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 19 DECEMBER 2009

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b00pb8fq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b00pgm7r)
Dear Granny Smith

Episode 5

A letter from your postman written by Roy Mayall and delivered by Philip Jackson; a heartfelt musing on the past, present and future role of one of the oldest British institutions, the Postie.

The tale of Tom and Jerry and the big grey boxes.

A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pb8k8)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pb8kb)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pb8kd)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b00pb8kg)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00pb8kj)
Daily prayer and reflection with Bishop Alan Abernethy.


SAT 05:45 Running Away (b00f678q)
Hugh Dennis

Tim Samuels joins five famous guests as they escape their work for a few hours. Comedian Hugh Dennis takes one of his favourite walks near his home on the Sussex Downs.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b00pb8kl)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SAT 06:04 Weather (b00pb8kn)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (b00pb8kq)
Growing Tents Not Crops on Gower

What does it mean for the future of agriculture when farmers find that tents are more profitable than crops? Helen Mark visits the Gower Peninsula in south-west Wales, one of the UK's most popular holiday locations, to explore the long-term impact of tourism on farming.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b00pb8ks)
Farming Today This Week

Charlotte Smith visits Melton Mowbray's farmers market to find out if the recession is making a dent in sales this year.

According to the Centre for Retail Research, people believe they will spend an average of 168 pounds on food and drink for Christmas. This is 14 pounds more than last year. The regions most likely to increase their spending are London and the south east. Farming Today This Week investigates if this prediction is a reality by asking turkey, sprout, parsnip and dairy farmers across the country if they are seeing an increase in sales this Christmas.


SAT 06:57 Weather (b00pb8kv)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (b00pb8kx)
With Evan Davis and John Humphrys. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b00pb8kz)
Real life stories in which listeners talk about the issues that matter to them. Fi Glover is joined top jock and sports supremo Garry Richardson. With poetry from Susan Richardson.


SAT 10:00 Excess Baggage (b00pb8l1)
Sandi Toksvig meets David Winpenny, who has toured the British Isles looking at the surprising number of pyramids there are scattered around - from gravestones and memorials to follies, works of art and functional buildings. The pyramid is not only one of the most ancient of structural designs but one of the most modern, and all over the country people are proud of their local pyramids and welcome those who have travelled to see them.

Ruth Breckman's tour in search of buildings took her to five continents to see opera houses. Again these vary from the old, like the famous 18th-century La Scala in Milan, to the modern Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle. She explains why the opera house can tell the visitor so much about the history and culture of a city.

An object that travels all over the globe, often unnoticed but vital to the way the world works, is the shipping container. Jeremy Hillman explains how BBC News bought and tracked an individual container for a year, logging its travels, cargo and the crews who navigated its voyage. The journey tells us a lot about globalisation and gives a telling insight into the current state of the world's economy.


SAT 10:30 Here We Come (b00pb8l3)
USA: John Waite's personal take on the story of The Monkees, the wildly successful 1960s pop group. From December 2009.


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (b00pb8l5)
Peter Riddell, Steve Richards, Ben Brogan, Jackie Ashley and Peter Oborne reflect on an extraordinary year in politics.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b00pb8l7)
Kate Adie introduces BBC foreign correspondents with the stories behind the headlines.

There are fears that north and south Sudan could be sliding back towards conflict. A civil war between the country's two halves only ended five years ago. But now reports from the region are increasingly disturbing. More than two thousand people have died there this year in battles between various ethnic factions. And there are claims that the tensions in the largely Christian south are being stoked by the sending of arms shipments from the mainly-Muslim north. This comes against a backdrop of a referendum in the south, in a year's time, in which people will vote on whether to break away and declare independence. Will Ross has been to a town at the centre of this divided region.

For months, all across Eastern Europe people have been marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism. And now, last in line, it's Romania's turn. Days of violent revolution in 1989 ended with the execution of the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena. Gradually the country began to emerge from their shadow, and today it's a member of the European Union. But in some of Romania's darker corners little has changed, and Chris Rogers has been finding out that the nation continues to fail some of its most vulnerable citizens:

The South Pacific island nation of Tonga is the last Polynesian monarchy. At a coronation ceremony last year a crown was placed on the head of King Gorge Tupou the Fifth. And in his silk knee breeches and maroon cape, he rose from his golden throne as the country's absolute ruler. But there have been years of pressure for political reform, and some serious resentment of royal rule. The King now knows that his power may quite soon ebb away. With his blessing Tonga is on course to become a democracy, although the monarch will stay on as head of state. John Pickford first visited the country more than 30 years ago, and he's just been back to see how it is coping with the tensions between tradition and modernity.

Christmas is a big season for the port wine industry. The fortified wine is used to wash down mince pies and Stilton cheese. Visiting heads of state are offered it at royal banquets and cobwebbed bottles lie in the cellars of gentlemen's clubs in London. But how is this ancient drink standing up to these times of recession? Humphrey Hawksley has travelled to the banks of the Douro River in Portugal where port wine has been made for hundreds of years. He asks whether the traditions surrounding the tipple are still relevant today and visits a wine bar to see what today's young drinkers make of it.

And from Ireland there's a tale of mad sporting determination in the teeth of an Atlantic storm. As all of the world surely knows, Tiger Woods has been engulfed by scandal. He has decided to take a break from golf, and suddenly the sport has lost its guiding star. Woods was by far its most inspiring figure; at his best a study in concentration, power, precision and grace under pressure. At the other end of the world of golf, our correspondent Kieran Cooke also likes to swing a club. But he and his friends play a form of the game in the wilds of Ireland that Tiger Woods would barely recognise.


SAT 12:00 Money Box (b00pb8l9)
Paul Lewis with the latest news from the world of personal finance.


SAT 12:30 The Now Show (b00p99n5)
Series 29

Episode 4

Tonight Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis explore pointless protests and Great British sentimentality; Mitch Benn sings an ode to Simon Cowell; Marcus Brigstocke sees Copenhagen through the eyes of Dr Seuss and Jon Holmes tries to wriggle past bank security.


SAT 12:57 Weather (b00pb8lc)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 13:00 News (b00pb8vy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b00p99n7)
Martha Kearney chairs the topical debate from Masham, North Yorkshire. The panellists are Labour peer Roy Hattersley, science writer and broadcaster Dr Gabrielle Walker, Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate and former diplomat Rory Stewart, and Nick Clegg's chief of staff, Danny Alexander.


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b00pb8wz)
Martha Kearney takes listeners' calls and emails in response to this week's edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:30 Saturday Drama (b00pb8x1)
L Frank Baum - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The story made famous by the iconic 1939 musical film is given a distinctly different treatment in Linda Marshall Griffiths' dramatisation which reinstates some of the events and characters of L Frank Baum's classic book.

When a tornado strikes Dorothy's farmhouse in Kansas, she is lifted to the magical world of Oz where she embarks upon a terrifying and perilous journey to find her way back home.

Immediately she makes some powerful enemies by accidentally killing the Wicked Witch of the East and claiming her silver shoes. Desperate to return home her adventure takes her to the City of Emeralds to meet the Wizard of Oz.

On the way she makes some new friends, a Scarecrow, a Tin Woodman and a Lion who have their own reasons for wanting to see the Wizard. Pursued by the frightening Kalidah beasts, the violent Flying Monkeys and the all seeing Wicked Witch of the West will they make it to the Emerald City and have what they most desire?

DOROTHY.............Amelia Clarkson
WIZARD OF OZ / KALIDAH / UNCLE HENRY..Jonathan Keeble
SCARECROW................Kevin Eldon
TINMAN.................Burn Gorman
LION......................Zubin Varla
WITCH OF THE NORTH / SOUTH / WEST / AUNT EM .......Emma Fielding
KING MONKEY / MINER............Andrew Westfield
MUNCHKIN / GATEKEEPER.........Graeme Hawley

Original Music by Olly Fox.
Sound Design by Steve Brooke.

Director: Nadia Molinari

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2009.


SAT 15:30 Tales from the Stave (b00p8c19)
Series 5

Holst: The Planets

Frances Fyfield tracks down the stories behind the scores of well-known pieces of music.

Holst apparently hated the popularity of The Planets. He sat down to compose it in 1914 and it had its first performance in 1918. Given that English audiences were used to Elgar, this massive 'modern' orchestral work came as a huge surprise to concert goers, and they loved it. From the opening 5/4 tempo of the first movement of Mars, this could be considered one of the first great pieces of 20th-century English music.

Holst had recently heard the revolutionary compositions of Schoenberg and Stravinsky and in The Planets, he mixes harmonies and rhythms in the most dramatic way. Not all of the score is in his own hand, as he suffered from neuritis, so he sometimes used copyists to help with his composition.

Frances' guests select their favourite movements from the score, which is held at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, and they are joined by the curator Martin Holmes, who looks after the precious manuscripts there.

The seven movements don't include Pluto; that was only discovered in 1930, four years before his death. The success of The Planets overshadowed Holst's other compositions, which are quite different in style from his astrological depictions. While the piece is still popular in concert halls around the UK, its also familiar to film fans as it is frequently used in movies. What would Holst have made of its enduring popularity, 75 years after his death, and what would he have made of its use in computer games?


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b00pb8x3)
Weekend Woman's Hour

Highlights of this week's Woman's Hour programmes with Jane Garvey.

Sigourney Weaver talks about Avatar and life beyond the screen; what the noughties have done for women; James May on why it's okay for men to not have a feminine side; the working life of Britain's Consul-General in Iraq; theatre teenagers when they're too old for panto; what is the right level of compensation for women who donate their eggs?


SAT 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00pb8x5)
19th December 1989

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

Serious unrest is reported in Romania, with hundreds massacred.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 17:00 PM (b00pb8x7)
Saturday PM

Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Carolyn Quinn, plus the sports headlines.


SAT 17:30 iPM (b00pb8x9)
The weekly interactive current affairs magazine featuring online conversation and debate.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00pb8xc)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (b00pb8xf)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00pb8xh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b00pb8xk)
Peter Curran and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.

He is joined by eighties pop sensation Boy George, the actor Michael Fassbender and the playwright Mark Ravenhill.

Allegra McEvedy talks to almanac compiler Ben Schott.

With comedy from performance poet John Hegley, and music fit for the festive season from Thea Gilmore.


SAT 19:00 From Fact to Fiction (b00pb8xm)
Series 7

The Guilt Season

With matters of climate change under international scrutiny, novelist Liz Jensen brings together three characters with wildly differing views in her comic monologue, The Guilt Season.


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b00pb8xy)
Keira Knightley's stage debut and Sam Taylor Wood's feature film Nowhere Boy

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Richard Coles, Jude Kelly and Amanda Vickery to discuss the cultural highlights of the week, including Keira Knightley's debut stage appearance in The Misanthrope. Starring alongside Damien Lewis in Martin Crimp's translation of Moliere's classic 17th century French comedy, directed by Thea Sharrock, the play explores the very contemporary issue of celebrity.

Sam Taylor Wood's feature film debut tells the story of John Lennon's troubled adolescence in Liverpool, torn between his strict, domineering Aunt Mimi, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, and his inconstant but loving mother Julia, played by Anne Marie Duff. Yearning for a normal family, Lennon (Aaron Johnson) escapes into the new and exciting world of rock n' roll, where his fledgling genius finds a kindred spirit in the teenage Paul McCartney (Thomas Brodie Sangster).

Colum McCann's novel Let The Whole World Spin won the prestigious National Book Award in America. It is set in 1974 against the backdrop of Philippe Petit's celebrated high wire walk between the Twin Towers, a pivotal moment loosely drawing together a rich cast of New York residents. From two immigrant Irish brothers to an uptown mother grieving for her son lost in Vietnam, from the realities of life in the Bronx for a streetwalker to the cocaine adventures of two trendy young painters. McCann's is a vividly-drawn portrait of 1970s Manhattan.

Plus a review of the highlights on television over Christmas, featuring the Cranford Christmas Special, starring Judi Dench and Imelda Staunton, a new adaptation of Henry James's The Turn of The Screw, John Hurt reprising his role of Quentin Crisp in An Englisman in New York, and Andrew Davis's adaptation of Joanna Briscoe's erotic thriller Sleep With Me.


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b00pb8y0)
A Dog's Life

To mark the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, BBC Disability Affairs Correspondent Peter White examines the changing role of the working dog, from the early 1900s to their role in today's society, using extensive and sometimes previously unbroadcast archive.

Perennially 'man's best friend', dogs are also now man's best colleague. From guide dogs to guard dogs, hearing dogs to healing dogs, Peter examines the ways in which we have become so dependent on canines. Over the years we have progressed from guide dogs to dual purpose dogs, to dogs that can detect imminent epileptic fits, smuggled drugs and explosive devices - even dogs that can do your washing.

The programme features a mix of historical material, new interviews and previously untransmitted archive of the trainers, the owners and those that place their lives in the paws of their dogs.


SAT 21:00 Classic Serial (b00p7kyd)
Book 1: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Part 3

Dramatisation by Shaun McKenna of John le Carre's classic novel.

George Smiley, called back from retirement, is reaching the end of his hunt to find the mole he believes is tearing the British Secret Intelligence Service apart.

George Smiley ...... Simon Russell Beale
Ann Smiley ...... Anna Chancellor
Control ...... John Rowe
Peter Guillam ...... Ewan Bailey
Jim Prideaux ...... Anthony Calf
Mendel ...... Kenneth Cranham
Magyar ...... Peter Majer
Ricki Tarr ...... Jamie Foreman
Toby Esterhase ...... Sam Dale
Bill Haydon ...... Michael Feast
Karla ...... Philip Fox
Polyakov ...... Stephen Greif
Steve Mackelvore ...... Piers Wehner
Mrs McCraig ...... Kate Layden
Bill Roach ...... Ryan Watson

This episode is available until 3.00pm on Sunday 2nd May as part of the Series Catch-up Trial.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b00pb8y2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SAT 22:15 Unreliable Evidence (b00p91qf)
European Law: After Lisbon

Clive Anderson presents the series analysing the legal issues of the day.

European law has been described as an incoming tide which cannot be held back. Will the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty generate a legal tsunami which will overwhelm British sovereignty? Are we governed by our own laws or the law of Europe?


SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (b00p87r2)
Russell Davies chairs the tenth, heat of the perennial general knowledge contest, with four contestants from Wales.


SAT 23:30 Adventures in Poetry (b00p7m9j)
Series 10

On First Looking into Chapman's Homer

Peggy Reynolds explores the background, effect and lasting appeal of some well-loved poems.

'Much have I travelled in the realms of gold...' Keats' sonnet - his first great poem - begins. Keats couldn't read Greek and the poem records him touching the ancient world through translation and his already fecund imagination. Peggy explores the stories behind its creation and its enduring appeal.



SUNDAY 20 DECEMBER 2009

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b00pb8z9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SUN 00:30 Afternoon Reading (b009fpl7)
Pier Shorts

Love Lessons from Cephalopods

Stories by new writers, inspired by Brighton's Palace Pier.

By Kay Sexton, read by Susannah Harker.

A marine scientist challenges a Russian gangmaster to a swimming contest.

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pb8zc)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pb8zf)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pb8zh)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b00pb8zk)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b00pb8zm)
The sound of bells from St John the Baptist, Loughton.


SUN 05:45 The Watchdog and the Feral Beast (b00p2z8p)
Episode 1

Sir Christopher Meyer, press watchdog until this year as chairman of the Press Complaints Commission and former press secretary at Number 10, discusses the role of the press today. Is the press today freedom's guardian or is it a 'feral beast', as Tony Blair described the media at the end of his premiership?

Sir Christopher draws on his personal experience as press watchdog and government spokesman. In his six years chairing the PCC, where he dealt with complaints against newspapers and magazines, he championed a free press and self-regulation, but had to contend with controversies that sometimes strained people's trust in the press.

His health check on the press comes at a time when opinion is polarised. Is the press out of control, or is it more constrained than ever before by the law? Is the press destroying trust in our democracy, or are politicians giving the press undue importance by courting editors and journalists? Is the press too powerful, or is it vulnerable because of competition from the internet, much of it free and unregulated?

And now that the printed word and audio-visual content appear together on the same website, what is the future for self-regulation by the press?


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b00pb8zp)
The latest national and international news.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b00pb8zr)
The Festive Spirit

Since time immemorial special occasions have been marked with a festival in which communities joined together in celebration. Journalist Madeleine Bunting explores this desire to create festivals.

The readers are Liza Sadovy, James Goode and Frank Stirling.

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b00pb8zt)
Adam Henson visits Hunmanby Grange Farm on the Yorkshire Wolds, a 600-acre arable farm with 2,000 hens producing freedom foods accredited eggs.

In 2002, owners Tom and Gill Mellor decided that, with the drop in cereal prices, the farm wouldn't survive as a family business without diversification. Using water from their own bore-hole and barley from the farm, they started a brewery which now produces up to 13,000 award-winning pints of ale a year sold throughout the region.

It is a story about seeing the writing on the wall and then doing something unique to their location to survive and prosper. Both the hen farming and brewery employ local people, as does the farm. The programme highlights the choices many farmers face today to ensure the survival and future prosperity of a family farm.


SUN 06:57 Weather (b00pb8zw)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b00pb8zy)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (b00pb900)
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 (b00pb902)
Build Africa

Dame Diana Rigg appeals on behalf of Build Africa.

Donations to Build Africa should be sent to FREEPOST BBC Radio 4 Appeal, please mark the back of your envelope Build Africa. Credit cards: Freephone 0800 404 8144. If you are a UK tax payer, please provide Build Africa with your full name and address so they can claim the Gift Aid on your donation. The online and phone donation facilities are not currently available to listeners without a UK postcode.

Registered Charity Number 298316.


SUN 07:58 Weather (b00pb904)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b00pb906)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b00pb908)
A Spotless Rose

On the fourth Sunday of Advent, the story of the angel Gabriel's visit to Mary is explored in a service from St John's College, Durham.

The preacher is Rev Dr David Wilkinson.

Music director: George Richford.


SUN 08:50 A Point of View (b00p99nb)
Clive James: Option Swamp

Clive James vents his frustration at automated customer systems and finds them a poor substitute for dealing with real people.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b00pb90b)
News and conversation about the big stories of the week with Paddy O'Connell.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b00pbltx)
The week's events in Ambridge.


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b00pbltz)
Sir Michael Caine

Kirsty Young's castaway this Christmas is Sir Michael Caine.

In a film career that has spanned more than four decades he has won two Oscars; his credits include Alfie, The Italian Job, Hannah and Her Sisters and Educating Rita.

As well as discussing his remarkable life in films, he describes how the Queen used to cut through his back garden on her way to the horse races, discusses the secrets of a happy marriage and reveals the tricks for cooking perfect roast potatoes this Christmas.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Record: My Way, by Frank Sinatra
Book: The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand
Luxury: A large bed with 50 per cent goose down and 50 per cent feather pillows.


SUN 12:00 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (b00p885p)
Series 52

Episode 5

The perennial antidote to panel games pays a visit to the Futurist Theatre in Scarborough, with Jack Dee taking the chairman's role.

Regulars Barry Cryer and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined by Jo Brand and Jeremy Hardy.

With Colin Sell at the piano.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b00pblv1)
Spirits

Sheila Dillon tastes her way through the long tradition of turning fruit into alcohol. She hears from eau de vie producers in the Alsace region of France and from cider brandy distillers in Somerset.

The technique of distillation was first devised by Arabs and then embraced by Europeans more 700 years ago. It has given us whiskies, cognacs, Armagnac, and countless other drinks but behind them all lies eau de vie, 'the water of life', the clear spirit that emerges from the tool of the distillers' trade, the still.

The most prized eau de vies are those produced from nothing but fermented fruits such as pears, raspberries, quinces or bilberries. Few drinks are so dependent on landscape, tradition and craft. Often, local wild fruits are gathered, fermented and then heated in a family-owned still.

Sheila Dillon looks at this centuries-old practice of producing eau de vies. It is a tradition now in sharp decline across Europe, but Sheila discovers a brave, lone effort underway in Somerset to revive a British form of this drink.

To help tell the story Sheila is joined by food historian Ivan Day and drinks buyer Sarah Knowles. Reporter Ray Kershaw travels to the valleys of the Vosges mountains of Alsace, on the French border with Germany, to visit one of the surviving family distilleries, and Sheila hears from C Anne Wilson, author of Water of Life: A History of Wine Distilling and Spirits.


SUN 12:57 Weather (b00pblv3)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b00pblv5)
A look at events around the world with Shaun Ley.


SUN 13:30 Over The Rainbow With Yip Harburg (b00n0xfq)
Broadcaster Stephen Evans explores the life and work of lyricist Yip Harburg, who became known as the 'social conscience' of Broadway, and discovers his contemporary relevance.

Harburg became famous for writing the lyrics to The Wizard of Oz and the anthem of the Great Depression era, Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? His strong socialist views led him to become a victim of the infamous Hollywood anti-communist blacklist in the 1950s.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00p959x)
Peter Gibbs chairs the popular horticultural forum.

Anne Swithinbank, Chris Beardshaw and John Cushnie answer questions from gardeners in Cuffley, Hertfordshire.

Authors Beth Chatto and Christine Walkden join Matthew Wilson to discuss contemporary garden literature.

Including gardening weather forecast.


SUN 14:45 Joan Armatrading's Favourite Choirs (b00bbxp7)
London Bulgarian Choir

Joan Armatrading visits choral assemblies across the country.

Joan tunes into the musical traditions of Bulgaria with Dessislava Stefanova and the London Bulgarian Choir. She learns about the group's distinctive singing techniques and the difficulty the British have with learning to sing less politely.


SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b00pbm1x)
Matilda

Episode 1

Dramatisation by Charlotte Jones of Roald Dahl's modern children's classic about a cool, calm, pint-size five-year-old genius.

Narrator ...... Lenny Henry
Matilda ...... Lauren Mote
Miss Trunchbull ......Nichola McAuliffe
Mrs Wormwood ...... Claire Rushbrook
Mr Wormwood ...... John Biggins
Miss Honey ...... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Mrs Phelps ...... Kate Layden
Michael ...... Ryan Watson
Bruce Bogtrotter ...... Joshua Swinney
Nobby ...... Rhys Jennings
Lavender ...... Sinead Michael
Hortensia ...... Lizzy Watts

Directed by Claire Grove.

Part of the BBC Christmas 2009 season.


SUN 16:00 Open Book (b00pbm1z)
Crime Writing and 2010 Publishing Highlights

Mariella Frostrup talks to the crime writer Mark Billingham about one of his inspirations. As a new big-screen adaptation of Sherlock Holmes reaches our cinemas, he and the crime writing expert Barry Forshaw discuss Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's enduring creation and his impact on every crime writer since.

There's advice for a listener eager to read fiction set in the Middle Ages from the novelist Kevin Crossley-Holland.

And Melissa Katsoulis and Suzi Feary look back at an eventful decade in the world of books and pick out some publishing highlights in the year to come.


SUN 16:30 Thomas Lynch's Season of Innocence (b00pbm21)
Irish-American poet and essayist Thomas Lynch introduces a poignant and insightful programme on poetry that has been inspired by children, with contributions from Carol Ann Duffy, Matthew Sweeney, Frieda Hughes and Robin Robertson.

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00pbm7m)
20th December 1989

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

US forces looking for General Noriega invade Panama.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 17:00 The New Art of Diplomacy (b00p8dz6)
Episode 1

James Naughtie asks if British diplomacy is still fit for purpose.

A century ago, much of the map of the world was coloured with the pink of the British Empire. Britain's diplomats reigned supreme, with the reassurance of a gunboat to support them. Much has changed since that time, and continues to change. As Britain faces new threats and new priorities across the globe, how are the foreign office and its diplomats changing?


SUN 17:40 From Fact to Fiction (b00pb8xm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00pbmdv)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (b00pbmj1)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00pbmj3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b00pbmj5)
Val McDermid introduces her selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio.

How to Be a Respectable Woman - BBC Scotland
Book of the Week: Dear Granny Smith, episode 3 - Radio 4
Closer to Blood than Ink - World Service
The New Art of Diplomacy - Radio 4
The Contingency Plan - Radio 3
Hard Times - The Short, Sad Life of Stephen Foster - Radio 4
What Happened Next? - BBC Scotland
Great Lives - Tennessee Williams - Radio 4
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Radio 4
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue - Radio 4
Wake Up to Wogan - Radio 2
The Ingoldsby Legends - Radio 4
Defining the Decade - Radio 4
Internet Café Hobo - Radio 4
The Infinite Monkey Cage - Radio 4.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (b00pbmlw)
At Lower Loxley's 'Deck the Hall' event, Nigel's impressed by the festive-looking barn. Joe and Vicky have been working hard making the kissing boughs, though they've had fun too, helped by the cider punch. Vicky's concerned when Joe decides to sell the boughs as he can't wait for the Christmas Eve market, implying that Nigel has given him permission. He's also made loads more punch.

Also at Lower Loxley are Oscar and Caz, who chats to Nic, Mia and Jake. The children are looking forward to seeing Father Christmas, played by a rhyming Bert Fry.

Although Helen is daunted at the prospect of seeing Nic's children after her nightmarish babysitting attempt, Jake and Mia are delighted to see her. Helen and Vicky help Jake and Mia make a kissing bough which Jake proudly shows to Nic. Then they head off to see the fairies.

Despite Elizabeth's concerns when Bert recites a warning rhyme to a naughty boy, the event is a success and everyone has a lovely day - finished off by a treetop walk. Helen holds Oscar for a few moments and is disappointed when she has to hand him back. Caz coos to Oscar what a lovely time they're having - if only his daddy were there, everything would be perfect.

Episode written by Caroline Harrington.


SUN 19:15 Americana (b00pbmly)
Matt Frei presents an insider guide to the people and the stories shaping America today. Combining location reports with lively discussion and exclusive interviews, the show provides new and surprising insights into contemporary America.

Matt is joined by Joe Scarborough, the host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, for a round-up of the week's news in the week before Christmas. We will likely talk about former VP candidate Joe Lieberman, now wielding power in shaping the US healthcare reform debate, Time magazine's Man of the Year Ben Bernanke and lobbyists in American politics - from the days when President Ulysses Grant used to hang out in the lobby of the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC.

Then we go to Houston - power base of Conservative standard-bearers such as Tom DeLay, Dick Cheney and the Bush family - for an interview with Annise Parker, elected to be the city's first gay mayor.

Garrison Keillor explains the fate of a toxic holiday food that is often given, rarely eaten: the fruitcake.

Not many alligator handbags under the Christmas tree in America this year - bad news for Louisanna's alligator farmers. We head to the swamp to meet one of them.


SUN 19:45 Afternoon Reading (b0080dyx)
Sputnik

The First King of Mars

A selection of stories specially commissioned to celebrate the Russian satellite which started the space race.

By Nick Walker, read by Peter Capaldi.

There is plenty of time to think during the long journey to Mars. And the new colony will need governance.

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 20:00 More or Less (b00p94fp)
Tim Harford and the More or Less team find out who really pays most tax and why Christmas shopping is, to one economist, an orgy of 'value destruction'.

An Open University co production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 20:30 Last Word (b00p99n1)
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.

Marking the lives of Paul Samuelson, Yegor Gaidar, Bobby Jaye, Sir John Quicke and Ken Wlaschin.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (b00pb8l9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 on Saturday]


SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b00pb902)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 today]


SUN 21:30 In Business (b00p944k)
Let Me Entertain You

What can business leaders learn from rock musicians and improvisational comedians? Peter Day finds out.


SUN 21:58 Weather (b00pbmm0)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b00pbmm2)
Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including The Watchdog and the Feral Beast.


SUN 23:00 1989: Day by Day Omnibus (b00pbmn5)
Week ending 19th December November 1989

A look back at the events making the news 20 years ago, with Sir John Tusa.

President FW de Klerk meets with Nelson Mandela, Chile elects a civilian president to replace Augusto Pinochet, and East Germany discusses what do to after dismantling the Stasi.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b00pb8zr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 21 DECEMBER 2009

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b00pbncv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b00p912j)
Prison Clothing - Lewes Arms Boycott

Laurie Taylor explores the history of clothing behind bars.

From broad arrows on prisoners suits in the 19th century to the orange jumpsuits worn by inmates of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the uniform prisoners wear reflects the regime they are being punished by. Laurie is joined by Juliet Ash from the Royal Collge of Art and Elizabeth Wilson from the London College of Fashion to undress the history of prison clothing and discuss what it reveals about the social cultural and political context of the time.

Also in the programme, Paul Sparks from Sussex University discusses the importance of the local pub and the power of the boycott.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b00pb8zm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pbng1)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pbnhg)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pbnh0)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (b00pbntr)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00pbnwm)
Daily prayer and reflection with Bishop Alan Abernethy.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (b00pbnzg)
The government launches a campaign warning people about buying Micro-pigs as Christmas presents. Charlotte Smith hears from a micro-pig breeder, and from a pig expert who says people who buy these animals usually end up with more pig than they expected.


MON 05:57 Weather (b00pbw1l)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 06:00 Today (b00pbnzs)
With James Naughtie and Justin Webb. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (b00pbw1n)
Andrew Marr sets the week's cultural agenda with a rich and electic mix of guests.

He discusses what it means to be Welsh in the 21st century with Rhodri Morgan, on his retirement as the first First Minister for Wales. Times columnist Ann Treneman reflects on the nature of political satire in the post-expenses scandal world in her new book Annus Horribilis: The Worst Year in British Politics. Are there any jokes left to be made and what role can satire play in the run up to the next election? Mark Mazower examines the origins of the UN and what they tell us about international cooperation now. Is it a role model for global understanding or a rushed compromise that creaks increasingly under the weight of internal contradictions? And at the start of the week of traditional feasting, Roger Scruton talks about the philosophy of wine and his thesis I Drink, Therefore I Am.


MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b00pbpcc)
Paw Tracks in the Moonlight

Episode 1

Kevin Whately reads from Denis O'Connor's memoir.

One snowy night in the wilds of Northumberland, O'Connor is settling in for a night in front of the fire when he hears a cry of pain from the woods outside.

Abridged by Jane Marshall.

A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00pbprm)
Penelope Cruz; Women in debt

Actor Penelope Cruz talks about the musical extravaganza Nine. Plus, what can be done to help women in debt? And, the popularity of real-life literature.


MON 11:00 Policing Britain (b00pbw1q)
The Justice We Deserve

Andy Hayman, former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, examines the challenges facing policing in Britain today.

When Andy Hayman left the Metropolitan Police in 2008 he was assistant commissioner, Special Operations, in overall charge of counter-terrorism. He had to deal with the suicide bomb attacks on London and the tragedy of the de Menezes shooting. Andy's 30-year career started straight out of school with the police in Essex and took him to the position of chief constable of Norfolk. In this series he takes a critical look at the challenges facing the police service in Britain today. He goes back on the beat and talks to former colleagues and those who work with the police at every level to ask the question, 'Do we have the policing we need in Britain today?'

A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 11:30 Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off (b00pbx22)
Series 4

Lapland

He's back! But this time, he's got a computer! Budleigh Salterton's most famous citizen has been grounded by both the Home Office and his father, so he's set up GWH Travvel ("2 Ms, 2 Gs, 2 Vs - bit of a mix up at the printers").

Run from his bedroom with the help of his long-suffering former Primary School teacher Mr Timmis and the hindrance of his sister Charlotte, it's a one-stop Travel/Advice/Events Management/Website service, where each week his schemes range far and wide - whether it's roaming the country lecturing would-be overlanders on how to pack a rucksack ("If in doubt, put it in. And double it"), or finding someone a zebra for a corporate promotion ("I'll look in the Phone Book - how hard can it be? Now, "A to D"...), GWH Travvel stays true to its motto - "We do it all, so you won't want to".

In this special episode, first broadcast at Xmas, Giles takes a trip to Iceland and buys some frozen food for his trip to Lapland. He also learns that when hunting with shotguns, it's good to know the difference between an elk and an elf.

Co-starring Catherine Tate as his long-suffering fiancee Arabella and Celia Imrie as his mother-in-law-to-be - the woman known only as "Mrs Wells" - in a snowbound special that mixes The Wizard Of Oz, It's A Wonderful Life and The Ice Queen in Giles's head, and serves them up with a helping of brandy butter and South Devon-style idiocy.

Starring Marcus Brigstocke as Giles.

Cast:
Giles Wemmbley Hogg ..... Marcus Brigstocke
Bella ..... Catherine Tate
Mrs Wells ..... Celia Imrie
Mr Timmis ..... Adrian Scarborough
Charlotte Wemmbley Hogg ..... Catherine Shepherd
Santa ..... Ewan Bailey

Written by Marcus Brigstocke & Jeremy Salsby.

Producer: David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:00 You and Yours (b00pbq2q)
Consumer news and issues with Julian Worricker.


MON 12:57 Weather (b00pbq3y)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 13:00 World at One (b00pbqbv)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


MON 13:30 Brain of Britain (b00pbx24)
Russell Davies chairs the eleventh heat of the perennial general knowledge contest, featuring contestants from the south of England.


MON 14:00 The Archers (b00pbmlw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 McLevy (b00pbx26)
Series 6

A Bolt from the Blue

Series of stories about David Ashton's Victorian detective based on real-life Edinburgh policeman Inspector James McLevy.

The young gentlemen of the university's student clubs are competing to play the most audacious pranks on unsuspecting citizens. Just harmless youthful high spirits - until a body is found floating in Leith docks.

McLevy ...... Brian Cox
Jean Brash ...... Siobhan Redmond
Mulholland ...... Michael Perceval-Maxwell
Roach ...... David Ashton
Hannah ...... Colette O'Neil
Carnegie ...... Ewen Bremner
Benjamin ...... Sandy Grierson
Alexander ...... Jim Webster-Stewart
Jessica ...... Jenny Hulse
Boag ...... James Bryce
Agnes ...... Carol Ann Crawford

Directed by Patrick Rayner.


MON 15:00 Archive on 4 (b00pb8y0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


MON 15:45 The Santa Tapes (b00pbrs8)
Santa of the Lighthouses

Alan Dein unwraps the oral history of Santa Claus, hearing the true stories of those who have donned the red and white costume, from war-torn Hungary to the icy wastes of Alaska.

Of course Santa flies, but this one arrives by helicopter. For 80 years, the lighthouse and coastguard families of New England have been waiting for him to touch down.


MON 16:00 The Food Programme (b00pblv1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 The Infinite Monkey Cage (b00pbx28)
Series 1

Science and Religion

Physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince take a witty, irreverent and unashamedly rational look at the world according to science.
Robin and Brian are joined by Victor Stock, Dean of Guildford Cathedral, and science journalist Adam Rutherford for a special Christmas edition of the programme. Adam explains why religion really could be good for your health, and can Victor convert Robin and Brian in time for the festive season?


MON 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00pbs0b)
21st December 1989

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu is booed in public.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 17:00 PM (b00pbs6b)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00pbsgv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (b00pcb3d)
Series 52

Episode 6

The perennial antidote to panel games comes from the Futurist Theatre in Scarborough, with Jack Dee taking the chairman's role.

Regulars Barry Cryer and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined by Jo Brand and Jeremy Hardy.

With Colin Sell at the piano.


MON 19:00 The Archers (b00pbqyz)
An exhausted Vicky and Joe make more kissing boughs to sell. Elizabeth appears, confronting Joe with Brenda's photos of the event showing price tags on the kissing boughs in the background, and plastic cups of cider. She tersely makes him take off the price tags and dispose of the cider.

Vicky apologises to Elizabeth. She thought Joe had asked permission. Elizabeth says she has a thing or two to learn about the Grundys. Vicky then makes a suggestion to Elizabeth which she takes up; that Lower Loxley takes a cut of the sales and that Vicky takes a further cut. She later tells Joe that her cut is to make up for him lying to her.

Pat's surprised when Helen's enthusiastic about both Jake and Mia and baby Oscar, commenting that it's out of character. When Helen tells Pat that Leon's spending Christmas day at the pub with Aussie pals, Pat suggests inviting him to Bridge Farm instead. But Leon's not keen politely pointing out that he's made other arrangements, even after Helen encourages him by saying that Annette will be there. Pat thinks it's a shame when Helen explains, but is very happy to have Annette along as part of the family.

Episode written by Caroline Harrington.


MON 19:15 Front Row (b00pbsh3)
Kenneth Branagh on playing the Swedish detective Wallander, a review of Sam Taylor-Wood's film about John Lennon, Nowhere Boy, and John Wilson and guests discuss the last decade's cultural highlights.


MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00pbtjj)
Someone Like You

Man from the South

Dramatisation by Stephen Sheridan of five darkly comic tales by Roald Dahl.

A young marine agrees to a bizarre wager with an elderly South American.

Storyteller ...... Charles Dance
Old Man ...... Andrew Sachs
Marine ...... Danny Mahoney
Girl ...... Donnla Hughes
Spanish Woman ...... Rachel Atkins

Directed by David Blount

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

Part of the BBC Christmas 2009 season.


MON 20:00 Things We Forgot to Remember (b00pcb58)
Series 5

The Hanseatic League

Michael Portillo presents a series revisiting the great moments of history to discover that they often conceal other events of equal but forgotten importance.

One of Michael Portillo's earliest political memories is the 1975 vote on whether or not Britain should stay in the Common Market, the early name for what is now the European Union. It felt like a uniquely 20th-century subject. But in this programme, Michael travels to King's Lynn to find out why this town near the Norfolk coast was such an important part of a forgotten Northern European free-trading area that stretched down as far as Cologne in Germany and included most of the Baltic coastline.

The Hanseatic League was centred in the German town of Lubbeck but English wool made it an important part of a system that allowed Hansas, or groups of tradesmen, to establish a network of trading centres running alongside the nation states of the time. The League had money enough to raise an army, had a substantial fleet and was important for a number of sovereigns, not least Edward IV of England, when they were in need of a loan. So what were the ambitions of the hugely wealthy tradesmen running the league? And have we forgotten to remember that as well as a story of nation states, European history has long been a story of free trade, ultimately crushed by Queen Elizabeth I in England's case. She wanted to control the wool export monopoly and the considerable wealth that came from it and so had the English Hanseatic centre, by then in London and known as the Steelyards, closed down.


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (b00p91x8)
Rio Law

Brazil is booming economically and growing in confidence on the world stage, but in the city of Rio de Janeiro law and order have been turned upside down. Gangs run the prisons and ruthless militias - often made up of former police officers - control many shanty towns, killing with impunity. Lucy Ash asks if the authorities can end the rule of gangs, guns and greed.


MON 21:00 Frontiers (b00pcb5b)
Earthquakes in Southeast Asia

Five years after the great Indian Ocean tsunami, a further two powerful earthquakes in September 2009 reminded us that the region remains at risk. Roland Pease reports on scientists' attempts to evaluate the danger and prepare for future emergencies in southeast Asia.


MON 21:30 Start the Week (b00pbw1n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:58 Weather (b00pbtm7)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b00pbtmp)
National and international news and analysis with Ritula Shah.

Eurostar to run limited service tomorrow.

Evidence that dead Palestinians were harvested for organs.

President Obama's healthcare bill is likely to pass; what difference will it make to the sick?


MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00pbvpj)
The Ingoldsby Legends

The Spectre of Tapton, Part 1

Nicholas Murchie and Lucy Robinson read from a collection of myths, legends, ghost stories and poetry supposedly written by Thomas Ingoldsby of Tappington Manor, but actually penned by the Rev Richard Barham, first published in book form in 1840.

The strange tale of a trouser-stealing ghost. Why the unsatiable appetite for pantaloons, and where are they being taken?

Abridged by Robin Brooks.

A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (b00p8dk8)
George Orwell left us a set of rules for writing about politics and public affairs - do they still apply? Michael Rosen and a panel of critics offer an Orwellian perspective on just one day in the discourse of the nation.


MON 23:30 Take Two (b00gd1t2)
Series 2

Billie Holiday and Lester Young

Richard Coles presents a discussion series looking at collaborations between two musicians.

The recordings that Billie Holiday made with saxophonist Lester Young were lauded for the way in which both artists complemented one another's sound. He called her Lady Day and she nicknamed him Prez because of his presidential mastery of his instrument.

But away from the studio they also shared addictions to alcohol and drugs, which led to their early deaths. Richard is joined by jazz singer Clare Teal and saxophone player and jazz writer Dave Gelly to explore the personalities of Young and Holiday and to investigate their musical legacy.



TUESDAY 22 DECEMBER 2009

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b00pbnbt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b00pbpcc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pbncx)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pbnh2)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pbng3)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b00pbnrf)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00pbntt)
Daily prayer and reflection with Bishop Alan Abernethy.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b00pbnwp)
Anna Hills hears from one of the farmers seeking compensation from the Rural Payments Agency as a result of its failings in 2005, and why he's bitterly disappointed to be offered only 500 pounds rather than the recommended 5,000.

Plus why keeping reindeer in Britain isn't always supported. A government vet says there's been an increase in imports of the animals but they don't always survive.

And the Wiltshire farmer who may be forced to kill a prize beef calf because he doesn't know its exact date of birth.


TUE 06:00 Today (b00pbnzj)
With John Humphrys and James Naughtie. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 Defining The Decade (b00pcd3z)
The Heat is On

Edward Stourton tries to make sense of a decade in which history has been put on fast forward. There has been a revolution in the way we communicate, widespread alarm about the planet's very survival and a challenge to the world order. What does it mean for the way we live as we head into 2010?

Back in the year 2000, the world's leaders didn't seem to be troubled by the notion of global warming, so what has changed?


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b00pbpcf)
Paw Tracks in the Moonlight

Episode 2

Kevin Whately reads from Denis O'Connor's memoir.

Having rescued a tiny kitten from a derelict barn, O'Connor has to fight to keep it alive.

Abridged by Jane Marshall.

A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00pchxv)
Natasha Hunt's Olympic Challenge

The unfit maths teacher now training for the Olympics. Plus, Iranian men in headscarves, and Champagne or sparkling wine: what's best for Christmas?


TUE 11:00 Towering Ambition (b00pcd41)
Adil Ray follows the inaugural Architecture for Everyone campaign, launched in Stephen Lawrence's memory to correct UK architecture's glaring ethnic imbalance.

Stephen Lawrence wanted to be an architect, so when his mum Doreen discovered that only two per cent of the UK's practising architects come from black and ethnic backgrounds she set up the inaugural Architecture for Everyone scheme, with RMJM Architects, to readdress the balance.

Through a series of workshops in Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow and London, six young people were selected for a scholarship to Harvard's School of Design. They are Paula McDonald, 25, from Glasgow; Callum Gilbert, 21, from Liverpool; Oni Hinton, 20 and Luke Henry-Powell, 18, from London; and Yohanna Iyasu and Nick Ackers, both 19, from Birmingham.

They all come from radically diverse backgrounds. Nick was adopted as a baby from a Romanian orphanage, Yohanna came to Britain by way of Eritrea and Holland, Luke rebelled at school and wanted to prove himself, Oni was escaping from a chaotic home life, Callum had been a young knife crime victim, and Paula, the eldest of the six, had been made redundant and needed to boost her self-esteem. The common theme among them was that this break had the potential to change everything.


TUE 11:30 Li Yuan-Chia (b00pcf5j)
When Taiwan's first abstract artist settled in a Cumbrian farmhouse, his life changed. Deriving inspiration from landscape and local people, he encouraged new British artists and anticipated the success of contemporary Chinese visual art.

Li Yuan Chia was one of the first significant Chinese abstract artists of the 20th century. This programme, presented by Sally Lai, the director of Manchester's Chinese Arts Centre, examines his career from the place he spent the last 28 years of his life: a stone farmhouse, built next to Hadrian's Wall in Cumbria.

Born in China in 1929, Li was educated in Taiwan. He worked and exhibited in Italy before moving to London in 1963. Here, Li's reputation was established with monochrome paintings and scrolls marked with a tiny, isolated dot.

But Li came to dislike the fashionable metropolitan art world of the mid-1960s. In 1968 he met Cumbrian painter Winifred Nicholson, who persuaded Li to move away from the busy capital to a far more remote location, near her own home. With his own hands Li then set about converting a farm building, the Banks, at Brampton, where he built a gallery, library, theatre, printing press, children's art room and photographic darkroom, and opened it to the public. It became a popular attraction for local people, art aficionados and tourists walking Hadrian's Wall.

Over the next ten years over 300 artists exhibited at the Banks, which was also the base from which Li's organisation, the LYC Foundation, was able to commission work by young British artists, some of whom became very successful later, including sculptors and land artists Andy Goldsworthy, David Nash and Bill Woodrow.

Li's own work moved into abstract sculpture, using magnets, gold leaf, plastic discs suspended on plastic thread and additional text. The landscape also affected him, and he began to explore photography and environmental art. Always, he wrote poetry.

But after Arts Council funding became increasingly limited, the LYC Foundation had to struggle to survive. Li continued to produce art, which became increasingly contemplative. He fell ill with cancer and died in 1994. Art historians now acknowledge Li Yuan Chia as having paved the way for the current expansion of Chinese contemporary art. But his former home in Cumbria is derelict.


TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b00pbq17)
Consumer news and issues with Julian Worricker.


TUE 12:57 Weather (b00pbq2s)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (b00pbqbh)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


TUE 13:30 Tales from the Stave (b00pcjh2)
Series 5

Chopin: Barcarolle

Frances Fyfield tracks down the stories behind the scores of well-known pieces of music.

Frances is joined by Chopin expert Adam Zamoyski and pianist Stephen Hough at the British Library to look at the autographed score of Chopin's Barcarolle. The library is holding a major exhibition in 2010 to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth.

The greater part of Chopin's professional career was spent outside his native Poland - most of it in Paris, where he established himself as a fashionable teacher and performer in the houses of the wealthy. With a background of Venetian gondoliers' songs combined with Polish references, the Barcarolle for solo piano was completed in 1846 and meant so much to Chopin that he included it in the programme of a concert he gave in Paris in February 1848. It was to be his last public appearance in his beloved adopted city. His body succumbed to lifelong ill health a year later at the age of 39.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (b00pbqyz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b00pcjh4)
The Three Knots

Drama about faith and the supernatural by Linda Cracknell, set in 19th-century Scotland. Two men stranded on a mountain on a stormy December night meet a mysterious old woman who believes she can control the elements.

Angus ...... Finn den Hertog
Thomas ...... Robert Jack
Old Woman ...... Gerda Stevenson
Elizabeth ...... Hannah Donaldson
Minister ...... Jimmy Chisholm

Directed by Kirsty Williams.


TUE 15:00 Home Planet (b00pcjh6)
About 4.5 billion years ago the newly formed planet Earth was in collision with a planet the size of Mars, a cataclysmic event that gave birth to the Moon. But the impact was so huge that it left one listener puzzled as to why the Earth remained in place instead of spinning off into interstellar space. Listeners also want to know what the Earth was like, much later, when it was a few degrees warmer than today and if that offers us any hints for the future.

What, too, is the future of UK forestry; how do plants' need for oxygen balance out with their production of this crucial gas and how is it possible for astronomers to detect the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation?

We also want your help in finding out how the New Year festivities affect roosting birds. Do you have a nestbox camera which shows black-and-white pictures using infrared lighting? If you do, Graham Appleton from the BTO, one of our regular panelists, would like to know if you have birds roosting in your nest box. We'd like you to turn on your camera on New Year's Eve to see how much disturbance fireworks cause. Graham will be with us on 4 January to discuss your responses. Remember, this needs to be an infrared camera. You don't want to wake up birds by turning on a normal light.

On the panel are astronomer Dr Carolin Crawford of Cambridge University, plant geneticist Professor Denis Murphy of the University of Glamorgan, and forestry expert Dr Nick Brown of Oxford University.

If you have any comments on the topics discussed or any questions you might want to put to future programmes, please do let us know.


TUE 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b008vv5m)
Scene of the Crime

From the River's Mouth

Stories by leading crime writers.

By Stella Duffy.

The malign and sultry River Thames exacts a watery revenge.

Read on location by Samantha Bond in the Greenwich Foot Tunnel.


TUE 15:45 The Santa Tapes (b00pfm8n)
White Beard

Alan Dein unwraps the oral history of Santa Claus, hearing the true stories of those who have donned the red and white costume, from war-torn Hungary to the icy wastes of Alaska.

Playing Santa is often the last job in a lifetime of work. Donning the red and white costume is often a way to reconnect with a new generation in the age of want, as Alan Dein discovers.


TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (b00pck26)
Michael Rosen takes apart some jokes to try to find out why they're funny. After he puts them back together, they don't seem to work very well.


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b00pcklz)
Series 20

Vivian Stanshall

Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.

Musician and performer Neil Innes discusses the life of his Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band colleague and friend Vivian Stanshall. Neil recalls the moment he met Vivian Stanshall in London: he was wearing Billy Bunter trousers, a Victorian frock coat and horrible purple pince-nez glasses and carrying a euphonium. So began a friendship and a musical partnership that exploded into life with The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, culminating in tours and TV series. Vivian's second wife, Ki Longfellow, joins the discussion to help explore the man behind the colourful public persona.


TUE 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00pbrxw)
22nd December 1989

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

Romanian President Ceausescu is caught as he tries to escape.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 17:00 PM (b00pbs0d)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00pbs6d)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 Sneakiepeeks (b00pckm1)
Trust

The bungling surveillance team undertakes a top-secret category G surveillance operation.

It's a job so secret even the boss doesn't know about it.

Comedy by Harry Venning and Neil Brand about a team of inept, backstabbing surveillance operatives.

Sharla ...... Nina Conti
Bill ...... Richard Lumsden
Mark ...... Daniel Kaluuya
Mrs A ...... Kate Layden
Mr A ...... Ewan Hooper
Justine ...... Tessa Nicholson
David ...... Ewan Bailey
Delphine ...... Kate Layden

Producer: Katie Tyrrell

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2009.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (b00pbqxh)
Although Usha's turned down Jim's offer to buy Blossom Hill Cottage, she's given him another three months to look for somewhere else. If she doesn't extend it further, Jim assumes he can come and stay with Shula and Alistair? When Shula reluctantly agrees, Jim teases her. It almost sounds as if she means it! Jim and Kenton have got the go-ahead for Jaxx and architects are drawing up plans as they speak. However, he and Kenton have very different ideas about their design concept, with Kenton aiming for a younger clientele. Shula wishes them luck.

Robert and Lynda prepare their Christmas feast for Caz and Justin. Robert's really pleased to see how happy Caz is now Justin's back. Lynda fondly agrees. Lynda and Caz look forward to their soiree with some of Caz's Ambridge friends but Robert worries that Justin might be too jetlagged.

Later Caz notices that Lynda seems a bit subdued. Lynda explains that she's going to miss Caz and Oscar. The house is going to seem so empty and it will be a very lonely Christmas without them. Caz promises to come back soon, and tells Lynda she couldn't have got through the past few weeks without her.

Episode written by Caroline Harrington.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (b00pbsgx)
John Wilson and critic Sarah Churchwell review the new television versions of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Hamlet, starring David Tennant, and the Henry James classic ghost story, The Turn Of The Screw, starring Michelle Dockery and Sue Johnston.

Comedian and actor Eddie Izzard discusses his enthusiasm for sport and the 2012 Olympics, and reveals his political ambitions.

Guardian critic Elisabeth Mahoney gives her pick of radio listening for the festive period.


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00pbt9d)
Someone Like You

Skin

Dramatisation by Stephen Sheridan of five darkly comic tales by Roald Dahl.

An astonishing work of art is created on a drunken night in Paris.

Storyteller ...... Charles Dance
Old Drioli ...... John Evitts
Young Drioli ...... Tom Bevan
Soutine ...... Rob Heaps
Josie ...... Donnla Hughes
Art Collector ...... David Collings
Gallery Owner ...... Ian Masters

Directed by David Blount

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 20:00 The New Art of Diplomacy (b00pckm3)
Episode 2

James Naughtie asks if British diplomacy is still fit for purpose.

A century ago, much of the map of the world was coloured with the pink of the British Empire. Britain's diplomats reigned supreme, with the reassurance of a gunboat to support them. Much has changed since that time, and continues to change. As Britain faces new threats and new priorities across the globe, how are the foreign office and its diplomats changing?


TUE 20:40 In Touch (b00pckm5)
Peter White is joined by Richard Lane and Lee Kumutat to review their recommendations for an audio book read.

Richard chooses Death at the Priory by James Ruddick, Lee Kumutat picks Dirt Music by Tim Winton and Peter White selects Get Her Off the Pitch by Lynne Truss.


TUE 21:00 All in the Mind (b00pckm7)
Scientific Names - Psychological Enjoyment of Wine

All in the Mind hears the great debate which is currently raging about the very future of the psychiatric profession; we learn how syndromes and diseases get their names and discover how much psychology contributes to our enjoyment of wine.


TUE 21:30 Defining The Decade (b00pcd3z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 21:58 Weather (b00pbtjl)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b00pbtm9)
National and international news and analysis with Roger Hearing.

Will President Obama's soon-to-be-enacted Health Care Bill do enough to help the poor?

Why gas prices will stay low (except for domestic consumers)

What it means to be French.


TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00pbvnt)
The Ingoldsby Legends

The Spectre of Tapton, Part 2

Nicholas Murchie and Lucy Robinson read from a collection of myths, legends, ghost stories and poetry supposedly written by Thomas Ingoldsby of Tappington Manor, but actually penned by the Rev Richard Barham, first published in book form in 1840.

The strange tale of a trouser-stealing ghost continued. Why the unsatiable appetite for pantaloons, and where are they being taken?

Abridged by Robin Brooks.

A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 23:00 Vent (b01g98f4)
Series 3

When Was the Last Time You Saw Your Godfather?

Ben is invited to be a godfather to an ex-girlfriend's baby, which doesn't impress Mary and there's a showdown on the stairlift.

Meanwhile, St Paul gives him some tips on responsibility and where to get the best olives.

Dark sitcom about a man in a coma, travelling through the distinctly odd landscape of his own unconscious mind.

Written by Nigel Smith.

Ben ...... Neil Pearson
Mary ...... Fiona Allen
Mum ...... Josie Lawrence
Blitz ...... Leslie Ash
Nurse ...... Jo Martin
Derek ...... Stephen Frost
Marley ...... Spencer Brown
Bea ...... Scarlett Milburn-Smith
Karl ...... Matthew Kelly
Sophie ...... Abigail Burdess
Priest ...... Richard Johnson

Director: Nigel Smith

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2009.


TUE 23:30 Take Two (b00grgkd)
Series 2

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Walter Legge

Richard Coles presents a discussion series looking at collaborations between two musicians.

Richard examines the musical and domestic partnership of singer Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and record producer Walter Legge. In conversation with the pianist Graham Johnson and broadcaster Richard Osborne, Richard assesses the extent to which producer Legge acted as a musical Svengali to his singer wife, deciding her repertoire choices and directing her interpretations of operatic roles. He also asks if Schwarzkopf was really as subservient to her husband as has been rumoured.



WEDNESDAY 23 DECEMBER 2009

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b00pbnbw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b00pbpcf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pbncz)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pbnh4)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pbng5)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (b00pbnrh)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00pbntw)
Daily prayer and reflection with Bishop Alan Abernethy.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (b00pbnwr)
Kate Williams hears why Scottish fishermen are hoping their conservation credits will earn them brownie points with Brussels and how a trial scheme in Devon is netting greater profits for West Country fishermen.

Also, why deer are the targets of wildlife crime in Dorset, and Anna Hill reporsts on a farmers' scheme in East Anglia to feed homeless and vulnerable people at Christmas time.


WED 06:00 Today (b00pbnzl)
With John Humphrys and James Naughtie. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Midweek (b00pcl7d)
Lively and diverse conversation with Libby Purves and guests.

Howard Goodall is one of Britain's most distinguished and versatile composers and is responsible for such well-loved television theme tunes as Blackadder and the Vicar of Dibley. He has released a CD, Enchanted Carols, which features the nation's top ten carols alongside six newly written ones.

Douglas Hodge received the 2009 Oliver Award for Best Actor in a musical for La Cage Aux Folles, currently in the West End. He plays the role of Albin and will transfer to Broadway in April 2010.

Simon Armitage is a poet, and singer in the band The Scaremongers. He has written a new 20-minute introduction to the Peter and the Wolf stage show at the Southbank Centre in London. His latest poetry collection, The Not Dead, is published by Pomona.

Captain William Wells is a Master Mariner, former ship's master and marine pilot whose career at sea lasted nearly 49 years. Now retired, he has taken up public speaking and was the principal guest speaker on board the final cruise of the QE2. He has written a book, A Sailor's Tales, about his life at sea.


WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b00pbpch)
Paw Tracks in the Moonlight

Episode 3

Kevin Whately reads from Denis O'Connor's memoir.

Having hand-reared the tiny kitten he rescued from the snow, O'Connor and Toby Jug settle in to life together. All is going swimmingly until they have problems with tomatoes and a swarm of bees.

Abridged by Jane Marshall.

A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00pchxn)
Phone In: Families at Christmas

A special phone in edition of the programme; how to survive the family Christmas. Plus, Carol Ann Duffy reads from her Christmas anthology.


WED 11:00 In Living Memory (b00pcl7g)
Series 11

Sunday Trading

Contemporary history series.

On the 28th August 1994, shops legally opened their doors on the Sabbath for the first time in over 40 years. Chris Ledgard asks if the greater freedom to shop came at too high a price: the loss of the Great British Sunday.


WED 11:30 Ballylenon (b00pcl7j)
Series 7

Episode 5

Bernard Gallagher has resigned from the police force to take up a singing career. Whilst lodging with the Maconchy sisters at the Post Office, he makes a devastating discovery...

Series set in the sleepy town of Ballylenon, Co Donegal in 1959.

Written by Christopher Fitz-Simon.

Muriel Maconchy ...... Margaret D'Arcy
Vera Maconchy ...... Stella McCusker
Phonsie Doherty ...... Gerard Murphy
Vivienne Hawthorne ...... Annie McCartney
Stumpy Bonner ...... Gerard McSorley
Guard Gallagher ...... Frankie McCafferty

Pianist: Michael Harrison

Director: Eoin O'Callaghan

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2009.


WED 12:00 You and Yours (b00pbq19)
Consumer news and issues with Peter White.


WED 12:57 Weather (b00pbq2v)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 13:00 World at One (b00pbqbk)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


WED 13:30 The Media Show (b00pcl7l)
The BBC Trust has given the go-ahead, provisionally, to Project Canvas, a joint venture led by the BBC which aims to bring TV on the internet into homes by next Christmas. Competitors are calling foul, though, and Sky tells Steve Hewlett why it thinks the Office of Fair Trading will throw the plans out.

There will be US-style television debates ahead of the next general election in the UK, but what can we learn from the experience of US broadcasters? Veteran TV producer Phil Alonghi's worked on the debates for 25 years and he shares his insights.

Nicholas Coleridge has been with magazine publishers Conde Nast for 20 years. He talks about the challenges to the top end of the market in the current economic climate and the importance of Christmas subscriptions.

And Carolyn McCall, chief executive of Guardian Media Group, remembers her former colleague Sir Bob Phillis, who died yesterday.


WED 14:00 The Archers (b00pbqxh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama (b00pcl7n)
Joan Aiken - Black Hearts in Battersea

Episode 1

By Joan Aiken, dramatised by Lin Coghlan

Part One (of two)

A dramatisation of Joan Aiken's classic children's adventure. Young Simon comes to 18th century London to study painting - and finds himself caught up in wicked Hanoverian plots to overthrow the king.

SIMON ..... Joe Dempsie
DIDO ..... Nicola Miles-Wildin
SOPHIE ..... Emerald O'Hanrahan
DUKE ..... John Rowe
DUCHESS ..... Sheila Reid
COBBE ..... Ben Crowe
MRS COBBE ..... Annabelle Dowler
MR TWITE ..... Rhys Jennings
MRS TWITE ..... Tessa Nicholson
JUSTIN ..... Sam Pamphilon
BUCKLE ..... Nigel Hastings
DR FURNEAUX ..... Bruce Alexander
GUS ..... Joseph Cohen Cole
JABWING ..... Piers Wehner
WOMAN ..... Kate Layden

Directed by Marc Beeby.


WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b00pclfg)
Paul Lewis and a panel of guests answer calls on charitable giving.

Guests:

John Low, chief executive, Charities Aid Foundation
Clive Cutbill, consultant, Withersworld
Les Hems, director, Guidestar.


WED 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b00pb902)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 on Sunday]


WED 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b008vv5r)
Scene of the Crime

Blackfriars Bridge

Stories by leading crime writers.

By Anthony Horowitz.

This humorous retelling of the detailed planning of the perfect crime is set against the sounds of one of London's best-known bridges.

Read by Robert Bathurst.


WED 15:45 The Santa Tapes (b00pfm8d)
Shop Store Santa

Alan Dein unwraps the oral history of Santa Claus, hearing the true stories of those who have donned the red and white costume, from war-torn Hungary to the icy wastes of Alaska.

In Liverpool, in one of Britain's oldest grottos, Santa finds Christmas present very different to his Christmas past.


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b00pclfj)
Bourgeois Power and Marriage

The new bourgeoisie played an enormously important role in the history of industrial and imperial Britain. The extent to which cousin marriage proliferated in the 19th century relates to the central question as to which people were going to lead Industrial England.

Close-knit families in Victorian England delivered enormous advantages. They shaped vocations, generated patronage, yielded vital commercial information and gave access to capital; no wonder that marriage within the family, between cousins or between in-laws, was a characteristic strategy of this new bourgeoisie.

Laurie Taylor discusses private life in 19th-century England with Adam Kuper, the author of Incest and Influence: The Private Life of Bourgeois England, and Catherine Hall, professor of modern British social and cultural history at University College, London.


WED 16:30 All in the Mind (b00pckm7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00pbrxy)
23rd December 1989

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

Intense fighting continues in Romania.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 17:00 PM (b00pbs0g)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00pbs6g)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:30 Laura Solon - Talking and Not Talking (b00pcllf)
Series 3

Episode 6

Domestic goddess Sue Morgan offers her own take on the perfect Christmas, call centre demon Gwyneth finally faces judgement, and we gain access to the Institute for Useless Scientific Research.

Perrier Award-winning comedian Laura Solon with more sketches, monologues and one-liners.

With:

Ben Moor
Rosie Cavaliero
Ben Willbond

Producer: Colin Anderson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2009.


WED 19:00 The Archers (b00pbqxk)
Robert and Lynda wave a sad farewell to Caz, Justin and Oscar. Robert surprises flat Lynda. He's arranged for them to go to Paris tomorrow! Lynda's moved when Robert hands her a small gift from Caz - the label saying that Lynda's been like a real mother to her.

Later at Lower Loxley Vicky takes them to the fairy grotto, leaving Jo on his own. He owes her; she's learned a thing or two about the Grundy way of doing things.

Wayne prepares to stand in for Freda on Christmas day but Jolene's concerned when he says he might make one or two changes to the menu. A stretch limo pulls up outside the Bull and then Jazzer appears at the bar, dressed in a dinner suit. He's taken aback when he learns Fallon's at a party, but insists he's not dressed up for her benefit and that he's just helping out a guy who runs a limo service.

When Jazzer goes, Robert comments that if he ran a limo company, Jazzer's the last person he'd employ to drive one. Wayne pipes up that he saw Jazzer get out of the back. Robert asks why Jazzer would say he was driving then? But Wayne can't answer that.

Episode written by Caroline Harrington.


WED 19:15 Front Row (b00pbsgz)
In the first of two special programmes, Mark Lawson talks to 2009's key cultural figures, including Joanna Lumley, Antony Gormley, Carol Ann Duffy, Dizzee Rascal, Jez Butterworth and the cast of Outnumbered.


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00pbt9g)
Someone Like You

Lamb to the Slaughter

Dramatisation by Stephen Sheridan of five darkly comic tales by Roald Dahl.

An unfaithful husband is killed with an unusual weapon.

Storyteller ...... Charles Dance
Mary Maloney ...... Lorelei King
Patrick/Sam/Noonan ...... Kerry Shale
O'Malley ...... Tom Bevan

Directed by David Blount

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 20:00 Unreliable Evidence (b00pcm4l)
Too Much Information

Clive Anderson presents the series analysing the legal issues of the day.

A major study has claimed that a quarter of government databases are illegal and lead to vulnerable people being victimised. Just how much information about us is in circulation and what are our rights to access, control and erase it?


WED 20:45 The Watchdog and the Feral Beast (b00p6820)
Episode 2

Sir Christopher Meyer, press watchdog until this year as chairman of the Press Complaints Commission and former press secretary at Number 10, discusses the role of the press today. Is the press today freedom's guardian or is it a 'feral beast', as Tony Blair described the media at the end of his premiership?

Sir Christopher draws on his personal experience as press watchdog and government spokesman. In his six years chairing the PCC, where he dealt with complaints against newspapers and magazines, he championed a free press and self-regulation, but had to contend with controversies that sometimes strained people's trust in the press.

His health check on the press comes at a time when opinion is polarised. Is the press out of control, or is it more constrained than ever before by the law? Is the press destroying trust in our democracy, or are politicians giving the press undue importance by courting editors and journalists? Is the press too powerful, or is it vulnerable because of competition from the internet, much of it free and unregulated?

And now that the printed word and audio-visual content appear together on the same website, what is the future for self-regulation by the press?


WED 21:00 The Infinite Monkey Cage (b00pbx28)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Monday]


WED 21:30 Midweek (b00pcl7d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 21:58 Weather (b00pbtjn)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b00pbtmc)
With Robin Lustig.

The government announces plans to cut millions of pounds from university budgets in England

Snow, ice and fog cause disruption on the busiest travel day of the Christmas season

UN Security Council imposes sanctions on Eritrea for arming Islamic insurgents in neighbouring Somalia

And Michael Schumacher, the legend of motor racing, is back.


WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00pbvnw)
The Ingoldsby Legends

Nell Cook

Nicholas Murchie and Lucy Robinson read from a collection of myths, legends, ghost stories and poetry supposedly written by Thomas Ingoldsby of Tappington Manor, but actually penned by the Rev Richard Barham, first published in book form in 1840.

A part-comic, part-terrifying poetic portrayal of baked meat and bloody murder, as a housekeeper takes a certain dislike of her master's houseguest.

Abridged by Robin Brooks.

A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:00 Bespoken Word (b00lbsh0)
Performance poetry series. Featuring a reading by Adrian Mitchell, who died in 2008, of an updated version of his poem To Whom It May Concern, recorded in the last year of his life. Plus an appearance by performance poet Mister Gee.


WED 23:15 All Bar Luke (b00dp2nh)
Series 3

The Wedding

Poignant comedy drama series by Tim Key.

The love of Luke's life, Hayley, finally marries his brother. In an explosive climax, Luke is forced to stand in for Lee at the wedding reception.

An Angel Eye Media production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:30 Take Two (b00h30yr)
Series 2

Walter Becker and Donald Fagen

Richard Coles presents a discussion series looking at collaborations between two musicians.

Richard analyses the partnership between Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, who formed the band Steely Dan in 1971. He is joined by author Brian Sweet and music journalist David Hepworth to analyse how the collaboration between Becker and Fagen developed and what effect it had on the popular music of the time. The programme also features extracts of some of the band's music and archives of interviews given by the band members over the years.



THURSDAY 24 DECEMBER 2009

THU 00:00 Midnight News (b00pbnby)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b00pbpch)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pbnd1)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pbnh6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pbng7)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (b00pbnrk)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00pbnty)
Daily prayer and reflection with Bishop Alan Abernethy.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (b00pbnwt)
Kate Williams hears what Christmas tree farmers do for the rest of the year, and how deer poaching is on the rise, especially at this time of year, as illegal hunters aim to make a quick buck selling venison.


THU 06:00 Today (b00pbnzn)
With John Humphrys and James Naughtie. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (b00pcm9f)
The Samurai

Melvyn Bragg and guests Gregory Irvine, Nicola Liscutin and Angus Lockyer discuss the history of the Samurai and the role of their myth in Japanese national identity.The Samurai have a fearsome historical reputation as a suicidally brave caste of Japanese warriors. During World War Two, kamikaze pilots were photographed climbing into their cockpits with Samurai swords, encapsulating the way the myth of the Samurai's martial ethos kept its power long after their heyday. But the Samurai's role in Japanese culture is much more complex than that. They were deeply engaged with Zen Buddhism and Noh Theatre, and sponsored haiku poetry. After their role in Japan's century of civil war, ending in the early 1600s, they became part of the country's civil service. A 250-year peace toppled them into identity crisis.In the 19th century, with the arrival of the West, they played an important role in the establishment of a Japanese nation-state, not least by restoring the Emperor to power. And in the 20th century the mythological version of the Samurai, designed in part for Western consumption, became integral to a newly forged national identity.Nicola Liscutin is Programme Director of Japanese Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London; Gregory Irvine is Senior Curator Japan at the Victoria and Albert Museum; Angus Lockyer is Lecturer in Japanese History and Chair of the Japan Research Centre at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.


THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b00pbpck)
Paw Tracks in the Moonlight

Episode 4

Kevin Whately reads from Denis O'Connor's memoir.

O'Connor has been asked to look after a colleague's horse over the summer holidays and decides to go trekking in the Cheviot Hills, accompanied by his Maine Coon kitten, Toby Jug.

Abridged by Jane Marshall.

A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00pchxq)
Pianos in the home; Novelist Rebecca Stott

Should every house have a piano? Woman's Hour examines whether public affection for the piano really is waning. Plus, Rebecca Stott on her novel The Coral Thief.


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b00pcn0y)
Sweden

Writer Andrew Brown tries to find out if the rural heart of Sweden still lives on in the modern age. In an entertaining and unpredictable journey he goes in search of wolves, egg-tossing merrymakers and the ideal of the Swedish summer.


THU 11:30 The Frost Collection (b00pcn10)
Series 2

Episode 1

Sir David Frost and guests look back at some of the most memorable interviews of his long career. With Sir Tim Rice, Imogen Stubbs and Anne Atkins.


THU 12:00 You and Yours (b00pbq1c)
Consumer news and issues with Julian Worricker.


THU 12:57 Weather (b00pbq2x)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 13:00 World at One (b00pbqbm)
National and international news with Shaun Ley.


THU 13:30 Questions, Questions (b00pd150)
Stewart Henderson answers those intriguing questions from everyday life.

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 14:00 The Archers (b00pbqxk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (b00pd18h)
Joan Aiken - Black Hearts in Battersea

Episode 2

By Joan Aiken, dramatised by Lin Coghlan

Part Two (of two)

To save the King from Hanoverian plotters Simon and Sophie must first suffer shipwreck, attacks by wolves and a narrow escape from an exploding castle in hot air balloon.

SIMON ..... Joe Dempsie
DIDO ..... Nicola Miles-Wildin
SOPHIE ..... Emerald O'Hanrahan
DUKE ..... John Rowe
DUCHESS ..... Sheila Reid
COBBE ..... Ben Crowe
MRS COBBE ..... Annabelle Dowler
MR TWITE ..... Rhys Jennings
MRS TWITE ..... Tessa Nicholson
JUSTIN ..... Sam Pamphilon
BUCKLE ..... Nigel Hastings
DR FURNEAUX ..... Bruce Alexander
DR FIELD ..... Ewan Hooper
MRS BUCKLE ..... Kate Layden
MOGG ..... John Biggins
GUS ..... Joseph Cohen Cole
JABWING ..... Piers Wehner

Directed by Marc Beeby.


THU 15:00 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (b00pd1bb)
Stephen Cleobury directs the choir for the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols live from the Chapel of King's College, Cambridge.

The pattern of the Festival, based around nine Bible readings interspersed with carols, has remained the same for over 90 years. It unfolds the great mystery of how God came into the world in human form, and for millions across the globe it heralds the beginning of Christmas.


THU 16:30 Material World (b00pd293)
Can crunching celery undo the damage of too many mince pies? How fast is gravity? Why is slug slime sticky? And how much matter can a black hole suck in before it explodes?

Quentin Cooper is joined by palaeontologist Mike Benton, atmospheric physicist Helen Brindley and cosmologist Gerry Gilmore for a special question and answer edition of the programme.


THU 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00pbry0)
24th December 1989

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

General Noriega is surrounded as he seeks refuge in Panama.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 17:00 PM (b00pbs0j)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Ritula Shah. Plus Weather.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00pbs6j)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:15 The News at Bedtime (b00nvyj4)
Series 1

Episode 1

Twin presenters John Tweedledum and Jim Tweedledee present in-depth news analysis covering the latest stories happening this 'once upon a time'.

The scandal of Jack and his genetically-modified beanstalk.

With Jack Dee, Peter Capaldi, Chris Addison, Lewis MacLeod, Lucy Montgomery, Vicki Pepperdine, Dan Tetsell.

Written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman.


THU 18:30 Andy Zaltzman's History of the Third Millennium, Series 1 of 100 (b00pd295)
Britain

Political comedian Andy Zaltzman presents a decade-by-decade comic analysis of the third millennium, covering the 2000-2009 period of what is already shaping up to be a troubled thousand years.

Andy looks at the things that make Britain truly British, by means of in-depth analysis, extensive research and time travel.

With Rory Bremner, Bridget Christie, Lucy Montgomery and Kim Wall.


THU 19:00 The Archers (b00pbqxm)
Jill entertains the visitors in Lower Loxley's kitchen but admits to Elizabeth that she's glad it's the last day. Elizabeth feels the same even though it's been a great success. She shows Jill the Borchester Echo's double spread of Brenda's lovely photos and Nigel agrees that they should give Brenda a bonus. They've made a decent profit - including their cut from Joe Grundy Enterprises.

Annette dithers about going to Bridge Farm - decorating the tree is a family thing. But Helen insists that she thinks of Annette as family.

Tom isn't keen on Annette being there but agrees to be nice to her. He teases Helen about her alleged boyfriend. Helen points out that both Brenda and Annette have met Leon. When Tom asks Annette what he's like, she's not forthcoming. Pat's sure they'll meet him soon though. When Helen makes a fuss of how good it is to have Annette there, Annette gets a bit tearful. If it hadn't been for Helen, she doesn't know what would have happened. Helen points out that if it hadn't been for Annette, her life would have been infinitely duller.

As Tom gets the lights working, Annette agrees they look beautiful and Helen announces that now Christmas can begin.

Episode written by Caroline Harrington.


THU 19:15 Front Row (b00pbsh1)
Mark Lawson talks to the names behind the year's cultural headlines, in the second of two programmes examining the major arts stories of 2009.

Simon Beaufoy, Oscar-winning screenwriter of Slumdog Millionaire, looks back at the success of the film, which won eight Academy Awards, and reflects on some of the controversy it generated.

Booker Prize-winner Hilary Mantel reveals what happened to her on the night of the ceremony, and comedian Lenny Henry discusses winning a best newcomer award at the age of 51, for playing Othello on stage.

Plus Kenny Ortega on the switch from directing Michael Jackson's live show to masterminding his memorial, Simon Russell Beale on playing Smiley on Radio 4, and the chart-topping singers The Priests on whether their musical fame will swell the size of their congregations.


THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00pbt9k)
Someone Like You

Dip in the Pool

Dramatisation by Stephen Sheridan of five darkly comic tales by Roald Dahl.

A passenger on an ocean liner takes a desperate gamble.

Storyteller ...... Charles Dance
Mr Botibol ...... John Baddeley
Mrs Renshaw/Maggie ...... Rachel Atkins
Purser ...... Nicholas Boulton
Auctioneer ...... Chris Stanton
Old Woman ...... Jean Trend

Directed by David Blount

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 20:00 That Reminds Me (b018zvmc)
Series 4

Ludovic Kennedy

The broadcaster recalls school days, wartime and his TV career, including interviewing Harold Macmillan. From October 2002.


THU 20:30 In Business (b00pd297)
Organising Salvation

Management guru Peter Drucker called the Salvation Army the most 'effective organisation in America'. Peter Day asks if that is true in Britain and finds out how the Army is bringing innovation to salvation.


THU 21:00 What Scientists Believe (b00pd299)
Episode 3

Philosopher Stephen Webster investigates the links between scientists' personal beliefs and their scientific work. He wants to know how an individual scientist's personal, psychological and intellectual qualities map onto their chosen area of science. How much of a scientist's personality is reflected in their work? Should subjective private beliefs be a part of objective scientific outcomes? What happens if tensions develop between a scientist's beliefs and the formal demands of science? If tensions arise, how can they be resolved?

In this programme, Stephen meets zoologist Andrew Gosler. For more than 25 years, Andrew has been studying the Great Tit population in Wytham Wood near Oxford. Andrew greatly respects the animals he studies and the environment they inhabit. He finds inspiration working so closely with nature, and that inspiration motivates his scientific enquiries. But Andrew accepts that scientific description can only ever provide a partial description of reality. Science will never encapsulate Andrew's own, private and unique relationship with the world he studies.


THU 21:30 In Our Time (b00pcm9f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 21:58 Weather (b00pbtjq)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b00pbtmf)
National and international news and analysis with Robin Lustig.

In a special edition, the focus is on drugs: how to control the cultivation of drugs, how to smash the trade in drugs, and how to treat drugs users. The programme looks at each of the issues in turn - hearing from Afghanistan, which produces nearly all of the world's opium; from Nigeria, a major transit route for the international trade in drugs; and from drugs users in the UK.


THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00pbvny)
The Ingoldsby Legends

A Singular Passage, Part 1

Nicholas Murchie and Lucy Robinson read from a collection of myths, legends, ghost stories and poetry supposedly written by Thomas Ingoldsby of Tappington Manor, but actually penned by the Rev Richard Barham, first published in book form in 1840.

A tale of black magic set in the depths of Romney Marsh, as a young woman is tormented by two men bent on exploring the dark arts.

Abridged by Robin Brooks.

A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 23:00 Chain Reaction (b0093z9z)
Series 4

Arabella Weir interviews Paul Whitehouse

The story of 'Suits You, Sir' as two Fast Show stars are reunited in the relay interview show. From March 2008.


THU 23:30 Midnight Mass (b00pd29c)
The first Mass of Christmas is celebrated from St Anne's Cathedral in Leeds.

The celebrant and preacher is the Right Rev Arthur Roche, Bishop of Leeds.

The choir of Leeds Cathedral, directed by Benjamin Saunders, sings a wealth of carols old and new; the setting is Mozart's joyful Missa Brevis in C (KV 259). Organist: Christopher McElroy.



FRIDAY 25 DECEMBER 2009

FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pbnd3)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pbnh8)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pbng9)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b00pbnrm)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00pbnv0)
Daily prayer and reflection with Bishop Alan Abernethy.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b00pbnww)
If you are up in time to hear Farming Today on Christmas morning, the chances are you will be fretting about a turkey. Charlotte has good news - cooking the bird is probably not as difficult as you think it is going to be, and it probably will not take you as long as you fear either.

Charlotte has taken expert advice from the man known as the king of the fresh, free-range turkey business and she asks whether the Christmas bird has any hope of becoming a favourite all year round.


FRI 06:00 Archive on 4 (b00kc071)
A Laureate's Legacy - The Poetry Archive

Andrew Motion explores and tells the story of the proudest legacy of his time as Poet Laureate, The Poetry Archive - hundreds of poems, read by their authors and all available online, free to everyone.

Motion's stint as Poet Laureate ended with predictable discussions about his successor and what he did or didn't do. But the lasting legacy of his laureateship and the great achievement of his tenure is his creation, with sound producer Richard Carrington, of the remarkable online Poetry Archive, begun in 1999 and growing. It includes contemporary poets reading their work, including Seamus Heaney, UA Fanthorpe and Jackie Kay and historic recordings by poets including Hilaire Belloc, Siegfried Sassoon, WB Yeats and even Tennyson and Browning. As well as the poems there are sections for children and teachers, interviews with poets, poets in residence and useful information about genres, forms and metres. If you want to know what an anapaest is, or a pantoum, the Poetry Archive can help.

Motion and Carrington talk about why they created the archive, and state that there is more to it than simply preserving poets reading their work. Motion develops his theme that poetry is primarily an aural art, and what this reveals. The poet's voice is fundamental: the windswept moor is in the voice of Ted Hughes; Charles Causley's Cornish accent and dialect are important. The sound of a poem is an aspect of its meaning. At the recording session when Carol Ann Duffy reads her book Rapture for the archive, Richard Carrington speaks about his role: not to coax a performance so much as to help the poets to be themselves.

Andrew Motion and Richard Carrington lead us around the archive, playing gems that we might otherwise have missed. They talk, too, about what is missing, and appeal to people who might have recordings. For example, they do not know how Thomas Hardy, AE Housman and DH Lawrence sounded because as far as we know they never made recordings. But they might have, and one day they might turn up.


FRI 07:00 Bryn Terfel Masters Wine (b00m83p0)
Opera singer Bryn Terfel explores his love of wine and attempts to become a master sommelier. Taking a break from the stage, Bryn meets some of the world's finest wine experts and finds out what the role of sommelier involves, from tasting to service to food matching.

Featuring contributions from wine writer Sarah Ahmed, chief examiner for The Court of Master Sommeliers Brian Julyan, managing director of Cullen Wines Vanya Cullen, sommelier at Gidleigh Park Restaurant Edouard Oger, restaurant manager at High Timber Restaurant Neleen Strauss and Master of Wine at Berry Bros Alun Griffiths.

A Parrog production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 07:30 The Museum of Curiosity (b00ksvt5)
Series 2

Episode 6

John Lloyd and Sean Lock invite guests Tim Minchin, Philip Pullman and Clive James to add to the collection. From June 2009.


FRI 08:00 Desert Island Discs (b00pbltz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 08:45 The Santa Tapes (b00pfm97)
Santa's Everywhere

Alan Dein unwraps the oral history of Santa Claus, hearing the true stories of those who have donned the red and white costume, from war-torn Hungary to the icy wastes of Alaska.

Alan catches up with Santa as he crosses the globe.


FRI 09:00 Christmas Service (b00pd3fd)
A service with carols old and new from All Souls Church, Langham Place in London's West End. Preacher: Rev Hugh Palmer. With the All Souls Choir, directed by Noel Tredinnick.


FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b00pbpcm)
Paw Tracks in the Moonlight

Episode 5

Kevin Whately reads from Denis O'Connor's memoir.

It's Christmas Day and Denis O'Connor reflects on how much better his life has become since he rescued the kitten, Toby Jug.

Abridged by Jane Marshall.

A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00pkxzp)
Carol Ann Duffy; Childhood and Christmas

Are today's children unable to appreciate the true meaning of Christmas? Plus, the the key ingredients for a perfect Christmas feast; and poetry from Carol Ann Duffy.


FRI 11:00 A Funny Sort of Sound (b00l92sr)
Julian Clary pays tribute to the wit and ingenuity of comedy musical acts. He considers the appeal of acts like TV's Mr Muscle, Tony Holland, who won Opportunity Knocks six times in a row by flexing his biceps to the tune of Wheels Cha Cha, and Bob - AKA Tray - Blackman, whose act consisted of bashing a tea tray on his head while singing Mule Train.

Julian also considers how the genre has evolved from the heyday of music hall theatre, and talks to Ken Dodd and Jim Tavare.

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 11:30 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! (b00pd5n7)
Series 5

Murder Most Fouled Up

At short notice Arthur steps in to play a prominent role in an evening Murder Mystery event for Lord and Lady Preston, his new best friends - if they did but know it! Who committed the heinous murder? Can Count Arthur solve the case? Did he do it? Was it the butler? There's only one way to find out!

We once again follow the one-time Variety Star as he uncompromisingly fulfils his daily list of engagements. Every day life with Count Arthur Strong is always an enlightening experience!

Steve Delaney, Alastair Kerr, David Mounfield and Mel Giedroyc star.

Produced by John Leonard and Mark Radcliffe
A Komedia Entertainment & Smooth Operations production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:00 News (b00pd5nr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 Loose Ends (b00pd5r6)
Clive Anderson reflects on the gloriously eclectic musical heritage that Loose Ends endowed to a grateful nation in 2009.

Featuring Andy Williams, Elvis Costello, Mary Wilson, Ray Davies, Stewart Copeland, Jarvis Cocker, Jamie Cullum, Charles Hazlewood, Brett Anderson, Sharon Shannon, The Kenyan Boys Choir and Mercury Prize winner Speech Debelle.


FRI 13:00 With Great Pleasure (b00pd5r8)
With Great Pleasure at Christmas

Political journalist and Today programme presenter James Naughtie shares some of the pieces of prose and verse which have entertained and inspired him over the years. The readers are Alison Steadman, Bill Paterson and David Haig.

Extracts read in this programme:

from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, by Simon Armitage (poem)
Published by Faber & Faber

from Pig Ho-oo-oey (prose)
From: Blandings Castle, by PG Wodehouse

opening line from Brighton Rock, by Graham Greene
Published by Vintage

opening line from Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Published by Penguin

opening line from Scaramouche, by Giuseppe Sabbatini
Published by Hutchinson Library Services

from Moby Dick, by Herman Melville
Published by Penguin Classics

from Venice, by Jan Morris
Published by Faber & Faber

from Greenmantle, by John Buchan
Published by Wordsworth Classics

from Scoop, by Evelyn Waugh
Published by Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics

from Abducting a General
From: Words of Mercury, by Patrick Leigh Fermor, ed. Artemis Cooper
Published by John Murray

from Highways and Byways in the Western Highlands, by Seton Gordon
Published by Macmillan

The Little White Rose, by Hugh MacDiarmid (poem)
From: Hugh MacDiarmid, Selected Poetry
Published by Carcanet

Midnight, Lochinver, by Norman MacCaig (poem)
from: Norman MacCaig, Collected Poems
Published by Chatto Poetry

from The Testament of Cresseid, by Robert Henryson, trans. Seamus Heaney
Published by Faber & Faber

Letter from John Kipling to his family 1915
From: O Beloved Kids: Rudyard Kipling's letters to his children, ed. Eliot L. Gilbert
Published by Little Books

Last Post, by Carol Ann Duffy (poem)
Commissioned by the Today programme

from Point of Departure, by James Cameron
Published by Arthur Barker

from Echoes of the Jazz Age (prose)
From: The Crack-Up with Other Pieces and Stories, by F Scott Fitzgerald
Published by Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics

from Bleak House, by Charles Dickens
Published by Oxford World's Classics

Sonnet 30, by William Shakespeare (poem)
From: Shakespeare's Sonnets
Published by Gerald Duckworth

from Paradise Lost, by John Milton (poem)
From: John Milton, Complete English Poems
Published by Everyman

from Right Ho, Jeeves, by PG Wodehouse
Published by Penguin.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (b00pbqxm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (b00p93sy)
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built

Written and dramatised by Alexander McCall Smith, from his hugely popular series of books set in Botswana.

Precious Ramotswe, owner of The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, is about to get in over her head. She's got an important new client from the incomprehensible world of football, but she's on her own as her loyal assistant Mma Makutsi is distracted by the return of a troublesome figure from her past.

Directed by Eilidh McCreadie.


FRI 15:00 HM The Queen (b00pd5xr)
The Queen's Christmas message to the Commonwealth and the nation, followed by the national anthem.


FRI 15:07 News (b00pjkn9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 15:15 Drama (b00p94r2)
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

The Seller of Beds

Written and dramatised by Alexander McCall Smith, from his hugely popular series of books set in Botswana.

The detectives are embroiled in the murky world of the football cheat as they investigate the recent bad form of the Kalahari Swoopers. But Mma Ramotswe's problems don't end there - she must confront an issue which has been avoided for too long. Could it be the end of the road for the tiny white van?

Mma Ramotswe ...... Claire Benedict
Mma Makutsi ...... Nadine Marshall
Mr JLB Matekoni ...... Ben Onwukwe
Mr Molofololo ...... Mo Sesay
Mma Tafa ...... Gbemisola Ikumelo
Fanwell ...... Beru Tessema
Grandmother ...... Albie Parsons
Puso Boy ...... Kedar Williams-Stirling
Oteng Boleleng ...... Emmanuel Ighodaro
Charlie ...... Tyrone Lewis
Violet Sepotho ...... Anna Bengo
Phuti Raduphuti ...... Nyasha Hatendi

Directed by Eilidh McCreadie.


FRI 16:00 Frequently Asked Questions (b00lszh8)
Writer Ian Sansom examines the changing nature of the relationship, and contact, between authors and their readers. From July 2009.


FRI 16:30 The Film Programme (b00pd5xt)
Francine Stock talks to 92-year-old actress Googie Withers, star of Night And The City, It Always Rains On Sunday and Dead Of Night, about Alfred Hitchock, Michael Powell and George Formby.


FRI 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00pbry2)
25th December 1989

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

Ceausescu and his wife are executed in Romania.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 17:00 Pick of the Year (b00pd69k)
Rob Brydon unwraps the best of the year's offerings from across BBC radio.

Part of the BBC Christmas 2009 season.


FRI 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00pd69m)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 17:57 Weather (b00pd6bb)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00pbs6l)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:15 The News at Bedtime (b00pft4y)
Series 1

Episode 2

Twin presenters John Tweedledum and Jim Tweedledee present in-depth news analysis, covering the latest stories happening this 'once upon a time'.

Including a report on Yuletide Stress Syndrome, the latest on Santa's strike, a forecast for the Feast Of Stephen, and an update on The Xmas Factor.

With Jack Dee, Peter Capaldi, Lewis MacLeod, Alex MacQueen, Lucy Montgomery and Vicki Pepperdine.

Written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2009.


FRI 18:30 The Now Show (b00pd6hr)
Series 29

Episode 5

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis go a-carolling; Marcus Brigstocke pulls some ethical crackers; Jon Holmes flicks through the Radio Times; Mitch Benn thinks he might have over done it and the audience tell us what really happens at home at Christmas.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (b00pbqxp)
At the Stables, Jim's keen for everyone to join in the party games with Kenton. Jill, Shula and Alistair escape to the kitchen. They're interrupted by an urgent call from Ed - one of his cows is down. Alistair heads off to Grange Farm where he and apologetic Ed manage to sort the cow out. Alistair's glad of a breath of fresh air.

Wayne and Fallon's Christmas lunch at the Bull is a triumph. Jazzer comments that Fallon's looking lovely. She presumes he's tipsy but he insists he's perfectly sober. Wayne asks about the stretch limo but Jazzer says it was just a job.

When Wayne goes and Fallon asks about the limo, Jazzer falteringly admits that Fallon had said that to impress a girl he should make a grand gesture and... But they're interrupted by Tom. As Tom and Fallon laugh, Fallon misses Jazzer quietly saying he did it for her.

But Tom has heard. When they're alone, Jazzer admits to Tom that he's in love with Fallon, but it's making him behave like an idiot. Tom advises him to tell Fallon, but Jazzer says with a new year coming he's going to resign himself to the single life.

Episode written by Caroline Harrington.


FRI 19:15 Front Row (b00pd6ht)
In a special edition of Front Row with Mark Lawson, Alan Bennett reflects on his long career as a television playwright and explains why his series of monologues, Talking Heads, turned out to be so controversial. He also discusses his relationship with his father and the ethics of autobiographical writing.


FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00pbt9m)
Someone Like You

Nunc Dimittis

Dramatisation by Stephen Sheridan of five darkly comic tales by Roald Dahl.

A slighted lover plots an elaborate revenge.

Storyteller ...... Charles Dance
Gladys Ponsonby ...... Sarah Badel
John Roydon ...... Jonathan Keeble
Janet de Pelagia ...... Katie Scarfe

Directed by David Blount

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 20:00 Archive on 4 (b00n6wgf)
The Anniversary Anniversary

Dominic Sandbrook explores the compelling appeal of the anniversary. How often on the radio, on television or in print is our attention enticed by the simple fact that an event, a birth or a death happened a year, or five or ten, fifty, even several hundred years ago?

There is a huge category of archive material dedicated to particular happenings or personalities which would never have been produced without the prompt of an anniversary.

Remembering war predates broadcasting, but in the past the remembering was cast in stone, unchanging even as the memories of those involved frayed and faded. In broadcasting, that increasing remoteness results in the memories being endlessly reworked with a different slant and attitude. Ten years after the end of Second World War, the response was limited but jovially triumphal. Sixty years on and there is a far greater energy in remembering and rediscovering, particularly of the details that didn't seem to matter at the time. A perfect example is The Radio Four series Coming Home.

Dominic also looks at artistic, literary, sporting and musical anniversaries. In music there seems to be a constant stream of anniversary commemorations, fuelled by the recording industry. For example, there is the 200th anniversary of Mozart's death or the 250th anniversary of his birth; and, if that's not enough, then there are similar anniversaries for each of his operas.

At the very heart of all this is the simple business of marking the turning of the years, best illustrated by the birthday, that most domestic of anniversaries.


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b00pd6n4)
Talking About Their Generation

Clive James reflects on the human condition and the need for liberal democracy to spread to allow future generations to enjoy the fruits of progress.


FRI 21:00 Friday Drama (b00ph66p)
The Late Mr Shakespeare

By Robert Nye, dramatised by Jonathan Broadbent.

As a boy actor, Pickleherring played Viola, Juliet and Cleopatra; he was Shakespeare's favourite. Now, in his eighties, he finally discovers what it means to fall in love.

Pickleherring ...... Jim Broadbent
Boy ...... George Longworth
Polly ...... Jill Cardo
Pompey Bum ...... Dan Starkey

Directed by Jeremy Mortimer.


FRI 21:58 Weather (b00pbtjs)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 22:00 News (b00pd6n6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 22:15 We Three Kings (b00g1rmq)
Ian Hislop examines the myths and realities surrounding the Three Kings of the Christmas story.

They merit only a small mention in the Bible but they have had a huge impact on our understanding of Christ's birth story, so much so that they even have their own feast day. Ian examines 2,000 years of the telling of their story to see how history has shaped the legend of the Kings. Along the way he meets theologians, historians, the Archbishop of Canterbury and, curiously, a lot of people from Colchester.


FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00pbvp0)
The Ingoldsby Legends

A Singular Passage, Part 2

Nicholas Murchie and Lucy Robinson read from a collection of myths, legends, ghost stories and poetry supposedly written by Thomas Ingoldsby of Tappington Manor, but actually penned by the Rev Richard Barham, first published in book form in 1840.

Continuing a tale of black magic set in the depths of Romney Marsh, as a young woman is tormented by two men bent on exploring the dark arts.

Abridged by Robin Brooks.

A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b00pcklz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 The Music Group (b00js8d3)
Series 3

Episode 2

Comedian, broadcaster and GP Dr Phil Hammond asks each of three guests to play the track of their choice for the delight or disdain of the others.

His guests include actor Don Warrington, music writer Laura Barton and Professor Martyn Poliakoff, a pioneer in the field of green chemistry, who reveals a liking for Tom Lehrer.

A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.




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 (b00pbtjj)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 TUE (b00pbt9d)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 WED (b00pbt9g)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 THU (b00pbt9k)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 FRI (b00pbt9m)

1989: Day by Day Omnibus 23:00 SUN (b00pbmn5)

1989: Day by Day 16:56 SAT (b00pb8x5)

1989: Day by Day 16:56 SUN (b00pbm7m)

1989: Day by Day 16:56 MON (b00pbs0b)

1989: Day by Day 16:56 TUE (b00pbrxw)

1989: Day by Day 16:56 WED (b00pbrxy)

1989: Day by Day 16:56 THU (b00pbry0)

1989: Day by Day 16:56 FRI (b00pbry2)

A Funny Sort of Sound 11:00 FRI (b00l92sr)

A Point of View 08:50 SUN (b00p99nb)

A Point of View 20:50 FRI (b00pd6n4)

Adventures in Poetry 23:30 SAT (b00p7m9j)

Afternoon Reading 00:30 SUN (b009fpl7)

Afternoon Reading 19:45 SUN (b0080dyx)

Afternoon Reading 15:30 TUE (b008vv5m)

Afternoon Reading 15:30 WED (b008vv5r)

All Bar Luke 23:15 WED (b00dp2nh)

All in the Mind 21:00 TUE (b00pckm7)

All in the Mind 16:30 WED (b00pckm7)

Americana 19:15 SUN (b00pbmly)

Andy Zaltzman's History of the Third Millennium, Series 1 of 100 18:30 THU (b00pd295)

Any Answers? 14:00 SAT (b00pb8wz)

Any Questions? 13:10 SAT (b00p99n7)

Archive on 4 20:00 SAT (b00pb8y0)

Archive on 4 15:00 MON (b00pb8y0)

Archive on 4 06:00 FRI (b00kc071)

Archive on 4 20:00 FRI (b00n6wgf)

Ballylenon 11:30 WED (b00pcl7j)

Bells on Sunday 05:43 SUN (b00pb8zm)

Bells on Sunday 00:45 MON (b00pb8zm)

Bespoken Word 23:00 WED (b00lbsh0)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 MON (b00pbvpj)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 TUE (b00pbvnt)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 WED (b00pbvnw)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 THU (b00pbvny)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 FRI (b00pbvp0)

Book of the Week 00:30 SAT (b00pgm7r)

Book of the Week 09:45 MON (b00pbpcc)

Book of the Week 00:30 TUE (b00pbpcc)

Book of the Week 09:45 TUE (b00pbpcf)

Book of the Week 00:30 WED (b00pbpcf)

Book of the Week 09:45 WED (b00pbpch)

Book of the Week 00:30 THU (b00pbpch)

Book of the Week 09:45 THU (b00pbpck)

Book of the Week 09:45 FRI (b00pbpcm)

Brain of Britain 23:00 SAT (b00p87r2)

Brain of Britain 13:30 MON (b00pbx24)

Broadcasting House 09:00 SUN (b00pb90b)

Bryn Terfel Masters Wine 07:00 FRI (b00m83p0)

Chain Reaction 23:00 THU (b0093z9z)

Christmas Service 09:00 FRI (b00pd3fd)

Classic Serial 21:00 SAT (b00p7kyd)

Classic Serial 15:00 SUN (b00pbm1x)

Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! 11:30 FRI (b00pd5n7)

Crossing Continents 20:30 MON (b00p91x8)

Crossing Continents 11:00 THU (b00pcn0y)

Defining The Decade 09:00 TUE (b00pcd3z)

Defining The Decade 21:30 TUE (b00pcd3z)

Desert Island Discs 11:15 SUN (b00pbltz)

Desert Island Discs 08:00 FRI (b00pbltz)

Drama 14:15 TUE (b00pcjh4)

Drama 14:15 WED (b00pcl7n)

Drama 14:15 THU (b00pd18h)

Drama 14:15 FRI (b00p93sy)

Drama 15:15 FRI (b00p94r2)

Excess Baggage 10:00 SAT (b00pb8l1)

Farming Today 06:30 SAT (b00pb8ks)

Farming Today 05:45 MON (b00pbnzg)

Farming Today 05:45 TUE (b00pbnwp)

Farming Today 05:45 WED (b00pbnwr)

Farming Today 05:45 THU (b00pbnwt)

Farming Today 05:45 FRI (b00pbnww)

Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols 15:00 THU (b00pd1bb)

Frequently Asked Questions 16:00 FRI (b00lszh8)

Friday Drama 21:00 FRI (b00ph66p)

From Fact to Fiction 19:00 SAT (b00pb8xm)

From Fact to Fiction 17:40 SUN (b00pb8xm)

From Our Own Correspondent 11:30 SAT (b00pb8l7)

Front Row 19:15 MON (b00pbsh3)

Front Row 19:15 TUE (b00pbsgx)

Front Row 19:15 WED (b00pbsgz)

Front Row 19:15 THU (b00pbsh1)

Front Row 19:15 FRI (b00pd6ht)

Frontiers 21:00 MON (b00pcb5b)

Gardeners' Question Time 14:00 SUN (b00p959x)

Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off 11:30 MON (b00pbx22)

Great Lives 16:30 TUE (b00pcklz)

Great Lives 23:00 FRI (b00pcklz)

HM The Queen 15:00 FRI (b00pd5xr)

Here We Come 10:30 SAT (b00pb8l3)

Home Planet 15:00 TUE (b00pcjh6)

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue 12:00 SUN (b00p885p)

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue 18:30 MON (b00pcb3d)

In Business 21:30 SUN (b00p944k)

In Business 20:30 THU (b00pd297)

In Living Memory 11:00 WED (b00pcl7g)

In Our Time 09:00 THU (b00pcm9f)

In Our Time 21:30 THU (b00pcm9f)

In Touch 20:40 TUE (b00pckm5)

Joan Armatrading's Favourite Choirs 14:45 SUN (b00bbxp7)

Last Word 20:30 SUN (b00p99n1)

Laura Solon - Talking and Not Talking 18:30 WED (b00pcllf)

Li Yuan-Chia 11:30 TUE (b00pcf5j)

Loose Ends 18:15 SAT (b00pb8xk)

Loose Ends 12:04 FRI (b00pd5r6)

Material World 16:30 THU (b00pd293)

McLevy 14:15 MON (b00pbx26)

Midnight Mass 23:30 THU (b00pd29c)

Midnight News 00:00 SAT (b00pb8fq)

Midnight News 00:00 SUN (b00pb8z9)

Midnight News 00:00 MON (b00pbncv)

Midnight News 00:00 TUE (b00pbnbt)

Midnight News 00:00 WED (b00pbnbw)

Midnight News 00:00 THU (b00pbnby)

Midweek 09:00 WED (b00pcl7d)

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More or Less 20:00 SUN (b00p94fp)

News Briefing 05:30 SAT (b00pb8kg)

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On Your Farm 06:35 SUN (b00pb8zt)

Open Book 16:00 SUN (b00pbm1z)

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Over The Rainbow With Yip Harburg 13:30 SUN (b00n0xfq)

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Pick of the Week 18:15 SUN (b00pbmj5)

Pick of the Year 17:00 FRI (b00pd69k)

Policing Britain 11:00 MON (b00pbw1q)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 SAT (b00pb8kj)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 MON (b00pbnwm)

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Questions, Questions 13:30 THU (b00pd150)

Radio 4 Appeal 07:55 SUN (b00pb902)

Radio 4 Appeal 21:26 SUN (b00pb902)

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Running Away 05:45 SAT (b00f678q)

Saturday Drama 14:30 SAT (b00pb8x1)

Saturday Live 09:00 SAT (b00pb8kz)

Saturday Review 19:15 SAT (b00pb8xy)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SAT (b00pb8kb)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SUN (b00pb8zf)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 MON (b00pbnhg)

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Sneakiepeeks 18:30 TUE (b00pckm1)

Something Understood 06:05 SUN (b00pb8zr)

Something Understood 23:30 SUN (b00pb8zr)

Start the Week 09:00 MON (b00pbw1n)

Start the Week 21:30 MON (b00pbw1n)

Sunday Worship 08:10 SUN (b00pb908)

Sunday 07:10 SUN (b00pb900)

Take Two 23:30 MON (b00gd1t2)

Take Two 23:30 TUE (b00grgkd)

Take Two 23:30 WED (b00h30yr)

Tales from the Stave 15:30 SAT (b00p8c19)

Tales from the Stave 13:30 TUE (b00pcjh2)

That Reminds Me 20:00 THU (b018zvmc)

The Archers Omnibus 10:00 SUN (b00pbltx)

The Archers 19:00 SUN (b00pbmlw)

The Archers 14:00 MON (b00pbmlw)

The Archers 19:00 MON (b00pbqyz)

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The Film Programme 16:30 FRI (b00pd5xt)

The Food Programme 12:32 SUN (b00pblv1)

The Food Programme 16:00 MON (b00pblv1)

The Frost Collection 11:30 THU (b00pcn10)

The Infinite Monkey Cage 16:30 MON (b00pbx28)

The Infinite Monkey Cage 21:00 WED (b00pbx28)

The Media Show 13:30 WED (b00pcl7l)

The Museum of Curiosity 07:30 FRI (b00ksvt5)

The Music Group 23:30 FRI (b00js8d3)

The New Art of Diplomacy 17:00 SUN (b00p8dz6)

The New Art of Diplomacy 20:00 TUE (b00pckm3)

The News at Bedtime 18:15 THU (b00nvyj4)

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The Now Show 12:30 SAT (b00p99n5)

The Now Show 18:30 FRI (b00pd6hr)

The Santa Tapes 15:45 MON (b00pbrs8)

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The Santa Tapes 08:45 FRI (b00pfm97)

The Watchdog and the Feral Beast 05:45 SUN (b00p2z8p)

The Watchdog and the Feral Beast 20:45 WED (b00p6820)

The Week in Westminster 11:00 SAT (b00pb8l5)

The World This Weekend 13:00 SUN (b00pblv5)

The World Tonight 22:00 MON (b00pbtmp)

The World Tonight 22:00 TUE (b00pbtm9)

The World Tonight 22:00 WED (b00pbtmc)

The World Tonight 22:00 THU (b00pbtmf)

Things We Forgot to Remember 20:00 MON (b00pcb58)

Thinking Allowed 00:15 MON (b00p912j)

Thinking Allowed 16:00 WED (b00pclfj)

Thomas Lynch's Season of Innocence 16:30 SUN (b00pbm21)

Today 07:00 SAT (b00pb8kx)

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Towering Ambition 11:00 TUE (b00pcd41)

Unreliable Evidence 22:15 SAT (b00p91qf)

Unreliable Evidence 20:00 WED (b00pcm4l)

Vent 23:00 TUE (b01g98f4)

We Three Kings 22:15 FRI (b00g1rmq)

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Westminster Hour 22:00 SUN (b00pbmm2)

What Scientists Believe 21:00 THU (b00pd299)

With Great Pleasure 13:00 FRI (b00pd5r8)

Woman's Hour 16:00 SAT (b00pb8x3)

Woman's Hour 10:00 MON (b00pbprm)

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Word of Mouth 23:00 MON (b00p8dk8)

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World at One 13:00 MON (b00pbqbv)

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You and Yours 12:00 MON (b00pbq2q)

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iPM 17:30 SAT (b00pb8x9)