SATURDAY 03 SEPTEMBER 2011

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b013r36x)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b013xn65)
All Made Up

Episode 5

Award-winning author Janice Galloway reads an extract from her new memoir. Teenaged Janice is about to leave the security of Ardrossan Academy for university, a long-cherished dream of her downtrodden mother.

Read by the author and abridged by Sian Preece.

Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b013r36z)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b013r371)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b013r373)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b013r375)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b013r377)
With the Rev. Nicholas Buxton.


SAT 05:45 iPM (b013r379)
"It was a piece of post-modern neo-dada performance art subverting the entire genre of Radio 4". iPM revisits the infamous 1986 broadcast of Midweek, which installed comic actor Arthur Mullard as presenter. A 'designed shambles' which a listener sent to the programme as her favourite piece of radio. Guests include Barry Cryer - who featured on the episode - and Libby Purves, who was the regular Midweek presenter at the time. Ed Stourton reads Your News. With Eddie Mair and Jennifer Tracey. iPM@bbc.co.uk.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b013xn7m)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SAT 06:04 Weather (b013xn7p)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (b0144pv6)
Neptune's Army of Rubbish Cleaners

The 'Big Society' is alive and well in Pembrokeshire conservation. As grants are cut more organisations rely on volunteers to help keep our rarest habitats thriving and Skomer Island is no exception. Neptunes Army of Rubbish Cleaners are a group of divers who give up their time to keep the Pembrokeshire coastline clean. Manmade debris at the bottom of the sea can affect marine life and their work removing fishing tackle and other litter helps to keep the sea healthy.

This is vital work when you have such rare habitat as Skomer Island to protect. Here there are guillemots, razorbills and puffins who rely on the sea for food. Skomer also uses volunteers. Assistant wardens spend a week at the time helping with the running of the island and conservation work such as surveying. In the future many more volunteers may be needed to help preserve wildlife and ecosystems.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b0144pv8)
Farming Today This Week

Caz Graham visits a Hereford farm where the wheat will not be used to make bread, biscuits or even animal feed this year. It is being harvested for the seeds. It is one of many farms across the UK which produce crops, fruits and vegetables purely for this purpose. The seeds will then be replanted and will multiply to produce food in the years to come. Phillip Gorringe's farm on the English-Welsh border has 900 acres of crops all grown for seeds, including barley, rye grass and peas.

Half of the 330,000 tonnes of wheat planted in the UK is bought from seed merchants and grown in this way. Paul Taylor, Chairman of the Agricultural Industry Seed Committee explains how the industry works. The rest of the wheat seeds are saved by farmers themselves and replanted in their fields. Anna Hill visits a farm in East Anglia having it's barley seed processed ready to be used again. Whilst in Scotland, famous for it's seed potatoes, Moira Hickey talks to a third generation farmer who exports his spud seeds around the world. And as scientist work on new varieties, the National Institute for Agricultural Botany explains how vital it is to develop seed strains that could double the current yield to keep up with demand for food.

Presenter: Caz Graham; Producer: Angela Frain.


SAT 06:57 Weather (b013xn7r)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (b0144pvb)
Morning news and current affairs with John Humphrys and Sarah Montague, including:
07:50 Libya's new civilian leaders are starting the process of trying to restore order to Tripoli.
08:10 The FT's Martin Wolf and City AM's Alistair Heath discuss the outlook for Britain's economy.
08:33 Is the government about to make a U-turn on changes to planning rules? Planning minister Greg Clark outlines its current position.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b0144pvd)
Susan Bullock, Mr Gee, HIV+ John Percy, air-guitarist Guy Thompson, Jenni Murray's Daytrip, Adam Ant's Inheritance Tracks.

Richard Coles with Last Night of the Proms soprano Susan Bullock, poet Mr Gee, a man who who's been living with HIV for 30 years, and the UK's air-guitar champion. JP Devlin takes a Daytrip to Buxton with Dame Jenni Murray and Adam Ant shares his Inheritance Tracks.

Producer: Debbie Kilbride.


SAT 10:00 Excess Baggage (b0144pvg)
Bus trip from Brighton to Eastbourne

Sandi Toksvig takes a bus trip along the south coast of England from Brighton to Eastbourne in the company of the listener who suggested it, Veronica Groocock. Together they discover the delights to be had on an ordinary scheduled bus route. These include Kipling's garden, a 1930s lido, the Greenwich meridian, a lamb called Hardy and the lighthouse at Beachy Head.

Producer: Harry Parker.


SAT 10:30 Punt PI (b0144pvl)
Series 4

Episode 1

Steve Punt returns for a fourth series as Radio 4's very own gumshoe, re-opening a case of murder by poisoned partridge in 1931.

Steve embarks on a historical whodunit, examining the bizarre death in Deepcut, Surrey of an army lieutenant, Hubert Chevis, who died after eating a partridge laced with strychnine. 80 years on, the Chevis case remains unsolved and nobody was ever been charged with his murder.

To add to the mystery, Chevis' father received a sinister telegram which read "Hooray, hooray, hooray" and a follow-up postcard from the same unknown sender which stated "it is a mystery they will never solve".

Steve marshals the facts, reopens the coroner's file and locates a relative with important evidence to share. Was it the wife, her ex-husband, the batman or the cook?

Producer: Laurence Grissell.


SAT 11:00 Beyond Westminster (b0144pvn)
The Data Tsunami

From councils releasing all spending over £500, to crime maps which show what type of crimes have been committed by in each area, to detailed information about individual schools, the public are to be given more access to information about public services than ever before. The government hopes to create an army of armchair auditors to oversee whether public money is well spent and hopes that the release of huge amounts of data will empower citizens to drive down costs and drive up quality of public services. Mary Ann Sieghart visits the West Country to investigate what use this data will be to individuals and asks how they will make sense of it. Will it put citizens in the driving seat as never before? Or might it distort service public service provision in undesirable ways? And will it leave the public indifferent or baffled?

Among those taking part are the Cabinet Office Minister, Francis Maude, and his Labour shadow, Tessa Jowell. We also hear from leading figures in local government in England as well as those involved in policing and in using data on schools.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b0144pvv)
The day after history was made in Libya Kevin Connolly was out shopping -- and tells a story of a capital city trying to return to normal. Few parts of the United States have escaped the economic downturn -- as Jonny Dymond's been finding out on a Main Street in North Carolina; Fiona Lloyd-Davies has been meeting a woman in the Democratic Republic of Congo who's been helping thousands of victims of rape. Summer may have been something of a damp squib in the UK but Huw Cordey's been to Death Valley in California where it's been scorchingly hot. And back to Tripoli in Libya Andrew Hosken's been learning about the dangers of what they're calling 'celebratory gunfire.' What goes up, he's told, must always come down!


SAT 12:00 Money Box (b0144pvz)
There are concerns over how well anti-fraud measures are working at Barclaycard following two cases which listeners have reported to Money Box. In both cases, the criminals successfully impersonated the customers in calls to the bank's staff. They then went on spending sprees putting £10,000 on each card. The fraudulent transactions were only stopped by Barclaycard once the cards had reached their limits. Bob Howard investigates.

From the end of October the Government is abolishing half-price coach concessions for pensioners and disabled people in England. Campaign groups say the cuts will disadvantage older and disabled people. While others argue, during a time of overall cuts, why should this concession still exist? Coach passengers, the transport minister Norman Baker, Mervyn Kohler, Special Advisor, Age UK and Andrew Haldenby, Director, Reform state their views.

A major pensions report warns that one in three employers plan to cut back on pension spending when new rules begin in 2012 to ensure as many workers as possible save for their retirement. The industry survey, by the Association of Consulting Actuaries, already reveals that more employees are choosing not to join their pension scheme because they want to spend the money now. Stuart Southall, chairman of the ACA, speaks to the programme.

Thousands of people with mortgages with Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley are being telephoned and warned that when interest rates rise, they may struggle to make their payments. Ray Boulger of mortgage broker John Charcol and Alex MacDermott of Citizens Advice debate whether mortgage lenders should be ringing their customers to check they are managing their finances.


SAT 12:30 Chain Reaction (b013r2hm)
Series 7

Mark Steel interviews Barry Davies

Chain Reaction is Radio 4's tag-team interview show. Each week, a figure from the world of entertainment chooses another to interview; the next week, the interviewee turns interviewer, and they in turn pass the baton on to someone else - creating a 'chain' throughout the series.

Mark Steel has presented a range of his own programmes on Radio 4, from The Mark Steel Solution, The Mark Steel Revolution, The Mark Steel Lectures to, most recently, the Sony Silver Award and Writers Guild Award-winning Mark Steel's In Town. He also occasionally appears in programmes that don't have his name in the title, such as The News Quiz.

Barry Davies is a commentator perhaps best-known for his football coverage, covering ten World Cups, seven European Championships, and two FA Cup finals. He's also commentated on the Olympics, the Commonwealth games and Wimbledon, as well as the World Stare-Out Championships in 1998.

In this interview, obsessive sports fan Mark asks Barry about being present at some of the most important sporting moments of the last forty years; about remaining impartial ("Where were the Germans? Frankly, who cares?"); and about the changing face of sports and sports broadcasting.


SAT 12:57 Weather (b013xn7t)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 13:00 News (b013xn7w)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b013r2ht)
Somerton

Martha Kearney presents the topical discussion of news and politics from the Somerton Edgar Community Hall in Somerset. This week's panel includes the journalist and broadcaster Joan Bakewell (Baroness Bakewell of Stockport); former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont (Baron Lamont of Lerwick); political commentator and blogger Iain Dale; and John Kampfner, Chief Executive of Index on Censorship.

Producer: Kathryn Takatsuki.


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b0144pw2)
Listeners' calls and emails in response to this week's edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:30 Saturday Drama (b0144pw7)
John Godber - September in the Rain

Jack and Liz are in Blackpool for one last time. John Godber's classic stage play tells the touching and funny story of a marriage through a lifetime of holidays together.

Directed by Toby Swift

John Godber is one of the country's most successful and prolific playwrights. Famously he was identified as the third most performed playwright in the UK after Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn. September in the Rain, written very early in his career, dates from 1983 and drew heavily on his grandparents' relationship. A play for two actors, it was originally performed by the author and his now wife, Jane. They resume their partnership for this radio production many years after last performing it together.


SAT 15:30 Soul Music (b013q20t)
Series 12

Spiegel im Spiegel

Exploring the impact that Estonian composer Arvo Pärt's piece for piano and violin Spiegel im Spiegel has had on people's lives.

Written in 1978, just prior to his departure from Estonia, Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel is musically minimal, yet produces a serene tranquillity.

It's in F major in 6/4 time, with the piano playing rising crotchet triads and the violin playing slow scales, alternately rising and falling, of increasing length, which all end on the note A. The score of the piece looks deceptively simple, but as violinist, Tasmin Little explains, it's one of the most difficult pieces to perform because the playing has to simply be perfect, or the mood is lost.

"Spiegel im Spiegel" in German literally can mean both "mirror in the mirror" as well as "mirrors in the mirror", referring to the infinity of images produced by parallel plane mirrors.

The programme contains an interview with visual artist Mary Husted who heard this work and was inspired to produce a set of collages called "Spiegel im Spiegel" which in a round about way, led to her long lost son tracing her for the first time in his life.

Contributors:
Doreen Macfarlane
Rhona Smith
Mary Husted
Tasmin Little
Vicky Smith

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b0144pw9)
Eliza Manningham Buller, Sue Johnston, Stay at home dads

Presented by Jane Garvey. Former Head of MI5 Eliza Manningham-Buller, Actor Sue Johnston, cuts to budgets for gifted and talented children, history of aviation, Byronic heroes: whats the appeal of a Rochester or Heathcliffe? Stay at home dads: what're the challenges they face and how do they differ to those faced by women?.


SAT 17:00 PM (b0144pwf)
With Carolyn Quinn. A fresh perspective on the day's news with sports headlines.


SAT 17:30 iPM (b013r379)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:45 today]


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b013xn7y)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (b013xn80)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b013xn82)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b0144pwk)
Clive Anderson and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.

Terry O'Neill has been photographing the famous for 50 years. Documenting the fashion and style of the 1960's until the present day has lead him, lens in hand, to the likes of The Rolling Stones, Twiggy and Frank Sinatra. These 'It Girls & Boys' form the basis for his latest exhibition just opened in London.

UNBELIEVABLE! The original Radio 1 DJ and winner of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Tony Blackburn will be in talking to Clive. Tony's the latest presenter of 'Pick of the Pops' on Radio 2 which will be celebrating it's 50th anniversary soon. In recognition of this achievement Radio 2 have commissioned a documentary soon to air.

King George VI has been propelled into popular culture recently following the success of the film 'The Kings Speech'. What is less well known, until now, is that Geordie Greig's father, Louis Greig was the first doctor to play a key role in the development of the soon to be king. Geordie, the editor of the Evening Standard chat's to Clive about his new book 'The King Maker'.

Jo Bunting will be talking to Sharon Horgan, the lady who brought us the cynical and acerbic BBC sitcom 'Pulling' that gave the women the funny lines. Sharon is now to star in a new play in London and will be telling Jo all about 'Terrible Advice'.

Award winning folk music supremo Martin Simpson will be playing 'Little Liza Jane' from his latest album in the Loose Ends Studio. And there's more music from Po' Girl, the Canadian urban roots band bringing their own blend of folk with track 'Double Helix (Rainbow)'.

Producer: Sukey Firth.


SAT 19:00 Profile (b0144pwp)
Vanessa Redgrave

Edward Stourton profiles Vanessa Redgrave, the multi-award and Oscar-winning actress and political activist. A leading member of the Redgrave family of actors, she is the daughter, wife, mother and aunt of some of Britain's best known actors and directors. She has hit the headlines just as often for her political and human rights activities, as for her stage, film and theatre work. This week, she is in the news for supporting the travellers currently facing eviction from a site in Basildon.

Producers: Arlene Gregorius and Harbinder Minhas.


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b0144pwt)
Tom Sutcliffe and his guests playwright Mark Ravenhill, writer Kamila Shamsie and poet Paul Farley review the cultural highlights of the week.

Self Made is artist Gillian Wearing's film in which seven participants - who answered an ad which she placed - take part in Method acting workshops and then make a short film in which they can play themselves or a fictional character.

Children's author David Almond's novel The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean is intended for both young and adult readers. Billy is born on the day that some terrible cataclysm strikes his village and - for this and other reasons - is confined to just one room for the first 13 years of his life.

Alexi Kaye Campbell's play The Faith Machine is about disillusionment and the big question of what really matters. Sophie (Hayley Atwell) is fiercely idealistic while her partner Tom (Kyle Soller) is considerably more pragmatic. Meanwhile Sophie's father (Ian McDiarmid) is a bishop who rails against the church for their unyielding stance on gay clergy and gay marriage.

William Hurt stars as Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson in the HBO dramatisation of Andrew Ross Sorkin's book about the start of the Wall Street banking crisis in 2008 with the bail-out of Bear Stearns followed by the failure of Lehman Brothers.

Locked Room Scenario is an exhibition by Ryan Gander in and around an industrial shed just off City Road in London. Visitors to the site will find what appears to be a group show called Field of Meaning in the process of being dismantled, but will struggle to get into the gallery to see the work. Tantalising clues to what might or might not be going on are scattered around the site.

Producer: Torquil MacLeod.


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b0144pwy)
JFK, Bobby and Dad

In 1965, two years after the assassination of John F Kennedy, and three years before the murder of Senator Bobby Kennedy, a man named Kenneth O'Donnell taped around 200 hours of audio interviews at various locations with a journalist named Sander Vanocur.

Vanocur was White House correspondent for NBC News in the 1960s, and O'Donnell was no ordinary raconteur. He spent years at the heart of the Kennedy administration as JFK's Special Assistant and was best friend to Bobby Kennedy from Harvard until Bobby's tragic death.

He was also the father of Helen O'Donnell, who in this Archive on Four takes the listener on a journey through these tapes, which have never before been broadcast. They are full of insight into the Kennedy story, and for Helen, full of insight into the father she lost when just a teenager.

Producer: Isobel Williams
A Bite Yer Legs production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 21:00 Classic Serial (b013rj8z)
Anthony Trollope - The American Senator

Episode 2

The American Senator
By Anthony Trollope
Dramatised by Martyn Wade
Part Two
Lord Rufford has kissed Arabella twice but she realises that much more needs to be done to win him and his estate. It is now time to tell John Morton she no longer wants to marry him?

Anthony Trollope..........Robert Glenister
Arabella Trefoil.............Anna Maxwell Martin
Lady Augustus.............Barbara Flynn
John Morton.................Blake Ritson
Senator Gotobed..........Stuart Milligan
Lady Ushant................Joanna David
Reginald Morton...........Daniel Rabin
Mary Masters...............Penelope Rawlins
Lawrence Twentyman...Carl Prekopp
Lord Rufford.................Henry Devas
Duchess of Mayfair.......Elaine Claxton
Mounser Green............Joanathan Forbes
Mrs. Masters...............Jane Whittenshaw
Mr Bearside.................Sean Baker

Directed by Tracey Neale

The Story:
In this little known tale, Anthony Trollope never allows The American Senator's attitude to get in the way of plot -and his ability to weave story strands which arise out of credible motivation, psychology and emotion is as sure as ever. The characters are as finely drawn as we have come to expect from the pen of Trollope. There's the extraordinary Arabella but also the comic, kind natured and the tragic characters too.

Arabella finds herself in the ignoble occupation of husband/fortune-hunting. She's aware that the years are passing and the strain of numerous failed relationships have made her prospects increasingly poor. She is unofficially engaged to John Morton, a diplomat, and owner of a large estate, but now the wealthy and more exciting Lord Rufford has come into view. His estate being larger and more grand. Surely he is worth fighting for?

Arabella, encouraged by her monstrous mother, Lady Augustus, decides to try and keep Morton on the back-burner (but deny her engagement in public) while engineering a series of compromising situations in an outrageous attempt to win Rufford.

But Arabella is playing a dangerous game and although her behaviour is both conniving and ruthless, she is extraordinary and powerfully-drawn and so does not become an out-and-out anti-heroine. She is, to some degree, the victim of her situation - and of her mother. She is courageous as well as devious, and she has her pride. As the tale concludes and she seeks some degree of redemption she achieves tragic status.

A parallel but secondary plot concerns Reginald Morton, an elder cousin of John, and Mary Masters, who is the complete antithesis to Miss Trefoil. Mary's absurd, domineering stepmother thinks that Mary should marry a besotted local farmer, Lawrence Twentyman but Mary is in love with Reginald Morton. Is he in love with her though? She finds support in the shape of Reginald's kind and gentle aunt, Lady Ushant, but there is the stern and grim grandmother of both John and Reginald who stands in the way of happiness because of a long-standing family feud.

Elias Gotobed, the visiting senator of the book's title, has little impact on events - but he has an important part to play as an observer of events; a gauche but vigorous critic of the antiquated elements of English society and the establishment. Gotobed's conclusions are a supplement to those which can be drawn from Arabella's tale, where greed, class-consciousness and snobbery are mercilessly displayed.

'The American Senator' is, in part, a state of the nation novel - enhanced by the parallels between Trollope's world and ours. Arabella has her modern-day equivalents, and the Senator's remarks throughout the dramatisation about the working man's passive and subservient nature have not lost their relevance.

The Author:
Anthony Trollope produced a vast collection of work about credible people and their foibles. He gained recognition as a writer who portrayed English life is a wry and honest manner with a cast of humorous and delightful characters. His portrayal of female characters is particularly skilful and Arabella Trefoil is no exception.

The Dramatist:
Martyn Wade is a skilled and talented radio writer and dramatist. He has dramatised the 'Barsetshire' novels for radio and the 'Palliser' series too. His other Trollope dramatisations have included 'Orley Farm' and 'Miss Mackenzie'. He also dramatised Ada Leverson's 'The Little Ottleys' for Woman's Hour.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b013xn84)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SAT 22:15 Iconoclasts (b013q3nm)
Series 4

Episode 3

Charlie Wolf argues that the Geneva Convention should not apply to the war against terrorism. His views will be challenged by Richard Norton-Taylor (Security Editor of The Guardian), Dapo Akande (Co-Director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict) and Dr Robert Barnidge (School of Law, University of Reading).

The live studio discussion is chaired by Edward Stourton. You can join in by e-mailing: iconoclasts@bbc.co.uk or text 84844.

Producer: Peter Everett.


SAT 23:00 Round Britain Quiz (b013ptfl)
(3/12)
Can you explain how Superman's father, plus 'The Body', plus Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, could equal 150?

The answer to this and other cryptic questions will be revealed in this week's Round Britain Quiz, with Tom Sutcliffe. The North of England team, wood scientist Jim Coulson and literary critic Diana Collecott, take on the Welsh pairing of David Edwards and Myfanwy Alexander, who are beginning the defence of their Round Britain Quiz champions' title.

As always, the questions range across high and low culture, science, sport and history - and include a number of devious suggestions from Round Britain Quiz listeners.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.


SAT 23:30 Poetry Please (b013rj93)
Throughout Autumn, Roger will be guiding us through a rich mixture of listeners' requests for poetry both old and new. He will also be featuring poets reading their own work; Michael Longley, Jean Sprackland, Robin Robertson and Clare Pollard.

The first programme will include work by Thomas Hardy, Carole Satyamurti and Karl Shapiro. The readers today are Mark Meadows, Jennifer Jellicorse and Catherine Cusack. There are poems about car crashes, the weather, Beethoven's lost love and one about bad behaviour in public libraries. There's escapist verse by WW Gibson and the American Shel Silverstein. There's also a sad poem about a man's fancy handwriting by a poet new to the programme, Marianne Burton. Making her debut appearance is the prize winning poet Jean Sprackland, reading 'Hard Water'. And with readings by Michael Longley too, it makes for a typically rich half an hour of poetry.

Producer: Sarah Langan.



SUNDAY 04 SEPTEMBER 2011

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b0144n9l)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SUN 00:30 Afternoon Reading (b00qplk8)
AL Kennedy - The Writing Life

The Author Away

2/3 The Author Away.
Stuck in the Northern Lodge Motel, Tasmania, with only foot long woodlice for company, maybe life on the road during the book tour isn't everything it's cracked up to be.

Producer Mark Smalley.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b0144n9n)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b0144n9q)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b0144n9s)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b0144n9v)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b0144rq7)
The bells of St Stephen in Brannel, Cornwall.


SUN 05:45 Profile (b0144pwp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b0144n9x)
The latest national and international news.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b0144rq9)
A Spirit of Adventure

When we are children we love adventure stories. As we get older some of us worry about doing anything risky. Others crave taking bigger risks - explorers, climbers, war correspondents, sportsmen and women - many get addicted to the heightened reality of the adrenaline rush. Is there a mean line to be struck? What motivates adventurers?

Mark Tully asks what the spiritual benefits of adventuring might be with the help of Ranulph Fiennes, Thor Heyerdahl and Lewis Carroll. Music is provided by Danny Elfman, John Adams, Elgar and Sibelius.

The readers are Adjoa Andoh and Alistair McGowan.

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


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b0144rqc)
Moira Hickey visits Dunmaglass Estate in the Scottish Highlands, where headkeeper Iain Hepburn and underkeeper Andrew Reid work to ensure a successful shooting season for grouse, pheasant and red deer. While the Scottish sporting estate might be seen to be the preserve of a tiny and very wealthy minority, the keepers make the case for its wider importance, believing that estates such as Dunmaglass bring much-needed income to the area, preserve the countryside and help to conserve wildlife.


SUN 06:57 Weather (b0144n9z)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b0144nb1)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (b0144rqf)
The polygamist leader Warren Jeffs has been taken to hospital after falling into a coma in a Texas Jail. Edward finds out more about the beliefs of his ten thousand member sect from Professor Douglas Davies of Durham University.

The Catholic Church's World Youth Day in Madrid attracted hundreds of thousands of young people including 21 year old Pascal from London who kept an audio diary for us.

Its back to school time and this year sees the launch of Michael Gove's free schools. Kevin Bocquet investigates how the schools will work and why some people have moral objections.

In the first of our series looking at a day in the life of different religious figures across the country we join the Bishop of Bradford Nick Baines as he takes up his new post.

In Ireland, a consultation has begun on the future of primary education. At present the Catholic Church runs ninety three per cent of primary schools, but all sides agree that such a state of affairs is no longer tenable. Ruth McDonald reports.

Events in the Middle East are moving fast but what happens next and what sort of governments will emerge and can liberal democracy work in a Muslim country? Edward discusses with Professors Tariq Ramadan and John Millbank.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is speaking at the One Young World Summit in Zurich this weekend but he took some time out to speak to our reporter Trevor Barnes.


SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b0144rqh)
Chance UK

Christopher Eccleston presents the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity Chance UK.

Reg Charity: 1046947

To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal, mark the back of the envelope Chance UK
- Give Online www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/appeal.


SUN 07:57 Weather (b0144nb3)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b0144nb5)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b0144rqk)
"The more lively the eucharistic faith of the people of God, the deeper is its sharing" Pope Benedict XVI. A mass from the church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs, Cambridge marking the introduction this year of the new English translation of the Roman Missal. With hymns including Alleluia! Sing to Jesus, and Sweet Sacrament Divine. Celebrant: Mgr Peter Leeming. Preacher: Fr Alexander Master. Music director: Nigel Kerry. Organist: James Devor. Producer: Simon Vivian.


SUN 08:50 A Point of View (b013r2ld)
John Gray: The revolution of capitalism

The author and philosopher John Gray presents a hard-hitting talk about capitalism.

He argues that one side-effect of the financial crisis is an increasing number of people who believe that Karl Marx was right.

He outlines why Marx's belief that capitalism would lead to revolution - and end bourgeois life - has come true. But not in the way Marx imagined. For increasing numbers of people, he says, a middle class existence is no longer even an aspiration. "More and more people live from day to day with little idea of what the future will bring".

"It's wasn't communism that did the deed" he says. "It's capitalism that has killed off the bourgeoisie".

Producer: Adele Armstrong.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b0144rqm)
With Paddy O'Connell. News and conversation about the big stories of the week.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b0144rqp)
For detailed synopses, see daily episodes.

Written by ... Keri Davies
Directed by ... Jenny Stephens
Editor ... Vanessa Whitburn

Kenton Archer ..... Richard Attlee
Ruth Archer ..... Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ..... Helen Monks
Josh Archer ..... Cian Cheesbrough
Tony Archer ..... Colin Skipp
Pat Archer ..... Patricia Gallimore
Tom Archer ..... Tom Graham
Jennifer Aldridge ..... Angela Piper
Matt Crawford ..... Kim Durham
Lilian Bellamy ..... Sunny Ormonde
Peggy Woolley ..... June Spencer
Jolene Perks ..... Buffy Davis
Kathy Perks ..... Hedli Niklaus
Clarrie Grundy ..... Rosalind Adams
William Grundy ..... Philip Molloy
Nic Hanson ..... Becky Wright
Mike Tucker ..... Terry Molloy
Roy Tucker ..... Ian Pepperell
Brenda Tucker ..... Amy Shindler
Lynda Snell ..... Carole Boyd
Bert Fry ..... Eric Allan
Kirsty Miller ..... Annabelle Dowler
Jazzer McCreary ..... Ryan Kelly
Jim Lloyd ..... John Rowe
Harry Mason ..... Michael Shelford
James Bellamy ..... Roger May
Leonie Snell ..... Jasmine Hyde
Elona Makepeace ..... Eri Shuka
Spencer Wilkes ..... Johnny Venkman.


SUN 11:15 The Reunion (b0144rqr)
The Hunting Ban

In 1997 Labour came to power with a promise to ban hunting with dogs, and thousands of rural people rose up to oppose them. Sue MacGregor reunites five people from both sides of the campaign.

Within weeks of entering parliament, the new Labour government had locked horns with the countryside. The party that had come to power promising to govern for the whole nation, had managed to alienate great swathes of the rural population who demanded recognition.

At the heart of it all was a battle over hunting with hounds. For many in rural Britain this represented a way of life they'd known for centuries, and for others, their livelihood.

For many in the urban population, Labour's victory was a chance to finally kill off what they saw as an arcane and cruel pastime. They had the backing of a vocal animal rights lobby and a Labour manifesto pledge to give MPs a free vote on the issue.

The result was a battle that took the government by surprise. The countryside rose up and demonstrated like never before. Not since the Tolpuddle Martyrs in the 1830s had an issue brought so many on to the streets of London to protest. As parliament witnessed heated debates, angry demonstrations outside turned bloody. Thousands of previously law-abiding people threatened civil disobedience, as MPs and anti-hunt campaigners received death threats and dead foxes on their doorsteps.

Presenter: Sue MacGregor

Producer: Deborah Dudgeon
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:00 Just a Minute (b013ptfx)
Series 61

With guests Paul Merton, Gyles Brandreth, Shappi Khorsandi and Russell Kane

The popular panel game from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, hosted by Nicholas Parsons. With Paul Merton, Gyles Brandreth, Shappi Khorsandi and first timer Russell Kane. Subjects include My Tartan Underwear and Call Centres. Produced by Tilusha Ghelani.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b0144tkf)
Food Icons: George Perry-Smith

Simon Parkes tells the story and legacy of the legendary and maverick chef George Perry-Smith.

In 1952 he opened The Hole in the Wall restaurant in Bath. He had no formal training, took inspiration from domestic cook books and changed the British restaurant scene forever.

Producer: Dan Saladino.


SUN 12:57 Weather (b0144nb7)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b0144tkh)
With Shaun Ley. The latest national and international news, with an in-depth look at events around the world. Email: wato@bbc.co.uk; twitter: #theworldthisweekend.


SUN 13:30 Fighting The Power of Pink (b010y39d)
Any parents of a little girl will tell you that they are strangely drawn to the colour pink. But is it in their genes or is it all down to culture? Kat Arney investigates, talking to parents, scientists, and the toy industry. She discovers that while women are more drawn than men to reddish shades of blue, boys and girls don't seem to develop different preferences until they are over the age of two. But long before then, they have very different preferences for toys. So maybe we all just like different colours because we like the things that come in those colours.

Or maybe women really do prefer pink because in the distant past they needed to be able to see red berries against green leaves, while men needed to see brown bison against a blue sky?

Producer Jolyon Jenkins

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b013r2h8)
Suffolk

Peter Gibbs leads Bob Flowerdew, Anne Swithinbank and Chris Beardshaw in a horticultural discussion: How to 'dangle the carrot' keeping the wireworm from your potatoes; how sulphur can keep mildew off a grapevine and how to make a decent ericaceous compost.

In addition, Bob Flowerdew uncovers the medicinal properties of common garden plants. And Dawn Isaacs visits a new RSPB garden to discuss how to create a bird-friendly garden.

Questions answered in the programme:
1. When a rose grows seven leaves instead of five does that means it has gone wild?
2. My Hamburg grapevine growing in a south-facing glasshouse has become malformed and shows
signs of mildew. How can I treat it?
3. Can you suggest hardy, tropical-looking plants for my garden?
4. Suggestions included: Fatshedera Lizei, Phyllostachya bamboo and Clerodendron bungei.
5. How can I prune my eucalyptus to encourage new shoots?
6. How can I keep the wireworms away from my potatoes?
7. Can you suggest blue-flowering plant (max. height 1.5m) to be grown in clay soil?
8. Suggestions included: Ceratostigma willmottianum, Canterbury Bells (Pritchard's variety).
9. What is the best way to make ericaceous compost?

Produced by Lucy Dichmont
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 14:45 The Tribes of Science (b013q20c)
More Tribes of Science

Volcanologists

A lad's mag claimed that being a volcanologist was the second coolest job in the world after being an astronaut. This scientific tribe also loses one member each year, on average, in a fatal accident on a volcano. Peter Curran puts on his anthropological hard hat and asks what makes these researchers risk life and limb, clambering around active volcanoes? Are they driven by a desire to protect local people by understanding the timing of eruptions. Or are they drawn like moths to the sulphurous flames in a purely scientific quest.

Peter talks to volcanologists based at the University of Bristol, some of whom worked on Montserrat during the heights of the Caribbean island's volcanic crisis in 1997. He hears stories of crater-based craziness inside Mount Etna and a slide down a flow of volcanic glass.


SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b0144ybg)
Anthony Trollope - The American Senator

Episode 3

The American Senator
By Anthony Trollope
Dramatised by Martyn Wade
Part Three
Lord Rufford has run away from Arabella but she hasn't given up hope. She is determined that he will marry her but then she receives some distressing news ..

Anthony Trollope...........Robert Glenister
Arabella Trefoil..............Anna Maxwell Martin
Lady Augustus..............Barbara Flynn
Lord Augustus...............Gerard McDermott
Lord Rufford...................Henry Devas
Lady Ushant..................Joanna David
John Morton..................Blake Ritson
Reginald Morton............Daniel Rabin
Mary Masters................Penelope Rawlins
Mrs Morton...................Richenda Carey
Senator Gotobed...........Stuart Milligan
Mounser Green............Joanathan Forbes

Directed by Tracey Neale

The Story:
In this little known tale, Anthony Trollope never allows The American Senator's attitude to get in the way of plot -and his ability to weave story strands which arise out of credible motivation, psychology and emotion is as sure as ever. The characters are as finely drawn as we have come to expect from the pen of Trollope. There's the extraordinary Arabella but also the comic, kind natured and the tragic characters too.

Arabella finds herself in the ignoble occupation of husband/fortune-hunting. She's aware that the years are passing and the strain of numerous failed relationships have made her prospects increasingly poor. She is unofficially engaged to John Morton, a diplomat, and owner of a large estate, but now the wealthy and more exciting Lord Rufford has come into view. His estate being larger and more grand. Surely he is worth fighting for?

Arabella, encouraged by her monstrous mother, Lady Augustus, decides to try and keep Morton on the back-burner (but deny her engagement in public) while engineering a series of compromising situations in an outrageous attempt to win Rufford.

But Arabella is playing a dangerous game and although her behaviour is both conniving and ruthless, she is extraordinary and powerfully-drawn and so does not become an out-and-out anti-heroine. She is, to some degree, the victim of her situation - and of her mother. She is courageous as well as devious, and she has her pride. As the tale concludes and she seeks some degree of redemption she achieves tragic status.

A parallel but secondary plot concerns Reginald Morton, an elder cousin of John, and Mary Masters, who is the complete antithesis to Miss Trefoil. Mary's absurd, domineering stepmother thinks that Mary should marry a besotted local farmer, Lawrence Twentyman but Mary is in love with Reginald Morton. Is he in love with her though? She finds support in the shape of Reginald's kind and gentle aunt, Lady Ushant, but there is the stern and grim grandmother of both John and Reginald who stands in the way of happiness because of a long-standing family feud.

Elias Gotobed, the visiting senator of the book's title, has little impact on events - but he has an important part to play as an observer of events; a gauche but vigorous critic of the antiquated elements of English society and the establishment. Gotobed's conclusions are a supplement to those which can be drawn from Arabella's tale, where greed, class-consciousness and snobbery are mercilessly displayed.

'The American Senator' is, in part, a state of the nation novel - enhanced by the parallels between Trollope's world and ours. Arabella has her modern-day equivalents, and the Senator's remarks throughout the dramatisation about the working man's passive and subservient nature have not lost their relevance.

The Author:
Anthony Trollope produced a vast collection of work about credible people and their foibles. He gained recognition as a writer who portrayed English life is a wry and honest manner with a cast of humorous and delightful characters. His portrayal of female characters is particularly skilful and Arabella Trefoil is no exception.

The Dramatist:
Martyn Wade is a skilled and talented radio writer and dramatist. He has dramatised the 'Barsetshire' novels for radio and the 'Palliser' series too. His other Trollope dramatisations have included 'Orley Farm' and 'Miss Mackenzie'. He also dramatised Ada Leverson's 'The Little Ottleys' for Woman's Hour.


SUN 16:00 Bookclub (b0144ybj)
Mohsin Hamid - The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Mohsin Hamid talks to James Naughtie and readers about his bestselling book The Reluctant Fundamentalist. This edition of Bookclub will be broadcast just two days after the novel has been featured as Radio 4's Book at Bedtime, and it's a timely choice as we approach the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2007 The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a sparse, gripping, short novel that tackles the complex issues of Islamic fundamentalism and America's 'war on terror' with sympathy and balance.

It's the story of Changez, a high-flying young Pakistani man living in New York at the time of the attacks, whose life is turned around on that day, and who in the aftermath returns to his native Pakistan.

Changez tells his life story to an unnamed stranger, an American man, at a tea house in Lahore. Readers may recognise the same device was used by Albert Camus in his novel The Fall - and Mohsin Hamid acknowledges the debt to the French novel.

As night falls, the tension grows between the Changez and the American and a sense of mystery and suspense grows page by page. Who is this American? Is he a spy? Does he have a gun in his pocket, and what exactly has the 'reluctant fundamentalist' come to believe? This novel has one of the most ambiguous endings in contemporary fiction and readers will be telling Mohsin Hamid how they think it finishes.

October's Bookclub choice : 'The God of Small Things' by Arundhati Roy.

Producer : Dymphna Flynn.


SUN 16:30 Poetry Please (b0144ybl)
Scary horses, embittered husbands and prayers for birds feature in this edition of your poetry requests, presented by Roger McGough. There's A Display of Mackerel by Mark Doty, admiring the iridescence and selflessness of those 'flashing participants.' Sylvia Plath is mussel hunting, and there's another powerful poem from across the pond; Elizabeth Bishop's 'The Fish'. The abandoned merman calls out longingly for his deserting wife 'Margaret, Margaret', in Matthew Arnold's famous poem, and RS Thomas warns 'You must wear your eyes out' in a meditation on bird watching. Clare Pollard also makes her debut on the programme with a poem inspired by a sinister folkloric tale involving horses, Pollock scales and spuming ale.

The other readers are Jennifer Jellicorse, Catherine Cusack and Mark Meadows.
Produced by Sarah Langan.


SUN 17:00 The Kill Factor (b013q28m)
"The hardest time is doing it the first time. After I pulled the trigger for the very first time in Basra when I was 19 years old, it got a lot easier after that".

Ben Close, a former member of the Coldstream Guards, talks about the first time he killed in battle. It's an experience that transformed him. "I was like a time bomb ticking waiting to go off. I was ready to kill in an instant".

Stephen Evans examines how soldiers are taught to kill and the psychological effects of becoming a killer.

At Sandhurst, the elite military establishment where the British Army has trained officers since 1812, the recruits are put through their paces. In a simulator - reminiscent of a very big, realistic video game - Stephen sees how life and death decisions about taking human life are made - the moral dilemmas that have to be juggled in the heat of tense, frightening and chaotic battle.

Stephen explores why talking about killing is the great taboo in armies across the world. Lieutenant Col Pete Kilner, an officer in the United States Army, says "As a profession of arms, we recruit people to kill, we train people to kill, we make the orders for people to kill, yet after the fact we don't talk about killing.

Stephen asks if this is partly to blame for the long-term effects killing has on many soldiers.

Andy Wilson, an ex-SAS soldier, was commended for bravery in Afghanistan. But he was unable to cope with the experience of taking another man's life. "I'd killed him. Whenever I closed my eyes, it kept flashing back to me. I basically stayed awake for four days. On the fifth day I collapsed because I'd had no sleep. And then I'd be awake for another four days. It is torture at night, pure torture" Andy's nightmares and flashbacks led to him being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The programme combines gripping first-hand testimony from those who have been on the front line, with powerful archive and contributions from the experts who are wrestling with the theory and practice of killing in warfare.

Producer: Adele Armstrong.


SUN 17:40 Profile (b0144pwp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b0144nb9)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (b0144nbc)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b0144nbf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b0144ybn)
Hardeep Singh Kohli makes his selection from the past seven days of BBC Radio.

Pick of the Week this week is chock full of fascinating listens. There's a quirky play about Communism in Romania that has the word "banana" in the title. A gorgeous book of the week read by the author, Janice Galloway, set in the seaside town of Saltcoats in Ayrshire. And a genuinely frightening drama about a man who slips on a bar of soap in a haunted lighthouse 20 miles off the Welsh coast. All that and something bountifully beautiful about bees...

My Teenage Diary - Radio 4
Witness: Freedom Riders - World Service
Generation E - Radio 4
Afternoon Play: Do You Like Banana, Comrades - Radio 4
The Peace Corps Writers - Radio 4
Book of the Week: All Made Up - Radio 4
Beacons and Blue Remembered Hills - Radio 4
Soundscapes of the South - Radio Solent
Spirit of the Beehive - Radio 4
The Pat Hobby Stories - Radio 4
A Case For Paul Temple - Radio 4
Afternoon Play: The Lighthouse - Radio 4
Soul Music - Radio 4

Email: potw@bbc.co.uk or www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/potw
Producer: Cecile Wright.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (b0144ybq)
Tom and Brenda are frustrated that an internet search for 'Bridge Farm, Ambridge' is still throwing up E coli stories. Brenda's been quoted up to £500 a month for a professional to run the website. Tom knows Pat and Tony won't consider it. Brenda suggests Borsetshire Life could do a feature about the wetland development. Tom doesn't think this would help but agrees to Brenda contacting her friend at the magazine.

Jazzer tells Tom that Zofia's taking advantage of Harry, but he's really worried that if Zofia stays in Ambridge she'll take Jazzer's place in the flat.

Brian and Jennifer drop Ruairi off at St Francis' School. Brian's impressed with the grounds and sporting opportunities. Jennifer just hopes Ruairi will be ok. Brian reassures her they're doing the right thing and reminds her that Ruairi will have a weekend at home at the end of the month. With Phoebe leaving for South Africa on Thursday, he thinks she should enjoy the peace while she can.

Ruairi later lets his guard down and asks Jennifer to take Mousey to him. Brian worries Ruairi will be a laughing stock if Jennifer makes a special journey to take him a cuddly toy, and begs her not to go.


SUN 19:15 Americana (b0144ybs)
A special show on one of America's most troubled cities, Detroit.

Americana talks with the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Barbara McQuade about the rocketing homicide rates in Detroit.

Detroit's bravest man - the proud owner of new Fiat dealership - discusses the the auto trade's nascent recovery.

And violinist Regina Carter explains why Motor City's world famous jazz festival is about more than just bringing in the tourist dollars.


SUN 19:45 Vasily Grossman from the Frontline (b0144ybv)
Through Chekhov's Eyes

Elliot Levey reads Vasily Grossman's front line despatches from the battle of Stalingrad 1:Through Chekhov's Eyes. In the war of the rats snipers like Anatoly Chekhov reigned. Translated by Jim Riordan.

Vasily Grossman, author of Life and Fate, was transformed by his experiences as a front line war correspondent. Following the shock invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Grossman volunteered for front line duty. Declared unfit for active service he was assigned to Red Star newspaper as a special correspondent. His editor David Ortenberg noted that Grossman, despite no combat experience, knew about 'people's souls' .

1: Through Chekhov's Eyes. Red Star 20th November 1942.
'I wanted to become the sort of man who destroys the enemy with his own hands'. The cult of the sniper emerged spontaneously during the Stalingrad conflict. The 'Stalingrad Academy of street fighting' became a new kind of war where every floor, every building, every block became its own front line. Here a sniper could extract a terrible and personal vengeance upon the German invaders who had forced the Soviets to the very banks of the river Volga. Encouraged by their commanders, lionized by journalists like Grossman, the sniper became a heroic symbol of steely determination. Here Grossman delivers a portrait both intimate and heroic of a young man transformed by war amidst the ruined city.

Chekhov, along with Vasili Zaitsev, was already a star with 35 kills in the heaviest fighting of October. According to Grossman's editor, General Ortenberg, the writer spent many hours with Chekov in his firing post by a wrecked wall. Chekhov would later be credited with 256 'sticks' or enemy soldiers.

Reader Elliot Levey
Translator Jim Riordan
Producer Mark Burman.


SUN 20:00 More or Less (b013r2h4)
In More or Less this week:

Debt: A European Odyssey

On More or Less we're always looking for the perfect analogy to help clarify complicated things. And the European debt crisis is pretty complicated. The good news is that we think we've come up with exactly the right way to describe the whole sorry business - as Homer's Odyssey.

Alternative medicine and the placebo effect

Earlier in the summer a study was published which seemed to suggest that acupuncture might help some patients with unexplained symptoms. Interesting. We asked Margaret McCartney, a Glasgow GP and a blogger on medical evidence, to investigate. But Dr McCartney thinks the study tells us about more than just acupuncture - it tells us something about the whole way in which treatments are administered on the NHS.

Asking the right questions

This summer, the Office for National Statistics celebrates seventy years of its social surveys. We've been looking back at their work, some of which is a little surprising. In November 1941 the Wartime Social Survey Unit undertook a major study of women's undergarments. The reason? Steel. Britain needed to know how much metal was being used to support the country's women, rather than the war effort.

Producer: Richard Knight.


SUN 20:30 Last Word (b013r2hb)
John McAleese, NF Simpson, Stetson Kennedy and David Honeyboy Edwards

Matthew Bannister on

SAS soldier John McAleese who led one of the teams that stormed the Iranian Embassy in 1980.

The surreal playwright NF Simpson who influenced a generation of British comedy talent.

Stetson Kennedy, who went undercover to expose the activities of the Ku Klux Klan.

George Band, one of two pioneering climbers who first conquered the world's third highest mountain, Kanchenjunga.

And David Honeyboy Edwards, last surviving link to the original blues players of the Mississippi Delta.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (b0144pvz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 on Saturday]


SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b0144rqh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 today]


SUN 21:30 In Business (b013qzxy)
Prize Performers

At a time of grave crisis, some of the world's top Nobel Prize winning economists have been meeting for a conference on an idyllic Bavarian island. Peter Day was there to find out if they had any ideas about how to get out of the mess we're in and what their predictions are for the future.
Producer : Neil Keonig.


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b0144ybx)
Carolyn Quinn talks to the political editor of the Daily Telegraph, Andrew Porter, about the week ahead at Westminster. He explains why there are tensions within the coalition as MPs return to the Commons following the summer recess. He also discusses the impact of the memoirs of the former Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling.

Our panel of MPs consists of Elfyn Llwyd of Plaid Cymru and the Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg. They discuss the economy, proposed changes to the planning rules in England and whether they think it's a good idea that Scottish Conservatives should replace their exisiting party in Scotland with a new organisation.

Nigel Farage, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, looks ahead to his party's annual conference. He reveals UKIP has been weak at calling for English laws to be voted on only by MPs representing English constituencies. He defends the True Finns, a nationalist anti-immigration party that won over many new supporters in this year's election in Finland.

Mandy Baker reports on the dilemma facing MPs over how much time they should devote to constituency work rather than national issues. The veteran Labour MP Jack Straw warns of the dangers of spending too much time on constituency work. A Conservative, James Gray, believes ministers are happy to see MPs devote more time to constituency work because it means less time is spent scrutinising the government.

Programme Editor: Terry Dignan.


SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b0144ybz)
Episode 68

Hugo Rifkind of The Times analyses how the broadsheets and redtops are covering the biggest stories.


SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b013r2hf)
Pack your bags..Francine Stock is wearing her travelling shoes. First stop is the North of England to meet Moira Buffini's new Jane Eyre. Then its off to the Continent with Martin Scorsese for a guided tour of the commanding heights of Italian cinema - among them Rossellini, Visconti, Fellini and Antonioni. On the way back we'll be stopping off in the Greece of Athina Rachel Tsangari's Attenberg -- a brilliant, playful feature about sex, grief and the passing of the old order inspired by the wild life documentaries of Sir David Attenborough. To finish we're back in Blighty with artist Gillian Wearing's powerful and disturbing film, Self Made - an exploration of identity as well as a kind of exorcism.That's all in this week's Film Programme with Francine Stock.

Producer: Zahid Warley.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b0144rq9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 05 SEPTEMBER 2011

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b0144nc4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b013q3g3)
Home Life 2: Single Person Household

Thinking Allowed explores the changing nature of home in a 3 part summer series recorded in the homes of our listeners. Who do we live with, how do our homes operate and what do they say about us and about the dramatic social transformations of the last century and the century to come? By invitation, in each edition a new type of home is invaded, analysed and explained by Laurie Taylor and a panel of two sociologists round the kitchen table.

Much political debate still revolves around the assumption that most of us live in conventional family homes. However research suggests that in 20 years time only 2 out of 5 people will be in marriages and married couples will be outnumbered by other types of household. Behind closed doors, Britain is changing: Single living has increased by 30% in 10 years but at the same time financial pressures are fuelling a growth in extended families - people sharing bills, childcare and mucking-in in a way which makes private life far less private.

After invitations from a host of Thinking Allowed listeners, Laurie Taylor visits three. In this edition he travels to Cove in Argyll and Bute to meet someone who lives alone and works from home. He is accompanied by the sociologists Roona Simpson and Bren Neale in order to help divine the future for Britain's private life.
Producer: Charlie Taylor.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b0144rq7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b0144nc8)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b0144ncb)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b0144ncd)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (b0144ncg)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b014543g)
With the Rev Nicholas Buxton.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (b014543j)
The Government is considering making CCTV in abattoirs compulsory. It follows recent claims of alleged animal abuse from undercover footage at a slaughterhouse. But the British Meat Processors Association says cameras won't eradicate animal abuse.

UK apple growers are predicting their best harvest in decades. There are more than 2000 apple varieties in the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale in Kent and Caz Graham reports on four 'lost' apple varieties which have just come to light.

After the 'Barbeque Summer' of 2009 turned into a washout the Met Office stopped giving seasonal forecasts. But the European Centre of Medium Range Weather Forecasts says research is improving and now the forecasts should be reintroduced.

Presented by Caz Graham. Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.


MON 05:57 Weather (b0144ncj)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 06:00 Today (b014543l)
With John Humphrys and Sarah Montague. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 No Triumph, No Tragedy (b014543n)
Dr Lin Berwick was born with cerebral palsy and lost her sight as a teenager. She tells Peter White about the way her mother dealt with being told her baby was a waste of everybody's time and that she should 'go home and forget about her'.

Lin has inherited her mother's determination that she should live a fulfilling and adventurous life and when she met her husband Ralph, she says her life 'really took off'.

Together, Lin and Ralph set up the Lin Berwick Trust, which provides accessible holiday accommodation for severely disabled people and their carers.

As well as being her husband, Ralph willingly acted as Lin's carer and they enjoyed a long and happy marriage until Ralph was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Lin describes her devastation at being told this news and, as a Methodist preacher, how she felt the need to cry out to God and demand why they had been dealt this cruel blow.

Deeply distressed by his condition, Ralph finally refused his medication and died shortly before this interview was recorded.

Producer: Cheryl Gabriel.


MON 09:30 Head to Head (b014543q)
Series 3

Northern Ireland

Edward Stourton continues to revisit passionate broadcast debates from the archives - exploring the ideas, the great minds behind them and echoes of the arguments today.

In the fifth episode, the issue of a united Ireland is up for question. In December 1980, John Hume was one of the most powerful voices of Irish nationalism. He met Michael Mates, a Tory MP with a military background in Northern Ireland, on a BBC Panorama programme recorded at the Cambridge Union.

Northern Ireland was far from the power-sharing agreement struck some 20 years later that assured Hume a Nobel Peace Prize. Direct rule from Westminster and British army presence kept a deeply divided province, Mates believed, from all out civil war. Hume wanted the British out and a lasting solution for the Catholics who for decades had disengaged themselves politically from the Unionist majority of Protestants.

This period was a turning point in the Troubles. Belfast was a war zone and terrorism was a fact of life in England as well as the Six Counties. Heightening the emotional intensity was a group of Republican prisoners on the first wave of hunger strikes in the Maze prison. Margaret Thatcher stepped up and did what previous British Prime Ministers had tried to ignore, albeit with a hard line. And Hume was on the verge of the controversial secret talks with the political wing of the IRA, Sinn Fein.

On to Ireland today - is Irish unity still conceivable? Has the power-sharing been a success and can other nations learn from bringing dissident groups to the debating table? The story of politics in Northern Ireland continues.

In the studio are Dr Michael Kerr from King's College London and Dr Paul Mitchell of the London School of Economics.

Producer: Dom Byrne
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b014555x)
The 9/11 Letters

Caryl Phillips

Five internationally acclaimed writers consider the impact of the momentous events of September 11th 2001. Ten years on, these authors use imaginative letters to reflect on the consequences for Britain, America and the world.

The first letter is from novelist and essayist Caryl Phillips, who was born in St Kitts, grew up in Leeds and is now Professor of English at Yale University. In his letter, Phillips imagines that his young nephew might have to answer a history exam question about how the crisis of September 11th, 2001 determined American foreign and domestic policy. He gives an eye-witness account of the day and those following, reflecting how the events changed him, and his identity as a Resident Alien, someone who can live and work in the United States, but is not an American citizen.

Producer: Julian May.


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b014555z)
Over 45s dating, Cook the Perfect..Tarte Tatin, Role of schools post-riots

Cook the Perfect...Tarte Tatin. The story behind the upside-down apple tart and how to make this classic French dish using the best of British apples. A month on from the riots, what's the role of schools in dealing with the aftermath and helping prevent them happening again? Jenni talks to headteachers in Manchester and London about schools' response and the work they'll be doing with pupils. The dating game: what are the rules if you're in your forties or beyond, and is the option of online dating to be welcomed or avoided? How a historic Surrey house was transformed at vast expense by the seventeenth century countess who lived there. Presented by Jenni Murray.


MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b0145561)
The Core

Episode 1

By Mike Bartlett. Carly is a bright thirteen year old who goes to the Coalforth School in Berkshire. The school has not being doing well, but it has just recruited Sarah Parkinson, a new head with energy and vision. Exploring the hot topic of education The Core is about the impact of current policies on those going through the system. We follow Carly and Sarah into the future and it's not what we, or they, expect.

Sarah...Juliet Stevenson
Carly... Alex Tregear

Director Claire Grove

Mike Bartlett is one of the most thought-provoking playwrights in Britain today. Mike's Earthquakes In London received critical acclaim at the National Theatre last year and he has new play '13' opens at the NT this October. My Child (2007) and Cock (2009) for the Royal Court both received outstanding reviews and in 2007 Mike's 'Not Talking' for R3 scooped the Imison and Tinniswood Awards for best newcomer and best play on radio.

Of Not Talking the papers said:
"An astonishingly piece of mature writing.ambitious, troubling and true. A Sony nomination at the very least should be his". Guardian
"Brilliant..Bartlett's use of dialogue is stunning" Times
"Fierce strong frank and convincing". Daily Telegraph
"Compulsive storytelling" Financial Times
"Excellent ." Observer.


MON 11:00 Journey of a Lifetime (b0145563)
2011: Jane Labous

Each year, the Royal Geographical Society in association with BBC Radio 4 organises a competition to choose the top dream travel assignment. The 2011 winner is Jane Labous, whose destination of choice was the west African nation of Mali. Her goal: to meet the men and women who face hardship every day as they eke out a living digging and diving for sand and gravel from the bed of the River Niger.

Tradition in Mali has meant that houses are made from mud, which bakes hard in the searing African sun. But today the available solidity of concrete means that mud homes are less desirable and there is an ever-growing demand for sand to help fashion the concrete structures sprouting all over the capital Bamako.

Jane travels to the little town of Koulikoro 50 km north of the capital to talk to the sand-diggers who spend back-breaking hours in 40-degree heat dredging tons of sand and gravel from the riverbed to satisfy the relentless hunger for aggregates of Bamako's builders.

But at what cost? The fishermen are outraged by the way the river waters are disturbed and their livelihood threatened; as for the sand-diggers themselves, the natural perils of the Niger - crocodiles, hippopotamus, not to mention the river-genies who must be appeased - are now compounded by the dangerous deep trenches in the riverbed that make diving ever more dangerous. Now the locals have taken out an order to ban the diggers from the shallow waters close to Koulikoro's centre where the town's children love to play.

But with bandits threatening the north of the country, the other big question on Jane's mind today is whether she'll make it to the regional capital of Djenné safely for the traditional annual renewal of mud-coating on the city's grand mosque....

Producer: Simon Elmes


MON 11:30 When the Dog Dies (b012r7k7)
Series 2

Catchment if You Can

Ronnie Corbett reunites with the writers of his hit sitcom Sorry, Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent. Sorry ran for seven series on BBC 1 and was number one in the UK ratings.

In the second series of their Radio 4 sitcom, Ronnie plays Sandy Hopper, who is growing old happily along with his dog Henry. His grown up children - both married to people Sandy doesn't approve of at all - would like him to move out of the family home so they can get their hands on their money earlier.

But Sandy's not having this. He's not moving until the dog dies. And not just that, how can he move if he's got a lodger? His daughter is convinced that his too attractive lodger Dolores (Liza Tarbuck) is after Sandy and his money.

Luckily, Sandy has three grandchildren and sometimes a friendly word, a kindly hand on the shoulder can really help a Granddad in the twenty-first century. Man and dog together face a complicated world. There's every chance they'll make it more so.

Sandy's quiet life is shattered by the need to make himself scarce while his daughter Ellie and his son-in-law Blake pretend, for reasons of social mobility and educational opportunity, that his address is their address. Hiding in the shed doesn't seem right for someone who dreams of being a hero. Not in the world's eye, perhaps - but certainly in his grandson Tyson's.

Cast:
Ronnie Corbett ..... Sandy
Liza Tarbuck ...... Dolores
Sally Grace ..... Mrs Pompom
Tilly Vosburgh ..... Ellie
Jonathan Aris ...... Blake
Daniel Bridle .....Tyson
Stephen Critchlow ...... Mr Mountjoy

Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL Production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:00 You and Yours (b0145565)
On You and Yours with Julian Worricker today we take a thorough look at the housing market: renting, buying and housing stock. We also find out where families affected by the closure of Southern Cross, the UK's biggest care home chain, can get the latest information. And our reporter sees new evidence which states that a third of our hospitals in England are not meeting targets when it comes to assessing DVT risks in their patients.


MON 12:57 Weather (b0144ncl)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 13:00 World at One (b0145567)
With Shaun Ley. National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.


MON 13:30 Round Britain Quiz (b0145569)
(4/12)
Tom Sutcliffe welcomes the teams from the South of England and Northern Ireland to the fiendish contest of lateral thinking. In the latest heat Marcel Berlins and Fred Housego play for the South of England, while the Northern Ireland regulars are the novelist Polly Devlin and historian Brian Feeney.

As always, the questions draw on the deepest recesses of the contestants' memory stores in science, history, sport, and high and popular culture. Tom will also have the answer to last week's teaser question which was:

Why might a hawk have its eye on a play by Goldsmith, the home of Harlequins, and the entrance to a New York tenement?

Producer: Paul Bajoria.


MON 14:00 The Archers (b0144ybq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (b00jz0xj)
Places Where They Sing

Written and directed by Ellen Dryden.

Thomas has composed his first work for the amateur choir he founded. The performance is imminent. Thomas' unpredictable behaviour is upsetting the choir - and his wife Joanna.

Thomas ...... Anton Lesser
Joanna ...... Phoebe Nicholls
Vicky ...... Claire Rushbrook
Angela ...... Abigail Thaw
Matthew ...... Jonathan Dryden Taylor

Music composed by Derek Bourgeois.

A First Writes Radio production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 15:00 Archive on 4 (b0144pwy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


MON 15:45 Twin Nation (b01457pz)
Episode 1

Edi Stark asks if the bond between twins ever be rivalled by another relationship?

Helen and Morna Mulgray now in their early 70s have never spent more than a fortnight apart. Having retired from teaching they've turned their uniquely close relationship into a successful recipe for writing crime fiction. But they've never married or even had a serious relationship outside of their twin. Edi asks if their relationship is too close or have these sisters found in each other the meeting of minds that the rest of us can only dream of in our life long companions.

Producer: Peter McManus.


MON 16:00 The Food Programme (b0144tkf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b01457q1)
A controversial High Court ruling on the admission policy of the Jewish Free School in London two years ago has led to heated and ongoing discussion among Jews in this country about what constitutes Jewishness. With the number of Jews in Britain declining, the question of how to preserve and pass on Judaism is a major preoccupation of members the community, be they Orthodox, Reform or secular. So what should be the test for determining who is and isnt Jewish? How important is religious practice, observing a kosher table or male circumcision? And how important is it for the preservation of Jewishness that a Jew should marry another Jew?

Joining Ernie to discuss Jewish identity are Laura Janner Klausner, Rabbi of the Alyth Reform Synagogue in London; Natan Levy, the Orthodox Rabbi of Shenley United Jewish Congregation; and Dr Brian Klug Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy at St Benet's Hall, University of Oxford, and author of "Being Jewish and Doing Justice.".


MON 17:00 PM (b01457q3)
Eddie Mair presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b0144ncq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:30 Just a Minute (b01457q5)
Series 61

With Guests Gyles Brandreth, Tony Hawks, Miles Jupp and Pam Ayres

The popular panel game hosted by Nicholas Parsons, with panellists Tony Hawks, Gyles Brandreth, Pam Ayres and newcomer Miles Jupp. Recorded at the Lichfield Festival Produced by Tilusha Ghelani.


MON 19:00 The Archers (b01457q7)
Elizabeth's back from Cornwall. Roy's coped well with everything at Lower Loxley but admits he's been too busy to find time to worry about Phoebe's imminent departure for South Africa. They reflect how quickly children grow up. Freddie & Lily start at the Cathedral School on Wednesday. Freddie admits to Elizabeth he's not looking forward to it. He doesn't feel as brainy as Lily and everyone else. Elizabeth reassures him he doesn't need to compete. He's clever and the school will bring out his own special talents.

Susan's happy to be transferred from the dairy to the carrot field for a few days. As Pat tries to brief Susan on the job, Susan gossips about Jennifer taking Ruairi his favourite toy.

Pat feels guilty. She knows lifting carrots is hard work but they've still got so few orders for yoghurt or ice cream. Tom tells Pat about Brenda's idea for the Borsetshire Life article. Pat's defensive when Tom admits the magazine wants to mention E coli, to give the story an angle - but only to focus on how Bridge Farm has overcome the problems. Pat doesn't trust journalists any more, even a friend of Brenda's, so is adamant they're not doing the article.


MON 19:15 Front Row (b01457q9)
Jane Eyre reviewed; Damon Albarn interview

With John Wilson.

Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender star in a new film version of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte's much-adapted book. Kathryn Hughes reviews.

Alexander Masters, author of the award-winning Stuart: A Life Backwards, explains how he found the subject of his second book living directly below him. The Genius in My Basement focuses on the mathematical genius Simon P Norton, who collects bus timetables and lives on a diet of tinned fish.

Damon Albarn recently led a group of British music producers to the Democratic Republic of Congo to make an album with Congolese musicians in Kinshasa. Damon came to Front Row along with two of his musical collaborators in the Congo, producers Kwes and Orlando Higginbottom, aka TEED.

Can contemporary art help ease Ireland's economic woes? As the first ever Dublin Contemporary festival is launched, John asks Jimmy Deenihan - Arts and Heritage Minister in the Irish government - what he hopes to get in return for 2 million Euros of taxpayers money invested in the project at a time when the country has just received a massive bailout package. John also talks to veteran Irish conceptual artist Brian O'Doherty who now works in New York, but who is returning to create new work for Dublin Contemporary 2011.

Producer: Philippa Ritchie.


MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b0145561)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


MON 20:00 God in China (b01457qc)
Buddhism and Islam

35 years after the Cultural Revolution, another revolution is sweeping across China. As the Communist Party seeks to address the effects on Chinese society in becoming manufacturer to the world, combined with rampant consumerism and its own one child policy, it is turning to religion to fill the void.

In this 3 part series, Tim Gardam, Principal of St Anne's College, Oxford, travels through this vast nation of 1.4 billion people, to explore the role of "God in China".

Buddhism & Islam are two of China's five official religions. They are both very integrated into Chinese society but for different reasons. In this programme Tim Gardam considers the role these two religions play in the Communist Party's appropriation of religion to support the drive towards President Hu Jintao's "harmonious society". He meets female imams and visits Longquan Monastery whose Abbot's "tweets" are translated daily into 8 different languages.

Producer: Liz Leonard.


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (b013qz7c)
9/11 - Toxic Ash

David Shukman reports on the thousands who have become ill from the toxic dust that blanketed Lower Manhattan after the Twin Towers collapsed on Sept 11th. The buildings released a cocktail of deadly carcinogens including, asbestos, lead, mercury and PCBs.

Frontline responders such as fire-fighters, police and emergency medical workers breathed in the contamination for several weeks as they toiled at Ground Zero. The fires burned for a hundred days and many of the emergency workers toiled without respirators or proper protection amid the dust and debris.

Now officials say more than 18,000 people have received medical treatment in the last 12 months for World Trade Center related conditions - many of them serious. The head of the federal programme overseeing victims compensation says he expects more people to die because of their exposure.

Nearly three thousand people perished on the day, but the suffering resulting from the attack is far from over.
Producer: Linda Sills.


MON 21:00 Material World (b013qzps)
This week, Quentin Cooper hears about some of the first skilled toolmakers, a new design of battery that won't set your laptop ablaze, cloning wildcats to keep their pedigree pure, and, as the Hollywood horror Apollo 18 is released, why should we go back to the Moon?

Producer: Martin Redfern.


MON 21:30 No Triumph, No Tragedy (b014543n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:58 Weather (b0144ncs)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b01457qh)
With Ritula Shah. National and international news and analysis.


MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01457qk)
On Canaan's Side

Episode 1

In Sebastian Barry's latest novel, a secret life is revealed in the memoir of Lilly Dunne, 89 who is nearing the end of her days. Born in Ireland, Lilly has lived for 75 years in that place of safety known in the ancient hymn as "On Canaan's Side" - America.

Forced to flee Ireland after a warning that the IRA were about to shoot her and her Black and Tan lover, Lilly has spent her entire life in fear that an old vengeance will catch up with her. And as this painful but exquisitely told history reveals, her fears are well founded.

Using false names Lilly and Tadg jumped a boat to Ellis Island and thence to a suburb of Chicago. The Depression looms but they eek out a living in mixed communities, taking care to avoid the Irish ghettoes, but always waiting for that knock on the door. And when it comes it is of course when they least expect it. On a visit to the Museum of Art, Lilly and her now husband, stand amazed before Van Gogh's self portrait - when an IRA assassin appears and shoots Tadg right there on the gallery floor.

In the uproar Lilly escapes, pursued by the killer. She escapes with her life, just, and flees to Cleveland where she meets a Cop, Joe whom she marries and rediscovers a kind of happiness. But unalloyed happiness seems not to be Lilly's lot in life. She bears Joe's child but Joe disappears, presumed dead in a gas explosion - leaving Lilly to work as a domestic servant and rear her son, Ed alone.

A true friend comes into her life - a man called Nolan, from Tennessee. He lives and works nearby and assumes the role of father to Ed and support to Lilly. It is profound but platonic alliance. He is Lilly's rock and Ed's moral compass. And when Ed, the talented and handsome son comes back from Vietnam, mentally broken, it is Nolan who seeks him out from an obscure commune in the hills and brings home not Lilly's son but her grandson, William; a child the fragile Ed is no longer able to manage.

And so Lilly begins once more to raise a child - this time a child who is the distillation of the entire journey of her life. She loves this child more than life itself. So when William hangs himself from the washroom door in his old high school she feels there is no worst can befall her. But there is a final twist to her life's story.

Nolan falls ill, and on his deathbed, reveals to her that is was he who was sent all those years earlier to Chicago to assassinate Lilly and her husband. But he was unable at the last to kill her in that gallery. And since then he has lived only to atone for his sin and to help make her life bearable. But Lilly is by now resolved that she cannot forgive Nolan, and that she can no longer linger on Canaan's side. Her life is at an end.

Reader - Claire Bloom
Abridger - Neville Teller
Producer - Eoin O'Callaghan.


MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (b013q210)
English As a Lingua Franca

Most conversations in English are among people who aren't native speakers of the language. In universities around the world, vast voice banks are being compiled by researchers who are examining the use of English as a contact language in a globalized world. They believe their work has implications for the way in which English is taught: for too long, they say, students have been given native speaker standards of correctness as their model. But is there really such a thing as English as a Lingua Franca? Chris Ledgard investigates.


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01457qm)
Sean Curran with the day's top news stories from Westminster.



TUESDAY 06 SEPTEMBER 2011

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b0144ndc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b014555x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b0144ndf)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b0144ndh)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b0144ndk)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b0144ndm)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0145x71)
With the Rev. Nicholas Buxton.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b0145x73)
The RSPCA is warning pet owners not to keep so called designer micropigs in the home. The RSPCA says owners can be surprised when what starts off as a tiny piglet can grow into an unexpectedly large animal that has specialist welfare needs. The Chair of the Kune Kune Pig Society, Wendy Scudamore agrees with the RSPCA and says owners need to be aware, responsible and have space to keep pigs outdoors.

The National Farmers Union says it's stunned that Natural England, the body that would issuing licences for a trial badger cull in England, has questioned DEFRA's scientific methodology. A consultation into the proposals which would aim to reduce bovine TB in cattle is still ongoing. The Badger Trust says it is appropriate for all interested parties, including Natural England to contribute to the debate. And also in the programme, the apple harvest is three weeks earlier than usual. Anna Hill is at a Suffolk fruit farm as they bring in the Gala crop.

Presenter: Anna Hill; Producer: Angela Frain.


TUE 06:00 Today (b0145x75)
Morning news and current affairs with John Humphrys and James Naughtie: including reflections on last night's debate on the recent riots, plus:

07:51 Is allowing cameras into criminal courts a good idea?
08:10 Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith presents his assessment of the state of society, and how government will respond to the deep-rooted issues raised by the disorder.
08:18 Reconnaissance aircraft made a huge contribution to allied efforts in World War II, according to a new book Spies in the Sky. Its author Taylor Downing and Geoffrey Stone, who served at RAF Medmenham in Buckinghamshire during the war, trace the history of these aerial spies.


TUE 09:00 The Reith Lectures (b0145x77)
Securing Freedom: 2011

Eliza Manningham-Buller: Terror

The former Director-General of the Security Service (MI5), Eliza Manningham-Buller gives the first of her BBC Reith Lectures 2011 called " Terror." On the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the United States on September 11th she reflects on the lasting significance of that day. Was it a "terrorist" crime, an act of war or something different?


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b0145x79)
The 9/11 Letters

Naomi Alderman

Five internationally acclaimed writers consider the impact of the momentous events of September 11th, 2001. Ten years on, these authors use imaginative letters to reflect on the consequences for Britain, America and the world.

Today's letter is from Naomi Alderman who was working for a Manhattan law firm in an office overlooking the World Trade Centre when the planes struck the twin towers. Her experience that day led her to give up her career and become a writer. But the character she imagines in her letter reflects an even more profound change.

Producer: Julian May.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b0145x7c)
PJ Harvey; kidnapped by Somali pirates; Ulrika Jonsson.

Jenni Murray talks to singer-songwriter PJ Harvey, the first woman to have been awarded the Mercury Music Prize. In October 2009, Rachel and Paul Chandler were enjoying their early retirement, spending their life savings sailing their yacht around the world. 800 miles from Somali waters, in the Seychelles, they were hijacked and kidnapped by a gang of Somali pirates. Mistaken for millionaires, they began an ordeal which was to last for 13 months. The couple join Jenni to explain how they endured the experience. Abortion counselling - should it be offered and by whom? And Ulrika Jonsson discusses writing and phone hacking.


TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b0148z6z)
The Core

Episode 2

By Mike Bartlett. Carly is eighteen and she has won a place at Cambridge University. She gets called to her headmistress's office to discuss her future, and it's not what she expects.

Sarah...Juliet Stevenson
Carly... Alex Tregear

Director Claire Grove.


TUE 11:00 Saving Species (b0145x7f)
Series 2

Episode 16

16/30 The Horrid Ground Weaver is a spider that was discovered in 1989 in two quarries near Plymouth. It was last seen in 1997 since which one quarry has been developed, so it now survives in just one place on the earth.
Buglife are working with Plymouth University and the People's Trust for Endangered Species to try to re-find this extraordinary creature and then assess what conservation measures need to be put in place. It's very small though...a money spider - and bristly (horrid) so not easy to find. Brett Weswood met with Andrew Whitehouse and Duncan Allen from Buglife at the quarry and tried various field techniques to find the Horrid Ground Weaver including: bendy drinking straws, pitfall traps and the "BugVac" - an insect hoover! But did we find it? Samples have to go back to lab for microscopic analysis - we'll let you know.

Also in the programme: The latest news on Indian Vulture conservation - and the release of the European Cranes on the Somerset Levels.

Presenter: Brett Westwood
Producer: Mary Colwell
Editor: Julian Hector.


TUE 11:30 Cat Women of the Moon (b0145x7h)
Episode 2

Cat Women of the Moon was a 1950s film that followed a popular motif in science fiction; an all women society surviving without men. One of its biggest challenges? How to reproduce. In the final part of a two part programme we look at how science fiction has been used to examine the myriad ways we might continue the human race. From test tube babies to parthenogenesis. From cloning to male pregnancy. From artificial wombs to a collective consciousness or hive mind. The programme includes contributions from some of Britain's leading science fiction writers including Iain Banks, China Mieville, Nicola Griffith and Geoff Ryman. The programme is presented by the writer Sarah Hall, author of 'The Carhullan Army' and 'The Electric Michelangelo' which was short listed for the Booker Prize. The programme is produced in Manchester by Nicola Swords.


TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b0145x7k)
Call You and Yours with Julian Worricker.
Across the United Kingdom thousands of employers rely on interns to do the jobs that are necessary for their business. In return the interns gain valuable experience and make valuable contacts. Some even end up getting paid employment within the business. In many cases it's a win/win situation for both parties but what about those who can't afford to do an unpaid internship?

We'll be asking if being an intern is a vital way to get a good job? Or is it simply big business exploiting young people? Should all school leavers be forced to work for free to teach them about the world of work? Or do you believe that if you're doing a job you should be paid whatever your age ? We want to hear from you if you've been an intern, if you're employer and use them regularly or if one of your children has done or is about to start an internship.
An opportunity to contribute your views to the programme. Email youandyours@bbc.co.uk or call 03700 100 444 (lines open at 10am).
Producer Maire Devine.


TUE 12:57 Weather (b0144ndp)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (b0146m3m)
With Shaun Ley. National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.


TUE 13:30 Soul Music (b0145x7m)
Series 12

Dear Lord and Father of Mankind

The words of one of our most loved hymns, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, were taken from the last six verses of John Greenleaf Whittier's poem, The Brewing of Soma, an attack on ostentatious and overt religious practise. But it wasn't until over fifty years later, that a school master at Repton in Derbyshire had the inspiration to pair it with a tune by Sir Hubert Parry, thus confirming it as a favourite for school assemblies, funerals and weddings. The current Director of Music at Repton, John Bowley, explains how this happened, while composer and conductor Bob Chilcott explains why this was a musical mariage made in heaven.
We hear from those for who whom the hymn has special significance, including the MP from Gloucester, Richard Graham; when briefly imprisoned in a Libyan gaol in 1978 he found enormous comfort in the words and tune. Pipe Major Ross Munro remembers recording the piece in the swelting heat of Basra with members of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and film director Joe Wright recalls how the inclusion of this hymn was central to the power of his famous scene depicting the evacuation of Dunkirk in his film, Atonement.
Producer: Lucy Lunt.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (b01457q7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b0145x7p)
Occupation

by Andy Macdonald.

A tense and powerful drama exploring the timely issues of unemployment, ethics and international conflict. A fifty year old factory employee finds his own way to make a stand. With orders still on the books, Kenny Gall refuses to leave the factory he has worked in for more than thirty years. This will have serious implications for the company, his daughter, Ashley, and for a local ex-serviceman.

Kenny ..... Alexander Morton
Ashley ..... Sally Reid
Guy ..... Brian Ferguson
Jade/Clare ..... Tracy Wiles

Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane.


TUE 15:00 Making History (b0145x7r)
Scottish medieval historian Fiona Watson is in the chair for a new series of Radio 4's popular history magazine which takes listeners to the heart of the latest research.

In today's programme: a listener's family research throws up a link to a forgotten incident on a remote penal colony in the Bay of Bengal. The murder of Lord Mayo the Viceroy of India by a prisoner on the Andaman Islands could well have sparked widespread unrest on mainland India. That it didn't reveals a new approach to the sub-continent from its colonial masters. Fiona talks to Professor Clare Anderson at the University of Leicester who has researched this history.

Making History listener Sarah Colpus takes us to a small village church on the South Downs where she has found evidence that back in the 16th century her family were involved in a violent neighbourly dispute which ended up before the feared Star Chamber. Helen Castor visits Dr Steven Gunn at Merton College Oxford to find out more about this court and why such a local dispute would have ended up there.

Professor Malcolm Chase at the University of Leeds explains why Rochdale isn't the birthplace of the co-operative divvy and why Brighton's claims to this history are also wide of the mark.

Producer: Nick Patrick
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b0145x7t)
Agatha Christie's Mysterious Mr Quin

The Dead Harlequin

Written by Agatha Christie. Adapted by Archie Scottney.

Martin Jarvis returns with a new series of these strangely compelling 1920s stories by the Queen of Crime.

Mr Satterthwaite buys a painting. It intrigues him because the face of the man in the picture bears a distinct resemblance to a certain Mr Quin. One Harlequin lies dead on the floor, another Harlequin is looking through the window. What does it mean? 'I took a special interest in your picture,' says Mr Satterthwaite to the artist, 'I recognised it as the Terrace Room at Charnley.' He knows that a suicide was committed there fourteen years ago. But is the picture telling us something else? Was it, in fact, murder?

There are guests that night for dinner at Satterthwaite's home. An extra place is laid. Will Mr Harley Quin arrive to assist their thinking - perhaps even solve the mystery? Christie considered this character to be her personal favourite.

Producer/Director: Rosalind Ayres
A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 15:45 Twin Nation (b0145x7w)
Episode 2

Edi Stark finds out how twins survive when they lose the other half of this unique relationship. Whether at birth, in the prime of life, or towards its end Edi finds out what surviving twins have in common and how its not always losing your lifelong companion that's the worst.

Producer: Peter McManus.


TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (b0145x7y)
Being overheard

From Manchester Piccadilly station to a supermarket checkout via an Irish bar in New York, modern writers discuss how they are inspired by the overheard.
We're surrounded by other people's conversations, and many of us try to block them out. But for Lavinia Greenlaw, David Calcutt and Craig Taylor, fragments of overheard talk have been a valuable source of material. In New York, Marilyn Horowitz recalls how a conversation at a neighbouring pub table helped her get over a case of writer's block.
Chris Ledgard presents.

Producer: Chris Ledgard.


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b014fkwv)
Series 25

Hans Fallada

The Fast Show comedian Simon Day tells Matthew Parris why he's fascinated by the life and work of German author Hans Fallada. Matthew is also joined by Fallada's biographer Jenny Williams.

Hans Fallada (real name Rudolf Ditzen) was an alcoholic, a thief, a morphine addict and, prone to depression, attempted suicide twice. He lived and worked in the Germany of the 1930's and, although declared an "undesirable author," stayed in his beloved country for the duration of the Second World War. In and out of prison, sanatoriums and relationships, his volatile personal life often informed his writing (The Drinker, 1950.)

Simon Day achieved fame as "Competitive Dad" and "Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior" in The Fast Show of the 1990's. More recently he has written of his battles with various addictions, and finds parallels between his own experience of addiction, and that of Hans Fallada.


TUE 17:00 PM (b014b760)
Eddie Mair presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b0144ndr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 Fags, Mags and Bags (b00qpmlk)
Series 3

Mr Majhu Goes to Lenzie

Sitcom written by and starring Sanjeev Kohli and Donald McLeary, set in a Glasgow corner shop.

Ramesh inadvertently enters the murky world of Lenzie politics.

Ramesh ...... Sanjeev Kolhi
Dave ...... Donald McLeary
Sanjay ...... Omar Raza
Alok ...... Susheel Kumar
Father Henderson ...... Gerard Kelly
Bob Shandy MP ...... Ron Donachie
Guthrie ...... Tom Urie
Mrs Gibb ...... Marjory Hogarth
Mutton Jeff ...... Sean Scanlan
Jeff ...... Steven McNicol
Hilly ...... Kate Brailsford

A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (b0145x82)
Preoccupied Harry worries about Zofia. She'd due to leave Ambridge in two weeks, unless Adam lets her stay on.

In The Bull, Jim and Joe discuss the next book club meeting. Joe's more focused on the flower and produce show and teases Jim about the onion debacle last year.

Will and Eddie join them. Clarrie's making Joe a ham and egg pie for his 90th celebrations at the cider club. They agree that having a party to cook for will do Clarrie good. Jazzer and Harry join them, and they discuss the green burial site which will open next year. Eddie shows interest when Jim says there may be a paid role for a gravedigger. Harry receives confirmation that Zofia can't stay on. He decides he'll have to save up for a visit to Poland.

Phoebe's finally packed and ready to go. She admits she's a bit worried about the new school, and about making Hayley and Roy sad. Jennifer reassures her that she'll make lots of friends quickly, and she should make the most of this wonderful opportunity to get to know her mother really well again. She shouldn't worry about anyone here. Everyone will manage.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (b0145x84)
Booker Prize shortlist; Ken Loach

With Mark Lawson.

Stella Rimington, chair of judges for the Man Booker Prize 2011, discusses this year's shortlist of contenders: Julian Barnes, Carol Birch, Patrick deWitt, Esi Edugyan, Stephen Kelman and A D Miller.

Leading British film maker Ken Loach celebrated his 75th birthday this year. His first film Kes is re-released in cinemas this week and the British Film Institute is celebrating with a season of his films, including Cathy Come Home, Land and Freedom and Looking For Eric. Ken Loach talks to Mark about film, censorship and having his children follow in his footsteps.

The latest play by the award-winning debbie tucker green is inspired by the process of truth and reconciliation in countries from South Africa to Bosnia and Northern Ireland. Writer Kamila Shamsie reviews.

Producer Nicki Paxman.


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b0148z6z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


TUE 20:00 British Muslims - In the Shadow of 9/11 (b0145x86)
BBC reporter Navid Aktar meets fellow British Muslims from across the country to gauge how the events of 11th September 2001 changed their lives, loyalties and beliefs.

The events of that autumn morning in New York ten years ago have cast a long shadow on the world but the impact on Muslim communities in Britain was felt particularly keenly. To see how the lives and perceptions of Muslims in this country have changed, Navid sets out to meet members from across the community.

Beginning at a Muslim youth centre where, despite promising to speak openly to him, Navid finds a wall of silence for the young men there. Suspicion of the media and general wariness about the way Muslims are portrayed is evident in Navid first encounter. But then he travels north to Blackburn, to meet an Asian football team and finds a dark humour, stoicism and a wish for more integration.

As he travels the country, Navid meets two Muslim soldiers for whom 9/11 had enormous implications. They both went off to war as direct consequence - but on opposing sides. Travelling further, peace activists, mothers, and young Muslim shoppers all describe the ongoing ramifications of the events of 9/11 on their attitudes to their own faith, their loyalties to community and country and to the future.

Producer: Neil George.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (b0145x88)
Concessionary fares for disabled people 06/09/11

Who's eligible and what are the restrictions on concessionary fares for disabled people ? Peter White talks to David Sindall from the Association of Train Operating Companies and Nick Lester Corporate Director for London Councils about the Freedom Pass and the Disabled Person's Railcard

In the run-up to the 50th Anniversary of the programme, we trawl the In Touch archive and hear from Paul and Martin Sutton, then aged 10, as they took a trip to Broxbourne Zoo, hoping to stroke a lion cub.

Plus details on how you can join in the Anniversary celebrations and be part of the audience for a special programme which will celebrate the achievements of blind and partially sighted people being recorded in the Radio Theatre in London on the 4th October..


TUE 21:00 The Philosopher's Arms (b0145x8b)
Series 1

The Experience Machine

Welcome to the Philosopher's Arms - a very special pub where moral dilemmas, philosophical ideas and the real world meet for a chat and a drink. Each week Matthew Sweet takes a dilemma with real philosophical pedigree and sees how it matters in the everyday world.

This week he's been offered an Experience Machine. It's a device that guarantees the sensation of a happy and fulfilled life. But it's not real. Should Matthew plug in? David Willets, Jo Wolf and David Geaney join him for a drink to explain the big thinkers behind this idea and debate the nature of happiness, drugs, reality and the role of government.

Each week in the Philosphers Arms Matthew is joined by a cast of philosophers and attendant experts to show how the dilemmas we face in real life connect us to some of the trickiest philosophical problems ever thought up. En route we'll learn about the thinking of such luminaries as Kant, Hume, Aristotle and Wittgenstein. All recorded in a pub in front of a live audience ready to tap their glasses and demand clarity and ask - what's this all got to do with me?

So questions such as should the government put prozac in the water supply? And my daughter is a robot, how should I treat her? Lead us into dilemmas, problems and issues from the treatment of mental illness to the structure of financial markets, from animal rights to homosexuality. And they will challenge a few of the assumptions and intuitions about life that we carry round with us.

Producer David Edmonds.


TUE 21:30 Bosphorus (b00y8tzv)
Episode 1

Flowing through the heart of Istanbul, in Turkey, the Bosphorus has been a flash point between cultures, religions and imperial powers for thousands of years; from the Roman and Byzantine Empires, to the clash between Islam and Christianity and the Cold War between the super powers of the East and West. The Bosphorus has a rich and bloody history that's inspired poets, writers and artists from around the world.

Edward Stourton looks at that rich history and how the Bosphorus works today. 50,000 vessels make their way through the narrow straits every year - everything from small fishing boats to giant oil and gas tankers battles through the treacherous currents making it one of the busiest and most dangerous international waterways in the world.

Producer: Phil Pegum.


TUE 21:58 Weather (b0144ndt)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b0146m3p)
With Robin Lustig. National and international news and analysis.


TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b0145x8d)
On Canaan's Side

Episode 2

In Sebastian Barry's latest novel, a secret life is revealed in the memoir of Lilly Dunne, 89 who is nearing the end of her days. Born in Ireland, Lilly has lived for 75 years in that place of safety known in the ancient hymn as "On Canaan's Side" - America.

Forced to flee Ireland after a warning that the IRA were about to shoot her and her Black and Tan lover, Lilly has spent her entire life in fear that an old vengeance will catch up with her. And as this painful but exquisitely told history reveals, her fears are well founded.
Using false names Lilly and Tadg jumped a boat to Ellis Island and thence to a suburb of Chicago. The Depression looms but they eek out a living in mixed communities, taking care to avoid the Irish ghettoes, but always waiting for that knock on the door. And when it comes it is of course when they least expect it. On a visit the Museum of Art, Lilly and her now husband, stand amazed before Van Gogh's self portrait - when an IRA assassin appears and shoots Tadg right there on the gallery floor.

In the uproar Lilly escapes, pursued by the killer. She escapes with her life, just, and flees to Cleveland where she meets a Cop, Joe whom she marries and rediscovers a kind of happiness. But unalloyed happiness seems not to be Lilly's lot in life. She bears Joe's child but Joe disappears, presumed dead in a gas explosion - leaving Lilly to work as a domestic servant and rear her son, Ed alone.

A true friend comes into her life - a man called Nolan, from Tennessee. He lives and works nearby and assumes the role of father to Ed and support to Lilly. It is profound but platonic alliance. He is Lilly's rock and Ed's moral compass. And when Ed, the talented and handsome son comes back from Vietnam, mentally broken, it is Nolan who seeks him out from an obscure commune in the hills and brings home not Lilly's son but her grandson, William; a child the fragile Ed is no longer able to manage.

And so Lilly begins once more to raise a child - this time a child who is the distillation of the entire journey of her life. She loves this child more than life itself. So when William hangs himself from the washroom door in his old high school she feels there is no worst can befall her. But there is a final twist to her life's story.

Nolan falls ill, and on his deathbed, reveals to her that is was he who was sent all those years earlier to Chicago to assassinate Lilly and her husband. But he was unable at the last to kill her in that gallery. And since then he has lived only to atone for his sin and to help make her life bearable. But Lilly is by now resolved that she cannot forgive Nolan, and that she can no longer linger on Canaan's side. Her life is at an end.

Reader - Claire Bloom
Abridger - Neville Teller
Producer - Eoin O'Callaghan.


TUE 23:00 Old Harry's Game (b00hr4lp)
Series 7

Episode 2

Satan needs to sort some stuff out with God but He has gone off to have some "me-time". Then Hell receives its strangest visitor yet...

Stars Andy Hamilton as Satan, Annette Crosbie as Edith, Robert Duncan as Scumspawn and Jimmy Mulville as Thomas.

Additional roles played by Michael Fenton Stevens and Philip Pope.

Written by Andy Hamilton.

Producer: Paul Mayhew-Archer

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2009.


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b0145x8g)
Even though Parliament's only just re-started after the summer recess, it's a hectic day at Parliament.
David Cameron faces questions on the Euro at the latest session of the Liaison committee.
Susan Hulme reports on the best of that.
Also on the programme.:
* Kristiina Cooper reports on the latest Commons debate on the highly controversial Bill that shakes up the running of the National Health Service in England.
* Joanna Shinn listens to London Mayor Boris Johnson as he defends the police response to the rioting in parts of the capital.
* The latest twists in the long-running saga of journalists' phone hacking.
* The Commons exchanges between Chancellor and Shadow Chancellor on the current state of the economy.



WEDNESDAY 07 SEPTEMBER 2011

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b0144nfg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b0145x79)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b0144nfj)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b0144nfl)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b0144nfn)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (b0144nfq)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0145yw6)
With the Rev. Nicholas Buxton.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (b0145yw8)
A year after launching its animal welfare strategy the dairy industry admits there are still serious problems with lameness and fertility. But it claims it is making some progress - already seeing a 7% reduction in mastitis. The Cattle Health and Welfare group says its improving the reporting of such incidents but Anna Hill asks when there'll be a meaningful reduction in wider welfare problems .

Do you fancy a locust stir-fry? The Food Standards Agency has held a consultation on eating insects in the UK for Europe and the UN suggests bugs could provide a cheap and green protein source for a growing world population. Anna finds out if we're really likely to see creepy crawlies on the supermarket shelves.

Presented by Anna Hill. Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.


WED 06:00 Today (b0145ywb)
With James Naughtie and John Humphrys. Including Sports Desk; Yesterday in Parliament; Weather; Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Midweek (b0145ywd)
This week Libby Purves is joined by Laura Whitfield, Alastair Hignell, Matteo Pistono and Nigel Havers.

Laura Whitfield was a child swimming champion before becoming an actor. She is appearing in the Channel 4 observational documentary series, 'Seven Dwarves', which follows the lives of seven dwarf actors as they live together and perform in a production of Snow White.

Alastair Hignell CBE was a gifted sportsman who played rugby for England and county cricket for Gloucestershire. Forced to retire early through injury, he turned, via teaching, to broadcasting, becoming a commentator for both the BBC and ITV. In 1999 he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. In his book 'Higgy: Matches, Microphones and MS' he tells of his journey of discovery about living with disability. 'Higgy: Matches, Microphones and MS' is published by Bloomsbury.

Matteo Pistono is a writer and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism. After first going to Tibet to deepen his meditation skills he was shocked by the stories he heard of Tibetans being tortured in Chinese prisons. After becoming a student of a venerated meditation master he began couriering messages to him from the Dalai Lama in India. His memoir, 'In the Shadow of the Buddha' is published by Hay House. He will be giving a talk at the Free Word and The Tibet Society in London during his visit to the UK.

Nigel Havers is appearing in a new play 'Basket Case', written by Nick Fisher. A comedy about a divorced couple in Wiltshire drawn together for a day by the death of their elderly dog. He plays golf-mad smoothie Guy. 'Basket Case' opens in Northampton before touring the UK.

Producer: Chris Paling.


WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b0145ywg)
The 9/11 Letters

Joseph O'Neill

Five internationally acclaimed authors write letters to consider the consequences of the events of September 11th, 2001 for Britain, America and the world. Today's 9/11 Letter is by the Irish-Turkish writer Joseph O'Neill, who lives in Manhattan and whose award-winning novel, "Netherland", has been described as the "angriest, most exacting and most desolate work of fiction we've yet had about life in New York and London after the World Trade Center fell".

Rather than creating a character writing to an imagined recipient, as the other authors of The 9/11 Letters have, O'Neill remains steadfastly himself, and addresses his letter directly to Radio 4 listeners. He reflects on the way that, because of the mass coverage of the attack on the World Trade Centre, the distance between those who were there as eye witnesses and the rest of us collapsed with the Twin Towers. We were all 'there'. And so America's response to the attacks had profound implications for us all.

Producer: Beaty Rubens.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b0145ywj)
Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Urban Foraging with Alys Fowler

Presented by Jane Garvey. Urban foraging with Alys Fowler. The future of education in Britain: how will free schools change the landscape? Music from cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson and how cuts to school bus services are affecting communities.


WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b01490qx)
The Core

Episode 3

By Mike Bartlett. Carly is 23. She has come back home to live in Berkshire. She goes to her old school to visit her ex-headmistress, Sarah.

Sarah...Juliet Stevenson
Carly... Alex Tregear

Director Claire Grove.


WED 11:00 New Conversation (b01460dl)
Olivia O'Leary follows historian and philosopher Theodore Zeldin as he tries to change the way people talk to each other. He wants to make the world a better place - starting with the London Borough of Lewisham.

Prof Zeldin believes there are substantial social benefits to be gained from encouraging people to strip away social conventions and talk about things which go beyond gossip, argument and chit chat. He wants people to talk about who they really are, and what they want from life. He calls it 'new conversation.'

Guests at his 'conversation dinners' spend several hours talking to just one other person. They are required to follow a menu of conversational gambits such as : When have you felt isolated and what do you do about it? What would make the world a better place and how could you make that happen?

Olivia follows Prof Zeldin as he introduces his 'new conversation' to a wide range of people including former MPs, Pilates teachers, furniture store staff and unemployed teenagers. She asks why such people would want to be told how to talk to each other by an elderly Oxford academic.

Prof Zeldin's ambitious plan is to turn the borough of Lewisham into a place where the entire quarter of a million inhabitants can get to know each other. He argues that his approach will break down isolation and alienation, and even create more satisfying jobs.

But Prof Zeldin's efforts to sweep all along with him on his adventure hit a barrier when conversation dinner guests accuse him of staging a glorified version of Blind Date. And he meets resistance elsewhere from community groups who refuse to talk to people from other parts of the borough.

But with the support of the local council, Prof Zeldin pushes on; staging a mass conversation dinner in a park, and even hatching a scheme to enable local GPs to get to know their patients better. It's an uphill struggle, but Prof Zeldin is not a man to give up easily.

Producer: Brian King
A Just Radio production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.


WED 11:30 Paul Temple (b01460dn)
A Case for Paul Temple

3. In Which Sir Gilbert Explains

Steve has ulterior motives when she makes an appointment with Madame de Briac, one of Mayfair's most fashionable hairdressers.

In this 2011 recreation of the 1946 vintage crime serial, Paul and Steve brave great danger to reveal the identity of the mysterious West End drug dealer known only as 'Valentine'...

Crawford Logan stars as Paul Temple and Gerda Stevenson as Steve.

Between 1938 and 1968, Francis Durbridge's incomparably suave amateur detective Paul Temple and glamorous wife Steve solved case after baffling case in one of BBC radio's most popular series. They inhabited a sophisticated, well-heeled world of cocktails and fast cars.

Sadly, only half of their adventures survive in the archives. But in 2006, the BBC began recreating them using original scripts and incidental music, and recorded with vintage microphones and sound effects.

Paul Temple ...... Crawford Logan
Steve ...... Gerda Stevenson
Sir Graham ...... Gareth Thomas
Major Peters ...... Greg Powrie
Supt. Wetherby ...... Richard Greenwood
Mary ...... Eliza Langland
Charles Kelvin ...... Nick Underwood
Sheila Baxter ...... Melody Grove
Captain O'Hara ...... Robin Laing
Sir Gilbert Dryden ...... Michael Mackenzie

Producer: Patrick Rayner

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2011.


WED 12:00 You and Yours (b01460dq)
Consumer news with Winifred Robinson. Salford City Council has taken the unprecedented step of refusing to renew the licence of a firm which extracts peat on peat bogs in the borough. What are the wider implications of this?

A European directive came into force last September stating that a diabetic who has two hypoglycaemic episodes a year will be banned from driving. Diabetes UK say that cases are beginning to come to light where drivers in the UK are losing their licence unnecessarily.

The Holy Island of Lindisfarne off the Northumberland coast has attracted pilgrims since the 7th century. In the 21st century most visitors arrive by car crossing at low tide every day. But tourists still get caught out, necessitating expensive rescues. This year has already seen the most call-outs for a decade. Now islanders, emergency services and Northumberland County Council have been meeting to discuss controversial plans to install barriers which would be lowered as high tide approaches.


WED 12:57 Weather (b0144nfs)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 13:00 World at One (b014b53w)
National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.


WED 13:30 The Media Show (b01460ds)
Channel 5 and the Leveson Inquiry

Celebrity Big Brother has been a ratings smash for Channel 5, sometimes pulling in bigger audiences than Channel 4 and ITV in the prime time spot. But will this success continue with the 12th series of Big Brother, which features members of the public? Channel 5's director of programmes Jeff Ford joins Steve Hewlett to discuss what's next for Channel 5.

Channel 4 dropped Ortis Deley as the main presenter of the World Athletics Championships after he struggled with the live format and forgot athletes' names. But why did Channel 4 choose a presenter with little relevant specialist sports knowledge or live experience to host the high profile event? Veteran sports presenter Des Lynam explains why he thinks Deley was the wrong choice, while Channel 4's director of creative diversity Stuart Cosgrove explains the channel's approach to presenting sport.

The Leveson Inquiry, which reconvened yesterday, has been set up to investigate the practices and ethics of the media following the phone hacking scandal. The inquiry will look at journalists' relationships with politicians and the police. But is there a danger that more regulation could result in draconian restrictions for journalists? Sean O'Neil, crime and security editor at The Times and Andrew Gowers, former editor of the Financial Times discuss what the panel should be asking.


WED 14:00 The Archers (b0145x82)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama (b01460dv)
The Marches

Man in a Wheelbarrow

by Sebastian Baczkiewicz

Trudy's arrival in Kington has caused quite a stir. The young American, with her dyed neon hair, looks more like a visiting rock star than an inhabitant of the Herefordshire market town. Trudy claims that she's researching local history, but her story doesn't add up. When she starts surreptitiously following the town's street cleaner, questions are asked about the real reason for her visit.

Man in a Wheelbarrow is one of two plays that form the community project The Marches (continuing with Fearless Librarian Saves the Day tomorrow). The community of Kington was involved with the creative process behind this original Afternoon Play. A film accompanying the radio play can be watched via the Radio 4 website.

Cast:

Trudy . . . Sasha Pick
Duggie . . . Richard Elfyn
Leon . . . Stuart McLoughlin
Molly . . . Jane Whittenshaw
Mal . . . Sam Jones
Director/Producer Sasha Yevtushenko

Over the past year, BBC Radio Drama has worked in partnership with the Rural Media Company and the Herefordshire communities of Kington and Ewyas Harold to create The Marches - a highly innovative project that combines the mediums of radio and film with community participation.

The project gave each community the opportunity to be part of the creative process behind two original Afternoon Plays as well as two accompanying films. Over 150 people aged from 7 to 85 from rural Herefordshire have taken part in the project over the past twelve months. The Marches captures the sounds and images of contemporary rural life, together with the voices, lives, stories and histories of the rural border regions of England and Wales.

Rural Media undertook the research and community development to help create the radio plays. The communities shared local stories and their experiences of the towns with award-winning writer Sebastian Baczkiewicz, who in turn used these accounts as inspiration for two original Afternoon Plays for Radio 4.

In January 2011, BBC Radio Drama recorded the two radio plays in Kington (Man in a Wheelbarrow) and Ewyas Harold (Fearless Librarian Saves The Day) with a cast of professional actors, and with additional roles played by some members of the community.

In June 2011, the Rural Media Company shot two films that accompany the plays. These films enrich the imagery and story-telling of the radio plays, and were created with the participation of the local communities.

The film that accompanies Man In A Wheelbarrow was directed by John Humphreys. It is a lovingly crafted visual exploration of Kington and the locations, places and events of the play. It features the Kington Festival's famous Wheelbarrow Race as well as stories, ideas and themes gathered from across the market town.


WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b01460dx)
Pensions and annuities

Do you know how much to invest in your pension and what to do with your fund when you retire?

If you need advice about planning for or claiming your pension, finding an annuity, or working out what the latest pension change mean to you, call Vincent Duggleby and guests on Wednesday's Money Box Live.

Phone lines open at 1.30pm 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.


WED 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b01460dz)
Agatha Christie's Mysterious Mr Quin

The Man from the Sea

Written by Agatha Christie. Adapted by Archie Scottney.

Martin Jarvis reads this intriguing 1920s story by the undisputed queen of Crime. Mr Satterthwaite is holidaying on a Spanish Island. One day he proceeds from the hotel to the small harbour. He passes the black lava beach where the surf thunders and where, long ago, an English swimmer was carried out to sea and drowned.

High up, on the edge of the cliff, is a white villa with faded green shutters, and a tangled beautiful garden. Today Mr Satterthwaite's peace is going to be oddly shattered. Something strange and frightening once occurred in this house. But will it take Mr Harley Quin's influence over Satterthwaite to discover the truth? Christie considered this character to be her personal favourite.

Producer/Director: Rosalind Ayres
A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 15:45 Twin Nation (b01460f1)
Episode 3

Nicholas and Michael Rotgans are identical twins, in fact their genes are so similar its beyond science to tell them apart. Yet Nicholas is gay and Michael isn't.

Edi stark asks the twins what its like to have such a major difference between and finds out what it can tell the rest of us about how sexual identity is determined.

Producer: Peter McManus.


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b01460f3)
Home Life 3: Nuclear Household

Thinking Allowed explores the changing nature of home in a 3 part summer series recorded in the homes of our listeners. Who do we live with, how do our homes operate and what do they say about us and about the dramatic social transformations of the last century and the century to come? By invitation, in each edition a new type of home is invaded, analysed and explained by Laurie Taylor and a panel of two sociologists round the kitchen table.

Much political debate still revolves around the assumption that most of us live in conventional family homes. However research suggests that in 20 years time only 2 out of 5 people will be in marriages and married couples will be outnumbered by other types of household. Behind closed doors, Britain is changing: single living has increased by 30% in 10 years but at the same time financial pressures are fuelling a growth in extended families - people sharing bills, childcare and mucking-in in a way which makes private life far less private.

After invitations from a host of Thinking Allowed listeners, Laurie Taylor visits three different homes. In the last of the series he travels to a village near Preston in Lancashire to meet what is sometimes called a classic 'nuclear' family. He and his accompanying sociologists, Jacqui Gabb from the Open University and Professor Peter Bramham from Leeds Metropolitan University, attempt to divine the future for Britain's private life.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.


WED 16:30 The Philosopher's Arms (b0145x8b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 17:00 PM (b0147mf4)
Eddie Mair presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b0144nfv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:30 The Castle (b00gdz3r)
Series 2

Nice to Gavotte You, to Gavotte You Nice

Hie ye to "The Castle", a rollicking sitcom set way back then, starring James Fleet ("The Vicar Of Dibley", "Four Weddings & A Funeral") and Neil Dudgeon ("Life Of Riley")

In this episode, the arrival of a new handyman, a mysterious Frenchwoman and a celebrity dance competition puts everyone in a whirl.

Cast:
Sir John Woodstock ..... James Fleet
Sir William De Warenne ...... Neil Dudgeon
Lady Anne Woodstock ..... Montserrat Lombard
Cardinal Duncan ..... Jonathan Kydd
Lady Charlotte ..... Ingrid Oliver
Master Henry Woodstock ..... Steven Kynman
Merlin ...... Lewis Macleod

and special guest
Comtesse Totti ..... Katy Brand

Written by Kim Fuller with additional material by Paul Alexander
Music by Guy Jackson

Produced and directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 19:00 The Archers (b01460l6)
Ruth and David admire the cows at the Dairy Event. David's impressed by arable farmer Spencer's interest in it. Pip's been talking to an expert on milk contracts, and Spencer's mesmerized by a budget-busting robotic milking system.

Susan complains about her back, which hurts from all the bending while carrot lifting . She can't wait to be back in the dairy. Pondering Phoebe's upcoming departure, and the fact that Jennifer's bound to be lonely, Susan considers her own future grandchildren and their education.

Tony's wary of trying to sell carrots in Bridge Farm bags, but manic Pat doesn't want to throw them away. He points out that the co-op will take them, albeit at a low price. Pat's determined not to be ashamed of their name. She breaks down, and Tony encourages her to let it all out.

Pat apologises for her outburst but she's had another look at the accounts and realises they can't go on much longer. Tony agrees, and suggests going to see Peggy to ask for help, until they can build up sales again. Pat admits there doesn't seem to be any other way. Peggy's out tonight, so Tony will go round tomorrow with the begging bowl.


WED 19:15 Front Row (b01460l8)
David Hockney; Mark Kermode

With Mark Lawson.

David Hockney this morning announced a major new exhibition of his landscape works, which will open at the Royal Academy next January. The show will focus on his home county of Yorkshire, where he has recently spent six years painting, photographing, filming and creating artworks on his computer tablet. Hockney discusses his love of nature and the landscape in Yorkshire and Los Angeles where he also lives.

Mark Kermode is known for his straight-talking approach to films and the way the film industry operates and this forms the basis of his new book The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex: What's Wrong With Modern Movies? He's live in the studio to discuss the latest cinematic bêtes-noires.

Too Big To Fail is a new TV drama about the 2008 financial meltdown in the US, based on the book by Andrew Ross Sorkin, and starring James Woods, William Hurt and Cynthia Nixon. The BBC's economics editor Stephanie Flanders discusses the art of creating drama from a crisis.

Producer Claire Bartleet.


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b01490qx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b01460lb)
What are prisons for?

Hundreds of this summer's rioters and looters have gone through the courts now and many of them are having time to reflect on their actions behind bars. But will it make any difference? The Justice Secretary Ken Clarke thinks not. According to his figures three quarters of those aged 18 or over who were charged with riot offences already had a conviction. He says they're part of a criminal class that goes through the revolving doors of the justice system with no discernible effect. Our penal system is broken, according to Mr Clarke. Its record in preventing re-offending is dreadful but our prisons are bursting at the seams. We've got one of the highest per capita prison populations in Europe, but have we lost sight of what prison is for? Have we just been too happy to punish people; to slam the cell door shut without any thought of the possibility of reform or rehabilitation? In the wake of the riots, is all the talk of feral and criminal underclasses a reflection of the fact that as a society we have lost the idea that no one is beyond redemption? Or is it simply that fact that people aren't deterred from committing crime because our penal system isn't tough enough on them? Prisons are there to protect the public from dangerous people and when criminals are looked up for longer they inevitably commit less crime. What are prisons for?

Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk with Claire Fox, Melanie Phillips, Michael Portillo and Matthew Taylor.

Witnesses:
David Fraser, former senior probation officer and author of the book "A land fit for Criminals: An Insider's View of Crime"
Rob Owen, Chief Executive, St Giles Trust
David Green, Director of CIVITAS - Institute for Study of Civil Society and author of the book 'Crime and Civil Society: Can We Become a More Law-Abiding People?'
Angie Hobbs, Associate Professor in Philosophy, University of Warwick and the UK's First Senior Fellow in the Public Understanding of Philosophy

Producer: Phil Pegum.


WED 20:45 Four Thought (b01460lg)
Series 2

Jim Crumley: A New Dance with Wolves

You don't need to read the folk tales of the Brother's Grimm or go to Werewolf movies to realise that humankind has always had a fear of wolves. But is all this just anti-wolf propaganda?

Historians believe the last wolf in Britain was dispatched near Findhorn, Moray, in 1743 amid an outcry that it had killed two children. Now, more than 250 years later, could we finally learn to coexist peacefully with wolves? Indeed could we even learn something from them?

Jim Crumley has been described as 'the best nature writer working in Britain today'. He was born and grew up in Dundee, and has written over twenty books about natural history.

Producer: David Stenhouse.


WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b0146104)
Bug Mac and Flies

In tonight's Costing The Earth Tom Heap tucks into a portion of locusts and asks if eating insects is good for his diet and better for the planet than a piece of steak.

Bugs such as crickets and caterpillars can convert food into protein at a more efficient rate than livestock, and with valuable agricultural land being overgrazed around the world, we could soon be looking for an alternative food supply. One suggestion is that insects have a role to play in feeding the world. They are easy to raise since farming insects has a low impact on the environment, and once over any cultural taboos we may have as diners, they are nutritionally valuable.

Tom Heap gets stuck in to a locust stir-fry in Bristol before heading off to the Netherlands to witness the latest cutting-edge research into raising insects where he also tries a mealworm cookie: a biscuit that could potentially deliver a day's protein ration in one hit to famine stricken areas of the world.

He then visits a farm of the future where row upon row of crickets and various pupae are being raised. They are currently destined for pet shops to be used as animal food, but could soon be turning up on a supermarket shelf near you.

Beetle burger anyone?


WED 21:30 Midweek (b0145ywd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 21:58 Weather (b0144nfx)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b0146106)
With Robin Lustig. National and international news and analysis.


WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b0146108)
On Canaan's Side

Episode 3

In Sebastian Barry's latest novel, a secret life is revealed in the memoir of Lilly Dunne, 89 who is nearing the end of her days. Born in Ireland, Lilly has lived for 75 years in that place of safety known in the ancient hymn as "On Canaan's Side" - America.

Forced to flee Ireland after a warning that the IRA were about to shoot her and her Black and Tan lover, Lilly has spent her entire life in fear that an old vengeance will catch up with her. And as this painful but exquisitely told history reveals, her fears are well founded.
Using false names Lilly and Tadg jumped a boat to Ellis Island and thence to a suburb of Chicago. The Depression looms but they eek out a living in mixed communities, taking care to avoid the Irish ghettoes, but always waiting for that knock on the door. And when it comes it is of course when they least expect it. On a visit the Museum of Art, Lilly and her now husband, stand amazed before Van Gogh's self portrait - when an IRA assassin appears and shoots Tadg right there on the gallery floor.

In the uproar Lilly escapes, pursued by the killer. She escapes with her life, just, and flees to Cleveland where she meets a Cop, Joe whom she marries and rediscovers a kind of happiness. But unalloyed happiness seems not to be Lilly's lot in life. She bears Joe's child but Joe disappears, presumed dead in a gas explosion - leaving Lilly to work as a domestic servant and rear her son, Ed alone.

A true friend comes into her life - a man called Nolan, from Tennessee. He lives and works nearby and assumes the role of father to Ed and support to Lilly. It is profound but platonic alliance. He is Lilly's rock and Ed's moral compass. And when Ed, the talented and handsome son comes back from Vietnam, mentally broken, it is Nolan who seeks him out from an obscure commune in the hills and brings home not Lilly's son but her grandson, William; a child the fragile Ed is no longer able to manage.

And so Lilly begins once more to raise a child - this time a child who is the distillation of the entire journey of her life. She loves this child more than life itself. So when William hangs himself from the washroom door in his old high school she feels there is no worst can befall her. But there is a final twist to her life's story.

Nolan falls ill, and on his deathbed, reveals to her that is was he who was sent all those years earlier to Chicago to assassinate Lilly and her husband. But he was unable at the last to kill her in that gallery. And since then he has lived only to atone for his sin and to help make her life bearable. But Lilly is by now resolved that she cannot forgive Nolan, and that she can no longer linger on Canaan's side. Her life is at an end.

Reader - Claire Bloom
Abridger - Neville Teller
Producer - Eoin O'Callaghan.


WED 23:00 What to Do If You're Not Like Everybody Else (b014610b)
Series 2

Special Occasions

Andrew Lawrence explores the peculiar ways in which we choose to celebrate special occasions like weddings, birthdays, anniveraries, and religious holidays.

Series two of short comedic monologues taking a light-hearted look at various aspects of conventional living and the pressure we feel to conform to social norms and ideals.

Written by Andrew Lawrence.

Producer: Jane Berthoud

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2011


WED 23:15 Mordrin McDonald: 21st Century Wizard (b00yqvkb)
Series 2

Team Building

Written by David Kay and Gavin Smith, Mordrin McDonald is a 2000 year old Wizard living in the modern world where settling garden disputes and watching Countdown are just as important as slaying the odd Jakonty Dragon.

This week Mordrin is convinced by Councillor Campbell to take part in a team building exercise.

Featuring and co-written by Scottish stand up David Kay, and starring Gordon Kennedy and Jack Docherty with this week's guest star Brian Pettifer. Mordrin McDonald mixes the magical with the mundane and offers a hilarious take on the life of a modern day Wizard.

Cast:
Mordrin ..... David Kay
Geoff ..... Gordon Kennedy
Councillor Campbell ..... Callum Cuthbertson
Pete The Pict ..... Brian Pettifer
Heather ..... Hannah Donaldson

Producer/Director: Gus Beattie
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b014610d)
David Cornock with the day's top news stories from Westminster. David Cameron defends his plans for elected police commissioners at Prime Minister's Questions, and Nadine Dorries presents her amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill to change counselling services for women seeking abortions.



THURSDAY 08 SEPTEMBER 2011

THU 00:00 Midnight News (b0144ngk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b0145ywg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b0144ngm)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b0144ngp)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b0144ngr)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (b0144ngt)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b014629f)
With the Rev. Nicholas Buxton.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (b014629h)
There has been a 15% increase in the amount of cider bought in shops to be consumed at home. Around half of all the apples grown in the UK are used in the cider making process - and this year's bumper harvest has seen around two hundred thousand tonnes squished to make the drink. Reporter Anne-Marie Bullock visits a cider orchard where the teams are growing new varieties to try to keep up with demand.

Consumers should expect to pay an extra four pence for a bottle of milk to ensure the future of the country's dairy farmers. David Cotton, the Chairman of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers says increased costs for feed, fuel, fertiliser means many are unable to reinvest in their businesses. An increase of 4 pence a litre would mean an extra £40,000 a year for a typical dairy operation producing 1 million litres.

Plans are being unveiled for more than a hundred Marine Conservation Zones around the coast of the UK, which will aim to protect areas of the sea from any activity which could harm wildlife and habitats. The maps will be released ahead of a public consultation. Concerns have been raised by some fishing organisations who say closing certain fishing grounds will have huge consequences for fleets.

And a group of cucumber growers in the South East of England are organising a festival to try to promote the vegetable. They say confidence in the product dwindled earlier this year when cucumbers were wrongly blamed for an E.Coli outbreak in Europe where 49 people died. Since the crisis half a million pounds has been claimed by British farmers from the £200 million pound EU fund set up to compensate farmers who had to dump produce.

Presenter: Charlotte Smith; Producer: Angela Frain.


THU 06:00 Today (b014629k)
Morning news and current affairs with James Naughtie and Sarah Montague, including:

07:33 Today presenter John Humphrys examines how attitudes to Muslims in Britain have changed since 9/11.
07:46 The nearest supernova of its type to be discovered for 40 years is predicted to be at its brightest tonight.
08:10 Shadow chancellor Ed Balls makes the case for a temporary cut in VAT to boost the economy.


THU 09:00 The Class Ceiling (b014629m)
Episode 2

In a major new two-part documentary series for BBC Radio 4, the journalist and author Polly Toynbee explores the ever-more-pressing question of how possible it is to move up through British society. Who gets to break the 'class ceiling'?

Polly argues that, while deference is long gone, and some politicians have swapped ties and titles for first names and informality, Britain's class system is still going strong.

In the first programme in the series, Polly examined how a child's family life and education can block or boost their social progress. In this second programme, Polly asks what happens when young people enter the workplace and in the housing market. Do these rites of passage help break the class ceiling, or do they reinforce it?

Polly visits Stoke on Trent - a city which traditionally was able to provide jobs in the potteries for anyone who left school at 16. Today, whilst some potteries are still operating, the industry is a shadow of its former self and for those who leave school at 16 with few qualifications, getting a job which pays a good hourly rate of pay can be a challenge.

The city is slowly adapting to the shift in the UK economy from manufacturing to service industries, as we hear from former potters who now work in a call centre. Polly also visits a pottery which has taken on an apprentice.

When it comes to entering the professions like the law, the chances of getting there from a working class background are slim. But we hear from some teenagers with working class backgrounds who are being encouraged and supported by outreach schemes by the legal profession. Will these social mobility initiatives be enough to help them break into the competitive world of the Bar which has been dominated by the middle classes for years?

Polly talks to a successful international City banker who entered the profession via his local branch as a clerk with just two A levels - and asks whether he would be as successful if he were starting out now.

And she considers the value and use of apprenticeships in opening up opportunity through the workplace, even for those who did not thrive at school. Polly explores the argument that for those without a degree, working life offered more opportunities some decades ago, when it was arguably a lot easier to join a company at 16 and rise to the top.

She explores the degree to which being a homeowner is as a badge of being middle class, and asks how crucial it is to have parents who own a home if you have any hope of getting on the property ladder yourself.

Polly talks to an array of academics and politicians from across the political spectrum, including Universities Minister David Willetts, Shadow Education Secretary Andy Burnham and former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis.

Producer: Sarah Taylor.


THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b014629p)
The 9/11 Letters

Lionel Shriver

Five internationally acclaimed writers consider the impact of the momentous events of September 11th, 2001. Ten years on, these authors use imaginative letters to reflect on the consequences for Britain, America and the world.

Today's 9/11 Letter is by the American novelist Lionel Shriver whose book 'We Need to Talk about Kevin' is now a modern classic. Shriver has given her letter the title 'Prepositions' and it delineates precisely the meanings of little words such as 'in', 'on','at' and 'near'. Her letter is to a woman whose husband died in 9/11, from a woman whose husband died on 9/11. Ten years on the consequences of those little differences on the lives of these friends are huge, and vastly different.

Producer: Beaty Rubens.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b014629r)
Children and food allergies, 9/11 survivor Vanessa Lawrence

Presented by Jane Garvey. New study into children and food allergies, 9/11 survivor Vanessa Lawrence talks about her experiences, we explore whether women's fiction is an outdated title in 2011 and as part of our Women in Business series we look at the importance of getting the right name for your business.


THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b01490q6)
The Core

Episode 4

By Mike Bartlett. Five years later and headmistress Sarah and ex-pupil Carly bump into each other in the street. Carly is angry and Sarah isn't sure why.

Sarah...Juliet Stevenson
Carly... Alex Tregear

Director Claire Grove.


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b014629t)
Zimbabwe's child migrants

Mukul Devichand goes on the road with young children travelling alone on a journey of desperation, danger and hope - south from Zimbabwe and across the border to South Africa.
Producer: Judy Fladmark.


THU 11:30 Comp Lit (b014629w)
A children's book using the word "Paki". An angry Daily Telegraph editorial about teen fiction. A new group of writers and teachers grappling with the difficult lives of new young readers. 'Comp Lit.' may not have been a literary genre. But it had widespread repercussions

Nick Baker revisits a period in children's literature, the 1970s, when stories with gritty true life settings sent the boarding school story packing, at least until the arrival of Harry Potter. A new era of fiction set in state schools, aimed at a diverse new readership, hungry for stories about their lives, rather than the idealised lives of middle class children.

Nick traces the arrival of stories for and about 'ordinary' boys and girls of all ages, talking to writers Robert Leeson, Bernard Ashley, Gene Kemp, Farrukh Dhondy and Jan Needle about a time when the politics of class and the classroom, of race and gender, came together in fiction.

By the 1970s, books like The Trouble with Donovan Croft by Bernard Ashley, The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler by Gene Kemp and Come To Mecca by Farrukh Dhondy were depicting real life in Britain. Authors were often teachers, keen to capture the imaginations of reluctant readers with stories they'd relate to. The stories were instantly popular. They inspired the hit TV drama Grange Hill..

What kids should and did read became a hot topic. The new books told stories charged with the language and behaviour found in schools the readers went to. Fostering, working mums, benefits, multiracial friendships and racist bullying were all grist to the mill. Did they sacrifice fantasy for social realism? Should the politics of class race and gender be kept out of the children's books? Nick examines the legacy of Comp Lit.

Producer: Tamsin Hughes
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:00 You and Yours (b014629y)
Consumer news with Winifred Robinson.

A charitable trust in Stratford upon Avon has agreed to fund the overtime of three uniformed officers. The officers will patrol the town centre at peak times. The Police Federation complain that it illustrates that there is no case to push through the cuts in the number of police officers currently being implemented in England and Wales.

The Somerset Village of East Coker sits in an area designated as being of outstanding natural beauty. The last resting place of the poet TS Eliot, the village is now facing the prospect of nearly four thousand new homes being built within its parish boundaries. There is almost universal opposition from within the parish to the scheme; why is it being built and will the government's commitment to localism in planning help or hinder their campaign?

Car sales rose by seven per cent in August and the number of electric vehicles trebled compared to last year but that still meant only 34 were sold; this despite a generous government subsidy available for the purchase of a range of electric vehicles. Do the incentives need to be revised or is the age of electric vehicles so far off we would be better off spending our money on more familiar low carbon motoring alternatives like hybrid cars.

There has been a surge in the mis-selling of domestic renewable microgeneration, claim the body which sets the standards for the industry. Real Assurance, say unscrupulous salesmen are using high pressure sales techniques, reminiscent of the bad old days of double glazing sales, to push people into buying systems.

Teenagers have no idea how much basic items cost and consequently are unable to control their personal finances, says a survey by T Mobile. But did they ever?


THU 12:57 Weather (b0144ngw)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 13:00 World at One (b01462b0)
With Shaun Ley. National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.


THU 13:30 Costing the Earth (b0146104)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:00 The Archers (b01460l6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (b01462b2)
The Marches

Fearless Librarian Saves the Day

Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz, this is the story of no ordinary librarian. Sitting behind the wheel of a clapped-out mobile library, Harry Hayman is the easy rider of Herefordshire's remote country lanes. Whether it's as a knight in shining armour, a getaway driver or an unlikely Casanova - Harry repeatedly finds himself having to save the day. But when his cherished job is jeopardised, can he pull out all the stops? A road trip that weaves together stories inspired by life in the Herefordshire countryside.

Cast:

Harry Hayman . . . Morgan George
Lavinia Jackson . . . Fenella Woolgar
Glyn . . . Stuart McLoughlin
Vivian . . . Christine Pritchard
Leslie . . . William Thomas
Ethel . . . Manon Edwards
Cavendish . . . Sean Baker
Cassie . . . Sally Orrock

Radio drama director: Sasha Yevtushenko
Production co-ordinator: Lesley Allan
Studio Managers: Cal Knightley and Keith Graham

Film directed by Adrian and Rachel Lambert

Fearless Librarian Saves The Day is one of two plays that form the community project The Marches. This unique collaboration brought the community of the Herefordshire village of Ewyas Harold right into the centre of the creative process behind this original Afternoon Play.

Adrian and Rachel Lambert directed the film that accompanies Fearless Librarian Saves The Day, inspired by the community of the village of Ewyas Harold. Taking the idea of the village hall fete, the film required 120ft of trestle tables and the creation of twenty carefully composed visual re-interpretations of the radio drama, complete with turf, gravel, a freshly caught salmon and mass community participation on the last day of filming!


THU 15:00 Open Country (b0144pv6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:07 on Saturday]


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b0144rqh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b01462b4)
Agatha Christie's Mysterious Mr Quin

Harlequin's Lane

Written by Agatha Christie. Adapted by Archie Scottney.

Martin Jarvis performs this riveting 1920s story. Mr Satterthwaite is staying at the Denman's country home. There's to be a performance in the grounds of a neighbouring mansion that evening - a 'masquerade' and a ballet.

But a motor accident means that two new dancers have to be found to replace the visiting professionals. There seem to be unresolved mysteries here. Does Anna Denman harbour a secret? Is there a secret, too, concerning her husband? Why is Mr Harley Quin staying in the country house? And then, during the performance, Mr Satterthwaite begins to perceive the truth of what is happening. But the revelations which follow concerning Mr Quin are surprising and frightening. Mr Satterthwaite has never had to deal with anything quite like this before.

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


THU 15:45 Twin Nation (b01462b6)
Episode 4

Edi Stark asks does being a twin help or hinder development? We compare the experiences of twins and their parents and find out how they ensure they grow up as individuals.

Producer: Peter McManus.


THU 16:00 Bookclub (b0144ybj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:30 Material World (b01462b8)
Quentin Cooper hears about the fossils of a small but surprisingly well-formed possible human ancestor from South Africa; how one writer has come to understand and live with her beautiful genome; and how all the gold we can mine once rained down from above.

Producer: Martin Redfern.


THU 17:00 PM (b0147mg5)
Eddie Mair presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b0144ngy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:30 My Teenage Diary (b01462bb)
Series 3

Janet Street-Porter

My Teenage Diary returns with four more brave celebrities ready to revisit their formative years by opening up their intimate teenage diaries, and reading them out in public for the very first time. Comedian Rufus Hound is joined by writer and editor Janet Street-Porter who revisits her heady teen years at the heart of swinging 60's Soho.

Producer: Harriet Jaine
A Talkback Production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 19:00 The Archers (b01462bd)
Phoebe's disappointed she can't take all her sentimental items to South Africa. To get around the baggage limit, she seems to be wearing her wardrobe, including a sweatshirt from Vicky and Mike. At the airport, Roy and Hayley say an emotional goodbye. Afterwards they share a joke, but Roy's suddenly overwhelmed. He admits he didn't think it would be so hard to let go.

When Tony calls on Peggy, she asks him to take her to the hospital at once. Jack has had a stroke. Peggy's knocked sideways, but stays typically focused and resilient. The doctors will keep an agitated Jack in overnight and do a scan tomorrow. Peggy remembers her own stroke. At least she understood what was happening, unlike poor Jack.

Later, at home, Pat reassures Tony that they'll all take turns to help Peggy. Lilian's at Peggy's now and is willing to stay all night. Tony reports that Jack's on a drip. Jack kept pulling it out but Tony made sure Peggy wasn't aware of that. They remember why Tony went to see Peggy - to ask for a loan. Pat and Tony agree that he just couldn't bring it up under the circumstances. They resolve to battle on themselves, but goodness knows how.


THU 19:15 Front Row (b01462bg)
Playwright Arnold Wesker and author Val McDermid

Mark Lawson talks to playwright Arnold Wesker as the National Theatre revives his 1959 play The Kitchen, which is set in a West End restaurant where many nationalities work together. The 79 year old playwright reflects on his career and expresses his frustration that despite constant revivals of his famous plays, such as Roots and Chicken Soup with Barley, nobody will produce his new work.

Norwegian mockumentary Troll Hunter plays with fairy-tale myths and explores what happens when three student film-makers accidentally come across the last remaining Troll Hunter. Writer Tibor Fischer reviews.

Crime novelist Val McDermid discusses the twists and turns in the relationship between criminal profiler Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan in her 25th novel The Retribution. In this book chilling serial killer Jacko Vance is out of prison and desperately seeking revenge.

When Edward Gardner picks up the baton at the Albert Hall this Saturday night, he will be the youngest conductor since Henry Wood himself to conduct the Last Night of the Proms. He discusses the programme and what preparations he's making for the event.

Producer Claire Bartleet.


THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b01490q6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


THU 20:00 The Report (b01462bj)
The Abortion Debate

This week Bill Law investigates how backbench Conservative MP Nadine Dorries has reignited the abortion debate. She argues that abortion providers should not be allowed to offer pre-abortion counselling because they stand to gain financially if the woman goes ahead with a termination. The campaign is backed by Christian charities which want to see the number of abortions carried out in Britain dramatically reduced. The Report looks at how the evangelical Christian movement is finding ways to shape public policy in this and other areas and asks whether Christianity is becoming an increasingly influential force in British politics.

Interviewees include:

Nadine Dorries MP
Andrea Williams, Christian Concern
Jonathan Bartley of religious think tank Ekklesia
Oliver Cooper, Conservative Humanists
Christian Guy, Centre for Social Justice

Producer: Lucy Proctor.


THU 20:30 In Business (b01462bl)
Silicon Roundabout

Hundreds of small companies have set up shop in a shabby area of East London defined mostly by an enormous traffic interchange. 'Silicon Roundabout' bears little physical resemblance to its California namesake, but it is becoming one of Europe's biggest technology clusters. Some observers say the area could have a global impact, and the government has latched on to the idea, creating competitive grants for startups and rebranding the larger area 'TechCity UK'.
There are success stories - such as LastFM, a music sharing site sold to American media giant CBS for £140 million - and many more entrepreneurs just starting out. Could Britain's tech centre spawn a world-beating company along the lines of a Facebook or Twitter? In this programme Peter Day weighs up the evidence, talking to some of London's most promising social networking companies, and the venture capitalists and business groups supporting them, as well as the sceptics who doubt the area could really rival the unprecedented ecosystem that is Silicon Valley.


THU 21:00 Saving Species (b0145x7f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 on Tuesday]


THU 21:30 The Class Ceiling (b014629m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 21:58 Weather (b0144nh0)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b01462bq)
President Obama to unveil a $300 bn job creation programme. Will the Republicans in Congress back it ?

Inquiry finds Baha Mousa died because soldiers in Iraq did not know about banned interrogation practises.

ex spy Andrei Lugovoi , accused of poisoning Andrei Litvanenko in London,speaks to the BBC

with Robin Lustig.


THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01462bs)
On Canaan's Side

Episode 4

In Sebastian Barry's latest novel, a secret life is revealed in the memoir of Lilly Dunne, 89 who is nearing the end of her days. Born in Ireland, Lilly has lived for 75 years in that place of safety known in the ancient hymn as "On Canaan's Side" - America.

Forced to flee Ireland after a warning that the IRA were about to shoot her and her Black and Tan lover, Lilly has spent her entire life in fear that an old vengeance will catch up with her. And as this painful but exquisitely told history reveals, her fears are well founded.
Using false names Lilly and Tadg jumped a boat to Ellis Island and thence to a suburb of Chicago. The Depression looms but they eek out a living in mixed communities, taking care to avoid the Irish ghettoes, but always waiting for that knock on the door. And when it comes it is of course when they least expect it. On a visit the Museum of Art, Lilly and her now husband, stand amazed before Van Gogh's self portrait - when an IRA assassin appears and shoots Tadg right there on the gallery floor.

In the uproar Lilly escapes, pursued by the killer. She escapes with her life, just, and flees to Cleveland where she meets a Cop, Joe whom she marries and rediscovers a kind of happiness. But unalloyed happiness seems not to be Lilly's lot in life. She bears Joe's child but Joe disappears, presumed dead in a gas explosion - leaving Lilly to work as a domestic servant and rear her son, Ed alone.

A true friend comes into her life - a man called Nolan, from Tennessee. He lives and works nearby and assumes the role of father to Ed and support to Lilly. It is profound but platonic alliance. He is Lilly's rock and Ed's moral compass. And when Ed, the talented and handsome son comes back from Vietnam, mentally broken, it is Nolan who seeks him out from an obscure commune in the hills and brings home not Lilly's son but her grandson, William; a child the fragile Ed is no longer able to manage.

And so Lilly begins once more to raise a child - this time a child who is the distillation of the entire journey of her life. She loves this child more than life itself. So when William hangs himself from the washroom door in his old high school she feels there is no worst can befall her. But there is a final twist to her life's story.

Nolan falls ill, and on his deathbed, reveals to her that is was he who was sent all those years earlier to Chicago to assassinate Lilly and her husband. But he was unable at the last to kill her in that gallery. And since then he has lived only to atone for his sin and to help make her life bearable. But Lilly is by now resolved that she cannot forgive Nolan, and that she can no longer linger on Canaan's side. Her life is at an end.

Reader - Claire Bloom
Abridger - Neville Teller
Producer - Eoin O'Callaghan.


THU 23:00 House on Fire (b01462bv)
Series 2

Death

The return of the comedy series written by Dan Hine and Chris Sussman.

Times are hard and the mortgage is overdue. Matt and Vicky believe the only logical thing to do is to fake Matt's death and claim on the insurance. Meanwhile, Colonel Bill receives an offer he absolutely cannot refuse -from The Queen.

Cast:
Vicky ..... Emma Pierson
Matt .... Jody Latham
Colonel Bill ..... Rupert Vansittart
Peter ..... Philip Jackson
Julie ..... Janine Duvitski
Hans ...... Stephen Mangan
Insurance/Driving Instructor/
Royal Attendant/Priest ..... Colin Hoult

Additional characters will be played by Colin Hoult

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


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01462bx)
The Defence Secretary says the death of an Iraqi civilian at the hands of British soldiers was "deplorable and shameful".
Liam Fox reveals to MPs that an inquiry found Baha Mousa died after suffering an "appalling episode of serious gratuitous violence" that represented a "very serious breach of discipline".
On the Committee corridor, the Home Secretary says that the "majority of people involved" in last month's riots were not in gangs.
While in the Lords, peers call again for a ban on people smoking in cars when children are present.
Sean Curran and team report on today's events in Parliament.



FRIDAY 09 SEPTEMBER 2011

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b0144nhl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b014629p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b0144nhn)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b0144nhq)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b0144nhs)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b0144nhv)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01463l1)
With the Rev. Nicholas Buxton.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b01463l3)
Leaked papers from Brussels suggest farmers may be forced to set aside land for wildlife in future. Charlotte Smith also hears subsidies for farmers may dramatically reduce. The RSPB welcomes the return to setting aside land for wildlife, while the National Farmers Union fears that may compromise food production.

The best crop of apples for a decade means 40 percent of what we eat will be UK grown - up from 37 percent last year. Industry experts say despite the suitable climate self-sufficiency is not likely. Charlotte Smith goes to Brogdale National Fruit Collection to see how new varieties have been developed to increase fruit production.

The Royal Show could be revived after closing in 2009 due to years of financial losses. But other agricultural shows have seen the benefit of increased visitor numbers since the Royal's demise. Farming Today asks those behind the plans if a Royal Show is still needed.

Presented by Charlotte Smith. Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.


FRI 06:00 Today (b01463l5)
Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 The Reunion (b0144rqr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b01463kz)
The 9/11 Letters

Michael Morpurgo

Five internationally acclaimed writers consider the impact of the momentous events of September 11th, 2001. Ten years on, these authors use imaginative letters to reflect on the consequences for Britain, America and the world.

The final 9/11 Letter is by the former Children's Laureate, Michael Morpurgo. Among the more than one hundred books he has written is 'War Horse', the stage version of which this year won a Tony Award on Broadway, and is being made into a film by Stephen Spielberg.

The imagined writer of Michael Morpurgo's letter is Ginny, who, when the first plane smashed into the North tower was waiting on a bench in Central Park for her husband to return from breakfast with their son, their first meeting since a rift seven years previously. What happened on 11th September, 2001 rent many families - including Ginny's - asunder, yet it also brought people together. Michael Morpurgo's letter, which he has titled 'A Proper Family' movingly explores this ambiguity.

Producer: Julian May.


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b014641k)
Blake Morrison on his play about the Brontes, Thyroid Cancer and Penalising Truancy

Blake Morrison has written a new play about the Brontë sisters called We Are Three Sisters, loosely based on Chekhov's Three Sisters. The play has its World premiere in Halifax on 9 September, then tours the country.

Thyroid cancer affects three times as many women as men. There are currently about two thousand new cases of thyroid cancer each year and rates are going up. So what is thyroid cancer, and how is it diagnosed and treated?

Penalising parents for their children's truancy: currently they can be fined, but now it has been suggested that Child Benefit could be withdrawn. So would it work?

In mid-September every year, in the province of Quebec in Canada, women get together to learn how to hunt bear with The Quebec Hunting and Fishing Federation. It's an attempt to get more women involved in a traditionally male pastime. Critics say it's a sign of how desperate the hunting lobby has become to increase its numbers. They say bear hunting is cruel and unnecessary, but supporters say it's part of the Canadian way of life. Anne Kostalas reports.


FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b01490q8)
The Core

Episode 5

By Mike Bartlett. Five years later and headmistress Sarah visits ex-pupil Carly who now has a child. Sarah's life has changed forever and she has plans for Carly's future.

Sarah...Juliet Stevenson
Carly... Alex Tregear

Director Claire Grove.


FRI 11:00 Am I Tone Deaf? (b014641m)
If you are 'tone-deaf' can your brain be 're-tuned' by singing lessons? Author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera has spent his life miming to songs. Like one in 15 of us, he believes he is tone deaf. But is he?

In this programme, he braves both scientific testing and singing lessons in the hope of finding his voice. Vocal coach Heather Mair Thomas believes that whatever the diagnosis, she has ways of making him sing. But will doctors who argue that congenital tone deafness cannot be cured by training alone eclipse her optimism?

As Sathnam navigates his way between science and song, he will meet key experts who are dedicated to exploring the scientific highs and lows of tone deafness.
For the past decade, neurologists have developed a number of techniques aimed at identifying the root cause of 'amusia' known more commonly as tone deafness.

If they can understand more about this relatively common condition it will help them to understand more complex neurological disorders that can affect speech or sound perception.

Sathnam will also take on board the 'sound advice' that fellow sufferers have to offer. Retired Reverend Jim Cross was occupationally obliged to lead his church in song, however, his congregation gave him special dispensation to simply say the lines aloud following his diagnosis of 'amusia'.

Producer: Nicola Humphries.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2011.


FRI 11:30 The Write Stuff (b00vkxj4)
Series 14

Stephenie Meyer

Bestselling writer of the "Twilight" series, Stephenie Meyer, is this week's "Author of the Week".

The teams set about answering questions about her life and work as well as solving other literary conundrums. They will as ever finish with one of their own pastiches of Meyer's work - this time imagining what the twilight series might have sounded like had it been set in a typical British comp.

Guest panellists are bestselling crime writer and "Tom Thorne" creator, Mark Billingham, and "Horrid Henry" author, Francesca Simon.


FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b014641p)
Waterstones new boss - James Daunt

James Daunt the new boss at Waterstones the High Street book chain talks to Peter White about whether he's ditching their popular 3 for 2 offer.

The scientist who's creating artificial meat in a laboratory, says he'll make a burger by the end of the year. But will anyone really want to eat it?

Producer: Karen Dalziel.


FRI 12:57 Weather (b0144nhx)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 13:00 World at One (b014641r)
With James Robbins. National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.


FRI 13:30 More or Less (b014641t)
In More or Less this week:

Government waste

The Government says Local Authorities are wasting £10 billion a year through poor spending decisions. That's a huge potential saving. But does it stack up?

A logic puzzle

The Justice Secretary Ken Clarke said in Monday's Guardian that almost three quarters of people charged with offences from the recent riots have previous convictions. Does that mean most of the rioters had previous convictions - as Ken Clarke seems to be suggesting - or were the police simply more likely to catch and charge looters who were already known to them because they had previous convictions?

The statistics of spying

The chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, which advises the Cabinet and oversees aspects of the British Intelligence services, is trained as a statistician. His name is Alex Allan. We asked him how statistics and maths help MI5 and MI6 to do their jobs.

Olympic economics

Is there any evidence that the Olympics have financial value? Do they make a profit in their own right? What about the wider economic benefits, such as tourism or urban regeneration? And does hosting the Olympics inspire a nation to take up sport, as is sometimes claimed? More or Less investigates.

In this item we mistakenly say that Professor Mike Weed is from Coventry University. He is in fact director of SPEAR (Sport Physical Education and Activity Research) at Canterbury Christ Church University.

The JANITOR problem

What are the chances of drawing seven letters which make the word JANITOR in your first turn at Scrabble - twice?

Producer: Richard Knight.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (b01462bd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (b014641w)
Hugh Hughes - Floating

On April 2nd 1982, the Isle of Anglesey separated from the mainland of Wales and floated off into the North Atlantic. Emerging artist Hugh Hughes and his friend Sioned, recount the story of this extraordinary geological event, and explain its personal significance.

Created and performed by Hugh Hughes and Sioned Rowlands with assistance from Shôn Dale-Jones and Jill Norman.

Produced by James Robinson.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b014641y)
Fylde Coast

Eric Robson chairs this gardening Q&A programme with a guest appearance from gardener and broadcaster Bill Blackledge.

What to plant in a sandy garden? Paul Peacock explores the wild flora of Ainsdale Sand Dunes for inspiration.
Anne Swithinbank finds out how to start a small forest garden with Redcurrant, Greengage and Sweet sicily plants.

In addition, why are Busy Lizzies dying out across the UK and abroad? And how the Bog Myrtle can save you some serious discomfort.

The questions answered in the programme are:
Why does my Magnolia on an east-facing fall, twist to face North?

Has this been a particularly bad season for Busy Lizzies?

How do I go about taking my violets with me to New Zealand?

Suggestions for perennial plants which suit clay soil which can become water-logged:

Suggestions included:
Liigularia przewalskii, Rodgersia aesculifolia, Loosetrife 'Lady Sackville' and Primula candelabra.

I planted a lemon seed from abroad which has so far grown 9 inches. How do I encourage growth and fruiting?

What is causing the black and sticky damage to the tips of my ornamental cherry tree?

I'm growing a Bird of Paradise in a conservatory. Why isn't it flowering?

When and how do I prune a Holly tree?

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


FRI 15:45 Twin Nation (b0146420)
Episode 5

Ask any twin and the one thing they say they hate is the constant comparison to the other. Unchecked this leads to a competitiveness that can poison what should be a uniquely close relationship. Edi Stark talks to two brothers whose relationship has been brought to the brink by competition.

Producer: Peter McManus.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (b0146422)
Vann Nath, Eugene Nida, Betty Skelton, Len Ganley, Ray Fisher

Matthew Bannister on

Cambodian painter Vann Nath. He chronicled the brutality of the Khmer Rouge regime that sent him to a notorious prison.

Also American stunt flier Betty Skelton who set both speed and altitude records in small planes

Traditional Scots singer Ray Fisher, part of a famous musical family

The Reverend Eugene Nida who organised the translation of the Bible into hundreds of languages

And the snooker referee Len Ganley - immortalised in a beer advert and a song by Half Man Half Biscuit.


FRI 16:30 The Film Programme (b0146424)
Spy fever is about to grip the nation so if you want to steal a march on your rivals listen to the Film Programme with Francine Stock. She'll be talking to Gary Oldman about playing George Smiley in Tinker,Tailor, Soldier, Spy - the John le Carre novel that thrilled audiences when it was adapted for television in 1979 with Sir Alec Guinness in the starring role. The director of the brand new cinema version,Tomas Alfredson, will also be in the studio. He made his name with the brilliant vampire feature, Let the Right One In and he'll be explaining what drew him to the project and how the idea of damp tweed acted as the inspiration for the film's period aesthetic. For an assessment of where the film sits in Britain's venerable tradition of espionage movies, Francine will then be turning to the film historian, Ian Christie.
She'll also be examining the health of the industry with two insiders - the cinema owner, Kevin Markwick and the analyst, Michael Gubbins and as West Side Story celebrates its 50th anniversary she'll be hearing how Marni Nixon gave Natalie Wood the voice we all remember so well.

Producer: Zahid Warley.


FRI 17:00 PM (b0147mks)
Eddie Mair presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b0144nhz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (b0146426)
Series 75

Episode 1

Bills, Blair, and Belhadj: in the week that MI6 was said to have tortured members of Libya's prospective new government, and Andrew Lansley's NHS bill passed through the house on its third attempt, the topical quiz returns for a whole new series.

Sandi Toksvig chairs the discussion between panellists Dominic Lawson, Jeremy Hardy, Fred Macaulay and Andy Hamilton. Rory Morrison reads the news. Produced by Victoria Lloyd.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (b0146428)
Jennifer tells Jill the news about Jack's stroke. Jill asks Jennifer to pass on her prayers to Peggy.

Pip's looking forward to Dubrovnik. As she and Ruth deal with a newborn calf, they discuss the salesman Pip met at the dairy event. He was giving it the hard sell, but Pip's interested in his suggestions for improving herd health and profitability.

Jill and Elizabeth discuss the twins' first days at the Cathedral School. Lily's getting stuck in to activities and Freddie has made a friend, Lachlan. When Elizabeth asks Jill about the enamelling Peggy's started her on, Jill realises Elizabeth hasn't yet heard about Jack.

Waiting for the results of Jack's scan, Jennifer tries to distract Peggy with talk of Debbie's impending visit, Phoebe's arrival in South Africa and Ruairi's new school. However, Peggy laments having to tell Elona about Jack's condition.

At home, Jennifer looks on the bright side. Jack's stroke was mild. Peggy feels this could be just the start though. The last part of Jack's life should be happy and peaceful, as it has been at The Laurels with Elona. If he's seriously disabled, The Laurels may not be able to look after him. She has no idea what would happen then.


FRI 19:15 Front Row (b01464cc)
9/11 play Decade; BBC National Short Story Award

Rupert Goold's Headlong Theatre Company, the people who created Enron, have devised Decade - an immersive theatrical experience reflecting on the legacy of 9/11 ten years on. The site-specific production takes place in an old trading hall at St Katherine's Dock in London and is written by a team of authors including Abi Morgan, Alecky Blythe and Mike Bartlett. Jonathan Freedland reviews.

Sue MacGregor, chair of the judges for this year's BBC National Short Story Award, announces the shortlisted writers live on Front Row tonight. Following the announcement, Kirsty Lang will interview the first of the successful authors, with the other four writers being interviewed on Front Row next week. The winner of the £15,000 award will be announced live on Front Row on Monday 26 September.

Singer-songwriter Mara Carlyle has had an eventful musical career. After being dropped by her record company, her independently-released latest album Floreat, seven years after her critically acclaimed debut, was destroyed in a warehouse fire during the recent riots. Mara explains the numerous re-namings of her album as bad luck kept striking and how her fortunes changed thanks to a furniture company.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.


FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b01490q8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b01464cf)
St Ives

Jonathan Dimbleby presents a topical discussion of news and politics from the St Ives Festival in Cornwall with Guardian columnist and National Trust chairman, Simon Jenkins; Director of Liberty Shami Chakrabarti; Chairman of the Health Select Committee, Conservative MP Stephen Dorrell; and Labour MP Ben Bradshaw.

Producer Victoria Wakely

Presenter Jonathan Dimbleby.


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b01464ch)
Cats, birds and humans

John Gray considers why the human animal needs contact with something other than itself.

He tells the story of an eminent philosopher who once told him that he'd persuaded his cat to become a vegan! An effort, it seems, to get the cat to share his values. But Gray argues that there's no evolutionary hierarchy with humans at the top.

"What birds and animals offer us", he says, "is not confirmation of our sense of having an exalted place in some sort of cosmic hierarchy. It's admission into a larger scheme of things, where our minds are no longer turned in on themselves".

He concludes that "by giving us the freedom to see the world afresh, birds and animals renew our humanity".

Producer: Adele Armstrong.


FRI 21:00 The Complete Ripley (b00hxvm7)
Ripley Under Ground

By Patricia Highsmith . Ian Hart stars as charming, cultured Tom Ripley, in the second of Patricia Highsmith's classic thrillers. With a dead man's money safely stowed in the bank Tom is living in luxury in a chateau in France with his beautiful French wife. But the clever art forgery which funds Tom's expensive tastes is about to be uncovered.

Tom Ripley...Ian Hart
Heloise...Helen Longworth
Bernard Tufts...Benedict Sandiford
Jeff Constant...Stephen Hogan
Madame Annette...Caroline Guthrie
Murchison...Malcolm Tierney
Webster...Stephen Critchlow

Dramatist Alan McDonald
Director Claire Grove.


FRI 21:58 Weather (b0144nj1)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b01464ck)
A special edition of The World Tonight with Claire Bolderson LIVE in Manhattan.
How has America changed in the ten years since 9/11, internally and in terms of foreign policy?
Claire speaks to ordinary Americans on how the attacks changed their outlook and life choices.With a harsh economic climate to contend with, is America's mission as the World's policeman about to change ?


FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01464cm)
On Canaan's Side

Episode 5

In Sebastian Barry's latest novel, a secret life is revealed in the memoir of Lilly Dunne, 89 who is nearing the end of her days. Born in Ireland, Lilly has lived for 75 years in that place of safety known in the ancient hymn as "On Canaan's Side" - America.

Forced to flee Ireland after a warning that the IRA were about to shoot her and her Black and Tan lover, Lilly has spent her entire life in fear that an old vengeance will catch up with her. And as this painful but exquisitely told history reveals, her fears are well founded.
Using false names Lilly and Tadg jumped a boat to Ellis Island and thence to a suburb of Chicago. The Depression looms but they eek out a living in mixed communities, taking care to avoid the Irish ghettoes, but always waiting for that knock on the door. And when it comes it is of course when they least expect it. On a visit the Museum of Art, Lilly and her now husband, stand amazed before Van Gogh's self portrait - when an IRA assassin appears and shoots Tadg right there on the gallery floor.

In the uproar Lilly escapes, pursued by the killer. She escapes with her life, just, and flees to Cleveland where she meets a Cop, Joe whom she marries and rediscovers a kind of happiness. But unalloyed happiness seems not to be Lilly's lot in life. She bears Joe's child but Joe disappears, presumed dead in a gas explosion - leaving Lilly to work as a domestic servant and rear her son, Ed alone.

A true friend comes into her life - a man called Nolan, from Tennessee. He lives and works nearby and assumes the role of father to Ed and support to Lilly. It is profound but platonic alliance. He is Lilly's rock and Ed's moral compass. And when Ed, the talented and handsome son comes back from Vietnam, mentally broken, it is Nolan who seeks him out from an obscure commune in the hills and brings home not Lilly's son but her grandson, William; a child the fragile Ed is no longer able to manage.

And so Lilly begins once more to raise a child - this time a child who is the distillation of the entire journey of her life. She loves this child more than life itself. So when William hangs himself from the washroom door in his old high school she feels there is no worst can befall her. But there is a final twist to her life's story.

Nolan falls ill, and on his deathbed, reveals to her that is was he who was sent all those years earlier to Chicago to assassinate Lilly and her husband. But he was unable at the last to kill her in that gallery. And since then he has lived only to atone for his sin and to help make her life bearable. But Lilly is by now resolved that she cannot forgive Nolan, and that she can no longer linger on Canaan's side. Her life is at an end.

Reader - Claire Bloom
Abridger - Neville Teller
Producer - Eoin O'Callaghan.


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b014fkwv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01464cp)
Mark D'Arcy reports from Westminster.