SATURDAY 14 OCTOBER 2023

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m001r7zj)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:30 Going Infinite by Michael Lewis (m001r7zy)
Book of the Week: Ep 5 - The Fall

Michael Lewis's jaw-dropping account of Sam Bankman's dramatic rise and fall reaches November 2022 when things unravel fast. Jamie Parker reads.

It was late 2021 when Lewis first met the man who had recently been declared Forbes' richest man under 30 with a little over $22 billion to his name. A year later, Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto empire had collapsed. After their first meeting SBF (as he is known) granted Lewis the freedom to tell his story, so he was there as the crypto wunderkind continued to amass his billions. He was also there when it all came tumbling down, and he bore witness to the aftermath. At the same time Lewis explores the extraordinary boom in crypto currency, and the fast changing world of high stakes finance.

Michael Lewis's best known books expose the inner workings of high finance, baseball and the 2016 US presidential campaign, they include Flash Boys, The Big Short which was turned into a Hollywood blockbuster, The Blind Side, Moneyball, Liars Poker. His latest book, Going Infinite is a twenty-first-century epic of high-frequency trading and even higher stakes, of crypto mania and vast amounts of money, of hubris and downfall.

Abridged by Katrin Williams
Produced by Elizabeth Allard


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001r808)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001r80l)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001r811)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m001r81f)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001r81w)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Julia Loveless, singer & writer

THE GIFT OF OUR BODIES

Good morning.

I can’t tell you the number of times that, as a singer, I have told someone what I do and their first, excited response is ‘ooh go on then, sing for me’. It is a rare fate, suffered by only a few professions to have such performance demanded of you upon first meeting.

You wouldn’t ask a surgeon to perform a surgery for you when you met her in the cold meats aisle at the supermarket. In fact, it is a rare thing to have your profession be something that is so immediately with you, all the time. But the fact is, every single one of us is gifted with a body and a voice.

Our bodies have the potential to stretch and strengthen, reaching the heights of new disciplines and physical achievement. Our voices can become wordsmiths, spouting poetry or wit. Our bodies can create and keep rhythm. Our voices can hum, sing, shout, cry, whisper.

The sheer diversity and breadth of what our physical beings are capable of is astounding. I dare you today to remember the body you’ve been given and find a new way to appreciate it. Instead of taking the escalator, choose the stairs. When you walk past that play park, find a swing that will fit a fully grown adult and enjoy. Read a Shakespeare sonnet aloud. Hum a made up tune to yourself as you do the washing up. The possibilities are endless.

I’m grateful today for my body and my voice, that allow me to speak and move and live. Help me appreciate them and use them more fully today. Amen.


SAT 05:45 Close Encounters (m001mlzp)
Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Christabel Pankhurst

The fifth of Martha Kearney's new series celebrating portraits and portraiture through the eyes of ten Great Britons.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee whittled his options down to two, the architect Sir Christopher Wren and his final choice, the Suffragette Christabel Pankhurst. His decision was informed in part by an admiration for a woman who saw a problem and sought to fix it, and also by a desire to pay tribute to his own mother who had her own battle for equal recognition in the world of computer science.

In each episode we find out about the subject of the portrait, the moment at which their image was captured for posterity and the importance of image and identity for those who find themselves in the eye of the nation's attention today.

Producers: Tom Alban and Mohini Patel


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m001rgms)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m001r7wy)
Oldbury on Severn and Inside Planet Earth

Clare walks with Mike Gunton, the man in charge of Planet Earth III, another blockbuster series from the BBC’s Natural History Unit. Mike’s a passionate walker and he takes Clare on a favourite local route around Oldbury on Severn where he courted his wife, and once filmed a sequence in a graveyard about the grim sounding ‘burying beetle’. He also shares stories of his many years working with Sir David Attenborough, and what it’s like making some of the most beautiful and memorable TV shows of recent years. Oldbury on Severn is, as it sounds, near the banks of the longest river in the UK which runs 220 miles from its source in the Cambrian Mountains in mid-Wales to where it meets the sea at the Bristol channel. They meet at St. Arilda's Church and head off on a circular walk of around five miles ending back in the village, at the local pub.

Map: OS Explorer 167 Thornbury, Dursley and Yate

Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m001rgmx)
14/10/23 Farming Today This Week: Producing food versus producing energy, controversial green label for Red Tractor

Red Tractor logo goes green: are farmers being asked to enhance retailers' green credentials for free?

As a solar farm in Yorkshire is turned down, we discuss producing food versus producing energy.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


SAT 06:57 Weather (m001rgn1)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m001rgn6)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m001rgn8)
Julia Bradbury, Mark Watson, Laurent Ballesta, Helen Skelton

She wanders, rambles, saunters and strolls…and has made a career out of walking in the great outdoors…broadcaster and writer Julia Bradbury’s new book Walk Yourself Happy discusses the power of nature in the light of her cancer battle.

Fresh from the depths of the ocean this years Wildlife Photographer of the Year Laurent Ballesta, who dives to incredible places to bring us images never-before-seen, describes the lengths he went to to capture the winning image.

Comedian and novelist Mark Watson shares the eight deaths he has experienced and life after them in his memoir Mortification; from his struggles with alcohol, marriage breakdown, and battles with mental health.

Plus...Countryfile’s Helen Skelton shares her one album Inheritance Tracks.

Presenters: Nikki Bedi and Olly Mann
Producer: Ben Mitchell


SAT 10:00 Your Place or Mine with Shaun Keaveny (m001rgnd)
Steve Backshall: Amazon Rainforest, Suriname

Steve boldly tries to take Shaun exploring barefoot in amazing jungle with anacondas, jaguars and hitherto undiscovered insects. Steve's had some of the greatest experiences of his life there and thinks nature is the best holiday from modern life. Will Shaun, a self-described beta male, join Steve in sleeping up a tree with harpy eagles? Resident geographer, historian and comedian Iszi Lawrence is the voice of reason, as Shaun finds himself strangely tempted.

Your Place Or Mine is the travel series that isn’t going anywhere. Join Shaun as his guests try to convince him that it’s worth getting up off the sofa and seeing the world, giving us a personal guide to their favourite place on the planet.

Producers: Beth O'Dea and Sarah Goodman

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


SAT 10:30 Soul Music (m001rgnj)
I Will Always Love You

Written by Dolly Parton... sent stratospheric by Whitney Houston; I Will Always Love You is a song that has a worldwide fanbase reflected by the diverse memories shared here:

Nagham Kewifati tells how her mother, Mayada Bseliss, had a huge hit in Syria with an Arabic version. It was produced by Nagham's father, Mayada's husband, Samir.

Dr. Marie Thompson of the Open University, who co-wrote a short course entirely about Dolly Parton, reveals the unlikely story behind the song and why Elvis Presley was refused permission to record his own version.

Member of Parliament, Jim Shannon, explains why he introduced an unusual Early Day Motion in the House of Commons to celebrate the song's 50th anniversary in 2023.

Ben Rimalower, host of Giants in the Sky on the Broadway Podcast Network, describes how obsessed he became with Whitney Houston's performances of this track when he was recovering from alcohol and drug addiction.

Vocal Coach, CeCe Sammy Lightfoot, describes how difficult Whitney Houston's version is to sing and the technique required to perform this vocal high-wire act.

And Marcus Grimmie, brother of singer Christina Grimmie, remembers his sister's beautiful voice and rise to stardom before she was tragically murdered. He set up the Christina Grimmie Foundation in her memory to create a community and provide financial support for families affected by gun violence.

Producer: Karen Gregor


SAT 11:00 Reflections (m001ptdc)
Norman Fowler

Lord Norman Fowler talks to James Naughtie about battling to convince Margaret Thatcher on the importance of tackling the Aids crisis in the 80s and the failure of successive governments to reform the House of Lords.

Producer: Daniel Kraemer


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m001rgnn)
A Deadly Week in Israel and Gaza

Kate Adie presents a special edition reflecting on the brutal attack in Israel this week by Hamas militants and the subsequent siege and bombardment of Gaza.

Anna Foster reports from Ashkelon in Israel’s south, where revellers were attending a music festival, before Hamas’ assault. She met one man who managed to escape, who tells her his story.

As details emerged of how Hamas’ brutal assault unfolded in kibbutzim last weekend, communities living near the Gaza border have been left traumatised by the scale of the attack. Dan Johnson spent time with one Israeli family struggling to process what happened, while preparing for what might come next.

As Gaza’s only power plant ran out of fuel – hospitals have struggled to cope, with doctors saying they are having to make tough decisions on who to operate on. Yolande Knell has been speaking to people in Gaza about the impact of Israel’s counter-attack.

Our chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet has been reporting from the region for the past three decades, and reflects on Gaza's recent history and the broken dreams of peace.

And as Israel buries those killed by Hamas, Nick Beake witnesses the return of thousands of Israeli reservists, as the country moves to a war footing.


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m001rgns)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m001rgnx)
Energy debt and Pension Withdrawals

This week, the energy watchdog Ofgem released data showing energy debts reached £2.6 billion between April and June. It says the rise in debt was due to both the increase in wholesale energy prices and wider cost of living pressures. We'll get reaction to that figure from Octopus Energy, one of the UK's biggest suppliers.

More and more people are taking money out of their private pensions. Between April and June, 4 billion pounds was withdrawn from pensions by more than 500,000 people - 15% more than a year ago. What should you consider before you take money out of your pension?

And, two weeks before the deadline to get your paper tax return in, HMRC says it will take three weeks to post the form to you. What are your options if you still need to send one?

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Sandra Hardial and Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast, 12pm Saturday 14th October, 2023)


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m001r7w9)
Series 112

Episode 6

Andy Zaltzman quizzes the week's news. Providing the answers, hopefully, are, Alex Massie, Simon Evans, Alice Fraser, and Rachel Parris.

In this episode Andy and the panel deconstruct a Grey Wall, celebrate some Nobel achievements, and get ready for Halloween with the world's largest pumpkin.

Written by Andy Zaltzman

With additional material by

Peter Tellouche and Cameron Loxdale

Producer: Sam Holmes
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Coordinator: Dan Marchini
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Production


SAT 12:57 Weather (m001rgp1)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m001rgp5)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m001r7x8)
Myles Dickinson, Lisa Nandy MP, Lee Rowley MP, Scarlett Westbrook

As Any Questions turns 75, Alex Forsyth presents political debate from the UK’s youngest city, Bradford. She’s joined at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford by Myles Dickinson, Lisa Nandy MP, Lee Rowley MP and Scarlett Westbrook.
Presenter: Alex Forsyth
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Lead broadcast engineer: Liam Juniper


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m001rgp9)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week


SAT 14:45 For Human Consumption (m001nh28)
Barista

The second of three stories about people connected to The Fork, a pay-what-you-feel cafe making delicious meals from food thrown out by supermarkets and restaurants - produce that would have ended up as landfill.

Liam is sofa surfing. First he lost his job at the town's only fine dining restaurant, and then his mum threw him out. Now he's on a scheme at The Fork, learning how to be a Barista. Latte art keeps him zen until his old boss, the Chef-from-Hell, joins the staff and is put in charge of training.

Written by Bethan Roberts, and read by Matthew Aubrey

Photo: Bethan Roberts

Produced and directed by Kate McAll
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m001rgpj)
A Matter of Life and Death - Part 1

1944. Squadron Leader Peter Carter miraculously survives a jump from his burning plane, and falls in love with June, an American radio operator. He ought to be dead - the heavenly authorities have missed him in the sea fog. Peter demands an appeal, but will they let him live?

A Matter of Life and Death is a new adaptation of the classic 1946 movie by Emeric Powell and Michael Pressburger. Commissioned by the Ministry of Information as a propaganda exercise to aid Anglo-American relations, Powell and Pressburger instead delivered an epic romance about love, the afterlife and brain surgery. Even today it frequently tops lists of the greatest films ever made, and is referenced in everything from Wallace and Gromit to the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony.

Cast:
Peter Carter….. Will Tudor
June Archer….. Lydia West
Frank Reeves….. Geoff McGivern
Administrator 48….. Miles Jupp
Bob Trubshawe….. Jonny Weldon
Other roles played by Alix Dunmore, David Benson, Jack Lane, Dan Starkey and Justice Ritchie

Written by Ben Cottam
Adapted from the film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Editing and sound design by Richard Fox
Music by Howard Carter
Produced and directed by Simon Barnard

A Bafflegab production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m001rgpn)
Weekend Woman's Hour: Dawn French, Shirley Ballas, Violinist Esther Abrami, Pelvic Pain

Dawn French has been making people laugh as a writer, comedian and actor, for more than 30 years. Her celebrated shows include French and Saunders, The Vicar of Dibley, and Jam and Jerusalem. She joins Emma Barnett to discuss her new book about the hilarious gaffes that she has made in life, as part of her one-woman mission to celebrate what it means to be gloriously, messily human, rather than striving for Instagram-style-perfection.

It’s one of the things we’re most embarrassed to talk about – pain when having sex. This is something that Professor Katy Vincent, academic gynaecologist, and Dr Lydia Coxon, researcher in Pain in Women, are hoping to change. They join Emma alongside BBC presenter Sophie Law to talk about an open panel they held to try and get women to talk about their pelvic pain, and address the taboo around talking about periods, sex and women’s pelvic health.

'My Boyfriend Lives with with My Husband,' was the intriguing headline of an article in the Guardian newspaper recently. While Caroline and the children she shares with her husband Niel live in Cheltenham, Neil is living with Caroline's boyfriend in Scotland. Both Caroline and Niel describe their unconventional family living arrangements to Emma, they explain how it came about and why it works for them.

The new BBC drama series The Reckoning has started on BBC One. It tells the story of Jimmy Savile, who for decades was one of the UK’s most influential celebrities forging friendships with politicians and royalty and raising millions for charity. But after his death in 2011, it transpired he was also one of the country’s most prolific sexual predators, abusing hundreds of people, many of them children. The series, which stars Steve Coogan as Jimmy Savile, explores how he was able to hide in plain sight and use his celebrity status, powerful connections and fundraising activity to gain uncontrolled access to vulnerable young people. Sam Brown was abused by Savile from the age of 11. Her story is depicted in episode 3 of the series, and she speaks to Emma.

Violinist Esther Abrami was handpicked by Julian Lloyd Webber as one of 30 under 30 to watch, and she is the first classical musician to win the ‘Social Media Superstar’ category at the Global Awards. With more than 400,000 followers on TikTok, Esther joins Emma to discuss her new album, Cinema.

Shirley Ballas is best known for being one of the judges on BBC Strictly Come Dancing and her stellar career in Latin dance that earnt her the title, ‘Queen of Latin’. She joins Krupa Padhy to talk about Strictly, the menopause and her new book, Murder on the Dancefloor.

Presenter: Krupa Padhy
Producer: Hanna Ward
Studio Manager: Tim Heffer


SAT 17:00 PM (m001rgpq)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m001rgpy)
The Nick Gibb One

The Schools Minister tells Nick Robinson how his single-minded curriculum reform has kept him in his job for 10 of the last 13 years, and how his sexuality might have limited his career prospects

Producer: Daniel Kraemer


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001rgq5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m001rgqf)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001rgqq)
A million Palestinians have now fled Gaza -- as Israel warns of a ground incursion.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m001rgqz)
Cecelia Ahern, Nicholas McCarthy, Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, Jordan Adetunji, Aaron and Aimee Allen, Marie-Louise Muir

Clive Anderson and Marie-Louise Muir are joined by Cecelia Ahern, Nicholas McCarthy, Declan Lawn and Alan Patterson and Jordan Adetunji for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy, recorded at BBC Belfast. With music from Aaron and Aimee Allen.


SAT 19:00 Profile (m001rgr9)
Adam Kay

Adam Kay is a Bafta-winning TV writer, author and comedian who previously worked as a hospital doctor. He's famous for using his medical experiences to highlight the pressures of working in the NHS. He recently spoke out in support of junior doctors and hospital consultants who've been demanding better rates of pay. Despite give up a career in medicine in 2010, celebrity friends occasionally ring him up seeking medical advice.


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m001rgrq)
George the Poet

Born George Mpanga, George the Poet is a British spoken-word artist and podcast host. Having started out as a rapper, he made his name as a spoken-word performance poet after leaving Cambridge University. His debut collection Search Party was published in 2015. The same year he was nominated for the Brits Critics Choice Award and the BBC Sound Of 2015 poll. He was also offered an MBE but declined the honour.

He launched a genre-defying podcast in 2019, which won a host of prizes including the Peabody Award, a prestigious American prize for broadcasting, becoming the first podcast from outside the States to win it. Have You Heard George’s podcast, as it’s called, interweaves stories of his own upbringing with detailed explorations of contemporary social and political issues.

George talks to John Wilson about some of his most formative cultural influences including the grammar school that taught him the essay-writing skills he still puts to use when making his podcast. He reveals how Tupac Shakur’s 1998 song Changes ignited his interest in hip hop, and discusses the impact of rap and grime on his own verse. He also remembers how his local community radio station gave him his first break and encouraged the development as a performer.

Producer: Edwina Pitman


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001rgs7)
Powell and Pressburger: Poetic Patriotism

Powell and Pressburger were the most fearless of British filmmakers, once described by Martin Scorsese as ‘the most experimental moviemakers of all time’. The pair - Hungarian-Jewish screenwriter Emeric Pressburger who fled the Nazis across Europe to London, and English director Michael Powell - made masterpieces that dazzle to this day.

From their work, filmmaker Carol Morley draws out their response to Britishness, one that was affectionate yet clear-eyed, never blind to our collective faults. She unearths their extraordinary collaboration with each other, as well as other trailblazing creatives – designers, cinematographers and actors - that formed a collective known as The Archers. Between them, they made more than 20 films from the 1930s onwards.

We reappraise some of their greatest classics, including A Matter of Life and Death, The Red Shoes, A Canterbury Tale and I Know Where I’m Going! The programme includes interviews with Tilda Swinton, Ian Christie and Sandy Powell, as well as powerful archive from Lenny Henry and Martin Scorsese.

A major BFI UK-wide celebration of Powell and Pressburger takes place this Autumn, Cinema Unbound: The Creative Worlds of Powell and Pressburger, with screenings and events until the end of the year.

Presented by Carol Morley
Produced by Tim Moorhouse
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4

Picture Credit
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger on set of Oh… Rosalinda!!, photo by Ronnie Pilgrim © 1955 Estate of Michael Powell/BFI National Archive


SAT 21:00 GF Newman's The Corrupted (m000vxyx)
Series 6

Episode 1

It's now 2001 and Brian Oldman is still in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

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

In this final series, taking us to 2008, Joseph Olinska gets ever more involved in New Labour, while Brian Oldman becomes a vegan and studies law in jail in a bid to win justice for himself. Tony Wednesday continues to work behind the scenes for Sir Joseph at the same time as moving ever further up the ranks of the police force.

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 the tale of a nexus of crime, business and politics that’s woven through the fabric of 20th and 21st century greed, as even those with hitherto good intentions are sucked into a web of corruption.

Whose fortunes will prosper? Who will get their just deserts?

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 first 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 Lord Goodman, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. Joseph now helps New Labour with their finances, while continuing to invest heavily in Russia, the US and a pharmaceutical company specialising in cancer drugs.

The characters are based on GF Newman's novels.

CAST
Sir Joseph - Toby Jones
Brian - Joe Armstrong
Tony Wednesday - Alec Newman
Sonia Hope/ Emma - Sarah Lambie
Catherine - Isabella Urbanowicz
Anatoly Popov/ Clive Bunter - Matthew Marsh
Leah - Jasmine Hyde
Margaret - Flora - Montgomery
PO Rogers - Paul Kemp
EXO Avedlund - Nigel Pivaro
Sir Ralph Courtney - Nick Sampson
Jeremy Corbyn - Christopher Harper
DCS Redvers - Arty Froushan
Tim Listfield - Charles Davies
Chuck Haly - Matt Rippy

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


SAT 21:45 The Skewer (m001r860)
Series 10

Episode 1

Fresh from winning Gold for Best Comedy at the British Podcast Awards (and Highly Commended as Podcast of the Year), Jon Holmes' comedy current affairs concept album returns for its 10th series to remix the news into satirical shapes.

This week - Labour Possessed, Oh Mr Sunak, and The Lorax fails to save a tree.

Creator / Producer: Jon Holmes.

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:00 News (m001rgsq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 Add to Playlist (m001r7ww)
Isata Kanneh-Mason and Neil Brand launch a new series

Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason and musician and silent movie score composer Neil Brand launch a new playlist. With presenters Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye, they choose the first five tracks which take us from a celebratory anthem chanted in football stadiums to a live, mischievous performance by a 12-year-old Stevie Wonder.

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

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Freed from Desire by Gala
Piano Concerto in F Major: 3rd Movement by George Gershwin
Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
Piano Quartet in A minor by Gustav Mahler
Fingertips pt 2: Live by Stevie Wonder

Other music in this episode:

Welcome to My World by Ezra Collective
Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Prokofiev


SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (m001r7mb)
Heat 9, 2023

(9/17)
In which city did this year's Tour de France begin? What's the title of the poem by Philip Larkin that ends with the line 'Never such innocence again'? And what's a 'Chicken of the Woods'? The answers to all of these questions can be found in today's heat of Brain of Britain - but will the competitors know them? Russell Davies is in the chair, with a lively audience cheering on the contestants at the Radio Theatre in London.

Taking part today are
Ray Eaton from London
Michael Frankl from Windsor
Carolyn Schofield from King's Lynn
Mickie Wynne-Davies from Oxted in Surrey.

There'll also be a chance for a Brain of Britain listener to win a prize by Beating the Brains with questions he or she has devised.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria


SAT 23:30 Uncanny (m001msrw)
Series 2

S2. Case 10: Harry Called

When a spirit called Harry makes contact via a Ouija board, student Will thinks his friends are playing a joke. But then Harry starts calling him…

Written and presented by Danny Robins
Editor and Sound Designer: Charlie Brandon-King
Music: Evelyn Sykes
Theme Music by Lanterns on the Lake
Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard
A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4

SUNDAY 15 OCTOBER 2023

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m001rgtm)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Rethinking Music (m001jsk8)
The Next Generation

Where will the musicians of tomorrow come from? A generation ago, children had access to free instrumental tuition, but today it’s mostly faded out, and in the past decade music has been de-prioritised in most state-sector schools in England. With inequality baked into the system, whether a child can access music education depends on which nation they’re in, what kind of school they go to - and now more than ever, how affluent their parents are. The talent pipeline feeding conservatoires – though not the only route into a career – is under threat, with a dramatic decline in the number of pupils taking A level music: it could die out as a subject by 2033. Tracing that pipeline back to primary school, Soweto looks at what’s driving this situation, and asks how much it matters.

In a 3-part series, Soweto Kinch looks at music education across the UK and assesses how policy changes over the years are playing out. What impact is decades of underfunding going to have on our economy, culture, and children's development? How are new National Plans for Music announced last year going to address the situation across the UK? Reflecting on his own route to music, Soweto asks what music education could look like, and how much it matters if we don't get it right. Contributors include Nicola Benedetti, Anna Meredith, Nubya Garcia, Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason, Jamie Njoku-Goodwin and a range of music professionals and providers across the UK.

Produced by Megan Jones and Amelia Parker
Photo: The Benedetti Foundation (credit Sarah Pickering)


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001rgv0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001rgvj)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001rgw1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m001rgwj)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m001rgx1)
The church of St John the Baptist, Burford

This week's Bells on Sunday comes from the church of St John the Baptist, Burford in Oxfordshire. Described by the architectural historian David Verey as "a complicated building which has developed in a curious way from the Norman” it is known for its Merchants' Guild chapel and a memorial to Henry VIII's barber-surgeon. The tower has a peal of eight bells with the tenor weighing seventeen and three quarter hundredweight tuned to E. We hear them ringing Double Norwich Court Bob Major.


SUN 05:45 Profile (m001rgr9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m001rgpw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (m001rgq3)
Unbending Belief

Mike Wooldridge asks what drives fundamentalism and rigid religious orthodoxy and what is the essential connection between unbending belief and behaviour? Do fundamentalists in all traditions have more in common with each other, than they do with liberals and reformers in their own communities?
First Broadcast in 2006.

A Unique Broadcasting Company production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m001rgqc)
BBC Food & Farming Awards finalist: Andy Gray

Andy Gray describes himself and his team as being "hyperactive in our approach to life". He can't see a problem without wanting to solve it, or an opportunity to broaden his business without giving it a go.

On his 150 acre farm in Devon, Andy employs more than 60 people. He has a catering butchers which supplies local meat to restaurants and hotels as well as producing meat boxes sold direct to consumers. He has a game plant which processes 6,000 wild-shot deer every year. Any meat that isn't sold for humans is turned into raw dog food, which Andy sells direct to consumers online. He has just opened a quarry which supplies a very rare stone used to repair heritage buildings.

In the fields themselves Andy has transitioned away from an intensive arable system, which he says was damaging his soils, to grazing cattle and deer on herbal leys. To see whether this change is making a difference to his soils, he is working with several different scientists to gather data and run trials on the farm.

He's been picked as a finalist in the "Farming for the Future" category of this year's BBC Food and Farming Awards. It's being judged by Farming Today presenter, Charlotte Smith, and actor, Lucy Speed - who plays Stella in The Archers. In this programme, they make their "judges' visit" to Andy's farm, and try to see as many of his different enterprises as possible.

Presenter by Charlotte Smith and Lucy Speed
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons


SUN 06:57 Weather (m001rgqn)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m001rgqy)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m001rgr6)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m001rgrk)
Unseen

Historian and writer David Olusoga makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Unseen.

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 ‘Unseen’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Unseen’.
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: 1127620


SUN 07:57 Weather (m001rgs2)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m001rgsj)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m001rgt2)
Harvest Festival from Warwick

St Mary’s Warwick was founded on its present site in 1123 by Roger de Newburgh, the Earl of Warwick. Agriculture is still an important part of the local economy with Warwick Crop Centre (part of the University of Warwick) being a leading source of research into agricultural sustainability for the past 70 years. Join the congregation and choir for their harvest festival thanking God for his goodness across another year.
Come, ye thankful people, come (St George's Windsor); Kyrie (Darke in F); Psalm 67; Lord of beauty, thine the splendour (Regent Square); John 15:1-11; Psalm 23 (Howells); Fear not, O land (Elgar); Let us, with a gladsome mind (Monkland)
Leader: Canon Peter Holliday, Preacher: The Revd Dr Daniel Bennett; Director of music: Oliver Hancock; Assistant Director of Music: Mark Swinton, Producer: Philip Billson.


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m001r7xm)
No News Is Good News

Will Self on why - for the past eight weeks - he's lived an almost entirely news-free existence.

After a lifetime of keeping up with events and - in recent years - obsessively toggling between news apps 'with all the real cogitation of a commuter playing Candy Crush,' Will has decided to stop paying attention to the news.

'I realised I'd been reading about - and listening to - politicians and pundits for quite possibly months of my life, without really caring one jot or tittle about them.'

He reflects on how the British became the news consumers par excellence in the 19th and 20th Centuries and on growing up in a household where following the daily go-round of news constituted a 'civic virtue.'

In the aftermath of events in the Middle East, Will has a new guiding principle for his news consumption.

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b03dww4v)
Bar-tailed Godwit

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

Martin Hughes-Games presents the Bar-tailed Godwit. Bar-tailed godwits are waders which occur around the globe and are now known to make the longest non-stop journey of any migratory bird.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m001rgtg)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell and Lyse Doucet.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m001rgtv)
Writer..... Keri Davies
Director ..... Jess Bunch
Editor ..... Jeremy Howe

Kenton Archer ….. Richard Attlee
Pat Archer ….. Patricia Gallimore
Helen Archer …… Louiza Patikas
Neil Carter ….. Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter ….. Charlotte Martin
Ian Craig ….. Stephen Kennedy
Alan Franks ….. John Telfer
Usha Franks ….. Souad Faress
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Will Grundy ….. Philip Molloy
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O’Hanrahan
George Grundy ….. Angus Stobie
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Oliver Sterling …. Michael Cochrane
Adil Shah …. Ronny Jhutti


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m001rgvc)
Dame Donna Langley, film studio executive

Dame Donna Langley is chairman and chief content officer for the NBC Universal Studio Group, the first British woman in history to run a major Hollywood film studio. She green lit Christopher Nolan’s latest film Oppenheimer and was one of the earliest and most ardent supporters of the Abba movie Mamma Mia.

She was born in London and brought up on the Isle of Wight. She always knew she was adopted as a baby, which she says made her feel special within her family. She left London for Los Angeles when she was in her early twenties, looking for adventure rather than following a career plan.

In LA, she worked in a club on Sunset Boulevard before taking up an internship with a film producer. Later she worked as an assistant at the production studio New Line Cinema, and in 2001 she joined Universal Studios as senior vice president of production.

She says her decision to say yes to a film is based on her gut instinct and whether she loves it. She is a champion of original content and early on in her career backed Straight Outta Compton – the story of the hip hop band NWA – and later Get Out, directed by Jordan Peele. She currently oversees major franchises including Fast and Furious, Despicable Me and Jurassic World.

Dame Donna lives in California with her husband and two children.

DISC ONE: Thank You For The Music - Abba
DISC TWO: Zorba the Greek - Mikis Theodorakis
DISC THREE: La Wally - composed by Alfredo Catalani and performed by Wilhelmenia Fernandez
DISC FOUR: This is the Day - The The
DISC FIVE: It Was A Good Day - Ice Cube
DISC SIX: Never Is a Promise - Fiona Apple
DISC SEVEN: All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem
DISC EIGHT: Come Home (feat. André 3000) - Anderson Paak

BOOK CHOICE: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
LUXURY ITEM: Tarot cards
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m001rgvx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (m001r7pn)
Series 2

Episode 6 - Brighton

Who is JD Wetherspoon named after? When was the UK's first nudist beach opened? And which company gives its name to the world's thinnest residential tower? This week, Paul Sinha is in Brighton to test his audience's knowledge on these questions, and more.

Written and performed by Paul Sinha
Additional material: Oliver Levy
Additional questions: The Audience

Original music: Tim Sutton

Sound engineer: David Thomas

Producer: Ed Morrish

A Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m001rgvm)
Eating Wild Part 2: Inside the Gut Microbiome

Dan Saladino finds out what happened to people who embarked on a wild food adventure, including chef and Arctic explorer Mike Keen and a group of British foragers involved in the Wild Biome Project. After three months, their physical health has been analysed, including their gut microbiomes. Are there lessons for us all?

For more information on the test results:
Mike Keen's Arctic exploration: https://www.mikekeen.co/#Greenland-Expedition
Wild Biome Project: https://monicawilde.com/the-wildbiome-project/

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m001rgwm)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m001rgx4)
Special edition: Israel-Hamas conflict

Israel's former PM Ehud Barak and Hamas's Mohammed Nazzal on how the conflict may unfold.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001r7tz)
Isle of Wight

Can banana plants survive cold winters? How do I get my Aeonium Schwarzkopfs to branch? What’s the difference between a cold frame and greenhouse?

Kathy Clugston and her team of horticultural experts are on the largest of England’s islands, the Isle of Wight, for today's episode of Gardeners' Question Time.

Joining Kathy on the panel are pest and disease expert Pippa Greenwood, organic gardener Bob Flowerdew, and curator of RHS Wisley Matthew Pottage

Later Matt Biggs gives us a detailed explanation for why every gardener needs to have a Hoheria sexstylosa 'Stardust' in their gardens.

Producer: Dom Tyerman

Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod

Executive Producer: Hannah Newton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m001nfzr)
The Mahabharata - Episode 1

Originally composed about 2000 years ago, the Mahabharata is one of the world’s greatest pieces of storytelling, as well as a foundational Hindu text. Woven through its central account of a great dynastic family conflict and bloody war is the story of the gods and their relationship to humankind, as well as spiritual, philosophical and practical instruction about how to live one’s life in the best possible way.

In the first of two episodes about the this epic poem, John looks at how the central story of the conflict between two branches of the great Bharata family gives the work its extraordinary and gripping dramatic impact.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for nearly 30 years, and he shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised on BBC Radio 4. From EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book Into the Woods. As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world’s most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful BBC Writers Academy John has trained a generation of screenwriters.

Credits:
The Mahabharata, abridged and translated by John D. Smith (Penguin Classics 2009)
Mahabharata, A Modern Retelling by Carole Satyamurti (W.W.Norton & Co. 2015)

Contributors:
Dr Arti Dhand, Department of Religious Studies, University of Toronto
https://www.themahabharatapodcast.com

Jatinder Verma, founder of Tara Arts, theatre director and Director of Mahabharata Now, BBC Radio 4

Readers:
Nadir Khan: Mumbai-based actor and director, co-producer of Mahabharata Now, BBC Radio 4
Shernaz Patel, Mumbai-based film, TV and theatre actor, Gita in Mahabharata Now, BBC Radio 4

Producers: Sara Davies and Tolly Robinson
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael
Researcher: Nina Semple
Production Manager: Sarah Wright
Sound Engineer: Sean Kerwin

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Mahabharata Now (m001rgxs)
Episode 3: Dance of Defiance

The epic saga continues as Yash and Padma arrive in Manchester to begin their four year exile. It's a profound shock. Now they are an ethnic minority in a country where race is an increasingly charged issue and, with no money, they are powerless to insulate themselves from trouble.

In Mumbai, Dhruv is working hard to reinvent his public persona and doing everything he can to secure his grip on power. His best chance of controlling Hasta Enterprises in perpetuity is to trick Yash into breaking the terms of the contract. He sends spies into Manchester’s Asian communities to track down Yash and Padma and ensnare them.

The struggle between renewal and revenge puts huge strains on Yash and Padma’s marriage as the philosophical becomes personal. Do they accept their new situation, or do they vow to return to India and settle old scores? The Gods had a hand in this too – where are they now when the couple need them most?

The answer comes in the form of Gopi in physical form as a poor, elderly Mancunian woman, but she remains as evasive and mysterious as ever. She moves in with Yash and Padma - a roof over her head in return for housekeeping duties. But Padma becomes unnerved by Gopi's familiarity with Yash and the influence she seems to exert.

Written by Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle

Cast

Dhruv: Neil Bhoopalam
Yash: Tavish Bhattacharyya
Padma: Ira Dubey
Shaks: Vivek Madan
Karthik: Sukant Goel
Gopi: MIna Anwar
Nyra: Abir Abrar
Swati: Rina Fatania
Emmi: Ayla Wheatley
Landlord: Dean Harris
Andy: Kenny Blyth
Warehouse Supervisor: Sean Connolly

Other characters played by Abir Abrar, Omkar Kulkarni, Devika Shahani Punjabi and Prerna Chawla

Sound Supervisor (Mumbai): Ayush Ahuja
Sound Design and Post Production: Wilfredo Acosta
Original Music: Imran Ahmad

Producer (Mumbai): Nadir Khan
Producer(s): Helen Quigley and Andrew Mark Sewell
Director: Jatinder Verma

A B7 Media production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 16:00 Open Book (m001rgy0)
Daniel Mason

Daniel Mason, award-winning author and still practicing psychiatrist, discusses the appeal of place and the passing of time, as he talks about his new novel, North Woods, set in New England across 200 years.
Howard Jacobson and Farrah Storr reveal the lure of the digital platform Substack for writers and readers and wonder if it will supercede or enhance the novel.
And as the conference season draws to a close, we look at the lot and the character of the nineteenth century politician in literature.

Presenter Chris Power
Producer Emma Wallace

Book List – Sunday 15 October and Thursday 19 October

North Woods by Daniel Mason
The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason
A Far Country by Daniel Mason
The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason
A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth by Daniel Mason
Street Walking by Howard Jacobson
Compendia by S J Watson
Plot Spoiler by Chuck Palahniuk
Greener Pastures by Chuck Palahniuk
Story Club by George Saunders
Burnt Toast by Virginia Sole-Smith
The Kureishi Chronicles by Hanif Kureishi
Scarlet Town by Leonora Nattress
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope
Can you Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens


SUN 16:30 Rethinking Music (m001k0l6)
Beyond Face Value

What is music education for? Beyond the pursuit of a creative career, we visit providers across the UK who have recognized that music has a wider beneficial impact, and ask if it can be argued for as an end in itself. Feversham Primary Academy in Bradford has seen their pupils’ behaviour and academic achievements skyrocket since they brought a holistic focus on music into their curriculum, taking them in 10 years from a school in special measures to being rated Outstanding by Ofsted. At Supajam, a college in Kent, centring the learning experience around live music and production skills has helped young people who have fallen out of mainstream education to gain key qualifications and transform their wellbeing. And in North Wales, we hear about the rollout of the nation’s brand new Music Service, where every child is offered a free musical instrument. Soweto explores how creative skills are useful in all walks of life, and how we need to rethink the value of music beyond the surface.

In a 3-part series, Soweto Kinch looks at music education across the UK and assesses how policy changes over the years are playing out. What impact is decades of underfunding going to have on our economy, culture, and children's development? How are new National Plans for Music announced last year going to address the situation across the UK? Reflecting on his own route to music, Soweto asks what music education could look like, and how much it matters if we don't get it right. Contributors include Nicola Benedetti, Anna Meredith, Nubya Garcia, Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason, Jamie Njoku-Goodwin and a range of music professionals and providers across the UK.

Produced by Megan Jones and Amelia Parker


SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m001r857)
Bankrupt Birmingham

A perfect storm of equal pay claims and a huge overspend on an IT project has brought Europe’s largest local authority to its knees. But how did Birmingham go from the triumph of hosting the Commonwealth Games to financial ruin in just over a year? Adrian Goldberg investigates for File on 4.

Producer: Phil Marzouk
Producer: Fergus Hewison
Producer: Megan Jones
Reporter: Adrian Goldberg
Technical Producer: Matthew Dempsey
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Clare Fordham


SUN 17:40 Profile (m001rgr9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001rgy5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m001rgy9)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001rgyg)
Israel's PM has told his emergency cabinet that his forces are ready "at any moment" to demolish Hamas. Gaza doctors have warned of an impending "public health catastrophe"

.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m001rgym)
Stuart Maconie

Stuart's is a peripatetic Pick Of The Week…curated, as we like to say these days, on the road. He's in the library with Auden and Armitage, in the kitchen with the wonder drug turmeric, at the movies with The Big Lebowski and Don’t Look Now, in the woods with Mithras and On The Buses... although sadly not with Stan and Blakey…

Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Elizabeth Foster
Production Co-ordinator: Lydia Depledge-Miller


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m001rgtr)
In the shop, Clarrie and Eddie speculate about the graffiti on the church door. Eddie reckons it might not stop there. Clarrie observes it may not be a coincidence as it happened after Rob issued invitations to his baptism. Their chatter’s interrupted by Lee, who’s come in with Jack and Henry. Lee points out how awful this is for everyone; their gossip isn’t helping. Chastened, they apologise. Henry’s curious and Lee explains. He tells Henry not to worry, the police will take care of it. Later Helen’s hard on Lee for weighing in. She doesn’t want incidents like this to be all about them. That’s exactly what Rob wants. She wishes Lee had stayed out of it. Lee reacts, and Henry entreats him to stop shouting at Helen. Lee’s mortified, and Helen explains to Henry that it’s ok for people to argue. Later Lee thanks her for her support, and offers tea and some television together. Helen accepts the tea, but says she’ll read in the kitchen.

Clarrie reports Poppy’s making a scrapbook of guinea pigs. There are now five at No.1 The Green. Clarrie remarks she’s not sure Will would have agreed to a pet if he’d known he’d end up with so many. Eddie checks on the turkeys and Clarrie comments that it feels like Christmas is just around the corner. Eddie wants Halloween done first. He offers to show Clarrie their Halloween Trail. Later Eddie loves Clarrie’s idea of a piece of barmbrack with a charm in it for everyone. Now they just need a witch – but who? Clarrie reckons she’d be perfect, and Eddie agrees.


SUN 19:15 Agendum (m0008wmc)
Series 2

Timebomb

A current affairs parody and stupidly feasible visit to the 24-hour Hall Of Opinion Mirrors.

Hosted by hostioneer Alexandra Palisades.

Parody created and written by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris.

Agendum - taking both sides of serious issues seriously.

In this show, some exciting new old repeats on your TV, a new use for cardboard and shepherds pie quite literally sweeps the nation.

Starring Carrie Quinlan as Alexandra Palisades

And, at the very least, the voices of:

Justin Edwards
Melanie Hudson
Kath Hughes
Simon Kane
Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong
David Reed
Jess Robinson
Kerry Shale
Luke Sumner
Tony Way

Producer: David Tyler

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in September 2019.


SUN 19:45 Moving Mountains by Jan Carson (m001rgyv)
Episode 4 - Joss

In rural Northern Ireland, the locals are horrified to learn that Slemish mountain – traditionally believed to be where Saint Patrick was brought to tend sheep before finding God – has been sold to a Japanese theme park. However on the day Slemish is to be removed and shipped across the world the diggers are beset by protesters, politicians and the Ballymena townsfolk caught in between.

Author
Born in Ballymena, Jan Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator. Her novel ‘The Fire Starters’ was awarded the EU Prize for Literature 2019 and the author was acclaimed as “one of the most exciting and original Northern Irish writers of her generation” by the Sunday Times. Her most recent novel ‘The Raptures’ was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year and the Kerry Group Novel of the Year. She has also written ‘Wings’ for BBC Three, ‘UnRaveling’ for BBC Radio 3, ‘The Last Resort’ for BBC Radio 4 and was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award 2020. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2023. Her new short story collection ‘Quickly, While They Still Have Horses’ will be published in 2024.

Reader: Aoibhéann McCann
Writer: Jan Carson
Producer: Michael Shannon
Editor: Andy Martin

A BBC Northern Ireland production.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m001r7vq)
Israel and Gaza

The BBC has been criticised for avoiding use of the word "terrorist" in its coverage of events in Israel and Gaza. Andrea Catherwood discusses this, and the BBC's coverage of the conflict, with Richard Burgess, the BBC's Director of News Content.

Also, we have more on the ongoing controversy surrounding the BBC's decision to cut Local Radio output.

And two journalism students at Cardiff University run the rule over the Today podcast's new, chattier feel.

Presenter: Andrea Catherwood
Producer: Gerry Cassidy
A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m001r7vj)
Kirsty Smitten, Kat Anderson, Beverly Willis, Tony Wade

Kirsty Lang on

The talented young scientist Kirsty Smitten who did pioneering work developing a new generation of antibiotics.

Singer Kat Anderson who made pop history with Motown’s first Number One hit: Please Mr Postman.

The architect Beverly Willis who devoted much of her career to promoting her female peers.

Tony Wade who helped built Britain’s first black owned multi-million-pound business selling hair and beauty products to Afro Caribbean women.

Producer: Ed Prendeville


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m001rgnx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m001rgrk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 Loose Ends (m001rgqz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m001rgz6)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 Moral Maze (m001r850)
How should we think about our enemies?

The surprise attack by Hamas was devastating, leaving hundreds of Israeli civilians dead, injured or taken hostage. Israel’s response was swift, with airstrikes on Gaza killing hundreds of Palestinians, including children.

The scale of the attack was unprecedented, but the cycle of violence and escalation is all too familiar in this land that has been contested for more than a century. Now another generation sees the bloodshed at first hand.

Hamas is dedicated to the destruction of Israel, so for many Jews this is about survival. At the same time, many Palestinians have come to see Israel as a brutal oppressor. Each side sees the other as an existential threat. Even those who refuse to define their neighbours across the Gaza border as ‘the enemy’ may find themselves defined in those terms against their will – and threatened with death.

How should we understand conventional rules of morality in such intractable circumstances? What is a proportionate response to an act of aggression? And what conditions are necessary for a realistic peace process to take hold?

Perhaps the most radical statement in all of human history is “love your enemies”. Those who are pessimistic about peace in the Middle East might dismiss that as naïve. But there are some who can give us real-life examples of the human capacity to rise above anger and grief for a greater good.

How should we think about our enemies?

With Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer, Atef Alshaer, Gabrielle Rifkind, Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin.

Producer: Dan Tierney.

MONDAY 16 OCTOBER 2023

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m001rgzh)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m001r826)
Pets

PETS: Laurie Taylor talks to Jane Hamlett, Senior Lecturer in Modern British History at Royal Holloway, University of London, about her study of the British love affair with pets over the last two century. She found that the kinds of pets we keep, as well as how we relate to and care for them, has changed radically. Most importantly, pets have played a powerful emotional role in families across all social classes, creating new kinds of relationships and home lives.

Also Jessica Amberson, Lecturer in Adult and Continuing Education at University College, Cork, takes us on a dog walk and explores what this mundane daily activity means for a canine owner and how it helps shapes the identity of a ‘dog person’?

Producer: Jayne Egerton


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m001rgx1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001rgzt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001rh02)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001rh0f)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m001rh0t)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001rh16)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Julia Loveless, singer & writer

LETTING THINGS GO

Good morning.

There is something secret and miraculous about a seed going into the dirt and birthing a plant. For the new plant to live and grow, the seed has to die. It is buried beneath the soil and remains unseen for days - until, quietly and slowly, a small green shoot pushes its way through the muck towards the sunlight. Forgive me, because I love a good metaphor, and this gardening one is one of my favourites.

There are some things in our lives that need to die - that need to be buried and lost, that need to be let go of - before something new and better and bigger can come along. Sometimes it’s an assumption that needs to die - a fixed idea of how something should be or how someone should behave that is preventing us from seeing the new potential. Sometimes it’s a possession that we need to give away or repurpose entirely.

It might be a job, a home, a friendship or even a dream. These things are never bad in themselves - in fact, for the right season, they will have been exactly what you needed. But if we fail to see when the fruit in our life becomes seeds, we will neglect to plant them and we won’t get to see the next crop.

Lord, if there are things in my life that need to be buried and die so that the next, good thing can grow, help me recognise it. And give me the courage to plant for the next season. Amen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m001rh1r)
16/10/23 SNP Conference; Dentists for fishermen; Land-based education.

The SNP is meeting in Aberdeen - throughout the party conference season we've been catching up with the rural affairs spokespeople. Today we talk to the Secretary for Rural Affairs in the Scottish Government, the SNP's Mairi Gougeon.

A project offering fishermen free dental checks and treatment on the harbourside has got underway in Newlyn in Cornwall. Smiles at Sea will be visiting eight fishing ports in Devon and Cornwall between now and December. The demands of being at sea means it can be hard to visit a dentist. The scheme is also helping children in coastal communities be seen by a dentist.

All week we're taking a look at land-based education. A parliamentary committee launched an inquiry into it last month. The EFRA committee is looking at education from primary to universities to see how effectively its making students aware of the opportunities in agriculture and equipping them with the right skills. We speak to Landex who represents 39 colleges and universities in the sector.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


MON 05:56 Weather (m001rh26)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkgqv)
Carrion Crow

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

Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Carrion Crow. The crow is defined in Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language as "a large black bird that feeds upon the carcasses of beasts." Crows have always suggested an element of foreboding. They are arch-scavengers and black mobs of them crowd our rubbish tips but they're also birds we admire for their intelligence and adaptability.


MON 06:00 Today (m001rgq6)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m001rgqg)
Unruly bodies

The writer and academic Emma Dabiri encourages unruliness in her latest book, Disobedient Bodies. She puts the origins of western beauty ideals under the spotlight and explores ways to rebel against and subvert the current orthodoxy. The book is accompanied by an exhibition, The Cult of Beauty, at the Wellcome Collection from 26 October 2023 to 28 April 2024.

It was in the Wellcome’s archive that the filmmaker Carol Morley came across the works and writings of the artist Audrey Amiss. In her new film, Typist Artist Pirate King, Morley creates an imaginative tribute to an unjustly neglected and misunderstood artist.

The norm in the world of medical research has been the male body, but in her latest work the scientist and author Cat Bohannon focuses exclusively on women. In Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 million Years of Human Revolution she looks at everything from birth to death.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein (m001rgs8)
1: The Battle for Poland

Daniel Finkelstein begins his heartrending memoir of his parents' experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during WWII, this week focusing on the story of his father's family at the hands of Stalin.

Daniel's father Ludwik was born in the Polish city of Lwow, now Lviv, the only child of a prosperous Jewish family. In 1939, after Hitler and Stalin carved up Poland, the family was rounded up by the communists. His grandfather Dolu was arrested and disappeared, while his 10-year-old father and grandmother were sent to Siberia, working as slave labourers on a collective farm. They somehow survived starvation and freezing winters, living in a house they built from cow dung, but always hoping to be reunited with Dolu.

Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad is a deeply moving and powerful memoir about Daniel Finkelstein's parents' experiences at the hands of the two genocidal dictators of the 20th century. It is a story of persecution and survival, love, loss, man's inhumanity, and the almost unimaginable bravery of two ordinary families.

Today: Daniel's family finds themselves at the hands of the communist secret police as the Polish city of Lwow is carved up by Hitler and Stalin...

Written and read by Daniel Finkelstein. Daniel Finkelstein is a columnist and broadcaster and former Executive Editor and Associate Editor of The Times. He is also a member of the Lords and has served as an advisor to the Conservative Party.
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001rgr0)
Madonna, Polish elections, Diana Parkes, Unconventional setups

The queen of pop returned to London's O2 this weekend for her Celebration Tour, performing more than 40 songs from her four-decade career. During her opening performance on Saturday, 65-year-old Madonna thanked her children for supporting her while she was ill earlier this year with a 'serious bacterial infection' which saw her admitted to intensive care for several days and forced her to postpone the tour. Some of her children then joined her on stage. Emma Barnett speaks to two women who were there - Sabrina Barr from Metro online and Helen Brown, Chief Album Critic for The Independent.

Exit polls from yesterday's general election in Poland suggest the governing right-wing Law and Justice Party has lost its majority in parliament. Three opposition groups are predicted to get enough seats to form a government if they can agree a coalition. The biggest of the three is the Civic Coalition, led by the former head of the European Council, Donald Tusk - who has already claimed victory. Women have played an important role in these elections with the issue of abortion taking centre stage since a near total ban was announced by the government in 2021, sparking protests across the country. The BBC's Eastern Europe Correspondent, Sarah Rainsford, is in Warsaw and joins Emma.

Diana Parkes, Joanna Simpson’s mother, has campaigned for months to stop the man who killed her daughter, Robert Brown, being allowed out of prison. Halfway through his 26-year sentence for her manslaughter, he was due for automatic release from prison next month. However, it has been announced that the Justice Secretary has blocked this and referred the case to the Parole Board. Diana joins Emma to share her response to the decision.

As climate ministers meet in Luxembourg today ahead of the COP28 summit next month in the United Arab Emirates, an exhibition looking at the relationship between women and ecology around the world is running at the Barbican in London. Emma talks to Alona Pardo, the lead curator of RE/SISTERS: A Lens on Gender and Ecology.

Do you have an unconventional living arrangement with your partner? Last week we spoke to Caroline and Niel, who remained in the same house after they split up but now Caroline's new partner is living with her ex. It got very complicated! We wanted to see how many of you are in similar situations, and how that has worked. Listener Amy got in touch to say she has been together with her partner Richie for 19 years but they have never lived together, even after they got married. She joins Emma in studio.


MON 11:00 The Gift (m001rgrb)
6. Secrets

In this last episode, as Jenny's own results land in her inbox, she hears how at home DNA tests have brought family secrets - once thought long buried - out into the light.

It's the go-to Christmas present for the person who already has everything. A gift that promises to tell you who you really are and how you're connected to the world.
Millions of us have spat into a tube and sent a vial of our DNA to a company like Ancestry and 23andMe. Their tests promise to unlock the truth of our heritage - perhaps even a future foretold in our genes.

Across six episodes, Jenny Kleeman meets the men and women whose lives changed forever after they opened a box that contained a DNA test. Exposing scandals, upending identities, solving mysteries and delivering life-changing news - Jenny investigates what happens when genealogy, technology and identity collide.

Presenter: Jenny Kleeman
Producer: Conor Garrett
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Executive Producer: Philip Sellars
Production Co-ordinator: Gill Huggett


MON 11:30 The Bottom Line (m001r803)
Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis

As the UK gets ready to host a major global summit on the safety of artificial intelligence, Evan Davis speaks to one of the technology's leading global figures.

Demis Hassabis explains how he went from child chess champion to game developer to co-founder of AI research lab DeepMind, which was bought by Google in 2014.

He discusses Google's answer to ChatGPT and AI's ability to create breakthroughs in science, but also its downsides, including the potential extinction of the human race.

GUEST: Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind

PRODUCTION TEAM

Producers: Joel Moors and Simon Tulett
Editor: China Collins
Sound: Neil Churchill
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman

(Picture: Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind)


MON 12:00 News Summary (m001rgt0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m001rgsb)
Supermarket Loyalty Cards, Killer Cows and ADHD Medicine Shortages

Are supermarkets using loyalty cards to deflect from other price rises? We speak to shoppers about whether they trust the discounts offered by supermarkets with loyalty cards.

After more than 90 years the last Wilko shops closed for good two weeks ago. 12,500 staff were made redundant. Most of them worked in the shops. But around 1500 of those worked at the retailers head office and distribution centre in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. How do they remember the day firm collapsed? And how are their lives now?

There's been a rise in the numbers of people killed and injured in attacks by cows. Is enough being done to warn the public of the dangers a herd of cows can pose to walkers in the countryside?

Ever get the feeling you are being watched at work? New technology makes it easy for employers to check up on what you are doing by recording video and audio of you at your desk or even monitoring keystrokes on your computer. But is it legal? The Information Commission says probably not and wants to hear from workers if they think they are being secretly put under surveillance.

We've been reporting on how innocent people's home addresses are being used by criminals to set up fake companies and fake bank and fake credit card accounts.
A listener named Clarissa, a teacher from West Yorkshire, wanted to share what happened to her. She did everything she could to try to stop what was happening but it didn't work.

There's a shortage of ADHD medicines which means tens of thousands of people with the condition are having difficulty getting their medicines.

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: KEVIN MOUSLEY


MON 12:57 Weather (m001rgst)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m001rgt9)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


MON 13:45 Understand (m001rv11)
Israel and the Palestinians

Israel and the Palestinians: 1. The Palestinians

Katya Adler and guests explain the history and context of the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. In this episode we focus on life in the Palestinian territories of the Gaza strip and the West Bank and explore the history of how the state of Israel was created.


MON 14:00 The Archers (m001rgtr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 This Cultural Life (m001rgrq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 on Saturday]


MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (m001rgv4)
Heat 10, 2023

(10/17)
Four contenders join Russell Davies for another heat of the general knowledge contest from London's Radio Theatre, as the competition for semi-final places hots up. Today's winner will go through, but will any of the others score well enough to win a place as a high-scoring runner-up?

Appearing today are
Karen Barnes from Woking
Andrew Craig from Pewsey in Wiltshire
Colin Kidd from Bushey in Hertfordshire
Carol Norton from Romsey in Hampshire

There's also a chance for a listener to win a prize by stumping the competitors with his or her own devious questions.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m001rgvm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 History's Secret Heroes (p0fqnm9h)
10. Arslan Rezniqi and the Besa Code

Albania was one of the few European countries to have a larger Jewish population at the end of the war than it had at the beginning. What role did Arslan Rezniqi, a Kosovan Albanian merchant, play in this?

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.

Producer: Amie Liebowitz
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Written by Alex von Tunzelmann


MON 16:30 The Digital Human (m001rgw5)
Series 30

Matchmaker

Aleks Krotoski explores how matchmaking in the future will be influenced both by the emerging tech and our attitude towards it. Have we reached the point where the disposable mindset encouraged by certain dating apps is unappealing for today’s singletons? Many users get over dating fatigue by taking a break from apps altogether but the continued emergence of new platforms suggests that our search for love isn’t moving entirely offline. Whilst some companies are adapting so that users can spend more time on actual dates than online chats, others are harnessing the growing sophistication of AI as a dating coach or even, in some cases, outsourcing that awkward early chat altogether. Dishonest? Or an acceptable tool to enable positive self-presentation?

S Shyam Sundar suggests that online etiquette is evolving and the use of AI chatbots could become ‘a mutually accepted social lie we tell ourselves’; Ben Hanney explains why he launched his own dating app 'tbc' after becoming disillusioned by ‘swipe-right’ models; mental health activist Blezzing Dada shares a cautionary dating tale and urges consideration of intersectionality when developing new dating models; and, at Ireland's Lisdoonvarna matchmaking festival we meet Willie Daly, who hails from a long line of matchmakers, providing reassurance to nervous singletons, initiating gentle introductions and adding a dash of magic with his ‘lucky love book’. Could these raw ingredients be distilled to enhance our online interactions: boosting self-esteem and social confidence or simply introducing more fun into what has become a laboured process?

Producer: Lynsey Moyes
Researcher: Anna Miles


MON 17:00 PM (m001rgwk)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001rgx7)
Negotiations are continuing to persuade Israel to allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip. Relief agencies say the situation remains dire for hundreds of thousands of people.


MON 18:30 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (m001rgxh)
Series 2

Episode 7 - Manchester

Which monkey, in the words of Winston Churchill, "caused the death of a quarter of a million people"? Which chimpanzee had the most commendably honourable attitude towards democracy? And what's wrong with the Um Bongo advertising jingle? This week, Paul Sinha is in Gorilla, Manchester to test his audience's knowledge on these questions, and more.

Written and performed by Paul Sinha
Additional material: Oliver Levy
Additional questions: The Audience

Original music: Tim Sutton

Sound engineer: Jerry Peal

Producer: Ed Morrish

A Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m001rgxl)
Over lunch, Pip and Stella talk pets. Alistair arrives to attend a lame Hereford and Stella outlines the kind of dog she’d like. Alistair tells them to leave it with him. It comes out in conversation that Pip and Stella are now a couple. They agree it felt good to tell Alistair without any drama or questions. Unlike Jill, remarks Pip. Stella laughs that Jill did her best. Pip’s just glad they’re public now.

Eddie seeks Alistair’s wisdom on Poppy’s growing guinea pig herd. He gets him to open the barmbrack Clarrie’s given him, and Alistair unearths a ring as his charm. Eddie declares he’ll be married within the year. Alistair laughs saying he hopes he defies that fate. Eddie hopes he’s coming to their Halloween Trail.

Ian’s frustrated that Adil’s not answering calls. The Grey Gables kitchen is unfinished, and sub-standard. He tells Oliver the builders were ready to walk when he spoke to them. The place is a health and safety nightmare. He shows Oliver the kitchen, and Oliver agrees. Neither of them can understand the thinking behind some of the decisions. Ian remarks it might look like a kitchen to the people dining, but it’s a recipe for chaos. Ian questions whether Adil’s even competent. Oliver says they’ll sit tight for one more day, then he’ll call a meeting and make Adil accountable. Later Oliver confides to Eddie that he thinks it might be time to stop putting everything he has into Grey Gables. Eddie counters that they are both men of vision, and Oliver should hold on to his.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m001rgyn)
Martin Scorsese film, John le Carré’s legacy, Madonna on Tour

Madonna is still in the spotlight 45 years after bursting onto the pop scene in the 1980s, inspiring fashion, dance and youth culture, as well as being the world’s best-selling female artist of all time. Author of the biography Madonna: A Rebel Life, Mary Gabriel explores what’s behind her enduring influence and music critic Pete Paphides assesses last night’s Celebration tour performance, rescheduled after her recent serious health scare.

The latest film from director Martin Scorcese focuses on the Osage Nation community, who back in the 1920s had become rich overnight when oil was discovered beneath their land in Oklahoma. Based on a true story, Killers of the Flower Moon sees an improbable romance develop between Leonardo DiCaprio’s Ernest and Lily Gladstone’s indigenous Mollie, as members of her Osage tribe are murdered under mysterious circumstances, killings which are investigated by what was to become the FBI.

Published in 2015, Adam Sisman wrote what is considered to be the definitive biography of John le Carré. What he left out about the author befits a Cold War spy novel: he was secretive, self-mythologizing and even deceptive. Sisman’s new book, The Secret life of John le Carré, reveals for the first time the frustrating process of writing a biography about the writer who hid his infidelities and inconsistencies.

The Forward Prizes are among UK and Ireland’s most coveted poetry awards. These include best poetry collection, first collection, single poem - written and, new for this year, best single poem – performed. Tonight in Leeds the judges will announce the winners as Front Row is on-air - and we should know who has won the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem – Written, and be able broadcast the poet reading it.


MON 20:00 Izabela in the Forest (m001rf0k)
Hear the marvellous sounds of Europe's primeval forest, Białowieża, in an immersive experience rich with all kinds of bird song and animal sounds, including that of the rare European bison. They're recorded by Polish field recordist, Izabela Dłużyk. Izabela is unusual as a young woman recordist, in a profession dominated by men, all the more so because has been blind from birth. She developed a special sensitivity to bird song ever since her family gave her a tape recorder at the age of 12, and she at once turned its microphone towards the sky. She identifies species entirely though her ears, with an extraordinarily detailed depth of field.
Hearing the forest through Izabela’s acute ears we venture into her world as well as that of the wilderness she loves.

Recorded all on location in Białowieża, including night and dawn recordings that bring all sorts of surprises to the microphone

Produced by Monica Whitlock.
Mixed by Neil Churchill


MON 20:30 Analysis (m001rgyw)
What makes a good school?

How should we evaluate schools? Is it about delivering a wide range of subjects, or extra activities and pastoral care that make a “good” school? Who gets to decide what is a good school and what does that mean to different people? Many people are influenced by the four Ofsted grades and Ofsted reports so what does research tell us about how consistent those judgements are? Would you choose a school with a good local reputation but a lower inspection grade. The programme talks to Sonia Exley, an associate professor at the London School of Economics, Professor Christian Bokhove at the University of Southampton, Natalie Perera, chief executive of the Education Policy Institute, Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills at the OECD, George Leckie, Professor of Social Statistics at the University of Bristol,Dr Ellen Gleaves, a postdoctoral researcher.

Presenter: Branwen Jeffreys
Producer: Bob Howard
Editor: Clare Fordham


MON 21:00 Young Again (m001r7z0)
2. Daniel Kaluuya

Kirsty Young talks to the movie star Daniel Kaluuya, about what he’s learned from his life so far. He grew up in Camden, North London and first found success as an actor and also writer of the teen drama Skins. An acclaimed career in Hollywood has followed, with an Academy Award in 2021 for his role in Judas and the Black Messiah. His first feature film which he has written, produced and directed, The Kitchen, will be released in early 2024.

Producer: Sam Peach
Content Editor: Richard Hooper
Editor: Alice Feinstein
Senior Technical Producer: Duncan Hannant
Presenter: Kirsty Young

A BBC Audio Production


MON 21:30 Start the Week (m001rgqg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m001rgz7)
Israel's intelligence minister on the country's war strategy

Poland's election: what's behind the liberal renaissance there?

China's Belt and Road initiative marks 10 years since its launch


MON 22:45 The Midnight News by Jo Baker (m001rgzk)
Episode One

It's 1940 and 20 year-old Charlotte Richmond watches from her attic window as enemy planes fly over London. Still grieving her beloved brother, who never returned from France, she is trying to keep herself out of trouble - holding down a typist job at the Ministry of Information, sharing gin and confidences with her best friend Elena, and dodging her overbearing father.

On her way to work she often sees the boy who feeds the birds - a source of unexpected joy amid the rubble of the Blitz. But every day brings new scenes of devastation and, after yet another heart breaking loss, Charlotte has an uncanny sense of foreboding. Someone is stalking the darkness, targeting her friends. And now he's following her.

As grief and suspicion consume her, Charlotte's nerves become increasingly frayed. She no longer knows who to trust. She can't even trust herself.

The Midnight News is a love story, a war story, and an unforgettable journey into the fragile mind and fierce heart of an extraordinary young woman.

Episode One
London, 1940. The reality of war begins to sink in for Charlotte.

Jo Baker is the author of bestselling Longbourn, the 'below the stairs' story of the Bennet household from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. She was born in Lancashire and educated at Oxford University and Queen's University Belfast and is also the author of The Body Lies; A Country Road, A Tree; The Undertow; The Telling; The Mermaid's Child; and Offcomer. She lives in Lancaster, England.

Writer: Jo Baker
Reader: Rachael Stirling
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producers: Caroline Raphael & Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Lights Out (m001rgzz)
Series 6

Dead Ends

“Should we delete the sex tape?” Should we get rid of the crime scene photographs? How do I find a true image of my mum amidst the recordings, fragments and images she left behind?"

Exploring an archive of home videos, photographs, memories and news reports, Talia Augustidis reflects on how we choose to remember someone. Told through five chapters, each part focuses on a single image of her mum, who died when Talia was three.

Dead Ends is an exploration of what privacy and control is afforded to people who sit at the heart of our news stories, as accidental absences and fragments of memory piece together these self-contained narratives of loss.

Talia collected the tape for Dead Ends over several years. In 2022 she received a Content is Queen micro-grant, which allowed her to begin piecing these stories together.

Original music composed by Jeremy Warmsley

Produced by Talia Augustidis
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001rh0g)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

TUESDAY 17 OCTOBER 2023

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m001rh0v)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 00:30 Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein (m001rgs8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001rh19)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001rh1s)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001rh2b)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m001rh2t)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001rh3d)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Julia Loveless, singer & writer

PERSPECTIVE

Good morning.

I recently heard a short phrase that has stuck with me since hearing it. “The story you live in will be the story you live out.” It’s referring to that uniquely human enterprise where we pen our own internal narrative. Circumstances occur and we, like commentators to our own lives, start writing a story about it.

This narrative can either be helpful or hindering to the fullness and enjoyment of life. Yes, of course, there are a multitude of things in our lives we have no influence over. But one thing we can control is the story that we write in response. If life presents us with hardship we have a choice. To sit in grief & anger and foster resentment, blame, despair. Or, to acknowledge the hurt, process it, and somehow, through gritted teeth perhaps, cultivate hope, gratitude and dare I even suggest, forgiveness.

It is the harder path, no doubt, to choose the latter. But if we choose resentment, the sweetness of our lives will be slowly corrupted by bitterness. If we cling to blame, we will eventually be exhausted by distrust. The apostle Paul commends us in Ephesians: “get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words and slander… Instead, be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God, through Christ has forgiven you.” And the reward for pivoting our internal narratives, as Paul writes in Philippians is that “the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will dwell in our hearts and minds through Jesus.”

In my weakness & fickleness, caught in the midst of this broken world, help me write an internal narrative of hope that overflows into the life I live out. Amen.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m001rh3y)
17/10/23 Inquiry into land-based education; Rural skills in Scotland. Reducing emissions from livestock; Coracle fishing

MPs launch an inquiry to find out if young people are failing to get the skills needed to work in rural jobs.

All week we're looking at training and education in land-based careers. Rural Skills Scotland offers apprenticeships and qualifications to help get people who are unemployed or live in towns and cities back to work. We visit a training session in Fife.

Can upland farms cut their environmental impacts and still stay in business? That’s what trials in the Scottish Highlands are aiming to find out. The Cairngorms National Park has backed a study to see how emissions can be cut, and biodiversity boosted, while farms still stay in the black. We visit one farm taking part in the study.

Coracle fishing may be in danger of dying out, because of river pollution, according to South West Wales fishers. It’s a tradition that dates back centuries, using a small, rounded, lightweight boat, but fishermen say it's at risk because of a lack of fish.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03x45q5)
Ruff

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

Bill Oddie presents the ruff. The glory of the ruff lies in its extravagant courtship displays. For most of the year these waders look similar to our other long-legged water-birds such as redshanks or sandpipers but in the breeding season the males sprout a multi-coloured ruff. The impressive ruffs of feathers come in infinite variety, black, white, ginger, or a mixture of these. The males gather at traditional spring leks with the aim of winning one or more mates.


TUE 06:00 Today (m001rgrd)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 Building Soul - with Thomas Heatherwick (m001rgrw)
How to Ditch Boring and Humanise Our Cities

Should the buildings that surround us be more interesting and diverse? Givers, not just takers. Could cities be filled with curves and creativity? An adventurous urban landscape that makes everyone happier and healthier.

In this final part of the series, designer Thomas Heatherwick puts forward his manifesto for a future where places are built around the idea of emotion as a function - full of character, built to last, and designed to serve the passers-by. This isn’t romantic thinking. It’s a practical vision for a better future that benefits everyone. A call to humanise our world.

Producer: Tom Pooley
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 09:30 How to Win a Campaign (m001rgsf)
4. The Ground War and the Air War

Former Downing Street strategist, adviser to Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings and Vote Leave insider Cleo Watson examines the building blocks and dark art of political campaigning.

We've had many electoral tests in the UK in the last decade or so – general elections in 2015, 2017 and 2019, and the 2016 EU referendum – and the results of nearly all of them have raised eyebrows. Why? Is it just the policies or the parties, or have some of these campaigns had some secret alchemy or luck that made them succeed or fail against expert opinion and the betting markets?

In this series, Cleo Watson sits down with some of the brains behind the biggest campaigns in recent history and tries to piece together where it went right – and wrong – for the teams and parties involved.

Along the way she asks key questions about the role of traditional and social media, the importance of authenticity and charisma in our politicians, and what lessons we can learn ahead of 2024.

What do polling and focus groups really tell us, and what do we mean by strategy, messaging and fieldwork? How are the ‘ground campaign’ and the ‘air campaign’ orchestrated? How are really effective slogans crafted and tested, how do you ace a TV debate, and what is campaigning’s digital future?

How are cutting-edge developments in data science changing the game, and how concerned should we be about these new methods of persuasion? Or do old-fashioned posters, leaflets, rosettes, door-knocking, manifestoes, party political broadcasts and speeches also still shift the dial?

And if you are thoroughly cynical about mainstream elections, what can you do as a citizen to persuade our elected representatives to prioritise the issues you care about the most? Cleo discovers what makes a successful campaign with those who have achieved recent notable successes in public health, gender equality and climate change.

Contributors across the series:

Pippa Crerar, political editor of the Guardian
Dominic Cummings, director of the Vote Leave campaign and former Chief Adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Julie Etchingham, ITV election debates host
Ayesha Hazarika, former adviser to the Labour party during the 2010 and 2015 elections, and political commentator
Fiona Hill, former Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Theresa May
James Johnson, pollster and Senior Opinion Research and Strategy Adviser to Prime Minister Theresa May, and now director of research company J.L. Partners
Gina Martin who led the campaign to make upskirting illegal in 2019
Charles Ogilvie, former Director of Strategy for Cop26
Craig Oliver, news editor, producer and media executive, and former Director of Politics and Communications for Prime Minister David Cameron
Stephen Parkinson, National Organiser of the ground operation for the Vote Leave campaign
Sarah Sands, former editor of The Sunday Telegraph and The Evening Standard and BBC Radio 4’s Today
James Schneider, co-founder of Momentum and senior adviser to Jeremy Corbyn
Joe Slater, polling strategist at Stack data agency
Paul Stephenson, former Director of Communications of the Vote Leave campaign
Dolly Theis, epidemiology researcher at Cambridge University and public health campaigner
Lucy Thomas, former deputy director of the Britain Stronger in Europe (Remain) campaign
Chris Ward, former political adviser to Sir Keir Starmer

Producer: Eliane Glaser
Executive Producers: Jon Holmes and Richard Danbury
Sound Design: Tony Churnside
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 09:45 Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein (m001rgsy)
2: Siberia

Daniel Finkelstein continues the heartrending memoir of his parents' experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during WWII, this week focusing on the story of his father's family at the hands of Stalin.

Daniel's father Ludwik was born in the Polish city of Lwow, now Lviv, the only child of a prosperous Jewish family. In 1939, after Hitler and Stalin carved up Poland, the family was rounded up by the communists. His grandfather Dolu was arrested and disappeared, while his father and grandmother were sent to Siberia, working as slave labourers on a collective farm. They somehow survived starvation and freezing winters, living in a house they built from cow dung, but always hoping to be reunited with Dolu.

Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad is a deeply moving and powerful memoir about persecution, survival, love and loss, man's inhumanity, and the almost unimaginable bravery of two ordinary families.

Today: after a harrowing journey across the Soviet Union, Daniel's father and grandmother find themselves in the freezing Siberian wastelands, trying to survive as slave labourers on a collective farm.

Written and read by Daniel Finkelstein
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001rgtd)
Israel-Gaza war, Talking on the phone, Online safety, Baby stealers in Kenya

As the war in Israel and Gaza heads into its 10th day, Emma talks about the role of hostages in this conflict with Rachel Briggs the CEO of Clarity Factory and an associate fellow at Chatham House. BBC's Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet also provides an update about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Are we becoming afraid of our phones? A recent survey suggest half of 12 to 26 year olds don't answer the phone to their parents and a third of them feel awkward speaking on the phone generally. But are we any different? Emma talks to Helen Thorn, a writer, podcaster and comedian and to 17-year-old Iona Cooke Mcintosh.

Britain's long-awaited Online Safety Bill setting tougher standards for social media platforms has been agreed by parliament and is days away from becoming law. It will regulate online content to help keep users safe, especially children, and to put the onus on companies to protect people from the likes of abusive messages, bullying and pornography, Emma talks to Legal expert Joshua Rozenburg about what will be in the Act and also to Baroness Kidron who has been very involved in getting the act through the houses of parliament and to Rashik Parmar the CEO of BCS the chartered institute of IT about the future of online safety.

In 2020, an undercover investigation by the BBC’s Africa Eye exposed a network of baby stealers and traffickers in Kenya. It sparked public outcry in the country and led many officials to make public promises of government action. Journalist Njeri Mwangi went undercover to cultivate a network of whistle-blowers in these trafficking networks. She’s revisited those impacted by the trade in a second documentary, What Happened to the Baby Stealers.

Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Lucinda Montefiore


TUE 11:00 Young Again (m001rgtq)
3. Jamie Oliver

In Young Again Kirsty Young asks her guests what advice they would give to their younger selves and in this episode Jamie Oliver shares with Kirsty the ups and downs of his career. Despite having always struggled with the written word he’s published 25 cookbooks and is one of the UK’s best-selling authors. His original dream was to run a country pub but his TV career took off and led to cookbooks, a restaurant chain and high-profile campaigns for better food. It’s been a life lived in public. If he could go back, would he do it all again? He talks to Kirsty candidly about whether he’d choose the life he’s got or swap it for a quiet life running a pub instead.

Producer: Sam Peach
Content Editor: Richard Hooper
Editor: Alice Feinstein
Senior Technical Producer: Duncan Hannant
Presenter: Kirsty Young

A BBC Audio Production


TUE 11:30 Poet Laureate in the Arctic (m001rgv5)
Episode 2

Simon Armitage is at the UK Arctic research station in Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard, by some measures the world's most northerly community. He spends time with research scientists working in the field to look at what's going on in this part of the globe, which is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet.

As he tours the base with geologist Jane Francis, CEO of the British Antarctic Survey, he is shown the colourful huts in which scientists from 11 different nations work on projects and long-term observation monitoring.

Geir Wing Gabrielsen, a senior research scientist at the Norwegian Polar Institute, has been studying the Atlantification of the Kongsfjorden in Svalbard in recent years. He discusses his work with the diminishing populations of northern seabirds such as fulmars and their consumption of large amounts of plastic in the water.

As well as experiencing the Arctic for himself and seeing what's happening there, Simon is trying to capture the majesty and vulnerability of this region in new poems written in response to what he finds.

With Professor Jane Francis, CEO the British Antarctic Survey
Iain Rudkin, station leader, the Natural Environment Research Council Arctic Research station
Professor Geir Wing Gabrielsen, Norwegian Polar Institute

Producer Susan Roberts


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m001rgvy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m001rgwc)
Call You & Yours: How are you going to pay your energy bills this winter?

Call You & Yours: How are you going to pay your energy bills this winter?

It's turning colder and many of us have flicked the heating on. It was a difficult winter for many of us last year, and this year energy bills are still just as high.

What financial decisions are you making this year to make sure you can pay your energy bill? Have you made changes to your lifestyle, cutting back on eating out, clothes shopping and trips away?

Have you changed how high you have your heating, or how long it's on for?

Some of us made changes to our homes to make them more energy efficient. Some of us bought thermal clothing, or bought portable heaters.

What changes did you make that have stuck for this year?

If you struggled to pay your bills did you get any help from your local authority or energy company? Have you been affected to changes in benefits - like the warm homes discount?

How are you going to pay your energy bills this winter?

You can call 03700 100 444 at 11am or email youandyours@bbc.co.uk

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: DAVE JAMES


TUE 12:57 Weather (m001rgwy)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m001rgxb)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


TUE 13:45 Understand (m001rrry)
Israel and the Palestinians

Israel and the Palestinians: 2. Israel

Katya Adler and guests explain the context of the conflict, exploring issues and history that will help you get to grips with what’s going on today. In this episode we'll look at what’s shaped modern Israel.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m001rgxl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Trust (m001rgxt)
Ep 2 - Situation Scarlet

Trust by Jonathan Hall
Ep 2 - Situation Scarlet
On the surface everything seems fine at East Salford Academy. Billy is coping with his treatment, the new computer system is in place and they have a student on the brink of getting into Oxford. So why does Yvette feel anxious all the time?

YVETTE ............................... JULIE HESMONDHALGH
TIM .......................................ASHLEY MARGOLIS
SIR KEN ............................. JONATHAN KEEBLE
CAROL.................................SUSAN TWIST
BILLY ....................................JASON DONE
MR KHAN/FAISAL ...........SUSHIL CHUDASAMA
ALEENA ............................. NATALIE DAVIES
STUDENTS.........................THEO ROBINSON
JAKE CROSS
ISOBEL ELKID
KATIE LEVER

Production Co-ordinator - Pippa Day
Technical Team - Sharon Hughes & Amy Brennan
Sound Design - Sharon Hughes
Producer/Director - Gary Brown.

A BBC Audio Drama North Production.


TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m001rgxz)
Series 36

Into the World

Visions and out of body experiences during birth and a name that stretches back through time - Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures about the experience of coming into the world.

Transition
Produced by Kalli Anderson and apè Aliermo
Featuring excerpts from SIMULA, an 8.2-channel sound installation by apè Aliermo and mixed and mastered by Rose Bolton.
This composition includes sound recorded during three anonymous births and electromagnetic sound recorded in a hospital during one of the births.
The voices you hear are Redzi Bernard, Becky Kenna, Amy Macfarlane and Andrea Gummo.

Hope is the thing with feathers
Produced by Nanna Hauge Kristensen
Originally broadcast, in a different version, on BBC Radio 3's Between the Ears

Loweza Ayazi
Featuring Nomkhubulwane Mnisi
Produced by Kagiso Mnisi

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


TUE 15:30 Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley (m0016xqm)
2. Madeleine Smith

Lucy Worsley investigates the crimes of Victorian women from a contemporary, feminist perspective.

In this episode, Lucy explores the case of a young lady called Madeleine Smith. Part of high society in Glasgow in the 1850s, she was living the ideal life, attending balls and concerts, promenading around the shopping districts and spending her summers at her family’s large country home.

But she was hiding a shameful secret - a clandestine love affair with a man ten years her senior and well below her station. His name was Pierre Emile L’Angelier, a warehouse clerk from Jersey. They met, wrote letters to each other regularly, and soon their relationship turned intimate. But when he found out she was soon to be married to a suitable match arranged by her parents, things turned sour.

While Madeleine was burning the letters she received from Pierre Emile, he kept hers and threatened to send them to her father to expose their relationship. In a panic, Madeleine begged to meet so he could return her letters.

On the evening of 22nd March 1857, Pierre Emile left his lodgings, allegedly to visit Madeleine. When he returned home, he became ill and died of arsenic poisoning. Police traced Madeleine through an entry in his diary, and she was arrested. She was put on trial for his murder and her letters, intended only for the eyes of her lover, were read out for all to hear.

Presenter Lucy Worsley is joined by award-winning crime writer Denise Mina to piece together this curious case. Was Madeleine a manipulative young woman who wanted a bit of fanciful fun before marriage? Or was she naïve and innocent, swept off her feet by a controlling older man? And was she guilty? Or was the outcome of her trial determined by her class, gender and societal expectations of women?

Together with historian Rosalind Crone from the Open University, they visit the alleged scene of the crime to investigate if Madeleine could have possibly poisoned Pierre Emile L’Angelier that fateful evening in 1857. Lucy and Rosalind also visit some of Madeleine’s real letters at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow learning that, perhaps, a younger upper middle class Victorian lady may not have been as prim and proper as history would have us believe.

Producer: Hannah Fisher
Readers: Clare Corbett and Jonathan Keeble
Sound Design: Chris Maclean

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 16:00 The Mandates (m001rgy3)
Retreat

Tom Bateman concludes his history of the French and British Mandates in the Middle East as he examines how events in the 1940s still reverberate today. Drawing on his years as a BBC Correspondent based in Jerusalem, Tom examines a period in the region’s history when the pressures of war and competing national claims pushed Britain to retreat from the Mandate. He reveals how, from political movements and movements of people to ideas and lines on maps, the decisions taken by France and Britain as their Mandates came to an end were foundational.

Producer: Giles Edwards.


TUE 16:30 A Good Read (m001rgtz)
Cornelia Parker and Jeremy Lee

Artist Cornelia Parker is with the chef Jeremy Lee and presenter Harriett Gilbert, to pick their all-time favourite books.

Cornelia chooses South by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the story of his extraordinary journey to Antarctica. Jeremy is a fan of the food writer Elizabeth David, and recommends her book of essays, Omelette and a Glass of Wine. Finally Harriett Gilbert suggests the novel Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie, centred on two American academics' escapades in London.

Cornelia has recently had solo shows at the Tate Britain and the Metropolitan Museum of New York; Jeremy is chef-proprietor of Quo Vadis restaurant in Soho and author of Cooking: Simply and Well, for One or Many.

Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc
Produced by Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio


TUE 17:00 PM (m001rgy8)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001rgyl)
There are growing calls for aid to be allowed into the territory


TUE 18:30 Best Medicine (m001rgyt)
Series 1

Cytosponge, Fresh Air, Showmanship, Alkaline Breathing

Best Medicine is your weekly dose of laughter, hope and incredible medicine. Award-winning comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean is joined by funny and fascinating comedians, doctors, scientists and historians to celebrate medicine’s inspiring past, present and future.

Each week, Kiri challenges her guests to make a case for what they think is 'the best medicine', and each of them champions anything from world-changing science to an obscure invention, an every-day treatment, an uplifting worldview, an unsung hero or a futuristic cure.

Whether it’s micro-robotic surgery, virtual reality syringes, Victorian clockwork surgical saws, more than a few ingenious cures for cancer, world-first lifesaving heart operations, epidurals, therapy, dancing, faith or laughter - it’s always something worth celebrating.

Joining Kiri this week are Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald OBE who demonstrates the Cytosponge test which detects throat cancer with a revolutionary pill on a string, Dr Jack Hartnell brings tales of surgical showmanship from the middle ages, comedian Thanyia Moore extols the virtues of alkaline breathing, and Dr Tolullah Oni explains how you treat an entire city like a patient.

Hosted by Kiri Pritchard-McLean

Featuring: Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald OBE, Dr Jack Hartnell, Thanyia Moore and Dr Tolullah Oni

Written by Laura Claxton, Edward Easton, Pravanya Pillay, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Nicky Roberts and Ben Rowse

Producer: Ben Worsfield

Assistant Producer: Tashi Radha

Executive Producer: Simon Nicholls

Theme tune composed by Andrew Jones

A Large Time production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m001rgz0)
Ian collars Oliver after a staff meeting at Grey Gables. Adil hasn’t returned and Oliver has had to firefight with various heads of department. Ian can’t believe Adil’s cheek but Oliver warns him about finger pointing as that won’t help anyone. Ian apologises and details to Oliver the changes that need to be made to the kitchen – it won’t be a quick fix. He also outlines the problems he’s heard in other parts of the hotel. Oliver searched Adil’s office but couldn’t understand anything in there.

Ian decompresses with Helen. The benefits he’s getting aren’t outweighing the level of stress he’s taken on. However, he’s not going to abandon Oliver and the team he’s building. Helen wants to know if any Grey Gables business for Bridge Farm is going to fall through.

Helen has to open a door to reduce the smell of Lee’s drying trainers which sets her on a train of complaints about Lee around the house. She feels like she complains about everything he does at the minute. Ian puts it down to what they’ve been through recently but Helen doesn’t think that’s it.

When Oliver enquires with Lynda about Adil, she says she’s not seen him. They go up to his room to see if he’s there. They find the room empty not only of Adil but also all of his belongings. A letter in a drawer addressed to Lynda from Adil says he’s had a family emergency. Both Lynda and Oliver feel for Adil’s circumstances. Meanwhile, what is to be done about Grey Gables?


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m001rgz9)
Front Row from Belfast with writer Paul Lynch and singer Cara Dillon

Two adaptations of Rhinoceros by Eugène Ionesco open this month, one in Belfast and a Welsh language adaptation in Cardiff. The adaptors Patrick J O’Reilly and Manon Steffan Ros both join Kathy Clugston to discuss how this 1950s play about the rise of Fascism speaks to audiences now.

Singer Cara Dillon is known globally for her interpretations of traditional Irish songs. As she performs at the Belfast International Arts Festival, she explains why she’s taking a new direction with her upcoming album, the first time she’s released an album of original songs.

In the first of Front Row’s interviews with the authors shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize, Paul Lynch talks about Prophet Song, his dystopian novel which imagines a future in which Ireland is in the grips of an oppressive regime.

And as Glasgow Museums say that they are unable to locate a sculpture by the French artist Auguste Rodin, arts correspondent Jan Patience explains that it may not be the only major work of art that’s gone missing.

Presenter: Kathy Clugston
Producer: Olivia Skinner


TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m001rgzl)
Wilko Town

The collapse of retail giant Wilko in September left 12,500 people out of work across the UK.

No area has been harder hit by the redundancies than the Nottinghamshire town of Worksop, where Wilko employed 1,200 people at its head office, shop and distribution centre.

Citizen's Advice has been helping those affected warning that debt in the town was at a record level before the collapse and has doubled since this time last year.

Reporter Jane Deith has been following the lives of several former Wilko staff as they attempt to find new jobs.

Producer: Matt Pintus
Reporter: Jane Deith
Technical Producer: Craig Boardman
Production Coordinators: Tim Fernley and Jordan King
Editor: Tara McDermott


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m001rgzw)
Blinded in Ukraine; Forza Motorsport

Vlad and Valeria Yeschenko are a young newly-wed Ukrainian couple. Vlad was clearing out and dismantling mines when one exploded, resulting in severe injuries, including the loss of his eyesight. The couple got married soon after Vlad's recovery. The BBC's senior international reporter, Orla Guerin visited the couple in their home at the edge of Kyiv to find out more about what happened and the impact that day has had on their lives. It is a story of war, loss, love, and a determination to help other people in the same boat, through the couple's charity 'Let's See the Victory'. This interview contains some graphic detail of injury.

On In Touch, we have been reporting for some time on the progress of video games becoming more accessible to blind people. The progress is slow but is surely happening and the most recent demonstration of this comes from a motor sport racing game called Forza Motorsport. This is thought to be the first blockbuster racing game accessible to the blind. Brandon Cole is a games accessibility consultant and he tells us about the features that allow blind and partially sighted people to grasp the throttle and get driving (virtually) .

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 Inside Health (m001rh04)
What's stopping us from exercising in older age?

Exercise in older age is high on the agenda, but the idea that with age comes bags of time and a desire to ‘get out there’ isn’t true for a lot of us. How do you juggle exercise around caring for partners, grandchildren or staying in work? What if you haven’t exercised for years? What can your body take, and how has it changed with age? James Gallagher hears how octogenarian athlete ‘Irongran’ keeps going, he explores the mental and physical barriers that stop us exercising, and he finds out what he might feel like in 40 years as he pulls on an ageing suit.

Presenter: James Gallagher

Guests:
Edwina Brocklesby, athete and founder of SilverFit
Dr Dan Gordon, Associate Professor in Cardiorespiratory Exercise Physiology, Anglia Ruskin University
Dr Katrina McDonald, judo specialist and Senior Lecturer in Sports and Exercise Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University
Dr Josephine Perry, sports psychologist and founder of Performance in Mind
Professor Cassandra Phoenix, Department of Sports and Exercise Sciences at the University of Durham
Dr Dharani Yerrakalva, GP and NIHR Doctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge

Producer: Tom Bonnett


TUE 21:30 Building Soul - with Thomas Heatherwick (m001rgrw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m001rh0h)
Hundreds feared dead in Gaza hospital strike

Hundreds are feared dead after a strike on an hospital in Gaza. We hear from a representative of the church which funds it. The authorities in Gaza have blamed Israel for the attack - but the Israeli government tells us it wasn't responsible.

The attack comes on the eve of President Joe Biden's visit to Israel. We'll ask whether the evening's events risk derailing his trip.

Also on the programme:

The 18-year-old who's gone from a pupil referral unit to Cambridge University.


TUE 22:45 The Midnight News by Jo Baker (m001rh0s)
Episode Two

It's 1940 and 20 year-old Charlotte Richmond watches from her attic window as enemy planes fly over London. Still grieving her beloved brother, who never returned from France, she is trying to keep herself out of trouble - holding down a typist job at the Ministry of Information, sharing gin and confidences with her best friend Elena, and dodging her overbearing father.

On her way to work she often sees the boy who feeds the birds - a source of unexpected joy amid the rubble of the Blitz. But every day brings new scenes of devastation and, after yet another heart breaking loss, Charlotte has an uncanny sense of foreboding. Someone is stalking the darkness, targeting her friends. And now he's following her.

As grief and suspicion consume her, Charlotte's nerves become increasingly frayed. She no longer knows who to trust. She can't even trust herself.

The Midnight News is a love story, a war story, and an unforgettable journey into the fragile mind and fierce heart of an extraordinary young woman.

Episode Two
After a night of heavy bombing, Charlotte spends an anxious Sunday checking on her friends.

Jo Baker is the author of bestselling Longbourn, the 'below the stairs' story of the Bennet household from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. She was born in Lancashire and educated at Oxford University and Queen's University Belfast and is also the author of The Body Lies; A Country Road, A Tree; The Undertow; The Telling; The Mermaid's Child; and Offcomer. She lives in Lancaster, England.

Writer: Jo Baker
Reader: Rachael Stirling
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producers: Caroline Raphael & Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 23:00 Call Jonathan Pie (p0fsyyfg)
Episode 9: NHS

It’s Pie’s birthday and he’s really rather depressed about it. Until that is Roger shows up with egg on his face. Literally. The show's topic is the state of the NHS but Pie seems obsessed with old age and death. When he is forced to reflect on his experiences of lockdown we discover that he had a more miserable time than most. Later he finally gets the chance to interview a junior health minister. Can he step up?

Jonathan Pie ..... Tom Walker

Jules ..... Lucy Pearman

Sam ..... Aqib Khan

Roger ..... Nick Revell

Agent ..... Daniel Abelson
Minister ..... Liz White


Voiceovers ..... Bob Sinfield and Rob Curling


Callers ... Ellie Dobing, Sarah Gabriel, Thanyia Moore, Jonathan Tafler.
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 Today in Parliament (m001rh1g)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

WEDNESDAY 18 OCTOBER 2023

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m001rh20)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


WED 00:30 Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein (m001rgsy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001rh2j)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001rh2z)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001rh3j)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 05:30 News Briefing (m001rh42)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001rh4j)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Julia Loveless, singer & writer

COMPARISON

Good morning.

Picture a small child opening a present on Christmas morning. They tear off the wrapping to find an incredible dolls house, complete with a little family and furniture. They are over the moon with excitement and joy - they start playing with it immediately. Their joy is still palpable as they run to their best friends’ house next door to tell them about their present. But as they enter, they see their friend unwrapping an even bigger dolls house. Immediately, the joy they felt unwrapping their present, evaporates.

This, my friends, may be a crude example, but it illustrates the power and danger of comparison. I think most of us, as adults, like to think that we are beyond childish comparison. We’ve grown out of it, surely. But one conversation with a friend who has a higher promotion, took a more exotic holiday or even just seems to laugh more than we do and we find our feet on that slippery slope down to disappointment and jealousy.

We seem to hold these invisible measuring sticks next to us and every time something in our life doesn’t measure up to what we see in another’s, we grind our teeth, complain and despair. The joy that we could have experienced, eludes us. Comparison is the thief of joy. And we, like naive homeowners, leave the door wide open for the robbery.

And yet the antidote is so simple; gratitude. Today I remember to give thanks for every aspect of my life. And like a shield against the temptation of comparison, I lift up my gratitude so that my joy may be secure. Amen.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m001rh4w)
18/10/23 Shetland trawlers, digital agriculture, Syrian farmer in Northern Ireland

Fishers in Shetland are warning lives will be lost unless authorities crack down on the alleged dangerous behaviour of some foreign vessels in the area.

All week we're looking at agricultural education; while some students choose to go down the traditional route, others are opting to go high-tech - into what some might call "digital agriculture".

We hear how Syrian refugee, Wejdan Ghazal, has been growing her own fruit and veg, with the help of a community vegetable project, near Strangford in County Down.

Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04hkxg2)
Variable Pitohui

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

Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the poisonous variable pitohui from New Guinea. This jay sized, black-and-tan bird hides a dark secret. Named for their voice, pitohui is a representation of their song and 'variable' refers to their plumage colour which varies across their range. What is striking about this bird is that it is poisonous: its skin and feathers contain powerful neurotoxic alkaloids similar to those of South American poison-dart frogs. For the pitohui, this chemical defence is unlikely to be fatal to predators which prey on them; rather it discourages further attacks. People who've handled have suffered burning sensations in the mouth, numbness in fingers and bouts of sneezing. It is not recommended.

Producer : Andrew Dawes


WED 06:00 Today (m001rh0d)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Life Changing (m001rh12)
Dead calm

When Will Darby left school in 2007 his peers all headed to university but Will wanted something different so he went travelling in search of remote, unknown, and unridden waves to surf. Will built himself an idyllic life in the Solomon Islands but after just a few weeks everything came crashing down in an event that would create a lifelong bond with the island and its inhabitants.


WED 09:30 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m001rh1k)
Practise Pilates

It’s a low-impact, low-intensity exercise that can make you stronger, more flexible, and benefit your posture and balance. It’s proven to reduce lower back pain and it can even enhance your exercise performance! No surprise that tennis star Andy Murray uses it in his training routine. In this episode, Pilates expert Professor Ruth Melo from the University of San Paulo reveals all about the benefits of Pilates on our cardiovascular endurance, core strength and healthy ageing. Meanwhile, Michael challenges keen tennis player Rambali to take up Pilates and see if he can improve his serve.

New episodes will be released on Wednesdays, but if you’re in the UK, listen to new episodes, a week early, first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3zqa6BB

Producer: Nija Dalal-Small
Science Producer: Catherine Wyler
Assistant Producer: Gulnar Mimaroglu
Trainee Assistant Producer: Toni Arenyeka
Executive Producer:: Zoe Heron
A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.


WED 09:45 Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein (m001rh3c)
3: Survival

Daniel Finkelstein continues the heartrending memoir of his parents' experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during WWII, this week focusing on the story of his father's family at the hands of Stalin.

Daniel's father Ludwik was born in the Polish city of Lwow, now Lviv, the only child of a prosperous Jewish family. In 1939, after Hitler and Stalin carved up Poland, the family was rounded up by the communists. His grandfather Dolu was arrested and disappeared, while his father and grandmother were sent to Siberia, working as slave labourers on a collective farm. They somehow survived starvation and freezing winters, living in a house they built from cow dung, but always hoping to be reunited with Dolu.

Today: as winter approaches in Siberia, Daniel's grandmother and father fight for survival. But the course of the war is about to shift, and with it their fortunes...

Written and read by Daniel Finkelstein
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001rh2k)
Coleen Rooney, Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves MP, Poet Becky Hemsley.

If the current polls are to be believed the next chancellor of the exchequer could be a woman. That woman would be Rachel Reeves, the current shadow chancellor and the MP for Leeds West. Originally from Lewisham, South London, she attended a state school, made it to Oxford University then into the world of finance working as an economist for the Bank of England. Labour have yet to announce their manifesto and detailed costed policies to put to the electorate, but we can examine the philosophy behind Labour’s economic thinking because Rachel has just published her latest book, The Women Who made Modern Economics, and hear how they have influenced her own thinking.

In October 2019, Coleen Rooney posted on social media that she had been concerned by articles appearing in newspapers that could only have come from stories on her private Instagram account. So she laid a trap for the account she suspected of the leak, and then told the world ‘It was…Rebekah Vardy’s account’. Immediately dubbed ‘Wagatha Christie’ - Rebekah Vardy, who continues to deny she was the source of those stories, sued Coleen for libel. A High Court judge ruled in Coleen Rooney’s favour last year and she is now putting her side of the story in a documentary series on Disney Plus called Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story. She speaks to Emma Barnett in a radio exclusive interview. 

British poet Becky Hemsley has self-published four collections of her work and has been top of the Amazon poetry chart twice now - most recently around International Women's Day last March. Originally a primary school teacher, she now focuses solely on her poetry. She joins Emma to explain why and to perform some of her poetry live.

Presented by Emma Barnett
Producer: Louise Corley
Studio Engineer: Bob Nettles


WED 11:00 Wiki Wars (m001ng9j)
For many of us, Wikipedia our first point of call for information. But how much do we really know about who and what controls the content on the site?

BBC Click's Lara Lewington dives into a world of hoaxes, false accusations, disinformation and bitter disputes to find out.

With Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, journalist Eric Newton, sociologist and researcher Francesca Tripodi, co-founder of WhoseKnowledge Anasuya Sengupta, Dr James Heilman, Wikipedia Editor MJ, and Justin Shillock and Michael Wiseman, the creators of an infamous Wiki hoax.

Presenter: Lara Lewington
Producer: Leigh Meyer
Idea development: Isaac Fisher
Executive Producer: Katherine Godfrey
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4


WED 11:30 Any Questions? (m001r7x7)
Any Questions on... the Welfare State

This month, Any Questions turns 75. To mark the occasion, Alex Forsyth is joined by guests to discuss how the way panellists debate has changed - how language, attitudes and perspectives have shifted throughout the programme's history. How have our fears and preoccupations shifted? Are arguments made differently now?

The world into which Any Questions emerged saw the state taking a more active role in providing for the population than ever before. In the first programme of the series, Alex turns her attention to the welfare state. She's joined by former Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Lamont and Contributing Editor at Novara Media Ash Sarkar, along with former Any Questions presenter and BBC Political Editor Chris Mason. Together, they delve into the Any Questions archive, hearing snippets from the programme at crucial points over the last 75 years. The four examine how expectations of the role of the state in supporting society have evolved and explore how debate about benefits has changed.

Presenter: Alex Forsyth
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Assistant Producer: Jo Peacey


WED 12:00 News Summary (m001rh3t)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m001rh3l)
Scam a Scammer; Affordable Art; Scrappage Scheme

People lose money to scams every day, as featured on You and Yours week in week out. But in this episode we have a story of how one savvy woman played the scammers at their own game and managed to get her money back after tricking them into believing they'd be caught it they didn't.

We delve into the world of affordable art which has been growing since the pandemic - and find out how far £500 will get you.

Plus there are bumps in the road for the Transport for London's car scrappage scheme. We'll hear from one disgruntled Londoner plus Ginny Buckley from electric car website Electrifying, on where the problems might lie.

PRESENTER: PETER WHITE
PRODUCER: CATHERINE EARLAM


WED 12:57 Weather (m001rh45)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m001rh4l)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


WED 13:45 Understand (m001rv0y)
Israel and the Palestinians

Israel and the Palestinians: 3. Hamas

What is Hamas, what do they stand for and what do they want now? As part of our series explaining the context of today’s conflict, Katya Adler and guests take a closer look at the group responsible for orchestrating the recent attacks on Israel. They are regarded as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and the UK, but how are they seen by Palestinians? As well as being a militant group and an Islamist movement, they are in charge of governing more than two million people in the Gaza Strip. How did they come into being and what are they hoping to achieve?


WED 14:00 The Archers (m001rgz0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Fault Lines: Money, Sex and Blood (m0013rrt)
Series 3: Blood

Confessions

Fault Lines: Blood
Confessions by Michael Simmons Roberts
Constance is trying to find the murderer amongst her family. Could it be the husband of her beloved niece Celeste, the saintly Richard? Just before he left the priesthood, Constance unburdened her soul during several confessions. What secrets has she told him? Could this be the trigger for the murder?
Constance........................Glenda Jackson
Richard...............................Matthew Gravelle
Celeste...............................Melody Grove
Director/Producer Gary Brown
Sound Design Simon Highfield
A BBC Audio Drama North Production.

Matthew Gravelle won Best Supporting Actor in the 2022 BBC Audio Drama Awards for his role in this drama.


WED 15:00 Money Box (m001rh4y)
Money Box Live: Digital Divide

Just how much does technology impact your finances?

Do you search for the best deals on your laptop or phone? Perhaps you keep track of your money through online banking.

As many as 40% of people in the UK feel they cannot keep up with newer technology according to the charity the Good Things Foundation.

And not being online can cost you money, over £1,000 a year, according to Hargreaves Lansdown.

This week we've been out to meet people learning how to take on tech for the first time and Felicity Hannah is joined by Helen Milner, CEO of Good Things Foundation and Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown to answer your calls and questions.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Sarah Rogers
Editor: Jess Quayle

(This episode was first broadcast 3pm on Wednesday the 18th of October, 2023)


WED 15:30 Inside Health (m001rh04)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m001rh59)
The Grave - Memorial Benches

THE GRAVE AND MEMORIAL BENCHES: Laurie Taylor talks to Allison C. Meier, New York based researcher, about how burial sites have transformed over time. Whilst the grave may be a final destination, it is not the great leveller, and permanency is always a privilege with the indigent and unidentified frequently being interred in mass graves. So what is the future of burial with the rise of cremation, green burial, and new practices like human composting? Can existing spaces of death be returned to community life?

Also, Anne Karpf, Professor of Life Writing and Culture at London Metropolitan University, explores the phenomenon of the memorial bench. Despite the proliferation of online spaces for memorialising a person who has died, there is a growing demand for physical commemorations in places that were meaningful to them, as evidenced by the waiting-lists for memorial benches in sought-after spots. Do such memorials constitute a ‘living obituary’, a celebration of seemingly undistinguished lives, beyond the grave?

Producer: Jayne Egerton


WED 16:30 The Media Show (m001rh5l)
Gaza hospital blast: searching for the facts

The deadly explosion at a hospital in Gaza raises many questions about how the media is covering the Israel Gaza war. Ros Atkins talks to senior executives from Reuters, BBC and AFP about how news organisations should report claims being made by both sides. We consider the terms of engagement for journalists after a Reuters video journalist was killed in a strike in Lebanon, and hear what it's like reporting on Hamas.

Alessandra Galloni, Editor in Chief, Reuters; Phil Chetwynd, Global News Director, AFP news agency; Richard Burgess, Director of News Content, BBC News; Emily Bell, Director, Tow Center for Digital Journalism; Isobel Yeung, foreign correspondent.

Presenter: Ros Atkins
Producer: Simon Richardson


WED 17:00 PM (m001rh5t)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001rh68)
The President of United States was speaking at the end of a visit to Tel Aviv


WED 18:30 Daliso Chaponda: Citizen of Nowhere (m001rh6h)
Series 4

2. '... so I decided to date an AI...'

In this new series, Daliso is in a more philosophical mood. We find him working through his thoughts, feelings, and opinions by sharing his stories with a live audience in his hometown of Manchester.

Episode 2 - 'So I decided to date an AI'

Unlucky in love, Daliso tries dating an AI. In this second episode Daliso takes us on a journey through his relationship history whilst sharing his thoughts on how technology and Artificial Intelligence are changing our lives.

Writer... Daliso Chaponda
Additional Material... Meryl O'Rourke
Production Coordinator... Katie Baum
Sound Manger... Jerry Peal

Theme music by Lawi
Image by Steve Ullathorne

Producer... Carl Cooper

This is a BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.

--
Daliso Chaponda shot to fame on Britain’s Got Talent, making it to the final of the 2017 series and establishing himself as a firm favourite with the judges and the British public. He became a Facebook and YouTube star amassing over 200 million views of his performances. He's also appeared on the Royal Variety Performance.

He has performed around the world and at the Edinburgh, Melbourne, Singapore, and Cape Town comedy festivals. He has also toured the UK and Africa to sell out audiences and rave reviews.

In addition to stand-up comedy, Daliso is also a prolific fiction writer. He has published science fiction, murder mysteries and fantasy fiction in numerous magazines, and anthologies. He is currently working on his new novel and a children’s book.

This is this fourth series of his Rose D'Or nominated Radio 4 series.


WED 19:00 The Archers (m001rgxn)
Pip and Stella have breakfast together. Pip thinks they should go to the Grey Gables ball, and they plan to look for matching suits to wear. Pip visits Lynda to secure tickets and helps her manhandle a pumpkin. Pip tells Lynda that she and Stella are attending together. Lynda compliments them and thinks back to how she and Robert fell in love.

Helen accosts Oliver to seek certainty over what Bridge Farm will be supplying to Grey Gables. She has finalised bespoke packaging and a new logo now. If Grey Gables doesn’t open it’s really bad news for Bridge Farm. Oliver can only apologise. He assures her they will open but may be delayed with so many teething problems. Helen is conscious of adding to Oliver’s stress. He looks exhausted.

Lynda tracks down Oliver who’s discovered the hot water isn’t working in the hotel bedrooms. It’s just one of many issues – no wonder Adil was feeling the strain. Oliver’s feeling overwhelmed by what still needs to be done. He decides that the gala opening has to be cancelled as there’s no way they’ll be ready on time.

Pip’s gutted that the Grey Gables Ball has been cancelled. Lynda goes to talk to Jolene and Kenton about reinstating the village Bonfire Night. Stella and Pip set their sights on going to that instead. Then Pip raises the idea of living together but Stella doesn’t want to rush. They share a cuddle.

Helen’s on the phone to Pat while filling the washing machine. She finds a can of red paint in Henry’s P.E. kit. Oh no, it was Henry!


WED 19:15 Front Row (m001rh6m)
Bonnie Langford performs Sondheim, film director Maysoon Pachachi, the portrayal of nuns in culture

Musical theatre legend Bonnie Langford performs Stephen Sondheim's I'm Still Here from the musical Follies, in tribute to the late composer and lyricist. The actress, singer and dancer reflects on her career from West End child star to appearing in Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, the starry revue show running at London's Gielgud Theatre.

Documentary filmmaker Maysoon Pachachi makes her feature film debut with Our River…Our Sky, set in Baghdad during the winter of 2006, three years after the US-led invasion. Maysoon’s film reflects on how those who remained tried to get on with their lives in a city riven by sectarian violence.

“Nuns are always box office, aren’t they?” said film director Michael Powell and he was right. His 1947 classic Black Narcissus, about missionary nuns in the Himalayas, is being screened around the country; The Sound of Music ran at Chichester Festival Theatre over the summer and midwife nuns will soon return to our screens in Call the Midwife. Critic David Benedict and Samira Ahmed discuss the attraction and importance of nuns in art.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Paula McGrath


WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m001rh6r)
Are prisons doing more harm than good?

The UK’s prisons are full, their corridors are understaffed and their Victorian buildings are crumbling. The answer, at least at the moment, is to lock up fewer criminals. The justice secretary has announced plans this week to phase out short sentences – anything less than 12 months - because they produce “hardened criminals rather than rehabilitated offenders.”

Prison reformers have long argued that short sentences don’t work anyway, citing a reoffending rate of over 50%. Others believe that the justice system is already too soft. Community sentences, they insist, send out the wrong message to criminals and open the door to further lawbreaking. Who should and who shouldn’t go to prison?

There’s a wider question; are prisons upholding or undermining justice? Reform campaigners say that prisons are failing both society and the prisoners themselves. The best outcome for everyone is the rehabilitation of criminals, and if that isn’t possible inside prison, it should be explored outside. Others see the redemption of criminals as secondary to justice for their victims and protection for their communities.

Depending on how people see it, prisons are either too harsh or too lax. How should the justice system decide whether to wield the carrot or the stick? Can punishment itself be a necessary step towards rehabilitation? Or is prison too often a futile expression of collective vengeance?

Are prisons doing more harm than good?

Producer: Dan Tierney.


WED 21:00 When It Hits the Fan (m001rh6w)
Captain Tom's family, Barclays and the Grand National

In this episode, David Yelland and Simon Lewis discuss the decision of Captain Tom’s family to enter the lion’s den in a TV interview with Piers Morgan in a bid to clear their name.

Also, they chat about the public relations problems at Barclays Bank, and a leaf straight out of the PR playbook from the Jockey Club.

A Raconteur production for BBC Radio 4


WED 21:30 The Media Show (m001rh5l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m001rh73)
President Biden says he has brokered deal on Gaza aid

What open source data reveals about the deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital

Former national security adviser HR McMaster on the risks of regional escalation


WED 22:45 The Midnight News by Jo Baker (m001rh79)
Episode Three

It's 1940 and 20 year-old Charlotte Richmond watches from her attic window as enemy planes fly over London. Still grieving her beloved brother, who never returned from France, she is trying to keep herself out of trouble - holding down a typist job at the Ministry of Information, sharing gin and confidences with her best friend Elena, and dodging her overbearing father.

On her way to work she often sees the boy who feeds the birds - a source of unexpected joy amid the rubble of the Blitz. But every day brings new scenes of devastation and, after yet another heart breaking loss, Charlotte has an uncanny sense of foreboding. Someone is stalking the darkness, targeting her friends. And now he's following her.

As grief and suspicion consume her, Charlotte's nerves become increasingly frayed. She no longer knows who to trust. She can't even trust herself.

The Midnight News is a love story, a war story, and an unforgettable journey into the fragile mind and fierce heart of an extraordinary young woman.

Episode Three
Charlotte endures lunch with her Father.

Jo Baker is the author of bestselling Longbourn, the 'below the stairs' story of the Bennet household from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. She was born in Lancashire and educated at Oxford University and Queen's University Belfast and is also the author of The Body Lies; A Country Road, A Tree; The Undertow; The Telling; The Mermaid's Child; and Offcomer. She lives in Lancaster, England.

Writer: Jo Baker
Reader: Rachael Stirling
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producers: Caroline Raphael & Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:00 Njambi McGrath (m001rh7j)
Njambi McGrath - Black Black

2. The White Man's Burden

Comedian Njambi McGrath considers how language, education and religion were all weaponised by the British colonisers, obliterating their narrative.

Originally from Kenya but living in London with her white husband and British children for over a decade, Njambi McGrath finds herself in a tricky position, quite literally in bed with the coloniser!

Exploring the past to find answers for the present, she compares her grandmother’s life under imperialist Britain, with the rise of Nazism and fascism, to her own political climate... with Nazism, and fascism once again on the rise.

With a penchant for incisive one-liners, she challenges our ideas about race and progress and takes on everything from colonialism and culture wars, to coronations and the church.

Produced by Julia Sutherland
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:15 The Skewer (m001rh7p)
Series 10

Episode 2

Jon Holmes's comedy current affairs concept album remixes news into award-winning satirical shapes. This week - An Arse on a Plate, Corbyn Neutral, and Peter Bone-y M.

Created and produced by Jon Holmes

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001rh7t)
Susan Hulme reports on a sombre Prime Minister's Questions.

THURSDAY 19 OCTOBER 2023

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m001rh7y)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


THU 00:30 Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein (m001rh3c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001rh82)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001rh86)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001rh8b)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 05:30 News Briefing (m001rh8g)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001rh8n)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Julia Loveless, singer & writer

ATTENTION

Good morning.

About a year ago, I invested in an old school alarm clock. Before that purchase I, like many others, was using my smart phone as my alarm each morning. Innocent enough, but it is a habit that has ripple effects and I wanted to shake those off.

Our phones can so easily become the last thing we put down at night and the first thing we pick up in the morning. In our homes, our living rooms are orientated entirely around our TVs, chairs and sofas all pointed towards it as if the TV itself is the thing holding court. You don’t have to look twice to recognise the digital carnivore that is prowling our lives these days.

In a world where our time and attention is for sale to the highest bidder, it is even more important to guard our minds against the addictive pull. And, to proactively choose to give our attention to life-giving things. I cannot think of one instance where I stopped scrolling and thought to myself “oh, I just feel so encouraged and refreshed and full.”

There is a wide and beautiful world out there – often enhanced and complimented by technology - but we have an important and powerful choice in what we choose to give our attention to. As it says in the book of Philippians, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.”

Help me choose wisely today and only give my attention away with care. Amen.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m001rh8t)
19/10/23 Welsh farming budget; Scottish floods; Drone course

Farmers are warning that cuts to the rural affairs budget in Wales are a significant blow which puts environmental targets at risk. The Farmers Union of Wales and NFU Cymru have both criticised the Welsh Government, which in an emergency budget announced cuts across departments. About 8% of the rural affairs budget, will go, that is around £37 and a half million.

Farmers in Scotland are bracing themselves for more bad weather. The Met office is forecasting 'unprecedented levels of rain'. This follows hard on the heels of heavy rain and flooding in Argyll, Aberdeenshire and Tayside when fields with crops were submerged for days.

Drones are already being used for photography and surveying farms, and drones which spray aren't far behind. Harper Adams is the first university to offer a qualification in using drones for agriculture. We meet the people running the course and the people learning how to operate them.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0gsc)
Saddleback

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

Liz Bonnin presents the formerly widespread saddleback of New Zealand. It's loud, piping and whistling calls once resounded throughout New Zealand's forests, but now the saddleback is heard only on smaller offshore islands. This is a bird in exile. About the size of a European blackbird, saddlebacks are predominantly black with a rust-coloured saddle-shaped patch on their backs. In Maori culture this mark came from the demi-God Maui who, after trying to catch the sun, asked the saddleback to fetch water. The bird refused, so hot-handed Maui grabbed it and left a scorch mark on the bird's back. As well as this chestnut saddle, the bird has two bright red wattles at the base of its beak which it can dilate when it displays. It also has an extensive vocabulary and one of its calls has earned it the Maori name –"Ti-e-ke".

Producer : Andrew Dawes


THU 06:00 Today (m001rgrn)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m001rgs4)
Julian of Norwich

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the anchoress and mystic who, in the late fourteenth century, wrote about her visions of Christ suffering, in a work since known as Revelations of Divine Love. She is probably the first named woman writer in English, even if questions about her name and life remain open. Her account is an exploration of the meaning of her visions and is vivid and bold, both in its imagery and theology. From her confined cell in a Norwich parish church, in a land beset with plague, she dealt with the nature of sin and with the feminine side of God, and shared the message she received that God is love and, famously, that all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.

With

Katherine Lewis
Professor of Medieval History at the University of Huddersfield

Philip Sheldrake
Professor of Christian Spirituality at the Oblate School of Theology, Texas and Senior Research Associate of the Von Hugel Institute, University of Cambridge

And

Laura Kalas
Senior Lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Swansea University

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Reading list:

John H. Arnold and Katherine Lewis (eds.), A Companion to the Book of Margery Kempe (D.S. Brewer, 2004)

Ritamary Bradley, Julian’s Way: A Practical Commentary on Julian of Norwich (Harper Collins, 1992)

E. Colledge and J. Walsh (eds.), Julian of Norwich: Showings (Classics of Western Spirituality series, Paulist Press, 1978)

Liz Herbert McAvoy (ed.), A Companion to Julian of Norwich (D.S. Brewer, 2008)

Liz Herbert McAvoy, Authority and the Female Body in the Writings of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe (D.S. Brewer, 2004)

Grace Jantzen, Julian of Norwich: Mystic and Theologian (new edition, Paulist Press, 2010)

Julian of Norwich (trans. Barry Windeatt), Revelations of Divine Love (Oxford World's Classics, 2015)

Julian of Norwich (ed. Nicholas Watson and Jacqueline Jenkins), The Writings of Julian of Norwich: A Vision Showed to a Devout Woman and a Revelation of Love, (Brepols, 2006)

Laura Kalas, Margery Kempe’s Spiritual Medicine: Suffering, Transformation and the Life-Course (D.S. Brewer, 2020)

Laura Kalas and Laura Varnam (eds.), Encountering the Book of Margery Kempe (Manchester University Press, 2021)

Laura Kalas and Roberta Magnani (eds.), Women in Christianity in the Medieval Age: 1000-1500 (Routledge, forthcoming 2024)

Ken Leech and Benedicta Ward (ed.), Julian the Solitary (SLG, 1998)

Denise Nowakowski Baker and Sarah Salih (ed.), Julian of Norwich’s Legacy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009)

Joan M. Nuth, Wisdom’s Daughter: The Theology of Julian of Norwich (Crossroad Publishing, 1999)

Philip Sheldrake, Julian of Norwich: “In God’s Sight”: Her Theology in Context (Wiley-Blackwell, 2019)

E. Spearing (ed.), Julian of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love (Penguin Books, 1998)

Denys Turner, Julian of Norwich, Theologian (Yale University Press, 2011)

Wolfgang Riehle, The Secret Within: Hermits, Recluses and Spiritual Outsiders in Medieval England (Cornell University Press, 2014)

Caroline Walker Bynum, Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages (University of California Press, 1982)

Ann Warren, Anchorites and their Patrons in Medieval England (University of California Press, 1985)

Hugh White (trans.), Ancrene Wisse: Guide for Anchoresses (Penguin Classics, 1993)


THU 09:45 Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein (m001rgsn)
4: Gulag

Daniel Finkelstein continues his heartrending memoir of his parents' experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during WWII, this week focusing on the story of his father's family at the hands of Stalin.

Daniel's father Ludwik was born in the Polish city of Lwow, now Lviv, the only child of a prosperous Jewish family. In 1939, after Hitler and Stalin carved up Poland, the family was rounded up by the communists. His grandfather Dolu was arrested and disappeared, while his 10-year-old father and grandmother were sent to Siberia, working as slave labourers on a collective farm. They somehow survived starvation and freezing winters, living in a house they built from cow dung, but always hoping to be reunited with Dolu.

Today: after his arrest, Daniel's grandfather is transported to a gulag on the edge of the Artic Circle. Survival, he knows, is virtually impossible...

Written and read by Daniel Finkelstein
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001rgt5)
Dr Lisa Cameron MP, Saffron Coomber & Yero Timi Biu, Julia Fox, IVF add-ons

Dr Lisa Cameron was the SNP MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow from 2015 until a week ago when she decided to join the Conservative Party. She has described the move as equivalent to leaving an abusive marriage. In her first radio interview since her defection, she joins Emma Barnett to discuss what led to her making this decision.

Listeners who have been through IVF treatment will be familiar the extra – and often very expensive – add-on services that many clinics recommend. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the fertility regulator, has now launched a ratings system to let patients see which add-ons are backed-up by evidence. Strikingly, not one of them has been given the highest "green" rating. Professor Tim Child chairs the HFEA's Scientific and Clinical Advances Advisory Committee. Jessica Hepburn spent over £70,000 on unsuccessful fertility procedures and now campaigns about the fertility industry. They joined Emma to discuss.

Three Little Birds is a new ITV series written by Lenny Henry which follows three women who emigrate from Jamaica to England in the 1950s - post-Windrush. The series is inspired by the stories of Lenny Henry’s family who, although had positive experiences of being helped as new arrivals, also shared accounts of physical and racial abuse when they reached the UK. Saffron Coomber who plays ‘Chantrelle’ and director Yero Timi Biu talk about the show.

Julia Fox is an actor, artist and fashion icon, as famous for her breakout role in the film Uncut Gems as she is for her spectacular avant-garde fashion choices. She became tabloid fodder after a brief relationship with Kanye West. Her memoir Down the Drain describes a troubled childhood of sex, drugs and abusive relationships in Italy and New York. She tells Emma how her high-fashion image allows her to escape the male gaze.

Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood.


THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (m001rgtl)
Afghan migrants in limbo in Pakistan

Kate Adie presents stories from Pakistan, Germany, Portugal, Senegal and the United States.

Pakistan's government has issued an order for illegal migrants to leave the country by the beginning of November - which includes around 1.7m Afghans, according to official figures. Among the many caught in the middle are nearly 2,000 Afghans who risked their lives working with or for British Armed Forces during the war in Afghanistan. They’ve been promised visas by the British government that would allow them to resettle in the UK, but many now fear they will be forced to return to Afghanistan, to an uncertain future. Caroline Davies has been speaking to them.

Recent state elections in Germany showed a clear rise in support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD. The results have sent shock-waves across Germany, as Damien McGuinness found out.

An ancient farming village in the Portuguese mountains is fighting plans for an open-cast lithium mine on its doorstep. The lithium would be used for electric car batteries, as part of Europe’s green energy transition. But local villagers say the mine will damage their environment, and their way of life. As Europe tries to reduce its dependence on China for lithium imports, the outcome of this dispute is being watched closely, as Caroline Bayley reports.

In Senegal, many parents send their sons to study and live in Islamic schools called daaras, often because they cannot afford to raise them themselves. While many daaras provide good education and care, some subject their pupils to abuse and neglect, or force them to beg in the streets. Sam Bradpiece travelled to the capital, Dakar to investigate the story.

Although Hollywood’s writers have recently ended their five-month strike, the actors strike continues. Virtually all Hollywood film and TV production has stalled, and negotiations last week ended without agreement. David Willis has been covering the story.

Producer: Viv Jones
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman

(Image: Afghan refugees getting ready to leave Karachi following the Pakistani government's decision to deport those illegally staying in the country. Karachi, Pakistan on 06 October 2023. Credit: Sabir Mazhar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)


THU 11:30 A Good Read (m001rgtz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


THU 12:00 News Summary (m001rgvg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 You and Yours (m001rgw0)
Gap Finders - Mariella Satow from Sign Up Captions

Like most of us, Mariella Satow turned to TV and films to help with the upheaval of lockdown. But her reason for doing so was slightly different. Describing her GCSEs as effectively "cancelled", she wanted to use the extra time on her hands to learn sign language. She thought she could do this by watching some of her favourite titles online. However she quickly found that while the streamers offered audio in 40 languages none of them provided any sort of sign language.

This led her to spot a gap in the market. Following conversations with the deaf community and money saved up from dog walking, she paid coders and an interpreter to create Sign Up Captions.

This is a browser extension that allows deaf viewers to experience sign language interpreters in sync with the pictures. She was 17 at the time and not even her parents knew what she was doing until she launched it 2021.

Originally aimed at deaf children in the US who wanted to watch Disney films its grown to 150 films and TV show episodes. 20,000 people use it each week. Its expanded into the UK and India with Australia next.

But its not always been easy. We get an insight into what its like negotiating with the streaming platforms to try and get them to pay for this. We also find out the mistakes she made in launching a business and getting the right staff.

Now based in California where she is a student, we also found out why she thinks subtitles aren't enough, whether she sees AI as a threat and why she thinks accessibility should be serious business rather than simply "a nice thing to do".

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Julian Paszkiewicz


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m001rgwh)
Motion Sickness Remedies

Greg Foot gets queasy in the name of science as he investigates the range of products promising to help with motion sickness.

Do the pills, wristbands or breathing techniques which claim to stop you from feeling sick on planes, trains and automobiles actually work?

To find out, Greg heads to Professor John Golding's laboratory at the University of Westminster where a spinning chair is used to induce symptoms of motion sickness.

Why don't scientifically-proven treatments always work for everyone?

If you’ve seen an ad, trend or fad relating to another consumer product and wonder if there’s any evidence to back up a claim, then email us: sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send a voice note to our WhatsApp number: 07543 306807

Sliced Bread is a BBC Audio North production for Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

PRESENTER: Greg Foot
PRODUCER: Jon Douglas


THU 12:57 Weather (m001rgwz)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m001rgxc)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


THU 13:45 Understand (m001rv15)
Israel and the Palestinians

Israel and the Palestinians: 4. The neighbours

How do Lebanon, Hezbollah, Egypt and Jordan view Israel and the Palestinians? Katya Adler explains the history of the formation of Hezbollah and the role it plays in the region. The US, UK and EU have designated Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist organisation but how is it viewed in Lebanon and the region? We take a tour of this Middle Eastern neighbourhood to set out the relationships that could determine the future of the conflict.


THU 14:00 The Archers (m001rgxn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Broken Colours (m001g2y3)
Series 2

Episode 1

At the end of Season 1 of Matthew Broughton’s thriller, young artist Jess rescued her boyfriend Dan from gang leader, Joe Magner. But in the process, she accidentally shot and killed Magner.

Dan wants to make a new start and move away from the corruption and violence of gang life. And Jess is trying to be supportive, but there’s something that keeps pulling her back to the criminal world.

As Jess learns how to tune into her synaesthesia – she sees sound as colour and pattern – it’s clear that there’s a widening perception gap between her and Dan. And no one’s talking about Ronnie Vaz. Who’s vanished from the face of the earth.

Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton, creator of podcast drama Tracks.

CAST

Jess…..Holli Dempsey
Dan…..Josef Altin
Molly…..Molly Pepper Tuer
Man…..Dean Rehman
Melissa…..Alexandria Riley

Directed by Emma Harding

Production co-ordinators Eleri McAuliffe and Lindsay Rees
Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis
Produced by John Norton, Philippa Swallow and Emma Harding for BBC Audio Drama Wales


THU 15:00 Ramblings (m001rgxv)
Boxing on the beach at Ainsdale

Rose Mac moved to the North West from London a year ago and is constantly delighted by the nature and walking possibilities of her new home. Ainsdale Nature Reserve houses a rare species of sand lizard as well as natterjack toads. A walk through the pine woodland close to the town's railway station brings you out into beautiful sand dunes and a massive expanse of beach with views of Blackpool Tower to the North and on a clear day the Isle of Man to the west. Rose enthusiastically shows Clare her new home territory and gives her an impromptu boxing lesson on Ainsdale Beach. She says people are becoming increasingly drawn to exercising on UK beaches. Tai chi and yoga work particularly well outdoors and Rose says there's something magical about watching the sunset whilst exercising.
The long walk along the beach is a workout in itself because of the sand underfoot.

Producer: Maggie Ayre


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m001rgrk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Open Book (m001rgy0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:00 Any Questions? (m001rgz8)
Any Questions On... Russia

This month, Any Questions turns 75. To mark the occasion, Alex Forsyth is joined by guests to discuss how the way panellists debate has changed - how language, attitudes and perspectives have shifted throughout the programme's history. How have our fears and preoccupations shifted? Are arguments made differently now?

This time, Alex turns her attention to Russia. She's joined by Dame Margaret Beckett and Peter Hitchens, along with former Any Questions presenter Jonathan Dimbleby. Together, they delve into the Any Questions archive, hearing snippets from the programme at crucial points over the last 75 years. The four examine how discussion of Russia and Russians has evolved over the lifetime of the programme.

Presenter: Alex Forsyth
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Assistant Producer: Jo Peacey


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m001rgzm)
White phosphorus

White phosphorous is an incendiary material and if it were to be used in any built-up civilian areas, the practice would violate international law. We find out what makes white phosphorus so dangerous, and we ask how easy is it to identify? Andrea Sella, professor of chemistry at University College London, grants access to his laboratory and conducts an experiment with this highly flammable and volatile substance.

Whole words and phrases from crushed and carbonised scrolls can be read for the first time in almost two thousand years. The documents, uncovered from Herculaneum, an ancient Roman town close to Pompeii which was buried under volcanic ash, have been made legible thanks to 3D scans and artificial intelligence. Dr. Federica Nicolardi, a papyrologist at the University of Naples, tells us more about this exciting discovery.

Kate Zernike discusses her book The Exceptions, which tells the story of a group of 16 women who used their scientific know-how to inspire radical change. It’s been shortlisted for this year’s Royal Society Science Book Prize.

And finally, this month marks exactly a year since beavers became a protected species in England. BBC Inside Science goes to Devon in search of these charismatic animals and we ask what effect they have been having on the countryside.

Presenter:  Victoria Gill
Producers: Hannah Robins, Harrison Lewis, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Patrick Hughes
Editor: Richard Collings
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

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


THU 17:00 PM (m001rgzx)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001rh06)
The Prime Minister pledges the UK's support for Israel in its 'darkest hour'.


THU 18:30 Kevin Eldon Will See You Now (m00081xl)
Series 4

Who the Hell Do You Think You Are?

Kevin Eldon and his all-important cast take a stroll through the Eldon family archive as we get to meet Kevin’s ancestors, discover the true value of £35 billion pounds and wallow in mud.

Kevin Eldon is a comedy phenomenon. He’s been in virtually every major comedy show in the last fifteen years. But not content with working with the likes of Chris Morris, Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, Stewart Lee, Julia Davis and Graham Linehan, he’s also created his own comedy series for BBC Radio 4.

After all the waiting - Kevin Eldon Will See You Now.

Also starring Morwenna Banks, Kate Duchêne, Justin Edwards (The Thick Of It), Miles Jupp, Paul Putner (Little Britain), David Reed (The Penny Dreadfuls), Catherine Shepherd and Dan Skinner.

Written by Kevin Eldon
with additional material by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris (A Touch Of Cloth and those modern Ladybird books).

Original music by Martin Bird

Produced and directed by David Tyler

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4


THU 19:00 The Archers (m001rh0j)
Helen is insistent that Henry show Alan how sorry he is for the graffiti. Lee is a little more lenient on Henry and Helen tells him she doesn’t want Henry getting mixed messages. At the church Alan explains his thinking when Rob first approached him. He understands how Henry’s feeling but dealing with those feelings shouldn’t be through vandalism. Alan sets Henry to work on tidying the churchyard. Later, Alan talks to Henry about forgiveness. Henry admits he doesn’t believe in God. Alan points out that the Bible can still be helpful. Henry asks if he’s evil if he doesn’t want to forgive Rob. No, says Alan and he advises that Henry concentrates on loving his family.

Back home, Lee asks Helen if something’s wrong as she seems short with him. Their conversation escalates – she can’t believe how much attention he needs. Lee refutes that saying he’s sacrificed so much to be with her and the boys. Lee accepts he may be messy or annoying but he won’t accept being accused of being selfish and needy.

George is fed up with his lot. His work at Bridge Farm brings in a bit of money but his farm promotional work is having setbacks. Brad offers to spend the evening with him instead of Mia if it’ll help cheer George up. George beats Brad in a game and then after getting a text asks him to leave. Tilly Button is coming over and he’s eager to get the mood right. He scoffs when Brad tries to give love life advice and asks again for him to go. Brad can’t believe he gave up an evening with Mia for this.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m001rh0y)
The Rolling Stones; Foe; television food consultant; Doctors axed

Film critic Ryan Gilbey and music and club culture writer Kate Hutchinson deliver their verdict on Hackney Diamonds - the first new Rolling Stones album for 18 years – and Garth Davis’ film Foe, which is based on a sci-fi novel by Iain Reid and stars Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal.

Lessons in Chemistry was 2022’s hit novel about a thwarted chemist who becomes an early TV cook. It’s now been turned into a series for Apple TV, starring Brie Larson, complete with authentic 1950s food. Chef and cookbook author Courtney McBroom, who was the show’s food consultant, gives us an insight into what this involved.

Doctors - the long running BBC TV drama - is ending after more than 23 years. The last episode will be broadcast in December 2024. The show follows the lives of medics and their patients in a GP surgery in the fictional town of Letherbridge. Tonight on Front Row we speak to one of the shows former writers, Joy Wilkinson, who cut her teeth in TV drama writing on the show. She says it was a friendly, creative environment and a great training ground for many writers and actors.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Corinna Jones


THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m001rh1d)
Israel/Gaza: What happens next?

Israel and Hamas are at war and there are no signs of a quick resolution. But what would a resolution actually look like and who's actually going to try and negotiate one?

David Aaronovitch talks to:

Shashank Joshi, Defence editor at The Economist
Steven Erlanger, Chief Diplomatic correspondent in Europe for The New York Times
Professor Lina Khatib, Director of the Middle East Institute at SOAS University of London

Production: Ben Carter, Sally Abrahams and Kirsteen Knight
Production co-ordinator: Sophie Hill and Jacqui Johnson
Sound: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon


THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (m001rh1x)
Rebranding

Elon Musk’s decision to rename Twitter ‘X’ has been met with confusion, and in some cases even anger, but where does it rank amongst the best and worst rebrands?

Evan Davis and guests discuss the complexity of changing a company or product name, logo and message, the reasons for doing it, and how to make it a success.

These overhauls can be risky, though, and failure expensive – the panel discusses one the UK’s textbook rebranding disasters.

Evan is joined by:

Lee Rolston, chief growth officer at Jones Knowles Ritchie;
Caroline Wiertz, professor of marketing at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass) – City, University of London;
Amanda Mackenzie, former chief marketing and communications officer at Aviva;
Keith Wells, founder and director of Brandwell.

PRODUCTION TEAM:

Producer: Simon Tulett
Editor: China Collins
Sound: Graham Puddifoot and Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman

(Picture: The new ‘X’ logo displayed on a smartphone with the old Twitter logo in the background. Credit: Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.)


THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m001rgzm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


THU 21:30 In Our Time (m001rgs4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m001rh2p)
Israel prepares for ground incursion into Gaza

There are signs that Israel is preparing for a ground incursion into Gaza. We assess the goals and military capabilities of Israel and Hamas.

Also on the programme:

Nadia El-Nakla, the wife of Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf, on the anguish of her family trapped inside Gaza.

And 25 years since the ground-breaking comedy Goodness Gracious Me, we reflect on its legacy with one of its stars and a young British Asian comedian it inspired.


THU 22:45 The Midnight News by Jo Baker (m001rh37)
Episode Four

It's 1940 and 20 year-old Charlotte Richmond watches from her attic window as enemy planes fly over London. Still grieving her beloved brother, who never returned from France, she is trying to keep herself out of trouble - holding down a typist job at the Ministry of Information, sharing gin and confidences with her best friend Elena, and dodging her overbearing father.

On her way to work she often sees the boy who feeds the birds - a source of unexpected joy amid the rubble of the Blitz. But every day brings new scenes of devastation and, after yet another heart breaking loss, Charlotte has an uncanny sense of foreboding. Someone is stalking the darkness, targeting her friends. And now he's following her.

As grief and suspicion consume her, Charlotte's nerves become increasingly frayed. She no longer knows who to trust. She can't even trust herself.

The Midnight News is a love story, a war story, and an unforgettable journey into the fragile mind and fierce heart of an extraordinary young woman.

Episode Four
Charlotte's head is full of voices and the shadow man reappears in the street.

Jo Baker is the author of bestselling Longbourn, the 'below the stairs' story of the Bennet household from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. She was born in Lancashire and educated at Oxford University and Queen's University Belfast and is also the author of The Body Lies; A Country Road, A Tree; The Undertow; The Telling; The Mermaid's Child; and Offcomer. She lives in Lancaster, England.

Writer: Jo Baker
Reader: Rachael Stirling
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producers: Caroline Raphael & Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 23:00 The Today Podcast (m001rh3q)
What Is This War Really About?

Amol and Nick discuss how the war in Israel and Gaza shows two competing versions of history. They look at what’s at stake and why it matters.

They are joined in The Today Podcast studio by historian Niall Ferguson to discuss how critical a moment this is for the region and wider world.

Episodes land every Thursday. Subscribe to The Today Podcast to get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories of the week. With insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme. Get in touch by sending us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346 or email Today@bbc.co.uk

The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson, both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the UK’s most influential radio news programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.

The producers are Tom Smithard and Stephanie Mitcalf. The editors are Jonathan Aspinwall and Louisa Lewis.

The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths. The Today Podcast music is composed by Nick Foster and Paddy Fletcher.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001rh48)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Mandy Baker.

FRIDAY 20 OCTOBER 2023

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m001rh4p)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 00:30 Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein (m001rgsn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001rh51)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001rh5d)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001rh5p)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m001rh5v)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001rh63)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Julia Loveless, singer & writer

SEASONS

Good morning.

The autumn is now well and truly upon us. Leaves are tinged with orange and yellow, conkers form and drop from the horse chestnut trees. Here in UK, we enjoy four very distinct seasons. Each one has its hallmarks and at the transition points in between, we start to recognise the changes and we busy ourselves rummaging around our wardrobes trying to find appropriate attire for the new temperature.

You’d think with such familiarity to the changing of natural seasons, we would be more attuned when seasons change in our own lives. But change, for so many of us, is met with trepidation, anxiety and distrust. You don’t walk in the woods during winter and hear the horse chestnut tree panicking about not producing any conkers.

Instead, it stands, peaceful and patient, knowing that winter is its season to rest, to recover and to prepare. It is fully assured that Winter will lead to Spring, new life and new growth, and Summer will quickly follow leading to another productive Autumn.

Do not fret if you are in a season where you cannot produce a lot right now. Perhaps this is a time to rest and to just be. If you are busy producing and running at top speed, appreciate it, enjoy it and prepare for the time when you too, transition into a different season.

As seasons change in my life help me relish the invitation into a new and different time. I want to learn how to follow the wise, peaceful example of the trees and face each season with acceptance, trust and even, perhaps, delight. Amen.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m001rh6c)
20/10/23 Avian flu new research; Courses in uplands education; Horseback neighbourhood watch.

Scientists have published some major new research into bird flu. A consortium of British universities and the Animal and Health Protection Agency has been working on "the flu map project" which is now going to extended. For farmers, the situation so far this year is better than last year and scientists say the virus doesn't spread between poultry farms in the air and that spread from farm to farm has been very rare. They did find some immunity to the infection in some wild birds - particularly gannets and shags - but game birds were found to be very susceptible, along with chickens, turkeys and ducks.

All this week we're looking at education in agriculture and to make higher education more accessible the University of Cumbria is offering three short part-time courses for farmers, land managers and farming advisors. The modules are equivalent to the first year of a degree course and have been tailored to help equip farmers for the current rapid changes in farming policy.

Dorset Police have launched a new rural neighbourhood watch - on horseback. The force is recruiting volunteer horse riders who will be visible and provide the police with information while they are out and about in the countryside.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkt07)
Yellow-browed Warbler

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

Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Yellow-Browed Warbler. The delicate yellow-browed warbler breeds in Siberia and winters in south-east Asia. Several hundred birds, sometimes many more, turn up each autumn anywhere between the Isles of Scilly and Shetland.


FRI 06:00 Today (m001rh58)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m001rgvc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein (m001rh5j)
5: Reunion

Daniel Finkelstein reads the final part of his heartrending memoir of his parents' experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during WWII, this week following his father's story at the hands of Stalin.

Daniel's father Ludwik was born in the Polish city of Lwow, now Lviv, the only child of a prosperous Jewish family. In 1939, after Hitler and Stalin carved up Poland, the family was rounded up by the communists. His grandfather Dolu was arrested and disappeared, while his 10-year-old father and grandmother were sent to Siberia, working as slave labourers on a collective farm. They somehow survived starvation and freezing winters, living in a house they built from cow dung, but always hoping to be reunited with Dolu.

Today: after being reunited, Daniel's grandparents and father, still now only 12, must find a way to live and to make sense of what happened to them at the hands of the communists...

Written and read by Daniel Finkelstein
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001rh5s)
Maternity services, Resigning as a bridesmaid, Mica Millar, Poet Safiya Sinclair

A new report out today from the CQC - the Care Quality Commission - says that almost two thirds of maternity units provide dangerously substandard care that puts women and babies at risk. It has rated 65% of maternity services in England as either "inadequate" or "requires improvement", an increase from 54% last year. And yesterday saw the first debate in Parliament about birth trauma and the injuries suffered by some women in labour. The Conservative MP Theo Clarke has campaigned for better support for mothers following her own traumatic experience after giving birth to her daughter in August 2022. She gave her powerful testimony to Parliament in an effort to get birth trauma added to the women's health strategy and improve perinatal care for women. First we hear from Chief Executive of the CQC, Ian Trenholm, and then consultant obstetrician Dr Daghni Rajasingham.

After Ruhama Wolle took on the bridesmaid mantle three times in the space of 18 months, she decided to never say yes to the role, ever again. She penned an open letter resigning from all future bridesmaid requests, addressed to all her family and friends in Glamour Magazine US, where she works as Special Projects Editor. She joins Anita Rani to talk about why she’s opted out of the type of friendship being a bridesmaid requires.

A prize-winning poet and currently Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Arizona State University, Safiya Sinclair, has now written a stunning memoir, How to Say Babylon. It looks at her childhood and teenage years growing up in an ultra-strict Rastifari family in Jamaica, and how literature and poetry changed the trajectory of her life.

The soul/jazz singer Mica Millar has amassed almost five million streams on Spotify, and her debut album has been championed by the likes of Trevor Nelson and Jamie Cullum. This summer she’s had sold out shows, festival appearances at Love Supreme and the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, plus opening slots for Gregory Porter and Lionel Ritchie. Mica is to perform at the Union Chapel as part of London Jazz Festival’s opening weekend in November. She discusses recording her new album, Heaven Knows, during lockdown, while recovering from an accident.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Kirsty Starkey


FRI 11:00 The Briefing Room (m001rh1d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Thursday]


FRI 11:30 Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice (m000c4zq)
Episode 2

A new series from Tom Allen, star of Mock The Week, Bake Off Extra Slice, The Apprentice: You're Fired and fresh from a sell out solo performance at The London Palladium.

Tom Allen is Actually Not Very Nice explores what happens when Tom's calm and collected exterior collapses. He used to be such a nice boy but what has happened to turn him naughty?

With help from the assembled studio audience, Tom works out how best to navigate some tricky social situations and how to keep a lid on his fury when confronted with life's small injustices.

Featuring Gabby Best.

Photo credit: Edward Moore @edshots

Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m001rh60)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 Archive on 4 (m001rgs7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


FRI 12:57 Weather (m001rh6g)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m001rh6l)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


FRI 13:45 Understand (m001rv13)
Israel and the Palestinians

Israel and the Palestinians: 5. The USA and Iran

What role have the USA and Iran played in the region? Where do we stand on the 'two-state solution'? Katya Adler and guests explain the history and context of the decades long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and assess what happened to the peace process. In this episode we set out how global players have tried to influence the region at times of peace and at times of war.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m001rh0j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (m001rh6q)
Harland - Series 3

Harland - 1. Diu luna

Lucy Catherine's supernatural thriller returns to Harland, the new town haunted by its bloody past. Six weeks have passed and Dan is under house arrest, suspected of murder, arson and abducting a baby. His search for missing police detective Sarah Ward and the answer to the mystery of the Hare Witches seems to be at an end.

Dan ..... Tyger Drew-Honey
Morris ..... Rupert Holliday Evans
Sadie ..... Melissa Advani
Sarah ..... Ayesha Antoine
Janis ..... Fiona Skinner
DCI Cummins ..... John Lightbody
Security Guard ..... Tyler Cameron
DJ ..... Don Gilet
Tool Voice ..... Kitty O’Sullivan

Production Co-ordinator ..... Jenny Mendez
Technical Producer ..... Andrew Garratt
Sound Design by Peter Ringrose and Caleb Knightley
Directed by Toby Swift
A BBC Audio Production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:45 Close Encounters (m001mst2)
Edward Enninful and Naomi Campbell

In the sixth edition of her new series celebrating portraits and portraiture through the eyes of ten Great Britons, Martha Kearney's guest is the editor-in-chief of British Vogue, Edward Enninful. His choice is a photograph of super-model Naomi Campbell taken in 1987 when she was just 17.

After three years of closure for major refurbishment and expansion the National Portrait Gallery, just off London's Trafalgar Square is set for re-opening. To mark the occasion the gallery, along with BBC Radio 4 have launched a celebration of great Briton's, with Martha Kearney hosting a Close Encounter between the likes of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Dame Katherine Grainger and Edward Enninful and a portrait they choose to champion. For Sir Tim Berners-Lee it's the Suffragette campaigner Christabel Pankhurst, for Dame Katherine Grainger it's the first English woman to swim the channel, the largely forgotten Mercedes Gleitze.

In each episode we find out about the subject of the portrait, the moment at which their image was captured for posterity and the importance of image and identity for those who find themselves in the eye of the nation's attention today.

Producers: Tom Alban and Mohini Patel


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001rh6x)
Penzance

Considering the climate, what type of produce should we grow in Cornwall? How can I reduce the number of woodlice in my shed? I’ve been asked to grow flowers for a wedding in June. What would you recommend?

Kathy Clugston and her team of horticultural experts are in the coastal setting of Penzance for this week’s episode of Gardeners’ Question Time. Joining Kathy on the panel are houseplant expert Anne Swithinbank, self-proclaimed ‘botany geek’ James Wong, and garden designer Chris Beardshaw.

Head Gardener at Trebah Gardens, Darren Dickey chats to James Wong about the wonderful array of ferns growing on the sub-tropical site.

Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Dulcie Whadcock
Executive Producer: Hannah Newton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m001rh72)
Hearing Aids by Roddy Doyle

A brand new story from Roddy Doyle, author of The Commitments and the 1993 Booker Prize winner, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.
In this touching and funny story, new hearing aids lead Barry to look afresh at his marriage to Donna and the way he has behaved in the past.

Hearing Aids is read by Liam Carney, and produced by Nicola Holloway


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m001rh78)
Charles ‘Chuck’ Feeney, Phyllis ‘Pippa’ Latour, Florence Fisher, Dr Nicholas Arnold

Kirsty Lang on

Charles ‘Chuck’ Feeney, the secret billionaire who gave most of his money away to good causes.

Phyllis ‘Pippa’ Latour, the fearless secret agent who was parachuted into Nazi occupied Normandy a month before D-Day.

Florence Fisher, who was adopted as a child and later led a movement to help millions of others find their birth parents.

Dr Nicholas Arnold, one of the world’s leading experts on reptiles.

Interviewee: Conor O'Clery
Interviewee: Clare Mulley
Interviewee: Lorraine Dusky
Interviewee: Andie Markoe-Byrne
Interviewee: Chris Arnold
Interviewee: Dr Colin McCarthy

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

Secret Billionaire: The Chuck Feeney Story, RTE Factual, YouTube, Atlantic Phil, Uploaded 05/06/2010; Chuck Feeney, Founding Chairman of The Atlantic Philanthropies, on Empathy, YouTube, Atlantic Phil, Uploaded 13/04/2011; Discovery with Jill Neville, BBC World Service, 01/06/1988; Adoption – The Right To Know, interview with Florence Fisher, Harvard University, 01/06/1990; Adoption records unsealed, News 8, News report, Wish-TV Indiana, YouTube uploaded 05/07/2018;


FRI 16:30 Feedback (m001rh7h)
The programme that holds the BBC to account on behalf of the radio audience


FRI 17:00 PM (m001rh7n)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001rh7s)
Labour says it's redrawing the political map after winning Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire. Storm Babet kills 3 people in Angus and Shropshire. Aid delivery to Gaza postponed.


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m001rh7x)
Series 112

Episode 7

Andy Zaltzman quizzes the week's news. Providing the answers, hopefully, are Ian Smith, Lucy Porter, Anushka Asthana, and Simon Evans.

In this episode Andy and the panel discuss the language of war, our crumbling infrastructure, and massive rats!

Written by Andy Zaltzman

With additional material by

Jade Gebbie, Simon Alcock and Cameron Loxdale

Producer: Sam Holmes
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Coordinator: Dan Marchini
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Production


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m001rh81)
Writer: Sarah Hehir
Director: Pip Swallow
Editor ..... Jeremy Howe

Cast:
Helen Archer …. Louiza Patikas
Henry Archer …. Blayke Darby
Pip Archer …. Daisy Badger
Lee Bryce …. Ryan Early
Ian Craig …. Stephen Kennedy
Alan Franks …. John Telfer
Clarrie Grundy …. Heather Bell
Eddie Grundy …. Trevor Harrison
George Grundy …. Angus Stobie
Brad Horrobin …. Taylor Uttley
Alistair Lloyd …. Michael Lumsden
Kirsty Miller ..... Annabelle Dowler
Stella Pryor …. Lucy Speed
Lynda Snell …. Carole Boyd
Oliver Sterling …. Michael Cochrane


FRI 19:15 Add to Playlist (m001rh85)
Amy Harman and Keelan Carew add five more tracks

Bassoonist Amy Harman and pianist Keelan Carew are today's guests in the studio with Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye as they add the next five tracks to the playlist.

From a gentle nursery rhyme, the musical links take us to a Russian dance, a celebration of the Earth's origins in Estonia, and a testosterone-fuelled TV theme with helicopters and machine guns.

Dr Peter J Bentley discusses the increasing use - and challenges - of Artificial Intelligence in music, and the singer/songwriter Mari Kalkun tells us about the origins of her track Kui Kivid Olid Veel Pehmed.

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

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Mary Had a Little Lamb by Ramona Singh
What a Fool Believes by The Doobie Brothers
Russian Dance from Petrushka by Igor Stravinsky
Kui Kivid Olid Veel Pehmed by Mari Kalkun
The A-Team TV theme by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter

Other music in this episode:

I wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free (Live) by Nina Simone
The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky, performed at the BBC Proms by the Aurora Orchestra
Fingertips pt 2: Live by Stevie Wonder
Gymnopédie No.1 by Erik Satie
Theme from The Rockford Files by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m001rh89)
Jackie Baillie MSP, Andrew Bowie MP, Christine Jardine MP, Blair Jenkins & Pete Wishart MP

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from the Maryhill Burgh Halls in Glasgow with a panel including Jackie Baillie MSP, Andrew Bowie MP, Christine Jardine MP, Blair Jenkins and Pete Wishart MP
Producer: Robin Markwell
Lead Broadcast Engineer: Ken Garden


FRI 21:00 Archive on 4 (m001np2h)
How I Ruined Medicine

Dr Phil Hammond says, "Doctoring used to be like Downing Street. Posh unaccountable alcoholics working silly hours, cocking up, covering up and laughing it off in the mess. Above all, it was fun. Then I broke ranks and ruined it. For 37 years I worked in the NHS and exposed its darkest secrets, through Private Eye, on stage and on screen - for example, BBC2's Trust Me, I'm a Doctor.

I broke a story of babies dying after heart surgery in Bristol which became the subject of the largest public inquiry in British history. I gave evidence and argued that doctors could not be trusted to regulate themselves in secret, and we needed absolute transparency of data, so patients could see, choose and access the treatments they deserved. Only this could improve the NHS. In 2001, the Inquiry made 198 recommendations to ensure the NHS would embed quality, safety and transparency at its heart.

My campaigning and aggressive exposure helped spawn an army of regulators, lawyers and aggressively informed patients demanding excellent care in a collapsing service. Instead of fixing the NHS, I appear to have made it worse. The NHS now has 133,000 vacancies, over seven million waiting for treatment and too many doctors are retiring early or jumping ship to Australia. There is a mental health crisis among staff who suffer the moral injuries of being unable to deliver a decent standard of care, yet are punished if they speak out.

Using archive from the BBC, Private Eye, newspapers, my seven books, I take a mea culpa trip around the NHS to try to better understand the mess it's in."

Includes interviews with:
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt MP
Bafta winning writer and former doctor, Adam Kay
Dame Clare Gerada, President of the Royal Society of GPs
Brain surgeon and author, Henry Marsh

Producer: David Morley
A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m001rh8m)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 The Midnight News by Jo Baker (m001rh8s)
Episode Five

It's 1940 and 20 year-old Charlotte Richmond watches from her attic window as enemy planes fly over London. Still grieving her beloved brother, who never returned from France, she is trying to keep herself out of trouble - holding down a typist job at the Ministry of Information, sharing gin and confidences with her best friend Elena, and dodging her overbearing father.

On her way to work she often sees the boy who feeds the birds - a source of unexpected joy amid the rubble of the Blitz. But every day brings new scenes of devastation and, after yet another heart breaking loss, Charlotte has an uncanny sense of foreboding. Someone is stalking the darkness, targeting her friends. And now he's following her.

As grief and suspicion consume her, Charlotte's nerves become increasingly frayed. She no longer knows who to trust. She can't even trust herself.

The Midnight News is a love story, a war story, and an unforgettable journey into the fragile mind and fierce heart of an extraordinary young woman.

Episode Five
The bombs fall close to home for Charlotte and her neighbours.

Jo Baker is the author of bestselling Longbourn, the 'below the stairs' story of the Bennet household from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. She was born in Lancashire and educated at Oxford University and Queen's University Belfast and is also the author of The Body Lies; A Country Road, A Tree; The Undertow; The Telling; The Mermaid's Child; and Offcomer. She lives in Lancaster, England.

Writer: Jo Baker
Reader: Rachael Stirling
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producers: Caroline Raphael & Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 23:00 Americast (m001rh8w)
Leaders Of The Free World?

President Biden wanted to show America’s global strength during his flying visit to Israel this week, but does the United States still call the shots internationally? The Americast team reviews Biden’s high-stakes 30 hours in the region, talks about the misinformation swirling around the internet, and weighs in on America’s place in the world.

Back in DC, House Republicans are still struggling to elect a Speaker after two rounds of voting. Anthony gavels the gang in for a crash course on the latest congressional chaos.

HOSTS:
Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
Sarah Smith, North America editor
Marianna Spring, disinformation and social media correspondent
Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent

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Find out more about our award-winning “undercover voters” here: bbc.in/3lFddSF.

This episode was made by Rufus Gray, with Catherine Fusillo and Claire Betzer. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Daniel Wittenberg and the editor is Jonathan Aspinwall.


FRI 23:30 One to One (m001jkqy)
Suzy Wrack: The House I Grew Up In

Football writer Suzy Wrack meets with Joanne Marsden to share their stories of growing up on council estates.

Suzy grew up in on an estate in north east London, while Joanne was born on Park Hill estate in Sheffield; the council block inspired by the French architect Le Corbusier, who designed high-rises with community in mind. They discuss his idea of 'streets in the sky' - landings wide enough for milk floats to drive past high in the air and rows of shops within the estate. Together, they talk about how their experiences shaped their lives and interests in architecture and community - and how the design of spaces and buildings impacts us.

Produced by Caitlin Hobbs for BBC Audio in Bristol.


FRI 23:45 Today in Parliament (m001rh8y)
Sean Curran reports as MPs approve a bill to give people more protection from sexual harassment in the workplace.