The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Cardinal Vincent Nichols.
The Farming Minister George Eustice says 600 farmers, badly affected by flooding, will have their annual support payment claims prioritised. There had been fears that Basic Payment Scheme claims for common land wouldn't be paid out until February.
Anna Hill finds out what the next big thing in Christmas Poinsettia growing could be...
Michael Palin presents the avian record breaking ostrich in the Kalahari Desert. Ostriches are ornithological record-breakers. The black and white adult male ostrich is taller and heavier than any other living bird, reaching almost 3 metres in height and weighing a whopping 150 kilograms. Females are smaller but lay the largest eggs of any bird. The ostrich's eye measures 5cm in diameter and is the largest of any land vertebrate.
Ostriches live in the wide open landscapes of central, eastern and South-West Africa. As well as being tall and observant, Ostriches also minimise their chances of being predated on, by living in groups and sharing lookout duties, or staying close to sharp-eyed antelope and zebra herds. They can also use their powerful legs to try and outrun a predator, reaching speeds of up to 70 kilometres per hour which makes them the fastest avian runner.
Morning news. Includes Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day
Jonathan Freedland finds out how today's concerns about the privacy of our communications, and debates about encryption, have intriguing precedents in the 17th century.
What does the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey say about how women see themselves?
This is the final programme of a series exploring misogyny in our most read books, including the Bible, Hamlet, fairy tales and Sons and Lovers. Jo Fidgen and company discuss how E.L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey reflects or subverts the hatred of women depicted in these earlier texts.
The conversation ranges over violence towards women; the taboo of sexual curiosity; and broaches an uncomfortable question: can a feminist also be a misogynist?
In 2012, Robert Penn felled (and replanted) a great ash from a Welsh wood. He set out to explore the true value of the tree of which we have made the greatest and most varied use in human history. How many things can be made from one tree?
Over the next two years he travelled across Britain, to Europe and the USA, to the workshops and barns of a generation of craftsmen committed to working in wood. He watched them make over 45 artefacts and tools that have been in continual use for centuries, if not millennia.
With snow on the ground, a team of tree surgeons help to bring the tree down. Once the timber has been sawn into planks, Rob's project to see how many things can be made from one ash tree really begins. He starts with one of the earliest associations between man and ash - tool handles. It was the attaching of stone tool heads to wooden handles which allowed our Neolithic ancestors to cultivate the land, build homes, furniture, canoes and much more.
This is a tale about the joy of making things in wood, of its touch and smell, its many uses, and the resonant, calming effect of running our hands along a wooden surface. It is a celebration of man's close relationship with this greatest of natural materials and a reminder of the value of things made by hand and made to last.
Next year women will no longer be barred from close combat roles in the Armed Forces. Former Brigadier Nicky Moffat, who was the most senior female officer in the army, on what it will mean for recruits and how front line roles have changed.
Backstage with 2013 X Factor winner Sam Bailey as she prepares for her pantomime debut.
Snuggling up in a duvet, sitting by a roaring fire and lighting candles are what the Danes would describe as 'hygge'. Could the concept help us get through the dark days of winter? Helen Russell, author of 'The Year of Living Danishly', and teacher Susanne Nilsson discuss.
Christmas can be a time of joy, but for many it can be a time of stress, tension and anxiety. So can the skills of CBT, or cognitive behavioural therapy, help people cope with the emotional strains of the festive season? Clinical psychologist Christine Padesky on why she thinks the principles of CBT can help us all have a better Christmas.
Wine or beer? Wine sommelier Dominique Kate Hopgood versus beer sommelier Jane Peyton on the best accompaniment for the Christmas Turkey or veggie roast.
The story of the rise and fall of a collaboration between three men who dominated Victorian musical theatre and have left a lasting legacy. Everyone has heard of the immortal Gilbert and Sullivan, but who knows about the man who brought them success, George Grossmith, the original Modern Major General?
Simon Butteriss and Robin Brooks' delightful comedy drama about the entertainer George Grossmith, who was plucked from his humble touring circuit to become the star of the Gilbert & Sullivan Savoy Operas, staying for twelve years. Grossmith was central to why Gilbert and Sullivan operas became so successful and continue to be so today.
Simon Butteriss, who plays Grossmith, is best known as a performer in the Gilbert and Sullivan patter roles, which he continues to sing all over the world to a huge fan base. Robin Brooks' work for Radio 4 includes Ulysses, I Claudius, The Great Scott and Iris Murdoch: Dream Girl. His recent dramatisation of Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea starring Jeremy Irons has been shortlisted for a BBC Audio Drama Award, 2016.
It's 1878. HMS Pinafore looks set to fail in a London heatwave, and Gilbert blames the disaster on Grossmith's vulgar performance. Can Grossmith save his career along with the sinking ship, and will Gilbert realise he's created a star, not a monster?
Opening presents can be quite a challenge. Toys incarcerated in rigid transparent plastic cases can bring tears, not of joy. Not to mention vacuum-packed luxury foods that are just impossible to get into. So, can science save us from infuriating packaging? And, if so, which technology is most likely to deliver us from this irksome everyday problem? Three scientists battle it out in the studio, pitching for Jim's imaginary pot of research money. Dr Alaster Yoxall is determined to understand what makes things fiddly. Professor Mark Miodownik dreams of packages that can be opened by your mobile phone. While Professor Lynne Boddy believes mushrooms as the new polystyrene. Could the future of packaging be mouldable mould?
The tragi-comic tale of love gone sour and shattered dreams eloquently depicted in the Christmas classic Fairytale of New York is the focus of this edition of Soul Music. James Fearnley, pianist with The Pogues recounts how the song started off as a transatlantic love story between an Irish seafarer missing his girl at Christmas before becoming the bittersweet reminiscences of the Irish immigrant down on his luck in the Big Apple, attempting to win back the woman he wooed with promises of 'cars big as bars and rivers of gold'.
Gaelic footballer Alisha Jordan came to New York to play football aged 17 from County Meath in Ireland. Despite being dazzled by the glamour and pace of New York City, she missed her family and friends and stencilled the words 'Fairytale of New York' on her apartment wall as an affirmation of her determination to make the most of her new life in the city. When she was later attacked on the street by a stranger, the words came to signify her battle to recover and not to
let the horrific facial injuries she suffered defeat her or her ambition to captain her football team.
Rachel Burdett posted the video of the song onto her friend Michelle's social media page to let her know she was thinking of her and praying for her safe return when Michelle went missing suddenly one December. Stories of redemption and of a recognition that Christmas is often not the fairytale we are sold, told through a seasonal favourite.
Minister of munitions, David Lloyd George made an official visit to armaments factories in Newcastle, and it is Dorothea's first day at the Bevan Hospital.
You can feel really lonely at this time of year when all the emphasis is on big family gatherings. We'd like to know how you've coped with loneliness?
Artist Roger Law has long been fascinated by the culture of Korea. From stunning ceramics to films and music, South Korea has it all. Roger travels to the 21st century city of Seoul to find out what fires up the Korean imagination.
Seoul is the place to go for anyone who wants plastic surgery, and Roger wants to know why. Is there something in the Korean psyche which can be helped by a nose job? And can they make him look like George Clooney?
New series. 2/4. The Seventh Veil.
Chief Constable Murray Craddock is outraged when an exotic dancer arrives in Leith.
Other parts played by the cast.
John Wilson returns with a new series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Future programmes in the series include Donovan discussing 'Sunshine Superman', Steel Pulse returning to 'Handsworth Revolution' and Squeeze talking about 'East Side Story'
Programme 2 (B-side): Having discussed the making of 'Rhythm & Blues at the Flamingo' (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 21st December and available online), Georgie Fame responds to questions from the audience and performs exclusive live versions of some of the tracks from the album (accompanied by his sons James and Tristan Powell, as well as a few of the original Blue Flames).
It's the time of year when we fall into the familiar, the traditions we've recycled since childhood. But why do we do it? Michael Blastland examines the psychology of how we behave around Christmas.
Mistletoe, gift-giving, decorated evergreen trees - irresistibly or unthinkingly, we all act out this time of year in a similar way. Do we simply copy each other? Is it about reinforcing group identity? Or do we fear the consequences if we transgress tradition?
In fact, how traditions arise and take hold - and more widely, what becomes conventional behaviour - is core to being human. How did Captain James Cook use convention to win over Fuegian tribesman? Is tradition as much about the present as the past? And why is there moral outrage when we violate these traditions?
Michael Blastland investigates with resident Zoo psychologist Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School, and roving reporter Timandra Harkness.
Contributors this week include Professor Robert Sugden, an economist from University of East Anglia; Professor Anne Murcott, anthropologist from SOAS, University of London; and Dr Björn Lindström, researcher at the Emotion Lab, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm.
The programme also includes writer and broadcaster Simon Fanshawe on Midnight Mass and when is the correct time to cook the turkey, and the cast of Andrew Pollard's Little Red Riding Hood from the Greenwich Theatre.
Alvin Hall is the friendly face of financial reality, lecturing, writing and broadcasting on the subject of managing money. But he is also passionately interested in fine art, music and literature, and his nomination for a Great Life is that of writer and Civil Rights activist, James Baldwin.
Baldwin was born in 1924 in Harlem and his achievements in overcoming a difficult start in life were prodigious. For much of his life he lived outside the United States, returning in the late 1950s to support the nascent Civil Rights movement, though the Movement itself had some problems with his homosexuality. Throughout his life he continued to write about the experiences of being black in 20th century America and is now widely regarded as the pre-eminent African-American writer of the century.
Dr Douglas Field of the University of Manchester, who has written several books on James Baldwin, discusses Baldwin's life and achievements with Alvin and with Matthew Parris.
UK military are deployed to Helmand as reports suggest the Taliban could take Sangin
David Baddiel hosts a Christmas edition of the anti-comedy show, where the only task for the guests is to avoid making the audience laugh.
Frank Skinner, Hugh Dennis, Ellie Taylor and Dan Schreiber face the challenge of resisting all their natural instincts, talking about a series of funny subjects without making any jokes.
Richard Locke is throwing a housewarming party at Keepers Cottage, which he's now renting. Shula helps him set up. There, Richard meets Justin Elliot, who's staying at Grey Gables over Christmas. Richard and Shula discuss Elizabeth, who Richard's looking forward to meeting. Justin invites Lilian and Shula to join him at the New Year's Day races. Jennifer helps out in the village shop, getting her tabard on (much to Lilian's surprise).
Charlie puts Adam on the spot, asking whether they can still be friends. But Adam says there's nothing left to say.
Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None is one of the best-selling crime novels of all time, and now the book has been adapted into a television series for BBC One. Writer Sarah Phelps talks to Samira Ahmed about how she went about adapting the novel for the screen.
As Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the Peanuts Gang make their big-screen debut, cartoonist and fan Kev F Sutherland delivers his verdict on Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie.
This year we saw Poldark return to our screens, along with other 1970s programmes Open All Hours and The Clangers. Then there are the programmes which draw on 1970s-style TV programmes such as Mrs Brown's Boys, The Kennedys and Citizen Khan. And, surely, Downton Abbey is a reinterpretation of Upstairs Downstairs? Writer Andrew Collins and historian Dominic Sandbrook discuss our fascination with the decade.
If you're in need of a break from all the sugar-coated festive fare, Front Row is offering some alternative Christmas treats for you to consider. The film critic Mark Eccleston unwraps his alternative Christmas film, Bad Santa.
Restaurateur Henry Dimbleby unravels the deep-seated attachment of the British to eating meat.
Henry wants to cut down on his meat consumption. Many scientists and policy makers think this is a good idea - for global food sustainability, climate change and health. In an effort to understand why he is finding it so difficult, he unpicks the cultural history of the British and their relationship to eating meat.
We join Henry as he hosts a vegetarian Sunday lunch for his family, without his beloved joint of meat. He speaks to cultural historian Ben Rogers, author of Beef and Liberty, and learns that the British have long been identified with their beef consumption - propaganda which sets them above the French during the 18th century wars, the fashionably obese John Bull character portrayed in start contrast to the weak and feeble Frenchman existing on a diet of gruel and snails.
Dr Annie Gray recalls the popularity of the ditty O the Roast Beef Of Old England, sung spontaneously by audiences in the playhouses of 18th century England.
With meat eating such a strong part of our cultural identity, Henry asks how we might go about re-programming ourselves so that we can reduce our intake? Like it or not, meat-eating is still very much associated with masculinity and psychotherapist Susie Orbach suggests reasons why men find it more difficult to reduce meat-eating than women.
Henry speaks to Professor of Food Policy at City University London, Tim Lang about whether personal choice can be enough, or whether governmental policy, taxes or rations are needed to change eating habits and prevent a global food crisis.
We hear how mistakes on a guide dog's passport led to it being taken away from its owner at Gatwick Airport. One of our regular columnists tells us about coping with parties when you can't read people's body language. And literacy historian, Dr Kate Macdonald, tells us about her research into WW1 short stories which depict blind soldiers.
Listening is about more than hearing as we discover in this new series of 3 programmes. The first programme explores three very different experiences of listening to speech with a poet, a speech dialect coach and Chair of Samaritans. Jan Haydn Rowles is an accent and dialect coach whose interest in dialect began when she noticed how her parents who were born in different counties spoke with different accents; and that the same was true of her and her siblings. Jan not only hears sounds she sees them; "When I listen to a person's voice I don't see it, I hear it" and she offers a fascinating insight into her visual experiences of sound. Katrina Porteous has spent much of her life in County Durham and Northumberland writing about the fishing communities and coastal landscape where she lives. 'A poem begins and ends in listening' she says. For Katrina, listening extends to the sounds of the words; whether they be soft sounds or hard sounds, and beyond the meaning of the words to the rhythm of language and the music of the dialect as we discover. Jenni McCartney is our third listener. She has been working with Samaritans for over 30 years, first as a volunteer and now as Chair. "Listening is absolutely crucial to what we do" she says, Started by Chad Varra in 1953, Samaritans is a charity which provides confidential emotional support for people who are experiencing feelings of distress, despair or suicidal thoughts, and is available 24 hours a day, every day. At its simplest, Samaritans is about listening. "Every 6 seconds somebody contacts Samaritans". Listening perhaps has never been more important. Producer Sarah Blunt.
We hear from an Afghan activist who says sending more foreign troops is not a solution. Why are transgender people more visible than ever before? We discuss gender identity.
Picture: Royal Marines from 45 Commando on patrol in Sangin in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. Credit: Danny Lawson/PA Wire.
Rachel Joyce's new collection "A Snow Garden and Other Stories" glides through the festive season with interlinked stories which delight and surprise. From an unexpected birth at an airport full of stranded travellers, a famous son wanting to escape the madness for a normal family dinner, to a divorced father's wish to give his two little boys the one thing they really want, a white Christmas. Five stories as funny, joyous, poignant and memorable as Christmas should be.
Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and has been translated into 34 languages.
She is the award-winning writer of over 30 original afternoon plays and classic adaptations for BBC Radio 4.
Read by ..... Rachel Joyce
Produced & Directed by ..... Gemma McMullan.
John Thomson, Shobna Gulati, Fiona Clarke, Chris Jack, and Gavin Webster star in the themed sketch show made entirely from contributions sent in by the public.
The best ideas have been chosen from thousands of submissions from new writers resulting in a show like no other.
The theme of "Crime & Punishment" features some remarkably literal highwaymen, a door-to-door salesman who is in no way a conman, and an HR policy that shows it's always best to read the small print.
Written by Cassie Atkinson, Tim Craig, Sarah Glenister, Helen Green, Jack Hall, Dai Hill, Joe Hodgson, Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, Rose Johnson, Graham Kilvington, Derek Martin, Steve Nelson, Owen Seddon & Emlyn Williams.
A BBC Radio Comedy production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2015.
Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.
In this third episode, Piers goes for a drive with his two daughters in a Morris Minor, the same model and vintage as the one he owned between 1968 and 1990. As his only car, he discovers just what made it so special when the family was growing up.
Mark D'Arcy reports from Westminster as peers end the year discussing welfare, immigration and controversial changes to the politics A-level.
WEDNESDAY 23 DECEMBER 2015
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b06s6xjg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b06t4l4r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b06s6xjj)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b06s6xjl)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b06s6xjn)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b06s6xjq)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06s9f9t)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Cardinal Vincent Nichols.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b06s9f9w)
Antibiotic resistance, Raspberry the new cranberry?, Holly harvest, Christmas food charity
Should a vital antibiotic of 'last resort' for humans be banned from use on farms, to lessen the risk of superbugs developing?Professor Nicola Williams, from Liverpool University's Institute of Infection Control and Global Health, discusses the implications of bacteria resistant to the drug Colistin being discovered in the UK.
Anna Hill joins a Norfolk charity which distributes farmers' produce donations to give homeless people, and others in need, a Christmas dinner.
The Scottish plant breeder who thinks the Raspberry could be the new Cranberry.
And, a very prickly harvest in the Cotswolds.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Sarah Swadling.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0vp4)
Mauritius Kestrel
Michael Palin presents the Mauritius kestrel from the island of Mauritius. Today the calls of several hundred Mauritius kestrels ring out across the forests and farmland of the island, so it's hard to believe that as recently as the early 1970s, only four birds could be found in the wild.
These smart chestnut falcons were almost wiped out by a cocktail of threats ...destruction of their evergreen forests, pesticides and the introduction of predators such as monkeys, mongooses, rats and cats. When a species is so critically endangered there aren't many options, and conservationists decided that their only choice was to take some of the wild Mauritius kestrels into captivity.
By 1993, 300 Mauritius kestrels had been released and by November of that year there were as many as 65 breeding pairs in the wild. Now the kestrels are back, hovering above the landscapes that nearly lost them forever.
WED 06:00 Today (b06s9j70)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b06s9j72)
Carmen Munroe, Denis King, Ralph Montagu.
Libby Purves meets actor Carmen Munroe; composer Denis King and Ralph Montagu, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu.
Ralph Montagu, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, is the nephew of Elizabeth Montagu who is the subject of a new film - The Honourable Rebel. The film tells the story of Elizabeth - Liza - Montagu and is based on her autobiography. She was a musician, actor, linguist and she was recruited by both the UK and US governments to act as a spy during World War Two . The Honourable Rebel stars Dorothea Myer-Bennett with narration by Diana Rigg and is showing in 100 cinemas around the UK.
Actor Carmen Munroe is playing Cicely, Duchess of York, in Richard III at the New Diorama theatre. A founder of Talawa Theatre Company alongside Mona Hammond and Yvonne Brewster, she made her West End debut in Tennessee Williams's Period Of Adjustment in 1962 and starred alongside Norman Beaton in the Channel 4 sitcom Desmonds in the 1990s. Although she has starred at the Royal Court, the Tricycle and even the Royal Shakespeare Company in plays by Lorca, Brecht, Shaw and August Wilson, this production marks her Shakespearean debut at the age of 83. Richard III is at the New Diorama Theatre, London
Denis King is a composer. He started out in the 50s, at the age of 12 as a member of The King Brothers with brothers Mike and Tony. Since then he has composed over 200 TV themes - his best known being ITV's Black Beauty - and written over 25 musicals including Privates on Parade. His book, Key Changes - A Musical Memoir is self-published.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b06t4l4t)
The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees
Episode 3
In 2012, Robert Penn felled (and replanted) a great ash from a Welsh wood. He set out to explore the true value of the tree of which we have made the greatest and most varied use in human history. How many things can be made from one tree?
Over the next two years he travelled across Britain, to Europe and the USA, to the workshops and barns of a generation of craftsmen committed to working in wood. He watched them make over 45 artefacts and tools that have been in continual use for centuries, if not millennia.
Rob takes a carefully selected log to Robin Wood, Britain's best-known wood-turner. He has agreed to use it to form a nest of three bowls - a difficult task, "the Holy grail of turning". As he works the wood in his Peak District cow shed, he's following a craft which dates back to ancient times - a beautifully decorated Celtic ash bowl was found at the Iron Age site of Glastonbury Lake village. And from the fall of the Roman Empire, a culture of woodware thrived in Britain. For at least a thousand years from AD 500, every man and woman in Europe, from kings and queens to paupers and serfs, ate and drank each day from a wooden vessel turned on a lathe.
This is a tale about the joy of making things in wood, of its touch and smell, its many uses, and the resonant, calming effect of running our hands along a wooden surface. It is a celebration of man's close relationship with this greatest of natural materials and a reminder of the value of things made by hand and made to last.
Abridged by Jo Coombs
Produced by Hannah Marshall
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b06s9j74)
Ely Cathedral's Choristers
We join some of Ely Cathedral's girl Chorister as they get ready for a Service. Podcaster and craft enthusiast Helen Zaltzman, joins self-confessed craft sceptic, Jane Garvey, to explore the allure of crafting and to attempt making Christmas decorations out of fruit. A celebration of the photographer Julia Margaret Cameron to mark the bicentenary of her birth. And splitting up and making up - the power of female friendships, listeners Karen and Fiona share their story.
Presented by Jane Garvey
Producer Beverley Purcell.
WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b06s9j76)
I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General
A Disagreeable Man
The story of the rise and fall of a collaboration between three men who dominated Victorian musical theatre and have left a lasting legacy. Everyone has heard of the immortal Gilbert and Sullivan, but who knows about the man who brought them success, George Grossmith, the original Modern Major General?
Simon Butteriss and Robin Brooks' delightful comedy drama about the entertainer George Grossmith, who was plucked from his humble touring circuit to become the star of the Gilbert & Sullivan Savoy Operas, staying for twelve years. Grossmith was central to why Gilbert and Sullivan operas became so successful and continue to be so today.
Simon Butteriss, who plays Grossmith, is best known as a performer in the Gilbert and Sullivan patter roles, which he continues to sing all over the world to a huge fan base. Robin Brooks' work for Radio 4 includes Ulysses, I Claudius, The Great Scott and Iris Murdoch: Dream Girl. His recent dramatisation of Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea starring Jeremy Irons has been shortlisted for a BBC Audio Drama Award, 2016.
Episode Three: A Disagreeable Man 1
It's 1884 and after great success with The Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert and Sullivan move their operas to their very own Savoy Theatre. But after the successful runs of Patience and Iolanthe, the third opera, Princess Ida, fails to catch fire and tempers fray.
Pianist: Gretel Dowdeswell
Sound Designer: Alisdair McGregor
Written by Simon Butteriss and Robin Brooks
Directed by Simon Butteriss and Fiona McAlpine
Produced by Fiona McAlpine
An Allegra production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b06s9j78)
Oscar and Isaac – Badges and Adventures
Fi Glover introduces a conversation recorded at the CBBC Live and Digital Festival in Hull, between ten year olds who are well aware of the life skills they can learn in the Cub Scouts. Another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen, and this one can be seen, animated, on http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess
WED 11:00 Stars of Wonder (b06s9j7b)
Miranda Sawyer explores the magic of that enduring British ritual, the school nativity play.
Charlie Higson, Samira Ahmed, Simon Armitage, Tracey Thorn, Rory McGrath, Clare Grogan and Mark Billingham are among those inspired - or scarred - by the experience.
Northworld Primary School in Hackney opens its doors to reveal the inside story of its 2015 production from casting to opening night.
A Trevor Dann's Company production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 11:30 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b06s9j7d)
Series 7
Two Desperate Men
Inspired by a story by O. Henry, we travel to Perthshire in the days when the streets had more horses than horsepower. We encounter two 1930s tricksters who get their just deserts when they attempt to kidnap and hold to ransom a young lad who's learned a thing or two from the Wild West.
Stanley Baxter and Joe Caffrey are those two desperate men.
Young member of the Royal Lyceum Youth Theatre Tom Borley is the lad who gets the better of them in this classic screwball comedy.
Series of comic plays starring Stanley Baxter.
Hughie ...... Stanley Baxter
Bill ...... Joe Caffrey
Logan ...... Tom Borley
Written by Colin MacDonald
Director: Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2015.
WED 12:00 News Summary (b06s6xjs)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 Home Front (b06kv7k7)
23 December 1915 - Albert Wilson
On this day, Vera Brittain's fiancé, Roland Leighton, died in France, and in Folkestone, Albert tries to lift the curse on the house of Wilson.
Written by Richard Monks
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
WED 12:15 You and Yours (b06s9j7g)
A dog's Christmas, Airport shops, Japan care
For some families, Christmas is as much about the dog as the children, but the festive season can be a perilous time for dogs, with chocolates, alcohol and an excess of treats lying around. The founder of Lily's Kitchen tells us what to give our dogs if they are on the "nice list".
Samantha Fenwick reports from Japan on what is been done to accommodate its ageing population. Today she looks at how shops are catering for very old people by changing lay-outs and introducing new product lines.
Plus why would an airport shop invent a destination for a customer? Earlier this year You & Yours revealed that airport shops ask to see your boarding pass in order to claim back VAT on purchases being taken outside of the EU. It led to what the papers called a "mini-revolution" - hundreds of people refused to hand over their documents. This programme has now heard from a listener who, on his way to Sweden, never showed a shop his boarding pass, but the assistant recorded him as travelling to a non-EU destination.
Presented by Winifred Robinson
Produced by Natalie Donovan.
WED 12:57 Weather (b06s6xjv)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b06s9j7j)
The high streets are packed - but the latest economic figures revise growth downwards - we'll be finding out what that means for the year ahead.
The recently retired Chief Constable of Greater Manchester tells us that the Government's plans to counter extremism risk turning forces into 'thought police'. Hugh Sykes reports from Sousse in Tunisia, the scene of a terrorist gun attack earlier this year. The former foreign secretary William Hague says people, like him, who've poured scorn on the European Union should think what pulling out would mean for this country - We debate that with two Conservative MPs. And in the latest of our wato@50 series, we look at British architecture.
WED 13:45 Roger Law: Art and Seoul (b06tfn7q)
Artist Roger Law has long been fascinated by the culture of Korea. From stunning ceramics to films and music, South Korea has it all. Roger travels to the 21st century city of Seoul to find out what fires up the Korean imagination.
Korean films are becoming more popular in the west, but there is still a long tradition we know little about. Roger visits the 'Hollywood of Seoul' to find out how their movies get made.
Producer Mark Rickards.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b06s9d22)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Tumanbay (b06s9j7l)
Series 1
Hidden Knowledge
In the fourth episode of this epic saga inspired by the Mamluk slave-dynasty of Egypt, Shajar, the Sultan’s chief wife (Sarah Beck Mather), plots her son Madu's (Danny Ashok) succession to the throne. While Gregor, Master of the Palace Guard, is determined to discover what it is she has taken from the aged Hafiz and is having repaired in the workshop of a pair of artisans in the city. Marching with the army out to the provinces, Madu's slave find solace with an unlikely companion.
Tumanbay, the beating heart of a vast empire, is threatened by a rebellion in a far-off province and a mysterious force devouring the city from within. Gregor (Rufus Wright), Master of the Palace Guard, is charged by Sultan Al-Ghuri (Raad Rawi) with the task of rooting out this insurgence and crushing it.
Cast:
Gregor.....................................Rufus Wright
Heaven....................................Olivia Popica
Slave.......................................Akin Gazi
Cadali......................................Matthew Marsh
Sarah......................................Nina Yndis
Ibn..........................................Nabil Elouahabi
Shajar.....................................Sarah Beck Mather
Madu.......................................Danny Ashok
Daniel.....................................Gareth Kennerley
General Qulan........................Christopher Fulford
Boy.........................................Darwin Brokenbro
The Hameed Brothers............Christian Hillborg and Alec Utgoff
Rajik.......................................Akbar Kurtha
Pamira....................................Nathalie Armin
Music - Sacha Puttnam
Sound Design - Steve Bond, Jon Ouin
Editors - Ania Przygoda, James Morgan
Producers - Emma Hearn, Nadir Khan, John Dryden
Written by Mike Walker
Directed by John Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4
WED 15:00 The Educators (b06s9j7n)
The First Teachers
The most important educator in most children's lives is their parents, and the first five years is deemed to be critical. Sarah Montague meets Margy Whalley, the co-founder of Pen Green Children's Centre and Research Base in Corby, Northamptonshire.
For thirty years, the centre has been educating parents about the way their children behave and learn, and using the insights of parents and nursery staff to understand the learning process of every child.
Ranked outstanding in every one of its Ofsted reports, Pen Green has influenced other centres and early years provision in the UK, and plays an ongoing role in early years research.
Presenter: Sarah Montague
Producer: Joel Moors.
WED 15:30 The Listeners (b06s9d2d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b06s9j7q)
A Special Programme on Rituals
Rituals at Christmas & beyond. Laurie Taylor presents a special programme on the place of rituals in everyday life. How have they changed over time and do we still need them? He's joined by Adam Kuper, Centennial Professor in Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science; Marina Warner, writer and mythographer and Elizabeth Pleck, Professor Emeritu of History and Human Development & Family Studies at the University of Illinois.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b06s9j7s)
Robin Esser; reporting migration; Formula 1; stories of 2016
Known as 'the newspaper man's newspaper man', Robin Esser's press career spans nearly 60 years. Robin worked on Fleet Street in the 'golden era' of journalism, editing the Daily then Sunday Express before taking on the Daily Mail in 1991, and later becoming its Executive Managing Editor. Robin joins Steve Hewlett to discuss how the media landscape has changed, some of the key strategic decisions he's made, and what he perceives as the challenges and opportunities facing papers like the Daily Mail today.
Journalists fail to tell the story of migration, that's according to a new report by the Ethical Journalism Network. It claims there is too much focus on the fear of migration, problems of security, and too little attention is given to the background situation and the lives of the migrants. Steve Hewlett hears from Zakeera Suffee, one of the report's authors, and from the media commentator Stephen Glover, who is also a columnist for The Daily Mail.
BBC Sport is to "reluctantly" end its Formula 1 television contract three years early as part of savings across the corporation. Channel 4 will take on the BBC's F1 broadcast rights from next season. BBC Sport was asked to find £35m of savings, as part of a £150m gap in the corporation's finances from next year. However, the decision has led to questions about whether the BBC is making the right choices in where savings are being made. Steve Hewlett talks to former head of BBC sport, Roger Mosey, and gets his views on the thinking behind this decision, and whether the savings axe has fallen in the right place.
And, what will 2016 hold for the big broadcasters? Analyst Claire Enders gives her thoughts on what the big issues will be for Channel 4, Sky and the BBC.
Producer: Katy Takatsuki.
WED 17:00 PM (b06s9l59)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b06s6xjz)
Economic growth has slowed markedly.
It's emerged that seven of the biggest investment banks operating in London paid little or no tax last year.
WED 18:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b06s9l5c)
Series 3
A Christmas Not Special
Episode 6, 'A Christmas Not Special'. A ring of the doorbell interrupts an already unconventional Wrigglesworth family Christmas.
Series 3 of the sitcom where Tom Wrigglesworth phones home for his weekly check-in with his Mum, Dad and Gran, giving listeners a glimpse into his family background and the influences that have shaped his temperament, opinions and hang-ups.
Episode 6 "A Christmas Not Special": The Wrigglesworths receive a Christmas visitor while Tom struggles to get home in time for dinner.
Starring Tom Wrigglesworth, Paul Copley, Kate Anthony, Elizabeth Bennett and Chris Pavlo.
Written by Tom Wrigglesworth and James Kettle with additional material by Miles Jupp
Produced by Richard Morris
A BBC Radio Comedy Production.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b06s9l5f)
Toby gets his dressed geese off to Ian, getting into Victorian market trader mode. Eddie and Toby go to market together, but Joe doesn't trust the Fairbrothers. However, Toby's a hit with the crowd and they do well. The only problem is they forgot to keep back a turkey for the Grundys - so Toby offers them a goose instead. Joe's mortified.
Helen finally gets to talk to Ian, but it doesn't go to plan. Hurt and angry, Ian says he trusted Helen and she let him down by not telling him about Adam and Charlie.
Rob persuades Helen to not go over to Pat and Tony's for Christmas Day - the three of them can stay at home together instead.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b06s9l5h)
Jennifer Lawrence on Joy; a cultural look ahead to 2016
Jennifer Lawrence, star of The Hunger Games, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, discusses her latest David O. Russell film Joy, a biopic about the successful American business woman and entrepreneur who invented the Miracle Mop.
A curated guide to the arts in 2016 with theatre critic Matt Wolf, art historian Richard Cork, and broadcaster Gemma Cairney.
And as we enter the last days of frantic preparations, journalist and book critic Alex Clark suggests an alternative Christmas novel as an antidote to the usual festive fare.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b06s9j76)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 Natural Histories (b05w9drk)
Natural Histories Live - The Big Story
Natural Histories: The Big Story
Lions, Sharks, Whales and Apes are four well known A-lister groups of animals that have got under our skin, enthralled us with their wildness and inspired literature, film, myth and legend. But so have Cockroaches and Fleas and the much lesser known Burbot and Mandrakes. Natural Histories has brought 25 groups of animals and plants together across 25 episodes to tell the stories of nature's influences on human culture from across the globe.
The Big Story, a special live event presented by satirical comedian Rory Bremner and Natural Histories presenter Brett Westwood tells a story of the earth from Dinosaurs to people. With comedy, music, readings and discussion all held in the spectacular Hinze Hall of the Natural History Museum. We tell a uniquely Big Story of 100 million years' worth of natural history.
WED 21:00 Would You Eat an Alien? (b06s5qqm)
Sociable Aliens
In this 4 part series Christine Nicol, professor of Animal Welfare at the University of Bristol, explores the fascinating and challenging subject of animal sentience and welfare. To help delve into the nuances we set up an intriguing scenario...
Jake the Spaceman (aka comedian Jake Yapp) has crash-landed on a remote planet and doesn't have much food to keep him going until he is rescued. Fortunately, the planet is teeming with alien life forms that are edible, but which ones should he eat? He wants to cause the minimum amount of pain and distress to the creatures, so what does he need to know about the nature of the beings on the planet? Can they feel pain? If so, how can he minimise suffering? Will eating an alien cause distress to others? Is the alien so aware and sensitive to its environment that Jake needs to consider whether it is a non-human person?
Christine will interview animal welfare scientists, philosophers and wildlife biologists to get under the skin of animal sentience and the potential consequences of accepting that animals are conscious, aware creatures.
These big questions generate surprising and challenging insights into our attitudes to other life. When you know absolutely nothing about the alien in front of you, what do you need to know before eating it?
WED 21:30 Midweek (b06s9j72)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b06s9l5k)
Special report on migrants in Calais
Should more be done for the migrants in Calais? More on the British Muslims denied access to America. And politics over Christmas lunch - how Jeremy Corbyn divides opinion.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b06t2gr4)
A Snow Garden and Other Stories
I'll Be Home for Christmas
Rachel Joyce's new collection "A Snow Garden and Other Stories" glides through the festive season with interlinked stories which delight and surprise. From an unexpected birth at an airport full of stranded travellers, a famous son wanting to escape the madness for a normal family dinner, to a divorced father's wish to give his two little boys the one thing they really want, a white Christmas. Five stories as funny, joyous, poignant and memorable as Christmas should be.
Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and has been translated into 34 languages.
She is the award-winning writer of over 30 original afternoon plays and classic adaptations for BBC Radio 4.
Read by ..... Rachel Joyce
Produced & Directed by ..... Gemma McMullan.
WED 23:00 Little Lifetimes by Jenny Eclair (b06s9l5m)
Series 2
Waiting For Billy
by Jenny Eclair
Patsy and Billy are a rock and roll Darby and Joan. She's been with him through the good times and now the bad. With the money gone and the band members dying off, can Patsy's secret stay hidden for good.
Patsy ..... Anita Dobson
Produced by Sally Avens
WED 23:15 Before They Were Famous (b03gg7nr)
Series 2
Episode 4
Even the most successful of writers have, at some point, had to take day jobs to pay the bills.
Ian Leslie presents the second series of this Radio 4 spoof documentary, which sheds light on the often surprising jobs done by the world's best known writers in the days before they were able to make a living from their art.
In a project of literary archaeology, Leslie unearths archive examples of early work by great writers, including Fortune Cookie messages written by Germaine Greer, a political manifesto by the young JK Rowling, and a car manual written by Dan Brown. In newspaper articles, advertising copy, and company correspondence, we get a fascinating glimpse into the embryonic development of our best-loved literary voices.
We may know them today for their novels, plays or poems but, once upon a time, they were just people with a dream - and a rent bill looming at the end of the month.
Producers: Anna Silver and Claire Broughton
A Hat Trick Production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:30 Stepping Stones (b064zmb4)
Splash: The Water in Winter
Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.
In this fourth episode, Piers goes for a winter swim in the Men's Pond on Hampstead Heath and discovers how special the sounds are - wild-life, swimmers, the distant hum of London - on a January morning.
Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:45 Nabokov's Christmas (b01pfy5p)
by Vladimir Nabokov.
An intensely moving short story about a father mourning the death of his son. On Christmas Eve, a grieving father moves around the family home gathering together some of his son's effects. This leads him to discover things that he did not know about his beloved son and also to find something among his belongings that will renew his will to live.
Vladimir Nabokov was born in St. Petersburg in 1899, the eldest son of an aristocratic family. Nabokov is arguably most famous for his 1955 novel LOLITA.
Read by Robert Glenister.
Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane.
THURSDAY 24 DECEMBER 2015
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b06s6xmq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b06t4l4t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b06s6xms)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b06s6xmv)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b06s6xmx)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b06s6xn0)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06s9pwz)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Cardinal Vincent Nichols.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b06s9px1)
The Mistletoe Consultant, Blackcurrants, Why Farming Matters, Gathering Winter Fuel
Fruit growers are hoping for some colder weather in the New Year. Without it blackcurrant bushes won't have rested enough to produce a good crop next summer.
We meet a Mistletoe Consultant.
It's back into the classroom to learn more about the National Farmers Union's drive to introduce farming into primary school lessons.
And, we're gathering winter fuel.
Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Sarah Swadling.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0vqb)
Chowchilla
Michael Palin presents the secretive chowchilla from Queensland, Australia. The chowchilla gets its name from its song, which is one of the most distinctive sounds of the coastal rainforest of north-east Queensland. You're not likely to see the bird though because it spends its time skulking on the forest floor. Chowchillas belong to the family known as logrunners because they feed and nest on or near ground-level. They're stout thrush-like birds; the males are dark brown with a white chest and throat, whilst the female's throat is rusty-orange.
Chowchillas have been found to sing with different dialects in different areas. Within say, 50 hectares, all the family groups of pairs and non-breeding younger birds may share the same dialect. But in an adjacent area, the families may assemble some of their song components slightly differently. Over time, their song culture could change and a new dialect would be born.
THU 06:00 Today (b06s9rz7)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b06s9rz9)
Michael Faraday
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the eminent 19th-century scientist Michael Faraday. Born into a poor working-class family, he received little formal schooling but became interested in science while working as a bookbinder's apprentice. He is celebrated today for carrying out pioneering research into the relationship between electricity and magnetism. Faraday showed that if a wire was turned in the presence of a magnet or a magnet was turned in relation to a wire, an electric current was generated. This ground-breaking discovery led to the development of the electric generator and ultimately to modern power stations. During his life he became the most famous scientist in Britain and he played a key role in founding the Royal Institution's Christmas lectures which continue today.
With:
Geoffrey Cantor
Professor Emeritus of the History of Science at the University of Leeds
Laura Herz
Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford
Frank James
Professor of the History of Science at the Royal Institution
Producer: Victoria Brignell.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b06t4lr0)
The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees
Episode 4
In 2012, Rob Penn felled (and replanted) a great ash from a Welsh wood. He set out to explore the true value of the tree of which we have made the greatest and most varied use in human history. How many things can be made from one tree?
Over the next two years he travelled across Britain, to Europe and the USA, to the workshops and barns of a generation of craftsmen committed to working in wood. He watched them make over 45 artefacts and tools that have been in continual use for centuries, if not millennia.
With his family losing interest in the project, Rob decides to make something out of his ash that his children will enjoy - a wooden toboggan. Packing some logs into an old ski bag, he takes the train to Austria where he meets Christian Glasser. There are fifteen to twenty traditional toboggan manufacturers left across the Alps and Christian's firm, founded by his great-great-uncle in 1909, is one of them. He uses steam to bend the wood into runners, support bars and bridges - a technique which is recorded on an Ancient Egyptian tomb. A toboggan, or sled, is the oldest vehicle known to man, so Rob's children, and the 10 000 other people who buy a toboggan from Christian each year, are part of a rich tradition.
This is a tale about the joy of making things in wood, of its touch and smell, its many uses, and the resonant, calming effect of running our hands along a wooden surface. It is a celebration of man's close relationship with this greatest of natural materials and a reminder of the value of things made by hand and made to last.
Abridged by Jo Coombs
Produced by Hannah Marshall
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b06s9rzc)
Liane Carroll, the night before Christmas, Bishop Rachel
Jenni Murray is joined by award-winning jazz singer Liane Carroll who performs live in the studio. Where will you be spending the night before Christmas? Will it be your own home, a childhood home or someone else's home? We discuss what being home for Christmas means. From the Woman's Hour archive, the first women ordained in the Anglican Church talk about celebrating their first Christmas in 1994. Also, we also catch up with the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek to hear about her first Christmas as the Bishop of Gloucester. And Christmas past on Woman's Hour, we ask how things have changed.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b06s9rzf)
I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General
A Savoy Cocktail
The story of the rise and fall of a collaboration between three men who dominated Victorian musical theatre and have left a lasting legacy. Everyone has heard of the immortal Gilbert and Sullivan, but who knows about the man who brought them success, George Grossmith, the original Modern Major General?
Simon Butteriss and Robin Brooks' delightful comedy drama about the entertainer George Grossmith, who was plucked from his humble touring circuit to become the star of the Gilbert & Sullivan Savoy Operas, staying for twelve years. Grossmith was central to why Gilbert and Sullivan operas became so successful and continue to be so today.
Simon Butteriss, who plays Grossmith, is best known as a performer in the Gilbert and Sullivan patter roles, which he continues to sing all over the world to a huge fan base. Robin Brooks' work for Radio 4 includes Ulysses, I Claudius, The Great Scott and Iris Murdoch: Dream Girl. His recent dramatisation of Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea starring Jeremy Irons has been shortlisted for a BBC Audio Drama Award, 2016.
Episode Four. A Savoy Cocktail
It's 1885 and Grossmith is now the toast of the Savoy Opera, with a starring role as Ko-Ko in The Mikado - but his nerves and Gilbert's demands threaten to get the better of him. Will the clash of egos and a dose of laudanum wreck the show?
Pianist: Gretel Dowdeswell
Sound Designer: Alisdair McGregor
Written by Simon Butteriss and Robin Brooks
Directed by Simon Butteriss and Fiona McAlpine
Produced by Fiona McAlpine
An Allegra production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b06s9rzh)
Saving India's Parsis
India's Parsis are one of the subcontinent's most successful communities. But their future looks precarious because their numbers have fallen dramatically. Some Parsis believe the answer could be to accept converts, and re-write the rules on who's deemed a Parsi. Others are resistant to change. Now the Indian government has stepped in to fund fertility treatment for couples who dream of parenthood. For Crossing Continents, Linda Pressly travels to Mumbai to meet them.
THU 11:30 Brain Tingles (b06s9rzk)
The comedian and actor Isy Suttie sets out to explore how creativity is influenced by the mysterious and medically controversial phenomenon ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response). Ever since she was little, Isy has been experiencing what she and her family describe as 'head squeezing' - a euphoric, incredibly relaxing version of goose bumps that starts around the head or face and travels around the body. A few years ago she realised not everyone got this feeling, that it's got a name - ASMR, or 'brain tingles'. There are hoards of online videos designed to trigger the feeling - often involving whispering women offering to book you a golfing holiday, test your eyes, wrap your gifts or tutor you on how to fold the perfect towel. Isy watches some ASMR videos with fellow comedian Joe Lycett, who's also experienced it, as has the journalist and musician Rhodri Marsden. Zoe Fothergill and Claire Tolan are two artists who've made work inspired by ASMR videos. Isy speaks to Charlotte Luke aka The ASMR Angel who has thousands of internet followers. She meets Dr Nick Davis who's carried out research into ASMR and she heads off to Sheffield University where she's wired up to a machine which tests her responses to different videos, to try to unravel how and when ASMR occurs.
THU 12:00 News Summary (b06s6xn4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 Home Front (b06kvbfp)
24 December 1915 - Marion Wardle
On this day, the Turkish attacked the British Indian garrison at Kut al Amara, and Marion meets a charming soldier.
Written by Richard Monks
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
THU 12:15 You and Yours (b06s9rzp)
Can the charity sector save its reputation?
It's been a bad year for the charity sector. Since the death of Britain's oldest poppy seller, Olive Cooke, in May, charities have been criticised for their fundraising techniques.
The big charities were exposed for harassing elderly and vulnerable people and buying and selling donors personal information between themselves.
The government has pushed through some new rules; we'll be speaking to the Minister responsible for the charity sector, Rob Wilson, about the changes he's made to make sure charities are properly regulated.
We go inside one of Britain's biggest charities - the British Heart Foundation - to see where they spend your money, and how they decide to contact their donors.
We'll also be speaking to the small charities, who have largely done nothing wrong, but have been tarred with the same brush as the big ones.
THU 12:54 Radio 4 Appeal (b06s6zm5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 12:57 Weather (b06s6xn6)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b06s9rzr)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.
THU 13:45 Roger Law: Art and Seoul (b06tfs4w)
Artist Roger Law has long been fascinated by the culture of Korea. From stunning ceramics to films and music, South Korea has it all. Roger travels to the 21st century city of Seoul to find out what fires up the Korean imagination.
Roger travels out of Seoul to visit the island of Jeju. It's a holiday spot, but one with a remarkable selection of unusual museums. From teddy bears to stones, they all have their place in the cabinets of curiosities.
Producer Mark Rickards.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b06s9l5f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b06tk8hw)
Suggs: My Mad-Life Crisis
The Madness frontman tells his funny and moving true-life story.
The death of Suggs' beloved cat on his fiftieth birthday triggers a personal quest to discover what happened to the father he never knew. Stunned by what he learns, Suggs takes us back to his childhood and his first appearance on Top Of The Pops at the age of eighteen.
Adapted for radio by Owen Lewis from the stage play My Life In Words And Music by Graham McPherson and Toby Follet.
Other parts played by Ewan Bailey and Philippa Stanton.
Pianist: Dean Mumford
Director: Owen Lewis
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 15:00 A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (b06s9rzt)
Live from the Chapel of King's College, Cambridge
Hymn: Once in Royal David's City (desc. David Willcocks)
Bidding Prayer read by the Dean
What Sweeter Music? (John Rutter)
First lesson: Genesis 3 vv 8-19 read by a Chorister
This is the truth sent from above (Ralph Vaughan Williams)
Adam Lay Ybounden (Boris Ord)
Second lesson: Genesis 22 vv 15-18 read by a Choral Scholar
Ding, Dong, Merrily on High (David Willcocks)
In Dulci Jubilo (Robert Lucas Pearsall)
Third lesson: Isaiah 9 vv 2, 6-7 read by a member of the College staff.
Sussex Carol (arr. David Willcocks)
Hymn: It came upon the midnight clear (desc. Stephen Cleobury)
Fourth lesson: Isaiah 11 vv 1-3a, 4a, 6-9 read by a representative of the City of Cambridge.
A Tender Shoot (arr. Otto Goldschmidt)
A Spotless Rose (Philip Ledger)
Fifth lesson: Luke 1 vv 26-38 read by the Master over the Choristers.
The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came (arr. David Willcocks)
Nova, Nova (John Scott)
Sixth lesson: Luke 2 vv 1 -7 read by the Chaplain
In The Bleak Midwinter (Harold Darke)
Dormi, Jesu (John Rutter)
Seventh lesson: Luke 2 vv 8-16 read by the Director of Music
The Shepherd's Carol (Bob Chilcott)
Hymn: God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (arr. David Willcocks)
Eighth lesson: Matthew 2 vv 1-12 read by the Vice-Provost
The Flight (Richard Causton - newly commissioned)
Here is the Little Door (Herbert Howells)
Ninth lesson: John 1 vv 1-14 read by the Provost
Hymn: O come, all ye faithful (arr. David Willcocks)
Blessing
Hymn: Hark, the Herald Angels Sing (arr. David Willcocks)
Organ voluntaries:
In dulci jubilo (BWV 729) (Bach)
Sortie on 'In dulci jubilo' (David Briggs) [broadcast on Radio 3 on Christmas Day only]
Director of Music: Stephen Cleobury
Organ Scholar: Tom Etheridge
Producer: Philip Billson
For many around the world, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, live from the candlelit Chapel of King's College, Cambridge, marks the beginning of Christmas. It is based around nine Bible readings which tell the story of the loving purposes of God. They are interspersed with carols old and new, sung by the world-famous chapel choir who also lead the congregation in traditional Christmas hymns.
Explanatory notes from Director of Music Stephen Cleobury:
"This year's selection has a very strong King's basis. The commissioned carol is from Richard Causton, a Fellow of King's College, and a university lecturer in composition. He has, in turn, commissioned a new text from George Szirtes, which has strong contemporary resonances.
In September we heard the sad news of the death of one of my predecessors here at King's, the legendary Sir David Willcocks. His many carol arrangements and descants are known the world over, and we include a number of these. Near the beginning and the end are pieces by Vaughan Williams and Howells, both composers having been very closely associated with David Willcocks.
Also, during the summer, the world of church and organ music mourned the loss of John Scott, whose setting of Nova, Nova comes after the Annunciation lesson.
We mark the 70th birthday of John Rutter by including two of the carols he has written for King's over the years. Bob Chilcott, 60 this year, is a former chorister and choral scholar of King's, and his commission for the Choir is also programmed.
Carols by Boris Ord, Harold Darke and Philip Ledger also find a place. Ord and Ledger were, respectively, the predecessor and successor of Willcocks, while Darke looked after the Choir during WW2."
Notes on the commissioned carol - Richard Causton writes:
Earlier this year I spent a great deal of time in libraries looking for a suitable text for my new carol and although I unearthed many old and very beautiful poems about the Nativity, I struggled to find one that I really wanted to set to music. I had a growing sense that at this precise moment it is perverse to be writing a piece about a child born in poverty, away from home and forced to flee with his parents, without in any way paying reference to the appalling refugee crisis that is currently unfolding.
I phoned my friend, the poet George Szirtes to ask if he might be prepared to write me a poem which could encompass some of these ideas. By complete coincidence, the very day I phoned he was in Hungary, at Budapest railway station talking to the refugees who were stuck there while trying to leave the country. Within days, George sent me a poem that is at once beautiful, eloquent and hard-hitting.
THU 16:30 The Film Programme (b06s9rzw)
The Best Films of the Year
Francine Stock presents a festive edition with the best films of the year, as chosen by critic Tim Robey, film buyer and programmer Clare Binns and critic and producer Catherine Bray.
THU 17:00 PM (b06s9rzy)
News interviews, context and analysis.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b06s6xnb)
Further storm worries for flood hit Cumbria. A woman died when a car hit a coffee shop.
THU 18:15 Bridget Christie's Christmas List (b06s9s00)
Father Christmas helps Bridget bring about a feminist Christmas for 2015, whether he wants to or not.
Featuring (much to their surprise) Miles Jupp, Robin Ince, Jon Culshaw and Leo Wan.
A Christmas show for everyone. Even men.
Written by and starring Bridget Christie.
Producer: Alexandra Smith
A BBC Radio Comedy production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2015.
THU 18:30 Tina C (b06s9s02)
Tina C: Herstory
Episode 4
Country music legend Tina C brings us right up to date with a (slightly) festive look at where she is today.
Bob Harris quizzes her about her ambitions for the future, and a live country band take us through some of her biggest hits.
Written and performed by Christopher Green.
Additional voices: Susan Jameson & Leo Wan.
The Band: Duncan Walsh-Atkins, Phil Hardisty, Mark Wraith.
Produced by Victoria Lloyd.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b06s9s8d)
Lynda gives a reading as the village gathers at St Stephens for the service.
Pip gives Matthew a gift and he gives her a snog under the mistletoe. Pip has decided she needs to pay her way at Brookfield, as David talks about the Dairy crisis.
Leonie's full of love for Lynda, remembering Lynda's comforting chat with her when she had her doubts about James and motherhood. Lynda seems contented enough, with her family around her. However, to top it off there's a sound at the door. Could it really be.... Scruff! Lynda is overcome with emotion as she scoops him up in her arms.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b06s9s8g)
Michael Palin, War and Peace, Diversity in film, Katie Puckrik's alternative Christmas
Michael Palin reveals how he uncovered the story of the 17th century Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi for a new BBC Four documentary Michael Palin's Quest for Artemisia.
Andrew Davies explains how he adapted Tolstoy's War and Peace for television and how hard it is to select the best bits from this 1000-page novel.
In the year that gave us Star Wars, Mad Max, Straight Outta Compton and Sisters, film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh discusses whether 2015 was a breakthrough year for diversity in film.
Forget Jingle Bells, the music presenter Katie Puckrik chooses her alternative Christmas song.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b06s9rzf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Report (b06s9s8j)
A not so merry migrant Christmas in Vienna
Thousands of migrants are stuck in Vienna, their journey to Germany cut short. Will they ever realise their European dreams? Frances Stonor Saunders reports.
Producer: Lucy Proctor.
THU 20:30 In Business (b06s9shq)
Christmas, Made in China
Peter Day visits the Chinese city which makes most of the world's Christmas decorations
Producers: Charlotte Pritchard & David Rhodes.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b06s9shs)
New Horizons Pluto update; friendly predatory bacteria; Christmas in the lab; human ancestry
Since the epic flyby of Pluto in July, NASA has been regularly downloading staggering images from the New Horizons mission. Pluto is not a dead rock, but a geologically active dwarf planet, with tectonic movements, ice plains, glaciers, dunes and cryo-volcanoes. For an end of year update on the observations and outstanding mysteries, Adam meets Alan Stern, the Principal Investigator on New Horizons, who is still marvelling at the success of this humble craft.
Scientists have discovered how a potentially useful predatory bacterium called Bdellovibrio protects itself against its own weapons when it invades other bacteria. Professor Liz Sockett discusses how the work offers insights into early steps in the evolution of bacterial predators and how this will help to inform new ways to fight antimicrobial resistance
Science stops for no one .So how are researchers nurturing their experiments over the festive period? Marnie Chesterton has gone on the hunt for scientists for whom Christmas Day will be yet another day in the lab.
This year there's has been an explosion of papers of using DNA to reconstruct human history. We've invented new techniques for extracting DNA from the long dead, and for analysing ancient genomes. Professor Matthew Cobb from the University of Manchester assesses recent key developments in reconstructing the lives and population structures of ancient civilisations.
Producer Adrian Washbourne
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b06s9rz9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b06s9shv)
The Year in Review
Senior BBC correspondents discuss 2015 with Ritula Shah.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b06t2h53)
A Snow Garden and Other Stories
Christmas Day at the Airport
Rachel Joyce's new collection "A Snow Garden and Other Stories" glides through the festive season with interlinked stories which delight and surprise. From an unexpected birth at an airport full of stranded travellers, a famous son wanting to escape the madness for a normal family dinner, to a divorced father's wish to give his two little boys the one thing they really want, a white Christmas. Five stories as funny, joyous, poignant and memorable as Christmas should be.
Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and has been translated into 34 languages.
She is the award-winning writer of over 30 original afternoon plays and classic adaptations for BBC Radio 4.
Read by ..... Rachel Joyce
Produced & Directed by ..... Gemma McMullan.
THU 23:00 Love in Recovery (b06s9szk)
Christmas Eve
Heart-warming comedy drama set in Alcoholics Anonymous on Christmas Eve, written by Pete Jackson and inspired by his own road to recovery. Starring Sue Johnston, John Hannah, Eddie Marsan, Rebecca Front, Paul Kaye and Julia Deakin.
It's Christmas Eve and the church hall is empty - except for self-appointed group leader Andy, who's waiting for the rest of his Alcoholics Anonymous group to turn up. Just in case anyone needs him. After all, Christmas can be a difficult time for recovering alcoholics - especially when your support group is this load of idiots.
But nothing proves more difficult than this particular Christmas Eve as, one by one, the members arrive, each with a different reason for seeking out the meeting hall. But whatever their troubles, one thing is clear - no one is there for a meeting.
Writer Pete Jackson is a recovering alcoholic and has spent time in Alcoholics Anonymous. It was there he found, as most people do, support from the unlikeliest group of disparate souls, all banded together due to one common bond. As well as offering the support he needed throughout a difficult time, AA also offered a weekly, sometimes daily, dose of hilarity, upset, heartbreak and friendship.
There are many different kinds of AA meetings. Love in Recovery is about meetings where people tell their stories. There are funny stories, sad stories, stories of small victories and milestones, stories of loss, stories of hope, and those stories that you really shouldn't laugh at - but still do, along with the storyteller.
A second series of Love in Recovery will return to Radio 4 next year.
Written and created by Pete Jackson
Producer/Director: Ben Worsfield
A Lucky Giant production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:30 Midnight Mass (b06s9szm)
The First Mass of Christmas comes live from Brentwood Cathedral in Essex. The service is led by the Bishop of Brentwood, the Rt Rev Alan Williams, and the preacher is the Dean, Fr Martin Boland. Music includes hymns 'O come all ye faithful', 'On Christmas Night all Christians Sing' and 'Hark! The herald angels sing'. Brentwood Cathedral Choir is directed by Andrew Wright and the organists are Stephen King and James Devor. Producer Andrew Earis.
FRIDAY 25 DECEMBER 2015
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b06s6xpr)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b06s6xpt)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b06s6xpw)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b06s6xpy)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06sbl8w)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Cardinal Vincent Nichols.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b06sbl8y)
Flowers at Christmas
Sarah Swadling joins the winter Narcissi harvest on the Isles of Scilly.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0vfj)
Northern Cardinal
Michael Palin presents the northern cardinal from a New York's Central Park. Northern Cardinals are finch-like birds and make British robins look positively anaemic. They are common residents in the south and east of North America where they live in woods, parks and gardens. Your first sighting of these vermilion birds with their black masks and outrageous crests comes as a shock. They seem too tropically colourful to brave the dull North American winter.
Only the male Cardinals are bright red. Females are browner with flashes of red on their wings and red bills. Both sexes obtain their red colours from seeds and other foods which contain carotenoid pigments.
Their familiarity and eye-catching colours have endeared cardinals to North Americans. No fewer than seven states, including Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio have adopted cardinals as their state bird and it's also the mascot of many famous sports clubs including the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.
FRI 06:00 Natural Histories (b05w9drk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Wednesday]
FRI 07:00 Desert Island Discs (b06s7y34)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 07:45 Christmas Is a Sad Season for the Poor by John Cheever (b06sbl90)
Martin Freeman reads John Cheever's classic Christmas tale about the power of giving. On Christmas day Charlie, a down on his luck lift attendant, laments his lack of upward mobility. But the generosity of the residents in the wealthy New York apartment building where he works takes him by surprise. A cautionary tale of generosity, indulgence and the law of unintended consequences.
FRI 08:00 Just a Minute (b06sbl92)
Junior Just a Minute
25/12/2015
The classic BBC Radio panel game gets a youthful twist, as 11-13 year olds join established players of the game to speak for a minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation.
Paul Merton and Josie Lawrence make up the grown-up half of each team, along with young players Joe from Leicester and Sophie from Burton-on-Trent.
Recorded at the BBC's Radio Theatre with the same wonderful host as Just A Minute, Nicholas Parsons.
FRI 08:30 Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (b06t3skh)
Episode 1
On Christmas Day 1937 , nearly two years before book publication, five of T.S Eliot's Practical Cats poems were broadcast as readings by Geoffrey Tandy on BBC Radio . The Radio Times wrote' For some time past Mr Eliot has been amusing and instructing the offspring of some of his friends in verse on the subject of cats. These poems are not the kind that have been usually associated with his name'.
Over 75 years later, one of our greatest actors, Oscar- winning Jeremy Irons re-visits the original five poems along with the further ten which make up the Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats .
In this treat for Christmas day you will find familiar much-loved characters including Growltiger, Mungojerrie , Rumpleteaser, Old Deutoronomy, Mr Mistoffelees, Macavity Gus and Skimbleshanks . These are cats who are notorious , lurk in shadows, baffle Scotland yard, dance by the light of the moon and who must not be woken . They are found on trains, in the theatre, in the high street. They juggle, sleep, conjure, are curious and bore but they all show another side of one of our most important British poets .
T.S Eliot 's poems have been enjoyed by many in the musical Cats, but here we return to the poems without any music and celebrate the inventiveness in the original words. Following on from his powerful readings of The Waste land , Four Quartets and The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock for BBC Radio 4 Jeremy Irons continues his radio journey through the works of T.S Eliot with the cats .
The Naming of Cats
Skimbleshanks The Railway Cat
Growltiger's Last Stand
The Rum Tum Tugger
The Song of the Jellicles
Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer
Old Deuteronomy
Of the Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles
Mr Mistoffelees
Macavity:The Mystery Cat
Directed in Salford by Susan Roberts.
FRI 09:00 Christmas Service (b06sbl94)
Nick Baines is the Anglican Bishop of Leeds, known for 'musing' on social media as a 'restless bishop'. As Bishop of the Church of England's newest diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales, he'll preach from Ripon Cathedral - the Cathedral for North Yorkshire - where each year a unique tradition of distributing apples takes place at the Christmas morning service. The Cathedral is at the heart of what since mediaeval times has been a thriving market town. Monasteries have stood on this site since the 7th century and both city and cathedral retain strong and intimate links with the surrounding North Yorkshire countryside, where stables and shepherds are practical everyday realities. Worship is led by the Dean, The Very Rev'd John Dobson. Organist and Director of Music Andrew Bryden conducts the Girl Choristers and the Lay Clerks of Ripon's Cathedral Choir, accompanied by Lowry Brass, and on the organ by Assistant Director of Music Tim Harper. Producer: Rowan Morton Gledhill.
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b06t4pw9)
The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees
Episode 5
In 2012, Robert Penn felled (and replanted) a great ash from a Welsh wood. He set out to explore the true value of the tree of which we have made the greatest and most varied use in human history. How many things can be made from one tree?
Over the next two years he travelled across Britain, to Europe and the USA, to the workshops and barns of a generation of craftsmen committed to working in wood. He watched them make over 45 artefacts and tools that have been in continual use for centuries, if not millennia.
For his final project, Rob wants to create a totem to embody his reverence not just for his tree, but for all Ash trees - a writing desk. It's an ambitious project. With his friend Andy Dix, he selects the perfect piece of timber for each component. The finished product and its distinctive smell takes Rob back to the day his tree was felled. As his time with the tree comes to an end, his new rapport with the ash is just beginning.
This is a tale about the joy of making things in wood, of its touch and smell, its many uses, and the resonant, calming effect of running our hands along a wooden surface. It is a celebration of man's close relationship with this greatest of natural materials and a reminder of the value of things made by hand and made to last.
Abridged by Jo Coombs
Produced by Hannah Marshall
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b06sbpmz)
Claudia Winkleman, Romesh and Shanthi Ranganathan, Frank Gardner and Odette Toilette
Jenni and Jane host an extended Woman's Hour this Christmas day with Claudia Winkleman, comedian Romesh Ranganathan and his mother Shanthi, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, scent expert Lizzie Ostrom, author of Perfume: A Century of Scents, drinks expert Alice Lascelles, author of Ten Cocktails: The Art of Convivial Drinking; Jeremy Lee, chef at London restaurant, Quo Vadis, Charles Collingwood, better known as Brian Aldridge in the Archers; children singing in a carol service at Holy Trinity Church in Coventry, two women, aged 100 and 102, talking about Christmases past and last, but not least, the London United Voices with choirmaster Tommy Ng.
FRI 11:15 15 Minute Drama (b06sbpn1)
I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General
Piano and I
The story of the rise and fall of a collaboration between three men who dominated Victorian musical theatre and have left a lasting legacy. Everyone has heard of the immortal Gilbert and Sullivan, but who knows about the man who brought them success, George Grossmith, the original Modern Major General?
Simon Butteriss and Robin Brooks' delightful comedy drama about the entertainer George Grossmith, who was plucked from his humble touring circuit to become the star of the Gilbert & Sullivan Savoy Operas, staying for twelve years. Grossmith was central to why Gilbert and Sullivan operas became so successful and continue to be so today.
Simon Butteriss, who plays Grossmith, is best known as a performer in the Gilbert and Sullivan patter roles, which he continues to sing all over the world to a huge fan base. Robin Brooks' work for Radio 4 includes Ulysses, I Claudius, The Great Scott and Iris Murdoch: Dream Girl. His recent dramatisation of Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea starring Jeremy Irons has been shortlisted for a BBC Audio Drama Award, 2016.
Episode Five: Piano and I
It's 1889 and, after twelve years at the Savoy Opera, Grossmith decides to go solo. Gilbert and Sullivan lose their golden goose. While he flies, they struggle to replace him. Will there be a re-union? And if so, will they all be able to bear it?
Pianist: Gretel Dowdeswell
Sound Designer: Alisdair McGregor
Written by Simon Butteriss and Robin Brooks
Directed by Simon Butteriss and Fiona McAlpine
Produced by Fiona McAlpine
An Allegra production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 11:30 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! (b06sbpn3)
The Christmas 'Do'
Christmas creeps up on Arthur, leaving him little time to plan his festive arrangements.
Count Arthur and his erstwhile protégé Malcolm (Terry Kilkelly) are surrounded by a host of regular characters created by his Radio Repertory Company - Mel Giedroyc, Alastair Kerr and Dave Mounfield. Dave, who played, among others, the much-loved characters Jerry and Geoffrey, sadly died in March 2020. His final Count Arthur recordings were two Christmas specials recorded in Autumn 2019, the first of which aired on Christmas Day 2019 and the second is yet to air. The 2020 hybrid return of the ever-popular family friendly sitcom is dedicated to his memory.
The long running series first aired on BBC Radio 4 in 2005 and ran for seven series until the former variety star transferred to BBC TV in his eponymous sitcom in 2013. A TV series that started out on BBC2 and transferred to BBC1, running for three series until 2017. The 52 episodes of Count Arthur Strong’s Radio Show! comprise seven series and ten specials since the programme first aired in December 2005.
Highlights include winning the Sony Radio Award for Best Comedy in 2009 and being voted as the Best Radio Sitcom by the British Comedy Guide in 2016, 2018 and 2019. The TV series also enjoyed wide critical acclaim and was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Sitcom and Best Comedy Writing, as well as getting the nod for three British Comedy Awards. In August 2019, Count Arthur Strong's TV sitcom featured in the top three of the Most Missed TV Shows of the 21st Century poll conducted in the Radio Times. Since 2014, Count Arthur has returned to BBC Radio 4 annually with his celebrated Christmas specials.
A 7Digital Komedia production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 12:00 News Summary (b06s6xq0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Home Front (b06kvc3t)
Christmas Day 1915 - Adeline Lumley
On this day, J M Barrie presented the Peter Pan cup to a 13 year old who swam the Serpentine, and Adeline Lumley makes a Christmas wish.
Written by Richard Monks & Shaun McKenna
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
FRI 12:15 Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (b06t3tq6)
Episode 2
On Christmas Day 1937 , nearly two years before book publication, five of T.S Eliot's Practical Cats poems were broadcast as readings by Geoffrey Tandy on BBC Radio . The Radio Times wrote' For some time past Mr Eliot has been amusing and instructing the offspring of some of his friends in verse on the subject of cats. These poems are not the kind that have been usually associated with his name'.
Over 75 years later, one of our greatest actors, Oscar- winning Jeremy Irons re-visits the original five poems along with the further ten which make up the Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats .
In this treat for Christmas day you will find familiar much-loved characters including Growltiger, Mungojerrie , Rumpleteaser, Old Deutoronomy, Mr Mistoffelees, Macavity Gus and Skimbleshanks . These are cats who are notorious , lurk in shadows, baffle Scotland yard, dance by the light of the moon and who must not be woken . They are found on trains, in the theatre, in the high street. They juggle, sleep, conjure, are curious and bore but they all show another side of one of our most important British poets .
T.S Eliot 's poems have been enjoyed by many in the musical Cats, but here we return to the poems without any music and celebrate the inventiveness in the original words. Following on from his powerful readings of The Waste land , Four Quartets and The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock for BBC Radio 4 Jeremy Irons continues his radio journey through the works of T.S Eliot with the cats .
Gus:The Theatre Cat
The Old Gumbie Cat
Bustopher Jones:The Cat about Town
Cat Morgan introduces himself
The Ad-dressing of Cats.
FRI 12:30 June Whitfield: 90 Not Out (b06s8556)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:15 on Sunday]
FRI 13:00 News Summary (b06sbqs7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 13:15 Singing Piaf with No Regrets (b06rzd4b)
The Paris-based singer Caroline Nin listens to those drawn to sing the music of the legendary French performer, born 100 years ago this week in the working class Parisian district of Belleville.
Edith Piaf's influence on French popular song and, more widely, on French and European culture has barely waned since she first found fame and, to this day, her legend lives on - in the myths that surround her life and in the songs that people still sing.
Caroline Nin is intimate with Piaf, through her own show based on the singer's legacy. For this anniversary programme, she meets some of those - including employees at the French National Library, a Japanese tribute singer, Piaf's biographer Carolyn Burke and Rosen, a former prostitute who worked the bars of Pigalle - who can't resist singing Piaf. With no regrets.
Caroline Nin's performance of l'Accordéoniste is accompanied by pianist Antoine Lefort and doublebass player Shankar Kirpalani.
Produced by Catherine Guilyardi and Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 13:45 Roger Law: Art and Seoul (b06tfxh9)
Artist Roger Law has long been fascinated by the culture of Korea. From stunning ceramics to films and music, South Korea has it all. Roger travels to the 21st century city of Seoul to find out what fires up the Korean imagination.
In the last in the series, Roger Law tries some Korean food for Christmas Day. Not all of it is to his taste, but the national dish of kimchi hits the spot.
Producer Mark Rickards.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b06s9s8d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b06sbrxh)
Lewis Carroll - The Hunting of the Snark
Tony Robinson narrates this fresh adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic masterpiece following a strange assortment of characters on their quest for an elusive beast.
Led by a bell-ringing Captain, this motley crew must brave terrifying danger in their chaotic pursuit of a creature known as Snark. Accompanied by specially composed music and songs, this surreal tale questions whether anything is really what it seems.
Music and songs composed by Katie Chatburn
Music performed by Katie Chatburn, Dorry Macaulay, Kathryn Williams, Stephen Cordiner and Jasper Wilkinson
Director: Charlotte Riches.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2015.
FRI 15:00 HM The Queen (b06sbrxk)
The Queen's Christmas message to the Commonwealth and the nation, followed by the national anthem.
FRI 15:05 News Summary (b06sbrxm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:15 Alice Is Still in Wonderland (b06pb5pw)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has become an icon of British culture - the bizarre story and flamboyant illustrations have inspired all kinds of imagery, fashion, architecture, theatre, decoration and events. But its sinister undercurrents and dreamscape have also impressed artists and musicians.
On the 150th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll's book, lead singer and song writer of alternative rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, Siouxsie Sioux, explores its strange allure.
"From 8 onwards, I returned to those pictures of strange, impossible animals and freakish, devious adults as I followed the solitary, brave girl, from one weird encounter to the next. I was struck that Alice could grow or shrink at the bite of a cake or the sip of a drink - my body was changing by the day and I was desperate to be older and taller, like my sister, as I wobbled around in my mum's high heels. The Mad Hatter, the Dozy Dormouse, the Mock Turtle, the Duchess' baby pig and playing croquet with flamingos as mallets all made me laugh and I loved the floating head of the grinning Cheshire Cat who couldn't be beheaded.
But there was something else that drew me into Wonderland that I couldn't have named then, though I sensed its irreverence - something darker about adults and their rules and their craziness and endless unreasonableness. Alice was an ally and the book helped me dream myself out of the London suburbs." Siouxsie Sioux
Siouxsie Sioux travels to Oxford to retrace Lewis Carroll's inspiration and influence. With an Un-Oxford soundtrack.
A Cast Iron Radio production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 Shorts (b06scz8q)
New Irish Writing
A World of One's Own
A new series of original stories from some of Ireland's most exciting writers.
In wintry Newry an elderly man embarks on a new adventure in a story by Eugene O'Hare while Lisa McInerney brings us a kid doing a bunk off school, and a man thinks fondly of his glamorous new girlfriend in Kevin Maher's story of love and leather jackets.
Writer ..... Eugene O'Hare
Reader ..... Ian McElhinney
Producer ...... Jenny Thompson.
FRI 16:00 A Good Read (b0639w3x)
Miriam Margolyes and Mark Haddon
Harriett Gilbert is joined by actress Miriam Margolyes and writer Mark Haddon to discuss favourite books, including 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens, 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' by Truman Capote and 'To the Lighthouse' by Virginia Woolf. Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.
FRI 16:27 The Infinite Monkey Cage (b06scz8s)
The Infinite Monkey Cage Christmas Special
The Science of Doctor Who
Brian Cox and Robin Ince celebrate the festive season with a look at the science of Doctor Who. Swapping the infinite cage for the Tardis, they are joined on stage by comedian Ross Noble, Professor Fay Dowker, Oscar winning special FX director Paul Franklin, author and Doctor Who writer Simon Guerrier and the Very Reverend Victor Stock. They discuss the real science of time travel, the tardis and why wormholes are inaccurately named (according to Ross!).
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b06scz8v)
Aiden and Jack – Growing Up With Rugby
Fi Glover introduces a conversation recorded at the CBBC Live and Digital Festival in Hull, between friends who have been training together since they were six years old and have a very advanced knowledge of Rugby League. Another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen, and this one can be seen, animated, on http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess
FRI 17:00 With Great Pleasure (b06scz8x)
With Great Pleasure at Christmas: Penelope Keith
Penelope Keith, star of The Good Life and To The Manor Born, presents her favourite and funniest writing to the audience at the Radio Theatre, with readings by Tamsin Greig and Michael Cochrane, and carols sung by The Bach Choir Voices.
Penelope plays scenes from The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde and from Star Quality by Noel Coward: her audition piece for the RSC. Her other picks reflect her life and her passions. They include a Christmas parody by Keith Waterhouse, an extract from Emma by Jane Austen, Swifts by Ted Hughes, The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico, Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, The Donkey by GK Chesterton and A Countrywoman's Notes by Rosemary Verey.
Also featuring an unforgettable moment from Brian Johnston on Test Match Special..
Producer Beth O'Dea.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b06s6xqb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Queen speaks of finding hope in the "moments of darkness" confronting the world.
FRI 18:15 Pam Ayres at Christmas (b06scz8z)
Much-loved poet, comedienne and broadcaster Pam Ayres brings us 'Operation Christmas'.
This Christmas for the first time ever, long-married Pam and Gordon are on their own. But how to spend the festive season? A posh hotel? A cruise? Extreme sports?
Fortunately the crisis is resolved by a letter from the NHS....
Written by Pam Ayres
Starring Pam Ayres as Pam and Geoffrey Whitehead as Gordon.
Produced by Claire Jones
FRI 18:30 Dead Ringers (b06scz91)
Christmas Special
Politicians, media pundits and celebrities are given a Christmas roasting, with lashings of satirical gravy. The perfect antidote to all the tears you've shed over the Christmas TV ads.
Where can you experience the last ever episode of Downton Abbey, a preview of The Archers, and the shock revelation that none of the news on Radio 4's Today programme during the Christmas season is real. It's all pre-recorded while Sara, Jon and the rest of the team sun themselves in the Bahamas. All that and more in the Christmas edition of Dead Ringers.
Starring Jon Culshaw, Lewis MacLeod, Jan Ravens, Debra Stephenson and Duncan Wisbey.
Producer...Bill Dare
A BBC Radio Comedy Production.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b06scz93)
Lynda luxuriates in having Scruff home - it's a little Christmas miracle. Elizabeth feels for David, who's missing Ruth. David opens up - he worries that Ruth won't want to stay with him.
It's a lovely family occasion for the Grundys. Having missed out on Christmas turkey, and refusing to eat a Fairbrother goose, Joe stubbornly eats a pork chop - but eventually gives in and has some goose - even deciding that they should think about getting into geese next year. Eddie has a surprise gift for Clarrie - a new sideboard, to replace her beloved old one. With all her family by her side, Clarrie gives an emotional toast.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b06scz95)
Roy Hudd
Samira Ahmed talks to the comedian, actor and music hall veteran Roy Hudd, whose career spans seven decades.
Starting out as a redcoat at Butlins in the 1950s, Roy became one the UK's best-loved entertainers. His show The News Huddlines ran for 26 years on Radio 2.
As he approaches his 80th birthday, Hudd is playing a Dame for the first time in Panto, in Dick Whittington at Wilton's Music Hall.
He talks about his close relationship with Dennis Potter, who left Hudd a role in his will, and his grandmother, who raised him, and to whom he owes his passion for variety and music hall.
Producer: Timothy Prosser.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b06sbpn1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 today]
FRI 20:00 Archive on 4 (b06386cs)
Shhhhhhh
Examining the nature of silence might not seem the most obvious thing to do on the radio, the medium most wholly given over to noise and which was in its day seen as a direct threat to the realm of silence in our personal and public lives.
It might seem, too, that silence is a singular thing, an absence that offers little to any would-be investigation. But it's a subject that's fascinated Lucy Powell ever since she was set a koan by a Zen master, who asked her what the sound is before the bird sings.
Now she sets out to answer that problem through an analysis of archive recordings from religious scholars, authors, comedians and poets, as well as conducting fresh interviews with the likes of conductor Edward Gardner, neuro-scientist Jan Schnupp and Buddhist nun Tenzin Palmo, who spent seven years on silent retreat in a Himalayan cave.
Lucy hears a freshly composed improvisation on the theme of silence from the classical duo 'Folie a Deux Femmes' and argues that in fact silence is a rich, multiple property that can vary dramatically depending on the context within which it is placed.
Producer: Geoff Bird
Presenter: Lucy Powell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
FRI 21:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b06kvjhx)
21-25 December 1915 (Season 6 start)
The first omnibus edition of Season 6 covering a week following a huge landslide at the Warren and when the townsfolk are preparing for Christmas.
Written by Richard Monks
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Story-led by Shaun McKenna
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Composer: Matthew Strachan
Consultant Historian: Maggie Andrews.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b06s6xqd)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 Drama (b05pmrtk)
Neil Brand - A Year at the Races
Nearing the end of his career Groucho Marx meets a young star-struck fan, who also happens to be a wisecracking horse doctor. Determined to keep her idol’s star shining, she attempts to teach the old funny man some new comedy tricks.
Neil Brand's fast-talking comedy drama about fame and the lasting power of a witty-one-liner.
Groucho ….. Toby Jones
Selma ….. Jenna Augen
Loretta ….. Tracy-Ann Oberman
Eddie ….. Ewan Bailey
Director: Helen Perry
A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2015.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b06t2hm4)
A Snow Garden and Other Stories
Trees
Rachel Joyce's new collection "A Snow Garden and Other Stories" glides through the festive season with interlinked stories which delight and surprise. From an unexpected birth at an airport full of stranded travellers, a famous son wanting to escape the madness for a normal family dinner, to a divorced father's wish to give his two little boys the one thing they really want, a white Christmas. Five stories as funny, joyous, poignant and memorable as Christmas should be.
Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and has been translated into 34 languages.
She is the award-winning writer of over 30 original afternoon plays and classic adaptations for BBC Radio 4.
Read by ..... Rachel Joyce
Produced & Directed by ..... Gemma McMullan.
FRI 23:00 Tim Key's Christmas Poetry Programme (b06sddm9)
Tim Key has pulled out all the stops for his Christmas special - he's hired a stable, a cow and a set of sleigh bells for his long suffering musician, Tom Basden. He also has a fist-full of festive poems ready for recital. But no amount of yuletide joy can hide Tom's despair at having to work on Christmas day.
Written by Tim Key
Produced by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production.
FRI 23:30 Great Lives (b06s9d1w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b06sddmc)
Yasmin and Lana – Sharing a Room
Fi Glover introduces a conversation recorded at the CBBC Live and Digital Festival in Hull, between sisters negotiating the early morning wake-up call, once the younger one joins the elder at secondary school. Another conversation that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen, and this one can be seen, animated, on http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess
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 (b06s871b)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 MON (b06s871b)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 TUE (b06s98ck)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 TUE (b06s98ck)
15 Minute Drama
10:41 WED (b06s9j76)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 WED (b06s9j76)
15 Minute Drama
10:45 THU (b06s9rzf)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 THU (b06s9rzf)
15 Minute Drama
11:15 FRI (b06sbpn1)
15 Minute Drama
19:45 FRI (b06sbpn1)
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
15:00 THU (b06s9rzt)
A Good Read
16:00 FRI (b0639w3x)
A Meaty Problem
20:00 TUE (b06s9d26)
A Point of View
08:48 SUN (b06s1gcn)
Alice Is Still in Wonderland
15:15 FRI (b06pb5pw)
Any Answers?
14:00 SAT (b06s6n4k)
Any Questions?
13:10 SAT (b06s1gcl)
Archive on 4
20:00 SAT (b06s6tlm)
Archive on 4
20:00 FRI (b06386cs)
BBC Inside Science
21:00 THU (b06s9shs)
Before They Were Famous
23:15 WED (b03gg7nr)
Bells on Sunday
05:43 SUN (b06s6zll)
Bells on Sunday
00:45 MON (b06s6zll)
Beyond Belief
16:30 MON (b06s8bpt)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 MON (b06s8bsg)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 TUE (b06t2gq5)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 WED (b06t2gr4)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 THU (b06t2h53)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 FRI (b06t2hm4)
Book of the Week
00:30 SAT (b06sxw4z)
Book of the Week
09:45 MON (b06s8716)
Book of the Week
00:30 TUE (b06s8716)
Book of the Week
09:45 TUE (b06t4l4r)
Book of the Week
00:30 WED (b06t4l4r)
Book of the Week
09:45 WED (b06t4l4t)
Book of the Week
00:30 THU (b06t4l4t)
Book of the Week
09:45 THU (b06t4lr0)
Book of the Week
09:45 FRI (b06t4pw9)
Brain Tingles
11:30 THU (b06s9rzk)
Bridget Christie's Christmas List
18:15 THU (b06s9s00)
Broadcasting House
09:00 SUN (b06s6xcd)
Chrismukkah and Other Cultural Mash-ups
13:30 SUN (b06s7y5w)
Christmas Is a Sad Season for the Poor by John Cheever
07:45 FRI (b06sbl90)
Christmas Service
09:00 FRI (b06sbl94)
Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!
11:30 FRI (b06sbpn3)
Crossing Continents
20:30 MON (b06rzd48)
Crossing Continents
11:00 THU (b06s9rzh)
Dead Ringers
18:30 FRI (b06scz91)
Desert Island Discs
11:15 SUN (b06s7y34)
Desert Island Discs
07:00 FRI (b06s7y34)
Don't Make Me Laugh
18:30 TUE (b06s9d20)
Drama
14:30 SAT (b06s6n4m)
Drama
21:00 SAT (b06rwgd7)
Drama
15:00 SUN (b06s7ztr)
Drama
14:15 MON (b03pmk7f)
Drama
14:15 THU (b06tk8hw)
Drama
14:15 FRI (b06sbrxh)
Drama
22:00 FRI (b05pmrtk)
Farming Today
06:30 SAT (b06s6mds)
Farming Today
05:45 MON (b06s85kg)
Farming Today
05:45 TUE (b06s98c9)
Farming Today
05:45 WED (b06s9f9w)
Farming Today
05:45 THU (b06s9px1)
Farming Today
05:45 FRI (b06sbl8y)
Feedback
20:00 SUN (b06s6vy9)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:30 SAT (b06rk6s0)
From the Vineyard
19:45 SUN (b06s80ff)
Front Row
19:15 MON (b06s8bq2)
Front Row
19:15 TUE (b06s9d24)
Front Row
19:15 WED (b06s9l5h)
Front Row
19:15 THU (b06s9s8g)
Front Row
19:15 FRI (b06scz95)
Gardeners' Question Time
14:00 SUN (b06s1b8y)
Great Lives
16:30 TUE (b06s9d1w)
Great Lives
23:30 FRI (b06s9d1w)
HM The Queen
15:00 FRI (b06sbrxk)
Home Front - Omnibus
21:00 FRI (b06kvjhx)
Home Front
12:04 MON (b06kv6s3)
Home Front
12:04 TUE (b06kv7ds)
Home Front
12:04 WED (b06kv7k7)
Home Front
12:04 THU (b06kvbfp)
Home Front
12:04 FRI (b06kvc3t)
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
12:04 SUN (b06rxn53)
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
18:30 MON (b06s8bpy)
In Business
21:30 SUN (b06s0qyc)
In Business
20:30 THU (b06s9shq)
In Our Time
09:00 THU (b06s9rz9)
In Our Time
21:30 THU (b06s9rz9)
In Touch
20:40 TUE (b06s9d2b)
June Whitfield: 90 Not Out
19:15 SUN (b06s8556)
June Whitfield: 90 Not Out
12:30 FRI (b06s8556)
Just a Minute
08:00 FRI (b06sbl92)
Last Word
20:30 SUN (b06s1b92)
Little Lifetimes by Jenny Eclair
23:00 WED (b06s9l5m)
Loose Ends
18:15 SAT (b06s6tlh)
Love in Recovery
23:00 THU (b06s9szk)
Mastertapes
23:00 MON (b06s8brc)
Mastertapes
15:30 TUE (b06s9d1r)
McLevy
14:15 TUE (b06s9d1p)
Midnight Mass
23:30 THU (b06s9szm)
Midnight News
00:00 SAT (b06rk6qw)
Midnight News
00:00 SUN (b06s6x9p)
Midnight News
00:00 MON (b06s6xdy)
Midnight News
00:00 TUE (b06s6xgw)
Midnight News
00:00 WED (b06s6xjg)
Midnight News
00:00 THU (b06s6xmq)
Midweek
09:00 WED (b06s9j72)
Midweek
21:30 WED (b06s9j72)
Money Box
12:04 SAT (b06s6mfh)
Money Box
21:00 SUN (b06s6mfh)
My Life on Paper
16:00 MON (b05xhwr2)
Nabokov's Christmas
23:45 WED (b01pfy5p)
Natural Histories
20:00 WED (b05w9drk)
Natural Histories
06:00 FRI (b05w9drk)
News Briefing
05:30 SAT (b06rk6rc)
News Briefing
05:30 SUN (b06s6x9y)
News Briefing
05:30 MON (b06s6xf6)
News Briefing
05:30 TUE (b06s6xh4)
News Briefing
05:30 WED (b06s6xjq)
News Briefing
05:30 THU (b06s6xn0)
News Briefing
05:30 FRI (b06s6xpy)
News Headlines
06:00 SUN (b06s6xbc)
News Summary
12:00 SAT (b06rk6s9)
News Summary
12:00 SUN (b06s6xcg)
News Summary
12:00 MON (b06s6xfb)
News Summary
12:00 TUE (b06s6xh6)
News Summary
12:00 WED (b06s6xjs)
News Summary
12:00 THU (b06s6xn4)
News Summary
12:00 FRI (b06s6xq0)
News Summary
13:00 FRI (b06sbqs7)
News Summary
15:05 FRI (b06sbrxm)
News and Papers
06:00 SAT (b06rk6rh)
News and Papers
07:00 SUN (b06s6xbh)
News and Papers
08:00 SUN (b06s6xbr)
News and Weather
22:00 SAT (b06rk6vc)
News
13:00 SAT (b06rk6ss)
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
08:30 FRI (b06t3skh)
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
12:15 FRI (b06t3tq6)
On Your Farm
06:35 SUN (b06s6zlq)
Open Book
16:00 SUN (b06s8027)
Open Country
06:07 SAT (b06s0njl)
PM
17:00 SAT (b06s6tlf)
PM
17:00 MON (b06s8bpw)
PM
17:00 TUE (b06s9d1y)
PM
17:00 WED (b06s9l59)
PM
17:00 THU (b06s9rzy)
Pam Ayres at Christmas
18:15 FRI (b06scz8z)
Pick of the Week
18:15 SUN (b06s802h)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 SAT (b06s1s8b)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 MON (b06s85kb)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 TUE (b06s98c7)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 WED (b06s9f9t)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 THU (b06s9pwz)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 FRI (b06sbl8w)
Profile
19:00 SAT (b06s6tlk)
Profile
05:45 SUN (b06s6tlk)
Profile
17:40 SUN (b06s6tlk)
Putting Science to Work
21:00 MON (b06rxyct)
Putting Science to Work
11:00 TUE (b06s9d1f)
Radio 4 Appeal
07:54 SUN (b06s6zm5)
Radio 4 Appeal
21:26 SUN (b06s6zm5)
Radio 4 Appeal
12:54 THU (b06s6zm5)
Roger Law: Art and Seoul
13:45 MON (b06s87tk)
Roger Law: Art and Seoul
13:45 TUE (b06tflfk)
Roger Law: Art and Seoul
13:45 WED (b06tfn7q)
Roger Law: Art and Seoul
13:45 THU (b06tfs4w)
Roger Law: Art and Seoul
13:45 FRI (b06tfxh9)
Round Britain Quiz
23:00 SAT (b06rxd48)
Round Britain Quiz
15:00 MON (b06s89lx)
Saturday Live
09:00 SAT (b06s6mdz)
Saturday Review
19:15 SAT (b06rk6v9)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SAT (b06rk6r6)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SUN (b06s6x9t)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 MON (b06s6xf2)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 TUE (b06s6xh0)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 WED (b06s6xjl)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 THU (b06s6xmv)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 FRI (b06s6xpt)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SAT (b06rk6r2)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SAT (b06rk6r9)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SAT (b06rk6td)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SUN (b06s6x9r)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SUN (b06s6x9w)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SUN (b06s6xcl)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 MON (b06s6xf0)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 MON (b06s6xf4)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 TUE (b06s6xgy)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 TUE (b06s6xh2)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 WED (b06s6xjj)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 WED (b06s6xjn)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 THU (b06s6xms)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 THU (b06s6xmx)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 FRI (b06s6xpr)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 FRI (b06s6xpw)
Shorts
15:45 FRI (b06scz8q)
Singing Piaf with No Regrets
13:15 FRI (b06rzd4b)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SAT (b06rk6tt)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SUN (b06s6xcq)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 MON (b06s6xfk)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 TUE (b06s6xhb)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 WED (b06s6xjz)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 THU (b06s6xnb)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 FRI (b06s6xqb)
Something Understood
06:05 SUN (b06s6zln)
Something Understood
23:30 SUN (b06s6zln)
Soul Music
15:30 SAT (b06ry20g)
Soul Music
11:30 TUE (b06s9d1h)
Stars of Wonder
11:00 WED (b06s9j7b)
Start the Week
09:00 MON (b06s8714)
Start the Week
21:30 MON (b06s8714)
Stepping Stones
23:30 MON (b064ygkt)
Stepping Stones
23:30 TUE (b064z75g)
Stepping Stones
23:30 WED (b064zmb4)
Sunday Worship
08:10 SUN (b06s6zm8)
Sunday
07:10 SUN (b06s6zls)
The Archers Omnibus
10:00 SUN (b06s7y32)
The Archers
19:00 SUN (b06s802k)
The Archers
14:00 MON (b06s802k)
The Archers
19:00 MON (b06s8bq0)
The Archers
14:00 TUE (b06s8bq0)
The Archers
19:00 TUE (b06s9d22)
The Archers
14:00 WED (b06s9d22)
The Archers
19:00 WED (b06s9l5f)
The Archers
14:00 THU (b06s9l5f)
The Archers
19:00 THU (b06s9s8d)
The Archers
14:00 FRI (b06s9s8d)
The Archers
19:00 FRI (b06scz93)
The Disused Chapel on the Cornish Skyline
11:00 MON (b06s871d)
The Echo Chamber
23:30 SAT (b06rwgdc)
The Echo Chamber
16:30 SUN (b06s8029)
The Educators
15:00 WED (b06s9j7n)
The Film Programme
23:00 SUN (b06s0njn)
The Film Programme
16:30 THU (b06s9rzw)
The Food Programme
12:32 SUN (b06s7y36)
The Food Programme
15:30 MON (b06s7y36)
The Human Zoo
16:00 TUE (b06s9d1t)
The Infinite Monkey Cage
16:27 FRI (b06scz8s)
The Kitchen Cabinet
10:30 SAT (b06s6mf6)
The Kitchen Cabinet
15:00 TUE (b06s6mf6)
The Listeners
21:00 TUE (b06s9d2d)
The Listeners
15:30 WED (b06s9d2d)
The Listening Project
14:45 SUN (b06s7y5y)
The Listening Project
10:55 WED (b06s9j78)
The Listening Project
16:55 FRI (b06scz8v)
The Listening Project
23:55 FRI (b06sddmc)
The Long View
09:00 TUE (b06s98cf)
The Long View
21:30 TUE (b06s98cf)
The Media Show
16:30 WED (b06s9j7s)
The Misogyny Book Club
09:30 TUE (b064kk77)
The Missing Hancocks
11:30 MON (b06s87ls)
The Now Show
12:30 SAT (b06s1gcg)
The Philosopher's Arms
20:00 MON (b06s8bq4)
The Report
20:00 THU (b06s9s8j)
The Show What You Wrote
23:00 TUE (b06s9f1j)
The Stanley Baxter Playhouse
11:30 WED (b06s9j7d)
The Week in Westminster
11:00 SAT (b06s6mfc)
The World This Weekend
13:00 SUN (b06svv2y)
The World Tonight
22:00 MON (b06s8br9)
The World Tonight
22:00 TUE (b06s9d2g)
The World Tonight
22:00 WED (b06s9l5k)
The World Tonight
22:00 THU (b06s9shv)
Thinking Allowed
00:15 MON (b06rz91s)
Thinking Allowed
16:00 WED (b06s9j7q)
Through the Wardrobe
00:30 SUN (b03kpl7r)
Tim Key's Christmas Poetry Programme
23:00 FRI (b06sddm9)
Tina C
18:30 THU (b06s9s02)
Today in Parliament
23:45 MON (b06s8brf)
Today in Parliament
23:45 TUE (b06s9f1l)
Today
07:00 SAT (b06s6tl9)
Today
06:00 MON (b06s8712)
Today
06:00 TUE (b06s98cc)
Today
06:00 WED (b06s9j70)
Today
06:00 THU (b06s9rz7)
Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups
18:30 WED (b06s9l5c)
Tumanbay
14:15 WED (b06s9j7l)
Tweet of the Day
08:58 SUN (b04mlvxt)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 MON (b04t0vhm)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 TUE (b04t0vl3)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 WED (b04t0vp4)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 THU (b04t0vqb)
Tweet of the Day
05:58 FRI (b04t0vfj)
Volunteer Nation
17:00 SUN (b06ryrmz)
Weather
06:04 SAT (b06rk6rm)
Weather
06:57 SAT (b06rk6rp)
Weather
12:57 SAT (b06rk6sl)
Weather
17:57 SAT (b06rk6tn)
Weather
06:57 SUN (b06s6xbf)
Weather
07:57 SUN (b06s6xbk)
Weather
12:57 SUN (b06s6xcj)
Weather
17:57 SUN (b06s6xcn)
Weather
05:56 MON (b06s6xf8)
Weather
12:57 MON (b06s6xff)
Weather
21:58 MON (b06s6xfm)
Weather
12:57 TUE (b06s6xh8)
Weather
21:58 TUE (b06s6xhd)
Weather
12:57 WED (b06s6xjv)
Weather
12:57 THU (b06s6xn6)
Weather
21:58 FRI (b06s6xqd)
Westminster Hour
22:00 SUN (b06s6xcv)
What Is IS?
22:15 SAT (b06sdlmb)
What the Papers Say
22:45 SUN (b06s80ml)
With Great Pleasure
17:00 FRI (b06scz8x)
Woman's Hour
16:00 SAT (b06s6tlc)
Woman's Hour
10:00 MON (b06s8718)
Woman's Hour
10:00 TUE (b06s98ch)
Woman's Hour
10:00 WED (b06s9j74)
Woman's Hour
10:00 THU (b06s9rzc)
Woman's Hour
10:00 FRI (b06sbpmz)
World at One
13:00 MON (b06s87tf)
World at One
13:00 TUE (b06s9d1m)
World at One
13:00 WED (b06s9j7j)
World at One
13:00 THU (b06s9rzr)
Would You Eat an Alien?
21:00 WED (b06s5qqm)
You and Yours
12:15 MON (b06s87lv)
You and Yours
12:15 TUE (b06s9d1k)
You and Yours
12:15 WED (b06s9j7g)
You and Yours
12:15 THU (b06s9rzp)
iPM
05:45 SAT (b06s6mdd)
iPM
17:30 SAT (b06s6mdd)