The BBC has announced that it has a sustainable plan for the future of the BBC Singers, in association with The VOCES8 Foundation.
The threat to reduce the staff of the three English orchestras by 20% has not been lifted, but it is being reconsidered.
See the BBC press release here.

Radio-Lists Home Now on R4 Contact

RADIO-LISTS: BBC RADIO 4
Unofficial Weekly Listings for BBC Radio 4 — supported by bbc.co.uk/programmes/



SATURDAY 28 MARCH 2009

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b00j9kgm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b00j9k3f)
Emma Kennedy - The Tent, the Bucket and Me

Episode 5

Emma Kennedy reads her account of family camping holidays from her childhood in the 1970s.

Emma, now 13, takes her final family camping trip to France. The perils of sunburn are nothing compared to the public humiliation that follows.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00j9kgp)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00j9kgr)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00j9kgv)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b00j9kgx)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00j9kgz)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Leslie Griffiths.


SAT 05:45 iPM (b00j9kh1)
The weekly interactive current affairs magazine featuring online conversation and debate.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b00j9kh3)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SAT 06:04 Weather (b00j9lpj)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (b00j9lpl)
Countryside magazine. Matt Baker investigates how the parklands and wetlands of the Lea Valley are being transformed for the 2012 Olympics into the largest urban park created in Europe for more than 150 years.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today This Week (b00j9lpn)
News and issues in rural Britain with Charlotte Smith.


SAT 06:57 Weather (b00j9lpq)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (b00j9lps)
Presented by John Humphrys and Edward Stourton.

President Obama has outlined a new strategy for fighting al-Qaeda and Taleban militants. Correspondent Barbara Plett describes the reaction in Pakistan.

Thousands of people march through London to demand 'jobs, justice and climate' ahead of the G20 summit. Jane Hadden reports from central London.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, has issued a warning that anyone who invades the country's commercial farms will be arrested. Wilf Mbanga, editor of The Zimbabwean newspaper, discusses whether the comments will bring conflict.

Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris has put forward a bill to amend the laws of succession. Correspondent Mark D'Arcy reports on the reaction in parliament.

Dr Sushil Wadhwani CBE and Sir Howard Davies of the LSE discuss the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King's performance during the economic downturn.

Reporter Sanchia Berg talks to three children about the appeal of the classic children's book 'Le Petit Nicolas'.

Thought for the day with Catherine Pepinster.

Professor Andrew Hunt discusses whether the new GCSE science exams reflect the content of the new courses.

President Obama has announced his new strategy for Afghanistan. Jason Burke, correspondent for the Observer, speaks to some of the troops there.

Brendan Barber, General Secretary of TUC, discusses the policy changes that a coalition of campaigners called 'Put People First' would like to see implemented after G20.

James Naughtie looks back at the events that led to Margaret Thatcher's victory over Jim Callaghan 30 years ago.

Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry Mike Batt discusses the problems faced by musicians due to lack of copyright protection.

Rape victim 'Rebecca' describes how she was treated by police. Brian Paddick, former Deputy Assistant Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, discusses the reasons for police failings in dealing with rape cases.

President Obama has announced that it will send funds to Pakistan to help build up the country's infrastructure in exchange for help in tackling terrorism. Author Tariq Ali discusses the plan.

Gordon Brown has been on a five-day, three-continent trip ahead of the G20 summit with the intention of drumming up support for his economic policies. Political editor Nick Robinson considers how successful he has been.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has hinted on television that Russian 'anti-terror' operations in Chechnya will soon come to an end. Professor Mark Almond discusses the President's remarks.

Professor Richard Wiseman and Dr Ciaran O'Keeffe, presenter of TV's 'Most Haunted', discuss people's enduring belief in ghosts.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b00jb1s5)
Real life stories in which listeners talk about the issues that matter to them. Richard Coles hears from a woman who sleeps with an ice crusher under her pillow thanks to a former lover who has been stalking her for 15 years.

There's a guerrilla report from Brad Moss - a practitioner of parkour, or street running.

Richard is also joined by Marc Koska, whose simple invention of a non-reusable syringe has saved millions of lives.

Plus the Inheritance Tracks of post-punk hero Jah Wobble, poetry from Elvis McGonagall and a returning studio guest - restaurateur, much-respected foodie and novelist Prue Leith.


SAT 10:00 Excess Baggage (b00jb1s7)
Sandi Toksvig explores the adventures, frustrations and joys of travel.


SAT 10:30 Wah! Wah! Wah! Waaaaah! The Comedy Scores (b00g0npk)
Huw Williams appraises classic comedy music written for film, television and radio.


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (b00jb1s9)
A look behind the scenes at Westminster with Matthew D'Ancona.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b00jb1sc)
BBC foreign correspondents with the stories behind the world's headlines. Introduced by Kate Adie.


SAT 12:00 Money Box (b00jb1sf)
Paul Lewis with the latest news from the world of personal finance. Including reports on the future of Scotland's largest building society and mounting anger over a new alternative to bankruptcy. Plus a look at the best cash ISA deals as the tax year draws to a close.


SAT 12:30 The Now Show (b00j8f4b)
Series 27

Episode 4

Comedy sketches and satirical comments from Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis and the team including Mitch Benn, Laura Shavin, Jon Holmes and Holly Walsh.


SAT 12:57 Weather (b00jb1sh)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 13:00 News (b00jb1sk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b00j8f4d)
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the topical debate in Dalston, Cumbria. Panellists are former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, shadow home secretary Chris Grayling, work and pensions minister Kitty Ussher and Daily Mail parliamentary sketch-writer Quentin Letts.


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b00jb1sm)
Jonathan Dimbleby takes listeners' calls and emails in response to this week's edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:30 The Complete Ripley (b00jb1sp)
Ripley Under Water

by Patricia Highsmith. Ian Hart stars as charming, cultured Tom Ripley, in Patricia Highsmith's classic thriller. Strange new neighbours show an overdeveloped interest in Ripley's past. Tom discovers they are not who they say they are but will his shady dealings be exposed after all?

Tom Ripley...Ian Hart
Heloise...Helen Longworth
Madame Annette...Caroline Guthrie
David Pritchard...William Hope
Janice Pritchard...Janice Acquah
Jeff Constant...Stephen Hogan
Cynthia Gradnor...Lizzy Watts
Policeman...Matt Addis

Dramatist Stephen Wyatt
Director Steven Canny
Producer Claire Grove.


SAT 15:30 Ken Clarke's Jazz Greats (b00j6xy1)
Series 7

Benny Goodman

Ken Clarke MP profiles great jazz musicians of the 20th century.

Clarinettist and bandleader Benny Goodman became known as the King of Swing. Brought up in extreme poverty in the Jewish ghetto of Chicago's South Side, by the end of the 1930s he had achieved the adulation of a modern-day pop star

There were reports of ballroom riots, jitterbuggers dancing in the aisles at his concerts and solemn words being written about how the nation's youth was being corrupted by his music.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b00jb1sr)
Highlights of this week's Woman's Hour programmes with Jane Garvey. Including Delia Smith on her life and career; women and sport; female ambassadors working in Russia and Spain.


SAT 17:00 PM (b00jb1st)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Carolyn Quinn, plus the sports headlines.


SAT 17:30 The Bottom Line (b00jb1ym)
Evan Davis asks his guests from car maker Nissan, baby retailer Mothercare and financial firm Barchester Group what they fear more, inflation or deflation.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00jb1yp)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (b00jb1yr)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00jb1yt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b00jb1yw)
Clive Anderson presents an eclectic mix of conversation, comedy and music.

Actor Ben Miller chats to Clive Anderson in the studio. With Moving Wallpaper, The Armstrong and Miller Show, The Worst Week of my Life and not quite a PhD in Quantum physics under his belt, Ben Miller reprises his role as Sir James Lester in the new series of Primeval.

Having starred in such successful television sitcoms as Only Fools and Horses, The Vicar of Dibley and most recently The Old Guys, Roger Lloyd Pack returns to the theatre to take the lead in George Bernard Shaw's biting fiscal satire Widowers' Houses in a production at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.

Prof Marcus du Sautoy imparts some of the wonder and power of mathematics - and in a new edition of Horizon is charged with enthusing QI's Alan Davies with a love of the subject and they set of on a mathematical road trip together.

Rachael Stirling talks to impressionist Jon Culshaw, who has impersonated Tony Blair, William Hague and Ozzy Osbourne.

Plus comedy from Tony Law, who is currently touring the UK, and music from 19-year-old singer and songwriter Jessica Lea Mayfield, with Kiss Me Again from her debut album With Blasphemy So Heartfelt.

And hailing from a horse farm along the banks of the Mississippi River, William Elliot Whitmore performs Hell or Highwater from his album Animals in the Dark.


SAT 19:00 Profile (b00jb1yy)
Richard Holbrooke

Mary Ann Sieghart profiles the American diplomat Richard Holbrooke, the US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He has a reputation for getting results, and from Asia to the Balkans, and from Germany to Wall Street, he has spurned old-style diplomacy, provoking praise and fury in equal measure. In his current role he is tasked with leading President Obama's new strategy for the war-torn region and seeking an exit plan for western troops.


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b00jb1z0)
The Damned United, A Single Swallow, and Dimetos at the Donmar Warehouse

Guests:
Journalist Jim White
Historian and former Cabinet Minister Roy Hattersley
Comedian Natalie Haynes

The Damned United
By 1974, the legendary football manager Brian Clough had taken Derby County from the bottom of the second division to the top of the first. Then he landed the job of managing his arch-rival’s team, Leeds United. 44 days later, he was gone.

Now writer Peter Morgan and actor Michael Sheen have brought to Clough the close-up, fiction-from-fact treatment they’ve already applied to Tony Blair and David Frost. Some of those involved cried ‘foul’ in response to the novelist David Peace’s take on this story. But how successfully have this new team tackled it?
The Damned United is on general release from Friday 27 March, certificate 15.

Five Minutes Of Heaven
In 1975, in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, a young Ulster Volunteer Force recruit shot a man he suspected of threatening Protestants. The man’s younger brother witnessed the killing. 33 years later, they have never met.

But in this new drama by Guy Hibbert, author of Omagh, a meeting between the two men is imaginatively played out, based on interviews with both of them. Liam Neeson plays the killer; James Nesbitt his victim’s brother.

Five Minutes Of Heaven is broadcast on BBC2 Sunday 5 April at 9.00pm.

Dimetos
In 1976, Paul Scofield starred in a new play by the great playwright of the anti-Apartheid struggle, Athol Fugard. But the play was an abstract departure from Fugard’s usual township terrain, and left many nonplussed.

Now the Donmar Warehouse in London has revived it, with Jonathan Pryce as Dimetos. So after the lukewarm critical reception for the Donmar’s West End production of Madame de Sade last week, have they plucked out another play better left on the shelf – or rediscovered a lost classic?

Dimetos at the Donmar Warehouse in London until 9 May.

The Collection
What links art and dance? Choreographer Siobhan Davies and gallery owner Victoria Miro’s new collaborative show aims to explore the connections between their two arts. The show features a machine that casts constantly changing shadows around a dance studio in south London, while in north London dancers dance in a gallery. And there’s a mirrored box festooned with coloured lights that stretch to infinity.

The Collection is at the Siobhan Davies Studio in south London and the Victoria Miro Gallery in north London until 9 April. Admission is free.

A Single Swallow
The thirtysomething writer Horatio Clare has chronicled the collapse of his parents’ attempt to relocate their marriage from London to a Welsh hillside, and his own later descent into drug use. Now he follows the swallows that sit outside his window in Wales from South Africa back to his home, in an attempt to finish growing up.

A Single Swallow is published by Chatto and Windus.


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b00h3x73)
Beat Mining with the Vinyl Hoover

Broadcaster Toby Amies digs into the archives to discover the value and significance of old vinyl.

He uncovers a network of dealers and buyers, supplying a community of 'crate diggers' and 'beat miners' and a world in which samples from records bought for a few pence in a car boot sale can provide the basis for a million-selling hit.


SAT 21:00 Classic Serial (b00j5tt9)
LG Gibbon - Sunset Song

Episode 2

Gerda Stevenson's dramatisation of the 1932 novel by Lewis Grassic Gibbon, set in north-east Scotland before and during the First World War.

After her father's death, Chris is determined to stay and work the farm alone if need be. Joined by Ewan Tavendale in marriage and on the farm, Chris gives birth to a son. But the outbreak of the First World War brings devastating change to her family, the rural landscape and the community.

Chris Guthrie ...... Lesely Hart
Ewan Tavendale ...... Finn Den Hertog
Chae Strachan ...... Douglas Russell
Long Rob ...... Matthew Zajac
Mistress Munro ...... Estrid Barton
Kirsty Strachan ...... Shonagh Price
Rev Colquohoun ...... Fraser Sivewright
Rev Gibbon ...... Keith Hutcheon

Directed by David Ian Neville.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b00jb1z2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SAT 22:15 Decision Time (b00j7524)
The BBC's Political Editor Nick Robinson shines a light on the process by which controversial decisions are reached behind closed doors in Whitehall. With a panel of inside experts, he examines the problems that future governments will face and hear the arguments about how they might be resolved.


SAT 23:00 Counterpoint (b00j6bbl)
Series 23

2009 Heat 3

From London, Paul Gambaccini host the music quiz with contestants from Surrey, Middlesex and Lincolnshire. From 2009.


SAT 23:30 Lost Voices (b00j9hng)
Series 1

Harry Fainlight: Soul on Fire

Poet Brian Patten explores the life and work of lesser-known or forgotten poets.

Harry Fainlight was a young man of rare promise when a trip to America to meet the Beat poets in the early 1960s changed his life forever. Brian discovers a life filled with distress, anxiety, affection and the most beautifully lyrical poetry.



SUNDAY 29 MARCH 2009

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b00jb8nr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SUN 00:30 Lent Talks (b00j7526)
The Eyes of God

Six well-known figures explore ideas of the absence of God from their own perspective.

George Pattison, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Oxford University, reflects on the benefits of God's absence.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00jc3cv)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 02:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00jc3cx)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00jc3cz)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b00jc3p6)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b00jc3p8)
The sound of bells from Tewkesbury Abbey.


SUN 05:45 Profile (b00jb1yy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b00jc3pb)
The latest national and international news.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b00jc3pd)
Feast and Famine

Writer and broadcaster Irma Kurts reflects on the human obsession with food.


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b00jc3pg)
Village Pigs

Adam Henson visits members of the Marton Pig Club, a community group raising 10 Berkshire pigs for meat.


SUN 06:57 Weather (b00jc3pj)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b00jc3pl)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (b00jc3pn)
Roger Bolton discusses the religious and ethical news of the week. Moral arguments and perspectives on stories, both familiar and unfamiliar.


SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b00jc3pq)
YoungMinds

Tanya Byron appeals on behalf of YoungMinds.


SUN 07:58 Weather (b00jc3ps)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b00jc3pv)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b00jc3px)
Journey into Taste

Observing Lent through the senses.

A service from Augustine United Church, Edinburgh, led by Rev Lindsey Sanderson of Action of Churches Together in Scotland.

Preacher: Kevin Franz, lead mental healthcare chaplain in Greater Glasgow.

With members of the Edinburgh Choral Union, directed by Michael Bawtree.

Organist: Morley Whitehead.


SUN 08:50 A Point of View (b00j9k7c)
The Speeding Judge

Clive James reflects on the downfall of a distinguished Australian judge, who was jailed for perjury after lying about a speeding offence.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b00jc3pz)
News and conversation about the big stories of the week with Paddy O'Connell.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b00jc3q1)
The week's events in Ambridge.


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b00jc3q3)
Sebastian Faulks

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the writer Sebastian Faulks. He is best known for his novel Birdsong, which told in shocking detail the misery of life in the Flanders trenches. It was published with little fanfare or glossy advertising and failed to win any major awards - but it became a literary phenomenon and a huge best-seller. He was inspired to write it after visiting the battlefields of the Western Front with some veterans of World War I. One old soldier held onto Sebastian's hand and recalled seeing his friend killed next to him and, for the first time for him, Sebastian says, the war emerged from the history books into real, tangible human experience. He concedes that he still struggles to get to grips with much of life. Writers, he says, are often trying to impose a structure on a world that they find generally baffling.

Favourite track: Miles by Miles Davis
Book: Remembrance of Things Past (Proust) by CK Scott Moncrieff (transl.)
Luxury: A wicket, cricket bat, net, an endless supply of balls and a bowling machine that can be set to replicate the style of any bowler


SUN 12:00 The Unbelievable Truth (b00j6bdt)
Series 3

Episode 1

4 Extra Debut. David Mitchell gets Lucy Porter, Chris Addison, Clive Anderson and Graeme Garden to tell lies with some truths. From March 2009.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b00jc3sw)
Omega 6

Sheila Dillon finds out how Omega 6 has come to dominate the Western diet and why it matters.


SUN 12:57 Weather (b00jc3sy)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b00jc3t0)
A look at events around the world.


SUN 13:30 Gangs, Guns and Families (b00hphbl)
Professor Jon Silverman takes a mother who grew up on the notorious Stonebridge Park estate in north west London, and now studies criminology, back to the estate to see the changes experienced by those who live there and the growing prevalence of knife and gun crime.

Suzella Palmer is about to complete a PhD on youth crime at the University of Bedfordshire. She has garnered much of her academic research from the experiences of her 16-year-old son Zane, who has spent time in prison for violent affray and mixes with people who carry knives and would not hesitate to use them.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00j8dk3)
Eric Robson chairs the popular horticultural forum.

Anne Swithinbank, Chris Beardshaw and Pippa Greenwood answer questions posed by gardeners in Devon.

To mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, Anne Swithinbank and Matthew Biggs, who trained there, return to what is regarded by some as the most important botanical gardens in the world.

Including the Gardeners' Question Time gardening weather forecast.


SUN 14:45 Ankle High History (b00jc3t2)
Mull

Mark Stephen uncovers Scotland's lost archaeological history.

In Strathconon, now an empty wilderness, amateur archaeologists have uncovered the remains of dozens of illicit stills. Mark hears stories from a time when mountains and glens were full of whisky smugglers.


SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b00jc440)
Something Fresh

Episode 1

First of a two-part dramatisation of PG Wodehouse's 1915 comic novel.

Two imposters infiltrate Blandings Castle, intent on recovering a valuable scarab which the dotty Lord Emsworth has unknowingly acquired from a dyspeptic American millionaire.

Ashe ...... Ioan Gruffudd
Joan ...... Helen McCrory
J Preston Peters ...... Hector Elizondo
Earl of Emsworth ...... Martin Jarvis
Aline Peters ...... Andrea Bowen
George Emerson ...... James Frain
Baxter ...... Jared Harris
Beach ...... Morgan Sheppard
Mrs Twemlow ...... Jill Gascoine
Miss Willoughby ...... Joanne Whalley
The Hon Freddie ...... Matthew Wolf
Mr Judson ...... Darren Richardson
Adams ...... Kenneth Danziger
Jones/Ferris/Porter ...... Alan Shearman
All the maids ...... Moira Quirk
Wodehouse ...... Ian Ogilvy

Directed by Martin Jarvis.


SUN 16:00 Open Book (b00jc4p6)
Tom Rob Smith and Donna Leon

Mariella Frostrup's guests include thriller writer Tom Rob Smith, who talks about his latest novel The Secret Speech. Plus a walk around Venice with Donna Leon, who explains how the city inspired the adventures of her detective hero Comissario Brunetti.


SUN 16:30 Lost Voices (b00j5ttf)
Series 1

Rosemary Tonks: The Poet Who Vanished

Poet Brian Patten explores the life and work of lesser-known or forgotten poets.

Rosemary Tonks published two slim volumes of poetry and a clutch of novels and then, towards the end of the 1970s, disappeared from public life. Brian explores the operatic drama of her work, which was hugely influenced by Rimbaud and Baudelaire, and shares his enthusiasm with other contemporary poets.


SUN 17:00 File on 4 (b00j72bb)
Torturers in the UK

Fran Abrams asks if Britain has become a haven for torturers, and investigates the case for new laws and tougher policing to prevent alleged human rights abusers from taking refuge in this country.


SUN 17:40 Profile (b00jb1yy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00jc4r8)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (b00jc4rb)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00jc4rd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b00jc4rg)
Peter Curran introduces his selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (b00jbrvt)
Jennifer's enjoying having Debbie around. She confides to her that the Matt situation's a mess, and will only get worse. Debbie advises her not to worry about what other people think. Lilian will bounce back, and Matt should back Brian so everyone knows he's not implicated. Though Debbie acknowledges it must be hard for Brian. At least she's responsible to Borchester Land and not just to Matt. She can't believe he hasn't resigned yet; it compromises BL's position.

At their meeting, Debbie suggests resignation to Matt, but he's having none of it.

Matt still can't get hold of Annabelle. Lilian warns him that Annabelle won't be the only fair-weather friend. He admits most of the board are cold shouldering him; he's lucky to have Lilian.

Finally Matt hears from Chalkman, and has a go at him for disappearing and leaving Matt to face the music alone. Chalkman insists it was for the best; he has a plan. However when he realises Matt may have sold him out his attitude changes and he makes a veiled threat, hanging up abruptly. Matt tells Lilian grimly that if Chalky does come back he doubts it will be to talk to the police.

Episode written by Mary Cutler.


SUN 19:15 Go4it (b00jc4tj)
Children's magazine. Barney Harwood is given a behind-the-scenes tour of the Wallace and Gromit A Grand Day Out exhibition at the Science Museum in London. The Museum, in partnership with Aardman Animations, aims to help the inventors of the future. Barney also finds out how inventions can be protected by the Intellectual Property Office.


SUN 19:45 Afternoon Reading (b008nwjv)
Portraits of East Anglia

Teeny Weeny Little World

Specially commissioned stories by local authors, inspired by paintings of the East Anglian landscape. Recorded in front of an audience in Halesworth, Suffolk, the readings are introduced by Neil Innes.

As a new school term begins, the recently appointed headmaster is making his mark with all sorts of changes - far too many for Mr Crowther's liking.

By DJ Taylor, read by Stephen Critchlow.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (b00j8djz)
Roger Bolton airs listeners' views on BBC radio programmes and policy.


SUN 20:30 Last Word (b00j8f46)
Matthew Bannister presents the obituary series, analysing and celebrating the life stories of people who have recently died. The programme reflects on people of distinction and interest from many walks of life, some famous and some less well known.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (b00jb1sf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 on Saturday]


SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b00jc3pq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 today]


SUN 21:30 Analysis (b00j7xgg)
Obama's Pentagon

Newsnight's defence correspondent Mark Urban asks if the Obama presidency will see substantial reform at the Pentagon.

During his campaign to become commander-in-chief, Barack Obama pledged to adapt 'US military capabilities for current, not Cold War, needs'. Mark looks at whether the 'small war' strategists, those promoting 'non-kinetic' approaches such as better intelligence gathering and nation building are going to win out over the traditionalists who believe that the defence of America still lies in investing billions of dollars in planes, tanks and ships.


SUN 21:58 Weather (b00jc4tl)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b00jc4tn)
Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster with Carolyn Quinn. Including The Prime Ministers.


SUN 23:02 The Film Programme (b00j8f48)
Francine Stock talks to Colin Firth about his new film Genova, a ghost story with a twist directed by Michael Winterbottom. Plus Rupert Wyatt, director of The Escapist, discusses the work of Jean-Pierre Melville and its influence on his prison drama.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b00jc3pd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 30 MARCH 2009

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b00jbgh5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b00j7520)
The Politics of Climate Change - New Capitalism?

The distinguished sociologist Professor Anthony Giddens elucidates the political complexities of combating climate change.

Could jobs be much more secure and long lasting than we’ve been led to believe? Laurie Taylor is joined by Professor Kevin Doogan, author of a book entitled New Capitalism? whose close analysis of the labour force in Britain and the United States shows a surprising continuity with the past. His thesis contends that, even with the present financial crisis, claims that the world of work has changed forever are little more that scare mongering.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b00jc3p8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00jbghw)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00jbgk5)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00jbgjs)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (b00jbh2c)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00jbhlm)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Leslie Griffiths.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (b00jbkfg)
News and issues in rural Britain with Anna Hill.


MON 05:57 Weather (b00jcdb5)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 06:00 Today (b00jbkgc)
Presented by James Naughtie and Evan Davis.

Environment analyst Roger Harrabin examines calls for the G20 summit to focus investment on the global climate problem.

Jill McGivering reports from Lahore on reports of gunmen attacking a police training academy in Pakistan.

Lord Smith discusses claims that 25 million people in England and Wales are already living in areas where there is less water available per person than in Spain or Morocco.

Diver Iain Easingwood and history writer Christy Campbell discuss the discovery of a German U-boat off the coast of Berwickshire.

Baroness Prosser discusses claims that the UK has the most unequal maternity leave arrangements in Europe.

Sanchia Berg reports on architect Lucy Bennett, one of the Today programme's 'Faces of Recession', who has managed to find work at a small practice on public sector projects.

Analyst Stephen Pope discusses if more money can solve the serious problems facing the US car industry.

The Dunfermline Building Society is the latest financial institution to ask for government help. Business editor Robert Peston gives details of the deal and Chairman of the Society Jim Faulds discusses why ministers have rejected the ideas to keeping the firm running in its current form.

The parents of murdered teenager Jimmy Mizen, Barry and Margaret, discuss why they believe the UK is losing its feeling for 'civility, fair play, fairness and safety' and becoming a place of anger, selfishness and fear.

Actor Dominic West and TV critic Andrew Billen discuss the success of television drama The Wire.

Peter Riddell of the Times and political editor Nick Robinson discuss the future of expenses for MPs.

Mike Thomson investigates claims of sabotage by the Kennedy administration on British exports in Cuba.

Film composer and conductor Debbie Wiseman discusses the life of French composer Maurice Jarre.

Alastair Leithead reports on the UN-backed trial of a former Khmer Rouge leader in Cambodia, Kaing Guek Eav - known as Comrade Duch - which opened in Phnom Penh last month.

Ray Mallon, chairman of the Centre for Social Justice, and Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at Kings College, discuss if the feelings of 'anger, selfishness and fear' are increasing.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (b00jcdb7)
With Andrew Marr.

If we think we are living ethically good lives, we should think again. This is the message of Peter Singer, professor of bioethics at Princeton University, who argues in his latest book, The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty, that giving a certain proportion of our income to fight world poverty should be an obligation, not an option.

Lord Stern was chief economist and senior vice-president of the World Bank from 2000 to 2003 and is currently the IG Patel Chair at the London School of Economics, heading the new India Observatory within the Asia Research Centre. He is optimistic about climate change and believes that if we act now, countries can unite to create a cleaner, safer world with less poverty.

Barack Obama has reinvigorated the art of oratory. Alan Yentob examines the history of rhetoric and investigates Obama's influences, from Cicero to the African-American Church.

Susan J Smith, director of the Institute of Advanced Study at the University of Durham, talks about the risky business of the housing market and how best to manage it. The majority of us hold most of our wealth in our homes and secure the majority of debts against property. But as the current crisis has shown, this comes with risks - house prices have fallen and repossessions are up. Should we simply try to repair the damage or are there more imaginative ways to handle housing systems?


MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b00jbkj5)
The Old Boys' Network

Episode 1

Tim Pigott-Smith reads the journal kept by Dr John Rae during his years as the headmaster of Westminster School from 1970 to 1986.


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00jbpbc)
Happiness; Geraldine Bedell

The nature and seeking of happiness discussed. Plus author Geraldine Bedell on how mothers handle teenage homosexuality, and changes to the state pension.


MON 11:00 Unseen Britain (b00jcdb9)
Episode 3

Peter White goes in search of those who monitor how we spend our money, where we travel and the state of our health, while remaining unseen themselves.

Peter meets forensic scientists and talks to them about their work. A 'questioned documents' specialist examines Peter's signature and reveals some of its secrets, and Peter also learns about some of the methods used to match crime scene marks with suspected shoes and tools.

Plus Peter Dean, a police doctor and television consultant, discusses real crime compared to what we see on TV programmes.


MON 11:30 Hazelbeach (b00853kb)
Series 1

Horse-Racing

Ronnie organises a trip to the races and Nick makes a startling discovery about the true nature of friendship.

Caroline and David Stafford's comedy stars Jamie Forman as Ronnie Hazelbeach.

Ronnie ...... Jamie Foreman
Nick ...... Paul Bazely
Chloe ...... Tracy Wiles
James ...... John Dougall
Harry ...... Simon Treves
Andrea ...... Liza Sadovy

Producer: Marc Beeby

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2007.


MON 12:00 You and Yours (b00jbrgm)
Presented by Julian Worricker.

Listener Dave Pope recounts his battle for NatWest to accept that his wife was no longer alive after she disappeared while back-packing in South America.

The Land Registry is insufficiently secure to stop ownership details of properties being changed without the knowledge of the genuine owners. Police are investigating 13 cases on Merseyside.

The Environment Agency is unveiling its 40-year strategy for water provision in England and Wales. It wants households to pay according to use, providing special tariffs for poorer customers are offered. But not all homes are suitable to have water meters installed.

The Nationwide takes over the failed mutual Dunfermline Building Society. Branches, good loans and deposits will be sold off, but the Treasury says it will take on one billion pounds of commercial property lending and acquired mortgage debt.

Organisers of the premier sailing event Cowes Week say it will take place - though costs will have to be cut - even if a sponsor can't be found. Previous sponsors Skandia have ended their association.

Nexus, operators of the Tyneside Metro, have decided to overturn a ban on mobility scooters on their trains, provided drivers agree to take a test. The ban followed incidents in which drivers had fallen on to the tracks at Metro stations.

Newspapers are cutting back on court reporting, which many Magistrates feel leads to widespread ignorance of the justice system.


MON 12:57 Weather (b00jbrrc)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 13:00 World at One (b00jbrrt)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


MON 13:30 Counterpoint (b00jcgx9)
Series 23

2009 Heat 4

From London, Paul Gambaccini hosts the music quiz with contestants from Kent, Surrey and the Isle of Wight. From 2009.


MON 14:00 The Archers (b00jbrvt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (b00jcgxc)
Sarah Naomi Lee - Dewey Eyed

by Sarah Naomi Lee

Philippa is a librarian from a long line of librarians. When her father dies and her mother loses her wits, Philippa tries the only language Vera understands, that of the Dewey cataloguing system, to guide her back to sanity.

Philippa ..... Olivia Colman
Vera ..... Sheila Reid
Sheila ..... Caroline Guthrie
Alistair ..... Paul Rider

Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.


MON 15:00 Archive on 4 (b00h3x73)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


MON 15:45 Into the Gap (b00jcdcs)
Episode 1

Poet Lemn Sissay observes Britain on the move at the Watford Gap motorway services, capturing its sounds and stories as he talks to people in transit.

A compulsive people-watcher, Lemn buys himself a coffee and observes modern Britons collide. Serenaded by the howls from arcade games and the quiet chit chat over burgers and cappuccino, the poet arrives for a 24-hour stint. He catches people in transit, but as they wait, the sound of the motorway still ringing in their ears, he wonders what fantasies, fears and fun will fuel their conversation.


MON 16:00 The Food Programme (b00jc3sw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Click On (b00jcgxf)
Series 4

Episode 4

Simon Cox with the latest developments in the world of IT. He explores the ways in which technology enhances collaboration and asks about the social impact of masses mobilised by the internet.


MON 17:00 PM (b00jbs0r)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00jbs23)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (b00jcgxh)
Series 3

Episode 2

David Mitchell hosts the game show in which panellists are encouraged to tell lies. With Simon Evans, Tony Hawks, Milton Jones and Johnny Vaughan.


MON 19:00 The Archers (b00jbrxc)
Susan's horrified when she sees Christopher's tattoo. He was doing so well being a farrier to the gentry... and what will Jennifer say? Chris counters that he's going out with Alice, not Jennifer. But Susan's adamant; he'll have to get rid of it.

Later Chris calls Susan's bluff - if she really wants him to get rid of it of course he will, but she'll have to pay. She's shocked at the expense, and when Lynda waxes lyrical about how romantic and traditional it is to have a reminder of someone embossed on your person, Susan relents. Chris can keep it.

Lynda's still on a quest to find a volunteer for the Gormley plinth. With Phil declining and Joe unsuitable, she puts up a notice in the shop.

Mike's really worried about Brenda, and suggests to Roy that one of them has a word with Tom. Roy thinks not; it's between them. But when Tom doesn't ask after Brenda Mike confronts him, getting a predictable response. Tom can't forgive Brenda for lying to him, and will never trust her again. Fearing he's made things worse, Mike begs Roy to talk to Tom, or Brenda will never forgive him.

Episode written by Mary Cutler.


MON 19:15 Front Row (b00jbs3y)
Presented by Mark Lawson.

As seven of Mike Leigh's early films for the BBC - including Nuts In May, Abigail's Party and Home Sweet Home - are restored and released on DVD for the first time, the British writer-director discusses making films for television (as opposed to cinema), creative freedom, and the limitations of digital technology.

Music critic Alexis Petridis joins Mark to discuss Richard Curtis' new film, The Boat That Rocked. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kenneth Branagh and Bill Nighy, the film is a celebration of the world of pirate radio ships in the 1960s, and the eclectic crew of DJs playing the music that defined a generation.

Midsummer Nights is a specially-commissioned collection of comedies, tragedies and tales of love inspired by operas and published to commemorate Glyndebourne Festival's 75th birthday. Written for lovers of fiction and opera alike, the collection is edited by Jeanette Winterson and includes stories by Andrew O'Hagan, Antonia Fraser, Joanna Trollope, Ruth Rendell, Jackie Kay and Sebastian Barry. Andrew O'Hagan and Jackie Kay - whose entries were inspired by Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and Janacek's The Makropulos Affair respectively - explain to Mark what it was about that particular opera that fired their imagination.

On 31 March 1949, the record label RCA Victor announced the creation of the 45rpm seven-inch single. Travis Elborough, who wrote the book The Long-Player Goodbye: How Vinyl Changed the World, dusts off some of his favourite classics and one-hit wonders as he reflects on the pleasure offered by the small vinyl disc over the last 60 years.


MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00jbpgs)
Daunt and Dervish

Episode 1

Another adventure for Guy Meredith's female private eyes, set in 1956.

Preparations for Josephine and Bill's wedding take a back seat when Daunt and Dervish get a phone call.

Josephine Daunt ...... Anna Massey
Susan Dervish ...... Sylvestra Le Touzel
Bill Mackie ...... Sean Scanlan
Katherine De Vere Cole ...... Tina Gray
Laura Stevens ...... Jill Cardo
Terry Stevens ...... Paul Rider
Lenny Davies ...... Robert Lonsdale
Waiter ...... Chris Pavlo
Newsreader ...... Dan Starkey
Operator ...... Janice Acquah

Directed Colin Guthrie.


MON 20:00 Document (b00jcgxk)
Leyland Buses, Cuba and the CIA

Mike Thomson presents the series using documentary evidence to throw new light on past events.

Mike examines allegations that CIA agents sabotaged consignments of British Leyland buses bound for Cuba in the 1960s. The British government's support of a deal to export hundreds of buses to the island, which was in the early days of its revolution, incensed the American government, which was trying to enforce its economic blockade. With anti-Castro rhetoric and communist fears mounting within the Kennedy administration, the CIA was given special powers to undermine the regime in Cuba.

Mike examines official papers which point towards concerns that the coveted Leyland buses had been sabotaged on Cuban soil or en route to Cuba. With 'spymania' in the air, these fears were heightened when in October 1964 a ship carrying 42 buses to Havana was struck by another ship on the Thames and sunk.

The programme investigates just how far the US was prepared to go to sabotage the Cuban economy and asks whether the CIA could really have sent the buses to the bottom of the Thames.


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (b00j7txw)
Ethiopia - Troubles Downstream

Peter Greste journeys down the Omo River from Ethiopia's central highlands to Northern Kenya where the lives of nearly half a million of the world's most remote tribespeople are threatened by a massive hydro-electricity project. The tribes, already fighting over increasingly scarce water and land, have warned that the dam could plunge them into an all-out struggle for survival.


MON 21:00 The Medicalisation of Normality (b00jcjc5)
Health journalist John Naish asks if we are turning normal human behaviour and normal stages in human development into medical conditions. It is estimated that 10 per cent of British people take anti-depressants and 10 per cent of American children take Ritalin to control their behaviour. It seems that a new mental illness is invented every week, covering every potential quirk in the human condition, such as Restless Leg Syndrome, Social Anxiety Disorder, Female Sexual Dysfunction and Celebrity Worship Syndrome.


MON 21:30 Start the Week (b00jcdb7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:58 Weather (b00jbs48)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b00jbvfv)
National and international news and analysis with Ritula Shah. As terror strikes Lahore again, is Pakistan out of control? President Obama tells US car makers they must try harder. And should politics stop being a vocation?


MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00jbvlt)
The Earth Hums in B Flat

Episode 1

Joanna Page reads Mari Strachan's magical story of a child detective, set in 1950s Wales.

Gwenni Morgan is 12 and flies in her sleep. One night she sees a body floating in a pool and wakes to find that Mr Evans has gone missing.


MON 23:00 Off the Page (b00j7ty0)
One Big Happy Family

Dominic Arkwright, John O'Farrell, Kathryn Flett and Andi Oliver discuss how family life shapes up to the ideal. From March 2009.


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00jc373)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Susan Hulme.



TUESDAY 31 MARCH 2009

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b00jbggd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b00jbkj5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00jbgh7)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00jbgjv)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00jbghy)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b00jbgm3)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00jbh2f)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Leslie Griffiths.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b00jbhlr)
News and issues in rural Britain with Anna Hill.


TUE 06:00 Today (b00jbkfj)
Presented by Evan Davis and James Naughtie.

Defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt assesses the mood in Basra as British troops prepare to withdraw.

Professor Peter Weissman discusses how the 'polypill', containing a cocktail of five potentially life-saving drugs, could halve rates of heart attacks and strokes in healthy middle-aged and older people.

Crimewatch recently aired an appeal to find missing chef Claudia Lawrence. Correspondent Danny Savage discusses how the detective leading the search said that, following the appeal, the police had received a number of 'very interesting calls'.

Former Sky TV executive Martin le Jeune and the BBC's director of strategy, John Tate, discuss whether the BBC's remit should be reduced.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams discusses why religious leaders are urging the G20 not to forget their commitments to the world's poorest people during the recession.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich is marking the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations made using a telescope by Galileo. Evan Davis meets the historian Richard Dunn, whose book, The Telescope - A Short History, has just been published.

Correspondent Mark Simpson reports on a night of disruption in Belfast.

Thought for the day with Canon Dr Alan Billings, an Anglican priest.

Author Arundhati Roy, who won the Booker prize in 1997 for her novel The God of Small Things, discusses her concerns that the Sri Lankan government is on the verge of committing genocide.

Major General Andy Salmon discusses the situation in Basra as the coalition prepares for the final withdrawal of UK troops from the country.

Marks and Spencer has announced that fourth quarter sales have fallen by 4.2 per cent. Executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose says that M&S is riding out the economic downturn.

Correspondent Sanchia Berg reports on how the recession has threatened plans for a World War II museum in North West London.

Standards Commissioner Dr Jim Dyer from the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh discusses what can be done about the expenses of Westminster politicians.

John Whiting of Price Waterhouse and Geoff Cook, chief executive of Jersey Finance, discuss exactly what tax havens are and what will happen if they are forced to change how they operate.

Reports from Libya and Egypt say a boat carrying more than 250 migrants to Europe has sunk. Rome correspondent Duncan Kennedy and Peter Schatzer, director of the International Organisation for Migration, discuss why people are desperate to get to Italy.

A computer virus that may have infected 15 million computers could break out on 1 April. Rupert Goodwins, editor of ZD Net, says experts fear it will cause problems.

NASA showcased a full-sized mock up of its Orion Spacecraft on the streets of Washington DC on Monday. Professor Colin Pillinger discusses why we want to get to the moon again.

James Partridge, from the charity Changing Faces, and Professor John Sutherland of University College London, discuss the portrayal of disfigurement in the media, arts and literature.


TUE 09:00 Britishness (b00jcjjp)
Episode 1

Matthew d'Ancona explores the meaning of 'Britishness'. Is it the glue that can hold us all together or just a word that has lost its meaning?


TUE 09:30 The Prime Ministers (b00jck84)
Series 1

David Lloyd George

BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson explores how Britain's prime ministers have used their power, responded to the challenges of their time and made the job what it is today.

David Lloyd George, who led Britain in the First World War with a presidential approach.


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b00jbkkg)
The Old Boys' Network

Episode 2

Tim Pigott-Smith reads the journal kept by Dr John Rae during his years as the headmaster of Westminster School from 1970 to 1986.

When he was interviewed for the job, Dr Rae was not sure what stance he took on illegal drugs, but in a famously liberal school in the heart of 1970s London his battle against drug users was to become a constant challenge.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00jbpdm)
Childminding changes; Winifred Foley

Jane Garvey discusses the Early Years Foundation Stage on childminding. Plus psychotherapist Jane Haynes on her childhood, and the last interview with the late Winifred Foley.


TUE 11:00 The Men Who Fell to Earth (b00jck86)
Former paratrooper John McDonald tells the history of military parachuting.

He tells his own parachuting story, which ended in 1981 when he and his heavy equipment tumbled to earth.

John meets one of the last survivors of the ill-fated Operation Colossus, Britain's first ever airborne assault in February 1941, and a survivor of the last mass airborne paratroop drop over Suez.

He also considers the members of the so-called Caterpillar Club, the men and women who have had to abandon their stricken aircraft and make a jump for it.


TUE 11:30 Black Screen Britain (b00jck88)
Ambassadors for the Race

Burt Caesar presents two programmes exploring how British film and television drama from the 1950s to the 1970s portrayed the lives of African-Caribbean immigrants.

1: Ambassadors for the Race
Powerful screen dramas such as A Man from the Sun, Fable, Pool of London, Flame in the Streets and Jemima and Johnny first introduced British audiences to a new generation of black actors such as Cy Grant, Earl Cameron and Mona Hammond.

Producer Mukti Jain Campion
A Culture Wise Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b00jbpyn)
Call You and Yours

Presented by Julian Worricker.

Do you know enough about your neighbourhood?

As editorial posts go, local newspapers shut down and ITV announces a scaling back of its regional news output, we hear about the challenges facing local news.

With guests:
Dr Sarah Niblock, Head of Journalism at Brunel University
Ian Murray, Editor of the Southern Daily Echo.


TUE 12:57 Weather (b00jbrgp)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (b00jbrrf)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


TUE 13:30 Ken Clarke's Jazz Greats (b00jcltr)
Series 7

Milt Jackson

Ken Clarke MP profiles great jazz musicians of the 20th century.

Milt Jackson, known as 'Bags', was the first vibraphone player to perform in the bebop style of jazz. He was spotted at the age of 22 by Dizzy Gillespie and given a place in his band. His reputation grew from there, and he is perhaps best known for helping to bring jazz to a new concert-going audience during his 20-plus years as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet.

Vibraphone player Anthony Kerr sets Ken straight on Jackson, who he admits to having overlooked as a teenage jazz fan.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (b00jbrxc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b008gzlj)
Witness: Five Plays from the Gospel of Luke

Outsiders

Jesus's revolutionary teaching is gathering more and more followers. But the more he embraces the outcasts, the more he challenges the authorities.

In the week leading up to Easter, Nick Warburton's five plays reimagine Jesus's story through the eyes of those who witnessed it.

Jesus.......................Tom Goodman-Hill
Peter.......................Peter Firth
Judas.......................Paul Hilton
Andrew.......................Paul Copley
The Woman.......................Maxine Peake
Magdalene.......................Lorraine Ashbourne
Joanna....................... Rachel Atkins
Simon.......................Peter Marinker
Friend (of the Sick Man).......................Ben Crowe
Child....................... Poppy Friar

Music by David Pickvance.
Director: Jonquil Panting

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.


TUE 15:00 Home Planet (b00jclvs)
Richard Daniel and the team discuss listeners' questions about the environment and the natural world.


TUE 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00jclzh)
Opening Lines

Day Tripper

Series showcasing first-time and emerging writers.

A day trip to the seaside offers the chance of new beginnings for a mother and son. By Susan Elliot-Wright, read by Claire Rushbrook.


TUE 15:45 Into the Gap (b00jgyfg)
Episode 2

Poet Lemn Sissay observes Britain on the move at the Watford Gap motorway services, capturing its sounds and stories as he talks to people in transit.

Lemn discovers exotic tales from Africa, an arranged marriage in operation and a young soldier embarking on his first tour of Afghanistan.


TUE 16:00 Law in Action (b00jcq5f)
The Law on Murder

Clive Coleman asks why the government wants radical changes to the law on murder and on inquests in cases where the state is involved.


TUE 16:30 A Good Read (b00jcq5h)
Ann Widdecombe and Kate Humble

Sue MacGregor and her guests - politician and novelist, Ann Widdecombe and broadcaster, Kate Humble - discuss favourite paperbacks by Robert Harris, Christopher Wilson and John McGahern.

Imperium by Robert Harris
Publisher: Arrow Books

The Ballad of Lee Cotton by Christopher Wilson
Publisher: Abacus

Memoir by John McGahern
Publisher: Faber & Faber

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2009.


TUE 17:00 PM (b00jbryw)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00jbs0t)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


TUE 18:30 Cabin Pressure (b00ctl6w)
Series 1

Fitton

Sitcom about the pilots of a tiny charter airline for whom no job is too small, but many, many jobs are too difficult.

The crew are grounded, so Arthur shows the crew why apples are the secret of happiness and Martin shows Carolyn how to be an Air Hostess

Starring
Carolyn Knapp-Shappey ............................... Stephanie Cole
1st Officer Douglas Richardson......................... Roger Allam
Capt. Martin Crieff.............................. Benedict Cumberbatch
Arthur Shappey................................................. John Finnemore
Mr Goddard......... ............................................Adam G Goodwin
Helena Richardson........................................... Melisande Cook

Written by John Finnemore

Produced & directed by David Tyler

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (b00jbrx3)
Kenton's unhappy that Emma is leaving Jaxx. Kathy predicts he'll be very busy until he finds a replacement. It'll give him less time for stupid ideas like getting a tattoo. Ruth points out drily that at least it's cheaper than wanting a sports car. But Kenton seems determined to press ahead with the tattoo.

Kathy calls Lorna to ask if she had interviewed any candidates who might be able to replace Emma at Jaxx. And she also asks for a small favour.

Roy apologises to Tom for Mike's comments the day before. He asks Tom if there's any chance he and Brenda can work things out. Tom doubts it. He's in the biggest mess of his life financially and the person he trusted most in the world helped put him there. After all they've said to each other, he doesn't think there's any way back.

Brenda too tells Roy she fears Tom will never be able to sort things out with her. She's blown it. Later she tells Tom she's sorry she let him down. But she's assures him he'll find a way out. So many people believe in him; someone will be more use to him than she was.

Episode written by Mary Cutler.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (b00jbs25)
With Mark Lawson.

Novelist Wilbur Smith talks about a writing career stretching back four decades. His latest work is Assegai, set in British East Africa in 1913. The novel follows Leon Courtney, an ex-soldier turned professional hunter, as he uncovers a plot against the British involving the disenchanted survivors of the Boer War.

Sir Jonathan Miller reviews the new exhibition Madness and Modernity: Mental Illness and the Visual Arts in Vienna 1900 at the Wellcome Collection in London, which examines the relationship between mental illness, the visual arts and architecture in Vienna during the period 1890-1914. At the end of the 19th century, Vienna was one of Europe's leading centres for psychiatric innovation. As well as revolutionising his own field, the work of Sigmund Freud was a major influence on visual artists such as Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka, as well as modernist designers and architects such as Josef Hoffmann and Otto Wagner, who designed institutions for the mentally ill.

Critic and religious commentator Cristina Odone joins Mark Lawson to review the documentary film Religulous, which sees Borat director Larry Charles joining forces with political comedian Bill Maher to satirise religions from around the world. Interspersed with clips from religious films and other archive material, Maher seeks out the unlikeliest of believers and grills them on their faith, while reflecting on his own religious upbringing.


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00jbpv0)
Daunt and Dervish

Episode 2

Another adventure for Guy Meredith's female private eyes, set in 1956.

Daunt and Dervish might find it harder than they expected to have another word with Terry Stevens.

Josephine Daunt ...... Anna Massey
Susan Dervish ...... Sylvestra Le Touzel
Bill Mackie ...... Sean Scanlan
Eddie Turner ...... Chris Pavlo
Lenny Davies ...... Robert Lonsdale
Inspector Alderney ...... Jonathan Tafler
Ogilvy ...... Dan Starkey
Beryl ...... Janice Acquah
Teddy Boy ...... Inam Mirza

Directed by Colin Guthrie.


TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b00jcrqx)
Who stole my house?

Shari Vahl investigates the extent to which inadequate safeguards to property rights in Britain might be contributing to the theft of millions of pounds, as criminals 'steal' houses from under the noses of homeowners by exploiting the way Land Registry information is made available

File on 4 hears from victims living in mortgage-free homes who have been targeted by criminal gangs.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (b00jcrqz)
Peter White with news and information for the blind and partially sighted. In Touch debates definitions, such as when is a book not a book? We reflect on the row in America about whether e-books, which carry speech as well as text and can, therefore, be read by blind people, contravene its copyright laws. And why so many charities serving visually impaired people are changing their names and why the decision to carry a white cane has far more significance than waving a stick about.


TUE 21:00 Wasting Away in the Outback (b00jcrr1)
Nick Bryant travels into the Australian outback to explore the ethics of a deal which promises 12 million dollars to an isolated indigenous community in exchange for them taking on the government's nuclear waste.


TUE 21:30 Britishness (b00jcjjp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 21:58 Weather (b00jbs40)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b00jbvfx)
Presented by Ritula Shah. As the G20 meeting convenes in London, what are the hopes for the developing world? Plus does the new Israeli government represent a swing to the right?


TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00jbxhd)
The Earth Hums in B Flat

Episode 2

Joanna Page reads Mari Strachan's magical story of a child detective, set in 1950s Wales.

Gwenni starts her investigation of Mr Evans' disappearance by going round the village with a poster.


TUE 23:00 Arturart (b00jcrr3)
The High Summer of the Arturart Renaissance

Arthur Smith presents a series of three comedy lectures on different aspects of Art.

Arthur deconstructs the Renaissance and asks if it is time for a 'Re-Renaissance'. The artist of the week is Caravaggio, who was not a very nice man. With contributions from Miriam Elia, Phil Nice, Leslie Primo and Jessica Hynes.


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00jc36x)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with David Wilby.



WEDNESDAY 01 APRIL 2009

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b00jbggg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b00jbkkg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00jbgh9)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00jbgjx)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00jbgj0)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (b00jbgm5)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00jbh2h)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Leslie Griffiths.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (b00jbhlw)
With Charlotte Smith. Farming Today gets reaction to a survey which claims one in ten people are unable to identify a sheep. Of the 3,000 adults questioned in the study, 44 percent also couldn't spot an oak tree and 83 percent didn't know what a bluebell looked like. And Anna Hill is in Norfolk to find out what's being done to save the county's windmills and whether returning them to their original use is the only way to ensure their future.


WED 06:00 Today (b00jbkfl)
Presented by James Naughtie and Sarah Montague.

Stephanie Flanders explains how the structure of the IMF could change after the G20 summit.

Conservative MP Peter Luff discusses in what ways the Royal Mail could be made profitable.

A US marine has gone on trial accused of killing an unarmed captive in Iraq. Reporter Peter Bowes explains the charges of unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty.

Christopher Graham of the Advertising Standards Authority and Deborah Arnott of the charity Action on Smoking and Health debate whether an anti-smoking advert was too frightening for children.

Political correspondent Iain Watson reports on the difficulty MPs are facing as an inquiry into expenses is brought forward.

Europe editor Mark Mardell reports on French and German leaders' comments ahead of the G20 summit.

Film director Richard Curtis and cultural commentator Sarfraz Mansoor discuss which quintessentially British films would be suitable for Barack Obama to watch.

Thought for the day with Brian Draper, associate lecturer at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

Baroness Young and the Patients Association's Michael Summers discuss the introduction of the Care Quality Commission.

Political editor Nick Robinson, North America editor Justin Webb and Beijing correspondent James Reynolds discuss the prospect of international agreement on the financial crisis at the G20 summit and the possibility of 'unprecedented' levels of protests.

Science correspondent Tom Feilden reports on calls for primates to be reclassified as the same species as humans.

Jonathan Baume, of senior civil servants' union the FDA, discusses if civil service executives are being treated fairly.

Correspondent Aleem Maqbool reports on accusations from human rights groups that both Fatah and Hamas are guilty of widespread abuses of power.

Politician Tony Benn and journalist Matthew Parris discuss the best speeches given in the House of Commons.

Editor of Gramophone magazine James Inverne and cellist Julian Lloyd Webber discuss why one orchestra can be more inspiring than another.

Reporter Jack Izzard reports on the businesses based in London's financial district which could face major disruption. Bill Emmott, former editor of the Economist, discusses what he believes will be achieved by the G20 summit.


WED 09:00 Midweek (b00jd5pt)
KATE WATERS AKA KOMBAT KATE
Kate Waters aka Kombat Kate is one of only two women Fight Directors who choreograph fight scenes for stage actors. Her latest work has been on His Dark Materials (based on the triology of novels by Philip Pullman) at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre until 18th April, before beginning a UK tour.

WILLIE HARCOURT-COOZE
Willie Harcourt Cooze is passionate about chocolate and his dream is to produce the finest chocolate in the world. To this end he owns a cacao farm in Venezuela and a chocolate factory in Devon. A new series about his chocolate production starts on Channel 4 in April and his book Willie’s Chocolate Factory Cookbook is published by Hodder and Stoughton.

MARSHALL MARCUS
Marshall Marcus is Head of Music at the Southbank Centre and is responsible for putting together the forthcoming residency there of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. Their residency takes place from 14th –18th April.

JACK SHEPHERD
Actor Jack Shepherd is a very recognisable character actor but probably best known as TV Detective Charles Wycliffe . He is also an acclaimed playwright and director having directed several plays at the Globe theatre. His new play in which he also stars is called ONLY WHEN I LAUGH or A Class Act. It is at the Arcola Theatre in London from 14 April to 2 May.


WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b00jbkkj)
The Old Boys' Network

Episode 3

Tim Pigott-Smith reads the journal kept by Dr John Rae during his years as the headmaster of Westminster School from 1970 to 1986.

Harold Wilson wins the 1974 general election, but, as Dr Rae becomes increasingly involved in the national debate on education, it is inflation rather than politics that presents the sternest challenge.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00jbpdp)
Women hit by the recession; Manju Kapur; Anorexia

New research into anorexia discussed. Plus, Indian novelist Manju Kapur; the re-launch of The Lady magazine; and why women are being badly hit by the global recession.


WED 11:00 Revealing the Mind Bender General (b00jd5pw)
Reporter James Maw reveals what was happening in Ward Five at London's St Thomas' Hospital in the 1960s and 70s. There the man in charge, Dr William Sargant, developed his controversial Deep Sleep Treatment which took place in the hospital's Sleep Room. Sargant's work has been much admired in many quarters and yet some allege it turned some of those under his care into zombies and caused the deaths of four of his patients.

In the early 1970s one of these, Anne, was admitted suffering from post-natal depression. In the Sleep Room she says she was placed under 'continuous narcosis' - a drug-induced sleep - for six weeks. Each day, remembers Anne, in a semi-woken state she was given food, water and regular sessions of ECT. Sargant claimed his treatment was the ultimate cure for depression, Anne says she still suffers from depression and the treatment resulted in her memory being wiped clean; she still can't remember the birth of her children or the day she got married.

James Maw talks to supporters and detractors of Sargant: fellow professionals who worked under him in the late 1960s and to some of Sargant's former patients who say they are still suffering from his treatment to this day.


WED 11:30 Safety Catch (b0178ncg)
Series 2

Brothers in Arms

Darren Boyd is back as reluctant arms dealer Simon McGrath who is generally a nice chap - he just happens to work as an arms dealer, or 'Defence and security equipment system solutions broker' as he prefers to call it.

Whilst battling with his conscience he justifies to himself why five years on he's still in a job he just fell into - after all, what he really wants is to pursue is his career in electronic music. But until that takes off he'll stay where he is, and as his mother so eloquently puts it, "any job where you get your own desk and a hot dinner can't be all bad".

And so as we renew our acquaintance with Simon we find him, using his 'flair for original ideas' to go to extreme lengths to prove to everyone just how badly he feels about doing the job he does.

Series two of Laurence Howarth's black comedy of modern morality set in the world of arms dealing.

Simon Mcgrath..........................Darren Boyd
Anna Grieg...............................Joanna Page
Boris Kemal............................Lewis Macleod
Judith McGrath..........................Sarah Smart
Angela McGrath........................Brigit Forsyth
Madeleine Turnbull....................Rachel Atkins
Peter..........................................Gus Brown
Paramedic.....................................Philip Fox

Producer: Dawn Ellis.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2009.


WED 12:00 You and Yours (b00jbpyq)
Presented by Winifred Robinson.

Debtors say HFO has breached Office of Fair Trading guidelines by calling them incessantly, applying unreasonable charges and making threatening statements.

Over six pubs a day are closing and campaigners say planning laws should be doing more to keep them open.

As the British retailer Topshop launches in New York, how does it needs to adapt to attract an American consumer? With Allyson Stewart Allen, co-author of Working With Americans, and Harriet Quick, Fashion Editor at British Vogue.

A new body will absorb the work previously done by the Healthcare Commission, which looked at the NHS, the Care Quality Commission (which covered councils and care for elderly and disabled people) and the Mental Health Act Commission (which oversaw mental health services). We speak to Professor Ray Jones Paul Farmer, of the mental health charity MIND

A watchdog has recommended that the British Swimming Association should limit who can access personal information about all of their members on their website. We speak to David Sparkes from the BSA.

A new measure means that if you now call in a gas engineer you will need to check they are on the Gas Safe Register. It used to be CORGI who kept the register of qualified gas fitters but the contract has passed to the company Capita, which runs it under the new name Gas Safe.


WED 12:57 Weather (b00jbrgr)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 13:00 World at One (b00jbrrh)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


WED 13:30 The Media Show (b00jd64p)
Steve Hewlett presents a topical programme about the fast-changing media world.

As David Frost turns 70, he talks to Steve about contemporary TV, political interviewing and how to get politicians to talk about things they don't want to.

Are journalists, particularly female journalists, being forced to become part of the story rather than merely observing? Miranda Sawyer and UKTV commissioning editor Jane Rogerson discuss the latest trends in experiential journalism.

Has media reporting of political sleaze reached a tipping point from which the Labour government cannot recover? Political columnists Trevor Kavanagh and Jackie Ashley examine how the latest stories about MPs' expenses are playing in the press.


WED 14:00 The Archers (b00jbrx3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama (b00jd6r7)
Andrew Lynch - A Question of Royalty

Comedy by Andrew Lynch, inspired by real events. Two bungling self-employed plasterers, ignorant of the constitutional crisis their actions could precipitate, steal The Queen's wedding certificate while working on the refurbishment of the Public Records Office.

Bernie ...... Johnny Vegas
Danny ...... Ricky Tomlinson
Sarah ...... Catherine McCormack
Jan ...... Nicola Stephenson
Tim ...... Tim Bentinck
Farnworth ...... Rupert Degas.


WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b00jd6r9)
Vincent Duggleby and guests answer calls on employment rights. He is joined by Clive Howard, employment partner at Russell Jones Walker, Sian Keall, employment partner at Travers Smith and Sarah Veale, head of equality and employment rights at the TUC.


WED 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00jcmv3)
Opening Lines

The World

Series showcasing first-time and emerging writers.

A man wakes up one day to discover that he can see and hear everything that is happening in the world. Will he find a way of managing his new condition? By Frank Burton, read by Karl Davies.


WED 15:45 Into the Gap (b00jgyjt)
Episode 3

Poet Lemn Sissay observes Britain on the move at the Watford Gap motorway services, capturing its sounds and stories as he talks to people in transit.

Lemn encounters a Coronation Street actor going to a party, students going to Amsterdam and a Michael Jackson fan on the way to meet her idol.


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b00jd6rc)
Communism as a Religion - Cultural Capitalism

Laurie Taylor discusses what is being called the re-Stalinisation of Russia on today's Thinking Allowed. According to exiled Russian academic Michail Ryklin, Putin's Russia is turning the clock back and rehabilitating the most famous demon of the Soviet Union.

In a new book, he claims that although the Soviet Union proclaimed itself an aethist state, communism functioned as its religion, and when faith faded it was replaced by mass terror. But now memories of the terror and bloodshed have receded and Stalin is being reclaimed.

Tony Bennett, professor of sociology at the Open University and director of the ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change, and Dr Elizabeth Silva, senior lecturer of the Faculty of sociology at the Open University, are the authors of Culture, Class and Distinction, a book described as the most sophisticated mapping of British cultural practices and preferences ever undertaken. They talk about art and the social origins of artistic taste.


WED 16:30 The Medicalisation of Normality (b00jcjc5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


WED 17:00 PM (b00jbryy)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00jbs0w)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


WED 18:30 Mark Steel's in Town (b00jd6rf)
Series 1

Lewes

Comedian Mark Steel visits towns across the UK and creates a stand-up show for a local audience based on what he finds out about the area.

Mark records a show in Lewes, East Sussex, celebrating fires, pub fights and stroppiness.


WED 19:00 The Archers (b00jbrx5)
Kenton sets off for his tattoo, leaving the coast clear for Kathy to ask Lorna to help her out. Together they rehearse what they'll say to Kenton when he gets back.

Oblivious Kenton arrives home proudly showing off his body art, only to find Lorna - ostensibly a Cantonese speaker - mystified that his tattoo reads Closed for Cleaning! He says she must be mistaken, but she insists Lucky in Every Endeavour would be quite a different phrase. He's aghast, but Kathy points out the date and he eventually sees the funny side. Kathy's quick to point out the joke's still on her - he still has the tattoo. She expects she'll get used to it. After all, she learned to live with Kenton.

Tom's pleased at the progress on the Bridge Farm wetland waste system. At least it's one bit of good news. He tells Tony that Brenda collected the rest of her stuff, and seemed to be optimistic about his financial crisis. Tony thinks she might have a point; there's someone Tom hasn't tried asking for help yet.

Tom approaches Peggy. Once she's been filled in and she hears of Tom's struggles with Brian she says she will be able to help, but she wants to talk to Brian first.

Episode written by Mary Cutler.


WED 19:15 Front Row (b00jbs28)
PJ Harvey and John Parish; V&A Baroque show; HBO's future.

With John Wilson.

Singer-songwriter PJ Harvey discusses working together again with collaborator John Parish for her latest CD, A Woman A Man Walked By. Harvey and Parish explain their working relationship, talking about how the latest album came about and why the latter's band failed to play at Harvey's 18th birthday party.

Professor Jerry Brotton joins John to assess a new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum displaying the opulent Baroque style of the 17th and 18th centuries. Divided into five sections covering religious, secular and theatrical elements of Baroque, the show features art, architecture and design. Highlights include a Gobelins tapestry made for Louis XIV, stage sets from Baroque theatres, and items from Asia and Latin America showing how far the style spread. www.vam.ac.uk/baroque

In an interview held at a television conference in Cannes, John talks to two executives from HBO, the company which produced The Wire, the celebrated American drama series shown on BBC TWO. Richard Plepler, co-president, and Michael Lombardo, president of programming, discuss the future plans of the award-winning subscription cable channel.

As the BBC sitcom My Family begins its ninth series, there is at first no sign of Zoe Wanamaker's character Susan, who is 'staying with her mother'. TV critic and novelist Grace Dent looks into the phenomenon of characters' temporary disappearances from soaps and TV series, and asks if actors are ever really indispensible.


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00jbpvd)
Daunt and Dervish

Episode 3

Another adventure for Guy Meredith's female private eyes, set in 1956.

A trip to the Astoria dancehall turns out to be a little more exciting than the ladies had planned.

Josephine Daunt ...... Anna Massey
Susan Dervish ...... Sylvestra Le Touzel
Bill Mackie ...... Sean Scanlan
Eddie Turner ...... Chris Pavlo
Laura Stevens ...... Jill Cardo
Terry Stevens ...... Paul Rider
Lenny Davies ...... Robert Lonsdale
Harry Shears ...... Dan Starkey
Brigadier Burkenshaw ...... Malcolm Tierney
Teddy boys ...... Inam Mirza and Jonathan Tafler

Directed by Colin Guthrie.


WED 20:00 Decision Time (b00jd6xv)
The BBC's Political Editor Nick Robinson shines a light on the process by which controversial decisions are reached behind closed doors in Whitehall. With a panel of inside experts, he examines the problems that future governments will face and hear the arguments about how they might be resolved.


WED 20:45 Lent Talks (b00jd6xx)
A Godless Society?

Six well-known figures explore ideas of the absence of God from their own perspective.

Frank Field MP reflects on a society that chooses to root its moral behaviour apart from God.


WED 21:00 Debating Animals (b00jd9kd)
Series 1

The Otter and the Mink

Rod Liddle examines our differing responses to related animal species and tries to establish what those responses tell us not merely about the animals but about ourselves.

Rod considers the otter and the mink - the one a playful, affectionate emblem of British environmental awareness, the other invariably depicted as a voracious invader.

Sir David Attenborough and ecologist Johnny Birks help Rod to separate fact from fiction and understand why one member of the Mustelid family should have us cooing and handing over money to environmental causes while the other can expect loathing at best and, more often than not, calls for a mass cull.

A keen amateur naturalist, Rod begins his debate with mink expert Johnny Birks on the banks of the River Lugg in Herefordshire. Otters and mink roam these banks side by side as uneasy neighbours. But the popular myth that mink were part of the reason for the dramatic decline in otter numbers in the 1950s was just that - a myth - albeit a convenient one.

He also hears from people involved in the Hebridean mink cull who are acting to save indigenous bird species in the Western Isles.

As the debate matures, it appears that below the biodiversity arguments lies a more fundamental clash between the pure Darwinists who believe that nature should be left unchecked and those who say it is unrealistic to abandon our position of power over the wild animals and their habitats. It follows that we must make difficult choices about which species we want to control and in some cases cull in order to protect the many.


WED 21:30 Midweek (b00jd5pt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 21:58 Weather (b00jbs42)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b00jbvfz)
National and international news and analysis with Robin Lustig. Including Sarkozy and Merkel side by side at the London summit, Obama and Medvedev start work on a nuclear treaty and New Yorkers say adieu to Roquefort.


WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00jbxhl)
The Earth Hums in B Flat

Episode 3

Joanna Page reads Mari Strachan's magical story of a child detective, set in 1950s Wales.

Gwenni is interviewed by the detectives investigating Mr Evans' death and an arrest is made.


WED 23:00 My Teenage Diary (b00jd9x5)
Series 1

Richard Herring

Rufus Hound invites comedians to revisit their formative years by dusting off their teenage diaries and reading them out in public for the very first time.

With Richard Herring.


WED 23:15 Bespoken Word (b00cm9pj)
Broadcast in tribute to the late poet Adrian Mitchell who, shortly before he died in December 2008, recorded an appearance for the series. One of the great performance poets, Mitchell was widely known as the 'Shadow Poet Laureate' and was described by Kenneth Tynan as 'the British Mayakovsky'. He was famous for political poetry and love poetry, and the programme features one of his best loved pieces in the latter category, the delightful A Puppy Called Puberty. Also appearing are two of the country's best young performance poets, Luke Wright and Ross Sutherland.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00jc36z)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Sean Curran.



THURSDAY 02 APRIL 2009

THU 00:00 Midnight News (b00jbggj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b00jbkkj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00jbghc)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00jbgjz)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00jbgj2)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (b00jbgm7)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00jbh2k)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Leslie Griffiths.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (b00jbhly)
News and issues in rural Britain with Charlotte Smith. Including a warning from hydrologists at Cranfield University that farmers could soon face a water shortage which would theaten their ability to grow our food, which comes as the Environment Agency launches its water strategy for the next 40 years and wants us all, including farmers, to save water. And Bristol City Council is considering becoming the first local authority in the land to rear its own cattle for beef. The 50-strong organic herd would graze on parkland at Stoke Park, next to the M32 - and the beef would be served up at Bristol primary schools and in restaurants.


THU 06:00 Today (b00jbkfn)
Presented by Sarah Montague and John Humphrys.

Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman Vince Cable discusses Gordon Brown's handling of the G20 summit.

Chris Allen, director of health and safety at industry trade body Oil and Gas UK, says the cause of a helicopter crash into the North Sea off Aberdeenshire should be known quickly.

MPs Barry Sheerman and Graham Stuart discuss if schools should be allowed to opt out of the national curriculum entirely if they want to.

Reporter Andrew Hosken spends the day with G20 protesters around the City of London.

Gil Hoffman, political correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, discusses claims by new Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman that previous agreements between the two sides 'had no validity'.

Topshop's chief executive Sir Philip Green gives correspondent Greg Wood a tour of the new US store.

Thought for the day with Dom Anthony Sutch.

Simon Cox, of Radio 4's The Report (the programme which interviewed founder of Swiss right-to-die organisation Dignitas, Ludwig Minelli), discusses his call for the assisted suicide law to be clarified.

Business secretary Lord Mandelson discusses if the divisions between countries with different solutions to the economic turmoil can be resolved at the G20 summit.

Tom Hodgkinson, editor of magazine The Idler, discusses if the idea of play is being taken out of childhood.

Economist and Director of the Earth Institute Professor Jeffrey Sachs discusses to what extent the G20 should address the concerns of the developing world.

What do the Conservative Party think about the G20 summit? Shadow chancellor George Osborne discusses if Conservative policy would allow a quicker recovery from the global economic slowdown.

Technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones gives details of a new approach to tackling film piracy.

Correspondent Mike Thomson reflects on a ceremony to mark the murder of 800,000 people in Rwanda.

The Lady - England's oldest weekly magazine for women - has been relaunched. Editor Sarah Kennedy and Rowan Pelling, former editor of the Erotic Review, discuss how the magazine can compete when many other weekly titles are in trouble.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (b00jdb6c)
Baconian Science

Patricia Fara, Stephen Pumfrey and Rhodri Lewis join Melvyn Bragg to discuss the Jacobean lawyer, political fixer and alleged founder of modern science Francis Bacon.In the introduction to Thomas Spratt's History of the Royal Society, there is a poem about man called Francis Bacon which declares 'Bacon, like Moses, led us forth at last, The barren wilderness he past, Did on the very border stand Of the blest promis'd land, And from the mountain's top of his exalted wit, Saw it himself, and shew'd us it'.Francis Bacon was a lawyer and political schemer who climbed the greasy pole of Jacobean politics and then fell down it again. But he is most famous for developing an idea of how science should be done - a method that he hoped would slough off the husk of ancient thinking and usher in a new age. It is called Baconian Method and it has influenced and inspired scientists from Bacon's own time to the present day.


THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b00jbkxz)
The Old Boys' Network

Episode 4

Tim Pigott-Smith reads the journal kept by Dr John Rae during his years as the headmaster of Westminster School from 1970 to 1986.

During a typical day, Dr Rae was called on to deal with everyone from the scholar who steals books to the Prime Minister.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00jbpdr)
Feminisation of history; Autism and girls

Is history becoming 'feminised'? Plus, the gender discrepancy in autism; women's rights in Cuba; and the politics and practicalities of dressing your partner.


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b00jdb6f)
The Kingdom of Kids

Bill Law reports from Swaziland, a country laid waste by poverty and AIDS. Impoverished children, with the help of surviving adults and local NGOs, are learning how to read and write in informal schools. In a country with a falling population and an economy in freefall, the children of Swaziland, against all the odds, are battling for their future and taking control of their own fates.


THU 11:30 With Great Pleasure (b00jdflg)
Sir Alan Ayckbourn

Playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn asserts the importance of humour and laughter in his choice of literary extracts. The readers are Amanda Root and Jon Strickland.


THU 12:00 You and Yours (b00jbpys)
Presented by Winifred Robinson.

Ten thousand savers lost their money when the Presbyterian Mutual went bust - why is there no government rescue for them? We speak to Ulster Unionist Party deputy leader Danny Kennedy MP and Paul Lewis, presenter of Radio 4's Moneybox.

Continuing the programme's examination of how debt is chased: we hear of the woman pursued for a debt sold on by British Gas when she didn't owe them anything.

New research has found that almost three million people have malnutrition. It costs more than obesity. The study was carried out by the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (BAPEN). Professor Marinos Elia of BAPEN and reporter Chris Hawksworth visit an initiative on an estate in North Halifax, previously deemed a 'food desert'.

Dubai is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. The next big investment there will be a three billion pound metro service where, in an extraordinary step, the state is selling the rights to naming the stations and lines.

Big name retailers have gone to the wall and some small businesses are struggling. To see how the recession is playing out on the ground we have focused on the fortunes of one town centre: Alnwick in Northumberland.

Are the numbers of roadside cafes increasing in the credit crunch? Poet and broadcaster Ian MacMillan thinks he has spotted a trend in British roadside catering.


THU 12:57 Weather (b00jbrgt)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 13:00 World at One (b00jbrrk)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


THU 13:30 Off the Page (b0076wrz)
Kissing Arse

Dominic Arkwright presents the series featuring new writing and stimulating discussion. Guy Browning, Amanda Mitchison and Wilfred Emmanuel Jones take on the brown-nosers and lickspittles of the corporate world.


THU 14:00 The Archers (b00jbrx5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (b00jdms7)
Ed Harris - Aromatherapy

By Ed Harris. Robert returns from holiday in Thailand in crippling pain from an illness with a very unusual cure.

Robert ...... Martin Freeman
Oliver ...... Nigel Anthony
Doctor Magisterne ...... Pip Torrens
Lily ...... Clare Corbett
Sophie ...... Polly Lister

Directed by Chris Wallis.


THU 15:02 Open Country (b00j9lpl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:07 on Saturday]


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b00jc3pq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00jcmvc)
Opening Lines

Atlantic Flats

Series showcasing first-time and emerging writers.

An elderly man sits alone in his flat by the sea, wondering if he can ever recapture the relationship he had with his daughter when she was a child. By Richard Knight, read by Malcolm Tierney.


THU 15:45 Into the Gap (b00jgyk6)
Episode 4

Poet Lemn Sissay observes Britain on the move at the Watford Gap motorway services, capturing its sounds and stories as he talks to people in transit.

Lemn meets a Portuguese family who all work at the services, a lorry driver whose coy carp just died and an elderly couple who sleep in a lorry on the forecourt.


THU 16:00 Open Book (b00jc4p6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:30 Material World (b00jdms9)
Quentin Cooper talks to explorer Pen Hadow from his Arctic ice expedition. 2009 marks the fortieth anniversary of the first surface survey of the northern polar ice, led by Sir Wally Herbert. Almost in his footsteps, Hadow is currently trying to reach the North Pole on foot, carrying out a similarly scientific survey. He speaks from the shifting floes where he and his team are currently measuring this year's ice melt. Sir Wally's daughter Kari Herbert tells us about her father's achievements and legacy, and Dr Seymour Laxon of UCL tells of forthcoming attempts to check ice thickness from space, namely Cryosat 2.

As leaders of the G20 leading industrial nations meet in London to discuss recovery packages for the world's economies, we ask what science can do to help end the global recession. Historian Eric Rauchway has been looking back to the Great Depression of the 1930s, the attempts to use science to bolster the measures of Franklin Roosevelt's reflationary New Deal, and how the New Deal laid the groundwork for post-war science policy. Sir Martin Taylor explains the thinking behind the Royal Society's Fruits of Curiosity enquiry, announced this week to establish the role of science in the UK economy.

And 4.00pm on 2 April 2009 marks the beginning of '100 Hours of Astronomy', one of the key events in 2009's International Year of Astronomy. More than 1,500 public events in 130 countries make up this three-day sequence. Co-chair Douglas Pierce-Price tells Quentin about it from ESO in Germany.


THU 17:00 PM (b00jbrz0)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00jbs0y)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


THU 18:30 4 Stands Up (b00jdmtx)
Series 3

Episode 1

4 Extra Debut. Chris Addison introduces big names from the comedy circuit, including Stephen Carlin, Adams and Rea and Jon Richardson.


THU 19:00 The Archers (b00jbrx7)
Brian explains to Peggy that he went ahead with the supermarket deal without Tom because he became frustrated and thought he knew what was best for Tom. Peggy suggests Brian put too much pressure on Tom. He couldn't expect Tom to agree to the deal going ahead without him. But Brian says he can't send Tom on his way with his share of the business. Peggy proposes that she buys Brian's share for a fair figure, and he agrees. He'll be pleased not to have to worry about Tom any more.

Tom confides to Helen his worries about Peggy's meeting with Brian. He'll hardly give Tom a glowing reference. They're discussing Tom's missing boar when Helen gets a mystery international call on her mobile.

Brian later tells Helen that he and Peggy had a good meeting, but Helen's interrupted when she gets a second mystery call.

Eddie claims he's found Harry in his field, and wants paying for his time and trouble in catching the boar. But Clarrie gives the game away later, revealing Harry was found in Barbarella's pen. She even has a photo on her phone. But Tom agrees to pay Eddie anyway - he needed a laugh.

Episode written by Mary Cutler.


THU 19:15 Front Row (b00jbs2b)
Arts news and reviews with John Wilson. James Nesbitt and writer Guy Hibbert discuss their TV drama, which has acquired an added topical resonance as it focuses on whether reconciliation is ever truly possible after a sectarian killing in Northern Ireland. Mercury and Brit nominee Natasha Khan, better known as Bat for Lashes, tells John about her new album. And two years after Polly Stenham's playwriting debut That Face, she returns with Tusk Tusk, a play about a dysfunctional middle class family. Novelist and broadcaster Bidisha reviews the play.


THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00jbpvn)
Daunt and Dervish

Episode 4

Another adventure for Guy Meredith's female private eyes, set in 1956.

Both the De Vere Cole garden party and the garage at the King's Cross railway arches bring surprises.

Josephine Daunt ...... Anna Massey
Susan Dervish ...... Sylvestra Le Touzel
Bill Mackie ...... Sean Scanlan
Eddie Turner ...... Chris Pavlo
Lenny Davies ...... Robert Lonsdale
Inspector Alderney ...... Jonathan Tafler
Ogilvy ...... Dan Starkey
Beryl ...... Janice Acquah
Teddy Boy ...... Inam Mirza

Directed by Colin Guthrie.


THU 20:00 The Report (b00jdnsl)
Dignitas: Assisted Suicide in Switzerland

Simon Cox asks what it really means when a Briton commits suicide in Switzerland and probes the myths and reality of the Dignitas organisation.

The Report reveals how Swiss right-to-die organisations have extended their services to yet more controversial areas: helping the mentally ill, or those in pain or depressed, to die. He examines the process in detail and asks what safeguards exist.


THU 20:30 In Business (b00jdnsn)
Europe on the Edge

Peter Day reports from Spain, Hungary, Ireland and Iceland on the heavy strains being felt by those countries on the fringes of Europe which boomed when they were new recruits to the EU. In the current economic crisis, however, they are now under heavy pressure, along with the Eurozone and the whole European Union.


THU 21:00 Oceans: What Lies Beneath (b00jdnsq)
Episode 4

Gabrielle Walker explores why we know so little about the oceans that make up nearly 80 per cent of our planet.

Gabrielle examines the intimate relationship between the oceans and our climate. She finds out how the ocean currents influence the temperature of the planet and the important role oceans may play in protecting us from the damaging effects of global warming.


THU 21:30 In Our Time (b00jdb6c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 21:58 Weather (b00jbs44)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b00jbvg1)
National and international news and analysis with Robin Lustig.

Including reports on the G20 decision to boost IMF funds and target tax havens, a blow to jobs in Northern Ireland and an investigation of Kurdish war graves by Turkish prosecutors.


THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00jbxhq)
The Earth Hums in B Flat

Episode 4

Joanna Page reads Mari Strachan's magical story of a child detective, set in 1950s Wales.

The case is closed and Gwenni must put an end to her detective work, but not before a family secret comes to light.


THU 23:00 The Personality Test (b007sq67)
Series 3

Andrew Neil

Broadcaster and former Sunday Times Editor Andrew Neil is in the hot seat posing questions all about him.

On the panel: comedians Sue Perkins, Caroline Quinlan, Robin Ince and Will Smith.

Comedy quiz presented by a new guest host every week. All the questions are about the host.

Script by Simon Littlefield and Kieron Quirke.

Devised and produced by Aled Evans.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00jc371)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Robert Orchard.



FRIDAY 03 APRIL 2009

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b00jbggl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b00jbkxz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00jbghf)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00jbgk1)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00jbgj4)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b00jbgm9)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00jbh2m)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Leslie Griffiths.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b00jbhm2)
News and issues in rural Britain with Charlotte Smith.


FRI 06:00 Today (b00jbkfq)
Presented by John Humphrys and Edward Stourton.

Lord Patten, former governor of Hong Kong and former European Commissioner for External Affairs, discusses if all countries benefit from the G20 agreements.

Professor Anna Vignoles and Alan Tuckett of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education discuss if basic skills must be learnt during childhood.

British Waterways ecologist Leela O'Dea discusses why native bumblebees are in danger of extinction.

Correspondent Nick Ravenscroft reports on the 19th Century craze for Lake District rock music.

Business editor Robert Peston interviews RBS chairman Sir Philip Hampton.

Former chief adviser to Tony Blair, Matthew Taylor, and journalist Guy Walters discuss if formal greetings are becoming less common.

Thought for the day with the Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks.

Cynthia Bower of the Care Quality Commission and Derek Butler, chairman of MRSA Action UK, discuss how the risk of MRSA infection can be cut.

Chancellor Alistair Darling discusses if the agreements made at the G20 summit signify a 'turning point' in the pursuit of economic recovery.

Mark Mardell reports on the role of Nato as the summit to mark its 60th birthday begins.

David Bartlett of the Fatherhood Institute and John Yorke of the BBC discuss if soaps influence the opinion of the role played by fathers in their children's lives.

England's Claire Taylor has become the first woman to be named one of the five people named in Wisden's Cricketers of the Year. She discusses the honour with Matthew Engel, former editor of the cricketers' almanac.

Correspondent James Coomarasamy reports on the wave of kidnappings in Phoenix, Arizona, which have been linked to Mexican drug and people smuggling rings.

Journalists Quentin Letts and Mariella Frostrup discuss if the theatre of the G20 summit has matched up to the speed of the agreement.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b00jc3q3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b00jbky1)
The Old Boys' Network

Episode 5

Tim Pigott-Smith reads the journal kept by Dr John Rae during his years as the headmaster of Westminster School from 1970 to 1986.

Dr Rae wonders whether he is as well qualified for the job as a colleague who is reputed to have killed a man with his bare hands when he was a member of the Special Operations Executive in the Second World War.


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00jbpdt)
Cervical cancer screening; Singer Lea DeLaria

Presented by Sheila McClennon.

Asma Akhtar is a British woman who for two years was unable to return to the UK from Pakistan with her four children because she was not able to get hold of their passports. She was involved in a custody battle with her husband. Now Asma is back in the UK and she explains why she feels the Foreign and Commonwealth Office could have done more to ensure the safe return of the entire family.

Jazz singer, outspoken lesbian, stand-up comedian and star of Broadway musicals Lea DeLaria joins Sheila in the Woman's Hour studio, where she performs 'The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea' from her latest album, 'The Live Smoke Sessions'. She explains to Sheila why she's dropped the ranting and raving onstage to concentrate on the music.

In 1892, two intrepid sisters made one of the most important religious finds of the century. Hidden in a dark chamber in St Catherine's monastery on Mount Sinai, they spotted an ancient manuscript which remains to this day one of the earliest known copies of the Bible. Sheila McClennon is joined by Janet Soskice, the author of a new book about the sisters, and travel writer Dea Birkett to discuss how these two rich and eccentric Ayrshire women were able to make such a priceless find in a remote part of Egypt when women rarely travelled alone.

A large trial involving 130,000 women in rural India has found that screening women for HPV, the human papillomavirus which causes cervical cancer, was more effective than the smear test used here. The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that HPV screening could halve the deaths in poor countries. But some doctors argue that HPV tests should also be added to the screening regime here, because they are far less likely than the current smear test to miss a potential cancer. Sheila is joined by Henry Kitchener, professor of gynaecological oncology at the University of Manchester, who is currently running a trial of adding HPV testing to the current screening programme.

Including drama: Daunt and Dervish.


FRI 11:00 The Darwinian Sistine Chapel (b00jf3hj)
Following artist Tanya Kovats, who, having been commissioned to create a work of art to decorate the ceiling of the Natural History Museum, sets out to look for a tree to realise her artistic vision.


FRI 11:30 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b00jf3hl)
Series 3

Fife Circle

Series of three comic plays starring Stanley Baxter.

Two elderly brothers meet at Waverley station and set out on a journey of discovery involving lost mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters, and learn just whom they really belong to.

By Michael Chaplin.

Sir Hugh Dundas/Alex Kelly ...... Stanley Baxter

Directed by Marilyn Imrie

A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b00jbpyv)
Presented by Peter White.

Simon Parkes charts the history of lunch since its inception in the 1800s.

In 1993, Jonathan Fletcher, a young computer science graduate, created JumpStation, considered by many to have been the world's first search engine. So what happened to it?

Home Information Packs Scare: Will having to fill in a 30 question survey about their home expose people selling their homes to being taken to court?

More than 1.3 million anglers are expected to buy a redesigned rod licence to fish in English and Welsh rivers this year. Money raised will go towards stocking rivers and conserving river banks.

John Potts has been jailed for five years after siphoning cash from a property pyramid selling scheme. Five other directors of Gateshead-based Practical Property Portfolio received prison sentences at Newcastle Crown Court. The court heard the directors used funds to buy luxury cars, fine art, antiques and racehorses.

The massive influx of shoppers from the Republic of Ireland to the North is being blamed for huge increase in unpaid parking fines which has left the government more than one million pounds out of pocket.


FRI 12:57 Weather (b00jbrgw)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 13:00 World at One (b00jbrrm)
National and international news with Shaun Ley.


FRI 13:30 Feedback (b00jf3hn)
Roger Bolton airs listeners' views on BBC radio programmes and policy.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (b00jbrx7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (b007vhjg)
Tony's Little Sister and the Paradox of Monasticism

David and Caroline Stafford's play tells the story of St Anthony - hermit, ascetic and founder of Christian monasticism - from the point of view of his angry little sister Dious.

Anthony ...... Duncan Preston
Dious ...... Samantha Spiro
Satan ...... Tim McMullan
Hilarion ...... Ben Crowe
Sheba ...... Rachel Bavidge.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00jf47q)
Eric Robson chairs the popular horticultural forum.

Bob Flowerdew, Chris Beardshaw and Bunny Guinness answer questions posed by gardeners on the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire border.

Anne Swithinbank and Matthew Biggs return to the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew in its 250th year, with a visit to the Temperate House.

Including the Gardeners' Question Time gardening weather forecast.


FRI 15:45 Into the Gap (b00jgyl9)
Episode 5

Poet Lemn Sissay observes Britain on the move at the Watford Gap motorway services, capturing its sounds and stories as he talks to people in transit.

Lemn meets two businessmen with thermal imaging cameras and an engineer who is a closet campanologist.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (b00jf47s)
Matthew Bannister presents the obituary series, analysing and celebrating the life stories of people who have recently died.


FRI 16:30 The Film Programme (b00jf47v)
Francine Stock talks to writer and director Richard Curtis. He is returning to the director's chair for the first time since Love Actually for his latest offering, The Boat That Rocked, a comedy about pirate radio in the 1960s. Musician Neil Brand get his teeth into John Williams's score for Jaws and the unique movies of Jean-Pierre Melville are discussed by Rupert Wyatt, director of British prison drama The Escapist.


FRI 17:00 PM (b00jbrz2)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00jbs10)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


FRI 18:30 The Now Show (b00jf47y)
Series 27

Episode 5

Comedy sketches and satirical comments from Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis and the team including Mitch Benn, Laura Shavin, Jon Holmes and Alun Cochrane.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (b00jbrx9)
A guest from the past

Usha's still not keen to go running on her own but she tells Ruth it's difficult for Alan to find the time to go with her - or keep up, for that matter! They share a laugh over Lynda's latest recruitment failure for the Gormley plinth - Neil. To their delight they spot a lapwing in the Brookfield wetland and enjoy watching it trying to lure away predators.

Clarrie tells Pat that Ed's not finding taking on the Grange Farm tenancy straightforward. The Tenant Farmers Association told Ed he would need a business plan for Oliver and for the bank. He's going to need borrowing and overdraft facilities; he'll be stretched to his limits.

Tony interrupts with the shock news that Greg Turner's daughter Annette has just turned up. They try talking to Annette, but she's not very forthcoming so it's awkward. Pat drags Tony away when he threatens the third degree and they leave Annette with Helen.

Annette tells Helen she's on her way to her Gran's but she hasn't told her Gran she's coming yet. Helen deduces that Annette left France in a hurry and offers her a bed at her place. They've a lot to catch up on.

Episode written by Mary Cutler.


FRI 19:15 Front Row (b00jbs2d)
Arts news and reviews with Kirsty Lang.

Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks about her new collection of short stories.

As 3D animation Monsters v Aliens hits British cinemas, has digital 3D come of age - and could it be the saviour of Hollywood studios?

Billy Bragg sets out his campaign to fight for artists' royalties in the era of internet downloads.

As a show billed as disturbing, provocative and not for the faint-hearted arrives in Britain, does extreme European theatre offer experiences rarely found on stage?


FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00jbpw1)
Daunt and Dervish

Episode 5

Another adventure for Guy Meredith's female private eyes, set in 1956.

Mrs Mackie chooses a rather awkward time to pay a visit.

Josephine Daunt ...... Anna Massey
Susan Dervish ...... Sylvestra Le Touzel
Bill Mackie ...... Sean Scanlan
Mrs Mackie ...... Tina Gray
Laura Stevens ...... Jill Cardo
Lenny Davies ...... Robert Lonsdale
Eddie Turner ...... Chris Pavlo
Brigadier Burkenshaw ...... Malcolm Tierney
Soldier ...... Dan Starkey

Directed by Colin Guthrie.


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b00jf480)
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the topical debate in Stafford. He is joined by secretary of state for communities and local government Hazel Blears, shadow secretary of state for innovation, universities and skills David Willetts, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Vince Cable and executive editor and columnist at the London Evening Standard Anne McElvoy.


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b00jf483)
High-Priced Porn

After years of watching late-night porn in anonymous hotel rooms - for research - its purpose is clear, says Clive James: to keep one's mind off sex while one's partner is absent.


FRI 21:00 Friday Drama (b00771sz)
The Monkey's Mask

Detective tale set in Sydney, adapted from the best-selling verse novel by Australian poet Dorothy Porter.

When street-smart private investigator Jill Fitzpatrick is hired to work on the case of a missing University student, she falls for the girl's poetry tutor, the intellectual Dr Diana Maitland. Soon the smell of death around the case is getting all mixed up with the sick intoxication of love.

Jill Fitzpatrick ...... Federay Holmes
Dr Diana Maitland ...... Kerry Fox
Lou ...... Linda Marlowe
Steve ...... Sam Dale
Bill McDonald ...... Danny Webb
Tony Knight ...... Richard Dillane
Mickey Norris ...... Rachel Morris
Mrs Norris ...... Carolyn Pickles
Nick Maitland ...... Matt Dyktynski

Directed by Jonquil Panting.


FRI 21:58 Weather (b00jbs46)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b00jbvg3)
National and international news and analysis with Robin Lustig. Including reports on high-tech exam cheating in China, NATO leaders celebrate the alliance's 60th birthday and a gunman in New York kills several people and holds more other hostage. Plus, are intelligent robots smart enough to replace scientists?


FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00jbxhs)
The Earth Hums in B Flat

Episode 5

Joanna Page reads Mari Strachan's magical story of a child detective, set in 1950s Wales.

Standing on the cusp of adolescence, Gwenni finds out the truth about her grandmother.


FRI 23:00 A Good Read (b00jcq5h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00jc37h)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Mark D'Arcy.




LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 MON (b00jbpgs)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 TUE (b00jbpv0)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 WED (b00jbpvd)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 THU (b00jbpvn)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 FRI (b00jbpw1)

4 Stands Up 18:30 THU (b00jdmtx)

A Good Read 16:30 TUE (b00jcq5h)

A Good Read 23:00 FRI (b00jcq5h)

A Point of View 08:50 SUN (b00j9k7c)

A Point of View 20:50 FRI (b00jf483)

Afternoon Reading 19:45 SUN (b008nwjv)

Afternoon Reading 15:30 TUE (b00jclzh)

Afternoon Reading 15:30 WED (b00jcmv3)

Afternoon Reading 15:30 THU (b00jcmvc)

Analysis 21:30 SUN (b00j7xgg)

Ankle High History 14:45 SUN (b00jc3t2)

Any Answers? 14:00 SAT (b00jb1sm)

Any Questions? 13:10 SAT (b00j8f4d)

Any Questions? 20:00 FRI (b00jf480)

Archive on 4 20:00 SAT (b00h3x73)

Archive on 4 15:00 MON (b00h3x73)

Arturart 23:00 TUE (b00jcrr3)

Bells on Sunday 05:43 SUN (b00jc3p8)

Bells on Sunday 00:45 MON (b00jc3p8)

Bespoken Word 23:15 WED (b00cm9pj)

Black Screen Britain 11:30 TUE (b00jck88)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 MON (b00jbvlt)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 TUE (b00jbxhd)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 WED (b00jbxhl)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 THU (b00jbxhq)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 FRI (b00jbxhs)

Book of the Week 00:30 SAT (b00j9k3f)

Book of the Week 09:45 MON (b00jbkj5)

Book of the Week 00:30 TUE (b00jbkj5)

Book of the Week 09:45 TUE (b00jbkkg)

Book of the Week 00:30 WED (b00jbkkg)

Book of the Week 09:45 WED (b00jbkkj)

Book of the Week 00:30 THU (b00jbkkj)

Book of the Week 09:45 THU (b00jbkxz)

Book of the Week 00:30 FRI (b00jbkxz)

Book of the Week 09:45 FRI (b00jbky1)

Britishness 09:00 TUE (b00jcjjp)

Britishness 21:30 TUE (b00jcjjp)

Broadcasting House 09:00 SUN (b00jc3pz)

Cabin Pressure 18:30 TUE (b00ctl6w)

Classic Serial 21:00 SAT (b00j5tt9)

Classic Serial 15:00 SUN (b00jc440)

Click On 16:30 MON (b00jcgxf)

Counterpoint 23:00 SAT (b00j6bbl)

Counterpoint 13:30 MON (b00jcgx9)

Crossing Continents 20:30 MON (b00j7txw)

Crossing Continents 11:00 THU (b00jdb6f)

Debating Animals 21:00 WED (b00jd9kd)

Decision Time 22:15 SAT (b00j7524)

Decision Time 20:00 WED (b00jd6xv)

Desert Island Discs 11:15 SUN (b00jc3q3)

Desert Island Discs 09:00 FRI (b00jc3q3)

Document 20:00 MON (b00jcgxk)

Drama 14:15 MON (b00jcgxc)

Drama 14:15 TUE (b008gzlj)

Drama 14:15 WED (b00jd6r7)

Drama 14:15 THU (b00jdms7)

Drama 14:15 FRI (b007vhjg)

Excess Baggage 10:00 SAT (b00jb1s7)

Farming Today This Week 06:30 SAT (b00j9lpn)

Farming Today 05:45 MON (b00jbkfg)

Farming Today 05:45 TUE (b00jbhlr)

Farming Today 05:45 WED (b00jbhlw)

Farming Today 05:45 THU (b00jbhly)

Farming Today 05:45 FRI (b00jbhm2)

Feedback 20:00 SUN (b00j8djz)

Feedback 13:30 FRI (b00jf3hn)

File on 4 17:00 SUN (b00j72bb)

File on 4 20:00 TUE (b00jcrqx)

Friday Drama 21:00 FRI (b00771sz)

From Our Own Correspondent 11:30 SAT (b00jb1sc)

Front Row 19:15 MON (b00jbs3y)

Front Row 19:15 TUE (b00jbs25)

Front Row 19:15 WED (b00jbs28)

Front Row 19:15 THU (b00jbs2b)

Front Row 19:15 FRI (b00jbs2d)

Gangs, Guns and Families 13:30 SUN (b00hphbl)

Gardeners' Question Time 14:00 SUN (b00j8dk3)

Gardeners' Question Time 15:00 FRI (b00jf47q)

Go4it 19:15 SUN (b00jc4tj)

Hazelbeach 11:30 MON (b00853kb)

Home Planet 15:00 TUE (b00jclvs)

In Business 20:30 THU (b00jdnsn)

In Our Time 09:00 THU (b00jdb6c)

In Our Time 21:30 THU (b00jdb6c)

In Touch 20:40 TUE (b00jcrqz)

Into the Gap 15:45 MON (b00jcdcs)

Into the Gap 15:45 TUE (b00jgyfg)

Into the Gap 15:45 WED (b00jgyjt)

Into the Gap 15:45 THU (b00jgyk6)

Into the Gap 15:45 FRI (b00jgyl9)

Ken Clarke's Jazz Greats 15:30 SAT (b00j6xy1)

Ken Clarke's Jazz Greats 13:30 TUE (b00jcltr)

Last Word 20:30 SUN (b00j8f46)

Last Word 16:00 FRI (b00jf47s)

Law in Action 16:00 TUE (b00jcq5f)

Lent Talks 00:30 SUN (b00j7526)

Lent Talks 20:45 WED (b00jd6xx)

Loose Ends 18:15 SAT (b00jb1yw)

Lost Voices 23:30 SAT (b00j9hng)

Lost Voices 16:30 SUN (b00j5ttf)

Mark Steel's in Town 18:30 WED (b00jd6rf)

Material World 16:30 THU (b00jdms9)

Midnight News 00:00 SAT (b00j9kgm)

Midnight News 00:00 SUN (b00jb8nr)

Midnight News 00:00 MON (b00jbgh5)

Midnight News 00:00 TUE (b00jbggd)

Midnight News 00:00 WED (b00jbggg)

Midnight News 00:00 THU (b00jbggj)

Midnight News 00:00 FRI (b00jbggl)

Midweek 09:00 WED (b00jd5pt)

Midweek 21:30 WED (b00jd5pt)

Money Box Live 15:00 WED (b00jd6r9)

Money Box 12:00 SAT (b00jb1sf)

Money Box 21:00 SUN (b00jb1sf)

My Teenage Diary 23:00 WED (b00jd9x5)

News Briefing 05:30 SAT (b00j9kgx)

News Briefing 05:30 SUN (b00jc3p6)

News Briefing 05:30 MON (b00jbh2c)

News Briefing 05:30 TUE (b00jbgm3)

News Briefing 05:30 WED (b00jbgm5)

News Briefing 05:30 THU (b00jbgm7)

News Briefing 05:30 FRI (b00jbgm9)

News Headlines 06:00 SUN (b00jc3pb)

News and Papers 06:00 SAT (b00j9kh3)

News and Papers 07:00 SUN (b00jc3pl)

News and Papers 08:00 SUN (b00jc3pv)

News and Weather 22:00 SAT (b00jb1z2)

News 13:00 SAT (b00jb1sk)

Oceans: What Lies Beneath 21:00 THU (b00jdnsq)

Off the Page 23:00 MON (b00j7ty0)

Off the Page 13:30 THU (b0076wrz)

On Your Farm 06:35 SUN (b00jc3pg)

Open Book 16:00 SUN (b00jc4p6)

Open Book 16:00 THU (b00jc4p6)

Open Country 06:07 SAT (b00j9lpl)

Open Country 15:02 THU (b00j9lpl)

PM 17:00 SAT (b00jb1st)

PM 17:00 MON (b00jbs0r)

PM 17:00 TUE (b00jbryw)

PM 17:00 WED (b00jbryy)

PM 17:00 THU (b00jbrz0)

PM 17:00 FRI (b00jbrz2)

Pick of the Week 18:15 SUN (b00jc4rg)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 SAT (b00j9kgz)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 MON (b00jbhlm)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 TUE (b00jbh2f)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 WED (b00jbh2h)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 THU (b00jbh2k)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 FRI (b00jbh2m)

Profile 19:00 SAT (b00jb1yy)

Profile 05:45 SUN (b00jb1yy)

Profile 17:40 SUN (b00jb1yy)

Radio 4 Appeal 07:55 SUN (b00jc3pq)

Radio 4 Appeal 21:26 SUN (b00jc3pq)

Radio 4 Appeal 15:27 THU (b00jc3pq)

Revealing the Mind Bender General 11:00 WED (b00jd5pw)

Safety Catch 11:30 WED (b0178ncg)

Saturday Live 09:00 SAT (b00jb1s5)

Saturday Review 19:15 SAT (b00jb1z0)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SAT (b00j9kgr)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 02:00 SUN (b00jc3cx)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 MON (b00jbgk5)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 TUE (b00jbgjv)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 WED (b00jbgjx)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 THU (b00jbgjz)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 FRI (b00jbgk1)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 SAT (b00j9kgp)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 SAT (b00j9kgv)

Shipping Forecast 17:54 SAT (b00jb1yp)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 SUN (b00jc3cv)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 SUN (b00jc3cz)

Shipping Forecast 17:54 SUN (b00jc4r8)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 MON (b00jbghw)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 MON (b00jbgjs)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 TUE (b00jbgh7)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 TUE (b00jbghy)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 WED (b00jbgh9)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 WED (b00jbgj0)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 THU (b00jbghc)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 THU (b00jbgj2)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 FRI (b00jbghf)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 FRI (b00jbgj4)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 SAT (b00jb1yt)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 SUN (b00jc4rd)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 MON (b00jbs23)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 TUE (b00jbs0t)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 WED (b00jbs0w)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 THU (b00jbs0y)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 FRI (b00jbs10)

Something Understood 06:05 SUN (b00jc3pd)

Something Understood 23:30 SUN (b00jc3pd)

Start the Week 09:00 MON (b00jcdb7)

Start the Week 21:30 MON (b00jcdb7)

Sunday Worship 08:10 SUN (b00jc3px)

Sunday 07:10 SUN (b00jc3pn)

The Archers Omnibus 10:00 SUN (b00jc3q1)

The Archers 19:00 SUN (b00jbrvt)

The Archers 14:00 MON (b00jbrvt)

The Archers 19:00 MON (b00jbrxc)

The Archers 14:00 TUE (b00jbrxc)

The Archers 19:00 TUE (b00jbrx3)

The Archers 14:00 WED (b00jbrx3)

The Archers 19:00 WED (b00jbrx5)

The Archers 14:00 THU (b00jbrx5)

The Archers 19:00 THU (b00jbrx7)

The Archers 14:00 FRI (b00jbrx7)

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The Bottom Line 17:30 SAT (b00jb1ym)

The Complete Ripley 14:30 SAT (b00jb1sp)

The Darwinian Sistine Chapel 11:00 FRI (b00jf3hj)

The Film Programme 23:02 SUN (b00j8f48)

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The Food Programme 12:32 SUN (b00jc3sw)

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The Media Show 13:30 WED (b00jd64p)

The Medicalisation of Normality 21:00 MON (b00jcjc5)

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The Men Who Fell to Earth 11:00 TUE (b00jck86)

The Now Show 12:30 SAT (b00j8f4b)

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The Personality Test 23:00 THU (b007sq67)

The Prime Ministers 09:30 TUE (b00jck84)

The Report 20:00 THU (b00jdnsl)

The Stanley Baxter Playhouse 11:30 FRI (b00jf3hl)

The Unbelievable Truth 12:00 SUN (b00j6bdt)

The Unbelievable Truth 18:30 MON (b00jcgxh)

The Week in Westminster 11:00 SAT (b00jb1s9)

The World This Weekend 13:00 SUN (b00jc3t0)

The World Tonight 22:00 MON (b00jbvfv)

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Thinking Allowed 00:15 MON (b00j7520)

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Today in Parliament 23:30 MON (b00jc373)

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Unseen Britain 11:00 MON (b00jcdb9)

Wah! Wah! Wah! Waaaaah! The Comedy Scores 10:30 SAT (b00g0npk)

Wasting Away in the Outback 21:00 TUE (b00jcrr1)

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Westminster Hour 22:00 SUN (b00jc4tn)

With Great Pleasure 11:30 THU (b00jdflg)

Woman's Hour 16:00 SAT (b00jb1sr)

Woman's Hour 10:00 MON (b00jbpbc)

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World at One 13:00 MON (b00jbrrt)

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iPM 05:45 SAT (b00j9kh1)