SATURDAY 25 APRIL 2020

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m000hhvb)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:30 Intrigue (m0009lq8)
Tunnel 29

5: The Trap

“We had no chance to be together.” The diggers hatch a new plan, unaware the Stasi are onto them.

Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Helena Merriman tells the extraordinary true story of a man who dug a tunnel into the East, right under the feet of border guards, to help friends, family and strangers escape. The series is based on original interviews with the survivors as well as thousands of documents from the Stasi archives and recordings from the tunnel.

Producer & Presenter: Helena Merriman
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Translation and additional research: Sabine Schereck
Editor: Richard Knight
Joachim Rudolph's original interviews voiced by Mark Edel Hunt

#tunnel29


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000hhvd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000hhvg)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m000hhvj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000hhvl)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Jonathan Rea


SAT 05:45 The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread? (m000hfqs)
Sunscreen

We all know that sunscreen helps to protect our skin from the sun’s burning rays, but are you sure you’re using the right one? Do you struggle to untangle the UVAs from the UVBs, and the SPFs from the star-ratings?

Greg Foot talks to Antonia Mariconda, beauty writer and founder of the Safety in Beauty Campaign, who knows just how baffled consumers are.

On hand to decode the sunscreen labelling is Dermatologist, Dr Andrew Birnie, from East Kent Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust. Common claims, such as ‘waterproof’ and ‘reef safe’ are also put through the evidence mill.

Presenter: Greg Foot
Producer: Beth Eastwood


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m000hmyr)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m000hghz)
Birmingham Tree City of the World

Birmingham is one of only fifty-nine cities around the globe to be awarded the status of 'Tree City of the World'. This is an international framework for a healthy, sustainable urban forestry programme, an award that's all down to the passion of Birmingham's citizens for trees.

Helen Mark meets tree planters young and old from near and far; tree wardens, who are kind of like traffic wardens, but for trees (and just as fierce: really, don't mess with their trees); an academic who runs the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (he really loves trees) and an arboriculturalist who gets to work at 6.30 every morning in his mission to extend Birmingham's canopy cover. Helen finds out why the city's tree-focussed ambitions go well beyond just planting trees. All these people know you have to take care of trees for their whole life, not just plonk them in the ground. They also know that urban trees suffer more than those planted in the countryside, so they need extra tenderness.

Helen also finds herself in a once-famous garden that has re-wilded itself. Once the immaculate BBC show garden of TV gardener Percy Thrower, this patch of tree-laden wilderness-heaven is in a secret corner of Birmingham's Botanical Gardens. She thinks on the whole, he'd approve of the trees. Although maybe not the weeds.

Recorded in early March.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m000hmyt)
25/04/20 - Farming Today This Week

Fruit and vegetable farmers are concerned travel restrictions put in place because of the coronavirus mean there will be a lack of seasonal labour to harvest crops this summer. Some have already charted flights to bring in workers from abroad, meanwhile here, the Government has launched a Pick for Britain campaign. While tens of thousands of Brits have registered an interest in working on a farms this summer, Farming Today listeners have been in touch saying that they’ve applied without success. Charlotte Smith finds out what's going on.

Continuing on the theme of agricultural workers, the BBC has spent several months investigating allegations of exploitation of pickers in Spain. At this time of year, many of the peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers on UK supermarket shelves, come from Southern Spain. There, a huge work force of mostly migrants pick crops in tens of thousands of hectares of plastic greenhouses.

We catch up with our Farming Today Audio Diaries to find out how rural live across the UK is coping with coronavirus.

And former Farming Today presenter, Richard Sanders, has died at the age of 62. We share some memories.

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced by Heather Simons


SAT 06:57 Weather (m000hmyw)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m000hmyy)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m000hmz2)
Extraordinary stories, unusual people and a sideways look at the world.


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m000hmgq)
Series 27

Home Economics: Episode Four

Jay Rayner hosts the culinary panel show from home. He's joined virtually by our panel of experts from across the British Isles - Sue Lawrence in Scotland, Jordan Bourke in Ireland, and Tim Haywood and Dr Annie Gray in England, all in their own kitchens and answering questions sent in by email and social media.

This week, the team discusses the longest recipes they have tried, what to do with leftover green peppers, and recipe suggestions for risotto.

They also share their favourite tinned fruit recipes and help listeners with inventive ideas for random ingredients in their kitchen cabinets.

Producer: Laurence Bassett
Assistant Producer: Jemima Rathbone

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m000j06w)
Radio 4's assessment of developments at Westminster


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m000hmz4)
Angela Merkel's reversal of fortune

Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel and her CDU party have been in the political doldrums in recent years. But as Jenny Hill reports, polls suggest Angela Merkel has risen in popularity thanks to her calm, scientific approach to the coronavirus. The same is true of Bavaria's regional Prime Minister, who has a good chance of succeeding Mrs Merkel.

Singapore had been hailed for how it dealt with the coronavirus, but now there is a significant new surge in cases. Karishma Vaswani reveals that the virus has been rapidly spreading in the crowded, government-run dormitories for the thousands of migrant workers the country relies on.

Ireland is still trying to form a government after the surprising general election result in February in which Sinn Fein got most first-preference votes. In part this was due to its stance on the country's housing crisis. Chris Bowlby ponders whether reunification with Northern Ireland is now more likely.

The most radioactive area near the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant has become a forest wilderness. Monica Whitlock visits two scientists at a research station there, and hears that while there are no other humans, there are nosy wolves and helpful elks.

The Naga people of remote northwestern Myanmar live as if forgotten by the outside world. But they have been sent a young teacher by the government. Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent is taken in by his happy and optimistic nature. He even rigged up a karaoke set with a monk.

Presenter: Kate Adie
Producer: Arlene Gregorius


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m000hmz6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m000hmy3)
Umbrella companies and the contractors “left in limbo”

650,000 people work as contractors in a wide range of jobs across the UK – supply teachers, IT engineers, health care workers. But some of them have told Money Box they’ve been left in limbo by umbrella companies who say they need more clarity from the government before they can decide to furlough them or not. Issues about how much the contractors would get, how much holiday pay they’d be owed and what the industry will do if they don’t get any more guidance from the government means huge financial stress and worry for all those involved. Guest: Julia Kermode, Chief Executive, The Freelancer & Contractor Services Association.

There's a glimmer of hope for cash savers as NS&I abandons plans for major interest rate cuts to its variable rate savings products which were due to happen on May 1. Anna Bowes Co-Founder of Savings Champion also rounds up what’s happening elsewhere in the cash savings market.

We look at ways to safely access cash for people who are self-isolating and relying on relatives or volunteers to do their shopping for them. Guest: Helen Saxon, Banking Editor MoneySavingExpert

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Producer: Charmaine Cozier
Editor: Emma Rippon


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m000hhtv)
Series 102

Episode 2

Angela Barnes hosts series 102, leading a panel of regular News Quiz comics and journalists in rounding up the news stories of the week. Joining Angela this week is Hugo Rifkind, Tom Allen, Lucy Porter and Sophie Duker.

Produced by Suzy Grant

A BBC Studios Production


SAT 12:57 Weather (m000hmz8)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m000hmzb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m000hhtz)
Chris Mason presents a political debate from Broadcasting House in London. On the panel: Lisa Nandy MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary; Tom Tugendhat MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee; Chris Hopson, chief executive officer of NHS Providers; Merryn Somerset Webb, editor in chief of Money Week.

Producers: Maire Devine and Emma Campbell


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m000hmzd)
Have your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?


SAT 15:00 Drama (b0b4zf0t)
A Tale of Two Cities: Aleppo and London

2016

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 3: 2016
East Aleppo is devestated by years of siege. Lina has not returned since having her young daughter, Serena - while Shwan has disappeared in Syria, not knowing he is a father. When a kidnap video arrives on Jarvis' desk, threatening Shwan's execution, Lina embarks on a desperate mission to save him, followed closely by Sid, determined to make good on his promise. Meanwhile, Taghreed's obsessive need for revenge has pushed her over the edge.

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 (m000hmzg)
Sewing, Victim Blaming & Daisy Edgar Jones

We hear why the lockdown is the perfect time to give sewing and mending your clothes a try with Ros Studd a textiles teacher; Dulcie Scott a TV costume designer and Esme Young the fashion designer and judge on The Great British Sewing Bee

Dr Jessica Taylor, a research Pyschologist and founder of Victim Focus tells us why victim blaming is endemic.

We look at the impact of death and dying during the pandemic and hear from Sarah Tully who’s dad died from Covid-19 and from Dr Rachel Clarke a specialist in Palliative Care and the clinical Psychologist Dr Frances Goodhart.

The author Stephanie Scott tells us about the true story behind her debut novel What’s Left of Me is Yours.

We hear how are different countries are responding to gender based violence during the pandemic, with Natalie Higgins, Senior Europe Producer for the BBC.

And the actress Daisy Edgar-Jones tells us about playing the role of Marianne in the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s best selling novel Normal People.

Presented by: Jenni Murray
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor: Lucinda Montefiore

Guest; Esme Young
Guest; Ros Studd
Guest; Dr Jessica Taylor
Guest; Sarah Tully
Guest; Dr Rachel Clarke
Guest; Dr Frances Goodhart
Guest; Stephanie Scott
Guest Daisy Edgar Jones


SAT 17:00 PM (m000hmzj)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 The Inquiry (m000hmzl)
How do we come out of the lockdown?

As some nations begin to tentatively lift their lockdowns, Tanya Beckett asks how best this can be done? What lessons, if any, can we learn from past pandemics? How do states make the decision, juggling the increasing demands of economic and social factors against public health concerns amid worries of a new wave of infections from the disease. And what will our lives look like in a post lockdown world? We hear from contributors based in France, the United States, South Korea and Denmark - one of the first countries to begin to lift it’s lockdown.

Reporter Tanya Beckett
Producer Jim Frank


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000hmzn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m000hmzq)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000hmzs)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m000hmmp)
Matthew Kelly, Lenny Abrahamson, Monique Roffey, Anna Calvi, Marker Starling, Arthur Smith, Nikki Bedi

Nikki Bedi and Arthur Smith are joined by Matthew Kelly, Lenny Abrahamson and Monique Roffey for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Anna Calvi and Marker Starling.

Producer: Sukey Firth
Studio manager: Donald MacDonald


SAT 19:00 Profile (m000hmxq)
Matt Hancock

A look at the life of Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health & Social Care for England. He has been criticised for promises he's made about testing and supply of personal protective equipment for health workers. According to newspaper reports, unnamed Downing Street sources have been suggesting the targets are "arbitrary" and "irrational". Mark Coles talks to friends, family and his mentor - the former Chancellor George Osborne - to find out more about Matt Hancock. An expedtion to the North Pole, a game of cricket on the Arctic ice, a stint as a sports broadcaster - it's not what you might expect.

Producer Smita Patel
Editor Ravin Sampat
Researcher Bethan Head


SAT 19:15 The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed (p085v9v2)
Guy Garvey

If the poets of the past sat in their garrets dipping their quills in ink and waiting for inspiration to strike, our current Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has a more mundane and domestic arrangement. From his wooden shed in the garden, surrounded on all sides by the Pennine Hills and the Pennine weather, he scratches away at his reworking of the comic medieval poem The Owl and the Nightingale.

Any distraction is welcome, even encouraged, to talk about poetry, music, art, sheds, sherry, owls, nightingales and to throw light on some of the poem's internal themes. The first person to drop by is Guy Garvey, lead singer of Elbow, fellow birdwatcher and 6 Music presenter. Once the door of the shed is shut the conversation goes wherever it likes - from the business of writing songs in a band to singing in the church choir, from old harmoniums to village pantomimes and from fathers to children.


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m000hmzx)
Malcolm McLaren: Spectacular Failure

Malcolm McLaren's reputation was shaped by his mis-management of the Sex Pistols. But he was much more than the Svengali of punk. Cultural commentator Paul Gorman, who worked with Malcolm, gives a new spin on his achievement.

He roots him in the art school movement of the 1960s when, less concerned with selling records, McLaren wanted to shake things up - the grip of authority , the power of the corporations, the risk aversion of the record companies, the complacency and dreariness of English life.

Paul Gorman tells the punk story rather differently before launching into the years in which Malcolm, as a solo performer and music collaborator, stole a march on many in the industry. He scored a first with introducing the UK to what became known as world music, and on to hip hop, to scratching and to Voguing. He had a serious crack at becoming Speilberg's ideas man in Hollywood, at becoming London Mayor, and at staging a musical about Christain Dior.

Not everything worked - but as Malcolm suggested - better to be a spectacular failure than a benign success.

Presented by Paul Gorman
Produced by Susan Marling
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 Day Release (b09ghmgb)
The Corner

Frank is in crisis, and the one thing that will get him out of his corner is the one person he refuses to see.

Frank Watt ..... Lenny Henry
Geoff Hoagland ..... Ralph Ineson
Shudi Misir ..... Deeivya Meir
Charla May ..... Karla Cromeernice Raven ..... Janet Kumah
Nicole Hopcroft ..... Cecilia Noble
Aisha Davies ..... Petra Letang
Conrad Harvill ..... Don Gilet
Gerry O’Hanlon ..... Gerard Horan
Receptionist/Nurse ..... Abbie Andrews
Homeless Man ..... Neil McCaul
Security Officer ..... Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong
PA ..... Isabella Inchbald
Lift Voice ..... Ellie Darvill
Tannoy voice ..... Rupert Holliday Evans

Directed by Mary Peate.
Written by Peter Jukes


SAT 21:45 Rabbit Redux (b09gyh4h)
Episode 3

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 (m000hmzz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 Fallout (m000hfs7)
The Future for the Environment

How will COVID-19 affect how we think about risk? If we can change our behaviour to fight this emergency, could we also do it to avert a climate emergency? Or will we be even less willing to do so, as we’ll be more concerned about putting food on the table? Will governments also be less interested in tackling climate change when climbing out of a recession is a higher priority? Will we see more global co-operation to tackle global problems or the opposite: a more nationalist and divided world? And what about relations between the young and old: will this bring the generations together or push them apart?
To answer all of this and more, Mary Ann Sieghart is be joined by the experimental cognitive psychologist and popular writer Professor Steven Pinker, Christiana Figueres who, as the then Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, helped secure the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement, the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge Diane Coyle, and the environmentalist and writer George Monbiot.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair


SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (m000hdk7)
Heat 3, 2020

(3/17)
The third heat of the 2020 Brain of Britain tournament comes from London, with Russell Davies asking questions on everything from medicine and astronomy to world music and international soccer.

Awaiting the winner today is another of the places in the 2020 semi-finals to be held later in the year. There's also the chance for a lucky listener to win a prize by stumping the contestants with questions of his or her own devising.

Taking part today are:
Linda Emmett, a self-employed project manager from Launceston in Cornwall
Mark Heptinstall, a former bank manager from Ashford in Kent
Bill Muir, a retired tax inspector from Swaffham in Norfolk
Dave Taylor, a retired transport manager from Sunderland.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


SAT 23:30 Bronzeville Beat (m000hfwp)
We Real Cool

Through poetry slams like Louder Than A Bomb, Chicago's powerful poetic tradition is being reforged by the young, bringing their diverse experience & new voices to light for the first time. They are connected to Black Chicago's literary mother, Gwendolyn Brooks, both by their exposure to new ways of celebrating poetry at school & the community of competition & comradeship. This year was to mark the 20th anniversary of Louder than a Bomb, the world's biggest poetry slam until Covid 19 brought it to a halt-at least for now, at least in the real world. . Maria Margaronis gathers up a community of poets online to liberate their words now on hold.

Producer: Mark Burman



SUNDAY 26 APRIL 2020

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m000hn01)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Don't Log Off (m000hfr1)
Series 11

Homecoming

Alan Dein talks to people around the world about the challenges of family life in lockdown.

He connects with Margaret in Uganda who has adopted many children orphaned by HIV. And he reaches out to Alezz in Peru, a trans non-binary person who is confined to their bedroom as their parents struggle to accept them.

He also speaks to Pawel who got trapped in Poland at the start of January and doesn't know when he'll be able to return home to his wife in China.

Producers: Georgia Catt, Laurence Grissell & Sarah Shebbeare


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000hn03)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000hn05)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m000hn07)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m000hmy9)
St Maunanus & St Stephen, Mawnan in Cornwall

Time now for Bells on Sunday. Currently there is no ringing taking place across UK towers, a situation not encountered since the Second World War. This week’s recording comes from St Maunanus & St Stephen, Mawnan in Cornwall. Situated with views out to sea, the Church contains a light peal of eight bells cast in 2003 by the now closed Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The tenor tuned to the key of E weighs just over three and a half hundredweight. We hear them ringing Stedman Doubles.


SUN 05:45 Profile (m000hmxq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News (m000hmwk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b091s7pv)
The Divine Feminine

Remona Aly considers the multi-faceted power contained in the idea of the divine feminine.

From the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk to the Kaaba in Mecca, Remona journeys through some of the religious and spiritual traditions which have venerated the feminine and she reveals the obscured influence of women in major religions.

Remona explains how her first encounter with the Quranic Maryam (the Christian Mary) - and how Maryam's status as a prophet of Islam - offered her a revelatory new perspective on her own religion and a radical new way of looking at religious traditions across cultures and throughout history.

Taking in the Native American creation story of Grandmother Spider, the mystical Jewish concept of Shekhinah, Beyonce's channelling of Oshun, a Nigerian Yoruba deity and the fierce spirituality of the Suffragettes, Remona demonstrates that the feminine divine has had many apparently contradictory faces - some soft and nurturing, others imperious, warlike and cruel.

She argues that it is vital for all of us, women and men, to recognise the legacy of the divine feminine, a legacy which transcends simplistic assumptions about gender and offers a return to a more balanced and humane relationship with the world.

The readers are Kate Lock, Milli Proust and Max O'Brien.

Thanks to Ranjana Ghatak for her performance of a poem by Meera Bai (composed by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan).

Presenter: Remona Aly
Producer: Michael Umney
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m000hmwm)
A Spring Like No Other

How are our most thoughtful and insightful farmers coping with a period when we need good home-grown food more than ever? Caz Graham pays a virtual visit to the farms of some of our favourite recent On Your Farm guests.

Ulverston mixed farmer Will Case explains how the market for his beef and eggs has been turned upside down in lockdown and introduces us to his temporary new workforce, pictured above, who are enjoying helping on the farm rather than lessons at school.

Sam Moorhouse tells us how his Yorkshire Skyr, an Icelandic style dairy product made from the dairy herd’s milk at Hesper Farm in the Yorkshire Dales is doing booming business and tapping into new markets despite lockdown. And Maria Benjamin from Nibthwaite Grange Farm by Coniston Water in the Lake District tells us how their portfolio of microbusinesses is coming into its own and helping the farm weather the coronavirus storm.


SUN 06:57 Weather (m000hmwp)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m000hmwr)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m000hmwt)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m000hmww)
Malaria No More UK

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 ‘Malaria No More’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Malaria No More’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4

Registered Charity Number: 1126222


SUN 07:57 Weather (m000hmwy)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m000hmx0)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m000hmx2)
“We had hoped…”

“But we had hoped…” The words of two of Jesus’ disciples to a stranger on the road to Emmaus.

In times of grief and disappointment, there is one thing left to cling to; that thing is hope.

Professor Jennifer Strawbridge of Mansfield College, Oxford and the Revd, Dr Steve Nolan, Chaplain at Princess Alice Hospice, lead a reflection on where we find hope in times of despair.

They explore Jesus' appearance to his two disciples on the Road to Emmaus and how that encounter speaks to us today.

Producer: Katharine Longworth


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m000hhv1)
A Few Good Trade Offs

Zia Haider Rahman describes the "profound moral questions" facing society as it starts to discuss how the COVID-19 lockdown might, eventually, be ended.
We have to face up to the fact, he says, that our choices will have huge impacts for which we must take responsibility.

Producer: Adele Armstrong


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m0003jnk)
Satish Kumar on the Blackbird

Peace & environment activist, Satish Kumar has lived in Devon for many years. In his garden he loves hearing the sweet melodious calls from a blackbird singing on a stone wall.

You can hear more from Satish in the two Tweet of the Week Omnibus editions available on the Radio 4 website. Including how he met Martin Luther King in America during Satish's 8000 mile walk across the World as a young man, plus from his book Elegant Simplicity on how his and our connection to nature should be a simple one.

Producer : Andrew Dawes
Picture : Copyright Gregg Dalgllish / Resurgence Magazin


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m000hmx4)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m000hmx6)
Writers, Nick Warburton & Liz John
Directors, Peter Leslie Wild & Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe

Kenton Archer ….. Richard Attlee
Jolene Archer ….. Buffy Davis
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Phoebe Aldridge ….. Lucy Morris
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Harrison Burns ….. James Cartwright
Justin Elliott ….. Simon Williams
Shula Hebden Lloyd ….. Judy Bennett
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Alistair Lloyd ….. Michael Lumsden
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Philip Moss ….. Andy Hockley
Gavin Moss ….. Gareth Pierce
Robert Snell ….. Graham Blockey
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Roy Tucker ….. Ian Pepperell
Roman Trench ….. Ewan Bailey
Lee Bryce ….. Ryan Early
Geoff ….. Greg Hobbs


SUN 11:00 The Reunion (b01m2vmg)
60s Girl Singers

In this edition of The Reunion, Sue MacGregor reunites five women whose pop success helped make the sixties swing.

When people think about the music of the sixties, generally they think of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, but the girl singers of the period were also highly successful and important. In the UK alone, Cilla Black had seventeen top forty hits, Dusty Springfield and Sandie Shaw had fifteen and Petula Clark had thirteen. This doesn't include the success they all enjoyed abroad: these girls were international stars having hits all over Europe and in the United States.

But success did not always bring happiness and, for many of the girl singers of the period, there were major lows alongside the dizzying highs. The sixties may have been swinging, but it wasn't an easy time for the women of the period who, as well as having to navigate the vagaries of a career in show business, often found themselves the focus of enormous attention from the media and the public. It wasn't always welcome. The gulf between their public lives and their private lives was sometimes huge.

Joining Sue MacGregor is: Petula Clark, the child star of the 1940s whose career went stratospheric in the 1960s; Sandie Shaw, the barefoot pop princess who won the Eurovision Song Contest; Helen Shapiro, Britain's first teen pop star who was supported by The Beatles, Jackie Trent, singer and songwriter who wrote hits for Petula Clark, Scott Walker and many others; and Vicki Wickham, the legendary producer of Ready Steady Go who went on to manage Dusty Springfield.

Producer: Brian McCluskey
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 11:45 Encounters with Victoria (m0004sk2)
3: A Wounded Welshman

Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator, Historic Royal Palaces, explores Queen Victoria's reign through significant encounters
3: A Wounded Welshman - 9 December 1839.
Welshman Thomas Phillips, Mayor of Newport, was not the usual sort of person who got invited to dinner at Windsor Castle, a point that Victoria's courtiers made very clear. But in 1839, he was invited to the castle to receive a knighthood. A month earlier, he’d been wounded while helping to put down an armed rebellion of 10,000 Chartist sympathisers. Many of them coal miners, they’d marched on Newport, many furious about the recent rejection of the People's Charter calling for Universal Suffrage. This was the last large-scale armed uprising against the state in mainland Britain, and it became a massacre as hidden troops opened fire. Phillips, the Mayor, was wounded in the fracas and now became lionised for quelling the revolution. After receiving his knighthood at Windsor Castle, and after a good deal of muttering from her courtiers, he did indeed sit down to eat with the Queen. It was her way of dealing with the demands - to which she would lifelong be deaf - for widening the electoral roll. But the Chartists so spooked the Royals that they fled for the 'safety' of the Isle of Wight.
With historians Les James, Rhian E. Jones & curator Oliver Blackmore .
Readers: Sarah Ovens, Michael Bertenshaw & Kenny Blythe
Producer: Mark Burman


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m000hmx9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (m000hdkm)
Series 4

The Petsman

As cat and dog owners go to war, Milton turns to social media to calm things down. That usually works, right?

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 Ben Willbond (Yonderland, Ghosts).

With music by Guy Jackson

Produced and directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m000hmnd)
Covid-19: The Food Waste Dimension

Dan Saladino investigates how the coronavirus crisis has not only resulted in vast amounts of food being lost but also saved.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m000hmxd)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m000hmxg)
Global news and analysis, presented by Mark Mardell.


SUN 13:30 The Listening Project (m000hfqz)
Capturing the nation in conversation to build a unique picture of our lives today and preserve it for future generations.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000hhtd)
GQT At Home: Episode Four

Kathy Clugston is joined by Matthew Wilson, Pippa Greenwood and James Wong from the comfort of their own homes, answering questions sent in by the audience.

This week, the panellists go back to basics to give a refresher on how a seed pops up into a plant. They also identify a plant growing from a skirting board and come up with recommendations for creating a fairy garden with and for children.

Away from the questions, Bob Flowerdew holds a compost clinic, discussing how best to make compost at home, and Matt Biggs is on hand for another Gardening Glossary, explaining all the jargon associated with soil.

Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Rosie Merotra

A Somethin' Else production from BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 The Way I See It (m0009c8w)
Steve Martin and the Lonely Synchromists

Art critic Alastair Sooke, in the company of some of the leading creatives of our age, continues his deep dive into the stunning works in the Museum of Modern Art's collection, whilst exploring what it really means “to see” art.

Today's edition features award-winning comedian and actor Steve Martin - he finds two "lonely" works that speak to him; Stanton Macdonald-Wright’s Synchromy and Morgan Russell’s Color Form Synchromy.

Producer: Tom Alban

"The Way I See It" is a co-production of the BBC and the Museum of Modern Art, New York

Main Image: Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Synchromy, 1917. Oil on canvas, 31 x 24" (78.8 x 61 cm). Given anonymously. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 346.1949


SUN 15:00 Drama (m000hmxj)
RL Stevenson’s Weir of Hermiston Part 2

2/2. Archie Weir’s secret meetings with Christina Elliot arouse the interest of Frank Innes who sets out to exploit her innocence. Stevenson’s final novel – a powerful story of family rebellion and forbidden love - is set in Edinburgh and the Borders in the early 19th century. Stevenson died halfway through writing the novel - but, using the author’s notes, Colin MacDonald’s dramatisation completes the story.

Kirstie…………………………………………...PHYLLIS LOGAN
Archie Weir………………………......….....JACK LOWDEN
Lord Hermiston ……………………..........PAUL YOUNG
Frank Innes ………………….……………....FINN DEN HERTOG
Christina Elliot…..……………………….....HELEN MACKAY
Dand Elliot…………………….…………......SIMON DONALDSON
Davie Leslie………………..………………...SIMON TAIT
Lord Hume/Auctioneer………..……....KENNY BLYTH
Kelly/ Warder .........................................ALASDAIR HANKINSON
Pringle /Campbell………………………...OWEN WHITELAW
Other parts played by the cast.

Producer/Director : Bruce Young


SUN 16:00 Open Book (m000hmxl)
Garth Greenwell

Garth Greenwell talks to Mariella Frostrup about his new book Cleanness, the successor to his award winning debut What Belongs To You. Neither a collection of short stories, nor a traditional novel, the book follows the life of a gay American teacher living in Sofia. It chronicles his loving relationship with his partner, R, which is juxtaposed with two stories of anonymous and extreme sexual encounters. Garth talks to Mariella about his belief in literature to connect people, and to explore and give meaning to every aspect of our lives.

Also on the programme, Richard Kelly launches a new series of introductions to some of our great classics texts, to with a guide to the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Mariella is joined by Ann Patchett to talk about Bel Canto, which Mariella has chosen as her re-read during lockdown and, continuing our shelf isolation series, critic Alex Clark suggests some other books which, like Bel Canto, feature closed communities and heartwarming themes.


SUN 16:30 The Dam (m000hmxn)
Forty years ago, a great dam was constructed across the Kielder Valley in one of the wildest corners of Northumberland. Once, this had been a place of farms and homesteads, a school and a stretch of railway. It had also been a place of music and song, dancing and legends. Now it was all to be flooded in order to create the largest artificial lake in the UK.

The award-winning writer David Almond tells a true story about the father and daughter who visited the abandoned homes on the eve of the sealing of the dam, playing one last song before the diggers moved in, the valley was submerged and they were lost forever.

"He woke her early. 'Bring your fiddle,' he said. The day was dawning. Into the valley they walked....."

In a programme resonant with birdsong, running streams, sighing trees, leaping salmon and first-person testimonial, this is a story about the reservoirs of music, poetry and song in us all.

Featuring Northumbrian folk music, with additional fiddle-playing by Georgia Russelll, the programme culminates in a revelation by David about the identity of the protagonists in this haunting story.

Based around David Almond's picture book, The Dam, with illustrations by Levi Pinfold, published by Walker Studio. With additional fiddle-playing by Georgia Russell

Producer: Beaty Rubens


SUN 17:00 Iran’s Long Game (m000hgtj)
On January 3rd this year Qasem Soleimani – Iran’s top military commander - was killed in a US drone attack in Baghdad. The so-called architect of Iran’s foreign policy in the Middle East, Soleimani was responsible for Iran’s political, economic and military involvement in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. And in all those places he oversaw a growth of Iranian power. Despite many Iranians demanding vengeance for Soleimani’s death, Tehran’s response was muted – rather than launch major attacks on US targets, it chose instead to use Soleimani’s death to build support in Iraq for the ejection of the US’s remaining 5,000 troops from the country. For Washington, it wasn’t supposed to play out like this. When the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 to oust Saddam Hussein, President Bush said he wanted to create a beacon of democracy in the Middle East and keep Iran – at loggerheads with the US for decades and part of his axis of evil – in check. But America underestimated the supposedly irrational regime in Iran which used proxy militias to frustrate the US forces in Iraq. After billions of US dollars were spent and thousands of American lives lost, it is Iran that now has most influence in Iraq. In this documentary for BBC Radio 4, Owen Bennett Jones goes back to 1988 when Iran was forced to accept a UN-brokered ceasefire in its bitter eight year war with Iraq. He charts the complex interplay between Baghdad, Tehran and Washington ever since. Even opponents of the Iranian regime described Qasem Soleimani as a giant who had helped defend and advance Iranian national interests and as someone who took on the greatest power on earth – and seems to have outwitted it.

Producer: Zak Brophy


SUN 17:40 Profile (m000hmxq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000hmxs)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m000hmxv)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000hmxx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m000hmxz)
Simon Parkes

The best of BBC Radio this week.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m000hmn6)
Roy finds himself in a vulnerable position, and Tracy can’t take a hint.


SUN 19:15 Just a Minute (b043wvy3)
Series 69

Episode 1

Just how hard can it be to talk for 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition or deviation? Paul Merton, Jenny Eclair, Julian Clary and Vanessa Feltz find out. Nicholas Parsons watches the clock and keeps the scores.


SUN 19:45 Short Works (b0bk1mrp)
BBC National Short Story Award 2018

Synsepalum

Five commissioned short stories by leading writers to celebrate this year's BBC National Short Story Award:

In Synsepalum by Irenosen Okojie, the tailor in a pop-up atelier makes eye-catching dresses for his adoring clients - 'the designs rose from dark undulating slipstreams as if in resurrection'. But there is a price to pay for this adulation..

Reader Nikki Amuka-Bird

Producer Duncan Minshull


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m000hhtl)
How well is BBC News rising to the challenge of reporting the coronavirus pandemic, and what should its role be? Should it support the Government at this time of national crisis or continue with tough forensic questioning and reporting?

Roger Bolton puts listeners’ comments and questions about the coronavirus coverage to Gavin Allen, the head of BBC News output.

Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Kate Dixon
Executive Producer: Samir Shah

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m000hhtj)
Dame Jocelyn Barrow DBE, Keith Critchlow, Leonard ‘Nipper’ Read, John Prine

Pictured: Dame Jocelyn Barrow

Matthew Bannister on

The artist, professor of architecture and expert on sacred geometry Keith Critchlow. He was a key figure in the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts and advised on the design of Islamic-influenced buildings all over the world.

Dame Jocelyn Barrow who was an educator and leading campaigner against racial discrimination. She was the first black woman to be a Governor of the BBC.

Leonard 'Nipper' Read, the respected detective who doggedly pursued the Kray twins.

John Prine, the American country singer known for writing songs which offer a wry commentary on the human condition.

Interviewed guest: Jon Allen
Interviewed guest: Ian Skelly
Interviewed guest: Baroness Valerie Amos
Interviewed guest: Professor Dick Hobbs
Interviewed guest: Bob Harris

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: Britain's Best Buildings, BBC Two 16/11/2002; Night Waves, Radio 3 07/12/2004; Analysis, Radio 4 28/10/1976; It’s a Fair Cop: Leonard ‘Nipper’ Read, Radio 4 07/12/1976; BBC News, BBC One 13/10/1969.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m000hmy3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m000hmww)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 In Business (m000hgjh)
Economic lessons from pandemics past

In the 14th century the world was devastated by plague, known as 'The Black Death', in the 20th century a deadly form of influenza struck infecting around a quarter of the world's population. Since then HIV, Ebola and more have stricken nations. With each epidemic and pandemic comes a huge human cost but each also carry an economic cost. In this programme John Murphy visits pandemics past to see what history can teach us about economic cost and recovery.

Presenter: John Murphy
Producer: Lizzy McNeill


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m000hmy5)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (m000hgj1)
Women In Love

Antonia Quirke plunders the Film Programme archive and hears from the makers of Women In Love: Glenda Jackson, Ken Russell and cinematographer Billy Williams

And there's another round of Pitch Battle, as Lizze Francke, Rowan Woods and Clare Binns give their verdict on Gavia Baker Whitelaw's pitch to remake Avatar.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b091s7pv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 27 APRIL 2020

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m000hmy7)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m000281t)
The Class Ceiling

The Class Ceiling: Why it pays to be privileged. Drawing on four in-depth case studies – acting, accountancy, architecture and television – Sam Friedman, Associate Professor in Sociology at the LSE, argues that the ‘class ceiling’ in the elite professions can only be partially attributed to conventional measures of ‘merit’. Instead, he suggests that more powerful drivers include the misrecognition of classed self-presentation as ‘talent’ and the affordances of the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’. He's joined by Louise Ashley, Senior Lecturer in Organization Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London and Anna Williams, Director of Research, Advocacy and Communications at the Sutton Trust.

Producer: Jayne Egerton


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m000hmy9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000hmyc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000hmyf)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m000hmyh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000hmyk)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Jonathan Rea


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m000hmym)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


MON 05:56 Weather (m000hmyp)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (m0003sym)
Satish Kumar and the Peacock

Satush Kumar was born in Rajasthan, India, where the Peacock, the Mayura, is a sacred bird and also associated with the monsoon. In India, it is believed that after the long, hot summer peacocks come out and display their bright and vibrant feathers in an extravagant dance to please Indra, the god of rain, before calling to let the rains begin, bringing relief to plants, animals, soils and humans.

You can hear more from Satish in the second Tweet of the Week Omnibus editions available on the Radio 4 website. Aside from choosing his personal birds for the Omnibus, Satish's thoughts and teachings reflect in his recent writing on elegant simplicity, something which maybe the western world has become disconnected from, yet nature is all around us.

Producer : Andrew Dawes
Image : Copyright Resurgence Magazine


MON 06:00 Today (m000hmm8)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m000hmmb)
Changing behaviour, from bystander to actor

Why do some people get involved while others stand by looking on? What makes people act for the sake of others? Kirsty Wark discusses the psychology of behaviour with Catherine Sanderson and David Halpern.

In the Bystander Effect, Catherine Sanderson argues that the question of why some people act badly while others are heroic is not simply about good and bad. Our brains are hard-wired to conform and to avoid social embarrassment. But there are practical measures that can help create a sense of personal responsibility, turning a silent bystander into a model of action.

The psychologist David Halpern is also interested in how to change behaviour. He is advising the UK Government on its response to the coronavirus pandemic, focusing on how to get the public to adopt new social norms, including increased hand-washing and social distancing. Halpern is the Chief Executive of the Behavioural Insights Team, unofficially known as The Nudge Unit.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:30 Homeschool History (m000hmmd)
The Space Race

Join host Greg Jenner as he skyrockets back to the 20th century for a homeschool history lesson on the space race.

From ancient Assyrian astrology to modern spacecraft, we explore how superpowers Russia (Team USSR) and America (Team USA) raced each other into space, aiming to be the first to land a man on the Moon.

But don't worry, we’ll also cover the really important stuff like which dogs went into orbit and the dangers of going to the toilet in a spacecraft.

A Muddy Knees Media production for BBC Radio 4


MON 09:45 Intrigue (m0009r5q)
Tunnel 29

6: The Gun

“And then my interrogation began.” The escape operation unravels.

Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Helena Merriman tells the extraordinary true story of a man who dug a tunnel into the East, right under the feet of border guards, to help friends, family and strangers escape. The series is based on original interviews with the survivors as well as thousands of documents from the Stasi archives and recordings from the tunnel.

Producer & Presenter: Helena Merriman
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Translation and additional research: Sabine Schereck
Editor: Richard Knight
Joachim Rudolph's original interviews voiced by Mark Edel Hunt

#tunnel29


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000hmmh)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


MON 10:45 Letter to Louis (m000hmmk)
Episode 1

Alison White's perceptive and powerful dramatisation of her memoir about a mother's love and about a son's determined spirit. A unique insight into raising a child with cerebral palsy. A moving and ultimately uplifting drama about hope: hope for those we love, hope in others and hope for the future.

Following Alison's emergency caesarean section, baby Louis is immediately placed in intensive care. Caught in the eye of the storm Alison and Greg prepare for the worst, but Louis holds on tight and soon they are dreaming of taking him home.

ALISON.....Katie West
GREG.....Rupert Hill
NATALIE/REGISTRAR.....Natalie Grady
DR THOMPSON/VICAR.....Jonathan Keeble

The drama is introduced by Alison White
JS Bach's Prelude in C Major is played by Louis White

Directed by Nadia Molinari

Alison White's memoir Letter to Louis was published by Faber & Faber in 2018


MON 11:00 The Untold (m000hmmm)
Farming Under Water

Charles had just got his potatoes into the ground in September, when the heavens opened. It rained, and rained, and rained.

Charles Goadby’s family have been farming their land for two generations. His Dad and his two brothers now share responsibility for their 350 Holstein cows, and 1,000 acres of wheat, oilseed, oats, barley, and potatoes. But none of them have ever quite seen weather like this.

One of the wettest winters on record, followed by Storms Dennis and Ciara, have left their fields utterly sodden, and the machines they need to work the land simply can’t get on the fields. The potatoes from last September are rotting in the ground – it breaks Charles’ heart to look at them. Whole fields lie empty, the seeding not possible in standing water. The maize they DID manage to plant is spindly and weak, and choked with weeds. If the weather changes, and changes soon, the family might just be able to turn this year around. But it’s still raining, and at this point, none of the family can bear to look at the forecast.

Will Spring bring new hope, or the dreaded call to the bank manager and the prospect of hard times ahead?


MON 11:30 From Our Home Correspondent (m000hfwf)
In the latest programme of the monthly series, Mishal Husain introduces dispatches from journalists and writers around the United Kingdom that reflect the range of contemporary life in the country.

From Dorset, Jane Labous reflects on how she coped with early isolation with her young daughter in response to Covid-19 and the lessons she is drawing as a single parent as the experience continues.

Parks have become the exercise refuge for many urban dwellers but not without contention and controversy, with some councils temporarily closing their spaces and others setting strict conditions for their use. This hasn't surprised the leading historian of parks, Travis Elborough, who reflects on how rows and fisticuffs have been a central part of their history.

Culloden remains a significant moment in Scottish history which today, James Naughtie has been discovering, has a life all of its own.

Charlotte Bailey, recently in New Malden, reveals how North Korean exiles there reflect on the irony of being in lockdown here.

And Adam Shaw tells the story of the leaky dam, newspaper manor, chicken of the woods and the sword of Egbedene - all of which sound like they belong to a lost chapter from "Harry Potter" but in fact tell us about Bolton's environs.

Producer Simon Coates


MON 12:00 News Summary (m000hmmr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000hmmt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 12:06 Crossriggs, by Jane and Mary Findlater (m000hmmw)
Episode 6

As Crossriggs celebrates a long-awaited wedding, Alex Hope is surprised by the emotions that she feels.

This delightful tale of a small community hovering between two eras was written by the sisters known as the 'Scottish Brontes' and originally published in 1908 by John Murray Press.

Written by Jane and Mary Findlater
Abridged by Clara Glynn
Reader Rosalind Sydney
Producer Eilidh McCreadie


MON 12:20 You and Yours (m000hmmy)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m000hmn0)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m000hmn2)
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 Viral Exposure (m000hmn4)
China

How the coronavirus crisis has exposed fissures and faultlines in nations around the world. The pandemic has challenged China’s notoriously tight grip on the flow of information. A doctor in Wuhan who last year tried to warn colleagues about a strange new virus was scolded by police for spreading "rumours”. Dr Li Wenliang later caught Covid-19 and gained a huge following on social media from his hospital bed. “I think there should be more than one voice in a healthy society,” he said - an unusually pointed political comment in China. News of his death prompted grief and rage, rattling party officials. Their response revealed both how China can mobilise quickly in response to a crisis - and an underlying political culture of fear, deference and secrecy.
Presenter: Neal Razzell
Producer: Anna Meisel


MON 14:00 The Archers (m000hmn6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 GF Newman's The Corrupted (m000hmn8)
Series 5

Episode 6

It's the 1990s and Brian Oldman is still in jail for a crime he didn't commit.

He found a man in jail able to prove his innocence - but that man was soon found dead in his cell. He suspects that Joseph Oldman, now Sir Joseph Olinska MP, organised the killing.

GF Newman's The Corrupted weaves fiction with real characters from history, following the fortunes of the Oldman/Olinska family - from small-time business and opportunistic petty crime, through gang rivalries, to their entanglement in the highest echelons of society. It's a tale revealing a nexus of crime, business and politics that’s woven through the fabric of 20th century greed, as even those with hitherto good intentions are sucked into a web of corruption.

Joey Oldman, an uneducated Jewish child immigrant from Russia, has a natural instinct for business and a love of money - coupled with a knack for acquiring it. His wife Cath is as ruthless in both the pursuit of money and the protection of her son, Brian. Joey built his empire with the help of a corrupt bank manager in the 1950s, starting with small greengrocer shops before moving into tertiary banking and property development, dealing with many corrupt policemen on the way - and befriending both Lord Goodman and Margaret Thatcher. Now ennobled and on the board of Lehman Brothers, Joseph intends to extend his business interests into Russia with the help of Boris Yeltsin and his cronies. John Major is now the Prime Minister and a young man from the left, Tony Blair, also seems keen on making Joseph’s acquaintance.

The characters are based on GF Newman's novels.

CAST
Joseph Olinska Toby Jones
Margaret Olinska Flora Montgomery
Brian Oldman Joe Armstrong
Nikolai Lebedev/Alexei Egorkin Kieron Jechinnis
Tony Wednesday/Malcolm Rifkin Alec Newman
Leah Cohen Jasmine Hyde
Boris Isarov Anatoly Popov
Eddie Richardson Charles Davies
Chuck Haley Matt Rippy
Pongo Damian Lynch
Rita Sarah Lambie
Lord Carson Jamie Newall
Catherine Isabella Urbanowicz
Jack Braden John Hollingworth
Warder Peters Paul Kemp
Nurse Moriarty Lucas Hare

Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (m000hmnb)
Heat 4, 2020

(4/17)
In which decade were the first ever Nobel prizes awarded? Which painter had an expletive added to his name in the title of a Lana Del Rey album? And what did John Kay invent that revolutionised the clothing industry?

These and many other questions await the contenders in today's heat of the prestigious general knowledge quiz. Russell Davies welcomes the contestants to the Radio Theatre in London in a programme recorded before restrictions were imposed on public gatherings.

Taking part are:
Brian Chesney, a retired university librarian from Malvern in Worcestershire
Rev Judith Maizel-Long, a Methodist minister from Romford in Essex
Danny McMillan, a risk analyst from Walthamstow in East London
Andrew Smithies, an actuary from Tonbridge in Kent.

A Brain of Britain listener also stands the chance to win a prize, if a pair of questions he or she has suggested turn out to outwit the panel.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m000hmnd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 Beyond Belief (m000hmng)
Series exploring the place and nature of faith in today's world


MON 16:30 PM (m000hmnj)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000hmnl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:30 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (m000hmnn)
Series 4

The Cruiseman

Milton thinks his luck is in when he unexpectedly wins a luxury cruise. But who would want him out of the way? Apart from everyone, that is.

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 (m000hmgl)
Susan can’t help worrying about Emma, and Roy’s the worse for wear.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m000hmnq)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


MON 19:45 Letter to Louis (m000hmmk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


MON 20:00 A Very Different Ramadan (m000hmns)
Amid the global crisis of the Coronavirus, members of the Muslim community have begun fasting for the holy month of Ramadan but this Ramadan will be like no other. The mosques are closed, families told to stay away from one another and Imams have had to turn to giving their sermons via live streams online.

Raees Khan speaks to members of the Muslim community to hear how they plan to carry out Ramadan in a completely different environment. He hears from one man who says, "social distancing isn't in a Muslims DNA" but another disagrees and says this Ramadan will give Muslims the chance to embrace the festival's true meaning. Raees also learns about the Islamic practice of Itikaf observed by some during the Muslim holy month, which quite literally means self isolation.

Producer: Rajeev Gupta


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m000hghc)
Ireland's Housing Hunger

Ireland’s government is in crisis mode dealing with the public health emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But another crisis in its housing provision has long haunted the country’s young people. Ireland has booming investment and lots of new jobs but people cannot find adequate and affordable housing. Anger about this, and fear of mass emigration by the young are issues with deep roots in Irish memory. And the housing crisis was a crucial factor in February’s Irish election result which shocked the main parties and saw big gains for the nationalists of Sinn Fein. For Crossing Continents, Chris Bowlby travels to the city of Cork in the southwest of the country. He traces the roots of the crisis in a crazy house buying boom a few years ago. And he hears how a lack of good, affordable housing is affecting everyone from students to young families to Ireland’s many younger migrants who hope to stay in Ireland, but have nowhere to call home.

Produced and Presented by Chris Bowlby
Editor: Bridget Harney


MON 21:00 The NHS Front Line (m000hfy2)
Week 5 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 five 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


MON 21:30 Start the Week (m000hmmb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m000hmnv)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 Crossriggs, by Jane and Mary Findlater (m000hmmw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:06 today]


MON 23:00 Forest 404 (p074lx55)
Ep1: Life in the Fast Times

When Pan finds a 21st century recording of a rainforest, she has no idea what it is…

An environmental thriller starring Pearl Mackie, Tanya Moodie & Pippa Haywood. With theme music by Bonobo. Written by Timothy X Atack and directed by Becky Ripley.

Each episode comes with its own talk and soundscape. And you can take part in our interactive experiment to see how you respond to sounds of nature at: bbc.co.uk/forest

#Forest404


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000hmny)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m000hmp0)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 00:30 Intrigue (m0009r5q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000hmp2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000hmp4)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m000hmp6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000hmp8)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Jonathan Rea


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m000hmpb)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09rx1zy)
Joe Acheson on the Wren

Musician Joe Acheson of Hidden Orchestra describes how slowing down recordings he made of the diminutive wren song during a dawn chorus, sounded like the morning calls of gibbons across the rainforest.

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

Producer: Tom Bonnett
Photograph: Sam Linton.


TUE 06:00 Today (m000hmfh)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m000hmfm)
Brian Greene on how the universe is made of string

Jim talks a man who studies the universe at the largest and smallest scales imaginable. When Brian Greene was just twelve years old, he wandered round Colombia University looking for someone to teach him mathematics, with a letter of recommendation from his school teacher. While his mother wanted him to make money, his father encouraged Brian to pursue his passion, which was trying to understand the nature of the universe. He studied physics at Harvard University and won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. While at Oxford he learnt about a bold new Theory of Everything which predicts that the universe is made not of particles but rather tiny strings which vibrate in multiple dimensions. Now a Professor at Colombia University, he has worked on string theory ever since. He talks to Jim Al-Khalili about the rise and fall of string and superstring theory and why when he first started to think about what would happen to the universe at the end of time, he experienced a feeling of ‘hollow dread’.
Producer: Anna Buckley


TUE 09:30 One to One (m000hmfp)
Personality: Katya Adler talks to James Cracknell

For more than twenty years, from war zones to the seats of political power, Katya Adler has interviewed, observed, told people's stories. And she's always been fascinated by what makes people tick - their personality. Can we change or fake it?
In the first of three programmes, Katya meets Olympic athlete and Vice President of Headway, James Cracknell, who suffered an injury to the brain a decade ago which caused some of his personality traits to change. Katya and James discuss the impact of the injury on James's personality, the extent to which personality is observed by people around us and how our personalities can evolve.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair


TUE 09:45 Intrigue (m0009rj5)
Tunnel 29

7: The Interrogation

“That’s the first time I saw her again.” Wolfdieter's show trial begins.

Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Helena Merriman tells the extraordinary true story of a man who dug a tunnel into the East, right under the feet of border guards, to help friends, family and strangers escape. The series is based on original interviews with the survivors as well as thousands of documents from the Stasi archives and recordings from the tunnel.

Producer & Presenter: Helena Merriman
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Translation and additional research: Sabine Schereck
Editor: Richard Knight
Joachim Rudolph's original interviews voiced by Mark Edel Hunt

#tunnel29


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000hmft)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


TUE 10:45 Letter to Louis (m000hmfw)
Episode 2

Alison White's dramatisation of her perceptive and powerful memoir about a mother's love and about a son's determined spirit. A unique insight into raising a child with cerebral palsy. A moving and ultimately uplifting drama about hope: hope for those we love, hope in others and hope for the future.

It is Louis' 99th day in hospital. Alison and Greg are finally taking him home. How will they cope on their own?

ALISON.....Katie West
GREG/DR NOOK.....Rupert Hill
LOUIS.....Zak Ford-Williams
DOCTOR THOMPSON?TAXI DRIVER.....Jonathan Keeble
NATALIE/AGATHA.....Natalie Grady
SHOE SHOP ASSISTANT.....Verity Henry

J.S Bach's Prelude in C Major is played by Louis White

Directed by Nadia Molinari

Alison White's memoir Letter to Louis was published by Faber & Faber in 2018


TUE 11:00 The NHS Front Line (m000hmfz)
Week 6 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 six of his diaries, recorded as the number of cases continues 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 Art of Now (m000hmg1)
Raw Meat

Susan Bright gets bloody and fleshy with sculptors, performance artists and film-makers who use animal parts as their raw material.

Images of meat in still life paintings have been a staple in art for centuries, but why are artists now incorporating animal flesh, offal and skin into their work. What draws them to this macabre material and what does it enable them to say?

Photographer Pinar Yolacan makes meat dresses for her models, frills from raw chicken, bodices from placenta and sleeves from tripe. Riffling through butchers stocks, she makes the perfect outfit for her models, designing and moulding it to them like a second skin.

In a high-vaulted church, Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva hangs gigantic curtains of white pigs fat that look like long sheets of lace. Walking down through them, they rustle and reek as you feel encased inside an animal’s stomach.

Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr sculpt with live tissue making a semi-living leather jacket, growing wings from pigs and hosting a dinner party with lab grown meat. While Marianna Simnett violently slices open a cow’s udder reorganising our thinking about the body and gender. And with a cast of 100 performers, Hermann Nitsch's theatrical performances involve climbing inside carcasses, bathing in blood and having sex with offal.

Their work is shocking, disturbing and fun, making us face our responsibility to animals, each other and the planet and giving us a language to talk about the challenges ahead.

We lick our lips and feed on their creativity.

Producer: Sarah Bowen


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m000hmg3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000hmg5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 12:06 Crossriggs, by Jane and Mary Findlater (m000hmg7)
Episode 7

As Alex revels in the few freedoms afforded a single woman in Crossriggs, a friendship takes an unexpected turn.

This delightful tale of a small community hovering between two eras was written by the sisters known as the 'Scottish Brontes' and originally published in 1908 by John Murray Press.

Written by Jane and Mary Findlater
Abridged by Clara Glynn
Reader Rosalind Sydney
Producer Eilidh McCreadie


TUE 12:20 You and Yours (m000hmg9)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


TUE 12:57 Weather (m000hmgc)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m000hmgf)
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 Viral Exposure (m000hmgh)
Episode 2

How the coronavirus crisis has exposed fissures and faultlines in nations around the world


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m000hmgl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 GF Newman's The Corrupted (m000hmgn)
Series 5

Episode 7

It's the 1990s and Brian Oldman is still in jail for a crime he didn't commit.

He found a man in jail able to prove his innocence - but that man was soon found dead in his cell. He suspects that Joseph Oldman, now Sir Joseph Olinska MP, organised the killing.

GF Newman's The Corrupted weaves fiction with real characters from history, following the fortunes of the Oldman/Olinska family - from small-time business and opportunistic petty crime, through gang rivalries, to their entanglement in the highest echelons of society. It's a tale revealing a nexus of crime, business and politics that’s woven through the fabric of 20th century greed, as even those with hitherto good intentions are sucked into a web of corruption.

Joey Oldman, an uneducated Jewish child immigrant from Russia, has a natural instinct for business and a love of money - coupled with a knack for acquiring it. His wife Cath is as ruthless in both the pursuit of money and the protection of her son, Brian. Joey built his empire with the help of a corrupt bank manager in the 1950s, starting with small greengrocer shops before moving into tertiary banking and property development, dealing with many corrupt policemen on the way - and befriending both Lord Goodman and Margaret Thatcher. Now ennobled and on the board of Lehman Brothers, Joseph intends to extend his business interests into Russia with the help of Boris Yeltsin and his cronies.

The characters are based on GF Newman's novels.

CAST
Joseph Oldman Toby Jones
Brian Oldman Joe Armstrong
Catherine Isabella Urbanowicz
Tony Wednesday Alec Newman
Chuck Haley Matt Rippy
Tony Blair/Dr Jordan Nigel Cooke
Julian Tyrwhitt Jonathan Tafler
Margaret Olinska Flora Montgomery
Gianni/Technician John Hastings
Sir Ralph Courtney Nick Sampson
Detective Albright/
Sir Michael O’Dell Nigel Pivarro
Jodi Monserrat Kieron Jechinnis
Anatoly Popov Boris Isarov

Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m000hmgq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (m000hmgs)
Zero Carbon Britain

In June last year the UK government committed us all to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. To reach that ambitious target we're going to have to change the way we travel, heat our homes and farm our food. Tom Heap is joined by an expert panel to measure our progress and gauge our chances of reaching net zero.

Tom's joined by physicist Helen Czerski of University College London, James Murray, editor of Business Green and the author of Our Final Warning, Mark Lynas.

Producer: Alasdair Cross


TUE 16:00 Great Lives (m000hmgv)
The amazing Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in 1928. She was a mother, writer, dancer, director, performer, friend of presidents, and author of seven volumes of memoir. The very first - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - returned to the top of the best-seller lists when she died in 2014. So why were people fascinated by her life? Nominating her is Bristol University's recently appointed professor of slavery, Olivette Otele. "I l love her, I really do." She's joined by Patricia Cumper who has adapted many of Maya Angelou's books for radio. The presenter is Matthew Parris.
The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde


TUE 16:30 PM (m000hmgx)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000hmgz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 Ellie Taylor's Safe Space (m000hmh1)
Monogamy

Comedian Ellie Taylor has some opinions she'd like to get off her chest. In this episode she looks at being married and wonders whether being monogamous is actually all it's cracked up to be. She discusses her views with sketches, and help from the studio audience and her side-kick Robin Morgan. She also welcomes on a special expert guest...a lady who was once in a "throuple".

It is produced by Sam Michell and is a BBC Studios Production.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m000hmh3)
A wedding blunder leaves Kirsty fuming, and Tracy needs to swallow her pride.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m000hmh5)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


TUE 19:45 Letter to Louis (m000hmfw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


TUE 20:00 Jamaica: A Brother's Story (m000hmh7)
Steve Walker investigates the murder of his brother Delroy, a child of the Windrush generation. He came to Britain from Jamaica in the 1960s and built a new life here - but always yearned for the pleasures of home. He eventually got the money together to build a dream home, but soon after returning, he was brutally killed. Steve, a BBC technical operator, and BBC journalist Nesta McGregor travel to Jamaica, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world. They discover that some believe that criminals target “returnees”, who are viewed with envy as wealthy foreigners. Yet talking to a group of British-Jamaicans who have returned to the island in retirement, he finds they regard Jamaica as home. Steve and Nesta’s journey raises questions about migration, identity and belonging.
Presenters: Steve Walker and Nesta McGregor
Producer: Nesta McGregor


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m000hmh9)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted


TUE 21:00 Inside Health (m000hmhc)
Inside Health: The Virus

Episode 5

Claudia Hammond reports on the unfolding coronavirus pandemic.


TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (m000hmfm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m000hmhf)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


TUE 22:45 Crossriggs, by Jane and Mary Findlater (m000hmg7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:06 today]


TUE 23:00 Sketchtopia (m000hmhh)
Series 2

Episode 4

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 4 writers: Tom Moutchi, Lynda Kennedy, Joanne Lau, Maria Shehata, Sam Mitchell, Athena Kugblenu, Sara Gibbs, Kai Samra, Bilal Zafar, Louise Stewart, Alice Gregg, Lizzie Bates, Anna Emerson and Waleed Akhtar.

SERIES CREDITS
Producer: Gus Beattie
Script Editing: Chris Grady
Exec Producers: Hardeep Singh Kohli, Colin Gilbert.
A Gusman production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000hmhk)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



WEDNESDAY 29 APRIL 2020

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m000hmhm)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


WED 00:30 Intrigue (m0009rj5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000hmhp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000hmhr)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m000hmht)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000hmhw)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Jonathan Rea


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m000hmhy)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03zr0ly)
Grasshopper Warbler

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

Kate Humble presents the grasshopper warbler. The reeling song of the grasshopper warbler sounds more like an insect than a bird. Like the paying out of an angler's line from a reel, the grasshopper warbler's song spills out from the bush or bramble clump in which he sits. You'll hear it most often at dawn or dusk in overgrown scrubby or marshy areas.


WED 06:00 Today (m000hn4q)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 More or Less (m000hn4s)
Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life.


WED 09:30 The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread? (m000hn4v)
Teeth Whitening

Teeth whitening toothpastes, strips and gizmos are more popular than ever. But what is the evidence that any of them actually work? And what about the HiSmile Teeth Whitening Kit that's been doing the rounds on social media?

Are these products The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread or marketing BS?

Greg Foot talks to fashion commentator and broadcaster, Grace Woodhead about her experience with these products while Professor Martin Ashley, Consultant in Restorative Dentistry at the University of Manchester Dental Hospital, is on hand to separate the science fact from the science fiction.

Presenter: Greg Foot
Producer: Beth Eastwood


WED 09:45 Intrigue (m0009qvh)
Tunnel 29

8: The Messenger

I said "ok, I'll do it”. Ellen, Mimmo's girlfriend, agrees to play a dangerous role.

Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Helena Merriman tells the extraordinary true story of a man who dug a tunnel into the East, right under the feet of border guards, to help friends, family and strangers escape. The series is based on original interviews with the survivors as well as thousands of documents from the Stasi archives and recordings from the tunnel.

Producer & Presenter: Helena Merriman
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Translation and additional research: Sabine Schereck
Editor: Richard Knight
Joachim Rudolph's original interviews voiced by Mark Edel Hunt

#tunnel29


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000hn4x)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


WED 10:45 Letter to Louis (m000hn4z)
Episode 3

Alison White's dramatisation of her perceptive and powerful memoir about a mother's love and about a son's determined spirit. A unique insight into raising a child with cerebral palsy. A moving and ultimately uplifting drama about hope: hope for those we love, hope in others and hope for the future.

Alison and Greg struggle to find a way to communicate with Louis until they discover music therapy. Will music have a transforming effect on Louis' sense of control in the world?

ALISON.....Katie West
GREG/BRIAN.....Rupert Hill
LOUIS.....Zak Ford-Williams
SPEECH THERAPIST/COMPERE.....Verity Henry

J.S Bach's Prelude in C Major is played by Louis White

The episode includes the real voices of Louis White and music therapist Brian Smith from Inscape Therapies

Directed by Nadia Molinari

Alison White's memoir Letter to Louis was published by Faber & Faber in 2018


WED 11:00 A Very Different Ramadan (m000hmns)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]


WED 11:30 Plum House (m000hn51)
Series 3

5. All in Good Faith

The third series of Plum House returns and the team welcome a new vicar to their parish (played by Robert Bathurst). Peter is his biggest fan, but the others have varying levels of interest. Maureen and Alan try in their own way to help with church repairs and maintenance, to disastrous effect, and Julian is mainly miffed that Peter's found a new best friend. Tom meanwhile is still trying to patch things up with Emma...

Plum House features Simon Callow, Jane Horrocks, Miles Jupp, Pearce Quigley, Tom Bell and Louise Ford.
Guest starring Robert Bathurst and 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 (m000hn53)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000hn55)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 12:06 Crossriggs, by Jane and Mary Findlater (m000hn57)
Episode 8

The community of Crossriggs waits with bated breath as a life hangs in the balance.

This delightful tale of a small community hovering between two eras was written by the sisters known as the 'Scottish Brontes' and originally published in 1908 by John Murray Press.

Written by Jane and Mary Findlater
Abridged by Clara Glynn
Reader Rosalind Sydney
Producer Eilidh McCreadie


WED 12:20 You and Yours (m000hn59)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


WED 12:57 Weather (m000hn5c)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m000hn5f)
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 Viral Exposure (m000hn5h)
Episode 3

How the coronavirus crisis has exposed fissures and faultlines in nations around the world


WED 14:00 The Archers (m000hmh3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 GF Newman's The Corrupted (m000hn5k)
Series 5

Episode 8

It's the 1990s and Brian Oldman is still in jail for a crime he didn't commit.

He found a man in jail able to prove his innocence - but that man was soon found dead in his cell. He suspects that Joseph Oldman, now Sir Joseph Olinska MP, organised the killing.

GF Newman's The Corrupted weaves fiction with real characters from history, following the fortunes of the Oldman/Olinska family - from small-time business and opportunistic petty crime, through gang rivalries, to their entanglement in the highest echelons of society. It's a tale revealing a nexus of crime, business and politics that’s woven through the fabric of 20th century greed, as even those with hitherto good intentions are sucked into a web of corruption.

Joey Oldman, an uneducated Jewish child immigrant from Russia, has a natural instinct for business and a love of money - coupled with a knack for acquiring it. His wife Cath is as ruthless in both the pursuit of money and the protection of her son, Brian. Joey built his empire with the help of a corrupt bank manager in the 1950s, starting with small greengrocer shops before moving into tertiary banking and property development, dealing with many corrupt policemen on the way - and befriending both Lord Goodman and Margaret Thatcher. Now ennobled and on the board of Lehman Brothers, Joseph intends to extend his business interests into Russia with the help of Boris Yeltsin and his cronies.

The characters are based on GF Newman's novels.

CAST
Joseph Oldman Toby Jones
Brian Oldman Joe Armstrong
Tony Wednesday Alec Newman
Brian Perry/DAC Henderson Nicholas Murchie
Leah Cohen Jasmine Hyde
Lord Carson Jamie Newall
Chuck Haley Matt Rippy
Detective Albright Nigel Pivaro
Julian Tyrwhitt Jonathan Tafler
Margaret Olinska Flora Montgomery
Sir Ralph Courtney Nick Sampson
Tim Listfield Charles Davies
Inspector Vallins John Hastings
Prison Doctor Kieron Jechinnis
Rita and Audrey Sarah Lambie

Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


WED 15:00 Money Box (m000hn5m)
Paul Lewis and a panel of guests answer calls on personal finance.


WED 15:30 Inside Health (m000hmhc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 16:00 The Media Show (m000hn5p)
Topical programme about the fast-changing media world


WED 16:30 PM (m000hn5r)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000hn5t)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:30 Quanderhorn (m000hn5w)
Quanderhorn 2

1. Killdiboos and Universibold Explodibangbang

Mercurial genius, Professor Quanderhorn (James Fleet) has created a time loop, rendering it permanently 1952.

His arch nemesis, Churchill (John Sessions) has sent a wave of bagpiping bombers to unleash their payload over the 5th dimensional storage tanks holding the captured time, and reality is about to be destroyed.

The Professor and his rag-tag crew – test pilot Brian Nylon (Ryan Sampson), clockwork-emotioned Dr Gemini Janussen (Cassie Layton), caddish Martian hostage Guuuurk (Kevin Eldon) and Quanderhorn’s part-insectoid son Troy (Freddie Fox), along with factotum Jenkins (John Sessions. Again) – escape by scattering themselves through time.

Troy and Guuuurk find themselves in a cave in the Pleistocene Era, with some rather unnerving co-habitants.

Brian and the Professor have an unexpected Latin lesson, resulting in Brian being given as a gift to a beautiful Roman noblewoman. He’s rather worried to discover what’s supposed to happen next.

Dr Janussen and Sergeant “Jenkins” Jenkins are spirited to the mid-seventeenth century, where they encounter a strangely familiar-looking Witchfinder General.

Starring
James Fleet as Professor Quanderhorn
Ryan Sampson as Brian Nylon
Cassie Layton as Dr Gemini Janussen
Freddie Fox as Troy Quanderhorn
Kevin Eldon as Guuuurk
John Sessions as Sergeant 'Jenkins' Jenkins and Churchill
Rachel Atkins as Delores

Created and Written by Rob Grant and Andrew Marshall
Directed by Andrew Marshall

Studio Engineer and Editor: Alisdair McGregor
Production Manager: Sarah Tombling
Recorded at The Soundhouse Studios
Produced by Rob Grant and Gordon Kennedy

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4


WED 19:00 The Archers (m000hn5z)
Things need to be said between Emma and Ed, and Leonie is determined to lend a hand.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m000hn61)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


WED 19:45 Letter to Louis (m000hn4z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


WED 20:00 The Virus Hunters (m000hn63)
Tracking the virus hunters who race to understand and extinguish new pathogens. Sars Cov 2 is the virus responsible for the pandemic of 2020. But there are millions of other viruses living around the world, any one of which could mutate and infect us at any time. Scientists are in a never-ending race to identify these viruses and contain their dangerous effects. Oxford Professor Trudie Lang, director of the Global Health Network, hears from some of the virus hunters who work against the clock to research and combat these threats. Fighting epidemics requires effort from across the scientific spectrum. What we learn from the outbreak of Covid-19 will be crucial beyond understanding this coronavirus, but also when the next Virus X comes - and it will come.

Producer: Sandra Kanthal


WED 20:45 The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread? (m000hn4v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]


WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (m000hmgs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 The Media Show (m000hn5p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 today]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m000hn65)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


WED 22:45 Crossriggs, by Jane and Mary Findlater (m000hn57)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:06 today]


WED 23:00 Rosie Jones: Box Ticker (m000hn67)
Gender

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 invites friend and comedian Helen Bauer onto the stage to discuss gender. They are close friends, who have clearly shared a lot of life, love and laughs in the past.

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 (b09ghmgq)
Series 2

Lemar's Clean Sheet

A white boy from West Virginia is forced to join the Klu Klux Klan by his father, but when his black friends find out, they play a cruel trick on him. Voiced by George Fouracres (Radio 4's Daphne Sound Expensive).

Written by Sir Lenny Henry

Produced by Sam Michell

A BBC Studios Production.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000hn69)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



THURSDAY 30 APRIL 2020

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m000hn6c)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


THU 00:30 Intrigue (m0009qvh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000hn6f)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000hn6h)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m000hn6k)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000hn6m)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Jonathan Rea


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m000hn6p)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b020xv0f)
Savi's Warbler

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

Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the Savi's Warbler. Count yourself very lucky if you hear the buzzing song of a Savi's Warbler, these are very rare birds indeed, especially breeding pairs and the nests are almost impossible to find, so their song is the best clue that they're about.


THU 06:00 Today (m000hpch)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (b09gbnfj)
Carl Friedrich Gauss (repeat)

In a programme first broadcast in 2017, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Gauss (1777-1855), widely viewed as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He was a child prodigy, correcting his father's accounts before he was 3, dumbfounding his teachers with the speed of his mental arithmetic, and gaining a wealthy patron who supported his education. He wrote on number theory when he was 21, with his Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, which has influenced developments since. Among his achievements, he was the first to work out how to make a 17-sided polygon, he predicted the orbit of the minor planet Ceres, rediscovering it, he found a way of sending signals along a wire, using electromagnetism, the first electromagnetic telegraph, and he advanced the understanding of parallel lines on curved surfaces.

With

Marcus du Sautoy
Professor of Mathematics and Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford

Colva Roney-Dougal
Reader in Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews

And

Nick Evans
Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Southampton

Producer: Simon Tillotson.


THU 09:45 Intrigue (m0009t5b)
Tunnel 29

9: The Signal

“If you don’t have a coffee, then bring me a cognac.” Ellen's plan is derailed.

Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Helena Merriman tells the extraordinary true story of a man who dug a tunnel into the East, right under the feet of border guards, to help friends, family and strangers escape. The series is based on original interviews with the survivors as well as thousands of documents from the Stasi archives and recordings from the tunnel.

Producer & Presenter: Helena Merriman
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Translation and additional research: Sabine Schereck
Editor: Richard Knight
Joachim Rudolph's original interviews voiced by Mark Edel Hunt

#tunnel29


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000hpcp)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


THU 10:45 Letter to Louis (m000hpcr)
Episode 4

Alison White's dramatisation of her perceptive and powerful memoir about a mother's love and about a son's determined spirit. A unique insight into raising a child with cerebral palsy. A moving and ultimately uplifting drama about hope: hope for those we love, hope in others and hope for the future.

Louis has found his voice through music and has begun to engage in the world with great enthusiasm. But following an operation on his leg Louis is left in pain and Alison finds herself at breaking point until David, a sports therapist, offers his services.

ALISON.....Katie West
GREG/MR RHYS.....Rupert Hill
LOUIS.....Zak Ford-Williams
DAVID/ MIKE/ GUARD.....Jason Done
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST.....Verity Henry

J.S Bach's Prelude in C Major is played by Louis White

Directed by Nadia Molinari

Alison White's memoir Letter to Louis was published by Faber & Faber in 2018


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m000hpct)
Bulgaria's Children and the Norwegian Bogeyman

Thousands of Bulgarian parents pulled their children out of school in a mass panic last October, fearing they would be abducted by social workers. Many more are protesting against a draft law they say puts 70pc of children at similar risk. Are they right to be scared? Or have rumours and fake news spread hysteria about the power of the state? Suddenly, campaigns to defend the “traditional family” are gathering strength in Bulgaria – and across eastern Europe. What’s behind them? And why do they treat one Western country – Norway – as the ultimate source of evil? Tim Whewell investigates.


THU 11:30 Miles Jupp Is Literally Unputdownable (m000hpcw)
New Arts Feature from BBC Radio 4


THU 12:00 News Summary (m000hpcy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000hpd0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 12:06 Crossriggs, by Jane and Mary Findlater (m000hpd2)
Episode 9

Despite being estranged from her friend Van, Alex Hope is distraught when he goes missing.

This delightful tale of a small community hovering between two eras was written by the sisters known as the 'Scottish Brontes' and originally published in 1908 by John Murray Press.

Written by Jane and Mary Findlater
Abridged by Clara Glynn
Reader Rosalind Sydney
Producer Eilidh McCreadie


THU 12:20 You and Yours (m000hpd4)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


THU 12:57 Weather (m000hpd6)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m000hpd8)
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 Viral Exposure (m000hpdb)
Episode 4

How the coronavirus crisis has exposed fissures and faultlines in nations around the world


THU 14:00 The Archers (m000hn5z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 GF Newman's The Corrupted (m000hpdd)
Series 5

Episode 9

It's the 1990s and Brian Oldman is still in jail for a crime he didn't commit.

He found a man in jail able to prove his innocence - but that man was soon found dead in his cell. He suspects that Joseph Oldman, now Sir Joseph Olinska MP, organised the killing.

GF Newman's The Corrupted weaves fiction with real characters from history, following the fortunes of the Oldman/Olinska family - from small-time business and opportunistic petty crime, through gang rivalries, to their entanglement in the highest echelons of society. It's a tale revealing a nexus of crime, business and politics that’s woven through the fabric of 20th century greed, as even those with hitherto good intentions are sucked into a web of corruption.

Joey Oldman, an uneducated Jewish child immigrant from Russia, has a natural instinct for business and a love of money - coupled with a knack for acquiring it. His wife Cath is as ruthless in both the pursuit of money and the protection of her son, Brian. Joey built his empire with the help of a corrupt bank manager in the 1950s, starting with small greengrocer shops before moving into tertiary banking and property development, dealing with many corrupt policemen on the way - and befriending both Lord Goodman and Margaret Thatcher. Now ennobled and on the board of Lehman Brothers, Joseph intends to extend his business interests into Russia with the help of Boris Yeltsin and his cronies.

The characters are based on GF Newman's novels.

CAST
Joseph Olinska Toby Jones
Brian Oldman Joe Armstrong
Warder Peters/
Menachem Hayek Paul Kemp
Assistant Gov Christian Rodska
Tony Wednesday Alec Newman
Eddie Richardson/
Tim Listfield Charles Davies
Lord Carson Jamie Newall
Dac Henderson Nicholas Murchie
Chuck Haley Matt Rippy
Margaret Olinska Flora Montgomery
DCS Redvers Tom York
Sonia Hope/Audrey Sarah Lambie
Bob Reed Damian Lynch
Jack Braden John Hollingworth

Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


THU 15:00 Open Country (m000hpdg)
Closed Country: A Spring Audio-Diary with Brett Westwood

It seems hard to believe, when so many of us are coping with lockdown and more, that the power of nature continues unfettered: Spring, in all its fecundity, is altering our landscape as it always does. To chart this time of great change we gave the naturalist, Brett Westwood, a microphone at the end of March and asked him to record a nature diary. He lives in urban Stourbridge in the West Midlands, which doesn’t sound an obvious setting for a spring journal but actually it’s perfect: What he sees at close quarters, with his expert eye, is available for us all if we know where and how to look. His sightings include feather-footed flower bees who live in the brickwork of our houses, buzzards that might steal frogspawn from your pond, bee-flies which coat their eggs with dust before shooting them at the nests of solitary bees, and mistletoe... which doesn't sound as intriguing, but it really is: Brett can explain why our behaviour is causing it to spread further than ever before.

Note: The podcast contains extra material that couldn't be squeezed into the original programme. See the 'related links' box below for how to access and download the BBC Sounds App.

Producer: Karen Gregor


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m000hmww)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Open Book (m000hmxl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:00 BBC Inside Science (m000hpdl)
Dr Adam Rutherford and guests illuminate the mysteries and challenge the controversies behind the science that's changing our world


THU 16:30 PM (m000hpdn)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000hpdq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:30 Ankle Tag (m0000ykt)
Series 2

The Charity Gig

The Evans family are back for another series. Former convict Bob is forced to live with his uptight son Gruff, sympathetic daughter-in-law Alice and granddaughter Carys whilst on parole.

Ex-fraudster Bob gets the opportunity to catch up with a former resident of C Wing, who has written about his time in prison.

Bob – Steve Speirs
Gruff – Elis James
Alice – Katy Wix
Richard Flint – Neil Pearson
Tabitha – Adelayo Adedayo
Hakan – Naz Osmanoglu
Pam - Anna Brophy Leon

Written by Benjamin Partridge & Gareth Gwynn
Produced by Victoria Lloyd
A BBC Studios Production


THU 19:00 The Archers (m000hpds)
Writer, Liz John
Directors, Kim Greengrass & Peter Leslie Wild
Editor, Jeremy Howe

Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Jolene Archer ….. Buffy Davis
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Harrison Burns ….. James Cartwright
Susan Carter ….. Charlotte Martin
Ed Grundy ….. Barry Farrimond
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O’Hanrahan
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Adam Macy ….. Andrew Wincott
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Philip Moss ….. Andy Hockley
Gavin Moss ….. Gareth Pierce
Johnny Phillips ….. Tom Gibbons
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Robert Snell ….. Graham Blockey
Leonie Snell ….. Jasmine Hyde
Roy Tucker ….. Ian Pepperell


THU 19:15 Front Row (m000hpdv)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


THU 19:45 Letter to Louis (m000hpcr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m000hpdx)
David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders explore big issues in the news.


THU 20:30 In Business (m000hpdz)
Clean cooking in Rwanda

More than seventy percent of households in Rwanda cook over wooden and charcoal fires. This means women often sit for hours every day in smoky conditions which can damage their health, increasing the risk of respiratory infections, heart disease, strokes and lung cancer. These traditional cooking methods are also the cause of widespread deforestation. The Rwandan government is aiming to halve the number of people using these cooking fuels in the next six years. They're investing in infrastructure and offering tax incentives to try and support businesses to entice customers to other products which could give them a cleaner and safer way to cook. In other countries who’ve made this move though, changing from traditional stoves to modern clean cooking took the best part of a century - can that really be achieved here in just six years?

Producer/Presenter: Kate Lamble


THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m000hpdl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 today]


THU 21:30 In Our Time (b09gbnfj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m000hpf1)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


THU 22:45 Crossriggs, by Jane and Mary Findlater (m000hpd2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:06 today]


THU 23:00 Now Wash Your Hands (m000hpf3)
Episode 5

Comedy corona-cast as Jon Holmes, Jake Yapp, Salma Shah and Natt Tapley drop in on isolated home-bound guests.


THU 23:30 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (m0008b9v)
Series 2: 50 More Things...

Blockchain

In a series about things that made the modern economy, blockchain may not yet deserve the past tense. But venture capitalists are pouring billions into startups and enthusiasts say blockchain could become as disruptive as the internet. How can we decide if they’re right? First we need to get our heads around the most famous blockchain – Bitcoin – and see why the underlying technology might have much wider applications. But, as Tim Harford explains, we need to think about all the challenges that first need to be overcome.

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editor: Richard Vadon


THU 23:45 Today in Parliament (m000hpf5)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



FRIDAY 01 MAY 2020

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m000hpf7)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 00:30 Intrigue (m0009t5b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000hpf9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000hpfc)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:33 Shipping Forecast (m000hpff)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000hpfh)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Jonathan Rea


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m000hpfk)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b097918s)
Bruce Winney on the Red Kite

Bruce Winney from BirdLife International remembers seeing red kites overhead whilst driving in Harrogate, after years of absence from the skies.

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

Producer: Eliza Lomas
Photograph: PLFoto.


FRI 06:00 Today (m000hq1f)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 The Reunion (b01m2vmg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Intrigue (m0009t2b)
Tunnel 29

10: The Shoes

“I started dancing with Eveline.” A final twist in the final chapter.

Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Helena Merriman tells the extraordinary true story of a man who dug a tunnel into the East, right under the feet of border guards, to help friends, family and strangers escape. The series is based on original interviews with the survivors as well as thousands of documents from the Stasi archives and recordings from the tunnel.

Producer & Presenter: Helena Merriman
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Translation and additional research: Sabine Schereck
Editor: Richard Knight
Joachim Rudolph's original interviews voiced by Mark Edel Hunt

#tunnel29


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000hq1h)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


FRI 10:45 Letter to Louis (m000hq1k)
Episode 5

Alison White's dramatisation of her perceptive and powerful memoir about a mother's love and about a son's determined spirit. A unique insight into raising a child with cerebral palsy. A moving and ultimately uplifting drama about hope: hope for those we love, hope in others and hope for the future.

Louis' desire for independence is immense and his mantra 'just try' leads to incredible developments.

ALISON.....Katie West
GREG/MR RHYS.....Rupert Hill
LOUIS/SOCIAL WORKER.....Zak Ford-Williams
DAVID/ MR MONSAM.....Jason Done

J.S Bach's Prelude in C Major was performed by Louis White

The episode includes the real voices of Louis White, Alison White and music therapist Brian Smith from Inscape Therapies .

Directed by Nadia Molinari

Alison White's memoir Letter to Louis was published by Faber & Faber in 2018


FRI 11:00 The Learning Revolution (m000hq1m)
Learning

Right now, more than 860 million students worldwide are not at school due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many are studying from home but, amid endless distractions, are they actually learning?

For centuries, formal learning has been confined to a dedicated school or university building at a particular stage of life. Now more than ever, that looks set to change.

In designing an education system fit for the future, how might we harness the human brain’s incredible capacity for learning? There’s much to be gleaned from how babies and teenagers learn. Lifelong learning will also be an important part of education in the future – but what might it look like in practice?

Alex Beard used to be a teacher, and is now an education explorer, of sorts. In the final episode of this series, he hears from neuroscientists, psychologists and education experts, and sets out the blueprint for his Learning Revolution.

Presenter: Alex Beard
Producers: Dan Hardoon and Emma Barnaby
Executive Producer: Deborah Dudgeon
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 11:30 My Obsession (m000616z)
Series 1

Episode 1

Paul Merton and Suki Webster star in this warm-hearted comedy exploring the obsessive narcissistic culture of so-called celebrity, the desire to be famous and the urge to be near it.

After a bizarre first meeting when Sheryl, a superfan of stand-up comedian Danny Heywood, broke into his hotel bedroom, the perfectly mismatched pair are reunited. This time the self-obsessed comic pays his number one fan a surprise visit.

But does the lonely comic want a date? No, he needs to be driven to his next gig.

However, Danny also reveals that Sheryl is now his inspiration, his muse. Will a bumpy road trip bring the obsessive lonely couple together or drive them both round the bend? And can this unlikely pair find happiness and a true connection or is the only thing they have in common that they are both obsessed with Danny?

Cast:
Danny – Paul Merton
Sheryl – Suki Webster
Malcolm – Matt Addis
Phoebe -Tilly Gaunt
Kevin - Terry Mynott

Written by Suki Webster
Producer: Liz Anstee

A CPL production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m000hq1p)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000hq1r)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 12:06 Crossriggs, by Jane and Mary Findlater (m000hq1t)
Episode 10

Torn apart by her love for married neighbour Robert and mourning her friend Van, Alex has left Crossriggs to become a companion for her demanding Aunt Clara.

This delightful tale of a small community hovering between two eras was written by the sisters known as the 'Scottish Brontes' and originally published in 1908 by John Murray Press.

Written by Jane and Mary Findlater
Abridged by Clara Glynn
Reader Rosalind Sydney
Producer Eilidh McCreadie


FRI 12:20 You and Yours (m000hq1w)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


FRI 12:57 Weather (m000hq1y)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m000hq20)
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 Viral Exposure (m000hq22)
Episode 5

How the coronavirus crisis has exposed fissures and faultlines in nations around the world


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m000hpds)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 GF Newman's The Corrupted (m000hq24)
Series 5

Episode 10

It's now 2000 and Brian Oldman is still in jail for a crime he didn't commit.

He found a man in jail able to prove his innocence - but that man was soon found dead in his cell. He suspects that Joseph Oldman, now Sir Joseph Olinska MP, organised the killing.

GF Newman's The Corrupted weaves fiction with real characters from history, following the fortunes of the Oldman/Olinska family - from small-time business and opportunistic petty crime, through gang rivalries, to their entanglement in the highest echelons of society. It's a tale revealing a nexus of crime, business and politics that’s woven through the fabric of 20th century greed, as even those with hitherto good intentions are sucked into a web of corruption.

Joey Oldman, an uneducated Jewish child immigrant from Russia, has a natural instinct for business and a love of money - coupled with a knack for acquiring it. His wife Cath is as ruthless in both the pursuit of money and the protection of her son, Brian. Joey built his empire with the help of a corrupt bank manager in the 1950s, starting with small greengrocer shops before moving into tertiary banking and property development, dealing with many corrupt policemen on the way - and befriending both Lord Goodman and Margaret Thatcher. Now ennobled and on the board of Lehman Brothers, Joseph intends to extend his business interests into Russia.

The characters are based on GF Newman's novels.

CAST
Joseph Oldman Toby Jones
Brian Oldman Joe Armstrong
Tony Wednesday Alec Newman
Leah Cohen. Jasmine Hyde
Detective Albright Nigel Pivarro
Inspector Vallins John Hastings
Julian Tyrwhitt Jonathan Tafler
Judge/Lord Carson. Jamie Newall
Margaret Olinska Flora Montgomery
Tim Listfield/
Dietrich Heller/
Eddie Richardson Charles Davies
Catherine Isabella Urbanowicz
John Quayle Damian Lynch
Warder Thompson Christian Rodska
Kevin Wheeler Lucas Hare
Warder Peters Paul Kemp
Sir Ralph Courtney Nick Sampson
Dac Henderson Nicholas Murchie
John Redvers Tom York

Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000hq26)
Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts.


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m000hq28)
Using A Gun As A Symbol

An evocative new short story by the award-winning writer, Isabella Hammad.

When Jalal loses his job, it triggers a series of changes to his life and to his sense of self.

Credits

Writer ….. Isabella Hammad
Reader ….. Zubin Varla
Producer ….. Kirsty Williams

A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m000hq2b)
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 (m000hq2d)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000hq2g)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m000hq2j)
Series 102

Episode 3

Angela Barnes hosts series 102, leading a panel of regular News Quiz comics and journalists in rounding up the news stories of the week. Joining Angela this week is Michael Deacon, Andy Zaltzman, Suzi Ruffell and Kiri Pritchard McLean.

Produced by Suzy Grant

A BBC Studios Audio Production


FRI 19:00 Front Row (m000hq2l)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


FRI 19:45 Letter to Louis (m000hq1k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m000hq2n)
Chris Mason presents political debate and discussion from venues around the UK.


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m000hq2q)
Weekly reflections on topical issues from a range of contributors.


FRI 21:00 The Meaning of Life According to AJ Ayer (b05pw9tw)
What was an English philosopher doing at a New York party, saving the young model Naomi Campbell from a rather pushy boxing heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson? The philosopher was Alfred Jules Ayer, who was just as at home mixing with the glitterati as he was with Oxford dons. On the one hand he was an academic, on the other a celebrity and bon viveur.

So what does this logician have to say about the meaning of life?

In 1988, a year before his death, he gave a lecture at the Conway Hall in which he set out his notion of existence. By this time, ‘Freddie’ Ayer was one of the UK’s most prominent public intellectuals, with regular television and radio appearances, discussing the moral issues of the day.

Ayer’s former student at Oxford, philosopher AC Grayling, remembers the tutor that became his friend. He explores the man of contradictions – the atheist who almost recanted after a near-death incident; the deep thinker with a weakness for mistresses and Tottenham Hotspur. What was his contribution to philosophy? How did it inform the way he lived his life? What, if anything, can we learn from Freddie’s view on the big question?

Producer: Dom Byrne
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m000hq2s)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 Crossriggs, by Jane and Mary Findlater (m000hq1t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:06 today]


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (m000hmgv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (m0005h7l)
Series 2: 50 More Things...

Cellophane

Plastic food packaging often seems obviously wasteful. But when Jacques Brandenberger invented cellophane, consumers loved it. It helped supermarkets go self-service, and it was so popular Cole Porter put it in a song lyric. Nowadays people worry that plastic doesn’t get recycled enough – but there are two sides to this story. Plastic packaging can protect food from being damaged in transit, and help it stay fresh for longer. Should we care more about plastic waste or food waste? As Tim Harford explains, it isn’t obvious – and the issue is complicated enough that our choices at the checkout may accidentally do more harm than good.

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editor: Richard Vadon


FRI 23:45 Today in Parliament (m000hq2v)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament