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 23 JANUARY 2010

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b00pxwdr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SAT 00:30 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00pwn7t)
Making Us Human (2,000,000 - 9000 BC)

Clovis Spear Point

The Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells the history of human development from the first stone axe to the credit card using 100 selected objects from the Museum. In this programme, Neil describes an object that dates from the earliest settlement of North America, around 13,000 years ago. It's a deadly hunting weapon, used by the first inhabitants of the Americas.

This sharp spearhead lets us understand how humans spread across the globe. By 11,000 BC humans had moved from north east Asia into the uninhabited wilderness of north America; within 2000 years they had populated the whole continent. How did these hunters live? And how does their Asian origin sit with the creation stories of modern day Native Americans?

Neil MacGregor tells the story of the Clovis Point, with contributions from Michael Palin and American archaeologist Gary Haynes


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00pxwdt)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00pxwdw)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00pxwdy)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b00pxwf0)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00pxwf2)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.


SAT 05:45 A Box of Wittgensteins (b00g9dgp)
The Survivors

The great-niece of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, Margaret Stonborough, talks to the artist and historian Michael Huey as she delves into six boxes of newly-inherited family archives and investigates the lives of her talented, but tortured, forbears.

Margaret and her brother, Jerome Stonborough, discover documents which stir childhood memories of their talented, stylish but difficult family.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b00pxwf4)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SAT 06:04 Weather (b00pzp5h)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (b00pzp5k)
Eel Pie Island

Most people who know anything about Eel Pie Island know it was home to traditonal jazz, British blues and some pretty wild weekends for teenagers and art students in the 1950s and 60s. The bohemian days are long gone but the memories live on for at least one islander, the septugenarian inventor of the clockwork radio Trevor Baylis.

Helen Mark meets him as she tours the tiny island in the Thames and discovers it is possible to have it all - the peace, the wildlife and the community spirit of country life combined with the convenience of being 20 minutes from the centre of London.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b00pzp5m)
Farming Today This Week

A farmer fight's to stop TB infecting her prize herd of cattle. She tells Charlotte Smith why she thinks a badger cull planned in Wales is the right thing to do. We also hear from campaigners trying to stop the cull, and why they think a badger vaccination programme proposed in parts of England is the best solution.


SAT 06:57 Weather (b00pzp6l)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (b00pzgyg)
With James Naughtie and Justin Webb. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day; Yesterday in Parliament.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b00q05vk)
Real life stories in which listeners talk about the issues that matter to them. Fi Glover is joined by Barbara Dickson. With poetry from Elvis McGonagall.


SAT 10:00 Excess Baggage (b00q06gj)
Travelling independently and away from well-worn tourist routes can present hazards which should be borne in mind at the planning stage. These could be anything between tummy upsets and terrorism. Charlie McGrath advises travellers from gap year trekkers to journalists in hostile environments about how to minimise the risks without removing the thrill of adventurous travel.

Sarah Porter and James Lewis are a couple who were not put off by tales of danger when they decided to go hiking in North Pakistan as part of a gap year. They were delighted to find an awe-inspiring landscape and welcoming, friendly people and where the greatest perils were on the highways.

Claire Boobbyer loves Cuba and is a frequent visitor there. She recently drove herself on a 5,000-kilometre journey all over the island and tells John what this fascinating country has to offer away from the main tourist areas of Havana and the coast.


SAT 10:30 What's So Great About ...? (b00q0728)
Series 2

Jackson Pollock

Lenny takes on the often misunderstood work of the American abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock.

Pollock's art, characterised by an intricate web of lines and layers of paint, has always polarised critics. His detractors dismiss his 'drip painting' technique as little more than random splashes on the canvas. His supporters tap into a nervous energy inside his paintings which expands under strict control. Either way, Pollock's work still stirs strong emotions about the meaning of modern art and, although he died in 1956, he is arguably still the most important artist to have come out of the United States.

Lenny puts Jack the Dripper's work to the test by talking to jazz musicians, critics, mathematicians and artists who all value the importance and uniqueness of the art of Jackson Pollock.


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (b00q072b)
Steve Richards looks behind the scenes at Westminster this week.

Much has been said about the conduct of Tony Blair's cabinet, particularly in relation to the war in Iraq. Margaret Beckett was foreign secretary from 2006 to 2007 and before that secretary of state for the environment. She talks of her own experience in cabinet.

A new group, Charter 2010, has launched a website arguing that a hung parliament could be beneficial in the current financial circumstances, if properly planned for. Lord Owen and Labour peer Lord Chandos, founding members of this group, make the case for stable power sharing.

This week the left-wing Compass group held a conference in London on the future of the centre-left in Europe. Neal Lawson of Compass and Thorben Albrecht of Germany's SPD analyse the problems they face.

It seems many of the posts for parliamentary private secretaries are not being filled at the moment. Former MP Gyles Brandeth reveals the secrets of this particular path to power.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b00q0784)
Kate Adie introduces BBC foreign correspondents with the stories behind the headlines.


SAT 12:00 Money Box (b00q0786)
Paul Lewis with the latest news from the world of personal finance.


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (b00pxvr7)
Series 70

Episode 3

Sandi Toksvig chairs the topical comedy quiz. The panellists are Francis Wheen, Jeremy Hardy, Susan Calman and Sue Perkins.


SAT 12:57 Weather (b00q0788)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 13:00 News (b00q078b)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b00pxvr9)
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the topical debate from the BBC Radio Theatre in London. The panel includes author Anthony Horowitz, journalist Amanda Platell, chief executive of Turning Point Lord Victor Adebowale, and Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT.


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b00q078d)
Jonathan Dimbleby takes listeners' calls and emails in response to this week's edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:30 Saturday Drama (b00q07c7)
Raven Black

By Ann Cleeves.

Dramatised for radio by Iain Finlay MacLeod.

Atmospheric dramatisation of the award-winning crime novel set deep in a Shetland winter.

When a young woman is found strangled in a snow-covered field, the inhabitants of small Shetland hamlet Ravenswick are thrown into shock. Disbelief soon turns to anger and suspicion falls upon elderly loner Magnus Tait. But Detective Jimmy Perez has a hunch that the case is more complicated than that solution might suggest.

Raven Black was named Best Crime Novel of the Year by the Crime Writers Association in 2006. It's the first in a series of novels set in Shetland, featuring Detective Jimmy Perez.

Cast:

Jimmy Perez ... Grant O'Rourke
Magnus ... John Shedden
Fran ..... Rosalind Sydney
Sally ... Clare Yuille
Robert ..... John Kielty
Duncan ..... Kenny Blyth
D.I. Taylor ..... Robin Laing
Euan ..... Greg Powrie
Annie Perez ..... Sandra Voe
Catherine ..... Melody Grove

Producer/Director: Kirsteen Cameron.


SAT 15:30 Ken Clarke's Jazz Greats (b00pxmcx)
Series 8

Cannonball Adderley

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

Florida-born saxophonist Cannonball Adderley first made his name alongside his brother Nat in the 1950s. Moving to New York, he quickly found success and before long was playing with Miles Davis. Drawing influence from many of the greats, including Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Louis Jordan, Cannonball was one of the leading pioneers of hard-bop. By the 1960s he was also prominent in the soul jazz scene, becoming increasingly experimental towards the end of the decade.

Leading British sax player Alan Barnes talks to Ken about Cannonball's eclectic career.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b00q07c9)
Weekend Woman's Hour

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

Julie Walters on playing Mo Mowlam; the health costs of Britain's booze culture; the secret of true Italian bolognese; why black's never out of fashion; long-term relationships and why some succeed; forget the natural look - why make-up is big and bold this season.


SAT 17:00 PM (b00q07cc)
Saturday PM

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


SAT 17:30 iPM (b00q07gg)
The weekly interactive current affairs magazine featuring online conversation and debate.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00q07gj)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Shipping Forecast (b00q07gl)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00q07gn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b00q07gq)
Clive Anderson and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.

Clive is joined by actors Sir Ian McKellen and Shameless star David Threlfall. Aleks Krotoski celebrates the 20th anniversary of the world wide web.

Jo Bunting asks Katherine Hibbert what happens when you walk away from everything you think you can't live without.

With comedy from the award-winning Richard Herring and music from Fyfe Dangerfield and Marcus Bonfanti.


SAT 19:00 Profile (b00q07gs)
Scott Brown

Claire Bolderson looks at the colourful life of the senator elect for Massachusetts, Republican Scott Brown. His victory in the previously safe Democrat seat, held by the late Ted Kennedy, is a huge blow for President Obama and his legislative plans. Dubbed Senator Beefcake in the US media, Scott Brown is a lawyer, an athlete and a former model.


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b00q07gv)
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by historian Kathryn Hughes, artistic director of the ICA Ekow Eshun and writer Antonia Quirke to review the cultural highlights of the week.

Jacques Audiard's film A Prophet won the Grand Jury prize at Cannes last year and is France's entry for Best Foreign Film at the 2010 Oscars. Tahar Rahim plays Malik, a rootless young Arab who we see entering the French prison system. He finds himself treated as a slave by the Corsicans who offer him protection and is shunned by the other Arab inmates, but he learns how to play the game and gradually elevates himself to a position of power.

Iranian writer Kader Abdolah fled Iran in 1985. His opposition to the Khomeini regime as a member of the underground left-wing movement had made his life there untenable. Living in the Netherlands since 1988 and writing in Dutch, his 2005 novel Het huis van der moskee became a bestseller there. Now translated into English as The House of the Mosque, it traces the fortunes of a family through the Iranian revolution.

The Little Dog Laughed - a play by Douglas Carter Beane - has just opened at London's Garrick Theatre. Mitchell (Rupert Friend) is a rising star whose elevation to the movie stratosphere looks assured, so long as he doesn't come out. Diane (Tamsin Greig), his ferocious agent, is determined that both their careers maintain an upwards trajectory and does her best to prise Mitchell away from from his rent boy lover and keep him on the straight and narrow.

Mrs Mandela on BBC Four is Michael Samuels's dramatisation of the life of controversial figure Winnie Mandela. Starring Sophie Okonedo it begins with Nelson Mandela's (David Harewood) release from prison in 1990 and then travels backwards and forwards in time, between the attempts of a couple separated for 27 years to reconstruct their relationship and what Winnie has experienced while her husband has been in jail.

In The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters at the Royal Academy, the caricature of Van Gogh as the classic mad artist - his greatness linked to his mental turbulence - is replaced with an account of a phenomenally focused artist obsessed with improving his technical skills and exploring every medium available. The pictures are displayed alongside the letters that Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo and others - passionate accounts of his ambitions, his frustrations and his ideas about art, often illustrated with tiny sketches of paintings he had already made or planned to.


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b00q08xn)
So Much Older Then

Journalist Katharine Whitehorn, now in her 80s, reviews archive recordings that span her lifetime in order to arrive at some conclusions about old age.

How long should we work and what should we do when we retire? Does age make us wise or merely boring? Should a woman fight the effects of age with facelifts and high heels? And when is it time to go?

An All Out production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 21:00 Classic Serial (b00psqvj)
Edith Wharton - The Custom of the Country

Episode 3

Dramatisation by Jane Rogers of Edith Wharton's 1913 satire of marriage and money in early-20th century American society.

Undine's plans to secure a better future for herself move on apace, but will she ever find real happiness?

Mrs Heeny ...... Lorelei King
Elmer Moffatt ...... Tom Hollander
Ralph Marvell ...... Dan Stevens
Undine Spragg ...... Rebecca Night
Marquise de Chelles ...... Olwen May
Raymond de Chelles ...... Joseph Kloska
Princess Estradina ...... Provence Maydew
Paul ...... Daniel Rogers

Directed by Nadia Molinari.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b00q09mt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SAT 22:15 Decision Time (b00pxqzc)
How to abolish the BBC licence fee? Nick and a panel of former political insiders examine how a government which wanted to abolish the BBC licence fee could get its way, and ask what opposition it would face in Whitehall, Westminster and White City.


SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (b00pxjzx)
Russell Davies chairs another semi-final of the perennial general knowledge contest, with heat winners Martin Boult from Basingstoke, David Clark from Port Talbot, Jane Ann Liston from St Andrews and Anthony Payne from St Bees in Cumbria competing for a place in the final.


SAT 23:30 Consorting With Angels (b00psqvn)
A tribute to the life and work of American poet Anne Sexton.

Featuring poetry, home video archive and dramatised transcripts of audio tapes recorded during Sexton's psychotherapy sessions. Anne's daughters Linda and Joyce remember their mother, and her close friend JD McClatchy and former psychiatric nurse and poet Anne Rouse share their thoughts on a truly remarkable woman.



SUNDAY 24 JANUARY 2010

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b00q09rf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SUN 00:30 Afternoon Reading (b008xmqp)
Cupid Strikes

Consuming Celia

Stories exploring the reality behind St Valentine's Day.

By Kate Perry.

Celia has a list of gifts she doesn't want for Valentine's Day, but the one thing she really wants it seems money just can't buy.

Read by Tamsin Greig.

Producer Heather Larmour.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00q0b5b)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00q0b5d)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00q0b5g)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b00q0b5j)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b00q0b5l)
The sound of bells from York Minster.


SUN 05:45 Profile (b00q07gs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b00q0b5n)
The latest national and international news.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b00q0b5q)
Wrestling and Resting

Mark Tully explores different approaches to the intractable issues in our lives. When is it better to wrestle with them head-on, and when is it better to seek a gentler resolution?

The readers are Emily Raymond and William Gaminara.

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b00q0b5s)
When Nick Padwick took over the Stoughton Estate farm near Leicester, he was faced with quite a challenge. Ageing machinery meant high repair costs and it was clear things had to change. They did, and now Stoughton, the flagship farm for the Co-operative Group, is a pioneer of new technologies, leading farm improvements for all the Co-op's farms.

Tom Heap meets Nick, who was named Farm Manager of the Year for 2009, and sees the new technology in action, from soil analysis to tractors that always follow the same tracks. And he sees why Nick is known as one of the most enthusiastic and 'can do' farmers in the business.


SUN 06:57 Weather (b00q0bck)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b00q0bs6)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (b00q0bs8)
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 (b00q0bsb)
Mental Health Foundation

Patricia Gallimore appeals on behalf of Mental Health Foundation.

Donations to Mental Health Foundation should be sent to FREEPOST BBC Radio 4 Appeal, please mark the back of your envelope Mental Health Foundation. Credit cards: Freephone 0800 404 8144. If you are a UK tax payer, please provide Mental Heatlh Foundation 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 England: 801130, Scotland: SC 039714.


SUN 07:58 Weather (b00q0bsd)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b00q0bsg)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b00q0bsj)
One Body in the Spirit

A service for the week of prayer for Christian unity from the Chapel of Worcester College, Oxford, led by the Chaplain, Rev Dr Jonathan Arnold, with the Chapel Choir directed by Thomas Allery. Preacher: Fr Nicholas King SJ.


SUN 08:50 A Point of View (b00pxvrc)
Lisa Jardine on the importance of science education for national prosperity, and a failed attempt in the late 19th century to change our culture to be more pro-science.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b00q0dbs)
This week on BH, as the government indicates it may allow parents across England and Wales to request information about sex offenders in their area, we ask the chief executive of Barnardo's, Martin Narey, for his thoughts on what's become known as "Sarah's Law".

The takeover of Cadbury's by American food giant Kraft, has stirred up great public feeling- is because of the link to precious childhood memories of chocolate? We talk to Sir Adrian Cadbury about what he thinks the brand means to us, and Liccy Dahl, widow of Roald, takes us into the hut where he wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

From the quality of chocolate to the the quality of mercy- this week saw two legal cases where the concept of mercy was invoked- a High Court judge tell us what the words means to him. And Kevin Connolly goes to the "recreational vehicle capital" of America to look for some green shoots of recovery.

Reviewing the papers this week were Martin Narey, businesswoman Sue Hunter and Riz Khan, journalist and presenter for Al-Jazeera English.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b00q0dbv)
The week's events in Ambridge.


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b00q0dbx)
Frank Warren

Kirsty Young's castaway is the boxing promoter Frank Warren.

He has managed and promoted some of the biggest names in the sport, including Joe Calzaghe, Prince Naseem Hamed, Ricky Hatton and the Olympic medal winner Amir Khan.

Over the past three decades he has lost fortunes and remade them, survived an assassination attempt and even a run-in with Mike Tyson. Boxing has been good to him, he says, but now he says he wants to find something that will nourish his soul too.

Record: Don't Worry 'Bout Me, Billie Holiday
Book: Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
Luxury: Merlot grapevine.


SUN 12:00 Just a Minute (b00pxk23)
Series 56

Episode 3

Nicholas Parsons chairs the devious word game, recorded at Derby University. The panellists are Josie Lawrence, Justin Moorhouse, Tony Hawks and Dave Gorman. Subjects include how to spot a mature student and three ways to pay back your student loan.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b00q0dc0)
City Food Lecture

It's predicted that the world population will reach nine billion in 2050. Simon Parkes reports from the City Food Lecture, where former Chief Scientist Sir David King spells out his vision for how we can meet that challenge.


SUN 12:57 Weather (b00q0dc2)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b00q0dc4)
A look at events around the world with Shaun Ley.


SUN 13:30 The Greening of the Deserts (b00l5j3j)
Episode 1

Ayisha Yahya explores predictions from some scientists and meteorologists that some deserts, including the Sahara, could get greener in the future and experience more rainfall.

This runs contrary to more usual predictions about the future of global warming in Africa that envisage more drought, floods, land degradation, epidemics and resource wars. Ayisha travels to Mali and Egypt to explore the arguments.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00pxvdx)
Eric Robson chairs a correspondence edition of the popular horticultural forum.

Bob Flowerdew, Bunny Guinness and Matt Biggs answer listeners' questions sent in by post and email.

Jon Stokes of The Tree Council joins the programme to discuss the problem of sudden oak death.


SUN 14:45 Gameboy v The Mongolian Steppe (b00clmh7)
Episode 3

Series following the exploits of a computer games-obsessed 14-year-old with learning difficulties who is taken to Mongolia by his father to experience the more exciting side of life.

The family arrive at their location and meet Eagle Hunter Number 2, who is going to take them out riding for the first time on Mongolian horses. They also discover that computer games have made their way to the very remotest parts of the country.


SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b00q0h3y)
Book 2: The Honourable Schoolboy

Part 1

Dramatisation of John le Carre's classic novel featuring intelligence officer George Smiley.

Set against the backdrop of the war in Indochina in 1975, spymaster George Smiley uncovers a trail of Russian money leading to a prominent Hong Kong citizen. But what is the money for?

George Smiley ...... Simon Russell Beale
Jerry Westerby ...... Hugh Bonneville
Peter Guillam ...... Richard Dillane
Connie Sachs ...... Maggie Steed
Doc De Salis ...... Bruce Alexander
Sam Collins ...... Nicholas Boulton
Oliver Lacon ...... Anthony Calf
Enderby ...... James Laurenson
Craw ...... Philip Quast
Ann Smiley ...... Anna Chancellor
The Girl, Phoebe ...... Tessa Nicholson
Stubbs/Wilbrahim ...... Nigel Hastings
Frost ...... Piers Wehner
Drake Ko ...... David Yip
Tiu ...... Paul Courtenay Hyu

Directed by Marc Beeby

This episode is available until 3.00pm on 14th February as part of the Series Catch-up Trial.


SUN 16:00 Open Book (b00q0hgh)
Mariella Frostrup talks to the Swedish thriller writer and creator of Wallander, Henning Mankell. He reveals how living in Africa has given his latest novel a global sweep, and explains what his work has in common with ancient Greek drama. He also reflects on saying goodbye to his best-known character, Kurt Wallander, after almost 20 years.

Alex Clark offers some advice to a listener who is looking for the most compelling private diaries of the last two 200 years.

The author of a new study of Vladimir Nabokov's fiction, Michael Maar, explains how the often tumultuous events of the writer's life, including the death of his younger brother in a concentration camp, imprinted themselves on his work in surprising ways.


SUN 16:30 Terezin Dreams (b00q0hgk)
A few years ago writer and poet Sibyl Ruth inherited a series of poems written by her German great aunt Rose Scooler in 1944-45 when she was an inmate at Terezin camp. Terezin, or Theresienstadt as it was known in German, was a ghetto town in occupied Czechoslovakia used by Nazis to hold Jews en route to extermination camps. Many prominent Czech and German musicians and cultural figures passed through Terezin, which was developed into a 'model' camp, where cultural activities were permitted and encouraged, to disguise to the outside world the true Nazi project. In 1944 the authorities permitted a visit by the Red Cross to dispel rumours of genocide, a notorious attempt - and a remarkably successful one - to cover-up the great crime of the Holocaust.

The poems, which are read by Eleanor Bron, are powerful and unexpected; they speak with an utterly singular voice: dramatically confident, ironic, often playful and never self-pitying. Although nothing in Rose Scooler's privileged background could have prepared her for life in a Nazi concentration camp, what comes through is a strong, humorous and defiant spirit. The poems are life affirming, and despite the terrible conditions of the camp, full of hope - hope which was, for Rose, if not for others, fulfilled when the camp was liberated. Rose went on to live a long and busy life before dying in the United States at the age of 103.

Sibyl Ruth describes how she set about translating the poems, and the journey of discovery about Terezin she made as she did so. The renowned Holocaust historian David Cesarani provides the historical background to Rose Scooler's poems, and explains the role Terezin played in the Nazi extermination project.


SUN 17:00 File on 4 (b00pxng0)
Who polices the police?

In 2009, 2,445 cases, including allegations of police brutality, deaths in custody and serious negligence, were referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. But is it truly independent, and does its record over five years encourage public confidence? Gerry Northam investigates.


SUN 17:40 Profile (b00q07gs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00q0hhz)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (b00q0hj1)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00q0hj3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b00q0hj5)
Frank Cottrell Boyce introduces his selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio.

Obama's Babies - Radio 4
Jon Ronson On... - Radio 4
The History of the World in 100 Objects - Radio 4
At Cupid's Cove - Radio 3
PM - Radio 4
Taking A Stand - Radio 4
More Than a Game - Radio 4
Season of Migration to the North - Radio 3
Too White to be Black - Radio 4
Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show - Radio 4
Some Secluded Glade - Radio 4
Twenty Minutes: To Chekhov's Memory - Radio 3
The House That Chekhov Built - Radio 4.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (b00q0hj7)
Lillian's proud of Matt for getting enhanced status but Matt claims it merely involves playing the system. He only wishes he could just beat it and get out of jail. Matt's not got much news, so Lilian tells him her news. Matt is very suspicious abut Paul's sudden appearance, believing he's after money. Lilian disagrees, insisting Paul genuinely seems to want to get to know Matt. Matt refuses to have anything to do with Paul, nor does he want to visit his dying mother - Lilian is all the family he wants. Lilian gives Paul the bad news, explaining how Matt was closed himself off in prison. Paul understands, and they regretfully say goodbye.

Helen tries to take Annette's mind off tomorrow. Annette's grateful but she's already offered to do extra hours for Susan - anything to get through the day. Pip's buying a magazine, and tells Annette she needs a new outfit for a birthday party. Annette warns Pip to be careful with the boys. Annette can't face the family meal at Bridge Farm for Brenda's birthday. Helen's reluctant to leave Annette alone but Annette just wants a quiet night - this has been the longest weekend ever.

Episode written by Joanna Toye.


SUN 19:15 Americana (b00q0hnm)
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.

A look at Massachusetts - what makes a mostly blue state go red? Two local state leaders take sides to explain the Massachusetts of today. They weigh in on what elections in November may look like with the recent Supreme Court ruling which removes monetary limits on corporate spending during federal elections.

As American troops arrive on the ground in Haiti, the picture of American military operations overseas is refreshed. It's not all about fighting terrorism.

After a week of pointed jokes and fierce deliberations, Conan O'Brien agrees to a 45 million dollar severance package to leave NBC's Tonight Show. Americana learns about the legacy of the late night show and what might come next as host Jay Leno returns to the spotlight.

Considered one of the 100 most influential figures in the United States, talk show host Tavis Smiley talks to Matt Frei about The Tavis Smiley Show and his goals for the future.


SUN 19:45 Afternoon Reading (b00b0t4v)
An Italian Bestiary

Mules and the Motor Car

Stories by Julia Blackburn about life and survival for the animals and people of Liguria in Northern Italy, where she has made her home.

The mules lost their importance when the roads came, although they took a long time coming.


SUN 20:00 More or Less (b00pxvdv)
Tim Harford presents the magazine which looks at numbers everywhere, in the news, in politics and in life.

An Open University co production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 20:30 Last Word (b00pxvr3)
Matthew Bannister presents the obituary series, analysing and celebrating the life stories of people who have recently died. The programme reflects on people of distinction and interest from many walks of life, some famous and some less well known.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (b00q0786)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 on Saturday]


SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b00q0bsb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 today]


SUN 21:30 In Business (b00pxsyk)
Ready to Wear

Many of our clothes are made by low-paid workers in low-cost countries. But when In Business got involved, a factory was closed and working conditions improved. From Bangladesh, Peter Day found out what happens when westerners intervene.


SUN 21:58 Weather (b00q0hnr)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b00q0hnt)
Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including Turkeys Voting for Christmas.


SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b00pxvr5)
Noel Clarke counts down to his latest movie 4-3-2-1 and reveals why he never intended to make his last film Adulthood, which topped the British box office charts.

Old Boy director Park Chan Wook discusses vampires, religion and guilt, all of which play a major part in his new horror film Thirst.

Professor Roger Luckhurst visits District 9, the science fiction allegory about apartheid.

Colin Shindler presents the film news from 1960.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b00q0b5q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 25 JANUARY 2010

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b00q2m8n)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b00pxqz9)
Twitter, Broadband, BlackBerries, Globalisation - are they all forces ranged against out traditional concept of work or does a deeper analysis favour continuity over change? Laurie Taylor discusses the workplace of the future with Richard Donkin, author of The Future of Work, and with Kevin Doogan from Bristol University. Are we all set to become 'portfolio workers' or is the factory system in place since the Industrial Revolution and the office 9 to 5 set to continue for a while yet.

Also, what have you been doing with your teddy lately? Schools have begun sending young children home with teddy bears to write diaries of their shared experiences over holidays or half-terms. So widespread has this practice become that children as far apart as China and Norway are jotting down the daily experiences they share with these teds. A unique opportunity for a sociologist to compare childhood experiences in these two places. Laurie's guest Randi Waerdahl talks about her research.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b00q0b5l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00q2mkm)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00q2mnl)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00q2mls)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (b00q2mqv)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00q2mss)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (b00q2mvv)
Farming Today reports on the return of sheep to the Scilly Isles. The first flock for 30 years has been brought to the islands by a farmer hoping to sell the lamb locally.

Charlotte Smith also asks how important the Green Belt is and we pay the first visit to the Farming Today bees to see how they have fared through the winter.


MON 05:57 Weather (b00q2w7w)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 06:00 Today (b00q2nhg)
With John Humphrys and Sarah Montague. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (b00q2w7y)
Andrew Marr discusses 'How to Live' with the help of Montaigne biographer Sarah Bakewell and the writer Will Self, the geneticist Steve Jones asks how much the mapping of the human genome really tells us about who we are, and the conductor Charles Hazlewood attempts to recapture the spirit of the 18th-century satire The Beggar's Opera.


MON 09:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00q2p66)
After the Ice Age: Food and Sex (9000 - 3500 BC)

Bird-shaped Pestle

Neil MacGregor continues his retelling of human history using 100 selected objects from the British Museum. This week he explores the profound changes that humans experienced at the end of the Ice Age. By this period, humanity is reconsidering its place in the world and turning its attention to food, power, worship, and human relationships.

But then, as now, one of the most important parts of human existence was finding enough food to survive. Taking a pestle from Papua New Guinea as an example, Neil asks why our ancestors decided to grow and cook new foods. The answer provides us with a telling insight into the way early humans settled on the land. Becoming farmers and eating food that was harder for other animals to digest made us a formidable force in the food chain. The impact on our environment of this shift to cookery and cultivation is still being felt.

Neil is joined by Indian food writer Madhur Jaffrey, campaigner Sir Bob Geldof and archaeologist Professor Martin Jones


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00q2pkv)
Sophie Okenedo on Winnie Mandela; Abdominal binders

Actor Sophie Okenedo on playing Winnie Mandela, one of South Africa's most controversial figures. Plus the health implications of abdominal binders.


MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00q2psk)
About Love

The Man in a Case

In celebration of the 160th anniversary of Anton Chekhov's birth, Michael Pennington plays the great Russian writer presenting a series of his short stories on the subject of marriage, dramatised by Martyn Wade.

A repressed schoolmaster has marriage on his mind.

Chekhov ...... Michael Pennington
Belikov ...... Jasper Britton
Kovalenko ...... Nicholas Boulton
Varenka ...... Zoe Waites

Directed by Philip Franks and Jane Morgan.

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 11:00 Signs of Change (b00q2w80)
On 4th February 1970, 22 students from the University of Aberystwyth stormed into the High Court in London and staged a sit-in to highlight their campaign for bilingual road signs in Wales. It was the first time the campaign had been taken to the heart of the English establishment and 14 of the protestors were jailed.

On the 40th anniversary of the sit-in, Sian Pari Huws meets those student campaigners to relive their protest and its aftermath. She discovers how their act of civil disobedience eventually changed British law and how, for some of them, the fight goes on.


MON 11:30 Ed Reardon's Week (b00q2w82)
Series 6

The Cruise

ED REARDON'S WEEK
Episode 3: The Cruise

Ed, surprisingly, has had a brilliant idea for a book and, even more surprisingly, Ping agrees. So it is that when an opportunity arises to go on a cruise with Jaz and the band, Ed takes up the offer in order to find creative reinvigoration at sea.

With Christopher Douglas as Ed Reardon
and Stephanie Cole as Olive
Simon Greenall as Ray
Geoff McGivern as Cliff
Philip Jackson as Jaz
Rita May as Pearl
Barunka O'Shaughnessey as Ping
And Geoffrey Whitehead as Stan
With Kim Wall and Lewis McCleod

Written by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds

Producer: Dawn Ellis.


MON 12:00 You and Yours (b00q2pyx)
Consumer news and issues with Julian Worricker.


MON 12:57 Weather (b00q2pzf)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 13:00 World at One (b00q2q7v)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


MON 13:30 Brain of Britain (b00q2wjg)
Russell Davies chairs the last semi-final of the perennial general knowledge contest, with heat winners Jim Cook from Worcestershire, David Edwards from Staffordshire, Anne Hegerty from Manchester and Simon Pitfield from the Midlands competing for a place in the final.


MON 14:00 The Archers (b00q0hj7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (b00b1czp)
Chris Harrald - Mr Larkin's Awkward Day

Chris Harrald's play takes a light-hearted look at a chaotic day in the life of an emerging poet.

One morning in September 1957, Philip Larkin receives a very official looking letter which sends him into a spin.

Philip Larkin ...... Adrian Scarborough
Mrs Giddings ..... Anne Reid
Mrs C ...... Lynne Verrall
Inspector Clough ...... Alan Williams
Bob ...... Stephen Critchlow
Roger ...... John Rowe
Shopkeeper ...... Dan Starkey
Mary ...... Helen Longworth
Tom ...... Ben Crowe
Mr Stenning ...... Chris Pavlo.


MON 15:00 Archive on 4 (b00q08xn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


MON 15:45 Images That Changed The World (b00q2qjj)
X-ray

Dr Mark Lythgoe, Director of the Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, tells the untold story of medical imaging and why uncovering our inner selves changed the world.

The image of a ghostly skeletal hand, wearing an enormous wedding ring, shocked and fascinated the public when it hit the front page of newspapers around the world in January 1896. This was the first X-ray, taken by Wilhelm Roentgen of his wife Bertha. It sparked a worldwide trend for DIY X-ray kits, until the dangers emerged. Mark Lythgoe looks at how medical images have changed our culture beyond the realm of medicine. In this episode, he explains how seeing living skeletons revolutionised our view of the body.


MON 16:00 The Food Programme (b00q0dc0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b00q3clz)
Ernie Rea and guests discuss whether self-inflicted pain is a valid or offensive form of spiritual discipline.


MON 17:00 PM (b00q2r42)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00q2rcy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:30 Just a Minute (b00q3cm1)
Series 56

Episode 4

Nicholas Parsons chairs the devious word game with David Mitchell, Paul Merton, Julian Clary and Gyles Brandreth. From January 2010.


MON 19:00 The Archers (b00q2q8j)
Helen and Annette wait anxiously at the abortion clinic. When Annette is called through, Helen phones Pat. Pat senses Helen's anxiety but Helen insists everything's fine - she just wanted to tell Pat that she loves her. Annette's relieved the first part of her abortion is over but now she just has to wait for the next pill in a couple of days.

Jim's offer for 'Greenacres' has been accepted. Joe tells him how the Old Police House was burnt down in an arson attack. Jim wants to hear more, and invites Joe to join him as the agent shows him round again. Joe suggests Jim gets Eddie, rather than Robert, to do the necessary woodwork.

Eddie's disappointed that Tony has no work for him. Clarrie's sure something will turn up. Joe tells Eddie that Jim needs some woodwork done but Eddie reckons Jim will want a proper carpenter once he learns that woodwork isn't Eddie's proper thing. Joe tells Eddie to give Jim the impression that he is professional and the job will be his. Eddie's grateful to Joe - the way things are going at the moment it is probably the best offer he can get!

Episode written by Joanna Toye.


MON 19:15 Front Row (b00q2rdl)
Gaylene Gould reviews Precious, a hard-hitting drama about a black teenager living in Harlem.

Film critic Mark Kermode discusses his new book, an account of a life defined by movies.

Richard Cork reviews an exhibition by Turner Prize-winning artist Chris Ofili, which brings together his early works with newer paintings and drawings.

TV producer Stephen Garrett, the man behind Spooks and Life on Mars, discusses taking on the role of Oxford University's News International Visiting Professor of Broadcast Media.


MON 19:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00q2p66)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


MON 20:00 Overexposed (b00q3cm3)
Back in 1990, a small group of photojournalists set out to witness world events. They went to Yugoslavia, Angola, Rwanda and Iraq.

Two were shot dead, and everyone was changed.

All of the contributors, including the presenter Miles Warde, were students at the London College of Printing. They went to work for Reuters, the Observer and the New York Times, and won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer, World Press Photo and several Emmys. They began work in an era when access was still easy, and the dangers perhaps not fully understood.

"While I was doing this course I did a work placement and stayed in touch with the picture editor. So when the war started in former Yugoslavia, I went to see him. He gave me the accreditation, he gave me the film and I drove to war in my little Renault Five."

The programme follows up what happened next, providing an intimate, authoritative account of life as a photojournalist.

Contributors include James Hill, Gary Calton, Sandra Balsells, Paul Lowe - the current course director of the LCC - and Colin Jacobson, former picture editor at the Independent Magazine.

Producer: Miles Ware

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.


MON 20:30 Analysis (b00q3cnl)
Are environmentalists bad for the planet?

The BBC's 'Ethical Man' Justin Rowlatt asks if the environmental movement is bad for the planet. He explores the philosophical roots of a way of thinking that developed decades before global warming was an issue. He also examines some of the ideological baggage that environmentalists have brought to the climate change debate, from anti-consumerism and anti-capitalism to a suspicion about technology and a preference for natural solutions. Could these extraneous aspects of green politics be undermining the environmental cause, and are some environmentalists being distracted from the urgent task of stopping global warming by a more radical agenda for social change?

Justin speaks to green capitalists including the Conservative MP John Gummer, who thinks that technology and reinvented markets hold the answer to tackling global warming. He talks to Greenpeace chairman John Sauven about green attitudes to so-called techno fixes, including nuclear power, and discusses green conversion tactics such as so-called identity campaigning with Tom Crompton from the conservation charity WWF and Solitaire Townsend, co-founder of the green public relations company Futerra.

The programme also hears from the leading green thinkers Jonathon Porritt and Professor Mike Hulme, founding director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, and from the theologian and United Nations advisor on climate change and world religions Martin Palmer. Martin sees parallels between some parts of the green movement and millenarian cults who have claimed that 'the end of the world is nigh'. Justin also interviews Andrew Simms from the New Economics Foundation, who believes we can only tackle climate change if we are weaned off our addiction to consumption and economic growth.


MON 21:00 Super Recognisers (b00q3fbv)
What if you could never forget a face? A group of people newly discovered to science have been dubbed 'Super Recognisers'. They have an extraordinary ability to recognise faces of everyone they meet, now matter how fleeting the encounter or how long ago. At the other extreme, imagine looking in the mirror and not recognising who was staring back at you. Or not knowing which is your own child at the school gates. People with prosopagnosia or face blindness have those kinds of experiences every day.

Claudia Hammond explores the science of face recognition. She uncovers the extremes of a skill that is fundamental to social interaction and yet science is only just beginning to understand. She talks to neuroscientists have done some of the first FMRi brain scans to find out more about how our brains register faces.

As many as 1 in 50 people are prosopagnosic but many won't know they have a problem. What are the implications for border control, policing and eye witness evidence? Also everyone struggles to recognise faces of people they don't know but what are the consequences for criminal justice?


MON 21:30 Start the Week (b00q2w7y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:58 Weather (b00q2rhf)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b00q2rym)
News from a global perspective with Felicity Evans.

Crisis talks go through the night in Northern Ireland.

Is the British economy moving back into growth?

Do we need new punctuation for sarcasm?

Has the relief effort in Haiti been badly managed?

Sri Lankans prepare for crucial elections.


MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00q2rzg)
The Still Point

Episode 1

Emma Fielding reads from Amy Sackville's debut novel about true courage and enduring love, in which the lives of two couples, living a hundred years apart, collide unexpectedly one summer's day.

At the turn of the 20th century, Arctic explorer Edward Mackley set out for the North Pole and disappeared into the icy landscape. He left behind a young wife, Emily, who awaited his return for decades, during which her dreams of life with her heroic husband gradually froze into lonely widowhood. A hundred years later, on a sweltering summer's day, Edward's great-grand-niece Julia is searching through the family house, trying to make some sense of the decades of clutter and the memories from that ill-fated expedition. As Julia continues her research into the Artic journey that ended the life of her beloved ancestor, she can't help but notice the deepening cracks within her own marriage

Abridged by Sally Marmion

Produced by Justine Willett.


MON 23:00 Off the Page (b00nks89)
Leaving the Comfort Zone

Is leaving your comfort zone a form of masochism, or the only way to develop in life?

Dominic Arkwright is joined by comedian Rhona Cameron, mountaineer Andy Cave and journalist Agnes Poirier to write about and discuss comfort and pain.

Producer: Beatrice Fenton

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2009.


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00q2vz4)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Sean Curran.



TUESDAY 26 JANUARY 2010

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b00q2m2b)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


TUE 00:30 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00q2p66)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00q2m8q)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00q2mlv)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00q2mkp)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b00q2mnn)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00q2mqx)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b00q2msv)
News and issues in rural Britain.

Anna Hill reports on a new drug for better-tasting pork. The need for it is apparently being driven by consumers who are turned off by bore taint, which gives an unpleasant taste and smell to pork. But the agency which runs the Red Tractor quality assurance scheme in the UK has warned farmers who use it here that they won't be allowed to remain in the scheme.


TUE 06:00 Today (b00q2nh2)
With James Naughtie and Justin Webb. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day; Yesterday in Parliament.


TUE 09:00 Taking a Stand (b00q3fr2)
Fergal Keane talks to Micheal Semple, a former EU official, who had spent most of career working to bring peace to Afghanistan. But in 2007, while working on a plan to integrate moderate Taliban back into society, he found himself expelled from the country on the orders of the president. He was accused of being a spy and a Taliban supporter.


TUE 09:30 Famous Footsteps (b00q3fr4)
Episode 3

Fiona Neill examines the burden of expectation felt by the children of creatively successful parents. How debilitating is the worry about comparisons being made with their parent?


TUE 09:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00q2p68)
After the Ice Age: Food and Sex (9000 - 3500 BC)

Ain Sakri Lovers Figuerine

The British Museum's Director, Neil MacGregor, investigates a palm-sized stone sculpture that was found near Bethlehem. It clearly shows a couple entwined in the act of love. The contemporary sculptor Marc Quinn responds to the stone as art and the archaeologist Dr Ian Hodder considers the Natufian society that produced it. What was human life and society actually like all those years ago? Possibly a lot more sophisticated than we imagine!


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00q2phl)
Childbirth at 60; Journalist Randa Habib; China's gender imbalance

Sue Tollefsen on childbirth at 60. Plus, journalist Randa Habib on Royal Family of Jordan, and the complicated legacy of China's one-child policy.


TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00q3f31)
About Love

The Black Monk

In celebration of the 160th anniversary of Anton Chekhov's birth, Michael Pennington plays the great Russian writer presenting a series of his short stories on the subject of marriage, dramatised by Martyn Wade.

A haunting story of love, obsession and the supernatural.

Chekhov ...... Michael Pennington
The Black Monk ...... Jasper Britton
Kovrin ...... Nicholas Boulton
Tanya ...... Zoe Waites Yegor ...... Philip Voss

Directed by Philip Franks and Jane Morgan.

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 11:00 Nature (b00q3fr6)
Series 4

Shingle Street

Dungeness is place to listen and to watch. It is a place to watch new land being made by the sea's shovelling of shingle; a place to watch the manufacture of power, a place to watch the migrating birds and moths find a transitory refuge. But watching is about far more than just looking, as writer and naturalist Paul Evans reveals in this powerful and haunting sound portrait of one of Britain's most unsettling landscapes, the shingle flats of Dungeness.

Situated between New Romney, Lydd and Camber on the Romney Marsh in Kent, Dungeness is a vast landscape of shingle ridges, accreted over the centuries by longshore drift. It is a landscape of contrasts and contradictions; nuclear power stations and fishing nets, wild birds and moth traps, shingle flats and wooden houses; an unsettling but fascinating place. It is the terminus for a railway line. There are no trees, no forests, but always the wind. At night shadows shift; fairy-lights glint in the dark where during the day there is the grey hulk of a power station.

Above the ever-present drone and hum of the power station there are the calls of the birds; in October a group of chattering Swallows wait for the wind to take them south. The wind also carries the smack and hiss of the sea as waves boil into froth and are sucked under. The sea unloads its cargo of shingle and England grows.

Dungeness has been described as 'one of the most valuable and yet vulnerable nature conservation sites in Great Britain'. It is one of the best examples of a shingle beach in the world, and home to many uncommon plants including lacey white night-scented Nottingham catchfly, as well as rare moths as well and a landing site for vast numbers of migratory birds in the spring and autumn, which are counted and studied by the Dungeness Bird Observatory. The Observatory has been based here since the 1950s and is housed at one end of five cottages originally built for the RNSSS, the Royal Navy signalling corps. Where today the washing line stands was once 'a tall flagpole which signalled coded flag messages between ships at sea and watching signallers inland'. Lighthouses have come and gone at Dungeness. The most recent was built in 1967. A spiral staircase leads the way to a vast lens and a place from which to gaze at the white cliffs of Dover and across the Channel.

Dungeness has long been a place to watch and be watched.


TUE 11:30 With Great Pleasure (b00q3fr8)
Fay Weldon

Guest performers select their favourite pieces of writing. Novelist Fay Weldon shares some of her favourite pieces of writing with an audience in Bridport, Dorset.

Her readers are Pippa Haywood and Peter Marinker.


TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b00q2px9)
Consumer news and issues with Julian Worricker.


TUE 12:57 Weather (b00q2pyz)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (b00q2q1t)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


TUE 13:30 Ken Clarke's Jazz Greats (b00q3frb)
Series 8

Chet Baker

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

By his early twenties, trumpeter Chet Baker was the poster boy of jazz with a beautiful playing style and film star good looks. A leading exponent of 1950s 'cool jazz', his lyrical playing drew comparisons to Miles Davis and his career blossomed. But his life was hampered by drug addiction and came to a brutal end in 1988.

Mike Maran, who wrote the recent hit production Chet Baker: A Funny Valentine, joins Ken to discuss Baker's flawed genius.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (b00q2q8j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b00q3g3x)
The Ca'd'oro Cafe

Dark and moving comedy about love, money and desperation by Donna Franceschild.

Melanie ...... Elspeth Brodie
Billy ...... Robin Laing
Tramp ...... John Kazek

Directed by Kirsty Williams.


TUE 15:00 Making History (b00q3g5h)
Vanessa Collingridge pulls together more objects from A History of the World, including the nurse's uniform worn by one of only eight women to land with the troops on D-Day.


TUE 15:30 Once Seen (b00q3g74)
The Lodger

Series of three stories inspired by a very modern small-ads phenomenon.

By Anna Maxted, read by Sandra Duncan.

Victoria is widowed, middle-aged and living in cold, wet London rather than her hot, sunny adopted homeland, Portugal. She has a lodger she is singularly ill-equipped to cater for; nonetheless he is grateful to her. This is a surprise for Victoria, which then leads to another.

A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 15:45 Images That Changed The World (b00q2qyk)
Brain Scan

Dr Mark Lythgoe, Director of the Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, tells the untold story of medical imaging and why uncovering our inner selves changed the world.

Mark Lythgoe visits one of the pioneers of modern brain scanning at Nottingham University, and asks neuroscientists and philosophers how this new-found ability to picture thoughts and emotions has changed our concept of the human mind.


TUE 16:00 Frontline Kenya (b00qc2ql)
The Kenyan government has stepped up patrols along the Somali border as the Islamist group, Al Shabaab, grows in strength. Jenny Cuffe investigates claims that the Somali militants - said to be linked to al-Qaeda - are now recruiting within Kenya itself and asks how big a threat they pose to the stability of the region.


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b00q3gjd)
Series 20

Agustin Barrios Mangore

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

Guitarist John Williams explains why he believes Paraguayan guitarist Agustin Barrios Mangore is one of the greatest musicians of all time.


TUE 17:00 PM (b00q2r2v)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00q2r44)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 Act Your Age (b00q3gjg)
Series 2

Episode 2

Simon Mayo hosts the comedy show that pits the comic generations against each other to find out which is the funniest.

Team captains Jon Richardson, Lucy Porter and Adrian Walsh are joined by Jack Whitehall, Sarah Kendall and Ronnie Golden.

Producers: Ashley Blaker and Bill Matthews.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2010.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (b00q2q7y)
Susan believes she knows all there is to know about 'customer needs' and tells the shop committee that they urgently need a full-time experienced manager. Usha agrees with Brian that they may be able to arrange some good deals with supermarkets but Susan points out that she's worked hard to get good deals with her current suppliers. She's feeling ignored, until Brian assures her that without her sterling work, they wouldn't be discussing the shop at all. Pat thanks Brian for keeping things on track.

Pip's dressed up and ready to go to a party. David's picking her up at 11pm. He drops off to sleep and is pleased when Ruth wakes him from his nightmare that Lynda was Chair of the parish council. Ruth's received a text to say Pip's got a lift home and is leaving soon. David wants to know who the lift's with but Ruth says they have to trust Pip, and let her grow up. Pip gets home later than she said. Ruth's annoyed but Pip wishes Ruth could just be pleased that she's made some friends at college. Pip takes herself to bed, with Ruth shouting after her to take off all her make-up.

Episode written by Joanna Toye.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (b00q2rd0)
David Dimbleby talks to Mark Lawson about his new series that tells the story of Britain as revealed through art.

Crime writer Mark Billingham reviews the film Edge of Darkness, an update of the classic TV drama, now starring Mel Gibson.

Tom Paulin discusses his adaption of the Greek tragedy Medea for Northern Broadsides theatre company.


TUE 19:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00q2p68)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b00q3gjj)
Drug danger distraction?

A British drug company is being sued by more than 15,000 people in the United States who claim its bestselling antipsychotic drug caused severe weight gain, diabetes and other serious medical conditions. Ann Alexander investigates concerns about the way it was marketed and asks how much the public should be told about the drugs they take.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (b00q3gjl)
In the latest edition of Blindness for Beginners, Peter White is joined by 'experts' Diane Roworth who is chief executive of York Blind and Partially-Sighted Society, and is herself visually-impaired, and Richard Lane, who lost his sight in the early 90s and is a guide dog owner. The programme explores the most useful questions newly blind people might wish to ask, and to give them the most useful help and information at this difficult time in their lives.


TUE 21:00 Case Notes (b00q3gjn)
Osteoporosis

Half of all women and a fifth of men in the UK over the age of 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis. Everyone's bones lose some density and strength as a natural part of the ageing process, but what makes some people more prone to fracture than others?

Dr Mark Porter visits a clinic in Sheffield to hear about the latest drugs available to treat osteoporosis, some of which only need to be taken once a year. He hears about the role that screening plays in detecting those at risk and why smoking or bowel conditions like Crohn's disease increase the risk of developing the condition.


TUE 21:30 Taking a Stand (b00q3fr2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 21:58 Weather (b00q2rft)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b00q2rhh)
National and international news and analysis with Felicity Evans.

The UK economy creeps back to growth. What will our future economy look like?

Foreign Office advisors tell the Iraq inquiry that the war was illegal, but how clear is international law?

Eric Cantona takes to the stage - we hear the critics' verdict.


TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00q2ryp)
The Still Point

Episode 2

Emma Fielding reads from Amy Sackville's debut novel about true courage and enduring love, in which the lives of two couples, living a hundred years apart, collide unexpectedly one summer's day.

As Julia looks at her reflection in the mirror, the very same mirror that her great-aunt Emily glanced into before meeting the dashing explorer Edward Mackley back in 1897, she reflects on her own meeting with her future husband.

Abridged by Sally Marmion

Produced by Justine Willett.


TUE 23:00 Jon Ronson On (b00q3gjq)
Series 5

Being Alone

The writer Jon Ronson asks are we more ourselves or less ourselves when we are alone? He confronts David Quantick, who Jon noticed avoiding him in the street one day.

Father Ted writer Graham Linehan reveals the moment he was ignored. We also talk to Yoshiro Nakamatsu, the world's most prolific inventor about the moment he invents - alone and under water. Finally we hear of the British man who was jailed in Japan and wasn't allowed to speak to anyone in his daily life for nearly 3 years.

Producer: Laura Parfitt
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00q2vyw)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Susan Hulme.



WEDNESDAY 27 JANUARY 2010

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b00q2m2d)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


WED 00:30 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00q2p68)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00q2m8s)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00q2mlx)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00q2mkr)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (b00q2mnq)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00q2mqz)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (b00q2msz)
A farmer fears he could go out of business because of persistent sheep rustlers. John Bishop has had hundreds of sheep stolen and says his insurance premiums are now so high he could lose everything. We also meet campaigners fighting to stop thousands of homes being built on the greenbelt.


WED 06:00 Today (b00q2nh4)
With James Naughtie and Sarah Montague. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day; Yesterday in Parliament.


WED 09:00 Midweek (b00q3kmq)
Lively and diverse conversation with Libby Purves and guests including former rugby player Brian Moore.


WED 09:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00q2p6b)
After the Ice Age: Food and Sex (9000 - 3500 BC)

Egyptian Clay Model of Cattle

Neil MacGregor, in his history of mankind as told through objects at the British Museum, selects four miniature clay cows to show the major changes that early man was undergoing at the end of the Ice Age. These four frail looking cows were made from Nile mud in Egypt 5,500 years ago, way before the time of the pyramids or the pharaohs. Why did the Egyptians start burying objects like this one with their dead? Neil goes in search life and death on the Nile and discovers how the domestication of cattle made the humble cow transformed human existence.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00q2phq)
Maternity care in England; Measuring progress in schools

What is the current state of maternity care in England? Plus, what should the government do about measuring progress in schools?


WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00q3f33)
About Love

The Huntsman

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Anton Chekhov's birth, Michael Pennington plays the great Russian writer presenting a series of his short stories on the subject of marriage, dramatised by Martyn Wade.

A haunting tale of unrequited love.

Chekhov ...... Michael Pennington
Count Sergei ...... Nicholas Boulton
Pelageya ...... Zoe Waites Yegor
Vlasych ...... Jasper Britton

Directed by Philip Franks and Jane Morgan.

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 11:00 Bridging the Gap (b00q3kvw)
A sound portrait of the Tyne Bridge, linking Newcastle and Gateshead.

With recordings by wildlife sound recordist, Chris Watson, the sounds of the waves, the wind and the wildlife are combined with the voices of the river in this powerful and vivid portrait of a magnificent bridge.

The earliest bridge across the Tyne, Pons Aelius, was built by the Romans near the location of the present Tyne bridge. After it fell into disrepair, a stone bridge was built in 1270 but this was destroyed by the great flood of 1717. The idea for the present Tyne Bridge dates back to 1883, but it wasn't until 1825 that work began. The design is based on the Sydney bridge. And whilst work on the Sydney bridge began first, the Tyne bridge was finished and opened first by King George V on 10th October 1928.

The Tyne is a major artery through the city, the Tyne Bridge a vital span; a thoroughfare of business and trade, a link between Gateshead and Newcastle, between north and south. As a giant arch, the bridge is an engineering triumph and hugely symbolic; it spans place and time, and as a port-way it's symbolic of the changes which have taken place in the north east. Today, the wildlife has moved into the gaps vacated by the industrial past; the river is home to otters and salmon and the bridge is a nesting site for kittiwakes, a species of ocean-travelling gull. The birds which nest here and on the Baltic on the Gateshead river bank make it the furthest inland breeding site of kittiwakes in the world.

Sound recordist Chris Watson
Producer: Sarah Blunt

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2010.


WED 11:30 Agatha Christie (b00q3kvy)
Towards Zero

Episode 3

Adaptation by Joy Wilkinson of Agatha Christie's detective novel.

Lady Tresselian is discovered murdered in her bed, leaving everyone in the house party very distressed. Inspector Leach leads the investigation.

Nevile ...... Hugh Bonneville
MacWhirter ...... Tom Mannion
Audrey ...... Claire Rushbrook
Kay ...... Lizzy Watts
Royde ...... Stephen Hogan
Inspector Leach ...... Philip Fox
Latimer ...... Joseph Kloska
Sergeant ...... Matt Addis
Doctor Lazenby ...... Benjamin Askew
Constable ...... David Hargreaves

Directed by Mary Peate.


WED 12:00 You and Yours (b00q2pxc)
Consumer news and issues with Winifred Robinson.


WED 12:57 Weather (b00q2pz1)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 13:00 World at One (b00q2q1w)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


WED 13:30 The Media Show (b00q3kw0)
The BBC's New York correspondent Matthew Price on the story behind his report of a pregnant Haitian woman he drove to hospital, saving her and the baby's life. Plus Dr Nancy Snyderman from NBC, one of the US doctor-reporters who spent more time tending to the injured in Haiti than filing stories.

Sir Jeremy Isaacs, Channel 4's first chief executive, tells Steve Hewlett about the phone call he received from the new chief executive, David Abraham, and what they'll be discussing when they go for lunch. Media commentator Maggie Brown gives her views on the challenges ahead.

On the day that Apple is expected to launch its new Tablet computer, can it live up to the hype - and the hopes - of the publishing industry? Will it do for magazines and newspapers what iTunes did for music downloads? Steve talks to media analyst Dan Sabbagh.


WED 14:00 The Archers (b00q2q7y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama (b00q3kw2)
Richard Monks - The Journey

By Richard Monks. A chance sighting on a news report leads to an extraordinary reunion between two siblings and the father they cremated four years previously. A play exploring the emotional hinterland of reconciliation.

Stephen ...... Robert Glenister
Clare ...... Suranne Jones
Sophie ...... Joanne Mitchell
Alan ...... David Hargreaves
Nurse/Reporter/TV Reporter/Custody Sergeant/Mechanic ...... Terence Mann

Directed by Nadia Molinari.


WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b00q3lct)
Vincent Duggleby and guests answer questions on equity release.

Guests:

Andrea Rozario, Director General, Safe Home Income Plans
Dean Mirfin, Group Director, Key Retirement Solutions
Tom Maloney, Consumer Credit Counselling Service, Equity Release Service.


WED 15:30 Once Seen (b00q934h)
It's a Guy Thing

Series of three stories inspired by a very modern small-ads phenomenon.

By Alexandra Potter, read by Ben Allen.

When Adam and Sebastian meet for coffee, Adam sees a girl and decides that she's 'The One'. But he can't bring himself to talk to her so he places a 'once seen' ad - with some curious results.

A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 15:45 Images That Changed The World (b00q2qym)
Ultrasound

Dr Mark Lythgoe, Director of the Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, tells the untold story of medical imaging and why uncovering our inner selves changed the world.

When a technique used in the shipping industry was first applied to seeing an unborn baby, the image was fuzzy, but the implications went far beyond medicine. Mark Lythgoe asseses the wider cultural impact of foetal ultrasound and hears from one of the early pioneers that 3D imaging has changed his views on the legal abortion limit.


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b00q3lcw)
On the 1st of July 1997 Hong Kong passed out of British hands and came under Chinese rule, ending more than 150 years of British control. It was an emotional moment which seemed to signify the final end to an era of British history. Many expatriates returned to the UK but a minority stayed on. Today there are still 19,000 British nationals living in Hong Kong, representing only 0.3 per cent of the population. How do they feel about the changes in the city? What has happened to the colonial life they once lead, and what do they think of people 'back home'? Laurie Taylor discusses an in-depth study by Caroline Knowles which explores the lives and attitudes of the British migrants still living in Hong Kong.

Laurie also talks to Robert Ford, the co-author of a new study exploring the reasons behind people voting for the BNP, the most electorally successful far-right party in British electoral history. What are the factors behind its success? Angry White Men: Individual and Contextual Predictors of Support for the British National Party examines the social, geographical and attitudinal characteristics of the BNP voter.


WED 16:30 Case Notes (b00q3gjn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 17:00 PM (b00q2r2x)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00q2r46)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:30 The Write Stuff (b00q3lcy)
Series 12

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

James Walton takes the chair for the game of literary correctness. Team captains John Walsh and Lynne Truss are joined by Mark Billingham and John O'Farrell. The author of the week and subject for pastiche is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the reader is Beth Chalmers.


WED 19:00 The Archers (b00q2q80)
Lynda calls on David, who's busy in the lambing shed. Lynda tells David the green burial site's change of use application is underway. David's unsure why Lynda's telling him, but Lynda says as acting Chair of the PC, David might like advance notice. Lynda says David's life will be easier when she's the new Chair. She's quietly confident - no one else is nominated and she has support from Audrey and Derek.

Helen thinks Annette should take it easy. Annette says she'll try but she's working tomorrow. Later, Helen finds Annette crying. She doesn't regret her actions, and is glad it's over, but she doesn't think she'll cope with Susan's prying questions tomorrow. Helen says she'll think of an excuse for her.

David calls at Ambridge View and tells Neil Audrey's nominated Lynda. Later at the shop Lynda tells Susan the community shop's attracted lots of volunteers. Susan doesn't think they'll cope but Lynda thinks Susan's underestimating them. Lynda leaves and Neil appears, telling Susan about Lynda's nominations for PC Chair. David wants him to stand against her. Neil's unsure but Susan's keen. Helen rings, telling Susan Annette won't be in tomorrow. Susan says she'll cover her. She just wishes people appreciated all she does for the shop.

Episode written by Joanna Toye.


WED 19:15 Front Row (b00q2rd2)
Christopher Reid, who won the Costa Book Award yesterday, speaks to Mark Lawson about his winning collection of poetry A Scattering, which deals with the death of his wife.

Football-star-turned actor Eric Cantona has made his stage debut in Face au Paradis (Facing Paradise) at the Theatre Marigny in Paris. He plays one of only two survivors who have been trapped in the basement of a collapsed supermarket. John Lichfield, The Independent newspaper's Paris correspondent, reviews the play.

Composer George Benjamin celebrates his 50th birthday with a special concert in association with the London Sinfonietta. The programme includes a performance at the piano by Benjamin himself.

Banned and jailed under Czech communism, rock band The Plastic People of the Universe helped to bring the regime down in 1989. Mark Lawson talks to members past and present and to playwright Tom Stoppard, whose play Rock 'n' Roll helped rekindle interest in the group.


WED 19:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00q2p6b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


WED 20:00 Decision Time (b00q3ld0)
Nick Robinson and a panel of politicians, civil servants and journalists examine how controversial proposals to tackle binge drinking would fare in Whitehall and Westminster.


WED 20:45 Turkeys Voting for Christmas (b00qgyfc)
Episode 1

Why is it that people so often vote against their own interests? Are pragmatic politics patronising or simply a turn off? David Runciman investigates the unpopularity of President Obama's healthcare reforms and he asks why so many Americans seem angry about efforts to make them better off.


WED 21:00 Nature (b00q3fr6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 Midweek (b00q3kmq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 21:58 Weather (b00q2rfw)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b00q2rhk)
Was the war in Iraq legal? Lord Goldsmith gives evidence to Chilcot Inquiry.

Officials from 60 countries meet in London to discuss the future of Afghanistan.

Why the world's best restaurant is closing its doors.


WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00q2ryr)
The Still Point

Episode 3

Emma Fielding reads from Amy Sackville's debut novel about true courage and enduring love, in which the lives of two couples, living a hundred years apart, collide unexpectedly one summer's day.

Leaving Emily in Norway, Edward finally sets out for the Pole and, after months of journeying, reaches solid ice. They celebrate Christmas 1899 Arctic-style, complete with roast reindeer and plum pudding. Back in England, the young Emily is celebrating a very different Christmas meal with her new brother- and sister-in-law.

Abridged by Sally Marmion

Produced by Justine Willett.


WED 23:00 Mordrin McDonald: 21st Century Wizard (b00q3ld2)
Series 1

Quest

Written by David Kay and Gavin Smith, Mordrin McDonald is a 2000 year old Wizard living in the modern world where regular bin collections and watching Countdown are just as important as slaying the odd Dragon.

In this episode Mordrin is summoned by the wizard council to deal with an out of control Jakonty Dragon which is on a path of destruction and is set to wipe out the tiny town of Aviemore, but who can he recruit to help him?

Featuring and written by Scottish stand up David Kay and starring Gordon Kennedy and Jack Docherty, Mordrin McDonald mixes the magical with the mundane and offers a hilarious take on the life of a modern day Wizard.

Cast:
Mordrin: David Kay
Geoff: Gordon Kennedy
Heather: Cora Bissett
Bernard The Blue: Jack Doherty
Tracy: Rosemary Hollands
Jill: Sally Reid

Producer/Director: Gus Beattie
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:15 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.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00q2vyy)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with David Wilby.



THURSDAY 28 JANUARY 2010

THU 00:00 Midnight News (b00q2m2g)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


THU 00:30 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00q2p6b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00q2m8v)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00q2mlz)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00q2mkt)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (b00q2mns)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00q2mr1)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (b00q2mt1)
News and issues in rural Britain.

As pressure grows to develop greenbelt land, Charlotte Smith hears from a farmer who says he won't sell his land despite being offered millions of pounds.

The National Farmers Union has reacted angrily against demands from conservationists that farmers should be rewarded for looking after wildlife rather than growing food.


THU 06:00 Today (b00q2nh6)
With James Naughtie and Sarah Montague. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day; Yesterday in Parliament.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (b00q4310)
Silas Marner

Melvyn Bragg and guests Rosemary Ashton, Dinah Birch and Valentine Cunningham discuss George Eliot's novel Silas Marner.Published in 1861, Silas Marner is by far Eliot's shortest and seemingly simplest work. Yet beneath the fairytale-like structure, of all her novels it offers the most focused expression of Eliot's moral view. Influenced by the deconstruction of Christianity pioneered by leading European thinkers including Auguste Comte and Ludwig Feuerbach, Silas Marner is a highly sophisticated attempt to translate the symbolism of religion into purely human terms.The novel tells the story of Silas, a weaver who is thrown out of his religious community after being falsely charged with theft. Silas is embittered and exists only for his work and his precious hoard of money - until that money is stolen, and an abandoned child wanders into his house.By the end of her lifetime, George Eliot was the most powerful female intellectual in the country. Her extraordinary range of publications encompassed novels, poetry, literary criticism, scientific and religious texts. But beneath her fierce intellecualism was the deep convinction that for society to continue, humans must connect with their fellow humans. And it is this idea that forms the core of her writing.Rosemary Ashton is Quain Professor of English Language and Literature at University College, London; Dinah Birch is Professor of English at Liverpool University; And Valentine Cunningham is Professor of English Language and Literature at Corpus Christi, University of Oxford.


THU 09:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00q2p6d)
After the Ice Age: Food and Sex (9000 - 3500 BC)

Maya Maize God Statue

This week Neil MacGregor is exploring the growing importance of agriculture around the world at the end of the Ice Age, with objects that show and celebrate the key elements of the time; power, sex, worship and food. Today the series focuses on the world of the Mayan civilisation and a stone Maize God, discovered on the site of a major Mayan city in present-day Honduras. This large statue is wearing a headdress in the shape of a giant corn cob.

Maize was not only worshipped at that time but the Maya also believed that all their ancestors were descended from maize. Neil MacGregor reveals why maize, which is notoriously difficult to refine for human consumption, becomes so important to the emerging agriculture of the region.

Neil is joined by the anthropologist Professor John Staller and the restaurateur Santiago Calva who explain the complexity of Mayan mythological belief and the ongoing power of maize in Central America today


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00q2phs)
Jane Goodall; Ruth Padel; Higher education

Primatologist Dame Jane Goodall on how endangered species are being rescued from the brink. Plus poet Ruth Padel on her first novel, and is university the best option for all?


THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00q3f35)
About Love

The Lady with the Little Dog

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Anton Chekhov's birth, Michael Pennington plays the great Russian writer presenting a series of his short stories on the subject of marriage, dramatised by Martyn Wade.

A beautiful tale of love and betrayal.

Chekhov ...... Michael Pennington
Anna ...... Zoe Waites
Gurov ...... Jasper Britten

Directed by Philip Franks and Jane Morgan.

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b00q4393)
BBC foreign correspondents with the stories behind the world's headlines. Introduced by Kate Adie.


THU 11:30 The Frost Collection (b00q4395)
Series 2

Episode 6

Sir David Frost and guests look back at some of the most memorable interviews with world leaders and influential figures over several decades. He shares his memories with a panel of guests at the BBC Radio Theatre.


THU 12:00 You and Yours (b00q2pxf)
Consumer news and issues with Shari Vahl.


THU 12:30 Face the Facts (b00q4397)
The Recruits

As youth unemployment continues to rise, John Waite investigates a training operation which has left hundreds of young people around the country without the training they signed up for or the jobs they were promised. Instead they are thousands of pounds in debt. The training provider folded, the recruitment company is apparently no longer operating and now the first payments on the loans are being demanded. How did one of Britain's biggest banks get involved in a programme which proved so worthless for many of its students?!


THU 12:57 Weather (b00q2pz3)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 13:00 World at One (b00q2q1y)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


THU 13:30 Questions, Questions (b00q4399)
Stewart Henderson answers those intriguing questions from everyday life.

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 14:00 The Archers (b00q2q80)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (b00cxqqd)
Two-Pipe Problems

The Trusty Valet and the Crusty Butler

By Michael Chaplin, set in The Old Beeches, a retirement home for elderly thespians. Inmates William and Sandy still nurse a certain affectionate animosity towards one another since they starred as Holmes and Watson in a 1960s television series.

William and Sandy venture outside the Old Beeches to a movie set, accompanied by the intrepid care assistant Karen, as they take on the world of celluloid.

Sandy Boyle ...... Stanley Baxter
William Parnes ...... Richard Briers
Inspector Bradstreet ...... David Shaw-Parker
Karen ...... Tracy Wiles
Laura Lyons ...... Ellie Beaven
Thaddeus Sholto ...... Lloyd Hutchinson
John Barrymore ...... Geoffrey Whitehead

Directed by Marilyn Imrie

A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 15:00 Open Country (b00pzp5k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:07 on Saturday]


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b00q0bsb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Once Seen (b00q9342)
The Up Escalator

Series of three stories inspired by a very modern small-ads phenomenon.

By Matt Beaumont.

As the narrator travels up towards daylight on the escalators at London's Holborn tube station, the second longest on the network, she gazes into the startling grey eyes of a man coming down. He looks at her for the entire length of the journey, even turning round once they've passed. But how will she ever gaze upon them again? Perhaps an ad is the answer.

Read by Jane Collingwood.

A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 15:45 Images That Changed The World (b00q2qyp)
Microscopy

Dr Mark Lythgoe, Director of the Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, tells the untold story of medical imaging and why uncovering our inner selves changed the world.

A hunched figure peering down a microscope is the ultimate symbol of the scientist - from George Eliot's Dr Lydgate in Middlemarch to adverts for cocoa powder. Mark Lythgoe explores the cultural implications of revealing a hidden kingdom and visits a doughnut-shaped microscope the size of five football pitches near Oxford.


THU 16:00 Open Book (b00q0hgh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:30 Material World (b00q439c)
Fifty years on from the first steps in the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence, Quentin Cooper asks 'why the eerie silence?' Why have we detected no signal from ET? Does this mean we're alone in the universe?

Meanwhile, down here on Earth, how universal are our non-verbal expressions of emotion? And how has cancer treatment changed from the days of 'one drug fits all'? How a new strategy of personalised medicine might save lives and at the same time save the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds.

Plus, Do You Want To Be A Scientist? The latest from our talent search for amateur scientists.


THU 17:00 PM (b00q2r2z)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00q2r49)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:30 Deep Trouble (b00tfqq4)
Series 2

Episode 4

As Christmas nears, the submarine crew stages a nativity with a realistic twist. Stars Jim Field Smith. From June 2007.


THU 19:00 The Archers (b00q2q83)
Jim hopes to move into Greenacres before Easter, and shows Eddie where he wants to display his books. Eddie reckons he could put him some shelves up in half a day but Jim's looking for something stylish and would prefer to contact a professional carpenter. Eddie reluctantly accepts the job is lost but swiftly suggests he could re-lay some slabs. These aren't a priority for Jim but he assures Eddie he'll come to Eddie for a quote in the future.

Annette's in an emotional state, and thinks she's let Susan down but Helen assures her that Susan's fine. Annette just wishes she could stop making a mess out of everything, and bursts into tears. Helen comforts her.

Lilian tells Jennifer about her disagreement with Matt. Jennifer's surprised that Matt doesn't want to get in touch with his half brother- she would be very curious if it was her! Helen understands how Matt must be feeling but Lilian doesn't think that Matt has made the right decision. She knows that she will never be able to change his mind though.

Episode written by Joanna Toye.


THU 19:15 Front Row (b00q2rd4)
Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson aim to terrify audiences with their new stage production Ghost Stories. They combine their passion for the macabre from their work on Derren Brown's stage shows and The League of Gentlemen. Kirsty Lang talks to them about the lack of thrillers in theatre.

The Princess and the Frog features Disney's first African American princess. Hannah Pool reviews the film and the significance of Tiana's role.

Portuguese Fado singer Mariza, currently touring the UK, performs live in the studio and talks about blending tradional Portuguese Saudade, with modern sounds, fashion and a short blonde haircut.

A major exhibition at Tate Liverpool looks at the impact of black cultures from around the Atlantic on art in the 20th century to the modern day. Musician Soweto Kinch gives his verdict.


THU 19:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00q2p6d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


THU 20:00 The Report (b00q439f)
Channel Tunnel Breakdown

The weekend before Christmas five trains became marooned in the Channel Tunnel leaving thousands of passengers to fare as best they could. Wesley Stephenson explores the full story, which led to a very long and eventful night spent underground.


THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (b00q439h)
Evan Davis is joined by a panel of top business guests to brainstorm the world economy: where might future growth come from? He also asks if management should be responsible for the health of their employees; is a healthy worker more productive?

Evan is joined by Adrian Fawcett, chief executive of the General Healthcare Group, Hugh Hendry, hedge fund manager and founder of Eclectica Asset Management, and Lucius Cary, the founder and managing director of Oxford Technology Management.


THU 21:00 Hot House Kids (b00gqzvy)
Episode 2

Former prima ballerina Deborah Bull investigates the advantages and the pitfalls of being an elite performer in the arts and sport and what young people need to succeed, as well as the psychological advantages and problems of attaining perfection.

To achieve the levels of excellence necessary to compete on the global job market today a performer needs to start young, taking advantage of the brain's early plasticity and the increased potential for muscle flexibility in pre-adolescents. But in some cases the cost can be the stable emotional development of the child.

In certain countries of Eastern Europe and Asia children can enter full-time training as young as three - gymnastics and ballet training are key examples - and undergo challenging physical and mental regimes in order to ensure that they are ready to compete and achieve the highest standards as soon as they reach double figures. For the growing child as it moves into adolescence, interaction with a parent is vital to its emotional development. Yet, as the programme discovers, the intense training regime needed to hothouse gifted children to the supreme levels of performance frequently involves taking the child away for hours of training.

On a journey that takes Deborah to the Ukraine, she visits the National Ballet School in Kiev, the elite football training centre at Dynamo Kiev and the National Gymnastics centre in Kiev, where she discovers why elite athletes are achieving such high levels of achievement in Eastern Europe. Back in Britain she visits the Chelsea Academy, the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Central School of Ballet to find out if our softly, softly approach will work in such a competitive market.

The programme also includes contributions from members of the National Ballet School of Korea, reflecting the growing number of top-class performers today emerging from Asian nations.


THU 21:30 In Our Time (b00q4310)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 21:58 Weather (b00q2rfy)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b00q2rhm)
National and international news and analysis with Robin Lustig.

Can a scheme to 'buy' support for President Karzai work long-term?

Andrew Wakefield, one of the doctors who started the MMR scare, was 'unprofessional', says the GMC.

Why handbags are politically damaging.


THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00q2ryt)
The Still Point

Episode 4

Emma Fielding reads from Amy Sackville's debut novel about true courage and enduring love, in which the lives of two couples, living a hundred years apart, collide unexpectedly one summer's day.

As Edward's expedition inches closer to the Pole, Julia reads the letters he wrote to his wife and imagines her great-aunt waiting for her hero to return. Meanwhile, Simon is troubled by events in the present.

Abridged by Sally Marmion

Produced by Justine Willett.


THU 23:00 House on Fire (b00q439k)
Series 1

Emergency

"EMERGENCY"

Another visit to Hogarth Road, where Matt and Vicky continue in their attempts to live together in tranquillity - a tranquillity guaranteed to be disturbed when the bills don't get paid. Is life worth living when the phone gets cut off?

Vicky - Emma Pierson
Matt - JODY LATHAM
Col. Bill - RUPERT VANSITTART
Donny - Sebastian Cardinal

With Fergus Craig & Colin Hoult

Directed by Clive Brill & Dan Hine
Produced by Clive Brill

A Pacificus Production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00q2vz0)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Sean Curran.



FRIDAY 29 JANUARY 2010

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b00q2m2j)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


FRI 00:30 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00q2p6d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00q2m8x)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00q2mm1)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00q2mkw)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b00q2mnv)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00q2mr3)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b00q2mt3)
The Farming Today pig has become a proud mother of 12 piglets, and Charlotte Smith visits some green belt land in Oxford to look at future uses that would benefit the local community. Oliver Tickell suggests that green belt land be used as allotments and for growing fruit, as well as a leisure resource for communities living nearby.


FRI 06:00 Today (b00q2nh8)
With Evan Davis and Justin Webb. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day; Yesterday in Parliament.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b00q0dbx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00q2p6g)
After the Ice Age: Food and Sex (9000 - 3500 BC)

Jomon Pot

A History of the World told through 100 objects from the British Museum moves to Japan and the story of a 7,000-year-old clay pot which has managed to remain almost perfectly intact. Pots began in Japan around 17000 years ago and, by the time this pot was made, had achieved a remarkable sophistication.

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the history of this cooking pot and the Jomon; the hunter-gatherer society that made it. The archaeologists Professor Takashi Doi and Simon Kaner describe the significance of agriculture to the Jomon and the way in which they made their pots and used decorations from the natural world around them. This particular pot is remarkable in that it was lined with gold leaf in perhaps the 18th century and used in that quintessentially Japanese ritual, the tea ceremony. This simple clay object makes a fascinating connection between the Japan of today and the emerging world of people in Japan at the end of the Ice Age


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00q2phv)
Abortion in US politics; Children mimicking their parents

Why is abortion such a huge topic on the other side of the Atlantic? Plus, how we inherit or evade family traits, gaits and quirks.


FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00q3f37)
About Love

Rothschild's Violin

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Anton Chekhov's birth, Michael Pennington plays the great Russian writer presenting a series of his short stories on the subject of marriage, dramatised by Martyn Wade.

A story of regret about a coffin maker whose wife of 50 years is taken seriously ill.

Chekhov ...... Michael Pennington
Maxim Nikolayevich ...... Nicholas Boulton
Rothschild ...... Jasper Britton
Yakov ...... Philip Voss Marfa ...... Zoe Waites

Directed by Philip Franks and Jane Morgan.

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 11:00 Who Pays for the High Road North? (b00q43nv)
Douglas Fraser on how Scotland's biggest ever infrastructure project, a new Forth Estuary road bridge, encapsulates the difficult relationship between Holyrood and Westminster.


FRI 11:30 A Charles Paris Mystery (b00q43nx)
Cast in Order of Disappearance

Episode 1

by Jeremy Front based on the novel by Simon Brett
Bill Nighy returns as actor, dipsomaniac and amateur sleuth. A vampire film is claiming victims on set and off.

CHARLES PARIS....BILL NIGHY
JODIE.........MARTINE MCCUTCHEON
FRANCES.......SUZANNE BURDEN
MAURICE.......JON GLOVER
JULIET.........TILLY GAUNT
ELSPETH........KATE LAYDEN
ZOE.........TESSA NICHOLSON
DJ..........PIERS WEHNER
Producer - Sally Avens

Another chance to hear the latest Charles paris series. Bill Nighy stars as the actor cum amateur sleuth with a love of the bottle and the female form. In this series he has uncharacteristically landed a part in a film 'The Wreathing' where he's playing a middle management vampire opposite swimwear model turned actress Jodie Ricks played by Martine McCutcheon. Before long Jodie has confided to Charles that she's the victim of a blackmail scam and things take an even nastier turn when it appears that someone wants Jodie dead.
Never one to resist a maiden in distress Charles sets about trying to solve the mystery.


FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b00q2pxh)
Consumer news and issues with Peter White.


FRI 12:57 Weather (b00q2pz5)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 13:00 World at One (b00q2q20)
National and international news with Edward Stourton.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (b00q2q83)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (b00b722v)
Higher

Joyce Bryant's satire on tertiary education.

Karen is the new head of the Geography Department - renamed Geographical Tourism - at Hayborough University, which isn't quite part of the elite Russell Group of top universities. In fact it ranks 132nd. It is open day for the department and Karen is keen that she attracts the right students.

Karen ...... Sophie Thompson
David ...... Mark Heap
Jim ...... Jonathan Keeble
Barbara ...... Sue Ryding
Maura ...... Maggie Fox
Angela ...... Sue Kelly
Harry ...... Ben Hood

Directed by Gary Brown.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00q43p1)
Eric Robson chairs the popular horticultural forum.

Pippa Greenwood, Bob Flowerdew and Matthew Biggs are guests of the North East Hardy Plant Society in Newcastle.

Eric Robson rediscovers a long-lost design by 18th-century the Northumbrian garden designer Capability Brown. Chris Beardshaw meets students of Capel Manor College to discuss the fundamentals of garden design.

Includes gardening weather forecast.


FRI 15:45 Images That Changed The World (b00q2qyr)
The Double Helix

Dr Mark Lythgoe, Director of the Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, tells the untold story of medical imaging and why uncovering our inner selves changed the world.

The famous twisting simplicity of the Double Helix has captivated architects and designers ever since it was first discovered by Watson and Crick. Mark Lythgoe examines the cultural impact of this iconic image and assesses the implications its discovery has had on crime fiction.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (b00q43p3)
Matthew Bannister presents the obituary series, analysing and celebrating the life stories of people who have recently died. The lives of JD Salinger, Lord Richardson and Earl Wild.


FRI 16:30 The Film Programme (b00q43vf)
Director Lee Daniels discusses his award-winning drama about a 400-pound African-American girl, Precious. He also reveals why Mariah Carey ended up in a role intended for Dame Helen Mirren and the support he was offered by Oprah Winfrey.

Havana Marking goes behind the scenes of the Afghan version of Pop Idol and reveals why one of the contestants received death threats and has gone into hiding.

Film-maker and critic Mark Cousins waxes lyrical about Ozu.

Neil Brand tells us the score about the work of composer Ron Goodwin.


FRI 17:00 PM (b00q2r31)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00q2r4c)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (b00q43vh)
Series 70

Episode 4

Sandi Toksvig chairs the topical comedy quiz. The panellists are Andy Hamilton, Jeremy Hardy, Sue Perkins and Carrie Quinlan.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (b00q2q85)
Jamie and Josh have just got back from football practice and are discussing what Villa match they'd like to go to. They'd never get tickets for Wembley, much as they'd like to, but wish they could get a job to earn some money. Josh answers Pip's phone, and as Pip struggles to get it off him, Josh laughs and tells Jamie it's a boy called Jude.

Ruth tells David that Neil's decided to stand as Chair for the Parish Council. David's delighted but wonders how Lynda's going to take it. When he learns about Pip's phone call, he also wonders about Jude.

Eddie's hoping for some extra shifts with lambing coming up but David can't justify it. Eddie's worried about his lack of work and knows he'll never be able to afford a new van. He's got to give Baggy his van back on Sunday, and is sick of putting Clarrie through all this hardship but Clarrie knows he's doing his best. Will's offered to look round for a good deal on a van but Eddie knows they can't afford it, even if he finds one. Clarrie suggests they borrow some money off Will but Eddie refuses to grovel to his own son.

Episode written by Joanna Toye.


FRI 19:15 Front Row (b00q2rd6)
Award-winning author Andrea Levy discusses her latest novel, The Long Song. Set in the 19th century during the final years of slavery, it tells the story of July, a girl born on a Jamaican sugar plantation.

Following his Beethoven Sonata concerts of 2008 - considered by many critics to be the classical music event of the decade - Daniel Barenboim returns to the UK to play and conduct the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos, with the Berlin Staatskapelle Orchestra. Gramophone editor James Jolly explains what's so special about Barenboim and Beethoven.

Following the news of the death of JD Salinger, author and academic John Sutherland assesses the appeal of reclusive writers.

Kirsty Lang and TV critic Boyd Hilton reflect on the final series of Celebrity Big Brother, which comes to an end this evening.

Film-maker Julien Temple talks about the last in his trilogy of documentaries about British music of the 1970s, Oil City Confidential. Focusing on the band Dr Feelgood - and on Canvey Island in Essex, where they grew up - it explores the social and musical landscape that shaped the members of the band.


FRI 19:45 A History of the World in 100 Objects (b00q2p6g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b00q4430)
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the topical debate from Goring-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. The panel includes Labour MP Jon Cruddas, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey, historian and columnist Max Hastings and Priti Patel, Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Witham.


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b00q4432)
Lisa Jardine compares the reputations of American presidents during their time in office with how they are remembered after leaving the White House.


FRI 21:00 Friday Drama (b00q4465)
Let's Murder Vivaldi

A radio production of David Mercer's 1968 BBC TV Wednesday Play. An unsettling study of destructive relationships.

Ben ...... Toby Stephens
Julie ...... Clare Lawrence-Moody
Monica ...... Haydn Gwynne
Gerald ...... Patrick Malahide.


FRI 21:58 Weather (b00q2rg0)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b00q2rhp)
National and international news and analysis with Robin Lustig.

Tony Blair appears before the Chilcot inquiry to explain why he took Britain to war in Iraq. We ask if Mr Blair was convincing, and we hear from the father of a soldier who died in Iraq.

Political parties in Northern Ireland continue to discuss policing.

What did people eat at the theatre in the 16th century?


FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00q2ryw)
The Still Point

Episode 5

Emma Fielding reads from Amy Sackville's debut novel about true courage and enduring love, in which the lives of two couples, living a hundred years apart, collide unexpectedly one summer's day.

Simon remembers how Julia's famous ancestor brought him to her one warm spring day, but fears that his wife is now lost in the past.

Abridged by Sally Marmion

Produced by Justine Willett.


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b00q3gjd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00q2vz2)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with Mark D'Arcy.




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

15 Minute Drama 10:45 MON (b00q2psk)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 TUE (b00q3f31)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 WED (b00q3f33)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 THU (b00q3f35)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 FRI (b00q3f37)

A Box of Wittgensteins 05:45 SAT (b00g9dgp)

A Charles Paris Mystery 11:30 FRI (b00q43nx)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 00:30 SAT (b00pwn7t)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 09:45 MON (b00q2p66)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 19:45 MON (b00q2p66)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 00:30 TUE (b00q2p66)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 09:45 TUE (b00q2p68)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 19:45 TUE (b00q2p68)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 00:30 WED (b00q2p68)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 09:45 WED (b00q2p6b)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 19:45 WED (b00q2p6b)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 00:30 THU (b00q2p6b)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 09:45 THU (b00q2p6d)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 19:45 THU (b00q2p6d)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 00:30 FRI (b00q2p6d)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 09:45 FRI (b00q2p6g)

A History of the World in 100 Objects 19:45 FRI (b00q2p6g)

A Point of View 08:50 SUN (b00pxvrc)

A Point of View 20:50 FRI (b00q4432)

Act Your Age 18:30 TUE (b00q3gjg)

Afternoon Reading 00:30 SUN (b008xmqp)

Afternoon Reading 19:45 SUN (b00b0t4v)

Agatha Christie 11:30 WED (b00q3kvy)

Americana 19:15 SUN (b00q0hnm)

Analysis 20:30 MON (b00q3cnl)

Any Answers? 14:00 SAT (b00q078d)

Any Questions? 13:10 SAT (b00pxvr9)

Any Questions? 20:00 FRI (b00q4430)

Archive on 4 20:00 SAT (b00q08xn)

Archive on 4 15:00 MON (b00q08xn)

Bells on Sunday 05:43 SUN (b00q0b5l)

Bells on Sunday 00:45 MON (b00q0b5l)

Beyond Belief 16:30 MON (b00q3clz)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 MON (b00q2rzg)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 TUE (b00q2ryp)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 WED (b00q2ryr)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 THU (b00q2ryt)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 FRI (b00q2ryw)

Brain of Britain 23:00 SAT (b00pxjzx)

Brain of Britain 13:30 MON (b00q2wjg)

Bridging the Gap 11:00 WED (b00q3kvw)

Broadcasting House 09:00 SUN (b00q0dbs)

Case Notes 21:00 TUE (b00q3gjn)

Case Notes 16:30 WED (b00q3gjn)

Classic Serial 21:00 SAT (b00psqvj)

Classic Serial 15:00 SUN (b00q0h3y)

Consorting With Angels 23:30 SAT (b00psqvn)

Decision Time 22:15 SAT (b00pxqzc)

Decision Time 20:00 WED (b00q3ld0)

Deep Trouble 18:30 THU (b00tfqq4)

Desert Island Discs 11:15 SUN (b00q0dbx)

Desert Island Discs 09:00 FRI (b00q0dbx)

Drama 14:15 MON (b00b1czp)

Drama 14:15 TUE (b00q3g3x)

Drama 14:15 WED (b00q3kw2)

Drama 14:15 THU (b00cxqqd)

Drama 14:15 FRI (b00b722v)

Ed Reardon's Week 11:30 MON (b00q2w82)

Excess Baggage 10:00 SAT (b00q06gj)

Face the Facts 12:30 THU (b00q4397)

Famous Footsteps 09:30 TUE (b00q3fr4)

Farming Today 06:30 SAT (b00pzp5m)

Farming Today 05:45 MON (b00q2mvv)

Farming Today 05:45 TUE (b00q2msv)

Farming Today 05:45 WED (b00q2msz)

Farming Today 05:45 THU (b00q2mt1)

Farming Today 05:45 FRI (b00q2mt3)

File on 4 17:00 SUN (b00pxng0)

File on 4 20:00 TUE (b00q3gjj)

Friday Drama 21:00 FRI (b00q4465)

From Our Own Correspondent 11:30 SAT (b00q0784)

From Our Own Correspondent 11:00 THU (b00q4393)

Front Row 19:15 MON (b00q2rdl)

Front Row 19:15 TUE (b00q2rd0)

Front Row 19:15 WED (b00q2rd2)

Front Row 19:15 THU (b00q2rd4)

Front Row 19:15 FRI (b00q2rd6)

Frontline Kenya 16:00 TUE (b00qc2ql)

Gameboy v The Mongolian Steppe 14:45 SUN (b00clmh7)

Gardeners' Question Time 14:00 SUN (b00pxvdx)

Gardeners' Question Time 15:00 FRI (b00q43p1)

Great Lives 16:30 TUE (b00q3gjd)

Great Lives 23:00 FRI (b00q3gjd)

Hot House Kids 21:00 THU (b00gqzvy)

House on Fire 23:00 THU (b00q439k)

Images That Changed The World 15:45 MON (b00q2qjj)

Images That Changed The World 15:45 TUE (b00q2qyk)

Images That Changed The World 15:45 WED (b00q2qym)

Images That Changed The World 15:45 THU (b00q2qyp)

Images That Changed The World 15:45 FRI (b00q2qyr)

In Business 21:30 SUN (b00pxsyk)

In Our Time 09:00 THU (b00q4310)

In Our Time 21:30 THU (b00q4310)

In Touch 20:40 TUE (b00q3gjl)

Jon Ronson On 23:00 TUE (b00q3gjq)

Just a Minute 12:00 SUN (b00pxk23)

Just a Minute 18:30 MON (b00q3cm1)

Ken Clarke's Jazz Greats 15:30 SAT (b00pxmcx)

Ken Clarke's Jazz Greats 13:30 TUE (b00q3frb)

Last Word 20:30 SUN (b00pxvr3)

Last Word 16:00 FRI (b00q43p3)

Loose Ends 18:15 SAT (b00q07gq)

Making History 15:00 TUE (b00q3g5h)

Material World 16:30 THU (b00q439c)

Midnight News 00:00 SAT (b00pxwdr)

Midnight News 00:00 SUN (b00q09rf)

Midnight News 00:00 MON (b00q2m8n)

Midnight News 00:00 TUE (b00q2m2b)

Midnight News 00:00 WED (b00q2m2d)

Midnight News 00:00 THU (b00q2m2g)

Midnight News 00:00 FRI (b00q2m2j)

Midweek 09:00 WED (b00q3kmq)

Midweek 21:30 WED (b00q3kmq)

Money Box Live 15:00 WED (b00q3lct)

Money Box 12:00 SAT (b00q0786)

Money Box 21:00 SUN (b00q0786)

Mordrin McDonald: 21st Century Wizard 23:00 WED (b00q3ld2)

More or Less 20:00 SUN (b00pxvdv)

Nature 11:00 TUE (b00q3fr6)

Nature 21:00 WED (b00q3fr6)

News Briefing 05:30 SAT (b00pxwf0)

News Briefing 05:30 SUN (b00q0b5j)

News Briefing 05:30 MON (b00q2mqv)

News Briefing 05:30 TUE (b00q2mnn)

News Briefing 05:30 WED (b00q2mnq)

News Briefing 05:30 THU (b00q2mns)

News Briefing 05:30 FRI (b00q2mnv)

News Headlines 06:00 SUN (b00q0b5n)

News and Papers 06:00 SAT (b00pxwf4)

News and Papers 07:00 SUN (b00q0bs6)

News and Papers 08:00 SUN (b00q0bsg)

News and Weather 22:00 SAT (b00q09mt)

News 13:00 SAT (b00q078b)

Off the Page 23:00 MON (b00nks89)

On Your Farm 06:35 SUN (b00q0b5s)

Once Seen 15:30 TUE (b00q3g74)

Once Seen 15:30 WED (b00q934h)

Once Seen 15:30 THU (b00q9342)

Open Book 16:00 SUN (b00q0hgh)

Open Book 16:00 THU (b00q0hgh)

Open Country 06:07 SAT (b00pzp5k)

Open Country 15:00 THU (b00pzp5k)

Overexposed 20:00 MON (b00q3cm3)

PM 17:00 SAT (b00q07cc)

PM 17:00 MON (b00q2r42)

PM 17:00 TUE (b00q2r2v)

PM 17:00 WED (b00q2r2x)

PM 17:00 THU (b00q2r2z)

PM 17:00 FRI (b00q2r31)

Pick of the Week 18:15 SUN (b00q0hj5)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 SAT (b00pxwf2)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 MON (b00q2mss)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 TUE (b00q2mqx)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 WED (b00q2mqz)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 THU (b00q2mr1)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 FRI (b00q2mr3)

Profile 19:00 SAT (b00q07gs)

Profile 05:45 SUN (b00q07gs)

Profile 17:40 SUN (b00q07gs)

Questions, Questions 13:30 THU (b00q4399)

Radio 4 Appeal 07:55 SUN (b00q0bsb)

Radio 4 Appeal 21:26 SUN (b00q0bsb)

Radio 4 Appeal 15:27 THU (b00q0bsb)

Saturday Drama 14:30 SAT (b00q07c7)

Saturday Live 09:00 SAT (b00q05vk)

Saturday Review 19:15 SAT (b00q07gv)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SAT (b00pxwdw)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SUN (b00q0b5d)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 MON (b00q2mnl)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 TUE (b00q2mlv)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 WED (b00q2mlx)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 THU (b00q2mlz)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 FRI (b00q2mm1)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 SAT (b00pxwdt)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 SAT (b00pxwdy)

Shipping Forecast 17:54 SAT (b00q07gj)

Shipping Forecast 17:57 SAT (b00q07gl)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 SUN (b00q0b5b)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 SUN (b00q0b5g)

Shipping Forecast 17:54 SUN (b00q0hhz)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 MON (b00q2mkm)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 MON (b00q2mls)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 TUE (b00q2m8q)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 TUE (b00q2mkp)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 WED (b00q2m8s)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 WED (b00q2mkr)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 THU (b00q2m8v)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 THU (b00q2mkt)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 FRI (b00q2m8x)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 FRI (b00q2mkw)

Signs of Change 11:00 MON (b00q2w80)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 SAT (b00q07gn)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 SUN (b00q0hj3)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 MON (b00q2rcy)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 TUE (b00q2r44)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 WED (b00q2r46)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 THU (b00q2r49)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 FRI (b00q2r4c)

Something Understood 06:05 SUN (b00q0b5q)

Something Understood 23:30 SUN (b00q0b5q)

Start the Week 09:00 MON (b00q2w7y)

Start the Week 21:30 MON (b00q2w7y)

Sunday Worship 08:10 SUN (b00q0bsj)

Sunday 07:10 SUN (b00q0bs8)

Super Recognisers 21:00 MON (b00q3fbv)

Taking a Stand 09:00 TUE (b00q3fr2)

Taking a Stand 21:30 TUE (b00q3fr2)

Terezin Dreams 16:30 SUN (b00q0hgk)

The Archers Omnibus 10:00 SUN (b00q0dbv)

The Archers 19:00 SUN (b00q0hj7)

The Archers 14:00 MON (b00q0hj7)

The Archers 19:00 MON (b00q2q8j)

The Archers 14:00 TUE (b00q2q8j)

The Archers 19:00 TUE (b00q2q7y)

The Archers 14:00 WED (b00q2q7y)

The Archers 19:00 WED (b00q2q80)

The Archers 14:00 THU (b00q2q80)

The Archers 19:00 THU (b00q2q83)

The Archers 14:00 FRI (b00q2q83)

The Archers 19:00 FRI (b00q2q85)

The Bottom Line 20:30 THU (b00q439h)

The Film Programme 23:00 SUN (b00pxvr5)

The Film Programme 16:30 FRI (b00q43vf)

The Food Programme 12:32 SUN (b00q0dc0)

The Food Programme 16:00 MON (b00q0dc0)

The Frost Collection 11:30 THU (b00q4395)

The Greening of the Deserts 13:30 SUN (b00l5j3j)

The Media Show 13:30 WED (b00q3kw0)

The News Quiz 12:30 SAT (b00pxvr7)

The News Quiz 18:30 FRI (b00q43vh)

The News at Bedtime 23:15 WED (b00nvyj4)

The Report 20:00 THU (b00q439f)

The Week in Westminster 11:00 SAT (b00q072b)

The World This Weekend 13:00 SUN (b00q0dc4)

The World Tonight 22:00 MON (b00q2rym)

The World Tonight 22:00 TUE (b00q2rhh)

The World Tonight 22:00 WED (b00q2rhk)

The World Tonight 22:00 THU (b00q2rhm)

The World Tonight 22:00 FRI (b00q2rhp)

The Write Stuff 18:30 WED (b00q3lcy)

Thinking Allowed 00:15 MON (b00pxqz9)

Thinking Allowed 16:00 WED (b00q3lcw)

Today in Parliament 23:30 MON (b00q2vz4)

Today in Parliament 23:30 TUE (b00q2vyw)

Today in Parliament 23:30 WED (b00q2vyy)

Today in Parliament 23:30 THU (b00q2vz0)

Today in Parliament 23:30 FRI (b00q2vz2)

Today 07:00 SAT (b00pzgyg)

Today 06:00 MON (b00q2nhg)

Today 06:00 TUE (b00q2nh2)

Today 06:00 WED (b00q2nh4)

Today 06:00 THU (b00q2nh6)

Today 06:00 FRI (b00q2nh8)

Turkeys Voting for Christmas 20:45 WED (b00qgyfc)

Weather 06:04 SAT (b00pzp5h)

Weather 06:57 SAT (b00pzp6l)

Weather 12:57 SAT (b00q0788)

Weather 06:57 SUN (b00q0bck)

Weather 07:58 SUN (b00q0bsd)

Weather 12:57 SUN (b00q0dc2)

Weather 17:57 SUN (b00q0hj1)

Weather 21:58 SUN (b00q0hnr)

Weather 05:57 MON (b00q2w7w)

Weather 12:57 MON (b00q2pzf)

Weather 21:58 MON (b00q2rhf)

Weather 12:57 TUE (b00q2pyz)

Weather 21:58 TUE (b00q2rft)

Weather 12:57 WED (b00q2pz1)

Weather 21:58 WED (b00q2rfw)

Weather 12:57 THU (b00q2pz3)

Weather 21:58 THU (b00q2rfy)

Weather 12:57 FRI (b00q2pz5)

Weather 21:58 FRI (b00q2rg0)

Westminster Hour 22:00 SUN (b00q0hnt)

What's So Great About ...? 10:30 SAT (b00q0728)

Who Pays for the High Road North? 11:00 FRI (b00q43nv)

With Great Pleasure 11:30 TUE (b00q3fr8)

Woman's Hour 16:00 SAT (b00q07c9)

Woman's Hour 10:00 MON (b00q2pkv)

Woman's Hour 10:00 TUE (b00q2phl)

Woman's Hour 10:00 WED (b00q2phq)

Woman's Hour 10:00 THU (b00q2phs)

Woman's Hour 10:00 FRI (b00q2phv)

World at One 13:00 MON (b00q2q7v)

World at One 13:00 TUE (b00q2q1t)

World at One 13:00 WED (b00q2q1w)

World at One 13:00 THU (b00q2q1y)

World at One 13:00 FRI (b00q2q20)

You and Yours 12:00 MON (b00q2pyx)

You and Yours 12:00 TUE (b00q2px9)

You and Yours 12:00 WED (b00q2pxc)

You and Yours 12:00 THU (b00q2pxf)

You and Yours 12:00 FRI (b00q2pxh)

iPM 17:30 SAT (b00q07gg)