SATURDAY 25 OCTOBER 2025

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002l3qj)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 Death of an Ordinary Man by Sarah Perry (m002l3pc)
5. End of an Ordinary Life

"Now I understand there are no ordinary lives – that every death is the end of a single event in time’s history: an event so improbable as to be miraculous, and irreplaceable in every particular."

Booker Prize-longlisted author Sarah Perry's father-in-law, David, died at home nine days after a cancer diagnosis having previously been in good health. The speed of his illness outstripped that of the NHS and social care, so the majority of nursing fell to Sarah and her husband. They witnessed what happens to the body and spirit, hour by hour, as it approaches death.

Death of an Ordinary Man is an unstinting account of death by cancer, a reportage into the experience of caring, an exploration of the structural conditions of dying in the UK, and most importantly a testament to David’s life, that of an ordinary man.

Unflinching and profoundly moving, Sarah Perry confronts the taboo surrounding death and how the saddest thing she has ever seen is also the best thing she's ever done.

Episode Five
David is fast-tracked to end-of-life care at home, surrounded by family and watchful carers.

Reader: Louise Brealey
Abridged and produced by Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002l3ql)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002l3qn)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:30 News Summary (m002l3qq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002l3qs)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002l3qv)
Witnessing

Good morning.

Near to where I live in the centre of Cardiff is an infamous crossroads where five different roads converge: the site is known locally as ‘Death Junction’. However, this isn’t just a recently acquired nickname based on the risk from an increase in road users. It was actually the location of the town gallows, where many brutal executions took place for hundreds of years until the late nineteenth century. Two men come to mind especially today, who died on the same day in 1679: both were Catholic priests, and were gruesomely hung, drawn and quartered at Death Junction. Their offence? Witnessing to their faith at a time when it was a crime to do so. And today is the 55th anniversary on which John Lloyd and Philip Evans were canonised as saints by Pope Paul VI, recognising their courageous martyrdom, and asking their prayers for us who are still on the pilgrim way.

The English word ‘martyr’ comes directly from Greek, not referring to death particularly, but rather more broadly, witnessing. To witness to one’s faith, by allowing it to change us, is the ‘martyrdom’, as it were, that is accessible to every believer, even in small ways. We do this by growing in love for the people around us: maybe by listening better, or maybe by offering a small act of service. These small changes echo the courageous acts of witness that we see through the ages. We aren’t comparing these daily kindnesses to the giving of one’s life. But little acts added to each other grow in us a capacity for greater and greater love.

Lord,
may the witness of the ones who’ve wandered before us
inspire us to seek heaven with them, and with you.
Amen.


SAT 05:45 Untaxing (m0029hw8)
5. The £10 Billion Fridge

A fruit and veg supplier installs a fridge. A tax advisor claims it’s a scientific breakthrough, and urges a claim for R&D tax relief.

That fridge is just the tip of a £10 billion scandal. How did HMRC let it happen? And why is no one talking about it?

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


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002lfr1)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.


SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m002l3hm)
Crime and Punishment in the Peak District

Clare joins writer Kate Morgan on a walk from Monsal Head to Tideswell in the Peak District. Along the way, they explore how the use of gallows and gibbets in public punishment has influenced rural place names. Gibbet Rock, a striking limestone outcrop also called Peter’s Stone for its resemblance to the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, was once used to ‘gibbet’ or display the bodies of executed criminals. Kate tells the story of Anthony Lingard, who was convicted in 1815 of murdering a local woman, Hannah Oliver, and became the last person to be gibbetted at the site.

Kate is currently researching her third book, which will be on this subject. Her previous two books are Murder: The Biography which explores the legal history of the crime of murder in English Law, and The Walnut Tree which looks into the major legal changes affecting women in the 19th and early 20th centuries. (https://amheath.com/authors/kate-morgan)

Map:OS Explorer OL24 The Peak District White Peak Area, Buxton Bakewell, Matlock & Dove Dale
Map Ref: SK185715 for the start of the walk at Monsal Head car park

Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002lfr3)
25/10/25: Beer and cider from land to glass

The raw ingredients to make a pint all begin life on British farms whether malting barley, or cider apples and perry pears, or hops. For barley and hop growers 2025 has been a difficult year. It's been a happier one in cider and perry orchards. We meet a cider apple detective hunting for lost varieties in Somerset, and the award winning team preserving Gloucestershire's perry heritage.

A review of environmental governance in Northern Ireland has called for a new independent environmental regulator to be established.

And, the Scottish fishing industry is unhappy about the way the Westminster Government has distributed a fund to modernise the fleet, improve skills, and revitalise communities. Scotland will receive just under 8% of the fund despite accounting for 60% of the UK's fishing capacity.

Presenter: Charlotte Smith
Producer: Sarah Swadling


SAT 06:57 Weather (m002lfr5)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m002lfr7)
Today (Saturday)


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m002lfr9)
David Suchet, Greetings Cards, Artistic Exploration, and Clare Balding's Inheritance Tracks

David Suchet joins Adrian Chiles for extraordinary stories from remarkable people.


SAT 10:00 Curious Cases (m002ldh6)
Series 24

We Didn't Start the Fire

It has been said that you can't start a fire without a spark, but as Hannah and Dara are about to discover, that's not true!

Welcome to the fiery phenomenon of spontaneous combustion, when something can ignite all on its own: no matches, no sparks, no external flame. It happens when certain materials heat themselves up internally through chemical or biological reactions, and if that carried on unchecked and the material gets hot enough, it can eventually ignite itself.

This process can occur in various everyday items such as piles of hay or grass clippings, oily rags and in certain instances lithium batteries; but there are also several useful chemical substances that autoignite when they come into contact with air - as Hannah, Dara and a wary BBC fire officer witness in the studio...

So how can we stop things regularly bursting into flames? How scared should we be about oiling floorboards and our increasingly battery-powered life? And is spontaneous human combustion really a thing? Our investigators are on the case.

To submit your question to the Curious Cases team, please email: curiouscases@bbc.co.uk

Contributors:
- Andrea Sella, Professor of inorganic chemistry at University College London
- Emanuel ‘Big Manny’ Wallace, former science teacher now a science content creator
- Matt Oakley, fire investigations officer at Surrey Fire and Rescue Service
- Roger Byard, Emeritus Professor of pathology at the University of Adelaide and a senior specialist forensic pathologist at Forensic Science SA (FSSA)

Producer: Lucy Taylor
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem

A BBC Studios Production


SAT 10:30 Legend (m002ldhb)
The Bruce Springsteen Story

3. Born in the USA

How did Bruce become The Boss, and what did it cost him to get there? Laura Barton explores the extraordinary life story of Bruce Springsteen, taking a front-row seat at five important gigs to reveal the life behind the legend.

Bruce's story continues in rural Holmdel, New Jersey, alone with a four-track tape recorder. He goes back into his childhood, drives the streets of his early years, searching for answers. Looking for meaning. The seminal album, Nebraska, is what comes out.

What happens next is an unravelling. And then a rebuilding. The Bruce who returns is unrecognisable. "He's got muscles now. Does that mean we have to get muscles now?!" - Warren Zanes. The album Born In The USA, with the anthemic album track and hit single Dancing In The Dark, takes Bruce stratospheric.

In October, 1985, after two years and 156 shows, the Born In The USA tour comes to a close at the Coliseum Los Angeles. Four sold out nights of 80,000 people. The final night is one of melancholy and of joy. And a foreboding of change to come.

~~~

“I'm here tonight to provide proof of life to that ever elusive, never completely believable, particularly these days, us. That's my magic trick.”

In Legend: The Bruce Springsteen Story, we uncover the magic trick to discover how a scrawny, long-haired introvert from small-town New Jersey became the iconic, muscular, and oft-misunderstood rock star of the 1980s, to the eloquent elder statesmen he is now. What can his story tell us about America today?

In each episode, Laura takes us to the front row of a live performance that reveals a different side of The Boss, and hears him across the decades in his own words from the archive. We'll also hear from fellow worshippers in the Church of Springsteen, and disciples from the E Street Band, including drummer Max Weinberg, tributes from those influenced by Bruce, such as Bryce Dessner from The National, as well as Freehold town historian Kevin Coyne and music critics and biographers such as Richard Williams, Eric Alterman, Steven Hyden, Warren Zanes and Diane H. Winston.

The Bruce Springsteen Story comes from the production team behind BBC Radio 4’s award-winning Joni Mitchell Story, and the podcast Soul Music – “… the gold standard for music podcasts…” (Esquire).

Producer: Eliza Lomas
Series Developer: Mair Bosworth
Production Coordinator: Stuart Laws
Research: Sarah Goodman
Series Editor: Emma Harding
Sound Design and Original Music: Hannis Brown
Commissioning Editors: Daniel Clarke and Matthew Dodd


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m002lfrc)
Radio 4's assessment of developments at Westminster


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002ldcr)
Sudan: growing up in a civil war

Kate Adie introduces stories from Sudan, France, India, the USA and Mauritius.

Sudan's civil conflict has left millions of people displaced and at risk of hunger and famine. In the capital Khartoum, Nawal Al-maghafi witnesses the toll the violence has taken on families, and meets children whose young lives have been forever shaped by the war.

France has been reeling this week from the fallout of last weekend’s theft of priceless crown jewels from the Louvre in Paris. Andrew Harding has been watching the disbelief and shame that has dented French national pride - but has seen humour too.

India has been making textiles and clothing for the world for centuries – but its goods are now less competitive for American buyers, due to Donald Trump's heavy tariffs. In the run-up to the recent Diwali festivities, Archana Shukla saw how shoppers are feeling the pinch.

Drugs like fentanyl have killed hundreds of thousands of Americans in recent years, and in the city of Las Vegas, a particularly vulnerable substance-using population are the homeless people who live in the city’s underground tunnels. Linda Pressly joined a local charity as they ventured underground, with the offer of help.

And finally, we head to Mauritius to tell the story of a daring rescue mission to save some rare resident geckos from the effects of a giant oil spill. Lorraine Mallinder reveals how an international effort involving private jets helped save an endangered species.

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Production coordinator: Katie Morrison
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002lfrf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002ldcp)
Infected Blood Compensation and Standing Charges

Lawyers acting for victims of the infected blood scandal have written to the Chancellor demanding urgent action to avoid families and loved ones having to pay £100,000s in tax. The government has previously said compensation payments would not be subject to Inheritance Tax. But with around 3,000 victims having already died they say a change in the rules is needed to avoid their loved ones facing huge tax bills. The Treasury says it's "considering" the issue and a decision will be made at the Budget.

Plans to reform standing charges for gas and electricity "will not work" and should be scrapped, the trade body for the energy industry Energy UK has told Money Box. Standing charges are the fixed daily cost that households pay just to be connect to electricity or gas supply. They rose sharply this month to an average £320 a year - more than £6 a week - a cost you must pay before you turn on a light or cook your dinner. Suppliers say they cover the cost of providing and maintaining the supply. However, the energy regulator Ofgem is considering proposals to offer all customers a reduced standing charge, but at the cost of paying more for the electricity and gas they actually use. It says that will increase choice for consumers but Energy UK wants them to rethink the proposal.

How much will benefits rise in April?

And with one month to go, what would you like to know ahead of the Autumn Budget?

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner
Researcher: Eimear Devlin
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast at 12pm on Saturday 25th October 2025)


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m002l3q0)
Series 118

Titles, Jewels and 'Chocolate' Bars

Alasdair Beckett-King, Laura Lexx, Ahir Shah and Ava Santina join Andy Zaltzman for this week's quiz.

Brace yourselves for stories about the stripping of both Royal Titles and Royal Crown Jewels as well as the big question of the moment, are things better or worse than they used to be?

Written by Andy Zaltzman
Additional material by: Milo Edwards, Cameron Loxdale, Ruth Husko and Marty Gleeson
Producer: Gwyn Rhys Davies
Exec Producer: Richard Morris
Production Coordinator: Giulia Lopes Mazzu
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


SAT 12:57 Weather (m002lfrh)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m002lfrk)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002l3q6)
Mims Davies MP, Lindsey German, Georgia Gould MP, Isabel Hardman

Alex Forsyth hosts political debate from All Saints Weston Church in Esher, Surrey, with the shadow cabinet minister, Mims Davies MP; convenor of Stop The War Coalition, Lindsey German; the minister for school standards, Georgia Gould MP; and Spectator assistant editor, Isabel Hardman.

Producer: Paul Martin
Lead broadcast engineer: Chris Weightman


SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m002lfrm)
Listeners respond to the issues raised in the preceding edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002l3q2)
Writer: Katie Hims
Director: Andy Partington
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge…. Charles Collingwood
David Archer.... Timothy Bentinck
Josh Archer.... Angus Imrie
Jolene Archer.... Buffy Davies
Ruth Archer.... Felicity Finch
Lilian Bellamy.... Sunny Ormonde
Alice Carter.... Hollie Chapman
Ruairi Donavan.... Arthur Hughes
Amber Gordon.... Charlotte Jordan
George Grundy.... Angus Stobie
Tracy Horrorbin.... Susie Riddell
Adam Macy.... Andrew Wincott
Kate Madikane.... Perdita Avery
Esme Mulligan.... Ellie Pawsey
Oliver Sterling…. Michael Cochrane
Carly…. Louise Brearley


SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m001h3rw)
Death and the Penguin

Hattie Naylor’s darkly comic adaptation of Andrey Kurkov’s international classic set in mid-90s Ukraine. Starring Tom Basden and Jason Watkins, all that stands between one man and murder by the mafia is a penguin.

A blend of Gogol’s absurdist humour and Kafka’s alienation this tragi-comedy is set in the wild west atmosphere of a newly independent Ukraine following the collapse of the Soviet Union. At the heart of the action, is down-on-his-luck writer, Viktor. His story becomes one about surviving and enduring in perilous times.

Viktor ….. Tom Basden
Lyosha ….. Jason Watkins
Igor ….. David Hounslow
Sonya ….. Blythe Arbery
Nina ….. Chloe Sommer
Misha-non-Penguin ….. Roger Ringrose
Sergey ….. Tom Kiteley
Natasha ….. Fiona Skinner
Dr Pidpaly ….. Joanna Monro

Translated by George Bird
Directed by Gemma Jenkins


SAT 16:30 Woman's Hour (m002lfrp)
Weekend Woman's Hour: Landmark policy change in the Family Court, Essex Witches, Women rowing across the Pacific

The Essex witch trials represent one of the darkest chapters in British history. A new Sky History series, Witches of Essex, revisits the real lives of women accused of witchcraft in the 16th and 17th centuries, drawing on newly examined court records and the latest historical research. Historian Dr Eleanor Janega joins Nuala McGovern to discuss.

A landmark change to the Family Courts has been announced this week - the court will no longer work on the presumption that having contact with both parents is in the best interest of the child. Domestic abuse campaigners have said the move will save children's lives. Nuala talks to Claire Throssel MBE, one of the campaigners who has driven this change. In October 2014, her two sons, Jack, who was 12, and Paul, who was nine, were deliberately killed by their father. He had been awarded five hours weekly access to the boys despite Claire's warnings that he was a danger to them.

After 165 days at sea, two British women have just made history becoming the first pair to row non-stop and unsupported across the Pacific Ocean, from South America to Australia. Jess Rowe, 28, and Miriam Payne, 25, set off from Lima in May and arrived in Cairns in Australia on Saturday, completing more than 8,000 miles in their nine-metre boat, Velocity. Along the way they faced storms, broken equipment, and even navigated by the stars when their systems failed - they join Anita Rani to talk about the highs and lows of their Pacific adventure.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Simon Richardson


SAT 17:00 PM (m002lfrr)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m002lfrt)
Gaza, Trump and me: UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher

Driving through Gaza is like "driving through the ruins of Hiroshima, or Stalingrad, or Dresden"

Tom Fletcher has been the United Nations humanitarian chief for almost a year and speaks to Nick two weeks into his organisation's efforts to get as much aid as possible into the Gaza Strip.

He gives a behind-the-scenes account of how he works with the Trump White House and how the ceasefire deal was struck in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Fletcher also shares his lessons learned from his years as foreign adviser to Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron.

Producer: Daniel Kraemer
Research: Chloe Desave
Editor: Giles Edwards
Sound: Hal Haines and Ged Sudlow


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002lfrw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m002lfry)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002lfs0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002lffm)
Eliza Carthy and Jon Boden, Jake Arnott, Kerry Godliman, India Knight, Kiri Pritchard-McLean

Kiri Pritchard-McLean and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.


SAT 19:00 Profile (m002ldbp)
Sanae Takaichi

Sanae Takaichi is the first female prime minister of Japan.

Once the drummer in a heavy metal band, she is now a staunch conservative, tough on immigration and against same sex marriage. More Iron Lady than Iron Maiden, the 64-year-old models her strong leadership style on Margaret Thatcher.

She entered politics in 1993, the same year as future prime minister Shinzo Abe. A loyal ally, she quickly rose the ranks in his cabinet. After several unsuccessful leadership attempts, she finally became prime minister on October 21st 2025.

To some this is a victory for women in Japan, but others see her conservative views as evidence there is still a long way to go.

Mark Coles voyages into the world of Japanese politics to find out.

Production
Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Ben Crighton, Mhairi MacKenzie and Alex Loftus
Japanese fixer: Ryuzo Tsutsui
Editor: Justine Lang
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Editor: Duncan Hannant


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m002l3h5)
Mark Ronson

Having spent his early years in London, Mark Ronson grew up in Manhattan, began working as a DJ as a teenager and quickly made a name for himself on the New York club scene of the 1990s. He moved into music production and, in 2006, co-wrote and co-produced the Amy Winehouse album Back To Black. The record won five Grammys and Mark Ronson himself scooped the Producer of the Year Award.  Since then, he has released five solo albums and worked with some of the most successful names in pop including Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa, Queens Of The Stone Age and Paul McCartney. The winner of ten Grammys and two Brits, he added an Academy Award to his list of accolades in 2018 as co-writer of the song Shallow from the film A Star Is Born. He was also Oscar nominated for his work as executive producer, composer and songwriter for the soundtrack to the Barbie movie. More recently he has written a book called Night People, a memoir about his time as a DJ in 90s New York.  

Mark Ronson tells John Wilson about the influence of his music-loving parents, who often threw parties at their north London home when he was a child. He talks about the influence of his stepfather Mick Jones, songwriter, guitarist and producer of the 80s rock band Foreigner, who allowed Mark to experiment with equipment in his home studio in New York and encouraged his early interest in production. He remembers how hearing the 1992 track They Reminisce Over You by Pete Rock and CL Smooth led him to pursue a career as a club DJ and become renowned for the diverse range of music he played in clubs - from soul and hip-hop to classic rock - an eclectic approach which later informed his work as a producer. Mark Ronson also recalls first meeting Amy Winehouse and how they wrote and recorded the songs for her Back To Black album.  

Producer: Edwina Pitman


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002lfs2)
Aleister Crowley - Master of the Dark Arts

Aleister Crowley has been called many things - poet, mountaineer, occultist, fraudster, prophet, pervert, genius, charlatan. He branded himself “The Great Beast” and the tabloids of the 1920s happily obliged, denouncing him as “the wickedest man in the world.” But how did this Edwardian eccentric, once dismissed as a scandalous curiosity, become a lasting countercultural icon - celebrated by rock stars, adopted by metal musicians, and still invoked in popular culture today?

Writer and broadcaster Paul Morley - somewhat hesitantly - steps into the shadow of this defiant nonconformist who was born in 1875 into a wealthy but fundamentalist Plymouth Brethren family.

Crowley founded his own occult religion with the mantra "do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law" and, in the decades after his death in 1947, his occult ideas and descriptions of drug-taking travelled through countercultural bookshops into the worlds of psychedelia, hard rock and heavy metal. The Beatles included him on the cover of Sgt Pepper, Jimmy Page collected his books, Ozzy Osbourne sang “Mr Crowley”, Blondie’s Gary Lachman found himself initiated into Crowley’s magickal order in California. And new generations of artists and musicians continue to rediscover his blend of provocation and self-mythology.

Is Crowley best remembered as a pioneering thinker who made esoteric knowledge public, a dangerous manipulator who wrecked lives, or simply as a flamboyant showman who understood the power of scandal? 150 years after his birth, his name still provokes fascination, fear and amusement.

Featuring:
Crowley biographer Gary Lachman, a founding member of Blondie who is now an academic and acclaimed writer on the occult.
Social historian and third generation witch Geraldine Beskin of Atlantis bookshop
Pioneering pop artist Jann Haworth
Musician and composer Dr Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke who is composing a choral work based on Crowley's Book of The Law
Keeper of the Sacred Flame of Rock, Dante Bonutto of Spine Farm records
Musician Edgar Broughton of the psychedelic proto-punk Edgar Broughton Band
Olly Pearson from Helgi's occult metal bar

Thanks to Mogg Morgan for providing a lost Radio 4 archive recording

Writer and Presenter: Paul Morley
Producer: Victoria Ferran
Executive Producer: Susan Marling
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 The History Podcast (m002lfs4)
The House at Number 48

The House at Number 48 (Omnibus 1)

First part of an omnibus edition of the House at Number 48.

When Antony Easton’s enigmatic father passes away, he opens his Dad's suitcase, filled with cryptic clues. Neatly stacked German money, a family tree he doesn’t recognise, and books filled with sprawling notes. He also finds his father’s birth certificate, but bearing a different name.

Confronting his dad’s double identity, Antony begins a ten-year quest to uncover the truth.

Piece-by-piece he comes to understand his family’s dark history as he attempts to reclaim his grandfather’s property and art empire, and expose the historic robbery and murder of his relatives.

Antony is determined to find the descendants of those who looted his family’s assets, and continue to live off their wealth today. He wants to meet them face to face.

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.


SAT 22:00 News (m002lfs6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m002l3p9)
Keeping It Local: A Suffolk Story

It's twenty years since the Aldeburgh Food Festival began. Sheila Dillon examines its impact in this small Suffolk seaside town where food producers work together to forge strong local supply chains. She speaks to the festival's co-founder Lady Caroline Cranbrook who has been a passionate advocate of Suffolk's rich food ecosystem. She goes on a shopping trip with local restaurateur and hotelier George Pell, a self-styled "blow-in" from London. They visit a fishing family, a butcher and a farmer supporting a start-up serving crullers in a town where collaboration is king.

Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Robin Markwell


SAT 23:00 Mark Steel's in Town (m002l35f)
Series 14

3. Lewisham

Mark Steel visits Lewisham in south London and creates a show for the local audience.

There will also be extended versions of each episode available on BBC sounds.

Written and performed by Mark Steel

Additional material by Pete Sinclair
Production co-ordinator Caroline Barlow and Katie Baum
Sound Manager Jerry Peal
Producer Carl Cooper

A BBC Studios production for Radio 4


SAT 23:30 The 3rd Degree (m002l233)
Series 15

6. University of Edinburgh

The 3rd Degree is a funny, upbeat and brainy quiz show.

With this episode coming from the University of Edinburgh, the Specialist Subjects are Theology, Jewellery & Silversmithing and Medicine - so naturally we’ll be learning the true meaning of univocity, the proper method of sintering, the correct usage of fluoroisotopes and the best way to eat Dubai Chocolate. Oh, and how to pronounce Kirkcudbrightshire. More or less.

The show is recorded on location at a different University each week, and pits three Undergraduates against three of their Professors. The General Knowledge rounds include a quickfire bell-and-buzzer finale and the Highbrow & Lowbrow round cunningly devised to test not only the students’ knowledge of history, art, literature and politics, but also their Professors’ awareness of TV, music and sport. Meanwhile there are the three Specialist Subject rounds, in which students take on their Professors in their own subjects, and where we find out whether the students have actually been awake during lectures.

In this series, the universities include Bristol, Queen Mary University of London, Kent, Worcester College Oxford, Manchester Metropolitan University and Edinburgh

Producer: David Tyler

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4

SUNDAY 26 OCTOBER 2025

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002lfs8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:15 Take Four Books (m002l231)
Philippa Gregory

Celebrated historical novelist Phillipa Gregory speaks to James Crawford about her latest novel Boleyn Traitor and explores its connections to three other works of literature.

Philippa’s intimate portrayals of the machinations of the Tudor court have made her a bestseller and a household name. In her latest dive in to 16th Century England, she returns to the world of King Henry VIII, seen through the eyes of Jane Boleyn, confidante to five of Henry’s six wives – but was she a loyal friend, or a duplicitous spy?

For her three influences Phillipa chose: The Golden Bowl by Henry James (1904), A Room With A View by EM Forster (1908), and The Country and the City by Raymond Williams (1973).

Producer: Caitlin Sneddon
Editor: Gillian Wheelan

This is a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002lfsb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002lfsd)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:30 News Summary (m002lfsg)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002lfsj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002ldcy)
St Peter’s Church in Carmarthen, Wales

Bells on Sunday comes from St Peter’s Church in Carmarthen, Wales. Though founded much earlier, the present building dates from at least the 14th century. The landmark west tower contains a ring of eight bells, four of which are the original bells cast by Abraham Rudhall of Gloucester in 1722. The tenor bell weighs fifteen and one quarter hundredweight and is tuned to the note of E. We hear them ringing Stedman Triples performed by a band from the Ancient Society of College Youths.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002l35p)
Changes at the Macular Society; Prima Implants

Changes at the Macular Society continue to generate a significant proportion of the contact we get from In Touch listeners. With the consultation exercise now at an end, we're joined by the Society's CEO, Ed Holloway. We discuss a range of issues with Ed, including the rationale for making the changes, what the new organisational structures will look like and what it means for those who provide the charity's services and those who use them.

Another development regarding macular disease is the clinical trial of Prima implants. The trial involves inserting a microchip with the thickness of a human hair under the retina with the aim of restoring a degree of vision. The BBC's Medical Editor Fergus Walsh joins us to explain the technology in more detail and with news of encouraging results.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Fern Lulham
Production Coordinator: Pete Liggins

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.’


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m002ld9v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Heart and Soul (w3ct6vpg)
Searching for hope as a hostage in Gaza

After two long years President Trump has announced a ceasefire agreement which should see the remaining hostages returned home in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

How have the families of Israeli hostages and their loved ones, held captive in dark tunnels for hundreds of days, managed to hold onto hope? Do people deepen their faith during periods of immense suffering, or turn away from religion?

For this edition of Heart and Soul, Naomi Scherbel-Ball explores how, two years on since the October 7th attacks, hostages and their families see their lives and their faith.

Many of those held hostage in Gaza come from the kibbutzim, largely secular communities that border Gaza, or were taken from the Nova music festival. Some of those released have spoken about reconnecting with their Jewish faith, with one female hostage even translating her prayers into Arabic so she would be allowed to continue to pray by her captors. Others speak of the strength they found in their family, the kibbutzim movement and community.

65-year-old American-Israeli Keith Siegel, who was kidnapped with his wife Aviva, explains how his connection to Judaism deepened during nearly 500 days in captivity. On his release, his daughter asked what he would like for their first family shabbat meal together after nearly 500 days. “What I want most is a kippah and a kiddush cup”, he answered, referring to the head covering worn by observant Jewish men and the symbolic cup that is held during the Friday night blessing in Judaism. Now back with his family in Israel, he says his heart is not whole until the remaining hostages return.

Produced and Presented by Naomi Scherbel-Ball
Executive Producer: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002ld9x)
The Cornish Centenarian

As he turns 100, David Lightfoot shares his memories of farming in the Cornish countryside. One of nine children, he started his career with a couple of cows and and a few rented fields. He went on to farm for Prince Charles, before he became King, and rented land from the Duchy of Cornwall. His family are still Duchy tenants. David brought Charolais cattle to Cornwall and still takes delight in inspecting his nephew's cows which came from the breeding stock he introduced.
As a boy he milked cows by hand and learnt to drive one of the first tractors in the area. He worked the land with heavy horses, and when he was called up for World War II he was tasked with teaching officers how to ride horses in the Indian jungle.

We join him as he tours his nephew's farm in the Tamar Valley and reflects on what makes a good beast - and a good farmer.

Produced and presented by Rebecca Rooney


SUN 06:57 Weather (m002ld9z)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002ldb1)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002ldb3)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002ldb5)
SSAFA

Adventurer and former Royal Naval reservist Ben Fogle makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity. SSAFA supports veterans and serving personnel in the UK and other countries including Cyprus, Brunei and France offering help with issues like addiction, debt and homelessness.

The Radio 4 Appeal features a new charity every week. Each appeal then runs on Radio 4 from Sunday 0754 for 7 days.

To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- 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 ‘SSAFA’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘SSAFA’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
- Please ensure you are donating to the correct charity by checking the name of the charity on the donate page.

Registered Charity Number: 210760. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.ssafa.org.uk/
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites

Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m002ldb7)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002ldb9)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002ldbc)
One holy, catholic and apostolic church

From CFC (the Christian Fellowship Church) in Belfast with members of different Christian denominations reflecting on and considering the importance of the clause in the Nicene Creed: “We believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic Church”

Led by Pastor Andrew Gibson
Preacher: Esther Simpson

King of Kings
This I believe (The Creed)
John 17:20-26
Glorify thy name
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty
Not by might

Musical Director: Dave Robb


SUN 08:48 Witness History (w3ct74jk)
Brazil’s biggest bank heist

In August 2005, a gang of theives tunnelled their way into a Brazilian bank vault in a heist straight out of the movies.

Three months before, the thieves had set up a landscaping business, Grama Sintetica - or Synthetic Grass, from a house close to the Banco Central in Fortaleza. But it was a plot to disguise their real activity.

Working in shifts, they dug an 80 metre tunnel from the house, under a neighbouring street and into the vault before escaping with more than 160million reais, then the equivalent of $70m.

Antonio Celso Dos Santos, then a federal police chief, was one of the detectives who tracked down the gang. He spoke to Jane Wilkinson about the investigation.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.

(Photo: Police and journalists examine the Banco Central tunnel, 2005. Credit: AP Photo/Tuno de Vieira, Diario do Nordeste)


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m002ldbf)
Anita Sethi on the Raven

Nature writer Anita Sethi has long been intrigued by ravens. These large, intelligent birds mainly feed on carrion and have glossy, jet black plumage and long wings. They are the biggest member of the crow family and will usually will mate for life, remaining in pairs throughout the year.

However, ravens were historically seen as an ill omen and they have often been connected with death and the supernatural in British folklore and mythology. Ravens are perhaps most famously associated with the Tower of London, where legend holds that if they were to leave the tower, the kingdom of Britain would fall.

But these distinctive birds have also given their name to various places in the British isles, including several locations in the North York Moors. Anita visits one such place - Ravenscar - and sees the ravens nesting on the high cliffs overlooking the North Sea.

Presented by Anita Sethi and produced by Jo Peacey. A BBC Audio Bristol production.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002ldbh)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m002ldbk)
Lennie James, actor

Lennie James is a British actor and writer. In 2025, he received the BAFTA for Leading Actor for his portrayal of Barrington Walker in the TV adaptation of Bernadine Evaristo’s novel Mr. Loverman.

This award adds to his collection, which also includes accolades for writing. At seventeen, he wrote Trial and Error and won the National Youth Theatre–Texaco Playwriting Competition, earning the title of Most Prominent Playwright Under 21.

For a decade, Lennie played Morgan Jones in The Walking Dead and its spin-off Fear the Walking Dead, gaining such global recognition that he was even recognised by Vatican guards.

He also created and starred in the critically acclaimed Sky Atlantic drama Save Me, which premiered in 2018. Its second season, Save Me Too, won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Drama Series in 2021.

Raised by his mother Phyllis, who emigrated from Trinidad to work as a nurse, Lennie faced hardship after her death when he was eleven. He and his brother Kestor were placed in a children’s home, and later Lennie moved into foster care after the home was sold by Wandsworth Council.

Encouraged by a youth theatre group, Lennie pursued acting and later trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

He met his wife, Giselle, at seventeen in the same youth theatre group. They have three daughters and divide their time between the US and the UK.

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast many actors and writers away including the author of Mr. Loverman, Booker Prize winner Bernadine Evaristo and the creator of Line of Duty, Jed Mercurio. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002ldbm)
Writer: Katie Hims
Director: Andy Partington
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge…. Charles Collingwood
David Archer.... Timothy Bentinck
Josh Archer.... Angus Imrie
Jolene Archer.... Buffy Davies
Ruth Archer.... Felicity Finch
Lilian Bellamy.... Sunny Ormonde
Alice Carter.... Hollie Chapman
Ruairi Donavan.... Arthur Hughes
Amber Gordon.... Charlotte Jordan
George Grundy.... Angus Stobie
Tracy Horrorbin.... Susie Riddell
Adam Macy.... Andrew Wincott
Kate Madikane.... Perdita Avery
Esme Mulligan.... Ellie Pawsey
Oliver Sterling…. Michael Cochrane
Carly…. Louise Brearley


SUN 12:15 Profile (m002ldbp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (m002l37c)
Series 4

Episode IV: A New Pope

Paul Sinha tests his audience in Ayr on their knowledge of universities, Popes and islands. In return, they get to quiz him about notable Scottish footballing achievements and the Scottish Grand National.

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

Original music: Tim Sutton

Recording engineer: Hamish Campbell
Mixed by Rich Evans
Producer: Ed Morrish

A Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:57 Weather (m002ldbr)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002ldbt)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world.


SUN 13:30 Currently (m002ldbw)
Garden of England

Kent is the Garden of England - if you view it from the air, it’s covered in square miles of plastic, where the millions of tonnes of soft fruit are grown that feed the nation. Aidan Tulloch takes us inside the world of the summer fruit pickers recruited to work for a season on a blueberry farm in Kent.

In early summer thousands of people arrive in UK airports, hired on short-term visas to help pick the annual crop of soft fruit. Picking is an international effort, with jobs advertised in Russian, Bulgarian, Polish and many other languages, and pickers are increasingly being recruited from Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. They are joined each day by local pickers, often students or young people working summers between other lives elsewhere. Many pickers live in on-site caravans that become their homes for several months. The farm becomes a fascinating, temporary global community.

From spring showers through a heatwave and a late September chill, this is the story of a summer in a pickers' village, from the early starts to the final goodbyes and the return home, where different people from vastly different backgrounds come together over the course of several months. It's the story of 5am alarms, temperamental weather, unexpected friendships and ad-hoc games of football, families left behind in home countries, new lives made in the UK - human stories behind the punnets of blueberries in your local supermarket.

Translations: Irena Taranyuk and Elizaveta Fokht
Voices: Hannah Bristow and Olivia Railton

Presenter: Aidan Tulloch
Producer: Tim Bano


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002l3pp)
Two Dales

Which seeds would you take to a desert island? How can I improve my success planting bulbs? Which easy-to-grow plants have you managed to kill?

Peter Gibbs and a panel of gardening experts are in Two Dales to share their top horticultural advice. Joining Peter are garden designer Bunny Guinness, RHS curator Marcus Chilton-Jones, and alpine specialist Bethan Collerton.

Later in the programme, Marcus stops to chat to Steve Porter, Head of Gardens and Landscape at Chatsworth House about the history of camellias and how best to grow them.

Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Producer: Matt Smith

A Somethin' Else Production for BBC Radio 4

Plant List:

Q — 2 minutes, 45 seconds
Which easy-to-grow plant have you managed to kill?

Marcus Chilton-Jones
Swiss cheese plant
Mother in law’s tongue

Bethan Collerton—
Gorse

Bunny Guinness—
Bacchia
Pelagonium

Q — 4 minutes, 41 seconds
 I've got a prickly pear cactus and  the outer surface layer appears to be getting eaten in patches. Why?

QM
I want to re-plant a board backed by a 6ft wooden fence. What would the panel recommend?

Bethan Collerton—
Evergreen ferns
Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’
Brunnera macrophylla ’Silver heart’

Bunny Guinness—
Lavender
Yew
Allium ‘Globe master’
Hydrangea seemannii

Marcus Chilton-Jones —
Physocarpus
Camellia
Lobelia
cotinus
Hydrangea seemannii

Q 15 minutes, 30 seconds
Cornus kousa ‘green sleeves’
Cornus kousa ‘milky way’

Bunny Guinness —
Cornus mas ‘Cornelian cherry’

Q -- 25 minutes, 37 seconds
 Could the team advise how to improve my  success rate of my bull planting?

Q -- 30 minutes, 30 seconds
How should I prune a Victoria plum tree?

QF 37 mins 25
Which two packets of seeds would you take to a desert island?

Bethan Collerton—
Courgette
Rice

Bunny Guinness—
Edamame
Fig

Marcus Chilton-Jones —
Tomatoes
Sunflower


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m002ldby)
The Castle of Otranto

When Horace Walpole published The Castle of Otranto in 1764, novels as a form were still in their infancy. Many tended to be long-winded works, instructing readers on how to live a moral life.

With this short and fast-paced rollercoaster of a book, Walpole blew that idea out of the water, introducing his audience to a completely new kind of fiction, featuring supernatural happenings, suspense, and a young woman fleeing an evil villain down a dark corridor with a candle that blows out at the vital moment - all the elements of what we now call Gothic fiction.

Prompting both a moral panic and a rush on sales, The Castle of Otranto would prove inspirational to many future writers, including Mary Shelley who wrote Frankenstein and Jane Austen who would both parody and celebrate the Gothic in her novel Northanger Abbey.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy, he's trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative - including many podcasts for R4.

Contributor: Emma Clery, Professor of English Literature at the Uppsala University, Sweden. Editor of The Castle of Otranto (1996), and author of The Rise of Supernatural Fiction, 1762 -1800

Reader: Paul Dodgson
Production Hub Coordinator: Nina Semple
Researcher: Henry Tydeman
Sound: Iain Hunter
Producer: Kate McAll
Executive Producer: Sara Davies

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m002ldc0)
The Castle of Otranto

A new adaptation of Horace Walpole’s gothic novel, widely recognised as being the godfather of modern horror.

The adaptation by Katherine Tozer with specially composed music by John Chambers embraces the lurid nature of the original text, evoking a fever dream reality designed to conjure an experience that’s both eerie and disturbing.

Set in Medieval Italy, Manfred is the despotic ruler of Otranto. Defying the curse that foretells his downfall he prepares to use whatever means necessary to hold onto power.
Manfred ….. Sandy Grierson
Hippolyta ….. Emily Bruni
Mathilda ….. Kitty Archer
Isabella ….. Cecilia Appiah
Bianca ….. Bethany Muir
Theodore ….. Jake Kenny-Bryne
Father Jerome ….. Arthur Hughes
Frederic ….. Justin Salinger

Directed by Tracey Neale
Produced by Gemma Jenkins
Production Co-ordinator: Maggie Olgiati

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4.

The Castle of Otranto is widely credited with single-handily creating the phenomenon of The Gothic Novel.

The novel was penned over several months in late 1764 by Horace Walpole and published under the pretence that it was a 'found' manuscript from an ancient library speaking of true-life horror.

The book's breathless pace and supernatural opening, packed with unexplainable happenings and sinister portents, anticipate everything from Frankenstein and Dracula, right up to the present-day Twilight Saga.

By turns lurid, sensational and slyly amusing, this literary tour-de-force gripped the Georgian public by the throat and held them riveted. As Walter Scott put it, the novel taps 'that secret and reserved feeling of love for the marvellous and supernatural, which occupies a hidden corner in almost everyone's bosom.'

And coming to Radio 4 later on this year, the gothic theme continues with a new adaptation of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, written as a parody in response to Walpole's novel.


SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m002ldc4)
Chris Kraus

Presenter James Crawford welcomes American writer, filmmaker, and art critic Chris Kraus to Take Four Books to discuss her latest novel 'The Four Spent the Day Together'. This marks Kraus’ fifth semi-autobiographical novel, following the success of 'I Love Dick', which was adapted into a major television series.

The Four Spent the Day Together blends elements of childhood memoir, the experience of being the partner of a relapsing alcoholic, and an investigation into a real-life crime in a Minnesotan town.

Kraus also shares the three literary influences that inspired the novel: 'The Executioner’s Song' by Norman Mailer (1979), 'Main Street' by Sinclair Lewis (1920), and 'Hinterland' by Phil A. Neel (2018).

Producer: Rachael O’Neill
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 16:30 Punt & Dennis: Route Masters (m0023dqj)
Series 1: From Beer to Eternity

1 - From Beer to Jurassic Park

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are on a mission from Beer to Eternity, in this warm and witty new podcast that celebrates new and half remembered trivia as they try to find entertaining links between random places, people and things.

Could you make your way from The Starship Enterprise to the Air Fryer, armed only with A Level Economics and a Geography degree? Hugh Dennis is going to have to. While Steve Punt will have to pick his way across Africa, to find what links Machiavelli and Madagascar. Across the series, they’ll be joined by guests including Ken Cheng, Kiri Pritchard McLean, Isy Suttie and Marcus Brigstocke, on a scenic route which takes in Shampoo, The Gruffalo, Watford Gap Services and Yoghurt.

Written and hosted by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis
With Jessica Fostekew
Produced by Victoria Lloyd
Recorded at Maple St Creative
Mixed by Jonathan Last

A Listen Production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct743z)
Dancing in the Street: David Bowie and Mick Jagger

In July 1985, music legends Mick Jagger and David Bowie were asked to perform a duet with a twist at Live Aid, the biggest concert in pop history.

Utilising the latest satellite technology, Mick would perform on the US stage in Philadelphia, while David would perform on the UK stage at Wembley Stadium.

As the technical issues were being discussed, it soon became obvious that a half-second delay in the link between cities would prevent the live performance from happening, so a recording was planned instead.

A short list of songs was discussed before the duo finally settled on the Motown classic Dancing in the Street.

Live Aid press officer Bernard Doherty tells Des Shaw how the duet and video were recorded in just 18 hours and became a highlight of the benefit concert on 13 July 1985. A Zinc Media production.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Mick Jagger and David Bowie performing Dancing In The Street. Credit: Getty Images)


SUN 17:10 The Verb (m002ldc9)
Shaun Usher, Katrina Naomi, Amani Saeed, Fran Edwards and Jennifer Jones

Shaun Usher's Letters of Note project became a cultural empire spanning multiple books, stage shows, and an online archive. He's now produced Diaries of Note - a collection of diary entries that span centuries from the great and the good . He discusses the relationship between a diary entry and a poem.

Katrina Naomi on her latest pamphlet of poems, Dance As If, in which she reconnects with her body, as a woman of a certain age, through the medium of dance.

Amani Saeed on the culmination of the Language Is A Queer Thing project which for the last three years has brought poets from India and England together to create new work.

Mother and daughter, Fran Edwards and Jennifer Jones, on Rebirth - a collection of poems which began as a private conversation reflecting on their relationship, during the pandemic.

Presenter Ian McMillan
Producer: Ekene Akalawu


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002ldcc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m002ldcf)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002ldch)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002ldck)
Babita Sharma

A selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002ldcm)
Will hatches a plan, and Tracy suffers a mishap.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002ld6d)
Problems with Julia Masli

There are so many problems in the world. For the past three years, Estonian clown Julia Masli - armed with a microphone taped to a mannequin leg - has been trying to solve them.

So far, during the performances of her live show ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, where Julia asks audience members their problem, she has recorded 1574 problems. A few people feel homesick, some worry about the collapse of society, and many lament their retreating hairlines. But we are not alone with our problems: Janet is not the only one with a broken fridge. Simon shares his back pain. Alexandra might feel lonely, but Aisha does too.

This clown might not be able to solve all of our problems, but she’s going to try.

Photo: Cameron Whitman
Original music composed by Alessio Festuccia
Produced by Talia Augustidis and Julia Masli
Dramaturgy by Kim Noble (director of ha ha ha ha ha ha ha)
Executive producers Alan Hall and Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m0018gqq)
An Apple a Day

In this episode, Michael delves into the surprising research on the humble apple, revealing how it can help your heart, gut, and brain. He speaks to Dr Catherine Bondonno from Edith Cowan University in Australia to find out how and why simply eating more apples could reduce risk of dying early by up to 35%! They discuss what apples can do to our gut bacteria and blood vessels to keep them healthy. Meanwhile, our volunteer Lee overcomes sensory challenges, finding different ways of adding apples to his diet.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m002l3hp)
Saturday Live. BBC Sounds website. Jonathan Anderson on This Cultural Life.

Saturday Live is a staple of BBC Radio 4's weekend schedule, and for years it was presented by Reverend Richard Coles and Nikki Bedi. Andrea interviewed Richard as he departed in 2023 when the programme moved to Cardiff. The lead presenter post was covered in the interim by Nikki Bedi with different co-hosts. Now, Adrian Chiles has entered the chat, as the new presenter of Saturday Live. Feedback listeners have been telling us what they think of this change. Andrea Catherwood puts your comments to Colin Paterson, Head of Audio for BBC Wales and the West of England.

There's also been tweaks to how some listeners access BBC Sounds when using a browser, leading to widespread confusion. We've got an answer about the changes from the BBC Sounds team.

Last week Andrea spoke to BBC Political Editor Chris Mason about how the BBC has been covering Reform UK and its leader Nigel Farage. We'll hear what you thought of the discussion.

And finally, one listener has nominated John Wilson's interview with Northern Ireland fashion designer Jonathan Anderson, who has recently been appointed Creative Director at French fashion house Christian Dior, for Interview of the Year. As we learned in the interview, it's a far cry from Mid Ulster, where he grew up.

Presenter: Andrea Catherwood
Producer: Pauline Moore
Assistant Producer: Rebecca Guthrie
Executive Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002l3pt)
Raila Odinga, Bill Colley, Baroness Rosalind Howells, Sister Marion Irvine

Matthew Bannister on

The influential Kenyan politician Raila Odinga, who was detained for his pro-democracy campaigns, but went on to be the country’s Prime Minister.

Bill Colley, who designed and built traditional wooden racing boats.

Baroness Rosalind Howells of St Davids, who campaigned for racial equality and supported the family of Stephen Lawrence after his murder.

And Sister Marion Irvine, the American nun who took up marathon running in middle age and went on to break many records.

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies
Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Glyn Tansley

ARCHIVE USED:
Raila Odinga interview about his struggles in Kamiti, NTV Kenya YouTube channel uploaded 26/01/2020; Raila Odinga state funeral, BBC World Service, 17/10/2025; Raila Odinga profile, Reuters, BBC News Channel, 19/10/2025; Raila Odinga on anti-government protests in Kenya, BBC Africa, 27/03/23; The interview: Leader of the National Super Alliance, Kenya - Raila Odinga, BBC World Service, 07/02/2018; Bill Colley: The Last wooden racing boat builder, Real Time series, BBC News, 05/12/2013; The Boys in the Boat, Official Trailer, Warners Bros. UK and Ireland, Director George Clooney, Warner Bros YouTube Channel, uploaded 18/10/2023; The Boys in the Boat | Bill Colley Featurette, Amazon MGM Studio, YouTube channel, 23/11/2023; Rasalind Howells interview from the New Cross Fire report, Newsnight, BBC News, 15/01/2001; The Powerlist Interviews - Rosalind Howells, Powerful Media, YouTube Upload, 23/05/2018; BBC News report, New Cross Fire, 18/01/1981; BBC Newsroom South East, 1993; BBC Newsroom South East, 08/10/1997; National Theatre War Horse Trailer, Music Comp Adrian Sutton, Production National Theatre, YouTube uploaded 14/01/2016; Sister Marion Irvine interview, Silver Into Gold, Writer and Dir: Lynn Mueller, Publisher: Barr Films, Irwindale, CA, 1986;


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m002ldcp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002ldb5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002ldcr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m002ldct)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 In Our Time (b07vs3v1)
Zeno's Paradoxes

After 27 years, Melvyn Bragg has decided to step down from the In Our Time presenter’s chair. With over a thousand episodes to choose from, he has selected just six that capture the huge range and depth of the subjects he and his experts have tackled. In this third of his choices, we hear Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Greek philosophy.

Their topic is Zeno of Elea, a pre-Socratic philosopher from c490-430 BC whose paradoxes were described by Bertrand Russell as "immeasurably subtle and profound." The best known argue against motion, such as that of an arrow in flight which is at a series of different points but moving at none of them, or that of Achilles who, despite being the faster runner, will never catch up with a tortoise with a head start. Aristotle and Aquinas engaged with these, as did Russell, yet it is still debatable whether Zeno's Paradoxes have been resolved.

With

Marcus du Sautoy
Professor of Mathematics and Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford

Barbara Sattler
Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews

and

James Warren
Reader in Ancient Philosophy at the University of Cambridge

Producer: Simon Tillotson
In Our Time is a BBC Studios Production

Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Melvyn Bragg and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world


SUN 23:45 Short Works (m002l3pr)
Harry Swithenback's Private Visit by Alan Warner

The award-winning Scottish writer Alan Warner’s new and specially-commissioned story sees an antiques expert off the telly – Harry Swithenback – arrive in an unnamed harbour town for what he hopes is a few days of rest and relaxation, however, the townspeople have other ideas. Stuart McQuarrie reads.

Alan Warner was born in Oban on the west coast of Scotland in 1964 and is the author of several novels including: Morvern Callar (1995), which won the Somerset Maugham Prize and was adapted for the cinema by director Lynne Ramsay in 2002. It is published as a Vintage Classic. He also wrote These Demented Lands (1997), which won the Encore Award and The Sopranos/Our Ladies (1998), which won the Saltire Book of the Year Award. His novel The Stars in the Bright Sky (2010) was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Stuart McQuarrie is a television, film and theatre actor who has appeared in shows such as Taggart, Rab C Nesbitt, London’s Burning and Silent Witness. In film, he's also had notable roles in 28 Days Later, Terminator: Dark Fate and White Bird.

The producer is Dominic Howell.

MONDAY 27 OCTOBER 2025

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002ldcw)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 00:15 Soul Music (m002b6j2)
May You Never

"May you never lay your head down without a hand to hold / May you never make your bed out in the cold."

A perfect folk song of brotherly affection, with simply voice and guitar, John's Martyn's May You Never has captured listeners' hearts since 1971.

John Martyn was born in Surrey in 1948 and grew up in Glasgow. Part of the potent London folk scene in the late 60s early 70s, John's style evolved from these folk roots. Written in his early 20s, the enduring version of May You Never was recorded in one take in the early hours of recording his beloved 1973 album, Solid Air. The lyrics encapsulate something of the essence of John Martyn: sweet, joyful and affectionate, yet with a hint of danger ("And may you never lose your temper / If you get in a bar room fight"). John's life was beset by substance abuse and addiction and he died in 2009, age 60.

May You Never, perhaps his most famous song, is remembered by those whose lives became entwined with the song, and by others who knew John or have covered it.

Featuring:
Michael Volpe, Executive Director of If Opera;
Lauren Bensted, a writer based in London;
Graeme Thomson, author of Small Hours: The Long Night of John Martyn;
Spencer Cozens, keyboard player and Musical Director in John Martyn's band from 1990-2009;
Blythe Pepino, Kit Hawes, Pete Josef and Sam Brookes from The John Martyn Project.

With thanks to Kit Hawes and Spencer Cozens for the instrumental recordings.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002ldcy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002ldd0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002ldd2)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


MON 05:00 News Summary (m002ldd4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002ldd6)
Alicia McCarthy reports on moves to tackle ticketless fans getting into football matches and MPs hold their first debate on hoarding disorder. Also, the rules on debating royal affairs in the Commons and th 75th anniversary of the chamber re-opening after bomb damage during World War II.


MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002ldd8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002lddb)
A good belly laugh

Good morning.

And it’s a happy birthday to one of the UK’s best-loved comedians: John Cleese turns 86 today. He’s perhaps best known as the co-creator of Fawlty Towers, where he played the wonderfully inept hotel manager, Basil Fawlty. Despite making only 12 episodes, the series has become a cult classic, playing so often on misunderstandings, language barriers and complaining customers. It makes me wonder: how is that watching this kind of farcical chaos and having a good belly laugh, can actually leave us feeling better about things?

Laughter is a universal human response that pops up in so many places, not only in response to the comic timing of people like Cleese. Different things will make different people laugh – and it even seems that laughter has cultural differences. Some people use humour to normalise things, especially in difficult environments. This can appear a bit shocking to those of us not in that environment, who assume it’s inappropriate to laugh about serious things. I suppose humans need medicinal pressure valves – and humour seems to act as a pressure valve like no other.

Maybe some of us listening to this today are experiencing something that feels far from a laughing matter. G.K. Chesterton, nicknamed the ‘Laughing Prophet’ for his understanding of humour as an essential ingredient in navigating all the ups and downs of human life, writes these words to us:

Chattering finch and water-fly
Are not merrier than I;
Here among the flowers I lie
Laughing everlastingly.
No: I may not tell the best;
Surely, friends, I might have guessed
Death was but the good King’s jest,
It was hid so carefully.

Lord, help us to believe you are with us in our darkness, and in our laughter,
joining your unending joy into whatever emotion we experience this day.
Amen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002lddd)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


MON 05:57 Weather (m002lddg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m002ldfv)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m002ldfy)
Crossing genres with Wayne McGregor

The internationally renowned choreographer Sir Wayne McGregor swaps stage for gallery in a landmark exhibition exploring his multifaceted career at Somerset House (from 30 Oct 2025–22 Feb 2026). ‘Infinite Bodies’ investigates how Wayne McGregor has combined body, movement and cutting-edge digital technologies to redefine perceptions of physical intelligence. Throughout the gallery space he draws together designers, musicians, engineers and dancers to bring the artworks to life.

The Booker prize winning novelist Anne Enright is in the studio to talk about her latest work, ‘Attention, Writing on Life, Art and the World’. Unlike her fiction, in these essays, Enright speaks directly to the reader, elucidating her thoughts on everything from family history to Irish politics and the control of women, to new perspectives on literary legends.

There’s a screen idol at the heart of Tanika Gupta’s new play, Hedda (at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, until 22nd November). Inspired by the life of Anglo-Indian film star Merle Oberon, Gupta sets her play just after India’s independence and transforms Ibsen’s classic into a story about power, identity and representation.

Producer: Katy Hickman
Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez


MON 09:45 Café Hope (m002ldg2)
Build and bond

Neil Baker, from the Men's Shed in Camberly, tells Rachel Burden how community workshops reduce loneliness, encouraging men to make new friends whilst completing building projects.

Café Hope is our virtual Radio 4 coffee shop, where guests pop in for a brew and a chat to tell us what they’re doing to make things better in big and small ways. Think of us as sitting in your local café, cooking up plans, hearing the gossip, and celebrating the people making the world a better place.

We’re all about trying to make change. It might be a transformational project that helps an entire community, or it might be about trying to make one life a little bit easier. And the key here is in the trying. This is real life. Not everything works, and there are struggles along the way. But it’s always worth a go.

You can contact us on cafehope@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Rachel Burden
Series Producer: Uma Doraiswamy
Sound Design: Nicky Edwards
Researcher: Maeve Schaffer
Editor: Clare Fordham


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002ldg6)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


MON 10:55 A Carnival of Animals (m002ktsy)
The Wombat

In this episode writer Katherine Rundell brings us the wombat - a creature adored by Victorian poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who described them as “a Joy, a Triumph, a Delight, a Madness!” and kept two as pets. The wombat also has surprising physical prowess: it can sprint at 40 kilometres per hour and has a unique defensive tactic, using its reinforced rump to crush predators against the walls of its burrow.

To early settlers in Australia wombats were seen as pests and were hunted in huge numbers, with bounties introduced in the 1920s. Habitat destruction followed, and today, the common wombat is no longer common. The northern hairy-nosed wombat is now one of the rarest land mammals on Earth, with only around 400 individuals surviving.

Written and presented by Katherine Rundell
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan


MON 11:00 The Tax Conundrum (m002ldgb)
Episode 2: The Possibilities

The debate about tax in the UK is generally parochial, even self-obsessed. But what if we lift our gaze? In the second episode of the Tax Conundrum Ben Chu asks what we could all learn from other countries. Ben travels to Estonia, which has pioneered a land value tax, something most tax experts regard as the most rational way to tax property and encourage building. He speaks to a Tallinn property developer to learn how it works in practice - and to ask how practical it would be to do something similar in Britain. He also takes a trip to Sweden, where, unlike the UK, Value Added Tax is charged on food and children’s clothes and asks shoppers in Stockholm why they’re not in uproar, as they undoubtedly would be in the UK if a politician dared to propose doing the same. The top income tax rate in Sweden is also above 50%. Ben talks to high earning Swedes about whether or not such rates discourage them from working - or whether the benefits in the form of more comprehensive public services like childcare make it worthwhile. Ben has the same conversation with workers in Estonia, which has a flat 22% income tax rate for everyone, regardless of their income. So is it wrong to assume that all the answers to the tax conundrum are to be found here in Britain?

Presenter: Ben Chu
Producer: Ivana Davidovic
Production co-ordinator: Janet Staples
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
Editor: Richard Vadon


MON 11:45 Every Last Fish by Rose George (m002ldgf)
1. Life Underwater

Take a deep dive with the intrepid journalist Rose George as she explores the slippery world of fish, and the industry that puts the species on our plates. Dorothy Atkinson reads.

Rose George reminds us that Samuel Coleridge thought of fish as nothing more than ‘slimy things’ in the water. In her new book she observes that today, we see fish mostly as food, and she invites us to reconsider, to think beyond our dinner plates and to go out and wonder at this glorious species and the oceans they inhabit. As our appetites for fish grow and the health benefits of these watery dwellers are widely disseminated, George asks where our lunches, pet food, supplements and garden fertilizers in the shape of fishmeal are going to come through. As fish stocks continue to diminish and artisanal fishing practices are dwindling George asks hard questions. We'll hear about the impact of over fishing; the plight of the Senegalese fishing industry; the question of fish farms, and also a celebration of fishwives, along with stories of the heroic fisherman who saved lives during the world wars and continue do so on our most perilous seas.

Dorothy Atkinson is the reader. She is acclaimed for her work in theatre, film and television. She has appeared in several films by Mike Leigh most notably Mr Turner. She is well known for playing Pauline in the sitcom Mum. Recent work includes Ludwig, Joan, Saltburn, Without Sin, Pennyworth, Harlots and Call the Midwife.

Rose George is the author of A Life Removed: Hunting for Refuge in the Modern World (long-listed for the Ulysses Reportage Prize), The Big Necessity: Adventures in the World of Human Waste (Portobello, 2008; shortlisted for the BMA Book Prize) and Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry that Brings You 90% of Everything (Portobello, 2013; winner of a Mountbatten Maritime Award), and Nine Pints: A Journey Through the Mysterious, Miraculous World of Blood (Portobello, 2018).

Rose writes frequently for the Guardian, New Statesman and many other publications, and her two TED talks, on sanitation and seafaring, have had 3 million views.

Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Elizabeth Allard


MON 12:00 News Summary (m002ldgk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002ldgp)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m002ldgt)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m002ldgy)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


MON 13:45 The History Podcast (m002l6j3)
The House at Number 48

6. Spa Town

In July 1939, industrialist Rudolph Eisner, his wife Hildegard and their two young children arrive in the small port city of Harwich in England. Life as Germans in the Uk was tough. But what of Antony's relatives who stayed on in Germany, what became of them?

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.


MON 14:00 The Archers (m002ldcm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Disordered (m001t2zg)
Series 1

Episode 1 - Free-Fall. Free Food

A comedy drama, written by Magnus Mackintosh, and starring Jamie Sives as Hector, an optimistic but struggling 42-year-old single father, with long-term mental health issues, who lives in Edinburgh with his unusually bright 10-year-old son William. He is aided by kindly friend and neighbour Susan and hindered by acerbic ex-partner Amanda.

In episode one, Free-Fall, Free Food, Hector has trouble with an unsympathetic job advisor and his callous landlady, and ends up having to resort to using the food bank, where a fiery encounter with an aggressive customer leaves Hector battered and bruised, literally and metaphorically. When acid tongued ex-partner Amanda pours oil on the flames by threatening to take custody of William, Hector is left in a fragile state. Thankfully caring, thoughtful neighbour Susan is there to help keep Hector’s head above water.

The writer, Magnus Mackintosh, has personally struggled with mental health issues over 27 years. He openly discusses his own mental health issues on social media in the hope he can help others and raise awareness.

Created and Written by Magnus Mackintosh

Cast
Hector- Jamie Sives
Susan- Rosalind Sydney
Amanda- Gail Watson
William- Raffi Phillips
Thresher- Steven McNicoll
Cleaver- Anita Vettesse
Man- Gordon Kennedy

Studio Engineer and Editor- Lee McPhail
Production Manager- Tayler Norris
Title Music- Just Breathe by Police Dog Hogan
Produced and Directed by Moray Hunter and Gordon Kennedy

Recorded at Castlesound Studios, Pencaitland, East Lothian

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:45 Scenes from a Childhood by Jon Fosse (m001vkx2)
Episode One: Scenes from a Childhood (Part One)

A selection of connected short stories by the celebrated Norwegian author Jon Fosse, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature - “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable”. Minimalist and compelling, these pared-back vignettes take us from infancy to awkward adolescence, skirting the line between fiction and autobiography. Episodes one to three draw stories from the titular story sequence 'Scenes from a Childhood'; episodes four and five are taken from the story 'Little Sister'.

'the Beckett of the twenty-first century' - Le Monde

‘Fosse has been compared to Ibsen and to Beckett, and it is easy to see his work as Ibsen stripped down to its emotional essentials. But it is much more. For one thing, it has a fierce poetic simplicity.’ - New York Times

Translated from the Norwegian by Damion Searls
Read by John Mackay
Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery and Mair Bosworth
Mixed by Ilse Lademann


MON 15:00 A Good Read (m002ldh2)
Tom Cox and Sophie Scott

THE STONE DIARIES by Carol Shields, chosen by Tom Cox
HOW TO WRITE A THESIS by Umberto Eco, chosen by Sophie Scott
PARADISE by Abdulrazak Gurnah, chosen by Harriett Gilbert

Writer Tom Cox joins neuroscientist Sophie Scott to discuss favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Tom's choice is the 1995 Pulitzer Prize winner, The Stone Diaries. Following the story of one woman’s life from birth to death, the novel also charts the unsettled decades of the twentieth century. Sophie puts forward a very different book, a non-fiction by Italian writer and academic, How to Write a Thesis. It first appeared on Italian bookshelves back in 1977, but still rings true for many. And finally, Harriett's choice is a historical novel called Paradise by the Nobel Prize-winning author Abdulrazak Gurnah, which is both a coming-of-age story, and a tale of the corruption against the backdrop of European colonialism in East Africa.

Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Becky Ripley

Join the conversation on Instagram: agoodreadbbc


MON 15:30 Curious Cases (m002ldh6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Saturday]


MON 16:00 Currently (m002ldbw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Legend (m002ldhb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m002ldhg)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002ldhl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 18:30 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (m002ldhq)
Series 4

Yapping about Leicester

Paul Sinha tests a Leicester audience's knowledge about new words, the people of 2024, and a surprising connection between two modern pop stars. In return they ask him about shipyards, RoboCop, and politicians called James.

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

Original music: Tim Sutton

Recording engineer: Jerry Peal
Mixed by: Rich Evans
Producer: Ed Morrish

A Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m002ld5n)
Josh has a brainwave, and Eddie is on a mission.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m002ldhv)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


MON 20:00 The Briefing Room (m002l3hr)
Is there a crash coming?

Some of the biggest figures in finance, from the CEO of JPMorganChase to the Governor of the Bank of England, have been warning of potential shocks to the global economy.

As excitement continues to build about the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence, the US stock market has boomed, potentially forming a fragile bubble. Meanwhile, recent bankruptcies in America have raised worries that a rapid growth in lending by private companies (so-called shadow banks) might be built on shaky ground - and have invoked memories of the subprime mortgage debacle that kicked off the Great Financial Crisis in 2007. And if that wasn’t enough, the threat that Donald Trump might reignite his tariff-driven trade war still looms over the global economy.

So how worried should we be? David Aaronovitch speaks to the top experts to find out.

Guests:
Katie Martin, markets columnist at the Financial Times
Duncan Weldon, economist and author of Blood and Treasure
Simon French, Chief Economist and Head of Research at investment company Panmure Liberum

Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Nathan Gower, Kirsteen Knight
Editor: Richard Vadon
Programme Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineer: Duncan Hannant


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (m002l3ht)
Have scientists created a bionic eye?

The 'bionic eye' may make you think of Star Trek’s Geordi La Forge. Now, scientists have restored the ability to read in a group of blind patients with advanced dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). And they’ve done it by implanting a computer chip in the back of their eyes. Professor Francesca Cordeiro, Chair of Ophthalmology at Imperial College London explains how bionic technology might provide future solutions for more people with sight loss.

Researchers at the University of Sheffield have come up with a way of extracting hormones from human remains dating as far back as the 1st century AD. Marnie Chesterton speaks to Brenna Hassett, bioarchaeologist at the University of Lancashire to find out how pregnancy testing skeletons could cast new information on human evolution.

In a world of automation and AI, its easy to forget that every day, people around the UK record weather observations which contribute to our understanding of climate science. Marnie meets Met Office volunteer Stephen Burt and climate scientist at the University of Reading, Professor Ed Hawkins to find out more. And science broadcaster Caroline Steel brings us brand new discoveries changing the way we understand the world around us.

If you want to find out more about volunteering to collect rain data, you can email: nationalhydrology@environment-agency.gov.uk. If you’re in Scotland, visit the SEPA website: https://www2.sepa.org.uk/rainfall/GetInvolved

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producer(s): Clare Salisbury, Ella Hubber, Jonathan Blackwell, Tim Dodd
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Coordinator: Jana Holesworth


MON 21:00 Start the Week (m002ldfy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 Café Hope (m002ldg2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002ldj0)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 North Woods by Daniel Mason (m002ldj4)
Episode 6

Daniel Mason's North Woods is a time-spanning novel chronicling four centuries of human and natural history centred on a yellow house and its surrounding woods in Massachusetts, New England.

Through varied narrative styles, the book follows a diverse cast of fascinating inhabitants, from Puritan lovers to a lovelorn painter, a fraudulent mystic, a farmer, a slave hunter, a detectorist, twin sisters, a crime reporter. It even includes the stories of panthers and beetles, whilst exploring themes of memory, fate, and the interconnectedness of life with the environment.

The novel also incorporates historical documents and diverse literary formats to create a genre-defying tapestry of stories and music within the same location.

Read by
Hannah Traylen &
Daniel Weyman

Abridged by Lucy Ellis

Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Limelight (m0025dvy)
Aldrich Kemp and The Rose of Pamir

4. The Missing Child

Aldrich Kemp and the gang are back with some new faces as the race for the mysterious and elusive Rose of Pamir moves from London to Paris, New York to Amsterdam and the Maldives to Tajikistan.

Chapter Four: The Missing Child

Family challenges are coming from all directions as Clara races to a Manhattan rooftop and Mrs Bartholomew visits Themis House.

Clara Page - Phoebe Fox
Aldrich Kemp – Ferdinand Kingsley
Mrs Boone – Nicola Walker
Nakesha – Karla Crome
Sebastian Harcourt & the Dutch waiter – Kyle Soller
Aunt Lily – Susan Jameson
The Underwood Sisters & Forsaken McTeague – Jana Carpenter
Mrs Bartholomew – Kate Isitt
Lionel – Steven Mackintosh
Selina – Catherine Kanter
Hazlitt - Ben Crowe

Written and directed by Julian Simpson
Music composed by Tim Elsenburg.

Sound Design: David Thomas
Producer: Sarah Tombling
Production Assistant: Ethan Elsenburg
Executive Producer: Karen Rose

New episodes available on Fridays. Listen first on BBC Sounds

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002ldj8)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament