SATURDAY 13 APRIL 2019

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m000400b)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 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


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000400k)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000400p)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000400t)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m000400y)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0004012)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Bishop of Ripon, Rt Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley.


SAT 05:45 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


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m00045rm)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 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.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m00045rp)
Farming Today This Week: Rewilding

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside


SAT 06:57 Weather (m00045rr)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (m00045rt)
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m00045rw)
Rankin, Danny Wallace

Photographer, publisher and film director Rankin joins Rev. Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir. He talks about swapping accountancy for photography, his career which includes photographing the Queen in 5 minutes, and the impact of having a child. Celebrating Record Store Day – we have Ashli Todd - owner of world’s oldest record store, Spillers in Cardiff. Journalist Babita Sharma recalls her experiences growing up in a corner shop. Alistair McGowan shares his Inheritance Tracks: Poem by Fibich performed by Alistair McGowan and Narcissus by Joyce Grenfell and Norman Wisdom. Writer and presenter Danny Wallace discusses family life, why he’s proud of ‘Join Me’ and random acts of kindness.

Producer: Claire Bartleet
Editor: Beverley Purcell


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m00045ld)
Leeds

Jay Rayner and panel are in Leeds. Dr Zoe Laughlin, Tim Haywood, Rob Owen-Brown and Rachel McCormack answer the questions.

This week, the panellists offer recipe ideas for capers, discuss universal stocks for soups and debate the merits of both sweet and savoury Yorkshire puddings.

They also find out about the impressive cookery book collection at the University's Brotherton Library, and chat to Janet "High Priestess of Rhubarb" Oldroyd about forced rhubarb.

Producer: Laurence Bassett
Assistant Producer: Hester Cant

Food Consultant: Anna Colquhoun

A Somethin’ Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m00047rm)
George Parker of The Financial Times looks behind the scenes at Westminster.
How might the smaller parties fare in the Euro Elections if they take place? Unprecedented levels of exhaustion amongst MPs and the Government White Paper on "online Harms". How complicated will it be to regulate the internet?
The Editor is Marie Jessel.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m00045s0)
Netanyahu's Likely Victory

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


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m00045s2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m00045s4)
Regulator warning for general insurance companies

The Financial Conduct Authority has warned parts of the general insurance industry that it "will not hesitate to intervene" in situations where firms fail to meet their obligations to customers. A report by the financial regulator examined short-term travel including coach trips, tradesman, GAP and motor ancillary insurance. It found some customers were sold inappropriate products, charged excessive prices or received poor service. Guests: Jonathan Davidson, Executive Director of Retail Supervision at the Financial Conduct Authority and Huw Evans, Director General of the Association of British Insurers.

The price of wholesale energy has dropped sharply over the past two months. Could it eventually lead to lower bills for around 11 million households on default tariffs who are affected by Ofgem’s price cap? Guest Ellen Fraser, Independent Energy Consultant at Baringa.

As Debenhams department store is taken over by its lenders as part of an administration process, what should customers with gift cards, wedding lists and insurance arranged via the store do? Guest: Adam French, Consumer Rights Expert for Which?

If thieves steal from your account at night will it be harder to get your bank to help you try to get it back? Guest: Richard Emery, Independent Fraud Investigator.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Producer: Charmaine Cozier
Editor: Richard Vadon


SAT 12:30 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


SAT 12:57 Weather (m00045s6)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m00045s8)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m0003zzr)
Gerard Batten MEP, Baroness Sal Brinton, Nicky Morgan MP, Emily Thornberry MP

Jonathan Dimbleby presents topical debate from Stamford Methodist Church in Lincolnshire with a panel including the leader of UKIP Gerard Batten MEP, the President of the Liberal Democrats Baroness Sal Brinton, Chair of the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee Nicky Morgan MP and the Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry MP.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m00045sb)
Have your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?


SAT 14:30 Drama (m00045sd)
Luke, Acts (Part 1)

In this two-part dramatization based on the Authorised King James version of the bible, poet Michael Symmons Roberts tells afresh one of the founding stories of our culture and of world history. The ancient writer known as 'Luke' is believed to be the author of the most dramatic of the four gospels - which bears his name - but also the New Testament book Acts of the Apostles, known as 'The Book of Acts'.

Luke is believed to have been a Greek doctor, which explains the medical details he gives of the healing miracles! He worked in Syria but retired to his native Greece and died at the age of 84. As a gentile, he encountered this new sect - Christianity - when he met Paul in Syria and converted to this new faith, accompanying him on his missionary travels.

Luke and Acts have strong personal relationships at their heart and are written as detailed accounts of the rise of early Christianity. Luke’s Gospel is specifically addressed to a figure called 'Theophilus'. We know that Paul, who was converted on the road to Damascus, spent several years under arrest in Rome awaiting trial and Theophilus is supposed by some scholars to be part of the defence team at Paul's trial, although there is no definitive identification of him or her.

In this drama, Theophilus is a young Roman woman who seeks out Luke in the AD60's, three decades after the death of Jesus. Luke has come to Rome with Paul to support him in his forthcoming trial. As part of this support Luke is writing down as accurate an account as he can of the events leading from the birth of Jesus to the spread of the early church. Together they hope carefully chosen extracts from his account will equip the legal team to exonerate Paul.

Luke, Acts is a BBC Radio Drama North Production, directed by Sharon Sephton and produced by Susan Roberts

The Gospel of Luke tells the astonishing story of the life and ministry of Jesus from his birth through healings, miracles, betrayals, trial, execution and resurrection.

The Book of Acts picks up the story after the resurrection with Jesus' disciples in hiding and devastated at the violent death of their leader. Then he appears to them, resurrected, and the book then tells the extraordinary story of the birth and battles and growth of the early Christian church, including Paul's dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus from persecutor to apostle.

The Authorised King James Version is the world's most widely known Bible translation, using early 17th-century English. Work began for the Church of England in 1604 and was completed in 1611. Its powerful, majestic style has made it a literary classic, with many of its phrases and expressions embedded in the English language.

LUKE.....David Schofield
THEOPHILA.....Verity Henry
JESUS.....David Seddon
PETER.....Shaun Mason
CHIEF PRIEST.....Jonathan Keeble
MOURNING MOTHER.....Angela Lonsdale
PRODIGAL SON.....Ashley Margolis

With multiple parts played by members of the cast.

DIRECTOR.....Sharon Sephton
PRODUCER.....Susan Roberts
AUTHOR.....Luke
ADAPTOR.....Michael Symmons Roberts


SAT 15:30 The Art of Living (m0001hw3)
Only Happiness

The minds of those with Williams Syndrome are made of sound. They’re more likely to possess absolute pitch and the way they perceive the world can be found in music – they can be moved to tears by a cello or disturbed by minor chords. This rare, genetic condition affects between 1 in 7,500 and 1 in 20,000 people in the UK. But music and sound unite.

In rural County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, an outdoor activity centre becomes the annual home to the Williams Syndrome Association of Ireland. For one week a year, music can be heard across the campsite. Cracked windows and doors left ajar reveal beating drums and pop hits, and nursery rhymes are played at the piano. Laughter and chatter can be heard at every corner.

MOBO award-winning saxophonist YolanDa Brown steps inside the world of Williams Syndrome as she joins the campers, saxophone in hand. In meeting those with Williams Syndrome, she discovers how they hear music in unexpected places, be it a coffee machine producing a C note or a bell with a high frequency. The emotional response it creates is heightened, with anxiety and empathy threaded together in discordant harmony.

Producer: Kate Holland
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m00045sg)
Fleabag - why do we love her flaws? Food allergies, Feminism in the Archers

As the second series of the comedy Fleabag comes to an end we ask why we find the female comedic characters who are often flawed so appealing? The author Erin Kelly, the TV Development Executive Danielle Dash and the Editor in Chief of Empire Magazine Terri White discuss.

Katy Bourne the Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex tells us how she was stalked for five years and how this experience motivated to get her own police service inspected. The results found that Sussex police still has problems around investigating stalking cases and supporting victims.

How feminist is the Archers? Academics Nicola Headlam and Cara Courage authors of, Gender, Sex and Gossip in Ambridge: Women in the Archers, discuss.

Food allergies affect 3-6% of children in the developed wold. What do parents need to know about the diagnosis and management of food allergies. We hear from Holly Shaw a nurse advisor from the charity Allergy UK and from Stephanie Hulme whose son experienced an unexpected and severe allergic reaction when he was three.

Heavy bleeding or flooding can be one of the symptoms of the menopause, what can be done to help women affected? Paula Briggs a consultant in Sexual and Reproductive Health for Southport and Ormskirk Hospital, offers some advice.

Sabrina Cohen-Hatton was just 18 when she joined the fire service. She’s now a Deputy Assistant Commissioner and one of the most senior female firefighters in the UK. She tells us about her work and her book In the Heat of the Moment.

The writer of the film Wild Rose, Nicole Taylor tells us why she wanted to write about a singer from Glasgow making it as a country singer in Nashville.

Presented by Jenni Murray
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor :Eleanor Garland


SAT 17:00 PM (m00045sj)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news, plus the sports headlines.


SAT 17:30 The Inquiry (m00045sl)
Why don't we care about Yemen?

Three million people in Yemen have been forced from their homes, and the dead are estimated to number many tens of thousands. But, compared to similar conflicts, global attention has been slight. The Inquiry asks why. It explores how the media has told the Yemeni story, and the impact valuable arms sales have had on international pressure – or the lack of it – to bring the conflict to an end. There are other factors too. The conflict in Yemen has created countless refugees, but they have not fled beyond the country’s borders. And Yemen’s divisive history has created a diaspora community that struggles to speak with one voice. What will it take to shine a brighter light on Yemen?

Presenter: Kavita Puri
Producer: Rosamund Jones

This edition of The Inquiry was first broadcast in February 2019 on the BBC World Service.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m00045sn)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (m00045sq)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00045ss)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m00045sv)
Emma Bunton, Toyah, Daisy Haggard, Peter Doherty, YolanDa Brown, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and YolanDa Brown are joined by Emma Bunton, Daisy Haggard and Toyah for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Peter Doherty.

Producer: Sukey Firth


SAT 19:00 Profile (m00045sx)
Danny Rose

The England and Tottenham Hotspur defender Danny Rose says he’s had enough of being on the end of racist abuse at matches and “can’t wait to leave football behind”.

On Profile this week, Mark Coles tries to find out why.

Friends and colleagues talk about the footballer’s formative years, his remarkable premiership debut against arch-rivals Arsenal and how a knee injury sparked depression and introspection.

But it’s racism that dominates his story.

A black player representing England in international matches, he’s been subjected to racist chanting and abuse.

After last month’s Euro 2020 qualifier in Montenegro, he said , enough is enough… it’s time for football’s governing bodies to stamp it out.

Producer Smita Patel
Researcher Tural Ahmedzade
Editor Emma Rippon


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (m00045sz)
Wild Rose, Mary Quant, Intra Muros, The Parisian - Isabella Hammad, Life After Lock-Up and Back To Life

In her new film Wild Rose, rising star Jessie Buckley plays a Glaswegian country singer with dreams of making it big in Nashville. The trouble is that she has two small kids and is just out of jail.
The Mary Quant exhibition at London's V&A shows a wide selection of her vibrant daring designs, made to be worn by real women and girls in the 60s and 70s
A new play by one of France's brightest new names has just opened at London's Park Theatre; Intra Muros by Alexis Michalik is set in a drama workshop in a prison
The Parisian is a novel by Isabella Hammad, set in pre-Balfour Middle East. It has received a lot of extremely warm praise from other authors, what will our panel make of it?
We look at a couple of TV programmes coming at the same subject from different angles Life After Lock-Up, a documentary on Channel 4 about prisoners returning to society and Back To Life, a dramedy on BBC1 with Daisy Haggard

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Patrick Gale, Ayesha Hazerika and Catherine o'Flynn. The producer is Oliver Jones

Podcast Extra selections

Ayesha: Fleabag and The Breakup Monologues podcast
Catherine: 1970s Public Service information films, and especially "Apaches"
Patrick: BP Portrait of the Year exhibition in Winchester and Kate Clanchy- Some Kids I Taught
Tom: David Sedaris on Radio 4. Barry on Sky Atlantic


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m00045t1)
Remembering Christopher Hitchens

The life and times of Christopher Hitchens told through archive and interview. Presented by D D Guttenplan and featuring Martin Amis, Stephen Fry, Ian McEwan and Tony Blair.

By the time of his death in December 2011, at the age of 62, Christopher Hitchens had become possibly the most famous journalist in the world.

He started his career as a Trotskyist pamphleteer, writing on workers’ self-management in Algeria for the journal International Socialist. He ended as the most eloquent propagandist for the Iraq war. Yet, far from damaging his reputation, this swerve to the right only added to his notoriety.

Hitchens became a fixture on both British and American television, a feared debater, and the author of the atheist credo God is Not Great. He remains one of the most distinctive and influential voices of our era.

D D Guttenplan, Editor at Large for The Nation magazine, speaks to some of Christopher Hitchens’ friends and family in an effort to unwrap the enigma behind this most public of public men.

Marking what would have been Hitchens’ 70th birthday, Guttenplan looks behind the myth of "the Hitch" - a man who drank whiskey like water, smoked cigarettes as if his life depended on it, and wrote - so it was said - faster than most could read.

Guttenplan examines how Hitchens stumbled out of Oxford with a third class degree and became the very model of a public intellectual, playing devil’s advocate against the canonisation of Mother Theresa, pursuing Henry Kissinger, arguing about God with Tony Blair, and arguing against God with Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins - all while making himself a seemingly indispensible feature of the political landscape.

An SPG production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 Logical Family: An Evening with Armistead Maupin (b09jrxpp)
Armistead Maupin, legendary chronicler of San Francisco life, whose Tales of the City have been loved by millions, reads from his funny, poignant and unflinchingly honest memoir, in the company of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. An unmissable evening of words matched with music from the movies, the stage and the concert hall - with one or two surprises.

This is an edited version of the BBC Radio 3 recording, which will be available on the BBC Radio iPlayer after the BBC Radio 3 transmission.

Featured music:
Max Steiner - Overture to Gone With The Wind
George and Ira Gershwin - Summertime*
John Adams - Short Ride In A Fast Machine
Bernard Herrmann - Vertigo
Mason Bates - Nymphs

*Sarah Tynan (soprano)
and special guest Russell Tovey

BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Parry

Producers: Ann McKay (BBC Symphony Orchestra) and Steve Doherty (Giddy Goat Productions)
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (m00045t3)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 22:15 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


SAT 23:00 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


SAT 23:30 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



SUNDAY 14 APRIL 2019

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m00045t5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:30 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.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00045t7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00045t9)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00045tc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m00045tf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m00045th)
All Saints, Daresbury

Bells on Sunday comes from All Saints Church, Daresbury in Cheshire. The parish is the birthplace of the author Lewis Carroll, whose father, the Reverend Charles Dodgson, was vicar there. In the ground floor chamber of the tower ringers can admire the west window, which depicts characters from the book ‘Alice's Adventures in Wonderland’. The tower dates from 1550 but the present ring of eight bells was cast in 1913. The tenor is tuned to E and weighs sixteen hundredweight. We hear them ringing a series of rounds and call changes.


SUN 05:45 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


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (m00046p3)
The latest national and international news headlines.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (m00046p5)
Saying Goodbye

Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand explores the ecstasy and agony of saying goodbye. Drawing upon the words of the poet Shel Silverstein, she examines the notion that "there are no happy endings".

Human beings have developed all manner of rituals to ease the process of parting, from simple handshakes to elaborate funeral liturgies. Shoshana reveals that even the nightly ritual of saying goodnight to your children is laden with significance. She explains the Jewish bedtime ritual of saying the Shema - a prayer which is said to invoke the protection of angels.

Shoshana also explores the linguistics of saying goodbye - from the French "adieu" which commends the receiver to god, to the German "auf wiedersehen" which literally means "until we see again". Describing her experiences as a hospital chaplain, she discusses the final days and weeks of life, a "deeply scared" time when "this world and the next meet".

Shoshana concludes by arguing that, however painful parting may be, being aware that time spent together is limited makes it all the more precious. It's that awareness that impels her to make the most of her farewell rituals – using them as an opportunity to express gratitude for the people and places that enrich her life.

Presenter: Shoshana Boyd Gelfand
Producer: Max O'Brien
A TBI production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:35 Living World (b01h2chx)
Bee-flies

There's a pretender on the wing. Joanna Pinnock joins naturalist John Walters in Devon to find out more about a bee mimic, the Dark Edged bee fly. With its reddish hairy body and rapier-like proboscis it's said to look part bee, part mosquito and is often spotted in gardens in Spring hovering and darting above the ground. The long proboscis helps it take nectar from deep within flowers rather like a hummingbird.

While this furry, buzzing, rather attractive fly is harmless to humans, its pretence of being a bee is to help its young get a good start in life by using others' nests. In Spring the female bee fly coats her eggs in dust to give them some added weight and then hovering near solitary bee nesting holes will flick her eggs at the entrance. As they develop, her larvae head inside the bee's nest and devour the emerging bee larvae. It's a fly-eat-bee world. (First broadcast in 2012).

Producer: Sheena Duncan
Editor: Julian Hector


SUN 06:57 Weather (m00046p7)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m00046p9)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m00046pc)
Sikh Vaisakhi, Fleabag and Forgiveness

Sunday morning religious news and current affairs programme.


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m00046pf)
Action for Stammering Children

Michael Palin makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Action for Stammering Children.

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 ‘Action for Stammering Children’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Action for Stammering Children’.

Registered Charity Number: 801171


SUN 07:57 Weather (m00046ph)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m00046pk)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m00046pm)
Invitation to empathy

Fr Dermot Preston SJ preaches live from St Aloysius' Glasgow, with the Schola Cantorum of St Aloysius' College on this Palm Sunday. ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ is a cry of desolation. It’s a quote from one of David’s psalms, which seems to describe the crucifixion with uncanny accuracy: the ridicule and insults, his heart melting like wax, his thirst and the gambling for his clothes, and the isolation and despair. Somehow, mysteriously, Jesus was forsaken by his Father so that we could be forgiven. He faced loneliness in its most extreme form so that we never have to. Here is the ultimate act of hospitality: Jesus was displaced from the presence of God so that we could be welcomed into it. Jesus suffered in solidarity with humanity in order to bring us back to God. A link to resources for individuals and groups can be downloaded from the Sunday Worship web pages.


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m0003zzt)
Automation...and a packet of frozen peas

"If you have ever tried to scan a bio-metric passport, an e-ticket or just a packet of frozen peas", writes AL Kennedy, "you'll know that using technology can turn, within moments, into a bizarre ritual of presenting, rubbing, re-presenting, murmured prayers and computer generated instructions which lead either to complete defeat or the intervention of human assistance that could have been there all along".

She argues that automation must be governed by human needs and strengths.

Personal contact, she believes, is more important than ever.

Producer: Adele Armstrong


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b03zrc9l)
Hoopoe

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

Kate Humble presents the hoopoe. The hoopoe, a salmon-coloured bird with a long curved bill and a black-tipped crest, which it can spread like a fan when excited, is so outrageously exotic that its call reminds us of the Mediterranean. Several hoopoes arrive in the UK each spring and autumn. These are usually birds which have overshot their migration routes and almost certainly won't find a mate here, though they do breed very occasionally.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m00046pp)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m00046pr)
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


SUN 11:15 The Reunion (m0004629)
Parliamentary Expenses Scandal

Sue MacGregor brings together key figures from Westminster and Fleet Street involved in the protracted battle over releasing MPs' expenses to the public.

The MPs' Expenses Scandal was one of the biggest political upsets in living memory, centring on the abuse and misuse of allowances and expenses. More than half of MPs were forced to pay back a total of more than £1million and the scandal led to the biggest clear-out of politicians in decades, as well as the first forced resignation of the Speaker of the House in three centuries.

Freedom of Information campaigners had been trying for years to get MPs' claims for second homes, travel and office expenditure into the public domain. But time and again they were blocked by parliamentarians who believed the public had no right to see how MPs were spending this taxpayers' money.

And then, in spring 2009, the information was leaked to the Daily Telegraph, who published damning evidence of MPs' spending. From dog food to duck houses, the public were appalled and MPs were united in shame. Some had taken deliberate efforts to defraud or mislead and six ended up in prison.

In this edition of The Reunion we hear how FOI campaigners like Heather Brooke were repeatedly thwarted by legitimate requests which were refused, an expensive High Court appeal, and even an attempt by MPs to exempt themselves from their own law. Andrew Walker, who was head of House of Commons finances, said MPs were on tenterhooks wondering who would be next to be exposed by The Telegraph, and Ann Cryer, then Labour MP for Keighley, and her son were both accused of claiming expenses on the same flat which belonged to her daughter. She said that Labour Party whips were on “suicide watch” as traumatised MPs battled through the mire.

Producer: Karen Pirie
Series Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m00046pt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 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


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m00046pw)
How to Start a Food Revolution: The Food Adventures of Claus Meyer

Can you reinvent a food culture? Dan Saladino meets a man who did, Denmark's Claus Meyer, the co-founder of Noma, one of the world's most influential restaurants.
From there he went to Bolivia and set up a restaurant to rescue lost foods of the Andes and Amazon, and onto New York where he founded a cooking school in a neighbourhood with some of the worst levels of food related illness in America.
So what is he now doing in Newport, South Wales.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m00046py)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m00046q0)
Global news and analysis, presented by Mark Mardell.


SUN 13:30 Along the Peaceline (m0001krl)
In February 2016 a controversial wall in Belfast was demolished. It was the first of over a hundred such structures across Northern Ireland set to disappear by 2023. Collectively, they’re known as peacelines. Some are just a few hundred yards long, others over three miles. Some are flimsy, rickety affairs, others are made of reinforced concrete, galvanised steel and razor wire. Depending on one’s personal view, they either divide or protect Catholic and Protestant communities from each other.

Peacelines first appeared in Belfast in 1969, intended only as temporary structures. But they're still there today, steadfast symbols of the Troubles.

What was it like growing up next to one of these walls? In Along the Peaceline, two Belfast-born writers, Maria Fusco and Glenn Patterson, each return to a peaceline they've known since childhood.

Glenn revisits the Shankhill Road, an area of Belfast he got to know well as a boy on his way to see his aunt and uncle. Parts of the peaceline there have since become a tourist attraction. Meanwhile, Maria heads to the Ardoyne neighbourhood she grew up in, where the local peaceline was “a constant flashpoint for rioting”.

It’s an evocative journey for both of them as they trace the length of their respective peacelines. They recall how these structures affected their lives during the Troubles and observe what's changed since. Reflecting on the then and now, Glenn and Maria bring historical fact and their own personal perspectives to help excavate these contested sites and try to gauge the overall effect peacelines have had on today’s much changed Belfast.

Photo: Conor Garrett

Producer: Dan Shepherd
A Far Shoreline production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0003zz2)
Braintree, Essex

Peter Gibbs and the panel of gardening experts are in Braintree, Essex. Christine Walkden, Matthew Wilson and Matt Biggs answer the audience's questions.

The panellists discuss the best shrubs to plant in heavy clay, getting rid of plum tree suckers and combining a flower bed and a vegetable patch.

Pippa Greenwood is in Alice Holt Forest with Bruce Rothnie to find out more about the history of the forest commission.

Produced by Hannah Newton
Assistant Producer: Laurence Bassett

A Somethin’ Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (m00046q2)
Sunday Omnibus: Language and Storytelling

Three conversations about air-traffic controllers and alpacas; the poetry of 'Dundonian; and the healing power of storytelling. Fi Glover presents the omnibus edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Mohini Patel


SUN 15:00 Drama (m00046q4)
Luke, Acts (Part 2)

In this two-part dramatization based on the Authorised King James version of the bible, poet Michael Symmons Roberts tells afresh one of the founding stories of our culture and of world history. The ancient writer known as 'Luke' is believed to be the author of the most dramatic of the four gospels - which bears his name - but also the New Testament book Acts of the Apostles, known as 'The Book of Acts'.

Luke is believed to have been a Greek doctor, which explains the medical details he gives of the healing miracles! He worked in Syria but retired to his native Greece and died at the age of 84. As a gentile, he encountered this new sect - Christianity - when he met Paul in Syria and converted to this new faith, accompanying him on his missionary travels.

Luke and Acts have strong personal relationships at their heart and are written as detailed accounts of the rise of early Christianity. Luke’s Gospel is specifically addressed to a figure called 'Theophilus'. We know that Paul, who was converted on the road to Damascus, spent several years under arrest in Rome awaiting trial and Theophilus is supposed by some scholars to be part of the defence team at Paul's trial, although there is no definitive identification of him or her.

In this drama, Theophilus is a young Roman woman who seeks out Luke in the AD60's, three decades after the death of Jesus. Luke has come to Rome with Paul to support him in his forthcoming trial. As part of this support Luke is writing down as accurate an account as he can of the events leading from the birth of Jesus to the spread of the early church. Together they hope carefully chosen extracts from his account will equip the legal team to exonerate Paul.

Luke, Acts is a BBC Radio Drama North Production, directed by Sharon Sephton

The Gospel of Luke tells the astonishing story of the life and ministry of Jesus from his birth through healings, miracles, betrayals, trial, execution and resurrection.

The Book of Acts picks up the story after the resurrection with Jesus' disciples in hiding and devastated at the violent death of their leader. Then he appears to them, resurrected, and the book then tells the extraordinary story of the birth and battles and growth of the early Christian church, including Paul's dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus from persecutor to apostle.

The Authorised King James Version is the world's most widely known Bible translation, using early 17th-century English. Work began for the Church of England in 1604 and was completed in 1611. Its powerful, majestic style has made it a literary classic, with many of its phrases and expressions embedded in the English language.

LUKE.....David Schofield
THEOPHILA.....Verity Henry
MIRIAM.....Angela Lonsdale
JESUS.....David Seddon
PETER.....Shaun Mason
PAUL.....Jason Done
CHIEF PRIEST.....Jonathan Keeble
ANANIAS.....Hamish Rush
NEPHEW.....Stephen Hoyle

With multiple parts played by members of the cast.

DIRECTOR.....Sharon Sephton
PRODUCER.....Susan Roberts
AUTHOR.....Luke
ADAPTOR.....Michael Symmons Roberts


SUN 16:00 Open Book (m00046q6)
Damian Barr, Candice Carty-Williams, Beckett's prose

Damian Barr joins Shahidha Bari to discuss his novel You Will Be Safe Here, which explores themes of nationhood, toxic masculinity and the legacies of colonialism against the backdrop of more than a century in South African history.

Candice Carty-Williams was working in publishing when she wrote her debut novel Queenie, in which a young black British woman navigates the dating scene, friendships and everyday racism in contemporary London. She explains why it needed to be written.

50 years on from his Nobel win, should we be paying more attention to Samuel Beckett's prose? Novelist Sam Thompson and Beckett's friend and biographer James Knowlson discuss.

And in a literary postcard from Brazil, novelist Julian Fuks argues that the torrent of bad news facing the country's book industry must be actively challenged by writers.


SUN 16:30 A Psalm for the Scaffolder (m00046q8)
Geoffrey Faber prize-winning poet Kim Moore invites us into her life as a writer. She focuses on her working class background and long held desire to follow her scaffolder-dad to work and become poet in residence among the scaffolders.

She shares her love of music and years spent working as a trumpet teacher, and how her tender, atmospheric poetry grapples with the transformations that affect both body and mind during a violent relationship.

This picture of Kim's life and the poetry it informs takes shape alongside a portrait painted by Claire Eastgate as part of her project, Painting the Poets, giving us a unique opportunity to listen in on the intimacies of the painter-sitter relationship.

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 17:00 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


SUN 17:40 Profile (m00045sx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m00046qb)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (m00046qd)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00046qg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m00046qj)
Peter Curran

The best of BBC Radio this week with Peter Curran.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m00046ql)
Eddie has serious concerns and Elizabeth takes her first tentative steps.


SUN 19:15 Rumblings from the Rafters (b07hwxbk)
House Fly and Soprano Pipistrelle Bat

An annoying House Fly played by Lee Mack and a warm-hearted Soprano Pipistrelle Bat played by Pam Ferris, reveal the truth about life in a draughty old attic in a house in Amersham in the second of three very funny tales, written and introduced by Lynne Truss, with additional sound recordings by Chris Watson.
The House Fly loves life. "The best bit is the buzzing". He loves the aerobatics, dodging the flypapers in the attic and "... my favourite manoeuvre, settling on the ceiling. It is unbelievably brilliant" He loves to buzz. But he also loves, what to humans, is a disgusting way of life. He loves to walk around on filth and to poo everywhere and to spread disease "And listen, we don't mind! Not at all. It's the least we can do". He would love to spread more diseases and takes great joy in telling us just exactly how he does this ... perhaps best not to listen if you're eating!
The Soprano Pipistrelle Bat is a very different creature; a tiny bat with a huge and loving heart. She is nine years old and has given birth to a single pup each year. Her newest pup, Jethro, is her darling; "... such a lovely little face. Chestnut fur. Perfect little ears. He smells like chicken flavour crisps. Ooh, I could eat him." He is six weeks old and weaning - proudly catching insects for himself; and this is always a poignant time for this mother-bat, where pride and sadness mingle. The main concern with Jethro, she finds, is that he can't seem to grasp the idea of torpor, "Oh don't mum. Don't go torpid. It's like you're dying", but as she knows "torpor is nothing to be scared of, .. torpor is your friend".

House Fly: Lee Mack
Soprano Pipstrelle Bat: Pam Ferris
Written and introduced by Lynne Truss
Wildlife sound recordings Chris Watson
Producer Sarah Blunt.


SUN 19:45 Life at Absolute Zero (m00046qn)
Series 4

Celebration

A new story by Lynne Truss set in the windy seaside town of Meridian Cliffs.

Formidable Sharon, a force of nature, is determined that fellow worker Keith is going to celebrate the fact that he's paid off his mortgage. Keith would rather have a quiet day making sure the crime novels line up neatly along the shelf.

It's going to be a tense day at Meridian Cliffs' most successful charity shop.

Directed by Kate McAll
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m0003zz8)
Gwyneth Williams answers your questions

As Feedback turns 40 this month, Roger Bolton quizzes outgoing Radio 4's Controller Gwyneth Williams about the twists and turns of her tenure before she passes her baton on to the new boss.

While BBC Sounds has come under criticism from some users, there has been high praise for one of its original podcasts. NB is a series about being non-binary - people who don't identify with traditional gender labels - and has struck a chord with many of its listeners. We hear their views on the series.

With Brexit dominating the news agenda, a number of Feedback listeners say that the issue of climate change is being underplayed. Roger talks to David Shukman, the Science Editor for BBC News, and Deborah Cohen, the Science Editor for BBC Radio, about coverage of the issue - and its prominence.

Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Robert Nicholson
Executive Producer: Will Yates
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m0003zz6)
Sydney Brenner, Dan Robbins, Edda Tasiemka, Ian McDonald

Pictured: Sydney Brenner

Matthew Bannister on

Sydney Brenner, the Nobel Prize-winning biologist who worked with Francis Crick to map DNA.

Dan Robbins, the artist who invented painting by numbers.

Edda Tasiemka, the archivist who kept a comprehensive newspaper and magazine cuttings collection in her North London home.

Ian McDonald, the Ministry of Defence spokesman during the Falklands War who became a familiar face on TV and was known for his sonorous delivery.

Interviewed guest: Professor Jonathan Hodgkin
Interviewed guest: Larry Robbins
Interviewed guest: Robert Lacey
Interviewed guest: Ian Mather
Interviewed guest: Revel Barker
Producer: Paula McGinley


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m00045s4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m00046pf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 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 football clubs clamouring for some of the virtual action?

Presenter: John Murphy
Producer: Lizzy McNeill


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m00046qr)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 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. Yuli is directed by his partner Iciar Bollain, and this is their fourth collaboration as writer and director. They explain how they first met on the set of Ken Loach's Land And Freedom.

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. Neil Brand reveals the differences between the music on the soundtrack and the original score composed by Wendy Carlos.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (m00046p5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 15 APRIL 2019

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m00046qt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m0003z8y)
CEO Society - Time Management

CEO Society – Laurie Taylor talks to Peter Bloom, Head of the Department of People and Organisations at the Open University and author of a new book which asks why corporate leaders such as Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg have become cultural icons of the 21st century. Also, how did productivity emerge as a way of thinking about job performance? Melissa Gregg, Research Director at Intel, explains why she thinks that time management is actually counterproductive.

Producer: Jayne Egerton


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m00045th)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00046qw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00046qy)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00046r0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m00046r2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00046r4)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Bishop of Ripon, Rt Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m00046r6)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


MON 05:56 Weather (m00046r8)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


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

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

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


MON 06:00 Today (m00047sj)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m00047sl)
Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan talks to Andrew Marr about his new novel, Machines Like Us, and reflects, at the age of 70, on a career which began more than four decades ago.

Machines Like Us is set in an alternative Britain in the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher has lost the Falklands war and the scientist Alan Turing has made a breakthrough in artificial intelligence leading to a series of synthetic humans. The love-triangle at the heart of the book forces the reader to confront ideas about what makes us human and what happens when we lose control of our creations.

Ian McEwan published his first book, a collection of short stories called First Love, Last Rites, in 1975. It won critical acclaim, as well as comment about the sometimes shocking subject matter. Since then, he has published 15 novels, and won the Man Booker Prize in 1998. He is a literary writer who has also enjoyed great popular success, with his novel Atonement selling well over a million copies in the UK alone.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 Book of the Week (m00047tz)
Michael Tippett

Episode 1

The music of the British composer Michael Tippett - including the oratorio A Child of Our Time, five operas, and four symphonies - is among the most visionary of the 20th Century, but little has been written about his extraordinary life. In this new, first complete biography, arts writer and broadcaster Oliver Soden weaves a century-spanning narrative of epic scope and insight.

Soden has been given unprecedented access to unpublished letters and manuscripts, and has recorded interviews with Tippett’s friends and colleagues. He paints a portrait of a powerful intellect and infectious personality - charming, with a consuming interest in other people, stubborn and great fun.

But he also uncovers the sorrows and secrets that Tippett stowed away beneath his cheerfulness, not least the darker reaches of some tempestuous and often tragic love affairs that sometimes blurred the lines between the professional and the personal.

Tippett’s was a long, exciting life - and woven through it all is his amazing, varied music, as beautiful as it is challenging, and the eclectic supporting cast of his friends, colleagues and lovers. His was truly a life of the 20th Century - but one that can also shine a light on the 21st.

The first episode begins with Tippett’s childhood. The composer was born into the decade before the First World War, his early years spent in the peace and tranquillity of a Suffolk village. But the British Empire was fading, and the culture and philosophy of Victorian Britain were fast being abandoned in a rush of change and social unrest.

Abridged by Elizabeth Burke
Produced by Pippa Vaughan
Read by Oliver Soden featuring Derek Jacobi and Ivor Minchin Berry
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m00047sq)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m00047ss)
The Citadel

Episode 1

Dr. Denny's feelings for Christine have deepened. Meanwhile Dr. Manson, oblivious to it all, is fighting hard to create a new chest clinic.

Dr. Manson ..... George Blagden
Dr. Denny ..... Julian Lewis Jones
Christine ...... Catrin Stewart
Dr. Hope ..... Seamus O'Neill
Mrs. Wynne Evans ..... Kate Coogan

Written by Christopher Reason
Directed by Pauline Harris
Produced by Gary Brown and Pauline Harris


MON 11:00 Peach Fuzz (m00047sv)
Mona Chalabi asks why female facial hair still seems to be a source of such shame.

Last year, when she sent a lighthearted tweet about hairy women, she was deluged with replies. Hundreds of women wrote to her to describe the physical and emotional pain they experienced about their body hair. But there was one area they really wanted to talk about - their facial hair.

And in this programme Mona will do just that – talk about female facial hair – including to some of the women who contacted her after her initial tweet. What can be dismissed as trivial is a source of deep anxiety for many women, but that’s what female facial hair is, argues Mona, a series of contradictions. It’s something that’s common yet considered abnormal, natural for one gender and apparently freakish for another. Removing it is recognized by many women - including Mona - as a stupid social norm and yet they strictly follow it. And as well as gender demarcations, this discussion touches on the intersections of race and age, too.

As she tries to unravel this question, Mona will examine her own complicated feelings about this subject - as she takes us to her laser hair removal appointment.

Producer: Giles Edwards


MON 11:30 Loose Ends (m00045sv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


MON 12:00 News Summary (m000481l)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 The Diaries of Adrian Mole (m00047t0)
Adrian Mole and The Weapons of Mass Destruction

Episode 1

The fifth book in our series of readings from Adrian’s diaries, written by Sue Townsend. It starts in 2002 and covers the controversial period of the Iraq War.

Adrian is 34, working in a bookshop in Leicester and about to become the proud owner of a trendy loft apartment. His single status is about to change too, putting further strain on his already stretched finances. As war looms, Adrian is unwavering in his support for Prime Minister Tony Blair and military action, even though his eldest son Glenn is facing deployment to the Gulf.

Sue Townsend was born in Leicester in 1946. She left school at 15 and was a single parent with three young children by the age of 23. Like Adrian, she wrote in secret for many years, and acknowledged that they often shared the same views - Adrian "C’est moi," she once said.

First published in 1989, Adrian Mole’s diaries were instant bestsellers and Adrian, the remarkably resilient underdog, quickly became a national treasure. While recording the experiences of one individual and showcasing Sue's fearless and razor sharp wit, the diaries also illustrate how socio-political matters of the time affected the lives of ordinary people.

Copyright Siegfried Sassoon by kind permission of the Estate of George Sassoon

Reader: Harry McEntire
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Alexa Moore

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


MON 12:18 You and Yours (m00047t2)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


MON 12:57 Weather (m00047t4)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m00047t6)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague.


MON 13:45 One to One (m0000t61)
Inheritance: Who Gets the Farm?

Who gets the farm? Bronwen Maddox goes to Wicton Farm in Herefordshire to meet Claire Howlett. Claire runs the farm with her brother Daniel, while her parents still live in the farmhouse. Succession is a big issue in farming, and Claire explains how she and her family handled the difficulties of passing on the management of this farm from one generation to the next.
Producer: Chris Ledgard


MON 14:00 The Archers (m00046ql)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (m00047t8)
The Ferryhill Philosophers

The Toddler in the Pond and A Bottle of Pop

By Michael Chaplin
Joe encounters the stark reality of twenty first century poverty close to home and responds in the only way he can.
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.

Joe Snowball ... Alun Armstrong
Hermione Pink ... Deborah Findlay
Louise ... Laura Elphinstone
Rob ... Dean Bone
Bayissa ... Okorie Chukwu
WPC Chase ... Tracy Gillman

Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey Production


MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (m00047tb)
Heat 4, 2019

(4/17)
Who was the first ever elected head of government to give birth while in office? Which city was once nicknamed Copperopolis? Which two seas are linked by the Suez Canal? Russell Davies has these and many other general knowledge questions on his cards in today's contest, which will determine who takes the fourth of the automatic places in this year's semi-finals.

As always, a listener also stands a chance of winning a prize if his or her questions succeed in Beating the Brains.

Today's competitors are:

'Dennis' Dennis, a resting academic from London
Matthew Ledbury, a writer and lecturer from Oxford
Alan Franklin, a retired librarian from Fulham in London
Helen Waters, a social care administrator from Ipswich.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m00046pw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 Ian Sansom is Waiting (m00047tf)
We're always waiting for something. Sometimes, it feels like it might never arrive. But what if the secret to getting what you want lies in the space between things, rather than in the destination itself?

Through terminal spaces, waiting rooms and traffic jams, Ian Sansom offers a delayed deliberation on those moments when someone or something makes us... wait.

As Ian puts us on hold, forms an orderly queue and sits down to watch a slow film in the company of filmmaker Spencer Slovic, he experiences a sense of delayed gratification with philosopher Professor Harold Schweizer, tunes up in the orchestra pit with percussionist Sam Staunton, and endures the protracted delay in getting published with Northern Irish author Wendy Erskine.

Maybe if he's able hang around long enough, Ian might just arrive at his conclusion.

Producer: Steven Rainey


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m00047th)
Passover

For Jews the Passover is a time to remember their liberation from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of Moses. That story, known as the Exodus is dramatic and powerful and has inspired books and films. It still speaks today to those fighting injustice. To discuss the religious and contemporary meaning of Passover both for Jews and Christians, Ernie Rea is joined by Robyn Ashworth-Steen, Rabbi at Manchester Reform Synagogue and a former human rights lawyer; Daniel Walker, Orthodox Rabbi at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation; and the Rev Peter Scott, Samuel Ferguson Professor of Applied Theology & Director of the Lincoln Theological Institute at the University of Manchester.

Producer: Catherine Earlam


MON 17:00 PM (m00047tk)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00047tm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m00047tp)
Series 22

Episode 3

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.

Lou Sanders, Frankie Boyle, Henning Wehn and Lucy Porter are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as Germany, babies, trousers and beards.

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


MON 19:00 The Archers (m00045l8)
Tom finds himself in trouble and Fallon makes her feelings known


MON 19:15 Front Row (m00047tr)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m00047ss)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


MON 20:00 My Name Is... (m0004591)
My Name Is... Jay

Jay wants to leave behind a life in gangs, but he thinks those in a position to help don't care about young men like him, and he doesn't know how to do it on his own.

Jay takes us with him on a tour of his neighbourhood - revealing an alternative geography of East London, one marked by territorial lines which are dangerous to cross; shops and street corners where friends have been shot, stabbed and died; and places of safety where he introduces us to friends he grew up and who have shared his life. At the end of a long day, he explains his motivation for wanting to get out.

After that, he sets out to meet some people who might be able to help. In a frank and open conversation he speaks to Callum, a young man in Glasgow whose story contains echoes of Jay's own, and finds out for the first time that the problems he thought were confined to his neighbourhood are far from unique. And then he goes in search of those with the power to help: a trauma surgeon, the local police commander, and the Mayor of Newham. He wants to challenge the simplistic narrative about why young men get involved in gangs in the first place, and find out why there isn't more support - of the type that was available for Callum in Glasgow - for those who want to get out.

Produced by Gaetan Portal.


MON 20:30 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.


MON 21:00 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


MON 21:30 Start the Week (m00047sl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m00047tv)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 The Diaries of Adrian Mole (m00047t0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


MON 23:00 In Search of El Dorado (m0000v8t)
In 1595, Sir Walter Raleigh sailed to South America in search of the fabled 'El Dorado'. Gold had long fascinated Europeans and he was determined that his expedition would bring back untold treasures. He travelled up the Orinoco River which flows through what is now Venezuela, but his search was in vain and there was little to show for it except his remarkable account of the journey, 'The Discoverie of the Large, Rich and Bewtiful Empyre of Guiana'. Jerry Brotton takes this as his guide as he travels to Trinidad, Raleigh's staging post for the journey, and then into modern day Guyana for his own journey in search of gold.

Jerry discovers the descendants of the indigenous peoples Raleigh met and wrote about in his account, and travels upriver in search of the elusive gold that was so prized by Europeans.

What is left, if anything, of the dream of El Dorado in today's Guyana? Deep In the pristine rainforest of South America he finds out if the lure of gold still holds.

Jerry Brotton is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London

Producer Mark Rickards


MON 23:30 The Untold (m00026x0)
Don't Take My Masala

Shaish Alam's restaurant was once the top rated take away and curry restaurant in Wales. He'd won loads of awards, and appeared on national telly, demonstrating his home grown approach to cooking curry. In September 2017, everything changed, when he was found to be employing four staff who did not have the right to work in in the UK. It wasn't the first time - but with unpaid fines amounting to more than £70,000, this time the authorities came down much harder.

Now, he says he can't get more staff to help in the kitchen and he would have to pay a salary of £30,000 to bring anyone over - which he says he can't afford. He comes up with another solution. He decides to slash his menu to make it possible for him to do the cooking himself. His team are up in arms - they think you can't say no to customers, and they say curry menus must be extensive because that's what British people want. Shaish says they've been catering to the public's every demand for too long, and things must change. But how will this Welsh town respond to the prospect of having their favourite curries taken away?



TUESDAY 16 APRIL 2019

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m00047tx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (m00047tz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00047v1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00047v3)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00047v5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m00047v7)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00047v9)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Bishop of Ripon, Rt Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m00047vc)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


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

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

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


TUE 06:00 Today (m00045kf)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m00045kh)
Erica McAlister on the beauty of flies

Dr Erica McAlister, of London's Natural History Museum, talks to Jim Al-Khalili about the beautiful world of flies and the 2.5 million specimens for which she is responsible.


TUE 09:30 One to One (m00045kk)
Life in prison: Alan Rusbridger talks to Dr Sohom Das

Former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger meets Dr Sohom Das, a consultant forensic psychiatrist. His job is to assess, treat and rehabilitate mentally ill offenders.

Dr Sohom discusses the effect that a life behind bars has upon the mind, tells Alan about the times when he has made a difference, and talks about the challenges of treating mentally ill offenders inside jail.

Producer: Camellia Sinclair


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (m00045km)
Michael Tippett

Episode 2

The music of the British composer Michael Tippett - including the oratorio A Child of Our Time, five operas, and four symphonies - is among the most visionary of the 20th Century, but little has been written about his extraordinary life. In this new, first complete biography, arts writer and broadcaster Oliver Soden weaves a century-spanning narrative of epic scope and insight.

Soden has been given unprecedented access to unpublished letters and manuscripts, and has recorded interviews with Tippett’s friends and colleagues. He paints a portrait of a powerful intellect and infectious personality - charming, with a consuming interest in other people, stubborn and great fun.

But he also uncovers the sorrows and secrets that Tippett stowed away beneath his cheerfulness, not least the darker reaches of some tempestuous and often tragic love affairs that sometimes blurred the lines between the professional and the personal.

Tippett’s was a long, exciting life - and woven through it all is his amazing, varied music, as beautiful as it is challenging, and the eclectic supporting cast of his friends, colleagues and lovers. His was truly a life of the 20th Century - but one that can also shine a light on the 21st.

In Episode Two, Tippett plunges enthusiastically into the heady life of the Royal College of Music. He falls in and out of love, is overcome by the power of music - and decides to become a composer.

Abridged by Elizabeth Burke
Produced by Pippa Vaughan
Read by Oliver Soden featuring Derek Jacobi and Nicholas Boulton
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m00045kp)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m00045kr)
The Citadel

Episode 2

Manson questions the mine owner, Mr. Vaughan about his record on safety at the pit, whilst Mr. Vaughan's wife, Lydia befriends Dr. Denny; she knows of his past as a doctor at the siege of Kut.

Manson - George Blagden
Denny - Julian Lewis Jones
Vaughan - Seamus O'Neill
Lydia Vaughan - Kate Coogan
Written by Christopher Reason
Directed by Pauline Harris
Produced by Gary Brown and Pauline Harris


TUE 11:00 Patient Undone (m00045kt)
Professor Deborah Bowman reveals how a diagnosis of cancer has transformed her view of medical ethics and what it means to be a patient.

As Professor of Ethics and Law at St George's, University of London, Deborah has spent the past two decades teaching and writing about medical ethics, the moral principles that apply to medicine.

It’s taken her down countless hospital corridors, to the clinics and the wards where medical ethics plays out in practice, behind closed doors, supporting healthcare practitioners and their patients to negotiate uncertainty and conflict.

This is the field of clinical ethics and, each time, the ‘patient’ has been central to her response.

Yet in the autumn of 2017, everything changed. Deborah was diagnosed with breast cancer and it signalled the beginning of her undoing, not just personally but professionally too, playing havoc with what she thought she knew about clinical ethics.

Patient autonomy - literally ‘self-rule’- is one of its cornerstones - a patient’s right to make decisions about their healthcare. So what does autonomy mean if the ‘self’, she thought she knew, was so changeable and confusing?

Deborah returns to the Royal Marsden Hospital where she is a patient, to explore this - with both her personal and professional hats on.

Producer: Beth Eastwood


TUE 11:30 The Art of Now (m00045kw)
The Return of Voguing

Clara Amfo assesses the rise of voguing in the UK. It's a dance form with its origins among queer, mostly black and Latino people in the Harlem ballroom scene, and it’s currently having a resurgence in popularity thanks to shows like Pose and artists like Sam Smith.

Clara seeks out key players from the UK scene past and present, takes a lesson in some of the different vogue styles, and attends a ball where people are pulling incredible shapes, competing, and flaunting their outfits.

She also discovers a highly politicised subculture of deep importance - even a lifeline - to some members of the LGBTQ community.

Contributors include:
Jay Jay Revlon - dancer, activist and event organiser
Les Child - choreographer and founder of the House of Child
Roy Brown (aka Roy INC) - performer and first member of the House of Child
Darren Suarez - artistic director and founder of the House of Suarez
Marc Thompson - social activist and mentor

A Wisebuddah production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m00045ky)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 The Diaries of Adrian Mole (m00045l0)
Adrian Mole and The Weapons of Mass Destruction

Episode 2

The fifth book in our series of readings from Adrian’s diaries, written by Sue Townsend. It starts in 2002 and covers the controversial period of the Iraq War.

Adrian is 34, working in a bookshop in Leicester and about to become the proud owner of a trendy loft apartment. His single status is about to change too, putting further strain on his already stretched finances. As war looms, Adrian is unwavering in his support for Prime Minister Tony Blair and military action, even though his eldest son Glenn is facing deployment to the Gulf.

Sue Townsend was born in Leicester in 1946. She left school at 15 and was a single parent with three young children by the age of 23. Like Adrian, she wrote in secret for many years, and acknowledged that they often shared the same views - Adrian "C’est moi," she once said.

First published in 1989, Adrian Mole’s diaries were instant bestsellers and Adrian, the remarkably resilient underdog, quickly became a national treasure. While recording the experiences of one individual and showcasing Sue's fearless and razor sharp wit, the diaries also illustrate how socio-political matters of the time affected the lives of ordinary people.

Copyright Siegfried Sassoon by kind permission of the Estate of George Sassoon

Reader: Harry McEntire
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Alexa Moore

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m00045l2)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


TUE 12:57 Weather (m00045l4)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m00045l6)
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 One to One (m0000y8j)
Inheritance: When It Gets Complicated

Bronwen Maddox talks to Lancaster solicitor and stepfather Gary Rycroft about solving disputes. Our family structures are getting more and more complicated, we're getting more and more demanding, so how can we avoid inheritance disputes? He talks about what writing wills in his professional life has led him to do in his own personal family life.

Producer: Chris Ledgard


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m00045l8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (m00045lb)
Longline

Henry Darke's first drama for radio tells the story of Jay, a rookie observer on a deep sea trawler. He must ensure adherence to the strict international laws covering fishing quotas, sustainability and safety. It's a time when you need to know who your friends are.

Jay ..... Matthew Aubrey
Kim-Long ..... Chike Chan
Kate ..... Sarah Ovens
Esther ..... Franchi Webb
Carlitos ..... Joseph Balderrama
Juan/Radio Operator ..... Simon Scardifield
Dad ..... Kenny Blyth
Lecturer ..... Michael Bertenshaw
Sisco/Lazrus ..... Richie Campbell

Directed by Gemma Jenkins


TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m00045ld)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (m00045bc)
The Future for the UK Environment

Where does Brexit leave the UK countryside? Tom Heap hosts a debate.

Producer: Emma Campbell


TUE 16:00 Marking Time (m0001mnn)
Lida Kindersley is Britain's best known letter cutter. She stands in the tradition of Eric Gill and is responsible for many beautiful gravestones, plaques and embellishments to buildings. She reveals not only the skill involved in cutting words into stone, wood or metal to create a lasting memory , but the ideas that inform her work.

This is a personal story too. The programme opens with Lida, accompanied by a childhood friend, laying a line of bright white shells on a desolate beach in Suffolk. As we discover, it's another way of marking time with a poignant story attached.

We follow the production of a new gravestone for the poet and artist William Blake and the unveiling of that stone in Bunhill Fields in the City of London, hearing from Lida's clients - including Tom, who wants five felled elm beams to be carved with sunflowers to brighten and adorn his garden, a place of peace and welcome.

Presenter: Susan Marling

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m00045lg)
Series 48

Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, chosen by Tom Holland

She's the most influential woman that English history forgot, says Tom Holland - Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, daughter of Alfred the Great. Living and ruling at a time when the Anglo-Saxons were fighting back against the Vikings, Aethelflaed became a key figure in the construction of what we know today as England. But how much do we actually know?

Joining Tom and Matthew Parris in the studio is Sarah Foot, the Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical history. Together they pick though the life of an astonishing character recently recreated in Bernard Cornwell's series The Last Kingdom and played by Millie Brady; and who also might have inspired Eowyn in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde


TUE 17:00 PM (m00045lj)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00045ll)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 My Teenage Diary (b07hfwrm)
Series 7

Samira Ahmed

The journalist Samira Ahmed reads from her teenage diaries and is interviewed about her childhood in 1980s London when she was obsessed with school work, Dallas and learning to drive.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m000459j)
Freddie is forced to ask a favour from the enemy and Emma finds herself compromised


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m00045ln)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m00045kr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


TUE 20:00 The Populist Curtain (m00045lq)
Poland and Hungary

In 1946, Winston Churchill coined a memorable phrase: “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the continent,” he said. Today the Soviet Union has gone, but populist parties are in government in every country along the route of the Iron Curtain, as defined by Churchill. In this series, political scientist Yascha Mounk travels that route, and finds out what is changing under these new governments in smaller cities, far away from the capitals. He speaks to supporters and opponents of the populist parties and builds up a complex picture of Europe in a time of flux.

Yascha begins in the north in the Polish city of Szczecin (Stettin) – where Solidarity was originally created. Today the PIS party governs the country, with its appeal to traditional religious values and social conservatism. Critics say it is attacking independent institutions, especially the judiciary. Szczecin saw vigorous protest against a law restricting abortion. He stays on the former Eastern side of the curtain by travelling on to Sopron, Hungary – the site of the picnic which led to the first mass breach of the Iron Curtain, then to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Victor Orban’s Fidesz party is accused of attacking civil society and the freedom of the press in his pursuit of an “illiberal democracy” – but there are forces fighting back locally.

Producer: Kate Lamble


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m00045ls)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted


TUE 21:00 The Patch (m0001cv9)
Spalding

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 three takes us to a Lincolnshire town, where cigarettes are a hot topic everywhere you go.

Producer/Presenter: Polly Weston
Exec Producer: Jolyon Jenkins


TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (m00045kh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m00045lv)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


TUE 22:45 The Diaries of Adrian Mole (m00045l0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


TUE 23:00 Fred at The Stand (m00045lx)
Series 2

Jess Robinson, Raul Kohli, Elf Lyons and Chris Forbes

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.

As well as Fred's tales of bringing up dogs now the kids have left, this episode is packed with great stand-up, impressions and even inspiration. Jess Robinson has got a new twist on Six Degrees of Separation, while Geordie comedian Raul Kohli makes his first return to Glasgow since "the incident". Elf Lyons cements herself as everyone's favourite imaginary friend and Glasgow's Chris Forbes headlines the show with two examples of inspiration and self belief - one more authentic than the other.

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 The Untold (b0b6htgd)
After the Bridge

On 22nd March 2017, 25 year old Will Dyson was walking along Westminster Bridge, when a vehicle mounted the pavement and hit him from behind. The Terror Attack left 5 people dead and more than 50 injured. Will was one of the injured. In the lead up to the year anniversary, Will faces up to his changing views of the incident.



WEDNESDAY 17 APRIL 2019

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m00045lz)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 Book of the Week (m00045km)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00045m1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00045m3)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00045m5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (m00045m7)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00045m9)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Bishop of Ripon, Rt Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m00045mc)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03zrcdf)
Little Grebe

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

Kate Humble presents the little grebe. Little grebes are our smallest grebes. They're dumpy birds with dark brown feathers and in the breeding season have a very obvious chestnut patch on their necks and cheeks. Little grebes are secretive birds, especially in the breeding season when they lurk in reeds and rushes or dive to avoid being seen.


WED 06:00 Today (m000458j)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 New Ways of Seeing (m000458l)
Invisible Networks

How is technology changing the way we see? The artist James Bridle reimagines John Berger’s Ways of Seeing for the digital age and reveals the internet’s hidden infrastructure.

“The way we see things is affected by what we know, or what we believe” – John Berger. In 1972, Berger’s seminal TV series and book changed perceptions of art and set out to reveal the language of images.

Of course, that was before the internet, smartphones, and social media took hold.

How do we see the world around us now? And, who are the artists urging us to look more closely?

James Bridle writes about the development of technology on our lives. His work has been exhibited at the V&A, the Barbican, in galleries worldwide, and online. In this series of four programmes, he updates Berger’s Ways of Seeing, inviting contemporary artists to explore how the technology we use every day has transformed the ways in which we see and are seen.

In this first episode, Invisible Networks, James looks for the hidden, physical infrastructure of the internet. Does it matter that it’s being swept out of sight? Artists Hito Steyerl, Ingrid Burrington, Trevor Paglen, Olia Lialina, Julian Oliver and Danja Vasiliev explain why they’re compelled to show us what’s going on beneath the surface.

Producer: Steve Urquhart
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4


WED 09:30 The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry (m000458p)
Series 13

An Instrumental Case

“We play many musical instruments in our family. Lots of them produce the same pitch of notes, but the instruments all sound different. Why is this?” asks Natasha Cook, aged 11 and her Dad Jeremy from Guelph in Ontario, Canada.

For this instrumental case Hannah and Adam are joined by the Curious Cases band - Matt Chandler and Wayne Urquhart - to play with today's question.

Bringing the science we have acoustic engineer and saxophone player Trevor Cox. Plus materials expert Zoe Laughlin demonstrates a selection of her unusual musical creations, including a lead bugle and spruce tuning fork.

Presenters: Adam Rutherford, Hannah Fry
Producer: Michelle Martin


WED 09:45 Book of the Week (m00045c0)
Michael Tippett

Episode 3

The music of the British composer Michael Tippett - including the oratorio A Child of Our Time, five operas, and four symphonies - is among the most visionary of the 20th Century, but little has been written about his extraordinary life. In this new, first complete biography, arts writer and broadcaster Oliver Soden weaves a century-spanning narrative of epic scope and insight.

Soden has been given unprecedented access to unpublished letters and manuscripts, and has recorded interviews with Tippett’s friends and colleagues. He paints a portrait of a powerful intellect and infectious personality - charming, with a consuming interest in other people, stubborn and great fun.

But he also uncovers the sorrows and secrets that Tippett stowed away beneath his cheerfulness, not least the darker reaches of some tempestuous and often tragic love affairs that sometimes blurred the lines between the professional and the personal.

Tippett’s was a long, exciting life - and woven through it all is his amazing, varied music, as beautiful as it is challenging, and the eclectic supporting cast of his friends, colleagues and lovers. His was truly a life of the 20th Century - but one that can also shine a light on the 21st.

In episode three, war in Europe approaches and the world turns dark. Tippett composes A Child of Our Time at the height of the Blitz and faces the consequences of his pacifism.

Abridged by Elizabeth Burke
Produced by Pippa Vaughan
Read by Oliver Soden featuring Derek Jacobi and Nicholas Boulton
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000458t)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (m000458w)
The Citadel

Episode 3

Denny's in love with Manson's wife, Christine. When he decides to leave it ends in tragedy.

Denny - Julian Lewis Jones
Christine - Catrin Stewart
Lydia - Kate Coogan

Written by Christopher Reason
Directed by Pauline Harris
Produced by Gary Brown and Pauline Harris


WED 10:55 The Listening Project (m000458z)
Josh and Gareth - Good for Your Smile Muscles

Friends talk about how a state-of-the-art wheelchair can change your life. 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... (m0004591)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]


WED 11:30 Ability (m0004593)
Series 2

A Job for Matt

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 (m0004595)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 The Diaries of Adrian Mole (m0004597)
Adrian Mole and The Weapons of Mass Destruction

Episode 3

The fifth book in our series of readings from Adrian’s diaries, written by Sue Townsend. It starts in 2002 and covers the controversial period of the Iraq War.

Adrian is 34, working in a bookshop in Leicester and about to become the proud owner of a trendy loft apartment. His single status is about to change too, putting further strain on his already stretched finances. As war looms, Adrian is unwavering in his support for Prime Minister Tony Blair and military action, even though his eldest son Glenn is facing deployment to the Gulf.

Sue Townsend was born in Leicester in 1946. She left school at 15 and was a single parent with three young children by the age of 23. Like Adrian, she wrote in secret for many years, and acknowledged that they often shared the same views - Adrian "C’est moi," she once said.

First published in 1989, Adrian Mole’s diaries were instant bestsellers and Adrian, the remarkably resilient underdog, quickly became a national treasure. While recording the experiences of one individual and showcasing Sue's fearless and razor sharp wit, the diaries also illustrate how socio-political matters of the time affected the lives of ordinary people.

Copyright Siegfried Sassoon by kind permission of the Estate of George Sassoon

Reader: Harry McEntire
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Alexa Moore

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


WED 12:18 You and Yours (m000459b)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


WED 12:57 Weather (m000459d)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m000459g)
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 One to One (m000112l)
Inheritance: Give it up or pass it on?

Bronwen Maddox meets the environmentalist Tom Burke, who plans to pass on the majority of his legacy to his passion: supporting bird life. Tom was brought up on a council estate in Plymouth, and didn't inherit any money from his parents. He says hard work, luck and the property price boom have given him a substantial amount to pass on. But he believes leaving too much money to younger family members is the wrong thing to do - and he doesn't want it to go to the state.
Producer: Chris Ledgard


WED 14:00 The Archers (m000459j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Death at the Airport: The Plot Against Kim Jong-nam (b09h2tk6)
Presented and narrated by Paul French
Drama written by Nick Perry

In February 2017, a Korean man walked through Kuala Lumpur airport when he was ambushed by two young women who appeared to smear his face with a chemical compound later identified as the nerve agent VX. He died shortly afterwards, when it was revealed that he was the estranged half-brother of the current supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un.

The drama-documentary depicts the frightening and often bizarre sequence of events that led to the death at the airport. Mixing fact with juicy, fantastic rumour we trace the story of how the man once tipped to succeed his father as leader of the world's only communist monarchy, fell from grace (or was he pushed?), and forced to go into exile abroad. Meanwhile, we follow the unexpected rise of his half-brothers, and of how the youngest defied all expectations and outfoxed them all. For at its core, this is a timeless story about power; about three princes, sons of the Kim Jong-il by different mothers, who each had a claim to a very precarious crown.

Paul French presents the drama-documentary. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Midnight in Peking; a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist, winner of both an Edgar (US) and Dagger (UK) awards and currently being developed for British television as a drama series.

Nick Perry has written the drama. His first play Arrivederci Millwall won the Samuel Beckett Award. TV credits include Clubland (1991) and Superbomb (2007). For Radio 4, Nick has written many original dramas including The Loop, November Dead List, London Bridge, Referee, as well as adapting The Confidential Agent, The Shootist, He Died With His Eyes Open and Moll Flanders.

Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.


WED 15:00 Money Box (m000459l)
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 (b0bd9123)
Series 3

Sodium: The key to life

Putting sodium into water is one of the most memorable experiments from school chemistry lessons. It's this ability to react ferociously with water which is the starting point for sodium's key role in powering all of biology. Simply, without sodium we wouldn't exist. It helps provide the electricity that allows us to move, breathe, think. Our understanding of sodium could help in the search for analgesics with few side effects for severe pain. Recent discoveries of families who feel searing pain with mild warmth, or those who feel no pain at all even in childbirth, have opened up new avenues in pain research. Their rare genetic mutations change the way sodium works in their bodies: from this new knowledge neuroscientists are developing drugs that could give rise to a much needed new generation of pain killers.


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m000459n)
New research on how society works.


WED 16:30 The Media Show (m000459q)
The programme about a revolution in media with Amol Rajan, the BBC's media editor.


WED 17:00 PM (m000459s)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000459v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:30 Fags, Mags and Bags (b0952b1r)
Series 7

Begrudging a Crunchie

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 the final episode of the series, Malcolm surprises Ramesh by announcing she wants to become a Foster carer.

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!

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


WED 19:00 The Archers (m000459x)
Natasha finds herself the talk of Ambridge and Russ comes to a decision


WED 19:15 Front Row (m000459z)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m000458w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:41 today]


WED 20:00 FutureProofing (m00045b3)
How the home will be disrupted and transformed by radical technological change.

Our homes may experience more disruption than anywhere else because of the forces unleashed by technological change. The notions we have about home - a private, secure, stable place where you can shut out the world and just be yourself - are under threat from technology and economic change.

From the internet of things and the Smart Home, to the complete rejection of any permanent fixed abode, FutureProofing hears how our ideas about home will be transformed in the 21st century.


WED 20:45 Lent Talks (m00045b7)
The Uncertainty of Mary

"I knew in my soul this was the end, waiting to hear the words "your son has died"”. Alison Cope, whose son Joshua was stabbed to death, reflects on a mother's grief.

Producer: Dan Tierney


WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (m00045bc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 New Ways of Seeing (m000458l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m00045bj)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


WED 22:45 The Diaries of Adrian Mole (m0004597)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


WED 23:00 Bunk Bed (m00045bn)
Series 6

Episode Five

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.

Tonight, Hollywood star Cate Blanchett joins Patrick Marber and Peter on Curran the spare mattress, in relaxed mode as they muse on their experiences of gallstones, vomiting, night walks and severe haircuts.

Produced by Peter Curran
A Foghorn production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:15 Kieran Hodgson's Earworms (b090293j)
Series 1

Mahler

Critically-acclaimed comedian Kieran Hodgson is joined by John Sessions and Colin Hoult, in the second of a new series of comedy intros to the great composers. Can self-described 'music educator and inspiration' Ralph Lewis, the man behind 'In the Bedroom with Brahms' and 'Eating 5 A Day The Elgar Way'persuade self-confessed 'enemy of culture' Paul, that Mahler's worth a listen, and not just a load of old cowbells.

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


WED 23:30 The Untold (b0b3c42w)
Pushing the Envelope

Grace Dent follows Alan, the postman who dreams of making it as a professional actor. He has landed a role in a hit stage play, but he will have to overcome his dyslexia in order to succeed.

Alan has worked as a postman in Liverpool for years, but he's now ready to pursue his true passion of a career in acting. Things have gotten off to a promising start as he has been cast in a leading role in a professional stage play. The play follows the story of the band Joy Division and is a celebrated production with a huge fan base. This could be Alan's chance to establish himself in the world he has always wanted to join.

A winning performance could be Alan's chance to make it, but it won't be easy. Alan's dyslexia presents a challenge to his day job of delivering letters. It makes memorising an entire script a difficult task, and Alan has just a few weeks to do so. It's the performance of a lifetime, and the pressure is on to be ready for opening night. Will he be able to impress an audience of critics and industry figures who could turn his dream into a reality?

Producer: Sam Peach
Researcher: Tabitha Konstantine.



THURSDAY 18 APRIL 2019

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m00045bt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 Book of the Week (m00045c0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00045c9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00045cf)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00045ck)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (m00045cp)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00045ct)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Bishop of Ripon, Rt Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m00045cw)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03zrckq)
Ruddy Duck

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

Kate Humble presents the ruddy duck. Ruddy ducks are natives of North America. In the late 1950s and early 1960s several ruddy ducks escaped from the Wildfowl Trust's collection at Slimbridge and within 30 years they had become established breeding birds in the UK. Some even migrated to Spain where they mated with a very rare threatened relative, the white-headed duck. Many ornithologists believed that the resulting hybrids threatened to undermine years of conservation work in Spain, so after taking scientific advice, the UK government set out to eradicate the ruddy duck. This action has reduced our population to a handful so your best chance of hearing the courtship display is by visiting a wildfowl collection.


THU 06:00 Today (m00046rm)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m00046rp)
A Midsummer Night's Dream

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of Shakespeare's most popular works, written c1595 in the last years of Elizabeth I. It is a comedy of love and desire and their many complications as well as their simplicity, and a reflection on society's expectations and limits. It is also a quiet critique of Elizabeth and her vulnerability and on the politics of the time, and an exploration of the power of imagination.

With

Helen Hackett

Tom Healy

and

Alison Findlay

Producer: Simon Tillotson


THU 09:45 Book of the Week (m00046t4)
Michael Tippett

Episode 4

The music of the British composer Michael Tippett - including the oratorio A Child of Our Time, five operas, and four symphonies - is among the most visionary of the 20th Century, but little has been written about his extraordinary life. In this new, first complete biography, arts writer and broadcaster Oliver Soden weaves a century-spanning narrative of epic scope and insight.

Soden has been given unprecedented access to unpublished letters and manuscripts, and has recorded interviews with Tippett’s friends and colleagues. He paints a portrait of a powerful intellect and infectious personality - charming, with a consuming interest in other people, stubborn and great fun.

But he also uncovers the sorrows and secrets that Tippett stowed away beneath his cheerfulness, not least the darker reaches of some tempestuous and often tragic love affairs that sometimes blurred the lines between the professional and the personal.

Tippett’s was a long, exciting life - and woven through it all is his amazing, varied music, as beautiful as it is challenging, and the eclectic supporting cast of his friends, colleagues and lovers. His was truly a life of the 20th Century - but one that can also shine a light on the 21st.

In episode four, Britain is at war and Tippett’s pacifist beliefs land him in prison. In the solitude of his cell, he reflects on life and music.

Abridged by Elizabeth Burke
Produced by Pippa Vaughan
Read by Oliver Soden featuring Derek Jacobi and Nicholas Boulton
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m00046rt)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m00046rw)
The Citadel

Episode 4

Manson tends to his colleague Denny in his crashed car in a desperate bid to save his life.

Manson - George Blagden
Denny - Julian Lewis Jones
Christine - Catrin Stewart
Denny's Father - Seamus O'Neill

Written by Christopher Reason
Directed by Pauline Harris
Produced by Gary Brown and Pauline Harris


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m00046ry)
Restoring Brazil's National Treasure

Brazilians wept when their 200-year-old National Museum went up in flames last September. Twenty million items, many of them irreplaceable, were thought to have been reduced to ash when it was gutted by a massive fire. Staff said the loss to science and history was incalculable - and the tragedy, possibly caused by faulty wiring in the long-underfunded institution, led to much national heart-searching about the country's commitment to its heritage. The museum, housed in Brazil's former Imperial Palace in Rio de Janeiro, held unique collections of fossils, animal specimens, indigenous artefacts, as well as Egyptian and Greek treasures - and the oldest human skull found in the Americas.
Some scientists, who saw their entire life's work go up in flames, were in despair - but others vowed to work to rebuild and restock the museum. Now, months on, painstaking archaeological work in the debris has uncovered items that can be restored, while other specialists are setting out on expeditions to acquire new specimens. Tim Whewell reports from Rio on the agonies - and occasional small triumphs - of the slow, exhausting effort to bring a great national institution back to life.


THU 11:30 Songs From the Edgelands (m00046s0)
There are over seven thousand languages in the world, some of them spoken by only a handful of people. Every year, more than twenty of those languages disappear forever, and according to singer Gwenno, who has released albums in Cornish and Welsh, that is a huge loss. These languages have evolved over centuries to reflect a people's relationship with their part of the world, and offer, she says, an echo of that particular landscape. Gwenno heads out to the SUNS festival in the northern Italian city of Udine, where the local language is Friulian. There she meets some of the bands who have brought their songs - written in a wide range of minoritised languages from Basque and Catalan to Ladin and Welsh - to compete in the festival's song contest. She explores the ways in which writing lyrics with words very few people can understand can act as a liberation and allow original patterns of writing, as well as a means through which to embody and modernise cultural and political identity.

Producer: Geoff Bird


THU 12:00 News Summary (m00046s2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 The Diaries of Adrian Mole (m00046s4)
Adrian Mole and The Weapons of Mass Destruction

Episode 4

The fifth book in our series of readings from Adrian’s diaries, written by Sue Townsend. It starts in 2002 and covers the controversial period of the Iraq War.

Adrian is 34, working in a bookshop in Leicester and about to become the proud owner of a trendy loft apartment. His single status is about to change too, putting further strain on his already stretched finances. As war looms, Adrian is unwavering in his support for Prime Minister Tony Blair and military action, even though his eldest son Glenn is facing deployment to the Gulf.

Sue Townsend was born in Leicester in 1946. She left school at 15 and was a single parent with three young children by the age of 23. Like Adrian, she wrote in secret for many years, and acknowledged that they often shared the same views - Adrian "C’est moi," she once said.

First published in 1989, Adrian Mole’s diaries were instant bestsellers and Adrian, the remarkably resilient underdog, quickly became a national treasure. While recording the experiences of one individual and showcasing Sue's fearless and razor sharp wit, the diaries also illustrate how socio-political matters of the time affected the lives of ordinary people.

Copyright Siegfried Sassoon by kind permission of the Estate of George Sassoon

Reader: Harry McEntire
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Alexa Moore

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


THU 12:18 You and Yours (m00046s6)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


THU 12:57 Weather (m00046s8)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m00046sb)
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 One to One (m0001f01)
The last space shuttle

In 2011, tech journalist Jack Dearlove was at university and won a competition to go to the Kennedy Space Center to "live tweet" the last American Space Shuttle. As a self-confessed space nerd, it was one of the most exciting - and emotional - days of his life. But what was it like for the astronauts on board? Here he talks to Doug Hurley, one of the four on board. Now in his fifties, Doug is still planning one last mission into space, with Elon Musk's new generation of space craft. If successful, it will allow American astronauts once again to go into space from American soil.

Producer: Jolyon Jenkins


THU 14:00 The Archers (m000459x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (b08pfpgf)
Tightrope

Life is a balancing act. Quite literally so - for Charles Blondin, the first man to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope. One of the famous celebrities of the Victorian period, Blondin astounded audiences throughout the world with his death defying feats.

But there were sacrifices. Things he could not balance in life.

Now, nearing the end of his days, Blondin sees a chance to make amends while reliving his glory days through new found prodigy Billy Stoker. But Blondin does not count on violent opposition from both the boy's mother and his own wife. This could be his toughest balancing act yet.

TV and film's Philip Jackson plays Charles Blondin, and is joined by two rival soap murderesses - Eastender's Charlie Brooks and, in her radio drama debut and first role since leaving Coronation Street, Paula Lane.

Tightrope, based on true events, is a spangle encrusted confection of laughter and tears, hope and regret. Now - let's get this show on the rope!

Written by Colin Bytheway
Directed by Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 15:00 Open Country (m00046sd)
Jallianwala Grove: Remembering the 1919 massacre in Amritsar.

The first memorial to remember the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 has been created in Britain by a Sikh charity group. A hundred years ago, Brigadier General Reginald Dyer and his men opened fire and shot at thousands of unarmed people who had gathered at Jallianwala Bagh, a walled garden area in the city of Amritsar, India. Hundreds were shot dead, making this one of the darkest days in British colonial history.
Broadcaster and author Anita Anand has grown up knowing about this tragic event, as her own grandfather Ishwar Das Anand was in Amritsar that day. She meets Chan Chowdhry, the general secretary of The Pothowar Association UK, who came up with the idea to plant 1650 trees for the 100th year. For Chan, it was important to create a living breathing memorial.
This newly planted woodland memorial known as ‘Jallianwala Grove’ is now part of the National Forest in an area known as Eastern Old Parks, which lies on the outskirts of the historic town of Ashby-de-la Zouch in Leicestershire. Chan sees for the first time the completed woodland memorial and tells Anita why it’s important to mark this awful tragedy in the English landscape.
Anita also speaks to the National Forest's Chief Executive John Everitt, who explains the long established tradition of planting a tree to remember, commemorate or celebrate.
The producer is Perminder Khatkar.

Readings by Anita Anand 'The Patient Assassin'.


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m00046pf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Open Book (m00046q6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:00 The Film Programme (m00046sg)
Yentl reunion

Antonia Quirke reunites three cast members of Barbra Streisand's cult classic Yentl - Kerry Shale, Danny Brainin and Gary Brown. And in a radio exclusive, they sing their song that was cut from the final version.


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m00046sj)
Dr Adam Rutherford and guests illuminate the mysteries and challenge the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.


THU 17:00 PM (m00046sl)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00046sn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:30 Meet David Sedaris (m00046sq)
Series 7

Episode 3

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, he reads The Silent Treatment and more diary extracts.

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 (m000462y)
Lily offers an explanation and Chris is forced to dish out a lecture


THU 19:15 Front Row (m00046ss)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m00046rw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m00046sv)
David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news


THU 20:30 In Business (m00046sx)
Behind the facades

The relationship between landlord and tenant is an important, often unseen, dynamic that most of us don’t give much thought to. And yet, it's reshaping high streets up and down the country.

High rents are blamed for the collapse of so many retailers - they appear unsustainable yet they are the vehicle through which much of our pension wealth is invested.

In this programme, Ruth Alexander looks at different models of ownership: from the big financial institutional investors through to the original aristocratic landowner and asks how - in the turmoil created by the rapidly changing retail environment - these landlords are facing up to a new reality.

Presenter: Ruth Alexander
Producer: Alex Lewis


THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m00046sj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


THU 21:30 In Our Time (m00046rp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m00046t0)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


THU 22:45 The Diaries of Adrian Mole (m00046s4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


THU 23:00 Alone (b0b0xbrt)
Series 1

Not Listening but Hearing

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, as well as overly honest, frustrated actress Louisa (Kate Isitt), and socially inept IT nerd Morris (Bennett Arron).

In Not Listening But Hearing, Will and Mitch's sleep is disturbed by some frankly outrageous noises coming from upstairs, which leads to an extremely awkward conversation with Louisa, who is in a new relationship. Ellie has had her Miro print re-framed - she likes the new frame but is now worried it's not exactly the same print. And Morris is on jury duty which, to him, is basically a great chance to meet single women.

It's a busy week all round.

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 23:30 The Untold (b09ntd0k)
The Toss of the Coin

Jackie Harrison has a 50-50 chance of developing Huntington's disease. Her grandfather, mother and uncle all died young with this devastating, neuro-degenerative disease and she cares for her younger brother who has it too.

In December 2017 it seemed that there might have been a breakthrough and there's been a surge of people at risk asking for a predictive test. It's a blood test which simply tells you if you will develop the disease - but currently there is no cure.

Jackie has previously shied away from the test, but is now considering it. The test is a gamble. A bad result can be devastating.

Having lived all her life thinking she has Huntington's, Jackie hasn't learnt to drive for fear she will have her license taken away. She hasn't had children, for fear that any child would have to look after her when she became ill.

"There are very few days you're not thinking about it," she admits, checking herself for symptoms, "I twitch my shoulder and I know I do. Sometimes I've a twitchy eye or one time my thumb was shaking or shivering for no reason. I'm being bad tempered and I'm shouting at people - so you think is this the start of it?"

As Jackie approaches 50, she is increasingly persuaded to have the test. Her partner Tony describes it as a horrendous Catch 22, "Do you want to live the rest of your life in the hope that you may be free of the disease or do you want to toss the coin, with the negative of that being you find you're not free of it and you then you have no hope left?"

Should she have the test and could she cope with the result?

Narrated by Grace Dent and produced by Sarah Bowen.



FRIDAY 19 APRIL 2019

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m00046t2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (m00046t4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00046t6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00046t8)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00046tb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m00046td)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00046tg)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Bishop of Ripon, Rt Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m00046tj)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03zrcqw)
Stone Curlew

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

Kate Humble presents the stone curlew. Stone curlews belong to a family known as 'thick-knees' but their country name of 'goggle-eyed plover' suits them better. Their huge staring yellow eyes serve them well at night when they're most active. By day, they lie up on sparse grassland or heath where their streaky brown-and-white plumage camouflages them superbly.


FRI 06:00 Today (m0004627)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 The Reunion (m0004629)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (m000463z)
Michael Tippett

Episode 5

The music of the British composer Michael Tippett - including the oratorio A Child of Our Time, five operas, and four symphonies - is among the most visionary of the 20th Century, but little has been written about his extraordinary life. In this new, first complete biography, arts writer and broadcaster Oliver Soden weaves a century-spanning narrative of epic scope and insight.

Soden has been given unprecedented access to unpublished letters and manuscripts, and has recorded interviews with Tippett’s friends and colleagues. He paints a portrait of a powerful intellect and infectious personality - charming, with a consuming interest in other people, stubborn and great fun.

But he also uncovers the sorrows and secrets that Tippett stowed away beneath his cheerfulness, not least the darker reaches of some tempestuous and often tragic love affairs that sometimes blurred the lines between the professional and the personal.

Tippett’s was a long, exciting life - and woven through it all is his amazing, varied music, as beautiful as it is challenging, and the eclectic supporting cast of his friends, colleagues and lovers. His was truly a life of the 20th Century - but one that can also shine a light on the 21st.

The final episode, the 'Grand Old Man of Music'. A critical analysis of Michael Tippett’s late years of life and music, a period of renewed lyricism.

Abridged by Elizabeth Burke
Produced by Pippa Vaughan
Read by Oliver Soden featuring Derek Jacobi and Nicholas Boulton
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000462f)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m000462h)
The Citadel

Episode 5

Manson is confounded when Denny will not join him in fighting Vaughan for negligence in substandard safety at the pit. The reason for Denny's reluctance is Lydia Vaughan, whose own health is under threat as Manson discovers the real cause of her tremors.

Manson - George Blagden
Denny - Julian Lewis Jones
Christine - Catrin Stewart
Lydia - Kate Coogan

Written by Christopher Reason
Directed by Pauline Harris
Produced by Gary Brown and Pauline Harris


FRI 11:00 Out of Office (m000462k)
Episode 3

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

Recruiting staff used to be a question of reading through a pile and CVs and conducting interviews to find the best candidate. But, as Ruth discovers, everything has changed.

Many job applicants are faced initially with online interviews - speaking into the camera of their laptop in response to automatic questions. But can an algorithm be trusted to select the best candidate?

And what of the gaming app which offers job hunters the opportunity to play through some scenarios that sort out their strength and weaknesses? Ruth tries it out - and finds out why she'll never become an air traffic controller.

We look at how some online tools can help recruitment, especially for those seeking casual work. And Ruth asks what employers must do to recruit and retain the best talent. A cosmetics firm thinks it has the answer.

Producer: Kim Normanton
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 11:30 Reluctant Persuaders (b08n46dj)
Series 2

Think Different

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, things are looking up for Hardacre's. They're pitching for the biggest account of their lives - the cutting edge new smartphone, the Cosmos X10.

It's the day of the big pitch and Hardacre (Nigel Havers), Joe (Mathew Baynton), Teddy (Kieran Hodgson), Amanda (Josie Lawrence), and Laura (Olivia Nixon) are waiting to be called in. They may be waiting rather a long time, in fact, as they appear to have turned up six hours early.

As the day unfolds and the wait continues, it emerges that some of the team may have something to hide. Is there more at stake than meets the eye? And what does it have to do with Charles Blackwell (guest star Martin Jarvis), Hardacre's oldest and dearest nemesis?

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m000462m)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 The Diaries of Adrian Mole (m000462p)
Adrian Mole and The Weapons of Mass Destruction

Episode 5

The fifth book in our series of readings from Adrian’s diaries, written by Sue Townsend. It starts in 2002 and covers the controversial period of the Iraq War.

Adrian is 34, working in a bookshop in Leicester and about to become the proud owner of a trendy loft apartment. His single status is about to change too, putting further strain on his already stretched finances. As war looms, Adrian is unwavering in his support for Prime Minister Tony Blair and military action, even though his eldest son Glenn is facing deployment to the Gulf.

Sue Townsend was born in Leicester in 1946. She left school at 15 and was a single parent with three young children by the age of 23. Like Adrian, she wrote in secret for many years, and acknowledged that they often shared the same views - Adrian "C’est moi," she once said.

First published in 1989, Adrian Mole’s diaries were instant bestsellers and Adrian, the remarkably resilient underdog, quickly became a national treasure. While recording the experiences of one individual and showcasing Sue's fearless and razor sharp wit, the diaries also illustrate how socio-political matters of the time affected the lives of ordinary people.

Copyright Siegfried Sassoon by kind permission of the Estate of George Sassoon

Reader: Harry McEntire
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Alexa Moore

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 12:18 You and Yours (m000462r)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


FRI 12:57 Weather (m000462t)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m000462w)
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 One to One (m0001hvv)
MSN Messenger

Tech journalist Jack Dearlove grew up with Microsoft Messenger. Back in the early 2000s, it was vital for teen communication. Jack is nostalgic about it, and he’s not alone. Here he speaks to software developer Jonathan Kay who has tried to keep MSN Messenger alive even after Microsoft tried to kill it off.

Producer: Jolyon Jenkins


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m000462y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 First World Problems (b0b5stvj)
Making Other Plans

What would happen if the UK broke apart? In this everyday story of British folk, David and Ruth Fletcher face our next civil war.

1/5 Making Other Plans

The Fletcher family are just trying to love and look after each other at their home "until everything settles down". With their daughter's wedding coming up, they haven't got time for politics. But as the UK dissolves into conflict, organising the big day is getting more and more impossible.

Martin Jameson's drama draws on detailed research from BBC correspondents to analysts, contingency planners, and those with first hand experience of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, to make the Fletchers' adventures a compelling account of what civil war could do to us all.

Starring Jeremy Swift and Maureen Beattie.
Produced and directed by Jonquil Panting.

Script Consultants:

Tamara Kovacevic - Senior BBC journalist with first hand experience of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s
Richard Vergette - Writer and teacher for advice on parenting a teenager with Down Syndrome

With thanks to:

Malcolm Barnard
Peter Barnes - BBC Senior Political Analyst
Louisa Brooke-Holland - Senior Research Analyst, International Affairs and Defence section, House of Commons Library
Rory Cellan-Jones - BBC Technology Correspondent
Gabrielle Garton Grimwood - Senior Research Analyst in Emergency Planning
Mike Livingstone - Former Strategic Director of Children's Services, Manchester City Council.
Jonathan Marcus - BBC Diplomatic Correspondent
Prof Bill McGuire - Professor Emeritus; Geophysical & Climate Hazards, UCL
Dr Gemma Sou - Lecturer in Disaster Studies, University of Manchester
Peter Wynne-Wilson - Course Director, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (for advice on Birmingham and its demographics)
Imogen Woolrich and the Octagon Bridges Theatre Group,
Harri Chambers - for Welsh translations,
and Steve Pearce, Eric Bradley & John Rudin for IT advice.

Cast:

Dave Fletcher ... Jeremy Swift
Ruth Fletcher ... Maureen Beattie
Maggie Pelling ... Elizabeth Counsell
Jonny Fletcher ... Sam Barnard
Tricia Ince and Kristina Matic ... Elinor Coleman
Helena Fletcher ... Lauren Cornelius
Alex Pritchard ... Ryan Whittle
Clive ... John Lightbody
Iain ... Paul Cunningham
Russell ... Ryan Early
News Anchor ... Emma Handy
Correspondent ... Kerry Gooderson
Journalist ... Sean Murray
Democratic Alliance MP ... Joseph Ayre
Cabinet Minister ... Stephen Hogan
Writer ... Martin Jameson
Director ... Jonquil Panting
Producer ... Jonquil Panting.


FRI 15:00 Good Friday Meditation (m0004630)
Why should Good Friday be called Good? Whichever way you look at him, with faith or without, Jesus was an innocent man who died a cruel death. A man who fought injustice and who was in the end denied justice. As with every time an innocent person is slaughtered, this was a bad day in the history of the human family. A good man, who healed the sick and helped the poor, he didn’t deserve to be despised and rejected, to be taunted and laughed to scorn. As he died, out of his troubled soul poured words from the 22nd Psalm: "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?"

In this year's Good Friday Meditation, Bishop James Jones reflects on Psalm 22 through readings, music and personal stories. He talks about how we react to tragedy and those difficult times when we fail to hear the voice of God. And he contemplates the challenge of forgiving someone who has caused us great pain.

Readers:
Jeremy Irons
Maxine Peake

Interviewee:
Gee Walker, the mother of Anthony Walker who was killed by someone with an ice axe.

Producer: Helen Lee


FRI 15:30 The Psalms (m0004632)
Episode 1

Some of the most beautiful poetry in the Bible is in the Book of Psalms. In four special programmes for Easter, Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons reads from the King James Version.

The Psalms show a whole range of human emotions. Here we find hymns, laments and songs of thanksgiving.

In the first programme, Jeremy Irons reads the first psalms in the book, between Psalm 1 and Psalm 29, including one of the most well known of all, Psalm 23, as well as one of the longest, Psalm 18.

Produced by Susan Roberts


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m0004635)
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently.


FRI 16:30 A Good Read (b081lkmp)
Sally Phillips and Julia Donaldson

Bridget Jones and Clare in the Community actress Sally Phillips and Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson talk about books they love with Harriett Gilbert. A surprising theme of angels emerges as Sally chooses John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany, Julia Donaldson's selection is The Visiting Angel by Paul Wilson, and Harriet picks Outline by Rachel Cusk. A scene in one of the books prompts Sally to talk about why she decided to become a comedian. Producer Sally Heaven.


FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (m0004637)
I’ll Speak About it All Day Long

Two 17-year-old girls talk candidly about what it's like to be HIV positive. The girls have known each other since primary school but have grown closer since they found out they both have the condition. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.


FRI 17:00 PM (m0004639)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000463c)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m000463f)
Series 99

Episode 2

Miles Jupp is joined by John Robins, Andy Hamilton & Danielle Ward for Radio 4's long-running topical panel show.

Produced by Victoria Lloyd
A BBC Studios Production


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m000463h)
Writer ….. Adrian Flynn
Director ….. Rosemary Watts
Editor ….. Jeremy Howe

Ben Archer ..... Ben Norris
Tony Archer .... David Troughton
Tom Archer .... William Troughton
Chris Carter .... Wilf Scolding
Ruairi Donovan .... Arthur Hughes
Alan Franks ..... John Telfer
Eddie Grundy .... Trevor Harrison
Will Grundy .... Philip Molloy
Emma Grundy .... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Ed Grundy .... Barry Farrimond
Shula Hebden Lloyd .... Judy Bennett
Elizabeth Pargetter .... Alison Dowling
Freddie Pargetter .... Toby Laurence
Lily Pargetter .... Katie Redford
Johnny Philips ..... Tom Gibbons
Fallon Rogers ..... Joanna Van Kampen
Natasha .... Mali Harries
Russ .... Andonis James Anthony
Tim Oatey .... Carl Prekopp
Jakob .... Paul Venables
Sadia .... Simran Kular


FRI 19:15 Front Row (m000463k)
Golden Age of Children's Books?

Liz Pichon on her creation Tom Gates, the hugely popular series of books for young readers now on stage.

Zanib Mian is the author of a new book about a Muslim family, Planet Omar - Accidental Trouble Magnet. Last year a report found that only 1% of children's books featured a main protagonist of colour. Alongside commentator and blogger Darren Chetty she considers whether that picture is changing - and whether any change will last.

One in three books sold is aimed at children. Is this a golden age for children's books? Celebrity authors such as David Walliams are clocking up huge sales but what is the range and quality of all the books on offer? Children's book experts Dawn Finch and Imogen Russell Williams discuss.


FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m000462h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m000463m)
Andrew Bridgen MP, Joanna Cherry MP, Claire Fox, Lisa Nandy MP

Shaun Ley presents topical debate from the Radio Theatre at London Broadcasting House with Conservative backbench MP Andrew Bridgen MP, SNP MP Joanna Cherry, Director of the Institute of Ideas Claire Fox and Labour MP Lisa Nandy.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m000463p)
A weekly reflection on a topical issue.


FRI 21:00 Archive on 4 (b08lfbh9)
Long Road to Change

In an age when technology has made organising protest movements easier than ever before, journalist Zoe Williams asks why we aren't seeing long-term results. She looks back on the global history of activism to discover the pre-conditions needed for concrete change.

Recent years have seen an explosion of protest movements to secure equality, protect immigrants, and demand justice. But often these movements are doomed to short-term impact. Does today's activism overlook the benefits of doing things the hard way?

By digging into the archives, Zoe looks back to the most impactful protest movements of the 20th century that permanently changed history. By analysing what key elements are needed for success, she will construct new rules of modern-day activism for future generations.

Zoe speaks to former civil rights organiser Marshall Ganz, and considers whether social media can work with traditional methods of protesting by speaking with a co-founder of UK Uncut and digital activists who studied the unprecedented success of Euromaidan in Ukraine.

Some activists believe the issue lies in how we measure the success of movements. Co-founder of the global Occupy protests, Micah White, explains how the failure of his movement showed him how activism needs to be redefined.

Finally, Zoe investigates how to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of any protest - from radicals that disrupt non-violent marches to handling media coverage - and how government bodies may manipulate protests to their own advantage.

Produced by Anishka Sharma
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m000463r)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 The Diaries of Adrian Mole (m000462p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (m00045lg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:25 The Untold (b09kxrc8)
Jay-Z and Me

Kanan is a 30-year-old software consultant in Bristol, but for years he was a struggling musician.

A few years ago after 15 years of trying to make it in the music industry, he got a day job. His first solid 9-5. To his surprise, he loved the new structure to his life. His life changed completely - he has stability and he's happy.

But his secure life has now been overtaken by unexpected events. Two years ago, he wrote a song in his bedroom about a break-up he was going through. He gave it to some friends, the band Hannah Williams and the Affirmations, to record. At the beginning of 2017 the unthinkable happened - by a twist of fate, Jay-Z heard the track, liked it, and sampled it.

It's become part of the song 4:44 - Jay-Z's public apology to Beyoncé. It's the title track on his platinum selling album, and the first single he released earlier this year, and Kanan is listed as songwriter without ever having spoken to Jay-Z. He had no idea any of this was going to happen until June when the album was released.

In song writing terms, it's like winning the lottery - but what does it really mean for his life?

Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston.


FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (m000463v)
Alex and Joe - Sight Lost and Gained

Cousins who both coincidentally suffered serious sight issues, talk about the effects of one of them going blind and the other having his sight restored. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.