SATURDAY 05 DECEMBER 2020

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m000q286)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:30 The Boundless Sea by David Abulafia (m000q288)
Episode 5

David Abulafia’s epic history of our relationship with the oceans is this year’s winner of the prestigious Wolfson History Prize. Charting maritime networks from the earliest seafaring societies, Abulafia explores how mankind has used the oceans to travel, trade and survive – for ends both noble and wicked.

The historian charts how access to shorter routes across the oceans changed the balance of power around the world.

Read by Colin McFarlane
Abridged by Laurence Wareing
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000q28b)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000q28d)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000q28g)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m000q28j)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000q28l)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Sharon Grenham-Thompson

One of the things I’ve noticed about chairing online video meetings this year is that it’s much more difficult to get volunteers for jobs that need doing. When you’re all sitting in a room together, the only escape one has from stepping up to the plate is looking shiftily at one’s feet. Online platforms, on the other hand, provide seemingly endless possibilities. The video feed can go down all of a sudden, or the microphone stop working. A child or a pet needs dealing with right now, or there’s a delivery driver at the door.

I suppose it’s understandable, this reluctance to volunteer for things. We’re all tired and juggling our own challenges and responsibilities, without taking on anything else. But that only makes me admire those who do volunteer even more, especially for tasks that provide essential support to the most vulnerable.

Research seems to indicate that volunteering has a positive impact on the mental and even physical health of the volunteer, as well as contributing to community well-being. Volunteers have reported benefits that include enhanced self-esteem, the development of new skills and friendships, and even weight loss!

But perhaps the most important benefit is working with others to improve their life circumstances. The dignity this can afford the recipient, the sense of a shared endeavour rather than a metaphorical pat on the head, seems to me a vehicle for much needed healing and inclusion. And the beauty of it is we don’t need to make extravagant gestures to begin that process – only be willing to be available.

So Lord may we open our hearts today to the opportunities that present themselves, and may we find the courage to raise our eyes, hold up our hand, and say ‘Here I am; send me.’

Amen


SAT 05:45 Full Circle (m00026xg)
Joe and Jus

La Ronde, written by dramatist Arthur Schnitzler is a play about sexual morality between social groups, explored through a prism of infidelity, lust and desire. Considered a very controversial work it was censored and banned as soon as it was printed in 1900. Although provocative the dramatic structure of the play is simple. It’s a succession of 10 sexual encounters exclusively focused on the before and the after; the act itself is never described. Each successive scene takes one character from the previous one and introduces another.

In the style of the play La Ronde, Julien Manuguerra, who produces a podcast about breakups and more largely, our common and very humane vulnerability in the face of love, explores how intimacy and morality are evolving today. The series draws a picture of what modern love is – or rather, what modern love can be. The original La Ronde was considered a social commentary masterpiece on how sexual contact transgresses boundaries of class, our radio version of the play will explore how sex can transgress any boundaries. But it's not a play, there won’t be any actors or actresses. Our characters are real, and they’re all linked to one another; always by sex, sometimes by love, sometimes by something in between. They’ll tell us about their inner emotional experiences of desire and connection and hopefully, this time too, our Round of Dance will go Full circle.

Joe and Jus have created a unique and modern way to be together; it involves giving each other the freedom to have sex with other people; its what's commonly called an open relationship. But Julien discovers that love without boundaries comes with insecurities.

Presented by Julien Manuguerra
Produced by Kate Bissell


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m000q3h4)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m000q0z8)
Rediscovering Redesdale

Helen Mark is in Redesdale in Northumberland to find out about a project to restore and celebrate the landscape of these historic borderlands. Redesdale is one of the most peaceful parts of England and a stronghold for many of our native species, though for centuries it was a lawless frontier where families on both sides of the border, the Border Reivers, raided each other’s lands. The Revitalising Redesdale landscape partnership is restoring and connecting the habitats and the rich cultural heritage across the valley, including the peatlands of Whitelee Moor and archaeological sites stretching back to pre-history. One element of the project is to look for new evidence of the location of the infamous medieval Battle of Otterburn, which inspired several border ballads which have been passed down the generations. Northumbrian piper Kathryn Tickell and her Dad Mike live close to the banks of the river Rede; they describe their close connection to the Northumbrian ballads, and how this distinct musical tradition is linked to its landscape. Presented by Helen Mark and produced by Sophie Anton.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m000q3hd)
Farming Today This Week

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside


SAT 06:57 Weather (m000q3hn)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m000q3hx)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m000q3j5)
Ian Rankin

Extraordinary stories, unusual people and a sideways look at the world.


SAT 10:30 You're Dead To Me (p07n8q35)
The History of Football

Where did football come from? Was it really invented in China or is the truth a little closer to home?

Why was knife crime such a problem for football hundreds of years ago? And what’s the real truth behind the history of the women’s game?

Public historian Greg Jenner joins comedian Tom Parry and historian Prof Jean Williams to teach you the true history of the beautiful game. It’s history for people who don’t like history!

Produced by Dan Morelle
Scripted by Greg Jenner
Researched by Emma Nagouse, assisted by Eszter Szabo and Evie Randall

A Muddy Knees Media production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m000q3jk)
Emily Ashton of Bloomberg and guests look back at the political week.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m000q3js)
Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world.


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m000q3k2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m000q3jb)
The latest news from the world of personal finance


SAT 12:30 The Now Show (m000q27s)
Series 57

Episode 6

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis get to grips (from a safe distance) with all things 2020 in the form of sketches and guest contributions.

This week Zoe Lyons is in the woods, Ivo Graham is at your leisure and Huge Davies is rooted to the sofa.

Additional voices provided by Luke Kempner and Emma Sidi

Written by the cast, with additional material from Gareth Gwynn, Josh Weller, Tania Edwards and Charlie Dinkin

Production Co-Ordinator: Caroline Barlow
Engineer and Editor: David Thomas

Producer: Adnan Ahmed

A BBC Studios Production


SAT 12:57 Weather (m000q3kd)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m000q3kq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m000q27x)
John Caudwell, Thangam Debbonaire MP, Simon Hart MP, Larissa Kennedy

Chris Mason presents political debate and discussion from Broadcasting House in London with a panel which includes the businessman and philanthropist John Caudwell, the Shadow Housing Secretary Thangam Debbonaire, the Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart and the President of the National Union of Students Larissa Kennedy.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Studio direction: Maire Devine


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m000q3l0)
Have your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 Passenger List (m000q3lb)
Traffic

An abandoned child, a missing plane, a new ally...

Atlantic Airlines flight 702 has disappeared mid-flight between London and New York with 256 passengers on board. Kaitlin Le, a college student whose twin brother vanished with the flight, is determined to uncover the truth. Kelly Marie Tran, Pattie PuPone, Colin Morgan and Rob Benedict star in this multi-award-winning mystery thriller.

Cast:

Kaitlin Le ..... Kelly Marie Tran
Dylan ..... Colin Morgan
Greg ..... Ian McQuown
Ana Gavanski ..... Dolya Gavanski
Mai Le (Kaitlin's Mother) ..... Elyse Dinh
Valarie Vennix ..... Wendy Brown
Kirsty ..... Julie Adamo
Pre-title sequence - Ayeesha Menon, John Scott Dryden, Heather Craney, Anjli Mohindra

Created by John Scott Dryden

Script Editor, Mike Walker
Casting, Janet Foster
US Producer, Julia Thompson
Assisted by Julia Adamo
Additional Writing by Sam Dingman
UK Producer, Emma Hearn

Editing, Sound Design & Music by Mark Henry Phillips
Directed by Lauren Shippen & John Scott Dryden
Executive Producers: Lauren Shippen & John Scott Dryden
Executive Producer for Radiotopia, Julie Shapiro

A Goldhawk production for Radiotopia/PRX and BBC Radio


SAT 15:25 Passenger List (m000qn9h)
Flock of Geese

The replacement co-pilot, a suspected terrorist, the official version of events...

Atlantic Airlines flight 702 has disappeared mid-flight between London and New York with 256 passengers on board. Kaitlin Le, a college student whose twin brother vanished with the flight, is determined to uncover the truth. Kelly Marie Tran, Pattie PuPone, Colin Morgan and Rob Benedict star in this multi-award-winning mystery thriller.

Cast:
Kaitlin ..... Kelly Marie Tran
Helen McPherson, pilot ..... Tessa Auberjonois
Zahid Nejem, co-pilot ..... Pej Vahdat
Stewardess ..... Lauren Shippen
Control Tower ..... Carl Prekopp
Frank Garza ..... Richard Tanner
Donna Nejem ..... Kelsey Venter
Imam Kassab ..... Sean T Krishnan
Dylan ..... Colin Morgan
Henry Jackso ..... Adam O’Byrne
Jennifer Wong ..... Marie-France Arcilla
Imam Kassab ..... Sean T. Krishnan

Created by John Scott Dryden

Script Editor, Mike Walker
Casting, Janet Foster
US Producer, Julia Thompson
Assisted by Julia Adamo
UK Producer, Emma Hearn

Editing, Sound Design & Music by Mark Henry Phillips
Directed by Lauren Shippen & John Scott Dryden
Executive Producers:Lauren Shippen & John Scott Dryden
Executive Producer for Radiotopia, Julie Shapiro

A Goldhawk production for Radiotopia/PRX and BBC Radio


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m000q3lv)
Non-essential shops reopened in England this week after the second Lockdown - thousands of jobs now hang in the balance. We hear from Joanne Cairns, deputy head of research at USDAW and Catherine Shuttleworth, retail analyst.

The Woman’s Hour Power List recognises the work of 30 inspiring women who are making a positive contribution to the environment and the sustainability of our planet. Beccy Speight, CEO of the RSPB which is the UK’s largest conservation charity and Miranda Lowe, Curator at the Natural History Museum in London talk about their work to spark our interest in the environment and nature.

Two of this year’s TechWomen100 Award winners June Angelides MBE and Rav Bumbra on how to encourage more women and girls to work in the tech industries.

Many women have been underpaid state pension. Steve Webb, partner at Lane, Clark and Peacock and Jasmine Birtles financial expert and director of MoneyMagpie explain.

What makes an evil woman. We hear from Professor of History at Birkbeck and Rhetoric Professor at Gresham College talks about her interest in evil women.

Festive Drinks. Sandra Lawrence from The Cocktail Lovers magazine talks about classic cocktails.

Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Paula McFarlane
Editor: Dianne McGregor


SAT 17:00 PM (m000q3m5)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m000q3ml)
Nick Robinson gets beneath the surface in a personal and political interview.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000q3mt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 17:57 Weather (m000q3n2)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000q3nb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m000q3j7)
Gary Wilmot, Barbara Dickson, Megan McCubbin, Martin Latham, Tankus The Henge, Erland Cooper, Sindhu Vee, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Sindhu Vee are joined by Gary Wilmot, Barbara Dickson, Megan McCubbin and Martin Latham for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Tankus The Henge and Erland Cooper.


SAT 19:00 Profile (m000q3nq)
The British artificial intelligence lab DeepMind have made an astonishing breakthrough in one of biology’s toughest problems. The firm announced this week that it had largely cracked the problem of predicting how proteins folds into unique shapes, a challenge scientists have been working on for 50 years. The discovery is expected to accelerate research into illnesses like cancer and Alzheimer’s, and could even help find solutions to climate change. Behind the project is DeepMind’s co-founder, Demis Hassabis. A former chess prodigy, Hassabis has always been captivated by games and the mental agility needed to play them. This fascination with the human mind inspired his determination to use artificial intelligence to solve the world’s problems.

Producers: Ben Crighton, Viv Jones
Editor: Rosamund Jones


SAT 19:15 My Dream Dinner Party (b08k48sq)
Ed Balls

The Strictly star and former MP hosts a gathering with a twist. All his guests are from beyond the grave, longtime heroes brought back to life by the wonders of the radio archive.

Ed is joined by former chancellor Denis Healey, comedy legend Les Dawson, feminist pioneer Nancy Astor, Hollywood great Danny Kaye and others, for half an hour of mesmerising and unexpected conversation. They talk with him and with each other about everything from politics to cookery and from playing the piano to overcoming insecurity - illuminating a series of great lives, as well as the triumphs and vulnerabilities of a man who has gone from suffering rejection at the ballot box to becoming an unlikely national treasure via the Strictly dance floor.

Presenter: Ed Balls
Producers: Sarah Peters and Peregrine Andrews
An Open Audio and Tuning Fork production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 19:45 What Is a Story? (b061d24z)
History for the Record

Marina Warner explores History for the Record.

A look at the world of contemporary fiction. In the company of leading contemporary writers, she considers a story and story writing from a different angle.

Marina speaks with writers as diverse as Julian Barnes, Michelle Roberts, Fanny Howe, Marlene van Niekerk, Alain Mabanckou, Lydia Davis, Edwin Frank, Elleke Boehmer, Wen-Chin Ouyang, Daniel Medin, Nadeem Aslam and Laszlo Krasznahorkai.

There are questions around the boundaries between fact and fiction which Marina believes are central to any consideration of storytelling, since readers' pleasure depends so much on trust built up between the storyteller or writer and the audience.

With discussions on the reasons for writing, writers as witnesses and political interaction.

Marina was Chair of the Man Booker International Prize 2015 and the series draws on the expertise of the International Booker judging panel, the views of the shortlisted writers, as well as other key literary talent.

Producer: Kevin Dawson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio first broadcast in July 2015.


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m000cldn)
Mad Monks

Dominic Cummings was the latest in a long line of top advisers to British prime ministers who have themselves become the story and distracted attention from the often critical aims that different premiers have set for them.

James Naughtie, who has observed for decades the varied so-called "mad monks" who have been closeted in 10 Downing Street with their bosses, presents a history of these often colourful figures and the relationships which they have fostered - and broken.

From Marcia Williams (later Falkender) to Steve Hilton and from Alan Walters to Bernard Donoughue, he considers why so many emerged from the shadows of power to became well-known - in some cases, even notorious - for what they sought to do in the name of their political masters.

The programme reveals why these figures were appointed to their roles, what they achieved and what their legacies have been for their bosses, for the political parties and for effective government in Whitehall.

A critical party of the story is that the appointees have all said as much as about the prime ministers they served as they did about themselves. And in the programme James Naughtie assesses what aspects of their characters the "mad monks" revealed about their masters and explores episodes which showed the political - and emotional - strengths and weaknesses of the working relationships that were forged.

He concludes by offering some sage advice to future prime ministers on how to handle these advisers and determine their role.

Among those taking part: Robin Butler (former Cabinet Secretary); Bernard Donoughue (former head of the Number Ten Policy Unit); Sir Oliver Letwin (former Conservative Cabinet Office minister) and Stewart Wood (adviser to Gordon Brown).

Producer Simon Coates


SAT 21:00 Tracks (m000pwjx)
Series 5: Abyss

Abyss: Episode Six

By Katherine Chandler.

Part 6 of the conspiracy thriller's final series.

An odd detail on the uniform of a drowned soldier leads Helen further down the rabbit hole. At a military base in North Wales she finds a new companion and a warehouse full of secrets.

A gripping thriller, Tracks was the first drama to hit the top of the iTunes podcast chart back in 2017. It went on to win Best Sound (BBC Audio Drama Awards) and Best Fiction (British Podcast Awards). Now Tracks is back with a fifth and final 9 part series.

All four previous series of Tracks are available now in full on BBC Sounds.

Helen… Olivia Poulet
Freddy…. Jonathan Forbes
Tec…. Dino Kelly
Linda... Maria Pride
Irene… Heather Craney
The Assistant...Tom Mumford
Frances… Juno Robinson

Series created by Matthew Broughton
Directed by John Norton
A BBC Cymru Wales Production


SAT 21:45 Rabbit Is Rich (b09yfp66)
Episode 8

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 was the second in the series, published in 1971 and charted the end of the sixties - featuring, among other things, the first American moon landing and the Vietnam War.

This third book finds Rabbit in middle age and successful, having inherited his father in law's car business - selling newly imported Toyotas to the mass American market. But his relationship with his son Nelson was severely compromised by Rabbit's affair with Jill and her subsequent death has left them both wary of each other.

Published in 1981, Rabbit is Rich won Updike, among other awards, the Pulitzer Prize for fiction - and it's extraordinary how many of its themes continue to reverberate down to the present day.

Abridged by Robin Brooks
Read by Toby Jones
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 22:00 News (m000q3nz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 Moral Maze (m000pyb0)
Christmas 2020

The ethical calculation families across the UK have to make about seeing loved ones this Christmas could have far-reaching and potentially fatal consequences. The government has laid down the rules, but the moral choices lie between the gaps. Those who urge caution, even a postponement of Christmas, say it’s about taking personal responsibility to make everyone safe, and that it would be wrong to let our guard down now that the vaccine ‘cavalry’ is just over the other side of the hill. The other side of the argument is that, at the end of a terrible year, we deserve something to celebrate with family and friends, even if that means taking greater risks for a limited period of time. Do we have a right to Christmas? At what price? What is certain is that Christmas this year won’t be business as usual. So perhaps it is an opportunity to re-evaluate how and why we celebrate it? Some believe the pressure to conform to Christmas as we know it is psychologically bad for us. They are critical, sometimes for religious reasons, of what they see as months of build-up, driven by consumerism, all for a couple of days of rampant excess and dashed expectations, putting a strain on relationships. Is this a moment to reflect on the things that really matter; empathy for others over individualistic materialism? Others resist the call to simplify Christmas or to go back to its ‘original meaning’. Since time immemorial, Northern European cultures have celebrated a mid-winter festival, and before the Victorians re-invented Christmas, the season has always been somewhat raucous. Many think it should be a time of joyful celebration in the middle of dark nights and dark times; a gesture of companionship and welcome in modern, multi-cultural and multi-faith Britain. With Prof Linda Bauld, Ronald Hutton, Laura Perrins and Dr Steve Taylor.

Producer: Dan Tierney.


SAT 23:00 Quote... Unquote (m000pw7n)
Anna Ptaszynski, Steven Isserlis, Sophie Duker

Nigel Rees quizzes a host of celebrity guests on the origins of sayings and well-known quotes, and gets the famous panel to share their favourite anecdotes and quotes.

*Podcaster and television host Anna Ptaszynski, best known as co-host of the QI spin off show and podcast No Such Thing As A Fish
*Cellist Steven Isserlis, also known for his childrens' books, including Why Handel Waggled His Wig
*Comedian Sophie Duker, best known for her critically acclaimed stand up show, Venus

This is the 56th series of the popular humorous celebrity quotations quiz.

Producer: Ella Watts
Production co-ordinator: Gwyn Davies
Sound design: Hedley Knights
A BBC Studios Production


SAT 23:30 Poems at Dusk (m000pvdc)
Poet Theresa Lola is only 26 years old, but her work has always explored mortality. She's fascinated by our complex relationship with the final stage of life.

In this moving programme, Theresa meets poets in their twilight years, their thoughts and poems interweaving.

We hear from TS Eliot Prize winner George Szirtes, now 71, who uses his poems to retread the corridors of memory as he heads knowingly into the dusk. The American poet Alicia Ostriker explains that, as she's aged, the collapsing of both her body and her mind has inevitably found its way into her poems.

Poet and critic Peter Simonsen introduces us to the final works of WB Yeats who worked long into old age and strove to articulate the experience of physical decrepitude. Peter also offers us a haunting reading of the great Objectivist poet George Oppen's The Tongues. The sparse and fractured nature of the poem makes perfect sense when we learn that, at the end of his life, Oppen was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease which slowly but surely robbed him of the ability to speak and process words.

Our final encounter is with Sarah Yerkes, aged 102. Sarah spent decades welding vast metal sculptures until old age made such physical strains impossible. Despite being over a century old, her mind is as sharp as ever and she still actively writes. While Sarah remains passionate about poetry, the reality of life in old age means her poems are often filled with a sense of confusion and loss.

Sarah muses on the nature of the afterlife and, having concluded that dying is her next great adventure, reads one final poem - an elegy to herself.

Presenter: Theresa Lola
Producer: Brenna Daldorph
Executive Producer: Max O'Brien

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4



SUNDAY 06 DECEMBER 2020

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m000q3p7)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 The Creation of an Icon (m0001l7w)
Holy Perspectives

Iconographer and former Greek Orthodox monk Aidan Hart paints an icon of the angel Gabriel revealing to Mary that she will give birth to Jesus. Today he talks about the strange perspectives of the icon.

You can follow Aidan's painting on the programme's webpage. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001l7x

Producer: Phil Pegum


SUN 00:30 Short Works (m000q27d)
The Crongton Soup Kitchen

A heartwarming Christmas tale from author Alex Wheatle, about family, traditions and sibling rivalries. Brothers Des and Clifton need to settle their differences to honour their Christmas traditions.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000q3pg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000q3pq)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000q3pz)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m000q3q6)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m000q3k5)
St Nicholas in Harpenden

Bells on Sunday comes from St Nicholas in Harpenden. The church tower contains a ring of eight bells, cast by John Taylor’s foundry at Loughborough in 1990 using metal from six of the earlier ring, which dated from 1612. The tenor weighs just over fifteen hundredweight in the key of F sharp. The old tenor and fifth have been retained as Clock and Sanctus bells and are hung above the new ring of eight. We hear them ringing Stedman Triples.


SUN 05:45 Profile (m000q3nq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News (m000q3d6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b00sw4vh)
Finding Your Father

British-based Gospel singer and broadcaster Muyiwa Olarewaju tells the story of his search for a father. He was sent from Nigeria to Britain when he 10 years old. His father was shot dead in Nigeria and he never saw him again.

Muyiwa recalls standing on a London high street, with all his belongings in a black bin bag, wondering where to turn. He recounts how he met a church youth leader Emmanuel Mbakwe - now the national leader of the UK Apostolic Church - who adopted him and encouraged him to take up his career as a Gospel singer. This led to a deeper understanding of his spiritual father and eventual peace.

Muyiwa reflects upon the true sense of fatherhood, drawing on readings ranging from Nigerian author Chinua Achebe's classic "Things Fall Apart", to American Marilynne Robinson's "Gilead". He also draws on music and songs which reflect the theme of finding a father - including his own hit Gospel song "Safe In His Hands," recorded with his band Riversongz.

Producer: Kim Normanton
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:35 Natural Histories (b05w9lgt)
Fleas

Throughout history, human fleas have been one of our closest companions; the irritating bedfellows of everyone from kings and queens to the poorest in society. Brett Westwood discovers how the flea has been a carrier of disease, causing suffering on an enormous scale. But, despite being a danger and a pest, their proximity has led to us to try to understand them and find humour in them.

The esteemed British naturalist Dame Miriam Rothschild was one of the world's leading experts on fleas and led an investigation into how they propel themselves to such speed and distance from their minuscule frame. As parasites, their ability to jump onto hosts to suck their blood led to fleas being charged with sexual energy in the 16th century. Poets wrote entertainingly intimate poems of their jealousy that the flea could jump onto areas of a beautiful woman that they themselves would be unable to reach.

The comedic role of the flea continued into the era of the flea circus when they pulled miniature metal chariots several times their weight and their role as performers didn't end there - leading on into early cinema and even tourism. They may have been often overlooked but fleas have had a stark impact on our lives.

Revised and shortened repeat.

Archive Producer: Andrew Dawes for BBC Audio in Bristol


SUN 06:57 Weather (m000q3dg)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m000q3dm)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m000q3dr)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Christmas Appeal (m000q3dw)
The Radio 4 Christmas Appeal with St Martin-in-the-Fields 2020

The Revd Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, makes the Radio 4 Christmas Appeal on behalf of the work of St Martin-in-the-Fields with homeless people.

To Give:
- Freephone 0800 082 82 84.
- Send a cheque to FREEPOST St Martin's Christmas Appeal. (That’s the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope.)
Cheques should be made payable to St Martin-in-the-Fields Christmas Appeal.
- Or donate online via the Radio 4 website.

Registered Charity Number: 1156305


SUN 07:57 Weather (m000q3f0)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m000q3f3)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m000q3f7)
Cities of Promise - a place for nature

During this era of Covid the city seems to have been devalued as a place of human flourishing. Instead it's become a place of fear of contamination - a place to get away from, no longer a sought after place to live. But the biblical view is of a redeemed city, a place where human culture is valued alongside restored relationships - a place of beauty and worship of the living God. Such an understanding of the potential of the city might have inspired Sir Ebenezer Howard who, in 1920 founded Welwyn Garden City, a planned town that was intended to combine the benefits of city and countryside whilst avoiding the disadvantages of both. With the Rev Dr Rob Marshall, Rector of Digswell, Welwyn Garden City. Reading: Revelation 21: 22 - 22:5. Producer: Andrew Earis.


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m000q27z)
Edible Architecture

"Unusual conditions produce novel responses" writes Will Self. And Will's response is what he calls "edible architecture". Pounding the pavements with his son during lockdown, they imagine which of London's edifices would be most edible...were they to be made out of food, rather than masonry.

Producer: Adele Armstrong


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0sqd)
Greater Roadrunner

Michael Palin presents the greater roadrunner of south western North America. A cuckoo that can run at 20 miles per hour and snap up venomous reptiles might not seem destined for cartoon fame, but that's exactly what happened to the Greater Roadrunner.

The loud "beep-beep" call of the Warner Brothers cartoon creation, always out-foxing his arch-enemy Wile-E. Coyote brought this very odd member of the cuckoo family racing into the living rooms of the western world from 1949 onwards . Greater roadrunners live in dry sunny places in the south western states of North America, where their long-tailed, bushy--crested, streaky forms are a common sight. They will eat almost anything from scorpions to rats, outrunning small rodents and lizards and even leaping into the air to catch flying insects.

As it runs across the desert, the roadrunner's footprints show two toes pointing forward and two backwards. The "X" shape this forms was considered a sacred symbol by Pueblo tribes and believed to confound evil spirits because it gives no clues as to which way the bird went.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m000q3fc)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 09:45 Radio 4 Christmas Appeal (m000q3fh)
Making a Difference

Hugh Dennis reports on how your donations from last year's Radio 4 Christmas Appeal with St Martin in-the-Fields have been spent on changing the lives of homeless people through the work of The Connection at St Martin's in London, and how crisis grants from the Vicar's Relief Fund have helped secure housing or have kept vulnerable people in accommodation all around the UK. The appeal is now in its 94th year.

To Give:
- Freephone 0800 082 82 84.
- Send a cheque to FREEPOST St Martin's Christmas Appeal. Cheques should be made payable to St Martin-in-the-Fields Christmas Appeal.
- Or donate online via the Radio 4 website.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m000q3fm)
Writers, Caroline Harrington & Julie Beckett
Director: Gwenda Hughes
Editor, Jeremy Howe

David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Tony Archer ….. David Troughton
Harrison Burns ….. James Cartwright
Neil Carter ….. Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter ….. Charlotte Martin
Chris Carter ….. Wilf Scolding
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Will Grundy ….. Philip Molloy
Shula Hedben Lloyd ….. Judy Bennett
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Joy Horville ….. Jackie Lye
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Philip Moss ….. Andy Hockley
Gavin Moss ….. Gareth Pierce


SUN 10:54 Tweet of the Day (m000q3fr)
Tweet Take 5 : Coot and Moorhen

Coots are one of those birds easy to ignore, yet they are worth a second glance. These all-black birds are somewhat larger than its cousin, the moorhen, and easily identified on open water by a distinctive white beak and 'shield' above the beak, which gave rise to the phrase "as bald as a coot". Moorhens while looking similar have more colour about them, with a red and yellow beak and long, green legs, they prefer smaller bodies of water and wet areas too. As we'll find out in this extended Tweet of the Day, featuring wildlife presenter Chris Packham, ornithologist Dominic Couzens and nature writer Stephen Moss.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Andrew Dawes


SUN 11:00 Desert Island Discs (m000q3fw)
Professor Sir Jeremy Farrar

Professor Sir Jeremy Farrar is Director of the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation which funds scientific research. He is a member of Sage, the scientific group currently advising the government on Covid-19.

He is the youngest of six children and was born in Singapore. His mother was an artist and his father was a teacher, who worked around the world, and the family lived in New Zealand, Cyprus and Libya.

After struggling to win a place a medical school, he trained as a doctor in London and then moved to Edinburgh to work as a neurologist. He switched to public health and was for 18 years the Director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam, where he worked on infectious diseases, including the re-emergence of bird flu in 2004. He was knighted for services to global health in 2019, and is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Fellow of The Royal Society.

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor


SUN 11:45 Charisma: Pinning Down the Butterfly (b066zp9z)
Animal Magnetism

Franz Mesmer and the charismatic healing power of suggestibility.

Francine Stock attempts to pin down the alluring yet elusive quality of charisma.

The 18th century medical doctor, Franz Mesmer, was a European celebrity in his day. Francine Stock hears from historian of science Patricia Fara about Mesmer's use of so-called "animal magnetism" to heal - and wonders about Mesmer's erotic input. Meanwhile, the actor Simon Russel Beale reads some truly extraordinary contemporary accounts of Mesmer's impact in Britain and France.

Attempting further to understand Mesmer's healing powers, Francine also explores the charismatic power of the mesmeric or hypnotic gaze. The distinguished art historian, Richard Cork, shares his memories of the gaze of Pablo Picasso, while the illusionist, Derren Brown, frankly shares some professional secrets with Francine.

Producer: Beaty Rubens

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m000q3g0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m000pw82)
Series 73

Huddersfield Town Hall

The first of Tim Brooke-Taylor’s final two recordings of Radio 4's ‘antidote to panel games’ recorded in March this year comes from Huddersfield Town Hall where he and Rachel Parris are pitched against Tony Hawks and Marcus Brigstocke, with Jack Dee in the chair. Colin Sell provides piano accompaniment.

Producer - Jon Naismith.

It is a BBC Studios production.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m000q3fx)
The Secret Life of Chocolate. Part 1: Origins.

In the first of a two part chocolate special Dan Saladino explores the origins of cacao, from the bean's journey from central America to Europe and the rise of the chocolate bar.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m000q3g6)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m000q3gb)
Global news and analysis, presented by Jonny Dymond.


SUN 13:30 The Listening Project (m000q3gh)
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 (m000q27b)
GQT at Home: Squirrels and Sweet peas

Kathy Clugston hosts the gardening panel show. Anne Swithinbank, Matthew Pottage and Chris Beardshaw answer questions sent in by green-fingered listeners and the virtual audience.

This week, the panellists discuss gardening options for aspirational students, the perils of re-potting plants and how to deal with pesky squirrels in the garden. Chris Beardshaw also solves the curious case of popping sweet pea pods.

Away from the questions, Ashley Edwards tells you how to construct the perfect festive wreath, and Claire Ratinon interviews two young florists who are shaking up the industry.

Producer - Jemima Rathbone
Assistant Producer - Rosie Merotra

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 The Creation of an Icon (m0001m7t)
Shining with Divine Splendour

Day four in iconographer Aidan Hart's studio. As he continues to paint an icon he talks about transfiguration and how to use paint to create a divine light.

You can see how he creates the icon in the picture gallery on the programme's website. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001l7x

Producer: Phil Pegum


SUN 15:00 Drama (m000q3gp)
iPromise

By Martin Jameson

A quantum cryptocurrency audio heist movie and psychological tech thriller exploring the illusory nature of money itself.

Bit – real name Rebecca “Becky” Isobel Troughton, BIT, get it? – is in trouble. Big trouble. She’s only gone and hacked into US mainframes and brought the entire eastern seaboard to a standstill. And now she’s on everybody’s Most Wanted list.

But Bit is no hacking ‘gun for hire’. She’s driven by principle and she’s the very best at what she does. So when shady government organisations come knocking in a bid to secure her services, she just sends them packing. Well, sort of.

But there are some offers even Bit can’t refuse. Like the search for 494 million’s worth of missing iPromises - a brand-new un-hackable cryptocurrency that’s the sexy place to put your pennies.

But before Bit can even think about those 800 giant servers in the middle of an Icelandic wilderness, there are more pressing matters to deal with closer to home. Like finding a safe place to live and avoiding her estranged father. And why does she feel like she’s being followed?

In Bit’s head, the references to The Wizard of Oz keep stacking up, but we are definitely not in Kansas anymore.

Cast:
Bit & Infinity Bit ….. Tamara Lawrance
Kevin Straw ….. Jonathan Forbes
Tinaya ….. Skye Lourie
Leon ….. Gunnar Cauthery
Emir & Clive ….. Nabil Elouahabi
Frank & Grimmur Ekkert ….. Danny Sapani

Other characters are voiced by the cast

Sound design ….. Adam Woodhams
Mix ….. Steve Bond
Executive producer ….. Sara Davies
Directed & produced by Nicolas Jackson

An Afonica production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 16:00 Bookclub (m000q3gw)
David Vann - Legend of a Suicide

David Vann discusses his novel Legend of a Suicide with James Naughtie and this month's group of readers.

Legend of a Suicide is an intimate and profound account of a family tragedy, told in six linked stories that deal with the complicated misunderstandings between a son and his father, and describes the love, guilt and the painful understanding that begins to come with adolescence. When it was published twelve years ago this autobiographical work of fiction was lauded as a groundbreaker; based on the events in David’s own life, and the death of his father when he was just 13, Legend of a Suicide is a tough but beautiful read.

And in the novella at the heart of the book - the longest of the six sections – the reader is unlikely to forget what it's like to spend time in the loneliness of Sukkwan Island in Alaska.

To take part in future Bookclubs, email bookclub@bbc.co.uk

January 2021's Bookclub Choice : Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)

Presenter : James Naughtie
Interviewed Guest : David Vann
Producer : Dymphna Flynn
Studio Manager : Donald MacDonald


SUN 16:30 The New Lyrical Ballads (m000h0fh)
Lyrical Ballads, a collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge first published in 1798, changed the course of British poetry. Growing up in the Lake District, Wordsworth set out to use the everyday language he heard around him in his poems in order to make them accessible to a wider audience. Both poets drew inspiration from seeing a return to the original state of nature, in which people led a purer and more innocent existence The word Lyrical linked their poems to ancient rustic bards, while Ballad refers to an oral storytelling tradition. Both poets used rural life and country people as the subject of their poetry which was a marked shift from what had come before.

To mark the 250 anniversary of Wordsworth's birth, four leading poets Zaffar Kunial, Kim Moore, Helen Mort and Jacob Polley read new lyrical ballads inspired by the ideas in the original collection. Each of the contemporary poets have strong links to Cumbria and the Lake District and their poems give us a glimpse into life in the county now.

Produced by Lorna Newman and Susan Roberts
A BBC North production.


SUN 17:00 Generation Covid (m000pxqz)
What has the experience of children and young people living in the era of Covid-19 done for their mental health and wellbeing?

Mental health researcher Sally Marlow speaks to epidemiologists, clinicians, parents, and young people themselves to try to evaluate how the challenges of 2020 might have impacted our youngest and more vulnerable members of society. In a sector already in need of investment and refreshment, some have called the situation an imminent “second pandemic”, but is that really the case?

Epidemiologists have previously worked with door-to-door and school-based questionnaires to try to evaluate what younger people are going through, and this way have tracked the ongoing rise in numbers experiencing mental health needs. But those scientific tools of objective data gathering which are so crucial to determine mental health policy have not been available this year.

The lack of social contact and the closure of schools and youth groups, necessitated by lockdown measures, have also taken away much of mental health professionals’ ability to support the children and young people they work with. So both at the frontline and at a policy level mental health professionals have had to find new ways to work.

Some trends are coming through, and they are not positive.

But of more concern are the extremes of the scales. As with many aspects of our pre-Covid society, it seems it is the inequalities that are being magnified. Many vulnerable children and young are at increased risk, including those in mainstream schooling, and those who are being looked after by the state. And as with many physical diseases elsewhere in society, remote rather than face-to-face provision may be storing up problems for the future, as fewer and fewer satisfactory diagnoses can be made, and it’s not clear whether digital interventions can deliver the support needed.

Children and young people, as Anne Longford, Children’s Commissioner for England, tells Sally, are in need of their own Nightingale-scale moment.

Presenter: Sally Marlow
Producer: Alex Mansfield


SUN 17:40 Radio 4 Christmas Appeal (m000q3fh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000q3h2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 17:57 Weather (m000q3hb)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000q3hl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m000q3hv)
Stewart Henderson

Stewart Henderson chooses the best of BBC Radio this week.


SUN 19:00 Strictly Stories (m00057qv)
Charleston

When a long lost friend appears at Lisa's weekly Charleston class, it triggers flashbacks to their 80s heyday when they did aerobics together. But day-glo green leotards and stripey legwarmers aren't the only memories unearthed by this blast from the past.

Written by Bethan Roberts
Read by Jenny Funnell

Produced and directed by Kate McAll

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:15 Dot (b0bfxw6l)
Series 3

Dig for Victory!

By Ed Harris

The very idea of the 'countryside' fills Dot with horror, so when she finds herself recruited by the Women's Land Army to work the land, she sets about planning a great escape. Comic adventures in Ed Harris' witty and quirky wartime comedy.

Director . . . . . Sasha Yevtushenko.


SUN 19:45 The Hotel (m000q3j2)
12: Mother

Rebecca Root reads the next in Daisy Johnson's deliciously spine-tingling stories, set in a remote hotel on the Fens.

Today: a woman visits The Hotel in search of answers from her mother - who died a year before...

Reader: Rebecca Root is an actress, voice coach and transgender campaigner. She was rated 18th in The Independent on Sunday's Rainbow List 2014, which named her as one of the very few openly trans actresses in mainstream television.
Writer: Daisy Johnson
Producer: Justine Willett


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m000q27j)
What is the truth about the White Helmets who rescue bomb victims in Syria, and was one of their leaders, a former British soldier, murdered, or did he commit suicide? The presenter and producer of the Radio 4 podcast series Mayday answers listeners’ questions.

And the BBC’s daily consumer programme You and Yours is 50 years old. The editor explains to Roger Bolton how, after half a century on air, they never run out of material.

And two listeners review a programme where remarkable poetry is produced from a mental illness.

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

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m000q27g)
Hamish MacInnes OBE, José Padilla, Anne Rasa

Matthew Bannister on:

Hamish MacInnes, the mountaineer known as “The Fox of Glencoe”. He climbed the Matterhorn aged 16, made four trips to Everest and was a stalwart of the Glencoe Mountain Rescue team. He was also an inventor, coming up with an all metal ice axe and a collapsible stretcher for use in rescue operations. His services were much in demand as an advisor to big budget films like The Eiger Sanction, the Mission and even Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Professor Anne Rasa, an expert in animal behaviour who studied the matriarchal society of the dwarf mongoose and then set up a sanctuary for meerkats in the Kalahari region.

The Spanish DJ Jose Padilla who pioneered chill out music by providing a soundtrack to the sunset on Ibiza.

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: Final Ascent: The Legend of Hamish MacInnes, BBC 4, 01/11/2020; Singular Scots, Radio 4, 12/09/1991; A Time to Talk, Radio Scotland, 10/01/1974; The Eiger Sanction, The Malpaso Company/ Universal Pictures; Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Python (Monty) Pictures / EMI Films; Natural Selection: Mongoose, BBC Bristol, 25/10/1985; Jóse Padilla – An Ibiza Original, A Fact Magazine Documentary; Moments in Love: A History of Chillout Music, Radio 2, 01.05.2004


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m000q3jb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Christmas Appeal (m000q3dw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 My Name Is... (m000d7pg)
Natasha: Trying to find a black egg donor

Natasha is 38 and trying to have a baby. She's had four unsuccessful rounds of IVF and doctors have told her that it's highly unlikely she'll be able to use her own eggs. She needs an egg donor but her heritage is Caribbean and she can’t find anyone suitable. Natasha wants to find out why it’s so difficult to source a non-white egg donor and why there is such a taboo around egg donation within the black community.

Natasha talks with producer Ben Carter about her struggles as she embarks on a journey to try and find some answers. Along the way she meets Dr Edmond Edi-Osagie, a gynaecologist and reproductive medicine specialist, Helen George, a NHS psychotherapist and Yacoub Khalaf, a clinician and member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) who regulate clinics in the UK.

Producer: Ben Carter
Editor: Emma Rippon
Sound Engineer: Graham Puddifoot


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m000q3jl)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (m000q0zb)
Tom Burke on Orson Welles

With Antonia Quirke

Actor Tom Burke reveals how he perfected the voice of Orson Welles for his new film Mank, about the making of Citizen Kane.

Rob Savage explains how he made a horror movie called Host, when every member of the cast and crew were locked down in their homes and he directed them in his pyjamas and dressing gown.

Critic Pamela Hutchinson, the curator of a new season of Marlene Dietrich movies, picks her favourite Marlene moment.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b00sw4vh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 07 DECEMBER 2020

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m000q3jv)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m000py9j)
TEA

TEA: A dark history. Laurie Taylor talks to the historian, Seren Charrington-Hollins, about the exploitation, wars & intrigue at the heart of the history of that most 'British' hot beverage. Also, Sarah Besky, Associate Professor in the Departments of International and Comparative Labour & Labour Relations, Law, and History in at Cornell University, discusses her study of mass market black tea, one of the world’s most recognized commodities, and one which is still rooted in the colonial plantation.

Producer: Jayne Egerton


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m000q3k5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000q3kh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000q3kt)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000q3l4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m000q3lh)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000q3lw)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Sharon Grenham-Thompson

Perhaps one of the most widely distributed photographs ever was taken on 7th December 1972, out of the viewing window of a spacecraft headed towards the moon. Colloquially known as the Blue Marble Shot, this stunning photo of our planet is the result of an extraordinary combination of events.

It’s impossible to see the earth as a globe unless one is at least 20,000 miles away from it. For that globe to appear fully visible and illuminated by sunlight, one has to fly through a specific and relatively narrow corridor of space at a particular time. Only 3 humans have ever done that, thanks to the site of their lunar destination – the crew of the final Apollo mission. And one of them happened to be looking back towards earth at the critical moment and have the presence of mind to grab a camera for an unscheduled photograph.

It’s been described as the perfect picture of our shared home, depicting the Earth's “frailty, vulnerability, and isolation amid the vast expanse of space”. This picture was possibly the single most meaningful thing that the crew brought back from their mission.

Although NASA attributes the shot to all 3 members of the crew, there is no definitive answer as to who actually pressed the shutter. Tragically it was the cause of years of arguments between the crew members – perhaps symbolising our inability as humans simply to share. An inability that could be said to drive most of the difficulties we experience as inhabitants of our beautiful planet to this day.

Creator God may be reminded of the fragility and yet impossible beauty of all life; and may we not see our place on this earth as our right, but as our privilege.

Amen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m000q3m9)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


MON 05:56 Weather (m000q3mj)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0sry)
Snail Kite

Michael Palin presents the snail kite from the Florida Everglades. Unlike many birds of prey which are known for their speed and agility, the snail kite hunts at a leisurely pace, one which matches its prey; and here in Florida's swamps, it is on the lookout for the apple snail.

To pick them out of floating vegetation the kite has evolved long needle-like claws, and its slender, viciously - hooked bill is perfect for snipping the snails' muscles and winkling them out of their shells. Snail kites are common across wetlands in South and Central America, but rare in Florida where there are around one thousand birds. Drainage of these marshes has made them scarce, but popular with bird watchers.

It's easy to see why, because snail kites are striking birds with their orange feet and black and red bill. The males are ash-grey apart from a white band at the base of their tails. Females and young birds are browner and more mottled. In times of drought, they will eat turtles, crabs or rodents, but these avian gourmets always return to their favourite dish of, escargots.


MON 06:00 Today (m000q3d0)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m000q3d2)
Laughter

Why do we laugh? This is the question the evolutionary ecologist Jonathan Silvertown sets out to answer in his latest book, The Comedy of Error. He looks back at laughter’s evolutionary origins, and to the similarities and differences in humour across cultures.

The sell-out comic Sindhu Vee swapped a career in investment banking for one in comedy. She is an expert at exploiting cultural differences in her jokes, having been born in India, lived and studied in the Philippines and the US, before settling in the UK.

John Mullan holds up Charles Dickens as a master novelist who could switch with ease from tragedy to comedy in a sentence. In The Artful Dickens he explores the tricks and ploys the writer used and how his humour has stood the test of time.

Producer: Katy Hickman
Photograph by Matt Crockett


MON 09:45 How To Make The World Add Up by Tim Harford (m000q3d5)
Beware of your emotions

Tim Harford reads from his new book revealing how we can evaluate the statistical claims that surround us with confidence, curiosity and a healthy level of scepticism.

Statistics are vital in helping us understand the world. We see them in the papers and on social media, and we hear them used in everyday conversation. Yet we doubt them more than ever. But numbers – in the right hands – have the power to change the world for the better.

Tim argues that, contrary to popular belief, good statistics are not a trick, although they are a kind of magic. Good statistics are like a telescope for an astronomer, a microscope for a bacteriologist or an X-ray for a radiologist. If we are willing to let them, good statistics help us see things about the world that we would not be able to see in any other way.

Tim Harford is a senior columnist at the Financial Times and the presenter of Radio 4’s More or Less and Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy, as well as author of the best-selling The Undercover Economist.

In this first episode, Tim tells the story of the eminent Dutch art historian Abraham Bredius, who was tricked into believing a crude forgery was actually a lost masterpiece by Vermeer. Tim uses this cautionary tale to warn us of the power our emotions have to distort rational thinking.

Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
Read by Tim Harford
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000q3dc)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m000q3dh)
The Pursuits of Darleen Fyles: Series 10

Episode 1

It's the first day of school for Frankie, and mum, Darleen is very nervous. The family, including the cat, set off early but have some unexpected set backs on the way.
This innovative and delightful drama is created in part through improvisation with the leading actors, Donna Lavin and Edmund Davies, who themselves have learning disabilities.

Darleen - Donna Lavin
Jamie - Edmund Davies
Frankie - Beatrix Baxter
Mrs. Goode - Jenny Platt

Written by Esther Wilson
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris


MON 11:00 The Untold (m000q3dn)
Grace Dent presents a series documenting the untold dramas of 21st-century Britain.


MON 11:30 How to Vaccinate the World (m000q3ds)
Episode 4

Tim Harford reports on the global race to create a vaccine to end the Covid-19 pandemic.


MON 12:00 News Summary (m000q3dx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (m000q3f2)
Episode 1

Between life and death there is a library - The Midnight Library.

Nora Seed finds herself there and discovers that each book in the Midnight Library is an opportunity - to explore the lives she might now lead if she had acted differently, and to undo her regrets (of which she has many).

None of these lives is what she imagined.

As the librarian in The Midnight Library tells her, ‘Sometimes the only way to learn is to live.’ But what is the best way for Nora to live?

Episode One
Nora Seed lives quietly with her cat in Bedford. One evening things begin to go wrong - and they don’t improve the following day.

Matt Haig is the bestselling author of Reasons To Stay Alive and Notes On A Nervous Planet. An award-winning writer of books for children and young adults, he has written seven novels for adults. The Midnight Library was published in July 2017.

Writer: Matt Haig
Reader: Bryony Hannah
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


MON 12:18 You and Yours (m000q3f8)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m000q3fd)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m000q3fj)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


MON 13:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00sfgxd)
Ancient Pleasures, Modern Spice (1 - 600 AD)

Warren Cup

Throughout this week Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum in London, is exploring the ways in which people were seeking pleasure around the world 2000 years ago, from pipe smoking in North America to court etiquette in China. He starts with the Roman Empire and a silver cup that offers a rare glimpse into the world of sex in ancient Rome. The cup features such explicit images of homosexual acts that it was once banned from America and museums refused to buy it. The Warren Cup is now one of the British Museum's better known objects. In today's programme Neil examines the sexual climate of Rome. Just how was sexuality viewed at this time, and why were the Romans so keen to copy the Greeks? The historians Bettany Hughes and James Davidson help provide the answers.

Producer: Anthony Denselow


MON 14:00 Tracks (m000q7hh)
Series 5: Abyss

Abyss: Episode Seven

By Matthew Broughton

Episode seven of the conspiracy thriller's final series.

Helen gives up on her quest and hides away with Frances in her old house in Pembrokeshire. But sometimes the darkest dangers lurk inside.

A gripping thriller, Tracks was the first drama to hit the top of the iTunes podcast chart back in 2017. It went on to win Best Sound (BBC Audio Drama Awards) and Best Fiction (British Podcast Awards). Now Tracks is back with a fifth and final 9 part series.

All four previous series of Tracks are available now in full on BBC Sounds.

Helen… Olivia Poulet
Freddy…. Jonathan Forbes
Older Frances.... Scarlett Courtney
Frances.... Juno Robinson

Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production


MON 14:45 Welcome to the Quiet Zone (b05v7tp2)
Keeper of the Quiet

'The Keeper of the Quiet' - Chuck Niday takes Emile Holba out in his radio wave detector van, as he continues his exploration of 13,000 square miles designated 'the National Quiet Zone' - protecting the Robert C Byrd Telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia. Listening to deep space, using a giant telescope - the largest moveable technological object on land - 2.3 acres in size.

Imagine a place without mobile phones. Quiet isn't it. People still look at each other when they are talking. It's not a dream. It really exists.

Designated a radio wave free area in the 1950s, the area is home to two giant listening stations. One listens to deep space, as far back as milliseconds after the Big Bang - the Green Bank National Observatory; the other is Naval Communications, the NSA listening ear.

Hence the requirement, by law, for a radio frequency free zone since 1954.

Photographer Emile Holba, long fascinated with the edges of society, takes a trip into the Quiet Zone where the ability to listen in to moments after the creation of the universe, means the local population have sacrificed their connection to the outside world.

Producer: Sara Jane Hall.


MON 15:00 Counterpoint (m000q3fq)
Series 34

Heat 1, Series 34

The eclectic music quiz returns for a new series, with Paul Gambaccini in the question-master's chair. Music lovers from around the UK compete in the knockout tournament, with the aim of becoming the 34th official Counterpoint champion. Whether their specialism is in opera, jazz, chart music, modern classical, musical theatre, classic rock or R&B, there's something in the quiz to suit every taste. There are copious musical extracts to identify including some unfamiliar or surprising pieces alongside long-standing favourites.

Taking part in the opening show of the season are:
John Abramson, a solicitor from Woodford Green in Essex
Julie Tate, a retired teacher from Peterborough
Martin Warlow, a retired civil servant from Milford Haven in South Wales

Producer: Paul Bajoria


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m000q3fx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 Faith in Music (m000q3g1)
Thomas Tallis

Catholic composer Sir James MacMillan considers the faith lives of four very different composers.

Over the centuries, composers have created musical masterpieces which many listeners have come to regard as spiritual touchstones. For example, Tallis's motet Spem in alium, Wagner’s opera Parsifal, Elgar's oratorio The Dream of Gerontius, Bernstein's Mass. But what did these composers actually believe about God, faith, compassion, an afterlife and redemption? And do we need to share these beliefs in any way, to have a spiritual experience as listeners to their music?

Answers to these questions are complex, fascinating and challenging.

Thomas Tallis witnessed England's faith switch four times in his life, yet he cleverly survived without persecution to live into his 80s. He composed through the reign of Henry VIII who broke away from Rome to create the Church of England. Then, he had to totally switch his compositional style to please Edward VI. Mary I was a Catholic which signalled a return to earlier techniques. And finally, Protestant Elizabeth I required a different type of religious music again.

James MacMillan talks with conductors Harry Christophers, Peter Phillips and Suzi Digby about the sort of man Thomas Tallis must have been to not only survive the religious and political upheavals that he witnessed throughout his life, but also to compose some of the most magnificent English choral music ever written.

The programme features the following music by Tallis:
Salvator mundi
If ye love me
Gaude gloriosa Dei Mater
Puer natus est nobis
Lamentations of Jeremiah
Spem in alium

Plus: O Radiant Dawn by James MacMillan

Produced by Rosie Boulton
A Must Try Softer production for BBC Radio 4


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m000q3g7)
Grief

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on people's lives in so many ways including the way we are able to say goodbye to our loved ones. Funeral ceremonies and burial rites have had to adapt to these challenging times. But what impact has not being able to be with loved ones at their time of death or be at their funeral had on people. Have our feelings of loss intensified? What are the consequences for our ongoing sense of grief and remembrance? Ernie Rea and guests discuss the way in which religions can help people express their grief and remember those they have lost.

Producer: Amanda Hancox


MON 17:00 PM (m000q3gc)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000q3gk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m000q3gr)
Series 73

Huddersfield Town Hall

Tim Brooke-Taylor’s final recording of Radio 4's ‘antidote to panel games’ comes from Huddersfield’s Town Hall and see Tim and Rachel Parris pitched against Tony Hawks and Marcus Brigstocke, with Jack Dee in the chair. At the piano - Colin Sell.

The programme was recorded in March this year.

Producer - Jon Naismith.

It is a BBC Studios production.


MON 19:00 The Archers (m000q3gz)
Chris finds himself on edge and Eddie makes a new discovery.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m000q3h8)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m000q3dh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


MON 20:00 Apocalypse How (m000q3hk)
Death by DNA

Has DNA technology advanced so far that a rogue scientist, or even a biologically competent terrorist, could assemble a deadly pathogen from genetic sequences bought by mail order?

The complete genetic codes for some of nature's most lethal viruses, such as polio and smallpox, are publicly available. The technology for synthesising genes using this information has developed so fast in the past few years that it's not particularly hard to order fragments of the gene from commercial companies; and it's not very expensive either. Assembling the fragments into a complete live virus is hard, but researchers in Canada have succeeded with a pox virus, horsepox, and have published their results and methods.

Smallpox is one of the most deadly pathogens ever to strike humans. It was eliminated from the world in 1977, but now the door is open for it to be recreated in the lab, and even made resistant to the vaccines that we have for it. Little stands in the way of this other than the good sense of scientists, and the customer screening processes of DNA synthesis companies that sell genetic sequences. Is it time for the scientific community to rethink its approach to information, so that at least some of it remains unavailable to those with bad or foolish intentions?

Presenter/Producer: Jolyon Jenkins


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m000q0ys)
Belarusian Police – Behind the Balaclavas

Minsk, early December. A wall of masked men in black body armour, beating their truncheons on steel shields. In front of them stand women bundled in winter coats and teenagers wrapped in red and white flags. They’re singing a protest song once heard in the revolutionary shipyards of Gdansk a generation before - an anthem for democracy and change. For more than one hundred days these versions of Belarus have advanced and retreated - and now they seem locked in impasse. Despite sanctions, despite disapproval so loud that even foreign diplomats are demonstrating - the government of Alexander Lukashenko stands firm. For Crossing Continents Lucy Ash explores the world of the security forces that keep Lukashenko in power, peeling back the ubiquitous balaclavas to find the men and women beneath.

Producer, Monica Whitlock
Editor, Bridget Harney


MON 21:00 Art of Now (m000nv36)
Playing with the Dead

Art has long promised to transport us, to enable us to step outside ourselves and encounter experiences we never would otherwise. Now Jordan Erica Webber explores a possibility only video games can offer, a way to commune with long-dead friends and relatives, sometimes years after their deaths.

This experience has a familiar ring to it – finding a photo, a video, or a loved one’s notes scrawled in the margins of a book – but it’s also profoundly different, because in video games you can get to interact with your loved one, to play with their ghost.

Sometimes this is accidental: a deceased parent’s data left as a high score, a ghostly shape that races you to the finish line, or Artificial Intelligence storing some part of the person and surprising us with them later. But some game designers have memorialised loved ones in their art intentionally, like Dan Hett, who made a series of microgames about the loss of his brother Martyn in the Manchester Arena bombing, or Ryan and Amy Green who coded their son Joel into a video game character that has already outlived him.

Can you bear to beat the high score and erase that recording forever? And when do the Greens stop playing with Joel? This programme examines profound questions that have been posed in all kinds of art from poetry to sculpture to performance, and asks what it means when the ghosts are interactive.

Producers: Giles Edwards and Patrick Cowling


MON 21:30 Start the Week (m000q3d2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m000q3hz)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (m000q3f2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


MON 23:00 Loose Ends (m000q3j7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000q3jh)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



TUESDAY 08 DECEMBER 2020

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m000q3jr)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 00:30 How To Make The World Add Up by Tim Harford (m000q3d5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000q3k1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000q3kc)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000q3kp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m000q3l3)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000q3lf)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Rev Sharon Grenham-Thompson.

I’ve conducted many funerals across the span of my ministry, and I always see it as a serious duty, and a great privilege. Helping people to grieve is a tender and weighty responsibility. But, like most clergy colleagues, I seem only to have bid farewell to lovely, kind and generous people. What is it about us that hesitates to acknowledge in death that some folk simply…got on our nerves? Wound us up? There is a peculiarly British attitude that whispers in our ear, “Never speak ill of the dead.”

It’s true, the right of reply is not easily exercised from beyond the grave, and I don’t advocate wholesale character assassination, which usually speaks volumes about the assassin rather than the character in question. But I wonder if our inability to be honest about less palatable aspects of someone’s life means we never truly realise the value of what we might euphemistically call ‘difficult people’?

Whilst there’s never an excuse for bullying, rudeness or abuse, sometimes the proverbial grit in the oyster is just what we need to make us look at the things we take for granted. The biblical prophets of old were not exactly smooth talkers, with their admonitions about corruption and injustice. Jesus was killed for being a challenge to authority.

Sometimes that awkward so-and-so has a point. So may our prayer today be that we celebrate and value differences of opinion, allowing one another to be gloriously, grumpily human.

Amen


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m000q3lt)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0v8k)
Budgerigar

Michael Palin presents the wild budgerigar from Australia. Budgerigars are small Australian parrots whose common name may derive from the aboriginal "Betcherrygah' which, roughly speaking, means "good to eat" though it could mean " good food" as budgerigars follow the rains and so their flocks would indicate where there might be seeds and fruits for people.

Where food and water are available together; huge flocks gather, sometimes a hundred thousand strong, queuing in thirsty ranks to take their turn at waterholes. Should a falcon appear, they explode into the air with a roar of wingbeats and perform astonishing aerobatics similar to the murmurations of starlings in the UK.

Although many colour varieties have been bred in captivity, wild budgerigars are bright green below, beautifully enhanced with dark scalloped barring above, with yellow throats and foreheads. With a good view, you can tell the male by the small knob of blue flesh, known as a cere, above his beak.


TUE 06:00 Today (m000q3k4)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 Soul Music (m000q3kg)
Lean On Me by Bill Withers

An enduring classic which delivers a message of support and friendship. Never more so than in 2020 when it's been the musical backdrop to the Covid crisis in the UK, and at Black Lives Matter protests in the US.

Taking part:

Andy Greene, a senior writer at Rolling Stone magazine, tells the remarkable life-story of Bill Withers.

Composer, Neil Brand, explains how the simplicity of this track is what enables it to pack such a strong emotional punch.

Sara Morrell is a nurse whose version of Lean On Me, recorded quickly at home as a way of cheering-up colleagues, caught the attention of some big names in the music industry.

Sharmila Bousa organised a community flash-mob to show support to her local shops in Westbury-on-Trym which had suffered a spate of armed-robberies.

Arianna Evans has become a voice of the Black Lives Matter protests. She recalls a powerful moment at one of the Washington DC rallies where local singer, Kenny Sway, sang Lean On Me creating a memorable and much-needed moment of joy and unity.

Thanks to: Ian DeMartino who recorded the speech given by Arianna Evans; Zaranyzerak who provided the recording of Kenny Sway's performance; and to Tristan Cork who filmed the Westbury-on-Trym flashmob for Bristol Live

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Karen Gregor


TUE 09:30 NatureBang (m000q3ks)
Dragon Lizards and the Gender Spectrum

Sex is simple. Or so we're taught; animals can be male or female. But even the briefest glance at the animal kingdom tells us that this simply isn't true. Some creatures have only one sex; some have three; some have none at all. Some animals are two sexes at the same time; some flip flop between them when the time is right. When evolution came to solve the problem of procreation, she did it in a myriad of mind-blowing ways.

When it comes to humans, it's even more complicated - we have this thing called Gender, too. It's often defined as the social and cultural side of sex, distinct from the biological. But that's not the full story. Becky Ripley and Emily Knight travel back to the dawn of human culture, and into the tangled depths of our genetic code, to try and unravel why we are the way we are, and why it matters so much that we understand it all properly.

Featuring Professor Jenny Graves, geneticist at La Trobe University, and the writer and scholar Meg-John Barker.


TUE 09:45 How To Make The World Add Up by Tim Harford (m000q3l1)
Put words before numbers

Tim Harford reads from his new book revealing how we can evaluate the statistical claims that surround us with confidence, curiosity and a healthy level of scepticism.

Statistics are vital in helping us understand the world. We see them in the papers and on social media, and we hear them used in everyday conversation. Yet we doubt them more than ever. But numbers – in the right hands – have the power to change the world for the better.

Tim argues that, contrary to popular belief, good statistics are not a trick, although they are a kind of magic. Good statistics are like a telescope for an astronomer, a microscope for a bacteriologist or an X-ray for a radiologist. If we are willing to let them, good statistics help us see things about the world that we would not be able to see in any other way.

Tim Harford is a senior columnist at the Financial Times and the presenter of Radio 4’s More or Less and Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy, as well as author of the best-selling The Undercover Economist.

In this second episode, Tim argues that, when faced with a statistic, we should avoid diving straight into the maths and ask a simple question instead - what is actually being measured or counted here? When we know the answer to that question, we can start to think constructively about the numbers involved and avoid what he calls ‘premature enumeration’.

Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
Read by Tim Harford
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000q3lc)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m000q3lq)
The Pursuits of Darleen Fyles: Series 10

Episode 2

Jamie and Darleen were delighted with their daughter, Frankie's first day at school. However, things have taken a turn for the worse, amounting to just about everything going wrong. This comic and touching drama series is created in part through improvisation with the two leading actors, and inspired by true stories from parents with learning disabilities.

Darleen - Donna Lavin
Jamie - Edmund Davies
Frankie - Beatrix Baxter
Treena - Lorraine Ashbourne
Mrs. Goode - Jenny Platt

Written by Esther Wilson
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris


TUE 11:00 Don't Log Off (m000q3m3)
Series 12

Resilience

Alan Dein searches for the stories that connect us in a changed world. Inspiring and moving accounts of how the pandemic has changed people's lives on every continent. New series.

Today, Alan connects with Sakie in Myanmar, who tells of a heroic 24 hour journey from his remote village in order to save his mother’s life.

He also catches up with Maria Ester in Ecuador, who Alan first spoke to six months ago when it looked as if her family business was on the verge of collapse.

Alan also connects with Mursalina in Afghanistan, Mohammed in Gaza and Kenyan wildlife photographer Jahawi who describes the wonders of the underwater world.

Producers: Sarah Shebbeare & Laurence Grissell


TUE 11:30 My Albion (m000q3mh)
New Myths

In this final episode, Zakia Sewell considers enduring symbols of Albion - from Stonehenge to the union flag - asking whether a refreshed perspective on our nation's past might pave the way for a more hopeful future.

She talks with artists Jeremy Deller and Dan Guthrie; classical musician, Chi-chi Nwanuko; the author of a book on contemporary British myths, Nesrine Malik; sociologist, Ben Pitcher; and her best friend and trainee psychotherapist, Izz.

Produced by Zakia Sewell and Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m000q3ms)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (m000q3n1)
Episode 2

Between life and death there is a library - The Midnight Library.

Nora Seed finds herself there and discovers that each book in the Midnight Library is an opportunity - to explore the lives she might now lead if she had acted differently, and to undo her regrets (of which she has many).

None of these lives is what she imagined.

As the librarian in The Midnight Library tells her, ‘Sometimes the only way to learn is to live.’ But what is the best way for Nora to live?

Episode Two
Nora finds herself in the mysterious Midnight Library, but there is something very familiar about the librarian.

Matt Haig is the bestselling author of Reasons To Stay Alive and Notes On A Nervous Planet. An award-winning writer of books for children and young adults, he has written seven novels for adults. The Midnight Library was published in July 2017.

Writer: Matt Haig
Reader: Bryony Hannah
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m000q3n9)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


TUE 12:57 Weather (m000q3nk)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m000q3nt)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


TUE 13:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00sfgx2)
Ancient Pleasures, Modern Spice (1 - 600 AD)

North American otter pipe

The history of the world as explained through objects arrives in North America 2000 years ago and a stone pipe used in ritual. It is one of hundreds of pipes shaped as animals that were found in huge mounds in present day Ohio. Neil MacGregor pieces together the evidence for how these pipes were used. Tony Benn and the artist Maggie Hambling consider the allure of smoking from a modern perspective while Native American historian Gabrielle Tayac describes how the pipe formed a central role in traditional ritual and religious life.

Producer: Anthony Denselow


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m000q3gz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b00sg77z)
Lennon: A Week in the Life

By Dick Clement and Ian la Frenais, adapted by Lizzie Nunnery

December 1980. When just forty people turn up to John Lennon's memorial service in Liverpool, his old friend and promoter Sam Leach is forced to act. A true story with a huge heart.

Cast
Sam Leach ..... Tony Maudsley
Joan Leach ..... Joanna Monro
Debbie Leach ..... Lauren O'Neil
Janine Hobday ..... Laura dos Santos
Morris Tate ..... Bruce Alexander
Clive Inch ..... Craige Els
Kenny Stratton ..... John Shortell
Carol Stratton ..... Alison Pettitt
Billy Butler ..... Billy Butler
Traynor ..... John Biggins
Jonesy ..... David Seddon
Homeless man ..... Rufus Wright
Wooldridge ..... Nigel Hastings

Directed by Jessica Dromgoole

Tony Maudsley stars in Dick Clement and Ian la Frenais' tribute to a man, a town, a moment. John Lennon, Liverpool, December 1980.

The play draws together fragments of reportage from the time, interviews with Lennon himself, the true story of Sam Leach, the Beatles' first promoter, some of the greatest music of the twentieth century, with the fictional stories of two lost young people whose lives were transformed by the concert, and Liverpool's own Billy Butler, recreating his earlier self, to create a joyous celebration of life, music and community.


TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m000q3p9)
Silent Symphonies

Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures about listening to the music which lies beneath the surface of things - uncovering one woman’s secret musical rebellion and a sonic poem from audio artist Axel Kacoutié about mapping our differing experiences and associations with the world around us.

Production team: Eleanor McDowall
Producer: Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:30 The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry (m000q3pn)
Series 17

The Hamster Power Hypothesis

"How many hamsters on wheels would it take to power London?" asks Judah from Virginia in the USA. Rutherford & Fry return with engineering, ethics and economics to answer this electric query.

Smart grid engineer Lynne McDonald helps keep the lights on for 8.3 million homes and businesses across London at UK Power Networks. She explains how the kilowatt hours we see on our electricity bills relate to the thousands of gigawatt hours required when thinking about powering the whole of London. In theory, a hamster in a wheel might be able to produce about half a watt of power – enough to run a small LED light bulb.

Whilst the doctors argue the case on the resultant practicalities and ethics of even considering such a scenario – as, for example, the required cubic kilometre stack of hamster habitats would cover Canary Wharf – Royal Veterinary College researcher Zoe Davies points out some biological and anatomical home truths. As an expert in biomechanics currently investigating athletic performance in racehorses, she walks Adam through the impossibilities of using pretty much any animal, bird or insect as a source of power.

There may be one exception though: humans. Veteran lecturer of undergraduate chemistry for biologists and cycling enthusiast, Andrea Sella discusses whether human power might realistically work. We consider what this or other more realistic sources of renewable energy could mean for the future of our national grid.

Presenters: Hannah Fry & Adam Rutherford
Producer: Jen Whyntie
A BBC Audio Science Unit production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 16:00 Walks Like a Duck (m000l29v)
How do others see me?

My name is Louise. I’m a mum to Jacob, wife to Mark, and therapist and friend to many. I also live with a degenerative, muscle wasting disease - a type of Muscular Dystrophy.

A few years ago, my hospital consultant asked a medical student to describe my condition. “Well,” he said, “she walks like a duck.” After a stunned pause, my husband and I howled with laughter. While I doubt the hapless student received the same reaction from the horrified neurologist, his clumsy response provided the perfect title for this documentary series.

The premise is clear. I don’t see myself as a person with a disability, yet that’s what I am. I don’t spend much of my life thinking about disability, yet my mind is filled with it 24/7. I wouldn’t choose to listen to a programme about disability, yet that’s what I was desperate to make!

It’s because living a life full of dependency and loss, my voice - and the voices of others like me - are so often silenced, so feared is the mirror of human weakness that others see reflected in our bodies.

A year in the making, the audio recordings in this series skip from the micro - the exhaustion caused by picking up a box of dropped crackers (when my day’s energy must be meticulously budgeted) - to the macro, such as asking questions about our collective, fearful disregard towards the chronically ill.

Amid all of this, are the real, raw and sometimes amusing sounds of my daily routine - I do live with an 8 year old, after all! - and some personal reflections on the acute emotional and physical pain caused by my diagnosis. I've tried to be absolutely honest in a way that has occasionally been exposing for me, to tell you what my life is like living with a disability.

Episode 3: How Do Others See Me?
I haven’t always used a wheelchair, and I used to dance. In my student days, I lived on the fourth floor and backpacked round India. I wonder – now that my body is so much weaker and people watch me becoming increasingly dependent – how do I seem to them? I know how I feel when I see other people struggle. It’s hard to watch. At the time, it was a huge deal for me -using a stick, then a crutch, then a wheelchair, walker and scooter, feeling my identity in the eyes of others change and morph. In this episode I ask people who have known me the longest, and those I have only known for a little while, to be honest about how they see me.

Presented by Louise Halling, with thanks to her husband Mark and her son Jacob
Produced by Catherine Carr and Jo Rowntree
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
Photo © Muscular Dystrophy UK/Chris O’Donovan


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m000q3pb)
Katherine Parr, sixth wife of Henry VIII

In her book The Taming of the Queen, Philippa Gregory asks a simple question of her subject, Katherine Parr. Who would marry a serial killer?

Katherine Parr has been largely overlooked because she survived the monstrous Henry VIII, but she was a remarkable woman. She married four times, wrote books and successfully navigated the choppy waters of Henry's reign. In popular culture she's written off as matronly or nurselike. In fact she was younger than Anne Boleyn when she married the king, and died tragically in childbirth the year after he expired. She also may have inspired Elizabeth I.

Philippa Gregory is the author of the Taming of the Queen and the Other Boleyn Girl.
Suzannah Lipscomb is the author of The King is Dead: The Last Will and Testament of Henry VIII.

Future guests in the series include David Spiegelhalter, Diane Morgan and Rob Rinder

The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer in Bristol Miles Warde


TUE 17:00 PM (m000q3q0)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000q3q8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 Under the Lid (m000q3qg)
F.U.D.G.E

Consumer journalist Hugh Spatchport takes a long, judgmental look under the lid of modern society and answers big questions, uncovers huge conspiracies and exposes massive criminals.

This week, Hugh sets out to discover whether home made fudge really is home made.

Comedy featuring Henry Paker, Cariad Lloyd, Shivani Thussu, Mike Wozniak and guest starring This Country’s Paul Chahidi.

Written by Benjamin Partridge, Mike Wozniak and Henry Paker
Produced by Simon Mayhew-Archer

A Camden production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m000q3qr)
Chris’s paranoia threatens to overwhelm him, and Kirsty struggles with the prospect of moving.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m000q3qw)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m000q3lq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


TUE 20:00 Death of a Headmaster (m000q3r0)
On 8th December 1995, London headmaster Philip Lawrence was stabbed to death at the gates of his school as he tried to protect a pupil. His murder shocked the nation and led to politicians on all sides calling for urgent action on knife crime.

Broadcaster Edward Adoo was a former pupil and 25 years on he takes a very personal look at the life and legacy of a man who was a hero in the eyes of the public but who he knew simply as Mr Lawrence - his strict but scrupulously fair head teacher.

Edward talks to those who knew Philip Lawrence best to hear the impact his death had on them. He also talks to politicians and knife crime campaigners to ask whether all the subsequent initiatives to reduce knife crime have had any lasting effect. Or whether what should have been a watershed moment became just another lost opportunity to make a difference.

Presenter: Edward Adoo
Producer: Ellie Clifford

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m000q3r4)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted


TUE 21:00 All in the Mind (m000q3r7)
Programme exploring the limits and potential of the human mind.


TUE 21:30 Soul Music (m000q3kg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m000q3rc)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


TUE 22:45 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (m000q3n1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


TUE 23:00 Date Night (m0002z4w)
Episode 1

Semi-improvised comedy show written and performed by Marc Wootton with Catherine Tate, Monica Dolan, Katherine Parkinson, Hammed Animashaun, Ellie White and Jamie Demetriou. Together they portray a series of couples all embracing the modern phenomenon of date night.

DATE NIGHT, noun: A pre-arranged occasion when a couple who have been together for a long time commit to a regular night out in order to keep their relationship alive.

The series follows a collection of couples who are desperately trying to keep their relationship functioning by creating a weekly date night intervention. For some, the relationship is already broken, for others it's their pre-emptive strike in the hope of new-found longevity. More often than not, the stakes are high, involving children, careers and homes.

Date Night is written and created by Marc Wootton whose previous credits include High & Dry (Ch4), La La Land (Showtime), Shirley Ghostman (BBC) and My New Best Friend (Ch4).

Cast:
Richard/Barry/Patrick/Terry ….. Marc Wootton
Maddy ….. Katherine Parkinson
Rita ….. Ellie White
Carol ….. Monica Dolan
Terri ….. Catherine Tate
Narrator ...... Fi Glover

Sound Designers: David Chilton and Lucinda Mason Brown
Assistant Producer: James Peak
Producer: Anna Madley

A Black Hat production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000q3rh)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



WEDNESDAY 09 DECEMBER 2020

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m000q3rm)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


WED 00:30 How To Make The World Add Up by Tim Harford (m000q3l1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000q3rs)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000q3rx)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000q3s0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (m000q3s4)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000q3s8)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Sharon Grenham-Thompson

The second season of the BBC TV series ‘His Dark Materials’ seems to be delighting fans as much as the first. Adapted from Philip Pullman’s trilogy of novels, the fantasy drama takes its audience on a journey of epic proportions. The original books were award-winners; but they were also controversial for their implicit criticism of religion.

The title for the trilogy was taken from a line in John Milton’s epic poem, ‘Paradise Lost’, which was published in 1645; and the scope of Pullman’s imaginative creation seems to echo the vast sweep of Milton’s. Milton was himself a controversial figure: a fierce critic of what he saw as the Church’s corruption and misuse of power.

But whilst the target of both men’s wrath is in one sense very clearly the organised church, in fact a deeper reading of both reveals something much wider: that the true baddie lies in any institution or even individual that seeks to rule by control, or for personal gain. Absolute authority that allows no questioning is deeply questionable. And attempts to control the spiritual development of another is, at worst, abusive.

The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, wrote that we need regularly to be reminded of the god in which we should not believe – and perhaps the challenge for the church, and its members, today, is to rediscover a truth intended to set people free, and communicate that to a justifiably sceptical world.

Holy Spirit, whether today brings us a flash of the infinite, or simply the quiet dullness of the everyday, may we still recognise the eternal gift of possibility in every person and every moment.

Amen.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m000q3sd)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0vp4)
Mauritius Kestrel

Michael Palin presents the Mauritius kestrel from the island of Mauritius. Today the calls of several hundred Mauritius kestrels ring out across the forests and farmland of the island, so it's hard to believe that as recently as the early 1970s, only four birds could be found in the wild.

These smart chestnut falcons were almost wiped out by a cocktail of threats ...destruction of their evergreen forests, pesticides and the introduction of predators such as monkeys, mongooses, rats and cats. When a species is so critically endangered there aren't many options, and conservationists decided that their only choice was to take some of the wild Mauritius kestrels into captivity.

By 1993, 300 Mauritius kestrels had been released and by November of that year there were as many as 65 breeding pairs in the wild. Now the kestrels are back, hovering above the landscapes that nearly lost them forever.


WED 06:00 Today (m000q3sm)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 The Reith Lectures (m000q3sp)
2020: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value

From Credit Crisis to Resilience

Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England, takes us back to the high drama of the financial crisis of 2008, which ended a period when bankers saw themselves as unassailable Masters of the Universe. More than a decade on, how much have the bankers changed their ways? How far has the financial sector changed? Dr Carney says that we must remain vigilant and resist the “three lies of finance.” If we don’t, he warns, we will live with a system which is ill-prepared for the next crisis.

Presenter: Anita Anand
Producer: Jim Frank
Editor: Hugh Levinson


WED 09:45 How To Make The World Add Up by Tim Harford (m000q3sr)
Question the algorithm

Tim Harford reads from his new book revealing how we can evaluate the statistical claims that surround us with confidence, curiosity and a healthy level of scepticism.

Statistics are vital in helping us understand the world. We see them in the papers and on social media, and we hear them used in everyday conversation. Yet we doubt them more than ever. But numbers – in the right hands – have the power to change the world for the better.

Tim argues that, contrary to popular belief, good statistics are not a trick, although they are a kind of magic. Good statistics are like a telescope for an astronomer, a microscope for a bacteriologist or an X-ray for a radiologist. If we are willing to let them, good statistics help us see things about the world that we would not be able to see in any other way.

Tim Harford is a senior columnist at the Financial Times and the presenter of Radio 4’s More or Less and Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy, as well as author of the best-selling The Undercover Economist.

In this third episode, Tim examines the role of big data and algorithms in our lives in the wake of this summer’s furore over A Level and GCSE grades. He draws a fascinating analogy between the secret algorithms of big companies today and the secrecy of the doomed alchemists of the seventeenth century.

Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
Read by Tim Harford
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000q3st)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m000q3sw)
The Pursuits of Darleen Fyles: Series 10

Episode 3

The return of the award winning drama series; Darleen's day at her daughter's school ends in chaos, involving a runaway mouse!

Darleen - Donna Lavin
Jamie - Edmund Davies
Frankie - Beatrix Baxter
Mrs. Goode - Jenny Platt
Treena - Lorraine Ashbourne

Written by Esther Wilson
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris


WED 11:00 Apocalypse How (m000q3hk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]


WED 11:30 ReincarNathan (m0002mlh)
Series 1

Mayfly

Nathan didn't really nail life the first time round, so he's been reincarnated.Diane Morgan and Daniel Rigby star in this comedy about the afterlife, with special guest star Isy Suttie.

In this episode, Nathan's given a chance to get back to being human again - if he can live a good life in 24 hours as a mayfly.

Cast:
Diane Morgan - Jenny
Daniel Rigby - Nathan
Tom Craine - Librarian
Henry Paker - Basher and Mr Grimble
Freya Parker - Electronic Voice, Queen Bee, Susan, Dean
Isy Suttie - Amy
and featuring Jon Culshaw as the voice of David Attenborough

Writers: Tom Craine and Henry Paker
Music Composed by Phil Lepherd

Producers: Harriet Jaine and Jonno Richards
A Talkback production for BBC Radio 4


WED 12:00 News Summary (m000q3sy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (m000q3t0)
Episode 3

Between life and death there is a library - The Midnight Library.

Nora Seed finds herself there and discovers that each book in the Midnight Library is an opportunity - to explore the lives she might now lead if she had acted differently, and to undo her regrets (of which she has many).

None of these lives is what she imagined.

As the librarian in The Midnight Library tells her, ‘Sometimes the only way to learn is to live.’ But what is the best way for Nora to live?

Episode Three
Mrs Elm explains The Book Of Regrets, and Nora travels to her first alternative life.

Matt Haig is the bestselling author of Reasons To Stay Alive and Notes On A Nervous Planet. An award-winning writer of books for children and young adults, he has written seven novels for adults. The Midnight Library was published in July 2017.

Writer: Matt Haig
Reader: Bryony Hannah
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


WED 12:18 You and Yours (m000q3t2)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


WED 12:57 Weather (m000q3t4)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m000q3t6)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


WED 13:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00sfgx4)
Ancient Pleasures, Modern Spice (1 - 600 AD)

Ceremonial ballgame belt

Neil MacGregor's history of humanity as told through one hundred objects that time has left behind. This week he is looking at objects of leisure and pleasure around the world about 2000 years ago. How were we amusing ourselves back then? Today's object is a large stone belt, a heavyweight ceremonial version of the leather and fibre padding that was used in an ancient ball game in central America. This was a game with a rubber ball that dates back as far as three and a half thousand years ago - the world's oldest known organised sport. Neil offers up the rules of the game and describes how it connected players to the realm of their gods. The historian Michael Whittington considers the ritual aspects of the game while the writer Nick Hornby describes how sport straddles the emotional territory between the sacred and the profane.

Producer: Anthony Denselow


WED 14:00 The Archers (m000q3qr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Where This Service Will... (b0bclvxx)
Where This Service Will Connect

By Katherine Jakeways

Five months after they last met, Suzie turns up unannounced at David's office. The third instalment of this romantic comedy.

Suzie arrives at the swish reception of a London office block. She's wearing last night's clothes, her make-up is smeared, hair bedraggled. She's here to see David Edwards. He's not expecting her. But she needs his help to deal with the morning after the night before. Suzie and David have only met twice before - it's nearly two years since they sat next to each other on a train journey from London to Penzance. Both married, they shared an intense and unforgettable five and a half hours. Now, out of the blue, Suzie's landed in David's life again.

A romantic comedy from writer Katherine Jakeways. The Radio Times described Katherine as the 'new Victoria Wood' saying "her character comedy is so acutely observed and so sharp that it's in danger of causing permanent injury." Starring Rosie Cavaliero (Prey) and Justin Edwards (The Thick of It).

Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production.


WED 15:00 Money Box (m000q3t9)
Paul Lewis and a panel of guests answer calls on personal finance.


WED 15:30 All in the Mind (m000q3r7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m000q3tc)
Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works.


WED 16:30 The Media Show (m000q3tf)
Topical programme about the fast-changing media world


WED 17:00 PM (m000q3th)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000q3tk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:30 Sandi Toksvig's Hygge (m000q3tm)
Episode 2

‘Hygge’ (pronounced hoo-ga) along with ‘tak’ (the word for ‘thank you’ that we learnt from watching Borgen and other Scandi dramas) is one of the few Danish words to have become known to us in the UK.

It’s a word that means comfort, contentment and cherishing the simple pleasures in life. In lifestyle magazines it’s faux fur throws, cups of hot cocoa and scented candles; but to the Danish it has simpler and less commercial roots. As these cold Winter nights draw in after a difficult year of scant comfort, it feels like we all need some hygge and legendary Dane, Sandi Toksvig, will do her best to bring it to you.

Deep in the Danish countryside in her cosy wood cabin Sandi will explore the concept of hygge and the Danish way of life and welcomes celebrity guests who join her in front of the open fire to explore what brings them hygge. In this episode BBC News Broadcaster and Foreign Correspondent Clive Myrie talks about finding respite in Opera and Poetry, while comedian Bridget Christie talks about the joy of running and her comforting but miss-shaped radishes.

Guests for the series are Grayson Perry, Alan Davies, Sindhu Vee, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Bridget Christie, Clive Myrie, Professor Brian Cox, Zoe Lyons and presenters and podcasters Rose and Rosie . We look forward to you joining Sandi in her cabin (please bring biscuits).

Host...Sandi Toksvig
Producer...Julia McKenzie
Material for Sandi's script opening script... Charlie Dinkin and Simon Alcock
Production Coordinator...Carina Andrews
Sound Recordist and Editor...Rich Evans
A BBC Studios Production


WED 19:00 The Archers (m000q3q5)
Alice’s behaviour causes suspicion while Lily and Freddie’s birthday celebrations have an unexpected outcome.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m000q3tp)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m000q3sw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


WED 20:00 Grounded with Louis Theroux (p08ybstk)
11. Michaela Coel

Covid-19 hasn’t gone away and, due to travel restrictions, neither has Louis Theroux. In the second outing of his podcast series, he tracks down more high-profile guests he’s been longing to talk to - a fascinating mix of the celebrated, the controversial and the mysterious. They include Oscar-winning Hollywood director Oliver Stone… singer, songwriter and superstar collaborator Sia… outspoken and occasionally cancelled comedian Frankie Boyle… dancer and singer FKA Twigs… mental health campaigner and comedian Ruby Wax… ubiquitous TV presenter Rylan Clark-Neal… and more.

In the first episode of the new series, actor, writer and producer Michaela Coel talks to Louis about speaking in tongues, sexual consent and suffering from 'post-writum depression' after the success of I May Destroy You.

Produced by Paul Kobrak
Assistant Producer - Catherine Murnane
A Mindhouse production for BBC Radio 4


WED 20:45 Full Circle (m00026xg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:45 on Saturday]


WED 21:00 The Senses (m000qcqd)
Touch

Our skin contains millions of nerve endings and touch sensors that collect information about different sensations - like temperature, pressure, vibration, pain and send it to the brain for processing and reaction. But it’s when our sensory system goes wrong that we learn most about how our senses help us understand the world around us.

Neurologist, Dr Guy Leschziner, talks to Alison, whose nervous systems goes haywire after she eats delicious seafood whilst on holiday in Fiji. She discovers her fish is contaminated with ciguatera poison, turning her sense of temperature upside down, so cold becomes hot and the cold floor tiles burn the soles of her feet.

We hear from Dawn, whose damaged nerve triggers excruciating pain down the side of her face – illustrating how our senses can trick us about the source of our agony.

We meet Paul, who’s broken every bone in his body, yet never feels a jot of pain. His rare genetic condition, congenital insensitivity to pain, means his brain never receives signals warning of damage to his flesh and bones. And whilst a pain-free life might sound appealing, we find out it has serious physical and psychological consequences.

And through Rahel we learn about a lesser-known touch sensation, called proprioception. When it’s not working, it affects our coordination. And for Rahel, that means she struggles to stay upright when it’s dark.

Presenter: Dr Guy Leschziner
Producer: Sally Abrahams


WED 21:30 The Media Show (m000q3tf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m000q3tr)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


WED 22:45 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (m000q3t0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


WED 23:00 Felicity Ward - Appisodes (m000q3tt)
Series 2

Pregnancy

The return of the series in which Australian stand up Felicity Ward uses phone apps to help her cope with modern life. In the opening episode, Felicity purchases pregnancy app "Do it with Daisy" (played by comedian Lou Sanders).

With the aid of her trusty mobile phone can she navigate the challenges of pregnancy and download her way to some form of happiness?

Written and performed by Felicity Ward.
Script Editor: Gareth Gwynn
Production Co-Ordinator: Caroline Barlow
Producer: Adnan Ahmed

A BBC Studios Production.


WED 23:15 Matt Berry Interviews... (b0b89nq8)
Series 1

Kenneth Williams

Matt Berry presents a series of interviews with the greats of the stage, screen and music world.

This week Matt Berry brings you his interview with Kenneth Williams in the vestry of Warwick Cathedral in 1979. He was returning to Warwick to play a concert of organ music and allowed Berry an interview in between playing his favourite pieces.

Written, performed and edited by Matt Berry.

Produced by Matt Stronge.

It is a BBC Studios production.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000q3tx)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



THURSDAY 10 DECEMBER 2020

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m000q3tz)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


THU 00:30 How To Make The World Add Up by Tim Harford (m000q3sr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000q3v1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000q3v3)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000q3v5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (m000q3v7)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000q3v9)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Sharon Grenham-Thompson

In 1948, in the long shadow of the Second World War, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This milestone document is an attempt to underpin a vision of a connected world, establishing the equal worth and dignity of every human person.

As we mark World Human Rights Day today, we are living under the influence of another long shadow – that of the Covid pandemic. Whilst we may feel that the experiences of 2020 have left some positive marks on us, not least the valuing of those who undertake key roles in society, we are still in the stage of raw wounds.

The pandemic has exposed aspects of our world that we might prefer to ignore – inequality, injustice, prejudice. When people are feeling scared or threatened, when their stability is undermined, the natural reaction is to bring down the shutters, close others out, and defend one’s personal castle. Many of the world’s faiths and philosophies recognise this human tendency and seek to identify a counterpoint – the golden rule of treating others as one would wish to be treated oneself, if not better. The Christian ideal of service, of self-sacrifice, of community before the individual is one such example, rooted in Jesus’ exhortation to love one another.

Before we can do any post-pandemic rebuilding, we need to work out what it is that we are aiming for. The vision set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not a bad place to start, but that vision needs to take root in the soil of our everyday lives.

So Lord may today be the day that we resolve to fling the shutters open wide, actively seeking an opportunity to promote the dignity and worth of another.

Amen.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m000q3vc)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0skg)
Horned Screamer

Michael Palin presents the Venezuelan horned screamer. Soundling as if someone is using a giant plunger in the Venezuelan marshes, these are the mating calls of the Horned Screamer. They're sounds that only another Horned Screamer could love, but then screamers are very odd birds. Over the years ornithologists have struggled to classify them, modern thinking puts their closest living relatives as the primitive Australian Magpie Goose.

Protruding from its head is a long wiry horn made of cartilage, which could rightfully earn it the title of "unicorn of the bird world" Usually seen as pairs or, outside the breeding season in small groups in the marshes and savannas of the northern half of South America, as you'd expect from their name , they are very vocal and these primeval bellows which sound more cow like than bird like and can be heard up to 3 kilometers away.


THU 06:00 Today (m000q3lr)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m000q3m2)
John Wesley and Methodism

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss John Wesley (1703 - 1791) and the movement he was to lead and inspire. As a student, he was mocked for approaching religion too methodically and this jibe gave a name to the movement: Methodism. Wesley took his ideas out across Britain wherever there was an appetite for Christian revival, preaching in the open, especially the new industrial areas. Others spread Methodism too, such as George Whitefield, and the sheer energy of the movement led to splits within it, but it soon became a major force.

With

Stephen Plant
Dean and Runcie Fellow at Trinity Hall at the University of Cambridge

Eryn White
Reader in Early Modern History at Aberystwyth University

And

William Gibson
Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Oxford Brookes University and Director of the Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History

Producer: Simon Tillotson


THU 09:45 How To Make The World Add Up by Tim Harford (m000q3mc)
Keep an open mind

Tim Harford reads from his new book revealing how we can evaluate the statistical claims that surround us with confidence, curiosity and a healthy level of scepticism.

Statistics are vital in helping us understand the world. We see them in the papers and on social media, and we hear them used in everyday conversation. Yet we doubt them more than ever. But numbers – in the right hands – have the power to change the world for the better.

Tim argues that, contrary to popular belief, good statistics are not a trick, although they are a kind of magic. Good statistics are like a telescope for an astronomer, a microscope for a bacteriologist or an X-ray for a radiologist. If we are willing to let them, good statistics help us see things about the world that we would not be able to see in any other way.

Tim Harford is a senior columnist at the Financial Times and the presenter of Radio 4’s More or Less and Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy, as well as author of the best-selling The Undercover Economist.

In this fourth episode, Tim describes the contrasting lives of two of the 20th century’s greatest economists - Irving Fisher and John Maynard Keynes. Fisher was a teetotal vegetarian who married his childhood sweetheart; Keynes was a bisexual hedonist and part of the Bloomsbury Group. Both men failed to predict the Wall Street crash of 1929 but their reactions to it were very different and, Tim argues, a vital lesson to us all.

Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
Read by Tim Harford
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000q3mr)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m000q3mz)
The Pursuits of Darleen Fyles: Series 10

Episode 4

Darleen's tried just about everything to make life at school better for Frankie, but nothing's worked, until now. It involves a lot of fun for mum and daughter, even if it means lying to Jamie.

Starring Donna Lavin and Edmund Davies, actors with learning disabilities.

Darleen - Donna Lavin
Jamie - Edmund Davies
Frankie - Beatrix Baxter
Treena - Lorraine Ashbourne
Mrs. Goode - Jenny Platt

Written by Esther Wilson
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m000q3n7)
Syria's Soldiers of Fortune

The bitter war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Caucasian region of Nagorno Karabakh may have come to an end, but the business of fighting may continue for at least some of its combatants. There’s growing evidence that hundreds of soldiers in this war were mercenaries recruited from mostly rebel-held regions in northern Syria - even though that's strongly denied by Azerbaijan. In this week’s Crossing Continents Ed Butler hears testimony from a number of young Syrians, who say they fought in a war which in most cases they didn't realise they were signing up for. Some speak of shame at having to work this way – a symptom of the increasing economic desperation that's affecting the embattled regions of northern Syria where they live. Produced and presented by Ed Butler.


THU 11:30 Behind the Scenes (m000q3nh)
Es Devlin

Es Devlin has been described as a design polymath. She's best known perhaps as the go-to maker of spectacular rock concerts - eye-popping stage sets for Beyonce , Adele, Kanye West and U2 with their audiences of many thousands. Yet she's as happy and inventive setting the stage for opera or plays at the Almeida Theatre that seats 320.

We hear about how, as a designer, she goes about offering thrills with intimacy in the huge spaces and lifting the significance of a performance in the smaller venues.

We also find out how Es, during lockdown, has been working on projects that are less about live performance - the audience, she says 'is a temporarily extinct species' - and more about expression though art works and films. We sample, for example, the film commissioned by the Imperial War Museum to mark 75 years since the dropping of the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The film played out over the entire advertising screens of Piccadilly Circus for an open air , socially distanced crowd- a work that brought together British and Japanese accounts of those events.

We also see Es involved in a wonderful collision of ideas, film, music and archive staged on the roof of a multi-storey car park in London as the sun went down over the city.

Es invites us to her studio to meet her vital team of collaborators. Next stop, Miami for an installation of a huge mirrored maze.

Produced by Susan Marling
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4


THU 12:00 News Summary (m000q3nr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (m000q3p0)
Episode 4

Between life and death there is a library - The Midnight Library.

Nora Seed finds herself there and discovers that each book in the Midnight Library is an opportunity - to explore the lives she might now lead if she had acted differently, and to undo her regrets (of which she has many).

None of these lives is what she imagined.

As the librarian in The Midnight Library tells her, ‘Sometimes the only way to learn is to live.’ But what is the best way for Nora to live?

Episode Four
Nora discovers that marriage to Dan running a pub in the Oxfordshire countryside isn’t quite what she expected.

Matt Haig is the bestselling author of Reasons To Stay Alive and Notes On A Nervous Planet. An award-winning writer of books for children and young adults, he has written seven novels for adults. The Midnight Library was published in July 2017.

Writer: Matt Haig
Reader: Bryony Hannah
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


THU 12:18 You and Yours (m000q3p8)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


THU 12:57 Weather (m000q3pj)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m000q3ps)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


THU 13:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00sfgx6)
Ancient Pleasures, Modern Spice (1 - 600 AD)

Admonitions Scroll

Throughout this week, Neil MacGregor has been exploring pleasure and recreation across the world of 200 years ago. Today he arrives in China to explore a painting based on a poem that attempts to define the proper behaviour for women during the tumultuous time that followed the collapse of the Han Empire. This eleven foot long scroll offers a guide to manners along well established Confucian principles. Neil MacGregor tells the story of the scroll and finds out what it is was about women's behaviour that was so worrying men of the period. The historian Shane McCausland, the politician Charles Powell, and the Chinese art expert Jan Stuart help paint the picture.

Producer: Anthony Denselow


THU 14:00 The Archers (m000q3q5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (b0b9zfwz)
Operation Crucible

The Sheffield Blitz. On 12th December 1940 the city suffered 9 hours of sustained bombing as the Luftwaffe sought to destroy its heavy industry. Kieran Knowles' drama tells the story of 4 steelworkers who fled to what they hoped was the safety of the Marples Hotel. The stage play version has just returned from an acclaimed run at the 2018 Brits Off-Broadway season in New York.

Directed by Toby Swift

Operation Crucible began life as a stage play at the Finborough Theatre in 2013 before a sell-out run at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre in 2016 and then a season in New York in May/June this year.

Just before midnight on 12th December 1940, the Marples Hotel in the centre of Sheffield suffered a direct hit from a 500kg bomb, reducing it to rubble. Seventy people were killed; seven survived. The drama features 4 fictional characters caught up in the events of that night.

"as the four actors go through their characters' rituals of work and friendship...an entire civilization is conjured in homey, microcosmic detail. A world that might, in other contexts, feel mundane acquires the bright, searing poetry that illuminates things familiar when they're about to disappear forever." (NYT Critic's Pick) New York Times.


THU 15:00 Open Country (m000q3qd)
Kitty Macfarlane and the Somerset Levels

Singer-songwriter Kitty Macfarlane explores how the landscape of the Somerset levels has inspired some of her music, from clouds to curlew, bitterns to eels.

Kitty meets Gavin Pretor-Pinney of the Cloud Appreciation Society at Burrow Mump to talk about the importance of looking up, and to Steart Marshes to speak to Mary Colwell author of 'Curlew Moon' about the importance of wetland habitats to the local birdlife. She speaks to Andrew Kerr, Chairman of the Eel Sustainable Group about her work surveying eels and their extraordinary life-cycle, and in RSPB Ham Wall she reflects on the plight of the bittern and the meeting of mankind and nature. Plus there are exclusive live versions of Kitty's tracks 'Starling Song', 'Lamb' and 'Glass Eel'.

Producer: Toby Field


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Christmas Appeal (m000q3dw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Bookclub (m000q3gw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:00 The Film Programme (m000q3ql)
David Byrne

With Antonia Quirke

David Byrne discusses the film version of his Broadway musical American Utopia, which was directed by Spike Lee.


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m000q3qs)
Dr Adam Rutherford and guests illuminate the mysteries and challenge the controversies behind the science that's changing our world


THU 17:00 PM (m000q3qx)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000q3r1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:30 Sarah Kendall: Australian Trilogy (b0bgg3b6)
Series 2

One-Seventeen AM

Part 2: One-Seventeen AM.

"Good day, bad day, who can tell..."

Multi-award winning storyteller Sarah Kendall returns with more hilarious, gripping and moving stories.

This second volume of Sarah Kendall's Australian Trilogy, is one show in three parts. A collection of seemingly unconnected stories and memories, which, together, form a meditation on luck, survival and hindsight.

Scrolling backwards and forwards in time to different moments in her life, over the three parts Sarah creates an intricate montage, demonstrating the interconnectedness of life.

In this second part, Sarah is trying to be more positive. She tells us of a trip to the vets with the family's pet hamster, of a car accident she was in as a child, and of a day at a clinic with her son. And we find out that hamsters originate from Syria.

Written by Sarah Kendall & Carl Cooper
Performed by Sarah Kendall
Producer - Carl Cooper
Production Co-ordinator - Beverly Tagg
This is a BBC Studios production

Photo Credit - Rosalind Furlong

Series One of Sarah Kendall's Australian Trilogy-

Winner - Writers' Guild Award - Best Radio Comedy
Winner - BBC Audio Drama Award - Best Scripted Comedy (Longform)
Winner -Silver ARIA Award - Best Fictional Storytelling
Nominee - Chortle Comedy Awards - Best Radio Show
Nominee - Music and Radio Awards - Best Storytelling.


THU 19:00 The Archers (m000q3k3)
Helen is asked a shocking favour and will Gavin finally do the right thing?


THU 19:15 Front Row (m000q3r6)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m000q3mz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m000q3rb)
David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders explore major news stories.


THU 20:30 The Untold (m000p1td)
First Flight to Newquay

Grace Dent follows Cornwall Airport Newquay as it fights for survival during one of the most difficult periods in aviation history.

The Untold first visited the airport earlier in the year when the regional airline Flybe collapsed. Then the national lockdown forced the temporary closure of the passenger terminal.

Now the terminal has reopened for business, but the airport continues its struggle to remain viable. The Untold follows the airport’s director and staff over a tough summer, as well as speaking to one of the airport’s taxi drivers and the owners of the nearby airport hotel, the Smugglers' Inn.

Producer: Laurence Grissell


THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m000q3qs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


THU 21:30 In Our Time (m000q3m2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m000q3rj)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


THU 22:45 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (m000q3p0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


THU 23:00 The Likely Dads (m000q3rn)
Series 1

Episode 7 - Stories

Middle-aged father of twin toddlers Tim Vincent hosts this comedy panel show about modern day fatherhood. As ever, Tim is joined by regulars Russell Kane and Mick Ferry.

In the penultimate episode of the series, The Likely Dads discuss stories that they've told their children over the years, from being related to a World Cup winning South American footballer to little monsters that live in electrical fittings. They also discuss the story every parent dreads - the birds and the bees!

And they share some of the tall-tales their children have told them and how their kids subsequently reacted in the face of evidence to the contrary.

In a regular feature, Mick and Russell give their take on how they would handle hypothetical situations in the Dad-Off, and one of the Likely Dads is put to the test by trying to guess how their children answered a series of questions about their father.

Tim, Mick and Russell are joined by comedian and star of the BBC One Wales series The Tourist Trap Leroy Brito, and host of the Bisexual Brunch podcast Lewis Oakley.

Producer: Kurt Brookes
Executive Producer: Ashley Byrne

A Made In Manchester production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000q3rr)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



FRIDAY 11 DECEMBER 2020

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m000q3rw)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 00:30 How To Make The World Add Up by Tim Harford (m000q3mc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000q3s1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000q3s5)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000q3s9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m000q3sf)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000q3sh)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Sharon Grenham-Thompson

It’s no coincidence, I think, that we often describe our greatest moments in life as mountain-top experiences. I’ve climbed each of the so-called Three Peaks in the UK - Snowden, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis – and each one was a triumph as far as I was concerned. Particularly as a novice, I had to conquer far more than the physical demands of the walk to each summit – I found overcoming my fear of heights even more challenging. But that only made the achievement more exhilarating!

Mountaineers far more experienced than me will attest to their own version of the same thing – a Sherpa who made repeated ascents of Everest described summiting as like ‘stumbling into heaven’.

In times and cultures different to mine a mountain may be seen as the home of the deity, or even divine itself. In the Bible, God is often to be encountered on a mountain top – Moses receiving the law on Mount Sinai, Elijah defending his faith on Mount Carmel, Jesus seemingly transfigured on Mount Tabor. Monasteries and retreats have been built on top of mountains from Tibet to Tuscany.

Even if we live, as I do, in one of the flattest parts of the UK, knowing those mountains are there is comforting somehow. We may not consider that a deity lives in the sky, but the majesty of several thousand feet of rock still speaks to us of solidity, eternity, changelessness. In this uncertain world those are values worth discovering for ourselves, whether in religious faith or personal philosophy.

So God of Peace whatever personal mountain we climb each day, may we take comfort from knowing that even our struggle can bring us to a place of peace and transformation, a fleeting moment of heaven under the sky.

Amen.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m000q3sk)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0vb1)
Black Sicklebill

Michael Palin presents the black sicklebill of New Guinea. The black sicklebill is a breath-taking creature. It's a bird of paradise, and the male sicklebill's black feathers gleam with metallic blue, green and purple highlights. But his most striking features are a slender scythe-like bill, and an extremely long sabre-shaped tail whose central plumes can reach 50cm in length.

During courtship, he transforms his pectoral and wing feathers into a huge ruff which almost conceals his head and exposes an iridescent blue patch. Perching on a dead branch, he displays horizontally, looking less like a bird than a small black comet, all the while producing strange rattling cries.

It is thought that the Black sicklebill and its relative the Brown Sickle bill may have spooked the Japanese in the Second World War. Japanese forces had occupied the North coast of (Papua) New Guinea and during their push south to the capital, Port Moresby, had to cross the mountain territories of the sicklebills. It's said that on hearing the birds' courtship displays; they flung themselves to the ground, thinking that they were under fire from the Allies.


FRI 06:00 Today (m000q3gj)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m000q3fw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 How To Make The World Add Up by Tim Harford (m000q3gq)
Step back and enjoy the long view

Tim Harford reads from his new book revealing how we can evaluate the statistical claims that surround us with confidence, curiosity and a healthy level of scepticism.

Statistics are vital in helping us understand the world. We see them in the papers and on social media, and we hear them used in everyday conversation. Yet we doubt them more than ever. But numbers – in the right hands – have the power to change the world for the better.

Tim argues that, contrary to popular belief, good statistics are not a trick, although they are a kind of magic. Good statistics are like a telescope for an astronomer, a microscope for a bacteriologist or an X-ray for a radiologist. If we are willing to let them, good statistics help us see things about the world that we would not be able to see in any other way.

Tim Harford is a senior columnist at the Financial Times and the presenter of Radio 4’s More or Less and Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy, as well as author of the best-selling The Undercover Economist.

In this final episode, Tim urges us to take the long view of statistics and the way they are presented in the news. He suggests we consider the idea of the fifty year newspaper - topics that seemed earth-shattering to the daily newspapers of the time might not be mentioned at all, while huge changes in the world would scream from the front pages.

Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
Read by Tim Harford
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000q3gx)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (m000q3h5)
The Pursuits of Darleen Fyles: Series 10

Episode 5

The family face their fears in more ways than one; Jamie, whose terrified of water, daring to get into a swimming pool for starters.

Darleen - Donna Lavin
Jamie - Edmund Davies
Frankie - Beatrix Baxter
Stacy - Millie Kinsey
Treena - Lorraine Ashbourne

Written by Esther Wilson
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris


FRI 11:00 The Power of Three (m000q3hc)
Episode 2

Cole Moreton presents a deeply personal account of what it’s like to have and to be triplets, as his children Ruby, Josh and Grace turn 18 and prepare to leave home.

Cole and his wife Rachel tell the story of how they struggled to bring up the triplets, as well as a toddler, which left them at breaking point. We hear from experts and the experiences of other parents of triplets.

The series also examines how triplets can often think and feel differently to other children, facing challenges as they grow; school years can especially can be hard – retaining identity, and dealing with teachers and friends. At the end of this episode, life-changing A-Level results loom for Ruby, Josh and Grace.

A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 11:30 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! (m000cl3c)
Good King Senseless

Arthur sets about launching Malcom's singing career. Starting with Christmas caroling, a bigger stage awaits.

The attempted musical festivities are served up by Count Arthur Strong's Radio Repertory Company which includes his erstwhile protégé Malcolm (Terry Kilkelly) and a host of regular characters created by Mel Giedroyc, Alastair Kerr and Dave Mounfield. Dave, who played, among others, the much-loved characters Jerry and Geoffrey, sadly died in March 2020. His final Count Arthur recordings were two Christmas specials recorded in Autumn 2019, the first of which aired on Christmas Day 2019 and the second is yet to air. The 2020 hybrid return of the ever-popular family friendly sitcom is dedicated to his memory.

The long running series first aired on BBC Radio 4 in 2005 and ran for seven series until the former variety star transferred to BBC TV in his eponymous sitcom in 2013. A TV series that started out on BBC2 and transferred to BBC1, running for three series until 2017. The 52 episodes of Count Arthur Strong’s Radio Show! comprise seven series and ten specials since the programme first aired in December 2005.

Highlights include winning the Sony Radio Award for Best Comedy in 2009 and being voted as the Best Radio Sitcom by the British Comedy Guide in 2016, 2018 and 2019. The TV series also enjoyed wide critical acclaim and was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Sitcom and Best Comedy Writing, as well as getting the nod for three British Comedy Awards. In August 2019, Count Arthur Strong's TV sitcom featured in the top three of the Most Missed TV Shows of the 21st Century poll conducted in the Radio Times.

A Komedia 7Digital production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m000q3hm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (m000q3hw)
Episode 5

Between life and death there is a library - The Midnight Library.

Nora Seed finds herself there and discovers that each book in the Midnight Library is an opportunity - to explore the lives she might now lead if she had acted differently, and to undo her regrets (of which she has many).

None of these lives is what she imagined.

As the librarian in The Midnight Library tells her, ‘Sometimes the only way to learn is to live.’ But what is the best way for Nora to live?

Episode Five
To Mrs Elm’s alarm, there is a system error in The Midnight Library.

Matt Haig is the bestselling author of Reasons To Stay Alive and Notes On A Nervous Planet. An award-winning writer of books for children and young adults, he has written seven novels for adults. The Midnight Library was published in July 2017.

Writer: Matt Haig
Reader: Bryony Hannah
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 12:18 You and Yours (m000q3j4)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


FRI 12:57 Weather (m000q3jd)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m000q3jn)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


FRI 13:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00sfgx8)
Ancient Pleasures, Modern Spice (1 - 600 AD)

Hoxne pepper pot

Neil MacGregor's world history told through objects at the British Museum arrives in Britain at the time of the Roman collapse. Throughout this week he has been looking at how different cultures around the globe were pursuing pleasure, roughly 2000 years ago, from smoking in North America to team sports in Central America.

Today, Neil looks at how the elite of Roman Britain sustained their appetite for luxury goods and good living in the years before their demise. He tells the story through a silver pepper pot that was discovered as part of a buried hoard - hidden possibly by Romans on the run. He describes the ambitions of the elite in Roman Britain and how they satisfied their particular taste for pepper, with contributions from the food writer Christine McFadden and historian Roberta Tomber.

Producer: Anthony Denselow


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m000q3k3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (m000q3kf)
London Particular

Episode 2

By Nick Perry

While investigating a strange encounter with her missing brother on the London Underground, Alice is contacted by an oddball group of time-travel enthusiasts who are documenting London’s hidden gateways to the past. Late one night, they return with Alice to the "ghost station" where the encounter had taken place, and Alice finds herself transported to a bygone era where she learns an extraordinary secret about her own identity.

Alice . . . . . Scarlett Brookes
Alan . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr
Jill . . . . . Charlotte East
Jackie . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw
Lizzie . . . . . Emma Handy
Doctor . . . . . Roger Ringrose
Simon . . . . . Joseph Ayre
Kelechi . . . . . Stefan Adegbola

Pianist: Peter Ringrose

Director: Sasha Yevtushenko


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000q3kr)
GQT at Home: Episode Thirty-Four

Peter Gibbs is joined by a panel of horticultural experts - Matt Biggs, Humaira Ikram and Christine Walken - to answer questions sent in by listeners.

Producer - Daniel Cocker
Assistant Producer - Rosie Merotra

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 Radio 4 Christmas Appeal (m000q3fh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Sunday]


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m000q3l2)
Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to unsung but significant.


FRI 16:30 Feedback (m000q3ld)
The programme that holds the BBC to account on behalf of the radio audience


FRI 17:00 PM (m000q3ls)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000q3m4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:30 Dead Ringers (m000q3mf)
Christmas Specials 2020

Episode 1

Topical satire from Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis McLeod, Deborah Stephenson and Duncan Wisbey.

The writing squad for the series: Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain, Laurence Howarth, Sarah Campbell, Ed Amsden and Tom Coles, James Bugg, Jeffrey Aidoo, Alex Hardy, Athena Kugblenu.

Producer: Bill Dare. A BBC Studios Production


FRI 19:00 Front Row (m000q3mw)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (m000q3h5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m000q3n4)
Munira Wilson

Chris Mason presents political debate and discussion from Broadcasting House in London with a panel which includes the Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care Spokesperson Munira Wilson.


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m000q3nd)
Weekly reflections on topical issues from a range of contributors.


FRI 21:00 The Reith Lectures (m000q3sp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m000q3ns)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (m000q3hw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


FRI 23:00 Americast (m000q3p1)
Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel follow the aftermath of the US election.


FRI 23:30 Great Lives (m000q3pb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]