SATURDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2013

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b03bg58h)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b03bg4v9)
Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China

Episode 5

Jung Chang's biography of this remarkable 19th century stateswoman continues. Cixi faces her greatest challenge as ruler when anti-Western feeling in rural China leads to violence.

Read by Pik-Sen Lim
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Gemma Jenkins.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03bg58m)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03bg58r)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03bg58t)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b03bg58y)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b03bg660)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with Canon Simon Doogan.


SAT 05:45 iPM (b03bg662)
"I'm not a paedophile, I was just interested in teenagers" - A man convicted of viewing images of child abuse tells iPM why he wasn't sent to prison, but sent on a course instead. The Policing Minister tells us that all people who view images of child abuse should go to prison. Presented by Eddie Mair and Jennifer Tracey. Email iPM@bbc.co.uk.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b03bg594)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SAT 06:04 Weather (b03bg598)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 06:07 Ramblings (b03bfsz6)
Series 25

Werca's Folk, Warkworth in Northumberland

Clare Balding is in Northumberland to join the walking group from the local women's choir, Wercas Folk. It was formed over eighteen years ago by the well- known folk singer and composer, Sandra Kerr. They set off from the village she lives in and loves very much, Warkworth. Wercas Folk, an unauditioned group, specialise in singing new and traditional folk songs about the area, its people and its history.

Many of the original founder members are still in the choir and they explain it's not just the singing that keeps them turning up week after week. The group have developed a collaborative and mutually supportive ethos that has forged strong friendships, resulting in them enjoying social time together even away from the rehearsal room and concert hall. They regularly escape from home and family for weekends away to walk, talk and indulge in the odd glass of wine.

As they set off on a circular route around the village they talk to Clare about the role the choir plays in their lives and the joy of singing and walking together.

Producer Lucy Lunt.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b03bps1h)
Farming Today This Week

As our apples, grapes and grains are harvested, Farming Today finds out how they're steeped, pressed and pulped into drinks, and how farmers have diversified into processing their own bottled drinks. After a rotten harvest last year, fruit growers in particular are hoping that the good weather will continue for just a few weeks, to make sure that this years crop is good enough to drink.

Presented by Charlotte Smith. Produced by Emma Campbell.


SAT 06:57 Weather (b03bg59d)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (b03bps1k)
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b03bps1m)
Nicholas Parsons; the inheritance tracks of Steve Earle

Richard Coles and Anita Anand's guest's have a wide age range with one aged 89 and another aged 12 . They meet panel game chairman extraordinaire Nicholas Parsons and take a look at some lesser known aspects of his life. We hear the Inheritance Tracks of country singer Steve Earle, trace the fate of a GI bride, explore off-limits cityscapes with an urban explorer and discover what it's like to be a young woman in an old man's industry. Plus there's a glimpse of into how a young boy came to play an old panel game.


SAT 10:30 Blind Man Roams the Globe (b03bps1p)
1. San Francisco

Peter White's job as a BBC broadcaster has already taken him to many places. At first he thought that he was missing out on not being able to see the standard tourist monuments, but when he travels now he has an arsenal of strategies to get to know a place. He listens to local radio, he takes in the sounds of restaurants, travel systems and the voices of the locals. He also meets other blind people and uses their experiences of an area to understand it better and to appreciate the aural clues which help guide them.

Peter realised sightseeing was not for him when, as a twelve year, he trailed round the ruins of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire: "The fact is, sightseeing and I were never going to see eye to eye. The plain fact is, though, that however good the intentions, touch is not sight - and once you've run your hands over one piece of ancient stone, one stuccoed wall, one marble floor, well, you've touched them all."

It was a wish to try to explain and share what it was that could make travelling come alive for a totally blind person, unable to see from birth, that gave rise to the series. In these programmes Peter hopes to build on its growing reputation and its unique take on the world's cities He begins by visiting San Francisco, where he uses aural clues to sample typical West Coast life - including trips to an Oakland baseball game, the Golden Gate park and the beach.

As Peter says: 'the fact is, sightseeing and I were never going to see eye to eye. The tragedy is that over the years, people have tried so hard to make it work. Specially recorded tapes for blind people, rails to follow so that you can go round unaided, a huge revolution in what you're allowed to touch.

'The plain fact is, though, that however good the intentions, touch is not sight - and once you've run your hands over one piece of ancient stone, one stuccoed wall, one marble floor, well, you've touched them all.

The problem with touch really is that the hand is too small. You can only touch one little bit at a time.

'There's too much missing; a sense of size, colour, perspective, visual contrast. With the best will in the world, you are playing at being able to see, and for me, that kind of self-deception has never cut any ice.

This, nevertheless, does not mean that travelling, visiting and poking about in other people's cultures cannot be enormous fun for a blind person. It's just that I think you have to be honest about what is fun, and what isn't.'

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2013.


SAT 11:00 The Forum (b03bps1t)
Second Chances

Bridget Kendall and guests discuss the idea of re-visiting a place, reviving old friendships and learning to walk again. For over thirty years, photographer Nick Danziger has made a point of returning to his subjects in troubled places from Afghanistan to Bosnia. He explains what makes his second visit so different from the first one. Works by the Chinese-American author Gish Jen prompt the question: do whole countries, as well as individual people, deserve another bite of the cherry? And Californian inventor Van Phillips reveals the inspiration behind his revolutionary artificial leg design which has given a new lease of life to both himself and countless other amputees world-wide.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b03bps1w)
The President's Golden Scissors

Correspondents' stories: behind the scenes at the UN General Assembly in New York - Nick Bryant says it's been about so much more than the keynote speeches in the assembly hall. Andrew Harding was covering the seige in Nairobi in which more than 60 people were killed. So many of the city's residents, he says, feel personally scarred by the horrors of what happened at the Westgate Centre. Havana Marking talks of her bid to track down the Pink Panthers, the gang thought responsible for a string of daring jewel heists in the south of France this summer. There's a visit to Dushanbe in Tajikistan: Jamie Coomarasamy takes a look at the president's spectacular building programme while Nick Thorpe is in Austria where hydropower is a major issue and the hills are alive with the sound of disagreement.

Producer: Tony Grant.


SAT 12:00 Money Box (b03bps1y)
Closed accounts, another banking divorce, flight compensation, Royal Mail shares

Over the past fifteen month we've reported on cases of customers being told - out of the blue - that their bank account is being closed with immediate affect. Many are never told why and find it impossible to open another account. The Kafkaesque nightmare of losing banking with no way to find out why. A lawyer tells us it is within the law. Others accuse the banks of arbitrary behaviour. Where can you turn for help?

Around 1.5 million retail customers of RBS/NatWest are to become customers of a new bank Williams & Glyn's. All the RBS branches in England and Wales and a handful of NatWest branches in Scotland are being hived off to the new brand and will be floated on the Stock Exchange.

If your flight is delayed, European law gives you the right to compensation - sometimes of more than the cost of the flight. If the airline refuses to pay up the Civil Aviation Authority is supposed to help you enforce your rights. But as claim numbers grow is the CAA's mediation role grounded?

The Government has begun the process of selling off Royal Mail. The pricing envelope for the shares is 260p to 330p with a final announcement being delivered at 0700 on Friday 11 October. The public will need to weigh in with a minimum parcel of £750 of shares (£500 for Royal Mail employees). So will they be a first or second class investment?


SAT 12:30 The Now Show (b03bg4w6)
Series 41

Episode 1

Steve Punt and Susan Calman present a comedic look at the week's news, providing a topical mix of stand-up, sketches and songs that tell you everything you need to know. With Jon Holmes, Laura Shavin, and Jonny & the Baptists.

Produced by Alexandra Smith.


SAT 12:57 Weather (b03bg59q)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 13:00 News (b03bg59x)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b03bg4wg)
Ken Clarke, Lord Falconer, Caroline Lucas, Neil Hamilton

Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from Nottingham with Ken Clarke MP who's minister without portfolio in the cabinet office, the UKIP's Campaign Director for the 2014 Euro elections Neil Hamilton, the Labour peer Lord Falconer and the Green MP Caroline Lucas.


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b03bps20)
Climate change, energy bills, sleeping pilots

How should the government respond to the 'virtually certain' warnings about the effects of climate change, courtesy of the latest report from the UN body, the IPCC? Another poll shows growing public scepticism on the subject. Who and what do you believe?

What are the rights and wrongs and realities of a future Labour government putting a freeze on energy prices?

And if you're an airline pilot, how big is the risk of you and your co-pilot both being asleep at the same time?

Call 03700 100 444 to take part or email: any.answers@bbc.co.uk, tweet us using #BBCAQ or text on 84844.

The presenter is Julian Worricker. The producer is Alex Lewis.


SAT 14:30 Mark Twain - The Million Pound Bank Note (b018v2ks)
Stranded in London, a penniless young American becomes the subject of a £20,000 bet between two wealthy English gentlemen.

Can Henry Adams survive and prosper for a month as the bearer of a 1,000,000 pound banknote?

Tony Award-winning Bryony Lavery's rhythmic, energised dramatisation of Mark Twain's charming and surprisingly relevant classic short story, first published in 1893.

CAST:

Henry Adams .... Trevor White
Miss Portia Langham …. Verity-May Henry
Trubshaw/Bosun/Vesuvius .... Conrad Nelson
Basil/Mr Raymond/Major-domo …. Jonathan Keeble
Abel/Concierge …. Malcolm Raeburn
Mrs Harris …. Kathryn Hunt
Tod/Bellboy …. Stephen Hoyle
Lloyd Hastings/American Ambassador …. John Guerrasio

Producers: Pauline Harris and Sharon Sephton

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2011


SAT 15:30 The Secret Life of JS Bach (b03bds3t)
Long before the world of pop beckoned, and when the priesthood was an unimagined future calling, Rev Richard Coles had an unusual teenage passion. By his bed stood the bust of the greatest composer the world has ever known, with an inescapable marmoreal gaze that only the most self-assured genius could produce. This was a man with a gigantic musical brain, an untouchable god, a super-human with a daily life and preoccupations we can't begin to imagine. Bach that is, for avoidance of any doubt.

Or was he? For Radio 4, Coles sets out to meet another Bach, the hot young talent whose daily life as a church organist was punctuated as much by petty quarrels and hard graft as it was the call of the Romantic muse. He clambers inside the technological marvel which is an 18th-century German organ and discovers that the principles of physics, architecture, metallurgy and acoustics were every bit as prominent in Bach's armoury as his musicianship. And he hunts for clues as to why the young Bach might have been the prickly hot-head he appears to have been, including the intriguing theory that a disrupted childhood and chaotic education may have left him with a personality we might now consider to be characterised by clinical paranoia.

But what if we were to meet Bach in the flesh? Now Richard gets the chance to do exactly that. Well almost, thanks to the pioneering work of scientists in Dundee who have recreated the composer's image in 3D using the very latest forensic techniques. Is this meeting a realisation of lifelong fantasies, or is the Bach we uncover the very last person Richard would like to appoint as parish organist?

With contributions from organists John Butt, Jon Cullen and Tim Rishton, psychologist Tamar Pincus, musicologist Ruth Tatlow, and forensic scientist Caroline Wilkinson.
More information on the Barony Organ at the University of Strathclyde can be found here: http://www.strath.ac.uk/music/thebaronyorgan/.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b03bpsx6)
Beverley Knight; Harriet Harman; Women in Space

Beverley Knight on her new role in The Bodyguard. Harriet Harman MP, the Labour deputy leader and Woman's Hour Powerlister, talks about her life in politics. The film 'Dark Girl' looks at the way women with darker skin suffer discrimination from women with lighter skin - we discuss with Dr Jude Smith Rachele who organised the premiere of the film and journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge.

TV dramas regularly show naked breasts whereas male genitalia are rarely visible - does it matter? We discuss whether this signifies a double standard with journalist Bim Adewumni and Gub Neal, former head of drama at Channel 4. Female astronauts, 50 years on from the first woman in space.

A new play about the Society Florist Constance Spry reveals a shocking private life - we discuss with its producer Mig Kimpton and floral designer Susie Edwards who worked for Mrs Spry. Opera singers Helen Sherman and Paula Sides sing from on The Coronation of Poppea.


SAT 17:00 PM (b03bpsx8)
Saturday PM

Full coverage of the day's news.


SAT 17:30 iPM (b03bg662)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:45 today]


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b03bg5b3)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (b03bg5b7)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03bg5bc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b03bpsxb)
Clive Anderson, Roy Harper, Frederick Forsyth, Steven Berkoff, Lucy Worsley, Miranda Sawyer, Rafiki

Clive talks to bestselling author Frederick Forsyth about penning such thrillers as 'The Day of the Jackal' and 'The Odessa File'. Frederick's latest novel 'The Kill List' tells the story of The Preacher, a terrorist who radicalises young Muslims abroad to carry out assassinations. Unfortunately for him, one of those killed is a retired Marine general, whose son is trained to track and kill those who are dangerous to the West.

Historian and curator Dr Lucy Worsley's new TV series focusses on a very British obsession. Murder is the most despicable and foulest crime of all, yet we are fascinated by it. Lucy tells Clive why in real-life and in fiction, murder provides us with stories that do more than repel us, they entertain us. 'A Very British Murder' is on Monday 30th September at 21.00 on BBC Four.

Miranda Sawyer's in The Garden of Uranium with wildly influential folk / rock singer songwriter Roy Harper, who's just released 'Man And Myth'; his first studio album in 13 years. Miranda finds out what it takes to be one of the leading, most erudite and passionate orators of the British folk rock renaissance. Roy also performs 'Time Is Temporary' in the Loose Ends studio.

Clive talks to maverick writer, director and actor Steven Berkoff, whose collection of short plays, 'Religion and Anarchy' centres around the theme of the latent anti-Semitism - a prejudice that, despite the cataclysmic events of twentieth century, refuses to go away and continues to infuse the very heart of the society in which we live. It's at London's Jermyn Street Theatre until Tuesday 26th October.

With more music from five piece progressive funk rock band Rafiki, who perform 'Another Time' from their forthcoming 'One By One' EP.

Producer: Sukey Firth.


SAT 19:00 Profile (b03bpsxd)
Hassan Rouhani

Iran's new president Hassan Rouhani has been centre of attention at the UN this week. He's promising a new approach to talks with the West over his country's nuclear programme.

He is certainly a change from his abrasive anti-Western predecessor. Rouhani studied in Britain, loves Bogart films and Thomas Hardy novels and is fond of designer clerical robes.

So, Mary Ann Sieghart asks, is all that merely a matter of presentation? Or is he a completely new kind of Iranian leader?

Producer: Heba Ayoub
Editor: Richard Knight.


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b03bpsxg)
Blue Jasmine, Serpentine Sackler Gallery

Cate Blanchett stars in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine - new territory for him as much of it's set in San Francisco. He's rumoured to be back on form: will the West Coast and a plot that owes a debt to A Streetcar Named Desire inspire a great film?

Back in New York, Thomas Pynchon, author of V, Gravity's Rainbow and Mason and Dixon, has always divided readers between those who are geekily entranced by his vision and wordplay and those who just can't work out what's going on. Bleeding Edge is thought to be one of his most readable novels yet, set between the burst of the dotcom bubble and 9/11.

The acclaimed architect Zaha Hadid's Serpentine Sackler Gallery has just opened in Kensington Gardens, London. It adds what one critic has already described as a Mr Whippy extension to an old gunpowder store: does it add up to a successful gallery space? There's a visit to the opening exhibition, Adrian Villar Rojas' Today We Reboot The Planet.

A play that first ran off-, then on-Broadway, The Lyons, is a darkly comic view of a dying man and his family - does the telling of home truths make for good drama? Opening at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London, it stars Isla Blair and Tom Ellis.

And James Spader stars in The Blacklist, a new US drama about to begin here on Sky Living. It has elements of Silence of the Lambs, Homeland and 24 - can it carve out its own distinct place?

Ekow Eshun, Susannah Clapp and Kerry Shale join Tom Sutcliffe.

Producer: Sarah Johnson.


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b03bpv42)
A Brief History of Irony

"What is irony ? Why do we need it ? Does it have any socially redeeming features whatsoever, or is it merely nasty ?"

Ian Hislop, John Sergeant, Kathy Lette, Barry Cryer and Madonna join the American satirist Joe Queenan in a search for the meaning and purpose of irony - or saying one thing to mean something else. Juvenal, Swift and John Lennon all find a place in the spotlight, as do the bible, Oliver Cromwell and World War One.

"Some might think it ironic that the BBC has hired an American presenter for this show," says the presenter, "but the latest chapter in irony's history was written in the United States." The reference is to the 2001 destruction of the Twin Towers, and the proclamation that the Age of Irony was dead. "Shattered Nation Yearns to Care About Stupid Bullshit Again," replied the Onion newspaper. We have an interview with the editor about the dangers of stepping into the irony-free zone.

The programme also features Armando Iannucci, Kurt Anderson, Brenda Maddox, Dean Martin, Bert Kaempfert and The Mike Flowers Pops.

The producer is Miles Warde.


SAT 21:00 Classic Serial (b03bg7gv)
Jerome K Jerome - Three Men in a Boat

Episode 2

The Now Show's Hugh Dennis and Steve Punt with Julian Rhind-Tutt from Green Wing star in a sparkling new dramatisation of Jerome K.Jerome's comic classic.

In Edwardian London, three carefree young men and their dog, Montmorency, plan a rowing holiday down the Thames to Oxford. But nothing goes smoothly.

Episode 2:
Harris, unable to recollect words or tune, attempts a comic song - to the dismay of J, George and other revellers. J buys a round for the whole pub to compensate. After a meal of cold beef but no mustard, they cheer up at the prospect of pineapple - but they've forgotten the tin opener. And nothing - not the penknife, the scissors, the hitcher, a sharp stone or the mast - can break into that tin. Their last night on the river involves another sing-song at another pub of course, but not before Harris and Montmorency survive a serious encounter with swans.

Three Men In A Boat has never been out of print since its first publication in 1889. In stark contrast to the adventure writers of the time - Kipling, Haggard and Stevenson - Jerome K Jerome gave us a story about three ordinary fellows having a jolly time down the river.

Pub singers ............from Rose Bruford College
Music...................... provided by Gary Yershon, with Eddie Hession accordion
Dramatised by Chris Harrald
Original and adapted music by Gary Yershon

Sound design: Eloise Whitmore
Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Polly Thomas
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b03bg5bk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SAT 22:15 Unreliable Evidence (b03bfkbw)
Taking the Government to Court

Is our legal right to challenge the power of government under threat? Clive Anderson and guests discuss concerns that Government proposals to limit the use of judicial review could result in unlawful decisions by government and other public bodies going unchecked.

The number of applications for judicial review have increased rapidly in recent years, at great financial cost, but very few are ultimately successful. Is judicial review a "lawyers' charter" or an essential check on the way government and other public bodies exercise power?

A quadrupling of legal fees and tighter restrictions on time limits for lodging applications will choke off the "soaring number of judicial review" cases brought before the courts, according to Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling. He says these measures will prevent claims being used as a "cheap delaying tactic" in planning and immigration appeals. But lawyers have warned that the changes will restrict legal challenges to local authority decisions, creating the risk that vulnerable teenagers will be deprived of care and safe accommodation.

And Labour's justice spokesman, Sadiq Khan, says, "Recent history has shown the importance of judicial reviews in exposing shoddy and unlawful government decision-making - from the disastrous west coast mainline franchising to the botched cancelling of Building Schools for the Future".

Senior lawyers, judges and politicians discuss the strengths and weakness of judicial review, look at landmark cases, and argue about whether such legal challenges undermine good government.

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


SAT 23:00 Round Britain Quiz (b03bddcy)
(2/12)
Tom Sutcliffe is in the chair for the cryptic quiz between teams from six UK regions. This week the defending champions, Wales, represented by Myfanwy Alexander and David Edwards, take on the challenge from the North of England (Adele Geras and Jim Coulson).

As always, there are plenty of question ideas provided by listeners, and Tom will have full details of how you can suggest your own puzzles with which to stump the regulars.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.


SAT 23:30 Poetry Please (b03bg7gz)
RS Thomas at 100

Roger McGough presents a selection of listeners' requests for the poems of R.S.Thomas who was born 100 years ago. Owen Teale is the reader. Producer: Tim Dee.



SUNDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2013

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b03bppsw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SUN 00:30 Afternoon Reading (b010dp0z)
Tales from the Casino

Ten Miles High

'They say the floor at the Casino is amazing - a sprung wood floor! And they can fit 1200 people in the ballroom there. Twelve hundred people dancing!'

David's mate Batty converted him to Northern Soul: lending him obscure records, teaching him dance moves and describing the legendary club. The plan is to hitch-hike to Wigan to experience the Casino for themselves.

Between 1973 and 1981 Wigan Casino was arguably the ultimate venue for Northern Soul music. Young people from all over the UK regularly made the trek to Wigan to dance to the latest Northern Soul artists. Queues to get in were sometimes five or six people deep, and stretched quite a way up the road.

The highlight was the weekly all-nighter, with Russ Winstanley as DJ, which traditionally ended with three songs that became known as the Three Before Eight: "Time Will Pass You By" by Tobi Legend, "Long After Tonight Is Over" by Jimmy Radcliffe and "I'm On My Way" by Dean Parrish.

These three specially-commissioned stories by Laura Barton (herself from Wigan) hark back to a time when the town threw off the image created by George Orwell and the Casino was voted 'Best Disco In the World' by American Billboard Magazine.

Laura Barton was born in Lancashire in 1977. She is a freelance writer of features and music columns, notably 'Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll' for the Guardian. Her first story for radio, The Carpenter, was broadcast in 2009 as part of Sweet Talk's We Are Stardust, We Are Golden series for BBC Radio 4. Twenty-One Locks, her debut novel, was published in 2010. Laura lives in London.

Written by Laura Barton. Read by Bryan Dick.

Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03bppsy)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03bppt0)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03bppt2)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b03bppt4)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b03bpxx6)
The bells of St Helen's Parish Church, Sefton, Merseyside.


SUN 05:45 Profile (b03bpsxd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b03bppt6)
The latest national and international news.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b03bpxx8)
The Boundaries of Religion: Part 2

Mark Tully concludes his exploration of the relationship between reason and religion in the company of theologian Keith Ward, who maintains that religious faith is rational, and doubt can be irrational.

In part one of the series Mark discussed how rational science might need help from religion in answering the important questions in life. In this final programme he explores the idea that religion has to adapt to advances in science and, by doing so, benefits greatly.

In the end, Mark wonders if any of us, religious or not, are quite as rational as we think we are in our faith or our scepticism, if we fail to take into account the conclusions of others when they conflict with our own.

The readers are Emily Raymond, Frank Stirling and Peter Guinness.

Producer: Adam Fowler
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b03bpxxb)
Damson Harvest

The Lyth Valley in Cumbria is the home to orchards full of damsons - and it's harvest time. An old native fruit with rather mysterious origins and once a crucial crop for many farmers in the area, damsons are prized for their unique sharp taste. Times have changed though, and the damson has fallen out of favour. Erratic crops have been a problem too, with last year's harvest almost non-existent.

Caz Graham heads to the Lyth Valley to help with the harvest, and to understand how some farmers and food producers are looking again at the damson and celebrating this British fruit so steeped in history. On her journey she will encounter Hartley Trotter, who has been picking damsons, armed only with a bucket and a ladder, for more than sixty years. She also meets Sean Partington who makes damson sausages with his rare breed pigs, and Lizzie Smith who used to make an annual pilgrimage with her family to the valley in the sixties and now makes sought-after damson "cheese" there.

Caz also meets up with Hartley's neighbour, Anne Wilson, who helps with the harvest, John Holmes from the Westmoreland Damson Association, and farmer Edward Sharp, whose dairy herd and sheep are his main business these days, but who still tends to his damson orchard, which was planted mostly by his father.

It's a tale of musical fruit, changing tastes, competitive harvesting and making the most of the riches on your doorstep.

Presenter: Caz Graham
Producer: Rich Ward.


SUN 06:57 Weather (b03bpptc)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b03bpptf)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (b03bpxxd)
Shortly after we went off air last weekend, we received news of the suicide bombing on an Anglican church in Peshawar, Pakistan. Today William Crawley hears from a man whose wife lost twelve family members in the attack, and Mustafi Quadri from Amnesty International tells him about the other minority groups in Pakistan who are also under threat from Islamic extremists.

The Government is to introduce a Modern Slavery Bill into the next session of Parliament. Trevor Barnes has been meeting victims of human trafficking and talking to the agencies which work with them. Is the Government's draft bill on the right lines?

The Catalans are calling on the Spanish government for a referendum on their independence. They're being urged on by Sister Teresa Forcades. Matt Wells has been to meet her.

Can you be a Muslim and a foodie? Yes, if you are a "Halaloodie" according to the organisers of the first Halal food festival taking place in London this weekend . They're expecting 20,000 paying visitors; they've had enough of curries and halal - they think its time the high dining establishments catered for their palates.

And is the Big Society still the Tories Big idea? As the Conservatives gather in Manchester for their annual conference, the minister for civil society Nick Hurd debates with Steve Bobb, who represents the chief executives of voluntary organisations.


SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b03bpxxg)
The Trussell Trust

Charlotte Sewell, a beneficiary, presents the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity The Trussell Trust.
Reg Charity: 1110522
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal, mark the back of the envelope The Trussell Trust.
Give Online www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/appeal.


SUN 07:57 Weather (b03bppth)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b03bpptk)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b03bpxxj)
Back to Church Sunday

Over the last ten years, Back to Church Sunday has become the largest single local-church invitational initiative in the world, welcoming back many who have, over the years, stopped regularly attending church.

Latimer Minster, near Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire is a new Church of England community which aims to be a new model of what church can be, reaching out to those who have become disconnected from traditional and conventional models of church.

In this service, Latimer Minster's leaders Frog and Amy Orr-Ewing are joined by the Bishop of Hertford, the Rt Revd Paul Bayes, who is a member of the national leadership team for Back to Church Sunday.

Music directors: Natasha Edwards and Nathan Fellingham.

Producer: Simon Vivian.


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (b03bg4wj)
The Horror of Love

Stephen King says "Love creates horror." AL Kennedy agrees. "As someone who often says 'I think' and almost never says 'I feel', I don't personally welcome love's ability to make me fear not only for myself, but others," she writes.

But love makes us altruistic, humane. "We would find it bizarre if a parent was more worried about dropping a vase than dropping their baby - even a Ming vase and an ugly baby. An absence of love within a family or a relationship is taken as a sign of something having gone very wrong," she says.

"But an absence of love in the world we help construct around us, that's regarded as a form of common sense. We are used to making decisions - or having them made for us - which would save the vase and not the baby."

Producer: Sheila Cook.


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b038qk9b)
Bluethroat

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Brett Westwood presents the bluethroat. This is a fine songbird and a sprightly robin-sized bird with a dazzling sapphire bib. Your best chance of seeing one is in autumn when they pass through the north or east coast on migration.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b03bpxxl)
Sunday morning magazine programme with news and conversation about the big stories of the week. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b03bpxxn)
For detailed descriptions see daily synopses.


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b03bpxxq)
Lee Mack

Kirsty Young interviews the comedian Lee Mack.

He writes and stars in the BBC One hit show "Not Going Out". His stand-up tours do great business and his lightening sharp comedy reflexes are also put to good use on a number of prime-time panel shows.

His first ever performance was doing impressions for his school mates, but it took him more than ten years to pluck up the courage to step on stage. Leaving school with two O'levels and a cheeky grin, he had a stint as Red Rum's stable boy and a bash at being a professional darts player.

He says of his comedy career "I'm the kind of person that, if I don't think it's hard work, I worry that it's not worthwhile. I have to feel as if I've struggled a bit."

Producer: Isabel Sargent.


SUN 12:00 Just a Minute (b03bddd8)
Series 67

Episode 7

In the last of the series Nicholas Parsons challenges Jenny Eclair, Julian Clary, Liza Tarbuck and Paul Merton to talk on a subject he gives them for 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition or deviation.

Producer: Katie Tyrrell.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b03bpxxs)
The School Food Plan

The School Food Plan, written by Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent, aims to increase take-up of school meals, improve the quality of food served and tackle student hunger and the early causes of health problems.

Released in July, it contains sixteen 'actions', from putting cooking in the curriculum to providing money for breakfast clubs to improving the 'image' of school food. John and Henry travelled to more than sixty schools in England, and found that there were three things in common to schools that are getting food right.

In this edition of the Food Programme, Sheila Dillon reveals a typical day at the David Young Community Academy, a secondary school in Leeds that has embodied these three 'principles' since its opening in 2006.

The school, led by Principal Ros McMullen, has a school meals take-up of over seventy percent, compared with a national average of 43 percent. Sheila finds out how they've done this, and asks what other schools can learn from their approach.

Sheila also asks the Plan's co-author Henry Dimbleby and Jeanette Orrey, who inspired Jamie Oliver's original school food campaign, what actual differences we may see on the ground as a result of this new attempt to change the way that schoolchildren eat.

Presenter: Sheila Dillon
Producer: Rich Ward.


SUN 12:57 Weather (b03bpptm)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b03bpxxv)
The latest national and international news, including an in-depth look at events around the world. Email: wato@bbc.co.uk; twitter: #theworldthisweekend.


SUN 13:30 Steve Richards Stands Up for Politics (b03bpxxx)
Steve Richards is a leading columnist about politics for the national press. But he has also been developing a new career in stand-up comedy, putting on a one-man show which explores some of the manoeuvering and absurdities of politics without being cynical or distrustful about the motives of politicians.

He says he's trying to do what he calls "pro-politics comedy". This is his audio diary of how it went.

Producer: Martin Rosenbaum


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b03bg4vw)
North East London

Chaired by Eric Robson, the Gardeners' Question Time team is in North East London with Matt Biggs, Anne Swithinbank and Bob Flowerdew tackling questions from local gardeners.

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

This week's questions:

Q. What mixture of flowers, fruit and vegetables would the panel recommend for a slab patio of the dimensions 17ft x 11ft (5m x 3.5m).

A. Use large containers with good potting compost and almost anything can be grown. Raised beds are also suggested. Fruit plants are relatively low labour-intensity and virtually all modern varieties of fruit will be happy growing in a container. Herbaceous perennials, such as Sedum, Rudbeckia and grasses, are recommended for autumn colour. Also suggested are a selection of herbs such as Bay and Rosemary.

Q. What is the lifespan of red- and blackcurrant bushes? Should bushes that are no longer fruiting be cut right back or dug up and thrown away?!

A. For blackcurrants, it is recommended to start again - a new, virus-free clone of a new variety can be bought very cheaply, plus cuttings can be taken easily. Redcurrants, however, can usually be cut back and grow a new top.

Q. A five-year-old Chilean Pine or Monkey Puzzle tree, grown from seed, is now around 3ft (1m) tall. How deeply rooted will it be, can it be transplanted and when would be the best time to do it?

A. It is still small enough to be moved, so it can be transplanted into a large pot or a very spacious garden.

Q. What would the panel recommend as a hedge that one could graze?

A. Chaenomeles, the Japonica quince, is fairly unruly but can be trained. Fuchsia is discussed, but this does not grown well enough in the majority of the UK to make it a suitable hedge plant and the hedge varieties usually do not have very large berries. Sloes, or Blackthorn, would make a good hedge and be good for gin! Rose hip is also suggested, as it would be good for making syrup. Espaliers of pear or apple could be planted, or for a thicker hedge a mixture containing Myrobalan Plum is recommended. Finally, Worcesterberry and Elderflower are also suggested.

Q. What can be grown in the shade under mature Oak and Ash trees?

A. 'Gold Leaf' Himalayan Honeysuckle is recommended, as are Geranium Phaeum, Lamium Orvala, White Foxgloves, Honesty and ferns such as Polystichum Setiferum. Sarcococcas, the winter Boxes, are also suggested along with Symphytum Orientale, or White Comfrey. Creeping Dead Nettle variety 'White Nancy' and Pulmonaria 'Blue Ensign' will also do well in dry shade. Iris Foetidissima produces orange fruits in the winter, though there is also a white-fruited form 'Fructo Albo'.

Q. Is there an ecologically responsible way to deal with Earwigs?

A. Earwigs themselves eat an awful lot of other pests, so although they can damage your plants, they are helpful on the whole. The damage seen is probably a result of a collection of slugs, snails and woodlice. Place upturned pots filled with newspaper onto canes near the plants that are being targeted - the pests in questions will use these for shelter during the day, which will allow you to find out what you're dealing with!

Q. Can a red Acer change to green if it doesn't get enough sunlight?

A. These grow naturally in dappled shade, but even in quite severe shade this should not affect the colouring. It may be that the rootstock has grown up and taken over - most red Acers are grafted onto a rootstock to provide its growth characteristics. Acers can be quite variable, so check a description for that specific variety, as it may be that the change in colour is to be expected for that specific variety.

Q. Can the native trees from a community forest be transferred into an urban garden?

A. This depends upon the tree and its ultimate size. Sorbus Aucuparia would work, as would Acer Campestre, Hazels and Ash. Most forest trees are not really suited to the average garden, however, so apple, pear, apricot and peach trees are recommended.


SUN 14:45 Witness (b03bpxxz)
Re-education in China

In China 're-education' is still used as a form of punishment. It was introduced by the Communist Party and the police still send people for re-education without trial. Listen to the story of Robert Ford, an Englishman who spent 5 years being taught the error of his ways in Chinese jails in the 1950s. He had been captured by the Red Army during the invasion of Tibet.


SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b03bq0c2)
Evelyn Waugh - Sword of Honour

Men at Arms

by Evelyn Waugh
Dramatised by Jeremy Front

Evelyn Waugh's satirical WW2 masterpiece:
Guy Crouchback is a man scarred by a broken marriage, searching for a purpose in a modern world, when war breaks out he feels he may have at last found a cause worth fighting for.

Directed by Sally Avens

Waugh's trilogy of WWII novels mark a high point in his literary career. Originally published as three volumes: Officers and Gentlemen, Men at Arms and Unconditional Surrender they were extensively revised by Waugh, and published as the one-volume Sword of Honour in 1965, in the form in which Waugh himself wished them to be read. They are dramatised for the Classic Serial in seven episodes.
This is a story that continues to delight as we follow the comic and often bathetic adventures of Guy Crouchback. Witty and tragic, engaging and insightful, this work must be counted next to 'Brideshead Revisited' as Waugh's most enduring novel. Like Brideshead, Waugh drew heavily upon his own experiences during WWII. Sword of Honour effortlessly treads the line between the personal and the political - it is at once an indictment of the incompetence of the Allied war effort, and a moving study of one man's journey from isolation to self fulfilment. His adventures are peopled by colourful characters: the eccentric, Apthorpe, one-eyed, Ritchie-Hook, promiscuous, Virginia Troy. At the centre of the novel is Guy for whom we never lose our sympathy as he emerges from his adventures bowed but not broken. From Dakar to Egypt, the Isle of Mugg to the evacuation of Crete, tragedy is leavened by Waugh's acerbic and farcical comedy.


SUN 16:00 Open Book (b03bq5tl)
Brazilian literary scene; Sathnam Sanghera; Harrogate History Festival

Sathnam Sanghera made a literary splash with his memoir The Boy with the Topknot. He's now written his first novel, Marriage Material, a contemporary reworking of Arnold Bennett's classic The Old Wives' Tale. Transferring the action to a corner shop in Wolverhampton, his version follows three generations of Sikhs originally from the Punjab. He explains why he felt that Bennett's original lent itself so well to a Punjabi setting and why he felt it was important to tackle the issue of Asian stereotypes in the novel.

With the world looking to Brazil for football next year and for the Olympics in 2016 and a new Festival of Brazilian culture called FLIPside starting in the UK this year, Open Book explores the country's vast literary scene with author Ana Maria Machado, President of the Brazilian Academy of Letters and Dr Charlotte Matthews, lecturer in Portuguese and Brazilian literature of the University of Edinburgh.

Harrogate's world renowned Crime Writing Festival is the biggest event of its kind in Europe and has put the town firmly on the literary map. Well now they want to build on that reputation and this October sees the inaugural Harrogate History Festival. The CEO of Harrogate International Festivals Sharon Canavar explains why they decided to embrace a history festival as well.

Producer: Andrea Kidd.


SUN 16:30 Poetry Please (b03bq5tn)
Charles Causley Anniversary

Roger McGough presents a selection of listeners' requests for poems by Charles Causley who died ten years ago. Including BBC archive recording of the poet and new readings of some of his poems by Simon Armitage and Andrew Motion. Producer: Tim Dee.


SUN 17:00 File on 4 (b03bdsyk)
Secrecy and Surveillance

Recent revelations about secret mass surveillance programmes have raised fears about potential abuses of individual privacy in favour of national security.
With requests to intercept personal communications data on the rise, just who is collecting the information and for what purpose?
Even local authorities can now use surveillance powers to track employees and monitor the activities of residents.
So what rights do people have when they feel they have been unfairly targeted?
Jenny Chryss examines the role of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal - the little known body that considers complaints from those who've been under surveillance by the state.
Critics talk of an "Orwellian system" in which cases are shrouded in too much secrecy. The Tribunal usually sits in private, with claimants barred from hearing evidence and with little detailed explanation of its decisions.
So where should the balance lie between openness and effective oversight?

Producer: Gail Champion.


SUN 17:40 Profile (b03bpsxd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b03bpptq)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (b03bppts)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03bpptv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b03bq5tq)
This week, no stone unturned and no turn un-stoned as we celebrate the Working Man's Club, the original Big Society. Also, find out how rats learn to be ticklish, how dreams keep you asleep and why Johann Sebastian Bach was the Bill Gates of his day. Plus John Steinbeck, Evelyn Waugh, a light-hearted guide to the conflict in the Middle East, the Forton junction of the M6 motorway and Quentin Tarantino sings the Bear Necessities. Well, almost.
Join Stuart Maconie for Pick of the Week

Programmes featured this week:

Our Dreams Our Selves ep 5 - Radio 4
Great Lives - John Steinbeck - Radio 4
The Secret Life of JS Bach - Radio 4
The First Time with Matt Everitt - Quentin Tarantino - 6music
My Teenage Diary - Kate Mosse - Radio 4
The Life Scientific - Professor Sophie Scott - Radio 4
Give Order Please - Radio 4
The Weekend Documentary - Isolation - World Service
BBC National Short Story Award - Mr Fox by Sarah Hall - Radio 4
Classic Serial - Men At Arms - Sword of Honour - Radio 4
OBJ's Guide to the Middle East - Radio 4
Big Band Special - Radio 2

Produced by Louise Clarke.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (b03bq5ts)
Alan is delighted with his congregation's generosity at the harvest festival service.

Shula has invited Alan round to discuss Darrell's plight. Alan agrees with Alistair that maybe Shula needs to take a step back from his situation. Alan decides to try to find Darrell and take him some harvest festival produce.

Brookfield is having trouble with badgers eating their maize. They plan to put up an electric fence in the hope it can keep them at bay until Thursday, when the contractors are booked for harvesting.

David calls Elizabeth, as today is her wedding anniversary. She is touched and invites him and Ruth round for afternoon tea.

At tea they reminisce fondly about Nigel. Elizabeth does feel everything is a little easier now. Talk moves on to Jill's birthday plans. Elizabeth had offered to do celebratory meal in the evening but Jill doesn't want to miss Lynda's meeting to plan the Christmas show. She's not impressed with Lynda's ideas.

Not wanting any more bad publicity, Caroline pops in to work to calm an irate guest. Caroline admits to Oliver that after everything that has happened she's thinking of selling the hotel. Oliver persuades her not to make any life-changing decisions until the dust has settled, then see how she feels.


SUN 19:15 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b01d51th)
Series 1

With David O'Doherty

In a new brand music comedy series comedian Alex Horne and his 5 piece band give us a latin lesson; ponder the language that unifies us all and guest comedian David O Doherty takes us for a noisy ride in the 'quiet carriage'.

Host .... Alex Horne
Trumpet/banjo .... Joe Auckland
Saxophone/clarinet ....Mark Brown
Double Bass/Bass .... Will Collier
Drums and Percussion .... Ben Reynolds
Piano/keyboard .... Joe Stilgoe
Guest performer ....David O'Doherty

Producer .... Julia McKenzie.


SUN 19:45 Bloody Scotland (b03bq5tv)
Waiting With the Body

Malcolm Mackay continues our series of brand new commissions from leading crime writers, all recorded in front of an audience at the Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival in Stirling.

'Waiting With the Body' is a tale from the seedy underbelly of Glasgow, where a professional hitman finds himself in an unexpected situation. Read by Robin Laing

Crime writer Malcolm Mackay has lived all his life on the island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, but writes noir-ish tales set in the criminal urban underworld of Glasgow.

Read by Robin Laing
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.


SUN 20:00 More or Less (b03bg4w2)
Are patients 45% more likely to die in NHS hospitals than US ones?

Health service patients are 45% more likely to die in hospital than in the US, the news headlines read. The media were reporting the work of Professor Sir Brian Jarman from the Doctor Foster Intelligence Unit. But the claim has attracted criticism. Tim Harford looks into the story.

"We just shut our eyes to the fact that the world's population is increasing out of control... and we owe it to future generations to face up to this." Is Sir David Attenborough right about global population projections?

Scotland is home to 20% of the world's redheads, the BBC has reported. Hannah Barnes looks at whether the numbers add up.

Tim Harford tells the story of the Hawthorne Experiments, one of the most famous studies in industrial history - and one of the most misunderstood.

Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Ruth Alexander.


SUN 20:30 Last Word (b03bg4w0)
A Ghanaian poet, an addiction counsellor, a beat writers' muse and a special branch officer

Matthew Bannister on

Kofi Awoonor, the Ghanaian poet, diplomat and academic who was killed in the Nairobi shopping mall attack.

Peter Kay, the addiction counsellor who drew on his own struggle with drink and drugs to help leading footballers kick their habits. One of them - Clarke Carlisle - pays tribute.

Carolyn Cassady, the wife of the beat poet Neal Cassady who had an affair with Jack Kerouac and was portrayed as Camille in On The Road

And war hero turned Special Branch officer Ferguson Smith, who helped to catch the Portland spy ring and George Blake.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (b03bps1y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 on Saturday]


SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b03bpxxg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 today]


SUN 21:30 In Business (b03bfszs)
China's Economic Crossroads

The Chinese government plans to have 200 million graduates by 2020. Although this number still needs to be seen in its context of the 1.3 billion Chinese population, it is still a large increase in skilled workers from the 1 million graduates in 2000. But cracks in the plan are being shown by the class of 2013. Seven million people finished university this year and many are finding that the types of job they want aren't available. Many employers also can't find the workers they want to fill their jobs. This is an illustration of China's economy at a turning point in its development. The rapid economic expansion of the past thirty years, based on cheap labour making goods for export, is slowing down and something needs to come and fill the gap it is leaving behind. In this week's In Business, Peter Day travels to the centre of China, the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province. For centuries the city has been known as the crossroads of the country, situated on the Yellow River and where the north-south and east-west railways meet. It's an apt place perhaps to investigate China's economy at its own crossroads.

Producer: Charlotte Pritchard.


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b03bq5tx)
Preview of the week's political agenda at Westminster with MPs, experts and commentators. Discussion of the issues politicians are grappling with in the corridors of power.


SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b03bq5tz)
A look at how the newspapers are covering the biggest stories.


SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b03bfszd)
Cate Blanchett on Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine; Michael Roemer on Nothing But a Man; Denis Villeneuve on Prisoners

Cate Blanchett talks to Francine Stock about her well-received performance as banker's wife and socialite in Blue Jasmine. Directed by Woody Allen, it tells the story of a corrupt financier, played by Alec Baldwin, and his wife who fall from high society when he is arrested for fraud.

The Quebecois director Denis Villeneuve, who made Incendies and Polytechnique, is back with a new film, Prisoners, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman. The plot follows two families whose daughters mysteriously disappear and explores how grief and desperation can corrupt.

As biopics dominate the award season releases, the director Margarethe von Trotta discusses her new film about the German Jewish political theorist Hannah Arendt. It focuses on the period around 1961 when Arendt caused great controversy in her essays about the trial of the Nazi Adolf Eichmann in Israel. The trial inspired her famous phrase "the banality of evil".

Plus director Michael Roemer looks back at his ground-breaking film Nothing But A Man, released in 1964 and now restored by the Library of Congress and re-released by the BFI. It follows a young black man as he tries to shake off his alcoholic father and find a decent life for himself in the segregated South. Michael Roemer explains why it was difficult to find black audiences and how even today, many people presume he must be black himself to have made this film.

Producer: Elaine Lester.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b03bpxx8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2013

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b03bpp9x)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b03bfk9h)
Noodle narratives; British men dancing Capoeira

Noodle narratives - Laurie Taylor talks to US anthropologist, Deborah Gewertz, about the invention, production and consumption of instant ramen noodles. From their origins in Japan to their worldwide spread to markets as diverse as the USA and Papua New Guinea. As popular with the affluent as with the poor, they enable diverse populations to manage their lives. So how did noodles become one of the industrial food system's most successful achievements? And what can the humble noodle tell us about the history of food and the anthropology of globalisation? Also, British men dancing like Brazilians. Social scientist, Neil Stephens, discusses a study which finds that Capoeira challenges the traditional opposition between masculinity and dance. He's joined by Theresa Buckland, Professor of Dance History and Ethnography.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b03bpxx6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03bpp9z)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03bppb1)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03bppb3)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (b03bppb7)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b03c7f8z)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with Canon Simon Doogan.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (b03bq6j8)
Scottish food exporters are targeting India in a bid to expand food production. Buyers at a trade fair seem to like what they taste. Should other producers in the UK jump on this band wagon ?We also look to Norway where up to two million farmed salmon infested with sea lice are to be slaughtered over the next month, after becoming resistant to chemical treatment. The levels of sea lice on two farms were found to be over the legal limit and so the fish will be killed to protect wild salmon due to migrate through the area next spring. Adult wild salmon can live with a few lice, but their skin is too fragile to cope with what conservationists call the "sea lice soup" spread by farmed salmon. Charlotte hears from the Norwegian Seafood Council and speaks to a sea lice expert about the extent of the problem here in UK waters.

Presented by Charlotte Smith, and produced in Bristol by Anna Jones.


MON 05:56 Weather (b03bppb9)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b038qkfw)
Serin

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Brett Westwood presents the serin. Serins breed just across the English Channel but they are small finches that continue to tantalize ornithologists here in the UK. Hopes were raised that this Continental finch would settle here to breed, especially if our climate became warmer. However, something about our islands doesn't suit them. They do like large parks and gardens, so keep an ear out for the song of this visitor....a cross between a goldfinch and a goldcrest, and you may be rewarded.


MON 06:00 Today (b03bq6jb)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (b03bq6jd)
Greek myth and the Indian epic Ramayana

Stephanie Flanders talks to the Canadian poet Anne Carson about updating a three thousand year old myth, in which the red winged monster becomes a moody teenage boy. Daljit Nagra takes inspiration from poets across Asia for his own version of the ancient text, Ramayana. The sins of the father are revisited in Richard Eyre's version of Ibsen's Ghosts. And Celtic Europe is the setting for Graham Robb's latest journey, as he uncovers a lost map which reveals hidden meanings in an ancient civilisation.

Producer: Katy Hickman.


MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b03byzzf)
Seamus Heaney - Beowulf

Episode 1

In the years after the funeral of the Dane's warrior King Shield Sheafson, the evil fiend Grendel rises to prowl the land. At the court of Hygelac in Geatland, a great warrior prepares to help King Hrothgar.

Radio 4 pays tribute to Seamus Heaney, Nobel Prize-winning poet, internationally recognised as one of the greatest contemporary voices who passed away earlier this month at the age of 74.
Composed towards the end of the first millennium, the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf is one of the great Northern epics and a classic of European literature. Seamus Heaney's translation , completed near the end of the second millennium is both true, line by line, to the original, as well as being an expression of his own creative, lyrical gift.
Here, in a recording made ten years ago, Seamus Heaney brings his vibrant powerful writing to life as he reads ten fifteen minute extracts from the narrative.
The poem is about encountering the monstrous, defeating it, and then living on, physically and psychically exposed, in that exhausted aftermath. It is not hard to draw parallels between this story and the history of the twentieth century, nor can Heaney's Beowulf fail to be read partly in the light of his Northern Irish upbringing.
But it also transcends such considerations, telling us psychological and spiritual truths that are permanent and liberating.

Produced in Salford by Susan Roberts.
Radio Drama North.


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b03bq9cw)
Samantha Lewthwaite; Liz Calder; Business Start-Ups

What do we know about so-called "white widow" Samantha Lewthwaite and how has her image come to dominate coverage of the Kenyan Westgate shopping mall attack? With a raft of Conservative policies from marriage tax breaks to help to buy in the headlines, we talk to MP Sarah Wollaston live from the party conference in Manchester about their appeal to women. The social enterprise built on fruit and vegetables destined for the dump. Why more women are doing it for themselves in business start-ups. Eminent publisher Liz Calder on why she's bringing a Brazilian literary festival to Britain.


MON 10:45 The Pillow Book (b03brkss)
Series 6

Episode 1

Yukinari is summoned to visit his old friend Takashi. Shonagon is confined in the palace

Lady Shonagon and Lieutenant Yukinari return! But this time, not together...

Despite her conviction that she is unable to bear children, Shonagon has fallen pregnant by Yukinari. She has gone into labour prematurely, and the process is as distasteful to her as the idea of being a mother is.

Meanwhile, Yukinari, believing the child to be due a month later has answered the summons of a childhood friend, Takashi. He arrives at the rural outpost where the two boys grew up to find his old friend much changed.

Inspired by the writings of Sei Shonagon, a poet and lady-in-waiting to the Empress of the 10th Century Japanese court.

Written by Robert Forrest.

Directed by Lu Kemp.


MON 11:00 Young Devolutionaries (b03bq9d0)
The Young Devolutionaries

They are the generation who have grown up under devolution. Now, nine teenagers from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales share their vision of the system that brought them up.


MON 11:30 Reception (b03bq9kq)
Birthday Boy

Reception is a sitcom about two men sitting behind a desk, starring Adrian Scarborough, Morwenna Banks and Amit Shah. Written by Paul Basset Davies.

Clarissa's inexplicable obsession with Brian goes into overdrive when he's late for work and Danny tells her he's at the doctor's. Clarissa accesses Brian's personnel files, searching for clues about his health and breeding prospects, and she discovers it's his birthday. She persuades Danny to help her plan a surprise party, but their schemes are disrupted by the arrival of Brian's elderly father, who is even more eccentric than his son. Meanwhile, Brian's new sinus tablets seem to be affecting him very strangely.

Will Brian survive his birthday, and why have a stripper, a policeman and an alien arrived to help him celebrate it?

Producer: Anna Madley
An Avalon Television production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:00 You and Yours (b03bq9ks)
Play Streets: No Cars

We go to Bristol, where in some streets, cars and motorbikes are banned so children can play safely on the streets. This week Scotland brings in a law which makes it compulsory to fit a carbon monoxide alarm if you install a new heater. So why doesn't the rest of the UK do the same? And we'll also be looking at the millions of pounds being paid to solicitors who are making claims against NHS hospitals.


MON 12:57 Weather (b03bppbc)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 13:00 World at One (b03bqchb)
Martha Kearney presents news and reaction live from the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. George Osborne says he wants to build a budget surplus, once the deficit has been paid off. His cabinet colleague - Patrick McLaughlin tells us there would be a continual squeeze on public spending.

The UKIP leader Nigel Farage says around two dozen Tory MPs might support a local deal with his party.

We ask what the state of Italy's government means for the rest of Europe and we're at Stonehenge as the new visitor centre is unveiled.


MON 13:45 Publishing Lives (b03bqchd)
Series 1

John Murray

As the digital revolution shakes publishing to its foundations, writer and former publisher Robert McCrum explores the stories of five great British publishers. He looks back at their remarkable lives and asks what they can tell us about the challenges facing their successors today.

The story of British book publishing is the story of taking ink and paper, words and ideas, to the people. It's a tale of incredible showmen, hustlers, mavericks, gamblers and talent scouts - people with a global vision and pioneers who found new ways to take books to a mass market.

Robert starts with the John Murray publishing dynasty. In seven generations of John Murrays, the list of authors is a roll-call of English literature: Jane Austen, Lord Byron, Charles Darwin, Walter Scott, Arthur Conan Doyle, John Betjeman, and many more.

In 1768 John Murray set up a publishing company, whose most celebrated author was Lord Byron. When Murray published his 'Childe Harold' in 1812, it was said that Byron 'woke up to find himself famous'. It was also the making of Murray the publisher. Yet Murray participated in one of the most notorious acts in publishing history when he burnt the manuscript of Byron's personal memoirs because he thought the scandalous details would damage Byron's reputation.

During the Victorian age, through charm, luck and hard work, the second John Murray put himself at the centre of the literary scene and transformed his trade as a coarse bookseller into a profession for gentlemen.

Robert meets the seventh and last John Murray, as well as experts in literature and publishing, to discuss one of the oldest publishing houses in Britain.

Produced by Melissa FitzGerald
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 14:00 The Archers (b03bq5ts)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (b00zdhzs)
Mike Walker - The Gun Goes to Hollywood

The Pride and the Passion is Hollywood's 1957 adaptation of The Gun, by C S Forester. It's set in Spain during the Napoleonic wars and tells the story of Captain Anthony Trumbull, played by Cary Grant, a British military officer, who is ordered to retrieve an enormous cannon and transport it across Spain to the British lines, where it will be used to attack the French garrison at Avila. Guerrilla leader Miguel, played by Frank Sinatra, agrees to help, even though he despises the Englishman, and Miguel's feisty girlfriend Juana, played by Sophia Loren, comes with them. Along the way Juana falls in love with Trundall. But the film had a notoriously troubled set. Sinatra left the production early because of marriage difficulties with Ava Gardner, and Grant, then 53, fell in love with his co-star Loren, 23. Mike Walker's play imagines the behind-the-scenes ructions from the viewpoint of the script doctor, Earl Felton, who was drafted in to save the day.

A BBC/Cymru Wales production, directed by Kate McAll.


MON 15:00 Round Britain Quiz (b03bqchg)
(3/12)
'Make a start by opening your mouth in the Mongolian desert, and with your fourth step you might encounter an operatic baritone. Can you explain?'

Tom Sutcliffe will be asking the teams to do exactly that, in Round Britain Quiz. Fred Housego and Marcel Berlins return for the South of England, playing opposite Brian Feeney and Roisin McAuley of Northern Ireland, in the game of cryptic connections.

As usual, several of the questions have been suggested by listeners, and you can play along by following the questions under today's date on the Round Britain Quiz pages of the BBC Radio 4 website.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (b03bpxxs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 Walter Kershaw: The UK's First Street Artist? (b01mk8zs)
Years before the super-cool graffiti of Banksy and his ilk, guerrilla art was being pioneered on condemned buildings in Rochdale. Walter Kershaw brightened up bridges, transformed toilets and glorified gable-ends. His work was large scale. Poppies the size of a house and a portrait of Alvin Stardust that covered an old shop (it WAS the 1970s).

Kershaw's art upset local authorities but delighted many locals. Wherever he painted he drew a crowd and soon residents were requesting him to paint their houses. He sought no fee and knew that his work would fade or be bulldozed, but he persisted. There were no slogans, no protests and nothing overtly political. This really was art for art's sake.

Mark Hodkinson, who grew up around Rochdale, meets Walter and takes him back to his old haunts. He meets Walter's accomplices and the art historians who put his work in context. He discovers what makes Walter tick and what he thinks of the current crop of graffiti artists.

Producer: Ian Bent

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2012.


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b03bqchj)
JRR Tolkien

40 years since the death of J.R.R. Tolkien many people remain as spell bound as ever by the richly detailed world he created in his epic works of fantasy fiction. The books are among the nations most loved and 150 million copies have been sold worldwide. The Peter Jackson films, first 'The Lord of the Ring' series and now 'The Hobbit', have been among the highest-grossing films of all time.

What underlies this enduring appeal? Tolkien, a devout Catholic, described 'The Lord of the Ring' in a letter as "a fundamentally religious and Catholic work".

How are we to interpret the theology of Tolkien's world of 'Elves' and 'Orcs', 'Froddo' and 'Gollum', darkness and light? How do we reconcile Catholic symbolism with the magic and mysticism that lean to a more pagan reading of his stories? And what do these epic battles of good versus evil tell us about Tolkien's own faith and world view?

Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the religious and philosophical nature of J.R.R. Tolkien's literary works are Joseph Pearce, writer in Residence and Fellow at Thomas More College and author of 'Tolkien: Man or Myth'. Ronald Hutton, Professor of History at Bristol University, specialising in ancient and medieval paganism and magic. And Rev Dr Alison Milbank, Associate Professor, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Nottingham University and author of 'Chesterton and Tolkien as Theologians'.

Producer: Catherine Earlam.


MON 17:00 PM (b03bqchl)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03bppbh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:30 The Museum of Curiosity (b03bqchn)
Series 6

Watson, Fletcher, Blashford-Snell

The Museum of Curiosity is the natural meeting place for entertaining experts and expert entertainers.

This week, it's flinging open its doors, inaugurating a brand new wing of empty plinths is ready to receive 3 new exhibits.

Our host is (as ever) the Professor of Ignorance, John Lloyd, and for this series he is joined by a new curator, the comedian Humphrey Ker. This week's generous donors are Egyptologist Prof. Joann Fletcher, who is presenting us with a hugely significant Roman coin; explorer Col. John Blashford-Snell, who brings a compass that led its owner the greatest one-liner in History; and the comedian Mark Watson, who is offering us something rather small and personal.

Produced by Richard Turner.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.


MON 19:00 The Archers (b03bqchq)
Alan invites Darrell round for a cuppa and a bite to eat. While there, he offers Darrell some produce from the harvest festival along with his old rucksack and sleeping bag. Darrell is overcome by Alan's generosity and kindness.

Nic is with Joe when Alan calls round to drop him off some produce. He is disgruntled when the offerings don't include any baccy. They both observe that despite their best efforts Joe is very down.

Susan tries to muster enthusiasm for her 50th birthday party at The Bull but can't hide her disappointment it's not at Grey Gables. Susan is nervous when she discovers Tracy and Emma have been tracking down some of her old contacts.

Nic calls in on Emma, suggesting she find the time to pop and visit Joe. She also wonders if Emma could help with organising the calendar for the organ fund. Competitive Emma claims to be too busy with her own idea.

Nic panics as her waters break but luckily Emma takes control of the situation. She contacts Will and takes all the children back home with her. Susan suggests that Jake and Mia will have to bunk down with George and Keira. No one knows when the baby will arrive, so Will could be at the hospital all night.


MON 19:15 Front Row (b03bqd0q)
Sunshine on Leith; Adil Ray; Malcolm Mackay; Art Under Attack

With Mark Lawson.

The film Sunshine on Leith follows two young soldiers struggling to re-adjust to life in Edinburgh after returning from Afghanistan. Based on a stage musical drawing on songs by The Proclaimers, it stars Jane Horrocks and Peter Mullan. Larushka Ivan-Zedah reviews.

Actor Adil Ray discusses his TV sit-com Citizen Khan, as it returns for a second series. Ray, who plays self-appointed Muslim community leader Mr Khan, talks about getting into character and addresses criticisms of the show - including complaints that it was offensive.

Art Under Attack: Histories Of British Iconoclasm is the first exhibition to explore the history of physical attacks on art in Britain, from state-sanctioned destruction of religious works during the Reformation, to defaced portraits in Jake and Dinos Chapman's series, One Day You Will No Longer Be Loved. Artist John Keane gives his verdict.

After receiving the award for Scottish Crime Book of the Year, Malcolm Mackay talks about the inspiration for his novels. Born and still living in Stornoway, in the Outer Hebrides, Mackay explains how he came to start writing a trilogy about organised crime in Glasgow.

Producer Nicki Paxman.


MON 19:45 The Pillow Book (b03brkss)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


MON 20:00 Fear of the Brain Drain (b039pf5h)
Our elite universities claim that an alarming number of the most talented British youngsters are heading out of the country for their education, driven by the stick of domestic fees and the carrot of better facilities abroad.

Meanwhile City banks say they have to pay enormous bonuses and wages to keep staff in a global market.

What is the reality of the emigration of highly skilled people?

Some research indicates that the UK has benefitted from a "brain gain" in the last decade, as young academics have returned here from abroad. Rod Liddle argues that we need to be sceptical of claims of a Brain Drain, which he says is used by all sides of the political debate for their own ends. Rod looks at the evidence, talks to the fleeing, the returning, the immigrants and the emigrants.

Interviewees include former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson, and businessman Martin Sorrell who has received vociferous criticism for his own pay packages.

Producer: Steve Kyte
A Bite Media production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 20:30 Analysis (b03bqfwv)
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: Why Did They Fail?

Barely a year after Egypt's post-revolution elections were held, millions of protestors took to the streets to demand the resignation of President Mohammed Morsi. After a short stand-off with army leaders, he was removed from power in what many describe as a coup d'etat.

The subsequent clashes between Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters and security forces have proved violent and bloody and the country is once again being governed by the military - but what were the events which closed this short chapter in the fledgling Egyptian democracy?

Christopher de Bellaigue speaks to insiders from across Egypt's political spectrum to reveal the mistakes and power-plays which led to the downfall of the country's first democratically elected president.

Contributors:

Dr Abdul Mawgoud Dardery, former Freedom and Justice Party MP for Luxor.

Dr Hisham Hellyer, associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (London) and the Brookings Institution (Washington).

Dr Omar Ashour, senior lecturer in Middle East Politics and Security Studies, University of Exeter.

Angy Ghannam, Head of BBC Monitoring, Cairo.

Dr Wael Haddara, former communications adviser to President Mohammed Morsi.

Dr Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, founder of the Strong Egypt party.

Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith
Editor: Innes Bowen


MON 21:00 Shared Planet (b03bds3r)
Elephant Poaching in Africa

Monty Don presents Shared Planet, the series that looks at the crunch point between human population and the natural world. In this programme a field report from Saba Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants from the Samburu National Park in Kenya. Saba sees first-hand the sight of an elephant shot for its ivory. From Kenya, Monty Don explores some of the wider issues in Africa with David Western, Chairman of the Africa Conservation Centre in Kenya, ex Director of the Kenyan Wildlife Service and Adjunct Professor at University of California, San Diego. With many commentators and scientists saying the end markets for ivory are too large to supply from legally traded ivory, what argument will save elephants from the huge market incentive to kill elephants for their ivory?


MON 21:30 Start the Week (b03bq6jd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:58 Weather (b03bppbk)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b03bqfwx)
US budget crisis: the latest.
Will George Osborne's workfare plan achieve more than other schemes?
Turkey ends ban on headscarves in public places.
With Carolyn Quinn.


MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b03bqfwz)
James Bond - Solo

Episode 1

It is 1969 and James Bond is about to go solo, recklessly motivated by revenge.

A seasoned veteran of the service, 007 is sent to single-handedly stop a civil war in a small West African nation. Aided by a beautiful accomplice and hindered by the local militia, he undergoes a scarring experience which compels him to ignore M's orders in pursuit of his own brand of justice.

Bond's renegade action leads him to Washington DC, where he discovers a web of geopolitical intrigue and witnesses fresh horrors.

Even if Bond succeeds in exacting his revenge, a man with two faces will come to stalk his every waking moment.

Written by William Boyd, who is the author of one work of non-fiction, three collections of short stories and thirteen novels, including the bestselling historical spy thriller Restless - winner of the Costa Novel of the Year - and Any Human Heart, in which the character of Ian Fleming features. Among his other awards are the Whitbread First Novel Prize, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Prix Jean Monnet. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2005 he was awarded the CBE.

Solo - a James Bond novel written by William Boyd. Copyright Ian Fleming Publications Limited 2013

Reader: Paterson Joseph
Abridged by Libby Spurrier

Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 23:00 Verse Illustrated (b0132l7v)
Episode 1

Verse Illustrated is a new series of short story poems by some of the UK's leading spoken word artists, illustrated with sound and music. Each is narrated by its author, in their own distinctive style. And each takes us on a very different late night journey.

In the first of the series, Laura Dockrill and Polar Bear tell two very different stories.

'Earwig' written and performed by Laura Dockrill
A darkly modern fairy tale. When Mrs Budge attempts to squash an earwig, it grows in size until: "He, giant like for a bug, is less of an earwig and more like a thug".

'Homebase' written and performed by Polar Bear
A tale of two teenage friends at a party they'll never forget: "We went to cubs together, snuck into pubs together, dabbled in drugs together and now and then we blend in at uni student parties."

Actors... Alex Tregear, Daniel Rabin, Peter Polycarpou, Carl Prekopp, Susie Riddell and Jonathan Forbes.

Directed by James Robinson


MON 23:15 Warhorses of Letters (b01p0s13)
Series 2

Episode 1

The romantic correspondence between two of history's most important horses: Napoleon's mount Marengo and the Duke of Wellington's own Copenhagen.

This second series picks up the story of the two lovers sundered by fate as Napoleon returns from Elba. Their letters speak eloquently of love, loss, jealousy and nuts.

Marengo ..... Stephen Fry
Copenhagen ..... Daniel Rigby
Narrator ..... Tamsin Greig

Written by Marie Phillips and Robbie Hudson.

Producer: Gareth Edwards

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2012.


MON 23:30 With Great Pleasure (b036twt3)
Lenny Henry

Actor and comedian Lenny Henry chooses his favourite readings, from Othello to 'Small Island'.

Each piece triggers thoughts about his life and the words that have mattered to him, from plays he's performed to writers he loves.

Including extracts from Chinua Achebe's classic 'Things Fall Apart', Neil Gaiman's 'Anansi Boys' and his current show 'Fences'.

Recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre, with reader Nadine Marshall and Jude Akuwudike.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.



TUESDAY 01 OCTOBER 2013

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b03bppcs)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b03byzzf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03bppcv)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03bppcx)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03bppcz)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b03bppd1)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b03c78v5)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with Canon Simon Doogan.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b03bqw3v)
More than 60,000 casual and seasonal workers are picking fruit and harvesting vegetables on farms all over the UK - many arrive here from Eastern Europe through licensed gangmasters. But farmers could fall foul of illegal gangmasters who exploit their workers. We hear how farmers can be more vigilant when employing seasonal workers.

The UK eel population has dropped by 95% over the last 30 years. Now efforts are being made to restock our lakes and rivers - with 100,000 juvenile glass eels.

And we ask whether our dairy industry can rise to the challenge of expansion, and produce an extra four billion litres of milk to meet demand from abroad.

Presented by Anna Hill, and produced in Bristol by Anna Jones.


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkc26)
Redwing

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Redwing. The soft thin 'seep' calls of redwings as they fly over at night are as much a part of autumn as falling leaves, damp pavements and the smoke of bonfires. In winter up to a million redwings pour into our islands, most of them from Scandinavia and Iceland.


TUE 06:00 Today (b03bqw3x)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (b03bqw3z)
Jenny Graves

Australian geneticist Jenny Graves discusses her life pursuing sex genes in her country's weird but wonderful fauna, the end of men and singing to her students in lectures.


TUE 09:30 One to One (b03bqw41)
Pallab Ghosh talks to Bob Greig

In this series of One to One, where broadcasters pursue topics that interest them beyond their day to day job, BBC science correspondent Pallab Ghosh finds out more about the way fathers and daughters interact - a subject that's fascinated him since the birth of his daughter 5 years ago. In the first programme of two, he talks to lone parent Bob Greig about his experiences of fatherhood, especially when it was something that was thrust upon him by the breakdown of his marriage when his daughters were young.

Producer: Sally Heaven.


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b03c31f0)
Seamus Heaney - Beowulf

Episode 2

Beowulf arrives in the land of the Shieldings and explains his mission to Hrothgar, the Danish King.

Produced in Salford by Susan Roberts.
Radio Drama North.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b03bqw43)
Edna O'Brien; Campus sexual politics; Flat shoes

Edna O'Brien on her new collection of short stories written over 50 years - The Love Object: Selected Stories.

We discuss sexual politics on campus with Kelley Temple from the National Union of Students and Megan Clark, student and blogger from Nottingham University.

What do we say to women who want children but are unable to have them? Jane Garvey talks to psychotherapist Jody Day about her grief for the children she would never have, the reaction of others, her blog, and support group Gateway Women.

And flat shoes and boots - fashion historian Amber Butchart and Alice Revel, editor of the online magazine Running in Heels, discuss what to wear this autumn and winter.


TUE 10:45 The Pillow Book (b03bq9cy)
Series 6

Episode 2

Lady Shonagon and Lieutenant Yukinari return! But this time, not together...

Despite her conviction that she is unable to bear children, Shonagon has fallen pregnant by Yukinari. She has gone into labour prematurely, and the process is as distasteful to her as the idea of being a mother is. Shonagon attempts to the deliver the child, assisted by her harassed friend Saisho.

Meanwhile, Yukinari, believing the child to be due a month later, has answered the invitation of a childhood friend, Takashi. The two have been revisiting their youth, drinking and climbing hills together. But Yukinari begins to suspect that he has been summoned here, not for a holiday, but in a professional capacity - to uncover the mystery behind his friend's wife's murder.

Inspired by the writings of Sei Shonagon, a poet and lady-in-waiting to the Empress of the 10th Century Japanese court.

Written by Robert Forrest.

Directed by Lu Kemp.


TUE 11:00 Shared Planet (b03bqws7)
Religion and Nature

The world human population is increasing and although in some parts of the world increased secularism is reported, nevertheless more people on earth are affiliated to a religion than not. Can the major religions of the world play a role in conserving the natural world? Monty Don explores how religious teachings might help people get more involved in conservation. In southern India the city of Bangalore is the third most populous city in India and one of the fastest growing. As the city expands to accommodate new migrants from the surrounding countryside the nearby national park - Bannerghatta - is under pressure. People now live in the buffer zone that was designed to separate people and wildlife. Elephants now regularly damage crops and farmland as their traditional sites are settled by people. The Christian based conservation organisation A Rocha has established a programme in Bannerghatta to both help the people who are losing their livelihood and the elephants who are being poisoned and persecuted. Can this example be replicated around the world where wildlife and people come into conflict? Professor Mary Evelyn Tucker and Bishop James Jones join Monty to explore how religion and conservation fit together.


TUE 11:30 The Night Visiting (b03bqws9)
The award-winning folk musician Tim van Eyken has travelled the world performing traditional songs. He also works in the theatre and was the Song Man in the National Theatre's production of 'War Horse'. One of the first songs he ever heard, from his mother, was 'The Bay of Biscay'. In this a woman is visited in the night by her lover, returned after seven years at sea. It turns out that he was drowned, the visitor is his ghost... and he cannot stay.

There are many varieties of night visiting song: tales of seduction; stories of deception, when the visitor turns out not to be the expected lover; and songs of ghostly visitation.

Tim sets out to probe the history, meaning and significance of these songs. He talks to the singer Martin Carthy about their power. Dr Vic Gammon sets them in their international context - there are in Europe dawn songs. He hears from Bella Hardy; the first song she ever wrote was a new night visiting song.

Tim believes that the night visiting songs are more than old yarns; that they speak to us today of desire, love and loss - and sexual and class politics. He tests his ideas with the Jungian psychotherapist, Warren Colman. Professor Chris French, who researches the paranormal, and film-maker Carla MacKinnon, who have both been working on sleep paralysis, consider the psychology of the songs, what might actually be happening to the people in them.

Tim considers, too, how the night visiting is a trope in our literature. Isn't the balcony scene in 'Romeo and Juliet' a night visit? What of Cathy in 'Wuthering Heights'? Throughout, we hear beautiful, haunting, night visiting songs, performed by the people Tim speaks to, and taken from archive recordings.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2013.


TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b03bqwsc)
Call You and Yours

Consumer phone-in with Julian Worricker.


TUE 12:57 Weather (b03bppd3)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (b03br27g)
Mayor of London - Boris Johnson - tells us he wants to be as useful as he can be at the next general election.

As parts of the US government shut down, we ask what it means for the world's economy.

The Labour Leader, Ed Miliband, has said he is appalled that the Daily Mail described his father's legacy as evil. We'll hear from him and will ask if he was right to mention his father in many of his speeches.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith on changes for the unemployed.


TUE 13:45 Publishing Lives (b03bs6z3)
Series 1

Allen Lane

Allen Lane left school at 16 and had no university education, yet he was fascinated by learning and education, ideas and argument. His revolutionary innovation was to produce a series of inexpensive books, in paper covers, at sixpence apiece - the price of a packet of cigarettes. It was an idea which came to him when, returning from visiting Agatha Christie in the West Country, he could find nothing worth reading on the Exeter railway station bookstall.

Allen Lane's brainwave - the Penguin - was the biggest single innovation in books of the twentieth century. Households across Britain began sprouting those colour-coded spines. Lane's Penguin books revolutionised publishing and changed people's lives.

Allen Lane's populist instincts told him that post-war Britain was hungry for knowledge. Central to post-war renewal, Penguin titles eventually sold 250 million copies. But he never dumbed down. His Pelican titles, specially commissioned non-fiction, became an informal university for 1950s Britons. Pelicans, said Lane, were "another form of education for people like me who left school at sixteen."

Lane was a great innovator and a great risk taker. In 1960 he took the biggest risk of all by publishing the infamous 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', which had become almost a byword for pornography. In publishing the novel, Lane deliberately risked prosecution.

Penguin, that jaunty little bird from the twentieth century, survives in the new century, still one of the most recognised publishing brands in the English-speaking world.

Robert McCrum meets Allen Lane's daughters, as well as experts in literature and publishing, to discuss the man who brought books to the mass market.

Producer: Melissa Fitzgerald
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (b03bqchq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b03br3bp)
Man in the Moon

Linda Marshall Griffiths' bittersweet love story told from two perspectives across five different encounters.

At Glastonbury Festival Scarlet is hiding from Joe. Joe has found her after years of searching and he is not about to give up now and walk away. It was love at first sight when Joe and Scarlet met but eighteen year old Joe was taking a motorbike around Africa and seventeen year old Scarlet wanted to be a drummer in a band; life took them in different directions. Now sixteen years later will their stories come together?

Directed by Nadia Molinari.


TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (b03brkdq)
Series 4

Hush

Josie Long presents a series of short documentaries about keeping quiet, being lost for words and complete silence.

From the crushing silence after a musician's mistake to the tense hush that surrounds two teenage boys as they hide inches from their headmaster in an oversized box - tales of attempts to keep quiet and the struggle to raise your voice.

The items featured in the programme are:

Wilderness
Feat. Kate Adie
Produced by Sara Parker

Hidden
Feat. Kester Brewin

Sailing By
Feat. Pete Long and Diana Speed
Produced by Leo Hornak

Nobody Else Can Hear It
Feat. Jack Davidson
Produced by Hana Walker-Brown

Hearing Voices
Feat. Kate Adie
Produced by Sara Parker

El's Story
Produced by Natalie Kestecher
Originally broadcast in 'Stories of Silence' on ABC

Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (b03brkds)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Tom Heap reports on the latest findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

He's joined by a panel of top scientists and thinkers to pick over the report and discover what the indications are for the global climate over the next few decades. The panel includes:

Professor Julia Slingo, Met Office Chief Scientist
Sir Mark Walport, UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser
Dr. Bjorn Lomborg, Author of "The Skeptical Environmentalist"
Professor Mike Hulme, Professor of Climate and Culture, King's College London
Mark Lynas, Author and environmentalist
Tony Grayling, Head of Climate Change and Communities, Environment Agency

Presenter: Tom Heap
Producer: Martin Poyntz-Roberts.


TUE 16:00 Keeping It Real (b03brkdv)
Anyone who prefers Jake Bugg to Harry Styles or Laura Marling to Lana del Rey; anyone who knows the farm that grows the beef they eat, wears vintage clothing, shops only locally or has ever been to Bhutan on holiday will know they belong to a very modern tribe - the Authenticity Seekers.

Comedy writer Jane Bussmann takes a personal tour round her life choices to ask why we are obsessed with authenticity. Is it a noble cause or another type of status seeking?

She's joined by Giles Coren on the trail of real food, by writer David Boyle on his allotment, by Hugh Barker who turns her ideas about authentic music upside down, and by smart philosophical thinkers Julian Baginni and Andrew Potter who explain some of the origins and the dangers of this contemporary cult.

From New York we hear from NYTimes journalist Alessandra Stanley about our ability as audiences to determine what's real and what's fake.

Producer: Susan Marling
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b03brkdx)
Series 31

Al Murray on Bernard Montgomery

"In defeat, unbeatable; in victory, unbearable" – so said Winston Churchill on this week's Great Live, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery. Many would argue that he was Britain's greatest field commander since Wellington - arrogant, hard to like but undeniably successful – one of the most, perhaps the most, conspicuously successful British commander of the Second World War. He was a national celebrity.

In this edition of Great Lives - Al Murray - comedian and TV personality best known for his character of 'The Pub Landlord' champions Monty – and Al starts off by showing presenter Matthew Parris his action figure doll of the man. Joining them is expert historian from the Imperial War Museum, Terry Charman.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2013.


TUE 17:00 PM (b03brkdz)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03bppd7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b03brkf1)
Series 3

Episode 5

John Finnemore, the writer and star of Cabin Pressure, regular guest on The Now Show and popper-upper in things like Miranda, presents a third series series of his hit sketch show.

The first series was described as "sparklingly clever" by The Daily Telegraph and "one of the most consistently funny sketch shows for quite some time" by The Guardian. The second series won Best Radio Comedy at both the Chortle and Comedy.co.uk awards, and was nominated for a Sony award.

This time around, John promises to stop doing silly sketches about nonsense like Winnie the Pooh's honey addiction or how goldfish invented computer programming, and concentrate instead on the the big, serious issues.

This fifth episode of the series reveals the truth behind some famous anecdotes and a curious tale of a hard-bitten dame. Part of this show are in 3-D. Unfortunately, it's a horrible part.

Written by and starring John Finnemore, with Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan.

Producer: Ed Morrish.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (b03brkf3)
Tom is surprised to hear from Helen that Emma was the heroine at baby Poppy Grundy's arrival. Tom is concerned he hasn't seen much of Kirsty. Hopefully they'll all meet up at Alice's party on Friday.

Nic and Will are thrilled with their new arrival. As soon as Nic saw her she knew she was a Poppy. Once home, they find Clarrie has prepared everything for them. Clarrie too is smitten and comments on how light 6 lbs 6 oz feels.

Nic makes a point of saying how wonderful Emma was. Will has cleared things with Brian and he now has two weeks leave. Although today is the first day of the shooting season, it won't get really busy until the end of the month. So Poppy has done them a favour coming a bit earlier than expected.

When the conversation moves to poorly Joe, Clarrie says that she would give her eye teeth to have the rude, cantankerous Joe back.

Emma arrives with the children who are excited to meet Poppy. Emma proudly tells Clarrie about the cook book she wants to produce to help raise money for the organ fund.

When Poppy cries, Mia is worried that she like her when she cries. But Nic reassures her. Poppy's just hungry.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (b03brkf5)
David Tennant and Gregory Doran; Bill Bryson; Sex on film and TV

With Mark Lawson.

David Tennant and RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran discuss their forthcoming production of Richard II. Tennant talks about switching accents and the difference between working on the stage and screen. Gregory Doran reveals his techniques for making Shakespeare understandable, why he won't change words and how he copes with his dual role of managing the RSC whilst directing his own plays.

The analysis and control of human sexuality are the focus of a new film and a TV drama series. The film Thanks for Sharing, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Ruffalo and Tim Robbins, is set in the world of recovering sex addicts, whilst the series Masters of Sex stars Michael Sheen as the pioneering sex researcher Dr William Masters. Advice columnist Bel Mooney gives her verdict.

Bill Bryson, whose bestselling books includes Notes form a Small Island and A Short History of Nearly Everything, discusses his latest work, One Summer: America 1927. Covering a period of just a few months in 1927, the book explores how events including Charles Lindbergh's non-stop flight from New York to Paris, a sensational murder trial and the President's shock decision not to stand for re-election gripped America and shaped its future. Bill Bryson discusses how concentrating on a snapshot of history gave him insights that might elude other biographers and historians.

Producer Olivia Skinner.


TUE 19:45 The Pillow Book (b03bq9cy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b03brkvp)
Electricity Prices: A Shock to the System?

The Government wants more wind power and nuclear energy to supply our electricity, but how well is it delivering that plan? In Scotland where conditions for renewable sources are good, there's been a rush to cash in on generous subsidies for wind farms. But the infrastructure can't cope so companies are also being paid handsomely to dump the energy they produce. And, deals which include subsidies are being concluded behind closed doors between Government officials and the nuclear industry for a new generation of power stations. What's this going to add to our fuel bills? Allan Urry investigates.

Producer: Rob Cave.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (b03brkvr)
Bedroom tax victory; Paralympic hopefuls

Peter White talks to blind barrister Surinder Lall, who represented himself in a recent case he won, defending the fact that his spare room was not a bedroom, but rather a room in which he needs to keep his specialist equipment.

Tom Walker reports from an Action for Blind People Actionnaires Athletics day, to identify potential Paralympic hopefuls.


TUE 21:00 Inside Health (b03brkvt)
Flu vaccine and narcolepsy, Stoptober, Herbal medicines, Calcium supplements

New research has found an association between Pandemrix, a swine flu vaccine, and a rare sleep disorder in children. Fears about a pandemic of H1N1 flu, so called "swine flu", over the winter of 2009/2010 led to millions of vulnerable people across the UK, including every child under five, being offered a new vaccine. There has since been a dramatic rise in the number of children diagnosed with narcolepsy. Paul Gringras, Professor of Children's sleep medicine and neurodisability at the Evelina Children's Hospital in London, is one of the researchers investigating this link.

October 1st marks the start of a mass stop smoking campaign called Stoptober. Last year, 160,000 people gave up for the month, saving themselves £25 million from not buying cigarettes. Inside Health spoke to two of them, Adrian Osborne and Donna Horton.

The Traditional Herbal Medicines Registration Scheme was brought in by the Medicines Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in 2005. But there are concerns that the threshold for this type of licensing is set too low, and is misleading consumers. To debate the issue, Mark Porter is joined by resident sceptic Margaret McCartney and Dr Linda Anderson from the licensing division at the MHRA.

It is thought that around five million people in the UK, most of them women, take some form of high dose calcium supplement to keep their bones healthy. But there have been a number of reports linking them to
heart attacks and stroke. So what is the latest thinking on their use? Juliet Compston is Emeritus Professor of Bone Medicine at the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine.


TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (b03bqw3z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 21:58 Weather (b03bppdc)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b03brkz9)
Miliband versus the Mail;
Inside the Kenyan shopping mall;
US government shutdown;
Vatican decides on reforms;
With Carolyn Quinn.


TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b03bx9s7)
James Bond - Solo

Episode 2

It is 1969 and James Bond is about to go solo, recklessly motivated by revenge.

A seasoned veteran of the service, 007 is sent to single-handedly stop a civil war in a small West African nation. Aided by a beautiful accomplice and hindered by the local militia, he undergoes a scarring experience which compels him to ignore M's orders in pursuit of his own brand of justice.
Bond's renegade action leads him to Washington DC, where he discovers a web of geopolitical intrigue and witnesses fresh horrors.

Even if Bond succeeds in exacting his revenge, a man with two faces will come to stalk his every waking moment.

Written by William Boyd, who is the author of one work of non-fiction, three collections of short stories and thirteen novels, including the bestselling historical spy thriller Restless - winner of the Costa Novel of the Year - and Any Human Heart, in which the character of Ian Fleming features. Among his other awards are the Whitbread First Novel Prize, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Prix Jean Monnet. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2005 he was awarded the CBE.

Reader: Paterson Joseph
Abridged by Libby Spurrier

Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 23:00 He Died with His Eyes Open (b03brkzc)
Episode 1

By Derek Raymond
Adapted by Nick Perry

Burn Gorman plays a detective investigating a brutal murder in 1980s London. He has little to go on except for the cassette diaries left by the victim, played by Toby Jones. Fragments of his life, recorded at different times, punch through into the present, and supply the detective with elusive clues to the true nature of the man's fate.

Director - Sasha Yevtushenko
Sound design by Caleb Knightley.


TUE 23:30 With Great Pleasure (b0375byw)
Hannah Gordon

Actress Hannah Gordon chooses her favourite readings, including poems by Joyce Grenfell, Noel Coward and Wendy Cope. There's Hannah's party piece, Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 'Shall I compare the to a summer's day?' and a sparkling extract from 'Shirley Valentine'.

Recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre with readers Michael Pennington and Eleanor Bron.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.



WEDNESDAY 02 OCTOBER 2013

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b03bppg2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b03c31f0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03bppg4)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03bppg6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03bppg8)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (b03bppgb)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b03c7bjl)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with Canon Simon Doogan.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (b03brnr2)
Farming Today

Welsh farmworkers are defending their right to fixed rates of pay through agricultural wages orders. From October 1st English agricultural workers are being paid using the Government's minimum wage system. But the Farmers Union of Wales argue that getting rid of the previous system means that the lowest paid workers could lose out.

As the sugar beet harvest comes in, farmers across Europe are reporting deformed crops. This comes after a poor growing season when some seeds failed to emerge.

And how can small dairy farms remain competitive in the face of a changing industry? We visit a family farm who are expanding their herd whilst using more traditional methods.


WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkc54)
Red-legged Partridge

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Red-legged Partridge. The red-legged partridge, which are sometimes called French partridges, are native to Continental Europe and were successfully introduced to the UK as a game bird in the 18th century. Seen from a distance, crouching in an arable field, they look like large clods of earth, but up close they have beautiful plumage.


WED 06:00 Today (b03brnr4)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Midweek (b03brnr6)
Emma Thompson, Richard Noble, Linda Thompson, Dr Paul Abel

Libby Purves meets actor Emma Thompson; record breaker Richard Noble OBE; singer-songwriter Linda Thompson and astronomer Dr Paul Abel.

Emma Thompson is an actor and screenwriter. She won an Oscar for her role in Howard's End and as screenwriter for Sense and Sensibility. She grew up in a theatrical family - her father Eric Thompson was an actor, director and writer of The Magic Roundabout. In 2012 she wrote The Further Tale of Peter Rabbit to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the publication of Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Her follow-up book The Christmas Tale of Peter Rabbit is published by Frederick Warne.

October 4th marks the 30th anniversary of Richard Noble's momentous drive in which he set the world land speed record. Driving Thrust 2, a British jet-propelled car, he reached 633.468 mph. In 1997 he led the team of Thrust SSC which holds the current record. His new project is Bloodhound SSC - a global education initiative which will attempt to break the land speed record again by reaching 1,000 mph in a jet and rocket-powered car.

Linda Thompson is a British folk singer, whose new album, Won't Be Long Now, is her first since 2007. Following her divorce from guitarist Richard Thompson in 1982, she spent a decade away from the music scene after suffering from hysterical dysphonia, a form of stage fright. The Grammy-nominated songwriter began to record again in 2002. Won't Be Long Now features collaborations with her son Teddy and a duet with her former husband, Richard. Won't Be Long Now is released on Topic Records.

Dr Paul Abel is an astronomer, mathematician and a co-presenter on the BBC's The Sky at Night. He was interested in astronomy from a young age, an enthusiasm fuelled by Sir Patrick Moore with whom he communicated from the age of 12. It was at Sir Patrick's request that Paul joined The Sky at Night team in 2009. His new book, the Stargazer's Notebook, is published by Frances Lincoln.

Producer: Paula McGinley.


WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b03c31kp)
Seamus Heaney - Beowulf

Episode 3

Beowulf's first encounter with the evil monster Grendel.
Produced in Salford by Susan Roberts.
Radio Drama North.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b03brnrb)
Sheila Hancock; Engineering; Empty nesting and dependent children

Sheila Hancock joins Jenni Murray to talk about her new play Barking in Essex. Denise Jackson who writes the blog Autistic Kids Grow Up talks to Jenni about helping her son prepare to leave home and start college. A school that offered places specifically for girls to study engineering has been told to change its policy - so how can engineering attract more girls? We hear from the school and engineer Yewande Akinola explains what her job involves. And how to be a 'Dangerous Woman': Liz Hoggard and Clare Conville share tips from their 'Guide To Modern Life'.


WED 10:45 The Pillow Book (b03brnrd)
Series 6

Episode 3

Lady Shonagon and Lieutenant Yukinari return! But this time, not together...

Despite her conviction that she is unable to bear children, Shonagon has fallen pregnant by Yukinari. Shonagon has gone into labour a month early, and the process, even the idea of being a mother, was initially distasteful to her. But the labour is long, and Shonagon is beginning to change her attitude towards the new arrival.

Meanwhile, Yukinari, believing the child to be due a month later has answered the invitation of a childhood friend, Takashi. The two have been revisiting their youth, drinking and climbing hills together. But Yukinari begins to suspect that he has been summoned here, not for a holiday, but in a professional capacity - to uncover the mystery behind his friend's wife's murder.

Inspired by the writings of Sei Shonagon, a poet and lady-in-waiting to the Empress of the 10th Century Japanese court.

Written by Robert Forrest.

Directed by Lu Kemp.


WED 11:00 Young Devolutionaries (b03brnrg)
Episode 2

Nine young people who have grown up under devolution in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales share their vision of their home countries.


WED 11:30 The Rivals (b03brnrj)
Series 2

The Intangible Clue

By Anna Katharine Green

Dramatised By Chris Harrald.

Inspector Lestrade was made to look a fool in the Sherlock Holmes stories. Now he is writing his memories and has a chance to get his own back, with tales of Holmes' rivals. He continues with gifted amateur sleuth Lady Violet Strange trying to solve a horrific murder with apparently no clues.

Producer: Liz Webb.


WED 12:00 You and Yours (b03brql7)
Disabled sports fans, buy-to-let in the US, treating insomnia

Consumer news with Winifred Robinson.


WED 12:57 Weather (b03bppgg)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 13:00 World at One (b03brql9)
National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.


WED 13:45 Publishing Lives (b03bs759)
Series 1

Harold Macmillan

As the digital revolution shakes publishing to its foundations, writer and former publisher Robert McCrum explores how Harold Macmillan, the publishing Prime Minister, mixed politics with business.

Harold Macmillan was always a publisher and a politician. In both lives, he was a showman, an operator, and an inveterate reader. Print was in his DNA and books were his business. As a Conservative Prime Minister, he was also a successful publisher with the firm that carried his name.

The firm was founded in 1843 by two outsiders. Brothers Daniel and Alexander Macmillan were Scottish crofters. It's a story whose romantic undertones always stirred Harold Macmillan's love of a good tale.

Under Harold, Macmillan would become a publishing empire with a worldwide reach. As Prime Minister, Macmillan gave independence to Britain's African colonies. Officially, he was letting go. As a publisher, however, he was doing lucrative deals to secure the company's future. Simultaneously with decolonisation, Macmillan oversaw an ambitious expansion programme for the family firm. Macmillan remains one of the largest publishers in the world, operating in over seventy countries.

Today, the digital revolution has made publishing truly global. A world without borders, largely de-coupled from its colonial past. Publishers can now reach new markets across the English-speaking world at the click of a mouse, in a way Harold Macmillan could only dream of.

Robert meets Harold Macmillan's grandson, Lord Stockton, as well as experts in literature and publishing, to discuss the wily publishing Prime Minister.

Produced by Melissa FitzGerald
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 14:00 The Archers (b03brkf3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama (b03bsbgg)
Nothing Happened

NOTHING HAPPENED by Nick Hoare

They have partners who are friends, children who are friends and friends who are friends. So Tom and Alice agree that their affair can never happen.

Director: David Hunter.


WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b03brqlc)
Welfare Benefits

Having trouble applying for Welfare Benefits? Let Paul Lewis and guests help with claims and advice. Call 03700 100 444 from 1pm to 3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk

Benefits worth billions of pounds remain unclaimed each year, yet the Child Poverty Action Group estimate that 3.5 million children live in poverty in the UK and Age UK say 1 in 3 older people fail to claim the pension credit they're entitled to.

If you want to check that you're not missing out on financial help why not contact our team.

Or perhaps you have a question about the rapidly changing benefit system, the Spare Room Subsidy, Personal Independence Payments, Universal Credit or the Benefits Cap.

Maybe you're affected by the High Income Child Benefit charge, do you need to take action?

To help you make sense of welfare benefits Paul Lewis will be joined by:

Jean French, Head of Advice and Information, Carers UK
Eddy Graham, Advice and Rights Manager, CPAG
Alban Hawksworth, Welfare Benefits Specialist, Turn2us

Call 03700 100 444 between 1pm and 3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk now. Standard geographic charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Producer: Diane Richardson.


WED 15:30 Inside Health (b03brkvt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b03brqlf)
Backpacking food tourist; Touring poverty

Slum Tourism - the transformation of impoverished neighbourhoods into attractions for international tourists. Laurie Taylor talks to the sociologist, Bianca Freire-Medeiros, about 'Touring Poverty', her study of Rocinha, a district in Rio de Janeiro which is advertised as "the largest favela in Latin America." She talked to tour operators, guides, tourists and residents to explore the ethical and political questions raised by selling a glimpse into other peoples' poverty. Professor of Tourism Mobilities, Kevin Hannam, joins the discussion. Also, 'eating the world' - the geographer, Emily Falconer, discusses her research into the food driven impulses of backpacking tourists.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.


WED 16:30 The Media Show (b03brqlh)
TV Soaps; DAB radio; The Mail and Miliband

The Mail has been caught up in a storm of criticism over its Ralph Miliband stories and how it responded to Ed Miliband's demand to reply, but is there anything the current press regulator could do with complaints over cases like this? Would the situation differ under any of the systems being considered following the Leveson report? Is there a clear enough distinction between fact and opinion? That's to be discussed by Brian Cathcart, director of Hacked Off and Peter Preston, former editor of The Guardian.

Following TV's digital switchover, an announcement's expected for the switchover of network radio from FM to digital. Culture minister Ed Vaizey's said we'll hear by the end of this year. Will a date be set? Ford Ennals, CEO of the Digital Radio UK, is in charge of making the change happen and is confident there'll be progress. Gillian Reynolds, the Telegraph's radio critic, is not convinced.

And how concerned should TV networks be about the viewing figures for soaps? There's been a marked decline over the last ten years but figures appear to be stabilising at a lower level - in the case of Eastenders, occasionally lower than Emmerdale. Stephen Price, broadcast consultant, looks at the competition that's grown up since the soaps' heyday. David Liddiment, former executive producer of Coronation Street and Lisa Holdsworth, who wrote for Emmerdale, look at what, if anything, is going wrong.

Presenter: Steve Hewlett
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Editor: Andy Smith.


WED 17:00 PM (b03brqlk)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03bppgl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:30 Fresh From the Fringe (b03brqlm)
Fresh from the Fringe: 2013

Mark Watson hosts a showcase of up-and-coming comic talent from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, recorded at Bush Hall in London.

Featuring a mixture of performers who are new to Radio 4 (Phil Wang, Tim Renkow, Ellie White, Liam Williams), along with one or two names you might already recognise (Romesh Ranganathan - "28 Dates Later", Aisling Bea - "Irish Micks and Legends"), Fresh From the Fringe is our pick of the people who made us laugh this August.

This programme is an edited highlights show of a live gig hosted by Radio 4 at Bush Hall on 18th September 2013. A filmed programme - featuring different edited highlights - will be playing out on the Red Button service throughout this week, and material from all the acts will be available to view on the Fresh From the Fringe website.

Produced by Lyndsay Fenner.


WED 19:00 The Archers (b03brqlq)
Having collected their wedding rings, Kenton and Jolene are excited about their forthcoming nuptials.

Ed finds Joe mithered with all the official questions he keeps being asked about the accident. Joe encourages Ed to visit the new baby. He asks Ed to take William for a pint and shake his hand. He doesn't want to go to his grave with the two of them at loggerheads.

Rosa is shocked when Darrell surprises her at work. She angrily tells him he smells and looks like a seedy old tramp. Later Oliver finds Rosa upset. She admits being cruel to her dad. She is sorry but she just finds him embarrassing.

Oliver sees Darrell in The Bull and wonders if he should go and have a word. Kenton suggests not. He adds that Darrell is starting to put other customers off.

Oliver congratulates Ed on the new family member. Ed thinks that Will must have forgotten that they had a famous cow called Poppy. Eddie once got Poppy the cow to do a painting that was entered in an art exhibition. When everyone laughs, Darrell thinks it is directed at him and starts throwing around insults. Kenton remarks that if he carries on like this he will have to bar him.


WED 19:15 Front Row (b03brqls)
Saoirse Ronan; Thatcher meets the Queen; Erotic art from Japan

With Mark Lawson.

Saoirse Ronan was only 13 when she was Oscar and BAFTA nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her role in Atonement. Since then, she has starred in The Lovely Bones, Byzantium and The Host. Now, at 19, she heads the cast of Kevin MacDonald's film How I Live Now, based on Meg Rosoff's book about children caught up in a third world war. She reflects on the transition from child to adult actor, dealing with death on set and the possibility of running for US President.

Handbagged, a new play from Moira Buffini, explores the relationship between Margaret Thatcher and the Queen during political events of the 1980s. Stella Gonet and Fenella Woolgar play older and younger versions of the former Prime Minisiter while Marion Bailey and Claire Holman play the older and younger Queen. Novelist Justin Cartwright gives his verdict.

The exhibition, Shunga: Sex and Humour in Japanese Art, at the British Museum, focuses on sexually explicit paintings, prints and illustrated books from Japan from 1600 - 1900, and examines why they became taboo in the 20th century. Writer and novelist Bidisha reviews

As Michael Symmons Roberts wins the Forward Prize for a book of poems each with a self-imposed limit of 15 lines, Front Row reflects on size restrictions in art - with Ian Christie on film, David Hepworth on music and Cathy Rentzenbrink on literature.

Producer Nicki Paxman.


WED 19:45 The Pillow Book (b03brnrd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


WED 20:00 Unreliable Evidence (b03brqlv)
Instant Justice

The widespread use of on-the-spot fines, fixed penalties, cautions and other "out of court disposals" has raised concerns that the criminal justice system is being undermined.

To discuss the issues, Clive Anderson brings together the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer, the chief constable of Surrey Lynne Owens, Bar Council chair Maura McGowan QC, and the chair-elect of the Magistrates Association Richard Monkhouse.

Keir Starmer says claims that out of court disposals have become a growth industry are a myth but agrees there needs to be greater scrutiny of the way they are used. He challenges the assertion by shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan that cautions were issued in 30 cases of rape last year and says such decisions would only be taken in very exceptional circumstances.

Richard Monkhouse worries that magistrates are being side-lined and says more cases should be brought before the courts. He is particularly concerned that cuts in legal aid have led to people accepting out of court disposals because they can't afford defence lawyers for low-level offences.

Maura McGowan fears the inconsistent use of out of court disposals around the country has diminished public confidence in the system and has left people uncertain about whether they will be prosecuted or just receive a caution.

And Lynne Owens admits that police officers sometimes get things wrong, but defends the use of cautions and other disposals for serious offences where victims are reluctant to take the matter to court.

All four guests agree there is an urgent need for a simpler and more transparent system.

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


WED 20:45 Four Thought (b03brt2x)
Series 4

Language Is Power

Author and broadcaster Lindsay Johns argues that language is power, and makes the case for speaking English properly.

Lindsay, who has mentored young people in Peckham, south London, for years, believes that street slang and what he calls 'ghetto grammar' disempower and limit the life chances of those who speak it.

And he says that those who make excuses for this language, or argue that it is good for young people, are really just encouraging them to ostracize themselves even further from mainstream society.

Producer: Giles Edwards.


WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b03brkds)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 Midweek (b03brnr6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 21:58 Weather (b03bppgq)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b03brt2z)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.


WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b03bx9tv)
James Bond - Solo

Episode 3

It is 1969 and James Bond is about to go solo, recklessly motivated by revenge.

A seasoned veteran of the service, 007 is sent to single-handedly stop a civil war in a small West African nation. Aided by a beautiful accomplice and hindered by the local militia, he undergoes a scarring experience which compels him to ignore M's orders in pursuit of his own brand of justice.
Bond's renegade action leads him to Washington DC, where he discovers a web of geopolitical intrigue and witnesses fresh horrors.

Even if Bond succeeds in exacting his revenge, a man with two faces will come to stalk his every waking moment.

Written by William Boyd, who is the author of one work of non-fiction, three collections of short stories and thirteen novels, including the bestselling historical spy thriller Restless - winner of the Costa Novel of the Year - and Any Human Heart, in which the character of Ian Fleming features. Among his other awards are the Whitbread First Novel Prize, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Prix Jean Monnet. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2005 he was awarded the CBE.

Solo - a James Bond novel written by William Boyd. Copyright Ian Fleming Publications Limited 2013

Reader: Paterson Joseph
Abridged by Libby Spurrier

Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:00 The Music Teacher (b03brt31)
Series 3

Episode 5

Richie Webb returns as multi-instrumentalist music teacher Nigel Penny.

Nigel tries to get his online music lessons up and running but finds himself hampered by an inability to speak Portuguese. Meanwhile, with the Arts Centre having been commandeered as a refuge for local flood victims, Belinda is attempting to keep four hundred wet members of the public from dripping on the carpet.

Directed by Nick Walker
Audio production by Matt Katz

Written and produced by Richie Webb
A Top Dog production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:15 Helen Keen's It Is Rocket Science (b01hkz33)
Series 2

Episode 1

Helen Keen stars alongside Peter Serafinowicz and Susy Kane for a second series of the factually-correct but funny exploration of the science and history of space travel. This week examines the Fermi paradox - if the universe is really infinite it should contain infinite life, and yet we have had no contact from alien civilisations. It also takes a look at different ideas through history of what life might be like on other planets, and some of the more surprising suggestions scientists have had on how to get in touch with it, from giant burning parallelograms in the Sahara to sending nude pictures into space....

Written by Helen Keen and Miriam Underhill
Produced by Garth Edwards.


WED 23:30 With Great Pleasure (b037smxx)
Barry Cryer

Comedy guru Barry Cryer, star of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, chooses some of his favourite pieces of writing to present to an audience, with the help of readers Bernard Cribbins and Sheila Steafel.
It's a funny and personal mix, from books that have both given him pleasure and marked significant events over the years, including works by JB Priestley, John Betjeman, Alan Bennett, Ogden Nash and Phyllis Diller.

Producer Beth O'Dea.



THURSDAY 03 OCTOBER 2013

THU 00:00 Midnight News (b03bppjk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b03c31kp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03bppjm)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03bppjp)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03bppjr)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (b03bppjt)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b03c7f0q)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with Canon Simon Doogan.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (b03brwqg)
To grow or not to grow - Charlotte Smith listens to both sides of the big dairy debate at the Dairy Show 2013. The NFU wants UK farmers to invest in their businesses and increase milk production by four billion litres per year. Farmers for Action, however, preach caution, with chairman David Handley taking a warning from history: produce too much and run the risk of price drops.

Meanwhile, milk processor Arla announces a 1.5 pence per litre price increase. Is it enough for struggling dairy farmers? And Charlotte explores the high-tech equipment on sale at the showground, including a robotic milking machine. Starting at £100,000 a pop, she asks whether farmers have the confidence to invest their cash in robots.

And the young dairy farmers of the future - we hear how they plan to make their dream of owning a farm a reality.

Presented by Charlotte Smith. Produced by Anna Jones.


THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkcwq)
Eider

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Eider. Eiders are northern sea-ducks perhaps most famous for the soft breast feathers with which they line their nests. These feathers were collected by eider farmers and used to fill pillows and traditional 'eider –downs'. Drake eiders display to the females with odd moaning calls which you can hear in the programme.


THU 06:00 Today (b03brwqj)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (b03brwql)
Exoplanets

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss exoplanets. Astronomers have speculated about the existence of planets beyond our solar system for centuries. Although strenuous efforts were made to find such planets orbiting distant stars, it was not until the 1990s that instruments became sophisticated enough to detect such remote objects. In 1992 Dale Frail and Aleksander Wolszczan discovered the first confirmed exoplanets: two planets orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12. Since then, astronomers have discovered more than 900 exoplanets, and are able to reach increasingly sophisticated conclusions about what they look like - and whether they might be able to support life. Recent data from experiments such as NASA's space telescope Kepler indicates that such planets may be far more common than previously suspected.

With:

Carolin Crawford
Gresham Professor of Astronomy and a member of the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge

Don Pollacco
Professor of Astronomy at the University of Warwick

Suzanne Aigrain
Lecturer in Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of All Souls College.

Producer: Thomas Morris.


THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b03c31lq)
Seamus Heaney - Beowulf

Episode 4

Hrothgar, King of the Danes, hosts a victory feast to celebrate Beowulf's defeat of the evil monster Grendel.

Produced in Salford by Susan Roberts.
Radio Drama North.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b03brwqn)
Shelina Permalloo; Charlotte Raven

The Royal College of Midwives has said there is a shortage of 5,000 midwives in England which is affecting antenatal and postnatal care - is it time for compulsory national minimum staffing levels?

As the website of the Feminist Times launches, we look at whether there's a gap in the market for a feminist publication or if feminism is amply covered by the mainstream women's glossies.

French journalist Annick Cojean talks about her new book based on the testimonies of the women abused by Colonel Gaddafi in Libya. We continue our look at university life - Masterchef winner Shelina Permalloo offers tips for the novice cook and creates the perfect student dish - Egg Rougaille. And Marry Waterson and Eliza Carthy, members of the renowned Waterson folk music dynasty, will be performing live and talking about a classic 'lost' family album called 'Bright Phoebus'.

Presented by Jenni Murray
Producer Ruth Watts.


THU 10:45 The Pillow Book (b03brwqq)
Series 6

Episode 4

Lady Shonagon and Lieutenant Yukinari return to solve a new mystery in 10th Century Japan.

Despite her conviction that she is unable to bear children, Shonagon has fallen pregnant by Yukinari. She has gone into labour prematurely, and the process is long and troubled. Assisted by her friend Saisho, Shonagon feels trapped in the women's quarters and, in the intensity of the situation, unsolicited truths begin to emerge between the two women.

Meanwhile, Yukinari, believing the child to be due a month later has answered the invitation of a childhood friend, Takashi. The two have been revisiting their youth, drinking and climbing hills together. But Yukinari begins to suspect that he has been summoned here, not for a holiday, but in a professional capacity - to uncover the mystery behind his friend's wife's murder.

Inspired by the writings of Sei Shonagon, a poet and lady-in-waiting to the Empress of the 10th Century Japanese court.

Written by Robert Forrest.

Directed by Lu Kemp.


THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b03brwqs)
Sibelius, Saunas and Salmiakki

Correspondents with colour and analysis from around the world: Theopi Skarlatos in Thessaloniki on the authorities' crackdown on the far right; Alex Preston is in what he calls one of Africa's most expensive and charmless capitals, Abuja in Nigeria; distant La Reunion, in the Indian Ocean, is a popular destination for well off French tourists -- Robin Denselow's been learning that's causing resentment among some local people; Tessa Dunlop discovers how a photographer's work is teaching residents in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, what happened to their city centre during the days of the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. And among correspondents there are many tales about daunting dishes -- here, Mark Bosworth in Finland talks of a national favourite: liquorice shot through with ammonium chloride. The programme is produced by Tony Grant.


THU 11:30 Nobody's N-Word (b03brwqv)
In January 2012 Dean Atta caused an online stir with his poem written as a response to the conviction of Stephen Lawrence's killers, questioning the use of racist language and whether it could ever be reclaimed by black people.

In this programme, Dean interrogates his viewpoint on one of the most controversial words in the English language, as the debate around its place on the streets, in music and in popular culture refuses to go away.

The title of Dean Atta's poem was "I am Nobody's Nigger". It became the title of his debut poetry collection - and also his calling card. Focusing on his own experience in the UK, Dean has a series of conversations with young people, academics, activists, rappers and his peers to compare contemporary reactions to the "N-word". Dean meets former Black Panther Darcus Howe, sociologist Emma Dabiri, the rapper TY, the comedian Reginald D Hunter, fellow poet Inua Ellams and the DJs at youth radio station Reprezent 107.3FM to discover that, in 2013, 'nigger' is still a word provoking complicated and emotive debate.

Why is Dean so uncomfortable using it, when many of those around him aren't? What do we understand of its history? Can it ever be reclaimed or de-fanged?

In these personal and sometimes challenging encounters, Dean is asked to consider the motivation behind his provocative poem and whether his opinion has changed since writing it.

Produced by Rebecca Maxted and Tom Whalley.
A Wise Buddah production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:00 You and Yours (b03brwqx)
The lasting effect of the horsemeat scandal

It's nine months since traces of horsemeat were found in food on sale in the UK. We look at how our attitudes and behaviour has changed.

It's a fraud that costs businesses around £40 billion a year worldwide, but are phone companies doing enough to warn customers about the danger of having their phone systems hacked? Listener Gavin Stewart says they aren't - he faced a bill for over £3,000. We also hear what the industry is doing to tackle the problem.

Plus why some grapes harvested in the Champagne region could end up in industrial cleaning products rather than fizzy wine.

And we visit the GPs who are offering consultations via Skype. It's something the Conservatives say they want to see more of.

Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Joe Kent.


THU 12:57 Weather (b03bppjy)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 13:00 World at One (b03brwqz)
The latest serious case review over the death of a child in Birmingham adds to the criticism of the city's care services. Keanu Williams, a two year old killed by his mother in 2011, had suffered 37 different injuries. We hear details of the the report, and speak to the new head of children's services in the city - the fourth in just four years.

The Mail on Sunday editor apologises to Ed Miliband for sending a reporter to a family memorial service.

And almost 80 years after fire reduced it to a pile of molten iron and glass, we'll hear about China's role in creating a new Crystal Palace.


THU 13:45 Publishing Lives (b03bs78d)
Series 1

George Weidenfeld

Writer and former publisher, Robert McCrum meets George Weidenfeld to talk about his extraordinary publishing life.

Weidenfeld left his native Austria at the time of the Anschluss in 1938, the last survivor of a remarkable band of European émigrés - including André Deutsch, Paul Hamlyn and Ernest Hecht - who transformed the clubby world of British publishing after the Second World War.

Gambler, opportunist, intellectual, socialite, and still working at 94, Weidenfeld is a living witness to the changes that have taken place in British publishing over the last century.

In 1955, the exiled Russian author Vladimir Nabokov's novel 'Lolita' was published in Paris. Graham Greene had recognised it as a masterpiece, but in England the story of an obsessive sexual relationship between a 12-year-old girl and a middle-aged man was too hot to handle.

Only Weidenfeld, an outsider standing apart from the Fifties cultural consensus, dared to take the gamble and defy the censor. 'Lolita' became Weidenfeld's first bestseller - 200,000 copies in hardback alone. It was a milestone for his publishing house and for English literature.

Featuring George Weidenfeld and Lady Antonia Fraser.

Produced by Melissa FitzGerald
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 14:00 The Archers (b03brqlq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (b03brwr1)
Imaginary Boys

By Paul Magrs.
A fantastical tale of teenage love and close encounters.

17 year-old David Taylor begins to see the world in a different light when he meets Lawrence. Lawrence is new in town, new to earth actually - he claims to be from Verbatim 6, a small planet about three hundred light years away. A strange but very real story of a burgeoning teenage relationship, with all the fear and confusion that goes with it.

Paul Magrs is a scriptwriter and novelist, whose writing has been described by The Guardian as 'gloriously, zanily ludicrous... unique, idiosyncratic and unclassifiable...' His hugely-popular series of Brenda and Effie novels were adapted for BBC7 in 2008 as a three-part mini-series (Never the Bride), whilst previous commissions for Radio 4 include Life After Mars, Sunseeker and The Longsight Branch.

Directed by Scott Handcock
A BBC Cymru Wales Production.


THU 15:00 Ramblings (b03bs0z2)
Series 25

Durham with Maggie and Keith Bell

Clare Balding is in Durham for today's edition of Radio4's walking series, when she joins Maggie and Keith Bell. They take her on one of their favourite routes from their home, Crook Hall, through the outskirts of the city and along the river. The couple now use walking as a time to catch up, hold business meetings and relive memories of their courtship, when they both arrived in the city over thirty years ago as students.

Producer: Lucy Lunt.


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b03bpxxg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Open Book (b03bq5tl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b03bs0z4)
James McAvoy on Filth; Kevin MacDonald on How I Live Now; Dexter Fletcher on Sunshine on Leith

The Film Programme takes on a Scottish theme and looks at how one country can produce such different styles of film.

James McAvoy talks about his latest role in the Edinburgh police corruption tale, Filth, based on Irvine Welsh's novel and reflects on how such a relatively small country should think about and run its film industry.
Dexter Fletcher discusses his musical movie based on songs of The Proclaimers - Sunshine on Leith, which is an adaptation of the stage show pioneered by Dundee Rep.

Meanwhile dark tales of love and loss from a Scottish fishing village in For Those in Peril - director Paul Wright tells Francine Stock how his own grief informed his narrative.

And Scottish director Kevin Macdonald discusses his film How I Live Now, starring Saoirse Ronan and set in England during World War III. His previous films include The Last King of Scotland and Touching The Void.

Producer: Elaine Lester.


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b03bs0z6)
Menopause; IPCC; Fracking feedback; Particle accelerator; Zombie chemicals

Dr Adam Rutherford and guests explore the scientific mysteries of the menopause after scientists in the US and Japan successfully induced pregnancy in post-menopausal women.

Also in the programme, we hear from decision scientist Baruch Fischhoff on the difficulties of trying to communicate uncertainty in science in the wake of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Following on from last week's Fracking report, one listener, Professor Kevin Anderson of the University of Manchester, raises his concerns about the consequences of exploiting shale gas for UK carbon emissions.

This week's show us your instrument comes from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, where Dan Faircloth tends to the ISIS particle accelerator.


THU 17:00 PM (b03bs0z8)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03bppk0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:30 Fags, Mags and Bags (b01ng89q)
Series 5

Turn Around Dave Eyes

More shop-based shenanigans and over the counter philosophy courtesy of Ramesh Mahju and his trusty sidekick Dave.

The staff of Fags, Mags and Bags continue their tireless quest to bring nice-price custard creams and cans of coke with Arabic writing on them to an ungrateful nation. Ramesh Mahju has built the business up over 30 years and loves the art of the shop. However, he does apply the "low return" rules of the shop to all other aspects of his life. Then there are Ramesh's sons Sanjay and Alok, both surly and not keen on the old school approach to shopkeeping, but Ramesh is keen to pass all his worldly wisdom onto them whether they like it or not!

In this episode, Dave embraces internet dating and gets close to someone who is passing themselves off as 80s rock goddess Bonnie Tyler. Meanwhile Ramesh has a wobble about his Meat Loaf date with Malcolm as it falls on a delicate family anniversary.

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


THU 19:00 The Archers (b03bs0zb)
Lynda wonders if Kathy has seen Joe. Kathy knows he's still in great pain.

Jill's delighted that Daniel has called, to wish her happy birthday. Shula's pleased to hear he made it to New York.

Jill's heard from Alistair that they'd offered to take Darrell in. Although he declined the offer, she thinks it was brave of Shula, especially as Kenton mentioned an incident in the pub last night.

Jill shows David her birthday card from Pip. She also received a detailed letter of what Pip's been up to. David, like Shula, relies on Facebook to find out what their offspring are doing.

Shula asks Kenton about last night's incident. He explains that Darrell mistakenly thought people were laughing at him. They agree Darrell needs help.

Before the committee meeting, Lynda explains to Kenton that her proposal is an evening of readings from Jane Austen novels. Jill suggests dramatising some of the scenes but Lynda feels it's Austen's turn of phrase that one wants to hear. Other elements of the show would be fancy dress and music from the Regency period. Jill and Kenton feel it sounds like last year's show, and could be dull. Lynda insists last year was a success, and with Kenton's input this show will be as lively and amusing.

When Jill suggests they consider a traditional pantomime, Lynda's grateful to hear the doorbell. With others in attendance, they can have a sensible discussion.


THU 19:15 Front Row (b03bs0zd)
James McAvoy in Filth; Dizzee Rascal; director Lucy Walker; young Poets Laureate

With John Wilson.

It's 17 years since Irving Welsh's novel Trainspotting became a highly-successful film, and now another of his books, Filth, makes it to the big screen. It stars James McAvoy as foul-mouthed detective sergeant Bruce Robertson, who's supposed to be investigating a murder, but combines this with large quantities of alcohol and drugs, and interfering with his colleagues' personal lives. Jason Solomons reviews.

British director Lucy Walker has been Oscar-nominated twice, for her documentaries Waste Land, and The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom. Her new film is The Crash Reel, which tells the story of professional snowboarder Kevin Pearce, who was severely brain injured after a crash and became determined to return to the sport despite his doctor's wishes. Walker explains how she became involved in the story.

Dizzee Rascal is the British rapper whose Mercury prize-winning debut album, Boy in da Corner, propelled him to stardom in 2003. He reflects on his performance in the London Olympics opening ceremony, his move to America and collaborating with Jessie J, will.i.am and Tinie Tempah on his latest album, The Fifth.

As part of the National Poetry Day celebrations, two new Young Poets Laureate are being announced today: the 2013/2014 Young Poet Laureate for Birmingham, and the first-ever Young Poet Laureate for London. Both winners discuss their poetry, and their feelings about taking on this public role.

Producer Claire Bartleet.


THU 19:45 The Pillow Book (b03brwqq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


THU 20:00 The Report (b03bs384)
Help to Buy

The government announced this week that it was bringing it's new help to buy scheme forward to start in a few days time. Its a policy designed to help get the housing market moving. But will it really be a lifeline for hardworking families wanting to get on the property ladder or will it drive up prices and cause a housing bubble? Helen Grady finds out who the scheme is likely to benefit and talks to people trying to buy and sell in York and London.


THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (b03bs386)
Big Data

Big data has become big business as improvements in computer memory storage have made it possible to keep and analyse digital data on a scale previously unknown. Evan Davis and guests discuss how the ability to store information about us has created new industries and transformed others.

Presenter: Evan Davis

Guests: Dave Coplin, Chief Envisioning Officer and Director of Search, Microsoft UK; Konrad Feldman, CEO Quantcast; Lawrence Jones, Founder UK Fast.


THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b03bs0z6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


THU 21:30 In Our Time (b03brwql)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 21:58 Weather (b03bppk2)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b03bs3tc)
With Philippa Thomas

More than 100 African migrants die attempting to reach Europe

The Mail on Sunday apologises to Ed Miliband

Ireland prepares to vote in a referendum to abolish its senate

Ritula Shah hears about what the Chinese can teach the USA about education.


THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b03bx6qy)
James Bond - Solo

Episode 4

It is 1969 and James Bond is about to go solo, recklessly motivated by revenge.

A seasoned veteran of the service, 007 is sent to single-handedly stop a civil war in a small West African nation. Aided by a beautiful accomplice and hindered by the local militia, he undergoes a scarring experience which compels him to ignore M's orders in pursuit of his own brand of justice.
Bond's renegade action leads him to Washington DC, where he discovers a web of geopolitical intrigue and witnesses fresh horrors.

Even if Bond succeeds in exacting his revenge, a man with two faces will come to stalk his every waking moment.

Written by William Boyd, who is the author of one work of non-fiction, three collections of short stories and thirteen novels, including the bestselling historical spy thriller Restless - winner of the Costa Novel of the Year - and Any Human Heart, in which the character of Ian Fleming features. Among his other awards are the Whitbread First Novel Prize, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Prix Jean Monnet. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2005 he was awarded the CBE.

Solo - a James Bond novel written by William Boyd. Copyright Ian Fleming Publications Limited 2013

Reader: Paterson Joseph
Abridged by Libby Spurrier

Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 23:00 Seekers (b03bs3tf)
Series 1

The New Seeker

Made redundant by an Essex job centre, Stuart must return to his former workplace.

He’s convinced he did a better job than his ex-colleagues who are still there. But he was content to work there, especially because of Senior Job Seeker Advisor, Nicola who he had a one night stand with during half time of the England- Portugal game in 2006. He still holds out for a relationship to blossom even though seven years have gone by.

Now stuck on the other side of the desk with the unemployed, Stuart is reunited with Joe and Terry two old school friends that Stuart outgrew eons ago.

Steven Burge’s comedy about the characters who frequent a Job Centre in the Essex town of Rayleigh.

Starring Matthew Horne and Daniel Mays.

Stuart ...... Mathew Horne
Joe ...... Daniel Mays
Terry ...... Tony Way
Nicola ...... Zahra Ahmadi
Dave Manager ...... Alex Lowe
Mr Dibble ...... Alex Lowe
Mr Manford ...... Alex Lowe
Mr Everett ...... Alex Lowe
Mr Gleason ...... Michael Bertenshaw
Mrs Wilcox ...... Philippa Stanton
Mrs Rahman ...... Bharti Patel
Gary Probert ...... Steve Oram

Producer: Katie Tyrrell.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2013.


THU 23:30 With Great Pleasure (b0383lm6)
Kwame Kwei-Armah

Kwame Kwei-Armah, playwright and theatre director, chooses the pieces of writing that he loves and that have inspired him in his own writing life. He presents them to the audience at the BBC Radio Theatre, with the help of readers Don Warrington and Jaye Griffiths.

As the writer of plays such as Elmina's Kitchen, Kwame's own passions range from novels by Toni Morrison and Ben Okri to Redemption Song by Bob Marley - which the audience joins him in singing.

Producer Beth O'Dea.



FRIDAY 04 OCTOBER 2013

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b03bpplm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b03c31lq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b03bpplp)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b03bpplr)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b03bpplt)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b03bpplw)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b03c7fcm)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with Canon Simon Doogan.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b03bs7fq)
Thousands of diseased trees are being destroyed at Wales' largest ancient forest. More than 200 hectares of larch at Wentwood near Newport are being felled by the Woodland Trust, after becoming infected with a mutant version of Sudden Oak Death - that's nearly a quarter of the whole forest.

The latest TB infection figures are out and they make for depressing reading - especially in Wales -where there's been a 3.3% rise in herd breakdowns in a year. With England culling and Wales vaccinating, what more can be done to bring down bovine TB infection rates?

And flavoured milk and "snacking" cheese - what the dairy industry is doing to appeal to new customers.

Presented by Charlotte Smith. Produced in Bristol by Emma Campbell.


FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkdkt)
Ortolan Bunting

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Ortolan Bunting. Ortolan Buntings are smart relatives of our yellowhammer. They're migrants which winter in Africa and small numbers of birds heading south for the winter may turn up on our coasts in autumn. But until recently in parts of southern Europe, their arrival was welcomed by hunters with nets.

The sound archive recording of the ortolan bunting featured in this programme was sourced from:
Volker Arnold, XC139765. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/139765.


FRI 06:00 Today (b03bs7t4)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b03bpxxq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b03c31w7)
Seamus Heaney - Beowulf

Episode 5

After King Hrothgar's great victory feast for Beowulf Grendel's mother appears to avenge the death of her son.

Produced in Salford by Susan Roberts.
Radio Drama North.


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b03bsb95)
April Ashley; Wendy Holden; Born with a heart defect

Transgender icon April Ashley's new exhibition in Liverpool; Wendy Holden talks about letting go of your children when they go to university; Heart defects in babies - should we test all new-borns? Presenter: Sheila McClennon.


FRI 10:45 The Pillow Book (b03bsb97)
Series 6

Episode 5

Lady Shonagon and Lieutenant Yukinari return to solve a new mystery in 10th Century Japan.

Despite her conviction that she is unable to bear children, Shonagon has fallen pregnant by Yukinari. She has gone into labour prematurely, and the process is long and troubled.

Meanwhile, Yukinari, believing the child to be due a month later has answered the invitation of a childhood friend, Takashi. The two have been revisiting their youth, drinking and climbing hills together. But Yukinari realises he has been summoned here, not for a holiday, but in a professional capacity - to uncover the mystery behind his friend's wife's murder. And Yukinari, the quiet listener, has solved the puzzle.

On his return from his old stamping ground, Yukinari hears that Shonagon has gone into early labour and rushes to her side.

Inspired by the writings of Sei Shonagon, a poet and lady-in-waiting to the Empress of the 10th Century Japanese court.

Written by Robert Forrest.

Directed by Lu Kemp.


FRI 11:00 Young Devolutionaries (b03bsb99)
Episode 3

Nine young people who have grown up under devolution in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, come together to share their vision of their home countries.


FRI 11:30 Start/Stop (b03bsb9c)
Series 1

Two Parties

by Jack Docherty

A new sitcom about three couples sailing off in to the sunset. And sinking. This week two parties provide a particular challenge.

Producer ..... Steven Canny

Jack Docherty
Jack has an exceptional record of making stand-out comedy. He first performed at the 1980 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with the comedy sketch group The Bodgers and went on to write for radio and television including: Spitting Image, Alas Smith and Jones, Vic Reeves Big Night Out, Absolutely, The Lenny Henry Show, Max Headroom, Weekending, The News Huddlines and a ton of other things.
He has also performed in a huge variety of comedy shows including in The Comic Strip Presents, The Morwenna Banks Show, Monarch of the Glen, Red Dwarf V, The Old Guys and Badults. He has also featured in the Radio 4 comedies Baggage and Mordrin MacDonald - 21st Century Wizard and has appeared on various comedy panel shows including Have I Got News For You and It's Only TV But I Like It. Jack presented his own show The Jack Docherty Show which ran for 2 years on Channel 5.


FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b03bsb9f)
Help to Buy; Ivory trade; Highways Agency

Peter White assesses how the latest form of the Government's Help to Buy scheme will work. It starts on Monday and extends Help To Buy to ALL properties under £600,000.

Also- the future of the Highways Agency in England. The Transport Secretary says it will become independent but what will that mean for motorists?

And what difference will the new National Institute of Aesthetic Research make to the world of cosmetic surgery?


FRI 12:52 The Listening Project (b03bsb9h)
Joan and Roger - Web and Wings

Fi Glover introduces a conversation between an 84 year old and her SeniorNet mentor about the wonders of the web and the changes in technology they've both witnessed as the Radio 4 series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen returns for a fourth series.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can upload your own conversations or just learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Marya Burgess.


FRI 12:57 Weather (b03bppm0)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 13:00 World at One (b03bsb9k)
National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.


FRI 13:45 Publishing Lives (b03bsb9m)
Series 1

Geoffrey Faber

Geoffrey Faber was a brilliant middleman. He sought out the best new poetry and prose. And he hired a young American banker named T.S. Eliot - not just a poet of genius, but also a gifted publisher. Together, Eliot and Faber built one of the most influential literary lists of the twentieth century.

Faber was a classical scholar, a fellow of All Souls and a member of the Yorkshire brewing family Strong & Co. In 1924, bored with beer, he went into partnership with an Oxford friend, Maurice Gwyer, as a publisher. Gwyer already specialised in medical books and journals, but Faber had other ideas. Within five years he turned a company that published 'The Nursing Mirror' and the 'Hospital Newsletter' into one that hosted Siegfried Sassoon, Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot.

He championed the notion that Faber & Faber had a responsibility to the world to preserve the best in literature and encouraged enterprises that were not always commercial. Yet it was show business that saved the company when T.S. Eliot's 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats' became a hit musical.

In a landscape increasingly dominated by giant media empires, Faber & Faber remains one of the last great independent publishing houses in the UK. As the digital revolution shakes traditional publishing to its foundations, the firm is exploring new ways of presenting its authors, including Eliot, for a new generation of readers.

Robert meets Geoffrey's grandson Toby Faber, and literary and publishing experts, to explore Geoffrey Faber's life and the future of publishing in Britain.

Produced by Melissa FitzGerald
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (b03bs0zb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (b03bsb9p)
Nikolai Leskov - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

This new dramatisation by Marty Ross of the classic 1865 novella by Nikolai Leskov tells the dramatic story of Katerina, whose provincial life in 19th century Russia, married to an older man she has never loved, is transformed by the arrival of attractive philanderer, Sergei.

Katerina embarks on a passionate affair and, in her state of heightened emotion, she is determined to destroy anything that stands in her way. With her husband working away, and her relationship with Sergei on the point of exposure in the close knit farming community, she begins by dispensing with her father in law, but soon it becomes inevitable that further murders will be necessary to sustain her ferocious desires.

Shakespearean in both its language and emotional intensity, Katerina is portrayed as an anti-heroine of compelling intensity. The story, perhaps best known as the source for Shostakovich's famous opera of the same name, is by a Russian writer less well known than the likes of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, but whose work was much admired by Chekhov and Gorki, a rural Russian 'film noir'.

Sound design.......Jon Calver
Writer..................Nikolai Leskov
Dramatist.............Marty Ross
Director................Cherry Cookson

Producer: Mariele Runacre Temple
A Wireless Theatre Company production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b03bsb9r)
West Dean College and Gardens

This week Eric Robson and his Gardeners' Question Time panel - Christine Walkden, Matthew Wilson and Bob Flowerdew - are at West Dean College and gardens, near Chichester.

Produced by Victoria Shepherd
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

This Week's Questions:

Q: I have a herb garden about 40ft (12.2m) square divided into four beds. Both beds were sown at the same time and regularly given the same attention and feeding, but there appears to be a strip 3ft (0.9m) wide running North-South in the Eastern bed where none of the herbs grow anything like as well. What is the cause?

A: It's quite likely that you could have a Victorian path underneath and this may have been sprayed with vicious weed killers in the past, which can persist for a long time. The nearby Eucalyptus routes will also stretch a long distance and could have a drying effect on it and it could be down to compaction. You should add organic matter; make sure it's well irrigated and dig deep to see if you can find the cause.

Q: Has the panel any ideas for getting rid of Mare's Tail?

A: It can be controlled but does need a great degree of perseverance over a number of years. You can cover it for a long time but this will need at least two to three growing seasons. There are also herbicides that can be applied but are not guaranteed to work. Generally Mare's Tail is not as bad on dry soils, but is far worse on wet soils. If it's in an ornamental scenario you could try growing plants that will thrive alongside it including Rodgersias, bigged-leafed Hostas and Bergenias. You should select plants that will run and spread alongside it and can outgrow it.

Q: Recommendations for planting close to the sea.

A: Look for plants that have got protective coating, a good thick cuticle and those that show a waxy texture. Those with silver foliage and hairy foliage tend to survive salt spray. It is also worth making sure the plant is established at planting, so apply plenty of organic matter so that it will grow a good root system. Plants that you could try include; Cranbury maritima, Glaucium flavum (the yellow-horned poppy) and Lizard Orchids.

Q: Does the panel have any special tips for successfully striking cuttings of the downy-stemmed plant Salvia leucantha?

A: Salvia leucantha has square, quite hollow stems so you should be careful when taking cuttings. You can strike them late and put them into very gritty, sharply drained compost and a layer of grit or Vermiculite at the neck because you can have problems with neck-rot. If you push them into florist foam or fiberglass cubes you should see good takes. You can then plant with the florist foam still attached and the plant will burst out of it when ready.

Q: Our garden seems to attract lots of cabbage-white butterflies which seem to favour our tomato plants. We get lots of caterpillars and they decimate the leaves. We tried a spray made from crushed-chilies and have also tried handpicking but we can't seem to get good results. Can the panel suggest other organic cures?

A: There were plenty of cabbage-white butterflies around this year but it's unlikely that their caterpillars are eating your tomatoes because they tend to stick to the Brassica family. Tomato leaves are quite poisonous and it is unlikely that they could manage these. It is possible that the caterpillars are the tomato-moth. Hand picking is best to get rid of them. Another method is to put newspaper down carefully and quietly under the plants and then give them a good shake which should make the caterpillars drop down and you can remove them.

Q: I have a very splendid Euphorbia mellifera growing in a sunny corner by my kitchen wall. It's five years old, nearly six-feet tall and smells wonderfully of honey in early summer. It is now getting a bit leggy and worn-looking. The RHS pruning manual advises keeping pruning to a minimum in cool climates. How can I keep my Euphorbia bushy and flourishing?

A: The RHS advice is good advice. The plant is not 100% hardy, so you should be careful because if you get your timing wrong and there is a hard frost it could kill it. However, if it has got leggy you might as well bite the bullet and prune it. You could take out every third stem and see if that gets enough light into the new foliage to encourage it to grow and if it does then next year you can do the same again.


FRI 15:45 Brazilian Bonanza (b03bsb9t)
Lost Time

Tatiana Salem Levy's Lost Time reflects on the legacy of Brazil's military regime of the 70s and 80s. The readers are Barbara Flynn and Georgie Fuller with Joel MacCormack.

Tatiana Salem Levy debut novel A Chave de Casa (2007) won the the Sao Paulo Prize for literature. She is a writer and translator and lives in Rio de Janeiro.

Ángel Gurría-Quintana translated Lost Time and as well as a translator he is also a historian and journalist. His work has appeared in The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Economist and The Paris Review among others.

Abridged by Miranda Davies
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.

Brazilian Bonanza is a series of three short stories shining the spotlight on Brazil's literary culture. As all eyes turn to Brazil in anticipation of the next World Cup and the Olympics, and as dance and cinema continue to make their mark, now is the moment for the burgeoning interest in literature to take centre stage. The three stories illustrate how Brazilian writing is making a name for itself on Britain's literary scene. Tatiana Salem Levy's, Lost Time will appear in Other Carnivals, a new anthology of short stories which is being published to coincide with FlipSide a vibrant festival celebrating Brazilian literature, art, music and dance at Snape Maltings on Suffolk's beautiful coast from 4th-6th October. Paloma Vidal's story, Asi Es La Vida - That's Life, will appear in English in the October 2013 issue of Litro magazine which focuses on women's writing from Brazil. Finally, Antonio Prata's Valdir Peres, Juanito and Poloskei appeared in Granta's special issue featuring contemporary Brazilian writing.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (b03bsb9w)
A thriller writer, a musician, the Kabbalah Centre founder and a Hammer Horror producer

Matthew Bannister on

Tom Clancy, whose best selling thrillers spawned many blockbuster movies. He was endorsed by President Ronald Reagan.

Lindsay Cooper, the avant garde woodwind player and composer. She was the bassoonist in the band Henry Cow.

Rabbi Philip Berg who founded the Kabbalah Centre which attracted celebrity followers like Madonna and Demi Moore, but was criticised for commercialising Jewish mysticism.

And Anthony Hinds the producer of Hammer Horror classics like "The Quatermass Experiment" and "The Curse of the Werewolf".


FRI 16:30 More or Less (b03bsb9y)
An army of drunk children?

Are hundreds of young children visiting A and E because of alcohol? Plus, an update on the Trumptonshire economy. And has the mosquito killed half the people who have ever lived?

Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Ruth Alexander.


FRI 16:56 The Listening Project (b03bsbb0)
Roger and Cal - Leaving Home for the Circus

Fi Glover presents a timely conversation about leaving home for college. Cal will be leaving his father Roger in County Down when he sets off for Bristol; the same thing is happening all over the nation. But Cal's course is less common: he'll be studying circus arts, proving once again that it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can upload your own conversations or just learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Marya Burgess.


FRI 17:00 PM (b03bsbb2)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b03bppm2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:30 The Now Show (b03bsbb4)
Series 41

Episode 2

Steve Punt and Jon Culshaw are joined by David Quantick, Pippa Evans, Mitch Benn and Laura Shavin for a comic run through the week's news. Producer: Alexandra Smith.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (b03bsbb6)
Caroline tells Shula that the local authority will do a fuller investigation of Joe's accident next week.

Caroline's had a detailed account of the committee meeting from Lynda. She tells Shula that Lynda's Austen theme was comprehensively outvoted in favour of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Lynda was left to decide on either a pantomime or a play.

As Shula gets home, she's startled by Darrell outside the house. He wants to be sure she knows how sorry he is. He accepts Shula's invitation for something to eat and she tells him the offer of a bed still stands.

Fallon and Kirsty discuss Brenda's adventures in Russia. Fallon wonders how Tom feels about Brenda moving on so quickly.

At Jaxx for Alice's birthday, Jazzer laments all the best girls being hitched. Fallon points out that Kirsty's not spoken for. When Tom arrives, he asks Kirsty if she's avoiding him. Tom tries to talk to her but is up-staged by Jazzer who's decided Kirsty is the one for him.

Tom eventually gets Kirsty alone. He and Brenda have agreed they have no future together, and he's realised it's Kirsty he wants. Kirsty admits she's fallen in love with him and he declares he loves her too.


FRI 19:15 Front Row (b03bsbb8)
Anoushka Shankar; TV drama Truckers; Frank Auerbach

With John Wilson.

Sitar player Anoushka Shankar discusses her latest album, Traces Of You, which features vocals from her half-sister, the singer Norah Jones. The album was influenced by the death of her father, the legendary sitar player Ravi Shankar, and explores the cycle of life. Anoushka Shankar explains how the worldwide outcry following the death of a young woman who was gang raped in India, led her to reveal that she too was sexually abused as a young girl.

Truckers is the new TV drama by Made In Dagenham writer, William Ivory. Set in Nottingham, each episode tells the story of one character: starting with Stephen Tompkinson as a driver dealing with the breakdown of his marriage. The series also stars Ashley Walters (Top Boy) and Sian Breckin (Tyrannosaur). Matt Thorne reviews.

In a rare interview, artist Frank Auerbach talks in detail about his approach to his work, explaining that he goes to his studio every single day, without ever taking a day off, because he enjoys it so much. He also points out that, although he is seen as an abstract artist, he actually paints exactly what he sees in front of him...

Producer Rebecca Nicholson.


FRI 19:45 The Pillow Book (b03bsb97)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b03bsbbb)
Patrick McLoughlin, Rachel Reeves, Lisa Holdsworth, John Kampfner

Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from the Ilkley Literature Festival in West Yorkshire with Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rachel Reeves, journalist John Kampfner and TV script writer Lisa Holdsworth who's written for Emmerdale, Fat Friends and Midsomer Murders.


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b03bsbbd)
Ethical Science

Lisa Jardine learned the story of Leo Szilard from her father who regarded him as an exemplary figure in science. Szilard, an Hungarian physicist, helped to develop the atom bomb, but later fought against its use. His story provides lessons about the relationship between science and human values - even though the version of the tale Lisa was taught turns out not to have been entirely true.

Producer: Sheila Cook.


FRI 21:00 Saturday Drama (b0171ydt)
Bar Mitzvah Boy

BAR MITZVAH BOY
by Jack Rosenthal, Adapted for radio by Amy Rosenthal

A radio version of Jack Rosenthal's award-winning television play about a boy having his Bar Mitzvah - the ceremony in which a thirteen year old becomes a man in the Jewish faith.

At the tender age of thirteen Eliot Green is about to become a man - in the Jewish religion at least. In synagogue, in front of the whole congregation, he will read and sing in Hebrew from the Torah (the Hebrew scrolls) - this after a year of intensive tuition. Later he will enjoy receiving gifts from relatives and friends as he celebrates with them at his Bar Mitzvah party.
All eyes are on Eliot as he is called up in synagogue for his big moment! But is he ready to become a man?

This play along with many others established the late Jack Rosenthal as one of Britain's best loved television writers. A master at creating characters that you could recognise and empathise with, his plays were always sharp and finely tuned with a rich helping of humour.

This new version of Bar Mitzvah Boy is specially adapted for radio by Jack's daughter, the playwright Amy Rosenthal.

Produced and directed by David Ian Neville.


FRI 21:58 Weather (b03bppm4)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b03bsbbg)
The Asian Century? Recent global polls suggest people in many parts of the world believe China is about to - or already has -overtaken the US as the world's leading economy. Despite rapid growth in China and many other Asian countries in the past few decades, the US is in fact still top dog, but for how much longer? Will this be the Asian Century as many have predicted? Ritula Shah is joined at the Asia Society in California by a panel of academics and figures from business and finance for a special debate.


FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b03bx824)
James Bond - Solo

Episode 5

It is 1969 and James Bond is about to go solo, recklessly motivated by revenge.

A seasoned veteran of the service, 007 is sent to single-handedly stop a civil war in a small West African nation. Aided by a beautiful accomplice and hindered by the local militia, he undergoes a scarring experience which compels him to ignore M's orders in pursuit of his own brand of justice.
Bond's renegade action leads him to Washington DC, where he discovers a web of geopolitical intrigue and witnesses fresh horrors.

Even if Bond succeeds in exacting his revenge, a man with two faces will come to stalk his every waking moment.

Written by William Boyd, who is the author of one work of non-fiction, three collections of short stories and thirteen novels, including the bestselling historical spy thriller Restless - winner of the Costa Novel of the Year - and Any Human Heart, in which the character of Ian Fleming features. Among his other awards are the Whitbread First Novel Prize, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Prix Jean Monnet. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2005 he was awarded the CBE.

Solo - a James Bond novel written by William Boyd. Copyright Ian Fleming Publications Limited 2013

Reader: Paterson Joseph
Abridged by Libby Spurrier

Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b03brkdx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:27 With Great Pleasure (b00yj5vj)
Dame Joan Bakewell

The incomparable Joan Bakewell with some favourite pieces of prose and poetry. Her readers are Samuel West and Harriet Walter.

Producer: Christine Hall.


FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b03bsbbv)
Michael and Yvonne - Driving Lessons

Fi Glover introduces a conversation that explores difficult territory, as a mother and son discuss the love of speed Michael inherited from his father, and confront memories of the car crash in which he died when Michael was only three.

The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can upload your own conversations or just learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Marya Burgess.