SATURDAY 06 APRIL 2019

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m0003rn6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (m0003rlh)
Two Weeks in November: The Astonishing Story of the Coup That Toppled Mugabe

Episode 5

A thrilling, surreal, unbelievable and sometimes even funny true story of four would-be enemies who team up to help unseat one of Africa’s longest serving dictators, Robert Mugabe.

What begins as an improbable adventure destined for failure, marked by a mixture of bravery, strategic cunning and bumbling naiveté, soon turns into the most sophisticated political-military operation in African history.

A high ranking politician, an exiled human rights lawyer, a dangerous spy and a low-key white businessman turned political fixer. By virtue of their being together, the unlikely team of misfit rivals is suddenly in position to spin what might have been seen as an illegal coup into a mass popular uprising that the world – and millions of Zimbabweans – will enthusiastically support.

The author Douglas Rogers is an award-winning journalist and travel writer who wrote The Last Resort: A memoir of Zimbabwe. He was born and raised in Zimbabwe and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Read by Joseph Kloska
Abridged by Polly Coles
Produced by Clive Brill

A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0003rn8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0003rnb)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0003rnd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m0003rng)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0003rnj)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with the Very Rev'd Dr Sarah Rowland Jones, Dean of St David's Cathedral.


SAT 05:45 The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry (m0003r3f)
Series 13

The Mesmerist

“Is hypnosis real, and if so how does it work? Does it have any practical uses and which of Hannah and Adam is most susceptible?”

This question came from two Curios, Peter Jordan aged 24 from Manchester and Arran Kinnear aged 13 from Bristol.

Arch sceptics Hannah and Adam visit stage hypnotist Ben Dali to find out if they are susceptible to the power of suggestion. One of them will be successfully hypnotised, but who will it be?

Along the way we hear about the history of hypnosis from Wendy Moore author of 'The Mesmerist'. Plus psychologist Devin Terhune explains what we know about the science of hypnosis today.

Presenters: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford
Producer: Michelle Martin


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m00040pz)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m0003rjt)
Surfing on Scotland’s North Coast

The reef break at Thurso on the rugged North Coast of Scotland is one of the best waves in Europe. Helen Mark meets Thurso's surfing community, from the pioneers who began surfing in the 1970s on empty waves, to the up-and-coming young surfers hoping to make Scotland's national squad this year.

Presenter: Helen Mark
Producer: Sophie Anton


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m00040q1)
Farm Waste

Barfoots UK is a multinational vegetable farming company with farms in the UK, Spain, Senegal and Peru. They produce veg all year round for British supermarkets.

Charlotte Smith visits their farm and processing factory in West Sussex to find out how they tackle on-farm waste. By selling pre-chopped vegetables, they're able to use produce that would otherwise be wasted because it doesn't meet the supermarket specifications to be sold whole. The waste from the processing factory is then fed into an AD plant which provides enough electricity to power the whole plant.

The programme also looks for solutions to tackle other types of farm waste - from plastic to slurry.

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced by Heather Simons


SAT 06:57 Weather (m00040q3)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (m00040q5)
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m00040q7)
Ben Elton, Andy Bell

Writer and comedian Ben Elton, sheep farmer Sally Urwin, Matt Bateman live from the British Quidditch Cup, and Jack Savoretti shares his Inheritance Tracks.


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m0003zvb)
Series 23

North Downs

Jay Rayner and his panel of culinary experts are in the Kentish North Downs. Dr Annie Gray, Tim Anderson, Jordan Bourke and Andi Oliver answer the audience questions.

This week, the panel discusses the best way to butter bread, offers recipe suggestions for flavoured butters and provides interesting uses for dill in cooking.

As they're in Kent, the panellists also dissect the evocative Gypsy Tart with the help of local baker, Andy Davies.

Produced by Hannah Newton
Assistant Producer: Jemima Rathbone

Food Consultant: Anna Colquhoun

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m00040q9)
Paul Waugh of HuffPost reviews the political week.
The editor is Marie Jessel


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m00040qc)
Mosul in colour

Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world.


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m00040qf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m00040j9)
Fraud report follow-up failures

The inconsistent manner in which police forces in England and Wales investigate reports of fraud is leaving victims 'confused and disillusioned.' That's one of the findings in a report by the watchdog Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services. Money Box listener Emma lost her £25,000 new home deposit after criminals hacked emails between her and her solicitor in order to divert and steal the money. She feels let down by the police and her bank. Guest HM Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr.

What needs to happen for you to achieve the life you desire? How much money is enough money? Just a few of the questions likely to be asked by a lifestyle financial planner as they cashflow model your future. Julie Lord, Chief Executive of Magenta Financial Planning, explains what it involves.

A report from Gingerbread, the charity for single-parent families, highlights concerns over the operation of one of the Child Maintenance Support payment methods called Direct Pay where parents manage payments between themselves. Guest: Sumi Rabindrakumar who wrote the report for Gingerbread.

This week the Financial Conduct Authority issued a warning for people considering putting their cash into Innovative Finance ISAs (IFISAs). It says mini-bonds or peer-2-peer investments "may not be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme so customers may lose the money invested or find it hard to get back." It follows the collapse of London Capital & Finance. More than 11,000 people invested £236m with the failed mini-bond provider.

Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Producer: Charmaine Cozier
Editor: Richard Vadon


SAT 12:30 The Now Show (m0003rmm)
Series 54

Episode 7

For the final show this series, Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis present the week via topical stand-up and sketches

Featuring Angela Barnes spreading good news, Eshaan Akbar taking on the weighty issue of representation, and Luke Kempner asking to make it stop. Additional voices from Gemma Arrowsmith.

Written by the cast with additional material from Simon Alcock, Katie Storey, Phil Jerrod, Ben Clark, Catherine Brinkworth and Amy Xander.

Producer: Adnan Ahmed

BBC Studios Production


SAT 12:57 Weather (m00040qh)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m00040qk)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m0003rmt)
Katherine Bennett, Barry Gardiner, Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Caroline Lucas MP

Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate from Aerospace Bristol with a panel including the Vice President of Airbus Katherine Bennett, Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade Barry Gardiner, Brexit Minister Kwasi Kwarteng and the Green MP Caroline Lucas.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson.


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m00040qm)
Have your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?


SAT 14:30 Drama (b07g8pt3)
Ferguson

A new drama from playwright Bonnie Greer, inspired by August Strindberg’s play The Father, but set in the United States of 2016, against the legacy of the unrest in Ferguson and Chicago following the fatal shootings of young black men at the hands of police officers.

Tavis Adolph is a jazz trumpeter of international standing, at war with his younger wife, Laura, over the future of their daughter, Sippi. Tavis wants Sippi to join the struggle in Ferguson; Laura wants her to go to Harvard Law School. Theirs is a battle of the sexes, but also a battle of the generations - the Civil Rights era vs the Obama generation.

Tavis Adolph.....Hugh Quarshie
Laura Abernathy-Adolph.....Clare Perkins
Reverend Mike/ Dave.....Jason Barnett
Token.....Eric Kofi Abrefa
Hamid Boubakir.....Nabil Elouahabi
Sippi.....Tamara Lawrence
Miss Carlotta.....Cecilia Noble

Trumpet Player.....Pete Ringrose

Directed by Emma Harding


SAT 15:30 Pursuit of Beauty (m00013nr)
Art Beneath the Waves

Artist Emma Critchley meets filmmakers, photographers, sculptors and painters who are drawn beneath the sea to create underwater art.

Julie Gautier performs a graceful, lyrical ballet on the floor of the deepest pool in the world. Without a tank of air or mask, she dances magically through crystal-clear waters across a sunken stage.

In the azure waters of the world, sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor uses the seabed as his canvas. He has installed hundreds of life-sized, concrete people on the sea floor. Fish weave through his couple playing on sea-saw, tourists taking photographs or migrants huddling in a raft. As Jason works towards the opening of his first cold water installation, Emma asks what draws him to the sea, the meaning of his work and how audiences can engage with underwater art.

She explores the unpredictability of working with the sea, hearing stories of storms, seasickness and near drowning.

Suzi Winstanley is petrified of the deep, but her passion for documenting wildlife has taken her to the remotest and coldest places in the world. With fellow artist Olly Williams, they collaborate to paint, lightning-fast, their experience of encountering white shark and leopard sea.

Emma braves the wintery British waters to talk concentration, boundaries and time with artist Peter Matthews who immerses himself in the ocean for hours, sometimes days, floating with his drawing board and paper.

Sunlight dances on the twisting fabrics of headless bodies in photographer Estabrak’s pictures. For her, working in Oman, underwater is the only safe space to tell stories.

For some the pull of the sea is political, for others environmental, but all the artists find extraordinary freedom in this huge untapped underwater world.

Producer: Sarah Bowen


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m00040qp)
Sewing Bee winner Juliet Uzor, Shame, The teenage brain

Juliet Uzor tells us about winning this year’s Great British Sewing Bee

What is the best way to care for a parent with dementia? We hear from Sarah Mitchell whose mum was diagnosed with early onset dementia at the age of 58.

A new Amnesty International report has found a shocking level of unreported and acquitted rapes across the Nordic countries. Why? Jacqui Hunt the Director of Equality Now’s European office and Helle Jacobsen a senior Advisor and Researcher at Amnesty Denmark, discuss.

What makes the adolescent brain different and why is it that an easy child can become a challenging teenager? Sarah-Jayne Blackmore a Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London helps us understand.

Why is ‘Shame’ the emotion of now? Hetta Howes a lecturer in Medieval and Early Modern Literature at City University London, and Tiffany Watt-Smith a cultural historian discuss.

Laura Lattimore and Rashida Hardy tell us about having severe hair loss and why wearing a wig is important to them.

The poet Helen Mort tells us about her first novel Black Car Burning.

Presented by Jane Garvey
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor: Jane Thurlow


SAT 17:00 PM (m00040qr)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news, plus the sports headlines.


SAT 17:30 The Inquiry (m00040qt)
How did we mess up antibiotics?

Warnings about the approaching post-antibiotics apocalypse have been sounding for years. There are now strains of deadly bacteria that are resistant to all antibiotics. This means that doctors are faced with patients who have completely untreatable infections. Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are dying due to antibiotic resistance - and this number is set to rise rapidly. If we carry on like this, scientists predict we will return to a pre-antibiotic era, where organ transplants, chemotherapy and C-sections are impossible.

We have come a long way since 1928, when the famous chance discovery of penicillin led to a golden age in which antibiotics were seen as wonder drugs, heralding in an age of huge medical advances and increased human life spans. But by the 1990s we were running out of new antibiotics and infections were again a killer. How did this happen?

Our expert witnesses are medic and historian, Dr Eric Sidebottom, Dr Scott Podolsky of Harvard Medical School, journalist Maryn McKenna and infectious disease specialist Brad Spellberg.

Presenter: Helena Merriman
Producer: Lucy Proctor and Laura Gray

This programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service. To hear more episodes search for The Inquiry podcast in BBC Sounds.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m00040qx)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (m00040qz)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00040r1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m00040lm)
Marc Maron, Mavis Staples, Judy Craymer, Anita Anand, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Ray BLK, Arthur Smith, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Arthur Smith are joined by Marc Maron, Mavis Staples, Judy Craymer and Anita Anand for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Rodrigo y Gabriela and Ray BLK.

Producer: Sukey Firth


SAT 19:00 Profile (m00040hk)
Andrew Moffat

The primary school teacher at the centre of a row over LGBT rights has said he's received threats. Pupils have been pulled out of Parkfield School in Birmingham and parents have protested outside the school gates, chanting 'Say no to No Outsiders'. No Outsiders is the programme Andrew Moffat designed to teach pupils to be accepting of different types of people - despite their race, religion or sexuality. Some story books he uses feature families with two mothers or two fathers. He says he designed the programme so that no child has to hide who they are as he did when he was young.

Thanks to the Varkey Foundation for footage of the Global Teacher Prize.

Producers: Viv Jones, Phoebe Keane


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (m00040r4)
Happy as Lazzaro, Top Girls, Damian Barr, The Victim, Ruskin and Turner

Award-winning Italian film Happy as Lazzaro is a tale of a remote Italian Village where time stands still, but not for everyone
Caryl Churchill's play Top Girls is revived by The National Theatre
Damian Barr's debut novel: You Will Be Safe Here is set in two separate parts of South Africa's troubled history
The Victim is a new 4-part drama on BBC1, following the plaintiff and the accused in a Scottish court case
A new exhibition at York Art Gallery looks at the work of John Ruskin and the influence of JWM Turner.

Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Meg Rosoff, Emma Woolf and John Mullan. The producer is Oliver Jones.


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m00040r6)
Charles Parker: Radio Pioneer

Sean Street delves into the archive of one of the most innovative and controversial BBC radio producers, reviewing Charles Parker’s work from the Radio Ballads to his sacking in 1972.

Parker was born in Bournemouth on April 5th 1919 – the son of a redundant railway clerk who sold paraffin from a handcart – and died in 1980 on the same day as John Lennon. For a man who revolutionised radio production, who is still talked about and revered today, his death was hardly reported in the press.

He is probably best known for his series of eight radio ballads made with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. These programmes became a high point in radio production but they eventually became expensive luxuries that could no longer be afforded. He was "sacked" or "left" the BBC in 1972.

Now in Parker’s centenary year, Bournemouth University’s Emeritus Professor of Radio, Sean Street, reviews the life of an icon in the radio industry who, according to fellow producer Michael Mason, was "a real creative genius… his razor blade was like a sculptor’s chisel, releasing the hidden poets in people". Talking to family, friends and those who worked with Charles Parker, Sean explores his radio productions and ideas on preserving the oral tradition as he delves into a rich archive of material - creating a portrait of a master magician in radio.

Parker’s life was also a journey from poverty to Cambridge University, from a Conservative Christian to a Socialist, from a Submarine Commander to a Radio Producer. But throughout his career, two things remained constant - his dedication, often working for days without sleep, and most importantly his desire to tell the extraordinary stories of ordinary people in their own words.

Producer: Andy Cartwright
A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 Drama (b09r3601)
The National Theatre of Brent's Illustrated Guide to Sex and How It Was Done

The award-winning National Theatre of Brent return to Radio 4 with a new comic gem. Developed from their hit National Theatre production of The Wonder of Sex, the company examines sex in myth, history, literature and film - from Oedipus Rex to Brokeback Mountain, via Casanova and Lady Chatterley.

Artistic Director and Maison D'Etre of the company, Desmond Olivier Dingle and his assistant, Raymond Box, go on a journey through sex - a rollercoaster ride through love and desire, often illuminating, sometimes confusing, always funny.

Cast:
Desmond Olivier Dingle: Patrick Barlow
Raymond Box: John Ramm

Written by the National Theatre of Brent - Patrick Barlow, John Ramm and Martin Duncan.

Director: Martin Duncan
Producer: Liz Anstee

A CPL Production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (m00040r8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 22:15 FutureProofing (m0003r4r)
Reality

Reality itself is changing - how will we experience and understand reality in future? Presenters Timandra Harkness and Leo Johnson discover different ways to experience reality as technology develops and great progress is made in our understanding of how the brain works.
Visiting the designers who are creating powerful and immersive virtual worlds and characters in California, FutureProofing learns how far our everyday experience will be mediated by the virtual in the next few decades. And how far extra layers of information will augment reality for us. Leading thinkers Jaron Lanier and Karl Friston reveal the potential of this new technology and how our brains will cope with a world that is increasingly unreal in future.

Producer: Jonathan Brunert


SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (m0003tc5)
Heat 2, 2019

(2/17)
Russell Davies welcomes another four contenders for the 66th Brain of Britain title, at the Radio Theatre in London.

Among the unpredictable topics they'll be asked on today are classic 20th century drama, active volcanoes, the Bible, James Bond theme songs and the composition of the blood. There's also a chance for a Brain of Britain listener to win a prize by outwitting the contestants with questions of his or her own devising.

Today's competitors are:
Harry Heath from Redditch in Worcestershire
Ian Parkes from Burton-on-Trent
Jeremy Platt from Bracknell
Ruth Wright who lives near Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


SAT 23:30 Another Swansea Poet (m0003sz8)
Jack Jones is a spoken word poet and the lead singer of Welsh alternative rock band Trampolene, a band on the rise, who have attracted the attention of The Libertines, Liam Gallagher, John Cooper Clarke and Caitlin Moran.

Jack’s spoken word poetry and lyrics are at the core of Trampolene’s sound. The music isn’t everything though. Sometimes Jack takes the mic, solo, and recites poetry: risky business in a room full of screaming, moshing fans, you might think.

But Jack’s spoken word poetry has become an integral part of Trampolene’s gigs. The crowd shouts for his poem ‘Pound Land’ in every venue and recites Jack’s words along with him.

He writes about everyday life, how to fight adversity, his upbringing, and at gigs around the UK offers his own social commentary on the world, all delivered with a gentle Swansea lilt synonymous with his idol Dylan Thomas.

From his home in the Mumbles, Swansea, Jack tells his life story candidly, with insight from around him. We hear from his fellow band members, Wayne Thomas and Rob Steele, and from one of Jack’s biggest fans in the music industry, Peter Doherty, who recalls their adventures on tour together. Jack also talks to Caitlin Moran, who came across him living in his car in London and invited him to stay in the attic in her house.

This programme reveals a young man in his twenties with a lot to say about the world; a young man with multiple health problems, Dyslexia and huge amounts of time spent out of school, who hasn’t let that stop him from making a career out of writing and performing poetry and music.

Producer: Eleri Llian Rees for BBC Cymru Wales



SUNDAY 07 APRIL 2019

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m00040rb)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:30 Short Works (m0003rm7)
Hello Stranger

An original short story specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 by the Northern Irish author Michael Hughes. As read by Faye Marsay (Game of Thrones, McMafia).

Michael Hughes is the author of the novels 'The Countenance Divine' and 'Country', a retelling of Homer's 'Iliad' set on the Northern Irish border during the Troubles. Born in Armagh, he also teaches creative writing at Queens University Belfast.

Writer ….. Michael Hughes
Reader ….. Faye Marsay
Producer ….. Michael Shannon


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00040rd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00040rg)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00040rj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m00040rl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m00040jp)
Bells on Sunday comes from Holy Trinity, Guildford

Bells on Sunday comes from Holy Trinity Church in Guildford. The tenor, weighing over twenty three hundredweight, is tuned to D, and is part of a ring of eight bells. We hear them ringing Grandsire Triples.


SUN 05:45 Lent Talks (m0003r4t)
The Uncertainty of Pilate

“What is truth?” Former High Court judge, Sir Paul Coleridge uses the example of Pontius Pilate to examine the moral conflict in the minds of those responsible for administering justice.

Producer: Dan Tierney


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (m00040gj)
The latest national and international news headlines.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (m00040gl)
Beginner's Mind

Suryagupta, chair of the London Buddhist Centre, explores the Zen Buddhist concept of Beginner’s Mind, which encourages the viewing of the familiar with fresh eyes.

She discusses the first time she discovered the benefits of Beginner’s Mind, at a retreat in Wales. While meditating, Suryagupta became fascinated by the sound of birdsong, feeling as if she was hearing it for the very first time. This meditation encouraged her to experience life anew, through help from texts such as Suzuki Roshi’s classic title Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.

Suryagupta considers the obstacles that can hinder Beginner’s Mind, such as pressure and the burden of expectations. She suggests that attempting to return to the simple and spontaneous innocence of the child’s mind can help us overcome these obstructions, in order to experience moments of revelation and wonder. She concludes with a quote from Henry Miller, who celebrates the benefits of sharing these discoveries with others. In doing so, we can connect deeply with one another, and experience an interdependence that is freeing and refreshing.

Presenter: Suryagupta
Producer: Oliver Seymour
A TBI production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:35 Living World (b01hdpld)
The Pasqueflower

The beautiful purple pasqueflower with its distinctive yellow anthers is one of the few Spring flowers to be in bloom around Easter. Once found across most chalk and limestone grasslands in Britain the flower declined severely from the late 1700s when these grasslands were ploughed so that crops could be grown.
Joanna Pinnock joins a botanist and reserve manager at one of the largest remaining colonies in Cambridgeshire to find out more about the fascinating history and botany of the pasqueflower and how colonies are being helped back from the brink with grazing - as it needs short grass in order to be able to thrive - and other conservation methods. (First broadcast in 2012 )

Producer: Sheena Duncan
Editor: Julian Hector


SUN 06:57 Weather (m00040gn)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m00040gq)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m00040gs)
Israeli elections, Jallianwala Bagh, Newly discovered ancient religion

Sunday morning religious news and current affairs programme.


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m0003zc9)
Peace Direct

Sir Mark Rylance makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Peace Direct.

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 ‘Peace Direct’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Peace Direct’.

Registered Charity Number: 1123241


SUN 07:57 Weather (m00040gv)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m00040gx)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m00040gz)
Invitation to trust

The Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London preaches live from St Martin-in-the-Fields this Passion Sunday. When Jesus says ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit’ he is quoting Psalm 31 which begins with the words: ‘In you, Lord, I have taken refuge’. In other words Jesus’ prayer from the cross is a request for asylum under the protection of God. Jesus – in agony, stripped of all his worldly goods, facing the hostility of the authorities and the crowds seeks sanctuary with his Father. Thousands seek sanctuary today as, during an epidemic of loneliness, hospitality is our deepest need. Reading: Luke 23.44–49; Leader: The Vicar, the Revd Dr Sam Wells; Producer: Dr Andrew Earis. A link to resources for individuals and groups can be downloaded from the Sunday Worship web pages.


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m0003rmw)
On Holding Forth

"There's one thing I can't bear", writes Rebecca Stott, "and that's being talked AT".

Having grown up in a separatist fundamentalist Christian sect called the Exclusive Brethren, she says she's probably rather uniquely sensitised to this. She listened to her father and grandfather holding forth for hours - "3000 hours of male monologues before I was six" she reckons!

Rebecca reflects on the art of good conversation.

Producer: Adele Armstrong


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b08v8946)
Lindsey Chapman on the Cetti's warbler

When Springwatch presenter Lindsey Chapman went walking with fellow Springwatch host Brett Westwood it was the first time she had heard a call so boisterous that now she recognises it instantly whenever she hears it, the Cetti's warbler.

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer Tom Bonnett.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m00040h1)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 The Archers (m00040h3)
Writer ….. Keri Davies
Director ….. Kim Greengrass
Editor ….. Jeremy Howe

Ruth Archer ..... Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ..... Daisy Badger
Josh Archer ..... Angus Imrie
Kenton Archer ….. Richard Attlee
Tony Archer .... David Troughton
Helen Archer.... Louiza Patikas
Tom Archer ….. William Troughton
Ruairi Donovan .... Arthur Hughes
Toby Fairbrother .... Rhys Bevan
Alan Franks .... John Telfer
Will Grundy .... Philip Molloy
Mia Grundy ..... Molly Pipe
Emma Grundy .... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Ed Grundy .... Barry Farrimond
Shula Hebden Lloyd .... Judy Bennett
Alistair Lloyd ..... Michael Lumsden
Jim Lloyd ..... John Rowe
Jazzer McCreary ..... Ryan Kelly
Elizabeth Pargetter .... Alison Dowling
Freddie Pargetter ..... Toby Laurence
Lily Pargetter .... Katie Redford
Johnny Philips .... Tom Gibbons
Roy Tucker .... Ian Pepperell
Russ ..... Andonis James Anthony
Tim Oatey .... Carl Prekopp
Leonard Berry .... Paul Copley
Jakob .... Paul Venables


SUN 11:15 The Reunion (m0003zy9)
The French Resistance

Sue MacGregor brings together members of the French Resistance who fought against Nazi German occupation of France and the collaborationist Vichy regime during the Second World War.

On 18 June 1940, as the French Prime Minister Phillipe Pétain prepared to sign an armistice with the Nazi invaders, General Charles de Gaulle spoke to the French people on the BBC from London asking them to join him in continuing the war.

“You had to be completely insane to believe him at the time,” says John James - then one of 8 million refugees fleeing the advancing German army. “For people like me, to know everything wasn’t lost, gave us great hope.”

Hundreds of thousands of people answered de Gaulle’s call and joined the French Resistance.

They carried out acts of sabotage against the Nazis and their Vichy allies, published underground pamphlets or offered help to downed allied airmen or the persecuted Jewish population. Over 100,000 members of resistance movements died during the war – some executed, others killed in combat or left to die in camps.

De Gaulle’s relationship with the Allies was difficult. London and Washington considered that the liberation was the task of the Allied troops, who would then occupy France under the authority of an allied Military Government that would run the country. De Gaulle and important sections of the Resistance had other ideas.

Sue MacGregor is joined by Marcel Jaurent Singer, a secret agent of the Special Operations Executive set up by Winston Churchill; Rene Marbot, a soldier in de Gaulle’s Free French army; John James, a member of a guerrilla fighting unit; Michèle Agniel who helped Allied airmen escape to freedom; and historian Matthew Cobb.

Producer: Emily Williams
Series Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m00040h5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 The Unbelievable Truth (m0003td2)
Series 22

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.

Richard Osman, Holly Walsh, Luisa Omielan and Jack Dee are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as mice, Las Vegas, Beyonce and rubbish.

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


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m00040h7)
Tipping Point: Time to Rethink the Service Charge?

Should you leave a cash tip or is card just as good, do you prefer a service charge or would you get rid of tipping altogether?

Sheila Dillon finds out when she meets the co-founder of Hawksmoor Restaurants William Beckett to talk about our attitude to tipping in the UK and how it varies from city to city. Peter Davies of WMT Accountants describes how high-profile scandals have dented our trust in tipping and Alex Wrethman of the Charlotte Group of restaurants explains how that could be hurting businesses now.

Sheila then draws on examples from the US where Saru Jayaraman is President of the Restaurant Opportunities Centre. Jayaraman explains how the system in many states has forced workers to rely on tips to earn the minimum wage and been a cause of poverty and sexual harassment. We hear from the poet Jan Beatty about waiting tables in the US for 15 years and then look at one of the most forward-thinking tipping models in the world, dreamed up by restaurateur Danny Meyer who founded New York’s Union Square Cafe and Gramercy, and ask whether it could be rolled out in the UK.

Presenter: Sheila Dillon
Producer: Tom Bonnett


SUN 12:57 Weather (m00040h9)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m00040hc)
Global news and analysis, presented by Mark Mardell.


SUN 13:30 How to Be a Muslim Woman (m00014yb)
Sayeeda Warsi examines some of the many ways to be a Muslim woman in 21st century Britain.

Sayeeda was the first Muslim woman to sit in the British Cabinet, but even at the top table of British government she was frustrated by lazy stereotypes about Muslim women. When Muslim women do get to speak, she says, it's too often only when they fit one of those stereotypes, or an existing established narrative, whether it's about domestic violence, forced marriage or the burka.

Sayeeda is tired of those conversations, and thinks the stereotypes are boring and dangerous, preventing real discussions on important issues. So for this programme she has spoken to Muslim women from a range of backgrounds and viewpoints about their lives, their choices and their experiences, in the process sharing some of the many ways to be a Muslim woman.

In sunny Yorkshire she meets spoken word poet Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan, trainee Army medic Ammani Bashir and Director of the Muslim Women's Council Selina Ullah. In North London, she sits down with activist Maz Saleem. And in central London she talks to trade unionist Shavanah Taj, campaigner and 7/7 survivor Sajda Mughal, anti-FGM activist Nimco Ali and Julie Siddiqi, who works on Jewish-Muslim relations.

Producer: Giles Edwards


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0003rm5)
East Hampshire

Eric Robson and panel answer questions from East Hampshire. Joining Eric this week are Chris Beardshaw, Pippa Greenwood and Bob Flowerdew.

The panellists discuss the best ways to prune woody plants, suggest fruit trees to be grown against a wall and come up with unusual plants and shrubs for acidic soil.

Aside from the questions, Matthew Wilson is at St Dunstan in the East Church Garden in the City of London, finding out about this special garden which evolved after the Blitz.

Produced by Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Jemima Rathbone

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (m00040hf)
Sunday Omnibus: Boxing, Running and Nursing

Fi Glover presents another edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen with three conversations about hobbies and consuming passions. a father and daughter share their love of boxing; nurses look back on the time they trained together; and friends talk about the joy of running.

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: Mohini Patel


SUN 15:00 Drama (b09tbjj1)
Shafted!

John Godber's stage play is set over the 30 years following the Miners' Strike of 1984/85. It's the story of how Dot and Harry cope with life after he is made redundant amidst a community that has had the heart ripped out of it. After 10 years of turmoil, they do the unthinkable and leave Upton to try and make a new life for themselves in the seaside town of Bridlington.

Directed by Toby Swift

'Shafted!' was produced for the stage in 2015 by the John Godber Company and Theatre Royal Wakefield before touring the following year. This is the fourth of the Olivier Award-winning playwright's plays to be adapted for Radio 4 and performed by their original cast, Jane Godber and John Godber, following 'September in the Rain', 'Happy Jack' and 'April in Paris'.


SUN 16:00 Bookclub (m0003zcc)
Richard Holmes - The Age of Wonder

Richard Holmes talks about The Age of Wonder, his non-fiction account of the Romantic age, as scientific and artistic thinking began to diverge.

In the book he describes the scientific ferment that swept through Britain in the late-18th century and tells the stories of the celebrated innovators and their great scientific discoveries: from telescopic sight and the discovery of Uranus to Humphrey Davy's invention of the miner's safety lamp, and from the first balloon flight to African exploration.

Holmes has also written biographies of the poets Coleridge and Shelley and he explains how The Romantics didn't believe in the modern idea that the arts and sciences are two cultures dividing us. The chemist Humphrey Davy wrote poetry and was good friends with Coleridge and they inhaled nitrous oxide gas together as part of Davy's experiments on its properties.

Presented by James Naughtie and including questions from an audience of readers.

Presenter : James Naughtie
Producer : Dymphna Flynn

May's Bookclub Choice : Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty (2013)


SUN 16:30 Here Be Dragons (m00040hh)
Maps are ways of navigating the world, a set of symbols that, once understood, can enable us to find our way. No wonder then that poets, similarly tasked with charting the unknown to help the rest of us keep on track, have long felt a kinship with cartographers. Paul Farley heads out to chart that kinship.

He travels to Anglesey where poet Zoe Skoulding uses maps to deliberately get lost as a creative spur and meets Chris Riddell who has drawn fictional maps for so many books. Chris draws a map of the programme while explaining what it is about maps that makes such a great starting off point for stories - from Winnie the Pooh to his own Edge series.

Ciaran Carson welcomes Paul into his map-lined toilet in Belfast to talk about the ways politics have shaped the maps of that city.

And finally, Paul visits Preston to meet the artist Magda, who introduces him to the world of sound-maps.

The programme offers a playful hymn to the wonder and possibility that maps afford - and also insight into their limitations. Who knew there were icebergs off Yorkshire?

Producer: Geoff Bird
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 17:00 Will AI Kill Development? (m0003qyd)
How artificial intelligence could increase world inequality: Professor Ian Goldin finds that the kind of rapid development once enjoyed by regions like East Asia and based on manufacturing is unlikely ever to repeat itself, as developing countries bear the brunt of automation, and the economic benefits go mainly to more advanced nations. Speaking both to AI experts and consumers, he finds the cards stacked against the world's poor, who are less likely to have the high skills demanded by the emerging technology, and will find it ever harder to catch up. And, as developing countries' one big asset, a plentiful supply of cheap labour, risks turning into a liability, he asks what, if anything, can be done.
Producer: Mike Gallagher


SUN 17:40 Profile (m00040hk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m00040hm)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (m00040hp)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00040hr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m00040ht)
John McCarthy

This week we focus on inspiring people who’ve decided they’re not going to just keep their heads down and muddle along. They are battling for a fairer world, standing up and shouting for what they believe.
There’s a young climate change activist, a gay rights campaigner and women confronting sexual abuse and demanding equality in the music and tech industries.
And there’s a little bit of hypnotism too...you are feeling very sleepy.

Producer: Dave James


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m00040hx)
Jill makes a shocking discovery and it all proves too much for Shula.


SUN 19:15 Rumblings from the Rafters (b07h65c6)
Death Watch Beetle and Queen Wasp

A Death Watch Beetle, played by Bill Paterson, and a bossy Queen wasp played, by Alison Steadman, reveal the truth about life in a draughty old attic in a house in Amersham in the first of three very funny tales, written and introduced by Lynne Truss, with additional sound recordings by Chris Watson.
The Death Watch Beetle is a wood-boring beetle. Having spent twelve years as a larva boring through a single rafter in the house with no one to talk to, our beetle is now an adult with about 5 weeks left to live. He has just three aims in life. Firstly, to find a mate, which he does by banging his head on the timber "Oh Come on girls, .. I know you're out there ... Don't tell me this attic has ever seen such a specimen before. This lovely compact dark brown capsule of hard cuticle covered with yellowish scale-like hair and just under a centimetre long - it could all be yours! Secondly, to make as much noise as he can and finally to live long enough to see the roof cave in.
The Queen Wasp is very, very bossy, and very, very stressed. She carries the entire responsibility for the wasp colony and its thousands of inhabitants, all of whom are her own progeny. There is an enormous amount of work to be done. "They call themselves workers, these girls, but quite frankly, none of them knows what real work actually is." It is lonely at the top too," I did consider leaving all this, at one point. None of them knows this; they'd be heartbroken to think I might have left them" and she is just beginning to lose her grip. "Bring me my list" she constantly yells. Life doesn't get much more stressful than this.

Death Watch Beetle: Bill Paterson
Dragonfly: Alison Steadman
Written and introduced by Lynne Truss
Wildlife sound recordings Chris Watson
Producer Sarah Blunt.


SUN 19:45 Life at Absolute Zero (m00040j1)
Series 4

Taking It In

Lynne Truss returns with three new stories from the fictional seaside town of Meridian Cliffs.

Terry Graves and his dog Thelonius, along with other distraught pet owners from the wind-battered town, are gathering to mark the passing of the popular local vet from All Creatures.

Directed by Kate McAll
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m0003rmc)
Why did Radio 6 Music decide to shake up its schedule?

Roger Bolton discusses changes at Radio 6 Music , the end of iPM and re-inventing local radio, and talks to Eric Robson about saying goodbye to GQT.

Judging by audiences and awards at least, Radio 6 Music was on a roll. So it surprised many when a major shake up of the schedule was announced for 2019, including giving Lauren Laverne the coveted breakfast show and moving the much loved Radcliffe and Maconie from weekdays to weekends. Roger puts listener views to the Head of Radio 6 Music, Paul Rodgers, and asks why he made this decision.

iPM, the listener driven weekly companion to PM, is the latest victim of BBC cutbacks. We hear from listeners who have filled the Feedback inbox with frustration at the news.

What does it mean to "re-invent" local radio? A few weeks ago, Feedback went to Leeds to try and shed some light on the BBC's plans to reverse a decline in local listening figures and transform its local offering to attract younger and more diverse audiences. This week, Roger speaks to Chris Burns, the BBC's recently installed Head of Local Radio, to find out more.

And Eric Robson has chaired Gardener's Question Time for 25 years but, at the end of the month, he's stepping aside to be replaced by Kathy Clugston. Ahead of a recording in the idyllic surroundings of the Oxford Botanical Garden, he reflects on his career and offers advice to his successor.

Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Robert Nicholson
Executive Producer: Will Yates

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m0003rm9)
Michel Bacos, Agnes Varda, Victor Hochhauser CBE, Barbara Low, Ranking Roger

Pictured: Agnès Varda

Matthew Bannister on

Michel Bacos, the pilot of the Air France jet that was hi-jacked to Entebbe in 1976. He was offered the chance to leave, but chose to stay with the hostages until they were freed in a dramatic raid by the Israelis.

The film director Agnès Varda, known as the mother of the French New Wave.

The impresario Victor Hochhauser who specialised in bringing top Russian artists to the UK.

The biochemist Barbara Low who used X-ray crystallography to identify the structure of penicillin.

Ranking Roger, the singer and frontman of the 70s ska revival band The Beat.

Interviewed guest: Rosemary Bacos
Interviewed guest: Paul Martin
Interviewed guest: Terri White
Interviewed guest: Norman Lebrecht
Interviewed guest: Helen Berman
Interviewed guest: Pauline Black
Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: Raid on Entebbe, directed by Irvin Kershner, 20th Century Fox Television, Edgar J. Scherick Associates, 1977; La Pointe Courte, directed by Agnès Varda, Ciné Tamaris, 1956; Cléo from 5 to 7, directed by Agnès Varda, Ciné Tamaris, Rome Paris Films, 1962; Front Row, Radio 4 13/07/2018; Today, Radio 4 30/03/2019; In Tune, Radio 3 17/11/2017; Liz Kershaw, 6 Music 09/07/2016.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m00040j9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m0003zc9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 In Business (m0003rkk)
A Tale of Two Towns

Much has been made of the death of the high street, but some places are staging a comeback.

The government has announced this Spring a £1.6bn Stronger Towns Fund to help less well-off areas. Six hundred million pounds of that will be shared out to towns which can come up with credible plans to help their high street adapt to the rapidly changing retail environment.

So what does it take to turn a town around? In this programme, Ruth Alexander visits two towns in Cheshire - Northwich and Altrincham - which have tried two quite different approaches to see what works, and what doesn’t.

Presenter: Ruth Alexander
Producer: Elisabeth Mahy


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m00040jf)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (m0003rk0)
Jessie Buckley

Jessie Buckley talks about Wild Rose, the story of a Country And Western singer from Glasgow, in which she stars and sings and writes her own songs. She tells Antonia Quirke what was it was like to reach the final of talent show I’d Do Anything in 2008, and why she gave up a career on the West End stage to go back to drama school.

Author and screenwriter Ronan Bennett reveals the moment he saw himself reflected on screen, in the prison drama The Jericho Mile.

Writer Iain Sinclair pitches a 1960's London novel as a suitable case for the movie treatment. Industry insiders Clare Binns, Rowan Woods and Lizzie Francke pass judgement on the pitch.

Antonia reflects on her recent encounter with the legendary director Agnes Varda, whose death was announced last week


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (m00040gl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 08 APRIL 2019

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m00040jk)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m0003v28)
Branding

Branding: Laurie Taylor explores the 'persuasion industries' and their role in creating modern consumer society. How has their use of an emotional model of brand communication, whether in political campaigning or product advertising, transformed our understanding of the rational consumer? He's joined by Steven McKevitt, Visiting Professor in Brand Communication, at Leeds Beckett University. Also, how 'branding' can desensitize far right consumers to extremist ideas. Cynthia Miller-Idriss, Associate Professor of Education and Sociology at American University, discusses her study into the ways in which extremism is going mainstream in Germany through clothing brands laced with racist and nationalist symbols.

Producer: Jayne Egerton


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m00040jp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00040jt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00040jy)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00040k2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m00040k5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00040k7)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with the Very Rev Dr Sarah Rowland Jones, dean of St Davids Cathedral.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m00040k9)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


MON 05:56 Weather (m00040kc)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08z9p9t)
Nadia Archer on the Peregrine

Nadia Archer of the RSPB recalls volunteering in Manchester on a peregrine watch at the Arndale Centre for Tweet of the Day, where the call of the wild could bring relaxation to a busy city centre.

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer Tom Bonnett.


MON 06:00 Today (m00040l7)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m00040l9)
Ageing visibly

850,000 people in the UK are thought to be living with dementia. The writer Nicci Gerrard tells Andrew Marr about her father’s slow death from the illness. She explores issues around memory, language and identity, as well as asking how society will cope as the population ages and the number of people suffering with dementia rises into the millions.

But why and how do we age? The science journalist Sue Armstrong has been investigating what happens to cells when the body gets older, and whether ageing really can be treated like any other disease waiting to be cured. Life expectancy has risen sharply in the last half century globally, but can it keep on rising?

The street theatre performance, Bed, involving elderly actors lying in beds in town centres around the country, was devised by older members of Entelechy Arts who wanted to make a statement about isolation and invisibility. The Artistic Director David Slater says the arts have an important role to play in improving people’s lives no matter how old.

The poet John Agar is 70 this year. In his latest collection, The Coming of the Little Green Man, he explores the world from the stance of the outsider. In a series of mischievous, satirical fables he gives voice to the political and spiritual, comic and poignant.


MON 09:45 Book of the Week (m00040ms)
The Nature of Spring

Harbingers

In a series of poetic vignettes, nature writer Jim Crumley paints a captivating picture of Scotland’s wilderness in spring and the joys of observing its abundant wildlife. The staccato, jazzily-inventive sound of the mistle thrush singing for a mate acts as a harbinger of Spring while kestrels hover over the Stirlingshire hills and peregrine falcons act out their courtship. A majestic sea eagle with its vast wingspan swoops incongruously over the Lowland hills and a peregrine starts to mimic the eagle’s flight pattern. Then, at a mere ten yards, he’s face to face with a Roebuck, armed with blood-smeared antlers and a hostile stare.
Reader: Simon Tait. Abridger: Linda Cracknell. Producer: Bruce Young.


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m00040lf)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m00040lh)
Ship of Lies

Episode 1

Weeks after her fiancé, a musician who drowned on the Titanic dies, Emma Heyer is still inconsolable. She reads the reports from the survivors endlessly. Each night she goes into fitful sleep, imagining the dead man’s final moments.

It’s a doubly tragic death because he only joined the ship at the last moment, substituting for another band member who fell ill.

It seems that he died heroically still playing with the other members of the ship’s band. But a disparity - which at first seems minor - is emerging about what they were playing as the ship sank. Some who were on board are adamant it was the hymn Nearer My God To Thee. Others are equally insistent that it was a waltz tune, Song of Autumn.

It seems a simple matter to resolve. She takes the money she’s been saving for the wedding and travels to New York and the headquarters of the White Star line.

The officials have nothing to tell her and, although sympathetic to her loss, seem somewhat over anxious to get rid of her. Just what exactly are they hiding? It’s then that she meets Danny Gunther, a newspaper man hungry for a story.

Cast:
EMMA ……………….....Jasmine Hyde
DANNY …………….... Colin Stinton
HAVERMAYER …….. Matt Rippy
DOCTOR ....…………...Patrick Bailey
NURSE ………………….Laurel Lefkow

Written by Ron Hutchinson

Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan
A Big Fish Radio production for BBC Radio 4


MON 11:00 City of Refuge (m00040lk)
Myriam Francois reports on the tough choices facing Syrian refugees in Tripoli, Lebanon's second city. A small number have begun returning to Syria. Yet they face risks whether they stay or whether they go back. Tripoli has around 100,000 Syrian refugees, amounting to around 1 in 4 of its population. This has put a strain on relations between native Lebanese and the refugees, especially in a city which feels it is neglected by the capital, Beirut. Myriam follows Dr Mounir Hakimi, a British-Syrian NHS surgeon from Manchester to Tripoli. He has been operating on refugees from his home town of Homs and from other parts of Syria. They need urgent medical attention and cannot afford it without help from the NGO sponsoring Dr Hakimi. Myriam asks both Syrians and local Lebanese about what the best future is for the refugees in a city which was struggling to provide enough work and services for its people even before their arrival.
Producer: Bob Howard


MON 11:30 Loose Ends (m00040lm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


MON 12:00 News Summary (m00040lp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 Home Fire (m00040lr)
Episode 6

By Kamila Shamsie.

Parvaiz is discontented about having to leave the family home. He wants to know more about his father.

This breathtakingly topical, powerful thriller by Kamila Shamsie won the 2018 Women's Prize for Fiction and was Book of the Year for all the major UK Newspapers. Home Fire is about identity, conflicting loyalties, love and politics: a book for our times.

Abridged by Sara Davies and read by Lisa Zahra and Sanjeev Bhaskar.
Producer... Mary Ward-Lowery


MON 12:18 You and Yours (m00040lt)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


MON 12:57 Weather (m00040lw)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m00040ly)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


MON 13:45 The Decade That Invented the Future: The 1970s (m00040m0)
1975: Europe referendum

Stephen Wall, former British Permanent Representative to the European Union, and author of an official history of Britain and the European Community, recalls Britain's 1975 referendum on membership of the EEC. "Like most of my generation, I felt idealistic about this European project," Sir Stephen says. "But as a country, we never quite felt ‘European’. We went ‘to’ Europe rather than feeling ‘in’ Europe."
Producer: Neil Koenig


MON 14:00 The Archers (m00040hx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (m00040m2)
The Ferryhill Philosophers

Moral Luck and the F Word

By Michael Chaplin. A man burdened with terrible guilt returns to Ferryhill to find forgiveness for his part in the death of a child.
Alun Armstrong and Deborah Findlay star once again as the unlikely duo of ex-miner and Durham University philosopher facing life’s big questions together.

Cast:
Joe Snowball ... Alun Armstrong
Hermione Pink ... Deborah Findlay
Mark Cornforth ... John Bowler
Barry Hardwick ... Trevor Fox
Kathy Merrington ... Jackie Lye
Bus Driver ... Dean Logan
Barmaid ... Tracy Gillman

Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4


MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (m00040m4)
Heat 3, 2019

(3/17)
Competitors from the North West of England join Russell Davies for the latest contest in the 2019 series. Among the unpredictable topics they face in today's quiz will be the Winter Olympics, the Old Testament, the UK Coast to Coast path, technical terms in poetry and British sitcoms of the 1970s.

A listener also gets the chance to win a prize by Beating the Brains with questions of his or her own.

Today's competitors are:
Ashton Davies, a teacher from Poynton
Stephen Hatcher, a semi-retired teacher from Ashbourne in Derbyshire
James Haughton, a student from Manchester
Alice Walker, a retired IT consultant from Stockport.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m00040h7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 Time Brings Roses: A Radio Cabaret (m00040m7)
Welcome to the cabaret at Juwelia’s gallery in Neukölln, Berlin. Our hostess is at the window, a rose in her hair, waiting to see what happens. “Who knows what the evening will bring?” she is fond of saying. “I’m sitting here and I look good. That’s all, no?”

It is a schmoozy-coozy salon, a space for burlesque, where shared fantasies become reality. Juwelia’s paintings cover the walls, self-portraits with lovers in sunflower fields or by the bins at the local U-Bahn station. Her songs tell of a changing neighbourhood - “Once Bratwurst, now Champagne” - and of her life as the most beautiful woman in Berlin.

“The ways of my own life have led me elsewhere. But I hope that some young foreigner has fallen in love with this city and is writing what happened or might have happened to him there...” - Christopher Isherwood, Preface to The Berlin Stories.

We arrive at the Juwelia's with the guests to take our place at a tiny table and drink Sekt. At some point the show begins - songs, dancing, a lecture on capitalism delivered with the aid of two balloons. Guests step up from the audience to take a turn on the little stage. Our Isherwood-quoting narrator is a sound recordist, happy to put down the book and the broom and enter the world of the cabaret.

Produced by Phil Smith
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m00040m9)
Femininity and Religion

In 1965, Teen Magazine asked a number of well-known actresses what it means to be “Feminine.” Sandra Dee said: “You must be meticulous in your clothing, make-up, skin – to be clean, fresh and nice all the time.” How times change. This week Ernie Rea is joined by three women representing three faith traditions who give their own views on what it means to be feminine. Mrs Michelle Ciffer describes herself as a wife, mother and Senior Community Services Manager in Salford’s Orthodox Jewish Community; Dr Chetna Kang is a Vaishnava Hindu Priest and Consultant Psychiatrist; and Dr Holly Morse is a lecturer in Bible, Gender and Culture at the University of Manchester.

Producer: Amanda Hancox


MON 17:00 PM (m00040mc)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00040mf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m00040mh)
Series 22

Episode 2

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.

Sindhu Vee, Susan Calman, Graeme Garden and Tony Hawks are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as swimming, mothers, magazines and clowns.

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


MON 19:00 The Archers (m0003zv8)
Reality bites for Freddie and there's tension at Bridge Farm.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m00040mk)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m00040lh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


MON 20:00 My Name Is... (m0003z89)
My Name Is Rachel

Rachel Waddingham hears voices. The first time she heard them she was lying in a bed. “You’re so stupid”, “they are watching you”, “it would be much better if you just ended it all”. She was also convinced she was being watched, that she was at the centre of a conspiracy. She ended up dropping out of university and eventually was admitted to a psychiatric unit. “I began to hear the alien speak to me, and that alien told me that I was a murderer, that it could control me, that it was going to make me kill people. It was a hideous terrifying voice.” She was put on medication and it looked like everything was working. “I was less troubled, less troubled by the voices”, she says. After a few weeks Rachel was discharged, but was soon back in again, with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. “I lost all hope. It wasn't so much the voices that kind of risked my life, it was this hopelessness, this sense that I'd never be part of the normal world”. She tried to escape from the ward and was subsequently sectioned.

Rachel became what’s called a ‘revolving door patient’, in and out of hospital, sectioned multiple times. Each time she became more and more alarmed by what she saw as the lack of humanity in the system. This is Rachel’s story of being sectioned in 21st Century Britain. It’s an intimate and revealing insight into what it’s like to be a ‘revolving door patient’. Talking to a consultant psychiatrist, a psychiatric nurse and the lead author of a recent government review of the Mental Health Act, she challenges the status quo and considers how things might change. Rachel asks why she doesn’t have more rights to decide her own care and treatment, and explores how to break the cycle of the ‘revolving door’ patient.


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m0003rj9)
Nepal Fights Foreign Paedophiles

Hunting western paedophiles is a priority for a new police unit tasked with safeguarding children in Nepal. Mired in poverty and still recovering from a devastating earthquake in 2015, Nepal is increasingly being targeted by foreign paedophiles who recommend it as a destination when they share child abuse tips on the dark web. In recent years, a series of western men have been charged with raping or sexually assaulting Nepali boys. For Crossing Continents, Jill McGivering follows the under-resourced police unit, hears the stories of victims and perpetrators and examines what makes Nepal so vulnerable to abuse by western men.

This programme contains descriptions of child sexual abuse which some listeners may find distressing.

Produced by Caroline Finnigan.


MON 21:00 A Sense of Time (m0003qxf)
Animal senses reveal a wealth of information that humans can't access. Birds can see in ultra violet, and some fish can 'feel' electricity. But how do different species sense time?

If you've ever tried to swat flies, you'll know that they seem to have super-powered reactions that let them escape before you can blink. Presenter Geoff Marsh asks whether flies have some sort of super-power to see the world in slow motion. Are they watching your hand come down at what might appear a leisurely pace?

Science reveals a window into the minds of different species and their temporal perceptions. Some flies have such fast vision that they can see and react to movement at four times the rate you can, and our vision works at more than six times the speed of one species of deep sea fish. This programme delves into each moment of experience to ask 'what is time, biologically?' When birds have to dodge through forests and catch flies on the wing, or when flies have to avoid birds, it would seem that a faster temporal resolution would be a huge advantage. So what is their sense of time?

Geoff meets physicist Carlo Rovelli and asks him to jump outside of physics to answer questions on biology and philosophy. Geoff explores the mind of a bat with Professor Yossi Yovel in Israel, and dissects birdsong at super slow speeds with BBC wildlife sound recordist, Chris Watson. Getting deep into the minds of animals he questions whether our seconds feel like swordfish seconds, or a beetles' or birds' or bats..?

Presenter: Geoff Marsh
Producer: Rory Galloway


MON 21:30 Start the Week (m00040l9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m00040mn)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 Home Fire (m00040lr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


MON 23:00 Two Minutes to Midnight (b0bgrwm3)
Richard Clay explores why we are no longer afraid of nuclear annihilation, and whether we should be.

In December 2017, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists placed their "Doomsday Clock" at two minutes to midnight. Not since 1953, when the U.S. first tested its Hydrogen bomb, has the nuclear warning been so stark.

And yet, the paranoia and fear which once existed has seemingly disappeared. In 1980, the Government's Protect and Survive booklet was published, telling people to crouch under the kitchen table when the four-minute warning sounded. Raymond Briggs' animated novel When the Wind Blows depicted an elderly couple's final moments together following a nuclear strike, and films like Threads and The Day After shocked TV audiences and attracted huge controversy.

Today, however, people seem more agitated by issues like climate change than nuclear disaster. Richard Clay explores what has happened in the intervening 40 years.

Producers: Anthony Denselow and Ellie Clifford
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m00046wb)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



TUESDAY 09 APRIL 2019

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m00040mq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (m00040ms)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00040mv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00040mx)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00040mz)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m00040n1)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00040n3)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with the Very Rev'd Dr Sarah Rowland Jones, Dean of St Davids Cathedral


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m00040n5)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08r1sk7)
Kane Brides on the Coot

Kane Brides of the Slimbridge Wetland Centre on why the humble coot means so much to him.

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer Miles Warde.


TUE 06:00 Today (m0003ztf)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m0003zth)
Richard Peto on why smoking kills but quitting saves lives

When Sir Richard Peto began work with the late Richard Doll fifty years ago, the UK had the worst death rates from smoking in the world. Smoking was the cause of more than half of all premature deaths of British men. The fact that this country now boasts the biggest decrease in tobacco-linked mortality is in no doubt partly due to Doll and Peto's thirty year collaboration.
Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at the University of Oxford and until last year co-director of the Clinical Trial Service Unit with Professor Sir Rory Collins, Richard Peto pioneered "big data", setting up enormous randomised clinical trials and then, in a novel approach, combining results in what became known as meta-analyses, amassing unequivocal evidence about how early death could be avoided. He showed how asprin could prevent heart attacks and how the oestrogen-blocking drug tamoxifen really did affect survival rates for breast cancer patients.
Results on paper saves lives in the real world, he says, and he's famous for catchphrases like: "death in old age is inevitable, but death before old age is not" and "you can avoid more deaths by a moderate reduction of a big cause, than by a big reduction in a small cause" as well as "take the big numbers seriously".
One of the world's leading epidemiologists, Richard Peto's landmark study with Alan Lopez at the World Health Organisation predicted that a billion people would die from diseases associated with tobacco this century, compared to a hundred million killed by tobacco in the 20th century. The chilling message galvanised governments around the world to adopt anti-smoking policies. And Professor Peto's studies about smoking cessation ("smoking kills, stopping works") provided the public health evidence needed to encourage smokers that, however long they had smoked for, it was always worth quitting.

Producer: Fiona Hill


TUE 09:30 One to One (m0003ztk)
Life in prison: Alan Rusbridger talks to CJ Burge

In her early twenties, CJ Burge was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison for importing drugs into Japan. She went on to spend six years in jail, first in Japan and then in the UK. Today, with a first class Law degree earned through study in prison, she is a different person.

CJ talks to Alan Rusbridger about life in prison in two different countries and reveals the effect that imprisonment had on her mental state. She tells him about being grateful for incarceration and about how she used opportunities in jail to change her life beyond the prison walls.

Producer: Camellia Sinclair


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (m0003ztm)
The Nature of Spring

Island Spring

In a series of poetic vignettes, nature writer Jim Crumley paints a captivating picture of Scotland’s wilderness in spring and the joys of observing its abundant wildlife. On visits to Colonsay and Shetland he encounters cuckoos, snipe, eiders, oystercatchers, choughs, yellow hammers, starlings, corncrakes, red-throated divers and some basking grey seals into the bargain.
Reader: Simon Tait. Abridger: Linda Cracknell. Producer: Bruce Young


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0003ztp)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m0003ztr)
Ship of Lies

Episode 2

Gunther takes Emma to a bar in waterfront Red Hook to meet an Irishman who claims to have worked in the Belfast shipyard where the Titanic was built. He’d been worried about the ship’s structural soundness, in particular in the keel plates that would have been exposed to unprecedented stress in this huge vessel. He also claims that the ship was doomed even before it left port.

Emma is unsettled by a dawning fear that establishing any kind of truth about the Titanic is going to be harder than she thought.

Returning to Red Hook to follow up, they see the harbor police hauling a body out of the Hudson River. It’s the Belfast shipyard worker. It’s either an accidental drowning or somebody has made sure he’s silenced.

Cast:
EMMA ……………….....Jasmine Hyde
DANNY …………….... Colin Stinton
HAVERMAYER …….. Matt Rippy
DOCTOR ....…………...Patrick Bailey
NURSE ………………….Laurel Lefkow

Written by Ron Hutchinson

Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan
A Big Fish Radio production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 11:00 Amritsar 1919: Remembering a British Massacre (m0003ztt)
A hundred years ago, a British officer ordered 50 Gurkha and Indian troops to fire on an unarmed crowd of many thousands in Amritsar’s Jallianwala Bagh. Historian Dr Zareer Masani (above right) explores the myths and realities around one of the worst episodes in the history of the British Empire. How many people were shot or wounded? Was it a pre-meditated slaughter by Brigadier Reginald Dyer, later dubbed “the Butcher of Amritsar”? Or was he massively over-reacting to a large public meeting?
Zareer travels to Amritsar to visit the scene of Dyer’s massacre and to talk to the curator of the local museum, to descendants of some who died and to historians of the event. He’s surprised to find this site of national mourning turned into an ornamental family picnic spot where people pose for cheerful selfies alongside bullet-holes in the walls. On a visit with the Queen in 1997, Prince Philip is reported to have asserted that the casualty figures were exaggerated. Was he right to do so, and why were his comments so controversial? The precise casualty figures have been hotly debated, with best estimates now agreed by most historians as being 5-700, not 2000 as claimed by the Indian government. And why did the massacre have such a dramatic impact on both the Raj and the nationalist movement?

Buried in the past, Zareer finds evidence that Jallianwala was not an isolated incident, but the result of a spiral of violence in the Punjab, much of it directed at unarmed Europeans. Should Britain now make a formal apology for the incident? Dyer’s biographer maintains that we should, but surprisingly the Indian historians Zareer interviews say it would be meaningless.

Producer: Tom Alban


TUE 11:30 Gyles Brandreth’s Poetry By Heart (b0blhfpn)
Poems suggested for learning:

T.S.Eliot - The Preludes (one or all!)
Tony Harrison - Them and [uz]
Benjamin Zephaniah - Talking Turkey
Wilfred Owen - Dulce et Decorum Est
Carol Ann Duffy - The Christmas Truce

Gyles Brandreth has, for many years, been familiar with the notion that learning something new every day is a sure-fire way of sustaining mental well-being. He's also got a hunch that if that new 'thing' is in verse form there are a raft of other positives to be had from the process of learning it heart. In this programme he garners advice on how it should best be done, what benefits it genuinely brings and what joys are to be had 'in vacant or in pensive mood' from the flow and facility of poetic verse recollected in tranquillity.
His first port of call is the Duchess of Cornwall, Patron of the Royal Society of Literature, who shares a passion for poetry, and more particularly poetry learned by heart. He also calls on Dame Judi Dench for advice on learning and some insights into how she sustains her reservoir of learned verse.
But there's science behind all this, supplied by Professor Usha Goswami, the Director of the Centre of Neuroscience at Cambridge University, who'll explain to Gyles the latest thinking about the way the brain records and retains poetic meter and particularly the strong, rhythmic meter of the twice-told rhymes of childhood.
And then there's Kaiti Soultana, winner of the Poetry By Heart Competition in 2013, whose successfully committed a chunk of the early English poem Sir Garwain and the Green Knight to memory. He'll find out from her how the poetry learning initiative of the last few years has fared and whether his passionate enthusing will be well received. And then there's Michael Rosen, former Children's Laureate, who continues to encourage kids not only to read and learn poetry but to write it as well.

Producer: Tom Alban


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m0003ztw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 Home Fire (m0003zty)
Episode 7

By Kamila Shamsie. Parvaiz sets out to carry on the work his father would have done had he lived.

This breathtakingly topical, powerful thriller by Kamila Shamsie won the 2018 Women's Prize for Fiction and was Book of the Year for all the major UK Newspapers. Home Fire is about identity, conflicting loyalties, love and politics: a book for our times.

Abridged by Sara Davies and read by Sanjeev Bhaskar.
Producer... Mary Ward-Lowery


TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m0003zv0)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


TUE 12:57 Weather (m0003zv2)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m0003zv4)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


TUE 13:45 The Decade That Invented the Future: The 1970s (m0003zv6)
1976: Borrowing into the future

Peter Jay, former economics editor of both the Times and the BBC, explores the legacy of the financial crisis in 1976 that led Britain to borrow billions from the IMF.
Producer: Neil Koenig


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m0003zv8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b095qs4b)
Lights, Camera, Kidnap!

Episode 1

By Lucy Catherine

Set in that most secretive of hermit states, North Korea, we begin in the late 1970s when Kim Jung-Il, the Great Leader's son, is put in charge of the country's film industry at the age of 25. Like his father, Jung-Il sees cinema as an instrument of mass propaganda. But he's also a genuine movie buff and is appalled by the poor quality of North Korea's offerings. After all, this is the age of Spielberg, Scorsese, Coppola - and Jung-Il can clearly see that his own country's unsophisticated melodramas are decades behind the West.

He is determined to put DPRK on the map through its movies and he concocts an audacious plan to kidnap South Korea's star film director Shin Sang-Ok and his estranged wife, the much-celebrated actress Choi Eun-Hee - and persuade them to work for him.

What follows is a truly remarkable narrative involving the kidnapping of both stars, Shin's failed escape attempts, his five-year incarceration in a labour camp, Choi's growing 'friendship' with her captor, her eventual re-union with her husband, the plotting of their escape while making 6 films for Jung-Il, the re-kindling of love, and their eventual escape to the US Embassy in Vienna. ,

An 'audio-film' about love of the movies, love in captivity, a hidden culture, and one of the most eccentric dictators in history.

Written by Lucy Catherine, and drawing on material from the book A Kim Jong-Il production by Paul Fischer.

The songs were translated and arranged by Emma Harding, and sang by Wendy Kweh.

Director . . . . . Sasha Yevtushenko.


TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m0003zvb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (m0003z9g)
The Wolf is Back!

Wolves were hunted out of many European countries over a century ago. In recent years they've been migrating back naturally and have now reached every country in continental Europe. Not everyone is happy - while their preferred food source is said to be deer and wild boar the killing of sheep and goats has angered many farmers. Tom Heap travels to the French Alps, meeting farmers to see if its possible to rear livestock alongside a wolf population and hears about projects to help - including an innovative scheme where volunteers camp out to protect the sheep. Tom's taken his own camping gear in the hope of getting closer to these creatures and hearing or possibly seeing them.
He also travels to the Netherlands. Even here, they've had sightings of wolves since 2015, so he's going tracking in one of the areas they've been spotted - hoping for a sighting or a sign. Tracks or scat can give important evidence and may help indicate if the wolves have now settled here. How will the first resident female wolf - or eventually pack - for 140 years change life for the Dutch? Join him as they wait for important news.

Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock


TUE 16:00 The Cult of Aphex Twin (b0b88k6l)
Music writer John Doran ventures into the strange world of Richard D James. Over the course of three decades James, known to his legion of hardcore fans as Aphex Twin, has achieved the primary but evasive aim of most serious musicians - the invention, exploration and curation of a truly unique and inimitable sound.

Born in Ireland and raised in Cornwall, James was radicalised by the underground acid house phenomenon that swept UK clubs in the late 1980s but, unlike many of his peers, he seemed equally influenced by ambient, New York minimalism, power electronics, avant composition, techno, industrial and pop music.

By combining these strands, he became just about “as important as a single figure can get in electronic music” and the more that the press wanted to speak to him the more he treated their attention with a mixture of irritation, gleeful mischief and wilful myth building.

Realising that legend is often much more interesting than truth, he slowly began to construct a personal mythos that many still believe to this day. Does he really write songs while asleep after training himself in the practice of lucid dreaming? Does he drive a tank round Cornwall? Did he once live in a bank vault in the middle of the Elephant And Castle roundabout? Does he own a submarine? Does his DJ tech rider include a food processor and sheets of sandpaper? Does he move among his many fans on electronic dance music forums online, often trolling them and stirring up these very myths?

In an attempt to disentangle the man from the myth, we hear from fans such as comedian Vic Reeves and those who know him best such as musicians Tom Middleton, Leila, David Toop and Scanner.

Fan of 25 years John Doran believes that James should be seen as a Cornish folk musician. While a lot of time has been spent talking about how groundbreaking his music has been over the years, less thought has been devoted to discussing how he is also a conduit to the pre-Christian culture of the Cornish past, not just through the song names he chooses or the natural textures of plant and mineral that his music evokes, but also because he is a product of the Cornish myth-making tradition himself and part of a proud heritage that includes mermaids, giants, piskies and pobel vean.

Presented by John Doran
Produced by Barney Rowntree
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m0003zvd)
Series 48

Catherine de Medici nominated by Helen Lewis

Journalist Helen Lewis rehabilitates the reputation of the “Black Queen” of France, Catherine de Medici. Helen is joined by Dr Estelle Paranque, history lecturer at the New College of Humanities and author of a new book on the relationship between Catherine and Elizabeth I.

Catherine’s life is a remarkable story of female resilience in the face of adversity. Born and immediately orphaned in Florence, Catherine’s Medici name meant she was married off to the French King’s second son. When she arrived in France, she was shunned. Her new husband was already completely in love with another far older and more beautiful woman. He showed little interest in her. And no one expected her to come to the throne. But, following a series of unfortunate deaths, Catherine would go on to become one of the most powerful women in Europe – Queen regent, and mother to three kings across decades of a volatile period in French history.

Helen became fascinated by her aged ten when she realised with a kind of horror that had she been a medieval princess she was the right age to be shipped off to a strange land to marry some duke she’d never met. Helen Lewis is associate editor at the New Statesman. She argues that Catherine was a savvy political operator, and that her reputation as “the serpent of Paris”was largely due to the fact she was a female in power at a very difficult time. A fascinating insight into a major character little known over here.

The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer in Bristol is Polly Weston.


TUE 17:00 PM (m0003zvg)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0003zvj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 My Teenage Diary (b07ffxtj)
Series 7

Michael Rosen

Poet and broadcaster Michael Rosen reads from his teenage diaries which focus on growing up as a naughty schoolboy in the 1960s, his early enthusiasm for politics and his warm, loving and unusual family life.

Presenter: Rufus Hound

Producer: Harriet Jaine
Executive Producer: Aled Evans
A Talkback production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m0003z8t)
Lily reveals all about recent events and Kate looks to the future.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m0003zvl)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m0003ztr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


TUE 20:00 Goliath: How Monopolies Came to Be (m0003zvn)
Political economist, academic and journalist Will Hutton traces the history of monopolies and public attitudes towards them. Coming at the subject with an open mind full of strongly held beliefs - some of which are in opposition to each other - he considers the great ironies and tensions at the heart of the modern monopoly.

The last 200 years have been dominated by two schools of thought on how the economy functions. One, originating from Adam Smith, focuses on competition. The other, conscious of how Smith's brand of liberalism leads to rapid concentration of wealth, takes its starting point from the tendency of unfettered markets towards monopoly. Smith was keenly aware of this tendency and demanded vigilance against it, but his thinking was developed before the 20th Century world of mass-scale production and the 21st Century world of data capitalism, where initial winners take all by becoming monopolists.

The West, post-World War Two, has been dominated by the liberal school of thought, with its accent on promoting competition. However, as inequality has widened and concerns about its effectiveness grown, the competitive school has become increasingly unable to explain why the contemporary economy has a tendency towards monopolies – or how best to respond.

This has seen the second school of thought begin to challenge traditional Smith-style liberalism - although it is something we don't yet understand well and has a contradictory, irony-filled past and possibly future.

Will Hutton takes a wide-ranging journey through our own political and economic history, breaking a seemingly vast issue down into relatable and coherent arguments, to be better equipped to understand the crucial issues driving our economies and, by extension, our lives in the 21st Century.

Producer: Sean Glynn
An SPG production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m0003zvq)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted


TUE 21:00 The Patch (m00019cc)
Rannoch

One producer, one randomly generated postcode, and an unheard story unfolding in a corner of Britain we wouldn’t otherwise know about.

Earlier this year, producer Polly Weston discovered a random postcode generator on the internet. It sparked a radical idea. Maybe by randomly generating postcodes, and then going there, we'd find stories which are being overlooked - stories of national importance which we never would have noticed without stumbling into them.

Each week, a new postcode is randomly generated. This postcode becomes Polly's patch. Near or far, populated or not, this is the area where she must go to make the programme.

Week two takes us to a very remote area of Scotland, and a story which begins with a hand written sign that reads "A BRIDGE TOO FAR."

Producer/Presenter: Polly Weston
Exec Producer: Jolyon Jenkins


TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (m0003zth)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m0003zvs)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


TUE 22:45 Home Fire (m0003zty)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


TUE 23:00 Fred at The Stand (m0003zvv)
Series 2

Justin Moorhouse, Gareth Waugh, Ninia Benjamin and Gary Little

Fred MacAulay is back at The Stand Comedy Club in Glasgow doing what he does best - making people laugh.

This new series brings another selection of some of the best of stand-up comedians working in the UK right now. Some you’ll know and some you won’t - yet.

In this unpredictable show, Fred introduces four hand picked favourites. Gareth Waugh makes a triumphant return to the show, only to discover that the games he played as a child were perhaps not quite the same as everyone else. The explosive Ninia Benjamin has strong views on European politics and Justin Moorhouse has even stronger views on the extravagance that his kids now expect on holiday. To close the show, Fred has invited his fellow Scot Gary Little down to The Stand - and if anyone can do an entire set about a frying pan, it's Gary.

Fred At The Stand is the closest thing your ears are going to get to an actual night in a comedy club.

A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000483b)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



WEDNESDAY 10 APRIL 2019

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m0003zvy)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 Book of the Week (m0003ztm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0003zw0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0003zw2)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0003zw4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (m0003zw6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0003zw8)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with the Very Rev Dr Sarah Rowland Jones, Dean of St Davids Cathedral


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m0003zwb)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08r1vz9)
Ruth Cromie on the Eider

Ruth Cromie of the Slimbridge Wetland Centre proclaims her love for the eider duck, both rock hard and extremely soft.

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer Miles Warde.


WED 06:00 Today (m0003z7s)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Black Music in Europe: A Hidden History (m0003z7v)
Series 2

After 1945

Drawing on rare archive recordings, Clarke Peters' new three-part series explores the hidden history of black music across Europe, from the late 1920s through the war years and beyond.

Black music in Europe doesn’t begin with the arrival of the Empire Windrush at Tilbury. There is a long, rich history preserved on shellac discs that shows how diverse sounds enthralled the continent long before 1948.

Throughout the series, we hear from a huge array of different performers - including classical composers, jazz stars, calypso legends and more - as well as commentators and historians, to get to the heart of early black music in Europe.

Episode 3 – After 1945
In this final episode, Clarke delves into the sounds of 1950s London, from Ambrose Campbell and his West African Rhythm Brothers and steel pan master Sterling Betancourt MBE, to calypso star Lord Kitchener. He also uncovers the history of jazz in Paris after 1945 and tells how black American GIs found a new freedom in post-war Germany.

Presented by Clarke Peters
Produced by Tom Woolfenden
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


WED 09:30 The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry (m0003z7x)
Series 13

The Periodic Problem

"Will the periodic table ever be complete?" asks Philip Craven on Twitter.

In 2016 four new chemical elements were given the official stamp of approval - nihonium, moscovium, tennessine, and oganesson. And 2019 was named by the UN as the International Year of the Periodic Table.

In this episode, Hannah and Adam dive into the test tubes of history to hear why the first element was discovered in boiled urine, why chips don't explode and how a cancelled trip to a cheese factory resulted in the creation of the periodic table.

We'll hear from Dawn Shaughnessy from Lawrence Livermore National Lab, part of the team that discovered the latest 'superheavy' elements. Science writer Philip Ball shows Adam around Humphry Davy's lab equipment at the Royal Institution of Great Britain and Jim Al-Khalili explains why scientists are eager to reach the Island of Stability.

Presenters: Adam Rutherford, Hannah Fry
Producer: Michelle Martin


WED 09:45 Book of the Week (m0003z7z)
The Nature of Spring

An Island Pilgrimage

In a series of poetic vignettes, nature writer Jim Crumley paints a captivating picture of Scotland’s wilderness in spring and the joys of observing its abundant wildlife. Today he visits the fertile small island of Lismore in Loch Linnhe.
Reader: Simon Tait. Abridger: Linda Cracknell. Producer: Bruce Young


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0003z82)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (m0003z84)
Ship of Lies

Episode 3

With McBride now dead, feared murdered, it begins to dawn on Emma and Danny that their investigation in New York may be putting their own lives at grave risk.

Given the financial consequences of the Titanic’s loss – insurance claims are already running into the millions – the Marconi Company isn’t admitting any liability. Indeed, it seems to be reluctantly providing only the information it’s required to by law.

That’s still a considerable mass of material and, buried inside it, is a copy of a telegram which purported to come from the White Star line in the immediate aftermath of the first report of trouble. It countermanded the SOS, stating that the ship sustained minor damage, no one has been injured and it's steaming unhindered to New York.

"What if somebody sent that fake telegram to make money in the stock market?" Danny suggests.

Emma discovers two lists of names. One is the definitive list of the fifteen hundred or so people who died on the ship. The other is much shorter, but much more significant. It’s the names of those who were booked to travel on the Titanic but cancelled at the last moment. The names of those who stood to benefit by the sinking. And Danny claims he now knows what their motives were in wanting it go down and who were the real targets of what was, in effect, mass murder.

Cast:
EMMA ……………….....Jasmine Hyde
DANNY …………….... Colin Stinton
HAVERMAYER …….. Matt Rippy
DOCTOR ....…………...Patrick Bailey
NURSE ………………….Laurel Lefkow

Written by Ron Hutchinson

Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan
A Big Fish Radio production for BBC Radio 4


WED 10:55 The Listening Project (m0003z87)
Isabelle and Sue - I Want Three Alpacas

A 12-year-old girl talks to her counsellor and friend about how she sees her future panning out - from becoming an air traffic controller to keeping alpacas. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.


WED 11:00 My Name Is... (m0003z89)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]


WED 11:30 Ability (m0003z8c)
Series 2

Doing a Runner

Matt is 25. He has cerebral palsy and can only speak via an app on his iPad. Everyone who cares about Matt knows that this isn't the defining thing about him. He is funny and clever and "up for stuff" - partly because he is keen to show that there's nothing he can't do, but also because, if he's honest, he's aware that he's less likely than other people to get the blame.

In this second series of the award nominated comedy, Matt is still sharing a flat with his best mate, Jess. He is still in love with her but, much as she likes him, she is still not in love with him. She does however, fancy Matt’s rubbish carer, Bob (Allan Mustafa). Well just a tiny bit anyway. Not that she would ever admit it. After all, Bob is even more lazy and useless at most things than she is.

But Bob is willing. And although domestic duties are not really his forte, he likes Matt and treats him like a real person. And over the last year or so the three of them have been through a lot together - well a lot of drinking and hangovers anyway.

Ability is the semi-autobiographical co-creation of the 2018 Britain’s Got Talent winner, Lee Ridley, otherwise known as Lost Voice Guy. Like his sitcom creation, Lee has cerebral palsy and can only speak via an app. He is - probably - the first stand up comedian to use a communication aid. Prior to BGT, Lee won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2014, has written and performed four full Edinburgh shows and has just completed a major sell out tour of the UK.

Katherine Jakeways, the co-creator and co-writer of Ability, is a multi-award nominated writer. She has written North by Northamptonshire, Guilt Trip and All Those Women for BBC Radio 4 as well as numerous radio plays. She has also written for Crackanory and The Tracey Ullman Show for TV.

The series is set in Newcastle and many of the cast last played together as children in Biker’s Grove.

Cast includes:
Matt............Lee Ridley – aka Lost Voice Guy
Bob..............Allan Mustafa
Jess..............Sammy Dobson
Matt's Inner Voice.............Andrew Hayden-Smith

A Funny Bones production for BBC Radio 4


WED 12:00 News Summary (m0003z8f)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 Home Fire (m0003z8h)
Episode 8

Aneeka wasn't able to join Parvaiz in Turkey. And now it's too late.

This breathtakingly topical, powerful thriller by Kamila Shamsie won the 2018 Women's Prize for Fiction and was Book of the Year for all the major UK Newspapers. Home Fire is about identity, conflicting loyalties, love and politics: a book for our times.

Abridged by Sara Davies and read by Lisa Zahra and Sanjeev Bhaskar.
Producer... Mary Ward-Lowery


WED 12:18 You and Yours (m0003z8k)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


WED 12:57 Weather (m0003z8m)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m0003z8p)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


WED 13:45 The Decade That Invented the Future: The 1970s (m0003z8r)
1977: Apple

Author and broadcaster Michael S. Malone tells the story of the Apple II personal computer, an invention which helped to revolutionise the way we work and play. "The stunning Apple II, with its new rainbow logo, put the scores of other, cruder personal computers in the shade, " he says. "They looked like the past. The Apple II looked like the future, the only future, for personal computing."
Producer: Neil Koenig


WED 14:00 The Archers (m0003z8t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama (b095rbtf)
Lights, Camera, Kidnap!

Episode 2

By Lucy Catherine

Riotously entertaining feature-length true story of how a South Korean movie star and her estranged director husband were kidnapped by Kim Jong-Il, brought to North Korea and forced to revive the film industry. They are sent to labour camps, finally make amazing movies, rekindle their love and escape.

An 'audio-film' about love of the movies, love in captivity, a hidden culture, and one of the most eccentric dictators in history.

Written by Lucy Catherine, and drawing on material from the book A Kim Jong-Il production by Paul Fischer.

Director . . . . . Sasha Yevtushenko.


WED 15:00 Money Box (m0003z8w)
The latest news from the world of personal finance plus advice for those trying to make the most of their money.


WED 15:30 In Their Element (b0bclbmx)
Series 3

Any Old Iron

From weapons to ploughshares, iron holds a key place as the element for the tools of the rise and destruction of human civilisations. As a grand scale shaper of our towns and cities and our culture it is unmatched. And yet it also has a major role to play in living cells.

Andrew Pontzen, Reader in Cosmology at University College London. explores iron's sometimes ambivalent history and also delves deep inside ourselves to understand how iron is key to keeping us all alive.

Dr Kate Maguire, astrophysicist at Queens University, Belfast, explains how the iron on earth was formed in distant exploding stars. Andrew talks to Professor Marcos Martinón-Torres about how our ancestors first used this metal. And Dr Caroline Shenton-Taylor, of the University of Surrey, discusses one of iron's greatest and most mysterious properties - magnetism.

In blood and bodies what does iron actually do - could any other element perform its life giving functions? Andrew finds out from Chris Cooper, Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry at Essex University, how iron is the key atom in haemoglobin that transports oxygen. And Dr Kathryn Robson, from Oxford University's Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, describes the condition haemochromatosis,, in which people have too much iron. which runs in Andrew's family.


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m0003z8y)
New research on how society works.


WED 16:30 The Media Show (m0003z90)
The programme about a revolution in media with Amol Rajan, the BBC's Media Editor


WED 17:00 PM (m0003z92)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0003z94)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:30 Fags, Mags and Bags (b0938c6y)
Series 7

Cumulus Nimbus

The hit series returns for a seventh series with more shop based shenanigans and over the counter philosophy, courtesy of Ramesh Mahju and his trusty sidekick Dave. Written by and starring Donald Mcleary and Sanjeev Kohli.

Set in a Scots-Asian corner shop, the award winning Fags, Mags & Bags sees a return of all the shop regular characters, and some guest appearances along the way, from the likes of Sean Biggerstaff, Mina Anwar, Greg McHugh and Simon Greenall.

In this episode, Alok's former best friend at school returns to Lenzie to host a film audition. Fraser Linlithgow (Sean Biggerstaff) is now a big hit in Hollywood, and Alok is keen to cash in on his fame.

Join the staff of Fags, Mags and Bags in their tireless quest to bring nice-price custard creams and cans of coke with Arabic writing on them to an ungrateful nation. Ramesh Mahju has built it up over the course of over 30 years and is a firmly entrenched, friendly presence in the local area. He is joined by his shop sidekick, Dave.

Then of course there are Ramesh's sons Sanjay and Alok, both surly and not particularly keen on the old school approach to shopkeeping, but natural successors to the business. Ramesh is keen to pass all his worldly wisdom onto them - whether they like it or not!

Cast:
Ramesh: Sanjeev Kohli
Dave: Donald Mcleary
Sanjay: Omar Raza
Alok: Susheel Kumar
Fraser Linlithgow: Sean Biggerstaff
Bishop Briggs: Michael Redmond
Mr Hepworth: Tom Urie
Paella Fieldings: Kate Brailsford.

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


WED 19:00 The Archers (m0003z96)
Jim has some harsh words and Leonard has a confession to make.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m0003z98)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m0003z84)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:41 today]


WED 20:00 FutureProofing (m0003z9b)
Opportunity

Presenters Leo Johnson and Timandra Harkness discover what impact technology will have on expanding - or contracting - opportunities for different sections of society in future. From a tough council estate in north London, to the labs at Harvard University developing tools to expand and augment human brain power, FutureProofing investigates how technology is set to alter the landscape of opportunity for millions in the 21st century. Algorithms could discriminate far more against different sections of the population, just as the network effects and low costs of entry might create huge new openings for people previously excluded from economic success. And the opportunities opened up by a revolutionary brain implant being developed in the USA could transform everyone's life chances in future.

Producer: Jonathan Brunert


WED 20:45 Lent Talks (m0003z9d)
The Uncertainty of Judas

"The most hated person in all of literature?" Theologian Dr Candida Moss considers the questions surrounding Judas’ motives and what they say about the demonisation of others and the complexity of betrayal.

Producer: Dan Tierney


WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (m0003z9g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 Black Music in Europe: A Hidden History (m0003z7v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m0003z9j)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


WED 22:45 Home Fire (m0003z8h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


WED 23:00 Bunk Bed (m0003z9l)
Series 6

Episode 4

Everyone craves a place where their mind and body are not applied to a particular task. The nearest faraway place. Somewhere for drifting and lighting upon strange thoughts which don't have to be shooed into context, but which can be followed like balloons escaping onto the air.

Late at night, in the dark and in a bunk bed, your tired mind can wander.

This is the nearest faraway place for Patrick Marber and Peter Curran. Here they endeavour to get the heart of things in an entertainingly vague and indirect way. This is not the place for typical male banter.

From under the bed clothes, they wrestle life's challenges - examining the etiquette of Farmers, David Bowie sex fantasies, hair transplants and the dangerous charm of the song The Air That I Breathe.

Produced by Peter Curran
A Foghorn production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:15 Kieran Hodgson's Earworms (b08zd64p)
Series 1

Wagner

Critically-acclaimed comedian Kieran Hodgson is joined by Harry Enfield and Colin Hoult, in the first of a new series of comedy intros to the great composers. Can self-described 'music educator and inspiration' Ralph Lewis, the man behind 'Mozart's Mowing Masterclass' and 'How Clean is your Strauss', persuade self-confessed 'enemy of culture' Paul, that Wagner's worth a listen, and not just music for Nazis?

Written and starring Kieran Hodgson
With Colin Hoult and Harry Enfield
Producer: Sam Ward
A BBC Studios Production.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000481n)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



THURSDAY 11 APRIL 2019

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m0003z9n)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 Book of the Week (m0003z7z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0003z9q)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0003z9s)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0003z9v)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (m0003z9x)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0003z9z)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with the Very Rev Dr Sarah Rowland Jones, Dean of St Davids Cathedral.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m0003zb1)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08rt9rh)
Joe Harkness on the skylark

Joe Harkness indulges in some bird therapy, rejoicing in the sight and song of the skylark. Joe writes about the benefits of birdwatching towards wellbeing through connecting people with nature.

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer Maggie Ayre.


THU 06:00 Today (m0003zbd)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m0003zbg)
The Evolution of Teeth

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss theories about the origins of teeth in vertebrates, and what we can learn from sharks in particular and their ancestors.

With

Gareth Fraser

Zerina Johanson

and

Philip Donoghue

Producer: Simon Tillotson


THU 09:45 Book of the Week (m0003zd5)
The Nature of Spring

The Sanctuary

In a series of poetic vignettes, nature writer Jim Crumley paints a captivating picture of Scotland’s wilderness in spring and the joys of observing its abundant wildlife. Today, he goes in search of sandpipers, greenshanks and black-throated divers and imagines a land where wolves might roam free.
Reader: Simon Tait. Abridger: Linda Cracknell. Producer: Bruce Young


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0003zbl)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m0003zbn)
Ship of Lies

Episode 4

The story that Danny tells seems fantastical but he backs it up with copious documentation.

The names he mentions – the Rothschilds, the Astors, JP Morgan and the Vanderbilts - are only vaguely known to Emma and he has to quickly sketch in who they are, the Robber Barons who control Wall Street and who are also are deeply involved in machinations in the City of London. They are among the the richest and most ruthless men in the world.

Some kind of high level dispute involving billions of dollars and the re-shaping of the world’s monetary order has made some of them the implacable enemies of the others. It seems to involve the creation of a central bank which will in effect be privately owned by Morgan’s allies.

Emma’s head has been spinning as she listens to this story, backed up as it is by newspaper reports and other documents. Is it true?

Danny says it’s for the reader to make up their own mind. He’s a journalist and, in the end, maybe in this modern world there can be two or three or even more alternative facts and realities.

When she asks what he means by saying that he might not publish the story, he says there might be a bigger payday in not publishing it.

Cast:
EMMA ……………….....Jasmine Hyde
DANNY …………….... Colin Stinton
HAVERMAYER …….. Matt Rippy
DOCTOR ....…………...Patrick Bailey
NURSE ………………….Laurel Lefkow

Written by Ron Hutchinson

Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan
A Big Fish Radio production for BBC Radio 4


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m0003zbq)
Poland's Partisan Ghosts

For some in Poland the Cursed Soldiers are national heroes; for others they are murderers. A march in celebration of a group of Polish partisans fighting the Soviets has become the focus of tension in a small community in one of Europe’s oldest forests. Those taking part believe the partisans – known as the Cursed Soldiers – were national heroes, but others remember atrocities committed by them 70 years ago. Some partisans were responsible for the burning of villages and the murder of men, women and children in and around Poland’s Bialowieza forest. The people living the forest are Orthodox and Catholic, Belorussian and Polish; this march threatens to revive past divisions between them. Many believe that far-right groups have hijacked this piece of history to further their nationalist agenda. For Crossing Continents, Maria Margaronis visits the forest to find out why this is causing tensions now; why the locals feel the march is making them feel threatened; and how this reflects wider political rifts in Poland today.

Produced by Charlotte McDonald.


THU 11:30 Matthew Herbert's World of Sound (m0003zbs)
The World Health Organisation has described noise pollution as an 'underestimated threat'. At the same time we are entering an exciting era where sound is being used to unlock new frontiers, from art and music to data services and medicine. In Matthew Herbert’s World of Sound, the pioneering composer and director of the New Radiophonic Workshop carves out a vertical slice of central London to explore the ethical, social, political, technical and creative implications of living with increasing varieties of sound, and to ask if the world is really getting noisier.

Starting with as close to sonic nothingness as possible, Matthew experiences an anechoic chamber at London’s South Bank University with studio designer Nick Whitaker. His journey then takes him from the lowest platform in Westminster Underground station, where he meets the station’s acoustic consultant Raj Patel, to Parliament Square with Gloria Elliott of the Noise Abatement Society and urban sound planner Francesco Aletta, and onto the roof terrace of the Houses of Parliament with journalist Ash Sarkar.

Matthew also meets technology entrepreneur Patrick Bergel amongst the noisy fridges and musak of a chain café, and hears from criminologist Emmeline Taylor about surveillance and the societal impact of new audio technologies. And throughout the programme, Matthew will reflect on a collection of specially recorded sounds from a Monday in February.

Photo credit: Manuel Vasquez


THU 12:00 News Summary (m0003zbv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 Home Fire (m0003zbx)
Episode 9

Aneeka begins her vigil outside the British Deputy High Commission.

This breathtakingly topical, powerful thriller by Kamila Shamsie won the 2018 Women's Prize for Fiction and was Book of the Year for all the major UK Newspapers. Home Fire is about identity, conflicting loyalties, love and politics: a book for our times.

Abridged by Sara Davies and read by Sanjeev Bhaskar.
Producer... Mary Ward-Lowery


THU 12:18 You and Yours (m0003zbz)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


THU 12:57 Weather (m0003zc1)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m0003zc3)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


THU 13:45 The Decade That Invented the Future: The 1970s (m0003zc5)
1978: IVF

The first "test-tube baby" was born in 1978. Ruth Deech, former chair of the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority, examines the impact of the introduction of IVF, the developments it made possible, and what the future may hold. "We were and remain the most advanced country in the world for research in cloned embryos and stem cell research," Baroness Deech says.
Producer: Neil Koenig


THU 14:00 The Archers (m0003z96)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Dangerous Visions (b07byvpb)
Your Perfect Summer, On Sale Here

Ben Tavassoli, Oliver Chris and Claudie Blakley star in Ed Harris's twisted romance.

What will happen when VR games can deliver real love?

Theo has been booked to give twenty-four hour care to a gamer who's in an elective coma. The new immersive game he's playing simulates your first love affair.

But is it a simulation? Not to Theo...

Ben Tavassoli stars as Rash in Anthony Horowitz's new police drama, 'New Blood', on BBC One. He played Alpha in 'No Offence', and has recently appeared in 'Silent Witness' and 'Tyrant'.

Oliver Chris has starred in great British comedies from Bluestone 42 to Green Wing and The Office. He was the original Stanley Stubbers opposite James Corden in 'One Man, Two Guv'nors', played the Assistant Commissioner opposite Billie Piper in Richard Bean's 'Great Britain', and Prince William in Mike Bartlett's 'King Charles III'.

Claudie Blakley became well-known for her roles in period dramas 'Cranford', 'Lark Rise to Candleford' and 'Gosford Park'. More recently she's starred with David Threlfall and Steven Macintosh in 'What Remains', with David Morrissey in 'The Driver', and recently theatre roles include 'The Painkiller' with Rob Bryden and Kenneth Branagh.

Ed Harris's writing for radio has included winning the Audio Drama Award for BILLIONS, Sony Gold for THE RESISTANCE OF MRS BROWN, the Writer's Guild Award for TROLL, and THE WALL nominated for the Prix Europa. He writes the Radio 4 comedy DOT.

The music for the game is by Abi Fry

Theo ..... Ben Tavassoli
Saskia ..... Claudie Blakley
Paul ..... Oliver Chris
Sophie ..... Scarlett Brookes
Theresa ..... Adie Allen
Game ..... Nicola Ferguson
Human ..... Nick Underwood

Produced and directed by Jonquil Panting


THU 15:00 Open Country (m0003zc7)
Changing Tides at Morecambe Bay

The Eden Project plans to bring its distinctive building design and appreciation for biodiversity to Morecambe. It's hoped that this Eden Project of the North would not only bring many visitors to the wider Morecambe Bay area but that it would also help us to understand the incredible ecosystem within the bay.

Until now the Bay has often been feared after tragedies such as when 23 cockle pickers were drowned in 2004. It is the UK's largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sands and this ecosystem creates a feeding ground and habitat for many species as well as supporting a unique method of fishing on foot and tractor. Many of those fishermen know how to work and cross the bay safely but Cedric Robinson is the man intrusted as 'The Queen's Guide to the Sands'. In this role he has been helping people cross the bay for 55 years and he has seen the bay changing.

Helen Mark meets Cedric and hears how the Eden Project and the Morecambe Bay Partnership hope to transform the bay into a place of fascination for all with landscape art, iconic buildings such as The Midland Hotel and proposed Eden Project and the stories of those who know the bay best.


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m0003zc9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Bookclub (m0003zcc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:00 The Film Programme (m0003zcf)
Paul Laverty: From Daniel Blake to Carlos Acosta; Secrets of The Shining

With Antonia Quirke.

Writer Paul Laverty explains why he followed up I, Daniel Blake with a bio-pic about Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta

Gordon Stainforth, the music editor of The Shining, reveals some little known facts about its famous score and why Stanley Kubrick was not the control freak that he's often been made out to be.


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m0003zch)
Dr Adam Rutherford and guests illuminate the mysteries and challenge the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.


THU 17:00 PM (m0003zck)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0003zcm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:30 Meet David Sedaris (m0003zcp)
Series 7

Episode 2

The globetrotting, trash-picking, aisle-rolling storyteller is back with more words of wit and wisdom.

With his sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, David Sedaris has become one of America’s pre-eminent humour writers. The great skill with which he slices through cultural euphemisms and political correctness proves him a master of satire and one of the most observant writers addressing the human condition today. This week: "The Godfather", more extracts from his daily diary and some of his audience's questions get answers.

David Sedaris's first book, Barrel Fever (1994) which included The SantaLand Diaries, was a critical and commercial success, as were his follow-up efforts, Naked (1997), Holidays on Ice (1997) and Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000). He became known for his bitingly funny recollections of his youth, family life and travels, making semi-celebrities out of his parents and siblings.

David has been nominated for three Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word and Best Comedy Album. His latest international best-selling book is a collection of stories entitled Calypso. A feature film adaptation of his story C.O.G. was released after a premier at the Sundance Film Festival (2013). He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker and has been a appearing on BBC Radio 4 since 1996.

Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4


THU 19:00 The Archers (m0003zcr)
Tom has an announcement to make and Ruairi finds himself in trouble.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m0003zct)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m0003zbn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m0003zcw)
David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.


THU 20:30 In Business (m0003zcy)
The Irresistible Rise of eSports

Its top stars can earn millions of dollars a year, without breaking into a sweat. They train for hours a day and have legions of fans, who fill stadiums to watch them. But these aren't normal sports stars. They're part of one of the fastest growing industries - known as Esports. And, as John Murphy discovers, the distinction between real physical sport and this online, virtual version is narrowing, as major companies and some of the world's most famous football clubs are signing up the top Esports players to play in major competitions. A number of video games, including Fifa, Dota2, Call of Duty and League of Legends, have their own international leagues and world championships. The global audience is now estimated at more than 200 million, and growing. Annual revenues from Esports, currently around 650 million dollars for events, continue to rise.

Billions more are generated through video games sales. In the UK the video games sector, from which Esports have sprung, is now worth more than video (films) and music combined. There's even talk of Esports becoming an Olympic sport.

So will dexterous Esporters become the new athletic champions, or is this a business that will play itself out? Who is making the money and how? And why are top soccer clubs clamouring for some of the virtual action?

Presenter: John Murphy
Producer: Lizzy McNeill


THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m0003zch)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


THU 21:30 In Our Time (m0003zbg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m0003zd1)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


THU 22:45 Home Fire (m0003zbx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


THU 23:00 Alone (b0b01rvy)
Series 1

The Long Bad Friday Night

A sitcom, written by Moray Hunter and starring Angus Deayton, about five single, middle aged neighbours living in flats in a converted house in North London.

Mitch (Angus Deayton) is a widower and part-time therapist who is looking to put his life back together now that he is single and living - supposedly temporarily - with Will (Pearce Quigley), his younger, more volatile and unhappily divorced half-brother.

Elsewhere in the building are schoolteacher Ellie (Abigail Cruttenden) who is shy, nervous and desperately missing her ex-boyfriend, overly honest, frustrated actress Louisa (Kate Isitt), and socially inept IT nerd Morris (Bennett Arron).

In The Long Bad Friday Night, Mitch's late wife's sister Helen, (Carrie Quinlan) is keen to meet up with him for a drink. She's too keen for Mitch who hides out upstairs with Ellie while Will attempts to resolve the situation. But his attempts to get rid of Helen don't exactly go to plan. Meanwhile, Louisa needs to piggy back on someone's wi-fi to watch her favourite TV show and winds up having to hang out with Morris.

This Friday night is not panning out well for anyone

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000481q)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



FRIDAY 12 APRIL 2019

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m0003zd3)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (m0003zd5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0003zd7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0003zd9)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0003zdc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m0003zdf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0003zdh)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with the Very Rev Dr Sarah Rowland Jones, Dean of St Davids Cathedral


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m0003zdk)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08sndpm)
David Lindo on the Honey Buzzard

David Lindo the Urban Birder tells the story of one magical early morning in central London, spotting a honey buzzard flying over the face of Big Ben. He urges people in cities to 'always look up' as there is an amazing variety of birds to be spotted even in the most concrete of jungles.

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer Maggie Ayre.


FRI 06:00 Today (m0003zy7)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 The Reunion (m0003zy9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (m000400g)
The Nature of Spring

Renaissance

In a series of poetic vignettes, nature writer Jim Crumley paints a captivating picture of Scotland’s wilderness in spring and the joys of observing its abundant wildlife. Today, he encounters ospreys, woodcock, greenfinches, and watches a pine marten cross paths with a vixen.
Reader: Simon Tait. Abridger: Linda Cracknell. Producer: Bruce Young


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0003zyf)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m0003zyh)
Ship of Lies

Episode 5

With Danny missing, and Pinkertons in menacing mood, Emma’s certain she is facing an organised conspiracy. Or could she just be the victim of too much information?

She came to New York to find answers but has instead ended up in a maze of questions. Is Danny right – there is no objective truth? Will the technology of this new century, which promised to reveal it, offer only more ways to avoid and obscure it?

Delirious with exhaustion, she is hit by a car. Waking, she’s in a hospital and a doctor is with her. The doctor encourages Emma to talk. It all comes out in a rush – her grief at her fiancé’s death, inability to accept it, need to get answers, then her journey to New York and the bewildering things she’s found here.

When the doctor asks her if she’s any proof the alleged fiancé even existed, she says his letters to her and photograph are in her stolen purse. She has nothing to prove that he died, or that he ever lived. She doesn’t even have evidence of who she is herself.

"How long will I be here?" she asks.

"As long as it takes to cure you. Or until you can provide the proof that this man really existed."

Produce the facts which prove her case. After all, Facts are facts, aren’t they?

Cast:
EMMA ……………….....Jasmine Hyde
DANNY …………….... Colin Stinton
HAVERMAYER …….. Matt Rippy
DOCTOR ....…………...Patrick Bailey
NURSE ………………….Laurel Lefkow

Written by Ron Hutchinson

Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan
A Big Fish Radio production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 11:00 Out of Office (m0003zyk)
Episode 2

Ruth Barnes continues her series exploring the changing world of work.

Not only is the nature of work changing, so too are the places where work is done. The traditional office is increasingly giving way to co-working spaces. All over the country, these new short term, flexible spaces are gaining ground. They are often decorated in a modern style without the dreary partitions and grey photocopiers associated with the traditional office, and offer a whole lifestyle - not just healthy food in on-site cafes, but yoga and free prosecco, classes for personal and professional improvement, even a summer camp.

But what's the cost?

The alternative, working from home, has its downsides too, as Ruth discovers. People can feel lonely and undervalued.

For some, such as social and health workers, the move is to "agile working", which often means there's no office at all - just work from the car.

We may hate the office - its appearance and its associated culture - but has it yet been bettered?

Producers: Susan Marling and Elizabeth Burke
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 11:30 Reluctant Persuaders (b08md98w)
Series 2

Give a Man a Fish

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 week, the team are on the lookout for a charity prepared to accept their work.

While Joe (Mathew Baynton) is determined to do some good in the world, Amanda (Josie Lawrence) and Hardacre (Nigel Havers) are more interested in winning prestige and awards with a buzzy new charity campaign.

As Joe and Teddy (Kieran Hodgson) head out into the streets and soup kitchens of London, looking for the ground level stories that make a good campaign, Amanda and Hardacre spend an evening at a fundraiser organised by Hardacre's old brother in arms Bill Lessing (guest star Mark Evans). But where's he been for the last ten years? And what exactly does his charity do?

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m0003zym)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 Home Fire (m0003zyp)
Episode 10

The Home Secretary must decide what to do about his son. And about Aneeka's request.

This breathtakingly topical, powerful thriller by Kamila Shamsie won the 2018 Women's Prize for Fiction and was Book of the Year for all the major UK Newspapers. Home Fire is about identity, conflicting loyalties, love and politics: a book for our times.

Abridged by Sara Davies and read by Sanjeev Bhaskar.
Producer... Mary Ward-Lowery


FRI 12:18 You and Yours (m0003zyr)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


FRI 12:57 Weather (m0003zyt)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m0003zyw)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


FRI 13:45 The Decade That Invented the Future: The 1970s (m0003zyy)
1979: Iran

Narguess Farzad, Senior Fellow in Persian at SOAS, explores the impact of the 1979 revolution in Iran. "The demise of the Peacock Throne and the success of the Islamic revolution in Iran was one of the most staggering events of the second half of the twentieth century ," she says.
Producer: Neil Koenig


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m0003zcr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (m0003zz0)
Read the Room

After years of hard graft and almost success, Sally Hall, 38, has finally landed the role of a lifetime in a movie franchise. It’s a job which her boyfriend Jack agrees could set them up for life.

But there is one fly in the ointment. The Executive Producer, Richard Donovan, has asked to meet Sally alone in his hotel suite before he agrees to sign off on her.

Reluctantly, Sally allows herself to be persuaded by her agent that this is merely a formality - a grip and greet as they say in Hollywood. But things get awkward when Donovan emerges from the shower in his bathrobe and begins to subtly undermine Sally before becoming inappropriately intimate with her. She gets out of there but immediately begins to question whether Donovan’s advances and the implied threat to remove her from the picture were real or part of her imagination.

Her agent’s hardly disinterested advice is to get back in the room and do whatever it takes to secure the role and her commission, but her boyfriend rails at her naivety, and inability to read a room. It’s like he is somehow blaming her.

Sally has some hard choices to make and settles on an unusual course of action.

Writer Viv Groskop's first book - I Laughed, I Cried: How One Woman Took On Stand-Up and (Almost) Ruined Her Life - is a mid-life crisis memoir described as "Eat, Pray, Love set in a comedy club". Raised in Somerset and educated at Cambridge University, Viv worked as a journalist on the Daily Telegraph, Russian Vogue and The Guardian before taking up stand-up in her late thirties. Dubbed "the most prolific freelance in the UK", she is a twice-nominated PPA Columnist of the Year and has written for The Observer, The Times, Sunday Times, Independent, Mail on Sunday, Esquire and Harper's Bazaar.

Cast:
Sally……………………..……………………………………….Melody Grove
Richard…...………..……..…………………………………….Tim McInnerny
Kate...…..………………………………………………………...Dona Croll
Jack…………………...…………………………………………..Owen Findlay
Maddie / Chambermaid.…….…………………………Katy Ellis
Anna..……………………………………………………………Rebecca Saire

Written by Viv Groskop
Produced and directed by Eoin O'Callaghan
A Big Fish Radio production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0003zz2)
Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts.


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m0003zz4)
Moonlighting

“After a while, eyes closed, I released the breath I did not know that I had been holding, and I began to clear the table.”

Everything is laid bare in Eley Williams' new short story for radio. Williams' writing is "elegantly droll without the kind of hipster quirkiness that makes me want to hurl books at the wall." (Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent).

Produced by Becky Ripley.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m0003zz6)
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently.


FRI 16:30 Feedback (m0003zz8)
The programme that holds the BBC to account on behalf of the radio audience


FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (m0003zzb)
Jaimini and Sean-The Language is Poetry

Friends - one a professional wordsmith and the other a professional kickboxer - talk about growing up in Dundee and their love of the 'Dundonian' language. Fi Glover presents. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.


FRI 17:00 PM (m0003zzd)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0003zzg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m0003zzj)
Series 99

Episode 1

Miles Jupp and the team are back for series 99 of the long running topical panel show. And what a time it is to be a topical comedian, with Brexit finally sorted, and the political landscape wide open again, we can joke about all sorts of things. Or maybe not. This was written two weeks ago and literally anything could happen by the time we record the show.

Miles' guests in the opening episode are New Statesman journalist Helen Lewis, comedians Elis James and Desiree Burch, and writer and broadcaster Andy Hamilton.

Produced by Victoria Lloyd
A BBC Studios Production


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m0003zzm)
Contemporary drama in a rural setting

Writer ….. Nick Warburton
Director ….. Gwenda Hughes
Editor ….. Jeremy Howe

Jill Archer .... Patricia Greene
Pip Archer .... Daisy Badger
Josh Archer .... Angus Imrie
Ben Archer ..... Ben Norris
Kenton Archer .... Richard Attlee
Tony Archer .... David Troughton
Pat Archer .... Patricia Gallimore
Helen Archer .... Louiza Patikas
Tom Archer .... William Troughton
Harrison Burns .... James Cartwright
Ruairi Donovan .... Arthur Hughes
Toby Fairbrother ..... Rhys Bevan
Alan Franks ..... John Telfer
Will Grundy .... Philip Molloy
Mia Grundy .... Molly Pipe
Shula Hebden Lloyd .... Judy Bennett
Alistair Lloyd ..... Michael Lumsden
Jim Lloyd ..... John Rowe
Jazzer McCreary ..... Ryan Kelly
Elizabeth Pargetter .... Alison Dowling
Freddie Pargetter .... Toby Laurence
Lily Pargetter .... Katie Redford
Johnny Philips ..... Tom Gibbons
Fallon Rogers ..... Joanna Van Kampen
Natasha .... Mali Harries
Leonard Berry .... Paul Copley


FRI 19:15 Front Row (m0003zzp)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m0003zyh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m0003zzr)
Sir Alan Duncan MP, Tim Farron MP

Jonathan Dimbleby presents topical debate from Stamford Methodist Church in Lincolnshire with a panel including Europe Minister Sir Alan Duncan MP and the former leader of the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron MP.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m0003zzt)
Automation... and a packet of frozen peas

A weekly reflection on a topical issue.


FRI 21:00 The Decade That Invented the Future: The 1970s (m0003zzy)
1975-1979

How crucial developments from this remarkable decade shaped the world we live in now. Five essayists each tackle a single story from each year of the second half of the 1970s. Stephen Wall looks back at the referendum on Britain’s membership of the EEC, held in 1975. Peter Jay recalls the financial crisis that prompted the British government to borrow billions from the IMF in 1976. Michael S. Malone remembers the 1977 launch of the Apple II personal computer. Ruth Deech reflects on the impact of the birth of the first test tube baby in 1978. And Narguess Farzad assesses the legacy of the revolution in Iran in 1979.
Producer: Neil Koenig.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m0004002)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 Home Fire (m0003zyp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (m0003zvd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000482f)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament


FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (m0004006)
Taffy and Daniel - Storytelling and Recovery

Two professional storytellers talk about how they learnt to speak again after bouts of serious illness, through their craft. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.