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 21 AUGUST 2010

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b00tdyhb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b00tdllr)
Stuart Kelly - Scott-land: The Man Who Invented a Nation

Episode 5

His name, image and influence can be seen everywhere; from Scottish banknotes to place names across the globe. Sir Walter Scott invented the modern novel, began Scotland's tourist industry and was the first celebrity author - a heady mix of JK Rowling and Dan Brown long before the age of mass media hype. Lauded by contemporary critics as well as his massive readership in the 19th century, he's hardly read - and even more rarely enjoyed - today.

Stuart Kelly considers the backlash which hit Scott's work after the prolific author's death. Although his critical reputation would never recover, the images of Scotland which Walter Scott created - the romantic landscapes populated by isolated, kilted natives - haunt Scotland to this day.

Stuart Kelly was born and brought up in the Scottish Borders. He studied English at Oxford and is the Literary Editor of Scotland on Sunday.

Reader: Robin Laing
Abridger: Laurence Wareing
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00tdyhd)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00tdyhg)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00tdyhj)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b00tdyhl)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00tdyhn)
with Canon Martyn Percy, Principal, Ripon College Cuddesdon.


SAT 05:45 iPM (b00tdyhq)
Should women be priests? Two listeners challenge their church over ordination. We send a contented singleton to Radio 4's Desert Island, and hear from a breadwinner who agreed to take a 10% pay cut. Also listeners send in sentences of their own news touching on the Battle of Britain, bad boyfriends and why you can't take a hire car into Belarus. And a puppy replaces Eddie Mair in the presenter's chair. Email ipm@bbc.co.uk.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b00tdyhs)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SAT 06:04 Weather (b00tdyj1)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (b00tdz4n)
Stargazing on Dartmoor and Kit Hill

For this week's Open Country, Helen Mark goes in search of the Perseids Meteor Shower, described as a 'celestial firework display' and visible each year from mid-July and reaching its peak around August 12th.

Helen hears all about this spectactular shooting star from amateur astronomer, Shona Owen, before joining naturalist Paul Gompertz from Devon Wildlife Trust for some nocturnal wildlife spotting at Castle Drogo, the last castle to be built in England. Heading across Dartmoor towards Kit Hill in Cornwall, Helen meets up cyclist, Jim Pascoe, who takes Helen for a ride out into the darkness of the moors and explains why he does what he does under the cover of moonlight. We also hear from Brian Byng who studies megaliths by moonlight. Brian explains to Helen how many of the ancient burial sites found on Dartmoor are linked to the stars and aligned with astronomy.

Finally, Helen rejoins Shona and her group of amateur astronomers at Kit Hill, close to the Callington Space Centre in Cornwall for the meteor shower's peak. How different the countryside seems under the night sky.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b00tdz4q)
Farming Today This Week

It's a year since the largest outbreak of e-coli linked to an open farm in the UK. 93 people were affected by the incident at Godstone Farm in Surrey and 27 - mostly children - were hospitalised. The Griffin report recommended that farms should change their layouts and reduce public contact with animal faeces but also that parents bear some responsibility to ensure children wash their hands properly after farm visits. Cath Mackie heads to a farm park in Staffordshire to see how farms balance their desire to educate the public with the cost and responsibility of keeping everyone safe. Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.


SAT 06:57 Weather (b00tdznn)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (b00tdznq)
Morning news and current affairs with James Naughtie and Justin Webb, including:
07:50 What hopes for peace talks in Washington between Israel and Palestine?
08:10 Should we be able to find out about the private lives of footballers?
08:30 Can Iain Duncan Smith deliver welfare reform?


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b00tdzns)
Repeat edition due to industrial action by National Union of Journalists. The Reverend Richard Coles' guests are Benjamin Zephaniah and poet Elvis McGonagall. There's an interview with a woman who gave away the fortune she inherited, and the man who's translated Stieg Larsson's celebrated Millennium Trilogy from the original Swedish into English, a Sound Sculpture about a traditional barber's shop and the Inheritance Tracks of Julian Clary.


SAT 10:00 Excess Baggage (b00tdznv)
Bus trip

Due to industrial action called by the National Union of Journalists we're sorry that we're unable to bring you our scheduled programme. In its place we offer you a programme from 21st August this year. Sandi Toksvig asked the Excess Baggage audience to nominate their favourite bus journeys and she chose one that, while in many ways is very ordinary, reveals much of fascination and beauty along the way. She meets listener Sonia Mabberley, who nominated the route, at the bus station in Swindon. It could have been an unpromising beginning, given the town's reputation for dullness, but in fact there is much on offer and they soon find themselves in the heart of the Wiltshire countryside at harvest time. The bus passes much of historical interest including the white horse carved from a chalk hillside, the World Heritage site of Avebury and they arrive at Devizes a typical country town on market day. Sandi concludes there is much you can see and enjoy for little outlay and without even going far from home. The bus song is by Kitty Macfarlane.
Producer: Harry Parker.


SAT 10:30 Ken and Mark and Robert (b00tdznx)
Legendary film-maker Ken Russell is in the studio with Mark Kermode recalling his love of music, which inspired such films as Mahler, Tommy and The Music Lovers as well as many TV documentaries.

Meanwhile, in the adjacent studio, musician Robert Ziegler is also talking about Ken's love of music... to Twiggy, Glenda Jackson MP, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Lord Bragg and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.

Can Ken hear what they are saying about him? Can they hear what Ken is saying about them?

Producer: David Roper

A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2010.


SAT 11:00 Beyond Westminster (b00tdznz)
As the coalition reaches its first 100 days in government, John Kampfner looks at how coalitions really work. What are the limits of what they can do - and what are the unintended consequences? John travels to Derby to meet local councillors who've had to work together in recent years - and finds out if there are lessons that can be learned by the new government.
John will also get advice from unexpected quarters on how coalitions can stick together -- and how they're perceived by the public.

Producer: Alicia McCarthy
Presenter: John Kampfner
Editor: Sue Ellis.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b00tdzp1)
We're in Pakistan, where 20 million people are on the move, desperately trying to escape the huge floods; from Australia we hear how grassroots politics is trying to make people think more about the issues as they vote; mixing up the ingredients that could save children's lives in Niger; and poetry and paradise in the Mediterranean.

Three weeks after the start of the floods in Pakistan, a fifth of the country is under water - and the levels are still rising. Around twenty million people are affected.

More international aid is now reaching the country. But the Pakistani government is still warning that its fight against terrorism could be jeopardised if the country doesn't get enough help, as people turn to extremist groups for support.

Mohammed Hanif has been watching this disaster unfold.

Niger is a country where many people really do live on the edge of survival. Once again this year they've suffered severe drought and, to make matters worse, there have also been torrential rains bringing destruction.

The United Nations says the country is facing the worst hunger crisis it has ever known, and aid workers say tens of thousands of children are in danger of dying. Afua Hirsch has recently visited some of the worst affected areas.

Australians have been voting today to elect a new government - and they have to....voting is compulsory down under. The opinion polls indicated that this was the tightest race in fifty years.

Increasingly around the world grassroots political movements, like America's Tea Party or the fair votes campaign here, have been trying - with some success - to influence elections and policies.

During this election campaign Rebecca Keating met members of an Australian grassroots organisation that's already had notable victories.

For decades in China Christian worshippers were persecuted, particularly after the country's brutal Cultural Revolution. Under the Communists religion was out and atheism was in.

But a lot has been changing in China over recent years, including official attitudes to Christianity - And that's something Christopher Landau examined on a recent trip there.

During the Battle of the Somme of the First World War, a young British soldier was so badly wounded when a shell fragment went through his lung, that he was expected to die. In fact he was officially reported dead and his obituary appeared in the Times. But he survived.

He was the poet, translator and novelist, Robert Graves. Ultimately, he lived a long and productive life, spending many years on the island of Mallorca. Christine Finn explored the poet's Spanish idyll.


SAT 12:00 Alvin Hall's Generations of Money (b00tdzp3)
Episode 4

In the final part of this series on inter-generational finance, Alvin Hall meets pensioners from different parts of the country to find out what retirement means for those without savings.

In Bristol, he meets Valerie Shellard, who worked as a tailor until the age of 72 and has lived in the same house for over 50 years. He hears how, before the intervention of the local council, she had to manage for months without a bath or a shower. Alvin assesses the benefit to the state of older people maintaining their independence at home rather than going into care.

Alvin then travels to Cambridgeshire where he meets racing car enthusiast, Peggy, whose ill-health is forcing her into sheltered accommodation. He finds out how she's lost out financially, without the support of family. A local charity explains how some older people are vulnerable to exploitation as many lack close contact with relatives.

And, looking back over the series, Alvin asks whether the credit crisis has really only served to expose pre-existing challenges facing an ageing population. Will the baby-boomers, holding so much wealth and political influence, defend their own interests or can they be encouraged to take the longer view?


SAT 12:30 Chain Reaction (b00tdx5w)
Series 6

Lee Mack interviews Ade Edmondson

The new series of the tag team talk show continues as last week's guest, one of the UK's most celebrated and current comics Lee Mack, writer and star of BBC1's "Not Going Out" takes the microphone to interview alternative comedy legend, writer and star of "The Young Ones" and "Bottom", Ade Edmondson.


SAT 12:57 Weather (b00tdzp5)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 13:00 News (b00tdzp7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b00tdxpr)
Eddie Mair chairs the topical discussion from Harvest Fields Centre in Sutton Coldfield with questions for the panel including Ruth Deech, Chairman of the Bar Standards Board, Douglas Murray, director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, author and historian Alex von Tunzelmann and Maajid Nawaz, founder of the Quilliam Foundation.

Producer: Beverley Purcell.


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b00tdzp9)
Eddie Mair takes listeners' calls and emails in response to this week's edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:30 Saturday Drama (b00djnw2)
Bora Bora

What happened when Alec appeared as a young boy in a famously and mysteriously suppressed film called Bora Bora?

It appears to have blighted his entire life while his brother went on to fame as an actor. Charlie, invading a painting holiday in Greece led by the older Alec, now an art-historian, is intent on unravelling secrets.

Sir Derek Jacobi takes on the role of Alec in a play specially written for him by Lynne Truss.

Cast:
Alec Bosanquet ..... Derek Jacobi
Tony Bosanquet ..... Corin Redgrave
Margaret ..... Cheryl Campbell
Charlie ..... Adrian Bower
Rosa ..... Eve Pearce
Jean ..... Jill Johnson
With Stephen Critchlow and Rachel Atkins

Producer/Director: Ned Chaillet
A Watershed Production for Radio 4.


SAT 15:30 Robert Winston's Musical Analysis (b00td9qy)
Series 2

Peter Warlock

Professor Robert Winston continues his exploration into the relationship between the music and the medical conditions of composers who suffered mental and physical illness.

Peter Warlock was the pseudonym of Philip Heseltine, a troubled British composer who died of apparent suicide in 1930. Prof. Winston wades through the many colourful and outrageous episodes in his life to investigate if the apparent 'Jekyll and Hyde' quality in his character and in his music was the result of a serious psychological condition.

Producer: Chris Taylor.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b00tdzpc)
Weekend Woman's Hour

Presented by Jane Garvey. Director Gurinder Chadha on the inflence of Ealing comedies in her most recent film. Businesswoman Jacqueline Gold on the tragic loss of one of her twins who was born with a severe brain abnormality. Should anyone be prosecuted for knowingly risking the passing on of the HIV virus and what would be the legal and social implications. Women who kill their own children. Poet Sally Crabtree brings paper butterflies and poetry in a tin to the studio. Why more than a third of British adults still sleep with a cuddly toy. Kids' clubs on holiday - are they really fun?


SAT 17:00 PM (b00thcd2)
Saturday PM

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


SAT 17:30 iPM (b00tdyhq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:45 today]


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00tf0y3)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (b00tf0y5)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00tf0y7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b00tf0y9)
Loose Ends comes from the Edinburgh Festival. Clive Anderson presents the usual mix of conversation, music and comedy in front of an audience at the Pleasance Grand.

Clive talks to some of the finest on the Fringe: Simon Callow whose career has taken him from roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral, Amadeus and Shakespeare in Love to writing numerous books on Dickens, his craft and himself with his autobiography 'My Life in Pieces'. The Shakespearean actor takes on the role of the great bard himself for his one man comedy play 'Shakespeare: The Man from Stratford'.

You may have seen her as 'Aunt Hilda' in "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch" or hosting her eponymous syndicated chat show but now actress and comedienne Caroline Rhea takes to the stage with her UK stand-up debut in Edinburgh.

Former Labour MP Chris Mullin talks about the timely reissue of his book 'A Very British Coup'. His bestselling book 'A View from the Foothills' was described as Yes Minister meets Alan Clark. His anticipated follow-up 'Decline & Fall Diaries 2005-2010' will be published on 30th August and can be heard as Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4.

From an Edinburgh veteran to a festival newcomer, Arthur Smith seeks advice from Financial Times undercover banker and ultimate working mother of Cost Centres 1, 2 and 3, Mrs Moneypenny.

Stand-up comedy comes from Lee Nelson - the Sarf London council estate lad done good. So good, in fact, that he has his own TV show on BBC Three and brings 'Lee Nelson's Well Good Edinbra Show' to the good people of Scotland.

There's musical comedy from Ireland's favourite dysfunctional rock band Dead Cat Bounce who are destined to be huge and sure to inspire air guitar solos a-go-go with their new show 'Too Fast for Love' at the Gilded Balloon.

And there's even more music from pop-folk balladeers Aberfeldy. The Edinburgh locals perform 'Malcolm' from their new album, "Somewhere to Jump From".

Producer: Cathie Mahoney.


SAT 19:00 Profile (b00tf0yc)
Louise Casey

This week's Profile is of Louise Casey, the first Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses (for England and Wales). She was appointed in March this year by the Labour government and is continuing in her new role under the coalition government. Her job is to champion the rights of the victims of crime.
In a report published last month, Louise Casey argued that victims and witnesses are the "poor relation" in the criminal justice system. During her inaugural speech, Louise Casey argued that victims and witnesses enter a criminal justice system that is complicated, haphazard and often frightening, and where they have no guarantee of help.

During her career as a civil servant Louise Casey has frequently been outspoken about the rights of victims. She first came to prominence as "Homelessness Czar" and followed that with "Asbo Czar" and "Respect Czar."
Her sometimes forthright comments have not always been welcomed and, on occasion, have landed her in hot water. But her friends and many of those who have worked with her display great loyalty towards her and describe her as a "breath of fresh air" in Whitehall.


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b00tf0yf)
Join Saturday Review in Edinburgh this week, where Tom Sutcliffe and guests Ian Rankin, Hannah McGill, and Danny Robins give their verdicts on a hand-picked selection of what the Festival has to offer, including:

Beautiful Burnout, a new production from the National Theatre of Scotland. Written by Bryony Lavery, it tells the story of five aspiring boxers and the coach who hopes to lead them to glory.

Tender comic narrative from Daniel Kitson; brainy ideas about golf and quantum physics from Alex Horne, and reflections on Star Wars, memory foam and how planets get their status from Arj Barker, plus news of hot festival ticket Bo Burnham.

Also in the programme...

Sylvain Chomet's film The Illusionist: set in Edinburgh, it brings to life a 'lost' script by French director Jacques Tati.

William Gibson's latest novel Zero History: a tale of grand hotels, shadowy deeds, paranoia - and jeans.

Martin Creed's latest exhibition Down Over Up, which focuses on order, stacking and progression in characteristically direct style.

BEAUTIFUL BURNOUT

Beautiful Burnout runs at The Pleasance Theatre in Edinburgh until 29th August and then tours to Glasgow, London, Glenrothes, Sheffield and Chichester.

COMEDY

Alex Horne's Odds is at the Pleasance Courtyard until 30th August, Daniel Kitson's It's Always Right Now, Until It's Later is at the Traverse Theatre until 29th August and Arj Barker's Let Me Do the Talking continues at the Assembly on George Street until 29th August.

THE ILLUSIONIST

... is on general release, certificate PG.

ZERO HISTORY

Published by Penguin.

MARTIN CREED

Martin Creed's show Down Over Up continues at the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh until October 31st.


SAT 20:00 Meeting Myself Coming Back (b00thcn8)
Series 2

Sir Jonathan Miller

Another chance to hear the audio memories of the writer, director and comedy performer Sir Jonathan Miller who died in November. This programme was first broadcast in 2010.

He became famous as a member of the Beyond the Fringe cast and went on to present television programmes and direct opera and theatre productions around the world. Now, in the last of the series "Meeting Myself Coming Back", Sir Jonathan Miller explores his life and work through the BBC Sound archive. In conversation with John Wilson, he looks back at his younger self and discusses the ways in which he has changed and developed.

Revered as a polymath, Jonathan Miller's life has taken in medical studies at university, comedy performing and television presenting with series like "The Body in Question". Throughout his career there has been a tension between his medical career and his reputation as a satirist and director. In this programme he explores the pull of the two worlds upon him and the guilt that he still feels at having abandoned his work as a doctor.

Producer: Emma Kingsley.


SAT 21:00 Classic Serial (b00td4v4)
Henry James - The Wings of the Dove

Episode 3

Milly, now gravely ill, is staying in Venice. Kate's plan to bring Merton and Milly together is gaining pace. But Merton begins to realise that his own feelings for Milly are much deeper than he knew. Lord Mark's arrival threatens everything and Merton and Kate aren't prepared for the consequences. Will Milly change their lives irrevocably?

Merton.....Blake Ritson
Milly.....Anna Maxwell Martin
Kate.....Lyndsey Marshal
Maud.....Clare Higgins
Susie.....Barbara Barnes
Lord Mark.....Toby Jones
Eugenio.....Sam Dale

Directed by Nadia Molinari.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b00tf112)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SAT 22:15 Electric Ride (b00tfpmf)
The highlights of Peter Curran's epic 4,500 mile battery-powered journey through Europe, investigating the current state of electric car manufacturing and policy.

He visits cities which are wiring up charging stations and probing politicians about what they're doing to promote the electric cause.

Peter discovers that it's not always that easy to find a place to plug in the car, and there's a nail-biting episode in the Alps when he reaches the one hotel en route to the top - which has closed.

From Norway to the Coastal plains of Andalusia, it's a journey of highs, lows and tense moments amidst the roaring traffic on the German autobahns - which were not made for small electric cars with a top speed of around 50 mph.

Producer: Kevin Dawson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 23:00 Round Britain Quiz (b00td7f2)
(3/12) Tom Sutcliffe is in the chair for the third contest in the 2010 series. The new Welsh partnership of David Edwards and Myfanwy Alexander takes to the air for the first time, facing Northern Ireland regulars Polly Devlin and Brian Feeney.
Producer: Paul Bajoria.


SAT 23:30 Poetry of the Forgotten People (b00td4v8)
Greta Scacchi pays a personal tribute to Aboriginal poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, formerly known as Kath Walker.

A pioneer of Aboriginal poetry, she was the first Indigenous Australian woman to have her work published, which was a milestone in Australian history.

She was also a trailblazing Aboriginal Rights campaigner and environmental activist, who paved the way for contemporary Aboriginal artists and political campaigners.

In this programme Greta Scacchi, who spent much of her childhood in Australia, shares how over the years, Oodgeroo's poetry has grown with her and still even today continues to surprise and excite her.

Joining Greta are close friends and family of Oodgeroo, who share their memories of this remarkable woman and the impact she had not only on their lives but on millions of Australians too.

Throughout the programme we will hear Oodgeroo's poems read by Aboriginal actress Roxanne McDonald.

Produced by Charlotte Austin and Diana Bentley
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.



SUNDAY 22 AUGUST 2010

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b00tf1cq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SUN 00:30 Afternoon Reading (b00h31rl)
Murder She Thought - Series 2

Box

A young assistant in a bookshop is having a problem with a strange admirer. But is he really a stalker?

Then, he leaves a package for her in the shop...

Joanne Whalley reads Zeba Kalim's tale.

Director: Martin Jarvis
A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00tf1cs)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00tf1cv)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00tf1cx)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b00tf1cz)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b00tf1d1)
The bells of St. Nicholas, Leeds, Kent.


SUN 05:45 Profile (b00tf0yc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b00tf1jq)
The latest national and international news.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b00tf1js)
A Short Madness

Fergal Keane reflects on the value of anger. Is it a force for energy? The inspiration of great art and literature? Or the cause of destructive behaviour?

With readings from Liza Sadovy and Joseph Kloska.

Producer: Ronnie Davis
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 06:35 Living World (b00tf1jv)
Beavering

6/18. In this touching encounter, a young beaver swims within touching distance of Lionel Kelleway and his host Sir John Lister-Kaye. So what are they doing in a Scottish Loch? Hunted for their fur and meat over 400 years ago, the beaver was quickly made extinct. Now various pilot projects have been set up to explore the possibility of a return of beavers to Britain. Sir John Lister-Kaye brought beavers to his Field Centre at Aigas from Bavaria four years ago. They instantly settled into their new home by ignoring the lodge thoughtfully provided and building their own. They haven't looked back as shown by the kits they have had every year ever since. In this delightful programme Lionel and John spend an evening watching the beavers do what beavers do. Including spotting of one of the new baby kits, emerging from the lodge for the very first time. As if that isn't exciting enough, one of last year's kits swims to within 5 metres of the hide, oblivious to everything but the task in hand: folding up dinner-sized plates of waterlillies and shoving them into his jaws as quickly as possible - with the odd flower on the side. Clearly moved by such a close encounter, Lionel and John evoke the magic of the evening on the loch with their animated and engaging musings on the second largest rodent in the world.

Presented by Lionel Kelleway
Produced by Tania Dorrity.


SUN 06:57 Weather (b00tf1jx)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b00tf1jz)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (b00tf1k1)
The Charity Commission has rejected an appeal by the Roman Catholic Agency Catholic Care to be allowed to discriminate against homosexual couples when placing children for adoption. Gay Equality Laws passed in 2007 meant that Catholic Care, along with a dozen other Catholic agencies in England and Wales, were forced to change their policy towards homosexual people. Many either closed or cut their links with the Church. But Catholic Care tried to change its constitution so that it would be committed to Catholic teaching and placing children only with heterosexual parents. Now the Charity Commission has decided that Catholic Care's religious views do not justify it's continued discrimination. Jane Little finds out what this now means for the Agency's future with their Solicitor Benjamin James.

In the second of our series on Follies, Geoff Bird heads to North Yorkshire and the Swinton Estate, home to an artificial Druid's circle. Dating from the early Nineteenth Century, the folly marked a growing interest in pre-Christian mysticism.

Seventy years after the Battle of Britain we reflect on the vital role played by the Forces Chaplains. Jane speaks to Reverend Squadron Leader Jonny Wylie, RAF Chaplain at Leuchars, about the work of the Chaplain back in 1940 and why they still play a vital role today.

At what age can a child make an informed choice about faith? The Vatican is considering a proposal to allow Catholic children under the age of seven to take their first Holy Communion. It follows original guidelines by Pope Pius X that stated children should take their first communion at the so called "age of reason". Jane will be talking to Father Phil Sumner and Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand and asking if 7 years old is far too young to understand much about the faith they are committing to.

Three weeks after the start of devastating floods in Pakistan, there's still no let-up in the monsoon rains. An estimated 20 million people have now been affected and 1,600 killed. Donors have pledged more money following the United Nation's emergency appeal, with the UK doubling their contribution to more than 60 million pounds. Trevor Barnes reports from Birmingham and a street where nearly every house has friends or family affected by the Pakistan floods. He hears how British Muslims have mobilised themselves to help people caught in a crisis thousands of miles away.

Secular Christening Ceremonies are a proposal being put forward by the Government's Poverty Minister Frank Field, as part of David Cameron's 'Big Society'. The plan is to provide a better support network for parents by getting a whole community involved in welcoming a child into society. Frank tells Jane about the details and why he thinks it would work.

In the United States plans to build a Muslim cultural centre and Mosque and Islamic Community Centre near Ground Zero in New York have turned into a national debate following President Obama's comments on the project. Initially he appeared to support the site by saying that America's commitment to religious freedom must be "unshakeable", and that Muslims in America had every right to practise their faith, including the right to build a place of worship on private property in lower Manhattan. Then he later modified his comments by saying that they only referred to the right of Muslims to build their centre, not the wisdom of choosing a site so close to Ground Zero. But the proposals are nevertheless said to have infuriated some of the relatives of those killed in the attacks on the World trade Centre on September 11th 2001. Jane looks at the arguments and asks if there can be any solution to suit both sides.

E-mail: sunday@bbc.co.uk

Series producer: Amanda Hancox.


SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b00tf1k3)
Brainstrust

Julie Walters presents the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity Brainstrust.

Donations to Brainstrust should be sent to FREEPOST BBC Radio 4 Appeal, please mark the back of your envelope Brainstrust. Credit cards: Freephone 0800 404 8144. If you are a UK tax payer, please provide Brainstrust 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: 1114634.


SUN 07:58 Weather (b00tf1k5)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b00tf1k7)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b00tf1k9)
From St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, marking the 450th anniversary of the Reformation.

As the city celebrates the International Festival and Fringe, our worship comes from this historic building on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, surrounded by a host of festival venues and street performers. The Minister of St Giles' reflects on the changes brought about by the turbulent times of the Reformation, and how best to make creative use of the past.

Led by the Assistant MInister, the Revd Helen Alexander; Preacher: the Very Revd Gilleasbuig Macmillan.

Introit: O come, let us sing unto the Lord (Noel de Jongh)
Hymns: The Lord of heaven confess (Darwall's 148th)
The Lord's my Shepherd (Stracathro)
Now Israel may say (Old 124th)]
Anthem: Let all the world in ev'ry corner sing (Leighton)

Cathedral Choir directed by Michael Harris. Organist: Peter Backhouse.
Producer: Mo McCullough.


SUN 08:50 A Point of View (b00tdxpt)
Women Behaving Badly

A weekly reflection on a topical issue.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b00tf1kc)
News and conversation about the big stories of the week with Paddy O'Connell.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b00tf1kf)
Written by ..... Carole Simpson Solazzo
Directed by ..... Rosemary Watts
Editor ..... Vanessa Whitburn

Kenton Archer ..... Richard Attlee
David Archer ..... Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ..... Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ..... Helen Monks
Josh Archer ..... Cian Cheesbrough
Brian Aldridge ..... Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge ..... Angela Piper
Debbie Aldridge ..... Tamsin Greig
Alice Aldridge ..... Hollie Chapman
Matt Crawford ..... Kim Durham
Lilian Bellamy ..... Sunny Ormonde
Jolene Perks ..... Buffy Davis
Fallon Rogers ..... Joanna Van Kampen
Kathy Perks ..... Hedli Niklaus
Jamie Perks ..... Dan Ciotkowski
Clarrie Grundy ..... Rosalind Adams
Emma Grundy ..... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Ed Grundy ..... Barry Farrimond
Neil Carter ..... Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter ..... Charlotte Martin
Christopher Carter ..... Will Sanderson-Thwaite
Brenda Tucker ..... Amy Shindler.


SUN 11:15 The Reunion (b00tf9bl)
The Dome

Sue MacGregor gathers together the key people responsible for building, co-ordinating and realising the creative concepts that became The Millennium Dome at Greenwich.

Following Labour's landslide election victory in May 1997, the Prime Minister Tony Blair was determined to change the way Britain saw itself and he seized upon the idea - mooted under the outgoing Tory government - to have a major event to celebrate the forthcoming new millennium.

After much discussion and heated argument it was decided to build a dome on the site of a disused gasworks on East London's Greenwich peninsular. It would stage a grand millennium extravaganza and house a year-long exhibition to rival the 1951 Festival of Britain.

It was a hugely controversial decision from the very start, and became a project rife with argument, sackings and constant flack from the press.

The person who took the brunt of the criticism was Chief Executive Jennie Page, who was eventually sacked - shortly after the opening night. This is the first time she has spoken publically about her personal millennium experience.

Sue also hears some hitherto unreported and little known stories of both the pain and the excitement of life under the Dome.

Sue is joined by:
Jennie Page, the Dome's former Chief Executive.
Mike Davies, the flamboyant architect who designed the Dome structure.
Lord Charles Falconer, the Minister for the Dome who succeeded Peter Mandelson.
Eva Jiricna, designer of the Dome's 'Spirit Zone'.
Peter Higgins, who created the 'Play Zone'.

Producer: Dilly Barlow
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:00 Just a Minute (b00td8kq)
Series 57

Episode 3

Radio 4's classic long running panel game.

Chairman Nicholas Parsons takes control of a loquacious and rebellious bunch of players whose task it is to speak on a subject he gives them for one minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation.

This week Paul Merton, Ross Noble, Tony Hawks and Sheila Hancock attempt to speak within the rules of the game.

Producer: Tilusha Ghelani.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b00tf9bn)
Jelly

Jellies were once the extravagant food of kings. Henry VIII showed off with them, the Victorians raised them to a dazzling art form, a far cry from the lurid teatime horrors served up at children's parties where jelly has since languished.

Simon Parkes celebrates our noble jelly-making past with historian Ivan Day, and looks to those raising it back onto its wobbling pedestal today: chef Heston Blumenthal, and "jellymongers" Bompas & Parr. And we ask food writer Jill Norman if jelly's savoury past could be set for a comeback.
Producer: Rebecca Moore.


SUN 12:57 Weather (b00tf9bq)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b00tf9f9)
A look at events around the world with Brian Hanrahan.


SUN 13:30 No Triumph, No Tragedy (b00strxn)
As a tribute to the historian Tony Judt, who died earlier this month, this is another chance to hear his candid interview with Peter White.

Tony Judt was an acclaimed historian of post-war Europe. Eighteen months before his death, Tony - an active, sporty 60-plus - was diagnosed with a severe form of Motorneurone Disease, leaving him able to do little more than think.

Paralysed from the neck down, Tony needed 24 hour care and relied on other people for all his physical needs.
His mind however, was always his own, and was extraordinarily busy.

In this programme, first broadcast in June, he describes the experience of having the illness: "This disease is viciously consuming. It's like a kind of octopus: it eats you bit by bit. You can't fix it, you can't cure it, you can't stop it, but you've got one thing over it, it doesn't hurt. So if you're tough minded, you don't need medicine, you just need a mind".

Tony refused to be crushed by the disease and continued writing up until his death earlier this month.

Prod: Cheryl Gabriel.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00tdx4v)
Matthew Biggs, Anne Swithinbank and Chris Beardshaw are near Kettering, answering questions posed by Barton Seagrave Horticultural Society. The chairman is Eric Robson.

Producer: Lucy Dichmont
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 14:45 A Guide to Coastal Birds (b00tf9np)
Rocky Shores

3/5. Brett Westwood is joined by keen bird watcher Stephen Moss on the Devonshire coast. With the help of wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson they offer a practical and entertaining guide to birds that you're most likely to see and hear on rocky shores around Britain's coastline; birds like Rock Pipit, Turnstone, Herring Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull.

This is the third of five programmes to help identify many of the birds found around our British coastline in places like sandy beaches, sea cliffs, off-shore islands, estuaries and rocky shores. Not only is there advice on how to recognise the birds from their appearance, but also how to identify them from their calls and songs.

This series complements three previous series; A Guide to Garden Birds, A Guide Woodland Birds and A Guide to Water Birds and is aimed at both the complete novice as well as those who are eager to learn more about our coastal visitors and residents.

Produced by Sarah Blunt.


SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b00tf9nr)
Nevil Shute - No Highway

Episode 1

by Nevil Shute

1948. The future of Britain's transatlantic aviation industry rests on the success of a new plane - the Rutland Reindeer. One has crashed already and an eccentric government scientist believes more will follow. The race is on to prove his theory before Reindeers start to fell from the sky. Dramatised by Mike Walker.

Dennis Scott ..... William Beck
Shirley ..... Alison Pettitt
Honey ..... Paul Ritter
Marjorie Corder ..... Naomi Frederick
Monica Teesdale ..... Fenella Woolgar
Elspeth ..... Lauren Mote
The Director ..... Tony Bell
Ferguson ..... Jude Akuwudike
Samuelson ..... Sam Dale
Dobson ..... Michael Shelford
Miss Learoyd ..... Christine Kavanagh

Directed by Toby Swift.


SUN 16:00 Open Book (b00tf9nt)
Dreda Say Mitchell talks to former bookseller Tim Waterstone about his new novel. Writer Fay Weldon discusses how she has used Maori myths in her new book. And crime writers NJ Cooper and Tania Carver explain why they have been encouraged to write under names which mask their real gender.

Producer: Sally Spurring.


SUN 16:30 The Bards of Somalia (b00tf9nw)
What could Britain learn from Somalia - a country where poetry is nothing less than the main means of cultural communication?

Portrayed abroad as a land beset by gunmen, pirates and famine, it is also known by those who live there as a Nation of Poets. Somalia had no written language until 1972 and poetry has always been the country's core form of mass communication - whether the spoken word or, more recently, via cassettes and radios.

Verse has, in many areas, taken the place of history books, newspapers and television as the main means of spreading news and comment. Poets who have real skill - the true bards - have the power to shape current events and receive both social and political privileges.

Can we integrate any of these elements into British poetry? Instead of one Laureate, should we have hundreds of bards reflecting the diversity of our nation - people we can turn to for everything from the poetic equivalent of a Times leader to the latest gossip around the parish pump? Can poetry be integrated into our daily lives as successfully as in Somalia?

In discussion with presenter Rageh Omaar, poets from the Somali community in Britain and expert translators wonder if - through the medium of everything from the spoken word to text messaging - Somalia's bards might provide the germ of a new form of information sharing in Britain.

Producer: Neil Cargill
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 17:00 Why Russia Spies (b00tdm57)
The Cold War is over. But some habits die hard. Since 2007 Russian nuclear bombers have been flying provocatively close to UK airspace, triggering interception by RAF fighters. The Royal Navy has encountered Russian 'hunter-killer' submarines. And as the recent discovery of a spy ring in the United States revealed, Russian agents remain active against the West. With remarkable access to Britain's military and intelligence worlds, Peter Hennessy examines the scale of Russian activity - and what it tells us about the Russia-NATO relationship.


SUN 17:40 Profile (b00tf0yc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00tf9ny)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (b00tf9p0)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00tf9p2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b00tf9p4)
Tom Robinson makes his selection from the past seven days of BBC Radio

The Richard Burton Legacy - R2
He Played It Left Hand - R3
Ziggy Stardust Came From Isleworth - R4
Afternoon Play: Unauthorised History: the Killing - R4
Grand Guignol - R4
Composer of the Week: SS Wesley - R3
Alvin Hall's Generations - R4
Continuity - R4
The World Tonight - R4
Bobby Friction - Asian Network
Empire State of Mind - R1
Book of the Week: Scott-land: The Man Who Invented a Nation - R4
Poetry of the Forgotten People - R4
Talking to the Enemy - R4
Today - R4
Saturday Live - R4
Ken Bruce - R2
Tom Ravenscroft - 6Music
The Wireless World of Gerry Wells - World Service

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


SUN 19:00 The Archers (b00tf9q4)
Ed surprises Emma with breakfast in bed. They agree to wait before telling George about the baby. Ed reluctantly agrees to keep their news secret from everyone for now.

Alice and Chris tell Jennifer all about their "honeymoon" at Grey Gables. Alice suggests to Chris that they visit Debbie, who's now safely back in Hungary. With Alice due back at University soon, Jennifer wonders where Chris will live. In the meantime, they'll be staying in one of the holiday cottages from Saturday.

Ed and Emma share a laugh as they keep their secret from Alice and Chris. Chris teases
Emma, saying poor Ed was sure she was going to ask him to marry her last Friday.

Vicky's made a birthday cake to mark the tenth anniversary of the Millennium Wood. As George and Ruairi play nature detectives, the crowd is entertained by the Edgeley Morris Troupe.

Lynda tells coy Emma that she's looking well. Emma and Ed are non-committal when Lynda tries to recruit them to help with planting in the autumn. Lynda also mentions the importance of encouraging peregrines back to St Stephen's, but she may not have Peggy's support. Ed enjoys Jennifer's quiche - especially the artichokes. He might even try them again.


SUN 19:15 Americana (b00tf9q6)
This week Simon Winchester presents Americana with a look at the way America communicates.

The right to carry a gun is protected by America's Second Amendment to the Constitution. Writer Dan Baum demonstrates what its like to carry a concealed weapon through the American streets and he explains how guns impact the way Americans feel and communicate as they go about their days.

As eBooks and internet reading gain traction in the United States, Americana discovers an old fashioned press where monotype still prints the page.

Skip Prichard, CEO of Ingram Content discusses the future of books. Though mobile devices and hand-held readers are gaining popularity, the way that Americans read books today may be very different from how they will read books in the future.


SUN 19:45 Afternoon Reading (b00g4793)
Big Charlie

Episode 4

The true story of the transportation of an elephant between two Butlins camps in the 1950s.

Billy Butlin wants Charlie photographed for publicity purposes en route, but Elephant Bill has other ideas.

Written by JH Williams. Abridged and read by Tony Lidington.

Producer: David Blount
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (b00tdx4s)
The current series of Feedback is coming to an end, as is Mark Damazer's time as the controller of Radio 4. He joins Roger Bolton this week to talk about the programmes he is particularly proud to have had on Radio 4 under his watch.

Also on Feedback, does the new form of coalition politics require a new kind of political coverage? Many listeners think so, Roger Bolton puts their points to the BBC's chief advisor of politics.

Producer: Brian McCluskey
A City Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 20:30 Last Word (b00tdx4x)
On Last Word this week:

A legendary lifeboatman from the Isles of Scilly. Matt Lethbridge showed exceptional courage in more than one hundred and fifty rescues at sea. Sir Frank Kermode the leading scholar and literary critic. Dr Thomas Peebles, who isolated the measles virus, leading to the development of a vaccine. Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith - the TV presenter turned Tory backbencher. And Beryl Marriott, the folk music pianist who influenced Fairport Convention. We have a tribute from the band's former fiddler Dave Swarbrick.


SUN 21:00 Face the Facts (b00tdpzb)
Fatal Inaction

A convicted murderer, threats to kill and numerous reports of stalking and harrassment. They're all factors the police need to take into account when a victim of domestic abuse calls for help. Too often, though, police are failing to spot the warning signs until it's too late. This, despite repeated concerns voiced by its own watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission and detailed guidelines and procedures on how officers should investigate domestic abuse. Every week, two women in the UK are killed by a violent partner or ex-partner. So it's crucial police can identify who is most at risk of harm and respond appropriately. John Waite investigates the cases where police officers breached their own guidelines and failed those whom they needed to protect.


SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b00tf1k3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 today]


SUN 21:30 In Business (b00tdr1x)
Are CEOs up to the job?

In the wake of the very personal attacks on outgoing BP boss, Tony Hayward, the programme asks: are chief executives really up to the job in our top companies? Peter Day shines the spotlight on these much praised and vilified high profile leaders.
Producer: Lesley McAlpine.


SUN 21:58 Weather (b00tf9ts)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b00tf9tv)
Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster.


SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b00tf9tx)
Episode 15

BBC Radio 4 brings back a much loved TV favourite - What the Papers Say. It does what it says on the tin. In each programme a leading political journalist has a wry look at how the broadsheets and red tops treat the biggest stories in Westminster and beyond. This week Sarah Sands of The Evening Standard takes the chair and the editor is Catherine Donegan.


SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b00tdx4z)
Sylvester Stallone talks to Matthew Sweet about his latest action movie The Expendables and why he used to go to school dressed as a super-hero

Shaun of The Dead director Edgar Wright reveals the influence of video games on his latest comedy, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

Sherlock co-creator and League Of Gentlemen member Mark Gatiss celebrates the work of Sheila Keith, who made history as British cinema's first cannibal pensioner

Neil Brand traces the DNA of horror movie Piranha 3D to a Dracula rip-off made in 1922

Joy Cuff discusses what it was like being the only woman working on the models for 2001: A Space Odyssey.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b00tf1js)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 23 AUGUST 2010

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b00tfb5q)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b00tdn2h)
Disenchantment

The sociologist Max Weber saw the Enlightenment as the period when science started to take over from religion as the way of comprehending human existence, and became the defining character of modernity. The process of casting magic and superstition aside in favour of rationality he defined as 'disenchantment': no longer was the world a place of supernatural signs and natural magic. In the second of a special series of programmes looking at some of the key concepts in social science, Laurie Taylor explores the idea of disenchantment with three experts. David Voas, Sam Whimster and Linda Woodhead, discuss how the idea has been applied to understanding the development of secular societies and whether we are now entering a phase of re-enchantment.

Producer: Charlie Taylor.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b00tf1d1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00tfbgw)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00tfblg)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00tfbk1)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (b00tfblv)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00tfbvt)
with Canon Martyn Percy, Principal, Ripon College Cuddesdon.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (b00tfcsf)
When chancellor George Osborne opens his bedroom curtains this morning, he may well be greeted with banners carried by angry members of the RSPB. Cath Mackie hears the wildlife charity will picket the chancellor's constituency in protest at planned government cuts. It fears that when the axe falls the environment will suffer, and some farmland birds could face extinction.

The government spends £609 million a year on flood and coastal risk management. Despite this, Farming Today hears that 30% of England's coastline is eroding, making farming on the fragile East coast difficult. The Country Land and Business Association suggest new wind farms and housing developments could raise money for sea defences to protect agricultural land.

Presented by Cath Mackie, produced by Melvin Rickarby.


MON 05:57 Weather (b00tft6y)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 06:00 Today (b00tfd17)
With James Naughtie and Evan Davis. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day with Rev Dr David Wilkinson.


MON 09:00 The House I Grew Up In (b00tfv5f)
Series 4

Emma Harrison

Entrepreneur and one of the country's wealthiest businesswomen, Emma Harrison, was born in Sheffield in 1964. Her parents embraced the sixties with gusto. She was brought up mainly by her father in a creative and chaotic house as her mother spent extended periods away from home seeking adventure. Emma took on the running of the household from the age of 10 - helpful, she admits, when setting up in business later but a lonely enterprise for a child nonetheless. She attended the local comprehensive where she was a regular truant but ran the tuck shop at a profit. On a school visit to Thornbridge Hall in Derbyshire she vowed to buy the stately home one day. Five years ago she did just that.
Producer: Rosamund Jones.


MON 09:30 GPs Who Need GPS (b00tmj2h)
Doc of the Antarctic

GP Phil Hammond compares his commute to that of Claire Lehman, who travelled to work via Madrid, Santiago and the Falkland Islands before flying into Rothera in the Antarctic.

As she watches for killer whales, carries out postmistress duties, cooks for her colleagues and prepares for potential Antarctic casualties, the differences between this remote job and the life of a typical GP like Phil is brought sharply into focus.

Produced by Lucy Adam.


MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b00tff34)
Elena Gorokhova - A Mountain of Crumbs

Episode 1

Elena Gorokhova wishes her mother had come from Leningrad, the world of Pushkin and the tsars, lace ironwork and pearly domes. Its sophistication might have left a permanent mark of refinement on her soul.

But she didn't.

She came from the provincial town of Ivanovo in central Russia, where chickens lived in the kitchen and a pig squatted under the stairs.

She came from where they lick plates.

Read by Sian Thomas
A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00tffq9)
Raunch culture: Is there too much sex in pop music? Mike Stock, of 80s pop production outfit Stock, Aitken & Waterman, claims pop music has become so sexualized that mothers don't want to let young children watch it any more. Karate Kid is currently on at cinemas across the country, re-telling the tale of a 12-year-old American boy who masters the art of Karate under the strict supervision of a Master in Beijing. What role can the discipline and rigour often found in sport and music offer children and what lessons can it teach us for later life? The Fawcett Society has filed papers with the High Court seeking a Judicial Review of the Government's emergency budget. The women's rights group believes that the Coalition Government should have assessed whether its budget proposals would increase or reduce inequality between the genders.
And, we hear a report about one woman's return to Afghanistan.
Presented by Jane Garvey.


MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00tfq9v)
Soloparentpals.com: Series 2

A Clean Slate

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM by Sue Teddern.
Episode 1. A Clean Slate.

After a year cyberpals Rosie and Tom still haven't met in the flesh. Rosie discovers that she quite likes her ex's new girlfriend and that Tom has a new love interest.

Rosie - Maxine Peake
Tom - Kris Marshall
Tash - Karina Jones
Calum - Thomas Rolinson
Gill - Christine Kavanagh
Barb - Alison Pettitt
Bazz - Sam Dale
Scott - David Seddon

Director: David Hunter

Rosie (Maxine Peake) is a Bolton care-worker whose ex-husband Phil traded her in for a younger model four years ago leaving her to bring up Calum, now 12, alone.

Tom (Kris Marshall) is a housing officer in Exeter whose wife and confidence walked out on him eighteen months ago. He only sees his daughter Lily at weekends.

In the first series despite a succession of twists and turns, mistimings and misunderstandings between the rather nervous, disorganised Tom and the mouthy, controlling Rosie, an underlying friendship and dependence seemed to emerge - but an actual meeting in the flesh failed to take place.

Now, a year later, Rosie is coming to terms with the fact that Phil has had a baby with his new partner Debbie - a woman that she finds, to her surprise, that she has much in common with, perhaps too much? Tom has meanwhile being going steady with Siobhan, a work colleague and while he enjoys the regular sex, fresh veg and clean towels he can't help thinking things are going a little too fast.

Communications between the two are still long-distance, by email, telephone or through the website. Other SPP.COM participants chip in with their own perspectives and concerns - Baz is still the Neanderthal male, Tash the Lash in Wales is trying hard to rein in her party girl style, Gillybean has stashed her OU books in the attic and Gok Wanned her wardrobe and Scott is still coping with three teenage daughters and an obsession with poultry. And blunt newcomer Brummie Barb introduces a same-sex relationship into the mix.

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM will continue to strike a chord with single parents throughout the land and listeners will be able to readily identify with the situations that concern Rosie and Tom and their website friends.

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM is Sue Teddern's home territory. Her natural comic touch and her ear for domestic and emotional detail combines with a convincing touch of the absurd to create an involving and moving take on the love story - albeit one fraught with a multiplicity of misunderstandings and misinterpretations along the way.

MAXINE PEAKE's recent radio includes BETSY COLEMAN, A SMALL PIECE OF SILENCE and THAT REPULSIVE WOMAN. Television work includes DINNER LADIES, SHAMELESS, THE STREET and CRIMINAL JUSTICE.


MON 11:00 British Muslims, Father and Son (b00tg1c1)
Moazzam Begg spent three years as a prisoner in Bagram and Guatanamo Bay before being released without charge. Throughout that that time his father fought for his son's release. Since his release Moazzam Begg has remained in the headlines. He is a controversial figure - for some he is an innocent victim, while others have hard questions about his beliefs and actions. Steve Evans tells an extraordinary story of a father and son and their very different experiences of being a British Muslim. From the generations of Begg family military history, to Moazzam almost joining the British army, to his support for Muslim causes around the world - there are many contradictions and paradoxes in the Begg family story. The exceptional bond between father and son, though, is clear throughout.


MON 11:30 HR (b00tg1c3)
Series 2

Gassing

Sam is battling retirement blues with a part-time job working for the Saviours, manning telephone lines to help those in distress. And today's first client is of course Peter, in distress about their faulty boiler.

Peter ..... Jonathan Pryce
Sam ..... Nicholas Le Prevost
George ..... Sam Dale
Voice ..... Alison Pettitt

Director: Peter Kavanagh.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.


MON 12:00 You and Yours (b00tfqzs)
Julian Worricker discusses what can be done to help rural communities survive the recession. The Chairman of The Rural Coalition Lord Taylor, says action needs to be taken to prevent rural villages becoming "part dormitory, part theme park and part retirement home".

Also - why small businesses are struggling to access the loans they need.

And we hear what life is like aboard the only residential cruise ship in the world - where residents get to decide where the ship goes next.


MON 12:57 Weather (b00tfr30)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 13:00 World at One (b00tfrbh)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


MON 13:30 Round Britain Quiz (b00tg1c5)
(4/12) The fourth contest in the 2010 series of the cryptic panel quiz pits the South of England (Fred Housego and Marcel Berlins) against the North of England (Michael Schmidt and Adele Geras). Tom Sutcliffe is in the chair, and Tom will also have the answer to last week's cliffhanger puzzle.
Producer: Paul Bajoria.


MON 14:00 The Archers (b00tf9q4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (b00tg1c7)
Jonathan Davidson - Miss Balcombe's Orchard

A drama-documentary by Jonathan Davidson set and recorded in an apple orchard. Miss Balcombe is getting on but she is determined to keep her apple trees. Her workers don't much care but there is a trespasser among her russets.

With Susan Engel as Miss Balcombe, Richard Bremmer as Claud, Sonia Ritter as Barbara, and Hayley Doherty as Sophie; and featuring Barrie Juniper, author of The Story of the Apple. Recorded on location in Oxfordshire. Producer: Tim Dee.


MON 15:00 Meeting Myself Coming Back (b00thcn8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


MON 15:45 A Load of Rubbish (b00fkqm2)
Episode 1

Out of sight, out of mind - that's been our attitude to the rubbish we produce. But increasingly our noses are being rubbed in our waste. Travel writer Ian Marchant investigates the flip side of consumerism, starting in the London Borough of Brent, which is threatening to fine residents who fail to recycle their rubbish £1000.


MON 16:00 The Food Programme (b00tf9bn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b00tg1c9)
Faith and disability

In Beyond Belief Ernie Rea and his guests explore the place of faith in our complex world.

Ernie is joined by three guests who discuss how their own religious tradition affects their values and outlook on the world, often revealing hidden and contradictory truths.

In this programme Ernie is joined by a Christian, a Druid and a Hindu who discuss the understanding of disability from their faith perspective. They address how disability is viewed within their community, the value of a disabled life lived, the quality of that life and how discrimination against people with disability begins even before birth.

Ernie and his guests hear from a deaf couple who wanted the right to keep an embryo with genes for deafness, should they undergo IVF treatment. Their wishes caused outrage and was frequently misunderstood. How could parents wish for a child with a disability; how could this possibly be wanting the best for their child?

Ernie's panel comprises Emma Restall Orr who is a Druid and a wheel chair user; Jonathan Bartley, co-director of the Christian Think Tank, Ekklesia, and father of Samuel who has spina bifida; and Shaunaka Rishi Das, Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.

Producer: Karen Maurice.


MON 17:00 PM (b00tfsc2)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00tfsj3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:30 Just a Minute (b00tg1xz)
Series 57

Episode 4

This week, the popular panel game comes from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with comedians Paul Merton, Shappi Khorsandi, John Bishop and Gyles Brandreth. Nicholas Parsons hosts as panellists attempt to speak for a minute without repetition, hesitation or deviation.


MON 19:00 The Archers (b00tfrz3)
With Alice and Chris in one of the holiday cottages, Jennifer anticipates turning down business. She's concerned about Chris's living plans. Alice is keen that Chris stays on when she's back at university, but Jennifer wonders about cooking and cleaning. Alice is confident about their long term plans, seeing as Brian gave her and Kate a cottage each.

Alice looks forward to a catch up with Amy, who's training as a midwife. She gives Ed tips on how to cook artichokes, which he's struggling to get hold of. He'll ask Jennifer for tips on making hollandaise sauce.

Susan plans to invite Jennifer and Brian over to supper, as a thank you for the party. She feels it will mark a new chapter in all their lives. They're one big family now. Susan plans a four course meal with wine, coffee and brandy. Now that they'll be mingling with the Aldridges on a regular basis, it's time to up their game.

Susan's delighted when Jennifer accepts her offer of dinner on Friday night. Neil's reluctant to lose his night at the Bull though. He'll struggle to relax. Meanwhile, Jennifer worries that this isn't a one-off invitation, but the thin end of the wedge.


MON 19:15 Front Row (b00tfsjw)
With Mark Lawson.

Crime specialist Jeff Park reviews new film The Girl Who Played With Fire - based on the second novel in the Millennium saga by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson.

Author David Almond discusses his new book My Name is Mina, the prequel to Skellig which won both the Whitbread Children's Award and the Carnegie Medal.

In 1968 Jimi Hendrix moved to the top floor of 23 Brook Street in London, a building which was the home of George Frideric Handel and now houses the Handel House Museum. To commemorate the anniversary of Hendrix's death in London in September 1970, the Museum is staging an exhibition devoted to his life and music. Mark explores the exhibition with curator Sarah Bardwell and broadcaster Paul Gambaccini

Producer: Timothy Prosser.


MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00tfq9v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


MON 20:00 Document (b00tg1y1)
On August 16th 1951 a number of people in the quiet southern French town of Pont St.Esprit began to fall ill. Stomach pains were soon followed by violent and often terrifying hallucinations. Local hospitals were soon overwhelmed and more than thirty people were taken to asylums in nearby towns. It was soon decided that the cause was bread poisoning and the evidence pointed to just one Bakery. The reason, it was believed was 'ergot', a fungal infection found in Rye bread which had often caused mass poisonings in Medieval times.

But documents obtained by the American writer Hank Albarelli suggest that rather than simple 'ergot' there was a strong possibility that the symptoms and the nature of the outbreak were not a tragic accident. In his research in to the mysterious death of the CIA biochemist Frank Olson and his post-war work on LSD and its uses as a biochemical weapon he got hold of papers implying Olson's connection with the Pont St Esprit outbreak.

Mike follows up the claims talking to experts in LSD and its impact, historians of the cold-war search for the perfect biochemical weapon and agricultural scientists specialising in ergot poisoning. He also visits the town of Pont St Esprit and talks to one survivor, the local postman Leon Armundier, about the events of 1951. Leon describes of the horrors he faced as a young man, being forced into a straight-jacket for a week as burning sensations and images of snakes raged around him.
Many in the town are uneasy at re-opening the old story about Le Pain Maudit - the evil bread - preferring the establishment 'truth' that it was just a tragic accident. But there are some who believe a proper examination of the facts still hasn't taken place.


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (b00tdptg)
Medjugorje

In Medjugorje the age of miracles isn't over: it is alive and well and is big business. The Catholic boom town in the Bosnian hills now rivals the better known Fatima or Lourdes. There were eight appearances of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes, yet since 1981 there have been 33,000 at Medjugorje, where she appears practically every day. The Vatican is currently investigating the validity of the claims.

Meanwhile the pilgrims keep rolling in and spending their money. The town is also a hotbed of Croat ultra-nationalists, who some say are using the religious fervour to boost their own political influence in the region. Allan Little investigates the political sensitivities around Medjugorje.

Producer: Paul Vickers.


MON 21:00 Material World (b00tdr1s)
Gareth Mitchell presents this week's digest of science in and behind the headlines. In this edition; DIY on the International Space Station, will astronauts have to be doing more of this work in the future? It's getting 'Hot in the City' - the latest predictions suggest our cities could be 10 degrees warmer than the countryside by the end of the century, Gareth explores the possible solutions. Can you prove anything with science? Gareth talks to scientists about why we ignore any science we don't agree with and fail to act on anything we do believe in; and monitoring the wolf population in Germany.
The producer is Ania Lichtarowicz.


MON 21:30 The House I Grew Up In (b00tfv5f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:58 Weather (b00tfsv4)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b00tfsxh)
UNICEF says the international response to Pakistan's floods has been lacking - is that fair?

America's version of the 'Big Society' - does it work there?

The Palestinians refugees in Syria who aren't so keen to return

With Ritula Shah.


MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00th7zk)
And the Land Lay Still

Episode 1

Excerpts from James Robertson's monumental new novel which portrays the last six decades of Scotland's social and political landscape through the lives of a handful of characters.

This week's extract is set in the present day and focuses on the novel's lynchpin: Michael Pendreich. He has moved from his Edinburgh home into his late father Angus's cottage in the far north of Scotland. Angus, who spent his final years living a hermit-like existence, was considered one of the greatest photographers of the post-war era and the remote cottage houses a vast and messy archive of his prints and negatives.

Michael has been asked to curate a major retrospective of his father's work and he's ostensibly moved north to catalogue the material. But, as he combs through fifty year's worth of photographs, he realises that before he can objectively view his father's artistic legacy, he must confront some painful facts about their difficult relationship.

Read by Liam Brennan.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.


MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (b00tdm53)
Body Language

How important is body language in the way we communicate? Are some people much better at it than others? Can good body language be taught? Chris Ledgard investigates.
Chris visits Dr Harry Witchel for some body language training, looks into some body language myths, and talks to impressionist Kate Robbins about the way she uses her face and gestures when mimicking people.
Produced by Beatrice Fenton.


MON 23:30 The Pickerskill Reports (b00mgz1p)
Series 1

Cadmus Wilcox

A pupil with American diplomat parents is denied access to the senior cadets shooting team by the Colonel because he's not a British citizen - even though he is the only hope the school have of winning the prestigious inter-school's shooting cup.

But when he visits Haunchurst as an adult with an Olympic medal for shooting with his US team, the Colonel is totally unimpressed. Why?

Dr Henry Pickerskill ...... Ian McDiarmid
Colonel Bradshaw ..... Richard Johnson
A.R.F. Somerset-Stephenson ..... Mike Sarne
Young Cadmus Wilcox ..... Tom Kane
Adult Cadmus Wilcox ..... Dominic Hawksley
Wentworth ..... Louis Williams

Written and Directed by Andrew McGibbon.

Producer: Nick Romero
A Curtains For Radio production for BBC Radio 4.



TUESDAY 24 AUGUST 2010

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b00tfb5g)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b00tff34)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00tfbfm)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00tfbk3)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00tfbgy)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b00tfblj)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00tfbvk)
with Canon Martyn Percy, Principal, Ripon College Cuddesdon.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b00tfcsh)
There are warnings that illegal cockles may have entered the food chain. The shellfish may contain e-coli.

And in Norfolk, after a drought, farmers battle the rain to get the harvest in.

Whilst on the other side of the country, a Devon farmer on the coast shows how the traditional British seaside can be good news for agriculture.

Presenter: Anna Hill. Producer: Fran Barnes.


TUE 06:00 Today (b00tfcy6)
Morning news and current affairs with James Naughtie and Evan Davis, including:
07:35 A call to stop using the word "junkie" and show drug addicts more compassion.
07:50 What are the prospects for those who leave school with very few GCSE qualifications?
08:10 Was a priest involved in an IRA bomb attack in the 1970s and was there a secret deal which protected him from arrest?
08:45 Can the government save money by getting rid of pot plants at workplaces?


TUE 09:00 What's the Point of...? (b00tg23z)
Series 3

Marylebone Cricket Club

What's the point of the MCC?

The celebrated historian George Trevelyan once wrote that if the French nobility had only played cricket with their servants they wouldn't have had their chateaux burnt.
Today, with the revolution taking place within the game itself, Quentin Letts casts a quizzical eye over Marylebone cricket club, the English institution responsible for maintaining its laws and upholding its spirit.

It's not easy for MCC to shake off the weight of history. It resisted the demands of sexual equality almost into the present century, and it is still berated for its exclusiveness. The programme hears from Rachael Heyhoe-Flint who captained the first English women's team allowed onto the Lord's pitch, and to another former Captain, Mike Gatting, who berates MCC members for a display of very ungentlemanly manners to fellow cricketer, Ian Botham.

The powerhouse of cricket is now in India, the governing body is in Dubai and the focus of the game is shifting from test match to twenty-twenty
But this private members club, the owner of the most famous sports ground in the world , still seeks a place at the table. Quentin talks to MCC chief executive Keith Bradshaw about what it's doing there - resisting the economic and global
forces of modernity or leading the charge of change?


TUE 09:30 How The Mighty Have Fallen (b00tg273)
Depictions of Obesity

"Let me have men about me that are fat" - Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

Continuing his series on the history of obesity, Dr Hilary Jones investigates how corpulence has been portrayed over the millennia in art, music and books.

Obese stereotypes often reveal social attitudes of the day. In literature, they range from Shakespeare's Falstaff and Dickens' 'Fat Boy', Joe, to the most famous fat character of all: Billy Bunter, from the immensely prolific pen of Frank Richards.

In art, some of the earliest sculptures in existence are small prehistoric statuettes of naked obese 'Venuses'. Cartoons of corpulence were used for satirical effect in the prints of Hogarth and Gillray - and for bawdy humour in seaside postcards.

Music includes vintage recordings of the 'Too Fat Polka' and 'Nobody Loves A Fat Man'.

There are readings, archive clips, and a visit to Tate Britain's Rude Britannia exhibition. Contributors include Dr Fiona Haslam, a writer on Hogarth, Prof Stephan Rossner of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and Bunter expert Dr Peter McCall.

Readings by Toby Longworth & Michael Fenton-Stevens.

Producer: Susan Kenyon
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b00tffmq)
Elena Gorokhova - A Mountain of Crumbs

Episode 2

From the moment she goes to nursery school in the Soviet Union of the 1960s, Elena Gorokhova begins to rebel against being part of the collective and is threatened by the redoubtable Aunt Polya, with a dvoika, in behaviour.

And as she progresses to proper school she knows that membership of the Young Pioneers and later the Komsomol awaits her as it awaits all her fellow students.

Read by Sian Thomas
A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00tffpw)
Women at the top - is it really a choice between kids and career? Presented by Jane Garvey. We hear about a new campaign to raise awareness about Alzheimer's disease - how to spot symptoms and what to do. Anyone who has read or watched I Claudius will know that the leading women of the Roman world often led colourful and controversial lives. We hear about a new book which looks at the private and public aspects of some of history's most striking women. And the joy of knitting! News about the forthcoming second international knitting conference in Shetland called "In the Loop".


TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00tfqvg)
Soloparentpals.com: Series 2

Dating For Beginners

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM by Sue Teddern.
Episode 2. Dating For Beginners.

After a year cyberpals Rosie and Tom still haven't met in the flesh. Tom's revelation that he is "seeing" Siobhan spurs Rosie into the dating game.

Rosie - Maxine Peake
Tom - Kris Marshall
Tash - Karina Jones
Calum - Thomas Rolinson
Gill - Christine Kavanagh
Barb - Alison Pettitt
Bazz - Sam Dale
Scott - David Seddon

Director: David Hunter

Rosie (Maxine Peake) is a Bolton care-worker whose ex-husband Phil traded her in for a younger model four years ago leaving her to bring up Calum, now 12, alone.

Tom (Kris Marshall) is a housing officer in Exeter whose wife and confidence walked out on him eighteen months ago. He only sees his daughter Lily at weekends.

In the first series despite a succession of twists and turns, mistimings and misunderstandings between the rather nervous, disorganised Tom and the mouthy, controlling Rosie, an underlying friendship and dependence seemed to emerge - but an actual meeting in the flesh failed to take place.

Now, a year later, Rosie is coming to terms with the fact that Phil has had a baby with his new partner Debbie - a woman that she finds, to her surprise, that she has much in common with, perhaps too much? Tom has meanwhile being going steady with Siobhan, a work colleague and while he enjoys the regular sex, fresh veg and clean towels he can't help thinking things are going a little too fast.

Communications between the two are still long-distance, by email, telephone or through the website. Other SPP.COM participants chip in with their own perspectives and concerns - Baz is still the Neanderthal male, Tash the Lash in Wales is trying hard to rein in her party girl style, Gillybean has stashed her OU books in the attic and Gok Wanned her wardrobe and Scott is still coping with three teenage daughters and an obsession with poultry. And blunt newcomer Brummie Barb introduces a same-sex relationship into the mix.

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM will continue to strike a chord with single parents throughout the land and listeners will be able to readily identify with the situations that concern Rosie and Tom and their website friends.

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM is Sue Teddern's home territory. Her natural comic touch and her ear for domestic and emotional detail combines with a convincing touch of the absurd to create an involving and moving take on the love story - albeit one fraught with a multiplicity of misunderstandings and misinterpretations along the way.

MAXINE PEAKE's recent radio includes BETSY COLEMAN, A SMALL PIECE OF SILENCE and THAT REPULSIVE WOMAN. Television work includes DINNER LADIES, SHAMELESS, THE STREET and CRIMINAL JUSTICE.


TUE 11:00 In Living Memory (b00tg2lw)
Series 12

The Humber Bridge

Why was the Humber Bridge built? The first major proposal for a crossing was made in 1872, but a hundred and nine years were to pass before the Queen opened the bridge across the River Humber in July 1981. The aim was to link two remote areas of England, unite the new political entity - Humberside, and attract investment on both banks of the river.

The bridge has been widely acclaimed as an architectural achievement. But it cost far more to build than originally envisaged, and traffic forecasts were optimistic. Just over a decade after the opening, its debts had reached £431 million pounds. And as Parliament debated how the money could be paid back, MPs focused on a promise made by the then Minister of Transport, Barbara Castle, on a January night in 1966. Was this really, as one Conservative member claimed, "a serious scandal...a bribe by the Labour party for the Hull North by-election"?

Harold Wilson came to office in 1964 with a majority of just five. A by-election took that down to three. Then the Labour member for Hull North died in late 1965. His majority had been slight, and the by-election arranged for January 25th 1966 was seen as the key to the future of the Wilson government. The leading figures from both major parties headed from London to Hull to speak to packed hustings. The Labour candidate, Kevin McNamara, was favourite. But opinion polls right up to the last minute suggested Toby Jessel for the Conservatives was still in the race. A week before the election, Barbara Castle made her famous speech and ended nearly a century of debate by promising the people of Hull their bridge.

In this edition of In Living Memory, we hear from the key figures in that election. Kevin McNamara and Toby Jessel discuss why the promise was made and whether it really had any political effect. A Labour party official at the centre of the discussions with Mrs Castle gives an insider's version of events. The fringe but feared candidate, the Guardian journalist Richard Gott, gives his perspective. And Sir Christopher Foster, who in January 1966 had just joined the Ministry of Transport as special advisor and chief economist, describes the ridicule he faced for allowing his minister to make a promise which, he says, made no economic sense. "It was with the greatest of embarassment" he remembers "that we learned the Humber Bridge was to be built...it was perfectly obvious that the Humber Bridge was not needed and would cost a great deal of money". The promise, he says, was made to win a by-election.


TUE 11:30 Ford Madox Ford and France (b00tg2ly)
Julian Barnes and Hermione Lee on Ford Madox Ford

The advice Julian Barnes offers young writers is "study The Good Soldier as an example of perfect and completely original narration and at the same time study his life as an example of negative career management."

Julian Barnes and Hermione Lee tell the story of Ford Madox Ford - author of The Good Soldier and editor of a Paris based magazine which published James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway and Jean Rhys. In fact Ezra Pound complained that Ford "kept on discovering merit with monotonous regularity" although his lack of financial acumen meant the magazine only lasted a year.

Hermione and Julian visit the site of the Transatlantic Review offices where Ford's assistant (and work-horse) the Northumberland poet Basil Bunting "bunked down in a squalid little scullery." The cafés of Paris provided the venue for a weekly soirée, organised by Ford and his then companion Stella Bowen, which offered guests red wine, hot dogs and dancing. And in the Luxembourg Gardens we hear a discussion of the tangled love life of Ford Madox Ford, his elopement with Elsie Martindale, a stint in Brixton prison and the women who followed Elsie: Violet Hunt "who took arsenic to keep herself looking younger" and the Australian painter Stella Bowen who described Ford as "the wise man I crossed the world to see".

Rebecca West described being embraced by Ford as like "being the toast under the poached egg." Others called him "a beached whale" or a "behemoth in grey tweed." He had a pink face, very blue eyes, very blond hair, and was rather chinless with a little moustache and a drawly voice. Henry James is said to have used Ford for the model of the character Morton Densher in Wings of a Dove.

In his novel The Good Soldier he creates one of the best examples in literature of the unreliable narrator and his embroidered accounts of his own life provide a test for biographers. Hermione and Julian swap examples of their favourite "whoppers" which include the church service he couldn't possibly have attended with DH Lawrence; the claim that he helped Marconi transmit the first wireless message across the Atlantic; that the chef Escoffier had said to him "I could learn cooking from you" and that he attended the second trial of Dreyfus.

Producer: Robyn Read.

Reader: Kerry Shale.


TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b00tfqvj)
Call You & Yours: Are graduates doing enough to find work? There are more people than ever before leaving University, yet fewer jobs are available. What is it like having spent three years gaining qualifications to 'get on', only to find yourself back where you started, except with a huge debt? Will the labour market pick up and what can those leaving college do to increase their chances of gaining employment? If you're an employer, have you cut back on the number of graduates you are employing or are you waiting for the right people to come knocking at your door? If you are a parent, how worried are you for your child's future?


TUE 12:57 Weather (b00tfqzv)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (b00tfr32)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


TUE 13:30 Star Spangled Hendrix (b00tg2m0)
When Jimi Hendrix returned to his native America as a star, the country he knew had changed. This programme, presented by Tom Robinson to tie in with the 40th anniversary of the guitarist's death, explores the pressure Jimi was under to make an explicit political declaration.

Tom explores Hendrix's 14 months in the Screaming Eagles 101 Airborne Division that saw him parachute a total of 26 times before he was invalided out with a broken ankle. Brother Leon Hendrix discusses his elder bother's time in the military, along with comments from author Charles Sharr Murray.

Singer and friend Eric Burdon explains how, after the riots in Grosvenor Square, Jimi trotted out the American government's party line on Vietnam - the so-called "Domino Theory".

The Soft Machine supported Hendrix as they travelled across America and drummer Robert Wyatt recalls how Jimi responded to media questions about the war, and the emergence of the Black Power movement. Hendrix was receptive to the Black Panther Party and found the Seattle Chapter of the organisation run by two former high school friends. Both Panthers, Aaron and Elmer Dixon talk about how receptive Hendrix was to the cause.

The programme culminates with Jimi's Woodstock Festival performance of 'The Star Spangled Banner', an eloquent (and wordless) statement against the Vietnam war. In retrospect, it can also be read as a swan song for the era of peace and love and for Hendrix himself, who died in his sleep the following year. Jimi Hendrix is more than a blues guitarist who got lucky in the 60s. He did the best he could to be his own man without openly taking sides, and we are still trying to get to know him 40 years after his death.

Producer: John Sugar
A Sugar production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (b00tfrz3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b00tg2m2)
Matthew Broughton - The Rain Maker

By Matthew Broughton

When a father takes his son on a trip to a cabin in the woods, he has no idea what terrible horror is to come. A sinister story about the demons that lurk in the dark forest of the mind. (Repeat)

Father ..... Kenneth Cranham
Son ..... Joe Dempsie

Directed by James Robinson.


TUE 15:00 Home Planet (b00tg2m4)
The waste from a nuclear power plant contains materials that can be turned into atomic bombs. Nuclear fusion has long been promised as the fuel of the future. It doesn't produce the same type of waste but one Home Planet listener wants to know whether it might have some as yet unseen military purpose.

With all the concern about carbon dioxide, where does the gas come from to produce fizzy drinks, and does it make a significant contribution to our carbon footprint? Will the move to electric cars require more fossil fuel power stations to charge them? Could water be an alternative, greener way to cool the steamy London Underground? And we are due for another ice age, can we pump sufficient carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to stave it off?

Richard Daniel is joined by this week's panel: Dr Ros Taylor of Kingston University; Science Writer Ehsan Masood and Mike Hulme, Professor of Climate Change at the University of East Anglia.

Contact:

Home Planet
BBC Radio 4
PO Box 3096
Brighton
BN1 1PL

Or email home.planet@bbc.co.uk

Or telephone: 08700 100 400

Producer: Toby Murcott
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 15:30 Comic Fringes (b00tg2nr)
Comic Fringes: Series 6

The Woman Who Sniffed

Take front row seats for a new series of short stories written and read by comedians and recorded last week in front of an audience at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Susan Calman gets the series underway with a wry look at office politics in "The Woman Who Sniffed".

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.


TUE 15:45 A Load of Rubbish (b00fkqpg)
Episode 2

Ian Marchant continues his investigation of our rubbish with a visit to Britain's first plastic bottle recycling factory capable of turning drinks bottles back into food grade plastic. Meet the machines that can tell the difference between a shampoo bottle and a milk bottle.


TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (b00tg2sp)
With just two years remaining until London's Olympic Games start, the search for volunteers with language skills has begun. Presenter Chris Ledgard travels to St Pancras station to meet Seb Coe, Boris Johnson and LOCOG chief executive Paul Deighton to hear about the two schemes - Games Makers and Ambassadors for London. "You don't need a degree in Mandarin" says Boris Johnson, but what language skills are required ? Chris also talks to gold medal winner Sally Gunnell about the need for translators in previous games, and also to Professor Joe Lo Bianco in Australia. Joe was heavily involved in the planning for the Sydney Olympics, which set a benchmark in getting language requirements correct. Does Joe think the London organisers have left enough time to get everything in place ?


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b00tgcss)
Series 22

Mary Carpenter

Matthew Parris is joined by the founder of Kids' Company, the psychotherapist Camila Batmanghelidjh, to discuss the life of her Victorian equivalent, Mary Carpenter.

Mary Carpenter developed theories for helping deprived and criminalised children through the experience of running schools and reformatories in Bristol in the mid-nineteenth century. She became very influential as MPs turned to her for advice on educational and penal reform regarding children. Her guiding principle was that the treatment of troubled children should be based on the love of the child, not on ideas of punishment or retribution.

Camila Batmanghelidjh founded Kids' Company to offer practical support 'and love' to vulnerable inner city children who may lack it from their families. She was surprised to discover how closely Mary Carpenter's beliefs mirror her own, one hundred and fifty years on, and how many of the problems Mary Carpenter described remain unchanged. Camila finds Dickensian conditions in the homes of South London children now, with filthy conditions, parents who are intoxicated and drugs being used to control or pacify children. These scenes would have been familiar to Mary Carpenter as she visited families in the slums of Bristol.

The parallels between the two women are striking: both exhibited a gift for dealing with children at an early age; both decided to devote their lives to the cause, eschewing a family life of their own; both have had to spend time raising money and advocating on behalf of the children they represent.

Matthew and Camila are joined by biographer and historian Carla Contractor in this fascinating and moving programme.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.


TUE 17:00 PM (b00tfrz5)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00tfsfx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 Cabin Pressure (b00lyvz7)
Series 2

Kuala Lumpur

A week on stand-by at the airfield gives Arthur an opportunity to brush up on his stewarding skills, while Douglas seems to have disappeared. And why is everyone terrified of Dirk the groundsman?

Starring
Carolyn Knapp-Shappey ..... Stephanie Cole
1st Officer Douglas Richardson ..... Roger Allam
Capt. Martin Crieff ..... Benedict Cumberbatch
Arthur Shappey ..... John Finnemore
Dave ..... Paul Putner
George ..... Roger Morlidge

Written by John Finnemore.

Produced & directed by David Tyler

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (b00tfrbk)
Elizabeth and Lily shop for schoolwear. Nic says Mia's looking forward to school with Jake. Elizabeth reveals she has long planned to send her own children to Clavisborne boarding school.

Nigel points out that Bert has left a parcel of runner beans under the "console desserte", spoiling the image for visitors. The beans are for Grant who works in the shop. He and his wife would like to grow their own vegetables. Realising there's a shortage of allotments in South Borsetshire, Nigel suggests to Elizabeth they could lease some of his land to help proactive young people get projects off the ground. Elizabeth thinks the idea's ridiculous. Besides, they have too much work to do for the weekend's steam rally.

Susan and Nic speculate on the possible sale of the Bull. Like Susan, Nic's after recipe ideas. Bert suggests stuffed marrow, but Susan wants to compete with exotic cook Jennifer. Pat warns Susan against making an unfamiliar dish.

Helen hopes that local celebrity chef Shelley's ideas will appeal to younger customers at next week's local food day. Shelley's going to give cookery demonstrations. Helen's raring to invite loads of people, but Pat worries that she needs to rest. Helen says she's never felt better.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (b00tfsj5)
Sean Connery at 80; Inspector Morse on stage

Inspector Morse started life on the page in the novels by Colin Dexter, and memorably moved to TV with John Thaw in the title role. Now Morse takes to the stage for the first time, played by Colin Baker, in House of Ghosts by Alma Cullen, who wrote four Morse screenplays for TV. They discuss bringing the much-loved Inspector to the theatre.

As Sean Connery, the original celluloid Bond, reaches his 80th birthday, biographer Christopher Bray and outgoing director of the Edinburgh Film Festival Hannah McGill discuss the actor's life and career.

Conductor Osmo Vanska talks about performing at the BBC Proms this week with the Minnesota Orchestra.

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is the new film from Edgar Wright, director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Based on the graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley, the film follows Scott Pilgrim's quest for love, where he must defeat the 'seven evil exes' of the girl of his dreams. Ryan Gilbey reviews.

Producer: Gavin Heard.


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00tfqvg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


TUE 20:00 Trouble in Euroland (b00tgcsv)
The Euro is in deep trouble.

As the project intended to unify the European Union causes even deeper divisions, questions are being raised about whether nations as diverse as Germany and Greece can really share the same currency.

The repercussions spread far beyond mainland Europe. Britain is affected as British firms struggle to sell to the Eurozone.

Jonathan Charles was the BBC's Europe correspondent in the 1990s, when the euro was first introduced to great fanfare. He travelled widely around the continent, reporting on the years of preparations leading to the final launch of the euro.

Now he retraces his steps, returning to some of those places and speaking to the likes of former Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont, the UK's treasury minister and ambassador at the time, and prominent European figures including the former Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok and some top European bankers. Jonathan also talks to ordinary workers whose livelihood has been fundamentally changed by the advent of euro zone.

Having taken Europe's temperature, Jonathan asks if the Euro will survive, and what does it mean for Europe's dream of political integration?

Producer: Kati Whitaker
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (b00tgcsx)
Peter White discusses mobile phone problems with Marcus GrÃber. Is the touchscreen or the keyboard the future of mobile phones for blind and partially sighted users? And Mani Djazmi visits the blind World Golf Championships in Northamptonshire.


TUE 21:00 Case Notes (b00tgcsz)
Balance Disorders

Attacks of vertigo and dizziness afflict hundreds of thousands of people every year in the UK. One in three of us under 65 years old will have experienced a balance disorder. For some, problems with their sense of balance are so severe that a trip outside the house becomes a disorientating nightmare. Many become reclusive and depressed.

In this edition of Case Notes, Dr Mark Porter talks to patients, doctors and other clinical specialists about the various conditions which cause vertigo and disabling dizziness. Mark visits the one-stop Balance Clinic at Guys Hospital in London where patients are assessed and treated for a range of balance disorders.

These include the most common varieties such as benign paroxsymal positional vertigo and labyrinthitis. One expression of these complaints is visual vertigo. It's also known as Supermarket Syndrome because the visual patterns of moving down the packet-lined aisles triggers attacks of disorientation. Fortunately many patients can be helped with sessions of special physiotherapy exercises rather than drugs and surgery. Mark joins a session in the clinic's gym to hear how these cheap and simple therapies work.

There are also rarer, stranger balance upsets such as dehisence of the superior semicircular canal. Loud noises bring on severe attacks of vertigo. One allied symptom is that sufferers can also hear the sound of their eyeballs moving. Mark hears about the kinds of surgery possible for those patients stricken with vertigo that cannot be treated with less radical interventions.

Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker.


TUE 21:30 What's the Point of...? (b00tg23z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 21:58 Weather (b00tfsqc)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b00tfsv6)
An investigation has concluded that a Catholic priest, suspected of involvement in one of Northern Ireland's worst atrocities, was not arrested because of a secret deal between the Church, the police and the British government - but was the collusion justified?

Somali MPs killed in terror attack in Mogadishu

Could Pakistan be vulnerable to another military take-over in the wake of the flood?

With Ritula Shah.


TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00tk8zy)
And the Land Lay Still

Episode 2

Written and abridged by James Robertson.

Read by Liam Brennan.

Excerpts from James Robertson's monumental new novel which portrays the last six decades of Scotland's social and political landscape through the lives of a handful of characters.

Mike Pendreich has moved from Edinburgh to live in his late father Angus's cottage in the far north of Scotland. Angus was one of the greatest photographers of the post-war era and the remote cottage houses a vast archive of his prints and negatives.

Mike has been asked to curate a major retrospective of his father's work. Sifting through the messy archive, Mike is increasingly uncertain about the facts of his childhood and, seeking clarity, he decides to visit Jean Barbour, an old lover of his father's.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.


TUE 23:00 Curiosity Killed the Cabaret (b00tgct1)
The Edinburgh Fringe is the home to some of the best cabaret acts the world has to offer and back in 2010 Fringe Radio 4 bought you a selection of some of the most talked about cabaret acts who appeared over the Festival.

Australian cabaret legend Ali McGregor (La Clique and Opera Burlesque), who recently hosted a Late-Nite Variety-Nite Night at The Assembly Rooms, hosted a special Radio 4 late night review show Curiosity Killed The Cabaret.

She introduced the cream of the cabaret acts appearing at the 2010 Fringe including Frisky and Mannish, Oompah Brass, Asher Treleaven and Fitzrovia Radio Hour.

Producer: Paul Russell
A Open Mike Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 23:30 Tickets Please (b00p1nm5)
Episode 3

Love among the train-staff on the 9.27 London to Exeter flourishes, but with the unwelcome addition of Diana's amorous mum. And why is her Dad squashing Carol's muffins?

Sitcom on rails by Mark Maier.

Robin..................Jeremy Swift
Nadine...................Alex Kelly
Peter..............Malcolm Tierney
Carol..............Tessa Nicholson
Carl................Nicholas Boulton
Diana...............Melissa Advani
Linda...................Kate Layden
Keith...............Stephen Hogan

Producer: Peter Kavanagh

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2009.



WEDNESDAY 25 AUGUST 2010

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b00tfb5j)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b00tffmq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00tfbfp)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00tfbk5)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00tfbh0)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (b00tfbll)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00tfbvm)
with Canon Martyn Percy, Principal, Ripon College Cuddesdon.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (b00tfcsk)
Woodlands across the UK are under attack by several major diseases and tens of thousands of trees are being felled as a result. Anna Hill hears what's being done to kerb the outbreaks and how countryside visitors could be making the problem worse.

Also how top restaurateurs are sourcing food from our beaches and how a rare flock of experimental sheep are producing wool worth ten times that of traditional British animals.

Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.


WED 06:00 Today (b00tfcy8)
Morning news and current affairs with Justin Webb and Evan Davis, including:
07:30 Should violent offenders with mental health problems be tracked by satellite?
07:50 IFS report that the Budget was harder on the poor than the wealthy.
08:10 Why are sexually transmitted infections on the rise in the UK?


WED 09:00 Fry's English Delight (b00tgd1b)
Series 3

Accentuate the Negative

Contradiction is an addiction - from philosophical dialectic to the verification of scientific and mathematical hypotheses, and from religious controversy to traditional pantomime exchanges with the audience. Oh No It Isn't, you may think. Oh, yes, it very much is.

Stephen Fry examines various aspects of the subject with language expert Professor David Crystal, theologian Melissa Raphael-Levine, philosopher Anthony Grayling, and Oliver Double, who has made a special study of comedy double-acts, and will reveal just how vital contradiction is not only for cross-patter partners but for the whole of comedy.

We learn about the Square of Opposition and about how there is more than one way to be wrong. We find out just how the law of double negatives work, and how beguiling and sometimes surprising the oxymoron can be - that little combination of a couple of words that cancel each other out in some way. Well, it's only common sense, isn't it?

We also hear how those who claim to spot contradictions in the Bible, or the Talmud, or the Koran are essentially misguided, and we hear about a current development in English that threatens to change one of the things that has so far made the language different to French or German.

All of that, together with a lesson in when "No" does not necessarily mean no - and when "Yes" doesn't really mean yes, either.

Producer: Ian Gardhouse
ATestbed production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 09:30 Head to Head (b00tgd1d)
Series 2

AJ Ayer and Edward de Bono

Edward Stourton continues to revisit broadcast debates from the archives - exploring the ideas, the great minds behind them and echoes of the arguments in present-day politics.

In this episode, two leading minds thrash out the question of whether democracy works. It was a meeting of logical and lateral thinking in 1976 when celebrity philosopher AJ Ayer discussed the fairness and efficiency of democracy with Edward de Bono, the original lateral thinker.

The 1970s were trying economic times in the UK and the British public was losing faith in its government. Why was it Britain had won the war yet countries such as France and Germany were prospering and we weren't? In this context, Ayer and de Bono explore the fault lines in representative government: do elected politicians actually represent the interests of the population? Are these politicians equipped to do the job? And who makes the big decisions anyway - ministers or civil servants?

Their debate is in part a search for innovative solutions - not unlike the current UK political situation.

In the studio dissecting the debate are Ben Rogers, Associate Fellow at think tank Demos and writer of Ayer's biography, and author Piers Dudgeon, who wrote de Bono's biography.

Producer: Dominic Byrne
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b00tffms)
Elena Gorokhova - A Mountain of Crumbs

Episode 3

Elena Gorokhova has strong doubts about joining the Young Communist League but she knows she can't go to college unless she is a member, and she longs to read English at Leningrad University.

She loves the romanticism of literature and yearns for a dacha with white gauzy curtains; she wishes her family discussed etiquette instead of lugging buckets of water to beds of tomatoes and dill.

And then her Aunt Mila arrives from Minsk.

Read by Sian Thomas
A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00tffpy)
Lone parents of young children who don't work are facing changes to their benefits this autumn to encourage them back into the jobs market. Some could lose out, so is withdrawing benefits the best way to get lone parents back to work? Author Wendy Perriam on her latest novel about an unlikely hero called Eric - a librarian looking for love and the personal demons he confronts along the way. At least a million children of school age have an ongoing medical condition such as asthma, diabetes or epilepsy. Should there be a statutory requirement to provide medical care for them at school? We hear from one mother whose child has diabetes. Presented by Jane Garvey.


WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00tfqrf)
Soloparentpals.com: Series 2

Doormats

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM by Sue Teddern.
Episode 3. Doormats

Not only has Rosie been sleeping with her ex-husband but she has become good friends with his girlfriend. Meanwhile Tom's ex treats him like a doormat.

Rosie - Maxine Peake
Tom - Kris Marshall
Tash - Karina Jones
Calum - Thomas Rolinson
Gill - Christine Kavanagh
Barb - Alison Pettitt
Bazz - Sam Dale
Scott - David Seddon

Director: David Hunter

Rosie (Maxine Peake) is a Bolton care-worker whose ex-husband Phil traded her in for a younger model four years ago leaving her to bring up Calum, now 12, alone.

Tom (Kris Marshall) is a housing officer in Exeter whose wife and confidence walked out on him eighteen months ago. He only sees his daughter Lily at weekends.

In the first series despite a succession of twists and turns, mistimings and misunderstandings between the rather nervous, disorganised Tom and the mouthy, controlling Rosie, an underlying friendship and dependence seemed to emerge - but an actual meeting in the flesh failed to take place.

Now, a year later, Rosie is coming to terms with the fact that Phil has had a baby with his new partner Debbie - a woman that she finds, to her surprise, that she has much in common with, perhaps too much? Tom has meanwhile being going steady with Siobhan, a work colleague and while he enjoys the regular sex, fresh veg and clean towels he can't help thinking things are going a little too fast.

Communications between the two are still long-distance, by email, telephone or through the website. Other SPP.COM participants chip in with their own perspectives and concerns - Baz is still the Neanderthal male, Tash the Lash in Wales is trying hard to rein in her party girl style, Gillybean has stashed her OU books in the attic and Gok Wanned her wardrobe and Scott is still coping with three teenage daughters and an obsession with poultry. And blunt newcomer Brummie Barb introduces a same-sex relationship into the mix.

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM will continue to strike a chord with single parents throughout the land and listeners will be able to readily identify with the situations that concern Rosie and Tom and their website friends.

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM is Sue Teddern's home territory. Her natural comic touch and her ear for domestic and emotional detail combines with a convincing touch of the absurd to create an involving and moving take on the love story - albeit one fraught with a multiplicity of misunderstandings and misinterpretations along the way.

MAXINE PEAKE's recent radio includes BETSY COLEMAN, A SMALL PIECE OF SILENCE and THAT REPULSIVE WOMAN. Television work includes DINNER LADIES, SHAMELESS, THE STREET and CRIMINAL JUSTICE.


WED 11:00 Mind Changers (b00tgd1g)
Case Study: SB - The Man Who Was Disappointed with What He Saw

Without a few unusual people, human behaviour would have remained a mystery - ordinary people whose extraordinary circumstances provided researchers with the exceptions that proved behavioural rules. Claudia Hammond revisits the classic case studies that have advanced psychological research.

Claudia Hammond re-visits the case of Sidney Bradford, born in 1906, who lost his sight when he was 10 months old. When it was finally restored with corneal grafts at the age of 52, a lecturer in Experimental Psychology at Cambridge, Richard Gregory, began a series of tests on SB - a study that would launch Gregory's career as a world-renowned expert in visual perception.

For this programme, in his last broadcast interview before his death in May this year, Richard Gregory, Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at Bristol University, accompanied Claudia Hammond to the London sites he'd visited with Sidney 50 years earlier. At the Science Museum SB was captivated by the Maudsley screw-cutting lathe from 1800; he enjoyed the flurry of pigeons in Trafalgar Square, and laughed at the giraffes at London Zoo. But in general SB found the visual world a disappointing place. He died less than two years after his sight was restored.

His reaction differed greatly from that of Mike May, an American who lost his sight aged 3 and recovered it when he was 43.

What's become apparent from such cases is that humans have to 'learn' to see; without accumulating visual experience from which the brain can make sense of what the eyes see, vision is of little use.

Claudia Hammond hears from consultant ophthalmologist, William Ayliffe about the other historical cases of recovered sight, and visits Dr Steven Dakin in the Department of Visual Neuroscience at UCL

Producer: Marya Burgess.


WED 11:30 Mum's on the Run (b00tgd1j)
Episode 1

Mum's on the Run is a modern-day twist on the single-family situation starring Ronni Ancona. .

It follows the hectic life ("What life?") of single mum, Jen. Mother of two, Master of none - Jen seems to spend most of her time as an unpaid chauffeur to a 15 year-old teenage existentialist son, Toby, and a tonally challenged recorder-practising 11 year-old daughter, Felicity, whilst also coping with the jazz musician ex-husband, the fiercely competitive and annoying downstairs neighbour and a huge crush on her son's history teacher.

How Jen drops the kids off at school at the beginning of the day but ends up collecting them from a nightclub at the end of it.

Jen ..... Ronni Ancona
Mr. Rigby ..... John Gordon Sinclair
Shelley ..... Alexis Zegerman
Vivienne ..... Christine Kavanagh
Keith ..... Kevin Eldon
Felicity ..... Amy Dabrowa
Toby ..... Alexander Heath
Karina ..... Amaya Rowlands
Connor ..... Pip Woolley
Cashier ..... Iain Batchelor
Doorman ..... Jude Akuwudike
Leona ..... Sam Dale

Written by Alexis Zegerman

Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2010.


WED 12:00 You and Yours (b00tfqvl)
Private universities have reported a post A Level surge in interest - so what do they offer that's different from publically funded institutions?

Botox is best known as an anti-aging treatment but it has just been licensed in the UK for some kinds of migraine. We find out how it works and ask what else is in the pipeline.

And how the death of a daughter led one woman to campaign on cycle safety.


WED 12:57 Weather (b00tfqzx)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 13:00 World at One (b00tfr34)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


WED 13:30 The Media Show (b00tgd7y)
"The Web is Dead," or so said Chris Anderson editor in Chief of new media's stone tablet Wired magazine. Not the internet - that is alive and well - but the web as we know it. His article sparked quite a response much of it claiming he was simply wrong. Steve Hewlett finds out whether he meant what he said.

The South African government wants to bring in tighter controls over the media but critics claim "it's the most serious threat (to press freedom) since the persecution of the Apartheid regime". Steve hears from Peter Bruce editor of the South Africa daily Business Day and Moloto Mothapo from the ANC party.

On Friday the BBC's Director General Mark Thompson will give the MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival. In the same speech last year James Murdoch described the corporation's size and ambitions as "chilling" and claimed it was "incapable of distinguishing between what is good for it, and what is good for the country." So how will he respond? Peter Bazalgette and Gillian Reynolds (Radio Critic at the Telegraph) discuss.

And just how much can "auto-tuning" do...?

The producer is Joe Kent.


WED 14:00 The Archers (b00tfrbk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama (b00jsxxk)
The Gallery

A second chance to hear Alan Plater's final play for radio. The opening night of a new Tyneside art gallery is thrown into jeopardy by the well-meaning but ill-trained staff. Dodgy wiring, an over-zealous cleaner and a retired greyhound add to the comic mix.
Trevor ... Joe Caffrey
Liz ... Janice Acquah
Michael ... Deka Walmsley
Heather ... Caroline Guthrie
Julie ... Phillippa Wilson
Neville ... Chris Connel
Chris ... Benjamin Askew
Norma ... Tracey Wilkinson
Susie ... Lizzy Watts
Sammy ... Lisa McGrillis
Tomlin ... Malcolm Tierney

Director ... Alison Hindell

Alan Plater is the much-loved author of hundreds of stage, radio and television dramas including The Beiderbecke Affair, The Last of the Blonde Bombshells, Close the Coalhouse Door, The Pallisers, Z Cars and Lewis. His work for radio includes an adaptation of his own autobiography, Stories For Another Day, and the original drama series The Devil's Music. The Gallery was his final play for radio before his death in June 2010.


WED 15:00 Alvin Hall's Generations of Money (b00tdzp3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 on Saturday]


WED 15:30 Comic Fringes (b00tg2nt)
Comic Fringes: Series 6

Just When You Thought It Was Safe to be Green

Series of new short stories written and read by comedians and recorded live last week in front of a packed audience at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Patrick Monahan takes centre stage with "Just When You Thought It Was Safe to be Green"; a story which warns against paying too much attention to government crime statistics.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.


WED 15:45 A Load of Rubbish (b00fq4ft)
Episode 3

Ian Marchant visits Ludlow, gourmet capital of England, to find out what happens to the food that gets thrown away. It gets swallowed up by the country's first anaerobic digestion plant - once the knives and forks have been removed.


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b00tgf11)
Alienation

Laurie Taylor discusses Karl Marx's theory of Alienation with Philosophy Professor, Sean Sayers, political economist, Ian Fraser, and Professor of Medical Ethics, Donna Dickenson.

Marx saw Alienation as an objective condition inherent in waged labour under capitalism. He believed that the mass proletariat were alienated because the fruits of production belonged to the employers. Factory workers were estranged from themselves, from the products of their labour, and from each other. Human relations came to be seen as relations between commodities rather than people. Marx believed this alienation would be overcome in a communist future in which we could "hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner...without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, shepherd or critic". Individuals would become multifaceted and be at one with their creative selves. Work, in such a future, would be an end in itself rather than a means to an end in the form of a wage.

Thinking Allowed explores the evolution and development of Marx's theory of Alienation. Can it, in any way, capture the experience of today's worker? Or is it hopelessly outdated in an economy dominated by a service sector rather than factory production?


WED 16:30 Case Notes (b00tgcsz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 17:00 PM (b00tfrz7)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00tfsfz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:30 Ed Reardon's Week (b00qgxxb)
Series 6

A Bottle of Ulterio Motivo

ED REARDON'S WEEK
Episode 5 : A Bottle of Ulterio Motivo

Ed finds himself in the money when he sells most of his possessions to a themed wine bar owned by the lovely Violet Carson.

With Christopher Douglas as Ed Reardon and
Stephanie Cole as Olive
Simon Greenall as Ray
Geoff McGivern as Cliff
Philip Jackson as Jaz
Rita May as Pearl
Barunka O'Shaughnessey as Ping
And Geoffrey Whitehead as Stan
With Dan Tetsell and Emma Fryer.

Written by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds

Producer: Dawn Ellis.


WED 19:00 The Archers (b00tfrbm)
Ed's impressed by Tom's new mower conditioner, and suggests Tony could use it to do some silaging for him.

Helen's keen to have a low-tech birth, although she appreciates Tony's sentiment when he favours state-of-the-art Felpersham Hospital. Pat reminds Tony that while Helen's conception may not have been natural, the pregnancy is - and so the birth should be.

As Helen rearranges Ambridge Organics for the cookery demonstration, Kirsty reports press interest in the Arkwright Lake hide. She also observes that Helen looks tired.

Tony gives Jamie pointers at net practice, careful not to step on Alistair's toes. Will's a bit defensive when Tony mentions Nic's popularity with Bull locals. As they discuss the pub, Tony admits he's in the dark over Lilian's plans.

Over a glass of wine with Pat, Kathy feels she and Jamie have turned a corner. Her getting upset last week affected him, and he's making a real effort. She's also encouraged that Kenton has agreed to come to the golf club dinner dance.

However, Kirsty tells Helen that Kenton's dreading the event. Kirsty finally gets hold of a contact for Ed, although Kenton doesn't think there will be any artichokes available. Ed vows to find them, somehow.


WED 19:15 Front Row (b00tfsj7)
Klaxons; Comedy Awards; Jo Nesbo; long running TV series

With Mark Lawson.

With The Bill, Last of the Summer Wine and Big Brother all coming to an end in the next few days, TV critic Boyd Hilton and writer Chris Dunkley consider the impact of these three long-running series.

Klaxons won the Mercury Music Prize in 2007 for their debut album. Band members James Righton and Jamie Reynolds join Mark to discuss their new disc Surfing the Void, which was released this week after rumours that it was proving the difficult second album of rock legend.

The shortlist for the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards was announced this afternoon. Stephen Armstrong, one of this year's judges, takes us through the contenders. The winners will be announced on Saturday.

Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbo, whose work has been translated into 30 languages, talks about his new book The Snowman.

Producer: Samantha Psyk.


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00tfqrf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


WED 20:00 Iconoclasts (b00tgf14)
Series 3

Episode 1

Edward Stourton chairs a live debate in which Professor David Marsland defends his view that the mentally and morally unfit should be sterilised. Professor David Marsland is Emeritus Scholar of Sociology and Health Sciences at Brunel University, London and Professorial Research Fellow in Sociology at the University of Buckingham. He argues that the only way to prevent the abuse and neglect of children whose parents are incapable of looking after them is to stop them from being born in the first place. It should be open to police and social workers to recommend that drug addicts, alcoholics and the mentally disabled should be irreversibly sterilised - and the courts should be able to enforce this. Challenging his views will be three expert witnesses including a senior social worker, a drugs charity lawyer and a moral philosopher.
Join in the debate by emailing iconoclasts@bbc.co.uk or text during the programme on 84844.
Producer: Peter Everett.


WED 20:45 Talking to the Enemy (b00tgf16)
From agreements to peace

How do agreements in the negotiating room develop into peace? Should we always talk or are some terrorists beyond the pale? Jonathan Powell presents the final programme on negotiating with terrorists. Produced by David Stenhouse.


WED 21:00 Frontiers (b00tgf18)
Graphene - the new wonder material

Discovered in Manchester just a few years ago, graphene is an atomically thin form of carbon that looks set to transform technology. In the short time it has been known, graphene has been found to be among the toughest of materials, has almost no resistance to electricity, is chemically inert, impermeable to gases, almost completely transparent ... . Potential uses include the ultimate in nano-electronics, touch screens, hydrogen storage for zero-emission cars, solar panels, DNA sequencing, ultracapacitors for the next generation of electric cars, chemical sensors ...


WED 21:30 Fry's English Delight (b00tgd1b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 21:58 Weather (b00tfsqf)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b00tfsv8)
David Miliband says the Labour Party must reach out to supporters from all sections of society.
Will his party prefer to put the poorest first?

Why Germans want to keep military conscription.

Winning battles with inflatable tanks, the Russian way.

With Ritula Shah.


WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00tk90q)
And the Land Lay Still

Episode 3

Written and abridged by James Robertson.

Read by Liam Brennan.

Excerpts from James Robertson's monumental new novel which portrays the last six decades of Scotland's social and political landscape through the lives of a handful of characters.

The late Angus Pendreich was one of the greatest photographers of the post-war era. His son Mike, also a photographer, has been asked to curate a major retrospective of his father's work. Seeking to discover more about the man, Mike has contacted Jean Barbour, one of Angus's old lovers.

As the pair work their way through a bottle of malt whisky, Mike shares some intimate memories and hears from Jean a difficult truth.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.


WED 23:00 Continuity (b00tgf1c)
Episode 2

Alistair McGowan stars in this subversive sitcom about a continuity announcer, brooding on the escalating disasters of his private and professional life at the same time as attempting to give us a preview of the programmes on offer in the coming week on Radio 4. Or what might be Radio 4 in a parallel universe.

This week we welcome the return of 'Musical Notebook', cast our minds back to the controversial career of that terror of the music halls, the irrepressible comic Lennie Bloom, and we discuss the revamp of Desert Island Discs. It's all good.

Written by Hugh Rycroft. Also starring Lewis Macleod, Sally Grace, Charlotte Page and David Holt.

Producers: David Spicer and Frank Stirling
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:15 Rik Mayall's Bedside Tales (b00nqj86)
Wake Up

Settle down, brush your teeth, do whatever it is you do at this time of night. But, most of all, listen because Rik would like to talk to you. One on one. Tonight he'd mostly like to tell you about Wake Up.

Performer ..... Rik Mayall
Writers ..... Rik Mayall & John Nicholson
Producer ..... Steven Canny

Written by Rik and John Nicholson, this is a woozy, strange and resonant series from one of the country's most loved comic performers. Rik wants to sit with you in your room - one on one. He wants to let you know things - important, secret things, things about your neighbours. About him. About you.


WED 23:30 Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off (b00pfp8n)
Series 4

The Orient Express

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

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

In this episode; It's a Merger On The Orient Express as Giles takes four cross ladies and a piece of lead piping on a septuagenarian trans-Balkan hen party. With an Agatha Christie theme.

Mysterious jewels, magnificent moustaches and a set of pink fluffy handcuffs add up to a baffling mystery.

Starring Marcus Brigstocke as Giles.

Giles Wemmbley Hogg ..... Marcus Brigstocke
Lady Flench ..... Alison Steadman
Mrs Hadleigh-Broome ..... Morwenna Banks
Mrs Gunthorne ..... Janet Henfrey
Mr Timmis ..... Adrian Scarborough
Charlotte Wemmbley Hogg ..... Catherine Shepherd
Hugo ..... Ben Willbond
David ..... David Armand
Mehmet ..... Nej Adamson

Written by Marcus Brigstocke & Jeremy Salsby.

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



THURSDAY 26 AUGUST 2010

THU 00:00 Midnight News (b00tfb5l)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b00tffms)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00tfbfr)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00tfbk7)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00tfbh2)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (b00tfbln)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00tfbvp)
with Canon Martyn Percy, Principal, Ripon College Cuddesdon.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (b00tfcsm)
The farmer who illegally sold cloned meat says UK law should be changed. Anna Hill hears that even if his animals end up abroad, we could end up eating them without knowing it.

Frozen food and pasta sauces should count towards the 5-a-day, according to the government's Fruit and Veg task force. Farming Today hears on average people currently eat only 3.7 portions a day - increasing that to 5 would avoid an estimated 42,000 premature deaths per year.

And a visit to the Norfolk Broads shows how farming near the coast can be a constant battle. Anna Hill visits a farm which has lost its battle with the water.

Presenter: Anna Hill; Producer Melvin Rickarby.


THU 06:00 Today (b00tfcyb)
Morning news and current affairs with James Naughtie and Justin Webb, including:
07:40 Could a mackerel war break out between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and the EU?
08:10 The return of businessman Asil Nadir to face charges in the UK.
08:20 Does it matter if your doctor is religious?


THU 09:00 The Choice (b00tgfr7)
On The Choice this week Michael Buerk talk to Elissa Wall who was born into the strange, narrow world of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints - an American sect that had broken away from the Mormon church.

It was a group that believed in religious devotion, hard work, female subservience, the virtues and the clothes of the prairie puritans - and polygamy. Elissa was married off at 14 to a 19-year-old cousin - a relationship she hated. After several miscarriages, and a stillbirth, she faced the toughest choice of her young life - to stay with the community and the church, which was all she knew, or to leave. That would mean, not only separation from her mother and sisters, maybe for ever, but taking on the man who had ruled her life, the cult leader Warren Jeffs.


THU 09:30 GPs Who Need GPS (b00tgfr9)
Doctor on Your Trail

Dr Phil Hammond tells the story of another GP who experiences extraordinary journeys as part of their work.

Frostbite, altitude sickness and machete accidents. All injuries that expedition doctors can come across as they travel throughout the world with charity fundraisers, gap year students and adventurers. All fairly unusual for your standard practising GP.

As Alex Hoskin prepares to climb Africa's highest mountain, Phil Hammond tells his story of nerves, excitement....and potential lion attacks.

Produced by Lucy Adam.


THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b00tffmv)
Elena Gorokhova - A Mountain of Crumbs

Episode 4

Elena Gorokhova is understandably nervous when the university authorities select her to teach English to visiting American students during the summer break.

It is the first time she has seen a live American and now she is faced with fourteen of them, staring at her with the same intense curiosity with which she stares at them.

And she likes what she sees, especially when she is introduced to Robert.

Read by Sian Thomas
A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00tffq0)
Jane Garvey talks to an artist reunited with the son she gave up for adoption whose story is now re-told in a joint exhibition of their work. Bad breath, dirty toenails or calling women "laydeeeeez" - the deal-breakers that spell doom in a relationship. Women who married were forced to give up work in some occupations as recently as 40 years ago - we look at the impact of the marriage bar on today's workplace. How the traditional game of stoolball can help you stay fit. Community gardening in Birmingham.


THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00tfqrh)
Soloparentpals.com: Series 2

Emotional Quicksand

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM by Sue Teddern.
Episode 4. Emotional Quicksand.

Rosie's love-life is in a tangle and Tom is getting cold feet about Siobhan.

Rosie - Maxine Peake
Tom - Kris Marshall
Tash - Karina Jones
Calum - Thomas Rolinson
Gill - Christine Kavanagh
Barb - Alison Pettitt
Bazz - Sam Dale
Scott - David Seddon

Director: David Hunter

Rosie (Maxine Peake) is a Bolton care-worker whose ex-husband Phil traded her in for a younger model four years ago leaving her to bring up Calum, now 12, alone.

Tom (Kris Marshall) is a housing officer in Exeter whose wife and confidence walked out on him eighteen months ago. He only sees his daughter Lily at weekends.

In the first series despite a succession of twists and turns, mistimings and misunderstandings between the rather nervous, disorganised Tom and the mouthy, controlling Rosie, an underlying friendship and dependence seemed to emerge - but an actual meeting in the flesh failed to take place.

Now, a year later, Rosie is coming to terms with the fact that Phil has had a baby with his new partner Debbie - a woman that she finds, to her surprise, that she has much in common with, perhaps too much? Tom has meanwhile being going steady with Siobhan, a work colleague and while he enjoys the regular sex, fresh veg and clean towels he can't help thinking things are going a little too fast.

Communications between the two are still long-distance, by email, telephone or through the website. Other SPP.COM participants chip in with their own perspectives and concerns - Baz is still the Neanderthal male, Tash the Lash in Wales is trying hard to rein in her party girl style, Gillybean has stashed her OU books in the attic and Gok Wanned her wardrobe and Scott is still coping with three teenage daughters and an obsession with poultry. And blunt newcomer Brummie Barb introduces a same-sex relationship into the mix.

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM will continue to strike a chord with single parents throughout the land and listeners will be able to readily identify with the situations that concern Rosie and Tom and their website friends.

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM is Sue Teddern's home territory. Her natural comic touch and her ear for domestic and emotional detail combines with a convincing touch of the absurd to create an involving and moving take on the love story - albeit one fraught with a multiplicity of misunderstandings and misinterpretations along the way.

MAXINE PEAKE's recent radio includes BETSY COLEMAN, A SMALL PIECE OF SILENCE and THAT REPULSIVE WOMAN. Television work includes DINNER LADIES, SHAMELESS, THE STREET and CRIMINAL JUSTICE.


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b00tgwl9)
Luol Deng revisits South Sudan

Luol Deng is a giant - both physically and in the world of American professional basketball where is one of the biggest stars, and reportedly Barack Obama's favourite player. He was born in South Sudan but had to flee as a child because of his father's political activities. His family moved to Brixton where Luol's talents on the basketball court were spotted as a teenager. He's now established a charity working with the "lost boys" of Sudan - young men who have lived their entire lives in refugee camps after fleeing the country as children. Now Sudan is facing the prospects of partition, with a referendum next year expected to endorse splitting the mainly Christian South from the mainly Muslim North. Tim Franks joins Luol Deng as he returns to Sudan to assess the prospects for peace - and of course to show his skills with a basketball.
Producer: Edward Main.


THU 11:30 Svelte Sylvia and the Hollywood Trimsters (b00tgwlc)
Madame Sylvia was a tiny, opinionated Norwegian who became the toast of 1920s Hollywood.

Employed by Pathe studios, her legendary violent massage technique kept stars such as Gloria Swanson ready for their close-ups.

She claimed to be able to make fat ooze from the pores like mashed potato through a colander. A shrewd businesswoman, she made herself into a brand, marketing her techniques through books, articles and radio programmes across America.

She made her name at a time when the movie boom meant not just stars, but audiences were starting to become more self-conscious about physical appearance.

She was the very first fitness guru, and kick-started our modern obsession with working out.

Karen Krizanovich, a film critic and accredited personal trainer, goes to Hollywood in search of Sylvia's story.

She goes to Sylvia's house and the studio where she worked, and reads her racy newspaper columns. But she also assesses Sylvia's legacy, questioning the role that fitness and beauty play in modern Hollywood as she talks to a celebrity personal trainer and joins a class of hula-hoopers on Santa Monica beach.

Was Sylvia a pioneering trailblazer - or can we blame her for the darker side of today's obsession with the body beautiful?

Producer: Kate Taylor

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2010.


THU 12:00 You and Yours (b00tfqvn)
Vitamin D deficiency affects about half the UK population, but the vitamin is important for good health, growth and strong bones. We find out how a shortage is making it difficult for GPs to prescribe high doses.

We examine how your journey plans might be affected if you're travelling by rail this Bank Holiday weekend.

And do you want to find some money? If there's only a few bob down the back of the sofa, Matthew Vincent explains where you might find more. He's been helping people trace lost money and will give us some tips on where to look.


THU 12:30 Face the Facts (b00tgwlf)
Money To Burn

Firefighters need the right equipment and back up if they are going to save lives. But millions of pounds have been spent on state of the art control rooms that may never be used, fire engines that are so heavy they can't be driven at speed and a fire training house - that caught fire.
Just some of the costly procurement decisions made on behalf of fire and rescue services across Britain - but paid for by us.


THU 12:57 Weather (b00tfqzz)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 13:00 World at One (b00tfr36)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.


THU 13:30 Questions, Questions (b00tgwlh)
Stewart Henderson presents the interactive problem-solving programme for those niggling questions.

Email Questions.questions@bbc.co.uk

Tel: 03700 100400

Or you can reach us online via our Radio 4 message board.

Producer: Dilly Barlow
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 14:00 The Archers (b00tfrbm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (b00tgwlk)
Quirks

Wealthy East Ender Joey and his much younger wife Bianca live in an expensive villa on the Costa del Sol, surrounded by servants and other staff. They seem to have the perfect life. But as the story unfolds, some unsettling questions arise.

Why can't Joey go back to England, where most of his business interests still lie? Why is he so obsessed about security? Why, come to that, does Bianca keep going on about contract killers? And when it comes to the crunch, how far can husband and wife trust each other?

David Troughton and Tracy-Ann Oberman star as Joey and Bianca in this taut black comedy. Written by Simon Brett, the crime novelist and creator for radio of After Henry, No Commitments and - more recently - People in Cars.

Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL Production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 15:00 Open Country (b00tdz4n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:07 on Saturday]


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b00tf1k3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Comic Fringes (b00tg2nw)
Comic Fringes: Series 6

On The Dot

Series of short stories which captures the atmosphere of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Recorded live at The Pleasance last week, leading comedians perform their own work in front of a packed audience.

Comedian and newspaper columnist Shazia Mirza completes the line-up with her story "On The Dot". Mrs.Pims is late for everything but no one knows why. Until one day...

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.


THU 15:45 A Load of Rubbish (b00fq4fw)
Episode 4

It's not the romance of rail, but every night ghostly rubbish trains travel from Bristol and London to a landfill site deep in the Buckinghamshire countryside. Just a few hours closure would cause a crisis in our cities. Ian Marchant meets the people saving us from drowning in our own waste.


THU 16:00 Open Book (b00tf9nt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:30 Material World (b00tgwlm)
Quentin Cooper presents his weekly digest of science in and behind the headlines. This week he finds out why it will take so long to reach the trapped miners in Chile. He catches up on the infestation of the Horse Chestnut Tree by tiny parasitic moths and also why our current thinking on how Black Holes are formed could be all wrong. And he talks to one of our So you want to be scientist finalists about the results from his experiments. Will Sam be able to to tell where the safest place to be in a crowd at a rock concert is?

The producer is Ania Lichtarowicz.


THU 17:00 PM (b00tfrz9)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00tfsg1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:30 Arthur Smith's Edinburgh Bash (b00tgwlp)
Arthur Smith adapts his successful Radio 4 series in which he invites an audience into his home in Balham to the Edinburgh Festival. In this special edition he takes his audience on a magical tour of top-flight music and comedy in the Pleasance Courtyard. He'll lead them to hear his guests at some of the venues and more unexpected corners there. Guests include Emo Phillips and Clanadonia.

Producer Alison Vernon-Smith.


THU 19:00 The Archers (b00tfrbp)
In the memorial gardens, Lynda demonstrates a handy trick for sowing seeds. Lynda and Elizabeth discuss the recent littering, the upcoming steam rally, and the children. Elizabeth hopes Freddie and Lily will settle to boarding school next year. Lynda misses Oscar, although they chat on Skype.

Susan's bought a tagine, and plans a dummy run of her meal. Meanwhile, Lynda requires Eddie's help in dealing with some B&B guests who are expanding in number. She's looking forward to the local food day next Thursday. Susan reminds her there's lots of spare veg at the shop.

David deals with limping cattle. Broken glass is to blame. Ruth mentions that Eddie's after a ticket to the Dairy Event - supposedly for self improvement. Eddie ups the pressure, asking if Ed can come as well. Looks like they'll be paying for Ed's ticket too.

Emma shares some ideas for the baby change room at Lower Loxley. Elizabeth's thrown when Lily says Freddie hates the idea of going to boarding school.

Ed prepares Emma a special meal with artichokes. They're interrupted though by a panicked Susan, who needs someone to test her lamb on. Reluctant Emma tastes the dish, and promptly suggests starting again.


THU 19:15 Front Row (b00tfsj9)
U Be Dead, Clybourne Park, The Boy Who Bit Picasso

With Kirsty Lang.

Based on a true story about a doctor who was the victim of a vicious stalker, TV drama U Be Dead stars David Morrissey and Tara Fitzgerald. Writer Rachel Cooke reviews.

When Antony Penrose was three he became friends with Picasso. His mother was the celebrated photographer Lee Miller, whose photos of Picasso - fooling in his studio and playing games with her son - illustrate Antony Penrose's new book, The Boy Who Bit Picasso, which is both a memoir of his friend and an introduction for children to the art of Picasso. He talks about the great artist's love of children and animals.

Film director Fritz Lang's science fiction classic Metropolis has been newly restored, with almost 30 minutes of extra footage, and James Cameron's Avatar has just been re-released in cinemas with new material. Ian Christie and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh consider whether additional footage has ever improved a film.

American playwright Bruce Norris discusses his new satirical comedy Clybourne Park. Set in both 1959 and 2009, it examines racial tensions over two generations. The cast for the British premiere includes Martin Freeman and Sophie Thompson.

Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.


THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00tfqrh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


THU 20:00 The Report (b00tgwlr)
Cloned Cow Meat

Meat from the offspring of a cloned cow has been sold and eaten in the UK. Nadene Ghouri investigates how it happened and asks whether anyone is likely to be at risk. She traces the animal's journey from Wisconsin in the US to a dairy herd in the Scottish Highlands, and finds out how the international market in animal embryos made it all possible.

Producer: Monica Soriano.


THU 20:30 In Business (b00tgwlt)
Sociability

In Business finds out how interactive media such as mobile phones can be used to empower the poor as well as entertain the rich. Peter Day has been meeting social entrepreneurs who are finding new ways to harness the new technologies to benefit poor people
Producer: Julie Ball.


THU 21:00 The British Whales (b00tgwlw)
The British Isles are littered with whales - real and imagined. Kathleen Jamie investigates. Whales have bumped into the coast and swum recklessly up the Forth, the Humber and the Thames. Whalebone arches are raised on cliffs. We hunted them to within inches of extinction and now we love them to death, though many scientists think of them as no cleverer than marine cows. But still they fill our dreams and populate our imginations. The programme tries to map some of the mutifarious cetaceans that make up the British Whales. With poems from Simon Armitage, Catriona O'Reilly and Paul Farley and contributions from former chemist on board floating whalers, Hugh Symons, whalebone archivist Nicholas Redman, and writer Philip Hoare. Producer: Tim Dee.


THU 21:30 The Choice (b00tgfr7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 21:58 Weather (b00tfsqh)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b00tfsvb)
Radio 4's daily evening news and current affairs programme bringing you global news and analysis.


THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00tk90l)
And the Land Lay Still

Episode 4

Written and abridged by James Robertson.

Read by Liam Brennan.

Excerpts from James Robertson's monumental new novel which portrays the last six decades of Scotland's social and political landscape through the lives of a handful of characters.

The late Angus Pendreich was one of the greatest photographers of the post-war era. His son Mike, also a photographer, has been asked to curate a major retrospective of his father's work. Seeking to discover more about the man, Mike has contacted Jean Barbour, one of Angus's old lovers.

Over a shared bottle of whisky, Jean finally reveals to Mike the truth about her affair with Angus.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.


THU 23:00 Recorded for Training Purposes (b00tgwly)
Series 4

Episode 6

Recorded for Training Purposes, the sketch show about modern communication, ends its fourth series. Described as "brilliant" by the Telegraph, it does sketches about how and why we talk to each other, and what we have to say. (There's an especially good sketch about the music they use on gameshows.)

Recorded in front of a studio audience, the show features a cast whose credits spread from Radio 4 afternoon plays, via award-winning fringe theatre, to Star Wars: Rachel Atkins, Dominic Coleman, Lewis Macleod, Julie Mayhew, Ingrid Oliver and Ben Willbond.

The show had an open-door policy, meaning that anyone could send the show sketches. Some 1500 were sent in this way, with every single one being read by a script-editor or producer - with the funniest stuff getting recorded and broadcast. In addition, a small number of the new writers who got material broadcast this way in series three were given one-to-one script-editing notes and feedback from the production team as part of BBC Radio Comedy's commitment to discovering and developing new writing talent.

The scripts were edited by award-winning writers James Cary, Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris. James' writing will be familiar to Radio 4 audiences from the his sketch show Concrete Cow to his sitcoms Think The Unthinkable and Hut 33. He also co-writes, with Milton Jones, Another Case of Milton Jones. Jason and Joel have written sketches for Mitchell & Webb on both TV and Radio, The Armstrong & Miller Show, The Peter Serafinowicz Show, and are the best-selling authors of Bollocks to Alton Towers: Uncommonly British Days Out.


THU 23:30 Safety Catch (b017skx3)
Series 2

If a Job's Not Worth Doing

Simon is totally convinced this week that he is in the right job and has a duty not only to stay there, but to do his job sloppily. His reasoning for this is that if he wasn't there doing the job badly then someone else would be doing it well and that would be a much worse scenario.

Then he has the awful, soul shattering realisation, and one which is something every person in Britain would be ashamed to admit, that he actually loves his job. Boris of course is in heaven at the thought of a soul-mate at work, but Simon decides the only way he can go on is to learn to hate again.

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

Simon McGrath.............................Darren Boyd
Anna Grieg..................................Joanna Page
Boris Kemal...............................Lewis Macleod
Judith McGrath..............................Sarah Smart
Angela McGrath............................Brigit Forsyth
Madeleine Turnbull........................Rachel Atkins
Richard...........................................Dan Mersh
Julius........................................Nyahsa Hatendi

Producer: Dawn Ellis.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2009.



FRIDAY 27 AUGUST 2010

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b00tfb5n)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b00tffmv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00tfbft)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00tfbk9)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00tfbh4)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b00tfblq)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00tfbvr)
with Canon Martyn Percy, Principal, Ripon College Cuddesdon.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b00tfcsp)
Thousands of jobs could be threatened if the 'Mackerel Wars' escalate - according to a Scottish fish processor. Scientists have moved a step closer to developing wheat capable of resisting climate change, by mapping the crop's genetic makeup. And, we meet a farmer who says he'd 'be like a fish out of water' if he wasn't by the sea.


FRI 06:00 Today (b00tfcyd)
Morning news and current affairs with James Naughtie and Justin Webb including:
07:50 Is the US heading for a double dip recession?
08:10 Mike Thomson reports from Niger on the famine and floods facing the world's poorest country.
08:30 Education Secretary Michael Gove on education equality.


FRI 09:00 The Reunion (b00tf9bl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b00tffmx)
Elena Gorokhova - A Mountain of Crumbs

Episode 5

Robert has returned to Texas but he writes to Elena every week and wonders if she might visit him.

He explains that he can get her a visitors' visa if she goes as his fiancée but Elena explains that it is not getting into America that is the difficult part but getting out of the USSR.

They both understand that there is only one way to achieve this - but are they ready to get married?

Read by Sian Thomas
A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00tffq2)
Astrid Kirchherr, who took so many iconic photographs of the Beatles, talks about life with them in Hamburg – and about taking pictures on the streets of Liverpool. Every year, thousands of women have problems during labour; Bidisha talks to the director of a new centre aiming to make childbirth safer & less traumatic. New research which suggests having a sister makes you happier and protects you from depression. And the novel which both scandalised and excited the 1920s with its frank descriptions of relationships with both men and women is adapted for radio.


FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b00tfqrk)
Soloparentpals.com: Series 2

Happy Now?

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM by Sue Teddern.
Episode 5. Happy Now?

Rosie and Tom meet.

Rosie ..... Maxine Peake
Tom ..... Kris Marshall
SPP voice ..... Karina Jones
Calum ..... Thomas Rolinson
Gill ..... Christine Kavanagh
Scott ..... David Seddon

Director: David Hunter

Rosie (Maxine Peake) is a Bolton care-worker whose ex-husband Phil traded her in for a younger model four years ago leaving her to bring up Calum, now 12, alone.

Tom (Kris Marshall) is a housing officer in Exeter whose wife and confidence walked out on him eighteen months ago. He only sees his daughter Lily at weekends.

In the first series despite a succession of twists and turns, mistimings and misunderstandings between the rather nervous, disorganised Tom and the mouthy, controlling Rosie, an underlying friendship and dependence seemed to emerge - but an actual meeting in the flesh failed to take place.

Now, a year later, Rosie is coming to terms with the fact that Phil has had a baby with his new partner Debbie - a woman that she finds, to her surprise, that she has much in common with, perhaps too much? Tom has meanwhile being going steady with Siobhan, a work colleague and while he enjoys the regular sex, fresh veg and clean towels he can't help thinking things are going a little too fast.

Communications between the two are still long-distance, by email, telephone or through the website. Other SPP.COM participants chip in with their own perspectives and concerns - Baz is still the Neanderthal male, Tash the Lash in Wales is trying hard to rein in her party girl style, Gillybean has stashed her OU books in the attic and Gok Wanned her wardrobe and Scott is still coping with three teenage daughters and an obsession with poultry. And blunt newcomer Brummie Barb introduces a same-sex relationship into the mix.

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM will continue to strike a chord with single parents throughout the land and listeners will be able to readily identify with the situations that concern Rosie and Tom and their website friends.

SOLOPARENTPALS.COM is Sue Teddern's home territory. Her natural comic touch and her ear for domestic and emotional detail combines with a convincing touch of the absurd to create an involving and moving take on the love story - albeit one fraught with a multiplicity of misunderstandings and misinterpretations along the way.

MAXINE PEAKE's recent radio includes BETSY COLEMAN, A SMALL PIECE OF SILENCE and THAT REPULSIVE WOMAN. Television work includes DINNER LADIES, SHAMELESS, THE STREET and CRIMINAL JUSTICE.


FRI 11:00 Confessions of a Window Cleaner (b00tgwz5)
Minimal start up costs, cash in hand and no licence necessary, window cleaning sounds like a tempting option to recession victims or immigrants wanting to start a new life. In fact it's been described by one insurance company as the most dangerous job in Britain and the battle for pitches can be fierce and furious.
The world's fastest female window cleaner, Debbie Morris gives Steve Carver some pointers before he heads into the world of soap and squeegee's. A high proportion of the window cleaners in the UK are followers of Jehova and Geir Perry uses his experience selling God to market the values of shiny glass, honest work and enough time in the day for his faith. In the spiritual home of George Formby Steve faces his biggest challenge, gaining a head for heights at the top of Blackpool tower and testing his new found skills on the oldest window cleaner in Britain, Alan Forest.


FRI 11:30 Old Harry's Game (b00whwzs)
Series 6

Psychiatry

Edith quizzes Satan about "The Fall", but Satan sees it more as "The Push" and feels God has anger-management issues.

Andy Hamilton's comedy set in Hell.

Starring Andy Hamilton as Satan, Annette Crosbie as Edith, Robert Duncan as Scumspawn and Jimmy Mulville as Thomas.

Other characters played by Michael Fenton Stevens, Philip Pope and Felicity Montagu

Producer Paul Mayhew-Archer

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2007.


FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b00tfqvq)
After being described as 'not fit for purpose', and criticised in a recent report, the National Trust for Scotland's Chief Executive tells us how she'll address its problems to ensure its future security.

Why cross-Channel ferry companies are suffering from heavy competition, despite a rise in passenger numbers.

The new technology trains are using to keep them running on time.

And four months since the volcanic ash cloud, the passengers who are still trying to claim back refunds.


FRI 12:57 Weather (b00tfr01)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 13:00 World at One (b00tfr38)
National and international news with Brian Hanrahan.


FRI 13:30 More or Less (b00tgwz7)
Tim Harford and the More or Less team are back with a new series of the award-winning investigative numbers programme. This week: the "Spirit Level" row decoded. Is it really safer to wear a helmet when cycling? And has the first future 1000-year-old already been born?


FRI 14:00 The Archers (b00tfrbp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (b00djtvh)
Elephant and Castle

by Robin Baker

It's Ian's 35th birthday and we're in the middle of a row with his girlfriend from which there's no going back. Fast rewind 9 months to the Tibetan cafe where they meet. In a series of short scenes the play follows the full trajectory of their relationship.

Ian...........................Rory Kinnear
Kat..........................Lyndsey Marshal
Jude........................Olivia Colman
Janet........................Carolyn Pickles
Other parts played by Manjeet Mann, Jill Cardo
and Gunnar Cauthery.

Producer Steven Canny.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b00tgwzb)
Pippa Greenwood, Bob Flowerdew and Christine Walkden advise gardeners in West Yorkshire.

We look at the challenges of gardening at high altitude, and chairman Eric Robson goes aboard a canal boat garden.

Producer: Howard Shannon
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 15:45 A Load of Rubbish (b00fq4j6)
Episode 5

Ian Marchant visits Newport, home of the country's biggest fridge graveyard, and sees them reduced to piles of shrapnel - along with televisions, cars and scrap metal.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (b00tgx3r)
On Last Word this week:
Scotland's national poet - Edwin Morgan.
Two people who played important roles in advancing our understanding of autism: Dr Ivar Lovaas who developed a controversial treatment based on encouraging desired behaviour and punishing unwanted behaviour and Clara Claiborne Park who wrote an influential book about the pressures facing the parents of autistic children.
Bill Millin - the soldier who played the bagpipes as the bullets rattled around him during the Normandy landings.
And Bob Boyle, legendary Hollywood art director who worked with Alfred Hitchcock on many of his key films.


FRI 16:30 The Film Programme (b00tgx3t)
Robin Williams talks to Matthew Sweet about his latest comedy World's Greatest Dad, in which he plays a depressed English teacher who couldn't be more different than the inspirational figure he played in Dead Poets Society

Sherlock co-creator and League of Gentlemen member Mark Gatiss salutes the work of Lionel Jeffries, The Railway Children director and quintessential character actor who died earlier this year

Wardrobe supervisor Rosemary Burrows discusses her career, from dressing Christopher Lee in bandages for Hammer horror movies to putting two thousand members of the Moroccan army in Roman costume for Gladiator

Colin Shindler turns back the clocks and finds out what was on at the local ABC in August 1960.


FRI 17:00 PM (b00tfrzc)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Glenn Campbell. Plus Weather.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00tfsg3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:30 Chain Reaction (b00tgx3w)
Series 6

Ade Edmondson interviews Ruby Wax

The new series of the tag team talk show continues as last week's guest, writer and star of "The Young Ones" and "Bottom", alternative comedy legend Ade Edmondson takes the microphone to interview the UK's favourite sharp tongued American, Ruby Wax.

Ade asks Ruby about the impact her strict parents had on her comedy, her start in entertainment as an RDC wench, her break into TV and those famous celebrity interviews, and how her journey has led her from being a celebrated TV entertainer and comedienne to a qualified expert on Psychotherapy and Neuroscience.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (b00tfrbr)
Jennifer and Brian reluctantly get ready for dinner at Susan and Neil's, while Susan worries that the evening's going to be a complete disaster.

After wedding small-talk, Jennifer's worst fears are heightened when Neil confirms that he's keen for Chris to be self-sufficient in Alice's cottage, once Alice goes back to university. Jennifer compliments Susan on dinner, then insists on helping clear the plates. Left alone with Neil, Brian breaks the awkward silence and they find themselves discussing their different views on CAP reform. They have a heated but engaging exchange.

As Jennifer and Brian depart, Susan feels the night went well, and is proud of Neil for holding his own with Brian. And although Jennifer found the whole evening ghastly, Brian had a whale of a time.

Elizabeth's still not convinced about Nigel's allotment idea, but agrees to him researching it before they decide. Elizabeth shocks Nigel when she admits she doesn't want the children to go to boarding school. Nigel insists it's a Pargetter tradition and plays up the advantages, but Elizabeth can't bear the thought of the children growing up with her and Nigel on the periphery of their lives. That's not what being a parent means.


FRI 19:15 Front Row (b00tfsjc)
Kim Cattrall, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, I Am Slave

With Kirsty Lang.

Actress Kim Cattrall is about to swap man-eater Samantha Jones from Sex and the City for a sex symbol of the ancient world, Cleopatra, playing Shakespeare's tragic heroine in her home town of Liverpool. She discusses her choice of accent for Cleopatra, and reflects on whether she will ever play Samantha again.

Screenwriter Jeremy Brock (Last King of Scotland) discusses his film I Am Slave, based on the true story of a Sudanese girl sold into domestic slavery in Britain. He is joined by Wunmi Mosaku who plays the central role of Malia, the slave.

Mark Eccleston reviews the new film Diary of a Wimpy Kid, based on the best-selling children's books by Jeff Kinney.

Producer: Martin Williams.


FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00tfqrk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b00tgx3y)
Eddie Mair chairs the topical discussion from Newcastle Assembly Rooms with questions for the panel including Deborah Mattinson - Gordon Brown's personal pollster for many years, Matthew Taylor - chief executive of the RSA, Iain Dale - one of Britain's leading political bloggers and Adrian Fawcett - CEO of Britain's biggest private health care provider.

Producer: Beverley Purcell.


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b00tgx68)
Reputation Building

Lisa Jardine reflects on how reputations are won and lost. A bridge builder will be a good engineer if his bridge doesn't fall down....but how do we judge our politicians? This summer politicians are keener than ever to tell us how frugal their choice of holiday destination is...but will that really endear them to us?


FRI 21:00 A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus (b00tgxxm)
Status Symbols (AD 1100 - 1500)

Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum in London, continues his global history as told through objects from the Museum's collection.

This week he sheds light on some of the great status symbols of taste and power, as owned by the wealthy and well-informed around 700 years ago. His journey takes him from China to Nigeria and from Spain to the Caribbean, but he begins in Scotland with the story of probably the world's best known board game, in the company of the Lewis Chessmen.

Producers: Paul Kobrak and Anthony Denselow.


FRI 21:58 Weather (b00tfsqk)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b00tfsvd)
Radio 4's daily evening news and current affairs programme bringing you global news and analysis.

Growth in the US economy is slowing sharply. We'll look at the reasons why and find out what it means for the rest of the world.

Early intervention - is it value for money and should the government pay for it?

"That's the way to do it", the V&A tells us the history of Punch and Judy.

The World Tonight, with Roger Hearing.


FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00tk90n)
And the Land Lay Still

Episode 5

Written and abridged by James Robertson.

Read by Liam Brennan.

Excerpts from James Robertson's monumental new novel which portrays the last six decades of Scotland's social and political landscape through the lives of a handful of characters.

The late Angus Pendreich was considered to be one of the greatest photographers of the post-war era. His son Mike, also a photographer, is curating a major retrospective of his father's work. Seeking to discover more about the man, Mike has contacted Jean Barbour, one of Angus's old lovers and she has revealed a long buried truth about their affair.

Jean's revelation allows Mike to see his own relationship with his father more clearly and as the dust settles on the past he finds himself reconsidering his future.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b00tgcss)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 Mark Thomas: The Manifesto (b00qps81)
Series 2

Episode 3

Mark Thomas: The Manifesto. Comedian-activist, Mark Thomas creates a People's Manifesto, taking suggestions from his studio audience and then getting them to vote for the best. The winner of each show will be enforceable by law, so pay attention.

The weeks' edition will include policies such as banning cars from city centres; monitoring investment bankers' testosterone levels; and abolishing all forms of self-regulation.

Produced by Ed Morrish.




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 (b00tfq9v)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 MON (b00tfq9v)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 TUE (b00tfqvg)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 TUE (b00tfqvg)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 WED (b00tfqrf)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 WED (b00tfqrf)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 THU (b00tfqrh)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 THU (b00tfqrh)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 FRI (b00tfqrk)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 FRI (b00tfqrk)

A Guide to Coastal Birds 14:45 SUN (b00tf9np)

A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus 21:00 FRI (b00tgxxm)

A Load of Rubbish 15:45 MON (b00fkqm2)

A Load of Rubbish 15:45 TUE (b00fkqpg)

A Load of Rubbish 15:45 WED (b00fq4ft)

A Load of Rubbish 15:45 THU (b00fq4fw)

A Load of Rubbish 15:45 FRI (b00fq4j6)

A Point of View 08:50 SUN (b00tdxpt)

A Point of View 20:50 FRI (b00tgx68)

Afternoon Reading 00:30 SUN (b00h31rl)

Afternoon Reading 19:45 SUN (b00g4793)

Alvin Hall's Generations of Money 12:00 SAT (b00tdzp3)

Alvin Hall's Generations of Money 15:00 WED (b00tdzp3)

Americana 19:15 SUN (b00tf9q6)

Any Answers? 14:00 SAT (b00tdzp9)

Any Questions? 13:10 SAT (b00tdxpr)

Any Questions? 20:00 FRI (b00tgx3y)

Arthur Smith's Edinburgh Bash 18:30 THU (b00tgwlp)

Bells on Sunday 05:43 SUN (b00tf1d1)

Bells on Sunday 00:45 MON (b00tf1d1)

Beyond Belief 16:30 MON (b00tg1c9)

Beyond Westminster 11:00 SAT (b00tdznz)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 MON (b00th7zk)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 TUE (b00tk8zy)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 WED (b00tk90q)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 THU (b00tk90l)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 FRI (b00tk90n)

Book of the Week 00:30 SAT (b00tdllr)

Book of the Week 09:45 MON (b00tff34)

Book of the Week 00:30 TUE (b00tff34)

Book of the Week 09:45 TUE (b00tffmq)

Book of the Week 00:30 WED (b00tffmq)

Book of the Week 09:45 WED (b00tffms)

Book of the Week 00:30 THU (b00tffms)

Book of the Week 09:45 THU (b00tffmv)

Book of the Week 00:30 FRI (b00tffmv)

Book of the Week 09:45 FRI (b00tffmx)

British Muslims, Father and Son 11:00 MON (b00tg1c1)

Broadcasting House 09:00 SUN (b00tf1kc)

Cabin Pressure 18:30 TUE (b00lyvz7)

Case Notes 21:00 TUE (b00tgcsz)

Case Notes 16:30 WED (b00tgcsz)

Chain Reaction 12:30 SAT (b00tdx5w)

Chain Reaction 18:30 FRI (b00tgx3w)

Classic Serial 21:00 SAT (b00td4v4)

Classic Serial 15:00 SUN (b00tf9nr)

Comic Fringes 15:30 TUE (b00tg2nr)

Comic Fringes 15:30 WED (b00tg2nt)

Comic Fringes 15:30 THU (b00tg2nw)

Confessions of a Window Cleaner 11:00 FRI (b00tgwz5)

Continuity 23:00 WED (b00tgf1c)

Crossing Continents 20:30 MON (b00tdptg)

Crossing Continents 11:00 THU (b00tgwl9)

Curiosity Killed the Cabaret 23:00 TUE (b00tgct1)

Document 20:00 MON (b00tg1y1)

Drama 14:15 MON (b00tg1c7)

Drama 14:15 TUE (b00tg2m2)

Drama 14:15 WED (b00jsxxk)

Drama 14:15 THU (b00tgwlk)

Drama 14:15 FRI (b00djtvh)

Ed Reardon's Week 18:30 WED (b00qgxxb)

Electric Ride 22:15 SAT (b00tfpmf)

Excess Baggage 10:00 SAT (b00tdznv)

Face the Facts 21:00 SUN (b00tdpzb)

Face the Facts 12:30 THU (b00tgwlf)

Farming Today 06:30 SAT (b00tdz4q)

Farming Today 05:45 MON (b00tfcsf)

Farming Today 05:45 TUE (b00tfcsh)

Farming Today 05:45 WED (b00tfcsk)

Farming Today 05:45 THU (b00tfcsm)

Farming Today 05:45 FRI (b00tfcsp)

Feedback 20:00 SUN (b00tdx4s)

Ford Madox Ford and France 11:30 TUE (b00tg2ly)

From Our Own Correspondent 11:30 SAT (b00tdzp1)

Front Row 19:15 MON (b00tfsjw)

Front Row 19:15 TUE (b00tfsj5)

Front Row 19:15 WED (b00tfsj7)

Front Row 19:15 THU (b00tfsj9)

Front Row 19:15 FRI (b00tfsjc)

Frontiers 21:00 WED (b00tgf18)

Fry's English Delight 09:00 WED (b00tgd1b)

Fry's English Delight 21:30 WED (b00tgd1b)

GPs Who Need GPS 09:30 MON (b00tmj2h)

GPs Who Need GPS 09:30 THU (b00tgfr9)

Gardeners' Question Time 14:00 SUN (b00tdx4v)

Gardeners' Question Time 15:00 FRI (b00tgwzb)

Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off 23:30 WED (b00pfp8n)

Great Lives 16:30 TUE (b00tgcss)

Great Lives 23:00 FRI (b00tgcss)

HR 11:30 MON (b00tg1c3)

Head to Head 09:30 WED (b00tgd1d)

Home Planet 15:00 TUE (b00tg2m4)

How The Mighty Have Fallen 09:30 TUE (b00tg273)

Iconoclasts 20:00 WED (b00tgf14)

In Business 21:30 SUN (b00tdr1x)

In Business 20:30 THU (b00tgwlt)

In Living Memory 11:00 TUE (b00tg2lw)

In Touch 20:40 TUE (b00tgcsx)

Just a Minute 12:00 SUN (b00td8kq)

Just a Minute 18:30 MON (b00tg1xz)

Ken and Mark and Robert 10:30 SAT (b00tdznx)

Last Word 20:30 SUN (b00tdx4x)

Last Word 16:00 FRI (b00tgx3r)

Living World 06:35 SUN (b00tf1jv)

Loose Ends 18:15 SAT (b00tf0y9)

Mark Thomas: The Manifesto 23:30 FRI (b00qps81)

Material World 21:00 MON (b00tdr1s)

Material World 16:30 THU (b00tgwlm)

Meeting Myself Coming Back 20:00 SAT (b00thcn8)

Meeting Myself Coming Back 15:00 MON (b00thcn8)

Midnight News 00:00 SAT (b00tdyhb)

Midnight News 00:00 SUN (b00tf1cq)

Midnight News 00:00 MON (b00tfb5q)

Midnight News 00:00 TUE (b00tfb5g)

Midnight News 00:00 WED (b00tfb5j)

Midnight News 00:00 THU (b00tfb5l)

Midnight News 00:00 FRI (b00tfb5n)

Mind Changers 11:00 WED (b00tgd1g)

More or Less 13:30 FRI (b00tgwz7)

Mum's on the Run 11:30 WED (b00tgd1j)

News Briefing 05:30 SAT (b00tdyhl)

News Briefing 05:30 SUN (b00tf1cz)

News Briefing 05:30 MON (b00tfblv)

News Briefing 05:30 TUE (b00tfblj)

News Briefing 05:30 WED (b00tfbll)

News Briefing 05:30 THU (b00tfbln)

News Briefing 05:30 FRI (b00tfblq)

News Headlines 06:00 SUN (b00tf1jq)

News and Papers 06:00 SAT (b00tdyhs)

News and Papers 07:00 SUN (b00tf1jz)

News and Papers 08:00 SUN (b00tf1k7)

News and Weather 22:00 SAT (b00tf112)

News 13:00 SAT (b00tdzp7)

No Triumph, No Tragedy 13:30 SUN (b00strxn)

Old Harry's Game 11:30 FRI (b00whwzs)

Open Book 16:00 SUN (b00tf9nt)

Open Book 16:00 THU (b00tf9nt)

Open Country 06:07 SAT (b00tdz4n)

Open Country 15:00 THU (b00tdz4n)

PM 17:00 SAT (b00thcd2)

PM 17:00 MON (b00tfsc2)

PM 17:00 TUE (b00tfrz5)

PM 17:00 WED (b00tfrz7)

PM 17:00 THU (b00tfrz9)

PM 17:00 FRI (b00tfrzc)

Pick of the Week 18:15 SUN (b00tf9p4)

Poetry of the Forgotten People 23:30 SAT (b00td4v8)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 SAT (b00tdyhn)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 MON (b00tfbvt)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 TUE (b00tfbvk)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 WED (b00tfbvm)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 THU (b00tfbvp)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 FRI (b00tfbvr)

Profile 19:00 SAT (b00tf0yc)

Profile 05:45 SUN (b00tf0yc)

Profile 17:40 SUN (b00tf0yc)

Questions, Questions 13:30 THU (b00tgwlh)

Radio 4 Appeal 07:55 SUN (b00tf1k3)

Radio 4 Appeal 21:26 SUN (b00tf1k3)

Radio 4 Appeal 15:27 THU (b00tf1k3)

Recorded for Training Purposes 23:00 THU (b00tgwly)

Rik Mayall's Bedside Tales 23:15 WED (b00nqj86)

Robert Winston's Musical Analysis 15:30 SAT (b00td9qy)

Round Britain Quiz 23:00 SAT (b00td7f2)

Round Britain Quiz 13:30 MON (b00tg1c5)

Safety Catch 23:30 THU (b017skx3)

Saturday Drama 14:30 SAT (b00djnw2)

Saturday Live 09:00 SAT (b00tdzns)

Saturday Review 19:15 SAT (b00tf0yf)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SAT (b00tdyhg)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SUN (b00tf1cv)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 MON (b00tfblg)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 TUE (b00tfbk3)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 WED (b00tfbk5)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 THU (b00tfbk7)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 FRI (b00tfbk9)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 SAT (b00tdyhd)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 SAT (b00tdyhj)

Shipping Forecast 17:54 SAT (b00tf0y3)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 SUN (b00tf1cs)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 SUN (b00tf1cx)

Shipping Forecast 17:54 SUN (b00tf9ny)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 MON (b00tfbgw)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 MON (b00tfbk1)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 TUE (b00tfbfm)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 TUE (b00tfbgy)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 WED (b00tfbfp)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 WED (b00tfbh0)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 THU (b00tfbfr)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 THU (b00tfbh2)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 FRI (b00tfbft)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 FRI (b00tfbh4)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 SAT (b00tf0y7)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 SUN (b00tf9p2)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 MON (b00tfsj3)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 TUE (b00tfsfx)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 WED (b00tfsfz)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 THU (b00tfsg1)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 FRI (b00tfsg3)

Something Understood 06:05 SUN (b00tf1js)

Something Understood 23:30 SUN (b00tf1js)

Star Spangled Hendrix 13:30 TUE (b00tg2m0)

Sunday Worship 08:10 SUN (b00tf1k9)

Sunday 07:10 SUN (b00tf1k1)

Svelte Sylvia and the Hollywood Trimsters 11:30 THU (b00tgwlc)

Talking to the Enemy 20:45 WED (b00tgf16)

The Archers Omnibus 10:00 SUN (b00tf1kf)

The Archers 19:00 SUN (b00tf9q4)

The Archers 14:00 MON (b00tf9q4)

The Archers 19:00 MON (b00tfrz3)

The Archers 14:00 TUE (b00tfrz3)

The Archers 19:00 TUE (b00tfrbk)

The Archers 14:00 WED (b00tfrbk)

The Archers 19:00 WED (b00tfrbm)

The Archers 14:00 THU (b00tfrbm)

The Archers 19:00 THU (b00tfrbp)

The Archers 14:00 FRI (b00tfrbp)

The Archers 19:00 FRI (b00tfrbr)

The Bards of Somalia 16:30 SUN (b00tf9nw)

The British Whales 21:00 THU (b00tgwlw)

The Choice 09:00 THU (b00tgfr7)

The Choice 21:30 THU (b00tgfr7)

The Film Programme 23:00 SUN (b00tdx4z)

The Film Programme 16:30 FRI (b00tgx3t)

The Food Programme 12:32 SUN (b00tf9bn)

The Food Programme 16:00 MON (b00tf9bn)

The House I Grew Up In 09:00 MON (b00tfv5f)

The House I Grew Up In 21:30 MON (b00tfv5f)

The Media Show 13:30 WED (b00tgd7y)

The Pickerskill Reports 23:30 MON (b00mgz1p)

The Report 20:00 THU (b00tgwlr)

The Reunion 11:15 SUN (b00tf9bl)

The Reunion 09:00 FRI (b00tf9bl)

The World This Weekend 13:00 SUN (b00tf9f9)

The World Tonight 22:00 MON (b00tfsxh)

The World Tonight 22:00 TUE (b00tfsv6)

The World Tonight 22:00 WED (b00tfsv8)

The World Tonight 22:00 THU (b00tfsvb)

The World Tonight 22:00 FRI (b00tfsvd)

Thinking Allowed 00:15 MON (b00tdn2h)

Thinking Allowed 16:00 WED (b00tgf11)

Tickets Please 23:30 TUE (b00p1nm5)

Today 07:00 SAT (b00tdznq)

Today 06:00 MON (b00tfd17)

Today 06:00 TUE (b00tfcy6)

Today 06:00 WED (b00tfcy8)

Today 06:00 THU (b00tfcyb)

Today 06:00 FRI (b00tfcyd)

Trouble in Euroland 20:00 TUE (b00tgcsv)

Weather 06:04 SAT (b00tdyj1)

Weather 06:57 SAT (b00tdznn)

Weather 12:57 SAT (b00tdzp5)

Weather 17:57 SAT (b00tf0y5)

Weather 06:57 SUN (b00tf1jx)

Weather 07:58 SUN (b00tf1k5)

Weather 12:57 SUN (b00tf9bq)

Weather 17:57 SUN (b00tf9p0)

Weather 21:58 SUN (b00tf9ts)

Weather 05:57 MON (b00tft6y)

Weather 12:57 MON (b00tfr30)

Weather 21:58 MON (b00tfsv4)

Weather 12:57 TUE (b00tfqzv)

Weather 21:58 TUE (b00tfsqc)

Weather 12:57 WED (b00tfqzx)

Weather 21:58 WED (b00tfsqf)

Weather 12:57 THU (b00tfqzz)

Weather 21:58 THU (b00tfsqh)

Weather 12:57 FRI (b00tfr01)

Weather 21:58 FRI (b00tfsqk)

Westminster Hour 22:00 SUN (b00tf9tv)

What the Papers Say 22:45 SUN (b00tf9tx)

What's the Point of...? 09:00 TUE (b00tg23z)

What's the Point of...? 21:30 TUE (b00tg23z)

Why Russia Spies 17:00 SUN (b00tdm57)

Woman's Hour 16:00 SAT (b00tdzpc)

Woman's Hour 10:00 MON (b00tffq9)

Woman's Hour 10:00 TUE (b00tffpw)

Woman's Hour 10:00 WED (b00tffpy)

Woman's Hour 10:00 THU (b00tffq0)

Woman's Hour 10:00 FRI (b00tffq2)

Word of Mouth 23:00 MON (b00tdm53)

Word of Mouth 16:00 TUE (b00tg2sp)

World at One 13:00 MON (b00tfrbh)

World at One 13:00 TUE (b00tfr32)

World at One 13:00 WED (b00tfr34)

World at One 13:00 THU (b00tfr36)

World at One 13:00 FRI (b00tfr38)

You and Yours 12:00 MON (b00tfqzs)

You and Yours 12:00 TUE (b00tfqvj)

You and Yours 12:00 WED (b00tfqvl)

You and Yours 12:00 THU (b00tfqvn)

You and Yours 12:00 FRI (b00tfqvq)

iPM 05:45 SAT (b00tdyhq)

iPM 17:30 SAT (b00tdyhq)