SATURDAY 25 OCTOBER 2008

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b00f0sqs)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b00dz9v8)
Thomas Keneally - Searching for Schindler: A Memoir

Episode 5

Thomas Keneally's account of his discovery of the story of Oscar Schindler, which became the basis for his Booker Prize-winning novel Schindler's Ark and the Oscar-winning film Schindler's List.

Thomas has finished writing Schindler's Ark and Steven Spielberg is interested in making it into a film.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00f0sqv)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00f0sqx)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00f0sqz)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b00f0sr1)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00f0sr3)
Daily prayer and reflection with Shaunaka Rishi Das.


SAT 05:45 iPM (b00f0sr5)
Eddie Mair presents the weekly interactive current affairs magazine featuring online conversation and debate.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b00f2543)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SAT 06:04 Weather (b00f2545)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (b00f2568)
Countryside magazine. Helen Mark finds that spring is in the air on the Isles of Scilly, with the scented narcissi flowering and bird watchers making rare sightings.


SAT 06:35 Farming Today This Week (b00f256b)
News and issues in rural Britain, presented by Charlotte Smith.


SAT 06:57 Weather (b00f25pt)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (b00f25pw)
Presented by Evan Davis and Edward Stourton.

John Dunford, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, discusses the announcement that more pupils are being suspended from school.

Quentin Somerville reports on UN summit in Beijing between European and Asian nations.

Vicky Young reports on Lord Mandelson's letter to The Times.

Professor David Crystal of Reading University says that text language is good for teen literacy.

Merryn Somerset Webb, editor of Money Week, discusses why the markets were hit so badly by news of a recession.

Mike Thomson reports on the local authorities that are struggling to meet the bill for their pension schemes.

Actor Dennis Hopper talks to Nicola Stanbridge about the US election.

Thought for the Day with Rev Roy Jenkins, Baptist minister in Cardiff.

Shadow Schools Minster Nick Gibb and Trevor Averre Beeson, an expert on problem schools, discuss whether schools are restricted in their ability to expel children.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband discusses hopes for the emergence of a new international agreement over the economy.

Justin Webb reports on the debate about the reliability of US presidential election opinion polls.

Barbara Broccoli, Michael G Wilson and film critic Peter Bradshaw discuss the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace.

Kenneth Clarke and and Tim Congdon discuss calls for the Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King to be replaced.

Ian Pannell explains reports of shootings in Afghanistan.

Golf commentator Peter Alliss explains why a round of 18 holes is just the tonic for grumpy old men.

Heather Wakefield of Unison, discusses public sector pensions.

Professor Jim Al Khalili discusses the legacy that Stephen Hawking will leave behind.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b00f25py)
Real life stories in which listeners talk about the issues that matter to them. Richard Coles is joined by BBC Radio 3 presenter Sean Rafferty.

Plus cryptozoologist Richard Freeman from the Centre for Fortean Zoology in Exeter, Elaine Higgins on her marriage to an SAS solder who hid his drinking problem, and mycologist Andy Taylor on fungi.

Philip Glass shares his inheritance tracks. Poetry is from Elvis McGonogall.


SAT 10:00 Excess Baggage (b00f25q0)
Hong Kong - Friends and Coasts

HONG KONG
In 1997 Hong Kong ceased to be a British Colony and came under the general administrative control of China. Today it retains its unique economic and social systems and currency but China has control of defence and foreign policy.
John McCarthy talks to children’s author Anthony Horowitz and writer Susanna Hoe about Hong Kong and how it’s changed for the traveller since 1997.

FRIENDS AND COASTS
Over the last two years, John Plummer, author of Islands and Lifelines explored the coast of Britain and Ireland in the company of important friends from across his life. He describes the extraordinary landscapes he found on his journeys and the benefits of sharing this time with friends and discovering new and surprising things about them.


SAT 10:30 The Loneliness of the Goalkeeper (b00dy5ml)
Hardeep Singh Kohli introduces a tragi-comic look at the isolated role of the goalkeeper.


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (b00f25vv)
A look behind the scenes at Westminster with Peter Oborne.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b00f25vx)
BBC foreign correspondents with the stories behind the world's headlines. Introduced by Kate Adie.


SAT 12:00 Money Box (b00f25vz)
With Britain moving one step closer to recession, Paul Lewis asks how deep it will be and how long it will last. Plus a look at the government's guidance to judges in an attempt to ease repossession rates and the implications of an increase in entitlement to the full state pension.


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (b00f0r9w)
Series 66

Episode 5

Sandi Toksvig chairs the topical comedy quiz. The panellists include Fred MacAulay and Jeremy Hardy.


SAT 12:57 Weather (b00f25w1)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 13:00 News Headlines (b00f25w3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b00f0r9y)
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the topical debate in Ilford, Essex. The guests are the author Lionel Shriver, former government minsister Lord Digby Jones, transport minister Lord Adonis and Conservative peer Lord Fowler.


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b00f25w5)
Jonathan Dimbleby takes listeners' calls and emails in response to this week's edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:30 Saturday Drama (b0076zxm)
Stephen Wakelam - Adulteries of a Provincial Wife

By Stephen Wakelam. Gustave Flaubert's masterpiece Madame Bovary was published 150 years ago. Who was the inspiration for Emma and how did his own life become embroiled in his writing?

With Daniel Evans, Robert Glenister, Anastasia Hillie, Jennie Stoller.


SAT 15:30 Stage to Screen (b00dzkp7)
Series 3

Oh! What a Lovely War

Paul Gambaccini explores how stage works have been adapted for the cinema.

Richard Attenborough's first film as director was adapted from the Theatre Workshop production by Joan Littlewood. Contributors include original cast member Victor Spinetti, Eleanor Farzan, the film's choreographer, and the film historian Ian Christie.


SAT 16:00 Weekend Woman's Hour (b00f2bbm)
Highlights of this week's Woman's Hour programmes with Jane Garvey.

Including John Sergeant discussing his experiences on Strictly Come Dancing; a debate on the opening up of the family courts; a walk around Dorchester to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the death of Thomas Hardy; Kelly Brook talks about her West End debut.


SAT 17:00 PM (b00f2bby)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news, plus the sports headlines. With Ritula Shah.


SAT 17:30 The Bottom Line (b00f2bcd)
Evan Davis is joined by experts to debate accounting rules and their impact on the markets. Was the way banks declare their assets partly to blame for the economic meltdown?


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00f2bcq)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (b00f2bcx)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00f2bd3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b00f2bd9)
Clive Anderson is joined by Rolf Harris, Russell Davies and Richard Jobson, and Arthur Smith gets life coached from L Vaughan Spencer. With comedy from Sheffield's own John Shuttleworth, and Martha Wainwright and The Travelling Band perform in the studio.


SAT 19:00 From Fact to Fiction (b00f2bdc)
Series 5

Magnificent Desolation

Series in which writers create a fictional response to the week's news.

In the week that India launched its first mission to the Moon, Kim Revill discovers slices of life on earth that reveal the ambitions of aspiring superpowers and faltering confidence amongst the old order.


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b00f2blt)
Tom Sutcliffe and guests review the cultural highlights of the week.


SAT 20:00 The Archive Hour (b0076ywd)
Potteries Fascists

Gerry Northam charts the rise and fall of Oswald Mosley and explores how and why the British Union of Fascists flourished on Mosley's homeground in the Potteries.


SAT 21:00 Classic Serial (b00dybq3)
Robinson Crusoe and his Farther Adventures

Episode 1

Adaptation of Daniel Defoe's less famous sequel to the classic adventure Robinson Crusoe.

After returning to England from his island home, Robinson Crusoe sets sail once more in search of adventure.

Robinson Crusoe ...... Tim McInnerny
Merchant ...... Jonathan Tafler
Prince ...... Adrian Grove
Barnes ...... Stephen Critchlow
Father ...... David Timson
Mary ...... Alison Pettitt
Friday/Wells ...... Ben Onwukwe

Directed by Peter Leslie Wild.

Dramatised by Andy Barratt.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b00f2blw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SAT 22:15 The Divine Spark of Music (b00dzny0)
Composer James MacMillan delivers the Sandford St Martin Lecture in front of an invited audience. He talks about how religion has an important place in public life, particularly in its ability to inspire people through classical music. The debate is chaired by Joan Bakewell.


SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (b00dzb8l)
Robert Robinson introduces the fourth heat of the perennial general knowledge quiz.


SAT 23:30 Poetry Please (b00dybq7)
The Orange by Wendy Cope
From: Serious Concerns
Publ: faber

A Brief Guide to Rhyming – or How Be the Little Busy Doth by Ogden Nash
From: You Can’t Get There From Here
Publ: JM Dent and Sons

Yours Sincerely by John Lucas
From: The Long and the Short of it
Publ: Redbeck Press

An Ordinary Poetry Reading by Roger McGough
From: Collected Poems
Publ: Viking

Welcome, Major Poet! by Sean O’Brien
From: Cousin Coat
Publ: Picador

Another Reason Why I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House by Billy Collins
From: Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes
Publ: Picador

Arithmetic by Carl Sandburg
From: Complete Poems
Publ: Harcourt

Macavity: The Mystery Cat by TS Eliot
From: The Rattle Bag
Publ: faber

The Mafia Cats by Roger McGough
From: Bad Bad Cats
Publ: Viking

The Galloping Cat by Stevie Smith
From: Bread and Roses: An Anthology of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Poetry By Women Writers
Publ: Virago

The Book of My Enemy Has Been Remaindered by Clive James
From: Other Passports
Publ: Jonathan Cape

Domestic Asides – or Truth in Parenthesis by Thomas Hood
From: Hood Winked
Publ: Chatto and Windus



SUNDAY 26 OCTOBER 2008

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b00f2dvz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SUN 00:30 The Late Story (b007cnxl)
Francis Coppola Presents

On the Lake

Stories from the magazine Zoetrope: All-Story, founded by the great film director.

A mother witnesses her husband in an act of unforgivable transgression. By Olaf Olafsson.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00f2dw2)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00f2dw4)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00f2dw6)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b00f2dw8)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b00f2dwb)
The sound of bells from St Clement Danes in London.


SUN 05:45 Classrooms to Power (b00ds8nc)
Episode 1

Michael Dobbs examines the schooldays of leading prime ministers. He discovers how far Churchill's headmaster foresaw the future politician in the boy from Blenheim Palace.


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b00f2dwd)
The latest national and international news.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b00f2f06)
Because of the Fire

Jane Ray reflects on moments and chance encounters which can prove to be life changing, such as the fire at the Royal Marsden Hospital last year that brought together three of her own friends. With readings from Ezra Pound, Thomas Hardy and Carol Ann Duffy and music by Debussy, REM and Tandie Klaasen.


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b00f2f5t)
Topical farming magazine. Alex James goes to Aberdeen to visit the second finalist in the Farmer of the Year category of the Food and Farming Awards: an organic vegetable grower who manages to grow and harvest crops for a box scheme in the middle of a vegetable desert.


SUN 06:57 Weather (b00f2f5w)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b00f2f5y)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (b00f2f60)
Edward Stourton with the religious and ethical news of the week. Moral arguments and perspectives on stories, both familiar and unfamiliar.


SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b00f2f62)
Marfan Trust

Lady Maryanna Tavener appeals on behalf of Marfan Trust. Donations: Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. Credit cards: Freephone 0800 404 8144.


SUN 07:58 Weather (b00f2f64)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b00f2f66)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b00f2f68)
Choral Mattins for Bible Sunday live from Tewkesbury Abbey. The preacher is Rev Canon Paul Williams and the Abbey choir is directed by Carleton Etherington.


SUN 08:50 A Point of View (b00f0rb0)
Lisa Jardine ponders the effect of recession on the lingerie industry.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b00f2fcz)
News and conversation about the big stories of the week with Paddy O'Connell.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b00f2fd1)
The week's events in Ambridge.


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b00f2fd3)
Ian Bostridge

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the tenor Ian Bostridge. He is regarded as one of the great Lieder singers of our time and has delighted audiences in opera houses and concert halls the world over. But for him, music wasn't a straightforward career choice. He started out as a historian, and for years led two parallel lives, spending term times at Oxford, writing about witchcraft and magic, while in the holidays he'd throw himself into an operatic production.

Eventually, his book on witchcraft was finished just before his debut with the English National Opera. Magic appeals to people in a way that is both mysterious and irrational and so it is, he says, not so different to music.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Last movement of the Piano Sonata No.31 in A flat by Ludwig van Beethoven
Book: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Luxury: A solar computer loaded with pictures of my family and friends.


SUN 12:00 The Write Stuff (b00dzbmv)
Series 8

Episode 3

James Walton takes the chair for the game of literary correctness, flanked by captains Sebastian Faulks and John Walsh with guests Harry Ritchie and Simon Brett. The author of the week and subject for pastiche is Philip Roth and the reader is Beth Chalmers.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b00f2fd5)
Can Britain become self sufficient?

Can Britain become self-sufficient? Sheila Dillon discusses some of the issues raised by the last programme, which examined the Fife Diet in which 600 people in that Scottish town lived only on locally produced food.


SUN 12:57 Weather (b00f2fd7)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b00f2fd9)
A look at events around the world with Shaun Ley.


SUN 13:30 James Bond, the Last Englishman (b00bfr6l)
As part of the Ian Fleming centenary, Prof David Cannadine sets James Bond and his creator in their historical context. He suggests that Bond was popular not just because he was sexy and suave - he was seen as a consoling fantasy for a country that had lost an Empire but not yet found a role in the world.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00f2fdc)
Eric Robson chairs the popular horticultural forum.

Bob Flowerdew, Chris Beardshaw and Bunny Guinness are guests of Chorley and District Gardening Society, Lancashire. Tony Russell, one of Europe's leading tree experts, explains the fundamentals of growing conifer trees.

Includes the Gardeners' Question Time gardening weather forecast.


SUN 14:45 The Enigma I Will Not Explain (b007779p)
Nimrod

Ruth Padel presents a series exploring the music of Elgar's Enigma Variations and analysing what the composition tells us about Elgar himself.

The Variations depict 13 of Elgar's friends as well as the composer himself. One friend in particular inspired the well-known Nimrod Variation, but who was the figure behind the music and what part did he play in Elgar's career?


SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b00f2fnd)
Robinson Crusoe and his Farther Adventures

Episode 2

Adaptation of Daniel Defoe's less famous sequel to the classic adventure Robinson Crusoe.

Crusoe has found his way to the North but the ruby is having a profound effect on him. Do his nightmares about the island have any foundation?

Robinson Crusoe ...... Tim McInnerny
Merchant ...... Jonathan Tafler
Prince ...... Adrian Grove
Captain ...... Stephen Critchlow
Friday ...... Ben Onwukwe
Atkins ...... Mark Carey
Spaniard ...... David Timson
Kirk ...... Sam Graham

Directed by Peter Leslie Wild.

Dramatised by Andy Barratt.


SUN 16:00 Open Book (b00f2h9m)
Bernard Cornwell, Self Improvement Books, and Nevil Shute's On the Beach

Bernard Cornwell
Mariella talks to the novelist Bernard Cornwell, whose latest book is a vivid retelling of the events leading up to the battle of Agincourt. He explains how growing up in a bizarre religious cult fostered a love of history, and reveals the surprising discovery he made when he finally met his natural mother late in life.

Teach Yourself… at Seventy
In 1938 a new range of self-improvement books hit the market. The earliest titles included Teach Yourself Embroidery and Teach Yourself to Fly. Seventy years and hundreds of titles later the author of a new history of the series, Trevor Barnes, joins Mariella to look at how it charts the changing priorities of a nation.

On the Beach
Mariella talks to the Australian writer Gideon Haigh about Nevil Shute's masterpiece On the Beach. Published in 1957, it's a chilling portrait of the world a year after a major nuclear war has devastated the planet. Gideon explains what it can tell us, half a century on.


SUN 16:30 Poetry Please (b00f2h9p)
Spell of Creation by Kathleen Raine
From: Collected Poems
Publ: Golgonooza Press

The Nuthatch by Bernard O’Donoghue
From: The Weakness
Publ: Chatto and Windus

The Morning After The Clocks Go Back by Chris Kinsey
Overall Winner of BBC Wildlife Magazine Poetry Competition

The Beautiful Changes by Richard Wilbur
From: New and Collected Poems
Publ: faber

Cock-Crows by Ted Hughes
From: Remains of Elmet
Publ: faber

The Great Outdoors by Sheena Anderson
Winner of the 8-11 year old category of BBC Wildlife Magazine Poetry Competition

The Lesson of the Moth by Don Marquis
From: Archy and Mehitabel
Publ: Doubleday

Mosquito by DH Lawrence
From: The Rattle Bag
Publ: faber

The Mosquito Knows by DH Lawrence
From: The Rattle Bag
Publ: faber

As The Rooks Are by Elizabeth Jennings
From: Collected Poems
Publ: Carcanet

The Horses by Edwin Muir
From: The Rattle Bag
Publ: faber

Weaver Birds by Richard Weaving
Winner of the humorous category of BBC Wildlife Magazine Poetry Competition

The Thought Fox by Ted Hughes
From: the Faber book of Modern Verse

Lullaby for Titania by Shakespeare
From: The Faber book of beasts


SUN 17:00 File on 4 (b00dzl87)
As millions of families struggle to pay rocketing gas and electricity bills, Julian O'Halloran investigates claims that our bills may be hundreds of pounds too high because of weak regulation, bad planning and the fact that the market is dominated by just six big companies.


SUN 17:40 From Fact to Fiction (b00f2bdc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00f2h9r)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (b00f2h9t)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00f2h9w)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b00f2h9y)
John Waite introduces his selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (b00f2hg2)
Tony and Tom are preparing for the arrival of the new weaners when Brenda reminds Tom they are off to the cinema that evening. Tom would prefer a quiet night in as he's up to his eyes with his organic pork enterprise and the new pig man is proving to be well away with the fairies.

Brian's been roped in by Jennifer to do some DIY at Home Farm in preparation for Peggy's arrival, but is not too happy to hear that Jennifer is preparing for Jack's arrival too.

Brian claims Tony and Pat got themselves a bargain for Bridge Farm's freehold. Tony said they'd been pushed to their absolute limit and Matt knows it. The mortgage repayments are going to be astronomical!

Having had a sneaky peek at the team chase course, Lilian confesses to Jennifer that she's relieved she hadn't been picked for the team. She might appreciate a bit of moral support when collecting Peggy from hospital. Jennifer reminds her that they want as little fuss as possible, as Peggy's such a handful at the moment. They'll just have to get through it all somehow.

Episode written by Caroline Harrington.


SUN 19:15 Go4it (b00f2hl9)
Children's magazine presented by Kirsten O'Brien. How a passion for ships led to Jordan, a boy from land-locked Botswana, being on board the Queen Mary II in Southampton. Plus a review of Igor, a new animated movie about mad scientists and their helpers.


SUN 19:45 A Welsh Anthology (b007qczz)
Series 1

Invitation

Stories by Welsh writers.

Everyone says what fun his mother is, but to Daniel she has always seemed far more interested in her friends, or in someone she has just met, than in him or his father. Now she is dying and wants to hold a party in her hospital room. By Maria Donovan.

Read by Iestyn Jones.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (b00f08c1)
Roger Bolton airs listeners' views on BBC radio programmes and policy.


SUN 20:30 Last Word (b00f0r9r)
Matthew Bannister presents the obituary series, analysing and celebrating the life stories of people who have recently died. The programme reflects on people of distinction and interest from many walks of life, some famous and some less well known.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (b00f25vz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 on Saturday]


SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b00f2f62)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 today]


SUN 21:30 Analysis (b00f07g5)
The Dollar and Dominance

As the US economy is tested so dramatically, economist Ngaire Woods investigates the role of the dollar as the world's leading currency and what it tells us about profound changes in global power. She explores why the dollar matters in global power, how far currency power may be shifting and who stands to lose and benefit most.


SUN 21:58 Weather (b00f2hv9)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b00f2hy4)
Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including The Crash: Scotland's Battle for the Bank.


SUN 23:00 The Learning Curve (b00dzbwd)
Libby Purves presents a guide to the world of learning, with practical advice, features and listeners' views.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b00f2f06)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 27 OCTOBER 2008

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b00f2jnl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b00dznr0)
Urban Crime and Disorder - Demography of Death

URBAN CRIME AND DISORDER
Laurie Taylor is joined by Robert J. Sampson, Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University who last night at the LSE delivered a lecture entitled: Disparity and Diversity in the Contemporary City. Social Disorder Revisited. They discuss urban environment and crime; what makes an urban area disorderly and dangerous? How does it acquire such a reputation? Can it ever be dispelled?

DEMOGRAPHY OF DEATH
Dr Leigh Shaw-Taylor Deputy Director of the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure will be giving a talk at the Cambridge Festival of Ideas Called entitled A Short History of Death; Allan Kellehear, Professor of Sociology at the University of Bath is the author of A Social History of Dying. They address the history of human lifespan in Britain, and how the causes of death have changed overtime.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b00f2dwb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00f2jqn)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00f2jr4)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00f2jwf)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (b00f2jy7)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00f2jz6)
Daily prayer and reflection with Shaunaka Rishi Das.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (b00f2rgy)
News and issues in rural Britain, presented by Anna Hill.


MON 05:57 Weather (b00f3f12)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 06:00 Today (b00f2rhd)
Presented by Edward Stourton and Evan Davis.

Jeremy Bowen analyses the long-running dispute between Syria and the US. Jihad Makdissi of the Syrian Embassy in London says that the US position is an act of aggression.

Gabriel Gatehouse reports on Ukraine's 16 billion-pound loan deal with the IMF.

Colette Hume reports from the poet Dylan Thomas' restored childhood home.

Ian Smith of Working Links and charity adviser Guy Parker discuss the new benefit system for sick and disabled people.

Pollster Sir Robert Worcester predicts a win for Barack Obama in the US presidential elections.

Thought for the Day with Rabbi Lionel Blue.

John Prescott discusses his TV documentary about the UK class system.

Howard Davies, former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, discusses further falls in the value of the pound.

Who Correspondent Paul Greer and Russell Thompson of the British Legion discuss the question of who should pay for the upkeep of war memorials.

Angus Stickler talks to the grandchildren of Mary Allouis, a typhoid sufferer who was locked in an asylum.

Professor Michael Shayer discusses the fall in brainpower of Britain's brightest teenagers.

Kevin Connolly reports on what Barack Obama's presidential campaign means for black Americans.

Lisa Harker of the Institute for Public Policy Research and Ian Mulheirn of the Social Market Foundation discuss whether Labour's drive to get people off benefits and into work can survive a recession.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (b00f3f14)
Why do we continue to judge our politicians through a moral lens? The philosopher RAYMOND GEUSS argues that an understanding of a politician’s beliefs won’t help you to make sense of politics. What matters is what a politician does. Philosophy and Real Politics is published by Princeton University Press.

In the final volume of his trilogy on the history of the Nazi regime, RICHARD J EVANS tells the story of Germany in the World War Two years. Explaining both the major battles and the daily experience of Germans in wartime, Evans explores every facet of German life, from the culture of the period to the effect of mass Allied bombing. He also argues that the Final Solution was far from efficient and ordered; it was instead, he writes, brutally messy. The Third Reich at War: How the Nazis Led Germany from Conquest to Disaster is published by Allen Lane. Evans will also be speaking at the London School of Economics on Tuesday 4 November.

Why is it socially unacceptable to be ignorant about theatre or novels, but acceptable to sneer at television? Why does this comparatively new medium compartmentalise itself into such rigid genres? What is the point of reading television reviews if there is a disdain for repeats? Sunday Times television critic AA GILL argues against the received wisdom that television corrupts our children, alienates us from our local community and that there’s never anything good on the box. Paper View is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

What is experience? The psychologist DR SUSAN BLACKMORE argues that the ideas we have, the behaviours we follow and what we believe in all act in a similar way to our genes. They compete for survival and the prevailing ones are copied from human to human. If this is true, what is the point in studying history, is there a benefit to having shared experiences and should we try to stop thinking? Susan Blackmore is taking part in BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking Festival which is in Liverpool from 31 October.


MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b00f2rnn)
Chagall

Episode 1

Derek Jacobi reads from Jackie Wullschlager's new biography of Marc Chagall.

Chagall was born on the poor side of the Russian provincial town of Vitebsk, a place he transformed in his painting into a vision of beauty and harmony.


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00f304x)
Nudity on television; The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission

How much can taking their clothes off on TV programmes,actually increase a woman's self esteem? Plus, discussing the new Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.


MON 11:00 Lives in a Landscape (b00f3wq1)
Series 4

Going to the Dogs

Documentary series telling original stories about real lives in Britain today.

When Walthamstow dog track closed its doors for the last time in August 2008, it was the end of an era. Alan Dein was the only reporter allowed to join the crowds as the hare led the dogs round the circuit for the last time; the loudspeakers played Thanks for the Memory and the tears flowed freely.

But what now for the future of British greyhound racing, without the iconic Stow? For bookie Joe Bennett and young trainer Paul Rich the dogs are a way of life and a family tradition, in spite of the fact that in England greyhound racing's glory days are long past. Alan follows them as they face an uncertain future. While Joe is philosophical and knows that the sport has always had its ups and downs, Paul, who has devoted to his dogs and has only just taken over the family business, is more pessimistic. Now he is racing in Kent, at Sittingbourne's track on a dreary industrial estate in the wrong end of town - a far cry from the glories of the Stow.


MON 11:30 Ed Reardon's Week (b00f3wq3)
Series 5

Educating Peter

Comedy series by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds.

Ed Reardon, author, pipe smoker, consummate fare-dodger and master of the abusive email, attempts to survive in a world where the media seems to be run by idiots and lying charlatans.

Jaz yearns to return to the thrilling intimacy of small space work so suggests that Ed revive one of his old stage shows. So Educating Peter finds itself on stage and Ed finds he has a success on his hands.

Ed Reardon ...... Christopher Douglas
Actress ...... Rachel Atkins
Olive ...... Stephanie Cole
Felix ...... John Fortune
Ray ...... Simon Greenall
Jaz ...... Philip Jackson
Pearl ...... Rita May
Frank ...... Geoffrey McGivern
Ping ...... Barunka O'Shaughnessy
Young Actor ...... Tom Price
Stan ...... Geoffrey Whitehead.


MON 12:00 You and Yours (b00f31j7)
Presented by Julian Worricker.

Examining allegations that some surveyors colluded with brokers to inflate house valuations.

Simon Hoggart considers what impact the recession might have on what we write in our Christmas cards this year.

Organisers of Saturday's extreme marathon in the Lake District, which ended with hundreds of fell runners stranded overnight in appalling weather conditions, claim that they did not receive advice to cancel. Race organiser Mike Parsons gives his views.

Lord David Lipsey, the man leading the Financial Services Consumer Panel, discusses repossessions, bank deposits and harness racing.

Incapacity Benefit is being replaced by an Employment Support Allowance. Peter White explains how the new assessment works.

The UK cycle industry is worth almost a billion pounds a year. We find out what innovations all that money is being spent on.

Phil Jones, Personal Finance Campaigner of Which? magazine, considers what constitutes a fair charge to bank customers for going into an unauthorised overdraft.


MON 12:57 Weather (b00f2x8w)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 13:00 World at One (b00f2xcm)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


MON 13:30 Brain of Britain (b00f3wq5)
Robert Robinson introduces the fifth heat of the perennial general knowledge quiz.


MON 14:00 The Archers (b00f2hg2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (b00776b3)
Adam Beeson - The Magician's Daughter

Shot on stage, a dying magician passes secrets of his act to his daughter. Fearing rivals, she disappears. Stars James Bryce.


MON 15:00 Money Box Live (b00f3wq7)
Paul Lewis and experts Sally West of Age Concern and Eddy Graham of Child Poverty Action Group take listeners' calls on benefits.


MON 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00f36z8)
Welsh International

Hwang

Series of Welsh stories. Carys Davies's blackly comic story of betrayal, revenge and dry cleaning. Read by Sian Thomas.


MON 15:45 Running Away (b00f37gc)
Shami Chakrabarti

Shami Chakrabarti, director of the pressure group Liberty, heads for the British Film Institute to indulge in her favourite form of escape.


MON 16:00 The Food Programme (b00f2fd5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Traveller's Tree (b00f3wq9)
Series 4

Volunteering

Katie Derham presents the holiday magazine with insider tips from listeners and travel experts.

Katie explores volunteering as a way of having a cheap holiday. Including reports on a family from Winchester volunteering in post-tsunami Sri Lanka and volunteering on the beautiful Minsmere bird reserve in Suffolk. Plus a young veteran of volunteering who has done everything from helping to prepare a rock festival in Iceland to rebuilding farmhouses in the Czech Republic.


MON 17:00 PM (b00f3991)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00f39cr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


MON 18:30 The Write Stuff (b00f3wqc)
Series 8

JK Rowling

James Walton takes the chair for the game of literary correctness, flanked by captains Sebastian Faulks and John Walsh.


MON 19:00 The Archers (b00f31jp)
Neil's enticing the weaners into their new abode when Tom arrives, having overslept. He's on a tight schedule. He wants to check up on Home Farm as his new assistant seems to be still finding his feet. Joe drops by to drum up business for the ghost walk on Friday, but to no avail. He had even popped round to Jennifer's, citing the pikeman as the star attraction.

Jennifer collects Peggy from hospital, having arranged Adam to drop by for a spot of lunch. Peggy's still angry about Jack staying at The Willows, and being abandoned into the care of strangers. She has every intention of only staying at Home Farm for no more than a few days.

Tom arrives at Home Farm to find there's no sign of Gary anywhere. Jazzer believes Gary gets the job done; Tom's got nothing to worry about.

Peggy finally arrives back at Home Farm exhausted yet determined to get her strength back. She wants to get home to The Lodge without delay, and visit Jack. If everyone's busy she'll arrange a taxi to get her there, as she can't let another day pass without knowing what's happening to Jack.

Episode written by Caroline Harrington.


MON 19:15 Front Row (b00f3bd0)
Presented by Kirsty Lang.

Novelist Jake Arnott reviews Quantum of Solace, the 22nd official James Bond film, which picks up from Casino Royale as the secret agent sets out to avenge the apparent death of his lover.

Shakespeare scholar Jonathan Bate joins Kirsty to discuss why, in an age rich in Shakespeare scholarship, there is still room for another book on the world's most studied writer.

Do songs that have been re-mastered really sound any different to before? And what is mastering anyway? Music writer, Ben Wardle attempts to shed some ‘audio’ light on the subject.

Leonard Bernstein's 3rd Symphony, Kaddish, will receive its UK premiere in a performance at the Barbican Centre in London. Bernstein was never entirely happy with the text he wrote in 1963, and before he died, asked his friend Dr Samuel Pisar to write one drawing on his personal experiences of the Holocaust. Kirsty talks to Dr Samuel Pisar about the intensity of the piece, and how he came to write it.


MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00f309c)
Writing the Century: A Paintbrush Reporter

Episode 1

Series exploring the 20th century through diaries and correspondence of real people, dramatised by Hattie Naylor.

The story of Barbara Loxton, a South African mother who was separated from her daughters during WWII, and her experiences as a journalist travelling around war-torn Europe. Events unfold through the letters exchanged between her and her daughters during their enforced separation.

Barbara ...... Kathryn Hunt
Polly ...... Hester Cox
Lindsay ...... Ellie Sager
Granny/Mrs Betram ...... Janice Mckenzie
Anne ...... Deborah McAndrew
Martli ...... Melissa Jane Sinden

Original music by Nicolai Abrahamsen.


MON 20:00 The Torturer's Tale (b00dndbn)
Jolyon Jenkins speaks to former torturers from different countries about the process of crossing the line from acceptable to unacceptable behaviour, and asks how they cope with the knowledge that they had done wrong.


MON 20:30 The Learning Curve (b00f3wqf)
Libby Purves presents a guide to the world of learning, with practical advice, features and listeners' views.


MON 21:00 Frontiers (b00f3wqh)
The First Forests

Reporting on new discoveries that reveal how the first forests transformed the planet 380 million years ago.

The latest fossil finds include strange leafless trees and entire petrified, wooded landscapes. These first forests had a profound impact on our planet's atmosphere and the course of animal evolution. What is more, they may be able to tell us about what to expect as we change today's atmosphere by burning fossil fuels.


MON 21:30 Start the Week (b00f3f14)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:58 Weather (b00f3blv)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b00f3bm9)
National and international news and analysis with Carolyn Quinn. Including Gordon Brown's plan to increase government borrowing to beat the recession, reports from Budapest and Kiev as Hungary and Ukraine get IMF bailouts and the latest on Manchester's culture scene.


MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00f3d6j)
The Ruling Passion

Episode 1

David Horovitz reads from David Pownall's novel, recounting the life of Edward II, his troubled reign and his divisive relationship with the knight Piers Gaveston.

July 1303: Edward I embarks on a military campaign to subdue Scotland. At home, his son Ned shows little appetite for kingship, instead directing his attentions towards the Gascon knight Piers Gaveston.


MON 23:00 Freedom Pass (b00f3wqk)
Episode 3

The late Alan Coren and Christopher Matthew use their freedom passes, giving free travel for the over-60s. The journey takes them to Southend-on-Sea and the holidays of their youth.


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00f3dvy)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Susan Hulme.



TUESDAY 28 OCTOBER 2008

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b00dyv49)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b00f2rnn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00dyw9y)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00f2jqq)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00f2jsm)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b00f2jwh)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00f2jz8)
Daily prayer and reflection with Shaunaka Rishi Das.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b00f2rf6)
News and issues in rural Britain, presented by Anna Hill.


TUE 06:00 Today (b00f2rh0)
Presented by Evan Davis and Edward Stourton.

In the light of the offensive remarks made on air to Andrew Sachs by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross, John Whittingdale MP discusses whether the BBC has enough oversight of its programming.

Jonty Bloom reports on the loan package for Hungary agreed by the IMF.

Reporter Jon Manel and Stuart Danskin of Macmillan discuss NHS funding for cancer drugs.

George Magnus, senior economic advisor to UBS Investment Bank, and Vince Cable, Treasury spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, discuss whether banks 'need a fundamental rethink' in the way they operate.

James Naughtie reports from Las Vegas on the US election battle over the 'wild west'.

Thought for the Day with Akhandadhi Das, a Vaishnav Hindu teacher and theologian.

Richard Perle, former Assistant US Secretary of Defense, discusses whether the US special forces operation in Syria was justified.

Squadron Leader Tony Iveson discusses the Daily Telegraph's 2 million pound appeal for a Bomber Command memorial.

James Naughtie reports on the gambling pastimes of the two US presidential candidates.

Robert Peston reports on the Bank of England's bi-annual Financial Stability Report.

The Chairman of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips, discusses why a cap on the UK population would be 'pointless'.

Helena Wilkinson reports on tougher measures to prevent extremists entering the UK.

Jim Muir reports on the Christian population of Mosul, in northern Iraq, who have fled their homes following a rise in attacks.

Michael Holman, former Africa editor of the Financial Times, and Richard Lee, southern Africa spokesman for the World Food Programme, discuss how to help the malnourished in Zimbabwe.


TUE 09:00 PC RIP? (b00dzbmx)
Episode 2

Clive Anderson traces the story of political correctness, and considers our attitudes towards it today.

Originating amidst the storm of US identity politics and college campuses, it made its way across the Atlantic and was met with derision, ridicule and perhaps even some relief in Britain.


TUE 09:30 Phill Jupitus' Strips (b00f3xtf)
Episode 4

Phill Jupitus meets the creators of some of the comic strips that he has loved to read since childhood.

Phill meets Bill Griffith, the creator of Zippy The Pinhead, in his Boston studio and talks to him about his 40-year career.


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b00f2vfp)
Chagall

Episode 2

Derek Jacobi reads from Jackie Wullschlager's new biography of Marc Chagall.

Inspired by the drawing of a school friend, Chagall persuades his mother to let him enrol in the only art school in town.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00f3037)
The life of Hester Thrale; Fiona MacKeown; High School Musical

Ian McIntyre on the life of Hester Thrale. Plus Fiona MacKeown on coming to terms with her daughter's death, and what message does High School Musical give to pre-teen girls?


TUE 11:00 World On The Move: Great Animal Migrations (b00f3xth)
Philippa Forrester and Brett Westwood present the series following the movement and migration of animals across the planet, from the European eel to the African white-eared kob antelope. A team of wildlife specialists are joined by zoologists and conservationists around the world to present regular reports.


TUE 11:30 Fowles in Dorset (b00x7frz)
Chris Ledgard explores a series of previously unheard recordings of the novelist John Fowles at work during his time as the curator of Lyme Regis Museum.

The recordings, made in 1978 with some of the oldest residents of Lyme Regis, provide a fascinating record of Dorset life in the early 20th century, including fishermen recalling the sinking of HMS Formidable off Lyme in 1915.

Former colleagues talk about working with Folwes and give an insight into how his reputation amongst those who knew him well in Lyme compared to his public persona.


TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b00f30y1)
Call You and Yours

Presented by Julian Worricker.

Banking crisis.

Julian puts your questions to The Treasury Select Committee, which will be quizzing the Chancellor, the Governor of the Bank of England and the Chairman of the Financial Services Authority about the crisis in the banking industry.

With guests:
Rt Hon John McFall: Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee
David Freud: Author of 'Freud in the City'
Peter McNamara: Former managing director of Alliance and Leicester
Angela Knight: Chief Executive of the British Bankers' Association.


TUE 12:57 Weather (b00f2x8h)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (b00f2xc9)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


TUE 13:30 Stage to Screen (b00f3z4s)
Series 3

Gypsy

Paul Gambaccini explores how stage works have been adapted for the cinema.

Paul discusses the controversial casting of Ethel Merman in the stage production with actress Angela Richards, who played Merman on stage, and talks to Patti Lu Pone, star of the current Broadway production. With contributions from writer Richard Barrios, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (b00f31jp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b00f41sn)
Number 10 - Series 2

Episode 5

Series of plays by Jonathan Myerson depicting life inside Downing Street.

Following the tragic death of his Personal Private Secretary, the Prime Minister has called an election. With four weeks until the country votes, the polls do not look promising.

Adam ...... Antony Sher
Steve ...... Julian Rhind-Tutt
Monica ...... Sasha Behar
Polly ...... Deborah Findlay
Lord Rudolph ...... Paul Jesson
Sheila Larwood ...... Clare Perkins
Robert Wintour ...... Nigel Lindsay
Greg Spender ...... John Warnaby
Barry Hornsea ...... Connor McIntyre
Reporter ...... Christopher Obi.


TUE 15:00 Making History (b00f41sx)
Remnants of an Army - Cornish Coats of Arms

Remnants of an Army
A listener thinks that the subject of a famous nineteenth century painting is his ancestor, but what’s the painting and what is the story it depicts?

The painting is Remnants of an Army the work of Lady Elizabeth Butler in 1879. It shows an exhausted military surgeon who has just ridden 90 miles through the rough terrain of Afghanistan from the Kabul the Jalalabad – the only British survivor of a terrible defeat for the Empire’s army. The surgeon was William Brydon and his was the only first-hand account of a battle in January 1842 at the end of the First Afghan War. Making History consulted the military historian Professor Jeremy Black at Exeter University.

Cornish Coats of Arms
A listener in the Cornish village of Blisland wonders why there is a James I Coat of Arms in his parish church and why there are so many for Charles I and Charles II in the county. Making History asked civil war historian Professor Mark Stoyle from the University of Southampton to become a reporter for the day.


TUE 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00f37dh)
Welsh International

A Bird in the Hand

Series of Welsh stories. Owen Sheer's poetic story captures the moment when a relationship is over. Read by Richard Harrington.


TUE 15:45 Running Away (b00f671m)
Andrew Sachs

Actor Andrew Sachs needs little persuasion to take a well-earned break from penning his autobiography and enjoy a grand day out at the zoo - and a stroll down memory lane.


TUE 16:00 Law in Action (b00f41sz)
Clive Coleman takes his weekly look at legal issues.


TUE 16:30 A Good Read (b00f41vn)
Marcel Berlins and Pauline Black

Sue MacGregor and her guests - singer, actress and author Pauline Black and broadcaster Marcel Berlins - discuss favourite books by WG Sebald, Chimamanda Adichie and Patrick Marnham.

The Rings of Saturn by W G Sebald, trans Michael Hulse,
Publisher: Vintage Books

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Publisher: Harper Perennial

Wild Mary: The Life Of Mary Wesley by Patrick Marnham
Publisher: Vintage Books

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2008.


TUE 17:00 PM (b00f3980)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00f39bn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


TUE 18:30 The Party Line (b00f41vq)
Series 3

Episode 4

Topical sitcom by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. Duncan Stonebridge MP is at Westminster four days a week. Then he heads for his constituency, where the real work starts.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (b00f31j9)
It's half term and Ruth's off swimming with the boys. She fails to persuade a moping Pip to join them. Pip still hasn't heard from Izzy, believing she doesn't want to speak to her after all that's been said. Ruth urges Pip to ring Izzy straight away.

Lilian accompanies Peggy to The Willows and reassures her what a wonderful place it is; if she starts to lose her own marbles she'll move in like a shot! A delighted but still confused Jack wonders where Peggy's been. He's missed her. Thankfully he's been entertained with all the wildlife outside.

Pip manages to swallow her pride and tentatively calls Izzy who suggests meeting at Jaxx. Izzy tells Pip she's not pregnant and agrees that it would have been awful to have a baby. Pip apologises for being such an idiot and they both decide that they must stick together, men are idiots and they only get worse.

Peggy believes that she has been totally let down by her family and is more determined than ever that Jack will be returning, not to Home Farm, but to their own home - The Lodge.

Episode written by Caroline Harrington.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (b00f3b68)
Presented by Kirsty Lang.

Sex and the City columnist Candace Bushnell talks to Kirsty about her new book One Fifth Avenue, a modern-day story of old and new money, sexual politics and real estate theft.

Lloyd Newson, founder and artistic director of award-winning physical theatre company DV8, discusses the group's latest work, To Be Straight With You, a verbatim work about religious intolerance and sexuality, performed by a multi-ethnic cast.

British jazz pianist Zoe Rahman and her brother Idris join Kirsty to reflect on making the album Where Rivers Meet, which includes the sounds of rickshaw bells and horns from the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and a Bengali song with echoes of traditional British tunes.


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00f30g2)
Writing the Century: A Paintbrush Reporter

Episode 2

Series exploring the twentieth century through diaries and correspondence of real people, dramatised by Hattie Naylor.

The story of Barbara Loxton, a South African mother who was separated from her daughters during WW2, and her experiences as a journalist travelling around war-torn Europe. Events unfold through the letters exchanged between her and her daughters during their enforced separation.

Having become a war correspondent, Barbara travels to Paris and paints in field hospitals.

Barbara ...... Kathryn Hunt
Polly ...... Hester Cox
Lindsay ...... Ellie Sager
Granny ...... Janice Mckenzie
Anne/Monica ...... Deborah McAndrew
Dr Dunn/Major Madary ...... Stuart Richman
Jack ...... Conrad Nelson

Singer: Waleed Isaacs
Original music by Nicolai Abrahamsen.


TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b00f41vs)
Tim Whewell reports from Georgia, reassessing the origins of the recent conflict with Russia. He investigates who was responsible for the outbreak of hostilities and whether the fighting could have been avoided, and assesses its impact on leaders in Washington, Moscow and Tbilisi.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (b00f41vv)
Peter White with news and information for the blind and partially sighted.


TUE 21:00 Money on the Brain (b00f41vx)
Financial Times journalist Tim Harford investigates the fast-emerging academic field of neuroeconomics, which works to understand why people make economic decisions.

It combines brain scan technology and other scientific techniques with traditional economics, and some enthusiasts claim that it has the potential to transform social policy, as well as making people rich. The programme explores the thinking and experiments of leading figures in the field to test the potential of their ideas, and considers where this new discipline might lead.


TUE 21:30 PC RIP? (b00dzbmx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 21:58 Weather (b00f3bg9)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b00f3blx)
National and international news and analysis with Carolyn Quinn. Including reports from Will Travers at an ivory auction, the connection between Uruguay and corned beef and an analysis of the Bank of England's performance in the financial crisis.


TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00f3d6l)
The Ruling Passion

Episode 2

David Horovitz reads from David Pownall's novel, recounting the life of Edward II, his troubled reign and his divisive relationship with the knight Piers Gaveston.

Edward I struggles to persuade his son to give up his unhealthy obsession with Gaveston.


TUE 23:00 Fabulous (b00f41w5)
Series 2

Episode 3

Faye is anxious. She knows that today's women are Fabulous; they have it all, the job, the house, the colour co-ordinated capsule wardrobe and they cope with the pressures modern life brings effortlessly, with nothing more than a copy of Prima and a poem by Pam Ayres to guide them. So why can't she pull it off? With the family coming to dinner, life should be cozy...

Starring Daisy Haggard with Katy Brand, Stephen Critchlow, Justin Edwards, Sally Grace, Martin Hyder, Geoffrey McGivern, Joanna Neary, Jo Scanlan, Laura Solon and Dan Starkey. The children were Bradley Ford, Renee Clark and Chelsea Jabbau.

Written by Lucy Clarke

Music by Osymyso

Producer Simon Nicholls

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2008.


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00f3dvl)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with David Wilby.



WEDNESDAY 29 OCTOBER 2008

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b00f2jn7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b00f2vfp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00f2jpp)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00f2jqs)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00f2jsq)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (b00f2jwk)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00f2jzb)
Daily prayer and reflection with Shaunaka Rishi Das.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (b00f2rf8)
News and issues in rural Britain, presented by Mark Holdstock.


WED 06:00 Today (b00f2rh2)
Presented by John Humphrys and Edward Stourton.

Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Robert Chote, discusses the government's fiscal policy.

Alistair Dutton, Christian Aid humanitarian manager for Africa, discusses the humanitarian effort in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Labour MP John Grogan says the third runway at Heathrow Airport should not be built.

Kevin Connolly reports on how the swing state of Ohio could affect the US presidential election.

Angus Stickler talks to two former members of north London gangs.

James Naughtie speaks to Dr Samuel Pisar, the Auschwitz survivor who wrote and narrated a new version of the Kaddish Symphony.

As the BBC faces pressure to sack Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross following their on-air prank calls, former head of BBC's World Service Sir John Tusa and Stuart Murphy, former controller of BBC Three, discuss how the BBC should use licence fee payers' money.

Thought for the Day with Oliver McTernan, director of the NGO Forward Thinking.

Nick Robinson and former chairman of Bradford and Bingley Sir George Cox discuss the latest economic developments.

Lord Laming, who wrote the report of Victoria Climbie's death, and Maggie Atkinson, president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services, discuss how children's services can be improved.

Biographer Jimmy Burns discusses Diego Maradona's appointment as the new coach of Argentina's national football team.

On the 50th anniversary of jazz album Kind of Blue, Nicola Stanbridge speaks to the last surviving band member, Jimmy Cobb.

Information Commissioner Richard Thomas discusses the 277 breaches that he has recieved over the last year.

QCs Geoffrey Robertson and Martin Howe discuss the controversy over the Human Rights Act.


WED 09:00 Midweek (b00f41wf)
Lively and diverse conversation with Libby Purves and guests.


WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b00f2vfr)
Chagall

Episode 3

Derek Jacobi reads from Jackie Wullschlager's new biography of Marc Chagall.

Returning home from his studies in St Petersburg in 1909, Chagall meets Bella Rosenfeld, the woman who would become his wife and muse.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00f3039)
Poet Caroline Bird; Parents in junior tennis; Celibacy

Poet Caroline Bird on her writing and work with the charity Second Sight. Plus over-competitive parents on the junior tennis circuit, and the benefits of celibacy debated.


WED 11:00 Children of Wealth (b00f1qwx)
Jim White spends a week with the children of Citi Private Bank's richest clients as they contemplate their future. Over a week of cossetting at London's Dorchester Hotel, they are tutored on how to keep, spend and give away their wealth by some of the finest financial minds in the world.


WED 11:30 The Casebook of Inspector Steine (b009n416)
The Entertainer

Comedy drama series by Lynne Truss set in 1950s Brighton.

Crime is at a low ebb, but Mrs Groynes, the cockney charlady who is actually a criminal mastermind, is determined to reverse the trend. A matinee performance at the Hippodrome gives her an idea.

Inspector Steine ...... Michael Fenton Stevens
Sergeant Brunswick ...... John Ramm
Mrs Groynes ...... Sam Spiro
Constable Twitten ...... Matt Greem
Albert ...... David Holt
Ventriloquist Vince ...... Kim Wall.


WED 12:00 You and Yours (b00f30y3)
Presented by Winifred Robinson.

Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation, David Orr, and Tony Newman from the Local Government Association discuss the news that some affordable housing schemes are being shelved because of a struggle to raise the necessary finance.

Winifred talks to the chief dough maker at Greggs, Sir Michael Darrington, as he hangs up his oven gloves.

Are local councils really conducting a 'binquisition', as one paper put it, or is the media exaggerating stories about bins?

Examining the case of Multiple Sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy, who has has lost her case at the High Court following a judicial review to clarify the law on assisted suicide.

Has the National Bus Pass scheme introduced in England in April actually made disabled people less independent?

Lufthansa takeover of BMI will give it control of more flights from London Heathrow than any other airline apart from British Airways. Aviation consultant John Strickland gives his thoughts.


WED 12:57 Weather (b00f2x8k)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 13:00 World at One (b00f2xcc)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


WED 13:30 The Media Show (b00f41y9)
Steve Hewlett presents a new topical programme about the fast-changing media world.


WED 14:00 The Archers (b00f31j9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama (b0088nny)
Love Contract

Dark comedy by Mike Bartlett.

Many companies ask staff to declare their office love affairs to guard against break-up fallout. Emma battles to hang on to her dignity in a series of increasingly bizarre interviews with her manager.

Emma ...... Claire Rushbrook
Manager ...... Ellie Haddington

Directed by Claire Grove.


WED 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00f2fdc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Sunday]


WED 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00f37dk)
Welsh International

Sunset at Kastro's

Series of Welsh stories. Aled Islwyn's tale of repressed longing. A council worker from the Lleyn Peninsula unbuttons his secret life as he waits for Marco. Read by Keiron Self.


WED 15:45 Running Away (b00fdf7k)
Nitin Sawhney

Musician and composer Nitin Sawhney escapes the dark confines of his studio to the hustle and bustle of the Science Museum and one of his favourite pastimes.


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b00f41yc)
Human Remains in Museum Collections - Suicide Rates

HUMAN REMAINS IN MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
Tiffany Jenkins, author of a paper called Dead Bodies: The Changing Treatment of Human Remains in British Museum Collections and Adam Kuper,Professor of Anthropology at Brunel University discuss the acquisition and restitution of human specimens by museums and the changes in attitudes towards them from outside the museum world as well as from within.

SUICIDE RATES
Laurie Taylor talks to Professor Stephen Platt, one of this country’s leading experts on suicide, about the nature and incidence of suicide in contemporary Britain. How is an unexplained death classified as a suicide? Are suicide rates falling and could this trend be reversed by the current economic crisis?


WED 16:30 Money on the Brain (b00f41vx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 17:00 PM (b00f3982)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00f39bq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


WED 18:30 The Castle (b0080xwh)
Series 1

Episode 6

Sitcom by Kim Fuller, set in a medieval castle with some remarkably modern trappings.

Featuring an art exhibition, a strolling footpad, a dodgy flat-pack scaffold and a lawnmower.

Sir John Woodstock ...... James Fleet
Sir William De Warenne ...... Neil Dudgeon
Lady Anne Woodstock ...... Susan Earl
Cardinal Duncan ...... Jonathan Kydd
Lady Charlotte ...... Ingrid Oliver
Master Henry Woodstock ...... Steven Kynman
Sam Tree ...... Toby Ross-Bryant.


WED 19:00 The Archers (b00f31jc)
It's the ploughing match and Bert's confidence is wavering as it's pouring with rain and the ground's boggy. He looks to his coach Alistair for encouragement. Although Alistair is at first reluctant to accept this mantle, he soon warms to his task and has Bert fired up to beat arch rival Jimmy Prentice. Sure enough, Jimmy falters and victory is Bert's.

Ruth arrives with the boys but not Pip, who's still smarting over Izzy. Bert's full of gratitude for Alistair's help. He, Ruth and David head to the beer tent for a celebratory drink.

Lynda's on the lookout for recruits for her pantomime. She wonders if Ruth's seen her bonfire night article in Borsetshire Life, and also asks her about the panto. Ruth replies that Josh and Ben might be interested, but she doubts that Pip will. As for herself, she's far too busy.

With Usha away, Lynda laments at the meeting that evening that the response has so far been dispiriting. The only unequivocally keen respondent has been Sabrina Thwaite. Lynda's hoping for an opulent extravaganza with spectacular effects. Alistair remarks drily that he hopes she doesn't want a waterfall - creating a beanstalk's going to be quite enough of a challenge.

Episode written by Caroline Harrington.


WED 19:15 Front Row (b00f3b6d)
Presented by John Wilson.

Singer Tony Christie talks about being painfully shy as a child, how he manages his on and off-stage personas, the resurrection of his career and returning to his South Yorkshire roots for his new album, Made in Sheffield.

The new opera For You is the latest collaboration between the Booker Prize-winning novelist Ian McEwan and the composer Michael Berkeley. Writer and critic Adam Mars-Jones gives his thoughts, having seen the world premiere of this story about the creative and personal turmoil in the life of an ageing maestro.

Architect Rafael Vinoly gives John Wilson a guided tour of his first building in Britain, Curve, a transparent theatre in the centre of Leicester.

Historian and writer Tristram Hunt reviews Taking Liberties: The Struggle for Britain's Freedoms and Rights, a new exhibition of rarely-seen objects and documents that have helped to define the political and social landscape of modern Britain.


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00f30g4)
Writing the Century: A Paintbrush Reporter

Episode 3

Series exploring the twentieth century through diaries and correspondence of real people, dramatised by Hattie Naylor.

The story of Barbara Loxton, a South African mother who was seperated from her daughters during WW2, and her experiences as a journalist travelling around war-torn Europe. Events unfold through the letters exchanged between her and her daughters during their enforced seperation.

Barbara travels through Holland. Meanwhile, in South Africa, young Polly is ill again.

Barbara ...... Kathryn Hunt
Polly ...... Hester Cox
Lindsay ...... Ellie Sager
Granny ...... Janice Mckenzie
Anne ...... Deborah McAndrew
Smithy ...... Leigh Symonds
Harry ...... Conrad Nelson
Soboleff ...... Stuart Richman
Albert ...... Andrew Smith

Singer: Waleed Isaacs
Original music by Nicolai Abrahamsen.


WED 20:00 Iconoclasts (b00f41yf)
Episode 1

Edward Stourton chairs a live discussion series in which guests set out their strong views on a subject, before being challenged by a panel of experts.

Dr Susan Blackmore challenges what she sees as society's hypocritical attitudes towards drink and drugs.


WED 20:45 The Crash: Scotland's Battle for the Bank (b00f868j)
With most leading banks currently in need of a major injection of capital, BBC Scotland's political editor Brian Taylor asks why the proposal for a takeover of Halifax Bank of Scotland caused so much anger and concern in Scotland. Whether it is a question of economics, national pride or political independence from England, it seems to have touched on something significant in the Scottish psyche.


WED 21:00 World On The Move: Great Animal Migrations (b00f3xth)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 Midweek (b00f41wf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 21:58 Weather (b00f3bgc)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b00f3blz)
National and international news and analysis.


WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00f3d6n)
The Ruling Passion

Episode 3

David Horovitz reads from David Pownall's novel, recounting the life of Edward II, his troubled reign and his divisive relationship with the knight Piers Gaveston.

The king is furious when young Edward begs to be allowed to give away some of his lands to Gaveston.


WED 23:00 Tina C Goes Down Under: The Aborogynal Monologues (b00f41z2)
Tamworth

Country singer and US presidential hopeful Tina C, the comic creation of Christopher Green, looks at the Australian obsession with country music.

Tina looks up Auriel Andrew, famous for her song Truck Drivin' Woman.


WED 23:15 The Exterminating Angels (b007d8s4)
Episode 4

Sitcom by Martin Shea, Eamonn O'Neill and James O'Neill, set in a pest control agency where the pests answer back.

The brothers are called in to deal with a troublesome fox.

With Karl Theobald, Dan Antopolski, Astrid Azurdia, Marjory Hogarth.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00f3dvn)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Sean Curran.



THURSDAY 30 OCTOBER 2008

THU 00:00 Midnight News (b00f2jnb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b00f2vfr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00f2jpr)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00f2jqv)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00f2jst)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (b00f2jwm)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00f2jzd)
Daily prayer and reflection with Shaunaka Rishi Das.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (b00f2rfb)
News and issues in rural Britain, presented by Charlotte Smith.


THU 06:00 Today (b00f2rh4)
Presented by John Humphrys and Sarah Montague.

Russell Brand has resigned from the BBC and Jonathan Ross has been suspended. With Director General Mark Thompson due to appear before the BBC trustees, Shadow Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt discusses what the board should do.

Ian Pannell reports on an explosion in Kabul.

Bill Emery, Chief Executive of the Office of Rail Regulation, discusses rail funding.

Alice Gilbert of British medical aid agency Merlin discusses the difficulties facing aid agencies in the DR Congo.

Mark Mardell reports on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's preparations for next year's general election.

Andrew Hosken reports on a rise in asbestos-related illness.

Professor Marcus du Sautoy discusses breaking down public aversion maths.

Thought for the Day with novelist and columnist Anne Atkins.

Chancellor Alistair Darling discusses whether it is 'sensible' to increase government borrowing.

Media correspondent Torin Douglas, Kelvin MacKenzie and Sir Christopher Bland discuss the BBC's response to the Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross controversy.

Author Christian Bok explains how each vowel has a character of its own.

James Naughtie reports on the tight US election race in Indiana.

Chest consultant John Edwards discusses the damage still caused by asbestos.

It is 70 years since Orson Welles broadcast his radio adaptation of War of the Worlds, which caused widespread panic in the US. Professor Richard Hand and Guardian writer John Harris discuss whether the public has become more media savvy since the 1930s.

Jonathan Glancey, the Guardian's architecture editor, and Donald Insall, an architect whose firm specialises in restoration, discuss whether old buildings should be allowed to simply decay naturally.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (b00f4prq)
Bolivar

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and times of Simon Bolivar, hero of the revolutionary wars that liberated Spanish America from Spain. In 1804 Bolivar stood on a small hill in Rome and made a grand declaration. He said, “I swear before you, I swear before the God of my fathers, I swear by my fathers, I swear by my honour, I swear by my country that I will not rest, body or soul, until I have broken the chains with which Spanish power oppresses us.” Unlike most teeenage declarations, Bolivar made good on his word. A wealthy young man, Bolivar was inspired by Enlightenment thinkers John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau and by the compelling personality of Napoleon. His story is one of ideas and adventure, of armies crossing the Andes, of the far flung influence of the Napoleonic Wars and an unexpectedly large role for Britain. But when he died he was anything but a hero, his reputation undergoing a transformation after his death to make him an icon of liberation and the national hero of Venezuela, Columbia, Equador, Peru and Bolivia – a country that bears his name. With Anthony McFarlane, Professor of Comparative American Studies at the University of Warwick; John Fisher, Professor of Latin American History at the University of Liverpool and Catherine Davies, Professor in the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies at the University of Nottingham.


THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b00f2vft)
Chagall

Episode 4

Derek Jacobi reads from Jackie Wullschlager's new biography of Marc Chagall.

Chagall arrives in Paris at the most exciting of times: just as the Cubists hold their first exhibition.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00f303c)
Marriage laws; Ani DiFranco; Women's pay

American singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco performs live. Plus the persistence of the gender pay gap, and is the law out of touch with the real meaning of partnership?


THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b00f4prs)
BBC foreign correspondents with the stories behind the world's headlines. Introduced by Kate Adie.


THU 11:30 Misfits in France (b00f4prv)
Broken in Berneval, Soaked in the Sea

Series in which Julian Barnes and Hermione Lee explore the connections between a group of Victorian writers and artists who crossed the English Channel for different reasons.

Julian and Hermione travel to the north coast of France, where, in the late 1860s, the poet Algernon Swinburne spent time, as did the exiled Oscar Wilde some 30 years later. They examine French attitudes to the life and work of both men and the religious themes that link their writing.

In the summer of 1868, local fishermen saved a drunken Swinburne from drowning off the cliffs of Etretat. The bizarre lunch to celebrate his survival was attended by the teenage French writer Guy de Maupassant.

In 1897, an exiled Oscar Wilde held a fete for the locals in Berneval and invited friends including Ernest Dowson to distract him from working on his poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol. But as Wilde became progressively more lonely, he started corresponding once more with Lord Alfred Douglas.

Oscar Wilde ...... Simon Russell Beale
Algernon Swinburne ...... Jonathan Tafler
Guy de Maupassant ...... Stephen Critchlow.


THU 12:00 You and Yours (b00f30y5)
Presented by Winifred Robinson.

Investigating the practice of charging orders being made by banks, which has risen sevenfold since 2000

A community in South Wales is using small scale hydro-electric schemes to power their homes. It is one of 10 finalists in the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts' Big Green Challenge, a 1 million-pound prize competition challenging community groups to cut carbon dioxide emissions and combat climate change.

A report on the companies that are paying over 1 million pounds a year on parking tickets.

EU Consumer Commission Meglena Kuneva discusses her plans to make cheap furniture from Romania available to buy online.

Charlotte Smith gives her views on the shopping mall experience, as the Westfield Centre - one of the largest shopping centres near a city centre in Europe - opens in west London.

Will the new Google phone, G1, be a serious rival to Apple's market-leading iPhone, and will it spark a mobile phone war in the run-up to Christmas?


THU 12:57 Weather (b00f2x8m)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 13:00 World at One (b00f2xcf)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


THU 13:30 Open Country (b00f2568)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:07 on Saturday]


THU 14:00 The Archers (b00f31jc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (b00855lx)
Memorials to the Missing

Stephen Wyatt's play follows moves during the First World War to establish an Imperial War Graves Commission to record the graves of those killed in action.

Fabian Ware ...... Anton Lesser
Edwin Lutyens ...... Michael Maloney
Macready ...... Keith Drinkel
Florence Cecil ...... Theresa Gallagher
Alice/nurse ...... Sophie Roberts
Soldiers ...... Karl Davies, Alex Wyndham, Ben Crowe

Directed by Martin Jenkins.


THU 15:00 Questions, Questions (b00f4prx)
Stewart Henderson answers those niggling questions from everyday life.


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b00f2f62)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00f37dm)
Welsh International

Do They Have Chips In China?

Welsh stories. A son's relationship with his father is tested when he takes him on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to see the Terracotta Army. By Rhodri Clark, read by Iestyn Jones.


THU 15:45 Running Away (b00f678q)
Hugh Dennis

Tim Samuels joins five famous guests as they escape their work for a few hours. Comedian Hugh Dennis takes one of his favourite walks near his home on the Sussex Downs.


THU 16:00 Open Book (b00f2h9m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:30 Material World (b00f4prz)
Wildlife Corridors - Perception, Sound and Light

Squirrel Bridges and Wildlife Corridors

How did the squirrel cross the road? Not a joke question but one a group of conservationists wanted to answer. Quite apart from the risks of getting run over, red squirrels don’t much like coming down to the ground, meaning that a refuge for them such as the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park might become a fragmented habitat as far as the squirrels were concerned.

So local groups have been constructing rope bridges, linking the forest across roads and tracks at branch level. But how effective are the bridges? Do the squirrels use them? Quentin Cooper finds out from National Park ecologist Alan Bell.

Across the rest of the country, wildlife corridors are also becoming an important tool for supporting endangered species, says Jim Jones of the People’s Trust for Endangered Species. From bats to dormice, butterflies to beetles, hedgerows provide important habitats in themselves as well as ways for threatened species to expand into new areas or re-populate old habitats.

Perception, Sound and Light
What we see can sometimes depend as much on our ears as on our eyes. Think how, when watching a film, speech seems to come from the actors’ lips rather than the loudspeakers. It’s an illusion ventriloquists use to good effect. Now, psychologists are investigating it in detail.

In one experiment, Dr Elliot Freeman of Brunel University shows that the perceived direction of motion of an object – in this case, red bars across a screen - depends on minute variations in the timing of an accompanying sound - a sequence of beeps. It is the rhythm of the sounds, not their stereo position, that is changed. This provides evidence that the brain’s integration of visual and audio cues occurs at a very early stage of processing. It’s a phenomenon that has not been demonstrated before.

The research shows how our brains track moving objects, and how different sensory information gets processed in the brain. Freeman’s aim is to create a model of how the brain computes sensory information. It could explain why we see patterns where there are none – the man in the Moon, a giant animal in a rocky cliff. And there may be practical applications for display screens.

Elliot is joined in the studio by Professor Charles Spence of Oxford University who works on how we process the timing and synchronization of sensory signals. He has studied, among other things, how to design the way food is packaged or served for maximum sensory stimulation and how talking on a mobile phone affects our ability to drive a car.


THU 17:00 PM (b00f3984)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00f39bs)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


THU 18:30 4 Stands Up (b00f4pxp)
Series 2

Episode 1

Rhod Gilbert hosts the stand-up comedy show featuring some of the top names on the circuit.


THU 19:00 The Archers (b00f31jf)
Shula and Nigel are exploring the team chase course on bikes. Shula confesses she's feeling guilty about getting Alistair involved in Lynda's panto; it's all rather ambitious. They discuss the course fences. Nigel's promised Elizabeth he won't be unduly reckless. They're tempted to try out the course, but Nigel says they'll have to be patient. They just need to ensure the team works harmoniously together. He hopes Alice will turn up for the event. Shula assures him Alice won't let them down; she wouldn't pass up a chance of a weekend with Christopher. Nigel's surprised they're still together, but Shula speculates that Alice prefers her men rough and windswept.

Pigs are on the loose in a Home Farm wheat field. They're Tom's, and Gary's nowhere to be seen. Tom tracks him down and Gary admits he switched off the electric fence and left the field gate open. Help is drafted in and the pigs are finally rounded up, no thanks to Gary's weak efforts. The wheat is trampled and Tom reckons his dad will kill him for deserting Bridge Farm.

Brian's livid but there's no time to deal with contrite Gary now. Brian suggests that Tom should be a little more circumspect about who he employs in future.

Episode written by Caroline Harrington.


THU 19:15 Front Row (b00f3b6m)
Presented by Mark Lawson.

Tony Blair's former director of communications Alastair Campbell discusses his first novel, which is the story of a psychiatrist, his patients and family.

Since its first appearance in 1985, Glasgow-set detective drama Taggart has become the world's longest-running police TV series. Its creator Glenn Chandler and actress Blythe Duff, who has played DS Jackie Reid for 19 seasons, discuss the its longevity and how it has survived even the death of Mark McManus, Taggart himself.

Reports on several New York Theatre openings:

Farragut North, a political satire by Beau Willimon.

Streamers, a play about soldiers in the army before the Vietnam War, written by David Rabe.

All My Sons by Arthur Miller, directed by Simon McBurney and starring John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, Katie Holmes and Patrick Wilson.

Doctor Atomic, John Adams opera about J Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb, directed for the New York Metropolitan Opera by Penny Woolcock.


THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00f30g6)
Writing the Century: A Paintbrush Reporter

Episode 4

Series exploring the twentieth century through diaries and correspondence of real people, dramatised by Hattie Naylor.

The story of Barbara Loxton, a South African mother who was seperated from her daughters during WW2, and her experiences as a journalist travelling around war-torn Europe. Events unfold through the letters exchanged between her and her daughters during their enforced seperation.

With the war finally over, Barbara describes the devastation in Holland and Germany.

Barbara ...... Kathryn Hunt
Polly ...... Hester Cox
Lindsay/Child ...... Ellie Sager
Granny ...... Janice Mckenzie
Anne/Ivy ...... Deborah McAndrew
Freddy/Allen ...... Graeme Hawley

Singer: Waleed Isaacs.


THU 20:00 Anatomy of a Car Crash (b00f4ryn)
The Sony Radio Academy Award-winning documentary about a fatal car crash in Cornwall involving a nursery nurse and a former policeman.

In their own words, the survivors explain the life-changing consequences of the sort of car crash which happens every day in the UK but which is often overlooked. Their story shows how a moment's inattention can trigger traumatic physical and psychological effects, exploring the chain of events set in motion from the moment of the collision to the conclusion of legal proceedings.


THU 20:30 Analysis (b00f4s74)
Do Public Inquiries Work?

Ann Alexander, a lawyer who represented some of the families of relatives killed by Dr Harold Shipman, examines the public inquiries system. She talks to the insiders who have run and worked in major public inquiries and asks if the system now needs reform so that recommendations for the future are fully implemented.


THU 21:00 Leading Edge (b00f4s76)
US Elections

US Elections
As America goes to the polls – what will a new administration mean for American science? From the future of space exploration to stem cells how will politics influence scientific research? Molly Bentley reports on what John McCain or Barak Obama will mean for human space exploration and how NASA’s vision for Space exploration launched in 2004 will continue. Joe Palca, science correspondent for NPR comments on this and the wider issues for science in the US.

Voice Recognition
Scientists this week report findings of a woman who was born unable to recognise voices. Now 60 years old she can’t recognise her daughter’s voice and has to book work calls so she knows who will be calling when. What can understanding her brain tell us about the complexities of how we decode the rich signals in someone’s voice?

100% Chemical Free
Neville Reed, director of communication at the Royal Society of Chemistry gives his own take on an advertisement for a product claiming to be 100% chemical free. Was the Advertising Standards Authority right to not uphold his complaint?

Midge Thermometer
Why the larvae of the family of midges are revealing clues about the history of climate change. Geoff talks to Steve Brooks from the Natural History Museum in London.


THU 21:30 In Our Time (b00f4prq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 21:58 Weather (b00f3bgf)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b00f3bm1)
National and international news and analysis with Robin Lustig. Including reports on the latest developments in Congo as aid agencies pull out of the vital town of Goma, the Dalai Lama saying that he is losing faith in his negotiations with the Chinese government, and whether there is an alternative to economic growth.


THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00f3d6q)
The Ruling Passion

Episode 4

David Horovitz reads from David Pownall's novel, recounting the life of Edward II, his troubled reign and his divisive relationship with the knight Piers Gaveston.

An encounter with a holy man at York Cathedral causes the king unexpected distress.


THU 23:00 Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul (b00f4s78)
Episode 5

Douglas Adams's comic fantasy, dramatised by Dirk Maggs and John Langdon.

Dirk outwits an eagle and the Draycotts find an eager nitwit.

Dirk Gently ...... Harry Enfield
Kate ...... Laurel Lefkow
Simon Draycott ...... Peter Davison
Cynthia Draycott ...... Jan Ravens
The Drinks Machine ...... Olivia Colman
Thor ...... Rupert Degas
Toe Rag ...... Michael Roberts
Constable Luke ...... Wayne Forrester
Odin ...... Stephen Moore
Mysterious Vagrant ...... Phillip Jackson
Announcer ...... John Marsh

Music by Philip Pope
Directed by Dirk Maggs.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00f3dvq)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Sean Curran.



FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER 2008

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b00f2jnd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b00f2vft)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00f2jpt)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00f2jqx)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00f2jsx)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b00f2jwp)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00f2jzg)
Daily prayer and reflection with Shaunaka Rishi Das.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b00f2rfd)
News and issues in rural Britain, presented by Charlotte Smith.


FRI 06:00 Today (b00f2rh6)
Presented by John Humphrys and Sarah Montague.

Business Editor Robert Peston explains how Barclays have been able to source the necessary funds to avoid taking Treasury funding.

BBC Director-General Mark Thompson has addressed the media about the Radio 2 phone scandal. Conservative MP Nigel Evans, who called for Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross to be sacked, discusses if a line can now be drawn under the matter.

Journalist Christina Lamb discusses the eight million Afghans facing starvation.

James Naughtie reports on the early voting in the US election.

Jan Egeland, former UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, and Anneke Van Woudenberg of Human Rights Watch discuss the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The BBC's Andrew Marr, President of the Galapagos Conservation Trust, and Charles Darwin's great-great grandson Randal Keynes discuss the importance of the Floreana Mockingbird.

Thought for the Day with Rev Lord Harries.

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne discusses the government's plans to deal with the recession.

Chairman of the BBC Trust Sir Michael Lyons discusses the importance of taste and decency to the BBC.

Mark Mardell reports on how the German economy will fare in the face of a recession.

Director Ben Whalley and author Barney Hoskyns discuss the difficulties of documenting the musician Neil Young.

Poet Laureate Andrew Motion and novelist Alexander McCall Smith discuss the British Library's request to writers and others in public life to keep their texts, emails and other digital material for their personal archives.

Former Daily Telegraph editor Charles Moore and former Managing Director of BBC Radio Dame Liz Forgan debate the latest twists in the Radio 2 controversy.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b00f2fd3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b00f2vfw)
Chagall

Episode 5

Derek Jacobi reads from Jackie Wullschlager's new biography of Marc Chagall.

Having made his name in France and Germany, Chagall returns to Russia for a holiday. A week later, WW1 breaks out and he is cut off from all that he has worked so hard to achieve.


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00f303f)
Bad parents; Conductor Ewa Strusinska

Is poor parenting is a class issue? Plus Ewa Strusinska on women conductors, and what can be done to improve the achievements of women in mathematics?


FRI 11:00 Policing Teens the PC Way (b00dz8lq)
Dominic Arkwright investigates the money, time and effort being spent across the UK on ensuring that gangs of teenagers are not allowed to control British high streets.


FRI 11:30 Agatha Christie (b008z9nh)
Crooked House

Episode 3

Joy Wilkinson's adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel.

After the attempted murder of Josephine, Three Gables is still in a state of confusion. However, dramatic evidence is unearthed, and it seems that Brenda can no longer avoid her fate.

Charles ...... Rory Kinnear
Sophia ...... Anna Maxwell Martin
Taverner ...... Phil Davis
Josephine ...... Grianne Dromgoole
Aunt Edith ...... Judy Parfitt
Philip ...... Ben Crowe
Magda ...... Anna Chancellor
Roger ...... Simon Treves
Clemency ...... Rachel Sanders
Brenda ...... Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Gaitskill ...... Peter Marinker

Directed by Sam Hoyle.


FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b00f30y7)
Presented by Winifred Robinson.

The organisers of last weekend's Mountain Marathon in the Lake District faced stinging criticism after the event was cancelled due to bad weather. But how much responsibility do competitors take to ensure their own safety?

A campaign to stop the National Trust from building homes on pristine land surrounding Erdigg House in Wrexham is reaching a climax.

After the opening in West London of one of Europe's largest inner city shopping centres, an investigation into how other major shopping malls are weathering the credit crunch.

As part of You and Yours' continuing investigation into online ticket sales, find out if the Association of Secondary Ticket Agents really are protecting consumers' interests.

Joan Bakewell reveals what she gets up to at the weekend.

After the US election, Sarah Palin has promised to donate her $150,000 wardrobe to charity. So how do charities make money out of donations from big names?


FRI 12:57 Weather (b00f2x8p)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 13:00 World at One (b00f2xch)
National and international news with Brian Hanrahan.


FRI 13:30 Feedback (b00f4sk2)
Roger Bolton airs listeners' views on BBC radio programmes and policy.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (b00f31jf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (b00f4yn7)
Frank

Comedy by poet Ian McMillan.

Unemployed Frank starts fiddling the dole. He has to find someone to sign on in his place, so he creates a doppelganger. But will his double, Frankie, want a life of his own?

Frank ...... Kevin Eldon
Frankie ...... Glenn Cunningham
Mary ...... Deborah McAndrew
Ivor/Godbehere ...... James Quinn
Window Cleaner/Chorus Man ...... Gerard Fletcher
Helen/Chorus Woman ...... Melissa Jane Sinden
DSS Girl ...... Tahira Dar
Woman ...... Rachel Dickenson.


FRI 15:00 Ramblings (b00f4sr6)
Harbottle Craggs

Clare Balding views the landscape with a shepherd's eye as she walks from Harbottle Craggs in Northumberland in the company of Jon Monks.


FRI 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00f37dp)
Welsh International

How I Got My Confidence Back

Series of Welsh stories. After a damning review, a New York chef invites his critic for a five course dinner. Joe Dunthorne's story is read by Greta Clough.


FRI 15:45 Running Away (b00f678s)
Baroness Julia Neuberger

Baroness Julia Neuberger - rabbi, social reformer and member of the House of Lords - takes a stroll through the Victorian gardens and hothouse in the heart of Royal Leamington Spa.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (b00f4st8)
Matthew Bannister presents the obituary series, analysing and celebrating the life stories of people who have recently died. The programme reflects on people of distinction and interest from many walks of life, some famous and some less well known.


FRI 16:30 The Film Programme (b00f4stb)
Herbert Lom, the 91 year old star of The Ladykillers and The Pink Panther series discusses his career and why he did it all for Greta Garbo.


FRI 17:00 PM (b00f3993)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00f39bv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (b00f4swx)
Series 66

Episode 6

Sandi Toksvig chairs the topical comedy quiz. The panellists include Fred MacAulay and Jeremy Hardy.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (b00f31jh)
Eddie, Kenton and Joe are talking fireworks and ghost walks, with Kenton wanting to combine the two for atmosphere. With bangers ruled out, Kenton says he'll think of something else to sound like musket fire.

They go through the walk schedule but Joe's happy to do his own sound effects. Their fervent hope that Lynda won't come on the walk is dashed when she makes an appearance, eager to keep tabs on the Grundys and their 'historical facts'. She's soon casting aspersions on their tales. But her interference is cut mercifully short by her ever-worsening cough.

Peggy's adamant she's improving and wants desperately to go home. She's convinced Lilian to do some clandestine food shopping and get The Lodge cleaned. Lilian's not happy but Peggy points out that Lilian didn't consult her over Jack; this is her chance to put things right. Later Peggy seeks Lilian's help once more, asking her for her support on Sunday when she's set on going home. She predicts that Jennifer will be against it, and sure enough when Peggy tackles her about it she seems immovable. Lilian tries to persuade Jennifer. If Tony and Pat pitch in, surely they can make it work?

Episode written by Caroline Harrington.


FRI 19:15 Front Row (b00f3b6t)
John Updike

Presenter Mark Lawson talks to American writer John Updike about his new novel, which revisits the three main characters from his 1984 book The Witches of Eastwick - now the Widows of Eastwick.


FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00f30g8)
Writing the Century: A Paintbrush Reporter

Episode 5

Series exploring the twentieth century through diaries and correspondence of real people, dramatised by Hattie Naylor.

The story of Barbara Loxton, a South African mother who was seperated from her daughters during WW2, and her experiences as a journalist travelling around war-torn Europe. Events unfold through the letters exchanged between her and her daughters during their enforced seperation.

After reporting extensively from postwar Germany, Barbara and her two young daughters are finally reunited in South Africa.

Barbara ...... Kathryn Hunt
Polly ...... Hester Cox
Lindsay ...... Ellie Sager
Granny ...... Janice Mckenizie
Anne/Rhona ...... Deborah McAndrew
Martli ...... Melissa Jane Sinden
Dr Dunn ...... Stuart Richman
Jack ...... Conrad Nelson
Allen ...... Graeme Hawley

Singer: Waleed Isaacs
Original music by Nicolai Abrahamsen.


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b00f4swz)
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the topical debate from Portsmouth. The panel are schools minister Jim Knight, shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport Jeremy Hunt, chair of the Liberal Democrats' manifesto group Danny Alexander and leader of the SNP at Westminster Angus Robertson.


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b00f4sx1)
How Rich is Rich?

Forget super-rich baddies who seek to destroy the world with a death ray. Boring! Clive James reflects on how money is losing its cachet, but failing to recycle properly is what leads to accusations of destroying the world.


FRI 21:00 Friday Drama (b00774w7)
Wasted

By Shelagh Stephenson.

Martha heads up marketing for an alcopop, aimed unashamedly at the teenage market. But when the 16-year-old son of her oldest friend is admitted to hospital in an alcoholic coma, some hard questions have got to be answered.

Martha ...... Juliet Aubrey
Tom ...... Julian Wadham
Mike ...... Mark Lambert
Mary ...... Marion O'Dwyer
Pete ...... John McAndrew
Charlie ...... Miche Doherty
Luke ...... Greg Fox.


FRI 21:58 Weather (b00f3bgh)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b00f3bm3)
National and international news and analysis with Robin Lustig. Can peace moves succeed in ending the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Plus, more tainted food in China, and what does Bruce Springsteen's Youngstown make of the coming election?


FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00f3d6s)
The Ruling Passion

Episode 5

David Horovitz reads from David Pownall's novel, recounting the life of Edward II, his troubled reign and his divisive relationship with the knight Piers Gaveston.

Following the death of his father, the newly-crowned Edward II wastes no time in ennobling his lover, Gaveston.


FRI 23:00 A Good Read (b00f41vn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00f3dvs)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Mark D'Arcy.