working with the late Carrie Fisher, and tell the surprising story of casting her in the role of Rob’s (ever so slightly bonkers!) mother.
And tell us about the joy of working together, how likely it is that we’ll see any more episodes of Catastrophe, and the possibility of another co-written project in the future.

Original Catastrophe clips written by Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney
Catastrophe is an Avalon / Merman production for Channel 4
Producer: Owen Braben
An Expectation Production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m001q10p)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 AntiSocial (m001q10w)
Jewish actors for Jewish roles?

The debate about whether Jewish characters should always be played Jewish actors.
The actor Bradley Cooper is playing Leonard Bernstein, the conductor and composer of many works, including West Side Story. Bradley Cooper, who isn’t Jewish, wears a prosthetic nose as part of his portrayal. The Bernstein family were consulted on the film and say they’re ‘perfectly fine’ with it. But it’s prompted a debate about whether non-Jewish actors should play Jewish roles. Is it always problematic for an actor to wear a fake nose due to the history of negative caricatures? Should casting be based simply on someone's acting ability?

Guests:
Rebecca Wilson, actor
Josh Kaplan, Head of digital at the Jewish Chronicle
Bryan Cheyette, Professor of English Literature at Reading University
Danny Stone, CEO, AntiSemitism Policy Trust


FRI 12:57 Weather (m001q111)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m001q115)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Jonny Dymond.


FRI 13:45 Animal (m001q119)
Animal Ink

Tigers, snakes, sharks… People love to get animals tattooed on their bodies. What can this tell us about our attitudes towards animals, and our own identities?

In Animal, writer and adventurer Blair Braverman presents stories exploring the curious and fascinating ways humans relate to other animals - from magpies to spiders to creatures of the deepest oceans.

In this episode, Blair hears from tattooist Cameron Hay and scholar Margo DeMello, on the symbolism of animals in tattoos. From icons of working class masculinity to personal tributes to individual animals, tattoos can mean everything… or nothing at all.

Producer and Sound Designer: Arlie Adlington
Co-Producer: Jesse Lawson
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam
Sound Mixing: Arlie Adlington
Series Art: Cameron Hay

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m001q0zv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (p0g590jv)
There's Something I Need to Tell You

There’s Something I Need to Tell You - 4: The Party

After agreeing to help a mysterious stranger, a young couple are implicated in an assassination at their hotel. They find themselves plunged into a deadly game of political score-settling that spans the world and from which they must run to survive. A global thriller of espionage, money and murder.

In Episode 4, the Thai Senator, an interrogation, a private jet…

By John Scott Dryden and Misha Kawnel

Cast:
Jake.....Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Kayla.....Sophia Del Pizzo
Yuri.....Nick Nevern
Senator.....Song Hung Chang
Anuman.....Akie Kotabe
Thai Captain.....Sheng Chien Tsai
Senator’s Security.....Nicholas Goh & Jay Lim

Other parts played by:
Yasmine Alice
Nezar Alderazi
Nicholas Goh
Walles Hamonde
Megan Soh &
Sheng Chien Tsai

Original music by Sacha Puttnam

Production:
Sound Design: Joseff Harris & John Scott Dryden
Sound Engineer: Paul Clark
Production Assistant: Joe Troy
Producer: Emma Hearn
Director: John Scott Dryden

A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:45 Helen Lewis: Great Wives (m001q11h)
Series 2

First Ladies

Mrs Lincoln had an insatiable glove habit. Cherie Blair had a contraceptive disaster. Norma Major woke up to find John’s advisors perched on her bed. No wonder people compare being a political spouse to living in a “goldfish bowl”.

So how have the wives of presidents and prime ministers dealt with the pressure of press scrutiny, philandering husbands and the need to keep the banisters spotless? The answers range from reading the astrology charts of World leaders, to taking a lesbian lover: Anything to get a great political wife away from the circus surrounding her partner.

For two decades, Great Lives on Radio 4 has explored what it takes to change the world. But Helen Lewis wants to ask a different question: what does it take to live with someone who changes the world? In the second season of Great Wives, we’ll meet more fascinating women - and men - and uncover the relationships that created great art, started wars and changed history.

Written and performed by Helen Lewis with additional voices from Kudzanayi Chiwawa & Joshua Higgott
Producer: Gwyn Rhys Davies
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Design: Neil Goody

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001q11p)
Hampshire

What plant related songs would the panel add to their gardening playlist? Why is it so difficult to grow cucumbers? Why aren’t my strawberry plants producing any fruit?

Kathy Clugston is in Hampshire for this week's GQT. Joining her are pest and disease expert Pippa Greenwood, head gardener Ashley Edwards and garden designer Juliet Sargeant.

Later in the show, Matthew Wilson gives us a much needed mulching masterclass, where we find out how to get the best out of our organic matter.

Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Dulcie Whadcock
Executive Producer: Hannah Newton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m001q11y)
Joan Loves Ice Cream by Tara West

An original short story commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from Northern Irish writer Tara West. Read by Julia Dearden.

Tara West is a novelist and Creative Writing Lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast. She is the author of novels Fodder and Poets Are Eaten as a Delicacy in Japan as well as the memoir The Upside of Down. She has short stories published in The Glass Shore and Female Lines. She was part of BBC Writersroom Belfast Voices 2020/21. She won an RTÉ Storyland commission for her first drama ‘The Good Christian Women’s Writing Group’ for which she was nominated for the Royal Television Society’s Debut Writer Award.

Writer: Tara West
Reader: Julia Dearden
Producer: Michael Shannon
Editor: Andy Martin

A BBC Northern Ireland production.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m001q123)
Julian Haviland, Johaar Mosaval, Tricia Tyler, Matyelok Gibbs

Matthew Bannister on:

Julian Haviland who was political editor at ITN and then the Times, covering key events at Westminster in the 1970s and 80s.

Johaar Mosaval, the South African dancer who overcame racial prejudice to fulfil his dream of becoming a ballet star.

Tricia Tyler, who edited the Nursing Times.

Matyelok Gibbs, the actor and director who secured the future of London’s famous Unicorn Children’s Theatre.

Interviewee: Philip Webster
Interviewee: Sharon Paulson
Interviewee: Janet Snell
Interviewee: Ursula Jones

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:
Julian Haviland interview with Prime Minister Ted Heath, Associated Press, 22/01/1974; Julian Haviland interview with Margaret Thatcher, ITN Archive YouTube Channel, 04/10/1976, uploaded to YouTube 17/08/2023; Julian Haviland interview with Matt Chorley, Red Box podcast, The Political Editors: Julian Haviland, The Times, 23/08/2023; Julian Haviland Interview with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, ITN archive, 23/07/1980; Johaar Mosaval interview, University of Cape Town South Africa, Uploaded on YouTube 17/04/2020; Johaar Mosaval interview, Al Jazeera English, Uploaded on YouTube 12/03/2023; Jewel in The Crown, promo, Granada TV, 1984; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Promo, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2010;


FRI 16:30 More or Less (m001q0s6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


FRI 17:00 PM (m001q127)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001q12c)
Ministers have warned more schools may be forced to close classrooms at short notice


FRI 18:30 The Naked Week (m001q12j)
The sixth of our satirical specials this summer. From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.

Host Andrew Hunter Murray (No Such Thing As A Fish, QI Elf, Private Eye) will strip away the curtain and dive into not only the big stories, but also the way in which the news is packaged and presented.

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

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m001q12q)
Writer, Caroline Jester
Director, Dave Payne
Editor, Jeremy Howe

David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Neil Carter ….. Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter ….. Charlotte Martin
Rex Fairbrother ….. Nick Barber
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O'Hanrahan
Mia Grundy ….. Molly Pipe
Brad Horrobin ….. Taylor Uttley
Chelsea Horrobin ….. Madeleine Leslay
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Stella Pryor ….. Lucy Speed
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane
Hannah Riley ….. Helen Longworth
Adil Shah ….. Ronny Jhutti


FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m001q12x)
Offices on screen

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode take a look at offices and office politics on screen.

Mark is joined by director Terry Gilliam who, back in 1985, created one of the most influential and iconic depictions of an on-screen office - Brazil. They discuss the Stanley Kubrick film which inspired Brazil's set design, Terry's own experience as an office drone and why his cult classic film still resonates today.

And Ellen investigates office politics in two very different comedy films, made nearly four decades apart - 1980's 9 to 5 and 2018's Sorry To Bother You.

First, she speaks to legendary screenwriter Patricia Resnick, who co-wrote 9 to 5 in her mid-20s. Patricia discusses how she came to work on the seminal satire of sexism at work, and reveals the real-life stories that influenced her script.

Ellen then talks to musician, activist and filmmaker Boots Riley, whose visionary debut film Sorry To Bother You focuses on a black telemarketer who achieves success when he discovers he can use his 'white voice' on sales calls. They discuss how the film was inspired by Boots' own successful stint in telesales, and why absurdist humour is so well suited for office-set stories.

Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m001q132)
Carla Denyer, John Glen, Luke Pollard, Alice Thomson

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Lostwithiel Community Centre in Cornwall with the co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales Carla Denyer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury John Glen MP, Shadow Minister for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard MP and The Times columnist Alice Thomson.
Producer: Robin Markwell
Lead broadcast engineer: Tim Allen


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m001q134)
Against the Bucket List

Will Self reflects on the spread of the craze for so-called 'bucket lists'.

He argues that 'far from introducing the ecstatic into our necessarily ephemeral existence, the bucket list reimposes the clock-watching go-round most of us have endured for most of our lives'.

'What gives life to life is death - nothing else,' he writes, 'while to live that life to the full is to realize this fully'.

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Editor: Bridget Harney


FRI 21:00 Living on the Edge (m001q136)
Omnibus 2

Ten coastal encounters, presented by writer Richard King.

Not simply town or countryside, the coastline is a place apart – attracting lives and stories often overlooked.

In these ten programmes, Richard King travels around the UK coast to meet people who live and work there – a sequence of portraits rooted in distinct places, which piece together into an alternative portrait of the UK: an oblique image of the nation drawn from its coastal edge.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m001q138)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney (m001q13b)
Episode 5

A new reading of the debut poetry collection by the Nobel Prize in Literature recipient Seamus Heaney, specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his death.

As read by Bríd Brennan, Adrian Dunbar and Stephen Rea.

Music composed and performed by Neil Martin.

Seamus Heaney was a poet, translator, teacher and critic. During a career spanning fifty years, he became one of the most celebrated poets of his generation. While often rooted in the landscape of his homeland, Heaney’s poetry has a universal appeal that was to find a worldwide readership. During his lifetime he was the recipient of many honours, including the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature, and his work has been translated into 27 languages. His legacy lives on, as readers continue to enjoy and engage with his poetry, prose, drama and translations.

Readers: Bríd Brennan, Adrian Dunbar and Stephen Rea.
Author: Seamus Heaney
Music: Neil Martin
Producer: Michael Shannon
Editor: Andy Martin

A BBC Northern Ireland production.


FRI 23:00 Americast (m001q13d)
Pop Save America

Charting music's part in US politics, from 1970s disco to 'Rich Men North of Richmond', which has become a surprise No.1 hit. What does this country song, claimed by conservatives, tell us about American society? The Americast team talk to the BBC's 'Professor of Pop', Paul Gambaccini, about protest music in the States.

And what happens when musicians refuse to be used by politicians? Karen Willis, manager of The Village People and the wife of its lead singer, tells us about the YMCA group's cease and desist letter against Donald Trump.

HOSTS:
• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
• Sarah Smith, North America editor
• Marianna Spring, disinformation and social media correspondent
• Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent

GUESTS:
• Karen Willis, manager of 'The Village People'
• Paul Gambaccini, Radio 2 presenter

GET IN TOUCH:
• Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB
• 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 Rufus Gray and Catherine Fusillo. The technical producer was Daffyd Evans and the editor was Damon Rose.

BBC SOUNDS CHAPTERS:
19:16 – Karen Willis
28:18 – Paul Gambaccini


FRI 23:30 The Sky's the Limit? (m001mc4r)
Norman Foster is the world's principal architect of airports - from Beijing to Mexico City, from Hong Kong to Kuwait, his buildings are remarkable theatres of aviation.

Foster's passion for flying extends to him piloting himself around the world. But what is the future of flying and its related infrastructure amid the current climate crisis?

Jonathan Glancey considers some options. He reports on the development in Britain of hydrogen/electric engines that may soon power smaller aircraft, how airports can achieve net zero and the part that drones might play in the future of freight transport. And, interestingly, he discovers new thinking about the airport as a hub for all kinds of activity and transport - but where less, not more, flying takes place.

Presented by Jonathan Glancey
Produced by Susan Marling

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4