SATURDAY 11 APRIL 2020
SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m000h2v4)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 00:30 The Passion in Plants (m000h25g)
The Resurrection - Pearlwort, Touch-me-not and the Alleluia Flower
diminutive wood sorrel flowers at Easter and so is called the Alleluia Flower.
In the final episode of the Passion in Plants, the urban naturalist Bob Gilbert and his friend, the Franciscan friar Brother Sam, celebrate the culmination of the Easter story, seeking out the plants associated with the Resurrection.
As Christ rises from the tomb it is the pearlwort, according to Gaelic legend, that is there to cushion his first footfall. Bob and Sam find this diminutive plant in the cracks between paving stones in an East London street.
One of the most beautiful stories of the Resurrection is that of Mary Magdalene meeting the risen Christ and mistaking him for the gardener. As she reaches out to towards him he tells her not to touch him. This Biblical story is told again in the name of the 'touch-me-not' balsam. Rare and late flowering, Bob and Brother Sam have to resort to the herbarium at Kew Gardens to see a specimen.
In the culmination of the story, they do, however, manage to find in the woods at Hilfield friary, the beautiful wood sorrel. Flowering at Easter, it is known as the 'Alleluia plant'.
Peresenter: Bob Gilbert
Producer: Julian May
SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000h278)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000h27b)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SAT 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m000h27d)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000h27j)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley
Good morning.
Usually on a Saturday morning I take part in a parkrun at Fountains Abbey, which is near to where I live. My aim is usually to get around the course without stopping, and the welcome tea and cheese scone afterwards in a café is an incentive in helping me on my way. There’s something quite profound by a common purpose in gathering. I always come away feeling buoyed up; ready to face the day ahead.
These days, we don’t gather. Exercise is a solitary activity with a cheery wave exchanged at a careful distance. I make a point however of checking in online with friends from our weekly run. We share stories of our week, and words of encouragement. It’s not the same as face-to-face, but for now it has to be so. Today in the Christian tradition is known as ‘Holy Saturday’. Tomorrow is Easter Day, a day of immense joy– although this year it won’t be celebrated by gathering. Jesus is risen, we will proclaim.
This year, Holy Saturday feels longer than a day. The time in-between feels heavy going, like my legs do when I’m running up a hill (or ‘a little incline’ as I’m frequently told by other runners). I recall the advice a fellow-runner gave me once. He came alongside me as we started up the hill and said ‘small steps now’. I found it worked, and I was grateful for his words. Small steps. I look towards the dawn the hope of Easter joy will be a light to help me take one more step into a new day.
God who set the sun in the sky to provide light and warmth, help me to look to this day with hope and gratitude for small steps along the way.
Amen.
SAT 05:45 The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread? (m000gskt)
Caffeine Hair Products
Can caffeine hair products prevent our hair from getting thinner as we get older and, even better, reverse the process? Or does this ingredient just end up going down the plughole?
Joining him in the studio is Ian Carmichael, Senior Director in Styling at Trevor Sorbie, the Hair Salon, who styles many high profile heads including Her Majesty the Queen’s.
Dermatologist Dr Paul Farrant, from Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust, is on hand to put two products through the evidence mill, separating the facts from the fads to reveal whether caffeine hair products really are The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread.
Presenter: Greg Foot
Producer: Beth Eastwood
SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m000h7bg)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
SAT 06:07 Open Country (m000h0vd)
Small Fish - Big Project
How a little known fish, rare and remarkable, is driving a huge project on the River Severn.
Weirs may look dramatic and sound wonderful but, for fish, they are nothing more than a barrier, preventing progress upstream. That's why you'll see anglers, both human and heron, hanging around weirs for an easy-ish catch. One fish in particular, previously found in healthy numbers on the Severn, has suffered. It's the Twaite Shad, sleek and fast, but not fond of leaping. However, a project called Unlocking the Severn is well underway to install gigantic fish-passes at four weirs. These will allow the Twaite Shad to swim through and reach their spawning grounds in significant numbers for the first time since the Victorians installed weirs to improve navigation during the industrial revolution.
Because of Covid19, the sound-quality of this programme will be a little different: all the interviewees recorded themselves, on their phone voice-recorders, in their own homes... many thanks to each of them for persevering!
See the 'related links' box below for more info on the entire Unlocking the Severn project.
Producer/Presenter: Karen Gregor
SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m000h7bj)
11/04/20 - Farming Today This Week
This week the NFU has held crisis talks with DEFRA asking for urgent support for the dairy industry through the coronavirus lockdown. As restaurants and cafes close, the knock on in the milk market has left some farmers pouring thousands of litres down the drain.
Easter Weekend should be one of the busiest times for garden centres...but since they were forced to close, the plant nurseries which usually stock them have been left with millions of pounds of unwanted plants.
But it's not all doom and gloom. Caz Grahram brings you lots of stories of how rural communities and businesses are finding innovative ways to cope in the face of COVID-19.
Presented by Caz Graham
Produced by Heather Simons
SAT 06:57 Weather (m000h7bl)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 07:00 Today (m000h7bn)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m000h7bq)
Extraordinary stories, unusual people and a sideways look at the world.
SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m000h7bs)
Series 27
Home Economics: Episode Two
Jay Rayner is back for the latest series of The Kitchen Cabinet, but with a twist.
Owing to the current restrictions, the team are broadcasting to you remotely, bringing the usual recipe suggestions, culinary quirks and kitchen banter from their own homes.
Joining Jay this week for a Home Economics lesson are Dr Annie Gray, Jordan Bourke, Andi Oliver and Rachel McCormack. Answering questions sent in by email and social media, the team discusses interesting new ways to cook with Jerusalem artichokes, how to use up a bag of dried figs, and what takes them closest to food heaven.
Producer: Laurence Bassett
Assistant Producer: Jemima Rathbone
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 11:00 The Briefing Room (m000h0w0)
The Inequalities of Lockdown
What effect is the lockdown having across the country and population? David Aaronovitch examines which jobs have been lost, whose health is more at risk and whose education is most likely to suffer. Is the lockdown likely to increase inequality? And if it does, how might a government reverse that trend once normal life is resumed?
Contributors: Professor Angus Deaton from Princeton University, Professor Simon Burgess from Bristol University, Xiaowei Xu from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Paul Swinney from the Centre for Cities and Miatta Fahnbulleh from the New Economics Foundation.
Producers: Kirsteen Knight, Darin Graham and Rosamund Jones.
Editor: Jasper Corbett
SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m000h7bv)
New Orleans - From Katrina to Corona
Fifteen years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is facing another lethal storm. The city on Louisiana’s coast has become one of the worst-hit areas in the US. Some have blamed the high death toll on the decision to allow the annual Mardi Gras parade to go ahead. But musician and actor Harry Shearer, famous, among other things for voicing characters in The Simpsons, says don’t victim blame and don't reproach the revellers.
South Africa's president has extended the lockdown until the end of the month as the country braces for a surge in infections. But enforcing social distancing in the poorest, most crowded South African townships remains a struggle says Andrew Harding.
This weekend the World Health Organization is set to officially declare the end of the Ebola epidemic that has killed thousands in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Peter Yeung was one of the few journalists to visit health workers in the epidemic’s former epicentre of Beni amidst the global lockdown. But with the coronavirus on the way, there is no cause for celebration.
In Jerusalem, Yolande Knell has been talking to local religious leaders about how to mark Easter, Passover and Ramadan when prayers at holy sites are forbidden.
Every ten years the small Bavarian village of Oberammergau puts on a passion play – a huge pageant about the life and death of Christ. The tradition dates back to the seventeenth century when people believed that the plays would protect them from the plague. But this year’s performance has been postponed and it’s a huge blow to tourists and locals alike says Jenny Hill.
SAT 12:00 News Summary (m000h7bx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 12:04 Money Box (m000h7bz)
Coping with ‘income shock’
Millions of people are still facing huge financial pressure despite government measures to help them deal with the fallout from coronavirus.
Some estimates show that up to half of the 5m people who are self employed won’t be helped by the support package that the government has announced. Many thousands more, who are employees, are not eligible for the job retention furlough arrangements.
Unsurprisingly the benefits system has seen an unprecedented number of new applications for Universal credit. We’re hearing of a back log of many weeks as the Department for Work and Pensions tries to work through more than a million new cases.
So if you are one of the millions of people affected by a huge and sudden loss in income, what can you do to survive?
Paul Lewis and guests discuss their top tips for surviving financial shock.
Joining Paul are:
- Nick Hill - money expert, Money And Pensions Service
- Laura Peters - from Mental Health and Money Advice
- Anna Stevenson - welfare benefit expert at charity Turn2us
Producer: Alex Lewis
Editor: Emma Rippon
SAT 12:30 The Now Show (m000h26q)
Series 56
Episode 6
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis get to grips with the continuing COVID-19 lock-down and disruption with sketches and guests.
In the last of the current series, Zoe Lyons gets things done, Scott Bennett speaks to us from his shed, and Jess Robinson invokes her blitz spirit.
Also featuring George Fouracres and Gemma Arrowsmith.
Song written and arranged by Jess Robinson and Alex Silverman.
Written by the cast, with additional material from Catherine Brinkworth, Gareth Gwynn, Alex Kealy and Simon Alcock.
Production Co-Ordinator: Caroline Barlow
Producer: Adnan Ahmed
A BBC Studios Production
SAT 12:57 Weather (m000h7c1)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 13:00 News (m000h7c3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m000h26x)
Ed Argar MP, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP, Professor Margaret MacMillan, Dr John Sentamu
Chris Mason presents political debate from Broadcasting House in London with Health Minister Ed Argar MP, Shadow Mental Health Minister Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP, Historian Margaret MacMillan and Dr John Sentamu the Archbishop of York.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
SAT 13:54 The Listening Project (m000h1lr)
Mari and Melita – I love lockdown
Mother and daughter discuss the positive and the funny sides to living in lockdown. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m000h7c5)
Have your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?
SAT 15:00 Drama (b0b3bb2c)
A Tale of Two Cities: Aleppo and London
2011/2012
Charles Dickens' iconic story of love, revolution and redemption, updated and set in contemporary Aleppo and London.
Dickens' original novel is a powerful portrayal of personal sacrifice set against the turbulent backdrop of political change. As resonant today as it was then, the redemption of flawed humanity is at the heart of award winning writer Ayeesha Menon's bold reworking of A Tale of Two Cities.
The story of a chance resemblance between a feckless lawyer and a troubled exile, both in love with the same woman, is updated to modern-day London and war-torn Syria. However, in this modern version, the driving forces are two women - British Syrian journalist Lina Mahmoud and her nemesis, Taghreed Daffar.
It's a classic tale reimagined as a provocative and moving drama for today.
Episode 1: 2011/2012
It's the Arab Spring and peaceful protests in Syria lead to a release of political prisoners. When Dr Mahmoud is freed after 30 years, he is sheltered by Taghreed and Emad Daffar, and brought to the UK by his old friend Jarvis Lorry and the daughter he has never met, foreign correspondent Lina. Back in London, Jarvis persuades his nephew Sid Carton, a flawed but brilliant advocate, to represent Syrian émigré doctor Shwan Dahkurdi against terrorism charges. When Lina and Shwan meet, they are immediately attracted. But Dr Mahmoud's release has set in train a series of events that none of them can escape.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, adapted for radio by Ayeesha Menon
Development concept written by Silas Parry
Sound design by Eloise Whitmore
Broadcast Assistant: Jan Shepherd
Produced by Gill Parry
Directed by Polly Thomas
Producer for Goldhawk Productions: Emma Hearn
Executive Producer: John Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m000h7c7)
Highlights from the Woman's Hour week
SAT 17:00 PM (m000h7c9)
Full coverage of the day's news
SAT 17:30 The Inquiry (m000hcfp)
Why is it taking so long to develop a Covid-19 vaccine?
The race is on for the world’s scientists to develop a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine. The Inquiry examines how quickly this can be done and what hurdles need to be overcome to roll out a vaccine in 12-18 months, rather than the many years it would normally take. Presented by Kavita Puri.
SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000h7cf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 17:57 Weather (m000h7ch)
The latest weather forecast.
SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000h7ck)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m000h7cm)
Marcus Mumford, Ainsley Harriott, Spencer Jones, Glenn Tilbrook, Ady Suleiman, Athena Kugblenu, Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson and Athena Kugblenu are joined by Marcus Mumford, Ainsley Harriott and Spencer Jones for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Glenn Tilbrook and Ady Suleiman.
SAT 19:00 Profile (m000h7cp)
Dominic Raab
On Profile this week, we look at the man who has effectively become Britain’s acting Prime Minister.
The 46-year-old Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, asked to deputise “where necessary” for Boris Johnson while he recovers from coronavirus.
A staunch Brexiteer and a karate black belt, he’s perhaps not the best-known member of the Cabinet.
So, who is he and – more importantly - is he up to the job?
A former lawyer, Raab has experience in international justice – but his hard-line on Brexit as well as past comments about feminism, welfare and Britain’s work ethic have angered his critics.
Mark Coles hears from political colleagues, Westminster journalists – even Dominic Raab’s boxing coach.
Producer Smita Patel
Editor Ravin Sampat
Researcher Bethan Head
SAT 19:15 The Reith Lectures (b03f9bg7)
Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013
Nice Rebellion, Welcome In!
In the third of four lectures, recorded in front of an audience at The Guildhall in Londonderry, the artist Grayson Perry asks if revolution is a defining idea in art, or has it met its end?
Perry says the world of art seems to be strongly associated with novelty. He argues that the mainstream media seems particularly drawn to the idea of there being an avant-garde: work is always described as being "cutting edge," artists are "radical," shows are "mould-breaking," ideas are "ground-breaking," "game-changing" or "revolutionary," We are forever being told that a new paradigm is being set.
Perry says we have reached the final state of art. Not an end game, as there will always be great new art, but that art has lost one of its central tenets: its ability to shock. We have seen it all before.
Grayson Perry was awarded the Turner Prize in 2003 and is the first contemporary artist to deliver the Reith Lectures. He is best known for his ceramic works, print making, drawing, sculpture and tapestries as well as being a flamboyant cross-dresser.
The Reith Lectures are presented and chaired by Sue Lawley and produced by Jim Frank.
SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m000h7cr)
The Hubble Legacy
Astronaut and artist Nicole Stott celebrates the scientific and cultural legacy of the Hubble Space Telescope. 30 years after launch, it's a mission that's influenced art, music and science fiction.
Launched on 24 April 1990 and built to last 15 years, the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope was a disaster. Most serious among a catalogue of flaws was a fault with the primary mirror. Fortunately, the telescope had always been designed to be serviced in space and, after one of the most challenging and complex space walks in history, scientists downloaded the first new Hubble images. The results were astounding.
Every week, Hubble delivers 140 gigabytes of science data back to Earth, transforming our view and knowledge of the universe. But what NASA didn’t foresee when it launched the telescope was its cultural legacy. Images from Hubble have appeared on album covers, video games, in movies and on clothing and jewellery.
In science fiction films and TV shows released before Hubble, space was black with scattered stars. Now, movies are alive with swirling colours. Pictures from the space telescope can be found on t-shirts, leggings and on desktop screensavers in almost every office across the world. U2, Pearl Jam and the Royal Philharmonic have used Hubble images to inspire their music.
The programme includes new interviews with composer Eric Whitacre and one of the astronauts who launched Hubble, Kathy Sullivan. It also features archive interviews with astronauts and a wealth of newly remastered NASA archive.
Hubble has changed how we think of ourselves and our place in the universe. The telescope has given humanity a sense of the vastness of the cosmos but, nevertheless, connected us to it like never before.
A Boffin Media production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 21:00 Day Release (b09gfbc6)
House Arrest
Lenny Henry plays Frank Watt, a reformed double-murderer recently released from prison. Frank and Geoff start a small rehabilitation company called ITHACA for ex-offenders, but have they rehabilitated themselves?
Frank Watt ..... Lenny Henry
Geoff Hoagland ..... Ralph Ineson
Shudi Misir ..... Deeivya Meir
Charla May ..... Karla Crome
Aidan Lavington ..... Rupert Holliday Evans
Michelle Lavington/Bar woman ..... Kath Weare
James Ansell ...... Clive Hayward
Gloria Barclay ..... Adjoa Andoh
Ex Con 1 ..... Gary Duncan
Ex-Con 2 ..... Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong
Mike ..... Neil McCaul
Officer 1 ..... Isabella Inchbald
Officer 2 ..... Abbie Andrews
Directed by Mary Peate
Written by Peter Jukes
SAT 21:45 Rabbit Redux (b09gfy20)
Episode 1
John Updike's masterful Rabbit quintet established Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom as the quintessential American White middle class male. The first book Rabbit, Run was published in 1960 to critical acclaim. Rabbit Redux is the second in the series, published in 1971 and charting the end of the sixties - featuring, among other things, the first American moon landing and the Vietnam War.
Despite its very strong language, sex, and reflection of racist attitudes of the time, Time Magazine said of the book and its author, "Updike owns a rare verbal genius, a gifted intelligence and a sense of tragedy made bearable by wit. A masterpiece."
It's extraordinary how many of its themes reverberate down to the present day.
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Read by Toby Jones
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 22:00 News (m000h7cw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:15 Fallout (m000h1ms)
The Global Economy
Mary Ann Sieghart and a panel of experts discuss the possible long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy.
There are many burning issues for our guests to tackle. How will people in the UK feel the economic impact of the virus in the future? Are we about to experience a financial crash to top 2008? How will the virus exacerbate global inequality? Will the virus kill off globalisation? What will global trade look like now that we've experienced the widespread disruption of supply chains? What will happen to the already fractious relationship between the West and China? Does the virus spell the end of the Euro and even the European Union itself? And in the midst of so much uncertainty and instability, what strategies should we adopt to future-proof the global economy against pandemics and other systemic shocks in the future?
All this and more will be dissected and discussed by economist and former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, Editor-in-Chief of the Economist Zanny Minton Beddoes, former Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King and Ian Goldin Professor of Globalisation and Development at Oxford.
Producer: Max O'Brien
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (m000h2ct)
Heat 1, 2020
(1/17)
The 2020 season of the nation's longest running general knowledge quiz gets under way, with Russell Davies in the questionmaster's chair. The first four of the 48 competitors taking part this year begin their campaign to become the 67th BBC Brain of Britain.
Appearing today are:
John Adedoyin, a management consultant from London
Hugh Brady, a scientist, also from London
Andrew Codling, a former business analyst from Egham in Surrey
Ellie Mackin, a writer and translator from Nottingham.
Producer: Paul Bajoria
SAT 23:30 Breaking Our Silence (m000h297)
In 2011, poet Salma El-Wardany was part of the Arab Spring uprising in Cairo. Thousands of Egyptians came together in Tahrir Square to fight for a new future. And poetry was everywhere - spray painted on walls, shared on social media, and written into songs that became anthems for the protesters.
"It was a revolution fuelled by poetry," says Salma.
In this programme, Salma celebrates the connection between poetry and revolution. She speaks to four of her favourite female poets - all women of colour from different corners of the world, whose work fuels revolution, both personal and political.
British-Indian poet Nikita Gill sees her own work written onto placards and hears it chanted in the street on marches. She believes that, from the French Revolution to the Indian freedom struggle, writers and poets are at the forefront of change.
Yrsa Daley-Ward, award-winning writer of Bone and The Terrible, writes about topics on which women have often been silent. Her work is confronting and challenging - there's danger in telling the truth, she says.
Tjawangwa Dema argues that what, to a Western audience, might seem like a simple love poem, can be truly revolutionary when written by a woman from Botswana. There is tremendous power in an African woman telling her own story.
And Lisa Luxx shares the power of poetry to unite people into a revolutionary community, as she does by organising feminist literary salons in Beirut.
Salma believes that these poetic revolutions, and her own, all have one thing in common - they involve women speaking out, and refusing to be silenced any longer.
Producer: Hannah Marshall
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4
SUNDAY 12 APRIL 2020
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m000h7d0)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:15 Don't Log Off (m000h9jf)
Series 11
Calm Waters
Alan Dein connects with people around the world trying to find moments of calm during the coronavirus pandemic.
He speaks to Jens, the captain of a container ship in the middle of the Indian Ocean who is unsure when he may be able to get his crew back home, and Sujatha, an 85 year old in India who is philosophical about being confined to her home in Delhi.
1000 miles south of Delhi, Alan reaches out to Chinu who is feeding Mumbai's urban poor as the Indian government imposes a lockdown. And he speak to Benedetta, who is eight months pregnant in an anxious and eerily quiet Rome.
Alan also catches up with 16 year old Ibrahim who was homeless on the streets of Athens when they last spoke - but now has some good news to share.
Producers: Georgia Catt, Laurence Grissell & Sarah Shebbeare
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000h7d4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000h7d8)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m000h7dd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m000h7dn)
Canterbury Cathedral in Kent
Currently there is no ringing taking place across UK towers, a situation not encountered since the Second World War. The recording for this Easter Sunday comes from Canterbury Cathedral in Kent. The south west tower, also known as the Oxford Tower, contains a ring of twelve bells plus two additional ringing bells cast by the Whitechapel Foundry in 1981. The tenor weighs thirty four and three quarter hundredweight and is tuned to the key of C sharp. We hear them ringing Grandsire Cinques.
SUN 05:45 Lent Talks (m000h1mv)
Guli Francis-Dehqani - Identity and Community
Lent Talks is a personal perspective on an aspect of the story leading up to Easter. This year’s theme is identity – losing and gaining identity; struggling with identity; accepting and owning identity. Bishop of Loughborough Guli Francis-Dehqani reflects on her journey of identity as an Iranian-born British Christian.
Producer: Dan Tierney.
SUN 06:00 News (m000h7kx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b075mfc3)
Reunions and Recognitions
Dr Rowan Williams, Master of Magdalene College Cambridge and the former Archbishop of Canterbury, explores reunions and recognitions in the context of the Easter narratives.
The Sunday after Easter, traditionally known as Low Sunday, is a time when Christians reflect more deeply on the celebrations of the previous weekend. Rowan Williams describes the human story as full of creating, breaking and restoring relationships and illustrates his thinking with powerful moments of reconciliation in War and Peace when Natasha seeks forgiveness from Prince Andrei, and in King Lear where the King is revisited by his daughter, as well as with the reuniting of Jacob and Esau in Genesis.
It is this mending of brokenness that Dr Williams uses to link in to the Easter stories. “They move us – and challenge us as well,” he says, “because they echo these deep feelings around finding and losing, separating and reuniting, recognising and failing to recognise and discovering that what seemed completely lost has not been destroyed. They are good news for us because they say that there is no relationship beyond mending in God’s providence and God’s time – that even the most final of separations or the most bitter of betrayals will not stifle the possibility of the reconciliation we long for."
The programme also features the poetry of Wilfred Owen, as well as Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro where the unfaithful Count is forgiven by his wife, accompanied by music, which has been described as the sound of God absolving the world.
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:35 Sunrise Service (m000h7l0)
A service of celebration for Easter morning from award winning gospel group Volney Morgan & New-Ye, exploring love and the ultimate sacrifice shown through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Music will include gospel classics and hymns like 'Lord I Lift Your Name on High' and How Deep the Father's Love, and songs from Volney Morgan & New Ye, ‘You Are Worthy’ and 'Everlasting God'. Reading: John
20:11-18.
Led by Volney and Angel Morgan from their home. Producer: Miriam Williamson
SUN 06:57 Weather (m000h7l2)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m000h7l4)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m000h7l6)
William Crawley brings you news and analysis of the religious, moral and ethical stories of the week.
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m000h7l8)
Cure Parkinson’s Trust
Comedy producer and writer Paul Mayhew-Archer makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of The Cure Parkinson's Trust.
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 ‘Cure Parkinson's Trust’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Cure Parkinson's Trust’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
Registered Charity Number: England & Wales (1111816) and Scotland (SCO44368)
Main image credit: James Deacon
SUN 07:57 Weather (m000h7lb)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m000h7ld)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m000h7lg)
Christ is risen!
The Archbishop of Canterbury cannot this year give his Easter Message as usual to a packed Canterbury Cathedral. Instead he is speaking to the nation as part of Easter Sunday Worship, which will also include an intimate communion service with his wife from the Archbishop's own kitchen at Lambeth Palace. Easter music sung by massed voices in happier times includes 'Jesus Christ is risen today, and This Joyful Eastertide. “Thine Be the Glory” was recorded this week by a virtual congregation of the homebound. The Bishop of Dover, the Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin shares something of what churches in the Diocese of Canterbury are doing to enable prayer and worship while Christians are unable to gather together in church buildings. Readings: Acts
10.34-43; John 20: 1-18. Producer: Andrew Earis.
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b02ttqwv)
Turtle Dove
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Steve Backshall presents the turtle dove. The soft purring song of the turtle Doves are mentioned in the Song of Solomon in the Bible: " The voice of the turtle is heard in our land". They are migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and are now a treat to see here in the UK where they breed in farmland and scrub where they can find weed seeds for their growing young.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m000h7lj)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m000h7ll)
Writer, Naylah Ahmed & Keri Davies
Director, Dave Payne & Rosemary Watts
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Pip Archer.... Daisy Badger
Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge .... Angela Piper
Phoebe Aldridge.... Lucy Morris
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Rex Fairbrother .... Nick Barber
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O'Hanrahan
Ed Grundy ….. Barry Farrimond
Shula Hebden Lloyd ….. Judy Bennett
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Alistair Lloyd .... Michael Lumsden
Adam Macy .... Andrew Wincott
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Freddie Pargetter ….. Toby Laurence
Robert Snell ….. Graham Blockey
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane
Roy Tucker ….. Ian Pepperell
Philip Moss ….. Andy Hockley
Gavin Moss ….. Gareth Pierce
Lee Bryce ... Ryan Early
Blake ….. Luke MacGregor
SUN 11:00 The Reunion (b00k2q8s)
Beirut Hostages
Sue MacGregor presents the series which reunites a group of people intimately involved in a moment of modern history.
Beirut hostages John McCarthy, Brian Keenan and Terry Waite discuss their shared experiences and are joined by campaigner Jill Morrell, who was the girlfriend of John McCarthy at the time.
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 11:45 Encounters with Victoria (m0004sd0)
1: Kinky Lord M
Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator, Historic Royal Palaces, begins a new 10 part exploration of Queen Victoria's reign through significant encounters.
1: Accession Day & Kinky Lord M - 1837
Charming, saturnine, worldly-wise and interested in sadistic sexual practices, Lord Melbourne appears in Queen Victoria's journal at
9am on the day she becomes Queen. He will guide her through the day's ceremonies and controversies, fending off on her behalf her disliked mother and former guardian, John Conroy. Lord M., as she called him, was soon half in love with his 18-year-old mistress, but this could be politically dangerous to the young Queen who was too stubborn and headstrong to listen to what her mother, wiser and more loving that she’s given credit for, had to say. With historian Philip Ziegler.
Reader: Sarah Ovens, Michael Bertenshaw, Sabine Scherek & Rhianna Warne
Producer: Mark Burman
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m000h7ln)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (m000h2d3)
Series 4
The Theatrical Impresario
Curtain up! Light the lights! Milton’s got nothing to hit but the people from the rival theatre who are trying to destroy his theatrical dreams.
Mention Milton Jones to most people and the first thing they think is "Help!". Each week, Milton and his trusty assistant Anton set out to help people and soon find they're embroiled in a new adventure. Because when you're close to the edge, then Milton can give you a push.
"Milton Jones is one of Britain's best gagsmiths with a flair for creating daft yet perfect one-liners" - The Guardian.
"King of the surreal one-liners" - The Times
"If you haven't caught up with Jones yet - do so!" - The Daily Mail
Written by Milton with James Cary (Bluestone 42, Miranda), and Dan Evans (who co-wrote Milton's Channel 4 show House Of Rooms), the man they call "Britain's funniest Milton," returns to the radio with a fully-working cast and a shipload of new jokes.
The cast includes regulars Tom Goodman-Hill (Spamalot, Mr. Selfridge) as the ever-faithful Anton, Josie Lawrence and Colin Hoult (Anna Mann, Russell Howard's Good News).
With music by Guy Jackson
Produced and directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m000h7lq)
Takeaway transformed: Inside the food delivery revolution
Stepping into a 'dark kitchen', Sheila Dillon explores why takeaway apps are changing food culture and explores how delivery is offering a lifeline under lockdown and diversifying to help people in need. She hears stories from restaurants turning to delivery to stay in business and the people dropping groceries at people's doors and getting food to those who don't have a home.
Presenter: Sheila Dillon
Producer: Tom Bonnett
SUN 12:57 Weather (m000h7ls)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m000h7lv)
Global news and analysis, presented by Mark Mardell.
SUN 13:30 Three Vicars Talking (m000h7lx)
Easter
From Lent, through to the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday and the resurrection on Easter Sunday, Reverends Richard Coles, Kate Bottley and Giles Fraser chat about Easter and how the current coronavirus outbreak challenges the church.
Producer: Neil Morrow
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000h7lz)
GQT At Home: Episode Two
Kathy Clugston is joined by Matthew Wilson, Pippa Greenwood and James Wong from the comfort of their own homes, answering horticultural questions sent in by the audience.
This week the panel tackles questions on how to grow seeds in an old grow bag if you don't have access to a garden, and ideas to get teenagers outside and involved in gardening. They also recommend ways to make your last remaining supply of compost go far, and advise on office plants that may not be seeing so much water these days.
Away from the questions, Matt Biggs tells the story of the Dig for Victory campaign in the Second World War, and Chris Beardshaw gives us his gardening glossary.
Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Rosie Merotra
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (m000h7m1)
Sunday Omnibus - Our Shared Experience
Fi Glover presents the omnibus edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen - with three conversations about our shared existence past and present.
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 (m00088gf)
A Kestrel for a Knave
Robert Rigby’s dramatisation of Barry Hines’s 1968 coming-of-age novel set in a mining town in South Yorkshire.
Young Billy Casper is ridiculed and bullied at home and at school but he discovers meaning and purpose in his harsh day-to-day existence when he finds a beautiful kestrel he calls Kes. Life fleetingly takes on direction, meaning and some small status for Billy as he trains his hawk, but will this kind-of-contentment be short-lived?
Billy Casper ….. George Kent
Jud Casper ….. Joe McArdle
Mrs Casper ….. Kelly Harrison
Mr Crossley / Newsagent ….. Craig Cheetham
Mr Gryce / Butcher ….. Adrian Hood
Mr Farthing / Milkman ….. Lee Rufford
Youth Employment Officer / Mrs Rose ….. Olwen May
MacDowall ….. Daniel Rainford
Armitage ….. Daniel Corey
Anderson ….. Corey Westwood
Ellis / Tibbut ….. Troy Tipple
Young Boy ….. Isaac Bartram
Additional cast: Ronan Braisby, Dominic Cooper, Ethan Godbold, Olivia Sephton,
Ella McHugh, Grace McVeigh, Daniel King, Georgia Mahoney and Harvey Kitchen.
Recorded on location in Barnsley, Yorkshire. With thanks to The Civic and the Pauline Quirke Academy, Barnsley.
Sound Recordist: Alisdair McGregor
Sound Design & Music: Lucinda Mason Brown
Production Manager: Sarah Tombling
Director: Fiona McAlpine
Producer: Lucinda Mason Brown
A Goldhawk Essential production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 16:00 Open Book (m000h7m3)
Evie Wyld, Louise Doughty on Ghostly Narrators, Polly Samson and Leonard Cohen's Hydra
Mariella Frostrup talks to Evie Wyld about The Bass Rock, her new novel about a Scottish island and three different generations of women constrained by insular attitudes.
Louise Doughty investigates ghostly narrators in fiction, a haunting device used in her latest Platform Seven.
And a very different island is discussed with Polly Samson, whose new book re-imagines Leonard Cohen's time on Hydra and his relationship with Australian author Charmian Clift.
SUN 16:30 Bronzeville Beat (m000h7m5)
Patricia Smith - Gwendolyn's heir
Born & raised on Chicago's West side, Poet, teacher, and performance artist Patricia Smith came to verse late but is perhaps the true heir to the great Gwendolyn Brooks with her powerful & exact chronicles that make black lives matter. In collections like Incendiary Art & Blood Dazzler, Smith takes on police shootings, Chicago history and the devastating impact of hurricane Katrina to sear poetry into society. Maria Margaronis hears her voice.
Producer: Mark Burman
SUN 17:00 Left Out of Power (m000h0gr)
Steve Richards examines the challenges for the Labour party under its new leader, Keir Starmer. He explores the reasons for its successive electoral defeats and the options it now faces with leading Labour figures, including Tony Blair, Jon Lansman, Charles Clarke, Peter Hain, Ed Balls and Gloria de Piero.
Producers: Jonathan Brunert and Martin Rosenbaum
SUN 17:40 Profile (m000h7cp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000h7m8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 17:57 Weather (m000h7mb)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000h7md)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m000h7mg)
Reverend Kate Bottley
The best of BBC Radio this week.
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m000h7mj)
Harrison attempts to get to the bottom of recent events, and Freddie has something on his mind.
SUN 19:15 Just a Minute (b00gvjpg)
Series 54
Episode 5
Nicholas Parsons chairs the devious word game. The panellists are Paul Merton, Liza Tarbuck, Gyles Brandreth and Sue Perkins. Episode first broadcast on 26th January 2009.
SUN 19:45 Short Works (b0bjzwjp)
BBC National Short Story Award 2018
White Squares
Five commissioned short stories to celebrate this year's BBC National Short Story Award:
In White Squares by last year's winner, Cynan Jones, a man hunts ducks from the river bank as they begin their journey downstream. His reasons for doing this are unusual, poignant..
Reader Stephen Campbell Moore
Producer Duncan Minshull.
SUN 20:00 Feedback (m000h26g)
Does BBC local radio have a special role to play in the coverage of the coronavirus crisis and, with many of its staff in isolation, does it have the resources to do it?
Roger Bolton puts these and other questions to Chris Burns who runs BBC local radio. A reporter from Radio Gloucestershire explains how her station is coping, having only just finished covering the terrible floods in the Severn area before the virus struck.
And two more listeners have been taken out of their comfort zones. Has it changed their listening habits?
Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Kate Dixon
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m000h26d)
Dr Bill Frankland MBE, John Tydeman OBE, The Marquess of Bath, Honor Blackman
Pictured: Dr Bill Frankland
Julian Worricker on:
Dr Bill Frankland, who survived three years in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, studied under Alexander Fleming, and brought the pollen count into the public arena….
The radio drama producer, John Tydeman, whose work contributed to the success of Joe Orton and Sue Townsend….
Alexander Thynne, better known as the Marquess of Bath, an artist and aristocrat, whose home was the Longleat estate in Wiltshire….
And the actress, Honor Blackman, remembered most for her portrayals of Cathy Gale in The Avengers and Pussy Galore in Goldfinger.
Interviewed guest: Paul Watkins
Interviewed guest: Sir John Tusa
Interviewed guest: Enyd Williams
Interviewed guest: Nesta Wyn Ellis
Interviewed guest: Dr Josephine Botting
Producer: Neil George
Archive clips from: Desert Island Discs: Bill Frankland, Radio 4 09/08/2015; See You Sunday, BBC One Wales 17/03/1991; BBC Oral Histories: John Tydeman; The Mole Truth, Radio 4 20/12/2008; Desert Island Discs: The Marquess of Bath, Radio 4 07/01/2001; The Thynne Blue Line, BBC TV 11/07/1971; Jools Holland, Radio 2 16/05/2011; The Avengers, ABC 1961.
Interviews in this programme with John Tydeman were taken from his contribution to the BBC Oral History Collection, an archive of more than 600 interviews with former BBC staff. For more information see: https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/100-voices/
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m000h7bz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m000h7l8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 In Business (m000h0w2)
Could carbon offsetting save the world’s forests?
Honey bees, cow dung and mulch - the company in Zimbabwe that is protecting the forests in order to offset carbon emissions. As Charlotte Ashton wrestles with ‘flight shame’, she wants to find out where her money goes if she chooses to offset her flight. She lives in Zimbabwe, but is from the UK and doesn’t have the money or time to spend three weeks at sea, sailing home to visit relatives. She focuses on a company based in Zimbabwe that runs one of the largest projects of its kind in the world and discovers how carbon credits work. Carbon Green Africa’s project focuses on protecting existing forests, rather than planting new trees and her journey takes her to some surprising places. In a programme recorded last November, Charlotte finds that preventing deforestation not only helps her offset her carbon emissions, but helps give people in a remote part of Zimbabwe new jobs and access to international markets.
Guests: Charles Ndondo and Rory Muil, Carbon Green Africa
Christian Dannecker, South Pole
Presenter: Charlotte Ashton
Producer: Phoebe Keane
SUN 22:00 Archive on 4 (b04m9z8t)
Cerys Matthews unlocks an archive of rare interviews, made by her uncle Colin Edwards, with Dylan Thomas's closest friends and family. The recordings date from the early 1960s, a decade after the poet's death, when his reputation was becoming clouded by scandal.
Cerys believed the recordings lost or destroyed. In fact, over a hundred hours of interviews were bequeathed to the National Library of Wales by her uncle's widow and some of them are broadcast here for the first time.
This personal journey into the archive is both a celebration of the life of Dylan Thomas and a glimpse into the life of her uncle - 'an eccentric, radical journalist and film-maker'. Here Cerys goes Under Milk Wood - into the communities in which Dylan Thomas lived.
We hear Dylan's mother, Florence, describe how the eight-year-old Dylan would write poems about the kitchen sink. Dylan's school friend Charles Fisher recalls how he 'collected words like rare butterflies'. Dylan's daughter, Aeronwy , reflects on his daily rituals and drinking habits. One of his closest friends Bert Trick, a Marxist grocer from Swansea, describes Dylan's profane sense of humour. And we hear from theatre director Philip Burton and poet Robert Lowell about meetings with Dylan towards the end of his life.
'Listening to these tapes I started to understand the strange contradictions at the heart of Dylan Thomas. The boozer with the self-discipline to write verse, the child with a visionary voice, the buffoon who took life so seriously,' says Cerys.
Some of Cerys's favourite Dylan Thomas poems and writings are set to music in the programme. Jeff Towns, Terry Jones, Andrew Lycett, Gwen Watkins and David Thomas also contribute.
Produced by Sarah Cuddon
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (m000h0vl)
I Am Spartacus
With Francine Stock.
"I Am Spartacus" is one of the most famous lines in film history and Francine tells the backstory of that line and how involved the so-called Hollywood witch-hunt. She hears from actor Kerry Shale and historians Pamela Hutchinson and Colin Shindler.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b075mfc3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 13 APRIL 2020
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m000h7mm)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m000254f)
The changing middle classes
The global middle classes: How is the middle class expanding, changing or shrinking in different contexts? Laurie Taylor looks at the rise of the Chinese middle class, as well as the evolution of the African American middle class. He's joined by Bart Landry, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland and Ying Miao, Lecturer in Politics at Aston University.
Producer: Jayne Egerton
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m000h7dn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000h7mp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000h7mr)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m000h7mt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000h7my)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley
Good morning.
On this day in 1742, George Frederick Handel’s oratorio ‘Messiah’ was given its first performance in Dublin. It has remained a popular staple of choirs ever since, and under normal circumstances would no doubt receive numerous airings in this Easter season.
A number of years ago, while we were living in New Zealand, my husband and I travelled to the Pacific Island nation of Tonga, where I was leading seminars for local clergy. My husband, a musician decided at the last minute to pack a score of Handel’s Messiah, just in case. It turned out that this was a wise decision, as we experienced one of the most incredible musical performances we have ever heard. With my husband accompanying on the organ, a church modestly filled with local clergy stood up to sing in perfect harmony the oratorio’s iconic Hallelujah chorus, in Tongan. It was an amazing experience.
Music has immense power to draw people together, and at its best can overcome boundaries of culture and language. In giving expression to our feelings, music has an ability to console and challenge too. I know musicians and choirs are missing being able to play and sing together in person at the moment. I never imagined that I would hear that particular piece of classical music on a Pacific Island, and I was surprised with the freshness of the encounter. I still can’t listen to it without thinking of the Tongan singers and reflect on how much they taught me about joy for the gift of life.
Today we pray and give thanks for all musicians and composers. God who instils creativity in each one of us, help us to use our gifts – even in lockdown - for the benefit of those around us.
Amen.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m000h7n0)
13/04/20 Success and struggle in the Covid-19 era
Easter Monday should be one of the busiest Bank Holidays for farm shops and cafés - but Easter 2020 will always be remembered as the year of the coronavirus lockdown.
Anna Jones talks to farm retailers about how their businesses are coping, and the changes they're making to survive the crisis.
Rupert Evans has transformed his 100 seat café in Staffordshire into an Amazon-style warehouse. Click and Collect, 'drive thru' style shopping has proven to be the saviour of his family business. Butchery sales have quadrupled, fruit and veg are flying off the shelves and demand for beer and wine has doubled. Rupert believes shoppers are returning to local food - and they're here to stay.
But not every business is having such a positive and profitable experience. Cheese maker Selina Cairns of Errington Cheese in South Lanarkshire makes award-winning cheese from a flock of 300 sheep and 100 dairy goats. 80% of her cheese was destined for restaurants or farmers’ markets – but now has nowhere to go.
Faced with a massive backlog of cheese - and the constant supply of milk - Selina frantically set up an online shop, but is struggling to attract enough customers.
Anna brings in farm retail consultant John Stanley, a chestnut grower in Western Australia. John offers tips on making the best out of the Covid-19 era in the hope businesses like Selina's will still be here next Easter.
Produced and presented by Anna Jones.
MON 05:56 Weather (m000h7n2)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tw3ns)
Corncrake
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the corncrake.
The rasping repeated call of the corncrake was once a familiar sound of hay meadows throughout the UK. However these birds were no match for mechanical mowers which destroyed their nests and they're now mainly found in the north and west where conservation efforts are bringing them back to lush meadows and crofts.
MON 06:00 Today (m000h8fs)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m000h8fv)
Nature worship
On Easter Monday, Andrew Marr talks to the psychiatrist and keen gardener Sue Stuart-Smith on our love for nature. In The Well-Gardened Mind: Rediscovering Nature in the Modern World, she blends neuroscience, psychoanalysis and real-life stories. She reveals the remarkable effects that gardens and the great outdoors can have on us.
William Wordsworth was the great poet of the British countryside, celebrated for his descriptions of daffodils and the passing of the river above Tintern Abbey. But in a new biography, Radical Wordsworth: The Poet Who Changed the World, Sir Jonathan Bate shows how Wordsworth also made nature something challenging and even terrifying. The poet drew on shocking revolutionary ideas from the continent, including pantheistic atheism: the worship of nature.
Producer: Hannah Sander
MON 09:45 The Restaurant: A History of Eating Out (m000h8fx)
Episode 1
The history of eating out is a story of life - of politics, courage, skill, art, innovation and of luck. We start in Pompeii, where the town was engulfed in lava in AD79 and where, in the excavations, much was discovered about how the Romans ate out - many restaurants doubled up as brothels.
In the Ottoman Empire, we discover that doner kebabs were cooked in the open air at dainty picnics where learned men read books to each other while a cook carved the meat from a long wedge being turned on a spit over hot coals.
After Henry VIII’s break from Rome and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, travellers were left with nowhere to get a meal and a bed for the night and so the monastic staff who survived the purges needed places to work and very enterprisingly opened taverns which were soon packed with locals and visitors. This meant that, for the first time, people weren’t humbly receiving bread and wine from a benevolent monk but receiving sustenance that they were paying for themselves - which, to an oppressed servant, must have felt like freedom.
On the day of the storming of the Bastille, it was estimated that one in every twelve men were in domestic service. Now, with the disappearance of the chateaux kitchens, many of the unemployed chefs opened restaurants in Paris and then later in London, where rich Englishmen were keen to discover how the French aristocracy had lived. By the 1820s, Paris was freed from the restraints of the revolution and became fashionable again with luxurious shops and restaurants and chefs - notably Marie-Antoine Careme who turned French cuisine into Gastronomy and remains an influence on chefs even to this day
The 20th Century saw the birth and domination of fast food.
In 1948, McDonalds became successful by simplifying their menu and doing away with the need for utensils. A man called Glen Bell found a way to mass produce Tacos in 1951, which led to another fast food craze, and sushi became a world favourite after a Japanese entrepreneur visited a brewery and was inspired by the conveyer belt system of carrying bottles, which he adapted for his restaurants.
The Indian restaurant started life in the 1940s when a number of cafes sprang up in London’s Brick Lane and Commercial Road to support a community of seamen from Bangladesh. More restaurants blossomed in bombed out shops and, by the 50s, Indian restaurants spread across towns and cities throughout the UK becoming a firm favourite with students.
Albert and the late Michel Roux set the standard of English restaurant food in 1960s London whether it was liked it or not. Customers complained that the portions were too small. "This is French gastronomy," Michel told one such couple, with his finest charming smile, a few days after the launch. But there were enough Londoners to keep the restaurant busy and full from day one. By March 1968, Le Gavroche was famous.
Written by William Sitwell
Read by Lesley Sharp
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000h8fz)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
MON 10:45 The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot (m000h8g1)
The Red Deeps
Episode Six
The Red Deeps
George Eliot's absorbing tragedy of financial ruin, desire, betrayal and moral conflict adapted by Rhiannon Tise.
Four years have passed and Maggie is reunited with a friend from the past and Tom is determined to help his father win back The Mill.
George Eliot, the Narrator ..... Anna Maxwell Martin
Maggie ..... Joanna Vanderham
Stephen ..... Jack Farthing
Philip ..... Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Tom ..... Will Kirk
Lucy ..... Ell Potter
Mr Tulliver ..... Roger Ringrose
Mrs Tulliver ..... Alison Belbin
Mr Wakem ..... John Dougall
Bob ..... Kurtis Lowe
Mrs Moss ..... Heather Craney
Dr Kenn ..... Hasan Dixon
Mrs Glegg ..... Elizabeth Counsell
Written by George Eliot
Adapted by Rhiannon Tise
Produced and Directed by Tracey Neale
MON 11:00 The Untold (m000h8g3)
Ron and his Royal Medal
In the 1970s, Ronnie Russell accidentally saved Princess Anne.
Ron was a heavyweight boxer – 6’4” with “very large” hands – who had grown up in the East End and learnt to box at the Kray twins’ gym.
He was travelling back from his job as a manager of a cleaning firm when he passed a car with a blue light, and witnessed another car stop in front of it. He knew the blue light meant it had a royal passenger. He thought it was a case of road rage and was concerned that the person about to lose their rag didn’t realise the trouble they would soon be in.
“If I see someone in trouble, I always think I’m a good person to stop it.”
And so he got out of his car and went over to intervene – and that is when he saw the man pull a gun out. The man was Ian Ball, and he was attempting to kidnap the Princess Royal. He managed to shoot four people, before Ron got to him and knocked him out.
The Queen awarded him the George Medal – the highest award for civilian gallantry. But now, at the age of 72, and following ten years of health problems, Ron has decided to sell the medal in order to give him a secure future.
It’s not just the money he wants. At the time, he wasn’t allowed to speak to the press, and he feels some things were misreported. He wants the chance to tell his story. But he gets more than he bargained for – the news that he is to sell his medal, results in a media frenzy, and in the middle of this, good Samaritans start crowdfunding for him, and benefactors come forward offering to give him the money he needs for his future so he can keep it. What will he do?
Produced by Polly Weston
MON 11:30 Loose Ends (m000h7cm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
MON 12:00 News Summary (m000h8g6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000hcyg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 12:06 American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins (m000h8g8)
6. La Migra
Jeanine Cummins' heart-stopping and heart-rending novel following a mother and son, forced to flee the Mexican cartel that massacred their family.
Today: As Lydia and Luca continue their gruelling journey north, Lydia learns some shocking news about El Jefe's daughter.
Writer: Jeanine Cummins
Reader: Yolanda Vazquez
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett
MON 12:20 You and Yours (m000h8gb)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
MON 12:57 Weather (m000h8gd)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m000h8gg)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
MON 13:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00pwmgq)
Making Us Human (2,000,000 - 9000 BC)
Mummy of Hornedjitef
The Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells the history of human development from the first stone axe to the credit card using 100 selected objects from the Museum. His history will cover two million years and include items that were made in every part of the globe. But his journey begins when, at the age of eight, he visited the British Museum for the first time and came face-to-face with an object that fascinated and intrigued him ever since - an Egyptian mummy.
Hornedjitef was a priest who died around 2250 years ago, and he designed a coffin that, he believed, would help him navigate his way to the afterlife. Little did he know that this afterlife would be as a museum exhibit in London. This ornate coffin holds secrets to the understanding of his religion, society and Egypt's connections to the rest of the world.
Neil MacGregor tells the story of Hornedjitef's mummy case, with contributions from egyptologist John Taylor, Egyptian author Ahdaf Soueif and Indian economist and Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen
MON 14:00 The Archers (m000h7mj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Drama (m000h8gk)
The Penny Dreadfuls Present: Richard III Rebothered
Rather than a conniving and treacherous hunchback, Richard was an honest and loyal warrior with only a slight spinal kink, nothing you'd notice if you weren't looking for it. This is the story of how, through the invention of the printing press, a good man became the first victim of fake news and how The Tudor dynasty was built on a foundation of lies by the world's first spin-doctor, Henry Tudor.
Written by David Reed. Performed by David Reed, Thom Tuck, Humphrey Ker, Margaret Cabourn-Smith and Celeste Dring.
Producer...Julia McKenzie
A BBC Studios Production
MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (m000h8gm)
Heat 2, 2020
(2/17)
In classical mythology, what was the name of the first mortal woman, created by Hephaestus? And which South American city gave its name to a Madonna hit of 2019? If you can answer either of these questions you might be able to keep pace with the competitors in the second heat of the 2020 Brain of Britain season. Four competitors from around the UK take the first step in the knockout competition leading to the 67th annual Brain of Britain title.
Appearing today are:
Graeme Anderson, a former HR director from Tonbridge in Kent
Daniel Lawson, a medical student from the Wirral
Rebecca Lovegrove, a retired musician and music teacher from Redruth in Cornwall
Nathan Mulholland, an economist from County Derry.
Producer: Paul Bajoria
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m000h7lq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Beyond Belief (m000h8gt)
Ethical Investing
It is estimated that religious institutions own trillions of dollars' worth of investments but some have acknowledged that their financial choices have not always reflected their principles. Can faith values help people to choose how to invest their money in ways that align with their ethics? Can new technologies like blockchain provide greater transparency and control, and where are the potential pitfalls for people looking to invest their money?
Joining Ernie Rea to discuss ethical investing are Rabbi Mark Goldsmith of the Edgware & Hendon Reform Synagogue and member of the International Interfaith Investment Group; Devie Mohan, an expert in the relationship between finance and technology; Martin Palmer President of Faith Invest and Umer Suleman a member of the UK Islamic Finance Council and a Sharia Finance Consultant.
Producer: Dan Jackson
Series Producer: Amanda Hancox
MON 16:30 PM (m000h8gw)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000h8gy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (m000h8h0)
Series 4
Milton Jones - Eco Worrier
Milton goes under the sea to save the earth and stumbles across a mysterious Great Aunt at the same time. Meanwhile, Anton gets his fingers burnt by an old flame.
Mention Milton Jones to most people and the first thing they think is "Help!". Each week, Milton and his trusty assistant Anton set out to help people and soon find they're embroiled in a new adventure. Because when you're close to the edge, then Milton can give you a push.
"Milton Jones is one of Britain's best gagsmiths with a flair for creating daft yet perfect one-liners" - The Guardian.
"King of the surreal one-liners" - The Times
"If you haven't caught up with Jones yet - do so!" - The Daily Mail
Written by Milton with James Cary (Bluestone 42, Miranda), and Dan Evans (who co-wrote Milton's Channel 4 show House Of Rooms), the man they call "Britain's funniest Milton," returns to the radio with a fully-working cast and a shipload of new jokes.
The cast includes regulars Tom Goodman-Hill (Spamalot, Mr. Selfridge) as the ever-faithful Anton, Josie Lawrence and Dan Tetsell (Peep Show, Upstart Crow).
With music by Guy Jackson
Produced and directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4
MON 19:00 The Archers (m000h8h2)
Robert faces friction at the B&B, and Shula proves a bad influence.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m000h8h4)
Roy Hudd
Roy Hudd was a comedian, actor and music-hall veteran whose career spanned seven decades. He sadly passed away in March. Starting out as a redcoat at Butlins in the 1950s, Roy became one the UK's best-loved entertainers. His show The News Huddlines ran for 26 years on Radio 2.
When Samira spoke to Roy in 2015, he was approaching his 80th birthday, and was about to play Dame for the first time in panto, in Dick Whittington at Wilton's Music Hall.
He discussed a lifetime of entertaining audiences, his close relationship with Dennis Potter, who left Hudd a role in his will, and his grandmother, who raised him, and to whom he owed his passion for variety and music hall.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Timothy Prosser
MON 19:45 The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot (m000h8g1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 China and the Virus (m000h7x6)
Has the coronavirus epidemic weakened or strengthened the grip of China’s Communist Party?
In the early stages of the outbreak in the city of Wuhan, authorities there downplayed its significance. A doctor who sounded the alarm was forced to contradict himself. He later contracted Covid-19 and died from it. Medical facilities were initially unprepared. This and other similar stories led to an explosion of critical comment on Chinese social media, with deep distrust emerging of the official explanations.
President Xi Jinping initially avoided becoming publicly involved in the response to the epidemic, perhaps to avoid a political taint. The government then began do change tack, instituting wide-ranging and it seems effective restrictions, which have slowed the growth of the epidemic. The central government blamed any problems on failings by local authorities. Many Chinese citizens are now taking pride in their country’s response, even arguing that it is an example to the world, despite the continuing economic slowdown.
In this documentary, Mark Mardell assesses how President Xi and his government will emerge from the crisis.
Producer: Cat Farnsworth
MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m000h0tw)
Riding the 'Motel 22'
California is one of the wealthiest states in America yet it has the largest population of homeless people – more than 151,000 - in the US. In the Silicon Valley many find shelter on the bus route 22 which runs an endless loop from Palo Alto to the Valley’s biggest city, San Jose. Along the way it passes some of the world’s biggest tech giants: Google, Apple, Hewlett-Packart and Facebook. It is the Valley’s only all night bus and many of its night-time passengers ride it to keep warm and sleep. But now the state is in the grips of the coronavirus pandemic the overnight service has been suspended. Earlier this year, Sarah Svoboda took a ride on the bus, known to many as Motel 22, to hear the stories of its travellers.
Reporter/producer: Sarah Svoboda
Editor: Bridget Harney
MON 21:00 Blind Mind's Eye (m000h0ff)
What if you had no mind’s eye – no visual memory – and could not evoke images of your children’s faces, the house you live in, the meal you’ve just eaten or the holiday you’ve recently taken?
The idea seems inconceivable, but that’s the reality for people with a condition known as Aphantasia.
Sue Armstrong investigates the personal experience of people with Aphantasia. When did they become aware of it, how it has affected their lives and relationships with others – and what is being discovered about the science behind it?
A Ruth Evans production for BBC Radio 4
MON 21:30 Start the Week (m000h8fv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m000h8h7)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
MON 22:45 American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins (m000h8g8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:06 today]
MON 23:00 Lights Out (m000h8h9)
Series 2
Prison Sentences
The UK prison population has risen by 69% in the last 30 years.
Lots of people have lots of opinions about prison - politicians, newspapers, artists and, of course, former prisoners themselves. Prison Sentences offers a meditation on the efficacy of prison through opinions, statistics, statements of policy and the testimony of those who've experienced it first hand.
24% of prisoners were brought up in care
29% of prisoners were abused as children
42% of prisoners were excluded from school
62% of prisoners have a reading age of 11 or under
15% of prisoners were homeless before entering prison
33% will be homeless when they leave
"We know not whether laws be right
Or whether laws be wrong
All we know who lie in gaol
Is that the walls are strong
And each day is like a year
A year whose days are long.”
The Ballad of Reading Gaol, Oscar Wilde
With music from The Clash, Olivier Messiaen, Sam Cooke, Zimbo Freemind, Johnny Cash, The Band, Remtrex, Fox, Lady Unchained, Malvina Reynolds and Nina Simone. And archive from Porridge, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Cool Hand Luke, Rupert Everett reading Wilde, Benjamin Zephaniah, The Shawshank Redemption, Hooked, John Cooper Clarke and Midnight Express,
Produced by Josie Bevan and Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
MON 23:30 The Voices of... (m0006lng)
Series 4
Alison Goldfrapp
An intimate portrait of Alison Goldfrapp, an innovative artist and electronic dance music performer (with Goldfrapp) whose voice is inflected with folk, opera and cabaret styles.
Recorded overnight on a walk through woods in Hampshire during the summer solstice and at her home in east London, this evocation of one of Britain's most versatile singers touches on Alison's childhood and the impact of being educated by nuns, her adventures across experimental art forms, the joy of a thumping electronic dance track and the enduring allure of nature, both in her music and her life.
Presented and produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio Four
TUESDAY 14 APRIL 2020
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m000h8hc)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 00:30 The Restaurant: A History of Eating Out (m000h8fx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000h8hf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000h8hh)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m000h8hk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000h8hp)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley
Good morning.
When was the last time you laughed, I mean really laughed? In these days of anxiety and concern, it’s been interesting to note those moments of humour that pop up on a daily basis. There are plenty opportunities it seems, to raise a smile or have a proper laugh-out-loud experience. Today as it happens, is ‘International Moment of Laughter Day’, so I wonder what it might be that will make me laugh today?
Watching funny clips shared on social media, and family pets getting in the way of video-conference conversations, are just a couple of examples of things that feature in an average day of this ‘new normal’ I find myself in, and I know I’m not alone in that regard. I was recently overseeing what is usually quite a solemn and serious process via video-conference, when a colleague’s cat suddenly appeared, its body pressed up against the camera filling the entire screen with fur. Perhaps naturally, our response was laughter (albeit expressed in a somewhat modest way). It lifted the mood, and everyone smiled. We regained composure and continued, but the unexpected intervention of a feline companion stayed with us.
A few years ago, a study found that babies laugh on average 300 times a day, whereas adults laugh only 20 times. Now I’m not encouraging laughing purely for the sake of it, rather it’s a reminder not to take myself too seriously, and perhaps to see my own context today in a lighter way. That might be a challenge, but I’ll give it a go.
God who in Jesus Christ knew and experienced human emotion, we give thanks for all that lifts our souls. For comedians and performers who inspire laughter and delight in life, especially in this period of lockdown, we give you thanks this day.
Amen.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m000h8hr)
14/04/20 Yorkshire Shepherdess, lamb bacon, onions, Cornish veg boxes
Coronavirus is shutting Britain down, but farmers are still out producing food. We hear from some of them.
Amanda Owen, the Yorkshire Shepherdess, is experiencing lambing time with a difference with her 9 children off school on her farm in Swaledale, North Yorkshire.
We hear about lamb bacon being cured in West Wales, and onions being sown in Lincolnshire. And an update from our Farming Today diarist growing veg in North Cornwall.
Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02twjfh)
Tree Pipit
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the tree pipit.
Tree pipits are small brown birds without any bright colours or distinctive features; but you can identify one from a distance when it is singing, because it has a very obvious display flight. The male bird sings from April to the end of July, launching himself from a treetop perch, then parachutes downwards like a paper dart.
TUE 06:00 Today (m000h8p9)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 Black Music in Europe: A Hidden History (m000h8pc)
Series 3
1960s
Drawing on rare recordings, Clarke Peters continues his third series revealing the unexplored history of Black music across Europe, from the aftermath of the Second World War through to the late 1970s.
This was an era that saw countries such as Algeria, Jamaica, Cape Verde and Trinidad shake off European colonialism. These nations expressed their new found sense of freedom through songs, many recorded in European studios.
From the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, through the decolonisation years and beyond, this series hears from modern Black musicians, commentators and historians, to get to the heart of Black music in Europe.
This episode looks at the music of Black Europe at the height of the 1960s. We hear about Cameroonian guitar legend Francis Bebey in Paris, afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti in London and free jazz globetrotter Don Cherry in Stockholm. Clarke also tells the story of jazz group The Blue Notes, who fled apartheid South Africa for a new life in Europe.
Produced by Tom Woolfenden
Executive Producer: Miranda Hinkley
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 09:30 The Extinction Tapes (m0009yxc)
Steller's Sea Cow
Rob Newman tell the story of a species we've lost forever, and explores our role in their extinction.
Steller's Sea Cow was a gentle giant of the Bering Sea, a nine-meter long relative of the Dugong and the Manatee. This is a story of swaying forests of kelp; insatiable urchins covering the sea-floor; families of sea-otters, displaced by hunting, and a growing fur-trade which threatened them all. When a delicate ecosystem gets thrown out of balance, the effects can be far-reaching, and devastating.
Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight
TUE 09:45 The Restaurant: A History of Eating Out (m000h8pg)
Episode 2
The history of eating out is a story of life - of politics, courage, skill, art, innovation and of luck. We start in Pompeii, where the town was engulfed in lava in AD79 and where, in the excavations, much was discovered about how the Romans ate out - many restaurants doubled up as brothels.
In the Ottoman Empire, we discover that doner kebabs were cooked in the open air at dainty picnics where learned men read books to each other while a cook carved the meat from a long wedge being turned on a spit over hot coals.
After Henry VIII’s break from Rome and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, travellers were left with nowhere to get a meal and a bed for the night and so the monastic staff who survived the purges needed places to work and very enterprisingly opened taverns which were soon packed with locals and visitors. This meant that, for the first time, people weren’t humbly receiving bread and wine from a benevolent monk but receiving sustenance that they were paying for themselves - which, to an oppressed servant, must have felt like freedom.
On the day of the storming of the Bastille, it was estimated that one in every twelve men were in domestic service. Now, with the disappearance of the chateaux kitchens, many of the unemployed chefs opened restaurants in Paris and then later in London, where rich Englishmen were keen to discover how the French aristocracy had lived. By the 1820s, Paris was freed from the restraints of the revolution and became fashionable again with luxurious shops and restaurants and chefs - notably Marie-Antoine Careme who turned French cuisine into Gastronomy and remains an influence on chefs even to this day
The 20th Century saw the birth and domination of fast food.
In 1948, McDonalds became successful by simplifying their menu and doing away with the need for utensils. A man called Glen Bell found a way to mass produce Tacos in 1951, which led to another fast food craze, and sushi became a world favourite after a Japanese entrepreneur visited a brewery and was inspired by the conveyer belt system of carrying bottles, which he adapted for his restaurants.
The Indian restaurant started life in the 1940s when a number of cafes sprang up in London’s Brick Lane and Commercial Road to support a community of seamen from Bangladesh. More restaurants blossomed in bombed out shops and, by the 50s, Indian restaurants spread across towns and cities throughout the UK becoming a firm favourite with students.
Albert and the late Michel Roux set the standard of English restaurant food in 1960s London whether it was liked it or not. Customers complained that the portions were too small. "This is French gastronomy," Michel told one such couple, with his finest charming smile, a few days after the launch. But there were enough Londoners to keep the restaurant busy and full from day one. By March 1968, Le Gavroche was famous.
Written by William Sitwell
Read by Lesley Sharp
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000h8pj)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
TUE 10:45 The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot (m000h8pl)
The Wrong Doing of Others
Episode Seven
The Wrong Doing of Others
The 'rascals' may have been beaten but conflict rears its head at Dorlcote Mill.
George Eliot, the Narrator ..... Anna Maxwell Martin
Maggie ..... Joanna Vanderham
Tom ..... Will Kirk
Mr Tulliver ..... Roger Ringrose
Mrs Tulliver ..... Alison Belbin
Stephen ..... Jack Farthing
Lucy ..... Ell Potter
Mr Wakem ..... John Dougall
Written by George Eliot
Adapted by Rhiannon Tise
Produced and Directed by Tracey Neale
TUE 11:00 The NHS Front Line (m000h8pn)
Week 4 on the covid wards
Dr John Wright has been recording on the wards for BBC Radio 4 – starting on March 16th, the day the Prime Minister gave his first televised address about the danger of Covid-19. This is week four of his diaries, recorded as the number of cases starts to increase and the pressures on the frontline team intensify.
These recordings with frontline NHS staff at all levels, take you behind the scenes on the wards as they plan for what is to come and then cope as the patients arrive. They let us share in the pressures, personal and professional, and in the decisions being made in the face of this unprecedented threat.
Professor John Wright is helping Bradford Royal Infirmary to get ready for Covid-19. He’s looked after patients all over the world – cholera and HIV in Southern Africa, Ebola in Sierra Leone. He thinks it’s important we should all know what we are facing.
Presented by Winifred Robinson
Produced by Sue Mitchell
Sound Production by Richard Hannaford
TUE 11:30 Out of the Wood (m000h8pq)
For fifty years, Italian sculptor Giuseppe Penone has worked with, in, around and through trees.
One of his most staggering techniques involves carefully stripping back the layers of a tree - using its rings as gradients, to reveal the sapling within it.
The tree inside the wood.
His works inspire awe - they are rich with precision, craft and experience of working with such materials.
But they inspire something else too- something primal. They remind us that all those wood surfaces around us, the knots they are flawed with, are memories, scars, of the branches that grew within them.
An internationally recognised artist, with exhibitions from the Guggenheim to our own Yorkshire Sculpture Park – Penone has influenced artists from Martin Creed to Graham Gussen.
Lindsay Chapman is obsessed with nature and how we live with it. It’s a subject she has long been interested in learning about - how to be in a forest; how to be in a thicket; how to watch, feel, and relate to the world of plants, trees and animals. She dedicates a lot of her life to wildlife and the environment - through the world of conservation.
Together, Penone and Chapman try and bring to the listener a deeper understanding of the fruits of nature - leaves, trees, branches, all brought to life in dazzling complex ways.
About art, this is also about nature – at a time when this feels more essential and in need of a radical re-think.
Producer: Sara Jane Hall
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m000h8ps)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000hd5g)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 12:06 American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins (m000h8pv)
7. El Comandante
Jeanine Cummins' heart-stopping and heart-rending novel following a mother and son, forced to flee the Mexican cartel that massacred their family.
Today: Lydia, Luca and the teenage girls are rounded up by La Migra. As Mexian nationals, Lydia and Luca should in theory be safe, but Lydia expects the worst...
Writer: Jeanine Cummins
Reader: Yolanda Vazquez
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett
TUE 12:20 You and Yours (m000h8px)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
TUE 12:57 Weather (m000h8pz)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m000h8q1)
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 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00pwn7m)
Making Us Human (2,000,000 - 9000 BC)
Olduvai Stone Chopping Tool
The Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells the history of human development from the first stone axe to the credit card, using 100 selected objects from the Museum. In this programme, Neil goes back two million years to the Rift Valley in Tanzania, where a simple chipped stone marks the emergence of modern humans.
One of the characteristics that mark humans out from other animals is their desire for, and dependency on, the things they fashion with their own hands. This obsession has long roots and, in today's programme, Neil introduces one of the earliest examples of human ingenuity. Faced with the needs to cut meat from carcasses, early humans in Africa discovered how to shape stones into cutting tools. From that one innovation, a whole history human development springs.
Neil MacGregor tells the story of the Olduvai stone chopping tool, with contributions from Sir David Attenborough and African Nobel Prize winner Dr Wangari Maathai
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m000h8h2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (m000h8q4)
The Grey Man and Other Lost Legends
A strange craft crash lands into the UK’s second highest peak. The mayday signal is picked up by amateur radio enthusiast and conspiracy theorist Fergus McGregor whose special interest is the Great Grey Man.
Sometimes referred to as Scotland’s yeti, stories of the Grey Man have been reported by hikers and mountaineers on Ben Mcdhui as far back as the Victorian era. Fergus sets out to find the craft with far-reaching consequences.
Sebastian Baczkiewicz weaves interviews about Scotland’s yeti into an innovative audio drama. Featuring interviews with residents and visitors in the Cairngorms National Park.
With special thanks to Angus Upton.
Cast:
Weatherall …. Laura Elphinstone
Fergus McGregor ... Brian Vernel
Councillor Boyne … Rachel Handshaw
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Sound Design by Steve Bond
Executive Producer Jeremy Mortimer
Produced by Joby Waldman
Directed by Steve Bond and Joby Waldman
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m000h7bs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (m000h7yb)
Covid-19: the environmental impact
Tom Heap talks through the green issues emerging during the coronavirus pandemic and asks what the environmental legacy might be.
Tom examines the effect of the lockdown – with millions of people now working from home, planes being grounded and fewer cars on the roads, has there been a big environmental improvement, and will that be reversed once our lives return to normal?
With the help of experts from the fields of climate change, aviation, ecology and environmental standards, we track the changes in air pollution and global temperature.
And what will the return to ‘normal' look like? With the UK aiming to be carbon neutral by 2050, Tom asks whether the pandemic can be seen as a trial run for a zero-carbon world and looks at how international climate targets might be affected.
And Costing the Earth examines claims that some governments are using the pandemic as an opportunity to reverse environmental legislation.
Producer: Melvin Rickarby
TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (b0bh454p)
Stephen Fry and Michael Rosen talk language
Stephen Fry talks to presenter Michael Rosen about their mutual obsession with language: the particular joys they both find in speech and in writing and how language is developing. Starting at the very beginning with Stephen's theory about where a facility with words may come from, then dashing through the joy of finding connections between words in different languages, of listening to the rhythms of music-hall patter, in telephone voicemail messages and in rap, to sketch-writing with Hugh Laurie, presenting QI, the essential seriousness of comedy, the virtues of email and text as opposed to the sheer horror of having to talk on the telephone, and one time when Stephen's famous fluency broke down..
Producer Beth O'Dea
TUE 16:30 PM (m000h8qb)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000h8qd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Ellie Taylor's Safe Space (m000h8qg)
Masculinity
Comedian Ellie Taylor has some opinions she'd like to get off her chest. In this episode she looks at all aspects of masculinity and whether it's had an unfairly poor press recently. She discusses her views with help from the studio audience and her side-kick Robin Morgan, who bravely goes on to the streets of Britain to ask members of the public about their attitudes to men being men. She also welcomes on a special expert guest, a man who knows all about how best to behave, Rupert Wesson from etiquette guide Debrett's.
It is produced by Sam Michell and is a BBC Studios Production.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m000h7xp)
Roy receives some interesting information, and Tracy tries to get her own way.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m000h8qj)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
TUE 19:45 The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot (m000h8pl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 Snakes & Ladders (m000hcjw)
An audio game of Snakes & Ladders in which the board squares represent the gradations of wealth in the UK today. Award-winning documentary-maker Cathy FitzGerald hops up and down the board to talk to people with very different incomes about their relationship to money.
Interviewees: Teona Bonsu, Bobby Bates, George Buchanan, Ade Hassan, Russ Davey, Simon Russell and Christine Isaacs.
Photo: David Gochfeld
Presented and produced by Cathy FitzGerald
Executive Producer: Sarah Cuddon
A White Stiletto production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m000h8ql)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (m000h7xw)
Inside Health: The Virus
Episode 4
Claudia Hammond reports on the unfolding coronavirus pandemic.
TUE 21:30 Black Music in Europe: A Hidden History (m000h8pc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m000h8qn)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
TUE 22:45 American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins (m000h8pv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:06 today]
TUE 23:00 Sketchtopia (m000h8qq)
Series 2
Episode 2
Sketchtopia sets out to find the next generation of white, black, Asian and minority ethnic satirical sketch comedy writers from a range of backgrounds across the UK - with a keen eye on finding the funny in a multicultural Britain.
The critically acclaimed first series picked up a nomination for best sketch show at the BBC Audio Drama Awards and Celtic Media Awards and won Gold at the Audio Production Awards 2018.
Series 2 brings a crop of returning sketch characters, including Millie and Martha, Woke Colleague, Brexit Dad and The Support Group. The show aims to make sharp observations about modern Britain and, most importantly, allow shared experiences, common points of reference and authenticity to come together to create a truly unique British sketch show. Sketchtopia promises to be irreverent, thoughtful and, above all, funny!
Performers: Vivienne Acheampong, James McNicholas, Jamie-Rose Monk, Nimisha Odedra, Susheel Kumar.
Episode 2 writers: Bilal Zafar, Lynda Kennedy, Alice Gregg, Louise Stewart, Joanne Lau, Jim Felton, Tamar Broadbent, Kai Samra, Elizabeth Caproni, Lizzie Bates, Anna Emerson, Steve Lawrence
Producer: Gus Beattie.
A Gusman production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 23:30 The Voices of... (m0006sgx)
Series 4
Kurt Wagner
An intimate portrait of Kurt Wagner, singer and creative force behind American indie band Lambchop.
Growing up in Nashville, Tennessee, Kurt Wagner's artistic aspirations were inclined towards the visual arts rather than the city's all-pervasive country music scene. But hanging around friends, exchanging school cello for garage guitar, he found that he became - by default - the singer. No-one else wanted the role.
So began Lambchop, an indie rock band that Kurt mischievously publicised as 'Alt-country' to see which music hacks actually troubled to listen rather than just re-hash the press release.
Recorded on his porch at home in Nashville, Kurt reflects on his idiosyncratic vocal style, his embracing of technology and sharing life with a political activist in a Republican state in the third year of Donald Trump's presidency.
Presented and produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL 2020
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m000h8qs)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
WED 00:30 The Restaurant: A History of Eating Out (m000h8pg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000h8qv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000h8qx)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m000h8qz)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000h8r3)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley
Good morning.
At the moment, our early morning alarm-call is not of an electronic or smart-phone variety but rather a pheasant who lands in the front garden and starts making a very loud assertion of his territorial rights whilst exploring the possibility of being fed. Somewhat weary-eyed as the kettle is put on in the kitchen one of us opens the front door and distributes some food, scattering it liberally over the lawn. The pheasant usually takes off in the opposite direction before doing an about turn to locate the food. It’s fascinating, and I must confess a bit frustrating to watch. I find myself issuing enthusiastic instructions to the pheasant to go the other way. Of course, it responds when it wants to.
Given how much time we are spending at home at the moment, I’ve become accustomed to the ways of local wildlife in a way I never was previously. From my study window I see and hear birds, and of course the pheasant who maintains a watchful eye over proceedings whilst continuing to defends its patch. In the distance I can hear a wood-pecker drilling away at a tree, and in the later hours of the day, the hooting of an owl. The silence from the lack of traffic along the road by our home is strange, but a certain amount of normality is maintained by the sound of aircraft from a nearby RAF base overhead. It’s a gift noticing things I hadn’t paid attention to before, and learning that I don’t set the agenda for creaturely activity during the day.
God our creator, we thank you for all creatures great and small. Today I pray for humility and for opportunities to learn from the environment that surrounds me.
Amen.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m000h8r5)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02twnw4)
Herring Gull
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the herring gull.
Herring gulls now regularly breed inland and that's because of the way we deal with our refuse. Since the Clean Air Acts of 1956 banned the burning of refuse at rubbish tips, the birds have been able to cash in on the food that we reject: And our throwaway society has provided them a varied menu. We've also built reservoirs around our towns on which they roost, and we've provided them with flat roofs which make perfect nest sites.
WED 06:00 Today (m000h7ww)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 The Patch (m000gt1q)
Elland
The random postcode generator takes Producer Polly Weston to Elland, Yorkshire. There's been a cinema here since pre-WWI and it still has an interval and two organists. But in 2020, the Rex faces a shock.
Elland is a historic, former millinery town, sandwiched between Halifax and Huddersfield in the Calderdale valley. Locals say the town has had a bit of a rough time - it has lost shops, its Victorian swimming pool, and suffered from being the lesser known of its neighbours along the valley. But it does have something people across Yorkshire recognise it for: The Rex.
A 300 seater cinema, which opened in 1912, and where the layout remains largely as it was on the day it opened. Polly gets drawn in by its individuality, its organists (80-year-old Mildred and 33-year-old Ben) its mugs of tea in the interval and its gingerbread men. The cinema faces a string of new challenges - the multiplexes in Huddersfield and Halifax have recently slashed their prices to compete with the Rex's £
5.50 entry, while floods have been tormenting the local infrastructure. But as the days roll on, it becomes clear that something much bigger is around the corner - something which might jeopardise the annual Laurel and Hardy evening which Ben has been preparing his score for months for. Something which might jeopardise everything.
Produced/presented by Polly Weston
Exec Producer Jolyon Jenkins
WED 09:30 The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread? (m000h1lh)
Cannabidiol (‘CBD’) Products
CBD, short for cannabidiol, is one of the big buzzwords in health and well being products. A naturally occurring molecule of the cannabis plant, it’s popping up in everything - aside from the CBD oil tinctures, you can now eat it, down it in drinks, vape it, lather it on your skin and soak in it. You can even buy sports leggings infused with it.
Consumer interest in CBD-based products shows no sign of abating, with enthusiasts claiming a whole host of benefits from relieving anxiety, to easing pain and helping us sleep.
The theory behind how CBD might work seems promising - CBD shares similarities with endocannabinoids, produced naturally in the body, which help to regulate stress, sleep, metabolism, memory, inflammation, and immunity.
Given the deluge of different CBD-based products, should we really believe the hype?
Greg Foot is in the studio with beauty columnist Sali Hughes and Saoirse O’Sullivan, an expert in cannabinoid research, to find out if these products really are The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread.
Presenter: Greg Foot
Producer: Beth Eastwood
WED 09:45 The Restaurant: A History of Eating Out (m000h7wy)
Episode 3
The history of eating out is a story of life - of politics, courage, skill, art, innovation and of luck. We start in Pompeii, where the town was engulfed in lava in AD79 and where, in the excavations, much was discovered about how the Romans ate out - many restaurants doubled up as brothels.
In the Ottoman Empire, we discover that doner kebabs were cooked in the open air at dainty picnics where learned men read books to each other while a cook carved the meat from a long wedge being turned on a spit over hot coals.
After Henry VIII’s break from Rome and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, travellers were left with nowhere to get a meal and a bed for the night and so the monastic staff who survived the purges needed places to work and very enterprisingly opened taverns which were soon packed with locals and visitors. This meant that, for the first time, people weren’t humbly receiving bread and wine from a benevolent monk but receiving sustenance that they were paying for themselves - which, to an oppressed servant, must have felt like freedom.
On the day of the storming of the Bastille, it was estimated that one in every twelve men were in domestic service. Now, with the disappearance of the chateaux kitchens, many of the unemployed chefs opened restaurants in Paris and then later in London, where rich Englishmen were keen to discover how the French aristocracy had lived. By the 1820s, Paris was freed from the restraints of the revolution and became fashionable again with luxurious shops and restaurants and chefs - notably Marie-Antoine Careme who turned French cuisine into Gastronomy and remains an influence on chefs even to this day
The 20th Century saw the birth and domination of fast food.
In 1948, McDonalds became successful by simplifying their menu and doing away with the need for utensils. A man called Glen Bell found a way to mass produce Tacos in 1951, which led to another fast food craze, and sushi became a world favourite after a Japanese entrepreneur visited a brewery and was inspired by the conveyer belt system of carrying bottles, which he adapted for his restaurants.
The Indian restaurant started life in the 1940s when a number of cafes sprang up in London’s Brick Lane and Commercial Road to support a community of seamen from Bangladesh. More restaurants blossomed in bombed out shops and, by the 50s, Indian restaurants spread across towns and cities throughout the UK becoming a firm favourite with students.
Albert and the late Michel Roux set the standard of English restaurant food in 1960s London whether it was liked it or not. Customers complained that the portions were too small. "This is French gastronomy," Michel told one such couple, with his finest charming smile, a few days after the launch. But there were enough Londoners to keep the restaurant busy and full from day one. By March 1968, Le Gavroche was famous.
Written by William Sitwell
Read by Lesley Sharp
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000h7x0)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
WED 10:41 The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot (m000h7x2)
The Laws of Attraction
Episode Eight
The Laws of Attraction
Launched into the higher society of St Ogg's, Maggie is enjoying being admired. As Philip looks on it seems inevitable that any man who is near Maggie should fall in love with her.
George Eliot, the Narrator ..... Anna Maxwell Martin
Maggie ..... Joanna Vanderham
Stephen ..... Jack Farthing
Philip ..... Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Lucy ..... Ell Potter
Mr Wakem ..... John Dougall
Dr Kenn ..... Hasan Dixon
Written by George Eliot
Adapted by Rhiannon Tise
Produced and Directed by Tracey Neale
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (m0003r3q)
Jillian and Krista: I Cried at My First Birth
Friends travel back in time to when they first met as student nurses and recall why one chose midwifery and the other turned to general nursing. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
WED 11:00 Don't Log Off (m000h9mr)
Series 11
15/04/2020
Alan Dein connects with strangers across the world via social media, exploring the things that unite people across cultures and borders.
WED 11:30 Plum House (m000h7x8)
Series 3
3. A Knight to Remember
Plum House has once again been invited to the Museum of the Year awards in London. Manager Tom is determined that he and Peter attend as the house has been nominated, despite the rest of the team thinking it's a waste of time.
While Tom and Peter are away, Julian is left in charge and much to Alan and Maureen's consternation decides that now's the time for him to raise his social media game by posing in a suit of armour. Meanwhile Tom's chance meeting with old colleague Emma at the awards stirs up old feelings...
Plum House features Simon Callow, Jane Horrocks, Miles Jupp, Pearce Quigley, Tom Bell and Louise Ford.
Guest starring this week: Alex Lowe
Written by Ben Cottam and Paul McKenna
Directed by Paul Schlesinger
Produced by Claire Broughton
It is a BBC Studios Production for Radio 4
WED 12:00 News Summary (m000h7xb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000hd3v)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 12:06 American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins (m000h7xd)
8. Coyote
Jeanine Cummins' heart-stopping and heart-rending novel following a mother and son on the run from the Mexican drug cartel that massacred their family.
Today: Lydia, Luca and the girls continue their desperate journey north. The US border is near now, but how will they cross?
Writer: Jeanine Cummins
Reader: Yolanda Vazquez
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett
WED 12:20 You and Yours (m000h7xg)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
WED 12:57 Weather (m000h7xj)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m000h7xl)
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 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00pwn7p)
Making Us Human (2,000,000 - 9000 BC)
Olduvai Handaxe
The Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells two million years of history of human development through the objects it has produced. This programme follows early humans as they slowly begin to move beyond their African homeland taking with them one essential item - a handaxe.
In the presence of the most widely used tool humans have created, Neil sees just how vital to our evolution this sharp, ingenious implement was and how it allowed the spread of humans across the globe.
Today Neil MacGregor tells the story of the handaxe, with contributions from designer Sir James Dyson and archaeologist Nick Ashton
WED 14:00 The Archers (m000h7xp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b0b0xlkv)
Watch Me While I'm Sleeping
Mo and Eddie have been together throughout their twenties. Now Eddie finds Mo's snoring unbearable. He wants separate bedrooms. Will a heart to heart over a quiet dinner at home solve the busy couple's problem? Or is there more to sleepless nights than meets the eye? Christopher William Hill looks at a long-term gay relationship in a hostile new world.
Mo ….. Joseph Kloska
Eddie ….. Mark Edel-Hunt
Written by Christopher William Hill
Directed by Peter Kavanagh.
WED 15:00 Money Box (m000h7xt)
Paul Lewis and a panel of guests answer calls on personal finance.
WED 15:30 Inside Health (m000h7xw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 The Media Show (m000h7y0)
Topical programme about the fast-changing media world
WED 16:30 PM (m000h7y2)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000h7y4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 The Wilsons Save the World (b09gkk3y)
Series 1
Food
A brand new sitcom for BBC Radio 4 written by Marcus Brigstocke and Sarah Morgan and starring Marcus Brigstocke as Mike and Kerry Godliman as his wife Max.
Michael and Maxine Wilson and their teenage daughters, Lola and Cat (plus their bearded dragon Chomsky, and about 150,000 bees) have resolved to live a cleaner, greener, serener life. This is a show about living ethically... whatever that means. Millions of people try every day to make 'good' choices and do the 'right thing', be ethical, charitable and community minded. It's hard. Most of us live with hypocrisy and failure all the time but keep on trying. The Wilsons, good folk that they are, are trying about 20% harder and learning to live with about 19% more failure. They are not giving up.
In this episode a mealtime fraught with anxiety and multiple dietary preferences shows that maybe they all worry a little bit TOO much about food, and have forgotten how to enjoy it. Max and Mike decide to use their time away in Cornwall to leave Jennifer and Phillip in charge of mealtimes and see if the common-sense approach pays off.
Producer...Julia McKenzie
Production Coordinator...Tamara Shilham
A BBC Studios Production.
WED 19:00 The Archers (m000h7ry)
Alistair makes an unusual offer, and Tracy wants the big scoop
WED 19:15 Front Row (m000h7y6)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
WED 19:45 The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot (m000h7x2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 Fallout (m000h7y8)
The Future of Health
Mary Ann Sieghart and a panel of experts discuss the possible long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic on health and healthcare.
The immediate impact of the virus on global health is devastatingly clear. But it could also have far-reaching consequences for health in the UK and worldwide for years to come.
What long-term impact will the pandemic have on the NHS? What healthcare innovations will be accelerated by the virus? How will it change the way we tackle global health challenges - will we see increased co-operation? Or will it push countries towards a more insular approach? How will our medical supply chains change in the aftermath of the pandemic? Could this be an opportunity for major systemic change in global healthcare? And how should we build resilience to face health emergencies like this in the future?
To grapple with these questions and more, Mary Ann Sieghart is joined by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, former Medical Director of NHS England and Chair of Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust; Professor Devi Sridhar, Chair of Global Public Health at Edinburgh University; Professor Christopher Dye, leading epidemiologist and former Director of Strategy at the World Health Organisation; and Dr Jessica Potter, a specialist in respiratory medicine working on the frontline of the NHS’s coronavirus response.
Producer: Caroline Thornham
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
WED 20:45 The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread? (m000h1lh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 today]
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (m000h7yb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 The Media Show (m000h7y0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m000h7yd)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
WED 22:45 American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins (m000h7xd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:06 today]
WED 23:00 Rosie Jones: Box Ticker (m000h7yg)
Disability
Stand-up comedy from triple-threat Rosie Jones. She’s disabled, gay and northern - so, of course, she has her own Radio 4 show.
However, she’s not a great example of any of these communities and she’s tired of being asked to speak on their behalf. This show checks what’s really inside the boxes and throws most of it out.
This week, Rosie looks at disability with help from comedian Jamie MacDonald. Jamie ticks the 'blind box', most of the time, and shares some of the absurd situations he comes up against due to people's awkwardness around him.
Recorded in a live comedy club, prepare to be shocked and disappointed by Rosie’s lack of respect for your expectations.
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:15 Lenny Henry's Rogues Gallery (b09dz41d)
Series 2
Left Hand of God
Lenny Henry writes and stars in a darkly comic story about Stan Clayton who has been a butcher all his life and hopes his sons will follow in his footsteps. But when one of them brings home a cherry red Stratocaster one day, it seems that Stan's plans are for the chopping block.
Producer - Sam Michell
It is a BBC Studios Production.
WED 23:30 The Voices of... (m0006zxg)
Series 4
Stephanie Phillips
Growing up in Wolverhampton, Steph Phillips was a quiet girl, shy to the point of wanting to vanish during social occasions and conscious that as a black teenage female she was, anyway, invisible to most of society. These days, she's found her voice in a space where she can be what she describes as her "full self'" - she's the guitarist and lead singer with the black feminist punk band Big Joanie.
In a lineage of music-making with attitude that can be traced back through Riot Grrrl to the original punk icon, the late Poly Styrene of X-Ray Specs, Steph now commands a stage on which issues of identity, of race and gender, of political activism and artistic expression collide in joyful, noisy creativity.
Presented and produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
THURSDAY 16 APRIL 2020
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m000h7yk)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
THU 00:30 The Restaurant: A History of Eating Out (m000h7wy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000h7ym)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000h7yp)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m000h7yr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000h7yw)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley
Good morning.
Amongst the many people I am keeping in touch with during these days of lockdown, is a friend who works in a local hospital. Every other day or so I send her a message asking how she is doing, and if there is anything I can do for her? She always replies by thanking me and asking if there is anything she can pick up for me or perhaps someone I know in need on her way home. Given her pressurised role as a front-line medical practitioner I find her concern for others deeply inspiring. This evening, many of us may again stand outside our doors and clap for carers.
In my community we’ve had pots and pans being banged enthusiastically, cow-bells being clanked, and even a few fireworks being let off. These expressions of gratitude for the women and men who are working so hard to care for the sick and dying, for those who maintain our daily lives by providing food in farm shops and supermarkets, and those who help keep essential services going are heart-felt. There’s a reference in the New Testament book of Hebrews to the writer’s awareness of a cloud of witnesses who provide an encouraging example to follow.
As I stand and applaud, I think about that present cloud of witnesses, and I am mindful too of those whose lives have been forever changed by the death of a loved one, or who live in fear either for themselves or for others they know.
Eternal God, I lift before you this day all who are anxious and particularly those who are alone. I give thanks for those who work in medical and caring professions, and for all who seek to support us in our daily lives.
Amen.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m000h7yy)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tyk25)
Little Tern
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the little tern.
Little terns are our smallest terns. You can pick them out from our other terns by their smaller size, white forehead and yellow bill with a black tip. They look flimsy and delicate but move too close to one of their colonies, and you'll unleash a tirade of grating shrieks as they try to intimidate you out of their territory.
THU 06:00 Today (m000h7qr)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b099v33p)
Feathered Dinosaurs
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the development of theories about dinosaur feathers, following discoveries of fossils which show evidence of feathers. All dinosaurs were originally thought to be related to lizards - the word 'dinosaur' was created from the Greek for 'terrible lizard' - but that now appears false. In the last century, discoveries of fossils with feathers established that at least some dinosaurs were feathered and that some of those survived the great extinctions and evolved into the birds we see today. There are still many outstanding areas for study, such as what sorts of feathers they were, where on the body they were found, what their purpose was and which dinosaurs had them.
With
Mike Benton
Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Bristol
Steve Brusatte
Reader and Chancellor's Fellow in Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Edinburgh
and
Maria McNamara
Senior Lecturer in Geology at University College, Cork
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
THU 09:45 The Restaurant: A History of Eating Out (m000h7qt)
Episode 4
The history of eating out is a story of life - of politics, courage, skill, art, innovation and of luck. We start in Pompeii, where the town was engulfed in lava in AD79 and where, in the excavations, much was discovered about how the Romans ate out - many restaurants doubled up as brothels.
In the Ottoman Empire, we discover that doner kebabs were cooked in the open air at dainty picnics where learned men read books to each other while a cook carved the meat from a long wedge being turned on a spit over hot coals.
After Henry VIII’s break from Rome and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, travellers were left with nowhere to get a meal and a bed for the night and so the monastic staff who survived the purges needed places to work and very enterprisingly opened taverns which were soon packed with locals and visitors. This meant that, for the first time, people weren’t humbly receiving bread and wine from a benevolent monk but receiving sustenance that they were paying for themselves - which, to an oppressed servant, must have felt like freedom.
On the day of the storming of the Bastille, it was estimated that one in every twelve men were in domestic service. Now, with the disappearance of the chateaux kitchens, many of the unemployed chefs opened restaurants in Paris and then later in London, where rich Englishmen were keen to discover how the French aristocracy had lived. By the 1820s, Paris was freed from the restraints of the revolution and became fashionable again with luxurious shops and restaurants and chefs - notably Marie-Antoine Careme who turned French cuisine into Gastronomy and remains an influence on chefs even to this day
The 20th Century saw the birth and domination of fast food.
In 1948, McDonalds became successful by simplifying their menu and doing away with the need for utensils. A man called Glen Bell found a way to mass produce Tacos in 1951, which led to another fast food craze, and sushi became a world favourite after a Japanese entrepreneur visited a brewery and was inspired by the conveyer belt system of carrying bottles, which he adapted for his restaurants.
The Indian restaurant started life in the 1940s when a number of cafes sprang up in London’s Brick Lane and Commercial Road to support a community of seamen from Bangladesh. More restaurants blossomed in bombed out shops and, by the 50s, Indian restaurants spread across towns and cities throughout the UK becoming a firm favourite with students.
Albert and the late Michel Roux set the standard of English restaurant food in 1960s London whether it was liked it or not. Customers complained that the portions were too small. "This is French gastronomy," Michel told one such couple, with his finest charming smile, a few days after the launch. But there were enough Londoners to keep the restaurant busy and full from day one. By March 1968, Le Gavroche was famous.
Written by William Sitwell
Read by Lesley Sharp
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000h7qx)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
THU 10:45 The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot (m000h7qz)
The Great Temptation
Episode Nine
The Great Temptation
Maggie tries to push temptation away but then a fateful decision changes everything and desire and betrayal sends ripples of conflict that spreads beyond the River Moss.
George Eliot, the Narrator ..... Anna Maxwell Martin
Maggie ..... Joanna Vanderham
Stephen ..... Jack Farthing
Philip ..... Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Lucy ..... Ell Potter
Mrs Moss ..... Heather Craney
Written by George Eliot
Adapted by Rhiannon Tise
Produced and Directed by Tracey Neale
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m000h7r1)
Chile: An Education for All
A much anticipated referendum in Chile on a new constitution has been postponed till the autumn amid safety concerns over the spread of the coronavirus. President Sebastian Piñera had agreed to the vote and a range of reforms following months of civil unrest. Since last autumn, the country has been experiencing a wave of protests with people on the streets angry at the level of inequality in the country. Amongst them thousands of university students, teachers and school children – who have been prepared to face tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets – in a bid to change the education system in Chile. They say a privileged few have access to all the best jobs and the rest are given a substandard schooling with leaky roofs in winter, boiling hot classrooms in summer and inadequate teaching. For Crossing Continents, Jane Chambers spent time with the protestors calling for a fairer education for all.
Presented and produced by Jane Chambers. Editor, Bridget Harney
THU 11:30 Girl Reading (m000h7r3)
Zoë Comyns meets painter Anastasia Pollard, writers Imtiaz Dharker, Karen Joy Fowler, Samantha Ellis, Katie Ward and art historian Riann Coulter to explore the pose of the girl reader.
What is she reading and why? What does the pose evoke in the mind of the viewer? What is going on in the girls imagination, is she reading to escape, to learn, to find a path through her own life?
This programme draws the listener into the frame of paintings by Simone Martini, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Johannes Vermeer, Gwen John, Louis le Brocquy, Henri Fantin-Latour and Harry Herman Roseland to evoke the scene and what the act of reading signifies. Art historian Riann Coulter describes the artworks and unpicks why so few seem to be painted by women.
Writers discuss what and where they read as a girl. Poet Imtiaz Dharker recalls learning the Quran and visiting her local library - she recites Beware the Books, in which a girl finds sanctuary in a book shop, but a trickier path through the books she encounters.
Writer Karen Joy Fowler knows that a book can be transformative and life changing, she transports us to her neighbour's treehouse were she read to experience adventure.
Katie Ward wrote a novel called Girl Reading in which each chapter fictionalises the story behind a painting of a girl reading. Se explores the symbolism of a girl reading and how the intimacy we all crave can be expressed in a painting.
Writer Samantha Ellis grew up in the Iraqi Jewish community in London and her family life directly influenced how and what she read - she always searched for strong heroines in novels.
Anastasia Pollard is a portrait and figure painter. She paints Zoe Comyns in the pose of the reader and, throughout the sitting, they discuss what it means if we can see the book title, how patterns of light change the scene and the psychological presence of a painting in a room.
Recitation of the Qu’ran is by Medinah Javed recorded by Alia Cassam
Produced by Zoë Comyns
A New Normal Culture production for BBC Radio 4
THU 12:00 News Summary (m000h7r7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000hg09)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 12:06 American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins (m000h7rc)
9. The Border
Jeanine Cummins' heart-stopping and heart-rending novel following a mother and son, on the run from a Mexican drug cartel, headed by the man she once called her friend.
Today: The coyote takes the group into the desert. The north is almost in sight, but first the harsh journey across the mountains....
Writer: Jeanine Cummins
Reader: Yolanda Vazquez
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett
THU 12:20 You and Yours (m000h7rh)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
THU 12:57 Weather (m000h7rn)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m000h7rr)
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 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00pwn7r)
Making Us Human (2,000,000 - 9000 BC)
Swimming Reindeer
The Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells the history of human development from the first stone axe to the credit card using 100 selected objects from the Museum. Today Neil has chosen an object found in France, dating back 13,000 years. It is a carving of two swimming reindeer and it's not just the likeness that is striking. The creator of this carving was one of the first humans to express their world through art. But why did they do it?
Neil MacGregor tells the story of the Swimming Reindeer, and its place in the history of art and religion with contributions from the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and archaelogist Professor Steven Mithen.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
THU 14:00 The Archers (m000h7ry)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (m000179g)
Stories from Hay el Matar
The War Is Over
Drama from Syria telling stories of contemporary life in Damascus.
“The war is over!” declares Arshy, the proprietor of a traditional restaurant in Hay El Matar. Has she lost her senses or does she know something that we don’t? In such extreme times, everyone must find their own way to cope. So in the midst of it all, while everything is changing around her, she is fighting to keep hold of the Damascus that she loves. But is it a fight she can win?
Stories From Hay El Matar is a uniquely authentic drama series that takes place in a fictional suburb of Damascus. It is made by a team of Syrian and Lebanese artists working with British director Boz Temple-Morris, and is recorded in Beirut, Lebanon.
Each story in the series takes place at the same point in time, exploring a different part of the community. They are adapted from the Arabic language radio drama, Hay El Matar, produced by BBC Media Action, which provides a balanced and authentic depiction of everyday events for people inside Syria. It ran for one season of 150 episodes between 2016 and 2017and aimed to humanise opposing groups by countering stereotypes and providing balanced and authentic depictions of the various groups and situations across Syrian society. It included detailed consideration of issues such as early marriage and radicalisation as well as many issues around day to day living.
Stories from Hay El Matar is written in Arabic by Syrian writer Hozan Akko, and adapted into English by actor and dramatist Raffi Feghali. It offers a rare glimpse of how normal life is lived in Syria through these extraordinary times and features a cast of actors from Syria and Lebanon, many of whom are themselves living through the kinds of events depicted in the drama.
Cast:
Arshi Najwa Kondakji
Kevork Raffi Feghali
Abou Jameel Marcel Bou Chakra
Assaf Oussama el Ali
Rabab Nowar Yousef
Shukri Abdelrahim Alawji
Amer Adeeb Razzouk
Jack Alhasan Yousseff
Rashed Hashem Kabrit
Karakas Zeinab Assaf
Ghali Hussam Sharwany
Studio recording Karim Beidoun, Guerilla Studios
Spot effects Layal Salman
Sound editing Alisdair McGregor
Music Ziad Ahmadiye
Adaptation Raffi Feghali
Writer Hozan Akko
Producer and Director Boz Temple-Morris
A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4
THU 15:00 Open Country (m000h7s3)
The music of the Surrey Hills
Ian Marchant meets musicians inspired by the landscape of the Surrey Hills, including concert pianist Wu Qian, who found it terrifying when she first arrived from China aged 12. She soon learned to love the place and co-founded an international music festival which incorporates into its programme inspiring country walks in this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Ian meets Julia and Henry Pearson, who help to run the festival and live in the picturesque village of Shere, with its thatched cottages and 'terminally cute' setting. They are music lovers and keen walkers, so the festival is a perfect fit. Since the programme was recorded in early March, the festival has been cancelled, but imagining the concerts in the 'cathedral in the woods' at Ranmore Church, is still a piece of 'enchantment'.
Ian was born in this area and remembers being told that the view from Newland's Corner was the best in England. It was, in fact, what England should look like, according to his father. Ian now knows this isn't quite true, but it is how people all over the world picture the English countryside: rolling hills, woods, clear, babbling streams and a vista that extends to the English channel.
Ian meets sound artist Graham Downall who has created music/soundscapes to reflect the locations of five sculptures which have been placed in the landscape, and he discovers that the tipple of choice at this festival isn't to be found in the Worker's Beer Tent, but in the sparkling white wine which is produced from the chalky slopes of Denbies Vineyard near Dorking.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m000h7l8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (m000h7m3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 BBC Inside Science (m000h7sc)
Dr Adam Rutherford and guests illuminate the mysteries and challenge the controversies behind the science that's changing our world
THU 16:30 PM (m000h7sf)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000h7sh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Ability (b0b2knmp)
Series 1
Episode 3
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.
Now Matt's left home for the first time and moved in to share a flat with his best mate, Jess. But when Bob (Allan Mustafa) shows up as the new carer, the fun really starts. Bob is new to the job and, although willing, domestic duties are not really his forte. He's better at selling weed and dealing in knocked off iPads.
But he likes Matt and treats him like a real person. So, as far as Matt is concerned, Bob is here to stay.
Ability is the semi-autobiographical co-creation of Lee Ridley, otherwise known as Lost Voice Guy. Like his sitcom creation, Lee has cerebral palsy and can only speak via an app. Lost Voice Guy is - probably - the first stand up comedian to use a communication aid. He won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2014, has done three full Edinburgh shows and been tour support for Ross Noble, Patrick Kielty and Jason Cook. Lee has previously worked for Sunderland City Council's communications team, and the BBC in Newcastle and London as well, as various local newspapers.
Katherine Jakeways is the co-creator and co-writer of Ability. Katherine 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 along with a BBC 1 pilot, Carol and Vinney.
A Funny Bones production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 19:00 The Archers (m000h7sk)
Writer, Naylah Ahmed & Nick Warburton
Director, Dave Payne & Jeremy Howe
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Kenton Archer ….. Richard Attlee
Phoebe Aldridge ….. Lucy Morris
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Harrison Burns ….. James Cartwright
Chris Carter ….. Wilf Scolding
Alan Franks ….. John Telfer
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O'Hanrahan
Ed Grundy ….. Barry Farrimond
Shula Hebden Lloyd ….. Judy Bennett
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Alistair Lloyd ….. Michael Lumsden
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Freddie Pargetter ….. Toby Laurence
Robert Snell ….. Graham Blockey
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Leonie Snell ….. Jasmine Hyde
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane
Roy Tucker ….. Ian Pepperell
THU 19:15 Front Row (m000h7sm)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
THU 19:45 The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot (m000h7qz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m000h7sp)
David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders explore major news stories.
THU 20:30 In Business (m000h7sr)
Working From Home
Since the ‘lockdown’ around the world, huge numbers of people are toiling at home, converting living spaces into workplaces. But is ‘WFH’ a new phenomenon? Caroline Bayley looks at the history of home working & asks how to do it well.
Produced by Beth Sagar Fenton.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m000h7sc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b099v33p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m000h7sw)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
THU 22:45 American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins (m000h7rc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:06 today]
THU 23:00 Now Wash Your Hands (m000h7sy)
Episode 3
Comedy corona-cast as Jon Holmes, Jake Yapp, Salma Shah and Natt Tapley drop in on isolated home-bound guests.
THU 23:30 The Voices of... (m00075jj)
Series 4
Richard Dawson
For a man whose musical demeanour comes across as rough-hewn with a potency that's barely contained, Richard Dawson in person is gentle with a soft smile and opinions that are precisely worded though almost tentatively shared. He admits to a high level of everyday anxiety, yet has left a mark on contemporary folk music in England that testifies to an innate confidence in his musical vision. His albums (notably Nothing Important of 2014 and Peasant in 2017), as well as being critically acclaimed, have taken folk music into new territory that's at once ancient and avant-garde.
Speaking at his home in the north-east of England, Richard reflects on the particular qualities of his voice, the life that music has opened up to him and his ever-present companion, Trouble the cat.
Presented and produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio Four
FRIDAY 17 APRIL 2020
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m000h7t0)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 00:30 The Restaurant: A History of Eating Out (m000h7qt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000h7t2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000h7t4)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m000h7t6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000h7tb)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley
Good morning. When the words ‘Houston, we’ve had a problem here’ were uttered by Apollo 13 astronaut Jack Swigert the attention of the world turned upwards into outer space as the drama unfolded. It was on this day 50 years ago that the command module entered Earth’s atmosphere, and splashed down in the South Pacific ocean.
What I find remarkable about the accounts of what took place during the efforts to return the crew safely to Earth was not so much the innovation and ingenuity that was required, rather more the fact that the crew is reported not to have complained about their predicament. Conditions on board became hostile to life: it was freezing cold, and impossible to rest. That’s where character becomes important. how can I assess a situation by facing reality and calmly moving forward? I read a book recently where the author (who had served in the military) described giving some advice to a young soldier who was afraid of the minesweeping task that lay before him.
His words to the soldier have stuck with me: how can I find the path and not the obstacles? Sometimes that’s easier said than done, but with lived experience wisdom can inspire and lift me out of my present challenge. It’s telling that the Apollo 13 astronauts’ last words before re-entry were directed at mission control: ‘I know all of us here want to thank all of you guys down there for the very fine job you did’. It all comes down to maintaining the right attitude, and that’s my challenge and opportunity for today.
Lord Jesus, I pray that the example of your life will shape my attitude today. Keep me from complaining, and help me to find the path ahead with clarity and calmness.
Amen.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m000h7td)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tx0s5)
Spotted flycatcher
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the spotted flycatcher.
Spotted flycatchers may be rather plain-looking but they're full of character and they often nest in our gardens. The first sign that one's about may be a pale shape darting out from a tree to pluck a fly in mid-air with an audible snap of its bill.
FRI 06:00 Today (m000h932)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 The Reunion (b00k2q8s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 The Restaurant: A History of Eating Out (m000h934)
Episode 5
The history of eating out is a story of life - of politics, courage, skill, art, innovation and of luck. We start in Pompeii, where the town was engulfed in lava in AD79 and where, in the excavations, much was discovered about how the Romans ate out - many restaurants doubled up as brothels.
In the Ottoman Empire, we discover that doner kebabs were cooked in the open air at dainty picnics where learned men read books to each other while a cook carved the meat from a long wedge being turned on a spit over hot coals.
After Henry VIII’s break from Rome and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, travellers were left with nowhere to get a meal and a bed for the night and so the monastic staff who survived the purges needed places to work and very enterprisingly opened taverns which were soon packed with locals and visitors. This meant that, for the first time, people weren’t humbly receiving bread and wine from a benevolent monk but receiving sustenance that they were paying for themselves - which, to an oppressed servant, must have felt like freedom.
On the day of the storming of the Bastille, it was estimated that one in every twelve men were in domestic service. Now, with the disappearance of the chateaux kitchens, many of the unemployed chefs opened restaurants in Paris and then later in London, where rich Englishmen were keen to discover how the French aristocracy had lived. By the 1820s, Paris was freed from the restraints of the revolution and became fashionable again with luxurious shops and restaurants and chefs - notably Marie-Antoine Careme who turned French cuisine into Gastronomy and remains an influence on chefs even to this day
The 20th Century saw the birth and domination of fast food.
In 1948, McDonalds became successful by simplifying their menu and doing away with the need for utensils. A man called Glen Bell found a way to mass produce Tacos in 1951, which led to another fast food craze, and sushi became a world favourite after a Japanese entrepreneur visited a brewery and was inspired by the conveyer belt system of carrying bottles, which he adapted for his restaurants.
The Indian restaurant started life in the 1940s when a number of cafes sprang up in London’s Brick Lane and Commercial Road to support a community of seamen from Bangladesh. More restaurants blossomed in bombed out shops and, by the 50s, Indian restaurants spread across towns and cities throughout the UK becoming a firm favourite with students.
Albert and the late Michel Roux set the standard of English restaurant food in 1960s London whether it was liked it or not. Customers complained that the portions were too small. "This is French gastronomy," Michel told one such couple, with his finest charming smile, a few days after the launch. But there were enough Londoners to keep the restaurant busy and full from day one. By March 1968, Le Gavroche was famous.
Written by William Sitwell
Read by Lesley Sharp
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000h936)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
FRI 10:45 The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot (m000h938)
Return to the Mill
Episode Ten
Return to the Mill
Tom is now the master of Dorlcote Mill but there is no gladness or triumph for the young man and Maggie is full of despair. But can love win through the bitterness and conflict?
George Eliot, the Narrator ..... Anna Maxwell Martin
Maggie ..... Joanna Vanderham
Tom ..... Will Kirk
Stephen ..... Jack Farthing
Philip ..... Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Lucy ..... Ell Potter
Mrs Tulliver ..... Alison Belbin
Bob ..... Kurtis Lowe
Dr Kenn ..... Hasan Dixon
Mrs Glegg ..... Elizabeth Counsell
St Ogg's Lady ..... Heather Craney
Written by George Eliot
Adapted by Rhiannon Tise
Produced and Directed by Tracey Neale
FRI 11:00 The Learning Revolution (m000h93b)
Knowing
In a world where a tiny parasite can immobilise societies across the world, Alex Beard asks what kind of knowledge will be crucial to learn in the future.
Today, we have more access to information and knowledge than we have ever done before. So what does knowing mean today when you can simply ask Google? We take a deeper look into how our brains use and store information, and find out whether future generations could be using their brains in very different ways.
And as a species, what we know grows in reaction to the ever changing, and often challenging, world around us. In the midst of these changes, we ask whether facts and figures have a place in education when those facts and figures are changing.
Alex Beard used to be a teacher, and is now an education explorer, of sorts. In the first episode of The Learning Revolution, he quizzes some of today's biggest minds in philosophy, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, urban innovation, and climate change, to find out what we'll really need to know in an ever changing world.
Presenter: Alex Beard
Producers: Emma Barnaby and Dan Hardoon
Executive Producer: Deborah Dudgeon
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 11:30 It's a Fair Cop (m000h93f)
Series 5
Informant
In this week's episode, Alfie explores the police's use of informants and takes us through a real life case from his time on the Humberside force.
Written and presented by Alfie Moore
Script editor: Will Ing
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m000h93h)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000hfv7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 12:06 American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins (m000h93m)
10. The North
Jeanine Cummins' heart-stopping and heart-rending novel following a mother and son on the run from the Mexican drug cartel that massacred their family.
Today: Lydia, Luca and the girls continue their desperate journey north. But out in the unforgiving desert, things spiral out of control...
Writer: Jeanine Cummins
Reader: Yolanda Vazquez
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett
FRI 12:20 You and Yours (m000h93r)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
FRI 12:57 Weather (m000h93w)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m000h93y)
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 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00pwn7t)
Making Us Human (2,000,000 - 9000 BC)
Clovis Spear Point
The Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells the history of human development from the first stone axe to the credit card using 100 selected objects from the Museum. In this programme, Neil describes an object that dates from the earliest settlement of North America, around 13,000 years ago. It's a deadly hunting weapon, used by the first inhabitants of the Americas.
This sharp spearhead lets us understand how humans spread across the globe. By 11,000 BC humans had moved from north east Asia into the uninhabited wilderness of north America; within 2000 years they had populated the whole continent. How did these hunters live? And how does their Asian origin sit with the creation stories of modern day Native Americans?
Neil MacGregor tells the story of the Clovis Point, with contributions from Michael Palin and American archaeologist Gary Haynes
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m000h7sk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b09sn38s)
Twenty Four Hours From Tulse Hill
A romantic comedy by Guy Meredith and Zalie Burrow set in an estate agent in North London.
Would-be writer Mark and artist Lisa work alongside each other, but both are yearning for a more rewarding life. Their boss comes up with an exciting challenge that could earn them a lot of money and increase their chances of leaving, but it is conditional on making one big sale. Their prospective client seems wealthy enough and all seems to go well - but a hitch sees their dream fading.
Along the way, they have fallen for each other, but the prospect of the sale falling through means the possible end of both their professional and romantic futures.
Guy Meredith has written many dramas and comedies for Radio 4 and Radio 3, including BBC entries for the Prix Italia and Prix Futura.
Catrin Stewart (Lisa) and John Heffernan (Mark) are both successful young actors - Mark recently played Lord Altringham in the second series of The Crown, while Catrin has been a regular in Doctor Who as well as starring in the acclaimed theatre production 1984.
The cast also features the very experienced film and TV actor Philip Jackson as their very pushy estate agent boss, Ricky Norwood from EastEnders as his over-keen assistant, and leading stage and TV actor Nicholas Le Prevost as Myles the wealthy client, with Rachel Atkins as Selena, his much younger girlfriend.
Director Cherry Cookson has produced and directed many award winning plays and comedies for the BBC.
Writers: Guy Meredith and Zalie Burrow
Producer/Director: Cherry Cookson
A Wireless Theatre production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000h941)
GQT At Home: Episode Three
Peter Gibbs is joined by Chris Beardshaw, Anne Swithenbank and Matthew Pottage from the comfort of their own homes, answering questions sent in by the audience.
Producer: Hannah Newton
Assistant Producer: Jemima Rathbone
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m000h943)
Living Text, by Julianne Pachico
Julianne Pachico's new and specially commissioned short story is a beguiling tale about the art of contemporary writing. Katherine Press is the reader.
Julianne Pachico is a British-American writer who grew up in Colombia. The Lucky Ones was her acclaimed debut, comprising a series of linked stories. Her novel The Anthill is published in May 2020.
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m000h945)
Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to unsung but significant.
FRI 16:30 PM (m000h94c)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000h94f)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m000h94h)
Series 102
Episode 1
First in the series.
Angela Barnes hosts series 102, leading a panel of regular News Quiz comics and journalists in rounding up the news stories of the week.
Produced by Suzy Grant
A BBC Studios Audio Production
FRI 19:00 Front Row (m000h94l)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
FRI 19:45 The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot (m000h938)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m000h94n)
Dr Liam Fox MP, Vaughan Gething AM, Dame Donna Kinnair, Richard Walker
Chris Mason presents political debate from Broadcasting House in London with former cabinet minister Dr Liam Fox MP, Welsh Health Secretary Vaughan Gething AM, the General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing Professor Dame Donna Kinnair and, Richard Walker the Managing Director of Iceland. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m000h94q)
Weekly reflections on topical issues from a range of contributors.
FRI 21:00 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00r2hky)
Making Us Human
Another chance to hear the Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retell the history of human development using 100 selected objects from the Museum - from the first stone axe to the credit card. His history will cover two million years and include items that were made in every part of the globe. In this, an omnibus of the first five objects of the series, Neil begins by recalling the first object that enthralled him a young boy of eight - and Egyptian Mummy, before examining the very the earliest examples of human ingenuity from Africa, America and Europe.
Hornedjitef was a priest who died around 2250 years ago, and he designed a coffin that, he believed, would help him navigate his way to the afterlife. Little did he know that this afterlife would be as a museum exhibit in London. This ornate coffin holds secrets to the understanding of his religion, society and Egypt's connections to the rest of the world. Neil tells the story of Hornedjitef's mummy case, with contributions from egyptologist John Taylor, Egyptian author Ahdaf Soueif and Indian economist and Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen.
He then goes back goes back two million years to the Rift Valley in Tanzania, where a simple chipped stone marks the emergence of modern humans. One of the characteristics that mark humans out from other animals is their desire for, and dependency on, the things they fashion with their own hands. This obsession has long roots and Neil introduces one of the earliest examples of human ingenuity. Faced with the needs to cut meat from carcasses, early humans in Africa discovered how to shape stones into cutting tools. From that one innovation, a whole history human development springs. Neil tells the story of the Olduvai stone chopping tool, with contributions from Sir David Attenborough and African Nobel Prize winner Dr Wangeri Maathai
He then follows early humans as they slowly begin to move beyond their African homeland taking with them one essential item - a hand axe. In the presence of the most widely used tool humans have created, Neil sees just how vital to our evolution this sharp, ingenious implement was and how it allowed the spread of humans across the globe. And he tells the story of the hand axe with contributions from flint-napper Phil Harding, designer Sir James Dyson and archaeologist Nick Ashton
Next up is one of the earliest works of art. It is a carving of two swimming reindeer and it's not just the likeness that is striking. The creator of this carving was one of the first humans to express their world through art. Its place in the history of art and religion is considered with contributions from the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and archaelogist Professor Steven Mithen
Finally, Neil heads west to North America and an object that dates from the earliest settlements there, around 13,000 years ago. It's a deadly hunting weapon, used by the first inhabitants of the Americas. This sharp spearhead lets us understand how humans spread across the globe. By 11,000 BC humans had moved from north east Asia into the uninhabited wilderness of north America; within 2000 years they had populated the whole continent. How did these hunters live? And how does their Asian origin sit with the creation stories of modern day Native Americans? Neil MacGregor tells the story of the Clovis Point, with contributions from Michael Palin and American archaeologist Gary Haynes
And if you'd like to see the objects described in the programme, up-close and from all angles, then go online to bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld.
Producers: Anthony Denselow, Paul Kobrak and Philip Sellars
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m000h94t)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
FRI 22:45 American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins (m000h93m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:06 today]
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (m000h8q8)
Frank Cottrell Boyce on Tove Jansson
"One of the best things a children's writer can do is to implant sign posts in childhood to things that are good, and to the small pleasures that will get you through life" Frank Cottrell-Boyce
Tove Jansson was born in Helsinki in 1914. An artist, illustrator and writer she became best known as the creator of The Moomins, the little white trolls who lived in Moominvalley with other fantastical creatures such as the Hattifatteners, Mymbles and Whompers.
Acclaimed screenwriter and children's author Frank Cottrell-Boyce has described Tove Jansson as his 'Guardian Angel' having first discovered Moominvalley one Saturday morning in his local library in Liverpool. He encountered Comets, Great Floods and a little Midsummer Madness all of which were met with the warmth and wisdom of Moomin-Mamma, the gentle observance of Snufkin and the inventiveness of Little My.
Fantastical in their adventures but rooted in reality and humanity, Frank Cottrell-Boyce champions the creator of Mooninvalley who poured her fascinating life into her books. Drawing inspiration from childhood disagreements about the philosopher Immanuel Kant, creative ways to survive a war and a forbidden - but wonderful - love story that lasted a life time.
Producer in Bristol is Nicola Humphries
Presented by Matthew Parris
Guest Expert Boel Westin Author of 'Tove Jansson: Life, Art, Words'
(Pre-recorded earlier this year)
FRI 23:25 The Untold (m000c9ls)
Jay-Z and Me Part II
In 2017 Jay-Z phoned Hannah… three times… and she missed the calls because she was surrounded by fifty of her music students on a coach back from Leeds.
For a decade, Hannah had been making soul music – juggling being head of music at the University of Winchester, fronting a soul band and being a mum to Leo. Her little known nine piece band, Hannah Williams and the Affirmations, had recently released an album.
It turned out Jay-Z had stumbled on a song from her album, Late Nights and Heartbreak, and had written his public apology to Beyoncé for cheating on her around Hannah’s voice.
After fourteen years at the University of Winchester, Hannah decided to quit her job to pursue music full time. Offers to play around the world started to fly in, and the press suddenly took an interest in what they were doing – yet Hannah quickly realised this was no fairy tale.
The track was one of the few songs from the album which the band hadn’t actually authored. Their friend Kanan had written it.
Two years ago, in the episode Jay-Z and Me, we followed Kanan as the revelation turned his world upside down – the song went platinum selling over a million copies, he was nominated for a Grammy, and the royalties began to roll in.
But for Hannah, as a sampled voice – not a feature, and not a songwriter, this was no cash cow. The story was only just beginning. After putting everything on the line for her music career, can the band make it work? And what does it mean for the most important things in her life - her son Leo and her husband Dave?
Produced by Polly Weston.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (m0003rn4)
Joe and Charlie: The Relaxation of Running
Friends who met through their shared love of running talk about how it's helped them in stay in touch with the world around them. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.