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 30 APRIL 2011

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b010mxk6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b00zf5sh)
Edgelands

Episode 5

Poets Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts explore a wilderness that is much closer than you think: those debatable zones that are neither town nor countryside. These two lyric poets celebrate the strange beauty of these places that we all journey through, but generally fail to acknowledge.

Recorded entirely on location in the English edgelands, this Book of the Week journeys through the post-industrial landscapes of car breaker's yards, landfill sites, retail parks, sewage treatment works and power stations.

Today, ruined warehouses and abandoned piers.

Read by Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts
Produced by Emma Harding

Edgelands is published by Jonathan Cape (27th February 2011). It won a Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award for non-fiction in 2009.

Paul Farley is the author of four collections of poetry - including 'Ice Age' - and has received the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, the Whitbread Poetry Award and the E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Michael Symmons Roberts has published five collections of poetry - including 'Corpus', which won the Whitbread Poetry Award - and two novels. He is a frequent collaborator with the composer James MacMillan and their opera, 'The Sacrifice' won the RPS Award.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b010mxk8)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b010mxkc)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b010mxkf)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b010mxkj)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b010mxkl)
With the Rev Prof Peter Galloway.


SAT 05:45 iPM (b010mxkn)
The news programme that starts with its listeners. Presented by Jennifer Tracey and Eddie Mair.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b010mxkq)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SAT 06:04 Weather (b010mxks)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (b010r2zv)
Mingulay

Barra, Vatersay and Mingulay are three of the southernmost islands of the Outer Herbrides and their shared history is one of survival by moving with the times. In 1912 the last inhabitants of Mingulay left the island for Barra after the turbulent seas had claimed a boat full of the fishermen who the island relied upon. Today Mingulay's waters are back in discussion as it has become a proposed area of conservation due to ancient corals which lie beneath. The islanders of Barra fear that this conservation zone will make it harder for them to make their living from fishing these waters but Scottish Natural Heritage feel the risks to the coral are too high to let activities go on unchecked. The debate is a heated one but as Helen Mark discovers it is part of a long history of independence from interference from the mainland, a unique past which makes the island stronger today than it perhaps ever has been.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b010r2zx)
Charlotte Smith visits a flock of Cotswold sheep, owned by Richard Mumford. The sheep were once known as 'Cotswold Lions', and the grand churches and houses in the area are testament to the wealth created by the wool trade. Prices have slumped and now a Cotswold fleece is worth about £5. Things could be about to change, though, with an interest in British fabrics beginning to re-emerge. We also hear about the growth of the British Alpaca industry, flax growing, and traditional leather tanning.
Producer: Sarah Swadling.


SAT 06:57 Weather (b010mxkv)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (b010r47l)
Morning news and current affairs with James Naughtie and Sarah Montague, including:
07:50 How will the Egyptian revolution alter alliances in the middle east?
08:30 What is the importance of shared national moments?
08:40 Why are there so few female conductors?


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b010r4c3)
This week presenter Richard Coles talks to comedian and self-proclaimed libertarian anarchist Mark Thomas and ex-Guantanamo guard Brandon Neely. Madhur Jaffrey insists on an choosing three Inheritance Tracks, and a listener explains why his soul is soothed by the sound of the dishwasher. We also find the answer to the little-asked question: what is the secret life of country singer-songwriter kd lang? Plus poet Luke Wright.
Producer: JP Devlin.


SAT 10:00 Excess Baggage (b010r4c5)
John McCarthy talks to journalist AA Gill about his travel columns which have taken him from earthquake zones to retirement homes and polar regions to Civil War sites. He also meets novelist Wilbur Smith who reflects on piracy off the east coast of Africa and hears from author Isabel Losada how her quest for self knowledge induced her to take hallucinogenic drugs in the Peruvian Amazon. John asks them whether they write to travel or travel to write.


SAT 10:30 When Hollywood Met Halifax (b010r7bw)
Liza Tarbuck discovers how Jayne Mansfield sprinkled Hollywood glamour on the northern club circuit during the last turbulent year of her life. Jayne Mansfield's story is a story of our times - the celebrity whose life unravelled. In 1967, the year she was to die in a tragic road accident at 34, she packed up her furs and embarked on a little known tour of English northern clubs.

Her unique act of breathy ballads and risque lap dancing routines astonished her audiences more used to it's-the-way-I-tell-'em comedians and inoffensive covers bands. At the time Mansfield was spiralling into alcoholism and her life was imploding - realities she kept hidden from her English fans. The programme traces how the once glittering star of the Girl Can't Help It and Too Hot to Handle was forced to get out on the road as her movie career faded.

Producer: Paula McGinley.


SAT 11:00 Beyond Westminster (b010r7by)
The Perils of Planning

This week's Beyond Westminster looks at one of the most controversial elements of local politics: planning. Planning decisions for new developments are usually fraught and most people agree there needs to be change.

In the latest budget, the Chancellor, George Osborne announced he wants to see a 'presumption in favour of a yes to sustainable development in future planning decisions'. At the same time, the government has introduced a localism bill which will empower local communities to have more say in planning decisions. Can the two approaches work together?

John Kampfner visit the Copmanthorpe Wind Action Group, battling against wind turbines and Paul Vickers reports from Merseyside where a controversial new development, the Mann Island project has polarised opinion.

Producer: Paul Vickers.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b010r7c0)
A very French murder story: Hugh Schofield tells how France has been transfixed by an appalling human drama - the killing of a mother, three sons and a daughter. Owen Bennett Jones questions whether depicting the news from Syria as 'brutal suppression of peaceful protestors' might be, to some extent, misleading. A climate of fear is stifling discussion about Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws - that's the contention of the BBC's Jill McGivering, who's been touring the country investigating. Richard Wilson makes a return trip to Antarctica and is shocked at recent developments there. Gareth Armstrong visits an Indian classroom and hears the students voice outrage at how the British regard the work of the children's author Enid Blyton.


SAT 12:00 Money Box (b010r7c2)
More and more companies are closing the doors of their final salary pension schemes- either to new members or existing ones. But have they become too expensive?

Paul Lewis looks back to see why this type of final salary pension has become unpopular with employers. Blame is often laid at the feet of Gordon Brown, who as Chancellor introduced a tax affecting pension fund investments. But was that really a factor? The programme explores less well-known rules and changes that were really to blame for killing the final salary pension.


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (b010mwm1)
Series 74

Episode 3

A satirical review of the week's news, chaired by Sandi Toksvig.


SAT 12:57 Weather (b010mxkx)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 13:00 News (b010mxkz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b010mwv2)
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the topical debate from Wotton Arts Festival in Wotton under Edge Gloucestershire with panellists Chris Huhne, Liberal Democrat and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the critic and writer Sir Christopher Frayling, Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP, and the Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and the Olympics, Tessa Jowell.

Producer: Victoria Wakely.


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b010r7c4)
Jonathan Dimbleby takes listeners' calls and emails in response to this week's edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:30 Saturday Drama (b010r7c6)
One Chord Wonders

Television's Over

One Chord Wonders: Television's Over
5/5
March, 1977. Punk rock is rumoured to be arriving in suburban Surrey. Is anarchy about to overwhelm civilized society or is this salvation for the bored teenagers of Camberley? By Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Adam ... Kristopher Milnes
Pete ... Freddy White
Sergeant Henshaw ... Gerard Horan
Councillor Myatt ... Fenella Woolgar
Mo ... Leanne Rowe
Benny ... James Daley
Pete's dad ... Ben Crowe
Muttley/Steve ... John Hasler
Margaret/Sharon ... Amy Enticknap
D.I. Voke ... John Rowe
Charlie Damage ... Dan Starkey
Town Clerk ... Nyasha Hatendi
Julie ... Sarah Bedi
Mo's mum ... Joan Walker
Mick ... Tim James

Director/Producer ... Toby Swift

*****************************
ONE CHORD WONDERS is a series of 5 plays by top British screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce. The series looks at the 'punk generation' three decades on, with each play telling a different, but connected, story. Featured actors include Pauline Quirke, Doon Mackichan, Sian Reeves, Richard Ridings, Danny Webb, Manjinder Virk and Fenella Woolgar.

Frank Cottrell Boyce is probably best known for films like '24 Hour Party People', 'A Cock & Bull Story', 'Hilary & Jackie', 'Welcome to Sarajevo' and 'Butterfly Kiss'. He won the CILIP Carnegie Medal in 2004 for 'Millions', his first novel, which was subsequently filmed by British director Danny Boyle.

The series is based on the fictional premise that in March 1977 punk band the Adverts performed a gig in Camberley to an audience of 27 people. Over 30 years later, someone is trying to bring those 27 people back together again for a reunion.

The final play, 'Television's Over', takes us back 34 years to where it all begin; the day punk heroes the Adverts arrived at the Police Club in Camberley. Many of the characters we have met in earlier plays are there in their teenage guise. At the centre of it all is Adam, a young lad in desperate need of something to believe in.


SAT 15:30 The Music Group (b010m9t0)
Series 5

Episode 1

Comedian Stewart Lee and voiceover artist Julie Berry are joined by the author of One Day, novelist David Nicholls to discuss three personally significant pieces of music.

Amongst their choices are a soulful rendition of a song about the Falklands' conflict, a piece that survived a Carnegie Hall protest involving red paint; and a painful and experimental journey into playing guitar when suffering from a degenerative disease.

In the process, we discover one Music Group member had an adolescent passion for Space themes played by the Geoff Love Orchestra, whilst another has experienced the benefits of Bach in a hotel bathroom. We also discover what the free jazz movement has to do comedy and more specifically, with Morecambe and Wise.

The Music Choices are:
Shipbuilding sung by Robert Wyatt
Bach's Chaconne from Partita No.2 for solo violin performed by Yehudi Menuhin
5 Weeks Later by Derek Bailey

Presenter: Phil Hammond

Producer: Tamsin Hughes
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b010r7c8)
Weekend Woman's Hour

Presented by Jane Garvey. Farmers, code-crackers and factory workers: we hear about the experiences of millions of women during the Second World War. Ovarian cancer and what new guidelines from NICE will mean for diagnosis and treatment. We hear about the work of one organisation and how it helps men who are released from prison to reconnect with their families. Why feminism is back on the agenda in Poland. With the current debate about male primogeniture triggered by the royal wedding, we take a look at the historic queens we might have had. Cook the Perfect... Shepherd's Pie with leading food writer Lindsey Bareham. More parents than ever are taking children out of school for term-time holidays, but can it ever be justified?


SAT 17:00 PM (b010r7cb)
A fresh perspective on the day's news with sports headlines.


SAT 17:30 iPM (b010mxkn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:45 today]


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b010mxl1)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (b010mxl3)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b010mxl5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b010r7cd)
Clive Anderson and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.

British actor John Simm became a household name in TV dramas The Lakes and Life on Mars. He's back on our screens playing prodigal son Tom in Exile; a dream-team collaboration between writer Paul Abbot and actors Jim Broadbent, Timothy West and Olivia Colman. He talks to Clive about all star casts and returning to the North.

Imogen Stubbs joins Clive to discuss the latest production in her long theatrical career; an upcoming staging of Ibsen's Little Eyolf.

Clive is joined by Michael Mosley, presenter of the new BBC One series which takes us on a rather personal journey Inside Our Human Body. As well as closely examining the landscape of our veins, pores and hairs, Michael will be accompanying wannabe embryos on the journey of reproduction.

And Jon Holmes talks to The League of Gentlemen's Steve Pemberton about the new series of Pyschoville in which he plays a stuffed toy collecting millionaire and a serial-killer obsessive...

With music from The Leisure Society who perform This Phantom Life from their new album Into the Murky Water.

And Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter and record producer Raphael Saadiq plays Good Man from his new album, Stone Rollin.

Producer: Cathie Mahoney.


SAT 19:00 From Fact to Fiction (b010r7cg)
Series 10

Episode 1

To complement Radio 4's News and Current Affairs output, our weekly series presents a short-form dramatic response to a major story from the week's news. Rebecca Lenkiewicz's play looks at two lives affected by the launch of Endeavour this week from Cape Kennedy. It concerns Cal, an offbeat space afficionado (Toby Jones) who lives in the Mojave desert as the busy space programme there enters a new era. Cal communes with Nadezhda (Dina Korzun), a true-life woman Russian astronaut, and in his imagination a close friend. She knows what this new development will mean for the hard-working astronauts involved...

Cal...Toby Jones
Nadezhda...Dina Lorzun
Directed by...Peter Kavanagh.


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b010r7cj)
Aminatta Forna and guests novelist Bidisha, historian Kathryn Hughes and theatre critic David Benedict review the week's cultural highlights.

This week sees the release of the new film Thor, the Norse God of thunder and lightening, directed by Kenneth Branagh. The powerful but arrogant warrior Thor, one of the super heroes of the Marvel comic books, is cast out of the fantastic realm of Asgard and sent to live amongst humans on Earth, where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.

Jane Harris's first novel The Observations was shortlisted for the Orange Prize in 2007. Harris was brought up in Glasgow which is where she has set her new novel Gillespie and I, during the Great Exhibition of 1888 . Harriet Baxter makes friends with the Gillespie family but matters take a more sinister turn when Harriet is accused of abduction.

The Shadow Line is a seven part television drama for BBC2 which has already been described as Britain's answer to The Wire and The Killing, written, directed and produced by Hugo Blick, best known for the comedy series Marion and Geoff. Jonah Gabrian is an amnesiac detective with a bullet lodged in his brain, trying to solve a violent murder.

And The Horse I Rode In On is Told By An Idiot's production of experimental theatre with at political theme at The The Pit, at London's Barbican theatre

Lebanon: The Next Generation is a Radio 4 documentary of John McCarthy's return to Lebanon, the land in which he was held captive for five years between 1986 and 1991.

Producer: Anne-Marie Cole.


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b010r7cl)
The Sound of Sport

When we think of the sound of sport on TV or radio, it's generally commentary. But what's around the commentary? Broadcast sport would be nothing without the crowds, the kicks, the thwacks and the grunts. This programme is about those sounds and why they matter.

During the World Cup of 2010, the Vuvuzelas made many people realise that the sound of a sports event, something they took for granted, does matter.

Dennis Baxter's job is to think about the sound of sport, and he is our guide. For nearly 20 years he's worked on the Olympics, defining how the broadcast will sound, always trying to increase drama and excitement. For him, closer is generally better. If he can put a microphone on an athlete, he will.

At the Oxford-Cambridge boat race, the TV coverage is enhanced by microphones on the cox in each boat. Whilst Wimbledon has a special sonic drama all of its own, as we learn from Bill Whiston who mixed the Bafta-nominated sound of the 2008 finals.

When good sound isn't available, it's not uncommon for a prerecorded sound to be added to cover the shot. Is this cheating or merely giving us what we expect?

The experience of "live" events can be highly produced, very different from the experience of being there. Is this enhanced sound so very different from that of a film or a video game? We meet a Hollywood sound effects specialist and a video game sound designer to find out what they do to create a sense of authenticity and excitement. Are they raising our expectations of how "real" sport should sound?

As we approach the 2012 Olympics, this programme will make you think more about what you hear when you watch sport.

Producer: Peregrine Andrews
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 21:00 Classic Serial (b010m03y)
Jorrocks's Jaunts and Jollities

Episode 1

Jorrocks's Jaunts and Jollities - 'a noisy, vital, impertinent social satire full of zest and high spirits' - was published in 1838 to great acclaim and introduced Dickens to the style of bold comic writing he went on to make his own. Surtees' writing was a significant inspiration for Pickwick Papers.

John Jorrocks is one of the great comic characters of English literature, a sporting cockney grocer, vulgar, good-natured, Master-of-Foxhounds and a social hero among the old hunting fraternity.

Set at a time when the 'sport' was changing from being a popular and inclusive neighbourhood event - the old fashioned farmer's hunt - into a more pretentious, exclusive and expensive activity - it displays great irony as the rapidly expanding middle class began to show more of a disdain and dislike of tradesmen (like Jorrocks) than the blue bloods and gentry ever did.

Jorrocks's Jaunts and Jollities gives a brash, honest, funny portrait of an innocent, naive England which is only just beginning to register the profound social changes brought on by the industrial revolution.

It depicts an almost Shakespearian world-order where everyone happily occupies their place in the scheme of things....a world-order which we see being taken over and transformed by the grasping, shameless Victorian nouveau riche.

Surtees (and Scott Cherry) gives us a gallery of unforgettable comic characters - and, at the programme's heart, a true Falstaff, in the irrepressible, loveable, indefatigable rogue that is John Jorrocks - fighting to preserve the English way of life he knows and loves.

Scott Cherry - who previously gave us somewhat irreverent versions of "Humphry Clinker" (Smollett) and "Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour" (Surtees) - once again turns his comic imagination and free inspiration to the recreation of the world of Jorrocks and Handley Cross.

Doleful is charged as Master of Ceremonies to turn Handley Cross into a spa town to rival Bath. He confides all his doubts to his "imaginary friend" - Beau Nash who helps out with his own experiences. But the tide of apathy is in danger of sweeping all their best laid plans away; there seems to be only one way out....to introduce fox hunting to the town. Enter the sporting hero to rival all before him - John Jorrocks.

Cast:
Jorrocks ..... Danny Webb
Nash ..... Clive Swift
Doleful ..... Charles Edwards
Miss Barnington ..... Rebecca Saire
Mello/Moonface ..... Gareth Armstrong
Julia Jorrocks ..... Emma Pierson
Muleygrubs ..... Christian Rodska
Pigg/Bray ..... Rob Hudson
Simpkins ..... Geoffrey Beevers
Barnington ..... Grant Gillespie

Producer: Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b010mxl7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SAT 22:15 Moral Maze (b010mrzr)
Meritocracy and monarchy

Two people will walk down the aisle to get married on Friday and like any wedding the rows and discussions the ceremony is provoking are an interesting measure of the values that are important to us. For example the guest list: was it really acceptable to invite the crown prince of Bahrain, a country that is vigorously and violently suppressing protests in favour of democracy, and not to invite two former British Prime Ministers - even if they were Labour? Thankfully the issue has been solved by a tactful withdrawal. Then there's family background of the bride and finally of course, what to wear. Is a morning coat just too posh? Does it send out the right message? Perhaps that will be on the mind of Nick Clegg as he dresses on Friday morning. A man who in his own words wants a country where "Everyone is free to flourish and rise regardless of the circumstances of their birth." At the Abbey, they will celebrate the opposite principle: the marriage of a man born to be king. Royalists argue that the monarchy symbolises deeply ingrained values that go beyond social and political fashion. Republicans counter that an hereditary ruler makes as much sense as an hereditary dentist and the monarchy traps us as subjects, enshrines inequality and that we should have the power to choose our head of state. So is the monarchy compatible with a truly meritocratic society?

Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk with Claire Fox, Clifford Longley, Michael Portillo and Matthew Taylor.

Witnesses:
Robert Hardman, Royal author and Daily Mail writer
AN Wilson, Writer
Graham Smith, Executive officer for Republic
Tony Mulhearn, One of the fighting 47 who fought Thatcher in the 80s and was president of the Liverpool district Labour party.


SAT 23:00 Counterpoint (b010m2fd)
Series 25

Episode 4

(4/13)
Who was the trumpeter, producer and record company boss who had an American no.1 hit in 1979 with a tune called 'Rise'?

The answer to this and many other musical questions will be dispensed by Paul Gambaccini, in the chair for the fourth heat of Counterpoint, the long-running music quiz. This week's contenders are from Cumbria, West Yorkshire and the West Midlands.

They'll be tackling questions on every genre of music, from the core classical repertoire to jazz, show tunes, film music, vintage chart favourites and recent hits. As usual, the contestants have no idea what's going to come their way - the only thing that's guaranteed is that they'll be racking their brains. And there'll be a generous helping of musical extracts, both familiar and surprising.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.


SAT 23:30 Lost Voices (b010m042)
Series 3

Patricia Beer

Brian Patten highlights the work of Patricia Beer, which he feels deserves a new evaluation. Her strong, clear poetic voice grew out of a life menaced by insecurity and anger. Her friend, the poet Elaine Feinstein, and her niece, the novelist Patricia Duncker, consider the woman and the poetry.

Producer Christine Hall.



SUNDAY 01 MAY 2011

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b010q864)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SUN 00:30 Perspectives (b00lxfbg)
futouristic.co.uk

By Christopher Priest. Replying to an irresistible email proposition, Mr Frogle is sure nothing will ever be the same again. Read by Nick Underwood.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b010q866)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b010q868)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b010q86b)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b010q86d)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b010rb6l)
The bells of St Edward's, Egg Buckland, Devon.


SUN 05:45 Four Thought (b010mrzt)
Series 2

Christina Patterson: Care to be a Nurse?

Columnist Christina Patterson discusses her own experiences of terrible nursing care.

She asks why we keep making excuses for bad nursing when good care is so important - and maintains that whatever the pressures on them, nurses always have a choice about how they behave.

Producer: Giles Edwards.


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b010q86g)
The latest national and international news.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b010rb6n)
Keeping Time

The history of our clocks is practically as long as our history. Other creatures seem content to hear and obey their inner clocks but from the early days - perhaps when we saw how our shadows changed throughout the day - we wanted desperately to attempt a hold on time.

In 'Keeping Time' Irma Kurtz reflects on clocks, the connection of timepieces to navigation and the way in which we make punctuality a virtue.

The readers are Liza Sadovy and Jonathan Firth.

Presenter: Irma Kurtz

Producer: Ronni Davis
An Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 06:35 Living World (b010rb6q)
Islay Birds

The island of Islay is the most southerly island of the Southern Hebrides and as such has an important role to play in Scottish birdlife. Also known as the Queen of the Hebrides this small island is, in winter, host to thousands of winter migrant birds as they escape the harsh Arctic weather. Some birds use the island as a stop over point to rest and feed before heading away on migration, other species, such as barnacle geese stay the entire winter, leaving in the spring.

This weeks Living World, finds Michael Scott leaving the Scottish mainland to travel the two and a half hour journey by ferry to meet an old friend of his Malcolm Ogilvie. Malcolm has been studying the geese of the island for nearly 50 years and has been resident here for half that time. But Islay has so much more birdlife to offer than geese; indeed in the autumn and spring keen birdwatchers come to the island to attempt a remarkable feat, to see over 100 different species of birds on the island in a single day.

Michael and Malcolm visit over the winter and therefore aim for lower numbers of birds to be seen during this visit, by concentrating on one small but beautiful area of Islay, Loch Gruinart on the northern coast of the island. Beginning at the head of Gruinart, huge numbers of barnacle geese can be seen feeding on the flooded fields below, geese that move and erupt into restless flight in ever increasing numbers, a spectacle that is both beautiful and awesome to behold. At the head of the Loch is Ardnave Point where different species of birds can be seen both on a small isolated lochan and at the spectacular mouth of the Loch, framed by the islands of Jura and Mull beyond. However one of the real jewel species of these islands is a rare member of the crow family, the chough. Islay holds a sixth of the UK's chough population and Michael is keen to see these birds on this visit as he scans the horizon from a windswept dune system overlooking the sea. Is that their call being carried along by the buffeting wind on the ridge? Yes, here they come, these acrobatic specialists, right on cue.


SUN 06:57 Weather (b010q86j)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b010q86l)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (b010rb6s)
In this special edition of the programme, 'Sunday' reports live from Rome on the day of the beatification of Pope John Paul II.

When the Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was elected in October 1978 he became the first non-Italian pope in over 400 years. He went on to become one of the most important figures of the late 20th century, raising the profile of the Papacy around the world and was a major factor in the fall of the Iron Curtain. He also presided over the paedophile priest scandal and was harsh towards the liberation theology priests in Latin America.

In a special edition we look at the life and legacy of Pope John Paul II. More than a million pilgrims are expected to gather in St Peter's Square for the ceremony and we will be broadcasting live from amongst them. William Crawley will be our Rome correspondent for the day and he will look at the papacy of John Paul through the eyes of those who worked and travelled with him.

Our reporter Adam Easton travels to Krakow to look at what kind of legacy the Polish Pope has left in his home country and whether his influence is still inspiring the church there today.

Meanwhile in Manchester Edward Stourton will discuss a number of issues with our guests. Firstly is this beatification happening too quickly? Church historian Michael Walsh believes it is and he will debate the point with Jack Valero who has been involved with both Opus Dei and the beatification of Cardinal Newman.

In our main debate we will look at the legacy of John Paul II. Edward will be joined by former Tablet Editor John Wilkins, feminist theologian Tina Beattie, interfaith expert Ed Kessler and Colm O'Gorman who campaigns for victims of abuse within the Catholic Church.

E-mail: sunday@bbc.co.uk

Series producer: Amanda Hancox.


SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b010rb6v)
Self Help Africa

Pippa Greenwood presents the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity Self Help Africa.

Donations to Self Help Africa should be sent to FREEPOST BBC Radio 4 Appeal, please mark the back of your envelope Anti-Slavery International. Credit cards: Freephone 0800 404 8144. You can also give online at www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/appeal. If you are a UK tax payer, please provide Self Help Africa with your full name and address so they can claim the Gift Aid on your donation. The online and phone donation facilities are not currently available to listeners without a UK postcode.

Registered Charity Number: 298830.


SUN 07:57 Weather (b010q86n)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b010q86q)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b010rb6x)
A service of the word from the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool led by the Dean, Canon Anthony O'Brien who preaches alongside his Anglican neighbour from down the road, the Dean of Liverpool Cathedral, Canon Justin Welby. Pope John Paul II, to be beatified this morning by Pope Benedict XVI, visited the UK in 1982. During his visit, he talked about building a 'cathedral of peace.' The service takes up this theme and reflects on the important work of reconciliation in ordinary lives, between people of faith and across the world.
The cathedral choir is directed by Timothy Noon, Director of Music with Richard Lea, Organist. Producer: Clair Jaquiss.


SUN 08:50 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b010mwv4)
Series 2

Monsters

Fire breathing dragons are clearly something from legend, but what about a monster that lives in an ancient deep lake?

Sir David Attenborough reflects on a time when pre-eminent conservationist and naturalist Peter Scott was immersed in acquiring evidence of the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. No such giant creature has ever been found or concrete evidence it ever existed, but this is an intriguing tale of discovery.

David moves his story on to beyond the highlands of Scotland and into the Himalayas - and it's here that he reveals something very surprising.

Written and presented by David Attenborough

Producer: Julian Hector.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2011.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b010t31d)
News and conversation about the big stories of the week.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b010t31g)
Written by: Simon Frith
Directed by: Rosemary Watts
Editor: Vanessa Whitburn

Jill Archer ..... Patricia Greene
Kenton Archer ..... Richard Attlee
Alistair Lloyd ..... Michael Lumsden
Shula Hebden Lloyd ..... Judy Bennett
David Archer ..... Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ..... Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ..... Helen Monks
Josh Archer ..... Cian Cheesbrough
Brian Aldridge ..... Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge ..... Angela Piper
Phoebe Aldridge ..... Lucy Morris
Matt Crawford ..... Kim Durham
Lilian Bellamy ..... Sunny Ormonde
Peggy Woolley ..... June Spencer
Jolene Perks ..... Buffy Davis
Fallon Rogers ..... Joanna Van Kampen
Kathy Perks ..... Hedli Niklaus
Jamie Perks ..... Dan Ciotkowski
Clarrie Grundy ..... Rosalind Adams
William Grundy ..... Philip Molloy
Nic Hanson ..... Becky Wright
Susan Carter ..... Charlotte Martin
Robert Snell ..... Graham Blockey
Lynda Snell ..... Carole Boyd
Ted ..... Paul Webster
James Bellamy ..... Roger May
Leonie Snell ..... Jasmine Hyde.


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b010t31j)
Prof David Phillips

Kirsty Young's castaway is the President of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Professor David Phillips.

His love of science has taken him on an extraordinary journey. At the height of the Cold War, he swapped a post in America for a place at the Academy of Sciences in Moscow, where he partied with the Bolshoi and was interrogated by the KGB. He is also Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at Imperial College, but, despite his eminence, he admits his students had a 'professor button' fitted onto their hi-tech lasers. It was, he explains, a knob he could twiddle while showing visitors around the lab, but it wasn't connected to the machinery and meant he didn't ruin his students' experiments.

Record: The Marriage of Figaro
Book: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Luxury: A piano with music

Producer: Leanne Buckle.


SUN 12:00 The Unbelievable Truth (b010m2k7)
Series 7

Episode 4

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.

Alan Davies, Jack Dee, Marcus Brigstocke and Lucy Porter are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as: Eyes, Snakes, Cutlery and Dieting.

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

Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b010t31l)
Royal Food

Simon Parkes explores the connection between Royal wedding banquets and British food. From historic feasts with hundreds of lavish dishes, to present day 'austerity'.

A visit to the Tudor kitchens of Hampton Court palace reveals the scale and grandeur of wedding feasts of the past. Power, wealth and their display was all-important, and food was a central part of this. Huge marzipan sculptures, models in food of St Paul's Cathedral, and in the case of James II, a feast with 145 dishes in the first course alone; nothing was too extravagant or beyond the skill of the working-class cooks who invented these dishes. And historically, even beggars on the street got to share the food of the wedding feast, after each layer of the aristocracy had enjoyed its fill.

Food historian Ivan Day traces the evolution of buffets, wedding breakfasts, and looks at the influence of 'the first celebrity chef' - Patrick Lamb, master cook to four monarchs, and author of an early aspirational cookery book.

And as bunting and trestle tables take their place in streets across the UK, The Food Programme asks whether royal food has left a legacy of public feasting which might enhance 21st century communities.

Presenter: Simon Parkes Producer: Melvin Rickarby.


SUN 12:57 Weather (b010q86s)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b010t31n)
The latest national and international news, with an in-depth look at events around the world. Listeners can comment via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #theworldthisweekend.


SUN 13:30 David Hume and the Triumph of Reason (b010lyyb)
Recorded on location in Edinburgh, Allan Little pays a 300th anniversary tribute to his hero, the philosopher David Hume.

Hume was a central figure in the Scottish Enlightenment at a time when Edinburgh was 'a hotbed of genius'. His scepticism and alleged atheism got him into trouble - but broke the shackles of the old beliefs and paved the way for new thinking in science and politics and economics.

We hear not only about these radical thoughts but about Hume the man - intensely convivial, a bon viveur and cook - he was the toast of Paris and became, eventually, the highest paid man of letters ever to write in English.

We hear from Hume biographer Roderick Graham and from academics Miranda Fricker, Nicholas Phillipson, Tom Devine, Simon Blackburn and Michael Fry.

Brian Pettifer plays the part of David Hume.

We hear too how Hume's ideas are still relevant - how 'Enlightenment for the 21st Century' has become the new strap line for the RSA.

Presenter: Allan Little

Producer: Susan Marling
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b010mwlq)
Carrickfergus

Eric Robson leads Christine Walkden, Bunny Guinness and Bob Flowerdew in a horticultural discussion in Carrickfergus, County Antrim.

An insight into rose breeding with Christine Walkden.

Produced by Lucy Dichmont
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 14:45 15 by 15 (b010t3jt)
Series 1

Mattress

What's in a word? Where did it come from? Where does it lead? In a new series of five programmes Hardeep Singh Kohli chooses a word and sees where it leads him.

In 15 minutes he expects to learn 15 things he didn't know before. His journey takes him to lexicographer Susie Dent, who knows about words and can tell him where the word first appeared in the English language. From there he sets off in different directions, meeting people who in different ways are connected to that programme's word.

Each programme is devoted to one word, and over the five programmes Hardeep encounters 'mattress', 'stroke', 'heel', 'spin' and 'trifle'.

In the first programme 'Mattress', Hardeep meets Gerry, who's buying a mattress at an open air stall in a market, Lauren Child, adaptor and illustrator of 'The Princess and the Pea', David Cain who exterminates bedbugs, and opera singer Julie Unwin who falls on one from a height.

Producer: Richard Bannerman
A Ladbroke Production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b010t3jw)
Jorrocks's Jaunts and Jollities

Episode 2

Jorrocks's Jaunts and Jollities gives a brash, honest, funny portrait of an innocent, naive England which is only just beginning to register the profound social changes brought on by the industrial revolution.

It depicts an almost Shakespearian world-order where everyone happily occupies their place in the scheme of things....a world-order which we see being taken over and transformed by the grasping, shameless Victorian nouveau riche.

Surtees (and Scott Cherry) gives us a gallery of unforgettable comic characters - and, at the programme's heart, a true Falstaff, in the irrepressible, loveable, indefatigable rogue that is John Jorrocks - fighting to preserve the English way of life he knows and loves.

Scott Cherry - who previously gave us somewhat irreverent versions of "Humphry Clinker" (Smollett) and "Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour" (Surtees) - once again turns his comic imagination and free inspiration to the recreation of the world of Jorrocks and Handley Cross.

The gentry of Handley Cross look on in horror as the fox hunting craze begins to sweep through their town. In a classic comedic clash between high and low brow - the citizens are thrown into alternate modes of consternation and celebration.

Cast:
Jorrocks ..... Danny Webb
Nash ..... Clive Swift
Doleful ..... Charles Edwards
Miss Barnington ..... Rebecca Saire
Mello/Moonface ..... Gareth Armstrong
Julia Jorrocks ..... Emma Pierson
Muleygrubs ..... Christian Rodska
Pigg/Bray ..... Rob Hudson
Simpkins ..... Geoffrey Beevers
Barnington ..... Grant Gillespie

Producer: Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 16:00 Bookclub (b010t3jy)
Andrew O'Hagan - Be Near Me

Andrew O'Hagan is a rising star in the literary world. He joins James Naughtie and readers to discuss his novel Be Near Me, the story of Father David, an aesthetic English Catholic priest working in a working class community in Ayrshire.

This is a poignant story of a man who doesn't fit in. Father David is trapped by class hatreds, and troubled by sexual feelings which he struggles to keep submerged. He's a character who's almost intent on self destruction, and as the reader follows his story, we can't help but think it's going to end in tragedy.

Andrew O'Hagan talks about the challenges of writing such a story in the first person, how inevitably people think it's about himself - and how by creating a protagonist whose side of the story is not quite reliable leads to intrigue in the mind of the reader.

Andrew has drawn on the community where he himself grew up - a community ridden by class and religious divide. One of the novel's strongest characters is Father David's housekeeper Mrs Poole who was based on Andrew's mother and colleagues. His mother was a school cleaner and as a child Andrew spent some of his school holidays watching and listening to their conversations as they went about the 'big clean' - preparing the school for the new academic year.

The starting point for the book was when Andrew happened to be in a café in Paris and noticed a Catholic priest drinking coffee alone in the corner. Andrew watched as a tear fell down the priest's cheek, and immediately began to wonder what his story was and went home to write it.

As always on Bookclub, a group of readers join the author in the discussion and James Naughtie chairs the programme.

June's Bookclub choice : 'The History of Love' by Nicole Krauss.

Producer : Dymphna Flynn.


SUN 16:30 Lost Voices (b010t3k0)
Series 3

Robert Service

As a young man, Brian Patten was fascinated by the life and work of Robert Service, who in the early years of the 20th century left a banking job in Glasgow for the excitement of the goldrush in the Yukon. He almost immediately found himself working in a bank again, but he was now in a romantic wilderness. In the bars of Whitehorse he heard wonderful stories of life in the Gold Rush which he transmuted into Kipling-inspired verse, and he was soon the best-paid poet in the western world. Yet despite his huge popularity, he remained the self-described "man who wouldn't fit in." Now, though honoured in Canada, his work is almost forgotten.

The poems are read by James Cosmo.

Producer Christine Hall.


SUN 17:00 Fallout: The Legacy of Chernobyl (b010mckx)
Events in Japan have reignited controversy around the safety of nuclear energy, reviving memories of the world's worst nuclear accident, at Chernobyl.

But just how bad was the worst? What were the real health consequences of Chernobyl? On the 25th anniversary of the disaster Nick Ross travels to Ukraine, to the ruined plant itself, to meet survivors and to talk to scientists and doctors to try to unravel the truth.

Has Chernobyl turned out to be the health catastrophe that anti-nuclear campaigners claim?

How much of our fear of radiation is rational and how much is based on myth and propaganda surrounding the Chernobyl accident?

Producer: Brian King
An Above The Title production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 17:40 From Fact to Fiction (b010r7cg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b010q86v)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (b010q86x)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b010q86z)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b010t3k2)
Gerry Northam makes his selection from the past seven days of BBC Radio

In a week dominated by coverage of the royal wedding, Gerry Northam finds other broadcast treasures.
Shirley MacLaine's sexual revelations leave Mark Lawson sounding distinctly ill at ease.
Two concert pianists exchange notes on how their minds can wander while giving a recital.
Jon Ronson discovers how people can learn to live with voices in their heads.
We meet residents of Chernobyl who have insisted on returning to their homes in the radioactive Dead Zone.
And two poets celebrate the beauty of British power stations.

Alive in Chernobyl - Radio 4
Edgelands - Radio 4
Soundscapes of the South - Radio Solent
Front Row - Radio 4
The American Civil War - Radio 3
Kafka The Musical - Radio 3
Gardener's Question Time - Radio 4
Football commentary - Radio Norfolk
Great Lives - Radio 4
It's Our Story - Liverpool's Own - Radio 4
Jon Ronson On - Radio 4
Words and Music - Radio 3
The Essay - Radio 3
Royal Wedding Coverage
Between Ourselves - Radio 4
Performance on 3 - Radio 3

Email: potw@bbc.co.uk or www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/potw
Producer: Cecile Wright.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (b010t3k4)
Peggy tells Pat about the lovely enamel box that Ted made. Peggy shows enthusiasm and admiration for Ted and his hobby. Kathy joins them. She and Pat are pleased that Peggy's got such a good friend.

It's Roy's last week at Grey Gables. He and Hayley reminisce about his 14 years there but both look forward to working together at Lower Loxley. Phoebe shows Hayley and Roy her holiday pictures. She talks about her new friend Mandisa and how she wishes she could live with her in South Africa.

Kathy wakes Jamie up for his shift, and offers to cook him breakfast. Everything's amicable. Kathy's pleased that he'll probably come back after his shift to do some revision, and might even be there for tea.

Kathy tells Pat that things are ok with Jamie, although it's not easy being the 'doting mother'. She's not happy with him working during exam time, and has had to agree not to pressure him to go on to take A levels. Pat encourages her to take things one step at a time. Kathy acknowledges that at least Jamie's talking about doing revision this afternoon. She'll have to cross her fingers and hope he means it.


SUN 19:15 Americana (b010t3k6)
What IS the middle class in America?
Politicians make promises to them, the poor strive to join them - the middle class in the United States is an ever-shifting target. Americana talks with economic analysts, social historians, authors and everyday citizens to help define and explain the importance of the group in the USA.

Bernie Madoff from prison:
Bernie Madoff may be responsible for upsetting the class status of hundreds of Americans by dishonestly shifting their investments, retirement and savings - to the tune of 65 billion dollars. The crime sent him to prison for life. Diana Henriques describes the Bernie Madoff of today, two years into his prison sentence.

Suburbia - a magical land for the middle class:
Nearly a third of Americans live in the suburbs these days. Historian Rosalyn Baxandall explains the charms and changes of one of the earliest American suburbs - Levittown, New York.

SPAM festival:
If the suburbs are home to the middle class, packaged foods are the quintessential item found in the kitchens of those homes. SPAM first hit American stomachs in 1937. Today in Hawaii many Americans continue to enjoy it and celebrate the canned ham with gusto.


SUN 19:45 The Heart of Saturday Night (b00mbl9q)
Come On Up to the House

'Come On Up to the House', by acclaimed Scottish writer A L Kennedy, is the first in a series of stories inspired by the distinctive world created by the legendary musician Tom Waits - a dark and sometimes sleazy world peopled by down-at-heel characters on the edge of society, or outcasts singing of loss and longing. In this story, inspired by a Waits track of the same name, a man finds himself reaching out to a perfect stranger in the wee small hours of the morning.

The reader is the acclaimed actor, Peter Capaldi, best known for his film roles in Local Hero and more recently In the Loop, in which he reprised his extraordinary creation, spin doctor Malcolm Tucker from Armando Iannucci's The Thick of It.

Author: A L Kennedy is a distinguished Scottish author and stand-up comedian who has won awards both for her short stories and novels. In 2003 she was nominated by Granta magazine as one of 20 'Best of Young British Novelists'.

Produced by Justine Willett.


SUN 20:00 More or Less (b010mwbt)
Note: The 29 April 2011 edition of More or Less is truncated. This copy reflects the content of the full programme broadcast on 1 May 2011.

This week we present a cornucopia of wedding-related numbers, including:

Why we predict a jump in the number of weddings next year (hint: it will have nothing to do with the Royal Wedding);

How much does the average British wedding cost (less than you might think);

Can we know how many people watched the Royal Wedding (probably not);

Do married men earn more? (Yes, according to 140 years of baseball stats.)

Also in this week's programme: we explain the alternative vote electoral system, using limericks and puddings.


SUN 20:30 Last Word (b010mwlv)
John Sullivan, Sai Baba, Poly Styrene, Mike Campbell, Max Mathews

Matthew Bannister on

The TV comedy writer John Sullivan who brought us Only Fools and Horses and Citizen Smith. Robert Lindsay pays tribute.

The Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba, head of a multi billion pound foundation with millions of followers around the world.

Punk icon Poly Styrene - lead singer of X-Ray Spexs - noted for her outrageous dress sense.

The white Zimbabwean farmer Mike Campbell who won a court victory against Robert Mugabe's land reforms but was badly beaten by militia.

And Max Mathews, pioneer of computer synthesised music.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (b010r7c2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 on Saturday]


SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b010rb6v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 today]


SUN 21:30 In Business (b010mv58)
For Your Information

Information seems to be moving right to the heart of the 21st century economy but nobody really knows what it is or how it works. Peter Day talks to pioneers in the field of information management as well as corporate gatekeepers of this valuable commodity we call information to find out what advances are being made with the amount of data we now generate.


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b010t3k8)
Preview of the week's political agenda at Westminster with MPs, experts and commentators. Discussion of the issues politicians are grappling with in the corridors of power.


SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b010t3kb)
Episode 50

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 Kevin Maguire of The Daily Mirror takes the chair and the editor is Catherine Donegan.


SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b010mwlx)
Ray Winstone and Christian Carion talk to Francine Stock about their new films. There's a preview of the London Australian Film Festival which opens soon at the Barbican and Lucien Castaing-Taylor explains the fascination of sheep and the motives behind the beautiful and unsentimental documentary he and Ilisa Barbash have made about the last modern-day cowboys to lead their flocks up into Montana's breathtaking and often dangerous mountains for summer pasture.

Producer: Zahid Warley.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b010rb6n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 02 MAY 2011

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b010q8b2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b010mrzc)
Craft and Community

Is DIY culture and home improvement linked to the ideals of John Ruskin? David Gauntlett, author of Making is Connecting believes it is and he contends that bloggers and online enthusiasts are the inheritors of Britain's creative culture - making communities through their craft in the same way that medieval stone masons used to do. But is posting a skate-boarding dog on YouTube really comparable to carving a gargoyle on a gothic cathedral? The sociologist Richard Sennett joins Laurie Taylor and David Gauntlett to discuss making things, creating communities and what counts as craftsmanship.
Producer: Charlie Taylor.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b010rb6l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b010q8b4)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b010q8b6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b010q8b8)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (b010q8bb)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b010t3ml)
With the Rev Prof Peter Galloway.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (b010t3mn)
12 months on since Gareth Barlow began farming, Caz Graham checks up on his progress. With no farming background, we find out how Gareth is faring as he strives to become a farmer. Caz meets up with Gareth as he weighs some of his Hebridean sheep before sending them to the abattoir.
Presented by Caz Graham. Produced by Martin Poyntz-Roberts.


MON 05:57 Weather (b010q8bd)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 06:00 Today (b010t3mq)
Including Sports Desk at 6.25am, 7.25am, 8.25am; Weather 6.05am, 6.57am, 7.57am; Thought for the Day 7.48am.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (b010t3p0)
Andrew Marr explores how far empathy, or the lack of it, can explain cruelty. Simon Baron-Cohen proposes turning the focus away from evil or specific personality disorders, and to understand human behaviour by studying the 'empathy circuit' in the brain. Gwen Adshead, a forensic psychotherapist at Broadmoor Hospital and the crime writer Val McDermid question whether this would help in their line of work, and the philosopher Julian Baggini tries to pin down what we mean when we talk about the self.

Producer: Katy Hickman.


MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b010t5wc)
Millions Like Us: Women's Lives in War and Peace 1939-1949

Episode 1

Virginia Nicholson's evocative account of the Second World War is told through a multitude of individual women's experiences. As their stories unfold we discover how they loved, suffered, laughed, grieved and dared. Today, the conflict begins, and thirty-seven year old Frances Faviell learns to administer first-aid, and Lorna Bradey, serving as a nurse in France, witnesses the horror of Dunkirk first hand.

Virginia Nicholson's books include Among the Bohemians - Experiments in Living 1900-1939, and Singled Out - How Two Million Women Survived Without Men after the First World War, which was broadcast as a Book of the Week.

Read by Fenella Woolgar
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b010t5wf)
Presented by Jenni Murray.
In October 2010 several aspiring members of an esteemed fraternity at Yale University marched across its 300 year old quadrangle, lined up outside a women's hall of residence, and chanted "no means yes". What impact does such behaviour have on young women undergraduates? We look at franchising in our Women in Business series; with Danish restaurant Noma topping the list of the world's best restaurants for the second year running, we look at the Nordic tastes and food culture and how they're taking off in Britain; and The First Time - how have attitudes to losing your virginity changed over the years?


MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b010t5wh)
Writing the Century 17: The Iron Curtain

Episode 1

The series which explores the 20th century through the diaries and correspondence of real people, returns with "The Iron Curtain" by Nell Leyshon. The drama is inspired by the diaries of Paula Kirby, who went to teach English in East Germany in the 1980s, and her correspondence with paediatric surgeon Knut Löffler.

Fresh out of university, 21-year-old Paula Kirby settles into her new home and job, teaching English at the University in Dresden but finds herself attracted to one of her students, a Dr Knut Löffler.

Cast
Paula ...... Charlotte Emmerson
Knut ...... Jonathan Keeble
Sarah ...... Danielle Henry
Woman on train ...... Melissa Jane Sinden

Directed by Susan Roberts.


MON 11:00 The Real Apprentice (b010t5wk)
Seven unemployed men compete to win a builder's apprenticeship in South Wales.

Jon Manel follows their progress, and explores how our concept of apprenticeship has changed over centuries.

The charity Construction Youth Trust took its Real Apprentice scheme to Newport in the summer of 2010. Seven young people who weren't in education or employment were put to work on a building site, redeveloping two flats. The best performer won an apprenticeship with Newport City Homes. Jon Manel watches the competition and hears about the contestants' experience of trying to find work.

But what can the winner expect of his apprenticeship? And how does the experience of today's apprentices compare to that of their predecessors decades - even centuries - ago?

Jon meets a manager at Tata Steel - formerly British Steel - in Port Talbot, who is still with the company nearly forty years after he joined as an apprentice. And then we go back nearly six hundred years to discover the story of a fifteenth century butcher's apprentice from Newbury, recorded in a document in the Berkshire Record Office. Alison Fuller from Southampton University gives a potted history of how the lives of apprentices developed in the intervening years - for better and for worse.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2011.


MON 11:30 Fags, Mags and Bags (b010t5wm)
Series 4

Ayabassa Alan

More shop based shenanigans and over the counter philosophy, courtesy of Ramesh Mahju and his trusty sidekick Dave.

Written by and starring Donald McLeary and Sanjeev Kohli, Fags, Mags & Bags has proved a hit with the Radio 4 audience with this series picking up a Writers' Guild nomination for best comedy in 2011.

In this episode, which guest stars Kevin Eldon, the new dance craze Ayabassa sweeps the town. Meanwhile Dave finds a new friend in the shape of the local doctor which puts Ramesh's nose out.

So join the staff of Fags, Mags and Bags in their tireless quest to bring nice-price custard creams and cans of coke with Arabic writing on them to an ungrateful nation.

Ramesh Mahju has built up the business over the course of thirty years, and is a firmly entrenched feature of the local area. However, he does apply the "low return" rules of the shop to all other aspects of his life.

He is ably assisted by his shop sidekick Dave, a forty-something underachiever who shares Ramesh's love of the art of shopkeeping, even if he is treated like a slave.

Then of course there are Ramesh's sons, Sanjay and Alok, both surly and not particularly keen on the old school approach to shopkeeping. But they are natural successors to the business and Ramesh is keen to pass all his worldly wisdom onto them - whether they like it or not.

Cast:
Ramesh ..... Sanjeev Kohli
Dave ..... Donald Mcleary
Sanjay ..... Omar Raza
Alok ..... Susheel Kumar
Dr Southwell ..... Kevin Eldon
Mrs Begg ..... Marjory Hogarth
Mrs Armstrong ..... Maureen Carr
Lovely Sue ..... Julie Wilson Nimmo
Bra Jeff ..... Steven McNicol

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


MON 12:00 You and Yours (b010t5wp)
Consumer news with Julian Worricker.

A soldier who lost both his legs in a bomb blast in Afghanistan is calling for a review of a cap on compensation imposed by the Ministry of Defence.

Plus, as more American brands become available in UK supermarkets, we look at the relationship between American and British cuisines.

And we look back at 75 years of Butlins.


MON 12:57 Weather (b010q8bg)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 13:00 World at One (b010vzwj)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4. Thirty minutes of intelligent analysis, comment and interviews. To share your views email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.


MON 13:45 The Prime Ministers (b00j3xd1)
Series 1

Lord Palmerston

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

Lord Palmerston, whose colourful private life masked his skill at manipulating the press.


MON 14:00 The Archers (b010t3k4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (b010t5wt)
Star Struck

Star Struck by Katharine Way

Sarah has got the job of her dreams. Working with Cal, an Astronomy Professor at a remote observatory in New Zealand, watching the destruction of a planet by a black hole. But then the Professor registers a message from the dying planet. Can it really be genuine?

Sarah.........Julia Haworth
Cal.............Philip Bretherton

Producer Gary Brown

Sarah loves it at the observatory - she's a girl geek who's only really happy at work. She feels at home observing the chaos and vastness of space; ordinary human concerns just seem trivial . She'd rather look at stars than deal with people. And Cal's an exciting person to work with - brilliant and intuitive, but also generous, funny and charming. He has an incredible capacity for work; he never seems to sleep.

They're looking at Black Holes, a sort of whirlpool in space which can destroy planets . But then something strange happens. A transmission from the planet that is being destroyed. Cal is convinced it is genuine. This could be the Holy Grail.


MON 15:00 Archive on 4 (b010r7cl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


MON 15:45 Russia: The Wild East (b010t5ww)
Series 1

Catherine, Lover and Reformer

Peter the Great died on the 8th of February 1725. He was 52 years old, had reigned for forty of those years and transformed Russia from a struggling, landlocked state to a major and still expanding empire. But he died without appointing an heir.

At the start of week 3 of BBC Radio 4's major new History series, Russia - The Wild East, Martin Sixsmith traces the power struggles after the death of Peter, until another Great leader emerges. While Peter the Great had laid the foundations of Russia as a European power, it was under Catherine the Great that Russia became Europe's most feared superpower.

One of the reputations that Catherine acquired was of a woman with a healthy interest in sex, but this shouldn't overshadow her reforming zeal. She modernised the legal system, took ideas from the great Enlightenment thinkers Diderot and Voltaire, and learnt by heart long passages from Montesquieu's iconic manifesto of constitutionalism, on the separation of powers, civil liberties and the rule of law.

"It seemed to many," Martin Sixsmith suggests, "that Russia was preparing to boldly go where few others would dare to tread - having been the most backward of the European powers, she now appeared to be leading the way to the enlightened future."

But an ingrained fear of vulnerability lay beneath this show of strength, and Catherine followed an aggressive programme of expansion especially to the south. It provided a buffer against enemies on her borders, but sowed the seeds of ethnic tensions that still exist today, and a careful observer would have realised even at this stage that Catherine was setting very clear limits to the extent and nature of the changes she was prepared to allow.

Historical Consultant: Professor Geoffrey Hosking

Producers: Adam Fowler & Anna Scott-Brown
A Ladbroke Production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 16:00 The Food Programme (b010t31l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Who'd be a Social Worker (b010dk29)
Episode 1

Across the country, 10% of social worker posts are vacant. In many inner-city boroughs, especially London and the West Midlands, it's even higher.

In this series, Simon Cox explores the initial training of social workers, to discover why, despite hundreds of students graduating with social work degrees each year, the vacancies persist. He follows final year students at Birmingham University from the classroom to their first jobs in mental health, hospice care and frontline child protection.

The recruitment crisis is particularly acute in children's services where the majority of councils report problems recruiting and retaining staff. Newly Qualified Social Workers join exhausted teams struggling with heavy and complex caseloads and they face enormous responsibility, often without adequate supervision and mentoring. Few stay long under such pressure.

Graduates and their employers complain the degree course fails to properly prepare students for their roles, and we hear about the reforms underway to improve social work training.

In this first programme we see the problems finding vital work placements for students, without which they can't graduate. As council budgets are slashed and workers laid off, those remaining have even less time to supervise students. The pressure to get a good quality placement is high - each lasts six months and, if it goes well, can lead directly to a job. A poor one can mean six months making tea and little experience to put on your CV.

As students come to terms with the realities of their chosen career, some emerge with a youthful determination make the world a better place. Others drop out, disillusioned by the mountains of paperwork, unrealistic deadlines and lack of time to spend with people doing "real social work".

Presenter: Simon Cox presents The Report and Click On on Radio 4.
Producer: Deborah Dudgeon
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 17:00 PM (b010t5wy)
Eddie Mair presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b010q8bj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:26 Referendum Campaign Broadcast (b010t5x0)
A campaign broadcast for the referendum on changing the UK voting system on 5th May.


MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (b010t64r)
Series 7

Episode 5

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.

Clive Anderson, Sue Perkins, Henning Wehn and Graeme Garden are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as: Sheep, Furniture, The Ancient Greeks and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

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

Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 19:00 The Archers (b010t64t)
Ruth convinces David to take a break from the computer. They inspect the pasture together and Ruth suggests an evening out before silage starts. David thinks they're tired enough, without adding a late night.

Fallon catches Jolene snacking on sweets, but at least she's not smoking. Kenton has spent the weekend over at Jolene's and Fallon's fine with this. Jolene is happy that Jamie has moved back in with Kathy.

Kenton and Jolene walk to the top of Lakey Hill and reminisce about Monte Carlo. They discuss Jamie, and how it's better that he's at home with Kathy. Kenton hopes Jamie isn't giving Kathy a hard time. Jolene receives a text from Jamie asking about shifts for next week. Jolene thinks it shows he's not holding a grudge against them, but Kenton's upset that Jamie's treating him as the bad guy.

Ruth and Pip wish they could do something to help David to relax. When David joins them, Pip tells them that a friend, Spencer - her boyfriend actually - will be picking her up on Thursday, if they'd like to meet him. After a short hesitation, David agrees with Ruth that they'd like that very much.


MON 19:15 Front Row (b010t64w)
The Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield opens

Since 2009, Mark Lawson has been following the progress of The Hepworth Wakefield - the new art gallery in the city of Wakefield dedicated to the Yorkshire-born sculptor Barbara Hepworth.

Hepworth, who was born in 1903, always said that growing up in Yorkshire with its contrasting rural and industrial landscapes had a huge impact on her development as an artist. However for many of her admirers, she is associated with St Ives in Cornwall because that is where she spent most of her working life.

The Hepworth Wakefield aims to reclaim Barbara Hepworth, with its galleries dedicated to her prototypes and drawings which show the work she put into her creations. The new building, designed by award-winning architect Sir David Chipperfield, also provides exhibition space for Hepworth's contemporaries and for artists of today.

Mark reports on the creation and aims of the gallery, in the company of the architect Sir David Chipperfield, the director of The Hepworth Wakefield Simon Wallis, art historian Dr Sophie Bowness, who is also Barbara Hepworth's granddaughter, sculptor Eva Rothschild and archive recordings of Barbara Hepworth herself.

Producer Ekene Akalawu.

Photograph of The Hepworth Wakefield by Jonty Wilde.


MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b010t5wh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


MON 20:00 Christie's Through the Looking Glass (b00vg8fg)
Episode 2

In the second of this two-part series Miranda Sawyer catches a glimpse of high Art, high society and high prices as she explores the contemporary auction market at London's oldest auctioneers.

As some of the most expensive and rare privately owned artworks in the world are presented to an international audience for a week of sales in London, we ask who buys what, and why? We discover how the auction house has adapted its sales to survive the recession and discuss where this barometer of the art market is going next.

Producer: Eleanor Thomas
A Harcourt Films production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (b010mt2y)
What happened next?

Lucy Ash revisits some of the significant stories covered in recent years and discovers what has changed since our initial reports.
In some instances, there have been attempts to bring suspects to justice. In 2009 Crossing Continents uncovered disturbing evidence of alleged atrocities by the Kosovo Liberation Army during the Kosovo War ten years ago. Since then a trial has opened in the capital Pristina and two former KLA leaders are being prosecuted for war crimes. The case began in March 2011, just a few months after Dick Marty, Special Rapporteur of the Council of Europe, released an explosive report claiming that the KLA summarily executed prisoners and harvested their kidneys to sell for organ transplants.
Also in 2009 Crossing Continents looked at claims that Rwandans in France and Germany were controlling a deadly African militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Reporter Peter Greste tracked down Callixte Mbarushimana to a Paris cafe. The elegantly dressed rebel Hutu leader flatly denied his group was responsible for attacks against civilians. But then, last October, Mbarushimana was arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court in the the Hague accused of 11 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including rape and murder. Bereaved families and victims in Congo have long complained about a climate of impunity - could that be about to change?
There appears to be a disheartening lack of change in Turkmenistan. Lucy Ash travelled there undercover in 2005 to find out what ordinary life was like for the citizens of one of the world's most repressive dictatorships. Despite the gold and marble clad buildings in the capital Ashgabat, she found people deprived not only of all rights and freedoms, but also of basic necessities such as healthcare. At that time the country was ruled by a man who renamed the month of April after his mother, outlawed ballet and banned gold teeth. The current president, ex dentist Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov is less flamboyant but his promised reforms have failed to materialise. Doctors Without Borders, the last international nongovernmental organisation operating in the country recently left because the government refused to allow a programme to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis.
This special edition also catches up with an American policeman who created a cult following for his "Street Story" podcasts, vivid vignettes of his work for the Tulsa Police Department. And now that India has decriminalised homosexuality, what has happened to the Gay Prince of Rajpipla, once shunned by his family and his community?


MON 21:00 Material World (b010mv4w)
Quentin Cooper presents his weekly digest of science in and behind the headlines. He talks to the scientists who are publishing their research in peer reviewed journals, and he discusses how that research is scrutinised and used by the scientific community, the media and the public. The programme also reflects how science affects our daily lives; from predicting natural disasters to the latest advances in cutting edge science like nanotechnology and stem cell research.


MON 21:30 Start the Week (b010t652)
Andrew Marr explores how far empathy, or the lack of it, can explain cruelty. Simon Baron-Cohen proposes turning the focus away from evil or specific personality disorders, and to understand human behaviour by studying the 'empathy circuit' in the brain. Gwen Adshead, a forensic psychotherapist at Broadmoor Hospital and the crime writer Val McDermid question whether this would help in their line of work, and the philosopher Julian Baggini tries to pin down what we mean when we talk about the self.

Producer: Katy Hickman.


MON 21:58 Weather (b010q8bl)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b010vzyn)
Osama bin Laden killed in Pakistan. What now for Al Qaeda? And for Pakistan and its neighbours? Is this a big boost for Obama?


MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b010wvry)
The Absolutist

Episode 6

September 1919: 20 year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver some letters to Marian Bancroft. Tristan fought alongside Marian's brother Will during the Great War but in 1917, Will laid down his guns on the battlefield, declared himself a conscientious objector, an act which has brought shame and dishonour on the Bancroft family.
But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He holds a secret deep in his soul. One that he is desperate to unburden himself of to Marian, if he can only find the courage. As he recalls his friendship with Will, from the training ground at Aldershot to the trenches of Northern France, he speaks of how the intensity of their friendship brought him both happiness and self-discovery as well as despair and pain.
From the author that brought us The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The House of Special Purpose - John Boyne creates a story that examines the events of the Great War from the perspective of two young soldiers; whose friendship encounters an extraordinary challenge.

The reader is Blake Ritson.

The Absolutist was abridged by Doreen Estall and produced by Heather Larmour.


MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (b010m9tb)
Speakers' Corner

Chris Ledgard explores Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park. He talks to the regulars who come to speak each week and learns how its history stretches back over a hundred years. The Speakers' Corner Trust is helping to set up more Speakers' Corners around the UK to promote debate and freedom of expression. In Tunisia, since the revolution last January, people have started to gather on the main street in Tunis to talk about politics and current affairs.

Produced by Beatrice Fenton.


MON 23:30 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.



TUESDAY 03 MAY 2011

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b010r12m)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b010t5wc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b010r12p)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b010r12r)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b010r12t)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b010r12w)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b010vy91)
With Dr Michael Ford.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b010t65n)
Gorse fires rage and crops are drying up in the driest spring for 50 years. Farming Today discovers how the dry weather is affecting arable crops in the arid east of England. Caz Graham meets an apprentice hill farmer hoping to make a living in the uplands of Cumbria and Anna meets a group of school children on a farm visit.
Presented by Anna Hill. Produced by Martin Poyntz-Roberts.


TUE 06:00 Today (b010vy93)
Morning news and current affairs with John Humphrys and Justin Webb, including:
07:35 Nick Clegg on the AV referendum and the coalition.
08:10 David Cameron on Osama, AV and coalition tensions.
08:54 Historian Simon Sebag-Montefiore and and documentary-maker Peter Taylor on the power of myth and legend in the story of Osama Bin Laden.


TUE 09:00 The Jam Generation Takes Power (b010t6gh)
Episode 1

Political columnist Anne McElvoy meets leading figures from the new generation at the top of British politics, including Ed Miliband, George Osborne and Nick Clegg, who grew up in the 1980s listening to bands like The Jam.

In the first programme, she traces how the Thatcher years affected them as teenagers - and whether that time is in their minds once more, now that we have Conservatives in power again and acrimonious argument about spending and cuts.

In the second programme, she explores how the Blair years saw them begin their careers in politics and what lessons they now draw from that very different political period, in terms of both spin and substance.

In the final programme, Anne asks how this generation's distinctive life experiences - too young to remember the 1960s and much of the 1970s, but too old to grow up with the internet - will shape our lives over the years to come.

And across the series, she talks to those who have helped to shape the culture these young men and women grew up with - and finds out what they make of the political generation they have helped to mould.

Producer: Phil Tinline.


TUE 09:30 The Prime Ministers (b010t6gk)
Series 2

Herbert Asquith

Nick Robinson, the BBC Political Editor, continues his series exploring how different prime ministers have used their power, have responded to the great challenges of their time and have made the job what it is today.

The fourth of Nick's portraits in power is Herbert Asquith, who was prime minister between 1908 and 1916 - the longest uninterrupted spell in office among twentieth century prime ministers until Margaret Thatcher (1979-90).
Asquith changed Britain by forcing through major social and constitutional reforms, but his reputation was tarnished by his refusal to give women the vote and his lack of strong leadership during the First World War.

Born into a family who worked in the northern woollen industry, Asquith was a determined character and had a first-class brain. After his election in 1886 he soon emerged as a rising star in the Liberal Party and was appointed Home Secretary by Gladstone before he was forty. In 1906, he became Chancellor and laid the foundations of Britain's welfare state. As prime minister, Asquith presided over a talented Cabinet that included Lloyd George and Winston Churchill. Asquith backed Lloyd George over his radical 1909 budget and stood firm during the ensuing constitutional crisis, which he settled by cutting the power of the House of Lords. Although he managed to keep his Cabinet united when Britain went to war in 1914, he failed to give the strong leadership required of a war leader. His decision to enter coalition with the Conservatives and Labour in 1915 marked the beginning of his end as prime minister. In 1916, he was out-manoeuvred by Lloyd George, who succeeded him. After the war, the bitter rivalry between the two men destroyed the Liberal Party as one of Britain's two main parties.


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b010t6gm)
Millions Like Us: Women's Lives in War and Peace 1939-1949

Episode 2

Virginia Nicholson's evocative account of the Second World War is told through a multitude of individual women's experiences. As their stories unfold we discover how they loved, suffered, laughed, grieved and dared. Today, a ship is hit by a torpedo, and Mary Cornish's terrifying account of the hours and days that followed is recalled.

Virginia Nicholson's books include Among the Bohemians - Experiments in Living 1900-1939, and Singled Out - How Two Million Women Survived Without Men after the First World War,which was broadcast as a Book of the Week.

Read by Fenella Woolgar
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b010t6gp)
Presented by Jane Garvey. The tyranny of children's parties: have they become too elaborate? Singers Charlie and Hattie Webb will be performing live in the studio and chatting to Jane about their musical journey from Kent to LA. When they toured with Leonard Cohen he always introduced them as 'the sublime Webb Sisters'. Hear about the IQAN system helping older people and we look at how children should be disciplined in school. At the recent NASUWT conference a secondary teacher, Shane Johnschwager, called for the greater use of sanctions such as Saturday morning detentions and isolation units to punish indiscipline in school. We talk to him and Joan McVittie from The Association of School and College Leaders.


TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b010t6gr)
Writing the Century 17: The Iron Curtain

Episode 2

The series which explores the 20th century through the diaries and correspondence of real people, returns with "The Iron Curtain" by Nell Leyshon. The drama is inspired by the diaries of Paula Kirby, who went to teach English in East Germany in the 1980s, and her correspondence with paediatric surgeon Knut Löffler.

Knut and Paula's relationship deepens as they spend time alone together. Too soon the term ends and Knut has to return to his clinic in Rostock. Big decisions need to be made.

Cast
Paula ...... Charlotte Emmerson
Knut ...... Jonathan Keeble
Sarah ...... Danielle Henry
Ulrike ...... Clare Louise Connolly
Stefan ...... David Seddon

Directed by Susan Roberts.


TUE 11:00 Saving Species (b010t6gt)
Series 2

Episode 2

The re-introduction of European beavers into the British countryside continues to be a long and complex consultation process, with many beavers now in large habitat-scale enclosures. These iconic riverine and wetland mammals, famous for tree felling and lodge building in north America, were part of the British landscape - and many want to see their return. Saving Species has special access to its own pair of beavers - not literally, of course - but we'll be reporting on a male and female from Norway over the coming months from their first release into a large natural enclosure in Devon, observing first hand how they fashion the habitat around them. It also kicks off one of Saving Species' major themes this year - Rivers and Wetlands.

Plus there is the first report from journalist Patrick Evans, who spent six months in the Ukraine, on the state of wildlife in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Presenter: Brett Westwood
Producer: Mary Colwell
Editor: Julian Hector.


TUE 11:30 The Walpole Chronicle (b010t6gw)
The novelist Hugh Walpole was one of the most successful writers of his generation; a consummate story teller. In the 1920s and 30s he was a publisher's dream ticket.

Each new novel dramatically outsold the one before. On his lucrative literary tours of America he pulled in even bigger audiences than Charles Dickens who had done the circuit 80 years before. He was a friend of and admired by Virginia Woolf, Arnold Bennett, John Buchan, Henry James, Clemence Dane, and T.S. Eliot. He wrote more than 50 books including 36 novels. He was the master of the epic family saga and also an accomplished writer of psychological thrillers and supernatural tales. Carl Jung thought Walpole was a better psychologist than many of his professional colleagues.

Today Walpole is largely forgotten. It was said that "the works of Hugh Walpole will go on forever" but today only a couple of his books are still in print. But what caused this catastrophic decline in Walpole's reputation?

For this re-appraisal of Walpole and his work Eric Robson travels to the Borrowdale Valley in the Lake District where Hugh settled for the last twenty years of his life. We go in search of this larger than life character who denied the existence of income tax, spent several fortunes on collections of books and art works and sought the love of London's literary set only to be ridiculed and parodied whilst his back was turned. Why has the verdict of posterity apparently been so harsh?

Producer: Barney Rowntree
A Somethin Else production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b010vyng)
Call You and Yours with Julian Worricker. We're discussing tickets and touting today. You and Yours has, for several years now, been investigating the way tickets for concerts and events have become commodities, with the internet providing the perfect marketplace. So today, do you think re-selling tickets for a profit should be made illegal - and if not, should there be a limit that can be charged over and above the face value? If you're an artist, an entertainer, a tout or a consumer, get in touch with your views and experiences. Email youandyours@bbc.co.uk or call 03700 100 444 (lines open at 10am).


TUE 12:57 Weather (b010r12y)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (b010vynj)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4. Thirty minutes of intelligent analysis, comment and interviews. To share your views email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.


TUE 13:30 The Music Group (b010t6gy)
Series 5

Episode 2

John Cooper Clarke and psychiatrist Sube Banerjee are joined by the actress Samantha Morton to discuss three personally significant pieces of music.

Amongst their choices are a classic slice of secular gospel, a 1970s punk rock call to arms; and a song that is guaranteed to get one music group member dancing, exactly one minute fifty seconds into the track.

Along the way we find out what head teachers like to play to pupils in assembly and the influence Joe Strummer had on dementia strategy at the Department of Health. We also discover the difference between song writing and poetry, in the English language, and who stole John Cooper Clarke's hair.

The Music Choices are:
Please, Please, Please by James Brown
The Famous Flames White Man (In Hammersmith Palais) by The Clash
Scarlet Fields by The Horrors

Presenter: Phil Hammond
Producer: Tamsin Hughes
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (b010t64t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b010t6h0)
Katie Hims - Lost Property

The Wrong Label

by Katie Hims. London, 1941, and Alice knows that to stop your children from being evacuated is to tantamount to siding with Hitler.

Cast

Narrator ..... Rosie Cavaliero
Alice ..... Alex Tregear
Queenie ..... Katie Angelou
Ray ..... Daniel Cooper
Jim ..... Daniel Rabin
Mr Nightingale ..... Stuart McLoughlin
Miss Pearl ..... Bethan Walker
Miss Stanwyck ..... Sally Orrock
Mr Jones ..... Sean Baker
Mrs Jones ..... Joanna Monro

Directed by Jessica Dromgoole

The Wrong Label is part one of a trilogy of plays by acclaimed radio dramatist Katie Hims charting one family's tragi-comic history of heartbreak and redemption. The trilogy won the 2011 BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Drama, where Rosie Cavaliero also picked up the Best Actress award.


TUE 15:00 Making History (b010t6h2)
Helen Castor and the team explore recent historical research and follow up listener's questions and comments.

It's thought that twenty thousand people died as the Allied push to Berlin stalled in the south of the country.

In Wales a listener has a family story about his grandfather and a sit-in staged by miners in 1935. These 'stay-down' strikes were a tactic used by men of the Mineworker's Federation who were fighting inroads made on their membership by another union that had the support of the pit owners.

This Saturday sees the start of the Giro d'Italia, the cycling race that serves as a tough appetiser to the Tour de France in July. Helen Castor meets up with Professor John Foot from University College London who has just written a book on the history of cycling a sport which he argues did as much to create modern Italy as any politician did.

Finally, in East Anglia's Breckland, Professor Tom Williamson from the University of East Anglia takes Making History's Richard Daniel on a road-trip to discover the origins of a landscape feature that defines the area - pine rows. Tom Williamson argues that these lines of Scots Pine were planted as hedging in the early decades of the nineteenth century and have subsequently grown out into old, individual trees.

Producer: Nick Patrick
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b010t6h4)
The Doll: Short Stories by Daphne du Maurier

East Wind

In East Wind the lives of a young couple are altered irrevocably when a group of beguiling strangers are shipwrecked off the shores of the Scilly Isles. Excitingly, East Wind is one of several recently rediscovered stories by Daphne du Maurier, and published in her new anthology, The Doll: Short Stories. East Wind was written when she was just nineteen, until now it has only ever been published in the United States and was found in her 1926 notebooks in the archives at Exeter University. Most of the other stories included in the collection have never been published or have been out of print for decades. Written early on in du Maurier's writing career they reveal the dark themes explored in the novels that made her name.

Reader: Anna Madeley
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Elizabeth Allard.


TUE 15:45 Russia: The Wild East (b010t6h6)
Series 1

Rebellion and Punishment

Catherine's great passion was for Prince Potemkin and he became her closest confidant and supporter. Catherine had flirted with the liberal values of the European Enlightenment, but a popular uprising sent her scuttling back to the harshest forms of autocracy.

Alexander Pushkin's classic tale, The Captain's Daughter, captures the apocalyptic atmosphere of the Pugachev Revolt in which hundreds of thousands of peasants, factory workers and serfs turned against their masters. Landowners were massacred and their estates ransacked. It was a foretaste of the revolutionary terror that was about to sweep away the monarchy in France and it gave Catherine nightmares.

But, unlike revolutionary America or France where the people were demanding ever more radical changes to society, in Russia the spark for revolt was a reaction against reform, and Catherine the great reformer became the great reactionary, abandoning ideals of liberty, equality and rule of law.

Instead of giving power to the people, as Voltaire and Diderot had hoped, Catherine finally endorses the old system of autocracy - uncontrolled authority in the hands of one person, namely herself. Martin Sixsmith argues that this is the nub of Russian history, "that Russia is too big and too unruly ever to be suited to democracy, and that only the iron fist of uncompromising, centralised autocracy can keep such a disparate centripetal empire together and maintain order among her people. It's the same rationale," he says, "enunciated by Rurik and Oleg, by Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great ... that would later be used by the nineteenth century tsars, by the Communist regime in the twentieth century and by Vladimir Putin in the twenty first.

Historical Consultant: Professor Geoffrey Hosking

Producers: Adam Fowler & Anna Scott-Brown
A Ladbroke Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (b010t6h8)
We do it at college, at work, and even in pursuit of happiness. But what are the rules of engagement for an interview? Michael Rosen finds out how to get into university; how to keep your job or get a better one, and how to impress the love of your life.

Getting a place at university is more competitive than ever. So just how level is the university playing field? Does the process reward the most intelligent or the most articulate? And are the skills developed for the college interview ones that will come in handy later on....down the pub?

Producer: John Byrne.


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b010t6hb)
Series 24

Lewis Carroll

Matthew Parris and writer Lynne Truss discuss the life of author Lewis Carroll. Famous for the Alice books, Carroll was also a brilliant mathematician and early photographer. But his reputation has been clouded by allegations, never substantiated, that he was a repressed paedophile. With the help of biographer Robin Wilson, Lynne and Matthew try to discover why, despite the millions of words written about him, Carroll still remains a mystery.


TUE 17:00 PM (b010t9gp)
Eddie Mair presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b010r130)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:26 Referendum Campaign Broadcast (b010t6hd)
A campaign broadcast for the referendum on changing the UK voting system on 5th May.


TUE 18:30 Clare in the Community (b00sj5z7)
Series 6

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

Sony Award-winning comedy. Caring social worker Clare Barker is now Acting Team Leader at the Family Centre. Stars Sally Phillips. From May 2010.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (b010t7rq)
Will's offered to have George again on Thursday night. Emma could do with a lie-in so it would help a lot, but Ed isn't too sure if it's a good idea.

Lynda's getting signatures on Roy's leaving card. Oliver generously contributes some money towards a goodbye present.

Caroline takes work home. Oliver hopes this isn't a sign of things to come. Caroline doesn't think Roy is making the right decision. He's limiting his future prospects.

If Lilian's re-elected to the parish council, she'll invite local firms to sponsor their own bit of verge and renovate it, while opponent Jill would like Ambridge to enter next year's Britain in Bloom contest. Lynda wants to help organise it. She and Jill decide they should advertise their idea before the election so people make an 'informed decision'.

Lynda tells Lilian that she disagrees with her scheme, as the land she wishes to tidy up is in fact valuable wildlife habitat. Lilian attacks Jill and Lynda's plan for entering Ambridge into the Britain in Bloom competition but Lynda doesn't want to fall out. They agree to let the voters decide. On Friday morning they'll find out which of them is right.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (b010vzml)
Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett in the film Hanna

Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) and Cate Blanchett star in Joe Wright's film Hanna about a 16 year old who has been raised from childhood to be the perfect assassin by her ex-CIA father. The writer and critic Bidisha reviews.

David Morrissey returns to the Everyman Playhouse in Liverpool, where he first acted as a Youth Theatre member, to play the title role in Macbeth. David talks to Mark Lawson about playing the Scottish king and his role in Esther Freud's cautionary new novel about acting.

Inside The Human Body is a new TV series presented by Michael Mosley, combining CGI with personal stories to explore the inner workings of the human body. The second episode examines what happens when the body gives up its fight for survival, and includes a sequence showing the moment of death of an 84 year old man. Dr Adam Rutherford gives his verdict.

Loudon Wainwright III is the Grammy Award-winning American folk singer/songwriter, humorist, actor and father of musicians Rufus and Martha Wainwright. On tour in the UK from Friday 6 May, he talks about choosing songs for his new box set, 40 Odd Years, and writing songs for friends and family.

Producer Nicki Paxman.

Photo: Focus Features


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b010t6gr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


TUE 20:00 Lebanon: The Next Generation (b010t6l7)
Twenty-five years ago John McCarthy first set foot in Lebanon. Twenty years ago he left. In the years between he had been blindfolded, chained and beaten - as one of the Western hostages caught up in the turmoil of the Lebanese civil war.

Now he returns for BBC Radio 4, with a set of questions he is keen to answer. What has happened to Lebanon in the years of comparative peace? Has the cycle of violence finally been broken? What has happened to the civil war generation? And, more importantly for John, what are the post-war generation of young Lebanese doing to reshape their society? Are they creating their own version of the Arab Spring?

In the week of his visit John encounters two mass demonstrations that illustrate the possibilities of change - and also the barricades set against it.

Event one is a rally of close to a million people in Martyrs' Square. At this event the vast crowd roars approval as the acting Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, calls for his main political rival, Hezbollah, the Party of God, to give up its weapons. Old Politics.

Event two is more modest, but its impact on Lebanese society could conceivably be more profound. Thirty-thousand people, most of them young, march through the city streets to a hip hop beat. They believe that for Lebanon to really become a post-war society it must introduce a secular system, based on individual human rights. The present system, they believe, inevitably leads to conflict. New politics.

John meets people from both sides of the great debate. Nadim Gemayel, the son of an assassinated warlord who believes that the days of warlords must be ended. Or Walid Jumblatt, a current warlord, who feels trapped by the system that sustains his power.

And John meets a host of young people, determined to change the world.

Producer: Geoff Dunlop
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (b010vzmn)
Football Focus and DLA updates

Tony Shearman is the UK's first blind football manager to be recognised by the Football Association. He tells us how he follows the game and manages his team of sighted players.

And the latest on Disability Living Allowance - we hear from one listener who has been turned down for the higher rate mobility component and intends to appeal. So who exactly should qualify and what is the appeal process?


TUE 21:00 All in the Mind (b010t6l9)
Personal Space - Suicide and Bereavement - Reporting Neuroscience

New research conducted by Matthew Longo at the Department of Psychological Sciences at Birkbeck, University of London has found that feelings of claustrophobia could be related to our sense of personal space. And it could be determined by the length of our arms.

Suicide and Bereavement:
On average there is one death from suicide in the UK every 90 minutes. This means of course that a higher number than this find themselves bereaved in the most shocking of circumstances. It is such a unique kind of death that people can find themselves grieving alone and isolated.

This month a new support group is starting, run by the Samaritans in conjunction with Cruse Bereavement Care. The idea is to bring together their expertise in bereavement with the Samaritans' experience of issues surrounding suicide. The project is initially being launched in London and for more information e-mail Outreach@cls.org.uk or call 020-7439-1406.

Reporting Neuroscience:
Hardly a day goes by without a headline suggesting an area in the brain will light up if we eat chocolate or meet someone we like. But are we reading too much into this kind of research? Diane Beck, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois, feels some of results are over-simplified by researchers and journalists, and tell us much less about ourselves than we might like to think.


TUE 21:30 The Jam Generation Takes Power (b010t6gh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 21:58 Weather (b010r132)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b010vznt)
What did the locals know about Osama's compound?

Protests are few now that Osama is dead. Has Al Qaeda's base withered with the Arab Democracy uprisings ?

Who's telling the truth about local authority cutbacks?

with Robin Lustig.


TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b010wvsn)
The Absolutist

Episode 7

September 1919: 20 year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver some letters to Marian Bancroft. Tristan fought alongside Marian's brother Will during the Great War but in 1917, Will laid down his guns on the battlefield, declared himself a conscientious objector, an act which has brought shame and dishonour on the Bancroft family.
But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He holds a secret deep in his soul. One that he is desperate to unburden himself of to Marian, if he can only find the courage. As he recalls his friendship with Will, from the training ground at Aldershot to the trenches of Northern France, he speaks of how the intensity of their friendship brought him both happiness and self-discovery as well as despair and pain.
From the author that brought us The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The House of Special Purpose - John Boyne creates a story that examines the events of the Great War from the perspective of two young soldiers; whose friendship encounters an extraordinary challenge.

The reader is Blake Ritson.

The Absolutist was abridged by Doreen Estall and produced by Heather Larmour.


TUE 23:00 Jon Ronson On (b010t6lf)
Series 6

Spying

Writer and documentary maker Jon Ronson returns for another series of fascinating stories shedding light on the human condition.

Jon Ronson talks to comedian Josie Long who found herself in a situation where she had to make a choice on whether to spy on someone's life... did morality step in? Writer Danny Wallace recalls the days when a spy was sent to his home to spy on his father, a leading expert on East German literature.

Johnny Howorth, rookie documentary maker, was also in a situation where he was asked by US Marshals to spy on the couple Ed and Elaine Brown who were convicted of tax crimes. As he naively got more deeply involved, he feared another Wako and had to make a difficult decision... John Symonds, a so-called 'romeo spy' also tells his sometimes shocking story.

Producers: Laura Parfitt and Simon Jacobs
An Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b010t6lh)
MPs have been voicing their reactions to the dramatic news of the death of the Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden. The execution of the man who master-minded the September 11th terrorist attacks in America prompted a Prime Ministerial statement in the Commons.
Also on the programme:
* Rachel Byrne reports on the latest update to MPs on the military action over Libya.
* Keith Macdougall covers the final exchanges in the the Alternative Vote referendum campaign.
* Jo Shinn looks at arguments over how to widen access to the UK's top universities.



WEDNESDAY 04 MAY 2011

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b010r134)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b010t6gm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b010r136)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b010r138)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b010r13b)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (b010r13d)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b010v8rj)
With the Rev Prof Peter Galloway.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (b010t6pz)
Food prices could increase for shoppers if crops fail because of dry weather. The Met Office says it's the warmest April on record for the UK. Anna Hill hears from sheep, vegetable and cereal farmers who are all taking extra steps to ensure the warm weather doesn't get the better of them or their businesses.

Producer: Angela Frain.


WED 06:00 Today (b010v8rl)
Morning news and current affairs with John Humphrys and Sarah Montague, including:
07:50 New chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten.
08:10 Labour leader Ed Miliband on AV and the election.
08:30 Former IAEA head Mohammed El Baradei on his decision to run for the Egyptian presidency.


WED 09:00 Midweek (b010v8rn)
This week Libby Purves is joined by Baroness Jenkin, Walter Schwarz, Doreen Mantle and Gary Cockerill.

Anne Jenkin, Baroness Jenkin of Kennington is a PR consultant. She was made a member of the House of Lords in recognition of her charitable and political work for the Conservative Party. She is taking part in a fundraising and awareness campaign, 'Live Below the Line', for the charity 'Restless Development'. The campaign is challenging people to live below the poverty line, by spending just one pound a day on food and drink for five days.

Walter Schwarz was The Guardian newspaper's foreign correspondent from 1964 to the 1990s. He reported from Nigeria, Israel, France and as a War Correspondent in India/Pakistan during the 1972 conflict. In his memoir 'The Ideal Occupation' he tells of his many adventures and misadventures including his deportation from Nigeria and time spent in prison in Biafra during the Civil War.

Actor Doreen Mantle is probably best known for her role as Mrs Warboys in the BBC's 'One Foot in the Grave'. She has also worked extensively in television and on the stage in productions of My Fair Lady, Keep It in the Family, The Seagull and Hamlet and toured Britain in Billy Liar. She also starred in the 1983 film 'Yentl' alongside Barbra Streisand and last October she joined the cast of Coronation Street. Her latest role is in a production of Ibsen's Little Eyolf at the Jermyn Street Theatre.

Gary Cockerill is a celebrity make-up artist who has worked on television programmes including 'Ten Years Younger' and 'This Morning'. He grew up in South Yorkshire and after a brief time as a child actor, worked as a miner, before pursuing his make-up career. His autobiography 'From Coal Dust to Stardust' is published by Harper Collins.


WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b010t674)
Millions Like Us: Women's Lives in War and Peace 1939-1949

Episode 3

Virginia Nicholson's evocative account of the Second World War is told through a multitude of individual women's experiences. As their stories unfold we discover how they loved, suffered, laughed, grieved and dared. Today, women enter the workplace in ever increasing numbers.

Virginia Nicholson's books include Among the Bohemians - Experiments in Living 1900-1939, and Singled Out - How Two Million Women Survived Without Men after the First World War, which was broadcast as a Book of the Week.

Read by Fenella Woolgar
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b010t6y9)
Presented by Jane Garvey. The pro-democracy protests in Syria continue despite the violent response by security forces. We look at the role women are playing in the movement. As the creator of Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier became the favourite novelist of put-upon wives worldwide. But the recent discovery of a short story about a life-size male doll, written when she was only 20, may oblige her readers to re-evaluate her legacy. What do you do if your child decides they'd rather live with their other parent? And we hear about Henrietta Moraes, the muse to Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, and Maggi Hambling.


WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b010t6yc)
Writing the Century 17: The Iron Curtain

Episode 3

The series which explores the 20th century through the diaries and correspondence of real people, returns with "The Iron Curtain" by Nell Leyshon. The drama is inspired by the diaries of Paula Kirby, who went to teach English in East Germany in the 1980s, and her correspondence with paediatric surgeon Knut Löffler.

With Knut working in Rostock and Paula teaching at the University in Dresden, they are forced to consider their future. The situation intensifies as Paula's return to the UK draws near.

Cast
Paula ...... Charlotte Emmerson
Knut ...... Jonathan Keeble
Ulrike ...... Clare Louise Connolly
Mr Graham ...... David Seddon

Directed by Susan Roberts.


WED 11:00 Random Edition (b010t6yf)
The Random Edition Festival of Britain Special

Peter Snow with another journey into newspaper history. The Daily Mail for May 5th 1951 carried detailed reports of the previous day's events as the Festival of Britain at last swung into action.

The King and Queen opened the South Bank exhibition in London - Skylon, Dome of Discovery and all - and the Daily Mail carried a plan of the site. Visitors complained about the price of food in the restaurants. Memories come from Michael Frayn, Lionel Blue, broadcaster Edward Greenfield and Festival of Britain Society chairman Fred Peskett...as well as from Peter Snow himself.

But the programme also reflects the national character of the Festival, travelling to the mountains of North Wales to examine the Dolhendre Hillside Farm Scheme, which showed off modern farming methods to visitors from as far afield as Coventry and India. Dolhendre Isa Farm survives today in the hands of the same family who witnessed the dramatic changes the Festival brought.

Also told is the story of the Festival ship, Campania, which carried an exhibition to ports around the coast. There are memories from Merseysiders who converted the ship, sailed in it and visited it.

Elsewhere in this Random Edition, Charlotte Donaldson-Hudson recalls Noel Coward writing his wicked satire on the Festival, the song Don't Make Fun of the Fair, at her home in London: her film star mother was best friends with the songwriter.

Despite the festival fever, the government minister responsible for the event, Herbert Morrison, received fearful stick in the press. Peter Snow explains why. Also in the mix of course, many visits to the BBC Sound Archive (including a contribution from the inimitable Brian Johnston, learning how to drive huskies), plus more musical sounds that lit up the Festival.

Producer: Andrew Green
An Andrew Green production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 11:30 Beauty of Britain (b010t6yh)
Series 2

Mission Command

Beauty Oolonga struggles with an irascible gentleman and the Featherdown office struggle with Social Services' new pilot scheme for elder care.

This means assessment exercises are based on the battle principles of General von Moltke of the Prussian Army...'

Starring Jocelyn Jee Esien.

Beauty's adventures continue as the Featherdown Agency sends her to provide care for the elderly.

Beauty’s Zimbabwean Shona background has taught her to respect age. She sees Britain at its best and its worst

Written by Christopher Douglas and Nicola Sanderson

Beauty ..... Jocelyn Jee Esien
Derek ..... Oscar James
Nicole/Topaz/Tiffany ..... Morwenna Banks
Karen ..... Nicola Sanderson
Sally ..... Felicity Montagu
Olivia/PhD Student .....Vicki Pepperdine

Music by The West End Gospel Choir.

Producer : Tilusha Ghelani

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2011.


WED 12:00 You and Yours (b010t6yk)
Shari Vahl hears why some health claims by the food and drink industry may be misleading. We begin our four-part energy series by looking at energy generated from the sun.


WED 12:30 Face the Facts (b010t6ym)
John Waite investigates the Belfast commuter flight that crashed in February killing six people. He hears how the crew were inexperienced and breached air safety regulations. The company running the route, Manx 2, has since denied responsibility for the accident, claiming it is only a ticket seller and that the actual operator was a small company from Spain. The British Airline Pilots Association tells the programme that such arrangements are likely to become more common in the industry and that the government and regulator needs to act to ensure transparency for passengers.


WED 12:57 Weather (b010r13g)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 13:00 World at One (b010v9zw)
In today's programme we're in Westminster for Prime Minister's questions - on our panel of MPs is Labour's shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, the Conservative Minister Mark Harper and Don Foster from the Lib Dems.

As well as discussing today's PMQs, we look ahead to tomorrow's elections and the AV referendum.

We ask the Middle East Envoy and former Prime Minister Tony Blair about the death of Osama Bin Laden and the new deal which has been signed between the two Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah.


WED 13:30 The Media Show (b010t7rn)
Yesterday Lord Patten took up his new role as Chairman of the BBC Trust. He has already said that BBC executive pay is still too high and that the BBC can't rule out cutting a service. The Telegraph's Neil Midgley takes a look at the early signals from Lord Patten on how his approach could differ from his predecessor, Sir Michael Lyons.

The media regulator Ofcom recently ruled that performances from Christina Aguilera and Rihanna on ITV's The X-Factor were not too sexy for family viewing but were "at the very margin of acceptability." The ruling coincides with a new report on the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood, due out later this month, which is likely to look at the impact of the media. Dr Katherine Rake and Steward Purvis discuss whether TV is making the right calls on pre-watershed content and what, if anything, needs to change.

The New York Times is a month into its second version of a paywall and the paper's taking encouragement from the early figures on subscribers. Martin Nisenholtz, senior vice president of digital operations at The New York Times, explains how the paywall works and why he expects it to succeed. Emily Bell, Professor at Columbia University's School of Journalism, looks at how the New York Times compares with paywalls in the UK.


WED 14:00 The Archers (b010t7rq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama (b010t7rs)
Peter Souter - That's Mine, This Is Yours

That's Mine, This is Yours
by Peter Souter

Juliet ..... Tamsin Greig
Sam ..... Alex Jennings
Amanda ..... Eleanor Butters

Directed by Gordon House

Alex Jennings, who starred in Peter Souter's award-winning 'Goldfish Girl', plays Sam, and Tamsin Greig (star of 'Episodes', 'Love Soup' - and, of course known to R4 listeners as Debbie in 'The Archers') plays Juliet. The director is the former Head of Radio Drama, Gordon House.


WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b010vxys)
If you are hoping to begin university in the autumn and you want your funding in place for the start of term, you need to apply now.

But what financial help is available? Costs and support will vary depending on the course you do, household income and where you study.

If you have a question about higher education costs or funding, Vincent Duggleby and a team of student money advisers will be ready to help on Wednesday's Money Box Live.

Phone lines open at 1.30pm on Wednesday afternoon and the number to call is 03700 100 444. Standard geographic charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher. The programme starts after the three o'clock news.


WED 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b010t7rv)
The Doll: Short Stories by Daphne du Maurier

The Doll

The Doll is a macabre and unsettling tale about a young man besotted by a young violinist, who in turn has a strange and haunting passion. The Doll is the title story of a newly published collection by Daphne du Maurier, and excitingly, is one of several recently re-discovered short fictions by the famous writer that have either never been published or have been out of print for decades. Written in the late 1920s when du Maurier herself was just twenty, The Doll reveals some of the dark themes that she explores in the novels that made her name.

Reader: Ed Stoppard and Sean Baker
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Elizabeth Allard.


WED 15:45 Russia: The Wild East (b010t7rx)
Series 1

Napoleon Marches East

It is the year 1812 and Napoleon's armies are marching eastwards, bringing the message of revolution to Russia. The French Enlightenment and the revolution of 1789 had had supporters and opponents among Russians. But when Napoleon turned his sights on Moscow, the threat to the Motherland spurred them to forget their differences, forget their grievances and unite.

Against the backdrop of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture and drawing on Tolstoy's War and Peace to illustrate Russia's deep seated fear of invasion, Martin Sixsmith reveals that the preservation of the nation became the overriding imperative, just as it had been at Kulikóvo Pole in 1380, just as it would be at Stalingrad in 1942.

But, before the victory came the bungling. Catherine's successor and unloved son, Paul the First, was murdered in 1801 by a group of disgruntled Guards officers, and his twenty three year old son Alexander was summoned and told it was time for him to 'grow up and start to rule.'

The gap between Russia's ruler and the Russian people had grown dangerously wide and Alexander feared revolution if it were not addressed. So his reforms were aimed at engaging the population in the interests of the state, giving them a stake in society, and creating patriotism and civic consciousness in a resentful population. But even then, his advisor Mikhail Speransky wrote about "the dead hand of autocracy" that had stifled every attempt to reform it, and Martin Sixsmith draws pertinent parallels with Russia today.

Historical Consultant: Professor Geoffrey Hosking

Producers: Adam Fowler & Anna Scott-Brown
A Ladbroke Production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b010t7rz)
The Poor on Poverty and Radical Gardening

Gardening is the epitome of a peaceful pasttime, associated as it is with semi-somnolent suburban weekends, the sound of hedges being carefully clipped and the reassuring aroma of freshly mown grass. The notion of 'radical' gardening implies little more than a concerted attack on the mass of weeds accumulated in an herbaceous border or a garden makeover culminating in a fully decked patio. However, there is a radical history to gardening and it has been the site of protest and counterculture in Britain from the Levellers and the Diggers in the 17th century to today's so-called Guerrilla Gardeners. On today's Thinking Allowed Laurie is joined by George McKay and Tim Jordan to discuss the protest, politics and plots of the garden.
Also on the programme, Tracy Shildrick on her illuminating study of the underprivileged of Teesside and why nobody describes themselves as poor.
Producer: Charlie Taylor.


WED 16:30 All in the Mind (b010t6l9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 17:00 PM (b010t9ks)
Eddie Mair presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b010r13j)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:30 Arthur Smith's Balham Bash (b0101g5j)
Series 3

Episode 1

Arthur Smith presents music and comedy from his home in Balham, South London.

There's music in the kitchen, comedy in the front room and poetry on the landing.

Finding a decent sized performance space amongst the accumulated debris that is Arthur's life are Katie Melua, Roisin Conaty, Alun Cochrane and Nick Helm

Producer; Alison Vernon-Smith

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2011.


WED 19:00 The Archers (b010t7s3)
Phoebe tells Peggy that she wants to go back to South Africa as soon as she can. Ted arrives to pick up Peggy, and takes her to see his studio. They chat comfortably and Peggy shares her concern that the holiday in South Africa has taken over Phoebe's life.

Jill collects Peggy from Ted's house. Peggy tells her that Ted's invited her round again, to try enamelling for herself.

Phoebe tells Kate that her new friend Mandisa still wants Phoebe to go and live in South Africa. Kate suggests Phoebe could go back for a few months. Phoebe's delighted and wants to know how soon. Kate tells her she can't make any promises, so Phoebe must let her think about it.

Nic gets nervous when Will suggests they have another chat about having a baby. She suddenly realises that she forgot to buy milk, so has to go back to the shop. Jill's behind the counter, and is pleased that Nic much prefers her proposal for Britain in Bloom to Lilian's plan

Will gets home from work very tired. He tells Nic that he's going to ask Emma if George can stay over more often. Nic's pleased for him, and assures him it's fine with her.


WED 19:15 Front Row (b010vxyv)
Kate Bush in a rare interview; and John Cleese reviewed

It's 33 years since Kate Bush had her first hit single Wuthering Heights at the age of 19. In a rare broadcast interview, Kate Bush talks to John Wilson at her home as she prepares to release her new disc Director's Cut, where she has re-recorded and re-worked a number of songs from two earlier albums.

John Cleese began his first tour of the UK last night, in which he looks back at his career in comedy and beyond. The show is called the Alimony Tour - Cleese has said that profits will be used to pay his latest divorce settlement. Stephen Armstrong reviews.

Ahead of the official Turner Prize 2011 shortlist announcement, Rachel Campbell-Johnston looks ahead to the artists who might be following in the footsteps of Grayson Perry, Damien Hirst, Martin Creed and Susan Philipsz.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b010t6yc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b010t7s5)
The Killing of Osama Bin Laden

For the tens of thousands of Americans celebrating on the streets of New York and Washington the death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of US special forces was justice done at last. But for many the joy wasn't just prompted by the justice of his death; there was also retribution and revenge. The fact that he wasn't brought before a court and given the due process that our democracy demands didn't seem to trouble many, if any of them. And why should it? bin Laden was undoubtedly directly responsible for ordering the deaths of thousands of people and had inspired others to carry out many more horrific murders in his name. We don't know if those sent to get him had a shoot to kill policy, but a dead bin Laden conveniently avoids the messy prospect of a drawn-out trial, imprisonment and probable death sentence anyway. If anyone deserved it, surely it was him and didn't the nature of his crimes demand the retribution of his death?

Should we worry about the niceties of judicial process when it comes to the likes of terrorists? There are many who'd say that after the bombing of the US embassy in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, where more than 200 lost their lives and over 5000 were injured, that there was enough evidence and opportunity to justify killing bin Laden then. If we'd have been pro-active at that time the world would have been spared 9/11, the invasion of Afghanistan and possibly Iraq and countless lives would have been saved. And if we ruthlessly use lethal force against terrorists like bin Laden, because of the threat they pose to our lives and democracy, why not against someone like Colonel Gaddafi who arguably has just as much blood on his hands through the sponsoring of terrorism around the world and who, with his oil wealth and the power of the state behind him, has the means to produce weapons of mass destruction which really would threaten our civilisation.

Witnesses:
Abdel Bari Atwan - Editor in chief in Al-Quds Al-Arabi, an Arab daily newspaper
Met and interviewed Bin Laden in November 1996. He spent three days with him in Bora Bora, author of the Secret History of Al Qaeda
Stephen Powles - Barrister specialising in international criminal law and criminal justice.
Alexandros Petersen - Director of Research
Graham Foulkes - Lost his son David in the Edgware Road bomb on 7th July 2007.

Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk with Claire Fox, Melanie Phillips, Michael Portillo and Matthew Taylor.


WED 20:45 Four Thought (b010t7tx)
Series 2

Jonathan Sumption: Don't Apologise

Judge and historian Jonathan Sumption discusses modern apologies for historical events.

Starting with Tony Blair's apology for the Irish potato famine and Pope John Paul II's 94 such apologies, he argues that the trend is turning into a tide.

He argues that such apologies rely on a concept of inherited guilt, and asks whether the benefits ever outweigh the serious moral and philosophical objections.

Producer: Giles Edwards.


WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b010t7tz)
Greening the Teens

Take your average teenagers, Trudy (13, loves sports and Twilight), Liam (16, loves computer games) and Craig (19, loves cars). So much of what they enjoy seems to be energy intensive but do this demographic really use more power? How do you get them to care about the environment they are going to inherit? That is the experiment Birmingham University are about to undertake. Can computer games, mobile alerts and social media create a generation of greens or are they already ahead of the curve? Farmworld is the most popular application on Facebook but could a real world equivalent to keeping and trading your animals online really help to change attitudes? Nestle have committed themselves to making the palm oil they use more eco-friendly after a Greenpeace spoof kitkat advert went viral but can teenagers pre-occupation with all things online always produce such results.
And should the kids really have to shoulder the responsibility, after all it was probably their gas guzzling, gadget consuming baby boomer parents and grandparents that created the problem. The UK Youth Climate Coalition is launching a long-term campaign, which will see all 650 Members of Parliament in the UK 'adopted' by a young person in their constituency, in an attempt to keep climate change at the top of their agenda. How successful will their campaign be, even if the kids are alright can they really affect change at the top.


WED 21:30 Midweek (b010v8rn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 21:58 Weather (b010r13l)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b010v92y)
Radio 4's daily evening news and current affairs programme bringing you global news and analysis.


WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b010wvtx)
The Absolutist

Episode 8

September 1919: 20 year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver some letters to Marian Bancroft. Tristan fought alongside Marian's brother Will during the Great War but in 1917, Will laid down his guns on the battlefield, declared himself a conscientious objector, an act which has brought shame and dishonour on the Bancroft family.
But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He holds a secret deep in his soul. One that he is desperate to unburden himself of to Marian, if he can only find the courage. As he recalls his friendship with Will, from the training ground at Aldershot to the trenches of Northern France, he speaks of how the intensity of their friendship brought him both happiness and self-discovery as well as despair and pain.
From the author that brought us The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The House of Special Purpose - John Boyne creates a story that examines the events of the Great War from the perspective of two young soldiers; whose friendship encounters an extraordinary challenge.

The reader is Blake Ritson.

The Absolutist was abridged by Doreen Estall and produced by Heather Larmour.


WED 23:00 Fabulous (b00dy23d)
Series 2

Episode 1

Faye is anxious. She knows that today's women are Fabulous; they have it all, the job, the house, the colour co-ordinated capsule wardrobe and they cope with the pressures modern life brings effortlessly, with nothing more than a copy of Prima and a poem by Pam Ayres to guide them. So why can't she pull it off? With the builders in to build her a brand new kitchen and an award ceremony to go to, life should be glorious...

Starring Daisy Haggard with Katy Brand, Stephen Critchlow, Justin Edwards, Mel Hudson, Joanna Neary, John Rowe, Jo Scanlan, Dan Starkey and Ann Reid

Written by Lucy Clarke
Music by Osymyso
Producer Simon Nicholls


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b010t7vh)
Rachel Byrne presents the top news stories from Westminster.



THURSDAY 05 MAY 2011

THU 00:00 Midnight News (b010r13n)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b010t674)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b010r13q)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b010r13s)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b010r13v)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (b010r13x)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b010t687)
With the Rev Prof Peter Galloway.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (b010t689)
The heath fires have caused hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage and destroyed wildlife for a decade to come, according to the National Trust. Thousands of acres of land have been damaged across the UK. Fire officers say strong winds, tinder dry earth, little rain and the warmest April on record have compounded the problem. A new survey by the People's Trust for Endangered Species has revealed that almost half of England's traditional orchards are in a poor condition. Presenter: Charlotte Smith. Producer: Angela Frain.


THU 06:00 Today (b010t698)
Morning news and current affairs with Evan Davis and Sarah Montague, including:
07:50 What sort of precedent has the killing of Osama Bin Laden set?
08:22 Why is the city of Glasgow so good at producing Premiership managers?
08:30 The UN believes the world's population will hit 10 billion by the end of the century.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (b010t69b)
Islamic Law and its Origins

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the origins and early development of Islamic law. The legal code of Islam is known as Sharia, an Arabic word meaning "the way". Its sources include the Islamic holy book the Qur'an, the words and actions of the Prophet Muhammad, and the opinions of legal scholars. In the 7th century, Sharia started to replace the tribal laws of pre-Islamic Arabia; over the next three hundred years it underwent considerable evolution as Islam spread. By 900 a body of religious and legal scholarship recognisable as classical Sharia had emerged.With:Hugh KennedyProfessor of Arabic in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of LondonRobert GleaveProfessor of Arabic Studies at the University of ExeterMona SiddiquiProfessor of Islamic Studies at the University of GlasgowProducer: Thomas Morris.


THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b010t6dc)
Millions Like Us: Women's Lives in War and Peace 1939-1949

Episode 4

Virginia Nicholson's evocative account of the Second World War is told through a multitude of individual women's experiences. As their stories unfold we discover how they loved, suffered, laughed, grieved and dared. Today, rumours and speculation about a second front gather pace, and Doris Scorer is transferred from the aircraft factory to the woodwork shop, where she starts making gliders.

Virginia Nicholson's books include Among the Bohemians - Experiments in Living 1900-1939, and Singled Out - How Two Million Women Survived Without Men after the First World War, which was broadcast as a Book of the Week.

Read by Fenella Woolgar
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b010t6lk)
Presented by Jenni Murray. As one of Margaret Thatcher's iconic handbags goes under the hammer for charity we look at how she used her famous accessories as a secret weapon and symbol of female power. The inquest verdicts on the 7/7 London bombings are due to be announced tomorrow we look at how its effect on victims and their families. News about Europe's largest collection of contemporary women's art - the New Hall Art Collection - as it celebrates its 25th anniversary. And to mark International Day of the Midwife we hear from former American Peace Corps worker Kris Holloway who spent two years working alongside village midwife Monique Dembele. As a tribute to her she's written about her time there.


THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b010t6lm)
Writing the Century 17: The Iron Curtain

Episode 4

The series which explores the 20th century through the diaries and correspondence of real people, returns with "The Iron Curtain" by Nell Leyshon. The drama is inspired by the diaries of Paula Kirby, who went to teach English in East Germany in the 1980s, and her correspondence with paediatric surgeon Knut Löffler.

Back in England, Paula finds a new flat and job. Knut and Paula telephone and write as much as possible but the stresses of a relationship across the Iron Curtain take their toll.

Cast
Paula ...... Charlotte Emmerson
Knut ...... Jonathan Keeble
Rebecca ...... Danielle Henry
Stefan ...... David Seddon
Mrs Waters ...... Melissa Jane Sinden

Directed by Susan Roberts.


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b010t6lp)
South Africa: Aurora Mine Controversy

In South Africa a mining company whose owners include the grandson of Nelson Mandela and the nephew of President Jacob Zuma has left thousands of its employees without work and, they claim, without pay.

Back in 2009 the company, Aurora Empowerment Systems, bid R605 million (£55 million) to take over two gold mines on the outskirts of Johannesburg, despite having no experience in mining industry. Aurora promised steady jobs, housing and bursaries for miners' children.

The reality has been poverty, despair and even suicide, and mining unions claim the company still owes workers around R12 million in unpaid wages (£1.1 million). Aurora denies this, and says they have paid 80 per cent of the outstanding salaries.

Martin Plaut travels to South Africa and sees first hand the personal despair of the affected mine workers, and learns how the Aurora debacle has created a schism between the ruling ANC party and the working-class black South African voters, who feel the country's political elite no longer care about their plight.

Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith.


THU 11:30 78 Revolutions (b010t6pb)
Jenny Hammerton - a DJ of 78s - explores why the old discs are still alive and kicking. The 78rpm record lasted longer than any other format. Enrico Caruso recorded on 78s and Beatles records were cut on 78s in India in the late 1960s. And for some the old grooves and the heavy shellac discs are still the best. Record collectors swear the sound quality of 78s has never been surpassed and young aficionados are cutting their new pop songs on 78s. Sound artists and composers meanwhile are drawn to the patina of age that the old records carry in their scratch and hiss and some are making new music out of old noises. In the digital world where music has shrunk to invisible sound files, the wind up gramophone, a metal stylus and a box of heavy aromatic 10 inch discs seem more and more like precious and necessary demonstrations of the reality of things.


THU 12:00 You and Yours (b010t6pd)
Winifred Robinson talks to the General Medical Council about their plans to discipline doctors without having a full public hearing.

We investigate what it really means if you sign up for a service for life - does it really mean life?

Will cinemas become obsolete if films are released for early download?

And drinking rain that fell 15,000 years ago - Winifred tastes premium bottled water and ask if it's worth splashing out.


THU 12:57 Weather (b010r13z)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 13:00 World at One (b010t6pg)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4. Thirty minutes of intelligent analysis, comment and interviews. To share your views email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.


THU 13:30 Costing the Earth (b010t7tz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:00 The Archers (b010t7s3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (b010t6x7)
Charlotte Jones - The Diva in Me

Phillipa spends Saturday night eating toast and fantasizing about a boy-man from Southern Electric. She can sing anything from Bjork to Bassey with a touch of Judy Garland thrown in but the world has turned its back her. Why? A comedy with music by award-winning writer Charlotte Jones.

Phillipa...Philippa Stanton
Shadwell...Stuart McLoughlin
Vicki...Sally Orrock
Gene Kelly...Daniel Rabin
Mona...Joanna Monro
Trevor...Brian Bowles

Directed by Claire Grove

This comedy with music has been specially written by award-winning playwright Charlotte Jones for actress and extraordinary mimic Philippa Stanton. Philippa sings Garland, Kitt, Boyle, Winehouse, Bjork, Gaga and Bassey. The music is woven into the narrative and is an essential part of the story because this is a woman with an extraordinary facility to recreate the voices of the famous. And although the world has turned its back on her talent she finally discovers the ingredient that makes a diva truly great.

Charlotte Jones is an outstanding dramatist whose play 'Humble Boy' for the National Theatre won Best New Play 2001, and transferred to the West End to enormous box office and critical success. Her screenplay Bessie and the Bell won won the New York Film and TV Festival Award 2006. Her comedy MARTHA JOSIE AND THE CHINESE ELVIS for the Octagon Theatre, Bolton and Liverpool Playhouse, won the 1999 TMA Best Play Award. Charlotte Jones dramatised A WOMAN IN WHITE for Andrew Lloyd Webber and Matilda for Radio 4. She is currently writing for televison.

Philippa Stanton's credits include Paula Vogel's award winning play 'How I Learned to Drive' at the Donmar Warehouse, two seasons at Shakespeare's Globe, appearing opposite Mark Rylance in 'The Golden Ass'. Her television credits include 'Jill' in both series of 'How Do You Want Me' with Dylan Moran, and 'Clara' in the BBC's Great Expectations with Ioan Gruffudd. Her film credits include: The Clandestine Marriage with Joan Collins, Nigel Hawthorne and Timothy Spall. Unconditional Love with Cathy Bates, Rupert Everett and Richard Briers and Swinging with the Finkels with Martin Freeman.


THU 15:00 Open Country (b010r2zv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:07 on Saturday]


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b010rb6v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:55 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b010t7p2)
The Doll: Short Stories by Daphne du Maurier

The Happy Valley

The Happy Valley by Daphne du Maurier tells the story of a young woman who dreams of an eerie wilderness and a grand old house, and echoes her most famous book, Rebecca. In the story, the young woman starts a romantic relationship with a man and finds herself walking into the real landscape she has dreamed of...

The Happy Valley is selected from The Doll: Short Stories, the newly published collection by Daphne du Maurier. This includes several pieces recently rediscovered by an enthusastic devotee of the famous writer. The Happy Valley was originally printed in the Illustrated London News in 1932 but hasn't been published in a collection until now. Written early in her career these stories reveal the dark themes explored in the novels that made her name.

Reader: Hattie Morahan
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Lucy Collingwood.


THU 15:45 Russia: The Wild East (b010t7p4)
Series 1

Decembrist Revolt

A haunting French lament and readings from Tolstoy's War and Peace underpin Martin Sixsmith's storyline as Napoleon's forces are chased from Russia. This, just like World War Two, was a people's war in defence of the motherland - furious, patriotic, and ultimately successful. The war however, bred further desire for radical change: serfs demanded freedom; peasants demanded the land, and the regular soldiers who pursued Napoleon all the way back to Paris, had seen a world their rulers would prefer them not to see. The discontent and the yearning for change would germinate and spread, before flowering in the most dramatic circumstances.

After the liberal impulses of his youth, the French invasion and the spread of domestic opposition panicked Alexander I into a dour, slightly paranoid conservatism. The unrest that simmered during his lifetime exploded spectacularly when he died. The Decembrist Revolt over the succession - partly inspired by the American Revolution - demanded a constitutional monarchy and the abolition of serfdom. The uprising seemed to have been a shambolic, if heroic, failure.

But it was an ominous warning to the new Tsar, Nicholas I, that all was not well in his empire. He responded by reinstating the old Muscovite tradition of absolute autocracy, strengthened the secret police, cracked down on dissent and introduced draconian measures to suppress political opposition. But, the harsh treatment of those who led the revolt - many were sent to Siberia and the five ring-leaders hanged - rallied public opinion to their cause, and in a country where poets have long been venerated as the conscience of the nation, Alexander Pushkin's sympathetic verses about the Decembrists did much to establish them as iconic standard bearers of the will for freedom.

Historical Consultant: Professor Geoffrey Hosking

Producers: Adam Fowler & Anna Scott-Brown
A Ladbroke Production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 16:00 Bookclub (b010t3jy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:30 Material World (b010t7qp)
Quentin Cooper presents his weekly digest of science in and behind the headlines. He talks to the scientists who are publishing their research in peer reviewed journals, and he discusses how that research is scrutinised and used by the scientific community, the media and the public. The programme also reflects how science affects our daily lives; from predicting natural disasters to the latest advances in cutting edge science like nanotechnology and stem cell research.


THU 17:00 PM (b010t7qr)
Eddie Mair presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b010r141)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:30 The Simon Day Show (b010t7qt)
Series 1

Dave Angel

British comedy legend and star of The Fast Show, Down the Line and Bellamy's People, Simon Day debut's his own Radio 4 character comedy show.

Simon Day and his characters welcome listeners to The Mallard, a small provincial theatre somewhere in the UK. Each week one of Simon's characters come to perform at The Mallard and we hear the highlights of that night's show, along with the back stage and front of house goings on at the theatre itself.

This week 1990s Eco-Warrior Dave Angel (Simon Day), performs at The Mallard Theatre and a confused delivery man arrives with gifts from a star.

Cast list:

Dave Angel / White Van Man ..... Simon Day
Catherine ..... Catherine Shepherd
Goose ..... Felix Dexter
Ron Bone ..... Simon Greenall

Written by Simon Day
Produced by Colin Anderson.


THU 19:00 The Archers (b010tyls)
As George helps Will move pheasant chicks into the rearing pen, they're met by Lynda, who reminds Will, and later Emma, to vote by 10pm tonight. Lynda and Emma comment on the renovation work at 3, The Green - an Amside property - before Will asks a favour of Emma. In fact, it may help her as well. He wants to have George over for another night tomorrow, until Sunday. When Emma agrees, Will suggests they could even make it a more regular arrangement.

Impressed by the new yield figures, Ruth is quick to share them with David. But David's cautious about getting too carried away. Ruth's disappointed he's not more buoyed by the news.

Pip invites Spencer over to meet her parents and David and Spencer immediately hit it off. David's pleased to learn that he knows Spencer's farming family. Ruth invites Spencer to look around their milking parlour, but Pip jumps in. He's already had a tour.

Spencer's a hit with David and Ruth, but David admits he's just relieved the guy isn't another Jude. Ruth then nudges David to join her at the polling station. It's time to vote, before Lynda nabs them again!


THU 19:15 Front Row (b010t7rj)
Randy Newman at the Piano

With Kirsty Lang.

Randy Newman won his second Oscar this year for the song We Belong Together from Toy Story 3. He reflects on a career which began more than 40 years ago, and takes a seat at the Front Row piano to discuss his new album, which features a selection of his songs in new solo piano recordings.

Director Rachid Bouchareb's Oscar-nominated film Outside the Law focuses on the Algerian struggle for independence from France after World War II. At its premiere in Cannes last year, protesters gathered to demonstrate against what they saw as an unjust portrayal of France's role in Algeria. Film critic Jason Solomons reviews.

Today eight museum and gallery curators compete for a share of the £75,000 Art Fund and Crafts Council prize money, to buy an artwork of their choice from COLLECT - the Crafts Council's art fair for contemporary objects. The contenders have an hour to choose one of the works on show, and then two minutes to make a verbal pitch for it, in front of a panel of judges. Front Row reports from the pitching sessions and talks to judge Tanya Harrod with one of the winning curators, live in the studio.

Dylan Thomas lived in Laugharne, Wales, for four years, and is thought to have used the town as inspiration for the fishing-village Llareggub, the setting of his best-known work Under Milk Wood. Since 2007 Laugharne has held an annual Literary Festival. David Quantick went in search of the spirit of Dylan Thomas at this year's festival, seeking advice from writers including Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and John Cooper Clark.

Producer Philippa Ritchie.


THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b010t6lm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


THU 20:00 The Report (b010t7t6)
Democracy in Tunisia

Tunisia was the focus of international attention when popular protest helped to topple the country's autocratic leader and triggered a wave of demonstrations across the region. But what happens next? Linda Pressley travels to Tunisia and meets those vying for political and business influence in its more open society. Amongst those she speaks to are Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of Tunisia's largest Islamist party and, until recently, a resident of Hemel Hempstead.


THU 20:30 In Business (b010t7t8)
Keep it Local

As pubs struggle to survive, Peter Day travels through villages in Yorkshire and Cumbria to talk to local activists and find out how easy it is to buy and successfully run one of the focal points for any community - the village pub. He looks at the successes and failures and asks whether sheer enthusiasm and community spirit is enough to win through. Is there an economic case for these sorts of projects or can they only survive through grants and subsidies?


THU 21:00 Saving Species (b010t6gt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 on Tuesday]


THU 21:30 In Our Time (b010t69b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 21:58 Weather (b010r143)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b010t7v5)
The International Contact Group has created a fund to support Libya's rebel Transitional Council. What are the chances of money ending up in the hands of the West's enemies?

Was Osama bin Laden the victim of a hit squad or summary justice? More details are emerging.

Why low interest rates are unpopular with a lot of people.

With Ritula Shah.


THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b010wwnq)
The Absolutist

Episode 9

September 1919: 20 year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver some letters to Marian Bancroft. Tristan fought alongside Marian's brother Will during the Great War but in 1917, Will laid down his guns on the battlefield, declared himself a conscientious objector, an act which has brought shame and dishonour on the Bancroft family.
But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He holds a secret deep in his soul. One that he is desperate to unburden himself of to Marian, if he can only find the courage. As he recalls his friendship with Will, from the training ground at Aldershot to the trenches of Northern France, he speaks of how the intensity of their friendship brought him both happiness and self-discovery as well as despair and pain.
From the author that brought us The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The House of Special Purpose - John Boyne creates a story that examines the events of the Great War from the perspective of two young soldiers; whose friendship encounters an extraordinary challenge.

The reader is Blake Ritson.

The Absolutist was abridged by Doreen Estall and produced by Heather Larmour.


THU 23:00 49 Cedar Street (b010t7x5)
As far as the residents of 49 Cedar Street are concerned, this is one place where the Outside World need not apply.

Laurence and Elliot have been living together for some time now - and it shows. They've settled into a sort of father and son role, with regular game nights and the occasional song and dance routine.

Laurence does his best to look after Elliot and read him bedtime stories, in return Elliot tries to keep his room tidy and always eats his greens before pudding. Their home is a haven of peace and contentment, with comfy sofas, crayon drawings on the fridge and nice homemade biscuits.

That is, until Hannah moves into the spare room. A walking collection of neuroses, emotions and non-stop jabbering about her ex, she crowbars her way into their life and threatens to turn everything upside down with her crazy woman's brain. However, the bond with her dysfunctional new family develops and she gradually lets go of some of her more destructive compulsions.

And so it becomes the three of them against the world, battling side by side through the strange adventures surrounding the house at 49 Cedar Street, in a ludicrous but ultimately lovely world.

Laurence ..... Colin Hoult
Elliot ..... Tom Parry
Hannah ..... Isabel Fay
Cupid ..... Duncan Wisbey
Victorian Orphan Boy ..... Alix Dunmore

Original music was composed and performed by Alexander Rudd, with Natalie Rosario on cello.

Written by Julie Bower
Produced by Colin Anderson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2011.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b010t7x7)
MPs press the Government to take action to reduce the cost of rail fares.
The Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, says rail operators need more incentives to cut costs to keep fares as low as possible.
Women and Equalities Minister, Theresa May, defends the Prime Minister's "calm down dear" comment and urges Labour MPs to get a "sense of humour".
And peers hear that legislation to bring in a flat-rate state pension is unlikely to be introduced until after the next election.
Sean Curran and team report on today's events in Parliament.



FRIDAY 06 MAY 2011

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b010r145)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


FRI 00:30 Vote 2011 (b010t7z9)
Coverage of the 2011 UK Elections.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b010r14c)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b010r14f)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b010t6r0)
With the Rev Prof Peter Galloway.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b010t6qp)
Plans for large scale intensive rabbit farms across the country are being withdrawn. Following public pressure the farmer behind the scheme is re-submitting planning applications for between 6 and 10 free range rabbit farms instead.

The National Farmers Union says that farmers are growing increasingly concerned about the continuing dry weather and how it might have an impact on this year's spring crops. The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology says it's not about how much rain falls but what kind of rain the UK gets.

There has been a forty per cent increase in the number of farming apprenticeships over the past two years. LANTRA, the organisation in charge of them tells us what's involved in both becoming, and taking on an apprentice.

While much has been made of the role of honeybees in pollinating crops, research is now being carried out on the importance of solitary and bumble bees to agriculture. Charlotte Smith went bee hunting on the Upton estate with nature advisor Marek Novakowski.


FRI 06:00 Today (b010t6q3)
Including Sports Desk at 6.25am, 7.25am, 8.25am; Weather 6.05am, 6.57am, 7.57am; Yesterday in Parliament 6.45am; Thought for the Day 7.48am.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b010t31j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b010t6np)
Millions Like Us: Women's Lives in War and Peace 1939-1949

Episode 5

Virginia Nicholson's evocative account of the Second World War is told through a multitude of individual women's experiences. As their stories unfold we discover how they loved, suffered, laughed, grieved and dared. Today, as the celebratory atmosphere of VE day fades, many women are left wondering what the future holds.

Virginia Nicholson's books include Among the Bohemians - Experiments in Living 1900-1939, and Singled Out - How Two Million Women Survived Without Men after the First World War which was broadcast as a Book of the Week.

Read by Fenella Woolgar
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b010t6q7)
Jenni Murray presents. Insistent rumours are growing in sections of the French press that Carla Bruni is pregnant. Might being a new dad provide Sarkozy with a much-needed 'paternity bounce' in his campaign to become French president again next spring? The women of Liverpool have been criticised recently for their looks at Aintree - the fake tan, the amount of flesh on display. Is such criticism justified? It's every parent's worry when teenagers pass their driving test and go solo behind the wheel. So how can parents survive this nerve-wracking time? And Irish Children's Laureate, Siobhan Parkinson, talks to Jenni about her new book, Bruised.


FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b010t6bw)
Writing the Century 17: The Iron Curtain

Episode 5

The series which explores the 20th century through the diaries and correspondence of real people, returns with "The Iron Curtain" by Nell Leyshon. The drama is inspired by the diaries of Paula Kirby, who went to teach English in East Germany in the 1980s, and her correspondence with paediatric surgeon Knut Löffler.

August 1988 and the strain of external forces is intolerable. For several months Knut's letters to Paula stop. Letters and phone calls eventually resume but when the Berlin Wall falls in 1989, is it too late?

Cast
Paula ...... Charlotte Emmerson
Knut ...... Jonathan Keeble
Rebecca ...... Danielle Henry
Ulrike ...... Clare Louise Connolly
Stefan ...... David Seddon

Directed by Susan Roberts.


FRI 11:00 Requiem for a Moth (b010t6nr)
Britain's enthusiasm for moths gets far less attention than its love of bird watching. But "moth-ing" is a fast growing, sociable recreation that draws us closer to the biodiversity of our cities and countryside.

Martin Wainwright seeks out the men and women who pursue the thousands of brightly coloured species of moth.

Composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle talks about his life-long passion for the insects and how his music, receiving its premiere in October 2012, will pay tribute to their enduring appeal.

Martin spends an evening in the woods of Yorkshire welcoming in the new season of moths, and meets Madeleine Moon MP, who reveals why moths are so crucial to our survival and why moth-fancying is a peculiarly British pastime.

Producer: Iain Chambers
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 11:30 The Gobetweenies (b010t6nt)
Series 1

Meet the Millers

A candid look at contemporary family through the prism of two North London siblings Lucy and Tom as they schlep between their determinedly hands-on parents. Lucy is excited about exploring surrealism, Tom is obsessively counting sultanas and their mum Mimi (Sarah Alexander) is desperate for her third attempt at married life to get started, but the children's father Joe (David Tennant) has come to a decision that will change their all their lives...

If it's Wednesday... it must be Holloway

Cast List:
Joe ..... David Tennant
Mimi ..... Sarah Alexander
Tom ..... Finlay Christie
Lucy ..... Phoebe Abbott
Harry ..... Stuart Milligan

Writer: Marcella Evaristi

Director: Marilyn Imrie
Producer: Gordon Kennedy
An Absolutely Production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b010t6nw)
We investigate accusations that Chinese factories producing iPads and iPhones are treating workers "like machines". We'll talk to the NGOs who claim humiliating management techniques and illegal working hours are the norm. We have asked the company Apple to respond.

Plus we catch up with the first blind manager of a fully sighted football team that's recognised by the Football Association.

And if you'd like to help in the mammoth task of mapping all 2,000 miles of Britain's canal towpaths we'll tell you how.


FRI 12:57 Weather (b010r14h)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 13:00 World at One (b010t6ny)
National and international news, featuring analysis, comment and interviews. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on Twitter: #wato.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (b010tyls)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (b010t6jh)
Ed Jones - The Janitor

The Janitor by Ed Jones.

Kevin is struggling to keep his new restaurant afloat in posh Salford Quays. But then Jonno turns up. The boy he was a dad to for a couple of years when he was shacked up with his mother. He couldn't save the mother, can he now save the kid? All fifteen stone of him?

Kevin............Jason Done
Jonno............Tachia Newall
Sandra..........Naomi Radcliffe
Mikey............Chris Jack
Amy..............Catherine Kinsella
Scotty...........Gerard Fletcher

Producer Gary Brown

Twenty years ago you wouldn't have found a posh restaurant in Salford. Now there's a load of them and a theatre and a designer outlet mall. And to top it all there's Media City with all those Giles and Jocastas moving in.

The truth is there's two kinds of Salfords. There's the Quays and posh Salford and Salford-Salford; the proper bit, that Lowry painted, with the bent over people and the dark heart.

This is the story of Kevin, a talented chef, who wanted to open a restaurant in his old stamping ground. To put something back - and make some dosh at the same time. Only, he isn't very good with figures, and his employees are ripping him off. His business is bleeding money.

When Jonno returns- a kid he used to live with - they both try and make things work. Jonno is trying to leave behind his old life of drugs and violence. But when it catches up with him it has major consequences for both Jonno and Kevin.

Starring Jason Done from Waterloo Rd, this is a morality tale for our times.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b010t6jk)
Carmarthenshire, Wales

Peter Gibbs chairs a gardening Q&A in Carmarthenshire, Wales. He is joined by Pippa Greenwood, Bob Flowerdew & Anne Swithinbank.

In addition, Matthew Wilson reports on a recent set of daffodil trials taking place at RHS Wisley.

Produced by Lucy Dichmont and Howard Shannon
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 15:45 Russia: The Wild East (b010t6jm)
Series 1

Defeat and Disaffection

Martin Sixsmith charts the tensions that have often surfaced between Russia and its southern states.

In this episode, chosen from his 2011 series on the history of Russia, Martin shows how successive rulers have battled to keep Georgia, Ukraine, Chechnya and the Caucasus under their control.

The confrontation became international in the mid-19th century when France and Britain decided they needed to restrain Russia's naval expansion into the Mediterranean at Sebastopol, and launched the Crimean War.

Producers: Adam Fowler and Anna Scott-Brown
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (b010t6jp)
Osama bin Laden, Sir Henry Leach, Sir Henry Cooper, Hubert Schlafly and Arthur Laurents

On Last Word this week:

Face to face with Osama Bin Laden. We talk to three men who met the leader of Al Qaeda.

Admiral Sir Henry Leach, the First Sea Lord who persuaded Margaret Thatcher to send a task force to re-take the Falkland Islands.

Sir Henry Cooper, who had a successful track record as a heavyweight boxer but is best remembered for a fight against Cassius Clay (otherwise known as Muhammad Ali) that he lost.

Hubert Schlafly - the television pioneer who came up with the teleprompter machine.

And Arthur Laurents, playwright and screenwriter whose best known works were the musicals West Side Story and Gypsy.


FRI 16:30 The Film Programme (b010t6jr)
In the Film Programme this week Francine Stock talks to the director of Atonement, Joe Wright about his new film, Hanna; the charismatic Christoph Waltz, who stars in Water for Elephants, discusses the craft of screen acting; and the film historian Neil Brand reflects on cinema's ironic use of music. There's also a look back to two cult films released in 1968 - Bob Rafelson's Head and the even rarer Joanna, directed by Mike Sarne, which has just been released on DVD.

Producer: Zahid Warley.


FRI 17:00 PM (b010t6jt)
Eddie Mair presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b010r14k)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (b010t6f2)
Series 74

Episode 4

A satirical review of the week's news, chaired by Sandi Toksvig. Featuring Jeremy Hardy, Rebecca Front, Richard Herring and Susan Calman.

Produced by Sam Bryant.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (b010t6d5)
As Roy and Hayley dress up for his leaving do in the bistro, they reflect on Roy's 14 years service at Grey Gables. They also congratulate Lynda, re-elected to the parish council. It's a double celebration, as tomorrow is their 10th wedding anniversary. Lynda's pleased that Jill has won a seat, but feels for Lilian, who has lost hers and must feel humiliated.

At lunch, Roy makes an emotional speech after being presented with a deluxe parting gift by Lynda. Afterwards, as they reflect on the day, Hayley worries about Phoebe's obsession with South Africa. Roy's certain she'll come back down to earth soon.

Disgruntled Lilian bumps into Ed and Emma, preventing Emma from telling Ed about Will having George until Sunday. Lilian adds to Emma's guilt, suggesting that a handful of extra voters would have swung things her way. Essentially though, Lilian senses dirty tricks were at play. Before checking on her builders, defiant Lilian assures Lynda that she and Matt still hold some sway in local developments.

When Ed notices George isn't around, Emma comes clean about the arrangement with Will. Annoyed, Ed reluctantly agrees to let George stay with Will until Sunday.


FRI 19:15 Front Row (b010t6cn)
Steve Reich, and a report from the Brighton Festival

With Kirsty Lang.

American composer Steve Reich discusses the UK premiere of WTC 9/11, written for the Kronos Quartet in response to the attack on the World Trade Centre in 2001. He and Kronos violinist David Harrington talk about the mixture of music for string quartet and the recorded voices of a New York fireman and ambulance driver, and the resonance of performing the work in the week of Osama Bin Laden's death.

Following in the footsteps of Brian Eno and Anish Kapoor, the Guest Director of this year's Brighton Festival is the Burmese pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi. Kirsty visits Brighton to see how far the connection with the Nobel Peace laureate is reflected in the festival, which begins tomorrow

Novelist Paul Bailey reviews the new animated film My Dog Tulip, an adaptation of the late British author J.R. Ackerley's memoir about his 16 year relationship with an adopted Alsatian. The film features the voices of Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave, and Isabella Rossellini.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.


FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b010t6bw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b010t6by)
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the live debate from Harrow High School in London with Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Quentin Letts, Daily Mail columnist, Shirley Williams, the Liberal Democrat peer and Douglas Alexander, Shadow Foreign Secretary.

Producer: Victoria Wakely.


FRI 20:50 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b010t6c0)
Series 2

Butterflies

When massing for their winter torpor in Mexico, the pine trees laden with Monarch Butterflies are one of the most mystical and magical places to be.

David Attenborough is one of many naturalists, writers and broadcasters to marvel at this species migration feat and the spectacle of their over wintering - one of the natural wonders of the world.

David guides us through the butterfly's migration to Canada from Mexico - and back again - gently unpacking their natural history and wonder. And he immerses us in other butterfly congregations during filming trips over the years - but in a clever twist brings us back to his garden with an intriguing thought about the evolution of butterfly behaviour.

Written and presented by David Attenborough

Producer: Julian Hector.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2011.


FRI 21:00 Russia: The Wild East (b010t6c2)
Series 1 Omnibus

The Dangerous Gap between Ruler and Ruled

Peter the Great died on the 8th of February 1725. He was 52 years old, had reigned for forty of those years and transformed Russia from a struggling, landlocked state to a major and still expanding empire. But he died without appointing an heir.

At the start of week 3 of BBC Radio 4's major new History series, Russia - The Wild East, Martin Sixsmith traces the power struggles after the death of Peter, until another Great leader emerges. While Peter the Great had laid the foundations of Russia as a European power, it was under Catherine the Great that Russia became Europe's most feared superpower.

One of the reputations that Catherine acquired was of a woman with a healthy interest in sex, but this shouldn't overshadow her reforming zeal. She modernised the legal system, took ideas from the great Enlightenment thinkers Diderot and Voltaire, and learnt by heart long passages from Montesquieu's iconic manifesto of constitutionalism, on the separation of powers, civil liberties and the rule of law.

"It seemed to many," Martin Sixsmith suggests, "that Russia was preparing to boldly go where few others would dare to tread - having been the most backward of the European powers, she now appeared to be leading the way to the enlightened future."

But an ingrained fear of vulnerability lay beneath this show of strength, and Catherine followed an aggressive programme of expansion especially to the south. It provided a buffer against enemies on her borders, but sowed the seeds of ethnic tensions that still exist today, and a careful observer would have realised even at this stage that Catherine was setting very clear limits to the extent and nature of the changes she was prepared to allow.

Historical Consultant: Professor Geoffrey Hosking

Producers: Adam Fowler & Anna Scott-Brown
A Ladbroke Production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 21:58 Weather (b010r14m)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b010t6c4)
A special edition of the World Tonight, with Ritula Shah in Westminster - looking at today's election results in full, with prominent figures from the three main parties and a panel of seasoned political watchers. Plus the AV referendum result, the SNP gains in Scotland and local council results in Birmingham. What do the results tell us about the new political landscape in Britain?


FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b010x2q9)
The Absolutist

Episode 10

September 1919: 20 year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver some letters to Marian Bancroft. Tristan fought alongside Marian's brother Will during the Great War but in 1917, Will laid down his guns on the battlefield, declared himself a conscientious objector, an act which has brought shame and dishonour on the Bancroft family.
But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He holds a secret deep in his soul. One that he is desperate to unburden himself of to Marian, if he can only find the courage. As he recalls his friendship with Will, from the training ground at Aldershot to the trenches of Northern France, he speaks of how the intensity of their friendship brought him both happiness and self-discovery as well as despair and pain.
From the author that brought us The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The House of Special Purpose - John Boyne creates a story that examines the events of the Great War from the perspective of two young soldiers; whose friendship encounters an extraordinary challenge.

The readers are Blake Ritson and William Gaunt

The Absolutist was abridged by Doreen Estall and produced by Heather Larmour.


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b010t6hb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b010t6c8)
The day's top news stories from Westminster with Mark D'arcy.




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

15 Minute Drama 10:45 MON (b010t5wh)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 MON (b010t5wh)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 TUE (b010t6gr)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 TUE (b010t6gr)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 WED (b010t6yc)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 WED (b010t6yc)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 THU (b010t6lm)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 THU (b010t6lm)

15 Minute Drama 10:45 FRI (b010t6bw)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 FRI (b010t6bw)

15 by 15 14:45 SUN (b010t3jt)

49 Cedar Street 23:00 THU (b010t7x5)

78 Revolutions 11:30 THU (b010t6pb)

Afternoon Reading 15:30 TUE (b010t6h4)

Afternoon Reading 15:30 WED (b010t7rv)

Afternoon Reading 15:30 THU (b010t7p2)

All in the Mind 21:00 TUE (b010t6l9)

All in the Mind 16:30 WED (b010t6l9)

Americana 19:15 SUN (b010t3k6)

Any Answers? 14:00 SAT (b010r7c4)

Any Questions? 13:10 SAT (b010mwv2)

Any Questions? 20:00 FRI (b010t6by)

Archive on 4 20:00 SAT (b010r7cl)

Archive on 4 15:00 MON (b010r7cl)

Arthur Smith's Balham Bash 18:30 WED (b0101g5j)

Beauty of Britain 11:30 WED (b010t6yh)

Bells on Sunday 05:43 SUN (b010rb6l)

Bells on Sunday 00:45 MON (b010rb6l)

Beyond Westminster 11:00 SAT (b010r7by)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 MON (b010wvry)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 TUE (b010wvsn)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 WED (b010wvtx)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 THU (b010wwnq)

Book at Bedtime 22:45 FRI (b010x2q9)

Book of the Week 00:30 SAT (b00zf5sh)

Book of the Week 09:45 MON (b010t5wc)

Book of the Week 00:30 TUE (b010t5wc)

Book of the Week 09:45 TUE (b010t6gm)

Book of the Week 00:30 WED (b010t6gm)

Book of the Week 09:45 WED (b010t674)

Book of the Week 00:30 THU (b010t674)

Book of the Week 09:45 THU (b010t6dc)

Book of the Week 09:45 FRI (b010t6np)

Bookclub 16:00 SUN (b010t3jy)

Bookclub 16:00 THU (b010t3jy)

Broadcasting House 09:00 SUN (b010t31d)

Christie's Through the Looking Glass 20:00 MON (b00vg8fg)

Clare in the Community 18:30 TUE (b00sj5z7)

Classic Serial 21:00 SAT (b010m03y)

Classic Serial 15:00 SUN (b010t3jw)

Costing the Earth 21:00 WED (b010t7tz)

Costing the Earth 13:30 THU (b010t7tz)

Counterpoint 23:00 SAT (b010m2fd)

Crossing Continents 20:30 MON (b010mt2y)

Crossing Continents 11:00 THU (b010t6lp)

David Attenborough's Life Stories 08:50 SUN (b010mwv4)

David Attenborough's Life Stories 20:50 FRI (b010t6c0)

David Hume and the Triumph of Reason 13:30 SUN (b010lyyb)

Desert Island Discs 11:15 SUN (b010t31j)

Desert Island Discs 09:00 FRI (b010t31j)

Drama 14:15 MON (b010t5wt)

Drama 14:15 TUE (b010t6h0)

Drama 14:15 WED (b010t7rs)

Drama 14:15 THU (b010t6x7)

Drama 14:15 FRI (b010t6jh)

Excess Baggage 10:00 SAT (b010r4c5)

Fabulous 23:00 WED (b00dy23d)

Face the Facts 12:30 WED (b010t6ym)

Fags, Mags and Bags 11:30 MON (b010t5wm)

Fallout: The Legacy of Chernobyl 17:00 SUN (b010mckx)

Farming Today 06:30 SAT (b010r2zx)

Farming Today 05:45 MON (b010t3mn)

Farming Today 05:45 TUE (b010t65n)

Farming Today 05:45 WED (b010t6pz)

Farming Today 05:45 THU (b010t689)

Farming Today 05:45 FRI (b010t6qp)

Four Thought 05:45 SUN (b010mrzt)

Four Thought 20:45 WED (b010t7tx)

From Fact to Fiction 19:00 SAT (b010r7cg)

From Fact to Fiction 17:40 SUN (b010r7cg)

From Our Own Correspondent 11:30 SAT (b010r7c0)

Front Row 19:15 MON (b010t64w)

Front Row 19:15 TUE (b010vzml)

Front Row 19:15 WED (b010vxyv)

Front Row 19:15 THU (b010t7rj)

Front Row 19:15 FRI (b010t6cn)

Gardeners' Question Time 14:00 SUN (b010mwlq)

Gardeners' Question Time 15:00 FRI (b010t6jk)

Great Lives 16:30 TUE (b010t6hb)

Great Lives 23:00 FRI (b010t6hb)

In Business 21:30 SUN (b010mv58)

In Business 20:30 THU (b010t7t8)

In Living Memory 23:30 MON (b00tg2lw)

In Our Time 09:00 THU (b010t69b)

In Our Time 21:30 THU (b010t69b)

In Touch 20:40 TUE (b010vzmn)

Jon Ronson On 23:00 TUE (b010t6lf)

Last Word 20:30 SUN (b010mwlv)

Last Word 16:00 FRI (b010t6jp)

Lebanon: The Next Generation 20:00 TUE (b010t6l7)

Living World 06:35 SUN (b010rb6q)

Loose Ends 18:15 SAT (b010r7cd)

Lost Voices 23:30 SAT (b010m042)

Lost Voices 16:30 SUN (b010t3k0)

Making History 15:00 TUE (b010t6h2)

Material World 21:00 MON (b010mv4w)

Material World 16:30 THU (b010t7qp)

Midnight News 00:00 SAT (b010mxk6)

Midnight News 00:00 SUN (b010q864)

Midnight News 00:00 MON (b010q8b2)

Midnight News 00:00 TUE (b010r12m)

Midnight News 00:00 WED (b010r134)

Midnight News 00:00 THU (b010r13n)

Midnight News 00:00 FRI (b010r145)

Midweek 09:00 WED (b010v8rn)

Midweek 21:30 WED (b010v8rn)

Money Box Live 15:00 WED (b010vxys)

Money Box 12:00 SAT (b010r7c2)

Money Box 21:00 SUN (b010r7c2)

Moral Maze 22:15 SAT (b010mrzr)

Moral Maze 20:00 WED (b010t7s5)

More or Less 20:00 SUN (b010mwbt)

News Briefing 05:30 SAT (b010mxkj)

News Briefing 05:30 SUN (b010q86d)

News Briefing 05:30 MON (b010q8bb)

News Briefing 05:30 TUE (b010r12w)

News Briefing 05:30 WED (b010r13d)

News Briefing 05:30 THU (b010r13x)

News Briefing 05:30 FRI (b010r14f)

News Headlines 06:00 SUN (b010q86g)

News and Papers 06:00 SAT (b010mxkq)

News and Papers 07:00 SUN (b010q86l)

News and Papers 08:00 SUN (b010q86q)

News and Weather 22:00 SAT (b010mxl7)

News 13:00 SAT (b010mxkz)

Open Country 06:07 SAT (b010r2zv)

Open Country 15:00 THU (b010r2zv)

PM 17:00 SAT (b010r7cb)

PM 17:00 MON (b010t5wy)

PM 17:00 TUE (b010t9gp)

PM 17:00 WED (b010t9ks)

PM 17:00 THU (b010t7qr)

PM 17:00 FRI (b010t6jt)

Perspectives 00:30 SUN (b00lxfbg)

Pick of the Week 18:15 SUN (b010t3k2)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 SAT (b010mxkl)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 MON (b010t3ml)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 TUE (b010vy91)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 WED (b010v8rj)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 THU (b010t687)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 FRI (b010t6r0)

Radio 4 Appeal 07:55 SUN (b010rb6v)

Radio 4 Appeal 21:26 SUN (b010rb6v)

Radio 4 Appeal 15:27 THU (b010rb6v)

Random Edition 11:00 WED (b010t6yf)

Referendum Campaign Broadcast 18:26 MON (b010t5x0)

Referendum Campaign Broadcast 18:26 TUE (b010t6hd)

Requiem for a Moth 11:00 FRI (b010t6nr)

Russia: The Wild East 15:45 MON (b010t5ww)

Russia: The Wild East 15:45 TUE (b010t6h6)

Russia: The Wild East 15:45 WED (b010t7rx)

Russia: The Wild East 15:45 THU (b010t7p4)

Russia: The Wild East 15:45 FRI (b010t6jm)

Russia: The Wild East 21:00 FRI (b010t6c2)

Saturday Drama 14:30 SAT (b010r7c6)

Saturday Live 09:00 SAT (b010r4c3)

Saturday Review 19:15 SAT (b010r7cj)

Saving Species 11:00 TUE (b010t6gt)

Saving Species 21:00 THU (b010t6gt)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SAT (b010mxkc)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SUN (b010q868)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 MON (b010q8b6)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 TUE (b010r12r)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 WED (b010r138)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 THU (b010r13s)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 SAT (b010mxk8)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 SAT (b010mxkf)

Shipping Forecast 17:54 SAT (b010mxl1)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 SUN (b010q866)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 SUN (b010q86b)

Shipping Forecast 17:54 SUN (b010q86v)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 MON (b010q8b4)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 MON (b010q8b8)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 TUE (b010r12p)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 TUE (b010r12t)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 WED (b010r136)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 WED (b010r13b)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 THU (b010r13q)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 THU (b010r13v)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 FRI (b010r14c)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 SAT (b010mxl5)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 SUN (b010q86z)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 MON (b010q8bj)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 TUE (b010r130)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 WED (b010r13j)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 THU (b010r141)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 FRI (b010r14k)

Something Understood 06:05 SUN (b010rb6n)

Something Understood 23:30 SUN (b010rb6n)

Start the Week 09:00 MON (b010t3p0)

Start the Week 21:30 MON (b010t652)

Sunday Worship 08:10 SUN (b010rb6x)

Sunday 07:10 SUN (b010rb6s)

The Archers Omnibus 10:00 SUN (b010t31g)

The Archers 19:00 SUN (b010t3k4)

The Archers 14:00 MON (b010t3k4)

The Archers 19:00 MON (b010t64t)

The Archers 14:00 TUE (b010t64t)

The Archers 19:00 TUE (b010t7rq)

The Archers 14:00 WED (b010t7rq)

The Archers 19:00 WED (b010t7s3)

The Archers 14:00 THU (b010t7s3)

The Archers 19:00 THU (b010tyls)

The Archers 14:00 FRI (b010tyls)

The Archers 19:00 FRI (b010t6d5)

The Film Programme 23:00 SUN (b010mwlx)

The Film Programme 16:30 FRI (b010t6jr)

The Food Programme 12:32 SUN (b010t31l)

The Food Programme 16:00 MON (b010t31l)

The Gobetweenies 11:30 FRI (b010t6nt)

The Heart of Saturday Night 19:45 SUN (b00mbl9q)

The Jam Generation Takes Power 09:00 TUE (b010t6gh)

The Jam Generation Takes Power 21:30 TUE (b010t6gh)

The Media Show 13:30 WED (b010t7rn)

The Music Group 15:30 SAT (b010m9t0)

The Music Group 13:30 TUE (b010t6gy)

The News Quiz 12:30 SAT (b010mwm1)

The News Quiz 18:30 FRI (b010t6f2)

The Prime Ministers 13:45 MON (b00j3xd1)

The Prime Ministers 09:30 TUE (b010t6gk)

The Real Apprentice 11:00 MON (b010t5wk)

The Report 20:00 THU (b010t7t6)

The Simon Day Show 18:30 THU (b010t7qt)

The Unbelievable Truth 12:00 SUN (b010m2k7)

The Unbelievable Truth 18:30 MON (b010t64r)

The Walpole Chronicle 11:30 TUE (b010t6gw)

The World This Weekend 13:00 SUN (b010t31n)

The World Tonight 22:00 MON (b010vzyn)

The World Tonight 22:00 TUE (b010vznt)

The World Tonight 22:00 WED (b010v92y)

The World Tonight 22:00 THU (b010t7v5)

The World Tonight 22:00 FRI (b010t6c4)

Thinking Allowed 00:15 MON (b010mrzc)

Thinking Allowed 16:00 WED (b010t7rz)

Today in Parliament 23:30 TUE (b010t6lh)

Today in Parliament 23:30 WED (b010t7vh)

Today in Parliament 23:30 THU (b010t7x7)

Today in Parliament 23:30 FRI (b010t6c8)

Today 07:00 SAT (b010r47l)

Today 06:00 MON (b010t3mq)

Today 06:00 TUE (b010vy93)

Today 06:00 WED (b010v8rl)

Today 06:00 THU (b010t698)

Today 06:00 FRI (b010t6q3)

Vote 2011 00:30 FRI (b010t7z9)

Weather 06:04 SAT (b010mxks)

Weather 06:57 SAT (b010mxkv)

Weather 12:57 SAT (b010mxkx)

Weather 17:57 SAT (b010mxl3)

Weather 06:57 SUN (b010q86j)

Weather 07:57 SUN (b010q86n)

Weather 12:57 SUN (b010q86s)

Weather 17:57 SUN (b010q86x)

Weather 05:57 MON (b010q8bd)

Weather 12:57 MON (b010q8bg)

Weather 21:58 MON (b010q8bl)

Weather 12:57 TUE (b010r12y)

Weather 21:58 TUE (b010r132)

Weather 12:57 WED (b010r13g)

Weather 21:58 WED (b010r13l)

Weather 12:57 THU (b010r13z)

Weather 21:58 THU (b010r143)

Weather 12:57 FRI (b010r14h)

Weather 21:58 FRI (b010r14m)

Westminster Hour 22:00 SUN (b010t3k8)

What the Papers Say 22:45 SUN (b010t3kb)

When Hollywood Met Halifax 10:30 SAT (b010r7bw)

Who'd be a Social Worker 16:30 MON (b010dk29)

Woman's Hour 16:00 SAT (b010r7c8)

Woman's Hour 10:00 MON (b010t5wf)

Woman's Hour 10:00 TUE (b010t6gp)

Woman's Hour 10:00 WED (b010t6y9)

Woman's Hour 10:00 THU (b010t6lk)

Woman's Hour 10:00 FRI (b010t6q7)

Word of Mouth 23:00 MON (b010m9tb)

Word of Mouth 16:00 TUE (b010t6h8)

World at One 13:00 MON (b010vzwj)

World at One 13:00 TUE (b010vynj)

World at One 13:00 WED (b010v9zw)

World at One 13:00 THU (b010t6pg)

World at One 13:00 FRI (b010t6ny)

You and Yours 12:00 MON (b010t5wp)

You and Yours 12:00 TUE (b010vyng)

You and Yours 12:00 WED (b010t6yk)

You and Yours 12:00 THU (b010t6pd)

You and Yours 12:00 FRI (b010t6nw)

iPM 05:45 SAT (b010mxkn)

iPM 17:30 SAT (b010mxkn)