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 03 APRIL 2010

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b00rp448)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b00rp7qm)
Hilary Spurling - Burying the Bones

Episode 5

Lindsay Duncan reads the final extract from Hilary Spurling's new book: "Burying The Bones". The distinguished biographer's subject is the astonishing life of Pearl Buck, one of the most successful and popular American novelists of the 20th Century.

In today's episode we learn that as she entered old age, Pearl's indomitable spirit continued to shine as she shocked and surprised her family with a series of bizarre life choices. Pearl never quite recovered her equilibrium after the death of her second husband and, surrounded by a coterie of flamboyant young men, became increasingly cloistered - receiving visitors in a 'throne' room; a strange echo of the last days of her childhood heroine, the last empress of China.

Though her work has now fallen out of fashion, in her day Pearl Buck was a phenomenal bestseller. The novel that made her name was "The Good Earth" which depicted for the first time the gruelling conditions of China's rural poor. Born to Presbyterian missionaries in 1890s China, Buck's first hand experience of the language and people informed her writing and helped to change Western perceptions of that country forever; in recognition of which she won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938.

Abridger: Alison Joseph.
Producer: Kirsteen Cameron.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00rp4d9)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00rp4dc)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00rp4df)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b00rp4dh)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00rp4gh)
with the Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths.


SAT 05:45 Lent Talks (b00rmxk9)
Rev Dr Giles Fraser

"Greater love hath no man"
In the last of six talks by eminent writers and thinkers in the weeks leading up to Easter, The Revd Dr Giles Fraser, Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral and a Tutor of military ethics at The Defence Academy, reflects on the nature of sacrifice.

The Revd Dr Giles Fraser, Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral brings our series of Lent Talks to a close, when he will be reflecting on the nature of sacrifice. As a Tutor of ethics and leadership at The Defence Academy, Dr Fraser has a wide experience of talking to soldiers and military strategists about what sacrifice means in a war zone. In the light of those insights - and as Christians around the world mark Holy Week - he explores what the concept of sacrifice means in our contemporary culture.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b00rp4h8)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SAT 06:04 Weather (b00rpvkc)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (b00rpvkf)
The rivers of the South Wales coalfields were once so black with mining and industrial waste that in places no fish could survive. But miraculously, salmon have now returned to all of these waterways and rivers such as the Ebbw and the Taff now have fish running up from the sea to spawn. 25 years since the end of the Miners Strike signalled the eventual closure of the coalmines, the physical environment of the valleys of South Wales is very different. Gone is the industrial landscape and the air thick with coal dust. Gone too are the pit wheels and steel works, taking with them employment and a way of life. But this has all been replaced by a greener landscape and healthier environment and the challenge facing the people of the Valleys now is to make the best of what they have on their doorstep to restore the social and economic fortunes of the former coalfields and bring a healthier way of life for themselves and those people who visit this part of the world.

Helen Mark begins her day by joining keen cyclist, Ralph Jones, on a bike ride through the beautiful Afan Forest following the tracks that run along the now disused railway lines that once served the long-abandoned coal mines. The area has been regenerated and the colliery tips have gone. The landscape is now green and forested and plays host to hundreds of visitors each year who come to walk or cycle in the area. Just a few miles up the road, Helen visits the Glyncorrwg Mountain Bike and Ponds Centre. Following the closure of the local pits in the 1970s, the local community took their future in their own hands and took advantage of the beautiful scenery on their doorsteps and the rain water from the sky and created a series of ponds along the narrow valley. Fishing and canoeing are now the most popular sport, along with miles of old flat railway trackbed lines and steep mountain slopes, providing days of cycling and hillwalking.

Helen then leaves the Afan Valley and takes the Heads of the Valleys Road to the River Taff in Merthyr Tydfil where she meets keen fisherman, Tony Rees. Tony has fished the rivers of the valleys for 60 years and remembers a time when it was impossible to fish the River Taff below Merthyr because the waters were so black. Now, thanks to natural cleansing and a concerted clean-up effort along the rivers, salmon travel along Taff from as far away as Cardiff.

Finally, Helen heads across to the Ebbw Valley to find out about the Valleys Regional Park and the Ebbw Fach Trail, a coming together of local communities to form a 7-mile long environment and heritage trail which will highlight the transformation of the area from heavy industry to a greener landscape. Later this year, a new memorial will be unveiled along the trail, in memory of the 45 men who lost their lives in an explosion 50 years ago at the nearby Six Bells Colliery. The memorial will name all 45 and also be dedicated to all those affected by the mining industry.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b00rpvkh)
Farming Today This Week

In this morning's edition of Farming Today This Week, we hear from a group of people who all want a job in agriculture. As we come out of a recession, The National Institute of Economic Research warns that it will be hard for graduates to get jobs for the next two to three years. But Lantra, the skills council for land based industries, claims that 91 percent of agricultural students are finding jobs within six months of leaving college. Farming today will follow the progress of these seven people over the next 12 months as they try and get a job in the industry. This programme is presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Anna Varle.


SAT 06:57 Weather (b00rpvkk)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (b00rpvkm)
With James Naughtie and Evan Davis. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b00rpvkp)
Fi Glover is joined by crime writing phenomenon Lee Child. He sells about a million copies of his Jack Reacher books every year - it is page turning dynamic crime fighting fiction with bells on. I can't wait. We'll be listening to the story of a young man who sleepwalks - but he puts the time to good use, drawing and painting - two things he cant do for toffee when he is awake. Carly Simon shares her Inheritance Tracks with us, did you know that she was once an overweight secretary? And Robert Harrison is on the show, he is a father of three from west yorkshire who made a photographic space probe, almost by accident. The poet is Elvis McGonagall.


SAT 10:00 Excess Baggage (b00rpvkr)
Sandi Toksvig explores the Falkland Islands in the company of a military and wildlife artist and a former Falklands vet and examines the journey of a deported Polish family from what is now Belarus to Tavistock in Devon, via Kazakhstan, Tehran and Karachi.


SAT 10:30 Command Performance (b00rpvkt)
Command Performance explores prestigious concerts held in unique places under special circumstances with presenter Katie Derham . As you'd expect the command performance is a royal prerogative and singer Katherine Jenkins gives us further insight when she explains her recent experience of a performance for the current Queen at Balmoral.

As we hear for most artists a private performance rarely features a royal at the top table. Time is devoted to the after dinner or corporate gig where lucrative money can be made. Comedian Barry Cryer gives us tips on the best way to approach these unique events and veteran Roy Hudd also suggests ways you make the most of these performance opportunities with out losing your nerve.

After a hard day General Secretary Joseph Stalin liked to relax watching the ballet. Today a bespoke performance with an artist is possible. Jazz musician Yolanda Brown was invited to perform for the President Medvedev at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. Playing for a leading political figure is significant for an artist, but what about performing for eight global players? Jools Holland explains his command performance when he played for Prime Minster Tony Blair at the G8 summit and why President Bill Clinton had difficulty leaving the event.

For many artists a performance for his Holiness the Pope is a command performance to be embraced with great relish. Composer Simon Wills performed for the Pope on two occasions and reveals what happens behind the walls of the Vatican, what the changing facilities are like and how the Pope responds to a performance.

The programme concludes that any one can purchase their own command performance and music promoter Hugh Phillimore can help. He has secured the world's leading stars providing the price is right.

Sugar Productions for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 11:00 Beyond Westminster (b00rpvry)
Opinion polls suggest that Britain could be heading towards its first hung Parliament since the fall of James Callaghan's Labour government in March 1979.

Few politicians at Westminster have first-hand experience of the back-room deals and nail-biting votes that characterised that last minority Government.

But for the Scottish Parliament, such dramas are only a vote away. Last year, Alex Salmond's Scottish Nationalist Party government came within an ace of falling, when Labour and the Lib Dems joined forces to vote down the Budget.

The arrangement has forced the nationalists into uneasy compromises, and uncomfortable alliances. But the business of government has continued.

The BBC's Scottish Political Editor, Brian Taylor charts the impact of minority government in Scotland, and asks what Westminster can learn from Holyrood.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b00rpvs0)
For years Iraqis have endured shocking levels of violence: bomb attacks, kidnappings, killings. Often acute tensions between the Sunni and Shia Muslims have been behind the bloodshed. But they are by no means Iraq's only religious factions. There are other very much smaller and less well known spiritual communities. And as Ed Stourton has been finding out, they too have been ruthlessly targeted in the turmoil..

It has been called Africa's greatest catastrophe since slavery: the HIV-AIDS epidemic has been devastating. More than fourteen million children have been orphaned. Zambia is among the countries hardest hit. According to one estimate, one in every seven of its citizens is living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. And Jo Fidgen has been thinking about what it means for the women of Zambia who have to live in the presence of this constant menace...

In Russia it is "raining heroin"..and the clouds that send the rain are the opium-producing, poppy fields of Afghanistan. Those are the words of a senior Russian official who's trying to counter the flood of drugs across his country's southern border. Afghan opium production has risen nearly fifty fold since America and its allies invaded the country nine years ago. And Rupert Wingfield Hayes has seen what impact the flow of the drug is having on life in the bleak cities of Siberia...

For the people of the Falkland Islands, each year, the beginning of April brings back memories. This is when, back in 1982, they were invaded by Argentina. In the first days of the occupation, it seemed that Britain may have lost control of the islands forever. In the end however, it was the Argentines who were forced to retreat. It's often forgotten though that the crisis actually began not on the Falklands, but in tensions surrounding the tiny, lonely island of South Georgia. And Daniel Schweimler has been talking to a man who was at the centre of the drama there..

The playwright, George Bernard Shaw famously described Britain and America as two countries "divided by a common language". And perhaps that idea rather neatly captures the relatonship. The two societies share a great deal, but in many ways, they're also very different. Part of the fun of being in America is spotting the ways that we connect, and the ways that we don't. And a chance encounter in Arizona set Kevin Conolly thinking about Britain's imperial legacy in the New World...

But did Kevin ever get the pint he asked for.I wonder...? Or did they just talk weights and measures all night.... Kevin Conolly there ending this edition of "From Our Own Correspondent. I'm Alan Johnston, and our producer was Hannah Barnes. Join us again soon, here on the BBC World Service.


SAT 12:00 Money Box (b00rpvs2)
Paul Lewis presents a special programme devoted to one of the biggest issues affecting the outlook for savings and investment - the deficit. Where did it come from? How can we get rid of it? And should we be worried about its impact on savings and investments?

The issues will be debated by both economists and investment specialists. Reports from the Radio 4 More or Less team will help with the explanations.
Presenter:Paul Lewis
Editor: Richard Vadon.


SAT 12:30 The Now Show (b00rp41r)
Series 30

Episode 5

The Now Show 5/6

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis present a satirical look through the week's news, with help from Jon Holmes, Laura Shavin, Mitch Benn and Nick Doody.

Producer: Ed Morrish.


SAT 12:57 Weather (b00rpw6q)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 13:00 News (b00rpw6s)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b00rp41t)
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the live debate from Holsworthy in Devon with questions from the audience for the panel including: Rt Hon Peter Hain MP, Welsh Secretary; Nick Herbert MP, Shadow Secretary for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Susan Kramer, Liberal Democrat MP and Nigel Farage, UKIP MEP.


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b00rpw6v)
Jonathan Dimbleby takes listeners' calls and emails in response to this week's edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:30 James Bond (b00rq1w3)
Goldfinger

Toby Stephens returns as agent 007 James Bond in a thrilling dramatisation of Ian Fleming's 1959 novel, with a glittering cast is led by Ian McKellen in the title role.

Auric Goldfinger is not only a cheat at canasta and golf, he's also an international criminal on a massive scale. His obsession: gold. James Bond is charged by the Bank of England and MI5 to discover what Goldfinger is actually doing with his vast hoards of gold. Is he somehow connected with SMERSH - the feared soviet spy-killing organisation?

When 007 becomes an undercover member of Goldfinger's team he soon learns that the madman's plans are more grandiose than even 'M' could possibly have imagined. Amazingly, robbing Fort Knox is on the agenda - and mass murder...

Directed by Martin Jarvis, with cameo roles by top actors - all delighted to contribute to this remarkable Fleming adventure.

Rosamund Pike plays wacky gang-boss Pussy Galore and Lisa Dillon is the vengeful Tilly Masterton. John Standing reteurns as 'M'. Tom Hollander, Tim Pigott-Smith and American star Hector Elizondo as New York City mobsters. Bond and Goldfinger are joined in the famous golf game by Alistair McGowan as the caddie, Hawker. Henry Goodman, Ian Ogilvy and Lloyd Owen contribute to the excitement. And Jon David Yu throws his bowler-hat with deadly effect as 'Oddjob'.

Goldfinger ...... Ian McKellen
James Bond .....Toby Stephens
'M'..... John Standing
Col.Smithers ..... Ian Ogilvy
Pussy Galore ......Rosamund Pike
Tilly Masterton ..... Lisa Dillon
Johnny Solo .....Tim Pigott-Smith
Mr Strap .....Tom Hollander
Du Pont .....Henry Goodman
Hawker ..... Alistair McGowan
Helmut Springer .....Hector Elizondo
Felix Leiter ..... Lloyd Owen
Jed Midnight .....Nigel Anthony
Jill Masterton ..... Anna Louise Plowman
Oddjob ..... Jon David Yu
Alfred .....Alan Shearman
Nigel .....Matthew Wolf
Fleming .....Martin Jarvis
Doctors & Pilot .....Kyle Stoller
Nurse .....Tracy Pattin

Dramatised by Archie Scottney.

Music composed by Mark Holden and Sam Barbour.

Producer: Rosalind Ayres
Director: Martin Jarvis

A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2010.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b00rq212)
Weekend Woman's Hour

Presented by Jane Garvey.

Actress, comedian and writer, Meera Syal joins Woman's Hour to talk about her new role as Shirley Valentine.

Two for the price of one - that's politicians and their wives - with column inches and TV interviews devoted to the wives of the party leaders how important are they in winning votes? Elizabeth Day, writer for the Observer, Alicia Collinson, barrister and wife of Conservative MP Damian Green, and Editor of BBC Political Research, David Cowling, discuss.

Following the death of Lady Susana Walton last month, we look at people who are "keepers of the flame". In 1948, Susana married the English composer, Sir William Walton. After his death in 1983, Lady Walton became custodian of her husband's professional work. She fiercely promoted his music, and in 2001 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Nottingham in recognition of the work she had done to maintain the legacy of her husband. So how best do you safeguard the reputation of a loved one? We talk to Lady Deborah MacMillan, the widow of the choreographer Kenneth MacMillan and the composer Michael Berkeley.

A report by Amnesty International entitled 'Deadly Delivery' says America's approach to maternity care is "disgraceful and scandalous", with a death rate worse than in 40 other countries, including nearly all the industrialised nations. Jane talks to Angela Burgin Logan whose difficult birth left her with ongoing health problems, Nan Strauss who co-authored the report and Professor Timothy Johnson who Chairs the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Michigan.

In 1995 Alison Hargreaves became the first woman to climb Everest without an additional supply of oxygen. Her strength, skill and determination made her an inspiration to thousands of women, and her achievements became front-page national news. But three months later her tragic death while climbing K2 was reported. Her death led to much criticism from the press who questioned how a woman with two young children - Tom aged six and Kate aged four - could have risked her life. The family have relocated to the Swiss Alps where Tom, now 21, is training to tackle some of the mountains his mother climbed. We talk to Tom, ski instructor Kate and their father Jim.

And as the British Film Institute launches a Paul Newman season we review his partnership with Robert Redford and debate who was better. Dr Sarah Churchwell, film critic and Senior Lecturer in America Studies at UEA and Antonia Quirke, author and film critic assess the stars' appeal.


SAT 17:00 PM (b00rq2kj)
Saturday PM

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


SAT 17:30 iPM (b00rq2kl)
Listener Des Moore asks:"Would the political parties back the chemical castration of rapists?"

iPM - the news show that starts with its listener - puts Des's question to the parties, to clinicians who administer the treatment and to a sex offender who has taken the drugs since 2004.

With Jennifer Tracey and Eddie Mair.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00rq2kn)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (b00rq2kq)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00rq2ks)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b00rq2kv)
Peter Curran and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.

Peter Curran is joined by the Hollywood Legend Debbie Reynolds, comedian Mark Steel and the journalist and broadcaster Dame Joan Bakewell.

Arthur Smith talks about Britain's love of curry with Alkarim Jivani.

With comedy from Stewart Francis.

And music from Harper Simon and Danny & The Champions of the World.


SAT 19:00 Profile (b00rq2kx)
Bob Crow

Mary Ann Sieghart profiles Bob Crow, General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, who is at the centre of threatened strikes on Britain's railways. Regarded by some as a member of 'the Awkward Squad', a group of left-wing union leaders who came to power in the last ten years, Crow has been called 'a dinosaur', 'a bully', 'a thug' and probably even worse. Some have suggested he revels in the notoriety which has been heaped upon him by commuters, New Labour and even fellow union leaders and that he enjoys playing the pantomime villain. Under his leadership the RMT has become one of the fastest growing unions in Britain. Those who've met him say he is polite, charming and considerate - a good man to have on your side but not someone you would like to work against.

He was born in East London and started work on London Underground in 1978. He joined the National Union of Railwaymen and has never looked back. He was elected General Secretary of the RMT in 2002 following the death of Jimmy Knapp, with the biggest winning margin in the union's history.

With contributions from Tim O'Toole (former Managing Director of London Underground), Tom Winsor (former Rail Regulator), the Labour MP Ian Davidson and transport journalist Christian Wolmar.


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b00rq2kz)
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by writer Bidisha, the director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts Ekow Eshun and poet Cahal Dallat to review the cultural highlights of the week including the film Kick Ass and tv drama A Passionate
Woman

Kick Ass, directed by Matthew Vaughn stars Aaron Johnson as Dave Lizewski, an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a super-hero, even though he has no special powers or training.

Naomi Alderman's new novel, The Lessons, features student Mark Winters, the owner of a crumbling Oxford mansion. His chaotic trust-fund upbringing has left him as troubled and unpredictable as he is wildly promiscuous. He gathers around him an impressionable group of students including James, already damaged by Oxford and looking for a group to belong to. But university is no grounding for adult life, and when, years later, tragedy strikes they are entirely unprepared.

Leighton House, the London home and studio of Victorian artist Frederic, Lord Leighton, has reopened following its £1.6 million refurbishment, accompanied by a special exhibition of paintings from Leighton's own collection. The stunning Arab Hall is the centerpiece of the house, designed to display Leighton's priceless collection of over a thousand Islamic tiles.

Kay Mellor's play, A Passionate Woman, has been adapted into two complementary stories for television. Set in Leeds, the first focuses on a mother's affair in the Fifties and the second is set in the Eighties and looks at the consequences of that affair 30 years on. A Passionate Woman is a personal look at the changing role of women over the last 50 years.

David Byrne and Fatboy Slim have paired up for a 22-track song cycle. Here Lies Love is about the extraordinary life of former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos and her childhood servant, Estrella Crumpas.

Producer - Anne-Marie Cole.


SAT 20:00 Counterpoint (b00rp41f)
Special

For Easter weekend on Radio 4, Paul Gambaccini's in the quizmaster's chair for a very special edition of the long-running music quiz, 'Counterpoint'.

The quiz covers the usual broad mixture of musical styles - but all the extracts and musical clues in this special edition will be played live in the studio by the BBC Philharmonic, taking a breather from their current Mahler season of concerts.

Answering Paul's questions, and identifying the extracts, are three musical celebrities - soprano and radio presenter Catherine Bott; conductor and comedian Rainer Hersch; and musician, writer and comedian Kit Hesketh Harvey.

The BBC Philharmonic will be providing plenty of surprising arrangements of familiar melodies, from Tchaikovsky to Take That. You can hear which of the celebrity panellists proves to have the broadest musical knowledge in this unique collaboration recorded with an enthusiastic audience at BBC Manchester.


SAT 21:00 Classic Serial (b00rl4zj)
Samuel Richardson - Clarissa: The History of a Young Lady

Imprisonment

3/4
Lovelace tricks Clarissa into returning to Mrs Sinclair's house of ill repute, and after she has been drugged, he has his way with her.

Robert Lovelace ..... Richard Armitage
Clarissa Harlowe ..... Zoe Waites
Mrs Moore ..... Deborah Findlay
Mrs Rawlings ..... Alison Steadman
Tourville ..... Julian Rhind-Tutt
Belford ..... Adrian Scarborough
Capt. Tomlinson ..... Stephen Critchlow
Boy ..... Cathy Sara
Lady Betty ..... Sophie Thompson
Charlotte ..... Ellie Beaven
Dorcas ..... Lisa Hammond
Mrs Sinclair ..... Miriam Margolyes

Dramatised by Hattie Naylor

Directed by Marilyn Imrie.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b00rq2m2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SAT 22:15 Moral Maze (b00rmxk7)
Are the Baby Boomers the most selfish generation history has ever known? The 11 million children of the post-war baby boom are marching towards retirement. There are more over 60s than under 16s and their numbers and the demands they make on our society and how we're going to pay for them are questions we're only just starting to confront. They've grown up with all the benefits of the welfare state and NHS, made a profit on their homes and have good company pensions. Should they have used their demographic good fortune to build for the future, rather than leaving the next generation to pick up the tab? There used to be a contract between the generations - a moral duty, that we'd leave the world a better place for our children, that they'll live better lives than us. Edmund Burke's described a nation is "a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born". But what's the baby boomers' legacy to the next generation? Climate meltdown, a wrecked economy and very large bill in the post. Do we have a moral obligation to the next generation and if so, what is it?


SAT 23:00 Counterpoint (b00rm074)
Series 24

2010 Heat 2

Paul Gambaccini chairs the general knowledge music quiz.

The questions cover every aspect of music - from the classical repertoire to world music, show tunes, film scores, jazz, rock and pop.

Three contestants from from London, Edinburgh and Brighton battle it out at the BBC Radio Theatre in London:

James Ryder Bowman
David Coxall
Neil McNair

Producer: Paul Bajoria

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2010.


SAT 23:30 Suckers! Poet and Parasite (b00rl4zn)
Parasites are not an obvious subject matter for poetry, but in fact there are a surprising number of poems about these miniature blood-suckers. From Donne's 'The Flea', to Rimbaud's 'Lice Hunters' and D.H. Lawrence's 'Mosquito', it seems that a number of prominent poets have been fascinated by the notion of blood-sucking and by the uncomfortable relationship between man and parasite.

Paul Farley considers this long relationship between poets and parasites as he looks for leeches in the pools of Dungeness, visits the mosquito colonies cultivated under Gower Street in London and marvels at the strange beauty of the flea specimens in the Rothschild Collection of Fleas at the Natural History Museum.

In the company of entomologists and of fellow poets, Susan Wicks, Antony Dunn and Sarah Howe, Paul examines both classic and contemporary poems to discover how parasites have been portrayed - and transformed - in verse.

Paul Farley is an award-winning poet and broadcaster. His work includes the poetry collections, The Boy from the Chemist is Here to See You, The Ice Age and Tramp in Flames.



SUNDAY 04 APRIL 2010

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b00rq38k)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SUN 00:30 Afternoon Reading (b009psnk)
What I Learned from the Metaphysical Poets

Rock of Eye

WHAT I LEARNED FROM THE METAPHYSICAL POETS is a series of specially commissioned short stories which take their inspiration from the life and work of the seventeenth century poets John Donne, George Herbert and Andrew Marvell.

The first story in the series, "Rock of Eye" by Iain F MacLeod, is inspired by John Donne's poem "A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning". In it, an elderly Savile Row tailor comes face to face with a lost love and is forced to confront a painful event from his past. The reader is Paul Young.

The other writers in the series are Helen Dunmore, Ruth Thomas, Joe Dunthorne and Michele Roberts.

The producer is Kirsteen Cameron.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00rq3fz)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00rq3g1)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00rq3g3)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b00rq3g5)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b00rqhd5)
The sound of bells from Exeter Cathedral.


SUN 05:45 Profile (b00rq2kx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b00rqhd7)
The latest national and international news.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b00rqhd9)
God Be In My Head

The benediction 'God Be In My Head' often forms part of funeral ceremonies. This week's presenter, Tom Robinson, heard it at his own father's recent memorial service, which led him to reflect upon how it's refrain resonates in our lives, both spiritually and in secular contexts. He draws upon the words of Martin Luther King, John Wesley and Evelyn Waugh, among others, with music by Peteris Vasks, Hank Williams, Ben Harper and Walford Davies.

The producer is Alan Hall. This is a Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 06:35 Sunrise Service (b00rqjjy)
Bishop Nigel McCulloch, National Chaplain to the Royal British Legion, leads a meditation to mark the dawning of Easter Day from the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, a haven of peace, contemplation and hope for the future. With the Lichfield Cathedral Chamber Choir directed by Martyn Rawles.

Producer Stephen Shipley.


SUN 06:57 Weather (b00rqjk0)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b00rqjk2)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (b00rqjk4)
William Crawley with the religious and ethical news of the week. Moral arguments and perspectives on stories, familiar and unfamiliar.

Is the Catholic Church at a crossroads- and how easy will it be to restore its moral authority as the clergy sex abuse scandal refuses to go away? This month the Pope is 83 and also celebrates five years in the Papacy - can his leadership restore the standing of the Church worldwide, and what will his Easter message bring?

William Crawley hears how for the first time in ten years Easter will fall on the same day for the Orthodox, Coptic, Catholic and Protestant churches and the challenges this could pose for one of the most sacred sites in Jerusalem - the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

One of the most violent periods in the history of the English Church created a seismic shift that's still felt today. William Crawley looks at the 350th anniversary of the Restoration to the throne of King Charles.

In a story of religious persecution, Edward Stourton examines the plight of the Christian minorities in Iraq since the fall of Saddam.

And as its Easter Sunday it's the last in our Lenten series of special features, recorded at the National Gallery, in which the Revd Nick Holtam talks to Edward Stourton about the significance of four paintings. This week's painting is Noli Me Tangere by Titian.

Series Producer: Amanda Hancox.


SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b00rqjk6)
Barnardo's

Donations to Barnardo's should be sent to FREEPOST BBC Radio 4 Appeal, please mark the back of your envelope Barnardo's Credit cards: Freephone 0800 404 8144. If you are a UK tax payer, please provide Barnardo's 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: 216250 SC037605.


SUN 07:58 Weather (b00rqjk8)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b00rqjkb)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b00rqjvy)
Easter

Archbishop Vincent Nichols is the Celebrant and Preacher at this special mass which comes live from Westminster Cathedral. On this most joyful day of the Christian year the world renowned cathedral choir, directed by Master of Music Martin Baker, sing from the Church's glorious heritage of Easter music including works by Taverner and Palestrina, as well as the hymns 'Jesus Christ is risen today' and 'Thine be the Glory.' Organist: Matthew Martin; Producer: Philip Billson.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b00rqkr3)
As politicians encourage us to volunteer more, we ask- don't we do enough of that already?

And in the week that MPs and army generals were told they can no longer travel first class on trains, we poke our head round the carriage doors to see who's left in there.

Hugh Sykes is in Greece to see how the budget crisis there is affecting the nation. And he may not be at the helm this week, but Paddy has, at last, answered the question that has had him on tenterhooks for weeks - why can't he buy white eggs anymore?

And reviewing the papers this week: comedian and actor Omid Djalili, journalist Marina Hyde and Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Martin Evans.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b00rqkr5)
As more calves are born to Grange Farm, Ed cannot help but hope that Vicky will finally see sense, and agree that the unwanted bull calves should be sent to slaughter. However, Vicky remains determined to find an alternative destiny for her precious bulls - and throws herself into finding an answer. Meanwhile, Jazzer meets the new recruit to the Grange Farm dairy team: but has he found himself a kindred, or a nemesis?

The 'Ambridge's Got Talent' show is fast approaching - and Kenton still hasn't secured the services of a third judge. Amidst pressure from Kathy, he's forced to think outside the box - or face the ever-lasting wrath of Lynda Snell. Meanwhile, Ed and Tom look forward to counting their money, as Jazzer vows to keep his half of their bet, and to take to the stage.

See daily episodes for detailed synopsis

Written By: Joanna Toye
Directed By: Kate Oates
Editor: Vanessa Whitburn

Jill Archer ... Patricia Greene
Kenton Archer ... Richard Attlee
Shula Hebden-Lloyd ... Judy Bennett
David Archer ... Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ... Felicity Finch
Josh Archer ... Cian Cheesbrough
Tony Archer ... Colin Skipp
Helen Archer ... Louiza Patikas
Tom Archer ... Tom Graham
Jennifer Aldridge ... Angela Piper
Ian Craig ... Stephen Kennedy
Lilian Bellamy ... Sunny Ormonde
Fallon Rogers ... Joanna Van-Kampen
Kathy Perks ... Hedli Niklaus
Jamie Perks ... Dan Ciotkowski
Joe Grundy ... Edward Kelsey
Eddie Grundy ... Trevor Harrison
Ed Grundy ... Barry Farrimond
Mike Tucker ... Terry Molloy
Vicky Tucker ... Rachel Atkins
Brenda Tucker ... Amy Shindler
Robert Snell ... Graham Blockey
Lynda Snell ... Carole Boyd
Jazzer Mccreary ... Ryan Kelly
Usha Franks ... Souad Faress
Jim Lloyd ... John Rowe
Paul ... Michael Fenton Stevens
Harry ... Michael Shelford.


SUN 11:15 The Reunion (b00rqkr7)
First London Marathon

In the first programme of the BBC Radio 4 spring series of The Reunion, Sue MacGregor revisits 1981 and the first running of the London Marathon.

Before the London Marathon, long-distance running in Britain was the exclusive domain of elite athletes. Two former British Olympic athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley were inspired by the New York Marathon, and the jogging boom of the 1970's, and decided to set about organizing a marathon through the streets of London. With almost seven thousand runners participating in the first race, marathon running was suddenly on the map.

Sue is joined around the table by: David Bedford, current Race Director and former 10,000 metre world record holder; John Disley, an original founder and bronze medal Olympic steeplechase winner; John Bryant, journalist and marathon historian; Hugh Jones, course measurer and the first British man to win the London Marathon in 1982; and Veronique Marot, the second British woman to win, setting a British women's record in 1989.

Over 36,000 participants are confirmed for 2010. Though not the original intention of the founders, the London Marathon went on to become the largest one-day fundraising event in the world. By 2010, the marathon will have raised over a half a billion pounds for charity. Today, the London Marathon is a distinct mixture of elite competition and street carnival, an event that the capital is exceedingly proud of.

The producer is Colin McNulty, and this is a Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:00 The Unbelievable Truth (b00rv4db)
Series 5

Episode 1

David Mitchell hosts another series of the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents. Marcus Brigstocke, Henning Wehn, Lucy Porter and Graeme Garden are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as: Sleep, Beer, Childbirth and Sir Isaac Newton.

The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith, the team behind Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.

The producer is Jon Naismith, and this is a Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b00rqkr9)
Verjuice

It's been described as "the soya sauce of European cuisine": Verjuice--the unfermented juice of unripe fruit, often grapes. The Greeks used it, the Romans used it, the French, the Italians... And even we used it until the Industrial Revolution.

Most farmhouses would have kept a barrel made from crab apples... Now Michelin chefs are queuing up to get hold of it again. But is it worth using in our own kitchens?

Sheila Dillon visits food historian Ivan Day and hears from Verjuice 'crusader' Maggie Beer in her vineyard near Adelaide, South Australia. She tastes what is currently on the market and samples some historic verjuice-based dishes.


SUN 12:57 Weather (b00rqkrc)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b00rqkrf)
A look at events around the world with Shaun Ley.


SUN 13:30 Mr Haydn's London Experience (b00kjh8j)
Composer Matthew King looks at Joseph Haydn's two visits to London between 1791 and 1795, during which he wrote his last 12 symphonies.

In 1791, the 58-year-old composer took a sabbatical from his post as master of music at the Vienna court of Prince Esterhazy and travelled to England. Having spent a life time in servitude, this son of a wheelwright suddenly found himself feted by the highest echelons of British society, including King George III and the Prince of Wales, and lauded by public and press alike.

As well as composing his 12 London Symphonies, Haydn found the visits creatively and emotionally liberating, and he was rewarded for his work with wealth beyond his dreams.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00rql6c)
Peter Gibbs chairs the popular horticultural forum. Chris Beardshaw, Anne Swithinbank and Matt Biggs are guests of Cheselbourne Gardens Club, Sturminster Newton in Dorset.


SUN 14:45 Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Escape to the Country (b00rql6f)
Humphry Repton

Laurence explores changing ideas about the countryside, starting with early 19th-century landscape designer Humphrey Repton.


SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b00rql6h)
Samuel Richardson - Clarissa: The History of a Young Lady

Freedom Regained

4/4 Freedom Regained
Clarissa has fled from the cruel, rapacious Lovelace and, befriended by his erstwhile friend Belford and the kindly Mrs Smith, and completely broken in body and spirit, she hopes only for reconciliation with her family; while an unrepentant Lovelace seeks once again to find her and conquer her soul.

Robert Lovelace ..... Richard Armitage
Clarissa Harlowe ..... Zoe Waites
Sally ..... Sophie Thompson
Dorcas ..... Lisa Hammond
Belford ..... Adrian Scarborough
Anna ..... Cathy Sara
Mrs Sinclair ..... Miriam Margolyes
Du Blanc ..... Stephen Critchlow
Mrs Smith ..... Linda Broughton
Colonel Morden ..... Julian Rhind-Tutt

Written by Samuel Richardson
Dramatised by Hattie Naylor

Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey Production.


SUN 16:00 Bookclub (b00rqlc4)
Jeanette Winterson

James Naughtie and readers talk to Jeanette Winterson about her breakthrough first novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, about a girl growing up in an Evangelical Christian group.

This Spring Jeanette is celebrating twenty five years since the book was first published - the question the book has always raised is how much of it is autobiographical? Because there are distinct parallels, the main character is called Jeanette, she lives in the same kind of Northern mill town and had a similar story.

Jeanette Winterson will be talking to James Naughtie and readers about how fact meets fiction, and how she looks at this book as a kind of cover story of her own life. Adopted into a Pentecostal family, the fictional Jeanette is brought up to be a missionary and encouraged to preach from an early age; but when she falls in love with another girl, she decides to leave her beloved community and her home. Jeanette explains how this event is not the point of the story, but pivotal to it. Now on the curriculum for English at AS Level, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a warm and - perhaps surprisingly - very funny study of a girl setting out on her path in life.

Producer : Dymphna Flynn.


SUN 16:30 The Poetry Olympian: Michael Horovitz at 75 (b00rqlc6)
The British Beat poet and musician Michael Horovitz is 75 on April 4th 2010, and in this lively celebration of a lifetime's idiosyncratic poetry output, his admirer, music lecturer and writer Simon Warner, makes the case that no-one has had a greater influence on the development of British poetry over the last 50 years. Describing himself as a 'poet, singer-songwriter, jazz and blues Anglo-saxophonist', Horovitz has spent decades publishing and promoting the verse of the English underground, often at his own expense and in the face of establishment indifference. In fact, his efforts are little less than the seeding ground of the spoken word tradition in the UK, and he has been, and continues to be, an inventive and indefatigable champion of well-known and up-and-coming poets and musicians.

His notion that poetry should be seen and heard, often with music has been shared and developed in collaboration with notable musicians from Stan Tracy to Damon Albarn, as well as a couple of generations of poetry performers, from Adrian Mitchell, John Cooper Clarke and Jean 'Binta' Breeze to John Hegley, Patience Agbabi and Francesca Beard.

His influence on publishing has been as significant as his impact on performance. In 1959 he launched New Departures, which first published works by Beckett, Burroughs, Ginsberg and others in the UK. The magazine grew into a famously anarchic and energetic touring show, Live New Departures, which brought poetry, music, visual art and performance to venues all over Britain during the counterculture explosion of the 1960s. He played a key part in the 1965 International Poetry Incarnation at the Albert Hall, and since 1980 he has organised a a number of Poetry Olympics events that have showcased, and continue to do so, inventive and inspiring collaborations between poets and musicians.

Music lecturer and writer Simon Warner charts the impact of this energetic and eccentric provoker of the establishment over five decades and talks to those who have worked with him, supported him and been supported by him over the years, including poets Pete Brown, Roger McGough, John Hegley, Valerie Bloom and Libby Houston, musicians Laurie Morgan and Damon Albarn, and writer Barry Miles.


SUN 17:00 GCHQ: Cracking the Code (b00rmssw)
The BBC's Security Correspondent Gordon Corera gains unprecedented access to Britain's ultra secret listening station where super computers monitor the world's communications traffic and Britain's global eavesdropping and electronic surveillance operations are conducted.

The layers of secrecy which have surrounded GCHQ's work are peeled away - what exactly does it do and who is it listening to?

The programme explores the wide area covered by signals intelligence - from looking for terrorists planning attacks against the United Kingdom to supporting military operations of the type underway in Afghanistan.

A team from the Counter terrorism section describes what it is like to listen in on terrorists' conversations and the constant battle to predict where the next attack will come from: "I don't think you would be human if you didn't go home at night and couldn't switch off and thought 'Oh my God. What happens if . . .?'" What about the ethics of eavesdropping and how does their work compare to the way it is portrayed on television in series like 'Spooks'?

Code-breakers talk about their work, attempting to find a chink in the armour of a carefully encrypted message sent by a terrorist or a foreign government. "It just feels amazing really," when there is a breakthrough, says one. "I mean you feel like you've won".

The programme looks at the technological challenges posed by the internet and the threat of cyber warfare, which has led to the establishment of a new cyber operations centre at Cheltenham. It also explores the scientific and mathematical breakthroughs which have been achieved at GCHQ, including the discovery of public key encryption, used when we shop on the internet.

There's a tour of the building's four great computer halls, containing racks and racks of IT equipment and covering around ten thousand square metres. "I could actually fit Wembley football pitch into three of the halls quite comfortably,' says the man in charge of making sure that the equipment doesn't crash.

Gordon Corera challenges the director Iain Lobban. There has been considerable speculation about whether the government is planning huge databases at GCHQ to keep track of all communications and internet traffic. Do they really spy on us? And how accountable are they?
Producer: Mark Savage.


SUN 17:40 Profile (b00rq2kx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00rqlnv)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (b00rqlnx)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00rqlnz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b00rqlp1)
Liz Barclay makes her selection from the last seven days of BBC Radio

Whose most important political speech was 'close that window? Which prominent politician was driven to breaking point by toothache? Which American humourist is obsessed by US gun laws and which famous athlete ran the first London Marathon after a night of Pina Coladas and prawn curry? Pick of the Week has the answers. Augustus John, JD Innes and The Glasgow Boys may have been ahead of their time with their impressionist and post impressionist paintings but it's Rolf Harris who's made the lasting impression. He's in fine voice and Dr Who and David Suchet are on the cast list too. So join Liz Barclay for Pick of the Week

The Reunion - Radio 4
Meet David Sedaris - Radio 4
Goldfinger - Radio 4
Queenan's Crime Scenes - World Service
Belief - Radio 3
David Golder - Radio 4
Cadbury is our Longbridge - Radio 4
In Hinkley's Shadow - Radio 4
Delirious Wilderness - Radio 4
The Glasgow Boys - Radio 3
The Gorbals Vampire - Radio 4
The Doctor and Douglas - Radio 4
Jools Holland - Radio 2
From Glory to Infamy - Radio 4
The Unbelievable Truth - Radio 4

PHONE: 0370 010 0400
FAX: 0161 244 4243
Email: potw@bbc.co.uk or www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/potw.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (b00rqlrc)
The dawn service is difficult without Phil, so Jill's delighted when Pip turns up to keep her company. They enjoy a huge breakfast at the Village Hall, courtesy of Usha. Pip tells Alan she's busy with revision, coursework for her Environmental Studies diploma, and work at Lower Loxley.

Jazzer tried to swap his talent show prize (a Bridge Farm Hamper) with Mr Pullen's dinner for two at Grey Gables. After eating the sausages and ice-cream Jazzer tried, unsuccessfully again, to swap the rest for more of the same.

Brenda's working for Gourmet Grills at Lower Loxley's Easter Fair. Pip introduces Jude. Brenda tells Tom they went to the same drama group when she was fifteen. Jude doesn't recognise her though.

Jude tells Pip they're going on holiday to Newquay next week, with his mates. Pip's never surfed but her main concern is the cost. She doesn't let on, and tells Jude he's brilliant.

Brenda has a quick look online, and sees the perfect job - junior account executive for a PR Agency. It's a twelve month contract based in Leicester. Tom's aghast at the distance but there's no stopping Brenda. It closes on Friday, so she wants to start on her application right away.


SUN 19:15 Americana (b00rqlrf)
This week on Americana, Matt Frei looks at how America treats its friends, and its enemies.
Jonah Goldberg, editor-at-large of the National Review, joins Matt to talk about President Obama's relationships with the international community.
We also hear from Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, author of the new book, "Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran." Saberi became a cause celebre in 2009 when Iranian authorities detained her for 100 days and accused her of spying for the US.
We look at the trend of the multi-generational homestead, now making a comeback in the suburbs for economic reasons. Matt visits with one family in which four generations share the same space. It's not just The Waltons anymore.
And, who loves their intellectuals more, Democrats or Republicans?

Email: americana@bbc.co.uk
Twitter: @bbcamericana.


SUN 19:45 Afternoon Reading (b008kjj3)
Treasure Island

Israel Hands

4/5

John le Carre reads one of the greatest of all adventure stories, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Abridged in 5 parts by Katrin Williams.

When a mysterious sailor dies in sinister circumstances at the Admiral Benbow inn, young Jim Hawkins stumbles across a treasure map among the dead man's possessions. But Jim soon becomes only too aware that he is not the only one who knows of the map's existence, and his bravery and cunning are tested to the full when, with his friends Squire Trelawney and Dr Livesey, he sets sail in the Hispaniola to track down the treasure horde.

With its swift-moving plot and memorably drawn characters - Blind Pew and Black Dog, the castaway Ben Gunn and the charming but dangerous Long John Silver - Stevenson's tale of pirates, treachery and heroism was an immediate success when it was first published in 1883 and has retained its place as one of the greatest of all adventure stories.

John le Carre is well-known as a superb reader of his own work and has received high praise for his recent readings for BBC Radio - The Tailor of Panama in 1997, Single & Single in 1999, The Constant Gardener in 2001 and Absolute Friends in 2004. In 2002 he read Robert Graves' Goodbye To All That for BBC Radio 4. Treasure Island provides ample opportunity for le Carre to show off his talents as a performer, as he animates a cast of characters from pompous members of the landed gentry to vicious pirates.

The producer is David Blount. This is a Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (b00rp41h)
Roger Bolton airs listeners' views on BBC radio programmes and policy.


SUN 20:30 Last Word (b00rp41m)
Obituary programme presented by John Wilson. The lives of those who have recently died are assessed with contributions from those who knew the subject or who have a particular knowledge of their life and work.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (b00rpvs2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 on Saturday]


SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b00rqjk6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 today]


SUN 21:30 In Business (b00rp1wj)
Who Sets Our Standards?

Who Sets Our Standards?
World trade in goods and services - from the butter on your bread to the existence of the mobile phone - is held together by an invisible web of standards set by all kinds of official and semi official organisations. Peter Day has been asking the standards-setters what they do, and why it matters.
Producer: Sandra Kanthal.


SUN 21:58 Weather (b00rqnrr)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b00rqnrt)
Carolyn Quinn previews the week's big political events with the help of MPs, peers and MEPs. She talks to commentators and experts about the underlying issues at Westminster. There's lively discussion with in depth interviews and reports. Programme editor: Terry Dignan.


SUN 22:45 What the Election Papers Say (b00rwmyw)
Episode 1

This much loved Granada TV programme, which ran for 52 years on television, has been revived for radio. The country's leading political journalists take a humorous look at how the newspapers are covering the biggest stories of the election campaign and beyond, with the help of a team of actors to voice up the headlines. Today's programme is presented by Kevin Maguire, Chief Political Commentator at the Daily Mirror and a columnist for the New Statesman.


SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b00rp41p)
Screenwriter Colin Shindler investigates the British film studios that time forgot with the help of director Michael Winner.

He returns to the era of the British B movie and the world of quota quickies, over-sized apes and devil girls from Mars.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b00rqhd9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 05 APRIL 2010

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b00rqnyw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b00rmxbd)
Current sexual surveys reveal that many older people continue to enjoy sex. As the ageing population expands, the pharmaceutical industry has been quick to exploit opportunities to market drugs to eliminate age related sexual problems. But the sociologist Professor Barbara Marshall tells Laurie that sexual medicine is in danger of pathologising the normal processes of ageing and promoting a youth centred definition of sexuality. Also, does love overcome race in Brazilian democracy? There is a much higher intermarriage between races in South America than in Europe or the USA, Laurie explores the underlying traits which govern who marries whom in Latin American Society.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b00rqhd5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00rqp45)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00rqp52)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00rqp54)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (b00rqpdy)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00rqpg2)
with the Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (b00rqq3z)
The UK is the biggest grower of daffodils in the World. On this Easter Monday, Farming Today visits one of the largest daffodil farms in the country, Winchester Growers in Lands' End in Cornwall. Only 10 percent of the flowers bought in the UK are grown in the UK. But the daffodil is an exception and something of a success story. Growers here export these springtime flowers not only to Europe but also to North America. Farming Today investigates the impact the harsh winter has had on the crop and finds out what's involved with getting a bunch of daffodils onto the supermarket shelf.


MON 05:57 Weather (b00rrd9y)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 06:00 Today (b00rqq5g)
With Sarah Montague and Justin Webb. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (b00rrhyd)
In a special edition of Start the Week recorded at Lambeth Palace, Andrew Marr talks to the Archbishop of Canterbury about his role combining the history and structure of the church with personal belief. They are joined by Philip Pullman who was inspired by Dr Rowan Williams to write his new book The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ about religion, truth and interpretation; by Professor Mona Siddiqui who'll be discussing her new role trying to marry religious values with economic growth and by author and comedian David Baddiel who'll be talking about religious identity and his new film The Infidel, a comedy about a Muslim who realises he's Jewish.


MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b00rqqy8)
Graham Robb - Parisians

Episode 1

"The idea was to create a kind of mini Human Comedy of Paris, in which the history of the city would be illumined by the real experiences of its inhabitants."

So says the author Graham Robb about his new book 'Parisians'. And a whole host of characters walk, scuttle jump, run and flounce across his pages, beginning with the French Revolution and ending in more current times. These inhabitants are natives and visitors, and it is the likes of Charles Axel Guillaumot, Marie Antoinette, Alexandrine Zola, Adolf Hitler and Charles de Gaulle who lighten and darken the city's streets
in five episodes for BOOK OF THE WEEK. The series narrator is Stephen Boxer.

In this first episode, the city is saved from sinking in 1776 by a mysterious
individual called Charles Axel Guillaumot. Narrated by Stephen Boxer
and the series abridger is Katrin Williams
Producer Duncan Minshull.


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00rqrmj)
Presented by Jane Garvey. In a special Easter Monday programme, Jane Garvey and guests explore the idea of home.

What is home? What does home mean to you? Is it where you come from or where you are now? Just bricks and mortar or something much more significant? Is it a place of sanctuary? Is it where we all want to be?

Former literary agent Jennifer Kavanagh spent a year asking people what home means to them. The answers are collected in her book the 'O' of Home. Jennifer gave up her house and most of her belongings to travel the world. She now lives in her old office. To her, home is not a place but a state of mind.
Lynsey Hanley is a journalist and the author of Estates: An Intimate History. She grew up on a housing estate in Birmingham. Lynsey was very affected by where she grew up.

Being uprooted - have you ever lost your home, or been forced to give it up? Have you ever been told to 'go home' because you don't belong? And what does it take to feel at home in a new place?
We also hear from a Womans Hour listener who has been living in the UK for 18 years but still doesn't feel at home, and Jane is joined by two guests who have experience of being uprooted. Tracie Giles is a Gypsy from the Parkway Crescent travellers site in East London - they were relocated to make way for the Olympics. Zrinka Balo is a refugee from former Yugoslavia and the Head of the Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum.

Living on the farm - most of us live in several different homes throughout our lifetime but for farming families there's often just one place that means home, and that's the hub of the business, the farmhouse.
Eifion Huws is a dairy farmer. He grew up on the family farm, Penn Rhos, on Anglesey, and has spent the last 27 years milking and tending the herd of Ayrshire cattle started by his father. Now it's time to make way for the next generation, and earlier this year he and his wife moved out of the family farmhouse and into a bungalow. Caz Graham visits them to find out how they're all adjusting to the new living arrangements.

Retirement - when you're no longer tied to a job or a school, the world's your oyster - but where to go? And who to live with? Will you take up residence in that granny flat your children offered? Or do you want to enjoy the peace of an empty nest? Stay in town or move to the country?
Ian Whitwham is a retired teacher who abandoned city life for a quiet sea-side retreat. Annie Evans lives in town and shares her home with four generations of her family - she wouldn't have it any other way.


MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00rqrml)
A Small Town Murder, series 2

Episode 1

1/5

Jackie Hart (35) is a Family Liason Officer solving cases by winning the trust of those caught up in the nightmare of serious crime and murder.

Police guidelines: The primary function of a Family Liaison Officer is that of an investigator. In performing this role the officer will support the family, but will also gather relevant information and intelligence.

The crimes, mainly murders, are presented as mysteries which Jackie solves in the whodunit tradition where events and characters never turn out to be what they at first appear. Jackie makes frequent use of VOI in the form of an audiolog to confide her thoughts and suspicions.

Police guidelines: The Contact Log will be used to record details of contact with family members and other parties connected to the family.

Jackie is a serving copper, not a social worker, working as part of an active team of investigating CID officers .. but because she works in liaison she gets closer to the people involved in the crime, closer to the raw emotions and is able to investigate in a way her colleagues can't - combining empathy and intuition with the keen observation of a clever detective.

And this is what defines the series - other officers are kept to the far periphery as we focus intimately on Jackie and those she is both supporting and suspecting, in stories which feel more like sensitive character studies than police procedurals.

Jackie ..... Meera Syal
Gillian ..... Niamh Cusack
Peter ..... Mathew Marsh
Michael ..... Ollie Barbieri

The producer is Clive Brill. This is a Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 11:00 What Would Jesus Eat? (b00rxjgw)
Food writer Stefan Gates investigates what was on the menu at The Last Supper, looking at a new theory that Leonardo Da Vinci thought it was grilled eels and sliced oranges.

The controversial restoration of Leonardo's masterpiece in 1997 has raised the possibility of identifying the food on the table in the painting. Stefan journeys to Milan to find the reasons Leonardo chose to paint what he did. Along the way he uncovers a long tradition of depictions of the Last Supper, giving an insight into the way Christian attitudes to food have changed.

Though Leonardo's version is the most famous, other paintings of the Last Supper have offered unusual answers to the question "what would Jesus eat", including crayfish, roast pork and even guinea pig, all decidedly un-kosher for what is commonly understood to have been a passover meal. Other paintings of the subject like that of Paolo Veronese attracted the attention of the Inquisition for the inclusion of "dwarves and drunkards".

Stefan talks to historians of art and food and visits the Last Supper in Milan to find out more on what the paintings can tell us about our relationship with food and dining.

Producer: Russell Finch

A Somethin Else production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2010.


MON 11:30 Thinking of Leaving Your Husband? (b00rrkg5)
FindthePerfectPartner4u.com

The first episode of a comedy drama by Charlotte Cory starring Henry Goodman and Lia Williams.

Sarah is deeply dissatisfied with her lot. Her marriage to the kindly but deeply boring Malcolm has long since failed to bring any spark to her life, and a brief relationship with a man called David, while ultimately unfulfilling, at least proves to her that she is not so unattractive that she cannot find happiness elsewhere.

So she leaves Malcolm and a chance encounter with an old school friend, Tania, leads her to move in with her friend and join the internet dating site Find-the-perfect-partner-4-u.com. But her first experience of internet dating proves hugely embarrassing.

Cast:
Sarah ... Lia Williams
Malcolm - and all Sarah's internet dates ... Henry Goodman
Mother ... Miriam Margolyes
Tania ... Frances Barber
Francis Parker ... Roger Hammond

Sound Design: Lucinda Mason Brown
Original Music: David Chilton

Director: Gordon House
A Goldhawk Essential production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:00 You and Yours (b00rqrxy)
Julian Worricker with consumer news. The first new bank on the high street in more than 150 years is due to open shortly. Anthony Thomson, chairman of Metro Bank, discusses the impact of this new addition to the high street at a time when the financial sector has been facing serious problems.

Plus

Have we fallen out of love with air travel? The Civil Aviation Authority has released figures showing a decline in air passenger numbers. The number of people travelling by air has fallen back to the level it was six years ago, highlighting the enormous impact the recession has had on the aviation industry.


MON 12:57 Weather (b00rqryp)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 13:00 World at One (b00rrbgd)
National and international news with Shaun Ley.


MON 13:30 Counterpoint (b00rrljw)
Series 24

2010 Heat 3

Paul Gambaccini chairs the general knowledge music quiz from Manchester.

The questions cover every aspect of music - from the classical repertoire to world music, show tunes, film scores, jazz, rock and pop.

The three contestants from Scotland and the North of England are:

Douglas Macleod
Alastair Gillies
Alan Shutt

Producer: Paul Bajoria

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2010.


MON 14:00 The Archers (b00rqlrc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (b00rrljy)
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Marlbourne Point Mystery

The Marlbourne Point Mystery

A new two-part Sherlock Holmes adventure, inspired by the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and written by Bert Coules.

starring Clive Merrison as Sherlock Holmes
and Andrew Sachs as Dr John Watson

Featuring James Laurenson as Mycroft Holmes

Part 1: a disused lighthouse on a remote stretch of the Kent coast is the scene of a bizarre double death.

In his accounts of the career of his friend Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson often makes passing reference to a mystery which his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, never wrote about in full. Bert Coules, the chief writer behind BBC Radio 4's celebrated dramatisations of the complete Sherlock Holmes canon of fifty-six short stories and four novels, once again takes up the pen where Sir Arthur left off.

This is what Holmes buffs call a 'canonical pastiche': a new story written faithfully in the style of the original.

It brings to seventy-five the number of times Clive Merrison has played Sherlock Homes on BBC Radio 4.

Violinists: Leonard Friedman and Ian Humphries

Producer Patrick Rayner.


MON 15:00 Archive on 4 (b00nrxkp)
Radio Hollywood

Sponsored by a well-known 'toilet soap', the Lux Theater brought the silver screen to the airwaves, with specially adapted versions of new Hollywood products including The Philadelphia Story, The African Queen and The Wizard of Oz. Professor Jeffrey Richards takes us back to the place where cinema and radio united and produced an unlikely lovechild.

From its first production in 1935, The Legionnaire and The Lady with Clark Gable and Marlene Dietrich, The Lux Radio Theater strove to have the same stars as the films. Over its 19-year history, it boasted the biggest names in Hollywood - Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Frank Sinatra, Spencer Tracy and many more.

Sometimes the original players were not available, so the Theater offered audiences a glimpse of an alternative universe, as listeners discovered what these films would have been like with different actors. On a few occasions the radio version boasted a more stellar cast, for instance when Cary Grant stood in for Montgomery Clift in I Confess.

At the start of each show Cecil B De Mille offered 'greetings from Hollywood', gave a short introduction to the film and told listeners a little about the stars. Twenty-five minutes later, he would turn up in the interval for some 'movie news', which was a barely-concealed advertisement for Lux and its frothy lather, and would return at the end for an informal and, of course, unscripted chat with the actors, in which they would invariably reveal their preference for a well-known toilet soap.

These productions were performed live with full orchestra, and the audience's reaction was often audible, which occasionally put the actors off their lines. They also had to be half an hour shorter, and were therefore much pacier than the originals, while retaining key dialogue - so phrases like 'this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship' and 'round up the usual suspects' are still present and correct in Casablanca. But being live presented its own problems, with stars sometimes falling ill the day before, or, on one occasion, arriving at the studio 10 minutes after transmission had begun.


MON 15:45 Food for Thought (b00mjk5v)
Series 1

Joan Rivers

Journalist Nina Myskow discovers how attitudes to food, shape and affect individual lives.

Over tea and chocolate tart in a suite at The Ritz, comedian Joan Rivers recounts a lifetime of self-loathing and fear of being fat. She recalls the shock of discovering she wasn't beautiful, her mother's advice on dinner parties and an extraordinary daily diet of vitamin pills, low calorie ice cream sandwiches and cereal with whipped cream.

The producer is Tamsin Hughes, and this is a Wise Buddah production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 16:00 The Food Programme (b00rqkr9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Click On (b00rt7rr)
Series 6

Episode 2

Simon Cox explores the different ways the digital world is changing how we live our lives. This week:

Don't do the Crime if you must be online - Is technology allowing criminals to continue their activities beyond their cell walls? Illicit mobile phone use by inmates has grown to the extent that authorities have promised to install jamming devices in all UK prisons. Meanwhile there's been a crack down on prisoners using social networking sites like Facebook. Balanced against this is the knowledge that allowing prisoners to keep social and family contacts prevents reoffending. So how has technology changed what it means to doing your time?

Lost in translation - we compare the various technologies aiming to translate foreign languages. Which is best; online tools, the latest app for your smart phone or the trusty phrasebook?

The future of the internet and how to stop it! Simon talks to Harvard Law School's Professor Jonathan Zittrain about why he believes the latest gadgets might be the undoing of the internet.

Voice synthesis - Ever wondered where the voices come from while you're hanging on the phone to a automated call handling service? Reporter Peter McManus visits one of the UK's leading designers of Synthetic voices - Edinburgh University spin out company Cereproc.


MON 17:00 PM (b00rrbyf)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00rrc1h)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (b00rv4f3)
Series 5

Episode 2

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents. Tony Hawks, Arthur Smith, Phill Jupitus and Catherine Tate are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as: Hats, Pigeons, Hairdressers and Admiral Lord Nelson.

The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith, the team behind Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.

The producer is Jon Naismith, and this is a Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 19:00 The Archers (b00rrbtn)
Alice and Chris have been shut in his room since yesterday. Susan reminds Neil that they're in love. Neil knows that Susan would like to see more of Chris but Susan has plenty to do, working on her training notes and handouts for the shop volunteers. Neil hopes she gets some thanks. They hear a thump and laughter, and Neil wonders what's going on upstairs.

Chris and Alice are snuggling up together when Susan knocks on the door, asking if everything's all right. Alice quickly scrambles for her clothes. Chris doesn't appreciate the interference, so they agree to go to Home Farm.

Pip tells Ruth about the planned trip to Newquay. Ruth appreciates Pip checking with her but points out that there's revision and her environmental study. Pip insists she can do it all but would need a loan. Ruth agrees to talk to David. David won't hear of it. He simply doesn't trust Jude to look after Pip. Pip's most put out but declares that she's going on holiday anyway - she doesn't care and she'll use the money Grandad Solly left her. David assures Ruth that Pip's not going. He'll talk to her again and see to it that she's staying here.


MON 19:15 Front Row (b00rrc2b)
John Wilson reports from historic houses, including Chatsworth in Derbyshire, Strawberry Hill in Twickenham and Dumfries House in Ayrshire, to see how they face up to the challenges of the 21st century.

After a 14 million pound refurbishment Chatsworth House has just reopened to the public and John is given a guided tour by the Duke of Devonshire.

Two years after Dumfries House was saved for the nation with the help of Prince Charles, John discovers whether the visitors have embraced its somewhat remote location.

And John dons his hard hat to visit Horace Walpole's Gothic fantasy castle Strawberry Hill, undergoing a multi-million pound restoration.


MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00rqrml)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


MON 20:00 Anatomy Of... (b00rt7rt)
Redundancy

From the makers of the Sony award-winning Anatomy of a Car Crash, this new series dissects often-neglected everyday dramas that change ordinary lives forever.

1/3: Redundancy. The failure of the Birmingham-based manufacturer Savekers in March last year from the perspective of boardroom, back office and shopfloor. The programme hears from those at every level of the 106-year old family firm about the trauma of being in business when sales have stalled, the phones have stopped ringing and desperate suppliers are at the door chasing payment.

Managing Director Dani Saveker recalls the lonely experience of being the boss when the only remaining option is to call in the administrators and relinquish control of the family business. The official administrator traces the tough process of preparing the business for sale and choosing the employees who are to be made redundant. And long term employees recount their shock at the announcement that they would very soon be clocking off for the last time. The programme traces their unsuccessful search for new work, the financial strain of losing an income and the emotional fallout which follows when a business goes under.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (b00rp1w4)
Mongolia's Deep Freeze

Mongolia is in the grip of the deadliest winter for a decade. People have died because they can't reach doctors or hospitals and malnutrition is increasing fast. Most significantly for a nation where tending livestock is central to its culture, untold millions of animals have died. Frozen carcasses of sheep and goats litter parts of the country. Linda Pressly travels to the remote far west of the country to report on this developing emergency. She asks what it means for Mongolia as rural refugees from the deep freeze have flooded to the capital, Ulan Bator.
And she asks about the prospects of a brighter future with recent discovery of what may be the world's largest deposits of gold.
Producer: Linda Sills.


MON 21:00 Material World (b00rp1wb)
In a landmark ruling this week, a New York court judge has declared that several patents for a genetic cancer test are not valid. The finding comes after years of argument over the rights and wrongs of patenting disease genes, with objectors arguing that patents limit free inquiry, supporters insisting that fair rewards promote continued research. On Material World, Quentin Cooper will be hearing about the significance of the court case, and hearing what the evidence is either way in the debate.

4 billion years ago, the Sun was far dimmer than it is now, but all the geological evidence is that the world was no colder then than now. Now there seems to be an answer to this "faint young Sun paradox" first posed by astronomer Carl Sagan 30 years ago. Geologist Minik Rosing explains how a lack of continental rock, and eternal clear blue skies stopped the world from freezing over.

Also in the programme, Quentin hears from the first two shortlisted contenders in our So You Want to Be a Scientist talent search.

And he talks to the Manchester biologist who's working on plastic-chomping bacteria, to help deal with our waste problem.


MON 21:30 Start the Week (b00rrhyd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:58 Weather (b00rrclt)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b00rt830)
National and international news and analysis with Ritula Shah.


MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00rdv5d)
Salley Vickers - Dancing Backwards

Episode 6

Eileen Atkins reads from Salley Vickers' acclaimed new novel, Dancing Backwards

Violet Hetherington's husband has recently died. Alone, she decides to take a cruise-ship crossing to visit her old friend, Edwin, in New York.

As she journeys across the Atlantic the quiet Violet begins to blossom - learning to ballroom dance, taking up smoking again, befriending a famously seething theatre critic. And in her time alone she reminisces about her early adulthood as a student at Cambridge. It's at Cambridge that she meets Edwin. Edwin, it soon becomes clear, is someone she's betrayed and someone she's both terrified and desperate to see again. The story that unfolds about the young Violet holds the secret to that betrayal.

In tonight's episode, Violet will recall how, despite Edwin's protestations, she and Bruno made their relationship official. And, aboard ship, she'll make a worrying discovery.

Written and abridged by Salley Vickers. Vickers is a critically acclaimed, best-selling novelist whose work includes Mr Golightly's Holiday, Instances of the Number 3, Miss Garnet's Angel and The Other Side of You. Miss Garnet's Angel and The Other Side of You were both popular Book at Bedtimes. Last year she dramatised her version of the Oedipus myth, Where Three Roads Meet, for Radio 4's Afternoon Play slot. Before becoming a full time writer she was a psychoanalyst.

Produced by Kirsty Williams.


MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (b00rms93)
Why do people always want to "improve" your English? Michael Rosen investigates the phenomenom of the "style guide" and asks whether all the advice that's given is helpful or accurate. He asks why some people take a strong dislike to adjectives and adverbs, and wonders whether, as Reader's Digest says, it really does pay to enrich your word power. (Or should that be "Readers' Digest?").


MON 23:30 When Harry Met Sally at 20 (b00m6zpr)
4 Extra Debut. Film critic Sarah Churchwell celebrates the classic romantic film comedy with its writer, Nora Ephron. From August 2009.



TUESDAY 06 APRIL 2010

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b00rqnww)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b00rqqy8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00rqnyy)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00rqp47)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00rqp49)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b00rqp6w)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00rqpf1)
with the Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b00rqpy2)
Exmoor Ponies are currently grazing on the Sandlings Heathlands in Suffolk. Anna Hill went to find out more about the ponies and why they are ideal for grazing rough pastures. She also hears about the Living Landscape project: a collaboration between the Wildlife Trust, the Forestry Commission and the local Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, that aims to take conserve the Suffolk Coastline as a whole.


TUE 06:00 Today (b00rqq41)
With James Naughtie and Evan Davis. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 Between Ourselves (b00rt8nj)
Series 5

Episode 3

This week on Between Ourselves Olivia O'Leary is joined in conversation by two Coroners: Peter Dean and Christopher Dorries.

The job of the Coroner is commonly misunderstood; they don't conduct post-mortems or attend crime scenes, as Christopher Dorries says "the average member of the public will see more dead bodies than I do".
Rather their role - if a death is sudden or unexplained - is to investigate the cause of death.

Together they discuss what their jobs entail. On a personal level, how does continually dealing with death and bereavement affect them? What improvements can the recommendations they make during inquests have in wider society? And what problems do very high profile inquests raise? - One of Peter Dean's most public inquests was that of Myra Hindley, he recalls the special circumstances surrounding that.

On a wider scale, with the new Coroners and Justice Act coming into force, will there be greater pressure to hold inquests in secret? And will the appointment of a Chief Coroner for the first time lead to better funding and therefore a better and more consistent service offered to bereaved families? Peter Dean is damning in his criticism of one of the areas he represents (South East Essex) claiming that mismanagement has led to cancelled viewings of bodies and delayed funerals.

Join Olivia O'Leary to get in the inside track on the unique role of the Coroner on Between Ourselves.

Christopher Dorries is the Coroner for South Yorkshire West. Peter Dean is the Coroner for Suffolk and South East Essex.

NB: In response to Peter Dean's comments, the following statement was issued by Essex County Council:

" Essex County Council is committed to making the Coroners' Service as efficient and focussed on the needs of bereaved citizens as possible. In order to achieve this, the County Council is looking to work with its partners with the aim of achieving a more unified bereavement service, thereby ensuring that the needs of the bereaved can be met speedily with as little intrusion as possible. There have been delays in progressing referrals from time to time but there are no current problems in this regard.".


TUE 09:30 A Musical Trip to South Africa - with Lenny Henry (b00rt8nl)
Episode 2

Apartheid had a lasting effect on music in South Africa. Songs expressed political revolt. With Hugh Masekela Lenny explores the legacy of the struggle and nostalgia for those days.

The producer is Susan Marling, and the programme is a Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b00rqqpb)
Graham Robb - Parisians

Episode 2

"The idea was to create a kind of mini Human Comedy of Paris, in which the history of the city would be illumined by the real experiences of its inhabitants."

So says the author Graham Robb about his new book 'Parisians'. And a whole host of characters walk, scuttle jump, run and flounce across his pages, beginning with the French Revolution and ending in more current times. These inhabitants are natives and visitors, and it is the likes of Charles Axel Guillaumot, Marie Antoinette, Alexandrine Zola, Adolf Hitler and Charles de Gaulle who lighten and darken the city's streets
in five episodes for BOOK OF THE WEEK.

In today's episode, Marie Antoinette must flee the Palace and find the king's
carriage, but who to trust in forbidding streets? Reader Stephen Boxer.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00rqqyb)
Presented by Jenni Murray. Clare Short on leaving Westminster after 27 years as an MP. Once regarded as a firebrand of the left, Tony Blair brought her into Labour's first cabinet and gave her a department to run before she famously fell out with him over the decision to go to war with Iraq. She looks back at her parliamentary career.

The Intensive Care Unit at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children is the subject of a new BBC2 television series starting tonight. The series follows the decision making process as it unfolds between doctors and parents as they face some of the most difficult ethical dilemmas in medicine in supporting severely sick children. While modern technology might make it possible to keep a child alive on a ventilator machine, if a child is not getting better at what point do doctors advise parents it's no longer right to carry on? Jenni is joined by Dr. Christine Pierce, Intensive Care Consultant at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and by John Harris, Professor of Bioethics at the University of Manchester.

Lola Shoneyin's first novel is the story of a polygamous family in Nigeria. Babi Segi is a rich, rotund patriarch. He has four competing wives and their children make up a clamorous household of twelve. In real life, Nigerian writer Lola had first-hand experience of polygamy; her grandfather had five wives. Her grandmother, the first to marry him, never forgave him. Lola discusses why she's written the book, what polygamy feels like for those involved and why it's still common in Nigeria.

Queen Isabella of Spain, Catherine de' Medici and Lucrezia Borgia: powerful female figures in early modern and Renaissance history who have become synonymous with the evils of the Inquisition, massacre and Machiavellian murder plots. But have these women been given an unfairly bad press and why? Author Theresa Breslin, whose historical fiction have featured all three women, is joined by Warwick University's Dr Penny Roberts to discuss whether these women have been singled out for their ruthlessness because they were women in men's roles.


TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00ryjzl)
A Small Town Murder, series 2

Episode 2

2/5

Jackie Hart (35) is a Family Liason Officer solving cases by winning the trust of those caught up in the nightmare of serious crime and murder.

Police guidelines: The primary function of a Family Liaison Officer is that of an investigator. In performing this role the officer will support the family, but will also gather relevant information and intelligence.

The crimes, mainly murders, are presented as mysteries which Jackie solves in the whodunit tradition where events and characters never turn out to be what they at first appear. Jackie makes frequent use of VOI in the form of an audiolog to confide her thoughts and suspicions.

Police guidelines: The Contact Log will be used to record details of contact with family members and other parties connected to the family.

Jackie is a serving copper, not a social worker, working as part of an active team of investigating CID officers .. but because she works in liason she gets closer to the people involved in the crime, closer to the raw emotions and is able to investigate in a way her colleagues can't - combining empathy and intuition with the keen observation of a clever detective.

And this is what defines the series - other officers are kept to the far periphery as we focus intimately on Jackie and those she is both supporting and suspecting, in stories which feel more like sensitive character studies than police procedurals.

Jackie ..... Meera Syal
Gillian ..... Niamh Cusack
Peter ..... Mathew Marsh
Michael ..... Ollie Barbieri

The producer is Clive Brill, and this is a Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 11:00 Saving Species (b00rt8nn)
Series 1

Episode 1

In this first programme we lead with Purple Emperor Butterflies. We'll be following their ups and downs all year in a southern English woodland with National Trust entomologist Matthew Oates. To help us keep an eye on individuals he has named the butterflies, which are caterpillars at the moment, after famous poets. We know already [Christina] Rossetti has not made it through a bleak midwinter!

We also start our year-long reporting from Australia with Koalas. We hear from ABC reporter Kim Kleidon who has visited a Koala sanctuary for us and Brett interviews Koala Biologist Bill Ellis from the University of Queensland about his research, revealing how important sound is to Koalas.

As with every week, we'll have a wildlife news round-up, this week gathered by Kelvin Boot, and our out-reach to the Open University, where you can share your observations of wildlife with others on their interactive biodiversity web site iSpot.

Presented by Brett Westwood
Produced by Sheena Duncan
Series Editor Julian Hector.


TUE 11:30 Fu Manchu in Edinburgh (b00rt91z)
"Yellow Peril," "Celestial One" and "Devil Doctor": Sax Rohmer's evil genius, Dr Fu Manchu, traded under many aliases, but where was his doctorate from?

"I am a doctor of philosophy from Edinburgh, a doctor of law from Christ College, a doctor of medicine from Harvard. My friends, out of courtesy, call me 'Doctor'." - The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)

Miles Jupp (also an Edinburgh University alumn) investigates the hidden Edinburgh years of the criminal mastermind who fought a war against Western imperialism after learning his trade in one of the West's most esteemed Universities.

From the novels we can work out Fu Manchu must have studied in Edinburgh in the early 1870s. So what do historical records teach us about his time there?

Back then, Conan Doyle was registered at the University Medical School, studying at the feet of Joseph Bell, the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes. Thomas De Quincey, the English Opium Eater, had died in the city a few years before but the network by which he sourced his laudanum was still intact, brought by Chinese Coolies from the Port of Leith to the drawing-rooms of the New Town. There were Chinese students registered on the matriculation rolls of the University, some of them refugees from the Boxer rebellion, and the seamen's missions and city police reports make it clear that there was a thriving Chinese criminal network in Scotland's capital.

Could Fu Manchu have learned his criminal trade as an undergraduate at the city's university? Could his later dominance of Limehouse in London have been based on the contacts he made with Chinese gangs in Edinburgh? What factual evidence exists to flesh out the experience of the fictional enemy of the West?

Producer: David Stenhouse

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.


TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b00rqrwn)
Call You and Yours with Julian Worricker. Do you need to be rich to be green? That's the question we are asking on tomorrow's Call You & Yours.

If you pay tax and power bills then you're shelling out hundred's of pounds a year toward schemes designed to combat climate change. But is the system fair to all or are some getting more out of it than others?

Micro-generators and power companies are receiving plenty of financial encouragement, land owners prepared to host wind turbines are looking at millions of pounds in revenue, while for most people; is it merely a case of a few free light bulbs and offers of discount lagging ?

Perhaps you think climate change is too serious a challenge to be seen in such narrow self interested terms and the government should tax and spend to reduce our carbon output as it sees fit.

Or do you fear the way green taxes are structured; it'll be the poor who will bear a disproportionate burden of the costs of cutting carbon.

An opportunity to contribute your views to the programme. Call 03700 100 444 (lines open at 1000) or email youandyours@bbc.co.uk.


TUE 12:57 Weather (b00rqry0)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (b00rrbch)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (b00rrbtn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b00rt94m)
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Marlbourne Point Mystery

The Marlbourne Point Mystery

A new two-part Sherlock Holmes adventure, inspired by the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and written by Bert Coules.

starring Clive Merrison as Sherlock Holmes
and Andrew Sachs as Dr John Watson

Featuring James Laurenson as Mycroft Holmes

Part 2: the shocking truth behind the mystery of the politician, the lighthouse and the trained cormorant is finally revealed.

In his accounts of the career of his friend Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson often makes passing reference to a mystery which his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, never wrote about in full. Bert Coules, the chief writer behind BBC Radio 4's celebrated dramatisations of the complete Sherlock Holmes canon of fifty-six short stories and four novels, once again takes up the pen where Sir Arthur left off.

This is what Holmes buffs call a 'canonical pastiche': a new story written faithfully in the style of the original.

It brings to seventy-five the number of times Clive Merrison has played Sherlock Homes on BBC Radio 4.

Violinists: Leonard Friedman and Ian Humphries

Producer Patrick Rayner.


TUE 15:00 Home Planet (b00rt94p)
Richard Daniel and the team discuss listeners' questions about the natural world and our impact on it.


TUE 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00rt9gd)
EM Forster Short Stories

The Story of the Siren

The Story of the Siren is the first in our series of short fiction by EM Forster. It is an unsettling story about a sea nymph and an ill fated young Sicilian. The novelist best known for twentieth century classics including A Passage to India, A Room with a View and Maurice was also a prolific writer of short stories. In them he explored many of the themes central to his novels, including the morals of the middle classes in the early twentieth century, and his fascination with culture and mores of the beguiling South. The reader is Dan Stevens.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton. Produced by Elizabeth Allard.


TUE 15:45 Food for Thought (b00mpn0n)
Series 1

Erwin James

Journalist Nina Myskow discovers how attitudes to food, shape and affect individual lives.

The bags of oats at one prison, where journalist and lifer Erwin James was an inmate, were all stamped "Canadian pig meal, grade 3". The porridge was made with water. However, as Erwin explains to Nina Myskow, adding full cream milk, honey and pine nuts to his own breakfast recipe, they were an important part of his diet and his rehabilitation, after a chaotic itinerant lifestyle and living rough as a child.

The producer is Tamsin Hughes, and this is a Wise Buddah production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (b00rt9rf)
In this week's edition of Word of Mouth Michael Rosen explores the language of the natural world asking if words are up to the job of conveying the complexities of nature. He also finds out how some British birds got their names and hears the story of a mushroom whose hallucinogenic qualities are used to capture flies. So join Word of Mouth, gathered around the nature table, this afternoon at four o'clock.


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b00rt9rh)
Series 21

Bertolt Brecht

Mathew Parris is back with BBC Radio Four's acclaimed biography series 'Great Lives', in which celebrated people of today nominate a great life from the past to explore and discuss.

The series begins with playwright John Godber's choice of his literary hero and inspiration, Bertolt Brecht. Both writers have in common an instinct and desire for truly popular theatre which has the power to change fundamentally the perspective of its audiences. And who else could bring the spectacle of the sports stadium into the theatre auditorium?

Specialist in German drama, Professor Michael Patterson, joins the debate to counter the widespread view that 'if it's German and political it must be boring'. Brecht's own productions were immensely lively and popular and his theatrical legacy, although eschewed by Hollywood devotees of naturalism, stands firm in the work of many of today's greatest writers. We also learn the truth about allegations of Brecht plundering the genius of his many lovers, and how he made love with his socks on.


TUE 17:00 PM (b00rrbtq)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00rrbyj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 I've Never Seen Star Wars (b00rt9rk)
Series 3

John Lloyd

Marcus Brigstocke invites comedy producer John Lloyd to try doing a few things he's never done before.

Watching The Wire, performing stand up comedy and milking a goat are just some of the experiences he'll be having for the first time.

The series title comes from the fact that the show's producer and creator Bill Dare had never seen Star Wars.

Producer: Bill Dare.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2010.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (b00rrbgg)
Lilian tells Jennifer that the probation service will be inspecting the house, ready for Matt's release under curfew with a tag. Jennifer wants to plan a day in London, and Lilian is relieved when her phone rings. Jennifer assumes it's Matt. Lilian takes the call outside. It's Paul, who's got some work in Borchester. They arrange to meet on Friday.

Jennifer's not happy having Alice and Christopher in residence. Lilian reminds Jennifer that they were once that age. Alice pops down, and doesn't appreciate Jennifer asking her to get dressed. It's no better than being at Chris's.

To Jennifer's dismay, Alice declares that, as the cottage Brian gave her isn't rented out this week, she and Chris are moving in.

Pip tells Izzy that she can't touch her inheritance until she's 18, so she and Jude will have to hang out at his place instead of Newquay. Pip gives Jude the news, and apologies for spoiling his holiday plans. He admits it won't be the same without her. Realising he still intends to go, Pip tells him she'll miss him. Jude says they'll have to see more of each other this week, which pleases Pip, so Jude's happy too.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (b00rrc1k)
Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It tells the story of a young girl bored of small-town Texas life who finds new hope through a roller skating derby. Antonia Quirke reviews the film.

Cream bassist Jack Bruce is famed for his musical virtuosity and legendary fall outs with drummer Ginger Baker. Jack talks to John Wilson in the light of a new biography, which touches on the highs and lows of a very diverse musical career.

Director Trevor Nunn pays tribute to the actor Corin Redgrave, whose death was announced today. There's also another chance to hear part of a Front Row interview recorded when Corin Redgrave played King Lear at Stratford in 2004, in which he reflects on his theatrical upbringing.

Filmmaker Michael Whyte discusses his observational documentary No Greater Love which looks into the closed world of the Most Holy Trinity convent in Notting Hill.


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00ryjzl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


TUE 20:00 Iraq's Forgotten Conflict (b00rt9rm)
Edward Stourton tells the story of Iraq's religious minorities, which are facing extinction from targeted killings and forced exile.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (b00rt9rp)
Susannah Hancock is blind and is applying for a new mortgage. She has been required to get her signature witnessed by an independent solicitor and feels angry about this. Catherine Casserley, a barrister from Cloisters Chamber, says that Susannah could bring a case under the DDA, as they should offer her the information in an accessible format.

Michael Fadeyi is a blind radio producer from Nigeria, who talks to Peter about his experience of getting a job.
There is no disability legislation in Nigeria and he says without any law there is no sin.

Ellen Bassani is a blind writer from Australia, who has lived in the UK for many years. She presents her second column for In Touch , in which she explains why she regards her blindness as her gift.


TUE 21:00 Case Notes (b00rt9rr)
Recreational Drugs

Dr Mark Porter returns with a new series of Case Notes.

The dangers to health from the misuse of drugs have been much in the news - particularly the concerns surrounding the so-called legal high, mephedrone.

In this edition of Case Notes, Mark talks to the scientist who led the group of experts which recommended the drug be made illegal and to young people about their experiences of taking mephedrone.

He also hears the latest evidence on the link between schizophrenia and cannabis, and why cocaine is bad for the heart and the brain.


TUE 21:30 Between Ourselves (b00rt8nj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 21:58 Weather (b00rrc7p)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b00rrclx)
The 2010 General Election is called for May 6th .
We report on the first day of campaigning by party leaders and assess the mood of voters at Wetherby Races .
With boundary changes, greater support for smaller parties and the possibility of a hung parliament , how different will this election be ?

With Robin Lustig.


TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00rdv5g)
Salley Vickers - Dancing Backwards

Episode 7

Eileen Atkins reads from Salley Vickers' acclaimed new novel, Dancing Backwards

Violet Hetherington's husband has recently died. Alone, she decides to take a cruise-ship crossing to visit her old friend, Edwin, in New York.

As she journeys across the Atlantic the quiet Violet begins to blossom - learning to ballroom dance, taking up smoking again, befriending a famously seething theatre critic. And in her time alone she reminisces about her early adulthood as a student at Cambridge. It's at Cambridge that she meets Edwin. Edwin, it soon becomes clear, is someone she's betrayed and someone she's both terrified and desperate to see again. The story that unfolds about the young Violet holds the secret to that betrayal.

In tonight's episode, Violet and Bruno's recent marriage is beginning to look rocky.

Written and abridged by Salley Vickers. Vickers is a critically acclaimed, best-selling novelist whose work includes Mr Golightly's Holiday, Instances of the Number 3, Miss Garnet's Angel and The Other Side of You. Miss Garnet's Angel and The Other Side of You were both popular Book at Bedtimes. Last year she dramatised her version of the Oedipus myth, Where Three Roads Meet, for Radio 4's Afternoon Play slot. Before becoming a full time writer she was a psychoanalyst.


TUE 23:00 Off the Page (b00ny8fz)
Last Orders

4 Extra Debut. Dominic Arkwright quizzes Ian Marchant, Simon Fanshawe and Melissa Cole about the future of the public house. From November 2009.


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00rxjkz)
Today's news from the Commons and the Lords, including reaction to the start of the general election campaign, a call for action to tackle the "crisis" of gang crime, and demands for tougher controls on former government ministers taking jobs in the private sector. The programme is brought to you by Rachel Byrne and a team of reporters. The Editor is Kristiina Cooper.



WEDNESDAY 07 APRIL 2010

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b00rqnwy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b00rqqpb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00rqnz0)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00rqp4c)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00rqp4f)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (b00rqp6y)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00rqpf4)
with the Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (b00rqpy4)
Caz Graham hears why the British egg industry wants restaurants to tell us where they're getting their eggs from. Plus, the Irish beef industry has to export 85% of what it produces and the UK is its biggest customer. Farming Today finds out how Irish farmers do it for less than UK farmers, and how the recession has revealed their vulnerability.


WED 06:00 Today (b00rqq43)
With James Naughtie and Evan Davis. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day; Yesterday in Parliament.


WED 09:00 Midweek (b00rt9s6)
This week Libby Purves is joined by Kathryn Sargent, Gavin Bain, Mary Blewitt and Tom McNab.

Kathryn Sargent became Savile Row's first female Head Cutter earlier this year. She joined the renowned tailors Gieves and Hawkes at No. 1 in 1996 as an apprentice trimmer & has worked her way up. They have been dressing English gentlemen since 1771 and count Royalty and actors such as David Niven and Noel Coward as clients.

Gavin Bain aka "Brains McLoud" was one half of the legendary American rap act Silibil N'Brains. The duo were signed by a major record label and seemed set to take the charts by storm. The only problem was that they weren't American, but Scottish. Despite this they hoodwinked the music industry and rubbed shoulders with stars like Eminem and Madonna until, inevitably, it all came to a sticky end. California Schemin' is the story of their rise and fall and is published by Simon and Schuster.

Mary Blewitt OBE is the founder and former director of the Survivors' Fund (SURF). In 1994, over a period of one hundred days, a million Rwandan Tutsi were murdered by Hutu militias. Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, a Rwandan, had left the country some years prior to the genocide. She returned when the killing was over, to discover that more than fifty members of her family had been murdered. She eventually founded SURF to aid, assist and support survivors of the Rwandan genocide. Her memoir, 'You Alone May Live' is published by Biteback.

Tom McNab is the renowned sports coach, author, technical director, playwright and lecturer. Author of Flanagan's Run, he was also technical director on the Oscar winning film Chariots of Fire. His play 1936, which depicts the lead up to one of the most controversial sporting events in history, the Berlin Olympics, is at London's Arcola Studio.


WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b00rqqpd)
Graham Robb - Parisians

Episode 3

"The idea was to create a kind of mini Human Comedy of Paris, in which the history of the city would be illumined by the real experiences of its inhabitants."

So says the author Graham Robb about his new book 'Parisians'. And a whole host of characters walk, scuttle jump, run and flounce across his pages, beginning with the French Revolution and ending in more current times. These inhabitants are natives and visitors, and it is the likes of Charles Axel Guillaumot, Marie Antoinette, Alexandrine Zola, Adolf Hitler and Charles de Gaulle who lighten and darken the city's streets
in five episodes for BOOK OF THE WEEK. The series narrator is Stephen Boxer.

In today's episode, Emile and Alexandrine Zola ascend the new Eiffel Tower, before later
revelations change their lives forever. Reader Stephen Boxer.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00rqqyd)
Jenni Murray discusses how the computer has moved into the bedroom and created havoc. Amanda Holden sleeps with hers within reach. Even President Obama can't live without his. The Blackberry, the i-phone and other portable internet devices make it possible to communicate with anyone at any time - but do they stop us from communicating to those closest to us? Have you ever sneaked a peek at your emails while on holiday? Is the Internet the third person in your relationship? Lowri Turner is a freelance journalist and never switches her Blackberry off. Andrew Clover is a freelance writer and comedian but he refuses to have one.

In 1970 Germaine Greer shot to fame when her book The Female Eunuch was published. An angry, frank and passionate account of what Greer regarded as the oppression of women, the book became an internationally well-known and helped to spur on the Women's Liberation Movement. Forty years later it is still one of the most high-profile feminist texts. To discuss the book's importance and its legacy, Jenni Murray is joined by social scientist Ann Oakley who was one of the leading figures in the Women's Liberation Movement of the 1970s, and Finn Mackay, founder of the London Feminist Network

One in four women will be affected by domestic violence at some point in their life, and there is an incident reported every minute. Now an innovative multi-agency approach involving police, health, housing and children's services is dramatically helping to reduce domestic violence. Woman's Hour looks at how this method works and why there are concerns about future funding. Taking part is Diana Barran, Chief Executive of CAADA, Co-ordinated Action against Domestic Abuse and Deputy Chief Constable Carmel Napier, from the Association of Chief Police Officers and the lead voice on domestic abuse.

And Tamasin Day-Lewis cooks Spanish Chicken from her latest cook book.


WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00ryk0p)
A Small Town Murder, series 2

Episode 3

3/5

Jackie Hart (35) is a Family Liason Officer solving cases by winning the trust of those caught up in the nightmare of serious crime and murder.

Police guidelines: The primary function of a Family Liaison Officer is that of an investigator. In performing this role the officer will support the family, but will also gather relevant information and intelligence.

The crimes, mainly murders, are presented as mysteries which Jackie solves in the whodunit tradition where events and characters never turn out to be what they at first appear. Jackie makes frequent use of VOI in the form of an audiolog to confide her thoughts and suspicions.

Police guidelines: The Contact Log will be used to record details of contact with family members and other parties connected to the family.

Jackie is a serving copper, not a social worker, working as part of an active team of investigating CID officers .. but because she works in liason she gets closer to the people involved in the crime, closer to the raw emotions and is able to investigate in a way her colleagues can't - combining empathy and intuition with the keen observation of a clever detective.

And this is what defines the series - other officers are kept to the far periphery as we focus intimately on Jackie and those she is both supporting and suspecting, in stories which feel more like sensitive character studies than police procedurals.

Jackie ..... Meera Syal
Gillian ..... Niamh Cusack
Peter ..... Mathew Marsh
Michael ..... Ollie Barbieri

The producer is Clive Brill, and this is a Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 11:00 Star Wars on the South Bank (b00rtbg2)
Almost thirty years ago serious plans were made to simulate a Mars colony on the Southbank of the River Thames. Such an outrageous idea would be dismissed outright if it wasn't dreamt up by one of Britain's greatest social reformers - Michael Young.

Lord Young of Dartington, who died in 2002, was committed to building institutions dedicated to social improvement. He initiated or played a major role in creating the Consumers' Association, the Open University, as well as Labour's 1945 manifesto - Let us face the future. But then in 1984 he launched the Argo Venture, a collective of Britain's finest scientists, thinkers and space experts who were calling for the planting of human colonies in space. His son, the author and journalist Toby Young, asks was the Argo Venture an idea too far?

He recruited an amazing cast of volunteers; the Scientist James Lovelock, the astronomer Lord Martin Rees and the Science writer Nigel Calder amongst others. Young's legacy was indisputably great but was this latter-day Georgian folly, born of a grandee legendary enthusiasm? Was the whole project set for failure? Could a serious British Mars Programme exemplify the spirit of the early 21st century?

In this programme Toby Young talks to Lord Martin Rees, Professor Colin Pillinger and hears from passionate advocates of Martian colonisation, but what was his father looking for in Space?

Produced by Barney Rowntree
A Somethin Else production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 11:30 House on Fire (b00pxtwg)
Series 1

Neighbourhood Watch

Vicky and Matt are continuing in their struggles to co-habit in harmony but things are not helped by some late night disturbances by some troublesome youths. Vicky decides to take action by forming Hogarth Road's first neighborhood watch scheme.

Matt is spectacularly uninterested until He's met Lindsay from down the road. Lindsay is a glamour model and Matt suddenly discovers his sense of social duty.

Vicky - Emma Pierson
Matt - JODY LATHAM
Col. Bill - RUPERT VANSITTART
Julie - JANINE DUVITSKI
Peter - PHILIP JACKSON
Lindsey - Kellie Shirley

With Fergus Craig, Colin Hoult & Ned Leadbeater

Directed by Clive Brill & Dan Hine
Produced by Clive Brill

A Pacificus Production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:00 You and Yours (b00rqrwq)
Are mobility scooters dangerous and should you pass a test to drive one? Plus it could cost nearly three billion pounds a year to decommission Britain's old nuclear power stations. Winifred Robinson discusses plans for cleaning up the waste, but is the new technology safe? And grow your own fruit and veg - we're back at the Chorlton Allotment in Manchester one year on.


WED 12:57 Weather (b00rqry2)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 13:00 World at One (b00rrbck)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


WED 14:00 The Archers (b00rrbgg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama (b00g2z1k)
The Borrowers

Episode 1

Adaptation of Mary Norton's children's classic. 14-year-old Arietty is getting impatient to escape the confines of her cosy home.


WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b00rtbg6)
Paul Lewis and a panel of expert guests answer your questions about benefits and tax credits.

Could you be missing out on valuable financial help?

People failed to claim up to £10.5bn in income-related benefits in 2007-08, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.

And Carers UK says that more than a third of entitled people miss out on benefits like Carer's Allowance because they do not realise they can claim them.

If you have a question about benefits or tax credits, you can call the programme for expert advice.

The number to ring is 03700 100 444 and lines open on Wednesday at 1330 BST.

Standard geographic charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be more expensive.

Producer: Ruth Alexander.


WED 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00rt9gg)
EM Forster Short Stories

The Road from Colonus

Misunderstandings thwart plans for a sojourn in the idyllic Greek countryside in The Road From Colonus, the next in our series of short fiction by EM Forster. The novelist best known for twentieth century classics including A Passage to India, Where Angels Fear to Tread and Howard's End was also a prolific writer of short stories. In them he explored many of the themes central to his novels, including the morals and mores of the middle classes in the early twentieth century, and his fascination with the Mediterranean.
Read by Andrew Sachs. Abridged by Richard Hamilton. Produced by Elizabeth Allard.


WED 15:45 Food for Thought (b00mtvgt)
Series 1

Nigella Lawson

Journalist Nina Myskow discovers how attitudes to food, shape and affect individual lives.

At home in her kitchen, cookery writer Nigella Lawson recalls her early experiences of food, as a chamber maid in Italy, whisking white sauces for her mother and making veal stew and rabbit with prunes on a teenage visit to France. She tells Nina Myskow how they transformed her from a quiet, introverted child who resisted her mother's appeals to eat at mealtimes into a passionate cook with a lust for food and an incredibly healthy appetite.

The producer is Tamsin Hughes, and this is a Wise Buddah production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b00rtbg8)
The idea that modernity leads to a lessening religious belief is being abandoned by theorists in America and Europe. Figures like Richard Dawkins and AC Grayling argue that increasingly religion seeks to impinge on science, and now the first systematic study of European cultural groups predicts that fundamentalists of all religions are out-breeding moderates and atheists, and will eclipse them quite soon. In Israel the Ultra Orthodox will form the majority as soon as 2050. Since the birth rate of secular people in the West is way below replacement level (2.1), and the birth rate of religious fundamentalists of practically any stripe is far above (roughly between 5 and 7.7 children per mother), through the sheer force of demography, academic Eric Kaufmann claims they will become a much bigger force in the Western World. Is that inevitable? Should people be worried?
Laurie Taylor discusses the anxieties of atheists and the predictions of demography with three theorists of different perspectives.: The Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University, Tariq Ramadan; Eric Kaufmann, Reader in Politics at Birkbeck College and author of Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth? and Rebecca Goldstein, philosopher and author of 36 Arguments for the Existence of God; A Work of Fiction.


WED 16:30 The Media Show (b00rtbg4)
In a report out today, a parliamentary committee says it believes the BBC is not as transparent as the public expects and that more needs to be done to strengthen confidence in how the BBC spends public money. Edward Leigh MP, Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts, explains his concerns and Jeremy Peat of the BBC Trust responds.

The Guardian Media Group's chief executive, Carolyn McCall, has recently announced she is to leave for a new role at Easyjet. Ahead of her exit, she tells Steve Hewlett about the frustration of being undermined by colleagues and how the Guardian could charge for content on its website.

Mephedrone or, as it has become known in the media, "meow meow", is to be banned following intense media coverage. But has that coverage been proportional and do the stories stand up to scrutiny? Nic Fleming has been looking at the stories for the New Scientist and the BBC home editor Mark Easton looks at the impact those stories have had.

And, in an age when they can be satirised in moments on the internet, are election posters an asset or a liability? Daniel Finkelstein of The Times gives his view.

During the election, The Media Show is moving from 1.30pm to 4.30pm each Wednesday.


WED 17:00 PM (b00rrbts)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00rrbym)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:30 Mark Steel's in Town (b00rtbyy)
Series 2

Dartford

In this second series comedian Mark Steel visits 6 more UK towns to discover what makes them and their inhabitants distinctive.

He creates a bespoke stand-up show for that town and performs the show in front of a local audience.

As well as shedding light on the less visited areas of Britain, Mark uncovers stories and experiences that resonate with us all as we recognise the quirkiness of the British way of life and the rich tapestry of remarkable events and people who have shaped where we live.

During the series 'Mark Steel's In Town' Mark will visit Dartford in Kent, Wilmslow and Alderley Edge in Cheshire, Dumfries in the Borders, Penzance in Cornwall, Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, and Kirkwall in the Orkneys.

Episode 1 - In this first episode Mark performs a show for the residents of Dartford in Kent where he talks about the peasants' revolt, gypsy tart, Mick Jagger and what one resident calls the Road To Hell.

Written by Mark Steel with additional material by Pete Sinclair.
Produced by Julia McKenzie.


WED 19:00 The Archers (b00rrbgj)
Jazzer offers Fallon some leeks from the hamper - it's as much her prize as his. Jolene wishes he'd brought it round sooner - the yoghurt's definitely off. It's been in Jazzer's van since Saturday. Jolene's going to book Fallon on a licensing course, and intends to get someone trained up to provide cover before she and Sid go away. Jazzer promises to be around to help out if there's any trouble.

Ed asks Mike what he plans to do if they get any more bull calves. Three is more than enough, and the veal idea is just draining money. Mike wants Ed to give Vicky a chance. She's got an appointment with Ian today. Ed's leaving just as Vicky arrives to say that Ian's going to take some veal.

Mike congratulates Vicky, who admits it's not as good as it could have been - Ian's only interested in particular cuts. She'll just have to find a butcher or a pie maker to take the rest. There's got to be a market for it, and Mike's confident she's the woman to find it. Mike tells her about the job Brenda's applying for. Vicky hopes she gets it, then that would be something else to celebrate.


WED 19:15 Front Row (b00rrc1m)
With Mark Lawson. Mark Eccleston reviews the film The Infidel, a comedy written by David Baddiel about a Muslim man who discovers he's actually Jewish

Naomi Alderman, the writer whose debut novel Disobedience won the 2006 Orange Award for New Writers, discusses her new book The Lessons, about a group of bohemian students at Oxford

As Channel 4 launches its comedy roast series with Bruce Forsyth, Joe Queenan talks about the popular American tradition of roasting a much-loved star with a series of cruel tributes

Peter Kemp gives a first night review of Polar Bears, a new play by Mark Haddon, best known for his novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

And Jeff Park discusses the crime writers who have depicted crime writers in fiction.


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00ryk0p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


WED 20:00 Unreliable Evidence (b00rtcqy)
Clive Anderson brings together some of the country's top judges and lawyers to discuss the legal issues of the day.

The first programme explores the often controversial interface between English law and religious belief.

Disputes in which articles of faith clash with the law of the land have arisen over the carrying of sacred knives, employment law, adoption, gay rights and cremation.

One of the first acts of the new Supreme Court was to rule that one of Britain's most successful faith schools had racially discriminated against a 12-year-old boy who was refused admission because the school did not recognise him as Jewish.

And the Government's attempts to strengthen the country's equalities legislation provoked the Pope to call on bishops to fight measures which could force churches to hire homosexual and transgender employees.

When individuals choose to have their disputes resolved in religious courts, such as Sharia or Beth Din, what kind of oversight should the secular courts of the United Kingdom exercise?

This programme explores the extent to which secular law accommodates the "irrationality" of religious belief. Should it be more accommodating as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams has suggested?

The producer is Brian King. This is an Above the Title production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 20:45 What the Election Papers Say (b00rtcvt)
Episode 2

BBC Radio 4 brings back a much loved TV favourite - What the Election Papers Say. It does what it says on the tin. Each programme will see a leading political journalist take a wry look at how the broadsheets and red tops treat the biggest stories of the campaign. Hear all about it - with the London Evening Standard's Executive Editor Anne McElvoy.


WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b00rtcvw)
The Price of Nature

Do we need to set a price on the environment to get policy makers, business and individuals to really take it seriously? Alkborough Flats on the Humber Estuary is a haven for birdlife but has also offered £400,000 worth of flood protection a year. The carbon storage in its sediment is valued at a further £14,500 plus there's additional revenue from recreation and tourism. Bees are another example. Their services to farming are estimated at £200 million a year with the retail value of what they pollinate closer to £1 billion. Upland farming is already heavily subsidized but should they be paid not to farm (which can cause costly contamination in drinking water for example) and instead be paid to maintain water quality, guard against flooding and maintain wildlife habitats? If real monetary reward is to be gained could there be many more people keen to hear the environment message. Or is this an over simplification of the value of our natural resources. After all we are already dealing with the fallout of what some see as a failed reliance on capitalist economics.
What was a theoretical issue is becoming reality. Right now the National Ecosystem Assessment is taking place. Government-sponsored inspectors are actually pricing up the services provided by our environment with a view to embedding them in policy. Tom Heap meets the economists and leading figures from the world of banking and accounting who could be the unlikely answer to safeguarding biodiversity.


WED 21:30 Midweek (b00rt9s6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 21:58 Weather (b00rrc7r)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b00rrclz)
The UK economy is forecast to make a rapid recovery, but who will it help at the election?
Violent clashes in Kyrgyzstan as protesters demand the overthrow of the president.
And a plane powered by the rays of the sun - is it possible?


WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00rdv5j)
Salley Vickers - Dancing Backwards

Episode 8

Eileen Atkins reads from Salley Vickers' acclaimed new novel, Dancing Backwards

Violet Hetherington's husband has recently died. Alone, she decides to take a cruise-ship crossing to visit her old friend, Edwin, in New York.

As she journeys across the Atlantic the quiet Violet begins to blossom - learning to ballroom dance, taking up smoking again, befriending a famously seething theatre critic. And in her time alone she reminisces about her early adulthood as a student at Cambridge. It's at Cambridge that she meets Edwin. Edwin, it soon becomes clear, is someone she's betrayed and someone she's both terrified and desperate to see again. The story that unfolds about the young Violet holds the secret to that betrayal.

In tonight's episode, Violet's faced with a difficult choice - help her dear friend Edwin when he needs her most, or stand by her marriage to Bruno.

Written and abridged by Salley Vickers. Vickers is a critically acclaimed, best-selling novelist whose work includes Mr Golightly's Holiday, Instances of the Number 3, Miss Garnet's Angel and The Other Side of You. Miss Garnet's Angel and The Other Side of You were both popular Book at Bedtimes. Last year she dramatised her version of the Oedipus myth, Where Three Roads Meet, for Radio 4's Afternoon Play slot. Before becoming a full time writer she was a psychoanalyst.


WED 23:00 Justin Moorhouse - The Big Am I (b00h34d9)
About to become a dad for a second time, Manchester's Justin Moorhouse has a nagging doubt he may not have got it right the first time round.

Mixing stand-up and sketches and aided by a great comedy cast, Justin asks himself a big question - am I a good dad?

Written and performed by Justin Moorhouse with additional material by Jim Poyser.

Also featuring John Thomson, Steve Edge and Janice Connolly.

Producer: Ben Walker

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2009.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00rxjm8)
Today's news from the Commons and the Lords with Alicia McCarthy and team. Top story: the last PMQs before the general election. Also reports on the ongoing 'wash-up' debate over remaining legislation. And Peers raise concerns about the behaviour of newspapers during the election campaign. The Editor is Rachel Byrne.



THURSDAY 08 APRIL 2010

THU 00:00 Midnight News (b00rqnx0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b00rqqpd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00rqnz2)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00rqp4h)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00rqp4k)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (b00rqp70)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00rqpf6)
with the Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (b00rqpy6)
Despite this year's cold winter, a new study reveals that spring is getting earlier. Nature records have shown that UK plants are flowering earlier each year. And with spring in the air it's the perfect time to buy British grown flowers. Just as local food is a growing market, selling flowers locally may provide growers a new outlet. Farming Today meets a farmer capitalising on the local market.


THU 06:00 Today (b00rqq45)
With John Humphrys and Sarah Montague. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (b00rtd0g)
William Hazlitt

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and works of William Hazlitt. Hazlitt is best known for his essays, which ranged in subject matter from Shakespeare, through his first meeting with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, to a boxing match. What is less well-known, however, is that he began his writing life as a philosopher, before deliberately abandoning the field for journalism. Nonetheless, his early reasoning about the power of the imagination to take human beings beyond narrow self-interest, as encapsulated in his 'Essay on the Principles of Human Action', shines through his more popular work.Hazlitt is a figure full of contradictions - a republican who revered Napoleon, and a radical who admired the conservative philosopher Edmund Burke. His reputation suffered terribly from his book 'Liber Amoris', a self-revealing memoir of his infatuation with his landlady's daughter. But in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, his importance was acknowledged by writers like Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson and Ford Madox Ford. In the 180 years since his death, his stature as perhaps the finest essayist in the language has grown and grown. With:Jonathan BateProfessor of English Literature at the University of Warwick Anthony GraylingProfessor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of LondonUttara NatarajanSenior Lecturer in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Goldsmiths College, University of LondonProducer: Phil Tinline.


THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b00rqqpg)
Graham Robb - Parisians

Episode 4

"The idea was to create a kind of mini Human Comedy of Paris, in which the history of the city would be illumined by the real experiences of its inhabitants."

So says the author Graham Robb about his new book 'Parisians'. And a whole host of characters walk, scuttle jump, run and flounce across his pages, beginning with the French Revolution and ending in more current times. These inhabitants are natives and visitors, and it is the likes of Charles Axel Guillaumot, Marie Antoinette, Alexandrine Zola, Adolf Hitler and Charles de Gaulle who lighten and darken the city's streets
in five episodes for BOOK OF THE WEEK. The series narrator is Stephen Boxer.

In today's episode, the city is occupied and a foreign invader has designs on its beautiful
buildings... Reader Stephen Boxer.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00rqqyg)
Presented by Jenni Murray.

Jodhi May got her acting break at the age of 12, when a casting director came to her school. She was chosen for a role in the film A World Apart, and shared the best-actress award with Barbara Hershey at the Cannes Film Festival in 1988. She's also appeared in Last of the Mohicans, and lately in the TV drama Blood and Oil. She joins Jenni to discuss her latest theatre role - a woman living with a psychological condition - in the very dark comedy Polar Bears.

The general election will see the largest turnover of MPs for more than six decades, with more than 140 MPs standing down. As they leave Westminster, we talk to women who've stamped their own mark on the national consciousness. Earlier this week, we heard from the independent Labour MP Clare Short, and in the second of our exit interviews, Jenni is joined by former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe to talk about 23 years in the House and life after Parliament. Next week we hear from Labour MP Ann Cryer.

How much are we influenced by our parents' tendencies to angst about getting to the airport three hours before check-in, or their conviction that danger lurks around every corner? The writer Emma Kennedy joins Jenni to discuss how she's tried to shed some of her parents' pet fears, whilst psychologist Terri Apter explores the part worry plays within mother-daughter relationships.

Last week one woman launched a billboard poster campaign showing her in her bra and using the phrase "Hello Boys" in a direct appeal to political party leaders. She was hoping to catch their attention for her cause - making help for those with autism feature on their election manifestos. This week we've seen Cancer Research and TK Maxx launch a campaign with naked celebrities asking us to give up our clothes. Polly Tommey talks about why she made her ad in the way she did, and Jenni is joined by communications professor Angela McRobbie and Joseph Petyan from the advertising agency J Walter Thompson to discuss how far is too far in getting your message across.


THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00ryk10)
A Small Town Murder, series 2

Episode 4

4/5

Jackie Hart (35) is a Family Liason Officer solving cases by winning the trust of those caught up in the nightmare of serious crime and murder.

Police guidelines: The primary function of a Family Liaison Officer is that of an investigator. In performing this role the officer will support the family, but will also gather relevant information and intelligence.

The crimes, mainly murders, are presented as mysteries which Jackie solves in the whodunit tradition where events and characters never turn out to be what they at first appear. Jackie makes frequent use of VOI in the form of an audiolog to confide her thoughts and suspicions.

Police guidelines: The Contact Log will be used to record details of contact with family members and other parties connected to the family.

Jackie is a serving copper, not a social worker, working as part of an active team of investigating CID officers .. but because she works in liason she gets closer to the people involved in the crime, closer to the raw emotions and is able to investigate in a way her colleagues can't - combining empathy and intuition with the keen observation of a clever detective.

And this is what defines the series - other officers are kept to the far periphery as we focus intimately on Jackie and those she is both supporting and suspecting, in stories which feel more like sensitive character studies than police procedurals.

Jackie ..... Meera Syal
Gillian ..... Niamh Cusack
Peter ..... Mathew Marsh
Michael ..... Ollie Barbieri

The producer is Clive Brill, and this is a Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b00rtd48)
Pentecostalists in Central America

In the past few decades, Central America has been in the grip of what has been described as the largest mass conversion in history - the explosive growth of Pentecostalism across Latin America. The take-up of this new faith in both Guatemala and El Salvador is now estimated at over 40%.

Film maker Steve O'Hagan travelled through those countries to ask why the people there are reaching out to this new religion, after 400 years of rule from the Vatican.

From the space-age opulence of the biggest church in all of Latin America on the outskirts of Guatemala City, to the rapidly mushrooming micro-churches operating out of back rooms and alleyways of the working class suburbs of San Salvador, Steve O'Hagan searches for the reasons why Pentecostalism - a faith associated with wealth, televangelists, and the North American Right - has proven so successful here.

Increasingly from the margins of the society, the Catholics of Liberation Theology continue to dedicate themselves to their work. In the mountainous former rebel strongholds of El Salvador, Steve meets a Belgian priest who ministered to the guerrillas throughout the 12-year civil war and today is still tending his flock.

But in a surprising coda, we discover that perhaps the spirit of Liberation Theology will live on in its theological 'conqueror'. Some Pentecostal groups in El Salvador are beginning to cast off the right-wing tendencies of their past, and pick up the torch of liberation first lit by the Catholics decades earlier.

Producer: Lucy Ash.


THU 11:30 In Search of My Lizard Brain (b00rtdps)
At the 3rd annual London Fifty at Hoxton Hall in Shoreditch in January 2010, ventriloquist Nina Conti left Monkey behind and watched 50 hours of improvisation, directed by Dana Anderson, Canadian creator of the Improvathon (or Soapathon) and Adam Meggido, of the innovative London theatre, The Sticking Place.

It was Ken Campbell who first brought the idea of the Improvathon - a marathon of improvised drama and comedy - to Britain from Canada, where he'd been inspired by Dana Anderson and his Die-Nasty company at Edmonton's Varscona Theatre.

25 actors gathered for the 6pm start on Friday, and most of them were still there when it ended at 9pm on Sunday. So was the audience, though there were some thin periods in the early hours of the morning. The theme was loosely Victorian and on stage at various times were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Jane Austen and many made up characters.

Once the actors have been improvising for 30 hours they experience what Dana calls 'Stargate' and find themselves 'being' rather than acting. They no longer have to think about what to do or say on stage - it just happens. They define this as being in touch with their 'lizard' or instinctual brain.

Nina asked Dr Mark Lythgoe, Director of the Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging at University College London to account for this; he puts it down to a combination of sleep deprivation and creative high, which leads to disinhibition.

For actors and audience the Improvathon proved an extraordinary and compelling experience. Nina was most struck by the sense of community and support it engendered, as the actors pulled together to keep each other going and, by saying 'yes' to every new idea, took themselves and the production to new levels.

Producer: Marya Burgess


THU 12:00 You and Yours (b00rqrws)
The Chancellor says cutting the number of sick days in the NHS could save £555m. So why is absenteeism such a problem for the health service? Also on the health agenda - gene patenting. Why gene patents (including two linked to breast cancer) have been ruled unlawful in the United States. Plus Winifred investigates the world of online dating and asks if the recession has hit romance in cyberspace. And do old fashioned lightbulbs really keep your gas bill down? Keeping up the healthy theme our reporter, Melanie Abbott, goes out and about to see if cycling projects designed to get us out of our cars and on to our bikes are proving to be a success.


THU 12:57 Weather (b00rqry4)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 13:00 World at One (b00rrbcm)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


THU 13:30 Costing the Earth (b00rtcvw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:00 The Archers (b00rrbgj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (b00g371v)
The Borrowers

Episode 2

Adaptation of Mary Norton's children's classic. Having emigrated to the field at the back of the house, the Clock family must find shelter before the sparrowhawks get them.


THU 15:00 Open Country (b00rpvkf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:07 on Saturday]


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b00rqjk6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00rt9gj)
EM Forster Short Stories

The Obelisk

In The Obelisk, the next in our series of short stories by EM Forster, a chance encounter leads an unhappily married couple to find solace in forbidden ways. Throughout his career the novelist best known for some of the twentieth century's best loved novels including A Passage to India, Where Angels Fear to Tread and Howard's End wrote short stories which reveal much about his outlook on life. Many of his stories including The Obelisk were unpublished until after his death because of their homosexual theme and only shown to his circle of friends, among them Christopher Isherwood and T.E. Lawrence.

Read by Ruth Wilson. Abridged by Richard Hamilton. Produced by Elizabeth Allard.


THU 15:45 Food for Thought (b00mz8tj)
Series 1

Rabbi Lionel Blue

Journalist Nina Myskow discovers how attitudes to food, shape and affect individual lives.

With the table set for Shabbat-eve, Lionel Blue looks back on his unorthodox life. As Britain's first openly gay Rabbi, often referred to as "cherub-faced", he tells Nina how food has been inextricably linked with personal transformation, from changing tastes and a fluctuating waistline to transformed circumstances and shifting beliefs. However, he still remembers watching his grandmother cooking potato latkes and eating them on toast or with apple sauce. It was the kind of food that fed the family, the neighbours and, he implies, the soul.

The producer is Tamsin Hughes, and this is a Wise Buddah production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 16:00 Bookclub (b00rqlc4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:30 Material World (b00rtf9l)
As colour returns to gardens across the country after the long cold winter, Quentin Cooper hears how records from two and a half centuries of nature-watching reveal the gradual advance of spring, and what this says about climate change.

Also in the programme, the UK team who have built a tsunami simulator to see how buildings can best resist the powerful seawaves created by earthquakes.

Nanoelectronics are brought a step closer with a new kind of digital logic.

And we hear from more potential participants in Radio 4's "So You Want to be a Scientist" talent search.


THU 17:00 PM (b00rrbtv)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00rrbyr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:30 Another Case of Milton Jones (b00rtf9n)
Series 4

Celebrity Weatherman

In this episode, Milton proves that you don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - you just need a fully-working anemometer and a mouse called Tim.

Hurricanes, eclipses and a box of Duchy Originals are just some of the hideous forces of nature Milton has to reckon with. So if you like talking about the weather - and what English person doesn't - then wrap up warm and make sure you catch Another Case Of Milton Jones.

Milton's joined in his endeavours by his co-stars Tom Goodman-Hill (Camelot), Dan Tetsell (Mongrels) and Lucy Montgomery (Down The Line).

Britain's funniest Milton and the king of the one-liner returns with a fully-working cast and a shipload of jokes for this series of daffy comedy adventures.

Each week, Milton is a complete and utter expert at something - Top Gun aviator, Weatherman, Billy Elliot-style dancer, World-beating cyclist, mathematical genius and Extreme Travel Entrepreneur. And each week, with absolutely no ability or competence, he plunges into a big adventure with utterly funny results.

"Milton Jones is one of Britain's best gagsmiths with a flair for creating daft yet perfect one-liners" - The Guardian
"King of the surreal one-liners" - The Times
"If you haven't caught up with Jones yet - do so!" - Daily Mail

Written by Milton with James Cary (Think The Unthinkable, Miranda)

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


THU 19:00 The Archers (b00rrbgl)
While sitting in market traffic, Ruth tells David that Nigel collected the latest vintage of his wine yesterday. Elizabeth has confirmed lunch at Lower Loxley on Phil's birthday.

Noticing Eddie, David asks him to fast track them, but parking's nothing to do with Eddie, he's working in the ring today. David and Ruth hope the café moves with the market. Ruth considers taking some cakes home for the kids but reflects that Pip's never there. David heard that Pip and Jude were draped all over each other in the pub last night. Ruth thinks Josh deserves a cake as he's been good lately.

Brenda's up early, amending her application again, but her laptop crashes and she rushes into the Bull to re-write her latest revisions. Fallon tries to calm her down. Brenda's having one last look at her application when Tom surprises her with a brand new laptop. It's a lovely gesture, as she knows part of him doesn't want her to get the job. He insists that what she wants is important to him. But she should amend her application again to include her computer crashing in the bit about "time management under pressure", or maybe in "meeting deadlines". They enjoy a laugh together.


THU 19:15 Front Row (b00rrc1p)
Pierce Brosnan discusses his role as a former Prime Minister attempting to write his memoirs in new film The Ghost, directed by Roman Polanski.

Yvette Fielding has been leading ghostly investigations for the television series Most Haunted for eight years. She talks to Mark Lawson about the twelfth series, out on DVD now, which sees her travel to some of America's eeriest destinations.

Helen Wallace reviews three newly released classical music CDs: Stephen Hough playing Tchaikovsky's piano concertos, Angela Hewitt and Daniel Muller-Schott playing Beethoven's cello sonatas and an all-star trio made up of Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and Emanuel Ax perform Mendelssohn piano trios.

Producer: Georgia Mann.


THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00ryk10)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


THU 20:00 The Report (b00rtfhd)
Child Abuse and Serious Case Reviews

Whether it's a case like Baby P or the 'British Fritzl' in Sheffield, the Serious Case Review is always scrutinised for mistakes and who was to blame by the media, politicians and professionals. They're carried out when children die or are seriously injured as a result of neglect or abuse and are designed to highlight lessons that can be learned by all agencies responsible for keeping children safe. In the Report this week Simon Cox looks at why many of these reports highlight the same issues over and over again and asks whether attempts to make them more robust will work or are actually misguided.


THU 20:30 In Business (b00rtfhg)
Life Cycle

Life Cycle

Britain is experiencing a two-wheeled revolution. Folding bikes, e-bikes, tricycles, recumbents, fixies, cargo bikes, bamboo bikes - the bicycle is being reinvented and demand is so great that many manufacturers are struggling to keep up. Amid burgeoning sales of bicycles and accessories, are we witnessing a genuine cultural shift towards two wheels or will this turn out to be just another fad? Peter Day meets some of the businesses and innovators hoping pedal power is here to stay.

Producer: Ben Crighton.


THU 21:00 Saving Species (b00rt8nn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 on Tuesday]


THU 21:30 In Our Time (b00rtd0g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 21:58 Weather (b00rrc7t)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b00rrcm1)
National and international news and analysis with Robin Lustig.


THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00rdv5l)
Salley Vickers - Dancing Backwards

Episode 9

Eileen Atkins reads from Salley Vickers' acclaimed new novel, Dancing Backwards

Violet Hetherington's husband has recently died. Alone, she decides to take a cruise-ship crossing to visit her old friend, Edwin, in New York.

As she journeys across the Atlantic the quiet Violet begins to blossom - learning to ballroom dance, taking up smoking again, befriending a famously seething theatre critic. And in her time alone she reminisces about her early adulthood as a student at Cambridge. It's at Cambridge that she meets Edwin. Edwin, it soon becomes clear, is someone she's betrayed and someone she's both terrified and desperate to see again. The story that unfolds about the young Violet holds the secret to that betrayal.

In tonight's episode, Violet arrives in New York and, in some trepidation, sees Edwin face to face again at last.

Written and abridged by Salley Vickers. Vickers is a critically acclaimed, best-selling novelist whose work includes Mr Golightly's Holiday, Instances of the Number 3, Miss Garnet's Angel and The Other Side of You. Miss Garnet's Angel and The Other Side of You were both popular Book at Bedtimes. Last year she dramatised her version of the Oedipus myth, Where Three Roads Meet, for Radio 4's Afternoon Play slot. Before becoming a full time writer she was a psychoanalyst.


THU 23:00 Scrooby Trevithick (b00rtfhj)
Councillor

Scrooby Trevithick is a six part scripted comedy series written by and starring Andy Parsons following on from the first series aired on Radio 4 18 months ago - The Lost WebLog of Scrooby Trevithick.

This second series continues to follow the exploits of the hapless character of Scrooby (Andy Parsons), an enthusiastic but flawed wannabe who having returned from his wanderings is still trying to find himself by zealously posting his web diaries online.

Each episode features him attempting to make a dent in the national consciousness, and in this series, he's helped by his good friend Sasha (played by Kerry Godliman). However, his desire for success always takes him one step further than prudence dictates.

Episode 4. Councillor. In this episode, Scrooby tries to become a councillor having got into trouble joyriding his wheelie bin.

The cast features a variety of talented comedians including Dara O Briain, Russell Howard, Hugh Dennis, Russell Kane, Rufus Hound, Alun Cochrane, Dominic Frisby, Paul Thorne, Martin Coyote and Barunka O'Shaughnessy.

As always, listeners are encouraged to share their comments with Scrooby at www.scroobytrevithick.com as he needs all the advice he can get.

The producer is Paul Russell, and this is an Open Mike production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00rxjn6)
As Parliament comes to an end, MPs and Peers reach the end of a week of legislative horse-trading.



FRIDAY 09 APRIL 2010

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b00rqnx2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b00rqqpg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00rqnz4)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00rqp4m)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00rqp4p)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b00rqp72)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00rqpf8)
with the Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b00rqpy8)
Charlotte Smith hears from a campaign to remove cultivated daffodils from the countryside. Wildlife Consultant Andy Tasker believes these daffodils shouldn't be on the verges of rural roads and should be confined to more appropriate areas. Also there are plans to re-introduce truffle woods on farmland across the country. Historically, Britain has been an exporter of truffles, but the last full time truffle hunter gave up in the 1930's. Now a scientist is working with more than a dozen landowners to re-introduce British truffles on a larger scale.

Presenter: Charlotte Smith
Producer: Anna Varle.


FRI 06:00 Today (b00rqq47)
With John Humphrys and Sarah Montague. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 The Reunion (b00rqkr7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b00rqqpj)
Graham Robb - Parisians

Episode 5

"The idea was to create a kind of mini Human Comedy of Paris, in which the history of the city would be illumined by the real experiences of its inhabitants."

So says the author Graham Robb about his new book 'Parisians'. And a whole host of characters walk, scuttle jump, run and flounce across his pages, beginning with the French Revolution and ending in more current times. These inhabitants are natives and visitors, and it is the likes of Charles Axel Guillaumot, Marie Antoinette, Alexandrine Zola, Adolf Hitler and Charles de Gaulle who lighten and darken the city's streets
in five episodes for BOOK OF THE WEEK. The series narrator is Stephen Boxer.

In this final episode, we witness gunshots at Notre Dame, which heralds decades of danger for
a new French leader... Reader Stephen Boxer.


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00rqqyj)
Jenni Murray discusses Myra Hindley, who is still viewed as Britain's most notorious female killer. Her name will always be linked to the Lancashire Moors where four of her five victims were buried. Carol Ann Lee - who has written extensively on the Holocaust - has now written a biography of Hindley. But what more is there to say about the woman who helped kill five children and went on to divide public opinion, as she kept campaigning for release? She talks to Jenni Murray.

Next month will see Laura Chinchilla sworn in as leader of Costa Rica. She's the fifth woman to be elected president in Latin America over the last two decades and follows closely on the heels of Chile's Michelle Bachelet and Argentina's Cristina Fernadez de Kirchner. So how significant is this apparent progress, in a region which is so mired in machismo and patriarchy?

Olive Shapley is one of the most important women in the history of the BBC. She joined the Corporation in 1934 and revolutionised the way radio was made. as well as presenting Woman's Hour, she interviewed ordinary people, many of them in the North of England. For the first time miners, housewives and the unemployed were heard on the wireless. Their accents were branded 'incomprehensible' by some of the London critics. She let people speak freely - previously, all radio output had to be scripted in advance. She was also a radical in her private life - she opened her Manchester home to single mothers in the 1960s, and then welcomed the families of Vietnamese boat people in the 1970s.

And - we visit Montreal's ice hotel, the destination for choice if you want a very cool wedding.


FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00ryk1d)
A Small Town Murder, series 2

Episode 5

5/5

Jackie Hart (35) is a Family Liason Officer solving cases by winning the trust of those caught up in the nightmare of serious crime and murder.

Police guidelines: The primary function of a Family Liaison Officer is that of an investigator. In performing this role the officer will support the family, but will also gather relevant information and intelligence.

The crimes, mainly murders, are presented as mysteries which Jackie solves in the whodunit tradition where events and characters never turn out to be what they at first appear. Jackie makes frequent use of VOI in the form of an audiolog to confide her thoughts and suspicions.

Police guidelines: The Contact Log will be used to record details of contact with family members and other parties connected to the family.

Jackie is a serving copper, not a social worker, working as part of an active team of investigating CID officers .. but because she works in liason she gets closer to the people involved in the crime, closer to the raw emotions and is able to investigate in a way her colleagues can't - combining empathy and intuition with the keen observation of a clever detective.

And this is what defines the series - other officers are kept to the far periphery as we focus intimately on Jackie and those she is both supporting and suspecting, in stories which feel more like sensitive character studies than police procedurals.

Jackie ..... Meera Syal
Gillian ..... Niamh Cusack
Peter ..... Mathew Marsh
Michael ..... Ollie Barbieri

The producer is Clive Brill, and this is a Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 11:00 Ruby Murray: The Secret Story of Curry (b00rtg89)
The British are mad about curry - 'Ruby Murray' in Cockney rhyming slang.

Alkarim Jivani speaks to curry lovers north and south of the border to find out how curry came to be so intimately linked with the British sense of identity.

Historically, the English have been seen as distrustful of foreigners and wary of foreign food. So the nation's long love affair with curry - which is as much working class as colonial - is a surprising one. Even more curious is how this passion for curry is now recognised as part of the British identity. Vindaloo was the unofficial song of England's 1998 World Cup team - an unlikely battlecry for English football fans. In 2001, Robin Cook, then Foreign Secretary, declared that chicken tikka masala was the nation's most popular dish. Chicken tikka masala is even included by the Ministry of Defence in its operational ration packs to bring the troops some home comfort.

Contributors include:

* Madhur Jaffrey, whose enormously popular 1982 BBC TV series Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery revolutionised British Indian cuisine.
* Michelin-starred chef, Atul Kochhar (Great British Menu, Saturday Kitchen), known for his masterful use of spices and Indian twist to modern British cuisine.
* Namita Panjabi, Group Director, Masala World (Veeraswamy, Chutney Mary, Amaya, and Masala Zone).
* Neil Hind at Defence Food Services, Defence Equipment and Support, Ministry of Defence (Defence Equipment and Support buys equipment and supports the UK army, navy and airforce around the world).

Producers: Catriona Oliphant / Ian Willox
Executive Producer: Simon Berthon

A Chrome Radio Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2010.


FRI 11:30 Meet David Sedaris (b00rtg8c)
Series 1

Let It Snow; The Cat and the Baboon; Keeping Up

From Carnegie Hall to the BBC Radio Theatre - American humorist David Sedaris reads from his extensive collection of published stories and articles. In show 2 of 4: "Let It Snow", "The Cat and the Baboon" and "Keeping Up".

The producer is Steve Doherty, and this is a Boomerang Plus production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b00rqrwv)
Talk Talk tells us why they'll refuse to disconnect customers who are accused of downloading films or music illegally.

Plus why are police interested in a national newspaper advert which offered top wines for sale from bankrupt restaurants? And find out how the experts are explaining a sharp rise in the number of people reported to have got food poisoning after eating oysters.

And up-and-coming bands are complaining they can't get the funds to go on tour, but should we really expect banks to help them out? Peter White talks to the co-manager of Radiohead and Chairman of the Music Manager's Forum, Brian Message.

Also more on the lawsuit planned against the partners of E-Clear - the payment processing company blamed for bringing down Scotland's biggest airline.


FRI 12:57 Weather (b00rqry6)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 13:00 World at One (b00rrbcp)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


FRI 13:30 Feedback (b00rtg8f)
Roger Bolton airs listeners' views on BBC radio programmes and policy.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (b00rrbgl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (b00rtgrj)
Katie Hims - A Small Piece of Silence

A Small Piece of Silence by Katie Hims

A Small Piece of Silence started out in a very different way to most radio plays. After David Bower's striking performance as Quasimodo in Radio Four's production of The Hunchback of Notredame, the producer Susan Roberts suggested a contemporary play be written specially for him. After many initial conversations with David who plays the lead character Joe in the play, Katie Hims' story began to emerge.

In A Small Piece of Silence, Joe who has been Deaf since he was born , works in an ordinary council office . Every day he makes the same journey to work on the bus, seeing the same people . Then one day a young girl signs her name to him. A_N_G_E_L.

Joe has been working in the council's housing office for 17 years. Apart from one small promotion he has remained in the same job surrounded by the same people . Vernon has been there for the same amount of time. He eats Joe's food and talks too fast in the pub ..but Joe goes along with it.

Into their world comes new office recruit Shelly who begins to fall for Joe. Until Joe realises that she is having a relationship with Richard Humble , the leader of the council

At the end of Shelly's first week there is a huge fire in a nearby block of flats. Joe learns that Angel was one of the people who has died.

And so Joe's life is changed forever as he embarks on a quest, turning detective to find out what has happened.

A Small Piece of Silence is a love story, detective story but, using sound, it attempts to give us a picture of the world of someone who can't hear. It examines the issues around how society deals with Deafness through the character of Joe.

Joe ..... David Bower
Shelly ..... Maxine Peake
Vernon ..... Ralph Ineson
Brigitta ..... Deborah McAndrew
Marion ..... Ruth Alexander-Rubin
Richard/ Bus Driver ..... Terence Mann

Music composed and performed by Liran Donin

Artistic consultant Isolte Avila . Developed in partnership with Signdance Collective .
Directed in Manchester by Susan Roberts.

Liran Donin provides specially composed music and a soundscape that illustrates Joe's view of the world. Joe suffers from Tinitus. Liran, underscores this condition in sound.

David Bower is one of the creative directors of Signdance Collective , an international dance music theatre company lead by Deaf and physically disabled dance theatre artists working alongside composer musicians.

Katie Hims

Katie Hims' first radio play, 'The Earthquake Girl', won a Richard Imison Award in 1998, and since then her work has never failed to make an impression. In Katie's world there is a semblance of normality but underneath all that you can be sure is that something strange.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00rth3g)
Gardeners' Question Time introduces a new series: 'Listeners' Gardens'. Here, members of the panel visit four very different gardeners at home, offering them advice on their gardening projects. We revisit our four participants, bringing you updates on their progress.

The first part of 'Listeners' Gardens' comes from a garden in Sherwood, near Nottingham. The gardener is setting out from scratch and has a limited space to work with. What creative suggestions do the panel have to offer?

This week's Question and Answer session is recorded with the Radcliffe Gardening Club in Nottinghamshire. The panel are Bunny Guinness, Bob Flowerdew and Pippa Greenwood. Eric Robson is in the chair.

The producer is Lucy Dichmont. This is a Somethin Else production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 15:45 Food for Thought (b00n47q3)
Series 1

Jung Chang

Journalist Nina Myskow discovers how attitudes to food, shape and affect individual lives.

Settled over a lunch of ma po tofu and bitter melon greens, celebrated author Jung Chang recalls a life of adjustments and accommodations to place, identity and food. She describes the powerful memories evoked by a plate of double-cooked pork, spiked with her native Sichuan spice and discusses her changing tastes since arriving in Britain and the success of her memoir Wild Swans.

The producer is Tamsin Hughes, and this is a Wise Buddah production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (b00rth3j)
This week's programme includes obituaries for the performer and impresario Malcolm McLaren, the actor and political activist Corin Redgrave and the South African white supremacist leader Eugene Terreblanche.

Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols on band manager and punk rock pioneer Malcolm McLaren.

The South African white supremacist Eugene Terre'Blanche is remembered by documentary film maker Nick Broomfield.

We hear how Corin Redgrave emerged from the shadow cast by his famous actor father to become a powerful voice on both dramatic and political stages.

And Sir Alec Bedser, the England bowler who claimed 236 Test wickets.


FRI 16:30 The Film Programme (b00rth3l)
Tilda Swinton discusses her film career with Francine Stock, including her latest, I Am Love, which was 11 years in the making.

Co-creator of The Office, Stephen Merchant talks about his latest collaboration with Ricky Gervais, Cemetery Junction.


FRI 17:00 PM (b00rrbtx)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00rrbyv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:30 The Now Show (b00rth3n)
Series 30

Episode 6

The Now show 6/6

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis present a satirical look through the week's news, with help from Jon Holmes, Laura Shavin, Mitch Benn and Mark Watson.

Producer: Ed Morrish.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (b00rrbgn)
Jennifer's impressed at how Alice and Christopher have made themselves at home in the cottage, and delights them with the news that the guests won't arrive till Sunday. They've had a fabulous time, and Alice comes up with a plan which she thinks will enable her and Chris to stay even longer.

Lilian meets up with Paul, who's been quoting on a local renovation job. If he gets it, he could be back again soon. Jennifer appears, and accepts Paul's invitation to join them. As Paul gets her a drink, Jennifer asks what's going on. Lilian agrees to tell her later.

Lilian tells Jennifer all there is to tell. Jennifer's concerned but Lilian insists she's simply keeping the door open in case Matt feels differently about meeting Paul when he's released. Jennifer knows Matt's not going to change his mind. Lilian's playing a risky game and Jennifer questions whether she's only seeing Paul for Matt's sake.

Pip wishes she was going on holiday with Jude. Jude tells her he feels the same way. As they say goodbye, Pip apologises for getting upset. He reminds her it's only for a week but for Pip it's going to be the longest week of her life.


FRI 19:15 Front Row (b00rrc1r)
With Mark Lawson. Sarah Crompton reviews the new ITV remake of 1960s TV classic The Prisoner, starring Ian McKellen and Jim Caviezel

Laura Wade discusses her play Posh, about a group of privileged boys at Oxford and the debauched antics at their elite dining society

As Radio 3 launches its Specialist Classical Music chart countdown, Paul Gambaccini explores the recent resurgence of music charts

Mark visits the sculptor David Nash as he prepares for a major exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which will include a work made out of a huge Californian Redwood tree.


FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00ryk1d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b00rth3q)
Jonathan Dimbleby is the guest of the Eden Valley Hospice in Cumbria with questions from the audience for the panel including: Andy Burnham MP, Secretary of State for Health; Eric Pickles MP, Conservative Party Chairman; Jo Swinson MP, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Daily Mail political columnist Peter Oborne.


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b00rth9p)
Simon Schama celebrates the distinctive history and culture of New Zealand and regrets any renewed talk of joining forces with Australia. While recognising the attractions of Australia's strong economy and way of life, he applauds the political traditions of New Zealand which was the first country to give women the vote and enshrined in law the rights of Maoris. The resulting society, more equal than many, should, he believes, be cherished and preserved.


FRI 21:00 A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus (b00rth9r)
The World in the Age of Confucius (500 - 300 BC)

Another chance to hear the Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retell the history of human development using 100 selected objects from the Museum. This week, in the last of the current run of Omnibus programmes, he explores the emergence of powerful new cultures and new rulers across the world, around two and a half thousand years ago. Accompanied by the likes of Carlos Fuentes, Evelyn Glennie, Olga Palagia, Jonathan Meades, Sir Barry Cunliffe and Isabel Hilton, Neil considers the wider historical significance of: a small gold chariot from the Persian Empire of Cyrus; one of the contested marble sculptures from the Parthenon; a pair of bronze drinking flagons from Northern Europe; a small Mexican mask from the "mother culture" of central America whose existence was only uncovered in the past hundred years; and a bronze bell from China in the time of Confucius.

Producers: Anthony Denselow and Paul Kobrak.


FRI 21:58 Weather (b00rrc7w)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b00rrcm3)
National and international news and analysis with Ritula Shah.


FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00rdv5n)
Salley Vickers - Dancing Backwards

Episode 10

Eileen Atkins reads from Salley Vickers' acclaimed new novel, Dancing Backwards

Violet Hetherington's husband has recently died. Alone, she decides to take a cruise-ship crossing to visit her old friend, Edwin, in New York.

As she journeys across the Atlantic the quiet Violet begins to blossom - learning to ballroom dance, taking up smoking again, befriending a famously seething theatre critic. And in her time alone she reminisces about her early adulthood as a student at Cambridge. It's at Cambridge that she meets Edwin. Edwin, it soon becomes clear, is someone she's betrayed and someone she's both terrified and desperate to see again. The story that unfolds about the young Violet holds the secret to that betrayal.

In tonight's episode, Violet and Edwin will finally put their demons to rest.

Written and abridged by Salley Vickers. Vickers is a critically acclaimed, best-selling novelist whose work includes Mr Golightly's Holiday, Instances of the Number 3, Miss Garnet's Angel and The Other Side of You. Miss Garnet's Angel and The Other Side of You were both popular Book at Bedtimes. Last year she dramatised her version of the Oedipus myth, Where Three Roads Meet, for Radio 4's Afternoon Play slot. Before becoming a full time writer she was a psychoanalyst.


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b00rt9rh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 Bespoken Word (b00n56sw)
Special edition of Radio 4's performance poetry show from Cardiff University. Featuring Brit School graduate Laura Dockrill, who regularly gigs with Kate Nash and has just published her second book, Ugly Shy Girl, which looks at the experiences of the sixth-form loner girl, the kind who feels 'like a tiny speck of dust that the Hoover has forgotten to suck up'. Plus the winner of the Radio 4 Poetry Slam competition Dizraeli, who makes you listen to rap with new ears, and Siadwell from the TV comedy series Naked Video.




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 (b00rqrml)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 MON (b00rqrml)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 TUE (b00ryjzl)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 TUE (b00ryjzl)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 WED (b00ryk0p)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 WED (b00ryk0p)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 THU (b00ryk10)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 THU (b00ryk10)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 FRI (b00ryk1d)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 FRI (b00ryk1d)

A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus 21:00 FRI (b00rth9r)

A Musical Trip to South Africa - with Lenny Henry 09:30 TUE (b00rt8nl)

A Point of View 20:50 FRI (b00rth9p)

Afternoon Reading 00:30 SUN (b009psnk)

Afternoon Reading 19:45 SUN (b008kjj3)

Afternoon Reading 15:30 TUE (b00rt9gd)

Afternoon Reading 15:30 WED (b00rt9gg)

Afternoon Reading 15:30 THU (b00rt9gj)

Americana 19:15 SUN (b00rqlrf)

Anatomy Of... 20:00 MON (b00rt7rt)

Another Case of Milton Jones 18:30 THU (b00rtf9n)

Any Answers? 14:00 SAT (b00rpw6v)

Any Questions? 13:10 SAT (b00rp41t)

Any Questions? 20:00 FRI (b00rth3q)

Archive on 4 15:00 MON (b00nrxkp)

Bells on Sunday 05:43 SUN (b00rqhd5)

Bells on Sunday 00:45 MON (b00rqhd5)

Bespoken Word 23:30 FRI (b00n56sw)

Between Ourselves 09:00 TUE (b00rt8nj)

Between Ourselves 21:30 TUE (b00rt8nj)

Beyond Westminster 11:00 SAT (b00rpvry)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 MON (b00rdv5d)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 TUE (b00rdv5g)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 WED (b00rdv5j)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 THU (b00rdv5l)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 FRI (b00rdv5n)

Book of the Week 00:30 SAT (b00rp7qm)

Book of the Week 09:45 MON (b00rqqy8)

Book of the Week 00:30 TUE (b00rqqy8)

Book of the Week 09:45 TUE (b00rqqpb)

Book of the Week 00:30 WED (b00rqqpb)

Book of the Week 09:45 WED (b00rqqpd)

Book of the Week 00:30 THU (b00rqqpd)

Book of the Week 09:45 THU (b00rqqpg)

Book of the Week 00:30 FRI (b00rqqpg)

Book of the Week 09:45 FRI (b00rqqpj)

Bookclub 16:00 SUN (b00rqlc4)

Bookclub 16:00 THU (b00rqlc4)

Broadcasting House 09:00 SUN (b00rqkr3)

Case Notes 21:00 TUE (b00rt9rr)

Classic Serial 21:00 SAT (b00rl4zj)

Classic Serial 15:00 SUN (b00rql6h)

Click On 16:30 MON (b00rt7rr)

Command Performance 10:30 SAT (b00rpvkt)

Costing the Earth 21:00 WED (b00rtcvw)

Costing the Earth 13:30 THU (b00rtcvw)

Counterpoint 20:00 SAT (b00rp41f)

Counterpoint 23:00 SAT (b00rm074)

Counterpoint 13:30 MON (b00rrljw)

Crossing Continents 20:30 MON (b00rp1w4)

Crossing Continents 11:00 THU (b00rtd48)

Drama 14:15 MON (b00rrljy)

Drama 14:15 TUE (b00rt94m)

Drama 14:15 WED (b00g2z1k)

Drama 14:15 THU (b00g371v)

Drama 14:15 FRI (b00rtgrj)

Excess Baggage 10:00 SAT (b00rpvkr)

Farming Today 06:30 SAT (b00rpvkh)

Farming Today 05:45 MON (b00rqq3z)

Farming Today 05:45 TUE (b00rqpy2)

Farming Today 05:45 WED (b00rqpy4)

Farming Today 05:45 THU (b00rqpy6)

Farming Today 05:45 FRI (b00rqpy8)

Feedback 20:00 SUN (b00rp41h)

Feedback 13:30 FRI (b00rtg8f)

Food for Thought 15:45 MON (b00mjk5v)

Food for Thought 15:45 TUE (b00mpn0n)

Food for Thought 15:45 WED (b00mtvgt)

Food for Thought 15:45 THU (b00mz8tj)

Food for Thought 15:45 FRI (b00n47q3)

From Our Own Correspondent 11:30 SAT (b00rpvs0)

Front Row 19:15 MON (b00rrc2b)

Front Row 19:15 TUE (b00rrc1k)

Front Row 19:15 WED (b00rrc1m)

Front Row 19:15 THU (b00rrc1p)

Front Row 19:15 FRI (b00rrc1r)

Fu Manchu in Edinburgh 11:30 TUE (b00rt91z)

GCHQ: Cracking the Code 17:00 SUN (b00rmssw)

Gardeners' Question Time 14:00 SUN (b00rql6c)

Gardeners' Question Time 15:00 FRI (b00rth3g)

Great Lives 16:30 TUE (b00rt9rh)

Great Lives 23:00 FRI (b00rt9rh)

Home Planet 15:00 TUE (b00rt94p)

House on Fire 11:30 WED (b00pxtwg)

I've Never Seen Star Wars 18:30 TUE (b00rt9rk)

In Business 21:30 SUN (b00rp1wj)

In Business 20:30 THU (b00rtfhg)

In Our Time 09:00 THU (b00rtd0g)

In Our Time 21:30 THU (b00rtd0g)

In Search of My Lizard Brain 11:30 THU (b00rtdps)

In Touch 20:40 TUE (b00rt9rp)

Iraq's Forgotten Conflict 20:00 TUE (b00rt9rm)

James Bond 14:30 SAT (b00rq1w3)

Justin Moorhouse - The Big Am I 23:00 WED (b00h34d9)

Last Word 20:30 SUN (b00rp41m)

Last Word 16:00 FRI (b00rth3j)

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Escape to the Country 14:45 SUN (b00rql6f)

Lent Talks 05:45 SAT (b00rmxk9)

Loose Ends 18:15 SAT (b00rq2kv)

Mark Steel's in Town 18:30 WED (b00rtbyy)

Material World 21:00 MON (b00rp1wb)

Material World 16:30 THU (b00rtf9l)

Meet David Sedaris 11:30 FRI (b00rtg8c)

Midnight News 00:00 SAT (b00rp448)

Midnight News 00:00 SUN (b00rq38k)

Midnight News 00:00 MON (b00rqnyw)

Midnight News 00:00 TUE (b00rqnww)

Midnight News 00:00 WED (b00rqnwy)

Midnight News 00:00 THU (b00rqnx0)

Midnight News 00:00 FRI (b00rqnx2)

Midweek 09:00 WED (b00rt9s6)

Midweek 21:30 WED (b00rt9s6)

Money Box Live 15:00 WED (b00rtbg6)

Money Box 12:00 SAT (b00rpvs2)

Money Box 21:00 SUN (b00rpvs2)

Moral Maze 22:15 SAT (b00rmxk7)

Mr Haydn's London Experience 13:30 SUN (b00kjh8j)

News Briefing 05:30 SAT (b00rp4dh)

News Briefing 05:30 SUN (b00rq3g5)

News Briefing 05:30 MON (b00rqpdy)

News Briefing 05:30 TUE (b00rqp6w)

News Briefing 05:30 WED (b00rqp6y)

News Briefing 05:30 THU (b00rqp70)

News Briefing 05:30 FRI (b00rqp72)

News Headlines 06:00 SUN (b00rqhd7)

News and Papers 06:00 SAT (b00rp4h8)

News and Papers 07:00 SUN (b00rqjk2)

News and Papers 08:00 SUN (b00rqjkb)

News and Weather 22:00 SAT (b00rq2m2)

News 13:00 SAT (b00rpw6s)

Off the Page 23:00 TUE (b00ny8fz)

Open Country 06:07 SAT (b00rpvkf)

Open Country 15:00 THU (b00rpvkf)

PM 17:00 SAT (b00rq2kj)

PM 17:00 MON (b00rrbyf)

PM 17:00 TUE (b00rrbtq)

PM 17:00 WED (b00rrbts)

PM 17:00 THU (b00rrbtv)

PM 17:00 FRI (b00rrbtx)

Pick of the Week 18:15 SUN (b00rqlp1)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 SAT (b00rp4gh)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 MON (b00rqpg2)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 TUE (b00rqpf1)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 WED (b00rqpf4)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 THU (b00rqpf6)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 FRI (b00rqpf8)

Profile 19:00 SAT (b00rq2kx)

Profile 05:45 SUN (b00rq2kx)

Profile 17:40 SUN (b00rq2kx)

Radio 4 Appeal 07:55 SUN (b00rqjk6)

Radio 4 Appeal 21:26 SUN (b00rqjk6)

Radio 4 Appeal 15:27 THU (b00rqjk6)

Ruby Murray: The Secret Story of Curry 11:00 FRI (b00rtg89)

Saturday Live 09:00 SAT (b00rpvkp)

Saturday Review 19:15 SAT (b00rq2kz)

Saving Species 11:00 TUE (b00rt8nn)

Saving Species 21:00 THU (b00rt8nn)

Scrooby Trevithick 23:00 THU (b00rtfhj)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SAT (b00rp4dc)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SUN (b00rq3g1)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 MON (b00rqp52)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 TUE (b00rqp47)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 WED (b00rqp4c)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 THU (b00rqp4h)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 FRI (b00rqp4m)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 SAT (b00rp4d9)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 SAT (b00rp4df)

Shipping Forecast 17:54 SAT (b00rq2kn)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 SUN (b00rq3fz)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 SUN (b00rq3g3)

Shipping Forecast 17:54 SUN (b00rqlnv)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 MON (b00rqp45)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 MON (b00rqp54)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 TUE (b00rqnyy)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 TUE (b00rqp49)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 WED (b00rqnz0)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 WED (b00rqp4f)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 THU (b00rqnz2)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 THU (b00rqp4k)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 FRI (b00rqnz4)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 FRI (b00rqp4p)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 SAT (b00rq2ks)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 SUN (b00rqlnz)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 MON (b00rrc1h)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 TUE (b00rrbyj)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 WED (b00rrbym)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 THU (b00rrbyr)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 FRI (b00rrbyv)

Something Understood 06:05 SUN (b00rqhd9)

Something Understood 23:30 SUN (b00rqhd9)

Star Wars on the South Bank 11:00 WED (b00rtbg2)

Start the Week 09:00 MON (b00rrhyd)

Start the Week 21:30 MON (b00rrhyd)

Suckers! Poet and Parasite 23:30 SAT (b00rl4zn)

Sunday Worship 08:10 SUN (b00rqjvy)

Sunday 07:10 SUN (b00rqjk4)

Sunrise Service 06:35 SUN (b00rqjjy)

The Archers Omnibus 10:00 SUN (b00rqkr5)

The Archers 19:00 SUN (b00rqlrc)

The Archers 14:00 MON (b00rqlrc)

The Archers 19:00 MON (b00rrbtn)

The Archers 14:00 TUE (b00rrbtn)

The Archers 19:00 TUE (b00rrbgg)

The Archers 14:00 WED (b00rrbgg)

The Archers 19:00 WED (b00rrbgj)

The Archers 14:00 THU (b00rrbgj)

The Archers 19:00 THU (b00rrbgl)

The Archers 14:00 FRI (b00rrbgl)

The Archers 19:00 FRI (b00rrbgn)

The Film Programme 23:00 SUN (b00rp41p)

The Film Programme 16:30 FRI (b00rth3l)

The Food Programme 12:32 SUN (b00rqkr9)

The Food Programme 16:00 MON (b00rqkr9)

The Media Show 16:30 WED (b00rtbg4)

The Now Show 12:30 SAT (b00rp41r)

The Now Show 18:30 FRI (b00rth3n)

The Poetry Olympian: Michael Horovitz at 75 16:30 SUN (b00rqlc6)

The Report 20:00 THU (b00rtfhd)

The Reunion 11:15 SUN (b00rqkr7)

The Reunion 09:00 FRI (b00rqkr7)

The Unbelievable Truth 12:00 SUN (b00rv4db)

The Unbelievable Truth 18:30 MON (b00rv4f3)

The World This Weekend 13:00 SUN (b00rqkrf)

The World Tonight 22:00 MON (b00rt830)

The World Tonight 22:00 TUE (b00rrclx)

The World Tonight 22:00 WED (b00rrclz)

The World Tonight 22:00 THU (b00rrcm1)

The World Tonight 22:00 FRI (b00rrcm3)

Thinking Allowed 00:15 MON (b00rmxbd)

Thinking Allowed 16:00 WED (b00rtbg8)

Thinking of Leaving Your Husband? 11:30 MON (b00rrkg5)

Today in Parliament 23:30 TUE (b00rxjkz)

Today in Parliament 23:30 WED (b00rxjm8)

Today in Parliament 23:30 THU (b00rxjn6)

Today 07:00 SAT (b00rpvkm)

Today 06:00 MON (b00rqq5g)

Today 06:00 TUE (b00rqq41)

Today 06:00 WED (b00rqq43)

Today 06:00 THU (b00rqq45)

Today 06:00 FRI (b00rqq47)

Unreliable Evidence 20:00 WED (b00rtcqy)

Weather 06:04 SAT (b00rpvkc)

Weather 06:57 SAT (b00rpvkk)

Weather 12:57 SAT (b00rpw6q)

Weather 17:57 SAT (b00rq2kq)

Weather 06:57 SUN (b00rqjk0)

Weather 07:58 SUN (b00rqjk8)

Weather 12:57 SUN (b00rqkrc)

Weather 17:57 SUN (b00rqlnx)

Weather 21:58 SUN (b00rqnrr)

Weather 05:57 MON (b00rrd9y)

Weather 12:57 MON (b00rqryp)

Weather 21:58 MON (b00rrclt)

Weather 12:57 TUE (b00rqry0)

Weather 21:58 TUE (b00rrc7p)

Weather 12:57 WED (b00rqry2)

Weather 21:58 WED (b00rrc7r)

Weather 12:57 THU (b00rqry4)

Weather 21:58 THU (b00rrc7t)

Weather 12:57 FRI (b00rqry6)

Weather 21:58 FRI (b00rrc7w)

Westminster Hour 22:00 SUN (b00rqnrt)

What Would Jesus Eat? 11:00 MON (b00rxjgw)

What the Election Papers Say 22:45 SUN (b00rwmyw)

What the Election Papers Say 20:45 WED (b00rtcvt)

When Harry Met Sally at 20 23:30 MON (b00m6zpr)

Woman's Hour 16:00 SAT (b00rq212)

Woman's Hour 10:00 MON (b00rqrmj)

Woman's Hour 10:00 TUE (b00rqqyb)

Woman's Hour 10:00 WED (b00rqqyd)

Woman's Hour 10:00 THU (b00rqqyg)

Woman's Hour 10:00 FRI (b00rqqyj)

Word of Mouth 23:00 MON (b00rms93)

Word of Mouth 16:00 TUE (b00rt9rf)

World at One 13:00 MON (b00rrbgd)

World at One 13:00 TUE (b00rrbch)

World at One 13:00 WED (b00rrbck)

World at One 13:00 THU (b00rrbcm)

World at One 13:00 FRI (b00rrbcp)

You and Yours 12:00 MON (b00rqrxy)

You and Yours 12:00 TUE (b00rqrwn)

You and Yours 12:00 WED (b00rqrwq)

You and Yours 12:00 THU (b00rqrws)

You and Yours 12:00 FRI (b00rqrwv)

iPM 17:30 SAT (b00rq2kl)