The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Is there an age in which people should couple-up and settle down? Laurie Taylor visits the home of 6 young people who are extending their student sharing habits into their early thirties. What is the factor that keeps an increasing amount of people living like this - is it economics, good friendships or an antipathy towards what other people might regard as growing up? Laurie and his two sociological companions, Esther Dermott from Bristol University and Josh Richards from the University of Manchester accompany him on his investigation.
Charlotte Smith visits the Upton Estate on the Warwickshire, Oxfordshire border which has planted what could be one of the biggest bird feeding tables in the country. The farmer and wildlife advisor have gone to great lengths to ensure that wildlife and the environment are looked after just as much as food production. Charlotte sees how European Stewardship money is being spent and whether it's right to set aside fields for wildlife instead of growing food.
Presenter: Charlotte Smith. Producer: Fran Barnes.
Morning news and current affairs presented by James Naughtie and Sarah Montague, including BBC editors' predictions for 2012 (
Melvyn Bragg investigates the development of the written word and how it has shaped our intellectual history. In this first programme he looks at the technology of writing, arguably our most important invention. He examines some of the oldest surviving writing implements, and discovers and how making signs on clay, wood or parchment enabled the development of human culture. Producer: Thomas Morris.
A series in which five public figures revisit the route of their paper round to reveal how it influenced their attitudes to work, creativity and independence.
Having a paper round is a rite of passage for many children, and many successful public figures claim to have braved the early mornings and the elements to deliver newspapers. For some, it's a chance for independence and freedom, or a temporary escape from the horrors at home. For others, it provides money to spend on music, fashion and girl/boyfriends.
Actor and former paper boy Bob Kingdom joins his guests in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as they reflect on the formative years of their paper round.
In the first episode, award-winning film director Sir Alan Parker retraces his route in North London which provided the inspiration for some of the key moments in his films.
Noo Saro-Wiwa was brought up in England, but every summer she was dragged back to Nigeria - a country she viewed as an annoying parallel universe where she had to relinquish all her creature comforts and sense of individuality. Then her father, activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, was executed there by the military government causing international outrage, and she didn't return for 10 years. Noo decides to rediscover and come to terms with the country her father loved and so she embarks on a journey round Nigeria in an attempt to understand her heritage. She begins in Lagos.
We catch up with some of the female entrepreneurs who've been in touch with Woman's Hour over the year to see how they're doing; the challenges they've faced; and their plans for expansion in 2012. We discuss how to market a business when you lack confidence; starting a business for the first time when you're in your sixties; finding time to yourself when you're running a business; whether an office is really necessary; and how a small business thinks big.
Roland Michell, an academic research assistant, is completing some work in the London Library, when he comes across two unfinished letters written by the Victorian Poet, Randolph Henry Ash. Theses letters have obviously not been found by anyone else and they are not to his wife but to an unknown woman. Roland, whose entire academic life has been devoted to studying Ash, decides, recklessly to pocket the letters and try to determine exactly who they were written to.
This is the beginning of a quest that will change literary history and with the help of a feminist literary scholar Maud Bailey, they are determined to find out the truth behind these letters. Certain other characters hear about the letters and are eager to get their hands on them for their own financial gain and will do so, by any means necessary, and so the chase begins.
Roland, risking his future and Maud risking friendship and reputation, find themselves on a ferry bound for Brittany in France.
Written by A S Byatt. Dramatised by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Maud ...... Jemma Redgrave
Roland ...... Harry Hadden-Paton
Ash ....... James d'arcy
Lamotte ..... Rachael Stirling
Blackadder ..... Bill Paterson
Cropper ..... Matthew Marsh
George ...... Kenneth Cranham
Joan ....... Joanna David
Beatrice Nest ...... Stella Gonet
Euan ...... Nicholas Boulton
Fergus ...... Jonjo O'Neil
Hildebrand ..... Robert Portal
Val ...... Laura Pyper
Leonora .... Lorelei King
Raoul/Toby Byng .... Sam Dale
Mrs Wapshott/Mrs Cammish/Mrs lees ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Beth/PA/Mrs Judge/Librarian ...... Rachel Atkins
Girl ...... Sylvie Goodwin
Alan Dein attempts to cross the world on a series of late night excursions via Facebook and Skype - discovering the real life dramas behind the online profiles across two programmes.
It's a hesitant start as Alan starts from a "Friend" count of zero, struggling to lure users away from the anonymity of the keyboard to the glare of the webcam - and engage in real verbal communication. Yet over five long late nights, he gradually builds up a circle of friends, crossing the time zones and discovering some startling stories.
In programme one, Alan's in the realm of love and loss - online and offline. He connects with a single parent snowbound in Nova Scotia, an Egyptian whose online romance turned sour and a Pakistani yearning for a girl from the wrong caste.
In programme two, he's among those dreaming of freedom, talking to a man car-jacked in Caracas, and an Iranian evading the electronic eavesdropping of the authorities.
Previously, Alan Dein brought us the acclaimed Don't Hang Up, in which he set himself the task of calling phone boxes around the world to see who picked up. This time, the project reaches a whole new scale.
The young aspiring politicians of the new political Party attempt to step up a gear and get the recognition and publicity they deserve.
Simon ...... Tom Basden
Duncan ...... Tim Key
Jared ...... Jonny Sweet
Mel ...... Ann Crilly
Phoebe ...... Katy Wix
Photographer ...... Jane Wittenshaw
As we enter the Olympic year, Julian Worricker investigates the extent to which we're a sporting nation.
How do our lifestyles and the economy affecting our approach to sport today? Has the growth of mass sporting events increased participation as much as it's boosted the coffers of the people organising them? And does success at the Olympics really equate to more people on the pitch?
Julian enjoys a school sport that's enjoying a revival; Winifred Robinson has a go at Nordic walking and Peter White finds out why those taking part in one Paralympic sport are determined that it will go mainstream.
The presenter is Julian Worricker. The producer is Katy Takatsuki.
Shaun Ley presents national and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
On the eve of his 70th birthday, BBC Radio 4 pays tribute to one of the world's most famous living scientists, Professor Stephen Hawking. Using letters, archive recordings and interviews, each programme will focus on one aspect of Professor Hawking's life. This is a series which will reveal the thoughts, concerns and humour of one of the icons of modern science.
Contributions from: his children, Lucy Hawking and Tim Hawking; noted theoretical physicist Kip Thorne;
Lord Professor Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal (a student at Cambridge with Hawking); Cosmologist Professor Paul Stelland (a PhD student of Hawkings in the 1980s); Producer Ben Bowie (producer of 'Stephen Hawking's Universe' for Discovery); Biographer Kitty Ferguson; his personal assistant Judith Croasdell; his graduate assistant Sam Blackburn (who looks after the voice/chair technology).
Stephen Hawking was, from 1979 to 2009, the Lucasion Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge (following in the footsteps of Sir Isaac Newton). He is a Companion of Honour, Commander of the British Empire, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society, lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Science and, in 2009, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.
Starring Matt Lucas and originally broadcast to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Gerard Hoffnung's death, the eccentric cartoonist organises the first ever full-scale humorous symphonic concert at the Royal Festival Hall.
It is 1956, and the fruity-voiced raconteur, tuba player and occasional Quasimodo impersonator Gerard Hoffnung is about to unveil his latest madcap scheme, a Hoffnung Music Festival: a full-scale symphonic concert that will bring many of his cartoon creations to life and poke fun at the pomposities of classical music. Will he succeed in filling the Royal Festival Hall with laughter, or will the whole enterprise come crashing to earth like a barrel of bricks?
An all-star cast including Gina McKee, Hugh Bonneville, Jon Glover and Felicity Montagu bring Alan's play to life. Matt Lucas, a long time fan of Hoffnung, brilliantly conveys Gerard Hoffnung's surreal sense of humour and extraordinary voice.
Gerard Hoffnung/ Psychiatrist 2 ..... Matt Lucas
Annetta Hoffnung ..... Gina McKee
Donald Swann/ Ian Messiter ..... Stephen Boswell
Malcolm Arnold/ Bean ..... Nicholas Jones
John Amis/ Roy Plomley/ Richard Dimbleby ..... Jon Glover
Arthur Drummer ..... Hugh Bonneville
Susan Drummer/ Announcer ..... Felicity Montagu
Tuba player ..... Geoff Webb
Pianist ..... .Alan Stafford
Annetta Hoffnung (present day) ..... herself
Producer: Adam Bromley.
Russell Davies hosts the eighth heat of the current series of the evergreen general knowledge quiz, featuring competitors from East Lothian, West Yorkshire, Merseyside and Nottinghamshire. This week the programme comes from the BBC studios in Salford.
The winner will go through to the semi-finals and will be one step closer to the coveted title of 'Brain of Britain 2012'.
As ever, a Brain of Britain listener gets the chance to outwit the contestants with devious questions of his or her own, in 'Beat the Brains'.
Mark Hodkinson goes in search of the truth about one of the most influential and enigmatic of graphic designers - Barney Bubbles who changed the way record sleeves looked.
Barney Bubbles worked with some of the biggest names in popular music in the 1970s and 80s. He created album sleeves of cryptic intricacy, giving a depth of detail that was new to the medium. But he hardly ever signed his work and often operated under obscure pseudonyms, so his creations are still being uncovered.. With some difficulty as Barney took his own life nearly 20 years ago.
Mark Hodkinson speaks to Barney's family and colleagues to uncover his genius and the reasons for his tragically early death.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and repeated as part of our celebration of Pop Art.
In the first of a new series, Ernie Rea and his three guests discuss Islam & the Veil.
France, Belgium & Italy have already banned the full face veil. Other countries are considering it. In Britain a Private Member's Bill on the subject was thrown out 18 months ago. But the subject prompts fierce debate amongst Muslims and non-Muslims alike. In a country like the UK, which prizes individual freedom, is it a basic human right? Or is it essentially divisive in promoting community cohesion? The Qur'an contains very few relevant verses and the word "hijab" literally means "curtain" but many new converts to Islam believe that the full veil is a religious obligation, but is it? Ernie and his guests get to the heart of what the Qur'an actually says and, more, importantly, how that has been interpreted.
Joining Ernie for a lively debate on Islam & the Veil are Fatima Barkatullah, writer and lecturer for the Islamic Education & Research Academy, Dr Shuruq Naguib, Lecturer in Islam at Lancaster University and Khola Hasan, Lecturer on Women's Rights under Islamic law & member of the Islamic Sharia Council.
Carolyn Quinn presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.
Bruce Forsyth tirelessly defends his Saturday Tea Time TV dominance in Dr Bruce a 15 Minute Musical delicacy with music by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
The fun-size yet satisfying musicals take an easily identifiable public figure and gives them a West End Musical make-over. The fabricated, sugar-coated story is told in an original, never heard before musical that will provide all the thrills of a West End theatre experience but without the exorbitant ticket price, uncomfortable seat and restricted view.
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. Mark Watson, Phill Jupitus, Ed Byrne and Henning Wehn are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as: The Olympics, Butter, Bees and Blood.
The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith, the team behind Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.
It's baby Henry's first birthday. Helen's busy icing the cake while Pat supervises. As they open gifts with Henry, Helen comments on how good Tom is with him. She asks whether he and Brenda have thought about becoming parents. Tom says he has thought about it.
Tom informs Pat that he's off to Shrewsbury tomorrow morning to see someone at HEFF. Just as Helen is about to cut into the cake, Henry takes his first steps!
At the pantomime, Lily thinks of her dad, who last year played the dame. The anniversary of Nigel's death has made this a difficult day. Elizabeth's uncomfortable when Lily asks Debbie about acting with Nigel in Cinderella. Jill tells Debbie she wishes Elizabeth gave into her feelings more, as she does try too hard sometimes.
Debbie notices how much the children have grown. It's a shame she doesn't see them often. She feels similarly about Ruairi, especially with how much he has grown. Elizabeth accidentally comments on how much Ruairi looks like his mother (Siobhan), which makes the atmosphere even tenser between the two. Debbie's quick to tell Elizabeth that Ruairi considers Jennifer as his mum. Jill returns and asks if something's the matter.
John Wilson talks to musicians including Kate Bush, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, Ray Davies of The Kinks and Nile Rodgers of Chic, as they re-visit old recordings, re-assess the out-takes left in the vaults and consider why some tracks - and even complete albums - lie unreleased for years.
In this three part series the BBC is given a rare degree of access to prisons as it accompanies the Rt Rev James Jones, the Church of England's "Bishop for prisons," into the country's jails. Conversations with prisoners - voices rarely heard on radio - are the centrepieces of these programmes, but the Bishop also talks to prison staff, politicians and opinion-formers about what prison should be for, how prisoners can be helped to become useful citizens and whether community sentences can ever win the public's confidence as a viable alternative to prison.
In this first programme, James Jones visits Liverpool, High Down and Forest Bank prisons. He witnesses the "processing" of inmates as they go through prison reception (or "The Churn" ) and gets out of the way of officers on the walkways responding to alarms that are always sounding. He measures a cell (12 paces by 9). He talks to prisoners - first-timers, old hands, self-harmers - about why they are there. Governors and prison officers tell him how they seek to manage inmates' routines and behaviour, and about the importance of looking out for themselves - when two staff can be responsible for a wing holding sixty prisoners, it doesn't do to let your guard down.
The prison population is at record levels, having almost doubled in the last twenty years. The Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke says he doesn't understand how it has been allowed to get so big, and lambasts attempts of previous Governments to cut crime by giving longer sentences as "pathetic". He tells the Bishop that his aim is to reduce the re-offending rate. Yes, it will help his department's bottom line, but it's common sense too.
How to cut re-offending is the million dollar question. Prisoners, governors and commentators seem to agree that an offender only stops committing crimes when he decides he's had enough; as one said, "I've got too old for it - my heart isn't in it anymore." The deprivation of liberty, courses in thinking skills and literacy don't seem to work as effectively as the simple passage of time.
Prison is also there to punish - though some say it doesn't do that well enough.
In one obvious sense prison is effective; while prisoners are locked away from society, they can't commit crime on the outside. But if prison is to mend the prisoner as well as incarcerate him, it must do more - and that is the focus of the next programme.
Sir Ernest Shackleton has a heroic place in the annals of Antarctic exploration, famously for his expedition on the aptly-named Endurance in 1914. He intended to cross over the Antarctic landmass. Instead, his ship became stuck in ice which eventually crushed it. Shackleton and his crew made a desperate voyage in three small boats to Elephant Island, where they split up. The men on the island were left under the command of Shackleton's Number 2, Frank Wild. Shackleton and a small team sailed 800 miles to South Georgia, from where they mounted a rescue mission for Wild's group.
Nearly a century on, reporter Karen Bowerman joins a group of Wild's relatives retracing his extraordinary journey to the southern seas. They are bearing Wild's ashes, which they bury next to Shackleton, on South Georgia.
In this special edition, Adam Rutherford finds out which four finalists will be competing for the title of BBC Amateur Scientist of the Year.
Over 1,000 people entered 'So You Want to Be a Scientist?' hoping to put their scientific questions to the test. During the last few weeks on Material World, we've met the 10 amateur scientists on this year's shortlist. But which of them will make the final four to turn their idea into an experiment?
Nobel prize-winning biologist Sir Paul Nurse chairs the judging panel and is joined by astronomer Dr Lucie Green, statistician Dr Yan Wong from Bang Goes the Theory and science journalist Mark Henderson. They'll decide which entries show the most scientific promise and discuss how these budding amateur scientists might go about designing their experiments.
Cousin Bette is one of the best loved and most admired of Honore de Balzac's novels, written when his powers were at their height and marking the culmination of his extraordinary chronicle, La Comedie Humaine.
A tale of seductive women and philandering men, of passionate affairs and spiralling debts, Cousin Bette paints a vivid portrait of Paris in the 1830s and '40s. It's a city full of temptations, in which money is king, morals are loose and the appeals of the virtuous are usually in vain. In the midst of it all sits a poor relation, Cousin Bette, like a spider in her web. Fuelled by bitterness and jealousy, she is determined to weave destruction into the lives of her extended family, the socially superior Hulots.
With her friend and accomplice, the beautiful Madame Marneffe, Bette sets out to manipulate events so that men are brought to their knees and their wives to despair, and she attains the power and prestige she seeks.
Cousin Bette was written in less than a year, in serial instalments, often only completed just before the deadline. Within its pages, Balzac conjures a kaleidoscope of characters from all walks of life, chronicles the rise of a grasping bourgeoisie and tells a gripping tale of jealousy, passion and treachery.
Honore de Balzac remains one of France's greatest writers. The author of over ninety novels and stories, his great work is the epic series of interlocking novels, La Comedie Humaine, designed to portray the radical changes France experienced after the Revolution and Empire. Balzac died three years after completing Cousin Bette, in 1850.
The Reader is Alex Jennings, who is currently appearing in The Collaborators as Mikhail Bulgakov at the National Theatre and will shortly be seen in Silk on BBC One. His many readings for Radio 4 include Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, Casino Royale by Ian Fleming and Speaking for Themselves, the letters of Clementine and Winston Churchill.
Cousin Bette is translated by Marion Ayton Crawford and the abridger was Sally Marmion.
But I've Got A Degree! Michael Rosen discusses the letters we put before and after our names. Are you a BA, MA, Dr or Dame - or "just a plain Mister"? And does it matter?
Al Pacino has played the part of Herod on stage in Oscar Wilde's play 'Salome'.
He became fascinated by the play, which was once described by The Times as 'morbid, bizarre, repulsive and very offensive.'
In conversation with Mark Rickards, Al Pacino describes the inspiration he has found in Wilde's work. He first saw the play performed by Steven Berkoff, and says that he was 'bitten by the rub of love.' He made the decision to stage it for a theatre in Los Angeles, and to film the process of putting it on stage. The end result is the extraordinary 'Wilde Salome', a blend of drama and documentary directed by Al Pacino himself.
The programme features an exclusive contribution from Al Pacino on his interpretation of Oscar Wilde's work, extracts from the film, and contributions from producer Barry Navidi and Wilde's grandson, Merlin Holland. Al Pacino says he has a taste for 'making movies where I can just make it up as I go along.'
This is a chance to hear from one of the world's greatest actors on one of the world's greatest writers.
TUESDAY 03 JANUARY 2012
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b018tzfw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b018wfsf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b018tzg0)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b018tzg2)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b018tzg4)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b018tzg6)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b019c735)
Radio 4's daily prayer and reflection with the Very Revd Kelvin Holdsworth.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b018wx3v)
Government advisors, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee, say that farmers should be paid public money as a reward for improving animals' quality of life. Professor Christopher Wathes explains why he wants to see a welfare stewardship scheme. As the Farming Today cow nears six years old, the average lifespan of the UK dairy cow, we discuss the longevity and welfare of Holstein Friesians, the breed which dominates milk production. Plus, Edward Garner from market analysts Kantar Worldpanel looks at the prospects for food prices in 2012.
Presenter: Anna Hill
Producer: Sarah Swadling.
TUE 06:00 Today (b018wy44)
Morning news and current affairs, presented by James Naughtie and Sarah Montague, debating whether political consensus can be found on social care funding (
08:10), the Republican presidential race at the Iowa caucuses (
07:50), faulty breast implants (
07:30) and Iran's "sabre rattling" (
08:30).
TUE 09:00 In Our Time (b018wy46)
The Written World
Episode 2
In the second instalment of his survey of the written word, Melvyn Bragg traces the evolution of writing technology from the time of classical antiquity to the invention of printing. He discovers the origins of the book, and encounters the earliest surviving intact example in the Western world.Producer: Thomas Morris.
TUE 09:30 The Paper Round (b014q007)
Molly Parkin
A series in which five public figures revisit the route of their paper round to reveal how it influenced their attitudes to work, creativity and independence.
Having a paper round is a rite of passage for many children, and many successful public figures claim to have braved the early mornings and the elements to deliver newspapers. For some, it is a chance for independence and freedom, or a temporary escape from the horrors at home. For others, it provides money to spend on music, treats and girl/boyfriends.
Artist and irrepressible Bohemian Molly Parkin joins actor Bob Kingdom in Dollis Hill, the location of the first of her two paper rounds.
Producer: Olivia Landsberg
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b018wy48)
Looking for Transwonderland
Episode 2
Noo Saro-Wiwa was brought up in England, but every summer she was dragged back to Nigeria - a country she viewed as an annoying parallel universe where she had to relinquish all her creature comforts and sense of individuality. Then her father, activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, was executed there by the military government causing international outrage, and she didn't return for 10 years. Recently, she decided to rediscover and come to terms with the country her father loved. Today's episode takes her to Transwonderland, a bizarre deserted amusement park, and to a tranquil sacred shrine.
Read by Janice Acquah
Abridged by Laurence Wareing
Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b018wy4b)
Selection for secondary school; writing about fathers
Jane Garvey asks whether we are seeing the return of a selective secondary school system; tips for multigenerational living with Shay Grewal and Michele Hansen. A survival guide for women with too much to do - is it time to embrace domestic sluttery? And writing about fathers with novelists Kerry Young + Roopa Faruki.
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b018wy4d)
AS Byatt - Possession
Episode 12
Roland Michell, an academic research assistant, is completing some work in the London Library, when he comes across two unfinished letters written by the Victorian Poet, Randolph Henry Ash. Theses letters have obviously not been found by anyone else and they are not to his wife but to an unknown woman. Roland, whose entire academic life has been devoted to studying Ash, decides, recklessly to pocket the letters and try to determine exactly who they were written to.
This is the beginning of a quest that will change literary history and with the help of a feminist literary scholar Maud Bailey, they are determined to find out the truth behind these letters. Certain other characters hear about the letters and are eager to get their hands on them for their own financial gain and will do so, by any means necessary, and so the chase begins.
Cropper and Fergus, follow Roland and Maud to France in the hope of forcing them to hand over the letters. Unfortunately however they bump into Leonora and Blackadder instead!
Written by A S Byatt. Dramatised by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Cast:
Maud ...... Jemma Redgrave
Roland ...... Harry Hadden-Paton
Ash ....... James d'arcy
Lamotte ..... Rachael Stirling
Blackadder ..... Bill Paterson
Cropper ..... Matthew Marsh
George ...... Kenneth Cranham
Joan ....... Joanna David
Beatrice Nest ...... Stella Gonet
Euan ...... Nicholas Boulton
Fergus ...... Jonjo O'Neil
Hildebrand ..... Robert Portal
Val ...... Laura Pyper
Leonora .... Lorelei King
Raoul/Toby Byng .... Sam Dale
Mrs Wapshott/Mrs Cammish/Mrs lees ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Beth/PA/Mrs Judge/Librarian ...... Rachel Atkins
Girl ...... Sylvie Goodwin
Director: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 11:00 Nature (b018wy4g)
Series 5
Soundings from Antarctica
What strikes most people when they first arrive in Antarctica is the quiet . "It's so quiet; its the only place in the world that you can actually hear Geology happening; all these processes that you're schooled to think take thousands and thousands of years, the movement of glaciers and the shifting of rocks ... And that's an amazing experience that process of the landscape changing" says Jeff Wilson, a Director on the BBC series Frozen Planet. And the sounds of 'geology happening' are captured in the first of a new series of NATURE by wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson. The sounds of the ice are astonishing; from the huge, powerful grinding and creaking sounds as glaciers calve or ice sheets buckle under pressure, to the delicate sounds of water lapping under thin sheets of sea ice or the tinkling sounds produced when fine needle-like ice crystals move in a breeze of volcanic gases inside an ice cave at the base of Erebus, Antarctica's most active volcano.
With contributions from some the team who worked on the BBC series, Frozen Planet, NATURE presents a journey in sound across this frozen landscape. Whilst above the ice, the landscape is quiet, below the ice the underwater world is full of sound; for example, Orcas (killer whales) use pulses of sound to navigate rather like bats and produce and squeaks and whistles to communicate with one another over vast distances, whilst Weddell seals produce the most hauntingly beautiful ascending and descending tones. Antarctica - frozen landscape, and surprising, mesmerizing, powerful and haunting soundscape.
Producer Sarah Blunt.
TUE 11:30 How Folk Songs Should Be Sung (b018wy4j)
Immediately after the success of the BBC Radio Ballads, Ewan MacColl set about the Herculean task of trying to drag British folk music into mainstream culture. Frustrated by the dreary amateurishness of folk song performance, he decided to establish his own centre of excellence to professionalise the art. He called it "The Critics Group".
MacColl tutored select artists "to sing folk songs the way they should be sung" and to think about the origins of what they were singing. He introduced Stanislavski technique and Laban theory into folk performance and explored style, content and delivery.
BBC producer Charles Parker recorded these sessions to aid group analysis. 40 years on, the tapes have come to light. For the first time, a clear sound picture can be constructed of this influential group in action. Former group members Peggy Seeger, Sandra Kerr, Frankie Armstrong, Richard Snell, Brian Pearson and Phil Colclough recount six frantic years of rehearsing, performing and criticising each other. They recall the powerful hold that Ewan MacColl exerted which was eventually to lead to the collapse of the group in acrimony and blame.
Presenter Martin Carthy MBE, now an elder statesman of the British folk music scene, shared many of McColl's ambitions but didn't join the group himself. He listens to the recordings and assesses the legacy of MacColl's controversial experiment.
Producers: Genevieve Tudor and Chris Eldon Lee
A Culture Wise Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b018wy4l)
Call You and Yours
What's your Sport? In this Olympics year, what exercise are you doing regularly and why? How affordable is it to stay fit? Whatever your sporting passion - whether it's football, tennis, basketball, badminton, tell us what it means to you. Would you like to do more sport - but your finances won't allow it? Maybe your local area runs sporting schemes that don't cost a penny. Can you afford to play sport regularly or do you feel priced out of regular exercise? Email youandyours@bbc.co.uk, Text 84844 and we may call you back or call 03700 100 444. Lines open at
10am, Tuesday.
TUE 12:57 Weather (b018tzg8)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b018wy4n)
Martha Kearney presents national and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
TUE 13:45 Dear Professor Hawking (b018zd9b)
Episode 2
On the eve of his 70th birthday, BBC Radio 4 pays tribute to one of the world's most famous living scientists, Professor Stephen Hawking. Using letters, archive recordings and interviews, each programme will focus on one aspect of Professor Hawking's life. This is a series which will reveal the thoughts, concerns and humour of one of the icons of modern science.
Contributions from: his children, Lucy Hawking and Tim Hawking; noted theoretical physicist Kip Thorne;
Lord Professor Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal (a student at Cambridge with Hawking); Cosmologist Professor Paul Stelland (a PhD student of Hawkings in the 1980s); Producer Ben Bowie (producer of 'Stephen Hawking's Universe' for Discovery); Biographer Kitty Ferguson; his personal assistant Judith Croasdell; his graduate assistant Sam Blackburn (who looks after the voice/chair technology).
Stephen Hawking was, from 1979 to 2009, the Lucasion Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge (following in the footsteps of Sir Isaac Newton). He is a Companion of Honour, Commander of the British Empire, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society, lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Science and, in 2009, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.
Producer: Julian Mayers
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b018wvmz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b018wy4q)
Birkett
Birkett and the Blind Soldier
By Caroline and David Stafford.
1 of 4
A blind WW1 veteran, accused of murdering his wife, is defended by Norman Birkett, the most celebrated advocate of the inter-war years. 1 of 4
Norman Birkett.....Neil Dudgeon
Billie.....Bonnie Engstrom
Edgar.....Alun Raglan
Lady Pearson.....Adjoa Andoh
Arthur.....Carl Prekopp
MacCormac.....Paul Moriarty
Frazer/Warder.....Adam Billington
Humphreys.....James Lailey
Sgt Waller.....Gerard McDermott
Randall/Clerk..... Rikki Lawton
Grace/Margaret.....Alex Rivers
Woman.....Victoria Inez Hardy
The casebook of Norman Birkett KC (1883-1962) covers pretty much every story that entertained the readers of News of the World between the wars. Birkett was a busy man who, in those days before legal specialisation, could at any one time be dealing simultaneously with a juicy murder, a society divorce or a livid libel action. The four stories in this series cover some of Birkett's most famous cases, including the dramatic trial of Buck Ruxton, the doctor accused of murdering and dismembering his wife and maid; the scandalous Dennistoun affair; and the very peculiar events surrounding the mysterious cyclist Ronald Light. In many ways, these stories represent an abridged history of those inter-war years and reflect, in their parade of moral confusions, hypocrisies, panics and vanities, our own not dissimilar age.
TUE 15:00 Home Planet (b018wy4s)
What has happened to the lapwings?
Fifty or so years ago, winter fields used to be alive with huge flocks of lapwings filling the air with their distinctive "pee-wit" cry?. But no more, as one listener laments on this week's Home Planet. Where have these birds gone, have they moved to friendlier climes or have their numbers crashed for other reasons? Why, you ask, do different animals live for such different lengths of time? And what can we learn about human longevity from them?
And why do dogs insist on rolling in the myriad of unpleasant things they find in fields, and then come home so proud of their new smell?
On the panel this week are ecologist Dr Lynn Dicks of Cambridge University, naturalist Derek Moore and Professor Philip Stott an environmental scientist from the University of London.
The programme is presented by Richard Daniel.
Producer: Toby Murcott
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:30 Questions, Questions (b012wzfs)
Stewart Henderson presents another sparkling series of Questions Questions - the programme which offers answers to those intriguing questions of everyday life, inspired by current events and popular culture.
Each programme is compiled directly from the well-informed and inquisitive Radio 4 audience, who bring their unrivalled collective brain to bear on these puzzlers every week.
In the programme this week, Stewart begins by finding out why tea and coffee pots are different shapes. He sets out on a mission to discover what the Neolithic structures called 'quoits' reveal, grabs a magnifying glass to examine the history of the flea circus and has a good time sampling the answer to the conundrum, what is a wingwom?
Producer: Kate Taylor
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (b018xs89)
Comparing the way we bring up children and train dogs
Do dog training techniques work just as well on children? Michael Rosen investigates, comparing the way we bring up our children and train our dogs. Taking part are Victoria Stilwell of TV's It's Me or the Dog, John Bradshaw, Jez Rose, Steven Rose and parents who have strong views on the subject..
Producer Beth O'Dea.
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b018xs8c)
Series 26
Lonnie Donegan
Downton Abbey actor Jim Carter tells Matthew Parris why skiffle king Lonnie Donegan is his hero.
Lonnie Donegan is probably best remembered for the novelty hits "My Old Man's a Dustman" and "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose its Flavour? " However, early hits like "Rock Island Line" were instrumental in inspiring the likes of John Lennon, Brian May and Roger Daltrey to perform.
Donegan played a decisive role in the development of British popular music. His revitalisation of skiffle provided the inspiration for the whole British beat movement that was to come. Ironically, although Donegan was the catalyst, he was soon eclipsed by the young electric guitar heroes of the mid-sixties, and he was left with the comedy and cabaret circuits.
TUE 17:00 PM (b018xw8l)
Eddie Mair presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b018tzgb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Mark Steel's in Town (b018xs8f)
Series 3
Bungay
In this third series comedian Mark Steel visits 6 more UK towns to discover what makes them and their inhabitants distinctive.
He creates a bespoke stand-up show for that town and performs the show in front of a local audience.
As well as shedding light on the less visited areas of Britain, Mark uncovers stories and experiences that resonate with us all as we recognise the quirkiness of the British way of life and the rich tapestry of remarkable events and people who have shaped where we live.
During the series 'Mark Steel's In Town' Mark will visit Berwick-Upon Tweed, Holyhead, Basingstoke, Douglas (Isle of Man), Bungay and Wigan.
Episode 5 - In this episode Mark performs a show for the residents of Bungay in Suffolk, where he talks about non-existent castles, haunted pubs and chicken roundabouts. From January 2012.
Written and performed by Mark Steel with additional material by Pete Sinclair.
Produced by Sam Bryant.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b018xs8h)
Clarrie tells Emma that Will and Nic arrived safely for their honeymoon in Cape Verde. Emma heads to Brookfield where she's going to be cleaning for Ruth. Ruth tells Emma about the slurry damage. It can't be repaired permanently - and it would cost a fortune. They're not up to date with their NVZ (Nitrate Vulnerable Zones) record, so it seems it won't be a great new year for Ruth and David.
Tom's feeling ready to be a dad, but hesitant Brenda suggests he's only been interested since finding out that John has a son. Tom's HEFF meeting goes well. He's inspired by the possibility of expanding into a pork ready-meal business. Brenda warns that any baby plans should maybe wait a year or two.
Debbie's disappointed that local farmers have been cautious about the possibility of supplying the mega-dairy with feed. She's interested when Brian mentions the possibility of David and Ruth giving up their herd, but Brian's wary of confronting Ruth again to reconsider his offer.
Lily's busy writing a panto review for the school magazine as Debbie and Elizabeth clear the air. Debbie feels the rift has gone on too long and regrets not being around more. Emotional Elizabeth points out that Debbie's here now, and they make up with a hug.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b018xs8k)
Costa Book Awards category winners announced; Tony Marchant; Ronald Searle Tribute
The category winners of the Costa Book Awards 2011 are announced live on Front Row by the awards' director Bud McLintock. Literary editors Gaby Wood and Will Skidelsky give their response to the winners of the five categories - novel, first novel, biography, poetry and children's book. The winner in each category receives £5,000, and one of the five winning books will then selected as the Costa Book of the Year, announced on 24 January, receiving a further £30,000.
Multi-award winning writer Tony Marchant discusses his new drama Public Enemies about the relationship between a convicted murderer recently released from prison, played by Daniel Mays, and his probation officer, played by Anna Friel, who is returning to work after being suspended after a shocking crime was committed by an offender under her supervision.
Mark Lawson is joined by Ralph Steadman and Posy Simmonds in paying tribute to Ronald Searle, the British cartoonist best known for creating the fictional girls' school St Trinian's, who died today aged 91.
This week Front Row talks to an artist, a playwright, and a film director who each face the challenge of following up on especially successful projects. First, ceramic artist Edmund de Waal talks about what comes after his memoir, The Hare With The Amber Eyes, which won several literary prizes last year, and was the biggest selling non fiction paperback .
Producer Nicki Paxman.
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b018wy4d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 Inside Fortress Bill (b018xs8p)
Katie Derham takes a 'warts and all' look at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and examines the immense political power and global influence that it now wields.
In June 2008 Bill Gates retired from the day to day running of Microsoft and began to devote his time to distributing his fortune. Now the Foundation's fund, swelled by a $31 billion pledge over ten years from Warren Buffett in 2006, is estimated at $33.5 Billion making it the world's largest grant-giving organisation giving away up to $4billion a year. Gates' views are now welcomed by world leaders, he addressed the G20 in November of 2010, and the man credited with putting computers into every household, is now fighting a battle to save American Education, beat malaria, TB and polio. His status as a great philanthropist is not up for debate.
However, this is a sharp contrast with his former persona of ruthless businessman flaunting competition law, buying off rivals and pursuing his goals with a vengeance. Critics believe his market-led philosophies can distort the picture, allowing Governments to be let off the hook, causing a brain drain in countries where they are backing aid, and the way that funds are distributed seems to be at the whim of the co-chairs who are beyond any form of accountability.
In this programme, Katie Derham has been given unique access to key decision makers at the Gates Foundation in Seattle, follows Bill Gates as he lobbies European opinion formers in Paris, and hears how some of the grantees view their relationship with the richest man in the world.
Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b018xs8r)
Latest mobile phones and what they offer the visually impaired
What the new generation of phones and smartphones is offering blind and visually impaired people. Lee Kumutat and Geoff Adams-Spink look at the push for accessibility of mainstream phones by manufacturers and designers.
With touch screens, voice activation and Apps to help you customised your phone - there are tips on what mobile technology can offer people of all ages. And if you're thinking of purchasing or upgrading your phone there's plenty of advice on offer from the RNIB's Robin Spinks about what to think about before you buy.
Presenter Peter White
Producer Cheryl Gabriel.
TUE 21:00 Thinking Streets (b018xs8t)
The streets beneath our feet are getting smart. Pavements are melting into the roads and traffic lights are disappearing. Inspired by the work of scientists and engineers in Holland and Japan, this is a revolution in urban design. Part of it is a movement known as 'Shared Space', which promises to dramatically change the way cities look and how we experience them. In Thinking Streets, Angela Saini asks if all these ideas really fulfil the promise of making us all safer, happier and more efficient?
Two years ago, at the heart of London's shopping district, a strange thing happened. The big red buses, white vans and black taxis that usually skimmed pedestrians as they tried to beat the maddeningly slow grid of traffic lights at Oxford Circus, were stone still for thirty seconds. And suddenly every person standing at the junction scrambled into the middle of the road.
In one stroke, life changed for the 90 million people who step through Oxford Circus every year. Not only has it made life easier for those on foot by giving them 70% more space, it's also faster and looks neater. In 2010, the council even claimed that it contributed to a 7% rise in annual sales in the area's shops.
The Oxford Circus diagonal crossing was one of the first steps in a growing movement to change streets in Britain and all over the world. Today, engineers at Imperial College London are helping to overhaul South Kensington's museum district, with pavements being levelled down to the same height as the road and new criss-cross paving patterns designed to calm drivers (the scheme is nearly complete and the result is striking if rather disconcerting). In Portishead, near Bristol, a trial that removed traffic lights from a notoriously congested crossing was such a success there are plans to roll it out across the town. Other schemes already constructed include Brighton's New Road and another in Ashford, Kent. But Shared Space has been labelled 'speed-bump science' by its critics - Jeremy Clarkson among them. True, one of the guiding principles is reducing traffic speed, often with the use of raised brick-paved areas (very long speed-bumps!) but proponents insist Shared Space is a creative and radical solution aimed at improving the experience of all road users. And the benefits go beyond reduced accident rates to a host of socio-economic benefits for the cities, towns and villages choosing to adopt such schemes.
In practical terms, a shared space scheme will involve removing the distinction between streets and pavements. No barriers, few if any road markings, no pedestrian crossings, and little in the way of street signage. The result of this street minimalism is that you enter a shared space very much at your own risk. And this is the key to improving safety, traffic flow and quality of experience. The early roots of this innovative concept lies in the work of the late Dutch traffic engineer, Hans Monderman. A passionate advocate of shared space, Monderman and colleagues started small - more than twenty years ago, converted an intersection in the northern Dutch province of Friesland from a conventional signal-controlled intersection to a brick-paved street, giving equal priority to cars, people and cycles. The idea was that people would use their own minds in navigating the streets, building their own informal traffic rules. Research has shown that these kinds of shared spaces automatically reduced traffic speed to under 20 mph - the threshold at which the chances of being severely injured in a road accident plummets. This highly counterintuitive approach - increasing risk decreases accidents is finding favour (albeit slowly and not without opposition) all over the world.
Today, Monderman's vision can be experienced throughout his Dutch province of Friesland, no where more so than in Drachten, an unassuming town that until recently was famous only for being the home of the Dutch electronics giant Philips. As Angela discovers for herself, Drachten's shared space schemes (and those of its near neighbours) now attracts a regular pilgrimage of engineers and planners, from all parts of the world, eager to experience this new urban vision.
TUE 21:30 In Our Time (b018wy46)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 21:58 Weather (b018tzgd)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b018xs8w)
David Norris and Gary Dobson are found guilty of the murder of Stephen Lawrence. We explore the ways in which the case changed the law and the way the police respond to racially motivated crime .
The Iowa caucus could see dark horses break through in the race for Republican Presidential candidate.
The future is still nuclear , Energy Minister,Charles Hendry tells us , despite doubts about the Fukushima explosion.
with David Eades.
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b018xs8y)
Honoré de Balzac - Cousin Bette
Episode 2
Cousin Bette is one of the best loved and most admired of Honore de Balzac's novels, written when his powers were at their height and marking the culmination of his extraordinary chronicle, La Comedie Humaine.
A tale of seductive women and philandering men, of passionate affairs and spiralling debts, Cousin Bette paints a vivid portrait of Paris in the 1830s and '40s. In a city full of temptations, money is king, morals are loose and the appeals of the virtuous are usually in vain. In the midst of it all sits a poor relation, Cousin Bette, like a spider in her web. Fuelled by bitterness and jealousy, she is determined to weave destruction into the lives of her extended family, the socially superior Hulots.
With her friend and accomplice, the beautiful Madame Marneffe, Bette sets out to manipulate events so that men are brought to their knees and their wives to despair, and she attains the power and prestige she seeks.
In today's episode, the incorrigible Baron Hector Hulot meets a captivating young woman, Madame Marneffe, and Cousin Bette tries to bind the young sculptor, Count Wenceslas Steinbock, that she has 'adopted', ever closer.
Cousin Bette was written in less than a year, in serial instalments, often only completed just before the deadline. Within its pages, Balzac conjures a kaleidoscope of characters from all walks of life, chronicles the rise of a grasping bourgeoisie and tells a gripping tale of jealousy, passion and treachery.
The reader is Alex Jennings.
The translator was Marion Ayton Crawford and the abridger was Sally Marmion.
The producer is Di Speirs.
TUE 23:00 I, Regress (b018xs90)
Series 1
Episode 1
A dark, David Lynch-ian comedy, ideally suited for an unsettling and surreal late night listen. 'I, Regress' sees Matt Berry (The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi's Dark Place, Snuff Box) playing a corrupt and bizarre hypnotherapist taking unsuspecting clients on twisted, misleading journeys through their subconscious.
Each episode sees the doctor dealing with a different client who has come to him for a different problem (quitting smoking, fear of water, etc). As the patient is put under hypnosis, we 'enter' their mind, and all the various situations the hypnotherapist takes them through are played out for us to hear. The result is a dream- (or nightmare-) like trip through the patient's mind, as funny as it is disturbing.
Episode 1: Karen House-Water (Katherine Parkinson) visits Dr Berry to treat her fear of water, and finds that the cure can sometimes be worse than the disease - via mermaids, the titanic, and talking dolphins.
The cast across the series include Katherine Parkinson (IT Crowd), Morgana Robinson (The Morgana Show), Simon Greenall (I'm Alan Partridge), Jack Klaff (Star Wars, For Your Eyes Only), Tara Flynn (The Impressions Show, Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle), Alex Lowe (Barry From Watford, The Peter Serafinowicz Show), and Derek Griffiths (Playschool, Bod, and The Royal Exchange).
A compelling late night listen: tune in and occupy someone else's head!
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2012.
TUE 23:15 Continuity (b00tdnt4)
Episode 1
A Continuity Announcer's booth can be a lonely place - especially on the late shift, when you've barely seen your wife and children for a week. Still, this Radio 4 Continuity Announcer is nothing, if not a consummate professional and he's not going to let his own insignificant little problems get in the way of your listening pleasure. Especially when there are so many exciting programmes coming up in the next week, which he's got to tell you about. At least some of them are exciting. Some of them aren't quite his cup of tea, if he's honest, but that's not really the point, is it? They may be right up your street. It's not really his place to express an opinion. Even if it is tempting. This may be a come-down from heady days spent announcing on the Today programme, but he's got a job to do. Though sometimes it is rather difficult to concentrate.....
Alistair McGowan stars in a new subversive sitcom about a Continuity Announcer brooding on the escalating disasters of his private and professional life; at the same time as attempting to give us a preview of the programmes on offer in the coming week on Radio 4. Or what might be Radio 4 in a parallel universe. Trails for 'The Ethical Enigma', 'Britain's Favourite Sound' and 'The History of Britain One Year at a Time' are just some of the strange delights on offer in the world of this 'radio professional', who harbours a slightly inappropriate relationship with his audience.
Written by Hugh Rycroft a stalwart of 'The News Quiz' and co-creator of 'Parliamentary Questions' and 'Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue', the series also features the voices of Lewis Macleod, Sally Grace, Charlotte Page and David Holt.
Produced by David Spicer and Frank Stirling
A Unique Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 23:30 Britain in a Box (b00y4cjj)
Series 4
World in Action
Paul Jackson looks back to ITV's pioneering show, World in Action, which led the way for current affairs from 1963 to 1998.
What was the impact and legacy of its tough journalism, which launched the TV career of John Pilger and helped to free the Birmingham Six? With John Pilger, Lord Douglas Hurd and Sir Jeremy Isaacs.
Not only celebrating innovative TV programmes over the decades, 'Britain in a Box' uses them as a window on a particular period in our cultural and social history.
Producer: Paul Kobrak
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
WEDNESDAY 04 JANUARY 2012
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b018tzh1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b018wy48)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b018tzh3)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b018tzh5)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b018tzh7)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b018tzh9)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b019c7rj)
Radio 4's daily prayer and reflection with the Very Revd Kelvin Holdsworth.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b018xsm8)
Egg producers have started to bring judicial review proceedings against the government over its refusal to ban imports of eggs produced in illegal battery cages. The British Egg Industry Council says it wants enforcement, rather than DEFRA's voluntary commitment from the food industry not to use illegal eggs. The National Farmers Union explains why the cost of carrots and potatoes has dropped, in the midst of food price inflation. Next season's potato crop is already being planned, as Anna finds out in windswept Norfolk. And: mutilations, or necessary measures in the interests of animal welfare? The president of the British Veterinary Association discusses the place of hens beak trimming and castration of piglets without anaesthetic in 21st century farming.
Presenter: Anna Hill
Producer: Sarah Swadling.
WED 06:00 Today (b018xsmb)
Morning news and current affairs, presented by James Naughtie and Evan Davis, discussing the cultural repercussions of the murder of Stephen Lawrence (
08:10), whether selective publication is harming medical science (
07:50) and the science of meditation (
08:20).
WED 09:00 In Our Time (b018xsmd)
The Written World
Episode 3
Melvyn Bragg continues his survey of the history of the written word by investigating how writing has influenced the spread of religion. He finds out how the evolution of writing materials and techniques allowed religions to develop, and encouters some of the earliest surviving sacred texts, including the 4th-century Codex Sinaiticus and a Koran produced in Iraq in the 8th century.Producer: Thomas Morris.
WED 09:30 The Paper Round (b014qndb)
Tony Macaulay
A series in which five public figures revisit the route of their paper round to reveal how it influenced their attitudes to work, creativity and independence.
Having a paper round is a rite of passage for many children, and many successful public figures claim to have braved the early mornings and the elements to deliver newspapers. For some, it's a chance for independence and freedom, or a temporary escape from the horrors at home. For others, it provides the money to spend on music, treats and girl/boyfriends.
Northern Ireland peace builder and writer Tony Macaulay recalls his paper round on the Shankill Road in 1970s Belfast with actor Bob Kingdom.
Producer: Olivia Landsberg
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b018xsmg)
Looking for Transwonderland
Episode 3
Noo Saro-Wiwa was brought up in England, but every summer she was dragged back to Nigeria - a country she viewed as an annoying parallel universe where she had to relinquish all her creature comforts and sense of individuality. Then her father, activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, was executed there by the military government causing international outrage, and she didn't return for 10 years. Recently, she decided to rediscover and come to terms with the country her father loved. Today's episode takes her to Ibidan, her father's university city, to the now derelict imperial city of Benin and on to a successful mechanised farm run by Zimbabweans.
Read by Janice Acquah
Abridged by Laurence Wareing
Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b018xsmj)
Multi-generational living phone-in
Has economic necessity led to you living in a multi-generational or extended household? How does it work: an overwhelming challenge or pleasantly rewarding? Have your grown children refilled the 'empty nest' because of unemployment? Have you decided to take in a lodger or are you now sharing your home with a foreign student? Do the financial benefits outweigh the loss of privacy? Jenni Murray talks to listeners about the ups and downs of sharing a home.
WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b018xs8m)
AS Byatt - Possession
Episode 13
Roland Michell, an academic research assistant, is completing some work in the London Library, when he comes across two unfinished letters written by the Victorian Poet, Randolph Henry Ash. Theses letters have obviously not been found by anyone else and they are not to his wife but to an unknown woman. Roland, whose entire academic life has been devoted to studying Ash, decides, recklessly to pocket the letters and try to determine exactly who they were written to.
This is the beginning of a quest that will change literary history and with the help of a feminist literary scholar Maud Bailey, they are determined to find out the truth behind these letters. Certain other characters hear about the letters and are eager to get their hands on them for their own financial gain and will do so, by any means necessary, and so the chase begins.
Back in England, Maud is made aware that Cropper is wanting to buy up all the letters and take them back to America to add to his collection and that he will, by any means necessary, achieve this.
Written by A S Byatt. Dramatised by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Cast:
Maud ...... Jemma Redgrave
Roland ...... Harry Hadden-Paton
Ash ....... James d'arcy
Lamotte ..... Rachael Stirling
Blackadder ..... Bill Paterson
Cropper ..... Matthew Marsh
George ...... Kenneth Cranham
Joan ....... Joanna David
Beatrice Nest ...... Stella Gonet
Euan ...... Nicholas Boulton
Fergus ...... Jonjo O'Neil
Hildebrand ..... Robert Portal
Val ...... Laura Pyper
Leonora .... Lorelei King
Raoul/Toby Byng .... Sam Dale
Mrs Wapshott/Mrs Cammish/Mrs lees ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Beth/PA/Mrs Judge/Librarian ...... Rachel Atkins
Girl ...... Sylvie Goodwin
Director: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 11:00 Among the Managers (b018xt53)
Episode 1
It's a world in which team work and goals are more than just motivational phrases, and moving the goal posts will get you sent off the pitch. Football management has come a long way since men in sheepskin coats bestrode the land. The BBC's business editor Robert Peston lifts the lid on this multimillion pound industry and, with managers like Harry Redknapp, Dario Gradi and Sam Allardyce, explores the management skills of Britain's top football managers.
WED 11:30 A Short Gentleman (b018xt55)
Episode 1
Robert sails through all his exams, but finding a girlfriend is more testing.
Hugh Bonneville stars as Robert Purcell, QC, a perfect specimen of the British Establishment, who applies faultless legal logic to his disastrous personal life.
Jon Canter's comic novel adapted by Robin Brooks.
Father ...... James Hayes
Mother ...... Nichola McAuliffe
Young Robert ...... Josef Lindsay
Pilkington ...... Ewan Bailey
Ticky Moxon-Smith ...... Katherine Jakeways
Judy Page ...... Tracy Wiles
Alan Temperley ...... Gerard McDermott
'Brilliant, but for God's sake don't let this book fall into the hands of any women - if they find out what we're really like we'll never hear the end of it.' Charlie Higson
'A witty, accomplished, and highly entertaining warning about the folly of ambition.' Mail on Sunday
'Elegantly written, civilised and genuinely funny.' The Scotsman
'Robert is infectious. You might just catch yourself bringing his loathsome logic to your own domestic dilemmas.' Time Out.
Jon Canter read Law at Cambridge, where he was President of Footlights, then worked as an advertising copywriter before becoming a radio and TV scriptwriter. His comic novels include Seeds of Greatness, A Short Gentleman and Worth.
Director: Jonquil Painting.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in From January 2012.
WED 12:00 You and Yours (b018xt57)
With Shari Vahl
2012 has all the makings of an exciting year for the global travel industry, despite the current economic and financial climate. How will our travels plans be affected by the Olympics, the Euro and the Arab Spring? Travel writer Simon Calder joins the programme with his forecast of travel trends for the year ahead.
Apple have applied to the US patent office to register facial recognition software for its hand held devices and Google is also introducing phones which identify users through sight and touch recognition. Technology journalist Gareth Mitchell looks at what other applications the new technology can be used for and how it could offer more security for consumers.
The Chief Executive of new charity Disability Rights UK Liz Sayce talks to Peter White about why it's been established.
Producer Helen Roberts.
WED 12:30 Face the Facts (b018xtr9)
The Disowned Army
John Waite reports on the campaign to recognise 5,000 Irish soldiers who deserted their own country's army to fight Nazism alongside the British in World War 2. When they returned home their names were placed on "The List" and they were denied jobs and treated as outcasts. Many in Ireland now see their treatment as inhumane and unjustified and there is a campaign underway to have the Irish Government officially erase the stain on their names.
WED 12:57 Weather (b018tzhc)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b018xtrc)
Martha Kearney presents national and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
WED 13:45 Dear Professor Hawking (b018zdds)
Episode 3
On the eve of his 70th birthday, BBC Radio 4 pays tribute to one of the world's most famous living scientists, Professor Stephen Hawking. Using letters, archive recordings and interviews, each programme will focus on one aspect of Professor Hawking's life. This is a series which will reveal the thoughts, concerns and humour of one of the icons of modern science.
Contributions from: his children, Lucy Hawking and Tim Hawking; noted theoretical physicist Kip Thorne;
Lord Professor Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal (a student at Cambridge with Hawking); Cosmologist Professor Paul Stelland (a PhD student of Hawkings in the 1980s); Producer Ben Bowie (producer of 'Stephen Hawking's Universe' for Discovery); Biographer Kitty Ferguson; his personal assistant Judith Croasdell; his graduate assistant Sam Blackburn (who looks after the voice/chair technology).
Stephen Hawking was, from 1979 to 2009, the Lucasion Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge (following in the footsteps of Sir Isaac Newton). He is a Companion of Honour, Commander of the British Empire, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society, lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Science and, in 2009, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.
Producer: Julian Mayers
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b018xs8h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b018xtrf)
Dolly Would
By Alison Carr. When Denize falls in love with washed-out Kenny Rogers impersonator, Martin, her dreams of being a singer are long forgotten. But then 'Kenny' asks her to be his 'Dolly'. A romantic comedy about the highs and lows of pretending to be Dolly Parton.
Denize ... Sharon Percy
Joanne ... Libby Davison
Martin ... Lee Ross
Other parts are played by Tracy Wiles, Gerard McDermott and Victoria Inez Hardy
Directed by James Robinson
A romantic comedy from North East based new writer, Alison Carr.
"People always ask me how long it takes to do my hair. I don't know, I'm never there." Dolly Parton
Dolly Would takes us into the uber-kitsch world of the Dolly Parton tribute act - a world of rhinestone encrusted cocktail dresses, silver fringed pedal pushers and star-spangled stetsons. But most of all, it's a world of music: From 9 to 5 to Jolene, Dolly's hits are irresistible.
But as aspiring singer Denize falls under Dolly's spell, it's not long before the wigs get heavier and the makeup thicker. "Once there was a Dolly Parton look-alike contest on Santa Monica Boulevard - Dolly lined up with all the other contestants and she lost. How could I look like a woman who doesn't even look like herself?".
WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b018xtrh)
Paul Lewis and guests take your calls on benefits.
There are more changes to the benefits system coming into force this year as the Government continues to make welfare more affordable - bringing the total welfare savings to £18bn per year by 2014-15.
From 1 January 2012, the rate of Local Housing Allowance for single people aged 25-34 who rent from a private landlord will be reduced.
There are further changes to the Tax Credits system coming in from April 2012. These include the faster withdrawal of the credit as a claimant's incomes rises; couples with children must work at least 24 hours a week between them, with one working at least 16 hours, to qualify for Working Tax Credits; and the couple and lone parent rates of Working Tax Credit will be frozen.
If you rent from a private landlord are you clear about how the changes to the Local Housing Allowance will affect you?
If you and your partner currently claim Working Tax Credits will you still be eligible?
Are you wondering how you find out if you qualify for benefits, and where you apply to?
Have you become unemployed or need help while looking for work?
Do you know what to do if your benefit is overpaid?
Are you uncertain as to whether you can claim Disability Living Allowance?
Expert panel:
Julie Mitchell, Gingerbread
Phil Agulnik, Entitled to
Sally West Age UK
Lines open at
13:00. The number to ring - 03 700 100 444.
WED 15:30 Thinking Streets (b018xs8t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b018xtrk)
Uniforms and status in hospitals - Cities under siege
How important is the way we dress for work? Laurie speaks to Stephen Timmons who has studied the impact on a hospital of removing professional markers and having almost all staff dress the same.
Also how cities are the new battleground of our increasingly urban world: Stephen Graham, author of Cities Under Siege, tells Laurie that from the slums of the global South to the financial districts of the developed world political violence is policed with increasingly military tactics. He claims that the all over the world the city shows more and more features of a war zone. They discuss what he calls the 'new military urbanism' with Melissa Butcher.
Producer: Charlie Taylor.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b018xtrm)
The Daily Mail carries the Stephen Lawrence case over 21 pages today, a mark of the significance the story had for the paper and, according to many including the Mail, the significance the paper had to the story. Brian Cathcart has been following the Lawrence case from the start and written on it extensively and, through Hacked Off, is a campaigner for media reform. When the media are under such scrutiny in the Leveson inquiry, could awareness of the Mail's long campaign be ideally timed, showing the difference newspapers can make when they break the rules?
Meanwhile, a report by Dame Elizabeth Filkin into the Metropolitan police and the media has warned officers over links with journalists. Sean O'Neill is the Crime Editor for The Times, and as such he deals with the police on a day-to-day basis. What will Filkin's recommendations mean for his work?
Rupert Murdoch joined Twitter on New Year's Eve, closely followed by somebody claiming to be his wife, Wendi Deng. Both accounts were verified by Twitter, but the Deng account has since been revealed as a fake. So what happened? And does Murdoch's interest in the site mean he's thinking about investing in it? Emma Barnett, Digital Media Editor at the Daily Telegraph, has been following developments.
And the editor of the Financial Times, Lionel Barber, gives his views on the reporting of the economy. What, if anything, went wrong before and what role do newspapers have in warning of financial hazards ahead?
The producer is Simon Tillotson.
WED 17:00 PM (b018xtrp)
Eddie Mair presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b018tzhf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Heresy (b018xtrr)
Series 8
Episode 6
Victoria Coren presents the last in the current series of the show which dares to commit heresy.
Her guests this week are comedian Sue Perkins, singer Cerys Matthews and actress Maureen Lipman. Together they have fun exposing the wrong-headedness of received wisdom and challenging knee-jerk public reaction to events.
Both Sue Perkins and Maureen Lipman disagree with the view that the world would be a better place if it was run by women, arguing that women would make an equally fine mess of things.
Former lead singer with the rock group Catatonia, Cerys Matthews, doesn't believe it's more fun to be a pop star than a classical violinist. Confessing to a previous life as an oboe player, she claims that orchestral musicians definitely have more fun - particularly the horn players.
All three guests rather struggle to argue against the received opinion that there is still stigma attached to Internet dating but, when challenged by Victoria Coren, they all admit that they have never tried it themselves - and never would.
Producer: Brian King
An Avalon Television production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b018xtrt)
After Gary causes chaos in the kitchen, Susan gets an opportunity to suggest to Bert that Tracy could move in with them. She explains that the dining room could become Bert's bedroom and Neil could fit a toilet and shower into the old pantry. Susan tells Neil that Bert didn't sound too keen on having Brad and Chelsea there but he's agreed to discuss it with Tracy.
Jill asks Ruth if they're going to Pat's 60th birthday party. Ruth's accepted Lilian's invitation but David's not in party mood after yesterday's visit from the Environment Agency. The emptied slurry lagoon will have to be completely re-lined at a cost of about £20K. And the inspector noticed the NVZ records weren't up to date so they'll now be subject to more stringent inspection of their records.
David tells Jill that they're considering cutting their losses and selling the herd, although Ruth can't imagine Brookfield without a dairy herd. Jill's sure Phil would understand.
Ruth tells Jill that they had a visit from Debbie. She'd heard they might be going out of dairy so wondered if they'd like to reconsider the offer to supply fodder. Ruth can't believe she could be so insensitive.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b018xtrw)
Actor Michael Fassbender, and Julian Lloyd Webber on Delius
With Mark Lawson.
Actor Michael Fassbender is hotly-tipped for Oscar nominations this year, which will be welcome reward for shooting six films in the last 20 months, three of which are about to open: Shame, directed by Steve McQueen - his former collaborator on the Irish hunger-strike film Hunger - Haywire with Steven Soderbergh, and A Dangerous Method with David Cronenberg. Fassbender discusses the challenges of the quick succession of demanding roles.
Cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and violinist Tasmin Little discuss the music and reputation of the composer Frederick Delius as the 150th anniversary of his birth approaches.
In the new TV drama series Eternal Law, the daily life of a York law firm is mixed with the magic of angels. Samuel West and Ukweli Roach star as Zak and Tom, angels working as lawyers, with strict instructions to help humans without getting emotionally involved. Matt Thorne reviews.
How do you follow up a smash hit? In the second of this week's series, One Man, Two Guvnors writer Richard Bean and National Theatre Director Nicholas Hytner discuss what's next after the James Corden comedy became one of the theatre successes of 2011.
Producer Jerome Weatherald.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b018xs8m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
WED 20:00 Bringing Up Britain (b018xtry)
Series 4
Butting Out and Letting Go
In the first few months parents control their children's lives but even weaning and potty training could be said to be the first steps towards independence. From then on the debates about when a child can cycle to school go to a sleep-over or play out with friends are a daily occurrence. But, a failure to foster true independence even in young children is key to debates being had now about whether young people are coping at university and work and with life in general.
Are we raising a generation unable to deal practically and emotionally with adult life after years of parental indulgence and funding? As a parent, getting involved in playground disputes, obsessively supervising play and, later, University and careers can sometimes seem the responsible and caring thing to do, but is it really?
The recession and rising house prices might mean that adult children increasingly come back home or never leave. So, how do parents and adult children live together and what might we lose or gain if living with Mum and Dad becomes inevitable?
With Dr Terri Apter, author of 'The Myth of Maturity', the Guardian journalist Deborah Orr who writes about the family and society, Dr Helene Guldberg, author of 'Reclaiming Childhood: Freedom and Play in an Age of Fear' and Matt Whyman, who offers advice to young people about how to manage their parents via the advice web-site TheSite.org.
Producer: Erin Riley.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (b018xts0)
Series 2
Paul Flatters: Childhood is Better Than Ever
Social trends analyst Paul Flatters argues that childhood today is better than ever before, and he explains why wrongly thinking the reverse is bad for us as individuals and as a society.
Paul deconstructs several examples of recent media coverage, and explains why charities and academics have a vested interest in exaggerating the negative.
He also seeks to dispel the inevitable gloom of early January by pointing out the many ways in which research suggests life is certainly no worse, and much better, for children and families than it has ever been before.
Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling.
Recorded in front of an audience at the RSA in London, speakers take to the stage to air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society.
Producer: Giles Edwards.
WED 21:00 Big Game, Little Game (b00txjsg)
Episode 1
Mark Stephen charts a unique swap involving two gamekeepers - one from the Kalahari, the other from the Angus Glens.
Gamekeeper Andy Malcolm is swapping 40,000 acres of heather moorland high in the Angus Glens for a reserve on the edge of the Kalahari in South Africa. The game warden from there will travel to Scotland in a unique swap documented for BBC Radio 4.
The programmes offer the very different perspectives of Scottish gamekeeper Andy Malcolm and his South African counterpart Dylan Smith. Both men track their experiences in the form of audio diaries and in reflections to presenter Mark Stephen who is alongside them in this job exchange. How they deal with issues ranging from land conservation to animal welfare and how far experiences in their own landscapes can translate into ideas for their new ones, is at the heart of the recordings.
The Tswalu game reserve in South Africa is currently owned by Nicky Oppenheimer's family but was originally the vision of the Manchester entrepreneur Stephen Boler. In a four year period he established the 100 000 hectare reserve and introduced thousands of game animals, including sable and roan antelope, Cape buffalo and cheetah. Following his death in 1999 the Oppenheimers purchased Tswalu and set about the task of restoring the Kalahari to itself: hunting was stopped, farm buildings and fences were removed and indigenous game like the endangered desert black rhino and black-maned Kalahari lions were brought home. The Oppenheimer's regularly spent time at Lord Dalhousie's Invermark estate in Scotland and although the lands were vastly different the realities of overseeing them was not: the idea of an exchange arose from a desire to broaden the experiences of the two management teams.
Dylan Smith, Tswalu's Projects Manager, is engaged in a huge conservation effort which allows many endangered animals to flourish. In some cases, surpluses are used to restock other reserves. In Scotland there is a harsher reality; Invermark is a traditionally run sporting estate and it's continued survival is dependant on producing Red Grouse and Red Deer for shooting. Andy Malcolm and the other five gamekeepers who work this 55,000 acre highland wilderness take 700 deer and up to 1200 brace of grouse annually. However they are quick to point out that there are many other beneficiaries. "It's a well documented fact that managing moorland for grouse improves habitat and increases biodiversity. And at peak times the estate employs up to 40 seasonal workers- grousebeaters, ghillies, ponymen and the like. That, in turn, boosts the local economy. All of this is not always appreciated politically.
Andy Malcolm's life in Kalahari takes some adjusting to: from the tortoise ambling across the road, to adrenalin filled ventures when he's tracking rhinos and zapping lions: "It's the end of a most amazing week...I'm aware of how much I haven't told you. I haven't told you just how amazing this place really is; how extraordinary it is to be seeing so many different animals, birds, insects and plants; and how perplexing it is not to know what they are; how strange it feels to be in an environment that holds potential dangers. It's a place that, if it weren't for the roads, you could imagine nobody had ever been here before you. When I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is open the doors and listen. Back home, you can always hear a river or burn, or the wind in the trees, or a dog barking, or a plane flying over. Here it's a stillness that's more like total deafness. And as I have breakfast, I listen to the world waking up.
"And I still haven't scratched the surface of Tswalu..It has a vast area of plain crossed with dunes, parallel but half a mile between them, it has mountains that look higher than anything we've got and far more inaccessible due to the incredibly broken ground, it has hidden glens and I've even seen a pond! It has big open areas and dense thicket, it has trees that look so old and gnarled that they might have seen the very first white men. And it's hot."
Meanwhile in Scotland Dylan is also adjusting - particularly given the dramatic change in temperature and the very different tasks undertaken, from cutting firewood for the bothies to shovelling gravel into potholes: "this has been one of the most unusual weeks I have spent in my entire life.Invermark is an incredible place - I have often heard of the Scottish Highlands and yet when one hears such talk, one is never truly able to capture the essence of a place. In order for this to happen, for a place to be indelibly imprinted on ones mind and soul, one needs to be drawn into its very heart and soul."
Producer: Sue Mitchell.
WED 21:30 In Our Time (b018xsmd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b018tzhh)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b018xts2)
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner says those suspected of involvement in the murder of Stephen Lawrence should not 'rest easy in their beds'. We go to their home suburb of Eltham to see if the locals agree.
Germany's President is accused of threatening journalists to cover up an alleged corruption scandal.
The squeezed Middle classes face a less than prosperous 2012. Stephanie Flanders introduces a World Tonight panel to the Conservative Party's Deputy Chairman,Michael Fallon.
with Robin Lustig.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b018xts4)
Honoré de Balzac - Cousin Bette
Episode 3
Cousin Bette is one of the best loved and most admired of Honore de Balzac's novels, written when his powers were at their height and marking the culmination of his extraordinary chronicle, La Comedie Humaine.
A tale of seductive women and philandering men, of passionate affairs and spiralling debts, Cousin Bette paints a vivid portrait of Paris in the 1830s and '40s. In a city full of temptations, money is king, morals are loose and the appeals of the virtuous are usually in vain. In the midst of it all sits a poor relation, Cousin Bette, like a spider in her web. Fuelled by bitterness and jealousy, she is determined to weave destruction into the lives of her extended family, the socially superior Hulots.
With her friend and accomplice, the beautiful Madame Marneffe, Bette sets out to manipulate events so that men are brought to their knees and their wives to despair, and she attains the power and prestige she seeks.
In today's episode, as Bette and Madame Valerie Marneffe find common cause and prepare to entrap Baron Hulot, Bette learns some unwelcome news about her young sculptor Wenceslas.
Cousin Bette was written in less than a year, in serial instalments, often only completed just before the deadline. Within its pages, Balzac conjures a kaleidoscope of characters from all walks of life, chronicles the rise of a grasping bourgeoisie and tells a gripping tale of jealousy, passion and treachery.
The reader is Alex Jennings.
The translator was Marion Ayton Crawford and the abridger was Sally Marmion.
The producer is Di Speirs.
WED 23:00 Detective Sergeant Nick Mohammed (b018xtw1)
Series 1
Episode 4
Uh oh, not another bank Heist... Kerching! Join Nick and co. as they attempt to solve something akin to that bit at the start of The Dark Knight.
Written and performed by Nick Mohammed, with Anna Crilly & Colin Hoult.
Produced by Victoria Lloyd.
WED 23:30 Britain in a Box (b00yd8n5)
Series 4
The Old Grey Whistle Test
Paul Jackson reveals how the BBC's influential music show devoted to rock albums, The Old Grey Whistle Test, survived on TV for 16 years from 1971 to 1988.
It provided British TV debuts for the likes of Bob Marley and the Wailers, Billy Joel, Judas Priest, Judee Sill and Lynyrd Skynyrd - and yet was accused of ignoring punk.
Looking at how it divided the musical nation, Paul speaks to presenters 'Whispering' Bob Harris, Annie Nightingale and Mark Ellen, plus artists including PIL's Jah Wobble, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson and Wishbone Ash's Martin Turner. There's also a rare interview with Mike Appleton, the show's producer throughout its 18-year history.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
THURSDAY 05 JANUARY 2012
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b018tzj2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b018xsmg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b018tzj4)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b018tzj6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b018tzj8)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b018tzjb)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b019dh2v)
Radio 4's daily prayer and reflection with the Very Revd Kelvin Holdsworth.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b018xw5w)
Oxford Farming Conference: The Price of Food
Farming Today visits the Oxford Farming Conference where farmers are saying shoppers should expect to pay more for food. In the last 12 months food prices have increased by an average of around 6%. Charlotte Smith talks to Agriculture Minister Jim Paice who is calling for an investigation into why shoppers in the UK seem to have seen bigger price hike than other countries in Europe.
The Oxford Farming Conference has taken place in the city for almost 70 years. This year it has commissioned a report by Dr Alan Renwick from the Scottish Agricultural College, looking at who holds the power when it comes to global agriculture and how those companies impact on what we pay for the food we buy. Charlotte Smith asks whether voters or shoppers have any power at all, and talks to delegates about the prices they get for the food they produce on farms across the UK.
Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Angela Frain.
THU 06:00 Today (b018xw5y)
Morning news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague and Justin Webb, including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg's New Year interview (
08:10), Andrew Hosken's investigation into scrap metal theft (
07:30) and debating a new report on assisted dying (
07:50).
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b018xw60)
The Written World
Literature
Melvyn Bragg investigates how the written word, a technology originally used for accountancy, gave rise to all of human literature. He charts the emergence of poetry and history writing in the ancient world, inspects an ancient Egyptian precursor to Hamlet, and discovers how Greek literary traditions reached this country in the Middle Ages.Producer: Thomas Morris.
THU 09:30 The Paper Round (b014qnwj)
Melanie Walters
A series in which five public figures revisit the route of their paper round to reveal how it influenced their attitudes to work, creativity and independence.
Having a paper round is a rite of passage for many children, and many successful public figures claim to have braved the early mornings and the elements to deliver newspapers. For some, it's a chance for independence and freedom, or a temporary escape from the horrors at home. For others, it provides the money to spend on music, fashion and girl/boyfriends.
Gavin and Stacey star Melanie Walters joins Bob Kingdom as she retraces her paper round route in Swansea.
Producer: Olivia Landsberg
A Ladbroke Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b018xw62)
Looking for Transwonderland
Episode 4
Noo Saro-Wiwa was brought up in England, but every summer she was dragged back to Nigeria - a country she viewed as an annoying parallel universe where she had to relinquish all her creature comforts and sense of individuality. Then her father, activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, was executed there by the military government causing international outrage, and she didn't return for 10 years. Recently, she decided to rediscover and come to terms with the country her father loved. In today's episode, she encounters the devastating effect of desertification on the edges of the Sahara and finds tranquility in a mountain kingdom.
Read by Janice Acquah
Abridged by Laurence Wareing
Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b018xw64)
Facial fillers; CSA charges; women's rights in Saudi Arabia
Implants and facial fillers: the new medical time-bomb? The effect on families of the CSA charging to enforce maintenance payments. The Saudi Princess campaigning for women's rights. The science of the teasmade and its dangerous beginnings. Cook the Perfect... meatballs, with Maria Elia. Presented by Jenni Murray.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b018xw66)
AS Byatt - Possession
Episode 14
Roland Michell, an academic research assistant, is completing some work in the London Library, when he comes across two unfinished letters written by the Victorian Poet, Randolph Henry Ash. Theses letters have obviously not been found by anyone else and they are not to his wife but to an unknown woman. Roland, whose entire academic life has been devoted to studying Ash, decides, recklessly to pocket the letters and try to determine exactly who they were written to.
This is the beginning of a quest that will change literary history and with the help of a feminist literary scholar Maud Bailey, they are determined to find out the truth behind these letters. Certain other characters hear about the letters and are eager to get their hands on them for their own financial gain and will do so, by any means necessary, and so the chase begins.
In the knowledge that Cropper is prepared to go to any lengths to get his hands on the letters. Beatrice Nest gathers everyone together to try to stop him in his tracks
Written by A S Byatt. Dramatised by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Cast:
Maud ...... Jemma Redgrave
Roland ...... Harry Hadden-Paton
Ash ....... James d'arcy
Lamotte ..... Rachael Stirling
Blackadder ..... Bill Paterson
Cropper ..... Matthew Marsh
George ...... Kenneth Cranham
Joan ....... Joanna David
Beatrice Nest ...... Stella Gonet
Euan ...... Nicholas Boulton
Fergus ...... Jonjo O'Neil
Hildebrand ..... Robert Portal
Val ...... Laura Pyper
Leonora .... Lorelei King
Raoul/Toby Byng .... Sam Dale
Mrs Wapshott/Mrs Cammish/Mrs lees ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Beth/PA/Mrs Judge/Librarian ...... Rachel Atkins
Girl ...... Sylvie Goodwin
Director: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b018xw68)
Saving the Brazilian Amazon
The Amazon rainforest is perhaps the world's greatest single environmental asset. For years the accepted wisdom has been that the remorseless tide of destruction there is unstoppable. Justin Rowlatt travels to Brazil to question this conventional account and finds that over the last five years rates of deforestation have plummeted by more than half. There is now serious and credible discussion about stopping deforestation completely and even replanting rainforest in deforested areas.
He joins raids deep in the jungle with a team of armed Brazilian environment agents - and watches as a gang of loggers are caught in the act. He meets the farmers and ranchers who are now conserving rather than cutting the forest, including one of the world's biggest farmers, the man they call the King of Soya, Blairo Maggi. He meets an Indian tribe who have been enlisted as "smoke jumpers" - frontier firefighters protecting the forest from wild fires.
He travels to the most remote state in Brazil to see a project which has created a viable market for the traditional industry of wild rubber tapping by building a condom factory in the middle of the jungle.
Of course there is still enormous pressure on the forest. 2011 saw a spike in deforestation and a big debate about the management of the forest which has shown the continued power of the rural lobby. While Brazil's success in taming deforestation remains fragile Justin asks if there is cause for hope that the greatest ecosystem on the planet can be preserved.
Producer: Keith Morris.
THU 11:30 Black Is a Country (b018xwcn)
Episode 1
Singer and songwriter Erykah Badu presents a two-part series exploring the extraordinary underground music generated by the Black Power movement of the late Sixties and early Seventies: radical, beautiful and rare
Contributors include: Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp, founder of the Black Arts Movement Amiri Baraka, Black Arts poet Sonia Sanchez, jazz flautist Lloyd McNeil, Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets, Gill Scott Heron's co-writer Brian Jackson, hip-hop artist Talib Kweli and former Black Panther leader and songwriter Elaine Brown.
Presenter: Erykah Badu
Producer: Simon Hollis
A Brook Lapping Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:00 You and Yours (b018xwcq)
Change 4 Life Nutrition
Four million recipe leaflets have been mailed out to families already signed up to the government's Change 4 Life public health campaign as the Government continues its mission to encourage families to eat healthily on a budget. Discounts will be offered on products such as fruit, vegetables and fish. But, what will the uptake be like?
Things break. That's life. But what do you do about it? Do you replace the faulty item, or repair it? If you're thinking about repairing it - whether it's a pair of shoes, a camera or a washing machine - you'll probably try and work out if it's worth it. What will it cost? And how inconvenient will it be?
The egg industry is launching judicial review proceedings against the Government over its refusal to ban imports of illegally produced battery cage eggs and egg products.
There is a call for better regulation of cosmetic surgery following the breast implant story. Some plastic surgeons are predicting the next big scandal could be silicon fillers. Currently they can be injected by anyone as they are not classified as a medicine.
This Christmas, an estimated 1.3 million e readers were given as presents, and another six hundred and forty thousand tablets found their way into various stockings around the country. And now, in the new year.. it is the season of the app - or, for the uninitiated application.
Since Santa made his deliveries, over a billion apps have been downloaded onto various devices.
THU 12:57 Weather (b018tzjd)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b018xwcs)
Martha Kearney presents national and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
THU 13:45 Dear Professor Hawking (b018zm25)
Episode 4
On the eve of his 70th birthday, BBC Radio 4 pays tribute to one of the world's most famous living scientists, Professor Stephen Hawking. Using letters, archive recordings and interviews, each programme will focus on one aspect of Professor Hawking's life. This is a series which will reveal the thoughts, concerns and humour of one of the icons of modern science.
Contributions from: his children, Lucy Hawking and Tim Hawking; noted theoretical physicist Kip Thorne;
Lord Professor Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal (a student at Cambridge with Hawking); Cosmologist Professor Paul Stelland (a PhD student of Hawkings in the 1980s); Producer Ben Bowie (producer of 'Stephen Hawking's Universe' for Discovery); Biographer Kitty Ferguson; his personal assistant Judith Croasdell; his graduate assistant Sam Blackburn (who looks after the voice/chair technology).
Stephen Hawking was, from 1979 to 2009, the Lucasion Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge (following in the footsteps of Sir Isaac Newton). He is a Companion of Honour, Commander of the British Empire, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society, lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Science and, in 2009, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.
Producer: Julian Mayers
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b018xtrt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b00pg5rb)
Lamia
Adaptation of Keats' sensual narrative poem about the ill-starred love affair of the serpent Lamia and the innocent mortal Lycius.
Narrator ...... Paterson Joseph
Lamia ...... Charlotte Emmerson
Lycius ...... Tom Ferguson
Hermes ...... Jonathan Keeble
With original music by John Harle
Singer: Sarah Leonard.
THU 15:00 Open Country (b018xwcv)
Knockando Woolmill
Knockando woolmill, near Aberlour on Speyside, has produced fabric since 1784. Its original machinery has supported families down the centuries and the mill has retained a place at the heart of the local community, working with wool from local sheep and weaving tweed and blankets for the flocks' owners. A break had to come, though, for renovation and renewal work which, it is hoped, will allow it to continue its work into the next century and beyond. The trust which runs the mill is determined that it should continue to be far more than a living museum, so Helen Mark visits Knockando just as the restoration work comes to an end to ask where it might market its products, whether anyone nowadays has the skills to keep it alive, and how the Knockando community can be involved in its survival.
Presenter: Helen Mark.
Producer : Moira Hickey.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b018w7k4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Bookclub (b018wb0g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b018xwt1)
The Film Programme strays into the territory of Greek tragedy this week embracing the family, family politics and politics itself. Francine Stock talks to Olivia Colman about playing opposite Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady, Phyllida Lloyd's film about Margaret Thatcher; she discusses teenage pregnancy,lost daughters and redemption with Rodrigo Garcia the director of Mother and Child which stars Annette Bening and Naomi Watts; and she joins the critic Jonathan Romney to assess the celebrated Chilean film, Post Mortem which is released this month on DVD. Then, in a final flourish she invites the historian Jeffrey Richards, to reflect on the strange impact which an Atlantic crossing can have on a film''s title.
Producer: Zahid Warley.
THU 16:30 Material World (b018xwt3)
The ancient Mayans had two calendars; the solar calendar of the agricultural year and a lunar calendar on which they based their religious festivals. The two don't coincide very often. The longest cycle they considered lasts 5 125 years and completes a cycle on 21st December 2012 at the midwinter solstice. That has given rise to predictions that this is when the world will end - something not stated in the Mayan texts. It was also the basis for the Hollywood epic "2012" with earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and all the special effects of modern film making.
So how might the world actually end? Could geological or cosmic catastrophe take place this year, and if not, how do we know? But this is not just about geology and astronomy. It's also about human psychology. Why do predictions of an apocalypse continue? What drives those who invent them, and their followers who sometimes have such strong beliefs that they commit mass suicide?
And will the world end eventually, and if so, how and when? Quentin Cooper investigates the end of the world with the help of astronomers, psychologists and anthropologists.
Producer: Martin Redfern.
THU 17:00 PM (b018xw7m)
Eddie Mair presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b018tzjg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Elvenquest (b017757w)
Series 3
Episode 6
When the Questers get drunk to celebrate Vidar's birthday, Sam tries once again to gain (albeit with customary cack-handedness) the affections of Penthiselea, much to her consternation. Meanwhile, Lord Darkness is anxious to get one over his old nemesis, Kaybar the Maleficent, and so decides to do something really newsworthy and light the "Beacon of Doom".
If the "Beacon of Doom" is lit then the runes dictate that one of the Questers must do battle in hand-hand combat with Lord Darkness himself. And so, to impress Penthiselea, Sam volunteers to be that Quester. Problem is, Sam doesn't have the first idea how to fight hand-to-hand. Fortunately, nor it seems, does Lord Darkness. Should make for an interesting showdown then...
Starring:
Darren Boyd as Vidar
Kevin Eldon as Dean/Kreech
Dave Lamb as Amis, aka the "Chosen One"
Alistair McGowan as Lord Darkness
Stephen Mangan as Sam
and
Sophie Winkleman as Penthiselea
Written by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto
Producer: Sam Michell.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b01c6pxw)
Bert asks Tracy to consider moving in. Tracy insists they couldn't all fit in but is persuaded that with Neil's help it could be sorted. The garden for the children would be a big attraction. She eventually agrees to sleep on it.
Three arable farmers have now been lined up ready to supply feed for the dairy, so Brian's got all the elements in place for a fully viable Plan B. Debbie agrees there's no reason why the board shouldn't accept the new plan but knows that Adam won't. Brian insists she mustn't worry about Adam.
Annabelle warns Brian that Andrew Eagleton has been saying Brian has mishandled the whole thing. Debbie thanks her for the warning. The board meeting gets underway and Debbie brings everyone up to date. As expected, Andrew questions the viability of the proposal to use outsiders and brings up the way Brian handled the situation with Adam. Debbie calmly explains that Adam has no experience of this kind of thing, whereas she does. The scheme would be a winner for everyone involved.
Debbie confirms that she will oversee the project. Annabelle proposes they put it to the vote, and asks for a show of hands from all those in favour.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b018xwt7)
New TV comedies; Tom Hooper on life after The King's Speech
With Mark Lawson.
Two new TV comedies, both with a central female role, begin tomorrow. Stella is a comedy drama written by and starring Ruth Jones as a single mother living in the Welsh valleys. New Girl stars Zooey Deschanel as a teacher who moves into an apartment with three single men, after breaking up with her boyfriend. Rachel Cooke reviews.
In the third of three reports on the art of following up a great success, film director Tom Hooper, who won an Oscar for The King's Speech, discusses his next project - a big-screen version of the musical Les Miserables.
Annette Bening and Naomi Watts star in the film Mother and Child, which focuses on women whose lives are profoundly affected by adoption. Antonia Quirke reviews.
American writer Padgett Powell is not afraid of experimentation. Every single sentence in his novel The Interrogative Mood is a question, and he followed this with You & I, a book written entirely in dialogue between two unnamed people. He discusses his move away from what he describes as 'comfy realism'.
Producer Claire Bartleet.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b018xw66)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Report (b018xwt9)
Metal Theft
Metal theft has reached epidemic proportions, not just in the UK but across the world, driven by a huge demand in countries like China.
Andrew Hosken explores how stolen scrap is 'laundered' into the legitimate system, visiting Walsall in the West Midlands where the 'Tatters' have been rag and bone men for generations. The tradition of cash based exchange means sellers of stolen scrap are virtually impossible to track down.
It's now emerging that more sophisticated criminals are involved in large scale theft and moving scrap around the country. Local authorities feel powerless in the face of weak legislation, but the legitimate industry calls for better enforcement.
As forecasts predict that demand for metal will mean that prices continue to rise, we ask why the authorities seem unable to control the theft. The Home Office Minister, Lord Henley tells The Report that although better record keeping will help, the Government is promising to crack down on the cash economy.
Producer: Rob Cave.
THU 20:30 In Business (b018xwtc)
Class Struggle
In nearly every country in the world, there's one sector that everyone seems to think is in crisis: education. America produces legions of Nobel laureates and has the best universities in the world - and yet faces an epidemic of failing state-run schools. India churns out vast numbers of engineers ready for the modern economy, and yet its business leaders yearn for the kind of creative thought that is taught in the Anglo-Saxon system. In the UK we worry about discipline and standards, while at the same time welcoming thousands of foreigners anxious to get qualifications and training that are non-existent in their home counties.
Peter Day asks why everyone thinks education is so bad and what schools and businesses are doing to try to improve it.
Producer: Mike Wendling.
THU 21:00 Nature (b018wy4g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Tuesday]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b018xw60)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b018tzjj)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b018xwtf)
Robin Lustig presents national and international news and analysis.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b018xwth)
Honoré de Balzac - Cousin Bette
Episode 4
Cousin Bette is one of the best loved and most admired of Honore de Balzac's novels, written when his powers were at their height and marking the culmination of his extraordinary chronicle, La Comedie Humaine.
A tale of seductive women and philandering men, of passionate affairs and spiralling debts, Cousin Bette paints a vivid portrait of Paris in the 1830s and '40s. In a city full of temptations, money is king, morals are loose and the appeals of the virtuous are usually in vain. In the midst of it all sits a poor relation, Cousin Bette, like a spider in her web. Fuelled by bitterness and jealousy, she is determined to weave destruction into the lives of her extended family, the socially superior Hulots.
With her friend and accomplice, the beautiful Madame Marneffe, Bette sets out to manipulate events so that men are brought to their knees and their wives to despair, and she attains the power and prestige she seeks.
In today's episode, as Hulot's debts spiral further out of control, Bette seizes on a new plan to destroy her detested family.
Cousin Bette was written in less than a year, in serial instalments, often only completed just before the deadline. Within its pages, Balzac conjures a kaleidoscope of characters from all walks of life, chronicles the rise of a grasping bourgeoisie and tells a gripping tale of jealousy, passion and treachery.
The reader is Alex Jennings.
The translator was Marion Ayton Crawford and the abridger was Sally Marmion.
The producer is Di Speirs.
THU 23:00 Meanwhile, It's Will & Greg (b018xwtk)
Episode 1
Comedy performers William Andrews and Greg McHugh explore the surreal and the absurd through characters and everyday situations in their first sketch show for BBC Radio 4. Along with live sketches recorded in front of an appreciative Glasgow audience, the show also features studio based sketches with Will & Greg as "themselves" exploring a particular scenario and utilizing their hilarious relationship with each other and their trademark skew-whiff logic. The studio based sketches allows them to play with sound and atmosphere of the radio sketch form and blend them with the live audience material.
Together with brand new regulars and one-off sketches, the series explores the bizarrely familiar, the recognisably odd and the upbeat offbeat way of life that only exists when the planet is touched by Will and Greg.
Stars William Andrews and Greg McHugh with Gavin Mitchell and Kirsten Mclean.
Director: Iain Davidson
Script editor: Chris Grady
Original music by Alex Attwood.
Producer: Gus Beattie
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:30 Britain in a Box (b00ym5fc)
Series 4
Men Behaving Badly
Another chance to catch the programme in which Paul Jackson shines a light on TV classics that helped define their time. Tonight, the 1990s sitcom whose title spelled out exactly what the audience saw: Men Behaving Badly, featuring contributions from producer Beryl Vertue, writer Simon Nye and stars Martin Clunes and Leslie Ash.
Producer: Ed Morrish.
FRIDAY 06 JANUARY 2012
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b018tzk1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b018xw62)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b018tzk3)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b018tzk5)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b018tzk7)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b018tzk9)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b019dh3w)
Radio 4's daily prayer and reflection with the Very Revd Kelvin Holdsworth.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b018xy1y)
At a debate in the Oxford Union the motion was passed that 'British agriculture could thrive outside Europe'. It was organised as part of this year's Oxford Farming Conference which brings together hundreds of farmers, food processors, politicians and experts to discuss some of the biggest challenges for the industry. Currently, agriculture accounts for the largest share of of the EU's 400 billion budget. It's estimated that in the UK, each tax payer pays £107 a year into the pot, of which £3.5 billion is paid back to farmers to keep the land in a workable state and to follow basic environmental measures. Though, in the debating hall, the idea won out Charlotte Smith hears that for many farmers being part of Europe is a business necessity. The RSPB says European environmental legislation has helped secure the future of farmland species and she talks to some delegates who explain the pros and cons of being an 'European' farmer.
Presented: Charlotte Smith; Producer: Angela Frain.
FRI 06:00 Today (b018xy20)
Morning news and current affairs, presented by Evan Davis and Justin Webb, with Prime Minister David Cameron's New Year interview (
08:10) and listeners' questions for Professor Stephen Hawking (
07:30).
FRI 09:00 In Our Time (b018xy22)
The Written World
Episode 5
Melvyn Bragg concludes his survey of the written word by considering how the invention of writing made the scientific revolution of the Enlightenment possible - and examines influential documents, including the student notebooks of Sir Isaac Newton.Producer: Thomas Morris.
FRI 09:30 The Paper Round (b014qxbx)
Stephen K Amos
A series in which five public figures revisit the route of their paper round to reveal how it influenced their attitudes to work, creativity and independence.
Having a paper round is a rite of passage for many children, and many successful public figures claim to have braved the early mornings and the elements to deliver newspapers. For some, it's a chance for independence and freedom, or a temporary escape from home. For others, it provides the money to spend on music, fashion and girl/boyfriends.
Award-winning comedian Stephen K Amos recalls his paper round route with Bob Kingdom in Balham, South West London.
Producer: Olivia Landsberg
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b018xy24)
Looking for Transwonderland
Episode 5
Noo Saro-Wiwa was brought up in England, but every summer she was dragged back to Nigeria - a country she viewed as an annoying parallel universe where she had to relinquish all her creature comforts and sense of individuality. Then her father, activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, was executed there by the military government causing international outrage, and she didn't return for 10 years. Recently, she decided to rediscover and come to terms with the country her father loved. The emotional conclusion to her journey takes her to her father's house in Port Harcourt and then on to her ancestral village, where she is reunited with members of her extended family.
Read by Janice Acquah
Abridged by Laurence Wareing
Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b018xy26)
Misogyny in football, Making the first move and Alice Wheeldon
Presented by Jenni Murray. Meryl Streep explains how playing Margaret Thatcher helped change her view of the former PM and gave her a new respect for what she achieved. The Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has been found guilty of racism against Manchester United's, Patrice Evra. The full FA report shows that the row began when Evra made an obscene remark about Suarez's sister. But why does racism cause a furore while sexism and misogyny among players and fans goes on seemingly unchallenged? Ninety five years ago a woman from Derby was accused of attempting to poison the Liberal Prime Minister, Lloyd George. Alice Wheeldon, a suffragette and a supporter of conscientious objectors, was sentenced to ten years in prison, but released after a year after going on hunger strike. Attempts are now being made to clear her name, but why does the case still have such resonance almost a century later? This year is a leap year when traditionally a woman can ask a man on a date, or even make a marriage proposal. But how many women would be prepared to pop the question, and would a man find it acceptable?
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b018xy28)
AS Byatt - Possession
Episode 15
Roland Michell, an academic research assistant, is completing some work in the London Library, when he comes across two unfinished letters written by the Victorian Poet, Randolph Henry Ash. Theses letters have obviously not been found by anyone else and they are not to his wife but to an unknown woman. Roland, whose entire academic life has been devoted to studying Ash, decides, recklessly to pocket the letters and try to determine exactly who they were written to.
This is the beginning of a quest that will change literary history and with the help of a feminist literary scholar Maud Bailey, they are determined to find out the truth behind these letters. Certain other characters hear about the letters and are eager to get their hands on them for their own financial gain and will do so, by any means necessary, and so the chase begins.
1987, the night of the Big Storm, Cropper and Hildebrand are caught in the act of digging up a grave.
Written by A S Byatt. Dramatised by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Cast:
Maud ...... Jemma Redgrave
Roland ...... Harry Hadden-Paton
Ash ....... James d'arcy
Lamotte ..... Rachael Stirling
Blackadder ..... Bill Paterson
Cropper ..... Matthew Marsh
George ...... Kenneth Cranham
Joan ....... Joanna David
Beatrice Nest ...... Stella Gonet
Euan ...... Nicholas Boulton
Fergus ...... Jonjo O'Neil
Hildebrand ..... Robert Portal
Val ...... Laura Pyper
Leonora .... Lorelei King
Raoul/Toby Byng .... Sam Dale
Mrs Wapshott/Mrs Cammish/Mrs lees ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Beth/PA/Mrs Judge/Librarian ...... Rachel Atkins
Girl ...... Sylvie Goodwin
Director: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 11:00 The Internet Millionaires' Club (b018xy2b)
Wouldn't it be nice to have money rolling into your bank account without really having to do anything; perhaps an hour or so's work every other day merely to check everything's flowing smoothly? Thousands of people dream of doing just that, using the internet. They call it "passive income", or "the laptop lifestyle". In this documentary Jolyon Jenkins meets the people trying to make it work - and the others who are telling them that their dream really could come true.
It is a bigger business than you might imagine. For example at the World Internet Summit in a hotel near Heathrow, several hundred people gathered to listen to globe trotting gurus who explained how to leave your job and gain "freedom". And the Summit is only one dozens of events that are going on all the time. But can it really work?
It seems to, for people like Mili Ponce, the self-styled "Twitter Queen" who promotes "health products" like green tea, vitamin pills and diets. Or Mark Lyford, a former online pornography seller and cannabis grower, who claims to have made $320,000 in his first year as an internet marketer. Others struggle, like John Hutchinson, a 70 year old retired charity worker, who has spent £15,000 on advice from "mentors" but who has made almost nothing back.
If all else fails, you can make money working for other internet marketers, for example by writing junk content for websites designed to attract lucrative traffic. You'll get paid 50p per article and you'll be competing with people in the Phillippines and India. In the programme, Jolyon enters this world of globalised hack work, churning out dozens of articles on "How to Get Your Ex Back", "Getting Rid of Boils", and - as a low point - "Huggies Printable Wipes Coupons". The latter turns out to have been commissioned by the administrator of a nursing home in Ohio, who is hoping to earn enough money from internet marketing to quit her day job.
With luck and hard work it is possible to get rich through internet marketing. But only by polluting the internet with rubbish. And for most, the dream of joining the internet millionaires club remains tantalisingly out of reach.
FRI 11:30 North by Northamptonshire (b018xy2d)
Series 2
Episode 5
The dawn of the Dickensian festival brings chaos to Wadenbrook, and Angela has something to tell Frank.
Sheila Hancock narrates the bittersweet adventures of the residents of a small town in Northamptonshire.
Written by Katherine Jakeways.
John Biggins................................Keith
Mackenzie Crook...........................Rod
Kevin Eldon...................Jonathan / Ken
Shelia Hancock....................... Narrator
Jessica Henwick...........................Helen
Katherine Jakeways........ Esther / Jacqui
Felicity Montagu..............................Jan
Geoffrey Palmer........................Norman
Lizzie Roper..............................Angela
Penelope Wilton............................Mary
Rufus Wright................................Frank
Producer: Victoria Lloyd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2012.
FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b018xy2g)
We investigate what's been dubbed the "greyest of grey" industries - the booming business of hand car washes and the car hire companies offering deals too good to be true.
Why the South Africans can't get enough of our fish and chips.
Plus, could the world famous golf club, the Belfry be up for sale ?
And the group who want to ban dating sites for people looking for affairs.
Producer; Beverley Purcell
Presenter; Peter White.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b018tzkf)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b018xy2j)
Edward Stourton presents national and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
FRI 13:45 Dear Professor Hawking (b018zv5r)
Episode 5
On the eve of his 70th birthday, BBC Radio 4 pays tribute to the world's most famous living scientist Professor Stephen Hawking. Using letters, archive recordings and interviews, each programme will focus on one aspect of Professor Hawking's life. This is a series which will reveal the thoughts, concerns and humour of one of the icons of modern science.
Contributions from: his children, Lucy Hawking and Tim Hawking; noted theoretical physicist Kip Thorne;
Lord Professor Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal (a student at Cambridge with Hawking); Cosmologist Professor Paul Shellard (a PhD student of Hawking's in the 1980s); Producer Ben Bowie (producer of 'Stephen Hawking's Universe' for Discovery); Biographer Kitty Ferguson; his personal assistant Judith Croasdell; his graduate assistant Sam Blackburn (who looks after the voice/chair technology).
Stephen Hawking was, from 1979 to 2009, the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge (following in the footsteps of Sir Isaac Newton). He is a Companion of Honour, Commander of the British Empire, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society, lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Science and, in 2009, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.
In the series, the letters were read by Ewan Bailey, Alison Goldie, Eleanor Dobing, and Michael Roberts. Letters from children were read by Joe, Amelie and Lola Farnworth-Mayers, Florence Andrews, and Jules Stockwell. Original music throughout the series was composed by Nick Romero and performed by Carla Rees.
Producer: Julian Mayers
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b01c6pxw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b018xy2l)
Coalition
By Sarah Wooley.
A contemporary thriller set in the world of post-Coalition politics. Like most Liberal Democrats, Iris never thought she'd ever have a Cabinet post, and so has never worried about the past. But is it now coming back to haunt her?
Iris ..... Maureen Beattie
Bill ..... Nicholas le Prevost
Ruby ..... Melody Grove
Mackenzie ..... Robin Laing
Mary ..... Monica Gibb
Headmaster/Dan Lucas ..... Simon Donaldson
Directed by Gaynor MacFarlane.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b018xy2n)
North Somerset
Eric Robson chairs a gardening Q and A with panellists Chris Beardshaw, Anne Swithinbank and Bunny Guinness.
Matt Biggs revisits St Anns allotments in Nottingham to make plans for the coming year. Part of the Listeners' Gardens series.
Guest presenter Toby Buckland visits a commercial cider apple grower.
In addition: can you add chicken feathers to the compost heap? And the pruning principle for evergreens.
Questions answered in the programme are:
Can you add chicken feathers to the compost heap?
Do you have planting advice for an Agapanthus brough over from Madeira.
When and how much can I prune my Garrya Eliptica?
How can I establish my Orange Crocosmia transplanted from Penzance to Somerset?
How high a barrier will ward off carrot fly?
My 60ft mixed border needs more colour in July/August.
Suggestions included: Sedum Matrona and Salvia Huntington Spires.
How do I eliminate Mealybugs on my hoyas?
Can you use homemade compost for seed & potting use?
How do I tackle the buttercup infestation around my large pond?
Why are the central plants of my 100m privet hedge dying?
Produced by Howard Shannon
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 O Henry Stories (b018xy2q)
The Retrieved Reformation
The Retrieved Reformation by O. Henry.
Safebreaker Jimmy Valentine is unexpectedly released from prison and vows to go straight.
A Christmas classic by a cherished American writer, to warm the soul and intrigue the listener with satisfyingly unexpected plot twists.
Reader...John Guerrasio
Abridger...Annie Caulfield
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b018xy2s)
Eve Arnold, Ronald Searle, Sir Michael Dummett and Bob Anderson
Matthew Bannister on
The photographer Eve Arnold - who produced revealing images of all her subjects - from film stars like Marilyn Monroe to some of the world's poorest people.
The cartoonist Ronald Searle, so much more than the creator of St Trinians and Nigel Molesworth. Martin Rowson, Mike Leigh and Russell Davies pay tribute.
The philosopher Sir Michael Dummett, who had radical ideas about meaning and language and also campaigned against racism
And the Hollywood fight director Bob Anderson, who wielded Darth Vader's light sabre and accidentally stabbed Errol Flynn.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (b018xy2v)
Using statistics in court
Tim Harford tackles the use of statistics in court, the average rise in rail fares, infinity and resolves another marital dispute about probability.
FRI 17:00 PM (b018xw7t)
Eddie Mair presents the day's top stories. Including Weather.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b018tzkh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (b018xy2x)
Series 76
Episode 3
Season Tickets, Silicon & Synchronised Swimming. Sandi Toksvig hosts Radio 4's best panel show, in the week that rail fares rose a record 10%, politicians argued over who would cover the cost of replacing 40,000 silicon implants, and tickets for the Olympic synchronised swimming event were massively over-subscribed. Tom Allen, Susan Calman, Jeremy Hardy and Fred Macaulay dissect the stories of the week, and Harriet Cass reads the news. Produced by Victoria Lloyd.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b018xy2z)
Tracy keeps changing her mind about moving in with Bert. She tells Neil and Susan that the house needs lots of work doing to it. On top of everything already discussed, if Neil decorates from top to bottom she'll move in - probably. Neil's not prepared to do it all if she's likely to change her mind again. She reckons she needs another chat with Bert before she can let them know for definite.
Debbie wants to get everything sorted with Adam before she goes home but Brian's left the ball in his court. Adam tells Jennifer he's got nothing to say to Debbie. Although he's glad his bit of Home Farm is safe, he still can't accept the plan. He'd hoped BL would turn it down. Jennifer understands how he feels but can't take sides.
Brian takes Debbie to the airport. Debbie's not convinced Adam will come round, and acknowledges there wasn't an overwhelming vote of confidence from the board. Brian insists it's still a great scheme, even without the inclusion of Home Farm land. Debbie knows there'll be another battle when they publish the plans. They need to get their PR strategy spot on. They can't afford many more glitches.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b018xy31)
Puppets take centre stage
Kirsty Lang reports on how puppets have entered the theatrical mainstream.
She speaks to Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones of the Handspring Company, who made the puppets for the international theatre hit War Horse and to Joe Wright, director of the films Atonment and Hanna, whose new cinema version of Anna Karenina features puppets in a central role.
Wright says all his films are influenced by growing up in a puppet theatre - the Little Angel Theatre in London. Kirsty pays a visit and meets Joe's mother, Lyndie Wright, who founded the theatre in 1961 with her husband John Wright. She also discovers an unexpected link between the Little Angel and the award-winning War Horse puppets.
Producer Philippa Ritchie.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b018xy28)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b018xy33)
Preston, Hertfordshire
Jonathan Dimbleby presents a panel discussion of news and politics from Preston, Hertfordshire, with Stephen Twigg, Shadow Secretary of State for Education; Lionel Barber, Editor of the Financial Times; Jesse Norman, Conservative MP and author of The Big Society; and Constance Briscoe, barrister and author of memoirs Ugly and Beyond Ugly.
Producer: Kirsten Lass.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b018xy35)
Information Overload
The historian Lisa Jardine reflects that information overload is not a new problem. "By the seventeenth-century there was widespread anxiety that the sheer volume of available knowledge was getting out of hand." There were also fears that wars and unrest could obliterate knowledge through the destruction of archives. Nowadays, losing knowledge completely is harder thanks to the internet, but the need to sift it is as great as ever.
Producer: Sheila Cook.
FRI 21:00 Repainting Giverny (b0150p5v)
The writer and broadcaster Irma Kurtz travels to Monet's garden at Giverny to hear how losing his wife and his sight affected the last years of his life and work. Monet's famous Water Lilies series was his last great masterpiece. It nearly wasn't painted as exactly 100 years ago in 1911 his wife died and he stopped painting for the first time in his life.
At the same time, Monet was losing his sight and cataracts changed the way he saw things. It was his great friend and Prime Minister of France, Clemenceau who encouraged him to pick up his brush again.
Irma Kurtz meets one of Monet's few remaining relatives - Claire Joyes - to walk in the gardens Monet created at his home in Giverny, Northern France. Clare tells Irma about the passion Monet had for his wife Alice and how his garden became an obsession. He painted the garden time after time, and re-touched his canvasses many times as well in the search for perfection. A cataract operation towards the end of his life changed the way he saw things again and he went over some of his previous work. Irma ends her journey in Paris looking at the famous Water Lilies canvasses.
The programme contains interviews with James Priest, British head gardener at Giverny, and the painter Sargy Mann who has experienced cataracts and is now blind but still painting.
Producer: Laura Parfitt
A White Pebble Media production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 21:30 In Our Time (b018xy22)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
FRI 21:58 Weather (b01982bt)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b018xyl0)
The Syrian Government blames terrorists for a suicide bombing in Damascus, and says it will respond with an 'iron fist'. The opposition says the attack was staged by the authorities. We'll hear from the scene.
Unemployment falls in the United States - good news for American jobseekers and potentially for President Obama's re-election hopes.
And as research shows that our brains begin to fail from 45 onwards, we'll hear how to keep the grey cells in good shape.
With Robin Lustig.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b018xyl2)
Honoré de Balzac - Cousin Bette
Episode 5
Cousin Bette is one of the best loved and most admired of Honore de Balzac's novels, written when his powers were at their height and marking the culmination of his extraordinary chronicle, La Comedie Humaine.
A tale of seductive women and philandering men, of passionate affairs and spiralling debts, Cousin Bette paints a vivid portrait of Paris in the 1830s and '40s. In a city full of temptations, money is king, morals are loose and the appeals of the virtuous are usually in vain. In the midst of it all sits a poor relation, Cousin Bette, like a spider in her web. Fuelled by bitterness and jealousy, she is determined to weave destruction into the lives of her extended family, the socially superior Hulots.
With her friend and accomplice, the beautiful Madame Marneffe, Bette sets out to manipulate events so that men are brought to their knees and their wives to despair, and she attains the power and prestige she seeks.
In today's episode, the arrival of a brooding Brazilian has upset the careful balance of lovers that Valerie Marneffe had contrived. Briefly Hulot and Crevel find themselves allies, not rivals, for her love.
Cousin Bette was written in less than a year, in serial instalments, often only completed just before the deadline. Within its pages, Balzac conjures a kaleidoscope of characters from all walks of life, chronicles the rise of a grasping bourgeoisie and tells a gripping tale of jealousy, passion and treachery.
The reader is Alex Jennings.
The translator was Marion Ayton Crawford and the abridger was Sally Marmion.
The producer is Di Speirs.
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b018xs8c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Britain in a Box (b00yw1pk)
Series 4
Driving School
Paul Jackson tells the story behind another TV classic, 'Driving School'. Broadcast in 1997, it only ran for six editions, but left an indelible mark on British documentary TV.
Commanding audiences of up to 12 million, it made a star of Cardiff cleaner, Maureen Rees who failed her driving test six times, and arguably helped spawn Britain's first "reality television" celebrity.
With Alan Yentob, Grant Mansfield and Phil Hall.
Producer: Sarah Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
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 (b018wfsk)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 MON (b018wfsk)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 TUE (b018wy4d)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 TUE (b018wy4d)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 WED (b018xs8m)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 WED (b018xs8m)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 THU (b018xw66)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 THU (b018xw66)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 FRI (b018xy28)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 FRI (b018xy28)
15 Minute Musical
18:15 MON (b00wqgn1)
A Dalmatian Trilogy
19:45 SUN (b018wb97)
A Point of View
12:45 SAT (b018h188)
A Point of View
08:50 SUN (b018h188)
A Point of View
20:50 FRI (b018xy35)
A Short Gentleman
11:30 WED (b018xt55)
Afternoon Reading
00:15 SAT (b00wlg39)
Among the Managers
11:00 WED (b018xt53)
Any Questions?
20:00 FRI (b018xy33)
Beatles Christmas
15:30 SAT (b018g6ws)
Bells on Sunday
05:43 SUN (b018v432)
Bells on Sunday
00:45 MON (b018v432)
Beyond Belief
16:30 MON (b018wh7k)
Beyond Westminster
11:00 SAT (b018v0jf)
Big Game, Little Game
21:00 WED (b00txjsg)
Black Is a Country
11:30 THU (b018xwcn)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 MON (b018wvn7)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 TUE (b018xs8y)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 WED (b018xts4)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 THU (b018xwth)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 FRI (b018xyl2)
Book of the Week
00:30 SAT (b018sgp1)
Book of the Week
09:45 MON (b018wfsf)
Book of the Week
00:30 TUE (b018wfsf)
Book of the Week
09:45 TUE (b018wy48)
Book of the Week
00:30 WED (b018wy48)
Book of the Week
09:45 WED (b018xsmg)
Book of the Week
00:30 THU (b018xsmg)
Book of the Week
09:45 THU (b018xw62)
Book of the Week
00:30 FRI (b018xw62)
Book of the Week
09:45 FRI (b018xy24)
Bookclub
16:00 SUN (b018wb0g)
Bookclub
15:30 THU (b018wb0g)
Brain of Britain
23:00 SAT (b018g3nb)
Brain of Britain
15:00 MON (b018wh33)
Bringing Up Britain
22:15 SAT (b018gr0l)
Bringing Up Britain
20:00 WED (b018xtry)
Britain in a Box
23:30 TUE (b00y4cjj)
Britain in a Box
23:30 WED (b00yd8n5)
Britain in a Box
23:30 THU (b00ym5fc)
Britain in a Box
23:30 FRI (b00yw1pk)
Broadcasting House
09:00 SUN (b018w7rd)
Buying Defence
17:00 SUN (b017mtfc)
Cheers!
10:30 SAT (b018v0jc)
Classic Serial
21:00 SAT (b018g264)
Classic Serial
15:00 SUN (b018w867)
Continuity
23:15 TUE (b00tdnt4)
Correspondents' Look Ahead
13:10 SAT (b018h186)
Counterpoint
21:00 SUN (b018g3n2)
Crossing Continents
20:30 MON (b018grht)
Crossing Continents
11:00 THU (b018xw68)
Dear Professor Hawking
13:45 MON (b018wh2n)
Dear Professor Hawking
13:45 TUE (b018zd9b)
Dear Professor Hawking
13:45 WED (b018zdds)
Dear Professor Hawking
13:45 THU (b018zm25)
Dear Professor Hawking
13:45 FRI (b018zv5r)
Desert Island Discs
11:15 SUN (b018w7rj)
Detective Sergeant Nick Mohammed
23:00 WED (b018xtw1)
Dickens Wallah
14:45 SUN (b018w865)
Don't Log Off
11:00 MON (b018wgzb)
Drama
14:15 MON (b00mw15p)
Drama
14:15 TUE (b018wy4q)
Drama
14:15 WED (b018xtrf)
Drama
14:15 THU (b00pg5rb)
Drama
14:15 FRI (b018xy2l)
Elvenquest
18:30 THU (b017757w)
Excess Baggage
10:00 SAT (b018v0j9)
Face the Facts
12:30 WED (b018xtr9)
Farming Today
06:30 SAT (b018v0j3)
Farming Today
05:45 MON (b018wdx9)
Farming Today
05:45 TUE (b018wx3v)
Farming Today
05:45 WED (b018xsm8)
Farming Today
05:45 THU (b018xw5w)
Farming Today
05:45 FRI (b018xy1y)
Four Thought
20:45 WED (b018xts0)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:30 SAT (b018v0jh)
Front Row
19:15 MON (b018wvn1)
Front Row
19:15 TUE (b018xs8k)
Front Row
19:15 WED (b018xtrw)
Front Row
19:15 THU (b018xwt7)
Front Row
19:15 FRI (b018xy31)
Gardeners' Question Time
14:00 SUN (b018gzmb)
Gardeners' Question Time
15:00 FRI (b018xy2n)
Great Lives
16:30 TUE (b018xs8c)
Great Lives
23:00 FRI (b018xs8c)
Heresy
18:30 WED (b018xtrr)
Home Planet
15:00 TUE (b018wy4s)
How Folk Songs Should Be Sung
11:30 TUE (b018wy4j)
I, Regress
23:00 TUE (b018xs90)
In Business
20:30 SUN (b018gsdc)
In Business
20:30 THU (b018xwtc)
In Our Time
09:00 MON (b018wfsc)
In Our Time
21:30 MON (b018wfsc)
In Our Time
09:00 TUE (b018wy46)
In Our Time
21:30 TUE (b018wy46)
In Our Time
09:00 WED (b018xsmd)
In Our Time
21:30 WED (b018xsmd)
In Our Time
09:00 THU (b018xw60)
In Our Time
21:30 THU (b018xw60)
In Our Time
09:00 FRI (b018xy22)
In Our Time
21:30 FRI (b018xy22)
In Search of Barney Bubbles
16:00 MON (b018wh7h)
In Touch
20:40 TUE (b018xs8r)
Inside Fortress Bill
20:00 TUE (b018xs8p)
It's Your Round
19:15 SUN (b018wb95)
Last Word
16:00 FRI (b018xy2s)
Late Nights at the Blue Boar
00:15 SUN (b012fcyk)
Loose Ends
18:15 SAT (b018v2kz)
Mark Steel's in Town
18:30 TUE (b018xs8f)
Mark Twain - The Million Pound Bank Note
14:30 SAT (b018v2ks)
Material World
21:00 MON (b018gs8y)
Material World
16:30 THU (b018xwt3)
Meanwhile, It's Will & Greg
23:00 THU (b018xwtk)
Midnight News
00:00 SAT (b018h2kb)
Midnight News
00:00 SUN (b018v430)
Midnight News
00:00 MON (b018tzds)
Midnight News
00:00 TUE (b018tzfw)
Midnight News
00:00 WED (b018tzh1)
Midnight News
00:00 THU (b018tzj2)
Midnight News
00:00 FRI (b018tzk1)
Money Box Live
15:00 WED (b018xtrh)
More or Less
20:00 SUN (b018gzqx)
More or Less
16:30 FRI (b018xy2v)
Nature
11:00 TUE (b018wy4g)
Nature
21:00 THU (b018wy4g)
News Briefing
05:30 SAT (b018h2kl)
News Briefing
05:30 SUN (b018tzcr)
News Briefing
05:30 MON (b018tzf1)
News Briefing
05:30 TUE (b018tzg6)
News Briefing
05:30 WED (b018tzh9)
News Briefing
05:30 THU (b018tzjb)
News Briefing
05:30 FRI (b018tzk9)
News Headlines
06:00 SUN (b018tzct)
News and Papers
06:00 SAT (b018h2kn)
News and Papers
07:00 SUN (b018w7k2)
News and Papers
08:00 SUN (b018w7k6)
News and Weather
22:00 SAT (b018h2l3)
News
13:00 SAT (b018v2kq)
North by Northamptonshire
11:30 FRI (b018xy2d)
O Henry Stories
15:45 FRI (b018xy2q)
On Your Farm
06:35 SUN (b018v436)
Open Country
06:07 SAT (b018grvr)
Open Country
15:00 THU (b018xwcv)
Oscar and Al Pacino
23:30 MON (b0174dzr)
PM
17:00 SAT (b018v2kx)
PM
17:00 MON (b018wvmv)
PM
17:00 TUE (b018xw8l)
PM
17:00 WED (b018xtrp)
PM
17:00 THU (b018xw7m)
PM
17:00 FRI (b018xw7t)
Party
11:30 MON (b011jrmq)
Pick of the Week
18:15 SUN (b018wb91)
Pick of the Year
19:15 SAT (b018v2l3)
Poetry Workshop
16:30 SUN (b018wb0j)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 SAT (b018h2qn)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 MON (b018wdx7)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 TUE (b019c735)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 WED (b019c7rj)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 THU (b019dh2v)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 FRI (b019dh3w)
Profile
19:00 SAT (b018v2l1)
Profile
05:45 SUN (b018v2l1)
Profile
17:40 SUN (b018v2l1)
Punt PI
14:00 SAT (b01509vj)
Questions, Questions
15:30 TUE (b012wzfs)
Radio 4 Appeal
07:55 SUN (b018w7k4)
Radio 4 Appeal
20:56 SUN (b018w7k4)
Radio 4 Appeal
15:27 THU (b018w7k4)
Repainting Giverny
21:00 FRI (b0150p5v)
Saturday Live
09:00 SAT (b018v0j7)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SAT (b018h2kg)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SUN (b018tzcm)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 MON (b018tzdx)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 TUE (b018tzg2)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 WED (b018tzh5)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 THU (b018tzj6)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 FRI (b018tzk5)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SAT (b018h2kd)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SAT (b018h2kj)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SAT (b018h2kx)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SUN (b018tzck)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SUN (b018tzcp)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SUN (b018wb8x)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 MON (b018tzdv)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 MON (b018tzdz)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 TUE (b018tzg0)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 TUE (b018tzg4)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 WED (b018tzh3)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 WED (b018tzh7)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 THU (b018tzj4)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 THU (b018tzj8)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 FRI (b018tzk3)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 FRI (b018tzk7)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SAT (b018h2l1)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SUN (b018tzd4)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 MON (b018tzf7)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 TUE (b018tzgb)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 WED (b018tzhf)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 THU (b018tzjg)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 FRI (b018tzkh)
Something Understood
06:05 SUN (b018v434)
Something Understood
23:30 SUN (b018v434)
Stopping by Woods
23:30 SAT (b018fv67)
Sunday Worship
08:10 SUN (b018w7k8)
Sunday
07:10 SUN (b018w7b7)
The Archers Omnibus
10:00 SUN (b018w7rg)
The Archers
19:00 SUN (b018wb93)
The Archers
14:00 MON (b018wb93)
The Archers
19:00 MON (b018wvmz)
The Archers
14:00 TUE (b018wvmz)
The Archers
19:00 TUE (b018xs8h)
The Archers
14:00 WED (b018xs8h)
The Archers
19:00 WED (b018xtrt)
The Archers
14:00 THU (b018xtrt)
The Archers
19:00 THU (b01c6pxw)
The Archers
14:00 FRI (b01c6pxw)
The Archers
19:00 FRI (b018xy2z)
The Bishop and the Prisoner
20:00 MON (b018wvn3)
The Film Programme
23:00 SUN (b018grz9)
The Film Programme
16:00 THU (b018xwt1)
The Food Programme
12:32 SUN (b018w7rl)
The Food Programme
15:30 MON (b018w7rl)
The Internet Millionaires' Club
11:00 FRI (b018xy2b)
The Media Show
16:30 WED (b018xtrm)
The News Quiz
12:00 SAT (b018gzr1)
The News Quiz
18:30 FRI (b018xy2x)
The Paper Round
09:30 MON (b014pw4p)
The Paper Round
09:30 TUE (b014q007)
The Paper Round
09:30 WED (b014qndb)
The Paper Round
09:30 THU (b014qnwj)
The Paper Round
09:30 FRI (b014qxbx)
The Report
20:00 THU (b018xwt9)
The Unbelievable Truth
12:00 SUN (b018g3nz)
The Unbelievable Truth
18:30 MON (b018wvmx)
The World This Weekend
13:00 SUN (b018w7xg)
The World Tonight
22:00 MON (b018wvn5)
The World Tonight
22:00 TUE (b018xs8w)
The World Tonight
22:00 WED (b018xts2)
The World Tonight
22:00 THU (b018xwtf)
The World Tonight
22:00 FRI (b018xyl0)
The iPod Series
13:30 SUN (b00wqj51)
Thinking Allowed
00:15 MON (b018gqzt)
Thinking Allowed
16:00 WED (b018xtrk)
Thinking Streets
21:00 TUE (b018xs8t)
Thinking Streets
15:30 WED (b018xs8t)
Today
07:00 SAT (b018v0j5)
Today
06:00 MON (b018wdxc)
Today
06:00 TUE (b018wy44)
Today
06:00 WED (b018xsmb)
Today
06:00 THU (b018xw5y)
Today
06:00 FRI (b018xy20)
UK Confidential
22:00 SUN (b018gy51)
Weather
06:04 SAT (b018h2kq)
Weather
06:57 SAT (b018h2ks)
Weather
12:57 SAT (b018h2kv)
Weather
17:57 SAT (b018h2kz)
Weather
06:57 SUN (b018tzcw)
Weather
07:57 SUN (b018tzcy)
Weather
08:57 SUN (b018tzd0)
Weather
12:57 SUN (b018w7xd)
Weather
17:57 SUN (b018wb8z)
Weather
05:57 MON (b018tzf3)
Weather
12:57 MON (b018tzf5)
Weather
21:58 MON (b01982br)
Weather
12:57 TUE (b018tzg8)
Weather
21:58 TUE (b018tzgd)
Weather
12:57 WED (b018tzhc)
Weather
21:58 WED (b018tzhh)
Weather
12:57 THU (b018tzjd)
Weather
21:58 THU (b018tzjj)
Weather
12:57 FRI (b018tzkf)
Weather
21:58 FRI (b01982bt)
What the Papers Say
20:00 SAT (b018v2l5)
Woman's Hour
16:00 SAT (b018v2kv)
Woman's Hour
10:00 MON (b018wfsh)
Woman's Hour
10:00 TUE (b018wy4b)
Woman's Hour
10:00 WED (b018xsmj)
Woman's Hour
10:00 THU (b018xw64)
Woman's Hour
10:00 FRI (b018xy26)
Word of Mouth
23:00 MON (b018g5t3)
Word of Mouth
16:00 TUE (b018xs89)
World at One
13:00 MON (b018wh2l)
World at One
13:00 TUE (b018wy4n)
World at One
13:00 WED (b018xtrc)
World at One
13:00 THU (b018xwcs)
World at One
13:00 FRI (b018xy2j)
You and Yours
12:00 MON (b018wgzd)
You and Yours
12:00 TUE (b018wy4l)
You and Yours
12:00 WED (b018xt57)
You and Yours
12:00 THU (b018xwcq)
You and Yours
12:00 FRI (b018xy2g)
iPM
05:45 SAT (b018h2qq)
iPM
17:30 SAT (b018h2qq)