SATURDAY 08 JANUARY 2011

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b00x3wch)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b00x7b5c)
The Winter of Our Disconnect

Episode 5

By Susan Maushart.

The end of the experiment is nigh. What has everyone learned? And has a techno-free life changed their ways forever? The whole family contemplate this as they rush en masse for their computers......

Reader: Haydn Gwynne

Producer: Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00x3wck)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00x3wcm)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00x3wcp)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b00x3wcr)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00x44qq)
Leslie Griffiths

With the Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths.


SAT 05:45 iPM (b00x44qs)
"They look in the mirror and they're disgusted.They don't like themselves." Former beautician Penny explains to Eddie Mair how she offers friendship, support and make-up tips to transsexuals. Also, listener Christina - who nominated Penny for the iPM New Year's Honour - speaks about living unhappily as a man, and how after 60 years she is beginning a new life as a woman. IPM@bbc.co.uk.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b00x3wct)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SAT 06:04 Weather (b00x3wcw)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (b00x87bf)
High Speed Rail

Richard Uridge travels the route proposed for high speed rail in Buckinghamshire to find out what is so special about the countryside there that inspires people to battle to protect it.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b00x87bh)
Farming Today This Week

The UN estimates that global food production will have to increase by 50% by 2030 to meet the needs of the growing population. It's expected to reach 9 billion in 20 years. At the Oxford Farming Conference UK and European leaders, farmers and scientists have been discussing how farmers can increase yields with restricted energy, water and other resources. Sarah Swadling asks with increased pressure to reduce subsidies how farmers will do this. She visits a Shropshire dairy farm to see what's being done to get more output from fewer inputs and if they could go further.

Presented by Sarah Swadling and produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.


SAT 06:57 Weather (b00x3wcy)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (b00x886m)
Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b00x886p)
Fi Glover with cook Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and poet Kate Fox; interviews with a gay former US Marine and a man who is King of a small island of the West Coast of Ireland, a guerilla report about having no sense of smell and Archers stalwart June Spencer - aka Peggy Woolley - shares her Inheritance Tracks.


SAT 10:00 Excess Baggage (b00x886r)
Lebanon - Paris/Normandy

John McCarthy explores Paris with Independent Newspaper correspondent John Lichfield and The Lebanon with photographer Max Milligan and historian Philip Mansel.
Producer Chris Wilson.


SAT 10:30 The Politics of Ambridge (b00x886t)
Episode 2

The second of two programmes in which the author Michael Dobbs considers the sixty-year relationship between The Archers and the real political world. This week he looks at how the series has tried to reflect changing social attitudes over the decades, tackling issues such as racism, snobbery, and the role of contentious country sports like fox-hunting.

Along the way we revisit memorable clips from the archives, and hear contributions from prominent political fans, the cast, and the editor of The Archers, Vanessa Whitburn.

Producer: John Beesley.


SAT 11:00 Beyond Westminster (b00x886w)
In Search of the Big Society

This year the coalition government will put into practice one of the most radical political ideas in a generation. It hopes that the Big Society will see the withdrawal of the state from many aspects of life beyond Westminster and the encouragement of voluntary organisations, local government and individuals to involve themselves in community care in a totally new way. Mary Ann Sieghart finds out how it might be put into practice across Britain and what it might cost.

Presenter: Mary Ann Sieghart
Producer: Sue Davies.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b00x886y)
From Our Own Correspondent takes the sea view today - from Baku on the shores of the Caspian Sea and from a remote Indian Ocean island which has brought together a group of scientists, a hundred thousand turtles, some stranded Somali pirates and a BBC correspondent.

Khosar market in Islamabad is a delightful place to go shopping. You can find a small wooden jewellery box there or perhaps a couple of Afghan brass horses, even a few packets of Weetabix. The market is an open area with so little traffic you can hear the birdsong. But now it's associated with something else - the murder of the governor of Punjab Salman Taseer. An amusing liberal and very rich man, larger than life, he met death at the hands of one of his own bodyguards after speaking out against the country's strict blasphemy laws. Many leading Pakistanis have condemned the assassination, but a surprising number have praised the killer, Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri. Orla Guerin has been asking if extremism is slowly gaining control of Pakistan.

The United Nations has for years now deployed thousands of troops in Ivory Coast with a couple of broad objectives - keep the peace and support democracy. Both objectives are now under threat. The incumbent leader there Laurent Gbagbo is still refusing to accept what the rest of the world sees as his defeat in the Presidential elections held in late November. His opponent Allason Ouatarra has been holed-up in a hotel protected by UN peacekeepers. Mark Doyle lived in the Ivory Coast commercial capital Abidjan with his family in the 1990s. He's just been back to report on the post election crisis.

Baku in Azerbaijan was one of the early oil boom towns and to this day the stuff literally oozes from the ground around the city - and now a big new offshore gas field has been discovered in the Caspian Sea not far from the coast. The find has fuelled yet more interest from international investors in what is the fastest growing republic in the Caucasus. But Jonathan Fryer's been finding out that behind the euphoria generated by the country's rapid economic development, many of its people are marked by a pervading sense of loss.

It's generally agreed that Brazil's new president, Dilma Roussef, has a tough act to follow. Her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva remains a highly popular figure - but after two terms - as the constitution requires - he has stepped down and Ms Roussef was inaugurated on New Year's Day. Her backers say she will replace charisma with managerial competence and she began by signalling that maintaining economic growth and low inflation are among her top priorities. But Justin Rowlatt, who was recently in Rio de Janeiro, says the Brazilian boom can, at times, seem a little fragile.

It's not only in the Antarctic where scientists hang out in remote, cut-off communities with only each other for company. In a quiet corner of the Indian Ocean, six hundred miles southwest of the Seychelles, a group of research scientists are studying a vast pristine coral atoll that is home to an extraordinary collection of plants and animals. Besides a hundred thousand giant tortoises,there is the occasional stranded Somali pirate and that's about it. Except for our Tim Ecott.


SAT 12:00 Money Box (b00x8870)
On Money Box at noon today with Paul Lewis:

How much has your food bill gone up? And what's driving the big rises?

Plus: phantom car crashes. If you're wrongly accused of causing an accident - is your insurer fighting your corner?

And: if you're wrongly paid a company pension - can it all be clawed back? That's the position one Money Box listener finds himself in.


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (b00x44qd)
Series 73

Episode 1

Sandi Toksvig presents another episode of the ever-popular topical panel show. Guests this week are Jeremy Hardy, Sue Perkins, Phill Jupitus and Francis Wheen.

Produced by Victoria Lloyd.


SAT 12:57 Weather (b00x3wd0)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 13:00 News (b00x3wd2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b00x45c7)
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the topical discussion from Hinde St Methodist Church in Marylebone, London with questions for the panel including Michael Portillo, former Tory MP, Ken Livingstone, Labour's candidate for London mayor, Matthew Parris, columnist and writer and the designer Dame Vivienne Westwood.

Producer: Victoria Wakely.


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b00x8872)
Any Answers? Listeners respond to the issues raised in Any Questions? If you have a comment or question on this week's programme or would like to take part in the Any Answers? phone-in you can contact us by telephone or email. Tel: 03700 100 444 Email: any.answers@bbc.co.uk.


SAT 14:30 Saturday Drama (b00x88bs)
David Dodge - To Catch a Thief

David Dodge's novel is a fast-paced, entertaining page-turner that was subsequently turned into a memorable film by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Now, Jean Buchanan's dramatisation brings it to radio. American John Robie is living quietly in the South of France, trying to put his career as a notorious jewel thief behind him. However, when a series of huge jewel thefts begins on the Riviera, targetting rich Americans, the police immediately suspect he's returned to his old ways. To prove his innocence, and trap the real thief, Robie must resort to subterfuge. But his plans go awry when the daughter of one of the rich American tourists takes rather too close an interest in him - and his past.


SAT 15:30 Still Points, Turning Worlds (b00sj5z5)
When WH Davies wrote his celebrated poem 'Leisure' over a century ago, the myriad stimuli assaulting people's senses now and the demands that sap humanity's powers of concentration in the digital age were unimaginable. But he rightly gauged the detrimental impacts to the human spirit of failing to find moments of peace in a busy world: 'a poor life this, if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare'.

In this 'composed feature', producer Alan Hall embroiders together the experiences of a range of people for whom still points and daydreaming provide an escape from the increasingly invasive nature of the turning world about us and offer a foundation for reflection, rejuvenation and creativity.

Hearing from Canon Lucy Winkett of St Paul's in the heart of the City of London, an installer of 'energy pods' that offer 'corporate fatigue solutions', an hypnotherapist, staff and pupils from a school that champions 'the Pause' and Kieran MacFeely, a singer-songwriter from the world of pop music (or 'high-end racket') who sought out the peace of the countryside.

'Still Points, Turning Worlds' relishes moments of reverie in an attempt to reclaim the powers of concentration.

Producer: Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2010


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b00x88dv)
Weekend Woman's Hour

Presented by Jane Garvey. The Victorians and their fascination with murder. With New Year diets in full-swing we ask do they ever work? Arabella Weir remembers her seventies' cottage cheese diet and we hear from you. One woman's experience of un-plugging her family from games technology for six months. Swine flu and young children - we hear from the NHS on its vaccination programme. Creative writing and why picking up the pen still wins out over the computer keyboard for one author.


SAT 17:00 PM (b00x88dx)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news, plus the sports headlines.


SAT 17:30 iPM (b00x44qs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:45 today]


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00x3wd4)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (b00x3wd6)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00x3wd8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b00x88mf)
Peter Curran is in the Loose Ends chair this week, and next, with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.

Joining Peter is the American comic, singer and writer described as a true force of nature, Sandra Bernhard. Combining rock 'n' roll, comedy and controversy she returns to London's West End with her live show based on her album, Whatever It Takes.

We have another political comedy firebrand in the form of Mark Thomas. He's taken up Extreme Rambling. No mere Land's End to John O' Groats for him. He has walked the full length of the 750 kilometre Israeli Separation Barrier - and got jokes out of it for his new tour. He's also bringing the latest instalment of his Manifesto to BBC Radio 4.

Emma Freud talks to the actress Sian Phillips about her evening of songs, Crossing Borders, coming to Wilton's Music Hall in London.

Music comes in the form of the sensual broodings of Anna Calvi, shortlisted in this year's BBC's Sound of 2011 poll.

And breezy acoustic pop from Pearl and the Puppets.

Producer: Cathie Mahoney.


SAT 19:00 Profile (b00x88mh)
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Chief Executive

Profile this week is Facebook co-founder and Chief Executive, Mark Zuckerberg. With new investment by Goldman Sachs, the company is now valued at 50 billion dollars. But how much do we know about the man behind it all? Is he really the character portrayed in recent film, The Social Network? And what next for the 26-year-old now thought to be the world's youngest billionaire?
Reporter: Morland Sanders
Producer: Rob Cave.


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b00x88mk)
Tom Sutcliffe and his guests novelist Louise Doughty, literary critic John Carey and comedian Natalie Haynes review the week's cultural highlights including The King's Speech.

Tom Hooper's film The King's Speech stars Colin Firth as George VI, battling against his stammer with the unorthodox help of Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue played by Geoffrey Rush.

In Paul Bailey's book Chapman's Odyssey, 70 year old writer Harry Chapman is admitted to hospital with acute abdominal pain. During his time on the ward his life plays back in his mind, with visits from his dead parents and also from characters out of the books that he has enjoyed.

Rudolf Nureyev's choreography for Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet was first performed by English National Ballet in 1977 and became one of their classic productions. It has been revived for the company's 60th anniversary and has arrived at the London Coliseum on the final leg of its tour.

The Beatles are one of the few pop/rock acts who truly merit the adjective 'iconic'. Groundbreaking and hugely influential, they constantly pushed the envelope during their career without ever compromising their unprecedented popularity. This may be the conventional view, but it is not one shared by Natalie Haynes. In our occasional series where a guest is allowed to take a pot shot at a cultural sacred cow of their choice, Natalie takes aim at the Fab Four.

Alan Bleasdale's new BBC2 drama - his first work on television since Oliver Twist in 1999 - is The Sinking of the Laconia. It is based on the true account of a merchant ship which was torpedoed by a German U boat in September 1942 and the rescue mission instigated by the U boat commander when he realised that there were civilians among the survivors.

Producer: Torquil MacLeod.


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b00x88mm)
Breaking the Mould

Shaun Ley recalls the dramatic rise and fall of the SDP during the 1980s. The party never quite made a breakthrough, but did it change British politics? Is the SDP's legacy its impact on the other main parties?

In January 1981 four former cabinet ministers announced that they were about to leave the Labour Party. Over the subsequent two years, dozens of MPs joined them; it appeared as if the fledgling party might, as Roy Jenkins put it, "break the mould". But the electoral breakthrough never happened, partnership with the Liberals ended in acrimony, and in a final humiliation, the SDP polled fewer votes than the representative of the Monster Raving Loony Party in a by-election. It was a failure.

Or was it? In 'Breaking the Mould', Shaun Ley draws on sound archive and fresh contributions with key players to consider whether the SDP has had a bigger impact than is generally recognised. Was the SDP "a Labour saving device", because it gave Labour a severe shock, without which it would never have modernised sufficiently to win office again? And did the SDP's ideas eventually triumph, not just in the Liberal Democrats, but also in the counsels of New Labour and even inside Conservative Party headquarters? Was the triumph of the SDP exemplified by the formation of the Coalition Government in 2010? - the present Government includes former SDP-ers, and not just among the Liberal Democrats.

Producer: Rob Shepherd.


SAT 21:00 Classic Serial (b00x3pcp)
I, Claudius

Messalina

Dramatisation by Robin Brooks of Robert Graves' great histories of first century Rome.

The ageing Emperor Claudius works to restore the Republic. But his beautiful young wife Messalina has other plans.

Claudius ..... Tom Goodman-Hill
Messalina ..... Jessica Raine
Narcissus ..... Robin Soans
Calpurnia ..... Sally Orrock
Burrhus ..... Jude Akuwudike
Britannicus ..... Ryan Watson
Euodus ..... Adeel Akhtar
Asiaticus ..... Sean Baker
Frontinus ..... Tony Bell
Tacitus ..... Sam Dale
Callistus ..... Henry Devas
Agrippinilla ..... Claire Harry
Soldier ..... Iain Batchelor

Specially composed music by David Pickvance.
Directed by Jonquil Panting.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b00x3wdb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SAT 22:15 Unreliable Evidence (b00x41nn)
Trade Unions

With strikes apparently back in fashion, Unreliable Evidence explores the law relating to trades unions and industrial action.

Wildcat strikes and secondary picketing are now illegal, and new legislation imposes complex rules on how and when strikes can be called. Clive Anderson and guests, including a judge and the assistant general secretary of one of Britain's largest unions, discuss why both employers and trades unions are now, increasingly, fighting each other in the courts.

Also taking part are the senior barristers who have represented either side in the ongoing British Airways cabin staff dispute. Alleged irregularities in the strike balloting process have already resulted in a series of court hearings, injunctions and high court appeals.

Both the TUC and the CBI are calling for reform of trades union law, but whom does the law currently favour - the bosses or the workers?

Producer: Brian King
An Above The Title production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (b00x3sx4)
(11/17)
Russell Davies welcomes another four competitors to the BBC Radio Theatre in London, for the penultimate heat in the quest for the 2011 Brain of Britain champion. This week's contenders are from London, Surrey and Worcestershire. A listener also gets the chance to win a prize by suggesting questions to outwit the participants, in 'Beat the Brains'.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.


SAT 23:30 Adventures in Poetry (b00x3pvc)
Series 11

Journey of the Magi

"A cold coming we had of it, / Just the worst time of the year / For a journey, and such a long journey ..." TS Eliot's poem for Epiphany, "Journey of the Magi", is one of his most popular poems. Yet it is deceptively complex and, as Peggy Reynolds discovers, takes us on our own journey to somewhere very far removed from the simple certainties of the Three Wise Men at the manger.

Producer Christine Hall.



SUNDAY 09 JANUARY 2011

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b00x89f0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SUN 00:30 Afternoon Reading (b00hd3jd)
The Treasure Chest

Tales of Life and Death

Written by Johann Peter Hebel.

An enduring classic of German literature, The Treasure Chest by Johann Peter Hebel (pub.1811) is a collection of pithy comic anecdotes, mysteries and moral tales full of sanity, wit and good humour. Mark Williams dips into The Treasure Chest and reads a selection of Hebel's best stories this Sunday on BBC Radio 4. The tales are translated by John Hibberd and abridged by Roy Apps.

As its title promises, The Treasure Chest contains some real gems of imaginative fiction. Hebel developed a spontaneous and accessible style for these stories - which he originally wrote for inclusion in a popular almanac - for the entertainment and instruction of the ordinary, working people of the small, German state of Baden, where he was a schoolteacher and Lutheran preacher.

Since its publication in 1811, The Treasure Chest has drawn generations of admirers including Goethe, Tolstoy, Wittgenstein, and Herman Hesse. .

The reader, Mark Williams, is well known as one of the stars of the BBC TV comedy sketch show, The Fast Show ("Suits you, sir..!!") and for the role of Ron Weasley's father in the Harry Potter films.

Translated by John Hibberd and abridged by Roy Apps.
Read by Mark William

Producer/Director: David Blount
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00x89f2)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00x89f4)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00x89f6)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b00x89f8)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b00x89fb)
The bells of St Martin's Church, Desford, Leicester.


SUN 05:45 Profile (b00x88mh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b00x89fd)
The latest national and international news.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b00x89fg)
The Horse: A Special Gift to Mankind

Mark Tully looks at the spiritual, symbolic and personal appeal of horses in 'The Horse: A Special Gift to Mankind'.

When God wanted to create the horse, he said to the South Wind, "I want to make a creature of you. Condense." And the Wind condensed. - Emir Abd-el-Kader

The horse is an animal with which we have a special relationship- an object of worship, the cornerstone of military culture for a thousand years and powerhouse of agriculture in many cultures for far longer.

Pet, worker, gambler's darling and symbol of beauty and power: this is an exploration of the spiritual appeal of the horse. Mark talks to art historian Tamsin Pickeral and meets her horse, William. We hear readings from Siegfried Sassoon, contemporary poet James Wright and the Koran, as well as music by Aaron Copeland, Randy Newman and Paul Reade.

Read by Derek Jacobi and Isla Blair.

Presenter: Mark Tully

Producer: Frank Stirling
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b00x89fj)
Anna Varle visits a Devon entrepreneur who is helping 30 struggling farms stay in business. The land around Tiverton is an old-fashioned patchwork of family farms, but not all are managing to make a go of it in the current financial climate. Peter Grieg has helped change that, by sharing his work around to help keep local food and small family farms alive.

On Your Farm visits Pipers Farm, where pigs snuffle in the cider apple orchards, and chicken, lamb and crops from the surrounding farms arrive to fuel a food production line.


SUN 06:57 Weather (b00x89fl)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b00x89fn)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (b00x89fq)
Edward Stourton presents a special edition of Sunday to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.

Series Producer: Amanda Hancox.


SUN 07:58 Weather (b00x89fv)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b00x89fx)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Radio 4 Appeal (b00x89fs)
ORBIS

Toby Young presents the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity ORBIS.

Donations to ORBIS should be sent to FREEPOST BBC Radio 4 Appeal, please mark the back of your envelope ORBIS. Credit cards: Freephone 0800 404 8144. You can also give online at www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/appeal. If you are a UK tax payer, please provide ORBIS 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: 1061352.


SUN 08:15 King James Bible (b00x8f2d)
Readings

Episode 1

The King James Bible is one of the great works of English literature. For centuries it has had an extraordinary influence on the English language and culture. To mark its 400th anniversary, Radio 4 is broadcasting readings throughout the day from the King James Bible and essays to celebrate its language, imagery, poetry and storytelling.

This first collection of readings from the Book of Genesis is introduced by the historian Simon Schama.
0815 Samuel West ........Creation
0830 Emilia Fox .............Noah and the Ark
0845 Dan Stevens ..........Sodom and Gomorrah

Abridgers: Amanda Hancox and Richard Hamilton
Producers: Mark O'Brien and Elizabeth Allard
Editor: Christine Morgan.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b00x8f2g)
News and conversation about the big stories of the week.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b00x8f2j)
For detailed synopses, see daily episodes

Written by: Mary Cutler
Directed by: Vanessa Whitburn
Editor: Vanessa Whitburn

Jill Archer ..... Patricia Greene
Kenton Archer ..... Richard Attlee
Shula Hebden Lloyd ..... Judy Bennett
David Archer ..... Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ..... Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ..... Helen Monks
Nigel Pargetter ..... Graham Seed
Elizabeth Pargetter ..... Alison Dowling
Tony Archer ..... Colin Skipp
Pat Archer ..... Patricia Gallimore
Helen Archer ..... Louiza Patikas
Tom Archer ..... Tom Graham
Brian Aldridge ..... Charles Collingwood
Adam Macy ..... Andrew Wincott
Ian Craig ..... Stephen Kennedy
Jolene Perks ..... Buffy Davis
Joe Grundy ..... Edward Kelsey
Eddie Grundy ..... Trevor Harrison
Clarrie Grundy ..... Rosalind Adams
Brenda Tucker ..... Amy Shindler
Alan Franks ..... John Telfer
Amy Franks ..... Vinette Robinson
Jim Lloyd ..... John Rowe.


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b00x8f2l)
Gyles Brandreth

Kirsty Young's castaway is Gyles Brandreth.

A former Conservative MP, he is also a some-time actor, broadcaster and prolific writer who has authored biographies, diaries, stage plays and mysteries.

Pursuing a political career has been, he says, the over-riding ambition of his life. However the happiest moment came not from politics, but when he was performing in a West End show that he had written himself. These days, his ambitions are to return to the stage and the role he wants to take on is Chekhov's Uncle Vanya.

"I have no complaints" he says; "my life has been one long series of tomato and marmite sandwiches. I've always had what I wanted."

Record: I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face sung by Simon Cadell
Book: The Complete plays of Anton Chekhov
Luxury: Michelangelo's Pietà

Producer: Leanne Buckle.


SUN 12:00 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (b00x3tvr)
Series 54

Episode 2

The 54th series of Radio 4's multi award-winning antidote to panel games promises more homespun wireless entertainment for the young at heart, as the programme pays a return visit to the Town Hall in Leeds. Regulars Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor are once again joined on the panel by Phill Jupitus, with Jack Dee in the chair. Regular listeners will know to expect inspired nonsense, pointless revelry and Colin Sell at the piano.

Producer ..... Jon Naismith.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b00x8f2n)
Gadgets

Sheila Dillon, with the help of some famous food lovers (including Giorgio Locatelli, Cyrus Todiwala, Fuchsia Dunlop and Bee Wilson) hears about their favourite kitchen gadgets. From a 300 year clockwork roasting spit to a 21st century thermal blender, what are the must-have qualities of these kitchen necessities? And how do you choose from the ever increasing plethora of expensive all-singing-all-dancing gizmos on sale in large kitchenware departments.
Producer: Dilly Barlow.


SUN 12:57 Weather (b00x89fz)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b00x8f2q)
A look at events around the world.


SUN 13:30 King James Bible (b00xc8dl)
Readings

Episode 2

The author, David Lodge, introduces readings of sacrifice and betrayal from the Book of Genesis.
1330 Hugh Bonneville ......Abraham and his son Isaac
1345 Emma Fielding ......Joseph and his multi-coloured coat.

Abridger: Amanda Hancox
Producers: Elizabeth Allard, Lucy Collingwood and Mark O'Brien
Editor: Christine Morgan.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00x44q2)
Bradford

The GQT panel meet members of the Grow Organic project in Bradford. Eric Robson is in the chair.

Pippa Greenwood and Bob Flowerdew meets the Bangladeshi and Pakistani women taking part in the Grow Organic outreach programme.

Producer: Howard Shannon
A Somethin Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 14:45 Snowdrop Mania (b00r33y5)
Last year a single snowdrop bulb was auctioned for more than £150. But even that figure is a small price to pay for the growing band of snowdrop collectors who are caught up in the contemporary equivalent of 17th-century Holland's tulip mania. Kerry ten Kate looks into the passions, the jealousies and the murky underworld of snowdrop mania with the enthusiasts who have a big obsession with a small plant.

Producer: Gwenan Pennant Jones.


SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b00x8fwv)
Neglected Classics - Miss Mackenzie

Episode 1

'Neglected Classics'
Miss Mackenzie
By Anthony Trollope
Dramatised by Martyn Wade
Part One
Miss Mackenzie, a woman past the bloom of youth, inherits a fortune and is then beset by suitors. But whom will she choose?

Anthony Trollope.....David Troughton
Miss Mackenzie.....Hattie Morahan
John Ball.....Philip Franks
Lady Ball.....Margaret Tyzack
Mr. Maguire.....Stephen Critchlow
Mr. Rubb.....Lloyd Thomas
Tom Mackenzie.....Sam Dale
Sarah Mackenzie.....Joanna Monro
Susanna Mackenzie.....Leah Brotherhead
Mr. Slow.....Sean Baker
Miss Todd.....Claire Harry
Mrs. Stumfold.....Christine Kavanagh
Rev. Stumfold.....Henry Devas

Directed by Tracey Neale

'Miss Mackenzie' by Anthony Trollope was the runner-up in Radio 4's 'Neglected Classics' vote. The novel was championed by Joanna Trollope who will be appearing on 'Open Book' to talk about the story in the very same week the Classic Serial begins the broadcast of Part One.

It is indeed a neglected gem of a novel. Miss Mackenzie is a single woman in her mid-thirties who receives a large inheritance when her brother dies. She must then deal with what comes with the fortune, including several suitors, who may, or, may not, simply be after her money.

Margaret decides to rent a small house in Littlebath and takes her surviving brother Tom's daughter with her as her ward. Tom and his wife, Sarah, are horrified that they have been left no money, especially as they find themselves in financial difficulties. Margaret Mackenzie's suitors include: her brother's junior partner, Mr. Rubb, a handsome young man but 'in trade'; her cousin, John Ball, a widowed father of seven. John is a gentle soul, who lives with his ailing father and his supercilious mother, Lady Ball; and the oleaginous Mr. Maguire, a curate in Littlebath. Unfortunately Mr. Maguire has a rather terrifying squint.

Miss Mackenzie has to pick her way through this romantic minefield, not knowing who is the best suitor and whether each man wants to marry her for her fortune rather than love. Her wish is simply to find true love. However, storm clouds gather when it is discovered that the fortune does not belong to Margaret after all but to her cousin, John Ball. The financial assistance she has given to her brother's family can continue no longer and also, what is to become of Miss Mackenzie?

Anthony Trollope has created a wonderful heroine in Miss Mackenzie. Although past the bloom of youth, her modesty, kindness and dignity will endear her to the listener and there is genuine delight when John Ball, against his mother's wishes, declares his love for Margaret and asks her to marry him.

The Author:
Convinced with good reason, that he was unloved and unregarded, Anthony Trollope struggled long and hard for a foothold in the world. But his vast resources of energy and dogged hard work broke down the barriers to success and found him loved, feted and avidly read. His labours were Herculean. He pitted himself against time to produce a vast collection of work about credible people and their foibles. He gained recognition as a writer who portrayed English life in a wry and honest manner with a cast of humorous and delightful characters. His portrayal of female characters is particularly skilful and Miss Mackenzie is no exception.

The Dramatist:
Martyn Wade is a skilled and talented radio writer and dramatist. He has taken up this neglected classic and has blown away the cobwebs to reveal a rather delightful and moving story. Martyn has dramatised the 'Barsetshire' novels for radio and the 'Palliser' series too. His most recent Trollope dramatisation was 'Orley Farm' and later this year he will be dramatising another Trollope novel - 'The American Senator'. He will also be dramatising Ada Leverson's 'The Little Ottley's' for Woman's Hour.


SUN 16:00 King James Bible (b00xc8dn)
Readings

Episode 3

The author Kamila Shamsie introduces a selection of stories about some of the most well known figures from the Old Testament.

1602 Toby Stephens ......... Moses in the Bullrushes
1615 Henry Goodman ........the escape of Moses and the Israelites from captivity.
1630 Niamh Cusack ..........Samson and Delilah
1645 Olivia Williams ......... the story of Ruth.

Abridgers: Viv Beeby and Richard Hamilton
Producers: Lucy Collingwood, Elizabeth Allard and Mark O'Brien
Editor: Christine Morgan.


SUN 17:00 King James Bible (b00xc8zd)
Readings

Episode 4

Stories from the King James Bible about power, lust, adultery and suffering are introduced by the playright Howard Brenton.

1702 Rory Kinnear ..........King David and Bathsheba
1715 Miriam Margoyles....the story of Solomon
1730 Hugh Quarshie........reads from the Book of Job
1745 Bill Paterson ..........reads from the Book of Ecclesiastes.

Abridgers: Amanda Hancox, Richard Hamilton and Viv Beeby
Producers: Mark O'Brien and Elizabeth Allard
Editor: Christine Morgan.


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00x89g1)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (b00x89g3)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00x89g5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b00x8fwx)
Caz Graham makes her selection from the past seven days of BBC Radio.

In Caz Graham's Pick of the Week, Archers actor Graham Seed bares all about that scream and saying goodbye to Nigel.

There's a terrible tale of digital deprivation, how will three teenagers cope without computers, mobile phones and TV for a whole 6 months?

There's the story behind Mississippi Goddam, Nina Simone's first self-penned civil rights protest song; insight into what makes a great leader; and a delightful horse called William who was determined to take a bite out of Mark Tully's microphone. All that and an extremely chilling ghost story...

The Archers - Radio 4
Today - Radio 4
The Winter of Our Disconnect - Radio 4
Shappi Talk - Radio 4
Follow the Leader - Radio 4
Classical Collection - Radio 3
Feeling Good - the Nina Simone Story - Radio 2
Americana - Radio 4
Bad Memories - Radio 4
Something Understood - Radio 4
In Touch - Radio 4
Five Guys Named Mohammed - Radio 4
The Story of the King James Bible - Radio 4

PHONE: 0370 010 0400
Email: potw@bbc.co.uk or www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/potw
Producer: Cecile Wright.


SUN 18:56 Radio 4 Appeal (b00x89fs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:10 today]


SUN 19:00 The Archers (b00x8fy6)
Elizabeth is struggling to comprehend how she's ending up organising Nigel's funeral, when they should have had years together. Usha suggests thinking about his funeral as a celebration of his life, and the readings could be some of Nigel's favourite poems. Shula asks how Usha got on with Elizabeth, and is thankful when Usha tells her that she managed to get Elizabeth to start thinking about the funeral. Usha thanks Shula for asking.

Shula tries to help her think of appropriate hymns.

David feels bad about having to leave Ruth running the farm but he needs to be there for Elizabeth. Ruth assures him she can cope.

David's worried about the number of emails Nigel's received. There are so many people who need to be told the tragic news. Lewis offers to help him, and Elizabeth feels she should be dealing with the emails and telling everyone what's happened. David insists he'll do it.

Now that Usha's got Elizabeth talking about the funeral, Shula's able to help her think about what needs to be arranged. Elizabeth wonders if she's doing the right thing by sending the twins back to school. She wishes she knew what to do to help them.


SUN 19:15 King James Bible (b00xc9wc)
Readings

Episode 5

Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, introduces the last of the Old Testament and the first of the New Testament readings from the perspective of a poet and theologian.

1915 Rory Kinnear and Adjoa Andoh...........Song of Solomon
1930 Miriam Margoyles .............................Daniel
1945 Emma Fielding .................................The Birth of Jesus
2000 Samuel West ...................................The Baptism of Jesus

Author Joanne Harris introduces readings from the life of Jesus.

2015 Toby Stephens .................................The Temptation and Sermon on the Mount
2030 Emilia Fox ....................................... Jesus' miracles
2045 Niamh Cusack ................................. The Death of John the Baptist

Abridgers: Amanda Hancox,Richard Hamilton, Viv Beeby
Producers: Mark O'Brien, Elizabeth Allard
Editor: Christine Morgan.


SUN 21:00 King James Bible (b00xc9wf)
Readings

Episode 6

Will Self introduces the account of Jesus' death and resurrection from the King James Bible to mark it's 400th anniversary.

2100 Dan Stevens.....Entry into Jerusalem
2115 Adjoa Andoh.....The Last Supper
2130 Rory Kinnear.....The Crucifixion
2145 Olivia Williams...The Road to Emmaus

Abridgers: Amanda Hancox, Richard Hamilton
Producers: Mark O'Brien, Simon Vivian
Editor: Christine Morgan.


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b00x8gf0)
Preview of the week's political agenda at Westminster with MPs, experts and commentators. Discussion of the issues politicians are grappling with in the corridors of power.


SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b00x8gf2)
Episode 34

BBC Radio 4 brings back a much loved TV favourite - What the Papers Say. It does what it says on the tin. In each programme a leading political journalist has a wry look at how the broadsheets and red tops treat the biggest stories in Westminster and beyond. This week John Kampfner takes the chair.


SUN 23:00 King James Bible (b00xc9wh)
Readings

Episode 7

The author Frank Cottrell Boyce introduces the last of the readings from the King James Bible.

2300 Henry Goodman......Pentecost
2315 Bill Paterson...........The Conversion of Paul
2330 Hugh Quarshie........The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians
2345 Hugh Bonneville...... readings from the Book of Revelation

Abridgers: Viv Beeby, Richard Hamilton, Amanda Hancox
Producers: Elizabeth Allard, Lucy Collingwood, Mark O'Brien
Editor: Christine Morgan.



MONDAY 10 JANUARY 2011

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b00x8hdd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b00x41nd)
Softer masculinity in the sixth form - Dr Who

The Daleks are obsessed with racial purity and dedicated to a policy of genocide: they represent the Nazis. The Jagrafess is a loathsome alien purveying useless information - which he has censored, rewritten and controlled: he represents a modern day media mogul. This is the theory of the US academic Marc Edward DiPaolo who has analysed the political content of five decades of Doctor Who. He finds that the Time Lord is a liberal, bohemian, pacifist environmentalist, and definitely anti-American. Is Doctor Who a closet radical? Laurie and Marc discuss the contention with journalist, broadcaster and some-time Dr Who script-writer Matthew Sweet.
Also on the programme: Softening Masculinities. New research by Mark McCormac finds that British secondary school boys are far less restrictive in their behaviour than they used to be. It is okay to use conditioner, comment on someone's clothes, and even give each other a hug.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b00x89fb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00x8hdg)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00x8hdj)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00x8hdl)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (b00x8hdn)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00x8hdq)
Leslie Griffiths

With the Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (b00x8hds)
The Food and Drink Federation say that eggs will still be imported from Europe, despite the dioxin contamination scare in German eggs, as it is the only way to ensure a reliable supply for UK food manufacturers.

Also, the controversial practice of trimming hen's beaks is to continue for at least another 5 years - despite plans that it would be outlawed at the beginning of this year. Compassion in World Farming and the National Farmers' Union discuss the decision to delay the ban.

Presented by Sarah Swadling and produced by Emma Weatherill.


MON 05:57 Weather (b00x8hdv)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 06:00 Today (b00x8hdx)
Morning news and current affairs with James Naughtie and Evan Davis, including:
08:10 Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg explains his plans for the year ahead
07:44 The collapse of the trial of six environmental campaigners in Nottingham has brought to light the story of an undercover policeman who spent six years as an activist, but apparently offered to give evidence for the defence
08:22 How do we prepare to meet ET?


MON 09:00 Start the Week (b00x8hdz)
In the first Start the Week of the New Year Andrew Marr asks what has gone wrong in the West. The economist Dambisa Moyo charts 50 years of economic folly and argues that only radical changes in policy will stem permanent decline, while Lord Lawson, the former Chancellor, exposes the myths surrounding economic thinking. The journalist Stephen Kinzer calls on the US and UK to ditch its present allies in the Middle East - Saudi Arabia and Israel - and look to Iran and Turkey for support. And Labour's former Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, explores those seemingly intractable problems, with a series of debates drawn from the "too difficult" box.

Producer: Katy Hickman.


MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b00xcd9n)
Judith Flanders - The Invention of Murder

Episode 1

By Judith Flanders.

"We are a trading community - a commercial people. Murder is, doubtless, a very shocking offence; nevertheless, as what is done is not to be undone, let us make our money out of it." Punch, 1842

Over the course of the nineteenth century, murder - in reality a rarity - became ubiquitous: transformed into novels, into broadsides and ballads, into theatre and melodrama. Seeing therein the foundation of modern notions of crime, "The Invention of Murder" explores this fascination with deadly violence by relating some of the century's most gripping and gruesome cases and the ways in which they were commercially exploited.

The Ratcliffe Highway murders of 1811 were particularly dreadful: two separate sets of killings in which seven people lost their lives. It was a case that shocked the nation - this was half as many people as had been murdered in the entire previous year throughout England and Wales - and forced the establishment to rethink the policing of major cities.

Read by Robert Glenister.
Abridged by David Jackson Young.
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00x8hnc)
Presented by Jane Garvey. How often should you change your bedsheets? Every week? Before and after guests? We look at the politics of bed linen. The Secret Life of Stuff: would knowing a product has an environmentally sound footprint make you change your shopping habits? Actress Betty Anne Waters talks about her new film "Conviction" and we ask whether prostitution should be legalised.


MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00x90y9)
TwilightBaby.com: Series 2

Episode 1

by Jenny Eclair and Julie Balloo

Cass Mason blogs about being a mother
again age 47. Somehow it's a lot harder
when you're old enough to be a grandmother.

Cass ..... Jenny Éclair
Ken ..... Kevin Eldon
Penny ..... Felicity Montagu
Library Manager ..... Sean Baker
Barbara ..... Christine Kavanagh

Producer ..... Sally Avens

Jenny Eclair and Julie Balloo return with a second series about being an 'older' mother.
Cass Mason is finding motherhood age 47 tough. She barely has time to blog with a new baby who won't sleep; she fears she may be turning into a zombie. Not only does Cass have to deal with Florence the rest of the family aren't much help; will Ken ever get a job, will her designer clad sister even offer to hold a drooling baby and are her two grown children really contemplating moving back home? Cass charts Florence's first year to a backdrop of sibling rivalry, competitive mums and attempting to get her body back off the floor and into some kind of shape.
Jenny Eclair stars with Kevin Eldon and Felicity Montagu.


MON 11:00 Lords a Living (b00x9235)
Episode 2

Ruth McDonald accompanies members of the House of Lords to the titular land of their peerages to meet the communities who live there now. Does reality match-up to expectation for a peer who hasn't visited "home" in several decades, or never been there at all, and what will "home" make of them?

In this second programme, Ruth takes Baroness Richardson of Calow back to the village in North Derbyshire. A life baron since 1998 it's been 52 years since Kathleen Richardson last lived here but Calow has left its mark on her. In the place where her faith was awakened, its impact has proved pivotal to her career as a Methodist trailblazer - first female minister, bishop, and president of the Methodist conference. But as she has changed and moved on, how has the village that shaped her altered?

From a catch-up at the United Reform Church where old faces and memories come flooding back, to the story of how the NHS rescued a former mining area, Baroness Richardson meets the people who live out their lives in Calow, including a session knotting with the scouts and bowling with the over 65s... And as she sizes them up, the locals contemplate the arrival of their hitherto largely unknown peer: just what will Calow make of the Baroness and what will she glean from them?

Producer: Regina Gallen.


MON 11:30 Ed Reardon's Week (b00x9237)
Series 7

In the Current Climate

Radio 4's most curmudgeonly author is back for a new series, complete with his trusty companion Elgar, his pipe and his never ending capacity for scrimping and scraping at whatever scraps his agent, Ping, can offer him to keep body, mind and cat together.

Ed Reardon ..... Christopher Douglas
Jaz Milvain ..... Philip Jackson
Cliff ..... Geoff McGivern
Ray ..... Simon Greenall
Ping ..... Barunka O'Shaughnessy
Felix ..... John Fortune
Ben Herbert ..... Tom Price
Pearl ..... Rita May
Olive ..... Stephanie Cole
Stan ..... Geoffrey Whitehead
Functionary ..... Henry Devas
Written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas
Produced by Dawn Ellis

Inevitably Ed finds himself once more battling through the week encountering the numerous 12-year olds who run the media; teaching the lively bunch of pensioners who can teach him a thing or two about money making schemes, frugal living and having a good time thank you very much, and regular run-ins with the rather successful Jaz Milvane, director of Ed's only ever book-to-screen adaptation.

As we renew our acquaintance with Ed austerity has hit hard. Jaz is eating at austerity themed restaurants, Ping is drawing in stocking seams with magic marker and Ed is picking blackberries from the canal towpath for his breakfast. However, things may be looking up as episode 1 sees Ed working with the most disturbingly fresh and mesmerizingly compelling voice of his generation, Ben Herbert. Ben has a three book deal and no time to write them all, so Ed has been drafted in to help him write one of the books - 'How to Survive With Like No Cash'. Surely a match made in heaven.


MON 12:00 You and Yours (b00x9239)
Consumer news with Julian Worricker.

A lone pensioner has taken on the might of an American private equity fund. The 71 year old investor turned up at an FSA hearing to put his case in the presence of the combined board of the Kent Reliance Building Society and US equity firm JC Flower.

If you are counting on an inheritance from family based abroad be prepared for a long haul before you can get your hands on your bequest.

A small record company has invented a gizmo that some in the record industry believe could save the concept of the 'album' which is suffering as fans cherry pick tracks rather than complete works in ever great numbers. The 'playbutton' is a badge that plays an album and it will be launched by its New York based inventor Nick Dangerfield next month.

As power bills and debt to energy companies rise, a local council has blundered by fitting some of its affordable houses with heating systems that cost more to run that those that they replaced.

We are not all in it together, says commentator Matthew Parris - and nor should we be. He believes in the clash of political philosophies there are always losers and in the challenging economic climate the poor are bound to shoulder a disproportionate amount of the financial burden. Send us your comments ahead of Tuesday's Call You and Yours.

And the Black Cabs that are all the rage in Paris.


MON 12:57 Weather (b00x8hf1)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 13:00 World at One (b00x923c)
National and international news.


MON 13:30 Brain of Britain (b00x923f)
(12/17)
The quest for the 2011 Brain of Britain champion reaches the twelfth and last heat, with Russell Davies in the questionmaster's chair. Today's contest will decide who completes the line-up in the semi-finals which begin next week. The programme comes from Manchester, with contenders from Liverpool, Kidderminster, Leicester and Beeston in Notts.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.


MON 14:00 The Archers (b00x8fy6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (b00x923h)
Believe Me

Believe Me by Stephanie Dale

When art teacher Rachel bumps into chef Tyrone on his first day in London it is the start of a sunny, passionate love affair, an affair that will take them into much darker places.

Director: David Hunter

When art teacher Rachel, walking home festooned with end-of-term gifts from her pupils, bumps into Tyrone on his first day in London it is the beginning of a passionate love affair. Soon it makes sense for Tyrone, now working as a chef in a local up-market cafe, to move into Rachel's flat. But it's not long before there are tiny bits of grit starting to despoil the love oyster. As things get more serious issues of control, jealousy, trust and violence rise to the surface in this thriller exploring a lesser-known side of domestic abuse.


MON 15:00 Archive on 4 (b00x88mm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


MON 15:45 Europeans on the Edge (b00xgd61)
Spain's reasons to be cheerful

Lucy Ash profiles Jose Miguel Sanchez, one of several students on a journalism course at the Universidad de Navarra in Spain who've come up with their own survival guide for the economic crisis. All of them are worried about finding a job when they graduate but their guide called 'Soluciones', which they are distributing free in the northern city of Pamplona, features inspiring stories about people who've overcome troubles in the past.
Producer: Mark Savage.


MON 16:00 The Food Programme (b00x8f2n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b00x923k)
Suicide

Ernie Rea chairs Radio 4's discussion programme in which guests from different faith and non-faith perspectives debate the challenges of today's world.

Each week a panel is assembled to represent a diversity of views and opinions, which often reveal hidden, complex and sometimes contradictory understandings of the world around us.

In this programme, Ernie and guests discuss how suicide is understood in Christian, Muslim and Hindu communities. Why do people want to take their own lives? What do the faiths say about suicide? And why does having a faith make you less vulnerable to suicide, as the evidence suggests it does?

Joining Ernie to discuss suicide is the Rev Dr Mike Parsons, principal of the West of England Ministerial Training Course and author of "Suicide and the Church"; Raana Bokhari, doctoral student in the Department of Religious Studies at Lancaster University; and Dr Chetna Kang, a consultant psychiatrist and Hindu pastor. The panel hear from the Reverend Alan Smith, an Anglican priest, whose daughter, Sarah, took her own life in January 2007.

Producer: Karen Maurice.


MON 17:00 PM (b00x923m)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news. Plus Weather.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00x8hf3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (b00x92y3)
Series 54

Episode 3

The nation's favourite wireless entertainment pays a first-time visit to the Hawth in Crawley. Regulars Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined on the panel by Ross Noble, with Jack Dee in the chair. Colin Sell provides piano accompaniment.

Producer ..... Jon Naismith.


MON 19:00 The Archers (b00x92y5)
Vicky helps Susan at Bridge Farm and Pat's having the day off for her birthday. Vicky's going to miss working there when Clarrie comes back but she might be needed later when Pat takes over the cheese making for Helen.

Vicky and Susan admire photos of Henry and discuss who he takes after. Vicky thinks it's a shame that they won't ever know whether he looks like his father. Susan can't believe Vicky's been so slow - Henry Ian! Susan's convinced Henry's got Ian's chin, and his hair, so he must be the father.

Tom picks Helen up from the hospital. She thinks it's wonderful to see Tony so besotted with Henry. Tom's worried about Vicky's plans for a big surprise 30th birthday party for Brenda, and Vicky's now proposing to have games.

Elizabeth's worrying about the twins' first day back at school but Jill's sure it's the best place for them. Elizabeth reflects that Nigel would probably have chosen to travel by bike for his 'last journey'. The next best thing would to be put the coffin on the wagon drawn by his favourite horse, Cranford Crystal. Jill thinks the children should attend the funeral but Elizabeth's adamant she doesn't want to put them through it.


MON 19:15 Front Row (b00x92y7)
The Green Hornet reviewed; Chain Story continues

The Green Hornet began as a radio series in America in the 1930s, following the exploits of masked vigilante crime fighter Britt Reid, his sidekick Kato and a hi-tech car called Black Beauty. Film serials, comic books and TV shows followed and now Michel Gondry directs Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz and Christoph Waltz in a new action thriller for cinema. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews.

Paul Bailey talks about his latest novel, Chapman's Odyssey, which is narrated by a 70-year-old writer, lying in a hospital bed, tormented and comforted by voices from his own past and from his favourite books.

Last year Bret Easton Ellis launched the Front Row Chain Story, which was then taken up by writers including Ian Rankin, Frederick Forsyth, Frances Fyfield and Stephen Fry. Tonight you can hear the story so far, including new contributions from Colm Toibin, Michelle Paver, Belinda Bauer and Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson. Now you are invited to continue the story. Send us a sentence or two, maximum 50 words, by 31 January and we will feature a selection on air and on our website.

The American playwright Gina Gionfriddo was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her comedy Becky Shaw, which begins with a disastrous blind date. Gina discusses her work, ahead of the play's British premiere.

Producer Nicki Paxman.


MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00x90y9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


MON 20:00 The Last Refuge (b00x92y9)
We go inside refuges for men who experience domestic violence from their female partners. There are only up to fifty refuge places for men in England and Wales, compared to four thousand for women. We ask whether refuge provision for men is the best way forward. With incidents against men on the rise, we also look at society's more critical response to men who are victims of domestic abuse. Normally bigger, stronger and with more financially independent than their partners, why do men succumb to this violence and what are the complex issues that make them stay in an abusive relationship.


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (b00wr9v8)
Palliative Care in India

It's estimated that nearly one million Indians with conditions like cancer die in acute, unnecessary pain because of the lack of palliative care. Restrictions on morphine prescription are being lifted, but too slowly.

One of the most sophisticated systems of palliative care in the developing world has been established in the Indian state of Kerala. The grassroots movement to create a much-valued and effective palliative care system in Kerala has been called a silent revolution. Every week, thousands of volunteers across the state give up their time to go and tend to those who are dying. They may cook food, help with chores, or simply provide a listening ear. Hundreds of thousands more people in Kerala belong to Palliative Care Societies. They donate money regularly - even just a few rupees - to help support this kind of outreach. The hope is that people will not die alone, and in pain, without any support.

Linda Pressly travels to Kerala, which has more palliative care centres than the rest of the country put together, and ask whether this is a model to treat the dying that could be rolled out in other nations, as well as other parts of India.


MON 21:00 Material World (b00x44f3)
2011 is the International Year of Chemistry: Quentin hears about the largest molecule, how legitimate research on neurochemicals was subverted by designer-drugs makers, the value of rare earth elements, and green chemistry.

The producer is Roland Pease.


MON 21:30 Start the Week (b00x8hdz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:58 Weather (b00x8hf5)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b00x92yc)
Radio 4's daily evening news and current affairs programme bringing you global news and analysis with Ritula Shah.

Lawyers acting for six green activists - who'd been accused of plotting to shut down a power station - have called for an inquiry, after the case against them collapsed. It emerged that an undercover police officer who'd gained access to the group had agreed to assist the defence.

President Obama has said the United States is "grieving and in shock" after the gun attack in Arizona, in which six people died and a congresswoman was shot in the head - we talk to a top Democrat on the Homeland Security committee.

David Cameron has invited bosses from some of Britain's biggest companies to discuss new ways of creating jobs - but is slow economic growth leading us towards a jobless recovery?

And as Croatia wraps up the negotiations to become the 28th member of the European Union, why have ordinary Croats turned Eurosceptic?


MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00xb1tl)
Snowdrops

Episode 6

By A.D. Miller. It's deep mid-winter in Moscow and Nick's neighbour Oleg is more and more anxious about the fate of his friend Konstantin. Nick offers to help.

Reader: Stephen Mangan

Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (b00x3yjn)
In January 1961 in New York's Greenwich Village, Bob Dylan was beginning a career that would revolutionise song-writing. Michael Rosen lends an ear to the last fifty years of the song-lyric.

Dylanologist Michael Gray explains why Bob matters. A sceptical David Quantick argues that Dylan's influence was not entirely helpful to rock music. And singer-songwriter KT Tunstall pays tribute to one of her biggest influences.

Producer: Peter Everett.


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00x92yf)
Labour has accused the Government of failing to prepare properly for dealing with outbreaks of flu this winter. The attack in the Commons came as some GPs reported that they have run out of vaccines. But the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, told MPs that there was no flu epidemic in the UK and that the number of people becoming infected was falling. In the Lords, peers have again called for a change in the laws on who can succeed to the throne. Sean Curran and team report on today's events in Parliament.



TUESDAY 11 JANUARY 2011

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b00x93tx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b00xcd9n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00x93tz)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00x93v1)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00x93v3)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b00x93v5)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00x93v7)
Leslie Griffiths

With the Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b00x93v9)
Anna Hill hears claims that many environmental labels on fish are misleading. Client Earth reviewed 100 fish products sold in supermarkets and says 32 used misleading terms. But the British Retail Consortium tell Farming Today that retailers use accurate descriptions on their products.

And Farming Today talks to a highly qualified farmer who says people aren't employing him because of his disability. The Employers' Forum on Disability tell Anna Hill discrimination against disabled people is an issue in agriculture, and point to government schemes which can assist farmers taking on staff with disabilities.

Presented by Anna Hill, produced by Melvin Rickarby.


TUE 06:00 Today (b00x93vc)
Morning news and current affairs with James Naughtie and Evan Davis, including:
07:50 Former F1 boss Max Mosley on his legal battle for prior notification of publication.
08:10 Are we facing a year of union discontent?
08:20 Should Sister Rosetta Tharp be considered one of the greats of rock and roll guitar?


TUE 09:00 Haiti and the Truth about NGOs (b00xcc0k)
A year after the earthquake, Edward Stourton returns to Haiti to look at problems in the aid industry. How far has the way we help gone bad?

Aid workers have already baptised the earthquake in Haiti a "historical disaster". But despite more than an estimated 10,000 relief agencies flooding the country in the wake of the emergency, the rescue operation has become notorious for the slowness with which aid reached the victims.

More than one million people are marking the anniversary of the quake still living in refugee camps. How can that be when Haiti has attracted billions of dollars in donations and aid pledges?

Critics say foreign aid groups were out of control - that they failed to coordinate and were therefore ineffective; that they swamped some areas leaving others untouched. One NGO evaluation described a 'wild west' situation.

In Haiti, Edward talks to UN officials responsible for coordinating the humanitarian response, to local aid watchdogs about how aid is failing to meet needs, and to Haitian grassroots NGOs about a different way to deliver help where and how it is needed.

Is what has happened in Haiti symptomatic of a wider crisis of humanitarianism?

Insiders say many aid agencies have been compromised by business imperatives and increasing political ties. Inside the sector there is growing concern about previously taboo issues of aid corruption and abuse, and ways to improve weak accountability and deliver relief that local people really want.

An insight into the aid industry as it faces challenging times.

Producer: Eve Streeter
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b00x8hl2)
Judith Flanders - The Invention of Murder

Episode 2

By Judith Flanders.

Over the course of the nineteenth century, murder - in reality a rarity - became ubiquitous: transformed into novels, into broadsides and ballads, into theatre and melodrama. "The Invention of Murder" explores the Victorian fascination with deadly violence by relating some of the century's most gripping and gruesome cases and the ways in which they were commercially exploited.

Despite rising crime figures - and increasingly crowded cities - the public were reluctant to accept the establishment of an organised police force. This episode examines the reasons for that unwillingness and offers a fascinating insight into the origins of modern policing.

Read by Robert Glenister.

Abridged by David Jackson Young.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00x93vj)
Presented by Jenni Murray. Dale Templar is the series producer of The Human Planet which starts on Thursday on BBC One. She joins Jenni to talk about the making of the programmes and some of the stories of human endeavour that have been uncovered. Multi-Systemic Therapy is a new way of dealing with young offenders in the home. As trials take place in the UK, we look at how it works and whether it's the alternative to custody that's claimed. South Sudan is in the midst of a referendum to decide whether it should become a separate country - so what might this mean for women? And the world's leading female beatbox artist, Bellatrix, performs live.


TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00x93vl)
TwilightBaby.com: Series 2

Episode 2

By Jenny Eclair and Julie Balloo.

Cass's grown up children pay a visit
to their baby sister but seem in no hurry
to leave.

Cass ..... Jenny Éclair
Ken ..... Kevin Eldon
Katie ..... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Charlie ..... Joe Coen
Heather ..... Christine Kavanagh

Jenny Eclair and Julie Balloo return with a second series about being an 'older' mother.
Cass Mason is finding motherhood age 47 tough. She barely has time to blog with a new baby who won't sleep; she fears she may be turning into a zombie. Not only does Cass have to deal with Florence the rest of the family aren't much help; will Ken ever get a job, will her designer clad sister even offer to hold a drooling baby and are her two grown children really contemplating moving back home? Cass charts Florence's first year to a backdrop of sibling rivalry, competitive mums and attempting to get her body back off the floor and into some kind of shape.
Jenny Eclair stars with Kevin Eldon and Felicity Montagu.


TUE 11:00 Saving Species (b00x95h4)
Series 1

Episode 37

37/40 South America is famous for its parrots and the largest parrots in South America are the Macaws. There were four species and now there are only two species free-living in the wild. Parrots and Macaws have fallen foul of the pet trade, populations being decimated as chicks were abducted from their nests and sold in the exotic pet industry. Across South America there are various moves to protect the species from the illegal pet trade. Mark Brazil visits the Brazilian corner of the Pantanal, one of the world's most glorious wetlands across three countries. At a tourist lodge he discovers how the new burgeoning tourism industry is helping to restore the populations of Hyacinth Macaw to levels of decades ago. Again, it seems, wildlife tourism is an avenue of hope for endangered species and especially these iconic birds of Americana Latina.

Also in the programme, our long-legged friends from Eastern Germany on the Somerset Levels. We catch up on the success, or not, of the captive born and released European Cranes we've been following over the year.

And we have the third episode of our special Ladybird Book Britain series with Chris Sperring. It's Autumn - what has changed in the 50 years since the publication of the first editions?

Presented by Brett Westwood
Produced by Sheena Duncan
Series Editor Julian Hector.


TUE 11:30 What We Leave We Carry: The Legacy of John la Rose (b00x95h6)
When John La Rose died in 2006 the poet Linton Kwesi Johnson wrote in his obituary, 'the depth and breadth of his contribution to the struggle for cultural and social change, for racial equality and social justice, for the humanisation of society, is unparalleled in the history of the black experience in Britain'. Hundreds crammed into his funeral.

In 1966 John La Rose founded New Beacon Books, at first selling Caribbean and African literature from his north London home, and then began publishing himself, becoming the first black publishing house in Britain. The shop and publishing house are still active today. In the early 1980s he organised - with others - the International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books.

But his whole life was one of activism and political and cultural involvement. He was a trades unionist in Trinidad, and in the mid-1950s, he co-authored, with Raymond Quevedo (Atilla the Hun), an early study of calypso. With poets Andrew Salkey Kamau Brathwaite, he co-founded the Caribbean Artists Movement; he was chairman of the Institute of Race Relations; in response to the classification of some black children as 'educationally sub-normal' he became involved in the Black Education Movement and he founded the George Padmore Supplementary School for West Indian children in 1969. He was Chair of the committee that mobilised 20,000 people to march in protest through London after the arson attack in New Cross in 1981 in which 13 young black people died.

Poets, novelists, theologians, campaigners, sculptors and musicians - all gathered around the kitchen table of this erudite and generous man, liming and planning campaigns. Around that same table the actor and director Burt Caesar, who was himself influenced by John La Rose, joins his partner Sarah White and old friends Linton Kwesi Johnson, the poet and musician, Margaret Busby, founder of Britain's second black publishing house, the visiting Trinidadian scholar Susan Craig-James and Professor Gus John, who in Hackney in the 1980s, became the first black Director of Education in the country. They gather to tell his story, and consider the legacy of John La Rose.

Burt Caesar also visits the bookshop itself and the chambers of Ian MacDonald QC, who as a young lawyer allied himself with La Rose and his causes. He speaks to John's son Michael La Rose and the sculptor Errol Lloyd, who captured his intelligence and wit in bronze. Using BBC archive of John La Rose, calypso and dub poetry reggae associated with him, Burt tells the story of this remarkable man and how his influence lives on today.


TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b00x95h8)
2011 kicked off with another hike in petrol prices and rail fares; food prices are set to go up, not to mention the vat increase, and while private sector workers get pay rises this year, these are not in line with inflation. The pay disparity in the UK is at its widest since 1918, yet pay for bosses has increased again, and the next round of bankers' bonuses promises to earn them 'billions.'

Julian Worricker asks: are we - as George Osborne announced when delivering his austerity measures - "all in this together"?

Are you affected by the squeeze, or are you a high earner paying high taxes?

Email youandyours@bbc.co.uk or call 03700 100 444 (lines open at 10am).


TUE 12:57 Weather (b00x93vn)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (b00x95hc)
National and international news.


TUE 13:30 Music in the Dark Years (b00x95hf)
Episode 2

Stephen Johnson explores how Paris's vibrant musical scene survived - and flourished - through the 'dark years' of Nazi Occupation.

On 14th June 1940, Germans tanks rolled into a humbled and deserted Paris. The Nazi war machine had abruptly plunged the celebrated "City of Light" into darkness, condemning the city to four long years of Occupation.

Yet these 'dark years' were not to be ones of silence. Within weeks, musical life in the French capital - previously perhaps Europe's most vibrant and eclectic cultural hub - had resumed. Opera houses, jazz clubs, cabaret theatres, concert halls - before long, all were playing again to packed houses of German soldiers and French music-lovers alike.

As the continent tore itself apart, Paris's unique and strange renaissance suited both occupier and occupied. The Nazis were happy to provide cultural distractions for the subjugated French - not to mention their own battle-weary soldiers - whilst the French proudly showed off that whatever happened, their musical spirit had not been defeated. From Maurice Chevalier to Francis Poulenc, Django Reinhardt to Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet to Alfred Cortot - the city rang once more to the sound of some of Europe's most brilliant musical figures.

But was this cultural co-habitation appropriate at a time of war? What exactly were the moral duties of France's great composers and musical celebrities? And were musicians 'saving' or 'betraying' France by performing and creating new work?

Broadcaster and music journalist Stephen Johnson travels to Paris some seven decades after the city's fall, to untangle the mythology of "la France resistante musicale" - telling the story of this brief firework of brilliant - and controversial - period of frenetic musical activity.and its bitter aftermath.

In the second and final programme, Stephen explores the life of one of French music's greatest heroes, conductor Roger Desormiere - a man who juggled a career as the musical director of the iconic Opera-Comique with a secret life as a key member of the musical Resistance. He also examines hidden resistance messages in music by one of French classical music's greatest composers, Francis Poulenc.

Stephen also visits the famous bar "Le Chope Des Puces" in North-West Paris for some live jazz and a celebration of the life of the extraordinary gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, who despite being 'undesirable' to the Nazi regime - and having only three fingers on one hand - became one of the most famous and revered musical celebrities in all of France. He also investigates the remarkable cultural phenomenon of the "Zazous" - disaffected, jazz-loving youths with attitude that infuriated German officials (not to mention their own parents) with their flagrant lack of conformity.

Contributors include journalist Alan Riding, jazz writers Anne Legrand and Ludovic Tournes, and 94-year old composer (and former Resistance member) Henri Dutilleux.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (b00x92y5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b00x44l6)
Chris Wilson - I Before Bee

I Before Bee
by Chris Wilson

A comic and heartwarming play about teenager Michael Croxley whose stammer has contributed to his fear of public speaking. To his horror, Michael finds that he's competing in the national school spelling bee's; when the girl he adores, Lynne Hargreaves, reads a composition of his in double English and discovers he's a whizz with words and his spelling is stupendous she asks him to be part of the school spelling-bee team. How can he refuse? He accepts gallantly. Secretly he sobs to his nana terrified at the prospect. His Scottish Nana comes to the rescue with the help of Robert The Bruce.

Michael ....... Mykola Allen
Lynne ....... Sophie McShera
Nana............Maureen Beattie
Michael Senior....Paul Copley
Serena ....... Poppy Rush
Andre ...... Jack Ryan
Moderator.....Seamus O'Neill
Speech Consultant....Sue Addlestone

Producer/Director - Pauline Harris

The Writer - Chris Wilson is a sports journalist from Hull, who won a BBC Northern Radio writer for new writers -Alfred Bradley Bursary Award. His first play, Lump Boy Logan, starring Annette Badland and William Rush was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in The Wire strand.


TUE 15:00 Home Planet (b00x95hh)
Bluetongue, Butterflies and Bees

Bluetongue is a devastating disease of lifestock, spread by a tiny midge. It only arrived in the UK three years ago, carried on a tide of climate change. However, will a cold winter kill the midges and slow down the spread of disease? Does the molasses some councils are mixing with road grit pose a threat to roadside vegetation? Will disturbing a hibernating butterfly cause it harm? And we sift fact from fiction as we discuss the mating flight of the queen honey bee.

Making up the panel this week are ecologist Dr Lynn Dicks of Cambridge University; entomologist Richard Jones and Dr Chris Collins, a soil scientist from Reading University.

Contact:

Home Planet
BBC Radio 4
PO Box 3096
Brighton
BN1 1PL

Or email home.planet@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Richard Daniel
Producer: Toby Murcott
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00mk71d)
Agatha Christie - The Mysterious Mr Quin

The Coming of Mr Quin

Martin Jarvis reads a trio of stories starring Agatha Christie's personal favourite character - a certain Mr Harley Quin.

When guests at a house party recall the suicide of the previous owner, a mysterious stranger arrives who throws unexpected light on the case. But another mystery remains - who actually is Mr Quin himself?

Producer/Director : Rosalind Ayres
A Jarvis & Ayres Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 15:45 Europeans on the Edge (b00xp0w1)
The mayor who saved an Italian village

Lucy Ash profiles Italian mayor Domenico Lucano in her series about individuals whose lives reflect the crisis in the European economy. The mayor from Calabria, in Southern Italy, has just been voted one of the world's best mayors. He has managed simultaneously to create employment, stop a mass exodus from his village and find a solution to the controversial issue of asylum seekers. The downside is that he has received the unwelcome attentions of the local mafia.

Producer: Mark Savage.


TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (b00x95hk)
In 1861, Johann P. Reis announced that he'd invented the microphone. To celebrate 150 noisy years, Michael Rosen is joined by John Liffen, Curator of Communications at the Science Museum, the social historian, Clare Langhamer, and 'digital futurologist', Peter Cochrane.

Steve Punt, meanwhile, reports from an alternative universe where the microphone was never invented.

Producer: Peter Everett.


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b00x95hm)
Series 23

JB Priestley

Barry Cryer nods to his Yorkshire roots in choosing JB Priestley, the Bradford born author of The Good Companions and An Inspector Calls. Barry knew JB for the last ten years of his life, and fondly recalls visiting a man he loved with two members of Monty Python. Other memories include a trip to the Cafe Royal, and thoughts on Priestley's notorious love of women.

Martin Wainwright, northern editor of the Guardian, presenter of last year's radio documentary about the Postscripts, also brings to life a prolific writer nearly killed in World War One. Some say he wrote so much to avoid the memories of that war. Recorded in front of an audience at the Arnolfini in Bristol, the programme includes colourful clips of JB Priestley and also Priestley's son, Tom. The only discordant note is raised by presenter Matthew Parris: "It's awfully watchable, awfully readable ... but where's the magic ? Is Priestley really very good ?"

The producer is Miles Warde.


TUE 17:00 PM (b00x95hp)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news. Plus Weather.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00x93vq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 My Teenage Diary (b00x95hr)
Series 2

Meera Syal

Rufus Hound invites Meera Syal to read embarrassing extracts from her teenage diary and read it out in public for the very first time.

Producer: Victoria Payne
A TalkbackThames production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (b00x95ht)
Ruth's worried that on top of all his responsibilities at Lower Loxley, David also takes over as chair of Borsetshire NFU next week. He's also promised Jill that he'll try to talk Elizabeth into letting Freddie and Lily attend the funeral. Jill's also asked Alan to talk to Elizabeth. It was right for Amy to go to her mother's funeral and he's willing to talk to Elizabeth but points out that everyone has to find their own way.

Shula's arranged the catering for the funeral tea, and Elizabeth wants the harpist Nigel booked for their anniversary to play. Elizabeth decides she wants to say a few words at the funeral if she can manage it. She asks David if he will too. He's touched to be asked but is relieved when Shula offers to speak instead.

Elizabeth's got other decisions regarding the children to worry about. The school entrance exams are coming up. She tells David that she knows her own children, so they won't be coming to the funeral. Elizabeth asks Alan to deliver the eulogy but he's also unable to change her mind. Jill's adamant the children will suffer for it. She has to do something to change Elizabeth's mind.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (b00x95hw)
Poet Jackie Kay and Hattie Jacques TV drama

Jackie Kay talks to Mark Lawson about Fiere, her latest collection of poetry which is a companion piece to last year's Red Dust Road, her memoir about the search for her Nigerian and Scottish Highland birth-parents.

The film Blue Valentine intercuts the romantic beginning of a couple's relationship with its painful end six years later. Both Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams have Golden Globe nominations for performances that include controversial sex scenes, and the film is tipped for Oscar success. Stella Duffy reviews.

Ruth Jones stars in a new TV drama about the comedy actress Hattie Jacques, telling the story of how her happy marriage to actor John Le Mesurier was blown apart by a secret sexual liaison with her young driver. Graham McCann, the biographer of John Le Mesurier, reviews.

A new exhibition The Land of Light and Promise: 50 years Painting Jerusalem and Beyond features depictions of The Holy Land by the Czechoslovakian-born artist Ludwig Blum. Exhibition curator Dr Dalia Manor discusses the artist who depicted the ancient Promised Land and the New Palestine.

And a selection of your many suggestions for the next sentence in the Front Row chain story, announced last night.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00x93vl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


TUE 20:00 Children Who Kill (b00x95hy)
The programme examines how society tackles youngsters accused of a range of crimes, particularly those involved in serious offences. With unique access to the police cells in Hull, Winifred Robinson charts what happens from the moment of arrest and examines how demands for justice are reconciled with the need to protect society by changing offending behaviour

The two young brothers who beat and tortured another pair of boys in Doncaster raised concerns about what happens longer term to those who offend at a very young age. These concerns have been heightened by the re-arrest of Jon Venables and the case of Learco Chindamo, who was rearrested just four months after serving his sentence for the murder of headmaster Philip Lawrence.

The Coalition government has agreed plans to drastically cut the prison population through community penalties overseen by charities and the private sector. To assess how changes will affect young offenders Winifred examines restorative justice schemes and initiatives including the one undertaken in Hull, where youth justice workers maintain a round the clock presence in the custody suite.

The programme follows access granted for earlier documentary programmes in some of the country's secure children's units. Winifred follows up youngsters released from these "child prisons" and examines what more could be done in terms of preventing reoffending.

Producer: Susan Mitchell.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (b00x95j0)
Parents fight for taxi for blind daughter and OBE's for two In Touch regulars

Peter White talks to Richard Sloane about his blind and gifted daughter. The parents want her to go to a school outside their catchment area, and the local authority has agreed, but refuses to pay for transporting her to this school.
The RNIB suggest in a statement that the Sloane's take their case to a Special Education Needs Tribunal.
Cambridgeshire County Council say in their statement that their decision not to pay for transport costs is about the child's visual impairment, not about her gift for languages.
They maintain that her local school can provide for her visual impairment needs.
Jill Allen-King and Stephen Hallett have been awarded an OBE.
There is listener feedback to the interview Peter did with PC David Rathband.


TUE 21:00 Follow the Leader (b00x95j2)
Episode 2

2/2 Carolyn Quinn examines the psychology of leadership. Once you've secured your position as leader, how do you deal with the demands at the top?

The level of media attention across all sectors, from politics to football, means that today's leaders are under more scrutiny than ever before. In the last episode, Carolyn explores the challenges of modern leadership, from stepping up to the top job, to stepping down.

She talks to psychologists about the dos and don'ts of successful leadership and finds out how leaders create and change their image to attract followers.

The gender gap in leadership is still large. According to the 2010 Female FTSE report, produced annually by Cranfield University, female appointments to corporate boards in the UK's top companies have stalled at around 12 percent.

Research by Prof Michelle Ryan, from Exeter University, has also shown that women are more likely to be given top positions in organisations that are doing badly, when there is more chance of failure.

Producer: Michelle Martin.


TUE 21:30 Haiti and the Truth about NGOs (b00xcc0k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 21:58 Weather (b00x93vs)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b00x95j4)
Radio 4's daily evening news and current affairs programme bringing you global news and analysis.

The Chancellor says if banks don't agree to lend more, and pay smaller bonuses, nothing is 'off the table'.

The Australian city of Brisbane braces itself for the flood waters.

And two days before the by-election, our reporter has been to Oldham to see hear what the public there think of politicians.

The World Tonight, with Robin Lustig.


TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00xb1tn)
Snowdrops

Episode 7

By A.D. Miller. Not everything goes smoothly for Nick in the purchase of Tatiana Vladimirovna's flat and his worlds collide when his mother decides to visit Moscow.

Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 23:00 Rhyme and Reason (b00x95j6)
Tori Amos

Mr Gee presents the second programme in a four part series, Rhyme and Reason.
He is joined by American pianist and singer-songwriter Tori Amos, to talk about how poetry and music has influenced her life. Throughout the programme we hear music from Tori's back catalogue and readings of her favourite poetry.


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00x95j8)
Rachel Byrne presents a round-up of the day at Westminster, when Labour accused the Coalition Government of caving in to the demands of banks to be free to pay the bonuses they want to their investment bankers. At the same time, the boss of Barclay's Bank Bob Diamond faced some tough questioning from a committee of MPs over the issue of bonuses, and in particular the bonus that he is expected to be awarded. Will he take it in full? Or will the Barclay's boss decline to take it?
Also on the programme.
* Kristiina Cooper reports on the latest Commons arguments over how much British sovereignty is continuing to be surrendered by the country's membership of the European Union.
* Simon Jones follows the exchanges over the Government's decision to allow prison inmates the right to vote.



WEDNESDAY 12 JANUARY 2011

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b00x95q2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b00x8hl2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00x95q4)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00x95q6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00x95q8)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (b00x95qb)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00x97hh)
Leslie Griffiths

With the Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (b00x97hk)
Authorities in Europe are continuing to investigate the dioxin scare in eggs. 14 tonnes of contaminated liquid egg came into the UK from Germany to be used in cakes and quiches. The FSA says there's no risk to human health. Anna Hill hears from a British food writer who says the supply chain and the traceability of food are too complex.

England's ancient woodland heritage is at risk according to a conservation charity which says commitment to replacing some trees is being jeopardised.

The snow and freezing temperatures have delayed the daffodil crop in Cornwall. We hear if it'll leave unhappy mums at Mothers' Day.

Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.


WED 06:00 Today (b00x97hm)
Morning news and current affairs with John Humphrys and Sarah Montague, including:
07:30 Floodwaters threaten Australia's third largest city.
07:50 The daughter of assassinated Pakistani governor Salmaan Taseer speaks out.
08:10 European economies prepare for an uncertain Portuguese bond sale.


WED 09:00 Midweek (b00x97hp)
This week Libby Purves is joined by Lorraine Pascale, Wilbert Rideau, Dame Kelly Holmes and Stephen Hough.

Lorraine Pascale was spotted aged 16 by a model scout whilst shopping in Covent Garden. She was whisked off to New York to model for Chanel, Lagerfeld and John Galliano and was the first British black model on the cover of American Elle magazine. She's now left the catwalk to qualify as a professional chef, baker and patissiere and is about to appear in a new series for BBC Two, Baking Made Easy, in which she shares her baking secrets.

Wilbert Rideau was sentenced to death for murder in 1961 at the age of 19. He robbed the local bank in an ill-thought-out and bungled robbery, killing the bank teller. He spent the next 44 years in prison. While in there he edited the prison magazine The Angolite, which became the first prison magazine to publish uncensored news in the world and won national journalism awards. "In the Place of Justice" (Profile) is his autobiography.

Former athlete Dame Kelly Holmes won two gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics for the 800 and 1500 metres. Since her retirement from athletics in 2005 she has set up the charity the Dame Kelly Legacy Trust which helps disadvantaged young people to fulfil their potential, written her autobiography and taken on other challenges. She has just written a new motivational book 'Just Go for It!', published by Hay House.

Stephen Hough is a pianist, composer and writer. Last year he became the first British instrumentalist to play a solo recital on the main stage of Carnegie Hall in 20 years. He will be the soloist in the opening event at the Southbank Centre celebrating Hungary's European Union Presidency, playing Liszt's Piano Concerto No 1 in E flat which will begin worldwide bicentenary celebrations of the composer's life and works.


WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b00xcdk9)
Judith Flanders - The Invention of Murder

Episode 3

By Judith Flanders.

Over the course of the nineteenth century, murder - in reality a rarity - became ubiquitous: transformed into novels, into broadsides and ballads, into theatre and melodrama. "The Invention of Murder" explores the Victorian fascination with deadly violence by relating some of the century's most gripping and gruesome cases and the ways in which they were commercially exploited.

The decreasing age of the British population - in the 1820s half the country was under 25 - meant there was a lucrative market for lively entertainment. Children flocked to penny gaffs: unlicensed theatres which offered cheap entertainment, often dramatisations of notorious murders. One of the most infamous, the Red Barn Murder of 1828, was being performed as a melodrama even before the prime suspect was put on trial.

Read by Robert Glenister.

Abridged by David Jackson Young.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00x97hr)
Presented by Jenni Murray. Marine Le Pen looks set to take over the mantle of the far right from her father this weekend. So what might her impact be on French politics? "If I Never See You Again", is the first novel from Niamh O'Connor, a crime reporter for Ireland's Sunday World. She'll be talking to Jenni about the influence of her day-job on the characters and storyline. Recent news reports have highlighted the prosecution of gangs of predominantly Pakistani men for the grooming and sexual exploitation of young girls. We discuss the best way to tackle this appalling crime without stereotyping and dividing communities. And we hear the story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the legendary blues and gospel singer.


WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00x97ht)
TwilightBaby.com: Series 2

Episode 3

By Jenny Eclair and Julie Balloo.

Cass has a baby to bring up and has rather let herself go
but would Ken really contemplate an affair?

Cass ..... Jenny Éclair
Ken ..... Kevin Eldon
Penny .....Felicity Montagu
Margaret ..... Sally Orrock

Jenny Eclair and Julie Balloo return with a second series about being an 'older' mother.
Cass Mason is finding motherhood age 47 tough. She barely has time to blog with a new baby who won't sleep; she fears she may be turning into a zombie. Not only does Cass have to deal with Florence the rest of the family aren't much help; will Ken ever get a job, will her designer clad sister even offer to hold a drooling baby and are her two grown children really contemplating moving back home? Cass charts Florence's first year to a backdrop of sibling rivalry, competitive mums and attempting to get her body back off the floor and into some kind of shape.
Jenny Eclair stars with Kevin Eldon and Felicity Montagu.


WED 11:00 Vines On The Front Line (b00x97hw)
"The message from a glass of Lebanese wine should be tolerance and openness between civilizations. It's more than fermented grape juice." Ramzi Ghosn, Massaya Wines.

The BBC's Middle East Editor, Jeremy Bowen, takes time out from reporting conflicts to give vinophiles a new perspective on an ancient story. Lebanon is not a place you naturally associate with winemaking.

It's a Middle Eastern country nestled between Arab neighbours whose religion forbids them to drink alcohol. It is also a country that has been scarred by war, from the 15-year civil war from 1975-1990, to the recent Israeli-Lebanon conflict in 2006.

But Lebanon is also an ancient civilisation, a country of merchants and traders - its history dating back to Noah, the first winemaker in the Bible. Fittingly the Temple of Bacchus, an impressive tribute to the God of wine, is situated amongst the ruins of Balbek, in the Bekaa Valley, a region these days better known for Hezbollah than hedonism. But the temple, like Lebanese wine, has survived centuries of war and the winemakers of the Bekka are optimistic wine will outlive war.

Sharing stories with the wine makers who, in defiance and dedication to their craft, continue to grow their vines so close to the frontline, Jeremy delves into the cultural and ethnic mosaic of this unstable but extraordinary country.

Producer: Gemma Newby

An All Out production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.


WED 11:30 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! (b00x97hy)
Series 6

Gone Fishing

On a fishing trip to Spiggy Lakes with long suffering friends, Sally, Geoffrey and Wilf, things start to go awry for Arthur after he 'finds' a rowing boat.

He thinks may give him the edge in their £5.10 per head sweepstake based on who will catch the most fish, and sets out into the lake unaccompanied.

Cast:
Steve Delaney
Alastair Kerr
Dave Mounfield
Mel Giedroyc

Producers: Richard Daws, Mark Radcliffe & John Leonard
A Komedia Entertainment & Smooth Operations production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:00 You and Yours (b00x97j0)
The government plans to stop paying money to disabled people living in state-funded residential care which helps them with transport and mobility costs. But have they underestimated the impact this will have on disabled people's independence?

How governments and companies are using the wisdom of crowds to design policies and products.


WED 12:57 Weather (b00x95qd)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 13:00 World at One (b00x97j2)
National and international news.


WED 13:30 The Media Show (b00x97j4)
Steve Hewlett presents a topical programme about the fast-changing media world.

As former presenter Miriam O'Reilly celebrates winning an ageism case against the BBC, we ask whether this ruling will impact on who programme executives choose to be their on-air talent.

A recent EastEnders storyline on sudden infant death syndrome has prompted a record number of complaints leading producers to announce they will cut the story short. Former channel controller Lorraine Heggessey and scriptwriter Simon Ashford ask whether a culture where complaints have such weight will lead to less creative drama.

Why has Northern and Shell, which includes Express Newspapers, withdrawn from the Press Complaints Commission? What are the implications for press regulation in the UK?

The Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt is due to outline his plans for local television next week. It follows a report by Nicholas Shott in December, which suggested a network of around 10 local TV stations. But former Director General of the BBC and Chair of the Local Television Advisory Committee, Greg Dyke says the report is too cautious. He suggests that local TV could be commercially viable in at least 60 areas of the UK. We talk to him about how this more extensive network might operate, and how much it's likely to cost.

The producer is Kathryn Takatsuki.


WED 14:00 The Archers (b00x95ht)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama (b00xgdhb)
My Haunted Expression

My Haunted Expression by Helen Clohessy

Sue dreams of living by the sea and leaving their tough housing estate behind but husband Finn earns little and won't borrow. An offbeat 21st Century urban love story.

Sue ... Rosie Cavaliero
Finn ... John Dougall
Lisa ... Sally Orrock
Mick ... Tony Bell
JJ ... Daniel Cooper
Milly ... Deeivya Meir
Derek ... Jude Akuwudike

Director: David Hunter

It's a difficult time for Sue, her mother has just died and the kids have moved out and she has a vision of starting a new life by the sea. Husband Finn is a rock in this sensitive tale of love, loyalty and dreams.


WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b00x97j6)
Do you need help completing your tax return or dealing with a tricky tax question?

The deadline for filing your online return and paying any tax you owe is just three weeks away.

If you're late you'll be faced with a penalty of one hundred pounds.

So don't delay, if there's a tax issue slowing you down, call Paul Lewis and guests on this afternoon's Money Box Live.

Phone lines open at 1.30 this afternoon and the number to call is 03700 100 444. Standard geographic charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher. The programme starts after the three o'clock news. That number again 03700 100 444.


WED 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00mp4fv)
Agatha Christie - The Mysterious Mr Quin

The Soul of the Croupier

Martin Jarvis reads this compelling tale set amidst the roulette tables of Monte Carlo, starring Agatha Christie's personal favourite character, Harley Quin.

Holidaying in the South of France, Mr Satterthwaite encounters a beautiful Russian Countess with a mysterious past. But with the sudden arrival of Mr Quin, secrets are about to be revealed. Can they solve a conundrum concerning her and a brash young American?

Producer/Director : Rosalind Ayres
A Jarvis & Ayres Production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 15:45 Europeans on the Edge (b00xj9yy)
The Irish developer

Lucy Ash meets chastened developer Simon Kelly, a victim of the property crash in Ireland and one of five Europeans whose lives reflect the crisis in the continent's economy. Kelly was once the poster boy in a world where property developers made huge sums of money, but now he's broke and belongs to a vilified breed. He talks to Lucy Ash about the effect the economic crisis is having in Ireland and how it's changed his own life - in some ways for the better.
Producer: Mark Savage.


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b00x97j8)
Cosmopolitanism - Dietetics

Many of our global problems - from climate change to terrorism - require international not local solutions. Yet the world is increasingly fractured by nationalism. The political scientist, David Held, has a new book which explores cosmopolitan values. He tells Laurie Taylor why we should regard ourselves as citizens of the world rather than members of nations. Also, should we take responsibility for our own health, bodies and nutrition? Steven Shapin, Professor of the History of Science, talks about Dietetics - a branch of traditional western medicine which sought to prevent illness rather than find a cure. Originating in the 2nd century it held that good health reflected a virtuous life. This moral approach to the body died out with the advent of modern science but may now be enjoying a revival.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.


WED 16:30 Follow the Leader (b00x95j2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 17:00 PM (b00x97jb)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news. Plus Weather.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00x95qg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:30 Shappi Talk (b00wsr2x)
Series 2

Politics

Shappi Khorsandi looks at a variety of subjects close to her Iranian heart - including History, Addiction and, in this programme, Politics.

Shappi reveals her thoughts on Margaret Thatcher, how Anne Frank got her into politics and that, while other parents took their children to the zoo, she was taken to Speakers' Corner.

She'll be joined by writer and satirist John O'Farrell to discuss how humour and politics are intertwined. Stand-up comedian Ian Stone offers his take on the world of politics and there's a witty song from Duncan Oakley.

Producer: Paul Russell
An Open Mike production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 19:00 The Archers (b00x9x9y)
Lewis and David are determined that the big society wedding at Lower Loxley is a success. David worries that he's let Elizabeth down by not speaking at Nigel's funeral but Shula assures him that she wants to speak. Kenton wishes he'd been asked.

Helen visits Elizabeth, who wants to hear all about Henry. Helen's pleased that they're moving him out of the Special Care Baby Unit so hopefully he'll be home soon.

Elizabeth asks Jill to help her prepare for Camilla and Ellen's arrival. Jill explains why she feels so strongly about the twins attend the funeral. She lost her parents at an early age. Her Aunt Daphne felt she'd been through enough after her father's death so she wasn't given the chance to say goodbye to her mother. It left her feeling people that she loved could just disappear. Only when she met Phil did she learn to love again, and to forgive her mother for abandoning her. She begs Elizabeth not to do that to Freddie and Lily.

Elizabeth relents. She tells Kenton there's a change to the order of service. She can't risk speaking if the twins are going to be there. Kenton offers to take her place.


WED 19:15 Front Row (b00x9xb0)
Wildlife presenter Steve Backshall and Dennis Hopper art sale

With John Wilson.

Steve Backshall, adventurer and wildlife presenter of the TV series Deadly 60, discusses his passion for animals - particularly the dangerous ones - and the accident which left him with a broken back and a shattered foot.

The late actor Dennis Hopper was a passionate art collector, who was involved in the early days of pop art and bought an Andy Warhol Soup Can for just $75. Now his collection has arrived at the auction house, where a Warhol portrait of Chairman Mao, complete with bullet holes inflicted by Hopper himself, has sold for more than $300,000. Our report includes part of John's interview with Dennis Hopper, recorded in Liverpool in 2007.

As new software allows Hollywood to indulge in digital re-juvenation, so that older actors can appear as their younger selves, film critic Adam Smith considers the possibilities and the pitfalls.

Yale University Press has published of The Anthology of Rap, an 800 page collection of lyrics, moving from the school yards of the Bronx to the dominance of hip-hop in the charts today. Music writer Jacqueline Springer and literature professor John Sutherland discuss whether the words alone are worth reading.

Producer Claire Bartleet.


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00x97ht)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


WED 20:00 Unreliable Evidence (b00x9xb2)
Law of the Sea

Clive Anderson and some of the country's top legal minds discuss the law of the sea, examining the problems of trying to achieve justice over three-quarters of the earth's surface in the face of competing national interests.

Are the high seas a legal wild west, or can national and international law be brought together to address such complex issues as piracy, oil spills, fishing quotas and Arctic seabed mining rights?

And even if adequate law exists, who is responsible for seeing that it is enforced?

Guests include Britain's former judge at the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea, David Anderson, and legal experts on piracy and environmental law.

Producer: Brian King
An Above The Title production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 20:45 It Happened Here (b00sb25g)
House of Commons

Continuing his series about how places have shaped political events, Peter Hennessy, the leading historian of post-war Britain, visits the Office of the Prime Minister in the House of Commons which has been a little-known cockpit of war planning since 1950.

He first discusses what is special about the Office and why it has been so important to successive prime ministers on defence issues. He then considers how prime minister Clement Attlee and his Cabinet decided to handle Anglo-American tensions over the Korean War in 1950 that had been heightened by provocative remarks made by the US general, Douglas MacArthur, on the use of nuclear weapons.

Peter goes on to reveal the significance of the Office in the history of Britain's decision to develop the hydrogen bomb and then describes its pivotal role in the 1956 Suez Crisis and the abortive premiership of Conservative leader, Sir Anthony Eden.

Finally, we learn about the part played by the Office in the dramatic events of the spring of 1982 as prime minister Margaret Thatcher evaluated with her closest advisers the prospects for re-taking the Falkland Islands following the Argentine invasion.

Producer: Simon Coates.


WED 21:00 Thin Air (b00x9xb4)
Episode 1

We not only live in the air, we live because of it. And air is about much more than just breathing. It is a transformer and a protector, though ultimately also a poison. At ground level, photosynthesis transforms air miraculously into solid food without which every creature on Earth would starve. It wraps our planet in a blanket of warmth. It brings us wind and rain and fire. It sustains our bodies and at the same time it burns them up, slowly, from the inside. The atmosphere provides a floating mirror for intercontinental radio signals and its outer layers soak up flares of deadly radiation from the Sun.

In the first episode, Gabrielle Walker experiences air - and weighs it. At ground level, the air is not as 'thin' as we might imagine. The Royal Albert Hall, in its day one of the largest volumes of air enclosed in a single span may seem to be full of nothing, but in fact, the air inside weighs 30 tons! On the other hand, not much further away than the next city, the air is so tenuous as to be unbreathable! That is in the 'up' direction. In between is a gaseous ocean in which Gabrielle takes a swim - floating on air, flying a glider and chasing the storm clouds that bring us our weather.

Producer: Martin Redfern.


WED 21:30 Midweek (b00x97hp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 21:58 Weather (b00x95qj)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b00x9xb6)
Flood waters reach their peak in Australia's Queensland - we have the latest.

Sarah Palin speaks for the first time after Arizona's shooting.

And how reliable are the English school league tables?

With Robin Lustig.


WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00xccx2)
Snowdrops

Episode 8

By A.D. Miller. As the city approaches spring, the truth begins to unravel for Nick, both in his job and his relationships with Masha.

Reader: Stephen Mangan

Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:00 iGod (b00x9xb8)
Procrastination

We all worry about the end of the world, as economists and environmentalists speak in apocalyptic terms everyday. iGOD says that trying to predict the end of the world is as pointless as moisturising an elephant's elbow.

In each episode, an unnamed, all-seeing narrator (David Soul - Starsky and Hutch) shows us that it is stupid to be worrying, as he looks back at some of the most entertaining apocalypses on parallel Earths. Each week a different parallel world is accidentally wiped out by an ordinary bloke called Ian (Simon Day). With a full-range of sound effects and wonderfully funny and surreal twists, iGOD will be a true aural extravaganza.

In this episode, a parallel Earth is obliterated when a lazy Ian decides to take the afternoon off.

iGOD is a highly original and funny late-night comedy series. It stars Simon Day (The Fast Show) and David Soul (Starsky & Hutch) and is written by one of the head writers of the BAFTA award-winning The Thick Of It, Sean Gray and produced by Simon Nicholls (Ed Reardon's Week / News At Bedtime).

Ian ...... Simon Day
The Narrator ...... David Soul

Also starring
Rosie Cavaliero
Alex MacQueen
Dan Tetsell

Written by Sean Gray.

Producer: Simon Nicholls.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2011.


WED 23:15 My Teenage Diary (b00x9xbb)
Series 2

Rob Deering

Rufus Hound invites Rob Deering to read embarrassing extracts from his teenage diary and read it out in public for the very first time.

Producer: Victoria Payne
A TalkbackThames production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00x9xbd)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster on the first Prime Minister's Questions of 2011 where bankers' bonuses dominate the exchanges. The Labour leader, Ed Miliband brands David Cameron the "defender of the banks", accusing him of failing to take action on City pay and bonuses. The Prime Minister retorts that the last Government failed to regulate the City or impose conditions restricting bonuses when it bailed out the banks. In the Lords, peers discuss the case of the undercover police officer, Mark Kennedy, who infiltrated an environmental group. There's a report on legislation to privatise the Royal Mail; coalition rebels call on the Government to protect post offices by guaranteeing a 10-year deal with the Royal Mail. And MPs discuss how to secure the UK's food supplies.



THURSDAY 13 JANUARY 2011

THU 00:00 Midnight News (b00x9xd4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b00xcdk9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00x9xd6)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00x9xd8)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00x9xdb)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (b00x9xdd)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00x9xdg)
Leslie Griffiths

With the Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (b00x9xdj)
Vegetable growers are counting the cost of the cold weather as fields of cauliflowers have rotted in the ground before they can be harvested. The chair of the National Farmers' Union Horticultural board says farmers will change the way they grow the crop to plan ahead for icy conditions.

Also, a row's broken out among beekeepers about whether their national body - the British Beekeepers Association - should be able to endorse pesticides in the future.

And we hear from Tom Martindale, a young farmer in Hampshire, about life since graduating.

Presented by Sarah Swadling and produced by Emma Weatherill.


THU 06:00 Today (b00x9xfp)
Morning news and current affairs with Sarah Montague and Justin Webb, including:
08:10 The Government has confirmed that the default retirement age at 65 is to be scrapped in April.
08:20 Have you ever had an imaginary friend?
08:30 US president Barack Obama has made an impassioned speech at a memorial service for victims of the Arizona shootings.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (b00x9xjb)
Random and Pseudorandom

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss randomness and pseudorandomness.Randomness is the mathematics of the unpredictable. Dice and roulette wheels produce random numbers: those which are unpredictable and display no pattern. But mathematicians also talk of 'pseudorandom' numbers - those which appear to be random but are not. In the last century random numbers have become enormously useful to statisticians, computer scientists and cryptographers. But true randomness is difficult to find, and mathematicians have devised many ingenious solutions to harness or simulate it. These range from the Premium Bonds computer ERNIE (whose name stands for Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment) to new methods involving quantum physics.Digital computers are incapable of behaving in a truly random fashion - so instead mathematicians have taught them how to harness pseudorandomness. This technique is used daily by weather forecasters, statisticians, and computer chip designers - and it's thanks to pseudorandomness that secure credit card transactions are possible.With:Marcus du SautoyProfessor of Mathematics at the University of OxfordColva Roney-DougalSenior Lecturer in Pure Mathematics at the University of St AndrewsTimothy GowersRoyal Society Research Professor in Mathematics at the University of CambridgeProducer: Thomas Morris.


THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b00xf8nz)
Judith Flanders - The Invention of Murder

Episode 4

By Judith Flanders.

Over the course of the nineteenth century, murder - in reality a rarity - became ubiquitous: transformed into novels, into broadsides and ballads, into theatre and melodrama. "The Invention of Murder" explores the Victorian fascination with deadly violence by relating some of the century's most gripping and gruesome cases and the ways in which they were commercially exploited.

As the century progressed, so did advances in medical knowledge and expert witnesses were soon playing a major part in criminal trials. This episode looks at the sensational case of Adelaide Bartlett, who was accused of murdering her husband with chloroform in 1886. Newspapers and magazines pored over lurid details of the Bartletts' marriage and the case was responsible for inspiring a rash of fiction.

Read by Robert Glenister.

Abridged by David Jackson Young.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00x9ycz)
Presented by Jenni Murray. Why the family of Louisa May Alcott became obsessed with a naturalistic cult - we hear about their nineteenth-century search for utopia. Miriam O'Reilly's lawyer joins the programme to discuss the wider implications for women following the age discrimination ruling, regarded as a milestone in the employment sector. We've an update on the case of a human rights lawyer sentenced to 11 years imprisonment in Iran. And we hear a call from one former education secretary for a re-think on pupils taking GCSEs at 16.


THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00x9yd1)
TwilightBaby.com: Series 2

Episode 4

By Jenny Eclair and Julie Balloo.
Cass can't cope and attempts to employ
a nanny.

Cass ..... Jenny Éclair
Ken ..... Kevin Eldon
Magda ..... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Jacob ..... Stephen Hogan
Michaela ..... Christine Kavanagh
Polyamorous nanny ..... Sally Orrock

Jenny Eclair and Julie Balloo return with a second series about being an 'older' mother.
Cass Mason is finding motherhood age 47 tough. She barely has time to blog with a new baby who won't sleep; she fears she may be turning into a zombie. Not only does Cass have to deal with Florence the rest of the family aren't much help; will Ken ever get a job, will her designer clad sister even offer to hold a drooling baby and are her two grown children really contemplating moving back home? Cass charts Florence's first year to a backdrop of sibling rivalry, competitive mums and attempting to get her body back off the floor and into some kind of shape.
Jenny Eclair stars with Kevin Eldon and Felicity Montagu.


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b00x9yd3)
Cambodia: Country for Sale

The paddy fields of impoverished Cambodia have suddenly become a prime slice of global real estate. But will the rural poor pay the price? This tiny Asian nation has just begun to recover after dictator Pol Pot's reign of terror, in which around 2 million Cambodians died, and the brutal civil war that followed. But now a very different story is unfolding in the agricultural heartland which once became notorious as the "killing fields." In a world plagued by food shortages, Cambodia is suddenly awash with global investors keen to snap up its cheap fertile land. The global financial elite see it as a recession-proof investment, and the government is desperate to invite in money and development. But it's driving a surreal land boom in the poorest villages: an estimated 15% of the country is now leased to private developers and stories are filtering in from the country's most impoverished farmers who tell of fear, violence and intimidation as private companies team up with armed police to force them from their land. In this week's Crossing Continents, Mukul Devichand samples the heady atmosphere of Cambodia's business elite, uncovers a lawless reality and investigates the claims of corruption and violence visited on the poor. He tells the stories of three very different men, Cambodian and foreign, who have very different plans for Cambodia's land: and asks what's really happening as one of rising Asia's poorest nations struggles to catch up.
Producer: Jo Mathys.


THU 11:30 Imelda Marcos, Dictator of Taste? (b00x9yd5)
During her time as First Lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos was an enthusiastic patroness of the arts. She has now become an object of inspiration to musicians and artists across the globe, with Imelda-inspired works including an elaborate song cycle, photographs, a film and a musical.

Mark Ellen explores the emergence of Imelda Marcos as an unlikely modern icon as David Byrne, Norman Cook and other artists and musicians inspired by her life consider why Imelda has mutated into a modern muse and whether she deserves such broadly sympathetic treatment.

Producer: Julia Johnson.


THU 12:00 You and Yours (b00x9yd7)
Shari Vahl explores what your rights are buying 'new and 'second hand' products. We speak to Gerry Robinson about his new programme 'Can't Take It with You' due to be aired on Friday 14 January on BBC2. We also have the latest in our marketing series - today we explore how retailers target customers using their mobile phone.


THU 12:30 Face the Facts (b00x9z74)
Feeding Frenzy

Two years ago spiralling prices of wheat, corn and rice caused riots in more than 30 countries worldwide as many families struggled to feed themselves. A number of organisations, including representatives at the UN, believe that it wasn't just a supply and demand issue, but that financial firms and other speculators entered the food markets to profit from short term changes in price. As food prices begin to rise again, John Waite investigates whether speculators are to blame, and if tighter regulation is needed.


THU 12:57 Weather (b00x9xdl)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 13:00 World at One (b00x9z76)
National and international news.


THU 13:30 Questions, Questions (b00x9z78)
Stewart Henderson continues his sparkling series of Questions Questions - the programme which offers answers to those intriguing questions of every day life, inspired by current events and popular culture.

Each programme is compiled directly from the well-informed and inquisitive Radio 4 audience, who bring their unrivalled collective brain to bear on these puzzlers every week.

How do woodpeckers keep their beaks sharp? How do you know if a volcano is extinct? This is the programme which answers listener questions on just about everything.

Email Questions.questions@bbc.co.uk

Tel: 03700 100400

Or you can reach us online via our Radio 4 message board.

Producer: Kevin Dawson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 14:00 The Archers (b00x9x9y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (b00x9z7b)
Escape from Gaza

By Justin Butcher and Ahmed Masoud. A small private odyssey. In summer 2009, Ahmed Masoud left his pregnant wife to visit his sick mother. An everyday occurrence for most, but Ahmed's family live in Gaza.

Cast

Ahmed Masoud ... Adeel Akhtar

Mahmoud ... Sam Dastoor

Father ... Kevork Malikyan

Mohammed ... Saikat Ahamed

Mother ... Souad Faress

Heather ... Claire Harry

Alex ... Leah Brotherhead

Dudo ... Deeivya Meir

Tariq ... Lloyd Thomas

Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.


THU 15:00 Open Country (b00x87bf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:07 on Saturday]


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b00x89fs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:10 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00mp4fj)
Agatha Christie - The Mysterious Mr Quin

At the Bells and Motley

Martin Jarvis reads another story concerning investigations by the mysterious Mr Quin. For Mr Satterthwaite, a punctured car tyre on a cold winter's evening is the start of another mystery-solving encounter with the enigmatic Mr Harley Quin.

Taking refuge at a country inn Mr Satterthwaite discovers his friend Mr Quin, who invites him to re-examine the strange case of a wealthy young local woman and her new husband's disappearance. Was it murder? Or is there some other game afoot?

Producer/Director : Rosalind Ayres
A Jarvis & Ayres Production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 15:45 Europeans on the Edge (b00xj9z0)
The French comedian

Lucy Ash meets French comedienne Anne Roumanoff, one of five Europeans whose lives reflect the crisis in the continent's economy. She's just been voted one of France's top comedians. Her routines encompasse everything from the little foibles of French life to the latest political drama. The crisis in the economy has provided her with plenty of material, especially now it is hitting the middle classes, her loyal audience.

Producer: Mark Savage.


THU 16:00 Open Book (b00x9zdb)
Mariella Frostrup talks to American author Michael Cunningham, author of the The Hours, adapted into a film starring Nicole Kidman. Cunningham discusses his new novel, By Nightfall, which follows the story of a New York based couple.

Producer: Sally Spurring


THU 16:30 Material World (b00x9zdd)
Quentin Cooper presents his weekly digest of science in and behind the headlines. He talks to the scientists who are publishing their research in peer reviewed journals, and he discusses how that research is scrutinised and used by the scientific community, the media and the public. The programme also reflects how science affects our daily lives; from predicting natural disasters to the latest advances in cutting edge science like nanotechnology and stem cell research.
Producer: Roland Pease.


THU 17:00 PM (b00x9zdg)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news. Plus Weather.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00x9xdn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:30 Mark Thomas: The Manifesto (b00x9zdj)
Series 3

Episode 2

Comedian-activist, Mark Thomas collates policies suggested by the studio audience to add to his People's Manifesto.

These policies are intended to improve our world, nation or just our own lives, with tonight's agenda including:

1. 50% Minimum Participation in Elections
2. Converting Fast Food into Renewable Gas
3. Imposing an Earning Cap of £30k on All Bank Employees

Plus there are plenty of "any other business?" suggestions from the studio audience.


THU 19:00 The Archers (b00x9zdl)
It's the day of Nigel's funeral. Elizabeth decides to wear a purple dress that Nigel always admired, along with the brooch he bought her.

Kenton's speech, filled with gentle humour about Nigel, is received fondly by the congregation. It's what Nigel would have wanted. Shula talks about Nigel's love of the natural world.

Elizabeth is grateful for Kenton's warm words. He managed to bring Nigel to life with happy memories.

Elizabeth realises it was the right thing to do to let the twins attend the funeral. Nigel would have been so proud of them.


THU 19:15 Front Row (b00x9zdn)
Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran

John Wilson presents.

Trevor Eve plays an international hostage negotiator in a three-part TV thriller. When British businesswoman Naomi Shaffer (Emma Fielding) is kidnapped in South Africa, Dominic King (Trevor Eve) is employed to negotiate her release, but at the handover things go horribly wrong.

Simon le Bon has been the front man for Duran Duran for just over 30 years and with the release of their new album All You Need Is Now, he looks back over the three decades of ups and downs and the heady days of Girls on Film and Rio in the '80s.

Comedian and actor Hugh Dennis talks to John Wilson about hosting the new comedy improvisation series, Fast and Loose. In each programme, two teams compete against each other in a succession of games that spoof films, TV shows and music - using sketches or quick-fire questions, visual trickery and even interpretive-dance. Hugh considers improv in general and how his upbringing as the son of a vicar may have helped his performing style.

A new exhibition about the death of analogue technology features images of professional darkrooms taken by the photographer Richard Nicholson. When he shot the images in 2007 there were over 200 darkrooms in the London area alone, by 2010 only eight remained. Photographer Anna Fox, who has seen the exhibition, discusses the lore of the darkroom with John Wilson.

Producer: Philippa Ritchie.


THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00x9yd1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


THU 20:00 The Report (b00x9zdq)
Luton: A 'Hotbed of Extremism'?

The revelation that the man responsible for Sweden's first suicide bombing had lived and studied in Luton provided the latest link between the Bedfordshire town and terrorist activity.

The accusation that Luton has become a 'hotbed of extremism' dates back to the late 1990s, when it was claimed that one of the men alleged to be involved with a terrorist plot in Yemen in 1998 had lived in the town. Links with Luton have also been cited in other major planned terrorist atrocities since, including the fertiliser bomb plot of 2003 which aimed to blow up British nightclubs and shopping centres, and the July 7th London bombings. The Report investigates whether Luton has a problem with militant Islam and if it is doing enough to stop its young residents from being radicalised.

The programme also asks why Luton has proved fertile territory for the extreme right. The English Defence League was born in Luton in the spring of 2009 in response to the abuse faced by members of the Royal Anglian Regiment - who had returned from a tour of duty in Iraq - from a small group of extremist Muslim protestors.

Phil Kemp speaks to community leaders who reject the impression painted of their town as a divided place.

Producer: Hannah Barnes.


THU 20:30 In Business (b00x9zds)
All at Sea

ALL AT SEA

This week's In Business is all at sea. Peter Day reports on the great boom in the sea as as real estate: a site for huge arrays of windmills and other sustainable energy devices. He also has an unfortunate experience in what he thinks might have been Portsmouth harbour.

Producer: Jo Mathys.


THU 21:00 Saving Species (b00x95h4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 on Tuesday]


THU 21:30 In Our Time (b00x9xjb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 21:58 Weather (b00x9xdq)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b00x9zqr)
Brazil's floods kill more than 360 people.

Why does Britain have so many absent fathers?

Is there growing anger at rising fuel prices?

With Robin Lustig.


THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00xccxn)
Snowdrops

Episode 9

By A.D. Miller. A trip to Odessa with Masha helps Nick suspend reality, but it's becoming ever more difficult for the English lawyer justify his actions.

Reader: Stephen Mangan

Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 23:00 Spread a Little Happiness (b00knp6s)
Series 1

Episode 2

Comedy by John Godber and Jane Thornton, set in a Yorkshire sandwich bar.

Another day at the breadface, but now Jodie's anxieties aren't just about her sandwich business. Though she rather likes having Hope around, her husband Dave isn't so keen.

Hope ...... Suranne Jones
Jodie ...... Susan Cookson
Dave ...... Neil Dudgeon
Milkman ...... Shaun Prendergast
Workman ...... Ben Crowe

Directed by Chris Wallis.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00x9zqt)
The Business Secretary, the senior Lib Dem Vince Cable, has been given a tough time in the Commons over the behaviour of the banks and his secretly-recorded comments to undercover reporters before Christmas. Labour MPs also voiced their concerns over the Government's switching of responsibilities for Rupert Murdoch's media expansion plans from Vince Cable's Business Department to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. MPs complained that they didn't know who was responsible for what. Today in Parliament, with Rachel Byrne, reflects these stories.
Also on the programme:
* Kristiina Cooper reports on MPs' reaction to a newly published document that's been called the closest thing to a written British constitution.
* Viv Robins reports on peers' forthright views on the role that Turkey could play in the future of Europe.
* Simon Jones reports on claims that standards of behaviour in the House of Lords have fallen. One peer said the Lords was in danger of adopting 'the bad habits of the Commons'.



FRIDAY 14 JANUARY 2011

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b00xb0rg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b00xf8nz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00xb0rj)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00xb0rl)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00xb0rn)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b00xb0rq)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00xb0rs)
Leslie Griffiths

With the Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b00xb0rv)
Caz Graham talks to one of the British scientists involved in developing the world's first genetically modified chicken. The bird has been designed so it will not spread bird flu. It's still at an experimental stage but the British Poultry Council says public opinion will be a deciding factor in whether GM chickens are ever farmed here. Scientists say the creation of GM chickens could eventually lead to a new generation of virus resistant livestock. Also in the programme, Scottish salmon farmers will be exporting fish to China for the first time.


FRI 06:00 Today (b00xb0rx)
Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b00x8f2l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b00xf9t2)
Judith Flanders - The Invention of Murder

Episode 5

By Judith Flanders.

Over the course of the nineteenth century, murder - in reality a rarity - became ubiquitous: transformed into novels, into broadsides and ballads, into theatre and melodrama. "The Invention of Murder" explores the Victorian fascination with deadly violence by relating some of the century's most gripping and gruesome cases and the ways in which they were commercially exploited.

The public imagination was particularly stirred when new technology was used to bring criminals to justice. This episode looks at one such case in which an enterprising railway clerk used the electric telegraph to send a description of a suspected murderer ahead of the train he was travelling on, so that the suspect could be met by police at his journey's end. And, bringing us right up to the final years of the century, how the funeral of an acclaimed actor - and murder victim - was captured on film for posterity.

Read by Robert Glenister.

Abridged by David Jackson Young.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00xb0rz)
Presented by Jenni Murray. Soprano Heather Shipp talks about the enduring appeal of Carmen. Should children be allowed to go to a funeral? What impact is the orthodox right having on the women of Israel? Plus, the Women of Steel who kept the Sheffield steel mills going during the war.


FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00xb0s1)
TwilightBaby.com: Series 2

Episode 5

By Jenny Eclair and Julie Balloo.
Cass throws a birthday party for Flo
in a building site

Cass ..... Jenny Éclair
Ken ..... Kevin Eldon
Magda ..... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Jacob ..... Stephen Hogan
Penny ..... Felicity Montagu
Charlie ..... Joe Coen

Jenny Eclair and Julie Balloo return with a second series about being an 'older' mother.
Cass Mason is finding motherhood age 47 tough. She barely has time to blog with a new baby who won't sleep; she fears she may be turning into a zombie. Not only does Cass have to deal with Florence the rest of the family aren't much help; will Ken ever get a job, will her designer clad sister even offer to hold a drooling baby and are her two grown children really contemplating moving back home? Cass charts Florence's first year to a backdrop of sibling rivalry, competitive mums and attempting to get her body back off the floor and into some kind of shape.
Jenny Eclair stars with Kevin Eldon and Felicity Montagu.


FRI 11:00 Wheels Coming off at the Rotary? (b00xb0s3)
Episode 1

The Rotary Club was established in Chicago in 1905 as a place where businessmen could meet, network and along the way put something back into the community. Though there were originally just four members the idea spread across first America, and then the world at a phenomenal rate, so that by the 1920s the Rotary was as firmly established in British life as it was across the Atlantic. By now it is the largest organisation of volunteers in the world.

Though never especially fashionable with the intelligentsia, for generations it has provided local businessmen with a place to meet on a weekly basis and try to make a difference, both at the local and international level - one of its most successful campaigns saw it lead the drive to stamp out polio from the planet.

In spite of this success, however, Rotary is now seeing its membership drop as its image has become shop-worn and society has changed around it, making it harder for people to make the kind of commitment in terms of time and effort that the organisation typically requires. Rotary itself says it is facing a 'demographic time-bomb', as it struggles to attract younger members to local clubs where the majority of the members are typically much older than them.

In 'Wheels Coming off At The Rotary?' Allan Beswick travels to clubs around the country and finds there are significant efforts afoot to turn things around, with newer clubs springing up where formalities are more relaxed and the meetings more accommodating to a younger age-group with less time to offer. He also visits the more traditional clubs where the members reluctantly recognise the need for things to move on, even if it means they are left to wither on the vine.


FRI 11:30 Bleak Expectations (b00ngz6q)
Series 3

A Lovely Life Re-Kippered Again Once More

Pip Bin's happiness is shattered once again.

Fog-filled streets, murders, and apparitions abound, and through it all echoes the terrible, menacing coo of a possessed evil pigeon.

The return of Mark Evans's epic Victorian comedy pastiche in the style of Charles Dickens.

Sir Philip...........................Richard Johnson
Young Pip..................................Tom Allen
Gently Benevolent........................Anthony Head
Harry Biscuit......................James Bachman
Dr Wackwallop ...................Geoffrey Whitehead
Ripely Fecund......................Sarah Hadland
Pippa........................................Susy Kane
Other parts ...........Mark Evans

Producer: Gareth Edwards

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2009.


FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b00xb0s5)
Should young children view 3D images? Nintendo have said their new '3DS' games console should NOT be used by under 6s as it could harm their eyesight. But medical experts have conflicting views. We'll get the latest advice for parents.

Plus how online marketing of money saving group voucher schemes, is now moving into the mainstream..

We take a look at a new website offering comparisons of Travel Insurance policies for people with pre-exisiting medical conditions.

And astro tourists tell us why the best holidays have sun, sea and stars.


FRI 12:57 Weather (b00xb0s7)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 13:00 World at One (b00xb0s9)
National and international news.


FRI 13:30 More or Less (b00xb0sc)
In More or Less this week:

Street grooming

The former Justice Secretary Jack Straw says there is a specific problem with Pakistani men "street grooming" under-age white girls. Are there any statistics to support his claim?

Loxleygate

Last week we calculated the height of Lower Loxley Hall - the ancestral home of the late Nigel Pargetter in The Archers - by timing the length of Nigel's scream as he plunged from its roof. But many of you disputed our findings. So this week we ask Graham Seed, the actor who played Nigel Pargetter, what really happened.

Bank tax

How much tax do banks pay? Lord Jones, the former trade minister, says 20% (a little less than the 24% he claimed in May). We think the true amount is closer to 12%.

Meanwhile in the House of Commons, David Cameron and Ed Miliband have been slugging it out over plans for new bank taxes. We check both their workings out.

Debt or deficit

Has the union Unite failed to grasp the difference?

Five guys named Mohammed

And why, despite repeated claims to the contrary, Mohammed is not (yet) the most popular boy's name in Britain.

Producer: Richard Knight.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (b00x9zdl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (b00xb0sf)
Marcy Kahan - Incredibly Guilty: A Comic Moral Fable

by Marcy Kahan
Ed Hanson didn't mean to put Penhaligon Rhinehart into a coma;
after all he's a National Treasure.
Now Ed's life is about to change forever.

Directed by Sally Avens

It's an important day for Ed Hanson; he has to do two things, present a 'vision statement' to keep hold of his job and propose marriage to his girlfriend, Lucinda. What isn't on Ed's list of things to do is put Penhaligon Rhinehart, author, barrister, circus clown and National Treasure into a coma. Ed's life will never be quite the same again.

Stephen Mangan is one of our leading comic actors from playing roles such as 'Adrian Mole' on television and Norman in 'The Norman Conquests' on Stage and most recently Dirk Gently on BBC4

Marcy Kahan is an award winning screen and stage dramatist.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00xb0sh)
Central London

Eric Robson leads the panel in a lively horticultural discussion in Central London. He also tours the UK's grandest collection of gardening books at RHS Lindley Library.

Then it's back up north to Nottingham where we revisit Grace in her garden: part of our Listeners' Gardens series.

Produced by Howard Shannon
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 15:45 Europeans on the Edge (b00xj9z2)
The German Millionaire

Lucy Ash concludes her series on five Europeans whose lives reflect the crisis in the economy with a look at the man they call German's Sun King. Herr Frank Asbeck made his money from solar energy and his company SolarWorld is now the third largest photovoltaic energy company in the world, employing 3000 people. He is a maverick millionaire who studied agricultural engineering and wrote a thesis on trout farming before zooming off to Nigeria on a motorbike. He has also completed a long political journey. He was a committed communist, then a member of the Social Democratic Party and he has now switched to the Greens. And he tells Lucy, despite worries about the Euro, the currency has been "smashing" for German manufacturers.
Producer: Mark Savage.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (b00xb0sk)
On Last Word this week:

The multi-millionaire property developer David Hart who played an influential role in Tory politics in the 80s and 90s. We have a tribute from his friend Michael Portillo.

Major Dick Winters, the American soldier whose courage during the D-Day landings was featured in the TV mini series Band of Brothers.

The children's writer Dick King Smith, who created the sheep-pig Babe.

The Czech dissident Jiri Dienstbier who went on to become the country's Foreign minister.

And the film director Peter Yates who brought us Steve McQueen's hair-raising car chase in Bullitt.


FRI 16:30 The Film Programme (b00xb0sm)
Francine Stock looks ahead to Radio 4's Film Season, asking for listeners' diaries of their movie watching habits over January. The result will be a snapshot of the nation's viewing preferences - where we watch films (on television, computer or in the cinema) and on what format - DVD or download. Francine will try to find out if the digital revolution has finally arrived or is it just a media myth, and to discern what we are watching, whether its new releases or old favourites. Plus, Francine will be publishing a record of her own viewing habits via Twitter during the season.

Francine talks to award contenders Darren Aronofsky and Ryan Gosling, director of Black Swan and star of Blue Valentine respectively. Plus, actor/director Peter Mullan discusses NEDS, which stands for Non-Educated Delinquents.


FRI 17:00 PM (b00xb0sp)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news. Including at 5.57pm Weather.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00xb0sr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (b00xb0zx)
Series 73

Episode 2

By-Elections, Baccalaureats, and Bankers' bonuses. In the week that Labour won the Oldham East by-election; Michael Gove backdated the baccalaureat, and bankers decided they'd take their bonuses despite government opposition, Sandi Toksvig and team tell us where it all went wrong. With guest panellists Jeremy Hardy, Sue Perkins, Susan Calman and Henning Wehn. Produced by Victoria Lloyd.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (b00xb0zz)
Jolene's feeling in low spirits following Nigel's funeral, which brought back memories of losing Sid. Business is slow too and now she hasn't got Sid to spark ideas off. Kenton offers to help her. He's always coming up with ideas. It's 'Farmhouse Breakfast Week' next week. The Bull could offer a full English using local produce. He offers to help with promoting it, and will even pitch in with the cooking.

Matt shares other plans for the Bull with Lilian. Jolene's given it her best shot and it's just not working out. He could buy up Jolene and Jamie's share at rock bottom price and apply for planning permission to turn the building into flats. Lilian's concerned about what people will think of them. She doesn't want to become a pariah in her own village.

Elizabeth spends the day with Freddie and Lily. She tells them how much Nigel loved them. She talks to them about their entrance exams. They don't have to do them if they don't want to. But the twins decide it's what their father would have wanted.


FRI 19:15 Front Row (b00xb101)
Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and news of the Fourth Plinth

The TV documentary My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding took a detailed fly-on-the-wall look at the secretive and extravagant world of Gypsies and travellers in Britain today. The success of this film has spawned a new five-part series which explores new areas not covered in the original programme. Playwright Richard O'Neill and Rachel Cooke review.

Linda Grant, whose novel The Clothes on Their Backs was shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize, discusses her new novel We Had It So Good. The book charts the secrets, longings and regrets of three generations of one family, from Los Angeles, via Oxford, to present-day London.

Writer and comedian Richard Herring first came to prominence as part of a double act with Stewart Lee. Herring explains why he decided to reclaim the Hitler Moustache and have religion as the main focus of his current stand up show: Christ on a Bike: The Second Coming.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, today unveiled the next two sculptures that will mount the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2012 and 2013. Chosen from a shortlist of six, they are Katharina Fritsch's giant ultramarine blue cockerel, entitled Hahn/Cock, and Elmgreen and Dragset's bronze of a boy on a rocking horse, called Powerless Structures. Kirsty Lang talks to the artists.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.


FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00xb0s1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b00xb103)
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the topical debate from Sexey's School in Bruton, Somerset with questions for the panel including Education minister Sarah Teather and Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation Harriet Lamb.

Producer: Victoria Wakely.


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b00xb105)
'News' and concentration

Alain de Botton argues that in our mad desire to keep up with what's new, we have lost our ability to concentrate. We are made to feel, he says, that "at any point, somewhere on the globe, something may occur to sweep away old certainties". How was it, he wonders, that for Christians, there has been no news of "world-altering significance to their faith" since 30 AD? He suggests that a period of fasting from our obsession with "news" may be what's needed.

Producer: Adele Armstrong.


FRI 21:00 Friday Drama (b00xb107)
Ob'owa

Ob'owa is the story of when eight-year-old Francesca and her brother six-year-old Joseph are kidnapped by their father to their parents' homeland of Nigeria, life is very different to they one they had in Peckham. Thirty years later, it's time to return to Nigeria.

As Francesca reveals the story of their kidnap and life at their Grandfather's house in Benin City with his three wives and his many children, it's clear many adjustments had to be made to survive in a world where everyone looks like you but are so very foreign. Peckham could not have prepared the children for the mosquitoes, lizards and sweltering heat of sub-Saharan Africa; the slaughter of animals in the backyard; a diet consisting of yam, yam and more yam and the painful ritual of tribal markings carved with a razor blade into young flesh.

Ob'owa is inspired by real events. Created by Director, Christiana Ebohon and Writer, Moya O'Shea. The play examines themes of belonging and home. Is home the place where your family originates or where you were born? It is told in present day, with flashbacks to the 70s and that fateful trip to Nigeria.

The cast stars Rhiannon Baccus, Jayden Jean-Paul-Denis, Tracey Ifeachor (Welcome to Thebes), Nonso Anozie (Death and the King's Horseman), Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Death and the King's Horseman), May Owen, Susan Agbabi, Isobel Akpobire, Abi Enola and Lorcan Bolger.

The play was partly recorded on location in Lagos, Nigeria

Producer: Frank Stirling
An Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 21:58 Weather (b00xb0st)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b00xb12v)
Tunisia's president calls new elections as protests continue.

Older and Sadder: what have the parties learnt from last night's by-election result?

Structural deficit: how a building boom undermined Spain's economy.

with Ritula Shah and Jonty Bloom.


FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00xc3wk)
Snowdrops

Episode 10

By A.D. Miller. In Moscow the snow has melted and, for Nick, it spells the end of the affair.

Reader: Stephen Mangan

Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b00x95hm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00xb12x)
Mark D'Arcy reports from Westminster.