SATURDAY 01 APRIL 2017

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b08k1b7q)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b08l6q8v)
Be Like the Fox, Episode 5

A new interpretation on the importance of The Prince in Machiavelli's life and subsequent reputation.

His name has of course become a by-word for political machination, but this new biography by Erica Benner challenges the notions that Machiavelli was simply a satanic cynic.

She suggests that, in context, he emerges as his era's staunchest champion of liberty who refused to compromise his ideals to fit the corrupt times in which he lived. As often as he advocates extreme measures for dealing with the enemy, he actually balances this with respect for the law in sentences such as "victories are never secure without some respect, especially for justice" and "cities have never expanded either in dominion or in riches if they have not been in freedom."

So this book is an attempt to redress the balance.

Read by Toby Jones
Written by Erica Benner
Abridged by Polly Coles

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

SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08k1b7s)
The latest shipping forecast.

SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08k1b7v)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.

SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08k1b7x)
The latest shipping forecast.

SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b08k1b7z)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b08k50x3)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with Bob Fyffe, general secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.

SAT 05:45 iPM (b08k50x6)
Drugs services: 'something went wrong'

iPM is the news programme that starts with its listeners. Email ipm@bbc.co.uk. Twitter: @BBCiPM. Presented by Luke Jones and Eddie Mair.

SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b08k1b81)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

SAT 06:04 Weather (b08k1b83)
The latest weather forecast.

SAT 06:07 Ramblings (b08k4bxw)
Series 35, Mount Edgcumbe, Plymouth

Clare Balding joins some of the members of START - Students and Refugees Together, to explore some of the beautiful countryside in easy access of Plymouth. START is a small charity that works with refugees in the city by putting them together with student volunteers to help them become self-reliant and active contributors to their local community. Walks are an important part of the organisation, encouraging refugees to get to know the city and some of the countryside that surrounds it as well as being a way to make friends and practise their English. Clare talks to social worker, Avril Bellinger, who initiated the scheme, about the benefits walking has bought to the group and to the students and refugees who have built such a bond.
Producer Lucy Lunt.

SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b08k1b85)
Spring on the farm.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

SAT 06:57 Weather (b08k1b87)
The latest weather forecast.

SAT 07:00 Today (b08ks2b7)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b08k1b89)
Daniel O'Donnell

Irish singing superstar Daniel O'Donnell made history in 2016 by becoming the first recording artist in the history of the UK album chart to have at least one new album every year since 1988 - an unprecedented 29-year run - surpassing the Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson and U2. He talks about growing up in Donegal and how he got into the music business.

Samantha Renke is an actor with a disability and can be seen in the latest Maltesers advertisement. Sam has a genetic condition -osteogenesis imperfecta -that causes bones to break easily. It affects type I collagen in the body and is more commonly called brittle bone disease. Owing to multiple fractures, people with the condition usually have stunted growth. Sam won 'Best Lead Actress' in Little Devil, a multiple award-winning British indie film at the 2014 Los Angeles Diversity Film. Sam also works to raise disability awareness as she is currently campaigning with Channel 4, as well as the charity SCOPE.

Simon Cooper is fly fisherman and conservationist. He's just published a book called the Otter's Tale. He's also involved in preserving Britain's chalk streams.

Fiona, 8th Countess of Carnarvon is the Chatelaine of Highclere Castle where Downton Abbey is filmed. Her most recent book is At Home at Highclere - the stories behind some of the most famous dinner parties. Guests have included Disraeli, Prince of Wales, and Henry James.

The Inheritance Tracks are provided by David Rodigan MBE - an English radio DJ who also performs as a disc jockey for his sound system.

Presenters: Aasmah Mir & the Rev. Richard Coles
Producer: Maire Devine.

SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (b08ks2b9)
Series 16, Bermondsey

Jay Rayner and his panel visit Bermondsey in London. Joining him this week are Dr Annie Gray, Sophie Wright, Andi Oliver and Itamar Srulovich.

In this first programme of the new series, the panel discusses the local history of biscuit production, sample the full gamut of olives, get under the skin of rice pudding, and hear a confession about inventive dill repurposing.

Producer: Miranda Hinkley
Assistant Producer: Hannah Newton

Food consultant: Anna Colquhoun

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

SAT 11:00 Week in Westminster (b08ks2bc)
Tom Newton Dunn of the Sun looks behind the scenes at Westminster.
The editor is Peter Mulligan.

SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b08k1b8c)
Tumbling Down

Robbery, extortion, kidnapping; bananas with everything; and a monkey cascade. Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories: Jon Stevenson is in the Libyan capital Tripoli, where the lights are out, the militias are enriching themselves, and chaos reigns. Matthew Brunwasser tells the story of the man fighting for justice in Serbia, 17 years after his three brothers were murdered. Gemma Newby tucks into bananas for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the Dominican Republic as she visits a now crumbling town built by one of the banana giants; Kieran Cooke is in the town in the West of Ireland which used to have the highest pub to people ratio in the country. That, and much else, has changed but the spirit remains undiminished. And in Ethiopia's Highlands, the writer Tim Butcher witnesses the extraordinary and heart-warming spectacle of the great African monkey cascade.

SAT 12:00 News Summary (b08k1b8f)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

SAT 12:04 Money Box (b08ks2bf)
Living Wage rise, Santander fraud and opening up the water supply market

The latest news from the world of personal finance.

SAT 12:30 The Now Show (b08k4zwm)
Series 50, 31/03/2017

Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis and guests present the week in news through stand-up and sketches.

Kiri Pritchard McLean airs her grievance with the Daily Mail's 'Legs-it' headline, Tudur Owen considers the future for Wales, should Scotland gain independence and broadcaster Peter Curran discusses the early days of the internet with Punt and Dennis.

Production Coordinator: Sarah Sharpe
Producer: Joseph Nunnery
It was a BBC Studios Production.

SAT 12:57 Weather (b08k1b8h)
The latest weather forecast.

SAT 13:00 News (b08k1b8k)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b08k4zwr)
Hilary Benn MP, Dan Hannan MEP, Norman Lamb MP, Allie Renison

Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate from the Festival Drayton Centre in Market Drayton, Shropshire, with the Chair of the House of Common's Brexit Select Committee Hilary Benn MP, the Liberal Democrat's Health spokesman Norman Lamb MP, the Conservative MEP Dan Hannan and Allie Renison the Head of Europe and Trade Policy at the Institute of Directors.

SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b08k1b8m)
Listeners have their say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?

SAT 14:30 Drama (b083j4z7)
The Hatton Garden Heist

Philip Palmer's drama explores one of the most audacious crimes of the last thirty years, in which a gang of thieves stole jewellery and cash with an estimated value of up to £200M from a secure vault in the heart of London.

The heist was a media sensation for months in 2015. The legend grew up that this was the perfect heist. However the criminals involved are now all in jail. All except one. The man who the press called Mr Ginger. The man who called himself Basil. No one knows who he is. The story of how he came to be part of this gang may or may not be true. It's a story that spans thirty years, and involves many of the most notorious characters in the world of organised crime. It's a story of murder, vengeance and gold.

Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.

SAT 15:30 Rock Transition (b08jb6s8)
For centuries musicians have defied gender boundaries to create some of the most evocative and provocative art and music.

Journalist and culture critic Laura Snapes joins the dots of a fascinating musical history that encompasses musical icons such as Ma Rainey, Little Richard, Lou Reed, the Pet Shop Boys, Grace Jones and Madonna, and looks at how today's musicians use music and performance to express who their own gender and sexuality.

In recent years the issue of gender and identity has been a hot topic in the musical landscape and beyond. From niche publications to tabloids and political debate, issues surrounding gender identity and how it influences both personal and social life have been widely publicised.

Amid the deeply complex personal world of gender identity and the often ruthlessly myopic world of the music industry, a new generation of artists are using music for fearless expressions of their gender and sexuality that break beyond the archetypes set by their forebears.

Rock Transition speaks with artists such as garage maverick Ezra Furman, Canadian pop stars Tegan and Sara, musician and author CN Lester, and musician and activist Ryan Cassata to understand why music offers an exciting platform to express and explore gender identity and sexuality - and asks how these artists can resist being marginalised and commodified by an industry keen to capitalise on a hot topic.

SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b08k1b8p)
Young fussy eaters, The Kingdom of Women and Twelfth Day

How should you deal with young fussy eaters in your family? Ciara Attwell of MyFussyEater.com and Professor Jackie Blissett discuss.

Post Brexit we examine the impact of the 'self suffiency' rule on EU nationals living in the UK with unpaid caring roles. We hear from Birgit who has been married to a UK citizen for 17 years and has two children. She is concerned that her role as a stay at home mum may disqualify her for Permanent Residency. Colin Yeo is a barrister specialising in UK immigration law discusses.

In a new series looking at single parenthood Cherry Healey speaks to Rupa about her decision to use a sperm donor to conceive her daughter.

Choo Waihong is a former corporate lawyer in Singapore who spends time with the Mosuo tribe in Yunan province in China, close to the border with Tibet. She explains how the tribe works and her role within it.

Tamsin Grieg talks about her latest role playing Malvolia in Shakespeare's classic comedy of mistaken identity 'Twelfth Night'.

We examine how women have been portrayed in TV adverts over the past 50 years with Lindsey Clay the CEO of Thinkbox and Aline Santos the Executive Vice President of Global Marketing at Unilever.

And we have music and chat from the band Twelfth Day made up of Orcadian fiddler Catriona Price and Peebles Harpist Esther Swift.

Presented by Jenni Murray
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor: Jane Thurlow.

SAT 17:00 PM (b08k1b8r)
Drugs services: 'something went wrong'

Full coverage of the day's news.

SAT 17:30 iPM (b08k50x6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:45 today]

SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b08k1b8t)
The latest shipping forecast.

SAT 17:57 Weather (b08k1b8w)
The latest weather forecast.

SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08k1b8y)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b08k1b90)
David Tennant, Don Warrington, Kurt Jackson, Lucy McCormick, Emma Freud, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Emma Freud are joined by David Tennant, Don Warrington, Kurt Jackson and Lucy McCormick for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Rhiannon Giddens and Samantha Crain.

Producer: Sukey Firth.

SAT 19:00 Profile (b08ks464)
Eric Monkman

Series of profiles of people who are currently making headlines.

SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b08k1b92)
Ghost In The Shell, Don Juan in Soho, Les Murray, Comics at Kelvingrove Museum, Harlots on ITV

Scarlett Johansson plays Major in the manga-based action film Ghost In The Shell.
David Tennant leads the cast of Don Juan in Soho. Patrick Marber's play, based on Moliere's original - which debuted a decade ago - reaches London's West End for the first time
Australian poet Les Murray's latest collection On Bunyah cogitates on the rural spot in New South Wales where his ancestors settled and lived - Wild Horses Creek, known to the aboriginal Australians as Bunyah
The Art of Comics, a new exhibition in Glasgow, looks at the work of comicbook artist Frank Quitely, "from Krypton to Kelvingrove.. from Gotham to Glasgow".
Harlots is a TV series starting on ITV Encore - is it too good to be hidden away on a niche channel?

Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Miranda Carter, Jim White and Robert hanks. The producer is Oliver Jones.

SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b08ks46b)
Reporting Terror: 50 Years Behind the Headlines

Peter Taylor reflects on his 50 year career reporting terrorism.

When Peter Taylor stepped nervously onto a plane in 1967, bound for the Middle East, he had no idea it was to be the start of a journalistic mission he would still be pursuing fifty years later.

At the time "terrorism" was barely in our vocabulary. In the hundred or so documentaries he has made on the subject since then, Peter has tried to get behind the headlines to understand and explain a phenomenon which has grown to affect us all.

Peter has reported the escalation of terrorism from the IRA and its Loyalist counterparts to Al Qaeda and the so called Islamic State. He has met the victims of terror, those involved in perpetrating terrorist acts and members of the intelligence services tasked with stopping them.

Revisiting his own extraordinary archive has given Peter the chance to reflect on the evolution of terrorism and to recall some of his most memorable interviews.

"There are moments when the interviews are chilling, moments when they're shocking and at other points they provoked a sharp intake of breath - surprising me by how prophetic they were."

Producer: Joe Kent.

SAT 21:00 Drama (b08jk8x6)
Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Episode 2

Adapted from the Jules Verne novel by Moya O'Shea
The first of the extraordinary tales from the golden age of adventure continues. Axel is in grave danger. Thirty leagues of rock lie above him. Should he go up or down?

SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b08k1b97)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.

SAT 22:15 Moral Maze (b08k34n8)
Morality of the Green Belt

When it comes to talking about home ownership in this country it quickly divides in to the "have's" and "have not's." According to the OECD fewer than half of low to middle income families are now able to afford to buy a house and some campaigners estimate that, by 2020, families earning the National Living Wage would be unable to afford to buy homes in 98 per cent of the country. The answer, according to many, is radical deregulation of the planning laws and building on the greenbelt. 8 million new family homes could be built if just 2% of the greenbelt was handed over to developers. To those threatened with the prospect of bulldozers arriving in a field near their home, it will mean urban sprawl and the destruction of large swathes of natural countryside so that builders can make a quick profit. Economists argue that when the greenbelt was created in 1955 it arbitrarily distorted the market for building land. But the current housing crisis is about moral issues too and in such a polarising debate it's vital that we're able to identify them to get the root of the issue. How do we draw the line between legitimate self-interest and Luddite nimbyism? People talk a lot about inter-generational justice, but do we have an absolute moral duty to provide for the next generation whatever the cost? How do we choose between conflicting moral goods? We all love a beautiful pastoral scene, but does the physical landscape have a moral value beyond how it can be used in the service of mankind? Obviously, having somewhere to live is a fundamental need, but is home ownership a moral good and even a human right? Panellists George Buskell, Poppy Cleary, Maddie Groeger-Wilson and Jane Fidge.

SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (b08k1sv7)
Heat 10, 2017

(10/17)
The competitors joining Russell Davies today come from Rochester, Twickenham, Windsor and Brighton. How much do they know about drowned villages in the Lake District, Sicilian delicacies named after operas, or the numbers of protons in stable nuclei?

Russell Davies asks the questions, with another of the automatic places in the 2017 semi-finals at stake. And could a runner-up do well enough to qualify for the semi-finals too?

A Brain of Britain listener also stands to win a prize if the competitors, by pooling their knowledge, can't solve an ingenious pair of questions he or she has devised.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.

SAT 23:30 Derek Walcott: A Fortunate Traveller (b0495r41)
Glyn Maxwell meets the Nobel Laureate poet Derek Walcott at his home on the Caribbean island of St Lucia on his 84th birthday. From his beach home, Walcott talks about the sea and what it is like to come from a place he feels to be without history. He remembers his late friend Seamus Heaney and enthuses about Edward Thomas and Philip Larkin. They talk of teaching poetry - Glyn was once Derek's student. He reads some of his own poems and, from memory, a sad and beautiful lyric by Walter de la Mare. The surf and the tropical rain make their own calypso music. Producer: Tim Dee.


SUNDAY 02 APRIL 2017

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b08ksc1q)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

SUN 00:30 Opening Lines (b04gcfmg)
Series 16, The Fox

Another chance to hear Fiona Melrose's story in the series which gives emerging short story writers their radio debut.

Philip Jackson reads Fiona Melrose's meditative tale evoking a rural England, largely untouched by the modern world. A dead fox triggers memories and connections for an elderly farmer.

Produced by Gemma Jenkins

South African writer, Fiona Melrose was inspired to write this story while living in Suffolk. The story formed the starting point of her first novel, Midwinter, which was published in November of last year.

SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08ksc1s)
The latest shipping forecast.

SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08ksc1v)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.

SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08ksc1x)
The latest shipping forecast.

SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b08ksc1z)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b08ksdjn)
Worcester Cathedral

Church bells from Worcester Cathedral.

SUN 05:45 Lent Talks (b08k1w8v)
Salley Vickers - Destiny and the Author

Salley Vickers, the author novels including "Miss Garnet's Angel", talks about the responsibility of having the destiny of her hands.
Producer: Phil Pegum.

SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b08ksc21)
The latest national and international news.

SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b08ksc23)
Crossing the Master

Journalist Abdul-Rehman Malik explores the complex relationship between master and disciple. Acknowledging that truth lies in fiction, he describes how the relationship between Obi Wan Kenobi and his former disciple Darth Vader in the film Star Wars prompted this exploration.

A passage written by the former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams defines what a disciple is and a reading from the 19th century Buddhist master Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro helps the disciple discern a true leader. Hindu mystic Rama Krishna describes how Tapobana the Master, threatened by a disciple he thought of as foolish, goes on to make a fool of himself.

Conflicts between master and disciple arise in the secular world too. We hear the music of jazz trumpeter Miles Davis as Abdul-Rehman recounts the tale of the clash between young lion Wynton Marsalis and the legendary Davis. The death of Malcolm X in 1965 showed that crossing the master can have deadly consequences - we hear from his autobiography.

Abdul-Rehman concludes by examining how differences between the master and disciple can be reconciled.

Presenter: Abdul-Rehman Malik
Producer: Jonathan Mayo

A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4.

SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b08ksdjq)
Farming Hobbits

Nancy Nicolson travels to Middle Earth to discover how a remote corner of a 1250-acre New Zealand sheep station became one of the most famous pieces of farmland in the world.

When location scouts settled on the Alexander family farm near Matamata, just south of Auckland, as the location for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, it changed the fortunes of the traditional sheep unit which is run by two brothers.

Now Craig Alexander continues to run the sheep enterprise while his brother Russell manages Hobbiton, a global tourist destination attracting 500,000 visitors a year.

Nancy learns about the economics that have driven New Zealand sheep farmers to become more efficient; hears how the army was employed to drive roads into remote land and visits some of the Hobbit holes.

SUN 06:57 Weather (b08ksc25)
The latest weather forecast.

SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b08ksc27)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

SUN 07:10 Sunday (b08ksc29)
Bishop of Woolwich, Crucifixion row, 500-year-old carol recorded

Sunday morning religious news and current affairs programme.

SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (b08ksdjs)
SignHealth

Actor Rachel Shenton makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of SignHealth.

Registered Charity Number England & Wales (1011056), and Scotland (SC044122).
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That's the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope 'SignHealth'.
- Cheques should be made payable to 'SignHealth'.

SUN 07:57 Weather (b08ksc2c)
The latest weather forecast.

SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b08ksc2f)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b08ksdjv)
The Pearl of Great Value

On Passion Sunday, The Rev. Dr. Stephen Wigley, Chair of the Wales Synod of the Methodist Church, preaches on 'What We Give We Gain' in the fifth of Radio 4's services for Lent. Live from Neath Methodist Church, led by the Rev. Chris Gray, with music from the Swansea Bach Choir including 'Crucifixus' (Lotti), 'Were You There' (Spiritual Arr: Bob Chilcott) and 'God So Loved the Word' (Stainer). Music Director Greg Hallam. Organist Glenn Crooks. A link to resources for individuals and small groups based on the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book are available on the Sunday Worship web pages. Producer: Karen Walker.

SUN 08:48 A Point of View (b08k4zwt)
Dementia Rights

Tom Shakespeare argues that viewing dementia as a disability could help those suffering from the condition win greater rights.

In the last few decades, he writes, we have seen many impairment groups unite to demand a better deal from government. "But when it comes to dementia, we are still thinking in terms of disease and tragedy and passivity".

He believes treating dementia as a disability - with all the legal ramifications that involves - may help us change our attitudes and our policies.

Producer: Adele Armstrong.

SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tt1kv)
Yellowhammer

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

Steve Backshall presents the yellowhammer. The yellowhammer is a member of the bunting family and its name comes from "ammer" the German for bunting. It's one of the few British birds to have its song transcribed into words and seems to be saying ..a little bit of bread and no cheese".

SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b08ksc2h)
News and analysis for a Sunday morning presented by Jonny Dymond. Reviewing the papers: Art library founder Viscountess Harriet Bridgeman, charity chief Baron Victor Adebowale and Radio 3's Mister Petroc Trelawny.

SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b08ksc2k)
Toby shares his advice, and Usha rallies the troops.

SUN 11:15 The Reunion (b08ksdqd)
The Vietnamese Boat People

Sue McGregor reunites four Vietnamese refugees and one of the men who rescued them from their sinking fishing boat in 1978.

On the evening of 1st October 1978, a British cargo ship, MV Wellpark, spotted a distress flare 120 miles off-land in the South China Sea. When the crew went to investigate, they found 346 Vietnamese refugees crowded onto a sinking, rudderless fishing vessel. In a daring rescue that lasted many hours in very rough seas, every single passenger was saved and eventually given refuge in Britain.

Around 800,000 people are believed to have fled Vietnam by boat in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. They were escaping a repressive regime under the new Communist Government, but many didn't survive the journey.

Some were refused permission to land by neighbouring countries who couldn't cope with the exodus, others were attacked by pirates or sank in vessels unfit for the high seas. In 1979 the United Nations declared the plight of the Vietnamese Boat People "a grave crisis" and urged the international community to take the refugees in.

Sue MacGregor is joined by the Wellpark's Training Officer, Graham MacQueen and four of the refugees he helped rescue - Dr Philip Huynh, Diep Quan, Dao Nguyen and James Huynh.

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

SUN 12:00 News Summary (b08ksc2m)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (b08k1svf)
Series 77, Episode 6

Just A Minute is 50 years old this year! Nicholas Parsons has been hosting since day one, and continues to host with skill and panache! This week our panellists are Paul Merton, Jenny Eclair, Marcus Brigstocke and Just A Minute newbie, Al Murray. The panel will endeavour to talk on a given subject for sixty seconds without repetition, hesitation or deviation.

What does Jenny think about a dog's dinner? Can Marcus talk about the tube for a full minute? Paul gives it to us straight and Al tells us his views on spam.

Hayley Sterling blows the whistle and it was produced by Matt Stronge.

Just A Minute is a BBC Studios production.

SUN 12:32 Food Programme (b08ksdqg)
Blood

Blood in food is about as divisive as it comes. But Tim Hayward loves it. A rare steak, a carefully crisped slice of black pudding, a blood meringue...?

In this programme Tim meets butchers, cooks and chefs determined to put blood back on the dining table. From the Fruit Pig Co. Cambridgeshire butchers taking black pudding to it's traditional routes; Otto Tepassé an Austrian born restaurateur preserving and performing the theatrical French canard à la presse with it's sumptuous sauce thickened with blood; to award winning writer Jennifer McLagan baking blood sweets - chocolate brownies, blood ice cream, and even blood cocktails.

If the thought of a truly Bloody Mary makes you weak at the knees, don't adjust your set. As Tim explores the world of blood in food and drink, he also uncovers the deep relationship we have with blood - cultural, physiological, religious as well as culinary. Featuring Professor Emeritus of Cultural History Sir Christopher Frayling, and American author and academic John Edgar Browning.

Presented by Tim Hayward.
Produced in Bristol by Clare Salisbury.

SUN 12:57 Weather (b08ksc2p)
The latest weather forecast.

SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b08ksc2r)
Global news and analysis.

SUN 13:30 The Sandy Hook Deniers (b08ll1q0)
Radio 4 documentary.

SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b08k4zw9)
Audley End

Eric Robson and the panel are at Audley End in Essex. Alongside Eric this week are James Wong, Christine Walkden and Bob Flowerdew.

The panel answer questions on the best plants to grow underneath a Walnut tree and how to get hedgerows flowering, and offer advice on the best long-keeping apples. They also reminisce about their favourite plant sale purchases and advise on what to do to keep Daphnes alive.

James Wong investigates the local history of the elite spice Saffron.

Produced by Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Hester Cant

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (b08ksf51)
Omnibus - To Lose a Child

Fi Glover introduces three powerful conversations that deal with the death of a young child, whether in pregnancy, infancy or later, in this Omnibus edition of the series that proves 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 learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Marya Burgess.

SUN 15:00 Drama (b08ktmz9)
King Solomon's Mines, Episode 1

Extraordinary tales from the golden age of adventure.

Tim McInnerny stars as intrepid explorer Allan Quatermain in this classic Victorian story - the impossible quest for the fabled King Solomon's diamond mines, set in a mythical African interior. This gripping story is a treasure hunt, a mystery, a psychological drama, and a kaleidoscope of sound.

Hunter Allan Quatermain is asked by Sir Henry Curtis to join in the search for his brother George, who disappeared a year ago on a quest to find the legendary diamond mines of King Solomon, in an uncharted part of Africa. Quatermain regards this as a suicidal mission but, fatalistic and wishing to provide for his son Harry, he finally agrees to go and keeps a journal for his son of the trip from which he never expects to return. Quatermain, Sir Henry, his friend Captain John Good and their bearers set off into the unknown ... on a challenging and near fatal journey, eventually encountering the fierce Kukuana tribe led by Chief Infadoos who agrees to take them to the town of Loo near the fabled King Solomon's Mines.

Written by Rider Haggard

Dramatised by Chris Harrald

Directed by Liz Webb

Adapter Chris Harrald's previous adaptations for Radio 4 include M.R. James' ghost stories, four series of the Edwardian detective series The Rivals and several Classic Serials, including The Lost World and Three Men in a Boat.

SUN 16:00 Bookclub (b08ktmzc)
Sunjeev Sahota - The Year of the Runaways

Sunjeev Sahota discusses his novel The Year of the Runaways which was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize.

The Year of the Runaways follows the stories of three undocumented Indian men who share a house in Sheffield. Tochi has fled India after his family were killed in a Caste-related massacre; Avtar arrives on a student visa, but intending to work. Randeep, Avtar's friend and neighbour, is the beneficiary of a sham marriage. In a flat on the other side of town lives Randeep's visa-wife, the British-born Narinder. Her cupboards are filled with his clothes, in case Immigration arrives.

Sahota was named as a Granta Best Young British Novelist in 2013. Presented by James Naughtie and including contributions and questions from a group of invited readers.

Presenter : James Naughtie
Interviewed guest : Sunjeev Sahota
Producer : Dymphna Flynn

May's Bookclub choice : The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (2000).

SUN 16:30 The Echo Chamber (b08ktmzf)
Series 8, Simon Armitage and Ted Hughes's Paper Round

Yorkshire works! Paul Farley hears new poems from Simon Armitage in Marsden and helps Steve Ely and Dominic Somers restage Ted Hughes' boyhood paper-round in Mexborough. Producer: Tim Dee.

SUN 17:00 The Origins of the American Dream (b08k2fmj)
The American Dream is back. President Donald Trump says so. Once again every American, regardless of background, race, gender or education, can, through sheer hard work, make it to the very top and become rich.
Did the idea of the America Dream, in which nothing is impossible as long as you work hard, evolve with the 'founding fathers' of the nation? Is it intrinsic to the country's identity?
Professor Sarah Churchwell argues that the American Dream is much younger than we realise, and it was born as a response to the 'Roaring Twenties' and the devastating stock market crash of 1929, and Depression that followed.
She uses history, literature and music to explore the original meaning of The American Dream - which was an appeal for much more modest dreams of a better life for all, not riches for some.

Producer; Shabnam Grewal
Editor: Penny Murphy.

SUN 17:40 Profile (b08ks464)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]

SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b08ksc2t)
The latest shipping forecast.

SUN 17:57 Weather (b08ksc2w)
The latest weather forecast.

SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08ksc2y)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b08ksc30)
Phill Jupitus

Broadcasters chooses their BBC Radio highlights.

SUN 19:00 The Archers (b08ktmzh)
Ed raises a concern, and Josh runs into problems.

SUN 19:15 A Normal Life (b08ktnwk)
Part two in an occasional series in which Henry Normal uses poetry, storytelling and comedy to explore life's big questions.

Last year Henry brought us his acclaimed show - 'A Normal Family', which centred around his son, Johnny, who was diagnosed with "mildly severe" autism. In this profound, funny and moving show, Henry explored what this meant for his family.

This time Henry brings us his new show, 'A Normal Life'. Drawing on his experiences bringing up a child with autism, Henry investigates where edges are, and how we are connected. As well as his trademark humour, the show tackles the subjects of life, death, loneliness, loss, human frailty and other classic conversation stoppers.

Henry Normal is a multi-award winning writer, producer and poet. Co-writer of award winning TV programmes such as The Royle Family, The Mrs Merton Show, Coogan's Run and Paul Calf, and producer of, amongst many others, Oscar-Nominated Philomena, Gavin and Stacey and Alan Partridge.

He has published several volumes of poetry, including The Dream Ticket, Nude Modelling for the Afterlife and Staring Directly at the Eclipse. His last Radio 4 series was 1997's Encyclopaedia Poetica.

Written and performed by - Henry Normal
Producer - Carl Cooper
Production Coordinator - Steve Lanham
This is a BBC Studios Production.

SUN 19:45 Life at Absolute Zero (b08ktphk)
Series 2, In Your Dreams

Lynne Truss introduces us to the inhabitants of Meridian Cliffs, a small wind-battered town on the south coast of England. Founded one hundred years ago, no one well-known has ever lived in Meridian Cliffs. It's only claim to fame is the Great Cliff-Drop Tragedy of 1936 when rampant coastal erosion caused a party of picnicking holiday-makers to meet an untimely end.

This week, there's a sticky moment at the drama society meeting, called to discuss the subject for the Centenary Community Play.

Thwarted ambitions, secret passions, forlorn hopes, and typically sticky British moments are all to be found in this series of beautifully observed, gently comic and often moving stories.

Directed by Kate McAll
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

SUN 20:00 Feedback (b08k4zwh)
Westminster coverage, the end of Midweek and the editor of The Archers

Roger Bolton puts listener questions about coverage of the Westminster attack by Khalid Masood, to the Deputy Editor of BBC News, Toby Castle.

And Roger reports from the Nations and Regions Media Conference in Salford on the important BBC radio headlines from the event. While there, he talks with the Editor of The Archers, Huw Kennair-Jones. Huw answers listener questions on all manner of subjects from sex and fruity language, to whether he wants to run another Helen and Rob-style hard-hitting subject in the near future.

Also this week, some listeners wonder whether the BBC has been too cowed by criticism from MPs to report sufficiently impartially on the recent Unite for Europe march. And there's a fond farewell to BBC Radio 4's Midweek programme after 35 years.

Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Katherine Godfrey.
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

SUN 20:30 Last Word (b08k4zwf)
David Storey, Ahmed Kathrada, Barbara Buss, Aloysius 'Lucky' Gordon

Matthew Bannister on

Playwright and novelist David Storey who drew on his experiences as a professional rugby league player in some of his work.

The South African anti apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada who spent twenty six years in prison with Nelson Mandela and then became his parliamentary adviser.

Barbara Buss who edited Woman Magazine in its 1970s heyday.

And Lucky Gordon, the drug dealer, jazz singer and cook whose brief relationship with Christine Keeler led to the uncovering of the Profumo Affair in the 1960s.

Producer: Neil George.

SUN 21:00 Money Box (b08ks2bf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]

SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b08ksdjs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]

SUN 21:30 In Business (b085b73v)
Corporations and the Arts

Who pays for the arts, who should pay for the arts? In the UK, there is controversy about corporate sponsorship of arts organisations - particularly oil companies. In the US, there is a very different approach and state funding is much lower. Andrew Dickson examines the funding models and speaks to BP as well as a number of leading arts organisations.

Producer, Penny Murphy

(Image: Burlington House, the Piccadilly site for the Royal Academy of Arts. Credit: Fraser Mar).

SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b08ksc32)
Weekly political discussion and analysis with MPs, experts and commentators.

SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b08k4h17)
Arrival's Linguist

Linguist Jessica Coon advised on last year's Arrival. What conversations did she have with its star Amy Adams?

We continue our A to Z of film with the letter E. This week it's Clint Eastwood versus Nora Ephron.

Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu tells us why he's critiquing the corruption of his home country in Graduation.

And we speak to Jenny Gage and Tom Betterton who spent three years filming a group of teenage girls in New York for their documentary All This Panic.

SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b08ksc23)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]


MONDAY 03 APRIL 2017

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b08ksc4z)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b08k34n6)
The ways women age - beauty politics

The ways women age: Laurie Taylor talks to Abigail Brooks, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Providence College USA, and author of a study which asks why women choose or reject cosmetic anti ageing procedures. Also, beauty politics in the Neoliberal age. Ros Gill, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at City University, discusses the ways in which women are required to be 'aesthetic entrepreneurs', maintaining a constant vigilance about their appearance. They're joined by Rachel Ward, Research Associate in the Department of Psychology, Sociology and Politics at Sheffield Hallam University.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b08ksdjn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]

MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08ksc51)
The latest shipping forecast.

MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08ksc53)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.

MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08ksc55)
The latest shipping forecast.

MON 05:30 News Briefing (b08ksc57)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b08lllmg)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with Bob Fyffe, general secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.

MON 05:45 Farming Today (b08ksc59)
Crops for fuel, Scotland's native bees, the ancient craft of tanning

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

MON 05:56 Weather (b08ksc5c)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.

MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03zr1zj)
Common Whitethroat

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

Kate Humble presents the common whitethroat. Whitethroats are warblers which winter in the Sahel region south of the Sahara desert and spend spring and summer in Europe. When they arrive in April the males establish a territory by singing that scratchy song from hedgerow perches or by launching themselves into the air.

MON 06:00 Today (b08ksc5f)
News and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

MON 09:00 Start the Week (b08ksc5h)
Dissecting Death

On Start the Week Tom Sutcliffe delves into the world of transhumanism, a movement whose aim is to use technology to transform the human condition. The writer Mark O'Connell has explored this world of cyborgs, utopians and the futurists looking to live forever. Raymond Tallis seeks to wrest the mysteries of time away from the scientists in his reflections on the nature of transience and mortality. Laura Tunbridge listens to the late works of Beethoven, Schumann and Mahler to ask whether intimations of mortality shape these pieces, while the mortician Carla Valentine uncovers what the dead reveal about their past life.
Producer: Katy Hickman.

MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b08kttjw)
And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos, Episode 1

Simon McBurney - a close friend of the late art critic and writer who died in January - reads John Berger's most personal book: part essay, part poetry collection, part memoir & love letter. McBurney also shares memories of Berger and the house and landscape that inspired the book in the early 1980s. Harriet Walter reads Berger's poetry.

Today we meet Berger in his beloved Haute-Savoie mountains, as he crosses the frontier into Italy and begins a rumination on human conceptions of time, memory, poetry and art, specifically the paintings of Rembrandt.

Abridged and produced by Simon Richardson.

MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b08ksc5k)
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b08kttjz)
Dead Pan, Episode 1

The third "Dead" comedy crime drama series by Val McDermid. DCI Alma Blair (Julie Hesmondhalgh) and her partner in life and crime CSM Jo Black (Jane Hazlegrove) are at a romantic dinner for two in Charnock 37 a fine dining restaurant.

Is it only a matter of time before there is murder on the menu? And where is Alma's Sergeant DS Jason Trotter?

Written by Val McDermid
Produced and Directed by Justine Potter
A Savvy production for BBC Radio 4.

MON 11:00 AL Kennedy's Migraine (b08kttk1)
AL Kennedy talks to migraineurs and neurologists to explore the history and experience of a serious, though often misunderstood, condition which affects a billion people worldwide.

Migraine is ranked globally, by the World Health Organisation, as the seventh most disabling disease - responsible for 2.9% of all years of life lost to disability/YLDs - and the leading cause of disability among all neurological disorders.

AL Kennedy says, "I find migraines fascinating. As a sufferer, they're hard to explain to non migraineurs. They aren't 'just a headache' and can even present as partial blindness. My first migraine was just that - a patch of total blindness in my left field of vision, which I was too shy to mention. Having compared notes, I find I'm not the only one to have had such an experience in adolescence.

"Then came the auras, the pain, the disorientation, tingling, the trouble finding the right words for things, the misdiagnosis as a stroke. Some migraineurs are rushed to hospital with doctors suspecting serious strokes or brain tumours."

She looks at art made by migraineurs aged 7 to 70 and hears vivid accounts of the debilitating experience from a handful of sufferers.

Contributors include Britain's leading headache experts - Peter Goadsby, Mark Weatherall and child specialist, Prab Pabhakar from Great Ormond Street Hospital; founder of the Women's Headache Centre in Boston, Carolyn Bernstein; and historian Katherine Foxhall.

A Cast Iron Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

MON 11:30 Mark Steel's in Town (b05vcxkc)
Series 6, Fleetwood

Mark Steel's In Town - Fleetwood

"Welcome to Fleetwood - Where Breastfeeding Is Always Welcome"

Mark Steel returns to Radio 4 for a sixth series of the award winning show that travels around the country, researching the history, heritage and culture of six towns that have nothing in common but their uniqueness, and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for the local residents.

In the first programme, Mark visits the Lancashire Seaside Town of Fleetwood, the first planned town of the Victorian era. Home of Fisherman's Friend lozenges, the first female professional boxer Jane Couch, and trams. Originally built as a port to be the main stop off point between London and Scotland before railway engineers spoilt all that by building a line through the lake district. Mark discovers a proud town full of optimistic people, that is, until you mention Blackpool.

Written and performed by ... Mark Steel
Additional material by ... Pete Sinclair
Production co-ordinator ... Hayley Stirling
Producer ... Carl Cooper

This is a BBC Radio Comedy Production.

MON 12:00 News Summary (b08ksc5m)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

MON 12:04 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (b08kttk3)
Series 1, Billy Bookcase

Tim Harford introduces inventions, ideas and innovations that have helped to create the modern economic world.

MON 12:15 You and Yours (b08ksc5p)
Consumer affairs programme.

MON 12:57 Weather (b08ksc5r)
The latest weather forecast.

MON 13:00 World at One (b08ksc5t)
Analysis of news and current affairs.

MON 13:45 Did the Victorians Ruin the World? (b08kttk5)
Series 1, Squirrels

It's the most celebrated period of British ingenuity, but are our Victorian forebears due a rethink? Sci-curious sisters Kat and Helen Arney are on hand with some revisionist revelations that could turn what we think we know completely upside down.

The Victorians were huge nature lovers but, in their quest to find all manner of exotic flora and fauna across the world and bring them back to Blighty, did they know they were doing more harm than good?

It was the Victorians who unleashed grey squirrels and a whole lot more besides on the unsuspecting British countryside. In so doing, were they really a bunch of environmental vandals?

Helen Arney is a presenter and comedian, and Dr Kat Arney is a writer and broadcaster who has published a book on genetics.

A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4.

MON 14:00 The Archers (b08ktmzh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]

MON 14:15 Drama (b05stg0v)
Higher, Year of the Rat

Higher: Year of the Rat by Steve May

Return of the comedy series about the UK's worst university. Jim is sent to China to recruit new students. But the new interim Vice Chancellor seems to be setting him up to fail.

Director/Producer Gary Brown.

MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (b08kttsr)
Heat 11, 2017

Russell Davies chairs the nationwide general knowledge quiz.

MON 15:30 Food Programme (b08ksdqg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]

MON 16:00 The Business of Music with Matt Everitt (b07752bx)
The Pirate Ship

In the first of a two-part series, journalist and broadcaster Matt Everitt talks to record executives, industry insiders, artists and fans about the decisions that have transformed the record industry.

In the late 1990s, when Debbie Southwood-Smith was working as an A&R manager at the height of the CD boom, it seemed the money would never run out. She would stay in the Four Seasons Hotel every week, she'd follow bands around the world. But then, one day, she walked past her younger brother's room and heard the sound of CDs spinning and hard drives whirring. "It was my job to notice trends - but Napster, I didn't see that coming."

The launch of Napster in 1999 shifted the power of the industry. Since then global music revenues have shrunk by 45%. MP3s and online file-sharing gave listeners the opportunity to take risks without having to buy a CD. Soon, a generation brought up on free music regarded the music bosses as overfed and considered that downloading was not stealing.

The industry struck back and took legal action - but what a different story it might have been if Napster had been co-opted and been turned into a paid service for the industry.

Secret talks would lead to the launch of iTunes - but people bought tracks, not albums, and revenues fell. The record labels fought digital, and digital won.

Record executives, managers and industry insiders including Roger Ames, Daniel Glass, Peter Mensch and Brian Message are asked, could the music industry have saved itself, or was it the inevitable victim of the sudden shift in technology?

Producer: Barney Rowntree
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4.

MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b08kttst)
Truth

On Good Friday, next week, the story of Jesus' arrest, trial and crucifixion will be read in Churches across the country. In the Passion according to St John, Pontius Pilate famously asks: what is truth? An intriguing moment which resonates with modern times. We might well ask the same question today: an era of 'alternative facts' and 'fake news'; or so we are told.

Religions claim they hold the 'truth', but religious belief cannot be proved like the sort of truth which is based on empirical evidence. What are some of the religious understandings of truth? And what role does religion have to play in a so-called 'post-truth' world?

Producer: Dan Tierney
Series Producer: Amanda Hancox.

MON 17:00 PM (b08ksc5w)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08ksc5y)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (b08kttsw)
Series 18, Episode 1

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.

John Finnemore, Henning Wehn, Lou Sanders and Miles Jupp are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as sheep, islands, Steve Jobs and beans.

Produced by Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.

MON 19:00 The Archers (b08ktvb8)
Justin aims to please, and Peggy speaks her mind.

MON 19:15 Front Row (b08ksc60)
Arts news, interviews and reviews.

MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b08kttjz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]

MON 20:00 The 'Apostrophiser' (b08kys4c)
Right - thats it. Sorry...that's it. The missing or misplaced apostrophe has irritated one Bristol grammar stickler so much that he has set about correcting and cleaning up public signs in the city. He's anonymous and works in the early hours of the morning. He takes great care, working with specially designed kit, and so successful is he that shop-owners don't even notice when their signs have been put right. The BBC's West of England correspondent, Jon Kay, has been following our man as he works. This is The Apostrophiser's Tale.

Producer: Chris Ledgard.

MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (b08k48sn)
Brazil's modern-day Captains of the Sands

Eighty years ago, the Brazilian writer Jorge Amado published Captains of the Sands, a powerfully moving novel about the lives of a gang of orphaned children living on the streets of Salvador. The book had a huge impact, showing wealthy Brazilians the truth about the inequality in their country and the humanity of the children they were used to regarding as "pests". It is now a literary classic and read by almost every Brazilian child at school. Eighty years on, though, thousands of adolescents and children still live in the streets in Salvador. Their lives are still marked by poverty and crime, intensified since Amado's day by the growth of the drugs trade and the addiction and violence it brings. And they still find alternative bonds of family in the kind of gangs that Amado would have recognised. For Crossing Continents, David Baker meets these modern-day Captains of the Sands and hears their stories and those of the people trying to help them.

James Fletcher producing.

MON 21:00 Geriatric Guinea Pigs (b08k1wqn)
Geoff Watts is in his early seventies. He takes statins and has taken blood pressure pills in the past. Like other people his age, he's aware that he may well need to take other medications as he ages.

Yet the promise of personalised medicine, tailored to his needs, seems light years away. He's noticed that, as he ages, the decisions about what medicine he should take at what dose is not so much personal as drifting in an information void.

Any new medicine should be tested on people who are similar to those who'll end up taking it. But older people like Geoff, who disproportionately take medication, are woefully under-represented in the clinical trials that underpin their approval.

In the absence of adequate data from trials, older people who then take the medication are more akin to 'guinea pigs', drifting unwittingly in an uncontrolled trial in the real world.

Given the population is ageing, with those aged eighty and above the fastest growing group of all, this is disconcerting news.

The body changes as it ages, which can alter the degree to which a drug accumulates and the severity of the side effects it produces.

Geoff Watts asks why researchers have shied away from including older people in clinical trials. He reveals the challenges that trialling medications in older people can pose and asks what's being done to address these.

Producer: Beth Eastwood.

MON 21:30 Start the Week (b08ksc5h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]

MON 21:58 Weather (b08ksc62)
The latest weather forecast.

MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b08ksc64)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b08ktxqq)
The Essex Serpent, Episode 1

Sarah Perry's award-winning novel, set at the end of the nineteenth century and inspired by true events.

Moving between Essex and London, myth and modernity, Cora Seaborne's spirited search for the Essex Serpent encourages all around her to test their allegiance to faith or reason in an age of rapid scientific advancement. At the same time, the novel explores the boundaries of love and friendship and the allegiances that we have to one another. The depth of feeling that the inhabitants of Aldwinter share are matched by their city counterparts as they strive to find the courage to express and understand their deepest desires, and strongest fears.

Episode One
It is 1893. Newly widowed, Cora Seaborne and her young son, Francis, leave London and head for Colchester. Cora plans to look for fossils but is intrigued to hear about the myth of the Essex Serpent.

Sarah Perry was born in Essex in 1979. She has a PhD in creative writing at Royal Holloway which she completed under the supervision of Andrew Motion. She has been writer in residence at the Gladstone Library and is the winner of a Shiva Naipaul award for travel writing. Her first novel, After Me Comes The Flood won the East Anglian Book of the Year Award in 2014. The Essex Serpent was Waterstone's Book Of The Year in 2016 and was short-listed for the Costa Novel Award 2016. She lives in Norwich.

Writer: Sarah Perry
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Reader: Ruth Gemmell
Producer: Rosalynd Ward

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

MON 23:00 Wireless Nights (b08ktxqs)
Series 5, Berlin

Jarvis Cocker's nocturnal exploration of the human condition leads him to Berlin. Walking in the shadowlands of the Wall he reflects on a once divided city and hears stories of the nacht.

Between East and West, he encounters a 1930's musical salon run by a cabaret diva; a ballroom dancing escapee from East Berlin; an underground den of iniquity and vice; and Iggy Pop, held prisoner.

Amid the street-lit ruins of the Berlin Wall, he considers the scar left behind.

MON 23:30 Travels with Bob (b086kwkr)
Episode 1

Paddy O'Connell travels the country with his dog, Bob, talking to the people he meets - perfect strangers who act as guides to where they live.

Today they're on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. It's a spiritual place, with a rich history. Life on Lindisfarne is ruled by the tides and it's cut off from the mainland twice a day.

Producer: Hannah Marshall
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.

MON 23:45 Today in Parliament (b08ktxqv)
Susan Hulme reports from Westminster.


TUESDAY 04 APRIL 2017

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b08ksc7v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b08kttjw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]

TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08ksc7x)
The latest shipping forecast.

TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08ksc7z)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.

TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08ksc81)
The latest shipping forecast.

TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b08ksc83)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b08lkwzr)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with Bob Fyffe, general secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.

TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b08ksc85)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03x45bg)
Sand Martin

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

Bill Oddie presents the sand martin. The flickering shapes of sand martins over a lake or reservoir are a welcome sign of spring. After winging their way across the Sahara Desert, the first birds usually arrive in the UK in March. They're smaller than house martins or swallows, and they're brown above and white below with a brown band across their chest. Often you can hear their dry buzzing calls overhead before you see them.

TUE 06:00 Today (b08ksc87)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (b08kv3y4)
Daniel Dennett on the evolution of the human brain

Daniel Dennett has never been one to swallow accepted wisdom undigested. As a student he happily sought to undermine the work of his supervisor, Willard Quine. Only one of the most respected figures in 20th century philosopher, a thinker eminent enough to appear on US postage stamps. Later in Oxford, he became frustrated by his fellow philosophers' utter lack of interest in how our brains worked and was delighted when a medical friend introduced him to neurons. And so began an intellectual quest to understand the human mind that spans five decades. He has always believed that our minds are machines. And anyone who disagrees lacks imagination, he says. Reading The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins introduced him to the power of Darwin's theory of evolution. And he has, perhaps, taken Darwinism further than anyone, seeking to explain how we evolved from uncomprehending bacteria to highly intelligent human beings. We know we evolved from chimpanzees. And that we share 99 % of our DNA with our closest animal relatives. So why would poetry, ethics, science and literature be somehow cut-off or insulated from our underlying biology, he asks. "You've given this much ground. Think about giving a little bit more"

Producer: Anna Buckley.

TUE 09:30 Whodunnit? (b08493nt)
The Pregnant Teen Vanishes, Last Known Whereabouts

Half of England's pregnant teenagers have vanished. They didn't go missing, they just never conceived. And the teenage pregnancy rate plummeted. It's one of the greatest societal mysteries we've seen. A real-life Whodunnit. Everyone wants to crack the case and keep rates dropping.

In today's first chapter, could the answer lie in a life lived online?

Michael Blastland is on the case in this non-fiction investigation, unravelling the causes at the root of the biggest trends. These are true-life mysteries that creep up on us until the pattern of our lives is altered. He examines the culprits and punctures presumptions about causation and its implications for policy making.

Encountering red-herrings, false accusations, Government conspiracy, and hack journalism, finding out whodunnit in the case of a 50% reduction in teenage pregnancy is not going to be easy.

At its heart may lie a Government desire to prevent under 18 conception - a well-meaning intention, backed up by some strong evidence that socio-economic disadvantage can be both a cause and a consequence of teenage motherhood. But what makes huge swathes of teenagers change their behaviour?

Whodunnit? is a new series and a new kind of investigation. It owes its style to detective storytelling. But the cases are unequivocally real. These are societal mysteries - true-life changes in the pattern of our lives, changes that might even feature some of us.

Presenter: Michael Blastland
Producer: Katherine Godfrey
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b08l78h8)
And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos, Episode 2

Simon McBurney - a close friend of the late art critic and writer who died in January - reads John Berger's most personal book: part essay, part poetry collection, part memoir & love letter. McBurney also shares memories of Berger and the house and landscape that inspired the book in the early 1980s. Harriet Walter reads Berger's poetry.

Today Berger meditates on art, love and mortality - specifically how paintings depict time and how we understand the physical landscape around us, illustrated by sketches from the islands of Scotland and Berger's beloved Haute-Savoie mountains.

Abridged and produced by Simon Richardson.

TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b08ksc89)
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b08l7qv8)
Dead Pan, Episode 2

It's high stakes for Val McDermid's comedy crime drama series with murder on the menu. Starring Julie Hesmondhalgh as DCI Alma Blair.

With a body by the bidet in this fine dining restaurant, Alma and her partner in crime and life have their romantic dinner for two rudely interrupted - but Alma is always on the case when there is work to be done and won't rest until the murderer has their just deserts.

Written by Val McDermid
Produced and Directed by Justine Potter
A Savvy production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 11:00 Keep Digging (b08kv3y6)
Mary-Ann Ochota asks why scientists have managed to send probes to interstellar space, but haven't yet managed to reach the Earth's mantle, which lies just a few miles beneath us.

Sixty years ago, a plan was hatched to drill into the Earth's mantle - the layer of silicate rock and minerals that makes up around 84% of our planet's volume. This mission coincided with the start of the space race but, while the space programme quickly captured the public's imagination, the exploration of our own planet's interior soon stalled.

Yet, for a brief moment, it was an equally exciting quest.

For Henry Dick, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, we are stood on top of "the world's most incredible library with 250 million years of the Earth's history waiting to be revealed". Professor Damon Teagle from the National Oceanography Centre believes that "pristine mantle would be a geochemical treasure trove equivalent to the Apollo lunar rocks".

The cost of completing this six-decade mission has been estimated at $1 billion - a fraction of Nasa's annual budget - and yet a breakthrough remains some way off.

For some reason - scientific, technical or political - humans have ventured more than 248,000 miles up from the Earth's surface, but can't drill more than eight miles into its crust. Mary-Ann Ochota meets some of the scientists who believe we need to keep drilling down.

Presenter: Mary-Ann Ochota
Producer: Nick Minter

An Unusual production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 11:30 Pepys the Musician (b08kv3y8)
Lucie Skeaping tells the story of post-diary Samuel Pepys through the music he commissioned, some of it played for the first time in 300 years.

The songs, written for the celebrated diarist by his continental music master Cesare Morelli, provide fresh insight into both the man and the religious struggles of the 17th century, which enshrined aspects of our modern political system and shaped our national identity.

Lucie explores the relationship between Pepys and Morelli, a friendship which survived throughout a supposed Popish Plot to assassinate Charles II and the public terror and hysteria it created, implicating hundreds of innocent people. Pepys was among them - and by hiding his Catholic music master he faced execution for high treason.

Until now, the Morelli manuscripts for Pepys's voice and guitar have remained obscure and impenetrable. Enter Dionysios Kyropoulos, researcher and stage director who, as a bass singer and amateur lutenist like Pepys, found himself uniquely placed to interpret the music Morelli wrote for his master.

At the heart of the programme is a concert of Morelli's works, made possible by Dionysios, and heard for the first time since the compositions were played and sung by Pepys himself.

Featuring Bass Baritone David Ireland, Baroque Guitarist Toby Carr, and Theorbo player James Bramley.

Producer: Anna Scott-Brown.
An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 12:00 News Summary (b08ksc8c)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

TUE 12:04 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (b08kv3yb)
Series 1, Antibiotics

Tim Harford introduces inventions, ideas and innovations that have helped to create the modern economic world.

TUE 12:15 You and Yours (b08ksc8f)
Call You and Yours

Consumer phone-in.

TUE 12:57 Weather (b08ksc8h)
The latest weather forecast.

TUE 13:00 World at One (b08ksc8k)
Analysis of news and current affairs.

TUE 13:45 Did the Victorians Ruin the World? (b08l6tqk)
Series 1, Beards

It's the most celebrated period of British ingenuity, but are our Victorian forebears due a rethink? Sci-curious sisters Kat and Helen Arney are on hand with some revisionist revelations that could turn what we think we know completely upside down.

The current fad for furry face furniture can be traced back to the Victorians. If you think we're at Peak Beard in 2017, think again!

But the growth of facial hair isn't a straightforward story. In 1840 beards were derided and only one MP dared to sport one. Just 50 years later, before the end of the century, nearly every man in the public eye had bearded up. Why did beards explode under Queen Victoria? And is it true that beards can be good for health? Helen and Kat are hunting for the hairy truth.

Helen Arney is a presenter and comedian, and Dr Kat Arney is a writer and broadcaster who has published a book on genetics.

A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 14:00 The Archers (b08ktvb8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]

TUE 14:15 Drama (b05stqss)
Higher, Creative Solutions

Higher: Creative Solutions by Steve May
Comedy series about Hayborough University, ranked 132nd in the UK. Jim has returned from China in triumph and is rewarded by being promoted to Makeshift Vice Chancellor. But a rather shady educational company is working with the board of governors and wants to do a deal with the university.

Director/Producer Gary Brown.

TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (b08ks2b9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]

TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (b08kv4bf)
Fishing Future

The British fishing industry suffered decades of sharp decline during our membership of the European Union. The European Common Fisheries Policy has long been regarded by many as a disaster, both for fishermen and for fish stocks. So will Brexit bring a bright new dawn? Will fishing boats from other nations be forced from our waters, could new 200 mile limits provide our fleet with copious fish to catch? Or will our Brexit negotiators focus on maintaining markets for big businesses like finance and the car industry, offering our fish stocks as sacrificial pawns?

Tom Heap visits fishing communities in Peterhead, Hastings and Brixham to gauge the mood and meets the conservationists hoping that new measures could revive our fish stocks.

Producer: Sarah Swadling.

TUE 16:00 The Business of Music with Matt Everitt (b0785ppx)
The Stream Age

In the final part of this series, journalist and broadcaster Matt Everett asks what life is like for an artist making music in the streaming age. With so many ways to create, listen to and distribute music, why are artists doing so badly? We hear from Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien and The Kindness's Adam Bainbridge.

For those artists who have built a fan base, the live music industry can be healthy, but promoters and managers complain of a diminishing number of headline acts. Many of the UK's small music venues are under threat and, while the British music industry is worth £3.8bn, much of that money comes from artists stepping on to the stage. If the music industry is broken, who is going to save it?

Launched in Sweden in 2008, we talk to Spotify about how it managed to make piracy unfashionable but why it still faces accusations of ripping off artists. Faced with such criticism, we hear how they have paid out some $3bn of royalties. But how is that money shared out? Why do some artists receive small royalty cheques for songs that have been streamed thousands of times?

Last year, music sales in the UK rose for the first time in more than a decade, but how much of the growth can be attributed to Adele? We hear how CDs still make up half of the market and talk to Adele's label boss, Richard Russell from XL.

YouTube is now the world's most popular digital music service, used frequently by hundreds of millions. But the viability of free, on-demand streaming services is facing increasing scrutiny. We ask YouTube's Robert Kyncl why the UK labels make less money from his company than from vinyl sales.

Producer: Barney Rowntree
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b08kv5f6)
Series 42, Gary Kemp on EW Godwin

Gary Kemp, songwriter and guitarist with hit 80s band Spandau Ballet, chooses the architect and designer Edward William Godwin as his great life.

Gary began collecting pieces of Godwin's work as soon as he started making money from hit singles in the 1980s. He's remained fascinated by the life and work of the man who formed part of the Aesthetic Movement in the 19th century, designed houses for Oscar Wilde and James Whistler, and influenced Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Producer: Maggie Ayre.

TUE 17:00 PM (b08ksc8n)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08ksc8q)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

TUE 18:30 The Missing Hancocks (b08kv5f8)
A Visit to Swansea

The Missing Hancocks recreates those episodes of the classic Hancock's Half Hour that have been wiped or lost from the archive. Something else had gone missing at the start of this series - The Lad Himself, who had absconded to Rome. In 1955, he was replaced for the first three episodes by the Goon Show's Harry Secombe, who in this recreation has been replaced by Andy Secombe - Harry's son. After Tony returned from his jaunt the writers Galton and Simpson ensured he wasn't allowed to forget who had saved his bacon, so in this episode, for one show only, both Tony and Harry appeared together in Hancock's Half Hour. Not heard since then, this is a real piece of comedy history.

The first modern sitcom, Hancock's Half Hour made stars of Tony Hancock, Sid James and Kenneth Williams and launched Ray Galton and Alan Simpson on one of the most successful comedy-writing partnerships in history. But 20 episodes of the show are missing from the BBC archives. Now, after two highly successful series, another five of those episodes have been lovingly re-recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC Radio Theatre.

Tonight's episode: A Visit to Swansea. Tony, Bill, Andree and Sid head to Swansea in search of Harry Secombe. This episode was first broadcast on the 10th May 1955.

Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and with the classic score newly recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, the show stars Kevin McNally, Andy Secombe, Kevin Eldon, Simon Greenall, Robin Sebastian and Susy Kane. A Visit to Swansea.

Produced by Neil Pearson & Paul Sheehan.

Written by Ray Galton & Simpson

Music recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Levon Parikian.

A BBC Studios Production.

TUE 19:00 The Archers (b08kv5fb)
David's plan backfires, and Adam is left in the lurch.

TUE 19:15 Front Row (b08ksc8s)
Arts news, interviews and reviews.

TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b08l7qv8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]

TUE 20:00 A Degree of Fraud (b08kv5fd)
Ellie Cawthorne investigates the multimillion pound online trade in fake essays and dissertations, hearing from cheating students and the people who write them.

Hundreds of websites - often called essay mills - are selling coursework to students across the UK. "Contract cheating" is where a student commissions a third party to produce academic work on their behalf. It's difficult for universities to detect this form of plagiarism, as students are submitting original work that slips through plagiarism checks, and it's posing an enormous threat to academic integrity.

It's estimated 20,000 students a year are buying their coursework and the problem is growing. Custom-written course work of every level, from GCSEs to PHDs, is available online to purchase. In recent years, contract cheating has also spread into professional degrees such as nursing.

Ellie meets Daniel Dennehy from Nottingham-based UK Essays. The company claims to have sold 16,000 pieces of work in 2016 - completely legally. In its Fair Use Policy, UK Essays forbids students from submitting essays purchased from their site, claiming they are sold only as study aids, to serve as guides. But how plausible is this and are staff doing enough to ensure students don't submit these essays as their own?

Lord Storey, a Liberal Democrat peer, is campaigning in parliament to outlaw the practice of buying, selling and advertising bespoke essays and writing services. But will this be enough to avert a potential crisis in British higher education?

Producer: Paul Smith
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 20:40 In Touch (b08ksc8v)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.

TUE 21:00 Document (b07j4ppw)
The Albania Operation

As part of Radio 4's Cold War season, Document unearths new evidence from key moments in the 1940s and 1950s.

In the first edition of the series, Gordon Corera re-examines the CIA's attempt to subvert Albania's communist government in the early 1950s.

The failure of the operation has been blamed for decades on the Soviet spy Kim Philby. But with the help of new evidence provided by historian Steve Long, Gordon investigates whether this story really stands up.
And he asks why, at the height of the Cold War, the CIA was secretly meeting agents of a communist power.

With: Steve Long, Beatrice Heuser, Rory Cormac, Albert Lulushi.

PRODUCER: Phil Tinline.

TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (b08kv3y4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]

TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b08ksc8x)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b08kv5fg)
The Essex Serpent, Episode 2

Sarah Perry's award-winning novel, set at the end of the nineteenth century and inspired by true events.

Moving between Essex and London, myth and modernity, Cora Seaborne's spirited search for the Essex Serpent encourages all around her to test their allegiance to faith or reason in an age of rapid scientific advancement. At the same time, the novel explores the boundaries of love and friendship and the allegiances that we have to one another. The depth of feeling that the inhabitants of Aldwinter share are matched by their city counterparts as they strive to find the courage to express and understand their deepest desires, and strongest fears.

Episode Two
Rumours about the re-emergence of the Essex Serpent are circulating in the village of Aldwinter. Cora has an unexpected encounter with one of the villagers.

Sarah Perry was born in Essex in 1979. She has a PhD in creative writing at Royal Holloway which she completed under the supervision of Andrew Motion. She has been writer in residence at the Gladstone Library and is the winner of a Shiva Naipaul award for travel writing. Her first novel, After Me Comes The Flood won the East Anglian Book of the Year Award in 2014. The Essex Serpent was Waterstone's Book Of The Year in 2016 and was short-listed for the Costa Novel Award 2016. She lives in Norwich.

Writer: Sarah Perry
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Reader: Ruth Gemmell
Producer: Rosalynd Ward

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 23:00 Bridget Christie Minds the Gap (b04ykk5j)
Series 2, Episode 3

Bridget Christie returns in another series of her multi-award winning series about modern feminism.

Bridget thought that she'd be able to put her feet up after her last Radio 4 series, she expected it to bomb. Sadly it was a huge success and she's had to bang on about feminism ever since.

But she hasn't managed to single-handedly eradicate sexism so she's made a whole new four-part series about it for Radio 4

This week Bridget tries to find a feminist icon who doesn't want to replace the word 'feminism' with 'bootylicious', discusses how adverts have ruined her sex life, and why twitter is a sexist's natural habitat.

She's assisted in this by the series' token man, Fred MacAulay.

The series is written and performed by Bridget Christie and the producers are Alexandra Smith and Alison Vernon Smith.

TUE 23:30 Travels with Bob (b0868vb0)
Episode 3

Paddy O'Connell travels the country with his dog, Bob, talking to the people he meets - perfect strangers who act as guides to where they live.

In Stroud, locals are fiercely proud of their independent retail tradition and the independent spirit it reflects.

From the owner of a health food shop opened in 1927 to a New Zealand artist who's made the town his home, people seem to agree that there's something rather special about Stroud.

Producer: Jo Coombs
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 23:45 Today in Parliament (b08kv5fj)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster.


WEDNESDAY 05 APRIL 2017

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b08kscbt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b08l78h8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]

WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08kscbw)
The latest shipping forecast.

WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08kscby)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.

WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08kscc0)
The latest shipping forecast.

WED 05:30 News Briefing (b08kscc2)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b08lkw63)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with Bob Fyffe, general secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.

WED 05:45 Farming Today (b08kscc4)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03zbtzz)
Black Grouse

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

Kate Humble presents the story of the black grouse. A black grouse lek is one of Nature's spectacles. Charged with testosterone, the males, known as 'black cocks', compete on 'jousting lawns' for the females or grey hens. Fanning their lyre-shaped tails and displaying a flurry of white undertail feathers, the males rush towards their rivals with harsh scouring sneezes and bubbling cries, known as 'roo-kooing'.

WED 06:00 Today (b08kscc6)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

WED 09:00 Only Artists (b08l7yvh)
Series 1, Grayson Perry and Naomi Alderman

The Turner Prize winning ceramicist Grayson Perry asks the computer game creator and novelist Naomi Alderman whether computer games can be called art.

Only Artists is a new series which takes its title from the first two sentences of The Story of Art by the renowned art historian E. H. Gombrich: 'There really is no such thing as art. There are only artists.' There is no presenter, just two artists - from different disciplines - discussing creative questions, processes or decisions. It's up to them.

WED 09:30 Everything You Think About Sport Is Wrong (b084wwpz)
Feminism

Simon Barnes introduces a new series challenging conventional thinking about sport, and in this first episode he argues that sport is feminism in action.

"The truth of sport is that sport is always what it is," Simon argues, and from the end of the corseted tennis player to the 2012 Olympics, he explores how female athletes have repeatedly confounded attempts to turn sport into a place where men can be blokes and women are not only barred but happy to be barred.

Speaking to Nicole Cooke, one of Britain's greatest cyclists, about her life in sport, Simon argues that sport is feminism in action, because it can't help it.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b08l78gw)
And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos, Episode 3

Simon McBurney - a close friend of the late art critic and writer who died in January - reads John Berger's most personal book: part essay, part poetry collection, part memoir & love letter. McBurney also shares memories of Berger and the house and landscape that inspired the book in the early 1980s. Harriet Walter reads Berger's poetry.

Today Berger explores the psychic impact of mass migration and how, once lost, the sense of a true home can rarely be regained.

Abridged and produced by Simon Richardson.

WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b08ksccb)
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b08l7r78)
Dead Pan, Episode 3

Suspects line up in Val McDermid's culinary conundrum of a murder case set in a fine dining restaurant. Something smells fishy, but is that just a red herring or two?

DCI Alma Blair (Julie Hesmondhalgh) and DS Trotter (John Hollingworth) have a body in the bathroom and a strange fruit from the suicide tree in the rubbish - but what killed poor restaurant critic Virginia Grimshaw? CSM Jo Black (Jane Hazlegrove) and her assistant Mo (Nitin Kundra) are determined to find out.

Written by Val McDermid
Produced and Directed by Justine Potter
A Savvy production for BBC Radio 4.

WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b08kvf9q)
Gwyn and Kim - A Never-ending Tick List

Two members of the South Wales Mountaineering Club compare their lists of summits ticked off and routes taken. Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

WED 11:00 The 'Apostrophiser' (b08kys4c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]

WED 11:30 Simon Evans Goes to Market (b0639xp0)
Series 2, Sugar

Comedian Simon Evans' new series about the economics of some of the goods - or bads - to which we're addicted.

If you crave your daily coffee, can't get by without a cigarette, feel that mid-afternoon slump without your sugar-fix, or can't face an evening without a glass of wine, you are definitely not alone. But have you ever thought about the economics that has made your addiction possible? Who does it profit? And would you want to make some canny investments that take advantage of our human weaknesses?
In this series, Simon Evans looks at the economics, history and health issues behind these oh-so-addictive commodities.

This week it's sugar. Some people say sugar could be the new tobacco - exposed as a health risk that's been knowingly concealed for decades. And the trouble is sugar is in almost everything now - even things that 'look' savoury. What part does economics have to play in how we have got to this point? How do we make sense of what the food industry is doing with sugar? And if we want to invest in this addiction, how do we do it?
With the help of economics guru, More Or Less host Tim Harford and the Queen of investment know-how, Merryn Somerset Webb, plus author David Gillespie, Simon walks us around the economics of this very familiar commodity and pokes fun at our relationship with it.
Presented by Simon Evans, with regular guests Tim Harford and Merryn Somerset Webb.
Written by Simon Evans, Benjamin Partridge and Andy Wolton.
Produced by Claire Jones.

WED 12:00 News Summary (b08ksccd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

WED 12:04 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (b08kvrht)
Series 1, Paper

Tim Harford introduces inventions, ideas and innovations that have helped to create the modern economic world.

WED 12:15 You and Yours (b08ksccg)
Consumer affairs programme.

WED 12:57 Weather (b08ksccj)
The latest weather forecast.

WED 13:00 World at One (b08ksccl)
Analysis of news and current affairs.

WED 13:45 Did the Victorians Ruin the World? (b08l6twn)
Series 1, Cars

It's the most celebrated period of British ingenuity, but are our Victorian forebears due a rethink? Sci-curious sisters Kat and Helen Arney are on hand with some revisionist revelations that could turn what we think we know completely upside down.

There are few if any more influential inventions on modern life than the automobile but, as revolutionary as cars were in the late 19th century, has the cost to the environment been worth it? Especially as history could nearly have been very different indeed. Is it true that the Victorians in fact invented the electric car, and a petrol-free society was within reach? Helen and Kat are on the trail.

Helen Arney is a presenter and comedian, and Dr Kat Arney is a writer and broadcaster who has published a book on genetics.

A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4.

WED 14:00 The Archers (b08kv5fb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]

WED 14:15 Drama (b08kvnfg)
Mythos

A new paranormal drama by award-winning writer and director Julian Simpson, starring Nicola Walker.

Incidents of death from heart failure have spiked at seven times the national average in a small village in Essex. Agent Lairre investigates.

Writer: Julian Simpson
Director: Julian Simpson
Producer: Karen Rose
Sound design & original music: David Thomas
Published music: Olafur Arnalds & Kronos Quartet

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

WED 15:00 Money Box (b08kvnfj)
Money Box Live

Financial phone-in.

WED 15:30 Why Become a Doctor? (b07npz23)
Junior Doctors - The Golden Age?

Since the inception of the NHS junior doctors have been on the front line, working long hours and often making decisions with far-reaching consequences for patients. Medical outcomes are now greatly improved, but, as the long running junior doctors dispute shows, morale has reached a historic low point.

In the first of a three part series, hospital consultant and broadcaster Dr Kevin Fong looks at how the role of junior doctors has changed over the past 50 years. We hear from older generations of doctors who talk fondly of past eras of greater autonomy and camaraderie. Were those times really better - or did the lack of accountability put patients' lives at risk?

We take a journey through advances in medical training and along the way look at the political and societal changes which have shaped our modern health service.

WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b08kvnfl)
Sociological discussion programme, presented by Laurie Taylor.

WED 16:30 The Media Show (b08ksccn)
Topical programme about the fast-changing media world.

WED 17:00 PM (b08ksccq)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08ksccs)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

WED 18:30 Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing (b04hz62m)
Series 3, About Paranoia

EPISODE TWO: ABOUT PARANOIA

In a mix of stand-up and re-enacted family life - Nathan Caton illustrates how watching too much TV can make you paranoid and that can have serious repercussions for your family.

Written by Nathan Caton and James Kettle
Producer: Katie Tyrrell

Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing is a series about young, up-and-coming comedian Nathan Caton, who after becoming the first in his family to graduate from University, opted not to use his architecture degree but instead to try his hand at being a full-time stand-up comedian, much to his family's horror and disgust. They desperately want him to get a 'proper job.'

Each episode illustrates the criticism, interference and rollercoaster ride that Nathan endures from his disapproving family as he tries to prove himself.

The series is a mix of Nathan's stand-up intercut with scenes from his family life.

Janet a.k.a. Mum is probably the kindest and most lenient of the disappointed family members. At the end of the day she just wants the best for her son. However, she'd also love to brag and show her son off to her friends, but with Nathan only telling jokes for a living that's kind of hard to do.

Martin a.k.a. Dad works in the construction industry and was looking forward to his son getting a degree so the two of them could work together in the same field. But now Nathan has blown that dream out of the window. Martin is clumsy and hard-headed and leaves running the house to his wife (she wouldn't allow it to be any other way).

Shirley a.k.a. Grandma cannot believe Nathan turned down architecture for comedy. She can't believe she left the paradise in the West Indies and came to the freezing United Kingdom for a better life so that years later her grandson could 'tell jokes!' How can her grandson go on stage and use foul language and filthy material... it's not the good Christian way!

So with all this going on in the household what will Nathan do? Will he persevere and follow his dreams? Or will he give in to his family's interference? Or will he finally leave home?!

WED 19:00 The Archers (b08kvnfn)
Emma takes matters into her own hands, and Eddie comes to Rex's defence.

WED 19:15 Front Row (b08ksccv)
Arts news, interviews and reviews.

WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b08l7r78)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:41 today]

WED 20:00 Glass Half Full (b08kvpvz)
Series 1, We can look forward to a healthier future

Are we heading towards a golden age of medicine, or is public health a ticking time bomb?

In a debate recorded in front of an audience at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Fi Glover examines the thoughts of both pessimists and optimists. She asks not only what they think about the future of health, but also how their views are informed by their contrasting mindsets. Where does their optimism or pessimism come from?

We are all healthier and living longer and new technology will empower us and bring about a new healthcare revolution. So claims optimist Professor Tony Young, a practising surgeon who leads innovation for NHS England.

Pessimist Dr Richard Smith, former editor of the British Medical Journal, counters that sedentary lifestyles, poor diets and over-medication are damaging our health. Obesity and dementia are soaring and caring for these patients may be beyond our capabilities.

Three expert witnesses are called to give evidence - Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard (Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners), Professor Kevin Fenton (Public Health England National Director for Health and Wellbeing), and Vivienne Parry (broadcaster and Head of Engagement at Genomics England).

The pessimist and the optimist cross-examine the witnesses and, to conclude, the audience votes. Is the glass half empty or half full?

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

WED 20:45 Lent Talks (b08kvpw1)
Professor Christine Done - Destiny and the Cosmos

Christine Done, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Durham University, talks about the ultimate destiny of the universe.
Producer: Phil Pegum.

WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b08kv4bf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Tuesday]

WED 21:30 Only Artists (b08l7yvh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]

WED 21:58 Weather (b08ksccx)
The latest weather forecast.

WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b08ksccz)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b08kvpw3)
The Essex Serpent, Episode 3

Sarah Perry's award-winning novel, set at the end of the nineteenth century and inspired by true events.

Moving between Essex and London, myth and modernity, Cora Seaborne's spirited search for the Essex Serpent encourages all around her to test their allegiance to faith or reason in an age of rapid scientific advancement. At the same time, the novel explores the boundaries of love and friendship and the allegiances that we have to one another. The depth of feeling that the inhabitants of Aldwinter share are matched by their city counterparts as they strive to find the courage to express and understand their deepest desires, and strongest fears.

Episode Three
Cora, her son Francis and her companion, Martha, visit the Essex village of Aldwinter. They are introduced to the local vicar, Will Ransome, and his delightful family.

Sarah Perry was born in Essex in 1979. She has a PhD in creative writing at Royal Holloway which she completed under the supervision of Andrew Motion. She has been writer in residence at the Gladstone Library and is the winner of a Shiva Naipaul award for travel writing. Her first novel, After Me Comes The Flood won the East Anglian Book of the Year Award in 2014. The Essex Serpent was Waterstone's Book Of The Year in 2016 and was short-listed for the Costa Novel Award 2016. She lives in Norwich.

Writer: Sarah Perry
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Reader: Ruth Gemmell
Producer: Rosalynd Ward

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

WED 23:00 Tom Parry's Fancy Dressed Life (b08kvsky)
Series 1, Rules

Episode 1: Rules. Tom needs to lay down the law and explain his four golden rules of Fancy Dress. Listen carefully, fancy dress might seem like a bit of fun to you but for Tom it's something altogether more serious. But still fun. For this week's costume party, Tom is off to help warm the house of his friends Marko and Rosie. Tom wants to make sure that he has the best costume and looks good in front of Jill, a girl he's recently been "chirpsing", but Tom's cousin and fancy dress nemesis Gagsy is on hand to make sure that things don't run smoothly.

Tom Parry is an award winning comedian, writer and actor whose credits include Miranda, Phone Shop and Drunk History among many others. As a stand up, he most recently gained critical acclaim and an Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nomination for his debut hour 'Yellow T-Shirt'. For more than a decade he has been part of the multi-award winning sketch team Pappy's. Together they have performed 6 sell out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, completed 4 national tours, gigged all over the world, and created, written and starred in the sitcom 'Badults' for BBC3.

Cast: Tom Parry, Ben Clarke, Celeste Dring, Gareth Pierce
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production.

WED 23:15 Litter from America (b08kvtw7)
Series 1, Richard Schiff

Richard Schiff is best known for the role of Toby Ziegler in The West Wing, the modern-classic American drama series about life in the White House. His own life has been even more eventful.

Here, he recounts his childhood in New York when his mother married Clarence Jones, Martin Luther King's close friend and lawyer. Schiff brought warm laughter to an early meeting of the Black Panthers when, as a 13-year old, he volunteered to hand out leaflets at his school. He offers a very moving account of the assassination of Robert Kennedy and its profound effect on his family and beliefs.

In a real-life echo of the classic Scorsese film, Schiff worked as a New York taxi driver for fours years in the late 1970s, only doing night shifts and encountering both fascinating and dangerous characters as a result of his 'pick up anyone' rule.

He offers a brilliant take on the symphonic nature of Aaron Sorkin's writing for The West Wing and tells, with a laugh, how he imagined Toby's instrument being a bassoon - and so played him accordingly.

In the recent American election, Schiff actively campaigned first for Bernie Sanders, then Hilary Clinton. He reflects on what the Trump Presidency will mean for America in the long-term, and on the future form of the Opposition.

Warm, angry and humorous throughout this personal tour, Schiff is an erudite alternative correspondent.

Producer: Peter Curran
A Foghorn Company production for BBC Radio 4.

WED 23:30 Travels with Bob (b0868vgp)
Episode 4

Paddy O'Connell travels the country with his dog, Bob, talking to the people he meets.

The London Borough of Newham is one of the most diverse areas in Britain. It was once home to Tommy Flowers, inventor of the Bletchley Park codebreaking machine, Colossus. Paddy visits Flowers' former college and wonders why this local hero isn't as well remembered as his colleague Alan Turing.

Producer: Jo Coombs
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.

WED 23:45 Today in Parliament (b08kvqr6)
Susan Hulme reports from Westminster.


THURSDAY 06 APRIL 2017

THU 00:00 Midnight News (b08kscfw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b08l78gw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]

THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08kscfy)
The latest shipping forecast.

THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08kscg0)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.

THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08kscg2)
The latest shipping forecast.

THU 05:30 News Briefing (b08kscg4)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b08ltqrp)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with Bob Fyffe, general secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.

THU 05:45 Farming Today (b08kscg6)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tvys6)
Osprey

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

Steve Backshall presents the osprey. Ospreys are fish-eaters and the sight of one of these majestic birds plunging feet first to catch its prey is a sight to cherish. The return of the ospreys is one of the great UK conservation stories. After extinction through egg-collecting and shooting in the 19th and early 20th centuries, birds returned in the 1950s and have responded well to protection.

THU 06:00 Today (b08kscg8)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

THU 09:00 In Our Time (b08kscgb)
Pauli's Exclusion Principle

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and ideas of Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958), whose Exclusion Principle is one of the key ideas in quantum mechanics. A brilliant physicist, Pauli's teenage review of Einstein's theory of general relativity is still a standard work of reference today. The Pauli Exclusion Principle proposes that no two electrons in an atom can be at the same time in the same state or configuration, and it helps explain a wide range of phenomena such as the electron shell structure of atoms. Pauli went on to postulate the existence of the neutrino, which was confirmed in his lifetime. Following further development of his exclusion principle, Pauli was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1945 for his 'decisive contribution through his discovery of a new law of Nature'. He also had a long correspondence with Jung, and a reputation for accidentally breaking experimental equipment which was was dubbed The Pauli Effect.

With

Frank Close

Michela Massimi

And

Graham Farmelo

Producer: Simon Tillotson.

THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b08l78gc)
And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos, Episode 4

Simon McBurney - a close friend of the late art critic and writer who died in January - reads John Berger's most personal book: part essay, part poetry collection, part memoir & love letter. McBurney also shares memories of Berger and the house and landscape that inspired the book in the early 1980s. Harriet Walter reads Berger's poetry.

Berger considered the twentieth century "the century of banishment" and today he continues his exploration on the psychic impact of mass migration where for migrants home is no longer a dwelling place but the untold story of a life being lived.

Abridged and produced by Simon Richardson.

THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b08kscgd)
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b08l7sb2)
Dead Pan, Episode 4

Val McDermid's comic crime series continues with a breakthrough to celebrate with fine wine - and a heart to heart with Alma and Jason over their work-life balance.

Does this look like the case can be closed with just deserts metered out in this comedy-drama set in a fine dining restaurant? With one more episode to go, we suspect there is more to make a meal of.

Written by Val McDermid
Produced and Directed by Justine Potter
A Savvy production for BBC Radio 4.

THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b08kxykq)
Hong Kong's Secret Dwellings

Reports from around the world.

THU 11:30 In Pursuit of Edward Thomas (b08kxyks)
The poet Edward Thomas died at the Battle of Arras one hundred years ago on 9th April 1917. He'd been a poet for little more than two years and his collected works amount to only a slim volume. Nevertheless he is regarded as among the greatest of English poets. What made him so? Poet and editor, Matthew Hollis, follows a journey Thomas made by bike in the spring of 1913 from London into south west England. It was a journey that produced a prose book for Thomas, In Pursuit of Spring, but it was also a journey that turned him towards poetry. Producer: Tim Dee.

THU 12:00 News Summary (b08kscgg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

THU 12:04 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (b08kxykv)
Series 1, Insurance

Tim Harford introduces inventions, ideas and innovations that have helped to create the modern economic world.

THU 12:15 You and Yours (b08kscgj)
Consumer affairs programme.

THU 12:57 Weather (b08kscgl)
The latest weather forecast.

THU 13:00 World at One (b08kscgn)
Analysis of news and current affairs.

THU 13:45 Did the Victorians Ruin the World? (b08l6tcm)
Series 1, Darwinism

It's the most celebrated period of British ingenuity, but are our Victorian forebears due a rethink? Sci-curious sisters Kat and Helen Arney are on hand with some revisionist revelations that could turn what we think we know completely upside down.

Charles Darwin's discoveries have done more than anything before or since to radically change the way we think about natural history and where we came from. It's one of the most robust and powerful scientific concepts of all time and Darwin applied it across the animal kingdom - but he was always reluctant to be drawn on the role of natural selection in human development. However, his cousin Francis Galton had no such qualms, and used Darwin's ideas to develop a theory of Eugenics.

Between the good of Darwin and the bad of Galton, whose ideas were the more powerful?

Helen Arney is a presenter and comedian, and Dr Kat Arney is a writer and broadcaster who has published a book on genetics.

A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4.

THU 14:00 The Archers (b08kvnfn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]

THU 14:15 Drama (b05wz0kw)
The Man Who Wore Sanitary Pads

Mr Muruga is a builder from Tamil Nadu who wants to send a rather curious love letter to his wife: a low cost sanitary pad. But when his desire to help his countrywomen turns to obsession, his community and even his family turn their backs on him. Can he achieve his taboo-breaking mission? A compelling, real-life story of a great man, told with humour and admiration by Jon Sen.

Other voices.....the BBC Tamil Service
Cultural and language consultants.....Sangeetha Rajan, Sivaramakrishnan Parameswaran, Jagadheesan Leklapoodi

Directed by Sarah Bradshaw

Notes

Jon Sen began his professional career as a documentary editor, making his break into drama as writer/director of the award-winning comedy short The Love Doctor (BBC Films/BBC2). He has subsequently worked for all the major terrestrial channels, directing high-profile shows such as the British Asian drama Second Generation (Channel 4), Frances Tuesday (ITV), Stan (BBC2/BBC4). He has also directed serial drama including 55 degrees North and Waterloo Road (BBC1).

His first play for Radio 4 was 4.4.68 about the assassination of Martin Luther King - a part of the Sony award winning 1968 season. He has also written The Prospect, The Phone, an adaptation of Hardy's Two on a Tower and Vanunu - A Time To Be Heard. His TV writing credits include Touching Infinity a biopic about of the mathematical genius Ramanujan and series drama including Casualty, Holby and Waterloo Road (BBC1).

THU 15:00 Open Country (b08kxykx)
Learning from the Wild in Dartington

Helen Mark travels to south-east Devon, to the Dartington Estate.

This 14th century estate was reinvented by an off-shoot of the Bloomsbury set in the mid-1920s as a centre for personal growth, innovative education and rural regeneration, inspired by the environment. It still has the arts, ecology, sustainability and social justice at its heart and aims to be 'a laboratory for living and learning with the purpose of pioneering deep personal and societal change'.

Helen Mark finds out about the extraordinary history, present and future of a movement and community inspired by the landscape of Dartington.

THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b08ksdjs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]

THU 15:30 Bookclub (b08ktmzc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]

THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b08kxykz)
Raw

Julia Ducournau discusses her French cannibal movie Raw, which reportedly had audience members passing out in the aisles at a screening in the Toronto Film Festival.

THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b08kscgq)
Adam Rutherford explores the science that is changing our world.

THU 17:00 PM (b08kscgs)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08kscgv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

THU 18:30 Reluctant Persuaders (b08kxzvv)
Series 2, Live Young

Starring Nigel Havers, Mathew Baynton and Josie Lawrence. Welcome back to Hardacre's, the worst advertising agency in London, for the second series of Edward Rowett's award-winning sitcom.

This series finds the team a little higher up the proverbial ladder. No longer fighting to stay afloat, but now fighting to get ahead, this week the team are confronted with an unexpected challenge - a can of water.

Tasked by accounts manager Amanda (Josie Lawrence) with creating a campaign to sell water to impoverished millennials, copy-writer Joe (Mathew Baynton) and art director Teddy (Kieran Hodgson) face an unsettling question - can you convince people with no money to buy something they could have for free? And even if you can - should you?

As ever, they are alternately assisted and obstructed by their washed up creative director and self-professed advertising god, Rupert Hardacre (Nigel Havers) and disinterested receptionist Laura (Olivia Nixon).

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.

THU 19:00 The Archers (b08ky183)
Ruth regrets what she says, and Harrison tries to make amends.

THU 19:15 Front Row (b08kscgx)
Arts news, interviews and reviews.

THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b08l7sb2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]

THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (b08ky2ms)
Series looking at important issues in the news. Presented by David Aaronovitch.

THU 20:30 In Business (b08ky3xp)
Why are the French so productive?

Productivity, or the lack of it, is one of the great puzzles of the British economy at the moment.

Productivity is not about how hard we work, but how much value we get for each hour of graft. And the French seem to be better at that than the British.

Jonty Bloom explores how workers in France can put in shorter hours and take longer holidays and yet still have productivity levels close to those seen in Germany and the United States.

And he asks whether high productivity always makes for a better economy.

Producer: Ruth Alexander.

THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b08kscgq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]

THU 21:30 In Our Time (b08kscgb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]

THU 21:58 Weather (b08kscgz)
The latest weather forecast.

THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b08ksch1)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b08ky4lb)
The Essex Serpent, Episode 4

Sarah Perry's award-winning novel, set at the end of the nineteenth century and inspired by true events.

Moving between Essex and London, myth and modernity, Cora Seaborne's spirited search for the Essex Serpent encourages all around her to test their allegiance to faith or reason in an age of rapid scientific advancement. At the same time, the novel explores the boundaries of love and friendship and the allegiances that we have to one another. The depth of feeling that the inhabitants of Aldwinter share are matched by their city counterparts as they strive to find the courage to express and understand their deepest desires, and strongest fears.

Episode Four
Will tries to dissuade his congregation from their belief in the existence of the Essex Serpent. Cora and her family move to Aldwinter where Cora's friendship with Will deepens.

Sarah Perry was born in Essex in 1979. She has a PhD in creative writing at Royal Holloway which she completed under the supervision of Andrew Motion. She has been writer in residence at the Gladstone Library and is the winner of a Shiva Naipaul award for travel writing. Her first novel, After Me Comes The Flood won the East Anglian Book of the Year Award in 2014. The Essex Serpent was Waterstone's Book Of The Year in 2016 and was short-listed for the Costa Novel Award 2016. She lives in Norwich.

Writer: Sarah Perry
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Reader: Ruth Gemmell
Producer: Rosalynd Ward

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

THU 23:00 Start/Stop (b04p7xlv)
Series 2, Funeral

Hit comedy about three marriages in various states of disrepair. Starring Jack Docherty, Kerry Godliman, John Thomson, Fiona Allen, Charlie Higson and Sally Bretton.

This week the prospect of the funeral of a neighbour - big Phil from No. 36 - shows that even someone's death provides opportunities for flirting, competitiveness and generally reprehensible behaviour.

Alice and Cathy are making food for Phil's widow; Barney and David are both keen to do the eulogy and meanwhile Fiona and Evan are trying to cope with the most irritating rescue dog who ever lived.

Producer ..... Claire Jones.

THU 23:30 Travels with Bob (b085t3q8)
Episode 5

Paddy O'Connell travels the country with his dog, Bob, talking to the people he meets. In Peterhead, he's on the harbour with local trawlerman Jimmy Buchan, a man who has fishing in blood.

The fortunes of Peterhead's fishing fleet haven't always been smooth, but the town is proud of its harbour which has never been closed by a storm.

Producer: Jo Coombs
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.

THU 23:45 Today in Parliament (b08ky4ld)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster.


FRIDAY 07 APRIL 2017

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b08kscjr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b08l78gc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]

FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08kscjt)
The latest shipping forecast.

FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08kscjw)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.

FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08kscjy)
The latest shipping forecast.

FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b08ksck0)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b08lvvr5)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with Bob Fyffe, general secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.

FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b08ksck2)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03zrc82)
Meadow Pipit (Spring)

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

Kate Humble presents the meadow pipit. No-one would give the meadow pipit any prizes in a beauty competition but this small streaky bird has its own charm, as it bustles through the turf with a jerky motion. If you're hiking across the moor it will rise ahead of you, dither in mid-air and then dart off, buffeted by the spring breeze.

FRI 06:00 Today (b08ksck4)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

FRI 09:00 The Reunion (b08ksdqd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]

FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b08l78gf)
And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos, Episode 5

Simon McBurney - a close friend of the late art critic and writer who died in January - reads John Berger's most personal book: part essay, part poetry collection, part memoir & love letter. McBurney also shares memories of Berger and the house and landscape that inspired the book in the early 1980s. Harriet Walter reads Berger's poetry.

Today Berger explores the work of his favourite painter, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.

Abridged and produced by Simon Richardson.

FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b08ksck6)
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b08l7szl)
Dead Pan, Episode 5

The conclusion of Val McDermid's comic crime drama set in a fine dining restaurant - but when Alma and Jo finally get time alone to talk, it is the future of their personal relationship, more than the murder investigation, that is called in to question.

Written by Val McDermid
Produced and Directed by Justine Potter
A Savvy production for BBC Radio 4.

FRI 11:00 Tim Samuels' Sleepover: Inside the Israeli Hospital (b08j9r62)
Tim Samuels spends twenty-four hours immersed in an extraordinary medical scene - Israeli doctors tending to Syrians who have been smuggled over the border for life-saving treatment into a country Syria is technically still at war with.

In the Ziv hospital in the northern Israeli town of Safed, Tim follows two doctors on their rounds as they treat Syrians - both civilians and fighters - who have been seriously wounded in their country's civil war. Unable to get proper medical attention at home, they are amongst several thousand Syrians who have headed to the border and into Israel for treatment. Tim meets a Syrian man shot during conflict; once his leg has been repaired he intends to head back to rejoin the fight.

On the children's ward, a mother who has brought her son for treatment describes how her trip to Israel must remain a secret - or she fears she could be killed when they return. On the Syrian border, Tim sees two badly wounded fighters smuggled into Israel by the IDF as they are rushed to Ziv for emergency attention.

In the hospital - staffed by Jewish, Muslim and Druze medics - the doctors talk about the psychological toll of treating the war wounded. A hospital social worker describes waking up repeatedly through the night at home to check that his young son wasn't injured. The doctors at Ziv say they hope their work is at least a sliver of humanity in a dark region.

Tim explores what motivations might underpin Israel's assistance to those coming from enemy territory - and how such an unusual situation, even by Middle Eastern standards, has come about.

A Tonic Media production for BBC Radio 4.

FRI 11:30 Gloomsbury (b08ky5kn)
Series 4, Digging the Dirt

When Henry announces to Vera that he has invited Llewd George down to Sizzlinghurst to advise him on the best way to become a Labour MP, Vera flies off the handle. Can she get no privacy in her own garden? All she wants is to be left alone.

Not only does Llewd George live up to his reputation as a randy old goat (as Vera suspected), but Mrs Gosling takes affront at his politics and, after a row with Mr Gosling, goes on strike and storms off to live with her sister.

Meanwhile Vera has resorted to digging in the corner of her garden to escape Llewd George's clutches, only to be interrupted by Ginny Fox and a BBC producer, Miss Hilda Matthewson. There is a fascination between Vera and Hilda, much to Ginny's chagrin, and plans are immediately set in motion for Hilda to arrange a BBC tour for Vera talking about her books and her garden so that the two women can be together.

But telling Henry that she is going on tour raises Henry's suspicions. After all, it was only this morning that Vera craved solitude and swore she would never leave her precious castle again.

A Little Brother production for BBC Radio 4.

FRI 12:00 News Summary (b08ksck8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

FRI 12:04 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (b08ky5ks)
Series 1, Google

Tim Harford introduces inventions, ideas and innovations that have helped to create the modern economic world.

FRI 12:15 You and Yours (b08ksckb)
Consumer news and issues.

FRI 12:57 Weather (b08ksckd)
The latest weather forecast.

FRI 13:00 World at One (b08ksckg)
Analysis of news and current affairs.

FRI 13:45 Did the Victorians Ruin the World? (b08l6tp3)
Series 1, Toilets

It's the most celebrated period of British ingenuity, but are our Victorian forebears due a rethink? Sci-curious sisters Kat and Helen Arney are on hand with some revisionist revelations that could turn what we think we know completely upside down.

Was the water-based toilet the pinnacle of 19th century hygienic invention, or did the Victorians literally flush away our most precious resource? Why did they choose the water closet over the alternatives that were available to them - the Earth Closet and the Air Closet? And was there a Fire Closet too (or was that just the result of that other great Victorian import, the curry?). Helen and Kat are holding their noses and diving in.

Helen Arney is a presenter and comedian, and Dr Kat Arney is a writer and broadcaster who has published a book on genetics.

A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4.

FRI 14:00 The Archers (b08ky183)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]

FRI 14:15 Drama (b08kydbq)
The Fix

It's 2am. There's an intruder in your dining room. Of course you'll call the police. It's the only sane and reasonable thing to do. But this is the story of a couple who don't.

In The Fix by Cat Jones, Mark arrives home in the early hours worse for wear after post-work drinks, expecting he might get some grief off his partner Lucy. If only that was all.

Written by Cat Jones
Directed by Sharon Sephton.

FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b08ky656)
A panel of experts answer listeners' horticultural queries.

FRI 15:45 Short Works (b08lg8rs)
Series 1, The Liquid You by Ben Norris

What becomes of a place once you leave it and move on? And what about the people we leave behind, or who leave us? Is it memory we carry, or myth? The Liquid You is a new short work for radio written and performed by Ben Norris. It's a poetic monologue about home and history, death and departures, and how sometimes it's easier to love an idea than reality.

Ben Norris is a poet, playwright and actor, originally from Nottingham. This is his Radio 4 debut.

Ben was the UK All-Star Poetry Slam Champion 2013 and has since performed his spoken-word across the country, from Latitude Festival to the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. His first poetry pamphlet was published in 2014 and his debut solo show, 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Family', won the 2015 IdeasTap Underbelly Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before touring the UK extensively in autumn 2016, finishing with a sell-out run at Southbank Centre. He hosts 'Cadence,' a monthly poetry and music night in East London, and in March 2016 he launched PAW - his attempt to record and publish a Poem A Week on Youtube for a year. His debut short film was produced by Channel 4, for which Ben was nominated for Best New Talent at the 2016 Royal Television Society Awards.

As an actor he has performed with the National Theatre, Frantic Assembly, Birmingham Rep, Nottingham Playhouse, RSC, and National Theatre Wales, and his writing for the stage has been performed at Theatr Clwyd, Leicester Curve, Theatre 503 and the Royal Court. He trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, before which he studied English with Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham.

Written and performed by Ben Norris
Produced by Mair Bosworth.

FRI 16:00 Last Word (b08kylwp)
Obituary series, analysing and celebrating the life stories of people who have recently died.

FRI 16:30 Feedback (b08kylwr)
Radio 4's forum for audience comment.

FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b08kylwt)
Amy and Katie - Check Ingredients Before Eating

One has food allergies, the other doesn't and wants to understand the impact on her sister's life. Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

FRI 17:00 PM (b08ksckj)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08ksckl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

FRI 18:30 The Now Show (b08kylww)
Series 50, 07/04/2017

Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis and guests present the week in news through stand-up and sketches.

FRI 19:00 The Archers (b08kylwy)
Lilian gets a window on the past, and Kirsty needs to keep faith.

FRI 19:15 Front Row (b08ksckn)
News, reviews and interviews from the worlds of art, literature, film and music.

FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b08l7szl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]

FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b08kylx0)
Barry Gardiner MP, Margot James MP, Paul Nuttall MEP, Leanne Wood AM

Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate from the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, with Shadow International Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner MP, Small Business Minister Margot James MP, UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall MEP, and the Leader of Plaid Cymru Leanne Wood AM.

FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b08kylx2)
A reflection on a topical issue.

FRI 21:00 Archive on 4 (b07vjsvv)
Don't Be Rude on the Road

Alan Dein fastens his seat-belt and takes a breakneck tour through the history of the Public Information Film, from its post war origins to its digital present.

For 65 years the Central Office of Information sought to influence the nation's behaviour with thousands of Public Information Films. Trawling through an abundant sea of archive, Alan finds the campaigns that arose in each decade and the themes that were repeated, until some attained cult value.

From road safety to child safety, using the telephone to embracing nuclear power, the dangers of drugs to the dangers of the internet, Public Information Films have been used to warn and educate young and old about the perils of life in an ever changing modern Britain.

The legendary Charley Says and Green Cross Man films have also made a comeback in the last few years to warn of 21st century hazards.

When it closed in 2012, the Central Office of Information left its vast film archive to the British Film Institute where it is undergoing the transformation from celluloid to digital at the BFI's Conservation Centre.

Most of the films heard on this programme can be viewed in the BFI Player by clicking on this link: http://player.bfi.org.uk/collections/public-information-films/

Producer Neil McCarthy.

FRI 21:58 Weather (b08ksckq)
The latest weather forecast.

FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b08kscks)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b08kylx4)
The Essex Serpent, Episode 5

Sarah Perry's award-winning novel, set at the end of the nineteenth century and inspired by true events.

Moving between Essex and London, myth and modernity, Cora Seaborne's spirited search for the Essex Serpent encourages all around her to test their allegiance to faith or reason in an age of rapid scientific advancement. At the same time, the novel explores the boundaries of love and friendship and the allegiances that we have to one another. The depth of feeling that the inhabitants of Aldwinter share are matched by their city counterparts as they strive to find the courage to express and understand their deepest desires, and strongest fears.

Episode Five
Cora is invited to give a talk to Joanna Ransome's class in Aldwinter school, which has unforeseen consequences for the girls.

Sarah Perry was born in Essex in 1979. She has a PhD in creative writing at Royal Holloway which she completed under the supervision of Andrew Motion. She has been writer in residence at the Gladstone Library and is the winner of a Shiva Naipaul award for travel writing. Her first novel, After Me Comes The Flood won the East Anglian Book of the Year Award in 2014. The Essex Serpent was Waterstone's Book Of The Year in 2016 and was short-listed for the Costa Novel Award 2016. She lives in Norwich.

Writer: Sarah Perry
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Reader: Ruth Gemmell
Producer: Rosalynd Ward

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b08kv5f6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]

FRI 23:27 The Drop Out Boogie (b076p08d)
There can surely have never been so much pressure on young people to go to university and get a degree, but while for many it remains the best option for securing a decent future, many thousands of others choose to leave higher education and make their own way instead; nearly 25,000 students dropped out in the last year figures are available. Laura Snapes is a journalist who dropped out of two different universities herself, deciding she'd be better off trying to forge her path in her chosen career by doing rather than learning. In this programme she meets other drop-outs to find out what their motives were for leaving higher education behind, and whether they regret their decision. She'll hear how some feel university was never really for them, while for others the pressure of having to succeed, combined with the shadow of their mounting debts, led to mental health problems that forced them to quit. Laura also finds out from her own parents what they really felt when she broke the news that their daughter was dropping out not once but twice.

FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b08kymc3)
Pema and Louise - 50 Things to Do at 50

Get a list as a 50th birthday present and you're guaranteed a busy year. But now she's ticked off number 18: recording a conversation for The Listening Project. Fi Glover introduces another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

Producer: Marya Burgess.