SATURDAY 26 DECEMBER 2009

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b00pdjxg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SAT 00:15 Christmas Meditation (b00pdjxj)
Michael Morpurgo, former Children's Laureate and award-winning author of books including Private Peaceful and War Horse, reflects on the magic of storytelling at Christmas.

Part of the BBC Christmas 2009 season.


SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b00pbpcm)
Paw Tracks in the Moonlight

Episode 5

Kevin Whately reads from Denis O'Connor's memoir.

It's Christmas Day and Denis O'Connor reflects on how much better his life has become since he rescued the kitten, Toby Jug.

Abridged by Jane Marshall.

A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pdjxl)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pdjxn)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pdjxq)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b00pdjxs)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00pdjxv)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Dr Martyn Atkins.


SAT 05:45 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.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b00pdjxx)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (b00pdjy1)
Blue Moon

Helen Mark celebrates December's Blue Moon with artist Elspeth Owen, who is living outside and walking every night as part of an eccentric and unique project.

When there are two full moons in one calendar month, the second of those moons is called a Blue Moon. Elspeth Owen, who is in her 70s, has decided to live outside between the first full moon (on the 2nd of December) and the second full moon (on the 31st). She wants to discover something about the dark, about fear and about using her senses differently.

For this Open Country special, Helen Mark visits Elspeth, who lives in the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester, when the sky is at its darkest - mid-way through her project.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b00pdjy3)
Farming Today This Week

The honeybee contributes hundreds of millions of pounds to the economy every year through its role as a pollinator of crops. But the insect has been under increasing threat from disease and unexplained deaths over the past decade. Farming Today has been trying to understand more about the pressures facing the honeybee and, for the past eight months, has been looking after its own hive. Charlotte Smith reports on the hive's progress this year; from disease control to honey competitions, it's been an eventful time.


SAT 06:57 Weather (b00pdjy5)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (b00pdjy7)
With James Naughtie and Justin Webb. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b00pdjy9)
Real life stories in which listeners talk about the issues that matter to them. Fi Glover is joined by rock star physicist Brian May. Maureen MacGregor describes her favourite sound. Campbell Gillespie survived being struck by lightning but with serious repercussions that he still deals with now. Daphne Selfe is enjoying the delights of supermodel stardom in her eighties. Inheritance Tracks from Bertie Ahern and poetry from Murray Lachlan Young.


SAT 10:00 Excess Baggage (b00pdk2n)
Quiz

Peter Curran hosts a special travel quiz, in front of an audience in the BBC Radio Theatre. Regular presenters Sandi Toksvig and John McCarthy go head to head, ably assisted by television presenter and osteoarchaeologist Dr Alice Roberts and comedian and playwright Arthur Smith.

They scratch their heads over questions concerning twin screw steamers, charcoal spitting and Uruguayan pie and consider which travel writer carried a leg of mutton on a journey and which one packed treacle biscuits.


SAT 10:30 Brandreth's Pills (b00pdk2q)
Gyles Brandreth tells the tale of one of the most influential people you've never heard of - his great great grandfather, Benjamin. It's a story that takes us from Liverpool in the 1830s to New York, with a cast of hucksters, quacks, politicians, millionaires, and medics - not to mention the founders of tabloid journalism and mass advertising. Benjamin Brandreth set sail from Liverpool in 1835 with nothing. By the time of his death in 1887 he was a New York senator, a landowner, the owner of one of New York's biggest hotels, and one of the richest men in the country. He had invented the giant billboard, financed Gordon Bennett's yellow press and developed mass advertising. How? Brandreth's vegetable pills! They were a powerful laxative. Brandreth claimed they could cure almost anything, he spent a fortune on advertising, and people believed him.

Producer: Chris Bond.


SAT 11:00 Beyond Westminster (b00pdkbt)
A special edition of the programme to mark the bicentenary of Gladstone's birth, from St Deiniol's Library in North Wales.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b00pdkbw)
Kate Adie introduces BBC foreign correspondents with the stories behind the headlines.


SAT 12:00 Money Box (b00pdkby)
Paul Lewis with the latest news from the world of personal finance.


SAT 12:30 The Now Show (b00pd6hr)
Series 29

Episode 5

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis go a-carolling; Marcus Brigstocke pulls some ethical crackers; Jon Holmes flicks through the Radio Times; Mitch Benn thinks he might have over done it and the audience tell us what really happens at home at Christmas.


SAT 12:57 Weather (b00pdkc0)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 13:00 News (b00pdkc2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 News Review of the Year (b00pdkqv)
2009

Carolyn Quinn looks back at the stories that hit the headlines in 2009.

This was the year when MPs were booed and jeered over their expenses, bankers became reviled, public debt and unemployment soared to unimaginable heights, and elections in Iraq and Afghanistan proved corrupt while the death toll mounted. It was also the year when Joanna Lumley won justice for the Gurkhas, England won the Ashes and we all became obsessed with Twitter.


SAT 14:00 Tales from the Stave (b00pcjh2)
Series 5

Chopin: Barcarolle

Frances Fyfield tracks down the stories behind the scores of well-known pieces of music.

Frances is joined by Chopin expert Adam Zamoyski and pianist Stephen Hough at the British Library to look at the autographed score of Chopin's Barcarolle. The library is holding a major exhibition in 2010 to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth.

The greater part of Chopin's professional career was spent outside his native Poland - most of it in Paris, where he established himself as a fashionable teacher and performer in the houses of the wealthy. With a background of Venetian gondoliers' songs combined with Polish references, the Barcarolle for solo piano was completed in 1846 and meant so much to Chopin that he included it in the programme of a concert he gave in Paris in February 1848. It was to be his last public appearance in his beloved adopted city. His body succumbed to lifelong ill health a year later at the age of 39.


SAT 14:30 Saturday Drama (b00pdkqx)
Educating Rita

By Willy Russell. A comic, sparky and touching portrayal of the relationship between a working-class Open University student and her middle-aged, alcohol-fuelled tutor.

Rita ...... Laura Dos Santos
Frank ...... Bill Nighy

Directed by Kirsty Williams

Part of the BBC Christmas 2009 season.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b00pdwhf)
Weekend Woman's Hour

A musical celebration of performers from the stage-diving Florence and the Machine, to Maria Friedman in 'The King and I', Beth Ditto from Gossip, to Carole King looking back on 50 years as a recording artist. Presented by Jane Garvey.


SAT 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00pdwhh)
26th December 1989

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

Romania buries its dead.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 17:00 PM (b00pdwhk)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news, plus the sports headlines.


SAT 17:30 iPM (b00pdwhm)
The weekly interactive current affairs magazine featuring online conversation and debate.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00pdwhp)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (b00pdwhr)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00pdwht)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b00m56dz)
Clive Anderson presents an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy from the Edinburgh Festival, in front of an audience at The Pleasance Theatre.

He is joined by writer, actor and broadcaster Griff Rhys Jones, cultural maverick Malcolm McLaren and actress Diana Quick.

Arthur Smith talks to agony aunt Virginia Ironside.

With comedy from Wilson Dixon and music from Edwyn Collins and Camille O'Sullivan.


SAT 19:00 From Fact to Fiction (b00pdyfl)
Series 7

Chocolate

Katie Hims responds to the threatened takeover of British confectionary group Cadbury with a bittersweet love story.

With Christine Kavanagh and John Biggins

Directed by Abigail le Fleming.


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b00pdyfn)
A Cultural Review of 2009

2009 was the year that Slumdog Millionaire won the Oscar for best film, Hilary Mantel won the Booker Prize and Antony Gormley changed the face of Trafalgar Square. Tom Sutcliffe, along with guests Deborah Moggach, Matthew Sweet and Philip Hensher, selects his cultural highlights - and turkeys - from the year that brought us The White Ribbon, Enron, Anish Kapoor, Jedward and the end of Big Brother.


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b00pj0y2)
Doctor Who - The Lost Episodes

What happened to the 108 missing episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s?

Shaun Ley investigates why the tapes were wiped and how dedicated fans hunted down copies of other episodes in film collections from Cyrpus to New Zealand.

While we may have lost those early programmes, Shaun hears how some home recordings ensured all audio survived.

Producer: Chris Ledgard.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2009.


SAT 21:00 Classic Serial (b00pbm1x)
Matilda

Episode 1

Dramatisation by Charlotte Jones of Roald Dahl's modern children's classic about a cool, calm, pint-size five-year-old genius.

Narrator ...... Lenny Henry
Matilda ...... Lauren Mote
Miss Trunchbull ......Nichola McAuliffe
Mrs Wormwood ...... Claire Rushbrook
Mr Wormwood ...... John Biggins
Miss Honey ...... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Mrs Phelps ...... Kate Layden
Michael ...... Ryan Watson
Bruce Bogtrotter ...... Joshua Swinney
Nobby ...... Rhys Jennings
Lavender ...... Sinead Michael
Hortensia ...... Lizzy Watts

Directed by Claire Grove.

Part of the BBC Christmas 2009 season.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b00pdyh5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SAT 22:10 Pick of the Year (b00pd69k)
Rob Brydon unwraps the best of the year's offerings from across BBC radio.

Part of the BBC Christmas 2009 season.


SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (b00pbx24)
Russell Davies chairs the eleventh heat of the perennial general knowledge contest, featuring contestants from the south of England.


SAT 23:30 Thomas Lynch's Season of Innocence (b00pbm21)
Irish-American poet and essayist Thomas Lynch introduces a poignant and insightful programme on poetry that has been inspired by children, with contributions from Carol Ann Duffy, Matthew Sweeney, Frieda Hughes and Robin Robertson.

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.



SUNDAY 27 DECEMBER 2009

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b00pdyhw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SUN 00:15 Street Circus (b00jypr3)
Midge Ure travels to Cape Town in South Africa to visit Zip Zap School of Circus Arts for Social Change. Midge is expecting the big top, bright lights and clowns in comedy big shoes and red noses, but this is something entirely different.

Founded in 1992 by Laurence and Brent van Rensburg, the vision for the Zip Zap circus school was to teach circus skills to South African children from all walks of life - from Cape Town's wealthy middle class elite to children born in the townships. Boys, girls, wealthy, homeless, extroverted, introverted, aged eight to 18, all have their places and responsibilities at Zip Zap, which attempts to embody Mandela's vision of the Rainbow Nation.

Midge meets Zip Zap's founders in Cape Town, and joins Shannon and Neville, two trainers from Zip Zap who travel to Khayelitsha township once a week to run the circus outreach programme there for kids born with HIV.

Shannon and Neville seem to embody what Zip Zap is all about. The former is a white American from Minneapolis who went over to train with Zip Zap and the latter is a black South African from Khayelitsha township - they got together at Zip Zap.

At the Khayelitsha outreach programme, there is no big top or paying audiences, just 25 children aged between eight and 13 who were all born with HIV. They practise circus skills in the street, including juggling, unicycle and throwing hoops. Midge is initially a little sceptical about how teaching circus skills to kids born with HIV can improve their lives. He hears how they have been ostracised by their own communities and how the circus workshops attempt to enable these children to develop their physical strength and abilities, while gaining self-confidence.

Midge says, 'I get it now. It's not about building up wonderful performers, it's about integration, it's about self-esteem. The circus works - it gives all these kids a focus, it gives them something to do, something to learn. But most importantly it gives them a little bit of hope.'.


SUN 00:30 Afternoon Reading (b009fplc)
Pier Shorts

Don't Turn Around

Stories by new writers, inspired by Brighton's Palace Pier.

By Marian Garvey, read by Claire Skinner.

Encouraged to skive off work and head for a fun weekend in Brighton, Lexy discovers that all is not quite as it seemed.

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pdyq0)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pdyq2)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pdyq4)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b00pdyq6)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b00pdyq8)
The sound of bells from St Margaret's Church, Dunham Massey in Cheshire.


SUN 05:45 The Watchdog and the Feral Beast (b00p6820)
Episode 2

Sir Christopher Meyer, press watchdog until this year as chairman of the Press Complaints Commission and former press secretary at Number 10, discusses the role of the press today. Is the press today freedom's guardian or is it a 'feral beast', as Tony Blair described the media at the end of his premiership?

Sir Christopher draws on his personal experience as press watchdog and government spokesman. In his six years chairing the PCC, where he dealt with complaints against newspapers and magazines, he championed a free press and self-regulation, but had to contend with controversies that sometimes strained people's trust in the press.

His health check on the press comes at a time when opinion is polarised. Is the press out of control, or is it more constrained than ever before by the law? Is the press destroying trust in our democracy, or are politicians giving the press undue importance by courting editors and journalists? Is the press too powerful, or is it vulnerable because of competition from the internet, much of it free and unregulated?

And now that the printed word and audio-visual content appear together on the same website, what is the future for self-regulation by the press?


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b00pdyqb)
The latest national and international news.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b00pdyqd)
Born Lucky

Mark Tully explores how the circumstances of our birth - year, era, parents, birth order, star sign, religion - shape our personalities and affect the course of our lives.

The readers are Janice Acquah, Nicholas Boulton and Frank Stirling.

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b00pdz10)
Adam Henson visits Charbel Akiki, a Lebanese who farms biodynamically and grows produce familiar from his childhood, to examine how the British conditions are favourable to Charbel's methods. Adam also samples the sort of foods associated with the festive period.


SUN 06:57 Weather (b00pdz12)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b00pdz14)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (b00pdz16)
Roger Bolton discusses the religious and ethical news of the week. Moral arguments and perspectives on stories, both familiar and unfamiliar.


SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b00pdz18)
Alstrom Syndrome UK

Kay Parkinson appeals on behalf of Alstrom Syndrome UK.

Donations to Alstrom Syndrome UK should be sent to FREEPOST BBC Radio 4 Appeal, please mark the back of your envelope Alstrom Syndrome UK. Credit cards: Freephone 0800 404 8144. If you are a UK tax payer, please provide Alstrom Syndrome UK with your full name and address so they can claim the Gift Aid on your donation. The online and phone donation facilities are not currently available to listeners without a UK postcode.

Registered Charity Number 1071196.


SUN 07:58 Weather (b00pdz1b)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b00pdz1d)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b00g42lw)
Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy collaborated with composer Sasha Johnson Manning to produce what the Independent described as 'the most remarkable suite of new carols to be published in decades', first broadcast on Radio 4 in 2009. Narrated by James Quinn, with the Manchester Carollers and choirs from Manchester schools, and the Northern Chamber Orchestra, led by Nicholas Ward. Director of Music: Richard Tanner.


SUN 08:50 A Point of View (b00pd6n4)
Talking About Their Generation

Clive James reflects on the human condition and the need for liberal democracy to spread to allow future generations to enjoy the fruits of progress.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b00pdz1j)
On the last BH of 2009, the latest on the alleged attempt to blow up a passenger plane over the United States. We have an interview with the transport minister Lord Adonis, who tells us what security measures are in place.

Sam Harker, our friend in Workington, Cumbria, tells us how Christmas has been there after the floods. We look at why the ice and snowdrifts make this a good time to tell stories, and the BH Cultural Figure of the Year, Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, talks to Nigel Wrench.

The papers this week are reviewed by three stars of panto- Christopher Biggins (Widow Twankey in Aladdin at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth), Michelle Gayle ( Queen Rat in Dick Whittington at the Stag Theatre in Sevenoaks) and Jane Asher (the Wicked Queen in Snow White at the Richmond Theatre.)


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b00pdz1l)
The week's events in Ambridge.


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b00pdz1n)
David Tennant

Kirsty Young's castaway is the actor David Tennant.

He has been voted the best Dr Who ever and has redefined the Time Lord for a generation of parents and children.

As a child he was a huge fan of the programme; he reckons he only ever missed one episode, wore a long stripy scarf and queued up to meet Tom Baker and get his autograph. As a role, he says, it appealed not just to his adult self but to the eight-year-old boy who was just below the surface

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


SUN 12:00 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (b00pcb3d)
Series 52

Episode 6

The perennial antidote to panel games comes from the Futurist Theatre in Scarborough, with Jack Dee taking the chairman's role.

Regulars Barry Cryer and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined by Jo Brand and Jeremy Hardy.

With Colin Sell at the piano.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b00pdz1q)
Bread Skills

Sheila Dillon celebrates the rise of real bread.

The majority of Britain's bread is highly processed, packed with additives and often made with cost, rather than quality, in mind. But countless bakers, amateur and professional, are fighting back.

Sheila finds out about some of the new ventures that are making artisan bread more widely available, and at a competitive price. Reporter Gerard Baker visits the Handmade Bakery in West Yorkshire, a community-supported bakery with dozens of local subscribers.

Sheila also hears about St Mary's Bakery in Frensham in Surrey, where Richard Dean started his venture by offering his bread to the neighbours. Sunday Telegraph food columnist Bee Wilson explains what happened to bakers in the Middle Ages when their bread was not up to scratch. In the studio, food writer Rose Prince launches her idea for extending breadmaking skills to the young as well as encouraging more people to enjoy 'real' bread.


SUN 12:57 Weather (b00pdz1s)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b00pdz1v)
A look at events around the world with Shaun Ley.


SUN 13:30 On the Outside it Looked Like an Old Fashioned Police Box (b00l59rk)
Mark Gatiss, Doctor Who writer and fanatic, explores the hugely popular Doctor Who novelisations of the 1970s and 80s, published by Target books. Featuring some of the best excerpts from the books and interviews with publishers, house writers, illustrators and the actors whose adventures the books tirelessly depicted.

In an age before DVD and video, the Target book series of Doctor Who fiction was conceived as the chance for children to 'keep' and revisit classic Doctor Who. They were marketed as such, written in a highly visual house style. Descriptive passages did the work of the TV camera and the scripts were more or less faithfully reproduced as dialogue.

The books were as close to the experience of watching as possible, and were adored by a generation of children who grew up transfixed by the classic BBC series. Target Doctor Who books became a children's publishing phenomenon - they sold over 13 million copies worldwide. From 1973 until 1994, the Target Doctor Who paperbacks were a mainstay of the publishing world.

A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00pdz3s)
Eric Robson chairs the popular horticultural forum, which celebrates its Christmas party at the Museum of Garden History in south London.

Bob Flowerdew, John Cushnie and Pippa Greenwood reflect on the troubles and trials of the year just passed.

Including gardening weather forecast.


SUN 14:45 Joan Armatrading's Favourite Choirs (b00bbxp9)
Scunthorpe Co-Op Junior Choir

Joan Armatrading visits choral assemblies across the country.

Joan meets the young members of the Scunthorpe Co-Operative Junior Choir, aged three and upwards, as they prepare for the Choir of the Year contest. With Howard Goodall, the UK's 'Singing Tsar'.


SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b00pdzg9)
Matilda

Episode 2

Dramatisation by Charlotte Jones of Roald Dahl's modern children's classic about a cool, calm, pint-size five-year-old genius.

Matilda is determined to save the school and her favourite teacher Miss Honey from the vicious grip of its terrifying headmistress, Miss Trunchbull.

Narrator ...... Lenny Henry
Matilda ...... Lauren Mote
Miss Trunchbull ......Nichola McAuliffe
Mrs Wormwood ...... Claire Rushbrook
Mr Wormwood ...... John Biggins
Miss Honey ...... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Michael ...... Ryan Watson
Lavender ...... Sinead Michael
Nigel ...... Bertie Gilbert

Directed by Claire Grove.


SUN 16:00 Open Book (b00pf0kb)
Diana Athill, Giles Foden, John Carey, DJ Taylor and Jenny Uglow

Mariella Frostrup and her guests discuss a generally unheralded figure in the writing of a book - its editor.

Mariella talks to Diana Athill, the former editor of novelists including VS Naipaul, John Updike and Jean Rhys, and herself the author of Stet, an acclaimed memoir of her life in publishing.

John Carey, the author of a recent biography of William Golding, explains how Golding's masterpiece Lord of the Flies was saved from the rejects pile - and extensively remodelled - by Golding's first editor.

The editor and writer Jenny Uglow reveals some of the tricks of her trade, and the novelists Giles Foden and DJ Taylor discuss how novelists rely on - and sometimes ignore - their editors, from Dickens to the present day.


SUN 16:30 The Kalevala: Finland's National Epic (b00pf0kd)
Storyteller and musician Nick Hennessey travels to Finland to explore the mythical world of the country's national poem, The Kalevala.

First published in 1835, this 50-chapter epic inspired a 19th-century artistic awakening and remains a cornerstone of contemporary Finnish culture. Speaking to musicians and critics, Hennessey finds out how the poem helped shape the nation.


SUN 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00pf0kg)
27th December 1989

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

The world comes to Romania's aid.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 17:00 The New Art of Diplomacy (b00pckm3)
Episode 2

James Naughtie asks if British diplomacy is still fit for purpose.

A century ago, much of the map of the world was coloured with the pink of the British Empire. Britain's diplomats reigned supreme, with the reassurance of a gunboat to support them. Much has changed since that time, and continues to change. As Britain faces new threats and new priorities across the globe, how are the foreign office and its diplomats changing?


SUN 17:40 From Fact to Fiction (b00pdyfl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00pf0kj)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (b00pf0kl)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00pf0kn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b00pf0kq)
Sheila McClennon introduces her selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio.

Count Arthur Strong - Radio 4
Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off - Radio 4
Brandreth's Pills - Radio 4
Laura Solon: Talking and Not Talking - Radio 4
The Santa Tapes, episode 1 - Radio 4
Desert Island Discs: David Tennant - Radio 4
Archive on 4: Dr Who - The Lost Episodes - Radio 4
The Best Christmas Present Ever - Radio 4
Sting on a Winter's Day - Radio 2
Crossing Continents - Radio 4
Black Hearts in Battersea - Radio 4
PM - Radio 4
Open Country - Radio 4
Keeping Tradition Alive at Christmas: Padstow - Radio 2
Marc Riley Show - 6Music.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (b00pf37t)
Jazzer tells Fallon he thought she and Wayne got along like a house on fire over Christmas. Fallon agrees. She's sorry that Jazzer's Christmas wasn't so good but he says punch-ups are traditional in his family. When Fallon asks if he'll be seeing his lady on Hogmanay, he tells her it's over; she was too good for him.

On an evening out, Tom, Brenda and Helen make a surprise visit to Leon's bar so that Helen can give him his Christmas present - and aromatherapy set. Ian turns up unexpectedly but Helen doesn't want him to join them. Helen's upset and angry when Leon goes straight up to a tarty looking girl and kisses her. Against advice, she marches up to confront them. Leon's nonchalant; he's not doing anything wrong. He and Helen are a casual relationship - he's just having fun.

Helen suddenly realises the truth about all those texts and phone calls. When another woman rings his mobile, she thrusts it in his drink. He might as well have his Christmas present whilst she's at it - because he stinks! Helen regrets not listening to Ian. Brenda and Tom offer to leave with Helen, but she wants to be alone.

Episode written by Mary Cutler.


SUN 19:15 Americana (b00pf37w)
Host Matt Frei is joined by evening news anchor Katie Couric to discuss the most striking American stories of the past decade.

As many across the United States enjoy a white Christmas weekend, a cappella ensemble Sonos warms up the Americana studios with their performance of White Winter Hymnal.

Matt Frei talks to author Sherman Alexie about Christmas in Native American homes, both on and off the American Indian reservations. Alexie's most recent book, War Dances, explores the many shapes and styles of fatherhood found across the United States.

And Americana hears about one particularly disastrous Christmas dinner. A simple sandwich next year might turn out to be a better option than this family feast.


SUN 19:45 Afternoon Reading (b00b0t5w)
An Italian Bestiary

At Home with Dormice

Stories by Julia Blackburn about life and survival for the animals and people of Liguria in Northern Italy, where she has made her home.

A family of dormice are sleeping in a crack in the outside wall.


SUN 20:00 Archive on 4 (b00lj8zs)
Walking on the Moon

To mark the fortieth anniversary of the moon landing in July 1969, Buzz Aldrin relives the dangerous and dramatic moments of the final descent to the lunar surface. The programme features unique oral archive from NASA, broadcast on British radio for the first time, and the recollections of people from around the world who remember the historic event.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (b00pdkby)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 on Saturday]


SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b00pdz18)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 today]


SUN 21:30 In Business (b00pd297)
Organising Salvation

Management guru Peter Drucker called the Salvation Army the most 'effective organisation in America'. Peter Day asks if that is true in Britain and finds out how the Army is bringing innovation to salvation.


SUN 21:58 Weather (b00pf3fy)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 22:00 News (b00pf3jn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 22:10 News Review of the Year (b00pdkqv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:10 on Saturday]


SUN 23:00 1989: Day by Day Omnibus (b00pf3jq)
Week ending 26th December November 1989

A look back at the events making the news 20 years ago, with Sir John Tusa.

US forces looking for General Noriega invade Panama, intense fighting continues in Romania and President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife are captured and executed.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b00pdyqd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 28 DECEMBER 2009

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b00pf3sl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b00pclfj)
Bourgeois Power and Marriage

The new bourgeoisie played an enormously important role in the history of industrial and imperial Britain. The extent to which cousin marriage proliferated in the 19th century relates to the central question as to which people were going to lead Industrial England.

Close-knit families in Victorian England delivered enormous advantages. They shaped vocations, generated patronage, yielded vital commercial information and gave access to capital; no wonder that marriage within the family, between cousins or between in-laws, was a characteristic strategy of this new bourgeoisie.

Laurie Taylor discusses private life in 19th-century England with Adam Kuper, the author of Incest and Influence: The Private Life of Bourgeois England, and Catherine Hall, professor of modern British social and cultural history at University College, London.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b00pdyq8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pf3xz)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pf410)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pf3zq)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (b00pf43n)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00pf43z)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Dr Martyn Atkins.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (b00pf4wt)
Farming Today takes an in-depth look at pig production, following one sow on a Yorkshire farm from pregnancy to progeny. From artificial insemination to electronic feeders controlled by the sows themselves, modern pig breeding is a hi-tech business driven by market forces. Sarah Falkingham also finds out why some boars are on farms but never mate, how pigs develop a hierarchy and can even, it seems, measure time.


MON 05:57 Weather (b00pfp8g)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 06:00 Today (b00pf4xq)
With Evan Davis and Justin Webb. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (b00pfp8j)
Andrew Marr looks at the ideas and issues that have dominated the world of science in the past year, and those that will be vitally important in the year ahead.

Sir Roy Anderson looks at the developments and mutations of swine flu and how the world deals with global pandemics. As a former government advisor, he also explores that thorny issue of when politics and science collide. Richard Dawkins reflects on a year dominated by Darwin, Professor John Shepherd on the blue-sky thinking to combat climate change with a report on geoengineering, and Barbara Sahakian considers whether taking pills to make us clever, well-behaved and sociable will become the norm in the years ahead.


MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b00pfs2w)
Vincent van Gogh - The Letters

Episode 1

Mark Rylance and Julius D'Silva read from a new edition of Van Gogh's prodigious correspondence.

This selection illustrates the artist's contradictions and complexities: his self-doubt and his passionate ambition; his close bond with his brother Theo; and his sometimes troubled relationships with other family members and fellow artists. What emerges above all is his overriding passion for his art.

Abridged by Doreen Estall.

Part of the BBC Christmas 2009 season.


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00pf5nn)
Men on Women's Hour

A special edition devoted to the role of men on the programme, who make up almost 40% of listeners. Including Tony Parsons, Benjamin Zephaniah and John O'Farrell.


MON 11:00 Living with the In-Laws (b00pfp8l)
Perminder Khatkar explores the realities for Asian women who move in with their in-laws when they get married. For some the advantages of free childcare and shared living costs work out well, but others move out as the friction becomes unbearable.


MON 11:30 Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off (b00pfp8n)
Series 4

The Orient Express

He's back! But this time, he's got a computer! Budleigh Salterton's most famous citizen has been grounded by both the Home Office and his father, so he's set up GWH Travvel ("2 Ms, 2 Gs, 2 Vs - bit of a mix up at the printers").

Run from his bedroom in Budleigh Salterton, with the help of his long-suffering former Primary School teacher Mr Timmis and the hindrance of his sister Charlotte, it's a one-stop Travel/Advice/Events Management/Website service, where each week his schemes range far and wide - whether it's roaming the country lecturing would-be overlanders on how to pack a rucksack ("If in doubt, put it in. And double it"), or finding someone a zebra for a corporate promotion ("I'll look in the Phone Book - how hard can it be? Now, "A to D"...), GWH Travvel stays true to its motto - "We do it all, so you won't want to".

In this episode; It's a Merger On The Orient Express as Giles takes four cross ladies and a piece of lead piping on a septuagenarian trans-Balkan hen party. With an Agatha Christie theme.

Mysterious jewels, magnificent moustaches and a set of pink fluffy handcuffs add up to a baffling mystery.

Starring Marcus Brigstocke as Giles.

Giles Wemmbley Hogg ..... Marcus Brigstocke
Lady Flench ..... Alison Steadman
Mrs Hadleigh-Broome ..... Morwenna Banks
Mrs Gunthorne ..... Janet Henfrey
Mr Timmis ..... Adrian Scarborough
Charlotte Wemmbley Hogg ..... Catherine Shepherd
Hugo ..... Ben Willbond
David ..... David Armand
Mehmet ..... Nej Adamson

Written by Marcus Brigstocke & Jeremy Salsby.

Producer: David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:00 You and Yours (b00pf5y5)
Consumer news and issues with Peter White.


MON 12:57 Weather (b00pf71b)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 13:00 World at One (b00pfksl)
National and international news with Shaun Ley.


MON 13:30 Brain of Britain (b00pfpdb)
Russell Davies chairs the twelfth and final heat of the perennial general knowledge contest, with contestants from the north of England.


MON 14:00 The Archers (b00pf37t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 McLevy (b00pfpdd)
Series 6

End of the Line

Series of stories about David Ashton's Victorian detective based on real-life Edinburgh policeman Inspector James McLevy.

Two ladies make an unusual discovery on Waverley station: the body of a drunken Italian aristocrat. What on earth was he doing on a late-night train from Newcastle?

McLevy ...... Brian Cox
Jean Brash ...... Siobhan Redmond
Mulholland ...... Michael Perceval-Maxwell
Roach ...... David Ashton
Hannah ...... Colette O'Neil
Pettigrew ...... Paul Young
Senga ...... Wendy Seager
Margaret ...... Monica Gibb
Jennie ...... Eliza Langland
Angus ...... Jimmy Chisholm

Directed by Patrick Rayner.


MON 15:00 Archive on 4 (b00pj0y2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


MON 15:45 A View Through a Lens (b00ghrfd)
Series 1

Seals

Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison often finds himself in isolated and even dangerous locations across the globe filming wildlife, and in this series he reflects on the uniqueness of human experience, the beauty of nature, the fragility of life and the connections which unite society and nature across the globe.

1/3 GREY SEALS: Despite a raging storm John struggles across the rocky shore of Brownsman Island off the coast of Northumberland to film grey seals giving birth at night.

Wildlife sound recordist is Chris Watson
Producer Sarah Blunt.


MON 16:00 The Food Programme (b00pdz1q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b00pfpdg)
Ernie Rea and his guests discuss the popularity of angels in contemporary culture. Angels appear in almost every religious tradition; what are they and why are so many people prepared to believe in angels but not in God?


MON 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00pfl5n)
28th December 1989

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

Jimi Hendrix is deployed against General Noriega.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 17:00 PM (b00pfl7j)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Carolyn Quinn. Plus Weather.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00pfl92)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:15 The News at Bedtime (b00pftgj)
Series 1

Episode 3

Twin presenters John Tweedledum and Jim Tweedledee present in-depth news analysis covering the latest stories happening this 'once upon a time'.

Food campaigner Jack Spratt and the Tooth Fairy debate the nation's nutrition.

With Jack Dee, Peter Capaldi, Charlotte Green, Lewis MacLeod, Lucy Montgomery, Vicki Pepperdine, Dan Tetsell.

Written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman.


MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (b00pfr4w)
New Year Special

David Mitchell hosts a special New Year's edition of the game show in which panellists are encouraged to tell lies and compete to see how many items of truth they are able to smuggle past their opponents. The panel includes Rob Brydon, John Lloyd and Stephen Fry.

A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.

Part of the BBC Christmas 2009 season.


MON 19:00 The Archers (b00pfkvv)
Noticing an atmosphere, Annette's anxious when Helen suggests a girly night in. She relaxes when Helen tells her about finishing with Leon. Helen feels a fool but Annette's supportive, saying everyone was taken in except Ian. Leon did like Helen, he was just keen on everybody else too. Helen tells Annette she's a good friend.

Lilian helps Jennifer choose an outfit for New Year's Eve and worries about Matt; he won't open up to her and she struggles for conversation. When Jennifer offers to visit Matt with her, Lilian's thrilled.

Pip is moody while clothes shopping with Ruth. There's no point buying anything, she never goes out and she has no friends at college. When Pip goes off with Izzy and her work friends, relieved Ruth joins Lilian and Jennifer in Underwoods coffee shop.

When Pip returns home from an evening with Izzy's friends, she tells a shocked Ruth that she doesn't want to go back to college. She's thought about it over Christmas, and her evening with Izzy has made her reassess things. She wants to get on with her life and to work at Brookfield. She won't need qualifications for that; Ruth and David can teach her all she needs to know.

Episode written by Mary Cutler.


MON 19:15 Front Row (b00pflxt)
Mark Lawson examines the lives of three acclaimed writers as revealed in three major new biographies.

The novelist and playwright Somerset Maugham enjoyed immense literary success and wealth during his lifetime, but as his biographer Selina Hastings reveals, his personal life led to a 2009 newspaper headline describing him as possibly the most debauched man of the 20th century.

John Carey's biography of Nobel Laureate William Golding also attracted headlines, in the light of details discovered in Golding's previously unseen journals. John Carey reflects on whether or not this new information changed his opinion of Golding as a writer.

The complex life of Muriel Spark presented considerable problems for biographer Martin Stannard. He discusses his approach to the novelist still perhaps best known for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and Muriel Spark herself remembers key incidents from her life from a Front Row archive interview recorded in 2004, just two years before she died.


MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00pflyb)
My Mad Grandad

Episode 1

By Mike Scott. Touching and funny tale of family quarrels and misspent old age, drawing on Scott's own childhood in Lancashire.

After being moved away from bad influences to live in a quiet village, 12-year-old Gil finds his new best mate is the oldest, blackest sheep in his family - his grandad, just released from the asylum, who thinks boys need catapults and stink bombs and sips of beer.

Mum ...... Alison Steadman
Dad ...... Matthew Kelly
Old Gil ...... Bernard Hill
Grandad ...... Kenneth Cranham
Haryley ...... Johnny Vegas
Mercy ...... Gwyneth Powell
Gil ...... Stephen Rac
Kenny ...... Joshua Swinney
Muffin ...... Tomas Brennan

Directed by Dirk Maggs

A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 20:00 Things We Forgot to Remember (b00pfr4y)
Series 5

The Glorious Revolution

Michael Portillo presents a series revisiting the great moments of history to discover that they often conceal other events of equal but forgotten importance.

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 is remembered for establishing the supremacy of Parliament over the Crown, setting Britain on the path towards constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. Yet what's forgotten is that the events of 1688 actually constituted a foreign invasion of England by another European power, the Dutch Republic.

When William of Orange landed at Torbay in Devon on 5 November 1688, with a fleet four times the size of the Armada of the previous century, it was ostensibly at the invitation of seven Whig supporters who were anxious to avoid a Catholic succession to James II's reign. But William's invasion was central to his plan of war with France, ensuring that England would not add her armed force to that of the French; he was set on becoming king himself and was leading his troops as an occupying force. The last comparable event was a previous William's invasion in 1066.

Even though bloodshed in England was limited - though far from the entirely 'Bloodless' revolution that has been mythologised - the revolution was only secured in Ireland and Scotland by force and with much loss of life. Michael investigates the uncomfortable facts of invasion and occupation which lie behind the popular celebration of 1688.


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (b00pcn0y)
Sweden

Writer Andrew Brown tries to find out if the rural heart of Sweden still lives on in the modern age. In an entertaining and unpredictable journey he goes in search of wolves, egg-tossing merrymakers and the ideal of the Swedish summer.


MON 21:00 The Dragons' Lab (b00pfr50)
What happens when economists, neuroscientists, biologists, engineers and psychologists spend a week in the same room trying to think of ways to spend a few of million pounds? Trevor Cox lifts the lid on the funding game as he spends a week with some hopeful researchers out to win their share of several million pounds of public money in a unique funding event called The Ideas Factory - or, as he dubs it, The Dragons' Lab.

Each year the UK research councils share out 2.8 billion pounds of taxpayers' money. But how do they decide who should get it? With grants dwindling under new government spending plans, research funding squabbles are getting more fraught.

But the UK research council model for funding science is often intrinsically conservative: if you know what the outcome of research will be, why do you need to spend all that money on it? Furthermore, grants are awarded by the cognoscenti to the cognoscenti, and there is often little space for fresh perspectives or interdisciplinary overlap. There is a also a gap in the public's awareness of how these important decisions are taken on its behalf.


MON 21:30 Start the Week (b00pfp8j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:58 Weather (b00pfmmb)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b00pfms9)
National and international news and analysis with Roger Hearing.

A British man found guilty of drug smuggling in China - said by his family to be mentally ill - has been told he will be executed in the morning.

Prominent opposition figures have been arrested in Iran, a day after violent protests left at least eight people dead.

Plus, can nation states deal with climate change?


MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00pfmsc)
Tove Jansson - The True Deceiver

Episode 1

Indira Varma reads from the novel by Tove Jansson.

Winter settles over the Swedish fishing village of Västerby. Katri offers to run errands for the ageing artist who lives on the outskirts. But what does this strange young woman want in return from Anna Aemelin?

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne.

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (b00pck26)
Michael Rosen takes apart some jokes to try to find out why they're funny. After he puts them back together, they don't seem to work very well.


MON 23:30 A Life With ... (b00lk12y)
Series 5

Microbes

Writer and naturalist Paul Evans meets Prof Lynn Margulis, whose study of the Earth's smallest creatures led to a revolutionary theory for all life on Earth. The cell, symbiosis, Gaia and a row with Richard Dawkins all combine to offer a new perspective on evolution.



TUESDAY 29 DECEMBER 2009

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b00pf3nb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


TUE 00:15 Dear Darwin (b00g9xhy)
Episode 1

Five leading scientists address letters to Charles Darwin, expressing their thoughts on his work and legacy.

Dr Craig Venter, one of the men who first successfully mapped the human genome, tells Darwin about his own experiences as a collector and hands-on biologist, from boyhood toad fascination to his Sorcerer II voyage, which circumnavigated the globe in the manner the young Darwin did aboard HMS Beagle. Nowadays, however, Craig collects genes rather than pickled specimens. He tells Darwin of his Institute's current efforts to produce the world's first synthetic lifeform, completely fabricated by man, yet otherwise untouched by nature and therefore arguably unevolved.


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b00pfs2w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pf3sn)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pf3zs)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pf3y3)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b00pf412)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00pf43q)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Dr Martyn Atkins.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b00pf4tr)
Farms are well known to be dangerous places and the countryside in general is not a good place to have a serious accident because you could be a long way from your nearest paramedic. But help is at hand from a group of ex-army survival experts who are putting the the medical skills they learned on battlefields from the Falkland Islands and Afghanistan into practice on farms and country estates. Steve Peacock joins one of their training courses to find out how to survive a serious accident when the ambulance is more than an hour away.


TUE 06:00 Today (b00pf4ww)
With Justin Webb and Evan Davis. Including Sports Desk, Weather.


TUE 09:00 Defining The Decade (b00pfrmm)
Mission Accomplished

Edward Stourton tries to make sense of a decade in which history has been put on fast forward. There has been a revolution in the way we communicate, widespread alarm about the planet's very survival and a challenge to the world order. What does it mean for the way we live as we head into 2010?

A decade which began with untrammelled American power and ended with America's reputation damaged and its dominance challenged by the rise of China.


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b00ph6xk)
Vincent van Gogh - The Letters

Episode 2

Mark Rylance reads from a new edition of Van Gogh's prodigious correspondence.

Vincent begins his artistic studies in earnest under the guidance of the artist Anton Mauve. He also embarks on a relationship with a pregnant prostitute, Christien, whom he decides to take under his wing. But this brings him into conflict with his family.

Abridged by Doreen Estall.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00pf5nd)
Sarah Jessica Parker; Women and gambling

Actor Sarah Jessica Parker on Wyoming, her new twins and why Carrie Bradshaw means so much to women. Plus, why is there an increase in the number of women who are gambling?


TUE 11:00 Where Do You Want Me (A Comic in Continental Crisis) (b00nmz81)
Johnny Vegas is at a turning point in his professional status. He has a thriving career but knows deep down that audiences are getting younger and his shelf-life within showbusiness could be too close to perishable for comfort.

What will become of Johnny should The Mighty Boosh demand it is time for him to take his final bow? Johnny sees that with the demise of working men's clubs and the unforgiving nature of popular culture, many household names have followed their ageing audiences to the Spanish coast, where they are still revered and can play once more to packed houses of grateful punters.

Is Benidorm merely the elephants' graveyard for entertainers who just don't know when to call it a day, or a shining tribute to the glories of past comedy? Is it a fate that awaits Johnny himself? And what if Benidorm itself is nearing the end of a golden age, now that it is under threat as global recession bites.


TUE 11:30 Van Gogh: Seeing Red (b00pfrzs)
Art historian Richard Cork explores the mind of the painter Vincent van Gogh through his extraordinary letters.

Richard Cork explores the mind of Vincent van Gogh through his correspondence.

A keen and expressive correspondent who regaled acquaintances with his views on love, religion and sex, he put pen to paper with the same creative vigour as he put paintbrush to canvas.

By the time he walked into a field in the town of Auvers-sur-Oise and shot himself in the chest, the 37-year-old van Gogh had left behind a rich literary legacy that would, like his painting, outlive his short and tortured life.

Producer: Kate Bland

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2009.


TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b00pf5wk)
Consumer news and issues with Julian Worricker.


TUE 12:57 Weather (b00pf5y7)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (b00pfks6)
National and international news with Shaun Ley.


TUE 13:30 Bach Fever! (b00pfsln)
Exploring the uses and abuses of Bach's music, from the jazz Bach craze of the 1960s to the electronic edifice of Wendy Carlos' Switched on Bach recordings. It has provided an incredible resource for pop invention, jazz improvisation, acapella swing, electronic futurism, rock guitar and plain kitsch.

A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (b00pfkvv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b00pfslq)
Cattle Market

By Shane Connaughton. Deep in rural Northern Ireland, cows are two a penny; sadly, for one farming community, finding love and the perfect partner is proving more elusive. If only these eligible farmers could find a way to advertise themselves.

Kate ...... Geraldine Hughes
Ryan ...... Liam McMahon
Evie ...... Emma Kearney
Alfie ......Stephen Darcy
Betty ...... Frances Tomelty
Ben ...... Miche Doherty
Bill Turner ...... James Greene
Simon ...... PAtrick Fitzsymons
Maureen ...... Myrtle Johnson

Directed by Gemma McMullan.


TUE 15:00 Home Planet (b00pfsls)
Richard Daniel and the team discuss listeners' questions about the environment and the natural world.

The focus is on energy and climate change. Starting with a question about carbon dioxide in the atmosphere - is there a point when it will reach saturation and emitting any more of the gas will not have any effect? Nuclear power is being offered as a solution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions but how efficient is it? And if it produces waste heat, doesn't that add to the problems of a warming planet?

Then there's the recently revived idea of whether vegetarians produce less greenhouse gas than meat-eaters. Are sea level rises really such a problem when we have centuries of experience building sea defences? And what caused the ebb and flow of ice ages in historical times?

On the panel are development expert Prof Sue Buckingham of Brunel University; geologist and energy specialist Dr Nick Riley of the British Geological Survey; and Prof Andrew Watkinson, director of Living with Environmental Change.


TUE 15:30 Bright Young Things (b00pfslv)
P G Wodehouse - Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit

4 Extra Debut. An unexpected invite to spend Christmas in the country throws Jeeves's plans into disarray. Read by Julian Rhind-Tutt.


TUE 15:45 A View Through a Lens (b00gq4nb)
Series 1

Shadows

Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison offers a personal view of life as he finds himself in isolated and often dangerous locations across the globe filming wildlife.

2/3. SHADOWS: Squat on a tiny platform 30 metres off shore, John waits for young black-footed albatrosses to embark on their first flight from the shore. Below him in the water, shadows are patrolling back and forth, waiting for the birds to land on the waves.

Sound recordist is Chris Watson
Producer Sarah Blunt.


TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (b00pftm5)
A sweet relief for some and painfully uncomfortable for others, silence can be one of the most powerful tools in speech. From school classrooms to sports grounds, Michael Rosen investigates the times when staying silent can speak volumes.


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b00pftm7)
Series 20

Hannah Arendt

Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.

Munira Mirza, the London Mayoral advisor on arts and culture, chooses the influential political philosopher Hannah Arendt.

She is regarded as a highly influential 20th-century political philosopher, although Arendt would have refuted the title 'philosopher' herself. Born into a secular German Jewish family, she grew up in what is now Hanover and Berlin. A student with Heidegger (with whom she had a tumultuous relationship; they divorced in 1929), Arendt survived being interrogated by the Gestapo and moved to Paris, where she lived for a number of years before immigrating to America in the 1940s, settling in New York.

Arendt was a lively part of an intellectual circle and held a number of academic posts until her death. Little known in the UK, Arendt is chosen by Munira Mirza, the London Mayoral advisor on arts and culture and a founding member of the Manifesto Club.


TUE 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00pfl32)
29th December 1989

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

Playwright Vaclav Havel is elected president of Czechoslovakia.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 17:00 PM (b00pfl5q)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Carolyn Quinn.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00pfl7l)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:15 The News at Bedtime (b00pftgl)
Series 1

Episode 4

Twin presenters John Tweedledum and Jim Tweedledee present in-depth news analysis covering the latest stories happening this 'once upon a time'.

Jim reports live from the launch site of the Nurseryland space programme as preparations are finalised to put a cow over the moon.

With Peter Donaldson, Lewis MacLeod, Alex MacQueen, Lucy Montgomery, Vicki Pepperdine, Dan Tetsell.

Written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman.


TUE 18:30 Sneakiepeeks (b00pfv03)
Special Relationship

A CIA man spends the day with Team Beagle on an exchange visit.

But will his past come back to haunt him?

Comedy by Harry Venning and Neil Brand about a team of inept, backstabbing surveillance operatives.

Bill ...... Richard Lumsden
Sharla ...... Nina Conti
Mark ...... Daniel Kaluuya
Colonel ...... Ewan Bailey
Bristow ...... John Biggins
Sean ...... Joseph Cohen Cole
Lenny ...... Piers Wehner
Ignatius/Fuego ...... Nigel Hastings
Man ...... Rhys Jennings

Producer: Katie Tyrrell

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2009.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (b00pfkvj)
Matt has good news for Lilian; he's being recommended for enhanced status, so he can have more visits. Lilian suggests Jennifer coming with her but Matt's not keen - it easier to keep going by forgetting about the outside world. He doesn't want anyone but Lilian to see him like this.

At the Laurels, while Jack sleeps Peggy occupies herself collating the community shop questionnaires for the steering group committee tomorrow. When Lilian comes to pick her up, she tells Peggy about Matt's reluctance to see Jennifer. Peggy understands how Matt's feeling. She knows how important it is to hold onto your dignity. It was how she coped with their father's drinking.

Pip's eager to tell David about her decision to leave college and rushes off to find him before Ruth can stop her. Pip's exasperated when David presumes it's because she's worried about her exams. When Ruth catches up with them, David's surprised to discover Ruth already knew about his daughter's plans to ruin her life. Despite their concerns, Pip's adamant - she's not going back to college and nothing they say will change her mind.

Later, when they're alone, Ruth tells David she's got a plan.

Episode written by Mary Cutler.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (b00pfl94)
According to some predictions, the rise of e-readers - electronic devices which can contain hundreds of books digitally - mark the end of the traditional book. In a special edition of Front Row, Mark Lawson speaks to readers, writers, publishers and e-book manufacturers about whether methods of consuming and producing literature - which we now take for granted - are coming to an end.


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00pflxw)
My Mad Grandad

Episode 2

By Mike Scott. Touching and funny tale of family quarrels and misspent old age, drawing on Scott's own childhood in Lancashire.

Gil takes his first trip in a car and Grandad finds something to laugh at in the crematorium.

Mum ...... Alison Steadman
Dad ...... Matthew Kelly
Old Gil ...... Bernard Hill
Grandad ...... Kenneth Cranham
Haryley ...... Johnny Vegas
Mercy ...... Gwyneth Powell
Gil ...... Stephen Rac
Kenny ...... Joshua Swinney
Muffin ...... Tomas Brennan

Directed by Dirk Maggs

A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 20:00 From Tsunami to Drought (b00pfv05)
Andrea Catherwood chairs a series of presentations at the Royal Geographical Society organised by conservation charity Earth Watch, each offering novel solutions to global drought, with a Dragons' Den-style panel and an audience quizzing them about their ideas.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (b00pg4xg)
Peter White meets Deborah, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, at her home in Derbyshire. She has lived there since leaving Chatsworth House, which she and her late husband Andrew, the Duke of Devonshire, lived for almost 50 years.

The Duchess has had macular degeneration for about five years and says the thing she most struggles with is reading. She says she is fortunate to have many friends and helpers at the house who read things to her, although sometimes what they read to her from the newspapers isn't always the bit she might choose. Magnifiers help her only for the odd word or two and she prefers to use people rather than gadgets to help her.

The Duchess talks about her life as the youngest of the famous Mitford sisters and tells Peter about the time she went to Austria with her mother to see her sister Unity, and together they were invited to have tea with Hitler in his flat. The Duchess said it was strange as she remembers he rang a bell, but nobody came. She also speaks of her passion for Elvis Presley and says she has visited his former home, Graceland, twice. She also has an Elvis novelty phone and a piece of his garden fence as souvenirs.

The Duchess thought her family was quite normal when she was younger, and only later reaslied that maybe it was a little different - one of the differences being that the man she called Uncle Harold was known to the rest of the country as prime minister Harold MacMillan. The Duchess takes Peter to see her hens, for which she also has a passion, and has owned her own hens since she was six years old.


TUE 21:00 Case Notes (b00pg4xj)
Childhood Obesity

Dr Mark Porter reports on the unique study that is tracking obesity from childhood. Researchers in Plymouth have been following the progress of a group of 300 children since they were born. Now they are teenagers, and data from taking blood samples and weighing them has helped the scientists to reveal that obesity follows gender lines and that diet is more important than exercise when it comes to losing weight.


TUE 21:30 Defining The Decade (b00pfrmm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 21:58 Weather (b00pfmkj)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b00pfmmd)
National and international news and analysis with Ritula Shah.

Al-Qaeda claims a bomb plot was hatched in Yemen. Is it another Afghanistan?

How airport body scanners may be idle because of indecision by the European Commission.

What will a hung parliament mean for Britain in 2010?


TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00phv9c)
Tove Jansson - The True Deceiver

Episode 2

Indira Varma reads from the novel by Tove Jansson.

As Katri visits the rabbit house more often, Anna gets first sight of the young woman's unusual qualities.

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne.

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 23:00 Vent (b01glrp7)
Series 3

The Stand-In

Ben vows to do something alone but buying an envelope at the post office is not that easy.

Dark sitcom about a man in a coma, travelling through the distinctly odd landscape of his own unconscious mind.

Written by Nigel Smith.

Ben ...... Neil Pearson
Mary ...... Fiona Allen
Mum ...... Josie Lawrence
Blitz ...... Leslie Ash
Nurse ...... Jo Martin
Derek ...... Stephen Frost
Marley ...... Spencer Brown
Bea ...... Scarlett Milburn-Smith
Lorraine ...... Tessa Nicholson
Mr Shah ...... Bruce Alexander
Martin ...... Nigel Hastings
Boy ...... Lizzy Watts
Assistants ...... Kate Layden, Tara Lynch Coppers, Tom Price & Abigail Burdess

Director: Nigel Smith

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2009.


TUE 23:30 A Life With ... (b00lpkd7)
Series 5

Loons

Writer and naturalist Paul Evans goes to Maine to meet David Evers, a conservation biologist who has spent a life with loons, the enigmatic bird of northern lakes known in the UK as the Great Northern Diver.



WEDNESDAY 30 DECEMBER 2009

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b00pf3nd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


WED 00:15 Dear Darwin (b00gdvwv)
Episode 2

Five leading scientists address letters to Charles Darwin, expressing their thoughts on his work and legacy.

Sir Jonathan Miller takes issue with Darwin's thoughts on reproduction. Darwin had no conception of modern genetics, but by the very nature of his work was tempted to speculate on the mechanism of reproduction. Jonathan questions why in this, one of the most central problem of biology, Darwin deviated from his otherwise exacting empirical standards, and support a just-so story of reproduction that could not even explain why circumcision was not inherited.


WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b00ph6xk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pf3sq)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pf3zv)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pf3y5)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (b00pf414)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00pf43s)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Dr Martyn Atkins.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (b00pf4tt)
Charlotte Smith follows a year in the life of four brothers who are new to farming. Economics, animal disease and the weather have all been obstacles. Charlotte discovers if they overcame these and managed to make farming pay.


WED 06:00 Today (b00pf4wy)
With Sarah Montague and Justin Webb. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Midweek (b00pg52c)
Lively and diverse conversation with guests including Fiona Shaw and Billy Childish.


WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b00ph6xm)
Vincent van Gogh - The Letters

Episode 3

Mark Rylance, Joseph Cohen-Cole and Julius D'Silva read from a new edition of Van Gogh's prodigious correspondence.

Vincent leaves Paris for the light and warmth of Arles in the south of France. His new surroundings quickly revive both his spirits and his zest for painting, and he plans to establish a new artistic community there. But his hopes to persuade Paul Gauguin to move south and join him in the little yellow house appear, at first, to be met with some resistance.

Abridged by Doreen Estall.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00pf5ng)
Dionne Bromfield; Boy babysitters; Women and technology

How much is new technology benefiting ordinary women? Plus, are boys can be just as good at babysitting as girls? Dionne Bromfield, Amy Winehouse's goddaughter sings live.


WED 11:00 UK Confidential (b00pg52f)
1979

With unique access to Secret government papers, Martha Kearney presents a look at the political events of 1979 as told through the Cabinet minutes, Prime Ministerial papers and Foreign and Commonwealth Office Documents that are being released to the public at the end of the year.

Domestic stories include the growing crisis of confidence in the Labour government, the handling of backbench rebellions, the winter of discontent and the handover of power to Margaret Thatcher following the Conservative victory in the 1979 General election.

We discover the government's first response to the Ayatollah's return to Iran and the diplomatic standoff about finding a permanent home for the exiled Shah. Why arms sales to the RUC were chipping away at Anglo-American diplomatic relations and how cabinet ministers fell out over the question of what to do with refuges from Vietnam.

UK CONFIDENTIAL weaves together dramatised extracts from the papers, news footage material, discussion with studio guests (including former cabinet ministers and top level civil servants), and special reports compiled by correspondents.
Studio Guests: Lord Michael Heseltine, Lord Roy Hattersley, Elinor Goodman, Michael Dobbs

Producer: Emily Williams

A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4, in association with Takeaway Media.


WED 12:00 You and Yours (b00pf5wm)
Consumer news and issues with Winifred Robinson.


WED 12:57 Weather (b00pf5y9)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 13:00 World at One (b00pfks8)
National and international news with Shaun Ley.


WED 13:30 The Media Show (b00pg52h)
Steve Hewlett looks back over the media year with former Times editor Simon Jenkins, The Sun's former political editor Trevor Kavanagh, Mehdi Hasan, the senior politics editor for the New Statesman, and Emily Bell of The Guardian. They discuss the Telegraph's handling of the MPs expenses scandal, the coverage of the BBC executive pay revelations, libel laws and privacy, and The Sun changing sides from Labour to the Conservatives.


WED 14:00 The Archers (b00pfkvj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama (b00pg5cx)
What Did I Say?

By Mark Lawson. When Max Coleman is suspended from work for an allegedly offensive remark, he just can't figure out what on earth he might have said.

Max Coleman ...... Neil Pearson
Juliet Coleman ...... Amy Marston
Chubbs ...... Piers Wehner
Tom Neades ...... Chris McHallem
Susan Brogan ...... Aine McCartney
Alice Irvine ...... Tessa Nicholson

Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan.


WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b00pg5cz)
Paul Lewis and a panel of guests answer calls on saving and investing.

Guests:

Graham Hooper, head of marketing, Bestinvest
Clare Francis, site editor, Moneysupermarket
Justin Urquhart Stewart, managing director, Seven Investment Management.


WED 15:30 Bright Young Things (b00pfsqt)
The Garden Party

Romola Garai reads the first of two stories celebrating the extravagant, cocktail-swilling party people of the 1920s, the 'Bright Young Things'. In today's story, one of Katherine Mansfield's all-time classics, a tragic death threatens to intrude upon the lavish preparations for a rather extravagant summer party.

Born in 1888 in New Zealand, Katherine Mansfield is widely considered to be one of the finest short story writers of the early 20th century and was a major influence on the evolution of the modern short story form in Britain and Europe.

Written by Katherine Mansfield
Read by Romola Garai
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Justine Willett.


WED 15:45 A View Through a Lens (b00gsv4v)
Series 1

Poyang Lake

Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison offers a personal view of life as he finds himself in isolated and often dangerous locations across the globe filming wildlife.

3/3. POYANG LAKE - Having set up his hide at the edge of Poyang Lake in China, John waits for dawn and watches the birds nearby as he reflects on everyday miracles like feathers, boatmen and Chinese worms!

Producer Sarah Blunt.


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b00pg5d1)
Mobility to Higher Education

As part of Radio 4's University tour, Laurie Taylor travels to the University of Bedfordshire where he's joined by an audience of students and panel to discuss class and social mobility.

In 2003 Tony Blair announced he wanted half of all 18 to 30-year-olds to participate in higher education by 2010. While numbers are up, a report from the Higher Education Statistics Agency suggests their social background has barely changed, with the middle classes still making up the majority of University students. So does education provide a means to social mobility, is social mobility even a meaningful expression and has society ignored class barriers in favour of focusing on identity politics?

Laurie is joined by Lynsey Hanley, Guardian journalist and author of Estates - an Intimate History; Richard Reeves, Director of the think tank Demos; Danny Dorling Professor of geography at Sheffield University and by Dick Hobbs, sociologist at the London School of Economics. They discuss these and other questions of class barriers, social divides and whether Britain will ever shed its class system and the divisions it creates.


WED 16:30 Case Notes (b00pg4xj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00pfl35)
30th December 1989

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

The lavish home of Romanian dictator Ceausescu is revealed to the world.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 17:00 PM (b00pfl5s)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Carolyn Quinn. Plus Weather.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00pfl7n)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:15 The News at Bedtime (b00pftgn)
Series 1

Episode 5

Twin presenters John Tweedledum and Jim Tweedledee present in-depth news analysis covering the latest stories happening this 'once upon a time'.

Mary Mary reports on a medical mystery involving an old woman who swallowed a fly.

With Jack Dee, Peter Capaldi, Fi Glover, Lewis MacLeod, Alex MacQueen, Lucy Montgomery, Vicki Pepperdine, Dan Tetsell.

Written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman.


WED 18:30 Ayres on the Air (b00m19m6)
Series 3

Passion

How to get all loved up. Poetry and sketches from Pam Ayres. With Felicity Montagu and Geoffrey Whitehead. From August 2009.


WED 19:00 The Archers (b00pfkvm)
Jennifer tells Lilian that Peggy's filling her time at the Laurels reading the shop questionnaires. Brian isn't happy. Getting rid of the shop was supposed to stop Peggy working. Lilian tells Jennifer that Matt is touched by her offered to visit but he can't face anyone. Jennifer says she wouldn't judge him, but she understands.

Pip tells Ruth she hasn't made any friends at college. Ruth says things might change in the second term. Maybe Pip could go back until Easter? Then if she still isn't happy, they'll respect her decision to leave. Pip agrees. Later, David wonders what they'll do if she does leave at Easter. Ruth says they'll have to hope that doesn't happen.

Helen tells Ian she owes him an apology. He was right about Leon. Ian's sorry he was, and proposes lunch on New Year's Day to take her mind off things, but Helen declines.

Pat is pleased the village seems to want to keep the shop. They now need to elect a committee. Later, Pat asks Helen if she'd like to be involved, to keep her mind off things. Pat is sad that Helen didn't take up Ian's lunch offer but Helen isn't ready to be cheered up just yet.

Episode written by Mary Cutler.


WED 19:15 Front Row (b00pfl96)
John Wilson reports on the new generation of British female singers and songwriters, who have celebrated success in 2009. He talks to Florence and the Machine's Florence Welch, Lily Allen, Natasha Khan, aka Bat for Lashes, La Roux front-woman Elly Jackson and Mercury Prize winner Speech Debelle.


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00pflxy)
My Mad Grandad

Episode 3

By Mike Scott. Touching and funny tale of family quarrels and misspent old age, drawing on Scott's own childhood in Lancashire.

Grandad scares the life out of Gil with his tales of the trenches.

Mum ...... Alison Steadman
Dad ...... Matthew Kelly
Old Gil ...... Bernard Hill
Grandad ...... Kenneth Cranham
Haryley ...... Johnny Vegas
Mercy ...... Gwyneth Powell
Gil ...... Stephen Rac
Kenny ...... Joshua Swinney
Muffin ...... Tomas Brennan

Directed by Dirk Maggs

A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 20:00 Unreliable Evidence (b00pg5d3)
Justice Denied in the Civil Courts?

Clive Anderson presents the series analysing the legal issues of the day.

Civil Court cases, from personal injury to unlawful detention, are increasingly being settled out of court. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, has warned that the civil justice system is failing. But can the system afford to give everyone their day in court?

An Above The Title production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 20:45 The Watchdog and the Feral Beast (b00pg5df)
Episode 3

Sir Christopher Meyer, press watchdog until this year as chairman of the Press Complaints Commission and former press secretary at Number 10, discusses the role of the press today. Is the press today freedom's guardian or is it a 'feral beast', as Tony Blair described the media at the end of his premiership?

Sir Christopher draws on his personal experience as press watchdog and government spokesman. In his six years chairing the PCC, where he dealt with complaints against newspapers and magazines, he championed a free press and self-regulation, but had to contend with controversies that sometimes strained people's trust in the press.

His health check on the press comes at a time when opinion is polarised. Is the press out of control or is it more constrained than ever before by the law? Is the press destroying trust in our democracy or are politicians giving the press undue importance by courting editors and journalists? Is the press too powerful or is it vulnerable because of competition from the internet, much of it free and unregulated?

And now that the printed word and audio-visual content appear together on the same website, what is the future for self-regulation by the press?


WED 21:00 The Eureka Years (b00g3t1f)
Adam Hart-Davis explores the history of the technology of Christmas, with balloons, stars and a stockingful of toys.

He travels to the town of Lauscha in Germany, where glass baubles are still blown by hand, a tradition that goes back to the mid-1830s. Adam finds a dizzying description of the first Christmas tree lit by electric light bulbs, looks at X-rays of teddy bear skeletons and pulls a cracker in the name of scientific investigation.


WED 21:30 Midweek (b00pg52c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 21:58 Weather (b00pfmkl)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b00pfmmg)
National and international news and analysis with Ritula Shah.

A British hostage kidnapped in Iraq for more than two and a half years has been released.

Afghan officials have accused US forces of killing 10 civilians in the far east of the country - the coalition insists those killed were insurgents.

And we look at higher education in Britain at the end of a difficult year for universities and graduates.


WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00phv8g)
Tove Jansson - The True Deceiver

Episode 3

Indira Varma reads from the novel by Tove Jansson.

Eyebrows are raised in the village as Katri and Mats spend more and more time at the rabbit house.

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne.

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:00 All Bar Luke (b00pg5dh)
Christmas Special

Luke ferries Lee and Hayley between Christmas dinners with their parents nursing family conflict, marital breakdown and his own broken heart in typically fumbling style.


WED 23:30 A Life With ... (b00lsyql)
Series 5

Ospreys

Writer and naturalist Paul Evans goes to the Highlands of Scotland to meet Roy Dennis OBE, statesman of British conservation, who has spent a life with ospreys - the iconic fish hawks which are slowly returning to Britain. Paul asks Roy what other creatures he would like to see back in the British countryside.



THURSDAY 31 DECEMBER 2009

THU 00:00 Midnight News (b00pf3ng)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


THU 00:15 Dear Darwin (b00gdvws)
Episode 3

Five leading scientists address letters to Charles Darwin, expressing their thoughts on his work and legacy.

Prof Jerry Coyne's main research scours the heart of Darwin's great work, On the Origin of Species. Using the humble fruit fly, case study of so much modern biology, Jerry's team seek to understand the mechanism by which related generations first become 'reproductively isolated'; in other words, how does a new species emerge? Over the years Jerry has, therefore, been embroiled in plenty of the discussion surrounding Intelligent Design. He tells Darwin about the huge body of evidence that has been discovered in the century since that supports his theory.


THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b00ph6xm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pf3ss)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pf3zx)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pf3y7)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (b00pf416)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00pf43v)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Dr Martyn Atkins.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (b00pf4tw)
Geoff and Sue Nicholls began farming their 25 acre smallholding in Devon back in January 2009, and throughout the year Farming Today has been following their progress. From a humble beginning with a handful of cattle, some chickens and the beginnings of a small orchard, we discover how the agricultural year has gone for Geoff and Sue as they endeavoured to forge their new beginning. Sarah Swadling pays a final visit to their smallholding as Geoff and Sue reflect on their first year in farming.


THU 06:00 Today (b00pf4x0)
With Sarah Montague and Evan Davis. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (b00pg5dr)
Mary Wollstonecraft

Melvyn Bragg and guests John Mullan, Karen O'Brien and Barbara Taylor discuss the life and ideas of the pioneering British Enlightenment thinker Mary Wollstonecraft.Mary Wollstonecraft was born in 1759 into a middle-class family whose status steadily sank as her inept, brutal, drunken father frittered away the family fortune. She did what she could to protect her mother from his aggression; meanwhile, her brother was slated to inherit much of the remaining fortune, while she was to receive nothing.From this unpromising but radicalising start, Wollstonecraft's career took a dizzying trajectory through a bleak period as a governess to becoming a writer, launching a polemical broadside against the political star of the day, witnessing the bloodshed of the French Revolution up close, rescuing her lover's stolen ship in Scandanavia, then marrying one of the leading philosophers of the day, William Godwin, and with him having a daughter who - though she never lived to see her grow up - would go on to write Frankenstein.But most importantly, in 1792, she published her great work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which marks her out as one of the great thinkers of the British Enlightenment, with a much stronger, more lasting influence than Godwin. The Vindication was an attempt to apply the Enlightenment logic of rights and reason to the lives of women. Yet it was not a manifesto for the extension of the vote or the reform of divorce law, but a work of political philosophy. And surprisingly, as recent scholarship has highlighted, it was infused with Rational Dissenting Christianity, which Wollstonecraft had absorbed during her time as a struggling teacher and writer in north London.John Mullan is Professor of English at University College, London; Karen O'Brien is Professor of English at the University of Warwick; Barbara Taylor is Professor of Modern History in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of East London.


THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b00ph6xp)
Vincent van Gogh - The Letters

Episode 4

Mark Rylance, Joseph Cohen-Cole and Julius D'Silva read from a new edition of Van Gogh's prodigious correspondence.

Gauguin finally joins Vincent in the yellow house in Arles. Initially the arrangement is beneficial to both artists but their relationship soon begins to deteriorate, in parallel with Vincent's state of mental health.

Abridged by Doreen Estall.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00pf5nj)
A Celebration of Poetry

A special edition of Woman's Hour celebrating the year in poetry. Including Carol Ann Duffy on being appointed to the Poet Laureateship.


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b00pg5fg)
Sri Lanka's Fragile Peace

The BBC's Colombo correspondent Charles Haviland travels around Sri Lanka, the island nation which saw an epic battle to defeat the feared Tamil Tiger militants seven months ago.

The conflict may be over but many say Sri Lanka remains on a war footing - an island full of restricted areas, where refugees are on the move and newspaper editors still face death threats.

Crossing Continents tells the untold story of a fragile society, as people from the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority return to bombed-out villages and towns.

Charles Haviland explores Sri Lanka and asks if the government and army that won the war can now win the peace.


THU 11:30 The Frost Collection (b00pg5fj)
Series 2

Episode 2

Sir David Frost and guests look back at some of the most memorable interviews of his long career. With Sir Tim Rice, Imogen Stubbs and Anne Atkins.


THU 12:00 You and Yours (b00pf5wp)
Consumer news and issues with Winifred Robinson.


THU 12:57 Weather (b00pf5yc)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 13:00 World at One (b00pfksb)
National and international news with Shaun Ley.


THU 13:30 Questions, Questions (b00pg5fl)
Stewart Henderson answers those intriguing questions from everyday life.

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 14:00 The Archers (b00pfkvm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (b00pg5fn)
Fireworks at the Villa Lucia

Comedy drama by Paul Mendelson.

When Pete, a struggling TV writer, and his wife Julie find themselves staying in the same Italian villa as cult movie director David Joe Jakes, he tries to sell his dog-eared screenplay as the true story of how he met his wife. The fireworks begin when he pressgangs his wife into pretending to be a fiery, psychotic, Venezuelan ex-soap star, while he masquerades as her psychoanalyst.

With Philip Whitchurch, Samantha Bond, Kerry Shale, Megg Nicol.

Pete ...... Philip Whitchurch
Julie/Julia ...... Samantha Bond
David ...... Kerry Shale
Cassie ...... Megg Nicol
Lucia/Mrs Booth ...... Flamina Cinque
Elio/Eric ...... Dan Starkey

Directed by David Ian Neville.


THU 15:00 Open Country (b00pdjy1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:07 on Saturday]


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b00pdz18)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Bright Young Things (b00pfsqw)
Bernice Bobs Her Hair

And now the second of our stories celebrating the riotous, cocktail-swilling, 'Bright Young Things' of the interwar years. Laurel Lefkow reads F Scott Fitzgerald's classic Jazz Age tale set in 1920s California, 'Bernice Bobs her Hair', in which revenge comes in the shape of a daring new hairstyle.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of 'The Beautiful and the Damned', 'Tender is the Night' and 'The Great Gatsby', is regarded as one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. His stories epitomised the Jazz Age, which he defined as a 'generation grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken'.

Written by F Scott Fitzgerald
Read by Laurel Lefkow
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Justine Willett.


THU 15:45 A View Through a Lens (b00h4d2v)
Series 1

Flying Elk

1/5. Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison offers a personal view of life as he finds himself in isolated and often dangerous locations across the globe filming wildlife. In this programme, John films a flight from Sweden to Scotland but this is no ordinary flight as his companions include two moose, and in order to fit the moose into the plane the toilet has to be removed, and then the moose have to be seduced! Its a very long flight.

Presented by John Aitchison
Produced by Sarah Blunt.


THU 16:00 Open Book (b00pf0kb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:30 Material World (b00pg5g5)
'Amateur' is not a term that's always considered as a compliment, but it should be, argue amateur scientists. The word amateur comes from the French 'amour', meaning someone who loves what they do. At one stage in the past, nearly all scientists were amateurs. Quentin Cooper looks into the continuing role of enthusiasts at the front line of research.

He is joined by Dr Adam Rutherford from the journal Nature, Professor Rob Fuller, who co-ordinates the work of 30,000 volunteers for the British Trust for Ornithology, prize-winning young scientist Hannah Stuart, and founder President of the Society for Amateur Scientists in the USA, Dr Shawn Carlson. He also visits the garden observatory of Tom Boles, who monitors 12,000 galaxies for exploding stars from his home in Suffolk.


THU 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00pfl37)
31st December 1989

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

A new Europe sees in a new year.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 17:00 PM (b00pfl5v)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Carolyn Quinn. Plus Weather.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00pfl7q)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:15 The News at Bedtime (b00pftgq)
Series 1

Episode 6

Twin presenters John Tweedledum and Jim Tweedledee present in-depth news analysis covering the latest stories happening this 'once upon a time'.

Mary Mary has shocking news of an egg on a wall.

With Jack Dee, Peter Capaldi, Lewis MacLeod, Alex MacQueen, Lucy Montgomery, Vicki Pepperdine, Dan Tetsell.

Written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman.


THU 18:30 Andy Zaltzman's History of the Third Millennium, Series 1 of 100 (b00pg5g7)
Planet Earth

Political comedian Andy Zaltzman presents a decade-by-decade comic analysis of the third millennium, covering the 2000-2009 period of what is already shaping up to be a troubled thousand years.

As the decade teeters on the edge of its own existence, Andy looks at the planet we live on and the people who live on it and judges whether or not the world is still fit for purpose.

With Rory Bremner, Bridget Christie, Lucy Montgomery and Kim Wall.


THU 19:00 The Archers (b00pfkvp)
Kate rings Jennifer to wish her happy new year. Jennifer's delighted when Kate says she's coming over in March to stay for a month. Kate can't wait to see Phoebe.

Helen's not in the mood for going out, but Annette won't leave her on her own. They have a girlie night in watching movies. Annette encourages Helen to meet Ian for lunch tomorrow. They go onto the fire escape as St Stephen's chimes midnight where they hug and wish each other happy new year.

At the Bull, drunken Jazzer moans about relationships, saying it's the beginning of the end when a man gets tied down. Fallon says he's bitter because he's given up on his mystery woman. Jazzer gets jealous when Fallon chats to a man at the bar. When Brenda lets slip that she knows about Jazzer's infatuation, Tom encourages him to ask Fallon out. Brenda and Tom's hopes for a romantic evening slip away, especially when Jazzer comes home with them.

Later Fallon's woken up by Jazzer throwing stones at her window, declaring his love and saying he can't face another year without her. When he asks whether he stands a chance, embarrassed Fallon says maybe they should talk about it tomorrow.

Episode written by Mary Cutler.


THU 19:15 Front Row (b00pfl98)
A stellar cast of actors have been interviewed on Front Row in 2009 about their life's work in front of the camera and on stage.

Mark Lawson hears from A-list Hollywood stars and Britain's top talent, featuring Johnny Depp on playing Dillinger, Clint Eastwood on playing dead, Bob Hoskins describes his skin-tight motion-capture suit for A Christmas Carol, and Toby Jones has a small confession to make.

The sparkling list of contributors is completed by Glenn Close, Victoria Wood, Simon Russell-Beale, John Hurt, Emma Watson, James Earl Jones, Eddie Marsan, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Bonneville and Michael Caine.


THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00pfly0)
My Mad Grandad

Episode 4

By Mike Scott. Touching and funny tale of family quarrels and misspent old age, drawing on Scott's own childhood in Lancashire.

Gil gets his Saturday gobstopper and discovers why parents like Sunday school.

Mum ...... Alison Steadman
Dad ...... Matthew Kelly
Old Gil ...... Bernard Hill
Grandad ...... Kenneth Cranham
Haryley ...... Johnny Vegas
Mercy ...... Gwyneth Powell
Gil ...... Stephen Rac
Kenny ...... Joshua Swinney
Muffin ...... Tomas Brennan

Directed by Dirk Maggs

A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 20:00 The Report (b00pg5pg)
Playing the Immigration System

The home secretary has admitted that the government had been 'maladroit' in its past handling of immigration. Ministers hope what they call their 'tough' new points-based system of allocating visas will restore the public's faith in their ability to manage migration. Phil Kemp investigates claims that, far from strengthening our borders, the new rules have made it easier to play the system.


THU 20:30 In Business (b00pg5pj)
Project Alcatraz

What makes a businessman turn gangsters into employees? Peter Day talks to Alberto Vollmer of the Santa Teresa Rum Company in Venezuela. He tells Peter how the theft of a security guard's gun led him to set up a project which has cut crime in his area by 40 per cent and has now become an integral part of this 200-year-old family business.


THU 21:00 Legion of Swine (b00pgn1b)
Telling the story of the 2009 swine flu epidemic - from the point of view of the virus itself. A mixture of poetry and science reveals the devious route this strain of influenza has followed from its distant relative, the Spanish Flu which killed millions after the First World War, into birds and pigs and back into humans and around the world. What has the virus got to say for itself?


THU 21:30 In Our Time (b00pg5dr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 21:58 Weather (b00pfmkn)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b00pfmmj)
National and international news and analysis with Felicity Evans.


THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00phv8j)
Tove Jansson - The True Deceiver

Episode 4

Indira Varma reads from the novel by Tove Jansson.

Katri takes action which changes the lives of Mats and Anna as well as her own.

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne.

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 23:00 UK Confidential (b00pg52f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 on Wednesday]



FRIDAY 01 JANUARY 2010

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b00pf3nj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


FRI 00:15 Dear Darwin (b00gdvx8)
Episode 4

Five leading scientists address letters to Charles Darwin, expressing their thoughts on his work and legacy.

Dr Peter Bentley, who works at the cutting edge of digital biology, tells Darwin about the emerging field of evolutionary computing. Peter tells of how Darwin's elegantly simple algorithm lies at the heart of so much complexity in our world, and how abstracting it from 'wet' biology and into the digital realm allows this most powerful of natural processes to be harnessed in industry, finance, medicine and even one day perhaps to construct true artificial life; self replicating, self-designing, self-adapting, self-repairing, self-everything devices.


FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b00ph6xp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pf3sv)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pf3zz)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pf3y9)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b00pf418)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00pf43x)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Dr Martyn Atkins.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b00pf4ty)
Anna Hill follows the progress of Dameon Layt, a new entrant to farming. He began keeping sheep at the beginning of 2009 and producing gourmet lamb burgers. But the transition to full time farmer is not yet complete, as he cannot afford to give up his other paid employment.


FRI 06:00 Today (b00pf4x2)
With Sarah Montague and Evan Davis. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b00pdz1n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b00ph6xr)
Vincent van Gogh - The Letters

Episode 5

Mark Rylance, Joseph Cohen-Cole and Julius D'Silva read from a new edition of Van Gogh's prodigious correspondence.

Vincent is recovering in hospital following the incident in which he severed his own earlobe. Gauguin has left the yellow house in Arles for good, but the two artists still correspond. Although Vincent recovers physically from the incident, he decides to commit himself to a mental asylum only weeks after leaving hospital.

Abridged by Doreen Estall.


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00pf5nl)
Costume Dramas: Life upstairs and downstairs

Woman's Hour investigates the appeal of the costume drama. How much are we seeing a romanticised view of what it was really like to be in service?


FRI 11:00 Spitting In Russian (b00pg5pn)
In the 1980s and early 1990s, at the height of its success, Spitting Image was commanding audiences from around the world. The Russians decided that they would like to have their own version of the satirical show, and a mysterious fax landed on the desk of its co-creator, Roger Law. 'The Russians are coming!' he announced to his team, and after much confusion a team arrived from Moscow to learn the magic art of making political puppets.

But how did all this go down in the dying days of the Soviet Union? At the time, Roget Law went over to Moscow to help set up the show, and he can remember vodka with breakfast and not very much else. Did they actually manage to make a Russian version of Spitting Image? It is time for Roger to go back and find out what happened to the TV producers and to their satirical ambitions.

Roger Law digs out the paperwork from 20 years ago and heads off to Moscow again on a mission to track them down. Armed only with a handful of faxes, letters, and a puppet of Mikhail Gorbachev for company, Roger heads to the bitter cold of a Moscow winter, and discovers more than he bargained for.

A story of intrigue, betrayal, international espionage and rubber puppets.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2010


FRI 11:30 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! (b00pg5r6)
Series 5

Keep Fit

Arthur's keen on taking up a free trial gym membership, but will his doctor approve? Stars Steve Delaney. From January 2010.


FRI 12:00 Food and Farming Awards (b00nz1bf)
Food and Farming Awards 2009

A special 10th anniversary edition of the BBC Food and Farming Awards with an all-star line up including Raymond Blanc, Alex James and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

After sifting through thousands of nominations a team of judges has spent the last few weeks travelling around the UK visiting this year's finalists, watching them at work and tasting their food.

In the programme the winners in nine different categories will be revealed. Find out who is producing the nation's Best Takeaway, which pupils are being served the best school meals and who has won the much coveted title of BBC Food Personality of The Year.

Sheila Dillon, presenter of The Food Programme, hosts the awards, and is joined by two special guests.


FRI 12:57 Weather (b00pf5yf)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 13:00 World at One (b00pfksd)
National and international news.


FRI 13:30 More or Less (b00pg5r8)
Tim Harford presents the magazine which looks at numbers everywhere, in the news, in politics and in life.

An Open University co production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (b00pfkvp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (b00pg5rb)
Lamia

Adaptation of Keats' sensual narrative poem about the ill-starred love affair of the serpent Lamia and the innocent mortal Lycius.

Narrator ...... Paterson Joseph
Lamia ...... Charlotte Emmerson
Lycius ...... Tom Ferguson
Hermes ...... Jonathan Keeble

With original music by John Harle

Singer: Sarah Leonard.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00pg5rd)
Eric Robson chairs the popular horticultural forum.

Chris Beardshaw, Bob Flowerdew and Bunny Guinness are guests of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society in Edinburgh.

Also this week, Chris Beardshaw explores the Garden Museum for artefacts and garden tool prototypes.

Including gardening weather forecast.


FRI 15:31 The Birth of the Big Orange (b007w97x)
The story of the arrival and survival of the navel orange in the US. Originally imported from Brazil in 1871, the fruit has made the Californian citrus industry what it is today.


FRI 15:45 A View Through a Lens (b00h9vgy)
Series 1

Wolves

Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison offers a personal view of life as he finds himself in isolated and often dangerous locations across the globe filming wildlife. In this porgramme, John travels to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to film wolves hunting elk; something that has rarely been seen let alone filmed. It's a hugely challenging task as temperatures plummet below freezing, but the results are both exhilarating and shocking.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (b00pg5rg)
John Wilson 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 (b00pg5rj)
Francine Stock talks to Julia Roberts, Danny Boyle, Mickey Rourke, JJ Abrams, Duncan Jones, Jenny Lumet, Rebecca Hall, Nora Ephron, Lars Von Trier, Kathryn Bigelow, Tomas Alfredson, Ken Loach, Peter Morgan, Earl Cameron and Neil Brand in a special edition of the programme.


FRI 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00pfl39)
1st January 1990

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

Gorbachev and Bush welcome a new decade.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 17:00 PM (b00pfl5x)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Carolyn Quinn. Plus Weather.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00pfl7s)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:15 The News at Bedtime (b00pftgs)
Series 1

Episode 7

Twin presenters John Tweedledum and Jim Tweedledee present in-depth news analysis covering the latest stories happening this 'once upon a time'.

It's New Year's Day and riot police are called in as the Teddy Bears try to have their picnic.

With Jack Dee, Peter Capaldi, Joseph Cohen-Cole, Kate Leyden, Lewis MacLeod, Lucy Montgomery, Vicki Pepperdine, Dan Tetsell.

Written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman.


FRI 18:30 The Now Show (b00pg5rl)
Series 29

Episode 6

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis review the highlights of the year's Now Show programmes, with contributions from the regular team plus Andy Zaltzman, Carrie Quinlan, Paul Sinha and others.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (b00pfkvr)
Peggy's pleased about Kate's impending visit and Tom's glad she's got something to look forward to as Jack didn't remember their wedding anniversary. When Peggy hears that Brenda and Susan have applied for the same job, she worries that it will be a disaster for the village if Susan doesn't run the post office. But Tom's certain Brenda will get the job.

Jazzer's embarrassed about declaring his undying love to Fallon. He blames Tom for encouraging him, but Tom says he only suggested asking her out. Later Tom admits to Fallon that he knows what happened. Fallon had hoped that Jazzer had been too drunk to remember. Fallon's mortified when Tom says that although Jazzer was drunk he meant every word - she is Jazzer's 'mystery woman'.

Helen changes her mind and meets Ian for lunch. Helen tells him that her New Year's Eve with Annette was surprisingly good and they both agree that Annette's got a good heart. Ian says he kissed a lot of frogs before finding his prince, even though she knows he's just trying to make her feel better. Helen tells Ian that she's not good at relationships, so she'd better get used to being single.

Episode written by Mary Cutler.


FRI 19:15 Front Row (b00pg5tl)
Kirsty Lang talks to six of Britain's most promising young playwrights: Lucy Prebble, Polly Stenham, Chloe Moss, Lucy Kirkwood, Ella Hickson and Alia Bano. Is it a co-coincidence they are all women, or are we seeing a new flowering of female talent in what is currently being described as a golden age of British theatre?


FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00pfly2)
My Mad Grandad

Episode 5

By Mike Scott. Touching and funny tale of family quarrels and misspent old age, drawing on Scott's own childhood in Lancashire.

Gil's mysterious and mischievous Grandad reveals a miracle egg and cons the local Conservative Club.

Mum ...... Alison Steadman
Dad ...... Matthew Kelly
Old Gil ...... Bernard Hill
Grandad ...... Kenneth Cranham
Haryley ...... Johnny Vegas
Mercy ...... Gwyneth Powell
Gil ...... Stephen Rac
Kenny ...... Joshua Swinney
Muffin ...... Tomas Brennan

Directed by Dirk Maggs

A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 20:00 Correspondents' Look Ahead (b00pg5tn)
Stephen Sackur is joined by some of the BBC's top correspondents to give their predictions about what will shape our world in the year ahead. Will the global economy turn the corner and rejoin the path to growth? Will the US and its allies defeat the Taleban in Afghanistan or will they pull out? And will China start to assert its new-found power across Asia?


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b00pg5tq)
A weekly reflection on a topical issue from Lisa Jardine.


FRI 21:00 Drama (b00pg5ts)
Marcy Kahan - Big in Samoa

By Marcy Kahan. Dog walker Caleb's life is about to change - an album he cut in his twenties and forgot about now has a huge online following.

Caleb Swander ...... Tom Goodman-Hill
Rafe Swander ...... Hugh Bonneville
Lori Swander ...... Barbara Barnes
Theo Swander ...... Jack Crutch
Dina ...... Gbemisola Ikumelo
Jez ...... Sani Muliaumaseali'I
Molly ...... Janice Acquah
Guitarist ...... Louis Bamber

Original songs by Tarek Merchant.

Directed by Sally Avens.


FRI 21:58 Weather (b00pfmkq)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b00pfmml)
National and international news and analysis with Felicity Evans.

The prime minister is creating a Friends of Yemen club of nations to thwart terrorism.

Charges of killing innocent Iraqis are dropped against Blackwater security contractors.

Does economic forecasting exist to make astrology respectable?


FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00phv8l)
Tove Jansson - The True Deceiver

Episode 5

Indira Varma reads from the novel by Tove Jansson.

After the 'break-in' Anna adjusts to life in the rabbit house with Katri and Mats.

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne.

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b00pftm7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 The Music Group (b00kdtq0)
Series 3

Episode 6

Comedian, broadcaster and GP Dr Phil Hammond asks each of three guests to play the track of their choice for the delight or disdain of the others.

Phil is joined by poet Grace Nichols and former Slade frontman Noddy Holder. Noddy uses the record he brings in to help explain his love of rock'n'roll, and Grace's record offers a Caribbean take on Don Juan.

A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.